I
Had Thought My Coat Much Longer Than It Really Was - That Is All I Am
Willing To Say About It.
I was utterly worn out, and every bone in my
body seemed to be rebelling about something, still I could not sleep,
but listened constantly for Billie.
I blamed myself so much for not
having shut up the cat and fancied I heard the cat chasing him.
After a long, long time, it seemed hours, I heard a faint noise like a
scratch on tin, and lighting a lamp quickly, I went to the kitchen and
then listened. But not a sound was to be heard. At the farther end a
bank had been cut out to make room for the kitchen, which gave it a
dirt wall almost to the low ceiling, and all across this wall were
many rows of shelves where tins of all sorts and cooking utensils were
kept, and just above the top shelf was a hole where the cat could go
out on the bank. I put the lamp back of me on the table and kept very
still and looked all along the shelves, but saw nothing of Billie.
Finally, I heard the little scratch again, and looking closely at some
large tins where I thought the sound had come from, I saw the little
squirrel. He was sitting up in between two of the pans that were
almost his own color, with his head turned one side, and "hands on his
heart," watching me inquisitively with one black eye.
He was there and apparently unharmed, but to catch him was another
matter. I approached him in the most cautious manner, talking and
cooing to him all the time, and at last I caught him, and the little
fellow was so glad to be with friends once more, he curled himself in
my hands, and put two little wet paws around a thumb and held on
tight. It was raining, and he was soaking wet, so he must have been
out of doors. It would have been heartbreaking to have been obliged to
come away without finding that little grayback, and perhaps never know
what became of him. I know where my dear dog is, and that is bad
enough. We heard just before leaving the post that men of the company
had put up a board at Hal's grave with his name cut in it. We knew
that they loved him and were proud of him, but never dreamed that any
one of them would show so much sentiment. Faye has taken the horses
with him and Cagey also.
The young men of Helena gave the officers an informal dance last
night. At first it promised to be a jolly affair, but finally, as the
evening wore on, the army people became more and more quiet, and at
the last it was distressing to see the sad faces that made dancing
seem a farce. They are going to an Indian country, and the separation
may be long. I expect to remain here for the present, but shall make
every effort to get to Benton after a while, where I will be nearly
one hundred and fifty miles nearer Faye. The wife of the adjutant and
her two little children are in this house, and other families of
officers are scattered all over the little town.
YOU will see that at last I decided to move over to this hotel. I made
a great mistake in not coming before and getting away from the cross
old housekeeper at the International, who could not be induced by
entreaties, fees, or threats, to get the creepy, crawly things out of
my room. How I wish that every one of them would march over to her
some fine night and keep her awake as they have kept me. It made me so
unhappy to leave Mrs. Hull there with a sick child, but she would not
come with me, although she must know it would be better for her and
the boy to be here, where everything is kept so clean and attractive.
There are six wives of officers in the house, among them the wife of
General Bourke, who is in command of the regiment. She invited me to
sit at her table, and I find it very pleasant there. She is a bride
and almost a stranger to us.
The weather has been playing all sorts of pranks upon us lately, and
we hardly know whether we are in the far North or far South. For two
weeks it was very warm, positively hot in this gulch, but yesterday we
received a cooling off in the form of a brisk snowstorm that lasted
nearly two hours. Mount Helena was white during the rest of the day,
and even now long streaks of snow can be seen up and down the peak.
But a snowstorm in August looked very tame after the awful cloud-burst
that came upon us without warning a few days before, and seemed
determined to wash the whole town down to the Missouri River.
It was about eleven o'clock, and four of us had gone to the shops to
look at some pretty things that had just been brought over from a boat
at Fort Benton by ox train. Mrs. Pierce and Mrs. Hull had stopped at a
grocery next door, expecting to join Mrs. Joyce and me in a few
minutes. But before they could make a few purchases, a few large drops
of rain began to splash down, and there was a fierce flash of
lightning and deafening thunder, then came the deluge! Oceans of water
seemed to be coming down, and before we realized what was happening,
things in the street and things back of the store were being rushed to
the valley below.
All along the gulch runs a little stream that comes from the canon
above the town.
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