Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1902-07-10
'Ihe'Sergeant'S Story
GOriginaL.l

tOrigtnaLl
The -th United States infantry was
IN garrison. 1t was midnight The relief
had Just come IN TO the guardhouse
tired and irritable, especially one man,
@ recruit who had not yet got used to
guard duty.
"If / ever get a chance" he said, "Ill
pay Off that little poppinjay. To think
of me, grown man, bein' under or
ders from n snip like that!
"Who are you talkin' aboutT asked
the sergeant of the guard, with four
service stripes on his sleeve.
lieutenant Bumble."
"See here, man, If you want to shoot
words at Lieutenant Bundle you'd
better fire in hearin' of some one else
besides Sergeant COnOyer. P'r'aps |
haven't been face to face with death
In company with Lieutenant Bundle,
and p'raps it wasn't his pluck that
| KEEP me up when was ready to drop
with fear of cold murder"
"Giye us that, Conover," said voice
from a farther corner of the guard
room.
Its this" said the sergeant. 1--WE
was pushin' the Spaniards in towards
Santiago and spreadin' ourselves out
to git round 'em. Our regiment was
movin' to the right, and our company
! was ordered to the front. The captain
sent Lieutenant Bumble-just reported
from West Point and more of baby
! faced chap than he is nOw-ahead to
report on the topography of the coun-
! try and keep a sharp lookout for the
-th, which was comm from the oppo-
| site direction to join us. l was with
him and eight men, besides Telegraph
operator with his machine.
! "Well, we'd got five or six miles from
! the regiment and was steppin' into
pocket between two hills covered with
timber when of sudden we heard
; voices behind, beside and before us
callin in the dirty Spanish lingo to sur
render. Since there was hundreds of
, 'em and only ten of us we satisfied
'em. An officer stepped up to the lieu
tenant and jabbered Spanish at him
for awhile Then another officer come
up and said in broken English:
"'What's your manner
"'Bumble.'
/ "'RankT
! Lieutenant
"'The citiZenP
"By this time the lieutenant had seen
the Spaniards eyin' the Telegraph ma
chine under the arm of the 'cit and
suspected some sneakin' business.
"'An engineer he said, lynn like
man.
"'No, he isn't. He's a Telegraph OPP
orator Now, Lieutenant Bumble, send
message to your colonel that the
way Is clear and to come right on
81 can't do that said the lieuten-
ant
VERY well. You and your men can
stand up there in line while we put
volley into you
''The lieutenant didn't weaken a bit,
but some of the men did, and the tcly-
graph operator said, I'H send the mes
sage
"'That'll do said the Spaniard.
"The operator connected with the
wires the lieutenant abused him for a
coward, and jest as all was ready the
.'cit' began to cry like woman, and,
turnin' round, he wrung his hands,
baWlin':
"T can't do ii, and I wOn'tp
"That's the stuff for you! said
Bundle, smiin'. I knowed you could
not do It,
"'Get into line, you pigs? said the
Spaniard, ragin', and, givin' one after
the other a shove he made us stand
touchin' elbows. Then, callin' with his
tabberin' tongue, platoon come out Of
the woods, we standin with our backs
to 'em.
"Will you do itT said the Spaniard
to the cit
eyes, If the lieutenant will order
me-
"'No, you won't even If l order you.
You're only foolin' to gain time. Fire
away, dagoP
"'You little yillainP said the Span
lard. It's you that's sacrificin' your
men needlessly. Well get him out of
the way, and then the rest Of you'll
come to your senses
THE men stepped aside, all but one,
and the firm party was gittin' ready
with their pieces
Hold on, ConOver. Who was the
all but oneP"
Never you mind that I'm not tell
in my own story. I'm tellin' the lieu
tenants. The lieutenant turned and
faced 'em. I'll never forget the beau
tiful expression on his face. All his
rOllickin' was gone, for it was himself
alone he had to brace up now, and he
seemed bent only on dyin' without
shOwin' himself the coward most any
man would before such a death.
"'What're you thinkin' about, lieu
tenantY l asked, rubbin' the tears out
of my eyes.
"My mother he said, solemnlike.
"Then / heard somethin' familiar
r'r'r'r'rr'r-and 1 seen the Spaniards
moved down like wheat before reap
in machine. The -th had come up and
unbeknownst to 'em had planted Cat
lin gun on one of the hills that made
the pocket and was pourin' death like
water out Of steam fire engine. The
firm party sunk down where they
stood. One Of the Spanish officers was
killed, tho other wounded as he run
away. Little Bundle ordered us to
fall In. and. seizin' our rifles. lynn on
the ground, we turned to and sent our
bullets along with the Gatlin's, re-
feiyin' shower ourselves, the lieuten-
ant givin' the orders as If he was in a
sham battle on the plain at West
Point
'Now, you spalpeen," continued Con
over, turning to the man who had ex-
pressed his contempt for Bundle, IF