structure large enough to house himself.

The idiosyncrasies of our newfound friend manifested themselves
variously, the first and chief characteristic by which he came to
acquire the _sobriquet_ of "Hambone Davis," was his habit of heading for
the cookhouse each morning before the men were dismissed from the horse
lines--which was necessary before we could appease our always ravenous
appetites--so that he could garner for himself an edible that was longed
for and looked for by every man who could get it, i.e., the ham bone,
because there were always more or less pickings on it and he was a lucky
fellow indeed who was successful in capturing the prize. But, in his
official capacity, Davis was able to get out and get over there ahead of
us every morning and during his entire stay in our crowd, he was the
only man who each morning got the ham bone. Hence his cognomen.

Long, earnest and secret conferences were had as to the way we had best
settle our grievances. Among the conspirators were Dynamite Pete,
so-called because of his habit of taking shells, fuses and bombs apart
and examining and prying into their contents. One time his curiosity
came nearly getting him a quick passage West. He was examining a bomb
and, taking out the pin, was holding it in his hand, looking at it for a
brief instant. Providentially an officer was standing beside him who saw
his mad act and, grabbing the bomb from his hand, flung it into the
field--and just in time! It exploded before it had well gotten on its
way.

Pete's answers to the officer, while respectful, were tantalizing to a
degree:

"What did you do that for?"