On the ground close to the
water was the carcass of a calf, which had evidently been filled with
poison for wolves, and near it on the bank lay Magic, Deacon, Dixie,
and other hounds, all dead or dying! Blue has bad teeth and was still
gnawing at the meat, and therefore had not been to the water, which
causes almost instant death in cases of poisoning by wolf meat.
As soon as Lieutenant Alden saw that the other dogs were past doing
for, he hurried on to the post with Blue, and with great difficulty
saved her life. So Hal and his mother are sole survivors of the
greyhounds that have been known at many of the frontier posts as
fearless and tireless hunters, and plucky fighters when forced to
fight. Greyhounds will rarely seek a fight, a trait that sometimes
fools other dogs and brings them to their Waterloo. When Lieutenant
Alden told me of the death of the dogs, tears came in his eyes as he
said, "I have shared my bed with old Magic many a time!" And how those
dogs will be missed at the bachelor quarters! When we came here last
summer, I was afraid that the old hounds would pounce upon Hal, but
instead of that they were most friendly and seemed to know he was one
of them--a wanderer returned.
ST. CHARLES HOTEL, NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA,
September, 1877.
LIFE in the Army is certainly full of surprises! At Pass Christian
yesterday morning, Faye and I were sitting on the veranda reading the
papers in an indifferent sort of way, when suddenly Faye jumped up and
said, "The Third has been ordered to Montana Territory!" At first I
could not believe him--it seemed so improbable that troops would be
sent to such a cold climate at this season of the year, and besides,
most of the regiment is at Pittsburg just now because of the great
coal strike.
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