Show SOMETHING IN STORE fOR BOYS A Experience On Picket Duty Related By a Cuban Campaigner I Cam-paigner I We had never before teen away from the main body of the army said I a young soldier Of course we knew i what it was to do picket duty That part of soldiering we had learned at I Peekskill But somehow or other everyman every-man in our regiment seems to dread performing the same duty here in Cuba and when the sergeant told me that I was detailed for the squad to be i sent out that evening I would have given all that I possessed to have been seized with apoplexy or any other i troublethat would have enabled me to i escape the ordeal The sergeant you I remember Billy said he was awfully i sorry but couldnt help f and there I was nothing to do but get ready to start out for the to me unknown I place at which I was to be left alone to listen it was too dark to see for I the approach of the Spanish volunteers l I was just about unset when we were drawn up and counted by the sergeant i who reported to Captain Smith that all were present I Then the captain gave the command com-mand By twos htg turn forward I and we there were 20 of us started at a walk toward a forest on the slope of a mountain which was a couple of miles from camp We had not gone more than half a mile when a ragged longhaired Cuban who seemed to emerge from the road stood before us He looked for all the world like a cutthroat cut-throat and my heart stopped beating as he raised his rifle and pointed I directly at Tom Before we had time to know whether he was going to shoot or not he said something in Spanish Tom lifted his regulation felt hat and paced t on the pommel of his saddle The man immediately lowered his I rifle and bowing almost to the ground I advanced with outstretched hand Tommy and Bill rode a few paces ahead of us and after talking a few minutes Bill came back and ordered Us to march The Cuban and Tommy went 10 or 1 feet ahead of us We could catch a word now and then and I discovered that the Cuban spoke English all right The country Is full of them sir he said and I advise you to leave your horses well in the rear I YOU insist upon keeping your animals ani-mals their hoofs must be wrapped in blankets otherwise the noise of their shoes striking the stones will be a dead giveaway Tommy at once ordered a halt and in a remarkably short time we had cutup cut-up our > thin blankets and tied them around our horses feet The Cuban then started on foot with Tommy riding rid-ing by his side and the rest of us following fol-lowing twos front This order prevailed pre-vailed until the edge of the forest was reached Then Tommy ordered us to dismount and tie our horses to the trees treesAfter a consultation between our captain and sergeant and the Cuban the order was given in a whisper for 16 of us to prepare to spend the night there with the horses and the other four including Billy to follow the Cuban I Cu-ban who was to post us wherever he pleased Tommy shook hands with us four and said Boys youre now going go-ing on a dangerous expedition but it is even more honorable than dangerous Upon you depends the safety not only of those of us whom you are to leave here but of the entire army as well Your orders are to fire upon anybody whom you may seeIf you can see in this jungle and then i there seems to be an enemy near fire twice as quickly as you can do so We will hear your shots and IfYou fire only once I shall send a man to ou If you fire three time as I have ordered you will have to look out for yourselves You will b 200 and beats posted yards apart your bet will join enabling you jointly to c or at least hear all that goes On along the southern or furthest slope of the mountain The countersign which you are to give one another and which we shall give to you when we relieve you at daybreak is Sigsbee forever With these directions we started afoot led by the Cuban and were soon lost in the forest This man said never a word until we came upon a promontory promon-tory overlooking the ground which we had just traversed In the distance like stars in a half hazy night I saw hundreds of bright specks which I concluded con-cluded were our campflres The Cuban whispered something to Billy who halted ua I was told that this was my post and that I was to walk one hundred hun-dred Daces to the west and retrace my steps using the campfires a a guide until they were put out which would be about 8 oclock I was to stop walkIng walk-Ing every few seconds and listen I I heard the twigs crackling I was to He down and watch My neighbor would whistle softly one Jong note and by this I was to know him and challenge The boys bade me good luck and I was alone For the first time in my life I knew what solitude meant The air was heavy and the stillness filled me with a strange feeling of utter hopelessness I stood where I was when the boys left for their posts until the sound of crackling crack-ling twigs was lost in the general murmur mur-mur of the wilderness of intertwining foliage Perspiration came upon my face I heard my heart beat in rhythm with mv watch Strange sounds kept me in a state of tension I seemed an I hour since my comrades left me and r h not patrolled my beat had not moved I could not se the face of my watchYou You must do your duty my conscience con-science said Be a man be a man I raised my gun and cocked It The click was so loud that it terrified me I seemed as i i must be heard by any I i enemy lurking in wait to catch me oft I guard Lowering the hammer a carefully care-fully a possible I held the gun at I charge bayonets and crept forward In I i the direction laid out for me by the Cuban Several times I fell in the underbrush un-derbrush scratching my face and i hands until I felt the blood trickling over my skin I continued on in this way until I seemed that I had covered the full distance of my beat Many I times I had been on the point of firing I but had by superhuman effort mastered master-ed my terror I had forgotten all about the campfires which were to have I I served a my guide and now could not i find them I was lost Groping my way I came to a gigantic tree around which was a I clear space without bush or rock I leaned my back against it and stood with cocked rifle listening Presently I I heard a sharp click immediately in front of me My knees trembled and the veins on my neck and temples throbbed so that I was scarcely able to II retain my feet The sound increased Distinctly I I heard human voices in whispered conversation con-versation Nearer and nearer came this I I sound I was Spanish Halt Who goes there rang out I I like a trumpet blast I Before an answer could have been given there was the sharp report of a I rife By its flash I saw my partner the next beat The sound gave me nerve I frt in the direction of retreating footsteps II A scream of agony was the answer AgainHalt I Halt I Sigsbee I cried I Is It you Jim Give it aU I Sigsbee forever I shouted now II assured of a friends presence We searched the ground until we I were worn out I we had hit a man I he had escaped we thought But in this i we were wrong for when relief came I just after daybreak we found one of the Spanish volunteers dead In a clump of bushes shot through the lungs Jim told me when we had a chance to talk over our first nights experi I ence as videttes that there were two men and that they passed within ten I feet of him He fired at the sound and the bullet went true I Picket duty Is an old story nowa disagreeable story still but we get I used to anything you know and I dont dread it a I did the first night in I I the Cuban forestNew York Sun |