The Adair County news. [volume] (Columbia, Ky.) 1897-1987, 1913-10-29
MYSTERY OF A
SENTRY POST
A Strange Episode of the
SpaniSh-AmeriCan War.

During the SpaniSh-American war
my regiment of United States infantry
occupied a single position in Cuba for
quite awhile. We were not very near
an enemy and kept out no vedettes or
pickets, the colonel being satisfied with
the usual chain of sentinels. There
was one sentry beat overlooking val
ley from which every man posted at
the evening relief disappeared. No
cry, no sound of any kind, was heard
at post No. s. but the sentry placed
there was not found when the corporal
of the guard took a man to relieve him,
nor was he ever heard of afterward.
Some concluded that an enemy crawl
ed up from below, stabbed him and
took his body away. Some concluded
th,,C the post was haunted and the
sentry was carried away by ghost.
When the first man disappeared the
officer of the guard reported the mat
ter to the colonel. who, thinking that
it would be better that the next man
to stand post on No. should not know
of the occurrence, ordered the officer
to keep the matter secret and if
there were inquiries about the missing
man among his comrades to give out
that he had been ordered away on
special service. So the second man did
not know Of the mystery of the first.
nor the third of the second, nor the
fourth Of the third. The fourth man
was the last to vanish, for after he had
gone the regiment went to the front
l was q member of Company G, and
we knew more about the disappear
ances than the officers thought we did.
but we didn't know what had become
Of the sentries. 1t was the prevailing
opinion that the men were murdered
by hostile Spanish citizens, but with
what object we were ignorant. After
the war closed / came north with the
rest of the command, but eight years
later went to Cuba on business, and
there one day, while passing a sugar
plantation, who should l see sitting be-
fore workman's cabin but John Hen
derson, the last man who had disap-
peared from sentry post No. s. At
first he pretended not to know me, but
1 looked him square in the eye and
told him he couldn't fool me. Then he
told me the following story:
'When placed on post and left by
the retreating relief I stood for awhile
uncertain whether to risk death by
some unearthly means or by being
shot for deserving my beat
while l was celebrating 1 heard
a girls laugh and, looking down. saw
a merry face and two black eyes peer
ing up at me. The girl had a basket
on her arm full of flowers and began
to pelt me with them. l supposed she
was simply passing that way and
didn't connect her with the ghost who
had spirited away the other sentries.
l seized one or two posies and threw
them back at her. She was too pretty
to keep at distance, and invited her
to come up and sit with me on the
slope. 1t wasn't long before had my
arms around her and stole kiss.
"She spoke some English and, point
ing to a house below, told me she was
on her way to a dance to take place
there. We soon heard the sound of
music, and the girl begged me to go
down with her, have a dance and get
back before the relief came. l was
tempted and fell. 1 went with her,
danced several times and was thinking
of returning when I was surrounded
and made q prisoner.
''They were about to take me out to
shoot me when the girl who had ar
ranged for my capture stood in the
door and jabbered Spanish at them
with constantly growing irritation. |
didn't know then what she said, but
learned afterward that having given
them three victims. she wished the
fourth to be spared. Finally she pre-
vailed, partly by threats to expose
them to our troops above and partly
by her influence over them. l was re-
leased and, accompanied by the girl,
started up to camp. 1 had plenty of
time to get there, but was dallying
with her, she showing plainly enough
that she had gone daft on me- 1 tried
to tear myself away from her, but
couldn't. l knew she had betrayed
three other men, but her preference
for me caught me, and while | was
trying to get away from her 1 heard
the relief visit my post. Then l knew
1 was too late, for if 1 went to camp
would be shot for being absent from
my post.
"That threw the whole matter into
the hands of the girl 1t was the same
as having sold my soul to the devil.
l deserted, and we went away togeth-
er. She deserted. too, for she never
went back home. Her people were
Spaniards, and the men who had been
bent on shooting me were Spaniards.
They lived about there with their fam
lilies, and had the girl told on them, as
she threatened to do, our colonel would
have arrested and shot them. They
had only consented to let me go on her
promise that she would keep me from
getting back to the command. OF
course, not understanding Spanish. I
didn't know this at the time or should
have been foreWarned"