The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1907-07-27

Ing down into the Gear blue depths,
watching ire marks as they wheeled
ara darted about eysr 81 TIE lookout
fof some thing tosat he ttought Fl
the time ne had sa N the ;talI q
the foot 81 the Prado, with his sweet
heart Elizabeta beside him How.
real and liie .liks did; these things
seem to him there again. H
one night when the rest Of the pa:
tents we're in dfeamland, and the Sill.
very moon was shedding its soft aus
tender radiance over that sweitersne
city, he lay thinking Of the last day
he looked into those soft, tender eyes
OF hers, telling her in jcyial way
about the good time he would have
when he got back into Gods country
Jas the soldiers called the States"
There never was q soldier who had a
clean record but that wished to get
back. IN this hospital was an ex.sol-
dier, named Winston, who had belong
ed to one of the two regiments that
went around the world, on their way
to the philippines SO long ago. he
often spoke of the beauties Of the
grand old Nile, and Of the sights 81
Gibraltar and Port Said, Egypt, to-
gether with many other things that
were highly interesting. Occasionally
he would tell some OF his stories of
the times he spent down on the lower
Mississippi, with the negroes and fan.
cy-looking crocodlles, when he was
younger and felt gayer than he did
Just then.
johnson was feeling better and bet
ter every day, and one day he asked
the nurse If he might put on r.s
clothes and walk around the building,
for the sake Of exercise. After some
cayll and contention, the request was
granted. johnson was soon arrayed
in the clothes he fora long time had not
seen. They felt SO good to him that
he could hardly keep from declaring
his independence and walk away, bat
prudence forbade
To feel well Is one of our greatest
aspirations, and johnson could not re-
member OF ever having felt so we'll
as he did this day. He thought that If
he had a chance during the morning
he would steal up town and send a
telegram to his lodge for money to
pay his transportation. back to the
hills Of dear old West Virginia.
The occasion soon presented itself,
and, swiftly darling out the gate on
the east side Of the hospital, and was
soon lost to the eyes of the nurses.
Making his way up to the main street
he hurried along that thoroughfare to
the principal cross street, which leo
to Argena; from here he hurried
to the Western Union telegraph Office
where he sent message for twenty-five
dollars, to be RENTED the next day.
By this time Johnson was almost ex-
hausted, and he sat down, to rest on
the seat nearest him. He did not real.
ize how weak he was until now. The
problem now confronting him was how
to get back to the hospital. When he
finally arrived half hour later the
nurses were in alarm as to where this
unruly man had gone. He was made
to go to bed and, as the nurse said,
to stay there, until he received further
orders.
The next morning, he overheard a
conversation between the head nurse
and the chief physician, to the effect
that he was to be discharged that
very morning. This was good news
to the poor man, who had been there
a month-but 1t seemed a year.
He went to the telegraph Office
whence he had sent the message the
day before. The answer had just ar
rived, and the money was paid over
to him. He bought ticket and was
soon joarneying homeward.
He landed in his home town in about
fifty hours after he mad left Little
Rock, to the surprise of the many
who were at the station to greet him.
He looked poor and thin, although he
said he was feeling well, despite the
aches and pains that were continually
darting through his body. But Tom
Johnson was not a complainer.
The next year came and went with.
out anything apponing of note, except
that Johnson joined the army again,
and the artillery, too, and was sent
to Fort slocum, New York, for train
ing in that branch Of the service. He
knew the drill from A to 2. but hav-
ing gone under another name for the
novelty of the thing, had to commence
at the beginning. There would be
times when Johnson would come near
oi,,inn hinnself nn,ar INV showing his