to-morrow. Faye is next to the junior, so there will be very little
left to select from by the time his turn comes. The quarters are
really nothing more than huts built of vertical logs plastered in
between with mud, and the roofs are of poles and mud! Many of the
rooms have only sand floors. We dined last evening with Captain and
Mrs. Vincent, of the cavalry, and were amazed to find that such
wretched buildings could be made so attractive inside. But of course
they have one of the very best houses on the line, and as company
commander, Captain Vincent can have done about what he wants. And
then, again, they are but recently married, and all their furnishings
are new and handsome. There is one advantage in being with colored
troops--one can always have good servants. Mrs. Vincent has an
excellent colored soldier cook, and her butler was thoroughly trained
as such before he enlisted. It did look so funny, however, to see such
a black man in a blue Uniform.

The march down from Fort Dodge was most uncomfortable the first two
days. It poured and poured rain, and then poured more rain, until
finally everybody and everything was soaked through. I felt so sorry
for the men who had to march in the sticky mud. Their shoes filled
fast with water, and they were compelled constantly to stop, take them
off, and pour out the water. It cleared at last and the sun shone warm
and bright, and then there was another exhibition in camp one
afternoon, of clothing and bedding drying on guy ropes.

All the way down I was on the lookout for Indians, and was laughed at
many a time for doing so, too. Every time something unusual was seen
in the distance some bright person would immediately exclaim, "Oh,
that is only one of Mrs. Rae's Indians!" I said very little about what
I saw during the last day or two, for I felt that the constant teasing