oss of their
ground. We must be going through a splendid country for game.

I was very ill for several days on the way up, the result of
malaria--perhaps too many scuppernong grapes at Pass Christian, and
jolting of the heavy army wagon that makes a small stone seem the size
of a boulder. One morning I was unable to walk or even stand up, and
Faye and Major Bryant carried me to the wagon on a buffalo robe. All of
that day's march Faye walked by the side of my wagon, and that allowed
him no rest whatever, for in order to make it as easy for me as
possible, my wagon had been placed at the extreme end of the long line.
The troops march fifty minutes and halt ten, and as we went much slower
than the men marched, we would about catch up with the column at each
rest, just when the bugle would be blown to fall in line again, and then
on the troops and wagons would go, Faye was kept on a continuous tramp.
I still think that he should have asked permission to ride on the wagon,
part of the day at least, but he would not do so.

One evening when the camp was near a ranch, I heard Doctor Gordon tell
Faye outside the tent that I must be left at the place in the morning,
that I was too ill to go farther! I said not a word about having heard
this, but I promised myself that I would go on. The dread of being left
with perfect strangers, of whom I knew nothing, and where I could not
possibly have medical attendance, did not improve my condition, but fear
gave me strength, and in the morning when camp broke I assured Doctor
Gordon that I was better, very much better, and stuck to it with so much
persistence that at last he consented to my going on. But during many
hours of the march that morning I was obliged to ride on my hands and
knees! The road was unusually rough and stony, and the jolting I could
not endure, sitting on the canvas or lying on the padded bottom of the
wagon.

It so happened that Faye was officer of the day that day, and Colonel
Fitz-James, knowing that he was under a heavy strain with a sick wife in
addition to the long marches, sent him one of his horses to ride--a very
fine animal and one of a matched team. At the first halt Faye missed
Hal, and riding back to the company saw he was not with the men, so he
went on to my wagon, but found that I was shut up tight, Cagey asleep,
and the dog not with us. He did not speak to either of us, but kept on
to the last wagon, where a laundress told him that she saw the dog