George at the Fort | Page 4

for I have been
there. This is my third enlistment in the regular army."
"Is that so?" exclaimed Bob. "I should think that after so many years'
service you ought to be an officer."
"I was a non-com when I was discharged, and that is as high as any
enlisted man can get now," replied the soldier. "I was a captain during
the war, but they don't take men out of the ranks and make officers of
them any more. When I enlisted this time I had to go in as a private; but
I have my old warrants in my pocket, and perhaps they will help me get
a new one when I reach the post where I am to serve."
"What's a non-com?" asked Bob.
"Why, a non-commissioned officer," answered the soldier, staring at
Bob as if he were surprised at his ignorance. "You never did any
soldiering, I'll bet."
"No, I never did," replied the recruit; "this is my first experience."
"And before you get through with it you will wish that you had never
had any experience at all."
"Don't you think I shall like the army?"
"Well, I know I don't like it."
"Then why did you enlist again?"
"Because I couldn't do anything else. A man who has soldiered for

nearly fourteen years isn't fit for civil life. Now, make your citizen's
clothes into a bundle and take them around the corner to a little Jew
store you will find there. Mose buys all the recruits' cast-off clothing.
He'll not give you much for them, but the little he will give you will
keep you in gingerbread as long as you stay in the city."
"How long do you suppose that will be?"
"I am sure I don't know, but if recruits keep coming in as rapidly as
they have during the last few days, the lieutenant will probably take a
squad off next week."
"Where will he take it?"
"That's a conundrum. A private never knows where he is going until he
gets there."
"Where do you eat and sleep?"
"We take our meals at the restaurant next door, and having no bunks we
sleep on the benches in the office. You can go about the city as much as
you please, but you must be sure and report at meal-time. If you fail to
do that, you will have the police after you."
"Why will I?" asked Bob in surprise.
"Because the lieutenant will think you have deserted."
Bob was beginning to feel the tight rein of military discipline already.
At home he had always been accustomed to go and come when he
pleased, and he did not like the idea of having his liberty restricted or
of being obliged to obey without question the orders of a boy scarcely
older than himself. But it was too late to think of that now. The
youthful officer was backed up by the entire military and police force
of the United States, and there was no such thing as getting out of reach
of his authority.
"I am in for it," thought Bob as he rolled up his clothes and started for

the little Jew store around the corner, "but I don't know that I could
have done anything else. I shall have plenty to eat and a place to sleep,
and at the same time I shall be earning money to pay off that debt I owe
Dave Evans. What an idiot I was to keep that money! To pay for that
one act of folly and dishonesty I am compelled to waste some of the
best years of my life in the army. I hope I shall get a chance to show
them that I am no coward, if I am a greenhorn."
It was little indeed that Mose gave Bob for the articles he had to offer
for sale--just four dollars for clothing that had cost over thirty; but
those four dollars made him feel a little more independent. They
brought him a few delicacies to supplement the plain fare that was
served up to him and his companions at the cheap restaurant at which
they took their meals, and were the means of gaining him the friendship
of one of the recruits, Bristow by name, who stuck to him like a leech
until the last cent had been expended.
Bob remained in Galveston nearly two weeks, and during that time he
saw everything of interest there was to be seen in the city. Then he
began to grow tired of having nothing to do, and took to hanging about
the office as the others did, and making comments upon those who
presented themselves for enlistment. He was glad indeed when the
lieutenant mustered all the recruits one night and ordered them to