The National tribune., 1906-05-17

below Helena. Ark. with a fleet
4 of steamers under Gen. Willis a. Cor
4 man. The weather was most inclement,
and the men suffered very severely
from cold and exposure. Under such
4 conditions a soldiers bump of rever-
ence for anything he can worry suffers
| great shrinkage. Sam had taken a vio
| lent dislike to Gen. German. because.
i forsooth, that gallant gentleman had
/ been forced TO join in the famous re-
/ treat from the first Bull Run battle
| field.
i Why Sam should have considered
Il that Gen. German had any special
monopoly or responsibility in that great
J National foot-race, or that he had de-
veloped more speed than was absolutely
necessary to keep up with the process
sion, is hard to understand; but so it
was. and several times during this ex-
pedition, as l afterdawrds learned.
when our steamers were sufficiently
near, Sam would electrify the General
by bowling at him most derisively:
Hello! Old Bull Rum"
Once he made a mistake. Headquar-
ters steamer was brought alongside of
ours and within a few feet for consul
tation, and on the upper or hurricane
deck stood the General himself.
Sam was on the lower forward deck
of our vessel, out near the bow, and.
bracing himself, he yelled up into Cor
mans very teeth:
Hello, Old Bull Rum"
The General was too quick for him :;
leaning over the side, he shouted down
to the guard: Throw that man on my
boat here, Quick!" And sure enough
, they did. Sam, sprawling through the
air like a frog, was pitched headlong
on to Germans boat, and during the
remainder of the day, at various dis
tances, near and far, we could see him,
! long and lank and lean, tied up like a
huttering scarecrow to the jackstaff of
the steamer. 1t was a cold and gusty
day--for Sam-and no especial atten-
ton was paid to waffies and quail for
! him ("pirooting" being temporarily
paralyzed with it's chief apostle); and
, so. when along towards night the boats
! were brought together again, and he
: was chucked back to us stiff as a
wooden Indian, it might reasonably be
, supposed that for once the Great Ir-
!. repressible was quelched.
! No, not the least in the world.
He gathered himself together. and
chilled, blue, and starved as he was
came creaking and grunting up stairs
to me in the cabin.
Colonel" he groaned "I wish you'd
: please have my discharge made out
right away
Your discharge, Your funeral. you
: mo, my discharge, Colonel. I've
I been put on Gorman's staff!,"
Down stairs, a few moments later,
: he made a famishing raid on a little
; close corporation of the boys sitting
on the floor around a frugal meal of
coffee, hardtack, and s. b., loudly de-
claring the paradox,
I'm going to eat at the first table
if L have to wait
Failing to break the circle from any
direction, he suddenly ceased trying,
and affected to notice in amazement
what they were eating.
We'll" he said, II don't believe
mule tail stuffed with soger buttons is
good for freckles anyhow"
When I asked later how he felt when
first thrown on to Germans boat, he
said most solemnly:
Colonel, awful. give you my word
thought he'd akilled me. and. by
jingo, you'd a starved if he had. Well,
sir, when they got them ropes out, my
heart thumped like a potato in q
wooden shoe. I thought Old Bull Run
was goin' to hang me surei"
: While we were stationed at Helena,
Ark, on the bank of the Mississippi, a
. couple of new regiments-the 22d and
, oath Iowa-came to US by steamer di-
rect from home. They were a gal
liant set of men, new, bright and
fresh, and possessed of camp out
, fits of stupendous elegance. They
had not yet experienced any of the mis-
cries of that fell destroyer of luxury
lack of transportation, and so were re-
garded as fine sport for piucking by
, old veterans of very little W orldiy gear
and less conscience; and if a number
of us officers had not combined TO put
stop to it, they would have been
, looted as bare as a modern ballet
troupe. My tent at that time was up
on top of the levee, and one bright
moonlight night about midnight I was
, aroused by a mysterious shuffiny and
whispering near the back of the tent
towards town, where the new regiments
were encamped.
Easy. boys I could hear in stage
whispers. Easy Thunder! Do you
want to wake the Colonel? Steady
now! All together, Easy, Step light
sh-h-h!' and knowing that something
cOntraband would pass the door of my
4 tent in moment, / stepped from bed
and waited. Some six or eight of our
old soldiers came carefully tip-toeing
past, Juggling a gigantic company mess
I box, just stolen from one of the Iowa
camps, the whole enterprise under the
management of its natural guide coun-
selor, and friend, the redoubtable Sam.
bOou cftiiHS, SeiititIllcilr Sttlu
4 fectionately; much obliged, Set il
right down here, and go to bed; You
look tired! Good night" and away
1 they sneaked, full of trouble and un-
rest. Next morning, after guard mount
i ing, L sent for Sam, and had him call
up his fellow-villains in front of head
i quarters, where they stood in line,
silent and abashed, awaiting their
/ doom. Sam eyed me with eager inter-
est as I sent for a guard and the mar
tial, or ''sheep-skin" band, until at last
a glimmer of the dreadful truth swept
| through his guilty mind. His face
deepened and his eyes opened wider,
until at last he burst forth in an agony
| of perspiring supplication.
| Say, Colonel wot in thunder you
goin' to do to me?'
The whole camp, out to see the fun
roared with delight as it was announced
| that they were to march back to that
Iowa camp with the mess box under
guard and with the band at the head.
You'll probably have a warm recep-
| tion," / added encouragingly.
'Oh, Lord,' he groaned as he turned
white and gasped for breath at the
awful prospect. The picture of the
great "Pirooter'' and his veteran
cronies marching into that jeering, jib-
| ing camp of raw recruits to return
stolen property in broad daylight to
| the tune of the "Rogue's March, with
the whole post laughing at them, al
most made him frantic