There are only two companies here now--all the others having gone with
regimental headquarters to Fort Shaw--otherwise I could not be here,
for I could not have come to a large camp. Our tents are at the
extreme end of the line in a grove of small trees, and next to ours is
the doctor's, so we are quite cut off from the rest of the camp. Cagey
is here, and Faye has a very good soldier cook, so the little mess,
including the doctor, is simply fine. I am famished all the time, for
everything tastes so delicious after the dreadful hotel fare. The two
horses are here, and I brought my saddle over, and this morning Faye
and I had a delightful ride out on the plain. But how I did miss my
dear dog! He was always so happy when with us and the horses, and his
joyous bounds and little runs after one thing and another added much
to the pleasure of our rides.
Fort Benton is ten miles from camp, and Faye met me there with an
ambulance. I was glad enough to get away from that old stage. It was
one of the jerky, bob-back-and-forth kind that pitches you off the
seat every five minutes. The first two or three times you bump heads
with the passenger sitting opposite, you can smile and apologize with
some grace, but after a while your hat will not stay in place and your
head becomes sensitive, and finally, you discover that the passenger
is the most disagreeable person you ever saw, and that the man sitting
beside you is inconsiderate and selfish, and really occupying two
thirds of the seat.
Pages:
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227