The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1910-02-01
REHABILITATION
F"CAL"WALTERS
A Standing Enigma to the 9th
GERS and Men of the Con-
federate Regiment in
Which He Served

ont of the civil VAL eit11SlCo III 'A\
Infantry branch of the Confederate
Army. and shouldering his mushet'
marched off to the front.
His father not only evinCed no re-
1uctance to this important step, but
equipped his son, and babe MIN God
speed with willingness, almost with
alacrity. The truth is, cal Walters
had already developed q strong appe-
tite for drink, had more than once
young as he was, been carried nome
intoxicated, and even at that time was
lin coventry at home, disgraced by
expulsion from the high school Wnlch
he was attending.
Before the departure of the COM
pany the elder Walters had a lone
conversation with it's COMMANDER,
Capt. White, in which he stated that
his willingness to see his son enlist
vas based on the hope that he disci-
pIine Of camp and field would mend
his habits and steady his character.
He begged Capt. White to keep a
tight rein on the boy to bring out
the best that was in him, and to look
after him, as far as he could. in dan
ger.
cal was q standing enigma to
the officers and men of the
and repiment in which he served On
the field of battle there was none bet
ter than he, of high or low rank lie
was no ha~t-Waving, eye-blazing here
~ IL Dul Il 1ootr 49,
der. who seemed to take a grim pleas
ure in shooting and being shot at.
The battle over, and the return TO
camp made, he was certain to get
drunk if he could get hold of the Ii
ouor: and, when drunk, he seemed
to lose all sense of self-respect. He
was boisterous, disorder1y, quarrel
some, defiant Of discipline and disobe-
dent.
One morning stout old Capt. White
sat in front of his tent, with one or
two officers about him, smoking his
pipe and Juggling at his long gray
beard, il a testy. worried way. He
had for some time had his eyes fixed,
as if in a deep study, on Cal Walters
with a shovel, doing extra duty on
the camp street, after a night spent in
the guard house in punishment of an
uproarious spree.
Damn the BOY" Capt. Walters
broke out at last; I can't make head
OF tail of him. Look at him yonder,
active as a panther. sullen as a wolf,
u~nbreakable as a tiger, doing a mig
gers work because he won't behave
TX a decent white man. How can
such a looking young man be what
he is? He has a splendid head, a fine
forehead, eyes as honest as the day,
= handsome but rather cruel mouth,
and the chin and jaw of a bull dog.
Why. 1 have stopped during a bat
tie. Just to look at Cal fight. And
vet. when the gun is laid by, the
&raCeless young scoundrel is the bane
If my life and Of that of everybody
around him
and so Cal. Walters went on,
seemingly happy when on the line il,
front of the enemy; in camp drunk,
drunk, drunk, always under punish
Inent, a nuisance to the whole COM
1nand. One day a lieutenant of Gals"
company asked the g Of the
-a.;-,,,t 1rIo+ sort Of n y, la r9
"CaI' Walters was All" replied
the surgeon, L have studied that lad
carefully for / have had to prescribe
Tor the poor fellow more than once
after some terrible debauch. a man
with less grit than he has would have
been in the hospital long ago. What
class of %drunkard? Well, he is not a
s0t, for he can get on his feet, brace
IN and keep sober as long as he can't
help himself. He is not a topper, for
he does not put his canteen under
his head at night, and soak his Ii
Quor by himself; but, dearly as he
loves it shares the last drop with a
comrade. He is in q bad, dangerous
class, but not as bad as the sot or the
topper class. He is a d~ipsonaniac. He
has thirst mania: and l have no
doubt that many q time, on picket or
in his pole hut, he glOats over liquor
in anticipation, and smacks his lips
over it. A man in this class oftener
reforms IMAM IN the Other Ii and
here the surgeon repeated the little
word with emphasis-'if, before that
time he does not commit some terri
bic deed that wrecks his life forever"
sometimes the companions of Wal
tiers were brought up all standing nv
developments in the com
nloX nature of this strange young fell
low; and characteristics flashed ont
which placed him for the time far
above dram-drinking and ~insubordi-
nation. He never was heard to utter
q profane oath; he would not listen
a moment to leVity on sacred sub
jects; and one day he Knocked down
a big fellow in the company for loose
talk about women.
On an eventful occasion something
strange happened. 1 do not know what