I Was Half Afraid That
The Commanding Officer Might Forbid My Going With Faye, As He Could
Have Done, But
He did not, and when he saw that I could not be
persuaded to change my mind, an ambulance was
Ordered to go with the
command, so I can have a shelter when it storms, for I shall ride
Bettie on the trip.
The distance over is one hundred and fifty miles right across
mountains and valleys, and there will be only a faint trail to guide
us, and I am anticipating great delight in such a long horseback ride
through a wild country. We will have everything for our comfort, too.
Faye will be in command, and that means much, and a young contract
surgeon, who has been recently appointed, will go with us, and our
Chinese cook will go also. I have always wanted to take a trip of this
kind, and know that it will be like one long picnic, only much nicer.
I never cared for real picnics - they always have so much headache
with them. We have very little to do for the march as our camp outfit
is in unusually fine condition. After Charlie's "flixee" so much
mess-chest china, Faye had made to order a complete set for four
people of white agate ware with blue bands. We have two sets of
plates, vegetable dishes, cups and saucers, egg cups, soup plates, and
a number of small pieces. The plates and dishes, also platters, can be
folded together, and consequently require very little room, and it is
a great comfort to know that these things are unbreakable, and that we
will not be left without plates for the table when we get in the
wilds, and the ware being white looks very nice, not in the least like
tin. It came yesterday, just in time.
The two squirrels I carried to the woods and turned loose. I could not
take them, and I would not leave them to be neglected perhaps. The
"Tiger" was still a tiger, and as wild and fierce as when he came from
the saw-mill, and was undoubtedly an old squirrel not to be taught new
tricks. The flying thing was wholly lacking in sense. I scattered
pounds of nuts all about and hope that the two little animals will not
suffer. The Chinaman insisted upon our taking those chickens! He goes
out every now and then and gives them big pans of food and talks to
them in Chinese with a voice and expression that makes one almost want
to weep, because the chickens have to be left behind.
We are to start on the eighteenth, and on the nineteenth we had
expected to give a dinner - a very nice one, too. I am awfully sorry
that we could not have given it before going away, for there are so
many things to do here during the winter. The doctor has had no
experience whatever in camp life, and we are wondering how he will
like it. He looks like a man who would much prefer a nice little
rocking-chair in a nice little room.
CAMP NEAR JUNOT'S, IN THE JUDITH BASIN,
August, 1880.
THIS will be left at a little trading store as we pass to-morrow
morning, with the hope that it will soon be taken on to Benton and
posted.
So far, the trip has been delightful, and every bit as nice as I had
anticipated. The day we left the post was more than hot - it was simply
scorching; and my whole face on the right side, ear and all, was
blistered before we got to the ferry. Just now I am going through a
process of peeling which is not beautifying, and is most painful.
Before we had come two miles it was discovered that a "washer" was
lacking on one of the wheels of a wagon, and a man was sent back on a
mule to get one. This caused a delay and made Faye cross, for it
really was inexcusable in the wagon master to send a wagon out on a
trip like this in that condition. The doctor did not start with the
command, but rode up while we were waiting for the man with the
washer. The soldiers were lounging on the ground near the wagons,
talking and laughing; but when they saw the doctor coming, there was
perfect silence over there, and I watched and listened, curious to see
what effect the funny sight would have upon them. First one sat up,
then another, and some stood up, then some one of them giggled, and
that was quite enough to start everyone of them to laughing. They were
too far away for the laughing and snickering to be disrespectful, or
even to be noticed much, but I knew why they laughed, for I laughed
too.
The doctor did not present a military appearance. He is the very
smallest man I ever saw, and he was on a government horse that is
known by its great height - sixteen hands and two inches, I
believe - and the little man's stirrups were about half way down the
horse's sides, and his knees almost on the horse's back. All three of
us are wearing officers' white cork helmets, but the doctor's is not a
success, being ever so much too large for his small head, consequently
it had tilted back and found a resting place on his shoulders,
covering his ears and the upper part of his already hot face. For a
whip he carried a little switch not much longer than his gauntlets,
and which would have puzzled the big horse, if struck by it. With it
all the little man could not ride, and as his government saddle was
evidently intended for a big person, he seemed uncertain as to which
was the proper place to sit - the pommel, the middle, or the curved
back. All during that first day's march the soldiers watched him.
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