was some consolation in that thought.

Well, to my great relief and comfort, it was discovered that the chin
chain that is on all cavalry bits had been left off, and this had made
the curb simply a straight bit and wholly ineffective. The sergeant
fastened the chain on and it was made tight, too, and he tightened the
girths and saw that everything was right, and then Lieutenant Golden and
I started on our ride the second time. I expected trouble, as the horse
was then leaving his stable and companions, but when he commenced to
back and shake his head I let him know that I held a nice stinging whip,
and that soon stopped the balking. We had to pass three long picket
lines of horses and almost two hundred troopers, every one of whom
stared at me with both eyes. It was embarrassing, of course, but I was
glad to let the whole line of them see that I was capable of managing my
own horse, which was still very frisky. I knew very well, too, that the
sergeant's angry roar when he asked, "Who bridled this horse?" had
been heard by many of them. Our ride was very delightful after all its
exciting beginning, and we are going again to morrow morning. I want
to let those troopers see that I am not afraid to ride the horse they
selected for me.

I shall be so glad when Hal is large enough to go with me. He is growing
fast, but at present seems to be mostly legs. He is devoted to me, but
I regret to say that he and our old soldier cook are not the dearest
friends. Findlay is so stupid he cannot appreciate the cunning things
the little dog does. Hal is fed mush and milk only until he gets his
second teeth, and consequently he is wild about meat. The odor of a
broiling beefsteak the other day was more than he could resist, so he
managed to get his freedom by slipping his collar over his head, and
rushing into the kitchen, snatched the sizzling steak and was out again
before Findlay could collect his few wits, and get across the room to
stop him. The meat was so hot it burned his mouth, and he howled from
the pain, but drop it he did not until he was far from the cook. This
I consider very plucky in so young a dog! Findlay ran after the little
hound, yelling and swearing, and I ran after Findlay to keep him from
beating my dog. Of course we did not have beefsteak that day, but, as I
told Faye, it was entirely Findlay's fault. He should have kept watch
of things, and not made it possible for Hal to kill himself by eating a
whole big stea