me they were there
were holding council every night to decide whether or not they would
hang the two "pale-faces" to the first tree in the morning.

Both Schurz and Schloezer were relieved to see Count Doenhoff when he
returned safe and sound. They reproached themselves for allowing him to
start on such an expedition, as it was a very reckless adventure, and a
great risk for him.

WASHINGTON, _March, 1879_.

My dear Mother,--We have taken the Fant House for this winter. People
say it is haunted. As yet we have not seen any ghosts nor found any
skeletons in the closets. The possible ghosts have no terrors for me.
On the contrary, I should love to meet one face to face! But the rats
are plentiful and have probably played ghosts' parts and given the
house its reputation. Those we have here are so bold and assertive that
I have become quite accustomed to them. I meet them on the staircase,
and they politely wait for me to pass. One old fellow--I call him
Alcibiades, because he is so audacious--actually gnaws at our door, as
if begging to be allowed to come in and join us. We put poison in every
attractive way we can think of all about, but they seem to like it and
thrive upon it. Johan, having had a Danish sailor recommended to him,
allows him to live in a room up-stairs and to help a little in the
house while waiting for a boat. He is very masterful in his movements,
and handles the crockery as if it were buckets of water, and draws back
the portieres as if he were hauling at the main-sheet.

Mr. Robeson (Secretary of the Navy), who ought to know _le dernier cri_
on the subject of the habits of rats, told us that the only way to get
rid of them was to catch one and dress him up in a jacket and
trousers--red preferable--tie a bell round his neck, and let him loose.
"Then," he said, "the rat would run about among his companions and
indicate the pressure brought upon rats, and soon there would not be
one left in the house."

This was an idyl for our sailor. He spent most of his days making a
jacket with which to clothe the rat, and actually did catch one (I
hoped he was not my friend of the staircase) and proceeded to put him
into this sailor-made costume, which was not an easy thing to do, and
had he not been accustomed to bracing up stays and other nautical work
he never could have accomplished the thing. However, he _did_
accomplish it; he tied the bell on the rat's neck and let him loose.

The remedy (though utte