Arizona republican., 1902-05-25
Willie Jones. Trooper

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IVY v V V V v V V V w V Y V V w w w w v between a good man and a low down scoundrel. As for Morris, he was al- most being killed. for Willie had him
 by the throat and kept pounding his head against the side of the car. The senses were nearly knocked out of him before Willie could be induced to leave go his hold of him.
 The commanding officer of the squad ron was notified and personally ap- peared in the car to see what the trouble was. He was an old Indian fighter, who had served many years on the frontier in the regular army. tie was thoroughly familiar with the type of men that made up the greater part of his command but it was the ma terial he was after. and though he knew that he would have work in dis ciplining his men. he was certain that when it came to the real work in the field with the enemy in the front. that he had body of men that would make record. His judgment was verified in the battle of Las Guasimas and :n the charge up the bloody slopes of San Juan hill.
 The major demanded to know the cause of the commotion and when nO- tified that two prisoners held on gen eral charges had made an effort to escape by assaulting their guards !,e ordered the guards and prisoners brought to him in the private car of the officers as soon as the train was under motion.
 In a few minutes the train slowly pulled out of the station amid the f cheers of hundreds of people and the strains of band of music. The boys going to war cheered in turn, but many of them were destined never to return and history tells how they died. some
 on the field and many others in the fever-ridden wards of the hospitals. Shortly after leaving Prescott our i friends and their battered guards were ushered into the private car containing
 the commanding officer and reported to him. He fl st questioned the corporal l of the guard as to why the men were
 originally confined. The corporal re- ! lated that Private Jones and Private | Howard (Willie and Blinkie) had been detailed for guard duty and that in- stead Of walking their posts in a mili- | tary manner they had been discovered | by the officer of the day sitting on
 the ground playing poker. At this in- | telligence the suspicion of smile passed over the features of the veteran, i but he turned to an officer the one who had preferred the charges against | the cowboy and the printer, and asked | him to substantiate the story told by
 the corporal. The officer did so, but | said that it was his belief that the men were not aware of the seriousness of | the offense, for when he detected them
 in the game one of the offenders (point- ! l,,A take a hand in the game. He conclud- i ed from the very innocence of the men
 that they were the rawest kind of re- cruits and had no idea of military dis cipline. At the mention Of raw recruits
 an injured look appeared on Blinkie 1 face and he turned a very unfriendly
 eye on the officer.
 The circumstance of Willie inviting
 the officer of the day to become a party to. a poker game caused general | laugh among the officers assembled.
 the commanding officer himself joining | in. As soon as the laugh subsided the commanding officer turned to Morris and ordered him to tell his story of the | attempt made by the prisoners to Cs- ! cape. Morris deliberately concocted a ] tale that would have gone hard with | the prisoner if it had been believed. l He stated that when he and the other guard had brought their prisoners on 1 the train he had ordered Jones to take
 a seat where he could watch him, and
 that the prisoner made a break to run out of the car and he had struck him
 with the butt end of his carbine; that the prisoner had turned on him and grappled with him, and that when the
 other guard had attempted to come to
 his rescue he in turn was set upon by Howard, the other prisoner.
 At this point Blinkie who had here tofore kept silent, astonished all pres ] ent by saying:
 | G-g-gentlemen, t-that m-mealy f-faced Indian has b-b-b been l-l-lying like b-blaZes. 1.-The is-'' His remarks
 were ended by the commanding officer
 telling him to keep quiet until he was
 ordered to speak.
 Willie now felt it incumbent to have a word to say and asked the major if
 he could tell how the affair happened. Permission was granted and the cow
 boy spoke as follows:
 ! "ErbOut two months ago thet fellar Morris tried tu tek my gal,frum me, n I med him crawl lek a snake frum th'
 range. He lists n tn army n follers
 me II lh next tune l sees nm ne I'pl- lers me frum tn guard shebang with a
 gun. He sez fer me not to mek a
 sneak. I sed nothin', n when I got on
 ther kyars he tells me tu sit down. I
 did not sit whar he sed, n he biffs me
 with tn gun. I teks tn gun frum him
 n biffs him fer punch'n me As fer
 my pard Blinkie. he hit tn other feller
 fer tn other feller was tryin' to set his hra ndin' iron On me
 Willie concluded his tale and there
 was a perceptible smile on the faces of the officers when he had finished for