te
their long journey by train, now brought their right hands smartly up to
their cap visors as the man with iron-gray hair stepped close.

He gave Hal and Noll a prompt, smart acknowledgment of their salute,
then suddenly paused, glanced at them, and asked:

"My men, how did you know me to be an officer?"

"I observed your overcoat, sir, when you boarded the train at Kansas
City," Hal answered.

"You judged rightly, men," replied the officer, with a smile. "I am
Major Davis, Seventeenth Cavalry. And you, as I see by your caps, belong
to the Thirty-fourth Infantry."

"Yes, sir," Hal answered. "We are joining the first battalion at Fort
Clowdry."

"Recruits?"

"Yes, sir."

"I wish you a pleasant life in the Army, men."

"Thank you, sir; we feel certain of finding it," Hal replied.

Both young soldiers saluted, again, as the major turned to resume his
walk.

The train had stopped at Pueblo, Colorado, in the middle of the
afternoon. It would be but half an hour's delay. Noll had been eager to
step out away from the railway station and see as much of Pueblo as was
possible. Hal had negatived this idea, through fear that they might be
left behind.

"And we've not an hour to spare, you know, Noll. This is the last train
for us to take if we're to report in season. So we'd better stay close
to the conductor."

During the forenoon the train had rolled across the mesa or tableland
below Pueblo. Hal and Noll, seated in one of the two day coaches of the
train, had studied the mesa with longing eyes. Here they caught
occasional glimpses of cowboys on ponies, for this mesa is still a
favorite cattle region.

At this height of some five thousand feet above sea level even the late
June day was not really hot. It was a glorious country on which the
young recruits feasted their eyes.

"Where do we eat next?" asked Noll, of a trainman standing by.

"Any time and place you like, if you've got the chow with you," replied
the trainman.

"What is the next eating station at which the train stops?" Noll
insisted.

"Salida. We ought to stop there about nine o'clock to-night."

"Good eating place?"

"Great."

"It's a long time to wait," complained Noll, whom the mountain air was
making furiously hungry. "Come along, Hal. We'll lay in a few sandwiches
as a safety-valve."

"I hope they're not as bad as some we've bought along the way," Hal
laughed, as they started toward the railroad restaurant. "Do you
remember th