Charlie
Called Himself A Mason, And Has A Book That He Made Himself Which He
Said Was A "Mason-Man Blook," But I Learned Yesterday That He Is A
"High-Binder," No Mason At All, And For That Reason The Chinamen In
The Garrison Would Not Permit Him To Remain Here.
They were afraid of
him, yet he seemed so very trustworthy in every way.
But a highbinder
in one's own house!
There has been another departure from the family - Bettie has been
sold! Lieutenant Warren wanted her to match a horse he had recently
bought. The two make a beautiful little team, and Bettie is already a
great pet, and I am glad of that, of course, but I do not see the
necessity of Lieutenant Warren's giving her sugar right in front of
our windows! His quarters are near ours. He says that Bettie made no
objections to the harness, but drove right off with her mate.
There was a distressing occurrence in the garrison yesterday that I
cannot forget. At all army posts the prisoners do the rough work, such
as bringing the wood and water, keeping the yards tidy, bringing the
ice, and so on. Yesterday morning one of the general prisoners here
escaped from the sentry guarding him. The long-roll was beaten, and as
this always means that something is wrong and calls out all the
troops, officers and men, I ran out on the porch to see what was the
matter, fearing there might be a fire some place. It seemed a long
time before the companies got in line, and then I noticed that instead
of fire buckets they were carrying rifles. Directly every company
started off on double time and disappeared in between two sets of
barracks at one corner of the parade ground. Then everything was
unusually quiet; not a human being to be seen except the sentry at the
guardhouse, who was walking post.
It was pleasant, so I sat down, still feeling curious about the
trouble that was serious enough to call out all the troops. It was not
so very long before Lieutenant Todd, who was officer of the day, came
from the direction the companies had gone, pistol in hand, and in
front of him was a man with ball and chain. That means that his feet
were fastened together by a large chain, just long enough to permit
him to take short steps, and to that short chain was riveted a long
one, at the end of which was a heavy iron ball hanging below his belt.
When we see a prisoner carrying a ball and chain we know that he is a
deserter, or that he has done something very bad, which will probably
send him to the penitentiary, for these balls are never put on a
prisoner who has only a short time in the guardhouse.
The prisoner yesterday - who seemed to be a young man - walked slowly to
the guardhouse, the officer of the day following closely. Going up the
steps and on in the room to a cot, he unfastened the ball from his
belt and let it thunder down on the floor, and then throwing himself
down on the cot, buried his face in the blankets, an awful picture of
woe and despair. On the walk by the door, and looking at him with
contempt, stood a splendid specimen of manhood - erect, broad-chested,
with clear, honest eyes and a weather-beaten face - a typical soldier
of the United States Army, and such as he, the prisoner inside might
have become in time. Our house is separated from the guardhouse by a
little park only, and I could plainly see the whole thing - the strong
man and the weakling.
In the meantime, bugles had called the men back to quarters, and very
soon I learned all about the wretched affair. The misguided young man
had deserted once before, was found guilty by a general court-martial,
and sentenced to the penitentiary at Leavenworth for the regulation
time for such an offense, and to-morrow morning he was to have started
for the prison. Now he has to stand a second court-martial, and serve
a double sentence for desertion!
He was so silly about it too. The prisoners were at the large ice
house down by the river, getting ice out for the daily delivery. There
were sentinels over them, of course, but in some way that man managed
to sneak over the ice through the long building to an open door,
through which he dropped down to the ground, and then he ran. He was
missed almost instantly and the alarm given, but the companies were
sent to the lowland along the river, where there are bushes, for there
seemed to be no other place where he could possibly secrete himself.
The officer of the day is responsible, in a way, for the prisoners, so
of course Lieutenant Todd went to the ice house to find out the cause
of the trouble, and on his way back he accidentally passed an old
barrel-shaped water wagon. Not a sound was heard, but something told
him to look inside. He had to climb up on a wheel in order to get high
enough to look through the little square opening at the top, but he is
a tall man and could just see in, and peering down he saw the wretched
prisoner huddled at one end, looking more like an animal than a human
being. He ordered him to come out, and marched him to the guardhouse.
It was a strange coincidence, but the officer of the day happened to
have been promoted from the ranks, had served his three years as an
enlisted man, and then passed a stiff examination for a commission.
One could see by his walk that he had no sympathy for the mother's
baby. He knew from experience that a soldier's life is not hard unless
the soldier himself makes it so.
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