I related my
difficulties to Jack, and told him I thought we should never be
able to manage with such kitchen utensils as were furnished by
the Q. M. D.
"Oh, pshaw! You are pampered and spoiled with your New England
kitchens," said he; "you will have to learn to do as other army
women do - cook in cans and such things, be inventive, and learn
to do with nothing." This was my first lesson in
army house-keeping.
After my unpractical teacher had gone out on some official
business, I ran over to Mrs. Wilhelm's quarters and said, "Will
you let me see your kitchen closet?"
She assented, and I saw the most beautiful array of tin-ware,
shining and neat, placed in rows upon the shelves and hanging
from hooks on the wall.
"So!" I said; "my military husband does not know anything about
these things;" and I availed myself of the first trip of the
ambulance over to Cheyenne, bought a stock of tin-ware and had it
charged, and made no mention of it - because I feared that
tin-ware was to be our bone of contention, and I put off the evil
day.
The cooking went on better after that, but I did not have much
assistance from Adams.
I had great trouble at first with the titles and the rank: but I
soon learned that many of the officers were addressed by the
brevet title bestowed upon them for gallant service in the Civil
War, and I began to understand about the ways and customs of the
army of Uncle Sam. In contrast to the Germans, the American
lieutenants were not addressed by their title (except
officially); I learned to "Mr." all the lieutenants who had no
brevet.
One morning I suggested to Adams that he should wash the front
windows; after being gone a half hour, to borrow a step-ladder,
he entered the room, mounted the ladder and began. I sat writing.
Suddenly, he faced around, and addressing me, said, "Madam, do
you believe in spiritualism?"
"Good gracious! Adams, no; why do you ask me such a question ?"
This was enough; he proceeded to give a lecture on the subject
worthy of a man higher up on the ladder of this life. I bade him
come to an end as soon as I dared (for I was not accustomed to
soldiers), and suggested that he was forgetting his work.
It was early in April, and the snow drifted through the crevices
of the old dried-out house, in banks upon our bed; but that was
soon mended, and things began to go smoothly enough, when Jack
was ordered to join his company, which was up at the Spotted Tail
Agency. It was expected that the Sioux under this chief would
break out at any minute. They had become disaffected about some
treaty. I did not like to be left alone with the Spiritualist, so
Jack asked one of the laundresses, whose husband was out with the
company, to come and stay and take care of me. Mrs. Patten was an
old campaigner; she understood everything about officers and
their ways, and she made me absolutely comfortable for those two
lonely months. I always felt grateful to her; she was a dear old
Irish woman.
All the families and a few officers were left at the post, and,
with the daily drive to Cheyenne, some small dances and
theatricals, my time was pleasantly occupied.
Cheyenne in those early days was an amusing but unattractive
frontier town; it presented a great contrast to the old
civilization I had so recently left. We often saw women in cotton
wrappers, high-heeled slippers, and sun-bonnets, walking in the
main streets. Cows, pigs, and saloons seemed to be a feature of
the place.
In about six weeks, the affairs of the Sioux were settled, and
the troops returned to the post. The weather began to be
uncomfortably hot in those low wooden houses. I missed the
comforts of home and the fresh sea air of the coast, but I tried
to make the best of it.
Our sleeping-room was very small, and its one window looked out
over the boundless prairie at the back of the post. On account of
the great heat, we were obliged to have this window wide open at
night. I heard the cries and wails of various animals, but Jack
said that was nothing - they always heard them.
Once, at midnight, the wails seemed to be nearer, and I was
terrified; but he told me 'twas only the half-wild cats and
coyotes which prowled around the post. I asked him if they ever
came in. "Gracious, no!" he said; "they are too wild."
I calmed myself for sleep - when like lightning, one of the huge
creatures gave a flying leap in at our window, across the bed,
and through into the living-room.
"Jerusalem!" cried the lieutenant, and flew after her, snatching
his sword, which stood in the corner, and poking vigorously under
the divan.
I rolled myself under the bed-covers, in the most abject terror
lest she might come back the same way; and, true enough, she did,
with a most piercing cry. I never had much rest after that
occurrence, as we had no protection against these wild-cats.
The regiment, however, in June was ordered to Arizona, that
dreaded and then unknown land, and the uncertain future was
before me. I saw the other women packing china and their various
belongings. I seemed to be helpless. Jack was busy with things
outside. He had three large army chests, which were brought in
and placed before me. "Now," he said, "all our things must go
into those chests" - and I supposed they must.
