The Galleon, Volume 1, Number 1, December 1924 Page: 8
41 p. : ill. ; 22 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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THE GALLEON
so many prairie dog mounds
stark naked and barren of any
verdure, row upon row of little
earthen hills, the homes of the
dead, each surrounded with lit-
tle patches of dry grass and
weeds.
It was a moonlight night, not
extremely bright but clear
enough for me to see quite a dis-
tance with ease. Yes, as I walk-
ed toward the grave yard I was
totally oblivious to the world
about me, and my eyes that
stared straight ahead, saw
nothing. I was thinking, think-
ing of Charley and the straight-
ness and mystery of his life. I
was thinking too, of the many
things that he had told me in
our confidential talks. A
strange and inexplicable feeling
arose, as it were, from these
thoughts and settled about me
like a mist; a feeling I had nev-
er before experienced. There
was certainly nothing of fear in
it, only a kind of breathless ex-
pectancy, and as the feeling
grew on me I discovered that I
had unconsciously quickened my
gait and was nearing my destin-
ation.
The appearance of the grave-
yardi I found ti be quite the
same in the moonlight as in the
sun; night had failed to rob it
of its look of forlorn desolation.
There was nothing here either
grim or ghastly, I reflected
there was nothing of that clam-
my atmosphere that is suppos-
ed to chill the lone watcher. I
was sensible only to a feeling of
pity at its aspect of poverty and
loneliness. Small wonder that
one who knew the place as well
as Charley had, should feeel the
need of company in the still
hours that he knew his body
must spend here. Normally I
would have laughed at myself
for such thoughts, but not sonow. besides this was a part of
the tribute I paid him, to feel
thus toward him as if he were
still alive and had merely asked
me to pay him a visit.
I found the place easily, a new
mound, quite like the others, a
little higher, a little fresher, and
still adorned with the withered
remains of the wreaths we had
brought him. Beside the little
wooden slab I stood and faced
the east.
I would stay about fiftten or
twenty minutes, that would be
time enough, then I would leave
quietly as I had come and that
would be the end of it. I knew
that nothing would happen, just
a matter of meeting an obliga-
tion to a friend who had passed
on. Strange that the feeling of
nervousness had not left me,
but it would pass I assured my-
self, and waited with patience
as the minutes dragged heavily
on.
I glanced about the grave-
yard, mound after mound,
slab after slab, I surveyed in
silence. There was no move-
ment anywhere, all was still. No
night wind stirred the dead
grass stalks or whistled eeriely
among the wooden slabs. No
cricket chirped, no owl hooted,
silence enveloped the sleeping
city, the silence of the dead. I
stood alone among the dead. The
thought did not chill me, I was
here by invitation, invited by
one of their number. I was no
intruder to disturb their sleep;
I was their guest; tonight I
stood watch with them.
My glance drifted back to the
grave at my feet. My shadow
some three feet long, stretched
half may across the mound of
earth. I gazed at it long and
silently with half seeing eyes.
Charley, I reflected, would nev-
er cast a shadow again. Shad-
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McMurry College. The Galleon, Volume 1, Number 1, December 1924, periodical, December 1924; Abilene, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth137771/m1/8/: accessed May 15, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting McMurry University Library.