he example of their chief, were toward morning hardly loyal.
Later, at the very moment the army moved up to the battle of San Juan
this same major-general was relieved of his command on account of
illness. Had he sensibly taken care of himself, when the moment came
when he was needed, he would have been able to better serve his brigade
and his country. In contrast to this pose is the conduct of the veteran
hunter, or old soldier. When he gets into camp his first thought, after
he has cared for his horse, is for his own comfort. He does not wolf
down a cold supper and then spread his blanket wherever he happens to be
standing. He knows that, especially at night, it is unfair to ask his
stomach to digest cold rations. He knows that the warmth of his body is
needed to help him to sleep soundly, not to fight chunks of canned meat.
So, no matter how sleepy he may be, he takes the time to build a fire and
boil a cup of tea or coffee. Its warmth aids digestion and saves his
stomach from working overtime. Nor will he act on the theory that he is
"so tired he can sleep anywhere." For a few hours the man who does that
may sleep the sleep of exhaustion. But before day breaks he will feel
under him the roots and stones, and when he awakes he is stiff, sore and
unrefreshed. Ten minutes spent in digging holes for hips and
shoulder-blades, in collecting grass and branches to spread beneath his
blanket, and leaves to stuff in his boots for a pillow, will give him a
whole night of comfort and start him well and fit on the next day's
tramp. If you have watched an old sergeant, one of the Indian fighters,
of which there are now too few left in the army, when he goes into camp,
you will see him build a bunk and possibly a shelter of boughs just as
though for the rest of his life he intended to dwell in that particular
spot. Down in the Garcia campaign along the Rio Grande I said to one of
them: "Why do you go to all that trouble? We break camp at daybreak."
He said: "Do we? Well, maybe you know that, and maybe the captain knows
that, but I don't know it. And so long as I don't know it, I am going to
be just as snug as though I was halted here for a month." In camping,
that was one of my first and best lessons--to make your surroundings
healthy and comfortable. The temptation always is to say, "Oh, it is for
only one night, and I am too tired." The next day you say the same
thing, "We'll move to-morrow. What's the use?" Bu