en I heard his bunkie demanding his
whereabouts. He had disappeared, leaving his mate to do his work. But
before long I heard his voice, entirely bright and happy, say "Sixty
cents!" and there he stood in the midst of his squad, triumphantly
holding up a big mince pie.

Today the poor man was down again, wrapped in gloom. Again he threatened
to ask to ride, but again he managed to subdue his pains. Said I, "I
suppose that pie is paying you back." He answered, "You don't understand.
I have to buy those things because they give us so little sweet in our
diet." One has to respect misery, however caused, and I bothered him no
more.

But David has managed to subdue Pickle, who goes no longer to the
buzzards' counters, and though he complains that the struggle is hard, he
admits that the results pay. No more pains for him. So yesterday, though
at the sight of the crisp pie Pickle's eye wandered toward the pastry
booth outside the gate, when he caught David's warning glance he
controlled himself and went on with his work.

It was here at Cadyville that, for the first time since leaving
Plattsburg, we were able to have a real swim, or rather (since the water
was like ice) we found depth enough and room enough for all. Over a
meadow and down a bluff a path led from camp to a big paper mill which
stood above a gorge of the Saranac River. The huge pile of pulp, at which
men were picking and prying with pickaxe and canthook, ought to be a gold
mine in these days of high prices of paper. Beyond was the dam, higher
than a house on its clear side and (so we were told) of equal depth on
the other. Along the sides of the big basin there was room for the whole
regiment; and the dive from the dam--how the men yelled when their heads
came out, and how they swam to get ashore again!

Our last afternoon in camp! We felt that we had earned repose after a
day's hard work--a month's hard work! No more skirmishing among rocks,
stumps, and barbed wire; no more firing of the gun, and no more cleaning
of it. As we wished to hand the guns back in good condition, and as most
of our patches and oil had given out, many of us took the friendly offers
of the regulars (cavalrymen, bandsmen, cooks) who did the best business,
working in pairs, that they had yet done. Even David relaxed the severity
of his self-discipline, and handed out his gun and his quarter-dollar. We
lolled, we talked thoughtfully, we already regretted. Men exchanged
addresses, and