Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1907-01-04
The Eye In the Wall
Copyright, 1906, by 1. D. Marshall.l

Company d, Third infantry, stationed
at Fort Pinto, were the first to dis
cover what was afterward called the
eye in the wall One day when off
duty they went prospecting in the
mountains to the west of the fort In
their rambles they entered a ravine or
canyon and traversed it for half a mile
before finding a chance to climb out
A short while before climbing out
they discovered flaming eye in the
rocky wall on their left and about
forty feet above their heads. 1t glar-
ed and scintlllated and flashed, and,
though the men were laboring under
considerable excitement over being
lost, they marked the curious thing
well and had much to say about it aft
er reaching the post in safety.
During the next three months when
men were searching every day, some
of them no doubt struck the right ra
vine and followed it up. but none
caught sight of the eye in the wall. 1t
was the only thing talked about in bar
racks. 1t was soon settled that it was
a diamond, and a monstrous large one
at that, and that the value could not
be much less than half a million dol
lars. The talk and the hunt for it soon
began to tell on discipline, and in
general order the commandant forbade
any one to search further.
The discoveries of the eye in the
wall had to abandon their search, but
they did not cease to talk and plot and
plan. month later, as both were on
sentry duty the same night, they de-
serted.
The colonel realized that they must
be recaptured at once or their example
would be followed by others, and de-
tail was sent out and put in a weeks
hard work. Then came news that the
Indians were again on the warpath,
and the detail was driven IN. 1t brought
in Williams however. He had met
with fall and lain for three days with
broken leg, and 1t was only by chance
that he had been discovered.
He said the pair of them had been
exploring ravines for a week or more
when Thomas began to act SO strange
ly that his fellow deserter became
afraid of him. He continually NUT
tered and mumbled, thinking of the
diamond, and at last declared that If
the eye was found it should belong to
him alone. Two or three times he
seemed about to murder Williams, and
at length the latter lodged him and
was trying to make his way back to
the fort when he met with his accident.
He could give no further information
about Thomas.
After three weeks of exploring Thorn
as found the eye in the wall. While 1t
was only forty or fifty feet above his
head it might as we'll have been 400.
The side of the canyon was solid and
smooth and not to be climbed.
In this emergency Thomas attempt
ed to shoot the eye out of its bed in
the wall. His firing attracted the In
dams to the spot They could not make
out what he was firing at, but the fact
of his being alone in the mountains
and of firing at all where he must know
that there were hostile Indians about
made them suspect that he was not
| right In his nead.
His efforts to dislodge the stone were
futile, and after having fred about a
dozen bullets he walked a few steps
up the canyon and sat down on stone
and held his face in his hands. 1t
was midafternoon, and just where he
sat the sun gave his watchers light
enough to see everything that happen
ed. They had their eyes on him when
grizzly bear came slouching down the
canyon from some point where he had
q den to investigate the firing. He
stopped within ten feet of the deserter
and shifted at him and growled. When
Thomas looked up and saw his visitor
he did not seem in the least alarmed
On the contrary. he leaned his back to
the wall, and the Indians heard him
talking. BY and by he got up and
offered his hand to the bear, whereupon
the grizzly growled menacingly and re-
treated a few feet.
Thomas sat down, looking down the
canyon instead of at the bear, and the
animal lay down for a period of ten or
fifteen minutes. Then, as the man
made no move, the grizzly advanced
again and was presently so c.ose thai
he seemed to put his nose on the mans
shoulder. Then he turned about and
started talking, and more than once
they saw him extend his hand and pat
the fierce beast on the back. There
were five Indians watching, and they
could have slain the bear with volley
but the situation was such strange
one that they did not think of firing
shot.
The play between man and bear con-
tinued for a long quarter of an hour
SO long as the soldier was quiet the
bear did not seem inclined to harm
him, but by and by Thomas rose up
and began to speak in excited tones
! md to nolnt hercelY down the canYOn