Akron daily Democrat. [volume] (Akron, Ohio) 1892-1902, 1902-10-25
BAPTISM OF A
NEW CORPORAL
The Terrible Fright of the Soldier
Who Was Ambitious.

VTTTNNNTNNNNV
dered what the folks at home were
! doing, when the war would end,--and
other things.
an occasional rustic in the long wet
grass, and the New Corporal gradu-
| ally lost his nervousness, and began
to believe that perhaps, after all, it
was not such awful business, this be-
ing intrusted with the safety of a
sleeping army.
Then, while his thoughts were
thousands Of miles away, there came
sharply ringing through the night the
cry of 'IIalt"' thrice repeated, start
, ling the New Corporal half out of his
wits and upon his feet, while he lis
tened to learn what the challenge
might mean. His heart beat so that
he could scarcely breathe. His eyes
tried to pierce the night, and his mind
tried to fathom what the challenge
might have meant. No further sound
came through the night, and the hor-
rible possibility that his sentry had
| tried to stop a Spanish intruder and
had been killed before he had
| chance to shoot was conviction in
the mind of the New Corporal in less
than twelve seconds. In another
three lie had graspcd his gun and was
ten yards on his way to find out, for
the New Corporal was convinced that
it must be done.
1t was a difficult business, however,
this running in the dark. as the Cor
poral soon found out, for he first ran
against the trunk of tree and skin
ned his forehead, creepers of the lux
uriant vines that grew all along the
way brushed his face and made him
think that they were the fingers of
Spanish soldiers reaching out for his
throat. Nearer and nearer the post
for which he was racing he got. when
suddenly he stumbled over something
that was big. and yielding--and alive.
| The Corporal went headlong into
the grass in one direction, and his rifle
| t,1 1,r
that the finish had arrived, and in less
than second all his more grievous
sins flashed through his mind. There
was great crashing of underground,
grunt and noise enough to be made
by charging company, except for the
fact that the noise became fainter
and fainter and was evidently going
in the direction away from the Cor
poral, instead of coming to machete
him.
The thoroughly frightened youth
crept to his feet and grooed for his
gun, and slowly the truth dawned up
on him. He had fallen oSer a stray
mule which had lain down in the path
to sleep, and the mule had evidently
been as much frightened as the sol
der, to judge by the rapidity with
which the noise of Its running faded
into nothingness. The Corporal still
ed the pounding of his heart and went
forward again, and little later was
promptly and peremptorily challenged
by the sentry, who had not been MUIR
dered at all, and who stated, after he
had been roundly cursed by the Cor
poral, that he had challenged stray
mule, only discovering its identity
when he was on the point of firing at
what he thought must, by its silence,
be an invader.
The Corporal and the sentry there
upon held very interesting debate,
in which the sentry was for the great
er part, respectful listener, and the
Corporal then went back to his head
quarters.
Pando of course, never came, and
the night passed off peacefully, but the
Corporal will never forget the tingling
sensation he had when he felt himself
falling helplessly to the ground, and
fully believed that he was about to
be butchered with machete.
| HARRY s. QUINE.