rs, and did them up in a fashion that astonished myself,
and when, after the soup, each guest was served with a hot oyster patty,
one of the cavalry officers fairly gasped. "Oyster patty, if I'm alive!
Where on earth--Bless my stars! And this at Camp Apache!"

"And by Holy Jerusalem! they are good, too," claimed Captain Reilly, and
turning to Bowen, he said: "Bowen, did you make these?"

Bowen straightened himself up to his six foot two, clapped his heels
together, and came to "attention," looked straight to the front, and
replied: "Yes, sir."

I thought I heard Captain Reilly say in an undertone to his neighbor,
"The hell he did," but I was not sure.

At that season, we got excellent wild turkeys there, and good Southdown
mutton, and one could not complain of such living.

But I could never get accustomed to the wretched small space of one room
and a hall; for the kitchen, being detached, could scarcely be counted
in. I had been born and brought up in a spacious house, with plenty
of bedrooms, closets, and an immense old-time garret. The forlorn
makeshifts for closets, and the absence of all conveniences, annoyed
me and added much to the difficulties of my situation. Added to this, I
soon discovered that my husband had a penchant for buying and collecting
things which seemed utterly worthless to me, and only added to the
number of articles to be handled and packed away. I begged him to
refrain, and to remember that he was married, and that we had not the
money to spend in such ways. He really did try to improve, and denied
himself the taking of many an alluring share in raffles for old saddles,
pistols, guns, and cow-boy's stuff, which were always being held at the
cutler's store.

But an auction of condemned hospital stores was too much for him, and
he came in triumphantly one day, bringing a box of antiquated dentist's
instruments in his hand.

"Good gracious!" I cried, "what can you ever do with those forceps?"

"Oh! they are splendid," he said, "and they will come in mighty handy
some time."

I saw that he loved tools and instruments, and I reflected, why not?
There are lots of things I have a passion for, and love, just as he
loves those things and I shall never say any more about it. "Only," I
added, aloud, "do not expect me to pack up such trash when we come to
move; you will have to look out for it yourself."

So with that spiteful remark from me, the episode of the forceps was
ended, for the time a