This Was In 1877, And Every One Will Remember That The
Ready-Made House-Gowns Were Not To Be Had In Those Days In The
Excellence And Profusion In Which They Can To-Day Be Found, In
All Parts Of The Country.
Now Mrs. Kendall was a tall, fine woman, much larger than I, but
I used her patterns without alterations, and the result was
something like a bag.
They were freshly laundried and cool,
however, and I did not place so much importance on the lines of
them, as the young women of the present time do. To-day, the
poorest farmer's wife in the wilds of Arkansas or Alaska can wear
better fitting gowns than I wore then. But my riding habits, of
which I had several kinds, to suit warm and cold countries, had
been left in Jack's care at Ehrenberg, and as long as these
fitted well, it did not so much matter about the gowns.
Captain Chaffee, who commanded the company of the Sixth Cavalry
stationed there, was away on leave, but Mr. Kendall, his first
lieutenant, consented for me to exercise "Cochise," Captain
Chaffee's Indian pony, and I had a royal time.
Cavalry officers usually hate riding: that is, riding for
pleasure; for they are in the saddle so much, for dead earnest
work; but a young officer, a second lieutenant, not long out from
the Academy, liked to ride, and we had many pleasant riding
parties. Mr. Dravo and I rode one day to the Mormon settlement,
seventeen miles away, on some business with the bishop, and a
Mormon woman gave us a lunch of fried salt pork, potatoes, bread,
and milk.
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