When Faye heard my call of distress, he threw the bridle back on
Bettie, and slipping the shotgun through the sling on the saddle,
hurried over to me, not giving Bettie much thought. The horse has
always shown the greatest disinclination to leaving Pete, but having
her own free will that time, she did the unexpected and trotted to a
herd of mules not far off, and as she went down a little hill the
precious shotgun slipped out of the sling to the ground, and the stock
broke! The gun is perfectly useless, and the loss of it is great to us
and our friends. To be in this splendid game country without a shotgun
is deplorable; still, to have been buried in a hole of black water and
muck would have been worse.
Later. Such an awful wind storm burst upon us while I was writing two
days ago, I was obliged to stop. The day was cold and our tents were
closed tight to keep the heat in, so we knew nothing of the storm
until it struck us, and with such fierceness it seemed as if the tents
must go down. Instantly there was commotion in camp--some of the men
tightening guy ropes, and others running after blankets and pieces of
clothing that had been out for an airing, but every man laughed and
made fun of whatever he was doing. Soldiers are always so cheerful
under such difficulties, and I dearly love to hear them laugh, and
yell, too, over in their tents.
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