We could not have
had him with us, in the very heart of New Orleans, for he had already
been stolen from us at Jackson Barracks, a military post!
With him passed the very last of his blood, a breed of greyhounds that
was known in Texas, Kansas, and Colorado as wonderful hunters, also
remarkable for their pluck and beauty of form. Hal was a splendid
hunter, and ever on the alert for game. Not one morsel of it would he
eat, however, not even a piece of domestic fowl, which he seemed to
look upon as game. Sheep he considered fine game, and would chase them
every opportunity that presented itself. This was his one bad trait,
an expensive one sometimes, but it was the only one, and was
overbalanced many times by his lovable qualities that made him a
favorite with all. Every soldier in the company loved him and was
proud of him, and would have shared his dinner with the dog any day if
called upon to do so.
NATIONAL HOTEL, HELENA, MONTANA TERRITORY,
May, 1878.
TO hear that we are no longer at Camp Baker will be a surprise, but
you must have become accustomed to surprises of this kind long ago.
Regimental headquarters, the companies that have been quartered at the
Helena fair grounds during the winter, and the two companies from Camp
Baker, started from here this morning on a march to the Milk River
country, where a new post is to be established on Beaver Creek. It is
to be called Fort Assiniboine. The troops will probably be in camp
until fall, when they will go to Fort Shaw.
We had been given no warning whatever of this move, and had less than
two days in which to pack and crate everything. And I can assure you
that in one way it was worse than being ranked out, for this time
there was necessity for careful packing and crating, because of the
rough mountain roads the wagons had to come over. But there were no
accidents, and our furniture and boxes are safely put away here in a
government storehouse.
At the time the order came, Faye was recorder for a board of survey
that was being held at the post, and this, in addition to turning over
quartermaster and other property, kept him hard at work night and day,
so the superintendence of all things pertaining to the house and camp
outfit fell to my lot. The soldiers were most willing and most
incompetent, and it kept me busy telling them what to do. The
mess-chest, and Faye's camp bedding are always in readiness for
ordinary occasions, but for a camp of several months in this climate,
where it can be really hot one day and freezing cold the next, it was
necessary to add many more things. Just how I managed to accomplish so
much in so short a time I do not know, but I do know that I was up and
packing every precious minute the night before we came away, and the
night seemed very short too. But everything was taken to the wagons in
very good shape, and that repaid me for much of the hard work and
great fatigue.
And I was tired - almost too tired to sit up, but at eight o'clock I
got in an ambulance and came nearly forty miles that one day! Major
Stokes and Captain Martin had been on the board of survey, and as they
were starting on the return trip to Helena, I came over with them,
which not only got me here one day in advance of the company, but
saved Faye the trouble of providing for me in camp on the march from
Camp Baker. We left the post just as the troops were starting out.
Faye was riding Bettie and Cagey was on Pete.
I brought Billie, of course, and at Canon Ferry I lost that squirrel!
After supper I went directly to my room to give him a little run and
to rest a little myself, but before opening his box I looked about for
places where he might escape, and seeing a big crack under one of the
doors, covered it with Faye's military cape, thinking, as I did so,
that it would be impossible for a squirrel to crawl through such a
narrow place. Then I let him out. Instead of running around and shying
at strange objects as he usually does, he ran straight to that cape,
and after two or three pulls with his paws, flattened his little gray
body, and like a flash he and the long bushy tail disappeared! I was
en deshabille, but quickly slipped on a long coat and ran out after
him.
Very near my door was one leading to the kitchen, and so I went on
through, and the very first thing stumbled over a big cat! This made
me more anxious than ever, but instead of catching the beast and
shutting it up, I drove it away. In the kitchen, which was dining room
also, sat the two officers and a disagreeable old man, and at the
farther end was a woman washing dishes. I told them about Billie and
begged them to keep very quiet while I searched for him. Then that old
man laughed. That was quite too much for my overtaxed nerves, and I
snapped out that I failed to see anything funny. But still he laughed,
and said, "Perhaps you don't, but we do." I was too worried and
unhappy to notice what he meant, and continued to look for Billie.
But the little fellow I could not find any place in the house or
outside, where we looked with a lantern. When I returned to my room I
discovered why the old man laughed, for truly I was a funny sight.
