The poor lad's hands are pretty
sore from handling his gun. The captain halted before him the other day
as we were doing the manual, and fixed him with a cold eye. "Hit that gun
harder," he said. "You can't hurt it with your hands." David faintly
smiled, and now he is trying to callous his palms.

We ate our breakfasts in our ponchos: there is no place to hang them up,
and they make very good bibs. And in our ponchos we marched; they covered
the packs, making us look like pedlers, or as Knudsen said, like camels.
We kept our rifles dry under them, but were not long dry ourselves, for
these service ponchos not being exactly waterproof, soon wet through at
the knees, or wherever else we rubbed as we marched. I am therefore
rather envious of David's fine new poncho, of best rubber. If I come
again I shall have one of my own--a poncho, remember, and not the
civilian rubber coat with which some have supplied themselves.

They marched us this morning first to the post gymnasium, and there we
sat in a great half-circle while Major Stewart explained to us the
history of army packs, and some facts about the one that bears his name.
Our men in other wars have abandoned their packs on entering battle, they
were such encumbrances in skirmishing. In the battle of San Juan
thousands of packs were dropped by the roadside, and the men finished
their fighting without rations. But the new pack may be worn both in
marching and in shooting; further, on expecting battle the rolls may be
made short, and then are strapped to the lower part of the haversack.
This part, on drawing out a leather strap, falls to the ground, and the
men go forward lightened of the heaviest part of their burden, but yet
carrying food enough for the day's work. At its worst the Stewart pack
is, compared to the old blanket roll, many pounds to the good.

And yet, mother, though wise Mr. Bryan has bragged of our ability to put
an army of a million men into the field overnight, of the few thousands
at the border a fair half are still equipped with the old pack. Is the
rest of the million to be proportionately well fitted out?

In order to show that the pack will fit anyone, the Major called for the
tallest man in the regiment. A strapping big fellow of perhaps
thirty-five got up and stepped confidently onto the platform, amid the
cheers of the crowd, and the Major prepared to strap the pack onto him.
But I heard from behind me various urgent cries of "Go on up!" and