y seemed to look at this frontier life
philosophically--what she really thought about it, I never knew. Mrs.
Bailey was so much occupied by the care of her young child and various
out-door amusements, that she did not, apparently, think much about
things that happened around us. At all events, she never seemed inclined
to talk about them. There was no one else to talk to; the soil was
strange, and the atmosphere a foreign one to me; life did not seem to
be taken seriously out there, as it was back in New England, where they
always loved to sit down and talk things over. I was downright lonesome
for my mother and sisters.

I could not go out very much at that time, so I occupied myself a good
deal with needle-work.

One evening we heard firing across the canon. Jack caught up his sword,
buckling on his belt as he went out. "Injuns fighting on the other side
of the river," some soldier reported. Finding that it did not concern
us, Jack said, "Come out into the back yard, Martha, and look over the
stockade, and I think you can see across the river." So I hurried out to
the stockade, but Jack, seeing that I was not tall enough, picked up
an empty box that stood under the window of the room belonging to the
Doctor, when, thud! fell something out onto the ground, and rolled away.
I started involuntarily. It was dark in the yard. I stood stock still.
"What was that?" I whispered.

"Nothing but an old Edam cheese," said this true-hearted soldier of
mine. I knew it was not a cheese, but said no more. I stood up on the
box, watched the firing like a man, and went quietly back into the
quarters. After retiring, I said, "You might just a swell tell me now,
you will have to sooner or later, what was in the box--it had a dreadful
sound, as it rolled away on the ground."

"Well," said he, "if you must know, it was an Injun's head that the
Doctor had saved, to take to Washington with him. It had a sort of a
malformed skull or jaw-bone or something. But he left it behind--I guess
it got a leetle to old for him to carry," he laughed. "Somebody told me
there was a head in the yard, but I forgot all about it. Lucky thing you
didn't see it, wasn't it? I suppose you'd been scared--well, I must tell
the fatigue party to-morrow to take it away. Now don't let me forget
it," and this soldier of many battles fell into the peaceful slumber
which comes to those who know not fear.

The next day I overheard him telling Major Worth what had happe