clear, and I could see objects around me. And then out of the dust
loomed up Lieutenant Baldwin. He was about halfway down the line and
riding close to the fence, evidently looking for me. When he came up,
leading my horse, his face was black with more than dirt. He reminded
me of having told me positively not to jump from my horse, and asked
if I realized that I might have been knocked down and killed by the
crazy animals. Of course I had perceived all that as soon as I reached
safety, but I could not admit my mistake at that time without breaking
down and making a scene. I was nervous and exhausted, and in no
condition to be scolded by anyone, so I said: "If you were not an old
bachelor you would have known better than to have told a woman not to
do a thing--you would have known that, in all probability, that would
be the very thing she would do first!" That mollified him a little,
but we did not laugh--life had just been too serious for that.

The chaplain had joined us, and so had Lieutenant Alden. The fence I
had run to was the chaplain's, and when the good man saw us he came
out and assisted me to his house, where I received the kindest care
from Mrs. Lawton. I knew that Faye would be greatly worried about me,
so as soon as I had rested a little--enough to walk--and had got some
of the dust out of my eyes, the chaplain and I hurried down to our
house to let him know that I was safe.

At every house along the line the heavy shutters were closed, and not
one living thing was to be seen, and the post looked as though it
might have been long abandoned. There was a peculiar light, too, that
made the most familiar objects seem strange. Yes, we saw a squad of
enlisted men across the parade ground, trying with immense ropes to
get back in place the heavy roof of the long commissary building which
had been partly blown off.