n knitted or embroidered, and those were among the pleasantest
hours I spent in Germany.

The intrusion of unwelcome visitors was never to be feared, as, by
common consent, the various classes in Hanover kept by themselves, thus
enjoying life much better than in a country where everybody is striving
after the pleasures and luxuries enjoyed by those whom circumstances
have placed above them.

The gay uniforms lent a brilliancy to every affair, however simple.
Officers were not allowed to appear en civile, unless on leave of
absence.

I used to say, "Oh, Frau General, how fascinating it all is!" "Hush,
Martha," she would say; "life in the army is not always so brilliant as
it looks; in fact, we often call it, over here, 'glaenzendes Elend.'"

These bitter words made a great impression upon my mind, and in after
years, on the American frontier, I seemed to hear them over and over
again.

When I bade good-bye to the General and his family, I felt a tightening
about my throat and my heart, and I could not speak. Life in Germany had
become dear to me, and I had not known how dear until I was leaving it
forever.

CHAPTER II. I JOINED THE ARMY

I was put in charge of the captain of the North German Lloyd S. S.
"Donau," and after a most terrific cyclone in mid-ocean, in which we
nearly foundered, I landed in Hoboken, sixteen days from Bremen.

My brother, Harry Dunham, met me on the pier, saying, as he took me in
his arms, "You do not need to tell me what sort of a trip you have had;
it is enough to look at the ship--that tells the story."

As the vessel had been about given up for lost, her arrival was somewhat
of an agreeable surprise to all our friends, and to none more so than
my old friend Jack, a second lieutenant of the United States army, who
seemed so glad to have me back in America, that I concluded the only
thing to do was to join the army myself.

A quiet wedding in the country soon followed my decision, and we set
out early in April of the year 1874 to join his regiment, which was
stationed at Fort Russell, Cheyenne, Wyoming Territory.

I had never been west of New York, and Cheyenne seemed to me, in
contrast with the finished civilization of Europe, which I had so
recently left, the wildest sort of a place.

Arriving in the morning, and alighting from the train, two gallant
officers, in the uniform of the United States infantry, approached
and gave us welcome; and to me, the bride, a special "w