He At Once Started Off On A Fine
Inspection-Day Reprimand, But I Was Tired And Cross And Reminded Him
That it was he who had told us that the camp would be only one mile
from us, and if
We had not listened to him we would not have stopped
at all. Then we all laughed!
Captain and Mrs. Spencer had become worried, and the ambulance was
just starting back for us when fortunately we appeared. Miss Hayes
cannot understand yet why I went down to that wagon. The child does
not fear tramps and desperadoes, simply because she has never
encountered them. Whether my move was wise or unwise, I knew that down
on the road we could run - up among the rocks we could not. Besides, I
have the satisfaction of knowing that once in my life I outgeneraled a
man - two men - and whether they were friends or foes I care not now. I
was wearing an officer's white cork helmet at the time, and possibly
that helped matters a little. But why did they call to us - why beckon
for us to come down? It was my birthday too. That evening Mrs. Spencer
made some delicious punch and brought out the last of the huge fruit
cake she made for the trip. We had bemoaned the fact of its having all
been eaten, and all the time she had a piece hidden away for my
birthday, as a great surprise.
We have had one very stormy day. It began to rain soon after we broke
camp in the morning, not hard, but in a cold, penetrating drizzle.
Captain and Mrs. Spencer were riding that day and continued to ride
until luncheon, and by that time they were wet to the skin and shaking
from the cold. We were nearing the falls, the elevation was becoming
greater and the air more chilling every minute. We had expected to
reach the Yellowstone River that day, but it was so wet and
disagreeable that Captain Spencer decided to go into camp at a little
spring we came to in the early afternoon, and which was about four
miles from here. The tents were pitched just above the base of a
hill - you would call it a mountain in the East - and in a small grove
of trees. The ground was thickly carpeted with dead leaves, and
everything looked most attractive from the ambulance.
When Miss Hayes and I went to our tent, however, to arrange it, we
found that underneath that thick covering of leaves a sheet of water
was running down the side of the hill, and with every step our feet
sank down almost ankle deep in the wet leaves and water. Each has a
little iron cot, and the two had been set up and the bedding put upon
them by the soldiers, and they looked so inviting we decided to rest a
while and get warm also. But much to our disgust we found that our
mattresses were wet and all of our blankets more or less wet, too. It
was impossible to dry one thing in the awful dampness, so we folded
the blankets with the dry part on top as well as we could, and then
"crawled in." We hated to get up for dinner, but as we were guests, we
felt that we must do so, but for that meal we waited in vain - not one
morsel of dinner was prepared that night, and Miss Hayes and I envied
the enlisted men when we got sniffs of their boiling coffee. Only a
soldier could have found dry wood and a place for making coffee that
night.
When it is at all wet Faye always has our tents "ditched," that is,
the sod turned up on the canvas all around the bottom. So just before
dark I asked Captain Spencer if the men could not do that to our tent,
and it was done without delay. It made a great difference in our
comfort, for at once the incoming of the water was stopped. We all
retired early that night, and notwithstanding our hunger, and the wet
below and above us, our sleep was sound. In the morning we found
several inches of snow on the ground and the whole country was white.
The snow was so moist and clinging, that the small branches of trees
were bent down with its weight, and the effect of the pure white on
the brilliant greens was enchanting. Over all was the glorious
sunshine that made the whole grand scene glisten and sparkle like
fairyland. And that day was the twenty-sixth of August!
It was wretchedly cold, and our heaviest wraps seemed thin and light.
Lottie gave us a nice hot breakfast, and after that things looked much
more cheerful. By noon most of the snow had disappeared, and after an
early luncheon we came on to these dry, piney woods, that claim an
elevation of nine thousand feet. The rarefied air affects people so
differently. Some breathe laboriously and have great difficulty in
walking at all, while to others it is most exhilarating, and gives
them strength to walk great distances. Fortunately, our whole party is
of the latter class.
Yesterday morning early we all started for a tramp down the canon. I
do not mean that we were in the canon by the river, for that would
have been impossible, but that we went along the path that runs close
to the edge of the high cliff. We carried our luncheon with us, so
there was no necessity for haste, and every now and then we sat upon
the thick carpet of pine needles to rest, and also study the marvelous
coloring of the cliffs across the river. The walls of the canon are
very high and very steep - in many places perpendicular - and their
strata of brilliant colors are a marvel to everyone. It was a day to
be remembered, and no one seemed to mind being a little tired when we
returned late in the afternoon.
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