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Roe, Frances Marie Antoinette Mack

"Army Letters from an Officer's Wife, 1871-1888"

People stared, and soon there was a crowd about
us with an abundance of curiosity. Cagey explained the situation, and
from then on to train time, Hal was patted and petted and given
dainties from lunch baskets.
He was in the car next to ours, coming out, and we saw him often. Many
times there were long runs across the plains, when the only thing to
be seen, far or near, would be the huge tanks containing water for the
engines. At one of these places, while we were getting water. Cagey
happened to be asleep, and a recruit, thinking that Hal was
ill-treated by being kept tied all the time, unfastened the chain from
his collar and led him from the car.
The first thing the dog saw was another dog, and alas! a greyhound
belonging to Ryan, an old soldier. The next thing he saw was the dear,
old, beautiful plains, for which he had pined so long and wearily. The
two dogs had never seen each other before, but hounds are clannish and
never fail to recognize their own kind, so with one or two jumps by
way of introduction, the two were off and out of sight before anyone
at the cars noticed what they were doing. I was sitting by the window
in our car and saw the dogs go over the rolling hill, and saw also
that a dozen or more soldiers were running after them. I told Faye
what had happened, and he started out and over the hill on a hard run.


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