Waterbury Democrat., 1901-06-08

| weeks before the tOWnSfOlk ten IedSCeS | inland began to think of turning out in winter garments. A bleak and forbid- l ding spot it looked when the wintry waves beat high on the bluffs, but there was one homeless, weather beat en traveller to whom at nightfal or l that dreary day it seemed blessed refuge. Against the stiff blast it was long walk from the station to the mess room; but, supported by the strong arms of two sturdy boys in blue, the new arrival was fairly rushed along over the hard beaten path. He had no oyercoat, and the civilian garb he wore was of the cut and style Of three years gone by and fitted him all too snugly. He was numb from cold and fatigue, 1 and his brain was a bit muddled by the heroic treatment administered by those amateur physicians, the soldier boys. He had fallen across their path, faint from hunger and sleeplessness and dis heartened by his experiences of the morning. Recognizing him instantly, for they were of his own regiment, the gunners had borne him to neighbor- ing bar and brought him to with that l military cure all. kill all, whisky. They | had read trouble and suffering and | hunger in his thin, white face, and their hearts were bigger than their purses The free lunch hour was near | ly spent, but they succeeded in getting | a bowl of hot soup and a huge sand wich, and while one of their number stood sentry over his late superior, hud- died in chair by the stove, and an swered evnsively the innumerable questions of the inquisitive hangers on the other ran ten blocks to a recruiting | office, where he told his story to the sergeant on duty and borrowed $3 un- til pay day, when, had the sergeant so demanded, as many did in the so called | good old days of the army, he would 1 gladly have paid back $5 for the ac- commodation. Thus re-enforced Cor
 poral Ryan returned to his friends. Langdon was led to the railway sta ton and given a more substantial lunch, he the while accepting the boun- | ty of these soldier Samaritans in min gled helplessness, humility and grati- l tude that would have broken Rodney Mays heart could he have seen it all and set Morrow and Le Due to swear | ing. The man was dazed and benumb- ed by the weight of his troubles and the potency of soldier whisky. He was trying to pull himself together and think. He knew by name several well to do professional and business men of Chicago who at one time or other in his past at the Point, at Newport or Fort Monroe had begged him to let them know when next he came to Chi cago, and no Chicagoan conceives the possibility of life without coming to l Chicago. He had the cards of some of these gentlemen somewhere in his | trunk, but that was at the station. He had the check still in his pocket, but not cent wherewith to pay an ex- | pressman to take it somewhere if he had anywhere to tell him to take it. He reasoned that with a nights rest, bath and clean linen he could muster up strength and pluck to go in search of these cordial associates and guests of the old days. There must be em- ployment for willing hands and brains, he argued, and all industries could not be dominated by Nathan &s Cd. But that nights restyand ibath,s breakfast and trunk, ,show were they toabe had His conductors were full of hopeful suggestion, of loyal, confident assur- anoe. All the lieutenant had to do was to go with them out to "Shurd'n," and the officers would welcome him with open arms. Who was there? he asked. An, yes; Merrivale. He was a class mate at the Point. Nelson? They were together in the same battery at Monroe. Hyatt, Hoyt and Stanton, three boys like May and Woodrow. Yes, they would welcome him for auid | lang syne, and yet he shrank from it with utter repulsion. He, who had ever been leader and authority, how could he appear before them now so broken, so humbled, so stricken with poverty and shame? There was just one thing left to him, his watch, but that had been his fathers, and the thought of pawning 1t gave him keen distress. Still he asked Ryan as they sat in the stuffy waiting room if he knew where the watch could be ac- cepted as security for suitable loan, and Ryan said they were going out to ''Shurdn" to attend to all that-with- out security. Langdon began to feel drowsy and numb all over and begged them to take him into the air. They did and tramped him up and down for 15 minutes, with the result that he was soon again chilled to the marrow and shivering. They compassionately sought to give him more whisky, but he shook his head. Something told him it was not helping him. Then they took alarm. A man must be i'll indeed in the eyes of the Celtic soldier when a drink won't help him. It still lacked half an hour of train time. They had medical practitioners of small caliber attached to the recruiting stations in those days, and Ryan sent his com rade on the run to the North Side office, and, as luck would have it, back came the doctor. Brief examination was more than enough.
 You've got to get to bed and have good treatment" was the almost in- stant verdict, and helplessly Langdon bowed his head upon his breast. It was dusk when the way train let them off at Sheridan. Ryan sought to wrap his overcoat about his failing patient, but Langdon refused. The honest Irishman thought it was because the officer was too proud to be seen in a priyate's uniform and felt no rebuff.