ce; there are so many married officers, that the Government has
had to stretch a point."

After indulging in some rather harsh comments upon a government which
could treat lieutenants' wives so shabbily, I began to investigate my
surroundings.

Jack had placed his furnishings (some lace curtains, camp chairs, and a
carpet) in the living-room, and there was a forlorn-looking bedstead in
the bedroom. A pine table in the dining-room and a range in the kitchen
completed the outfit. A soldier had scrubbed the rough floors with a
straw broom: it was absolutely forlorn, and my heart sank within me.

But then I thought of Mrs. Wilhelm's quarters, and resolved to try my
best to make ours look as cheerful and pretty as hers. A chaplain was
about leaving the post and wished to dispose of his things, so we
bought a carpet of him, a few more camp chairs of various designs, and a
cheerful-looking table-cover. We were obliged to be very economical, as
Jack was a second lieutenant, the pay was small and a little in arrears,
after the wedding trip and long journey out. We bought white Holland
shades for the windows, and made the three rooms fairly comfortable and
then I turned my attention to the kitchen.

Jack said I should not have to buy anything at all; the Quartermaster
Department furnished everything in the line of kitchen utensils; and, as
his word was law, I went over to the quartermaster store-house to select
the needed articles.

After what I had been told, I was surprised to find nothing smaller than
two-gallon tea-kettles, meat-forks a yard long, and mess-kettles deep
enough to cook rations for fifty men! I rebelled, and said I would not
use such gigantic things.

My husband said: "Now, Mattie, be reasonable; all the army women keep
house with these utensils; the regiment will move soon, and then what
should we do with a lot of tin pans and such stuff? You know a second
lieutenant is allowed only a thousand pounds of baggage when he changes
station." This was a hard lesson, which I learned later.

Having been brought up in an old-time community, where women deferred to
their husbands in everything, I yielded, and the huge things were sent
over. I had told Mrs. Wilhelm that we were to have luncheon in our own
quarters.

So Adams made a fire large enough to roast beef for a company of
soldiers, and he and I attempted to boil a few eggs in the deep
mess-kettle and to make the water boil in the huge tea-kettle.

But A