A portion of our regiment¹ was ordered to Oregon, to join General Howard, who was conducting the Bannock Campaign, so I remained that summer in San Francisco, to await my husband's return.  
I could not break away from my Arizona habits. I wore only white dresses, partly because I had no others which were in fashion, partly because I had become imbued² with a profound indifference³ to dress.
 
"They'll think you're a Mexican," said my New England aunt (who regarded all foreigners with contempt). "Let them think," said I; "I almost wish I were; for, after all, they are the only people who understand the philosophy of living. Look at the tired faces of the women in your streets," I added, "one never sees that sort of expression down below, and I have made up my mind not to be caught by the whirlpool of advanced civilization again."
 
Added to the white dresses, I smoked cigarettes, and slept all the afternoons. I was in the bondage⁵ of tropical customs, and I had lapsed⁶ back into a state of what my aunt called semi-barbarism.
 
"Let me enjoy this heavenly cool climate, and do not worry me," I begged. I shuddered⁷ when I heard people complain of the cold winds of the San Francisco summer. How do they dare tempt⁴ Fate, thought I, and I wished them all in Ehrenberg or MacDowell for one summer. "I think they might then know something about climate, and would have something to complain about!"
 
How I revelled⁸ in the flowers, and all the luxuries of that delightful⁹ city!
 
The headquarters of the Eighth was located at Benicia, and General Kautz, our Colonel, invited me to pay a visit to his wife. A pleasant boat-trip up the Sacramento River brought us to Benicia. Mrs. Kautz, a handsome and accomplished¹⁰ Austrian, presided over her lovely army home in a manner to captivate my fancy, and the luxury of their surroundings almost made me speechless.
 
"The other side of army life," thought I.
 
A visit to Angel Island, one of the harbor defences, strengthened this impression. Four years of life in the southern posts of Arizona had almost made me believe that army life was indeed but "glittering misery," as the Germans had called it.
 
In the autumn, the troops returned from Oregon, and C company was ordered to Camp MacDermit, a lonely spot up in the northern part of Nevada (Nevada being included in the Department of California). I was sure by that time that bad luck was pursuing us. I did not know so much about the "ins and outs" of the army then as I do now.
 
At my aunt's suggestion, I secured a Chinaman of good caste for a servant, and by deceiving him (also my aunt's advice) with the idea that we were going only as far as Sacramento, succeeded in making him willing to accompany us.
 
We started east, and left the railroad at a station called "Winnemucca." MacDermit lay ninety miles to the north. But at Winnemucca the Chinaman balked¹¹. "You say: 'All'e same Saclamento': lis place heap too far: me no likee!" I talked to him, and, being a good sort, he saw that I meant well, and the soldiers bundled him on top of the army wagon¹², gave him a lot of good-natured guying, and a revolver to keep off Indians, and so we secured Hoo Chack.
 
Captain Corliss had been obliged to go on ahead with his wife, who was in the most delicate health. The post ambulance had met them at this place.
 
Jack¹³ was to march over the ninety miles, with the company. I watched them starting out, the men, glad of the release from the railroad train, their guns on their shoulders, stepping off in military style and in good form.
 
The wagons¹⁴ followed—the big blue army wagons, and Hoo Chack, looking rather glum¹⁵, sitting on top of a pile of baggage.
 
I took the Silver City stage, and except for my little boy I was the only passenger for the most of the way. We did the ninety miles without resting over, except for relays of horses.
 
I climbed up on the box and talked with the driver. I liked these stage-drivers. They were "nervy," fearless men, and kind, too, and had a great dash and go about them. They often had a quiet and gentle bearing, but by that time I knew pretty well what sort of stuff they were made of, and I liked to have them talk to me, and I liked to look out upon the world through their eyes, and judge of things from their standpoint.
 
It was an easy journey, and we passed a comfortable night in the stage.
 
Camp MacDermit was a colorless, forbidding sort of a place. Only one company was stationed there, and my husband was nearly always scouting¹⁶ in the mountains north of us. The weather was severe, and the winter there was joyless and lonesome. The extreme cold and the loneliness affected¹⁷ my spirits, and I suffered from depression.
 
I had no woman to talk to, for Mrs. Corliss, who was the only other officer's wife at the post, was confined to the house by the most delicate health, and her mind was wholly absorbed by the care of her young infant. There were no nurses to be had in that desolate¹⁸ corner of the earth.
 
One day, a dreadful looking man appeared at the door, a person such as one never sees except on the outskirts¹⁹ of civilization, and I wondered what business brought him. He wore a long, black, greasy²⁰ frock coat, a tall hat, and had the face of a sneak²¹. He wanted the Chinaman's poll-tax, he said.
 
"But," I suggested, "I never heard of collecting taxes in a Government post; soldiers and officers do not pay taxes."
 
"That may be," he replied, "but your Chinaman is not a soldier, and I am going to have his tax before I leave this house."
 
"So, ho," I thought; "a threat!" and the soldier's blood rose in me.
 
I was alone; Jack was miles away up North. Hoo Chack appeared in the hall; he had evidently heard the man's last remark. "Now," I said, "this Chinaman is in my employ, and he shall not pay any tax, until I find out if he be exempt²³ or not."
 
The evil-looking man approached the Chinaman. Hoo Chack grew a shade paler. I fancied he had a knife under his white shirt; in fact, he felt around for it. I said, "Hoo Chack, go away, I will talk to this man."
 
I opened the front door. "Come with me" (to the tax-collector); "we will ask the commanding officer about this matter." My heart was really in my mouth, but I returned the man's steady and dogged gaze, and he followed me to Captain Corliss' quarters. I explained the matter to the Captain, and left the man to his mercy. "Why didn't you call the Sergeant²⁴ of the Guard, and have the man slapped into the guard-house?" said Jack, when I told him about it afterwards. "The man had no business around here; he was trying to browbeat²⁵ you into giving him a dollar, I suppose."
 
The country above us was full of desperadoes from Boise and Silver City, and I was afraid to be left alone so much at night; so I begged Captain Corliss to let me have a soldier to sleep in my quarters. He sent me old Needham. So I installed old Needham in my guest chamber²⁶ with his loaded rifle. Now old Needham was but a wisp of a man; long years of service had broken down his health; he was all wizened²⁷ up and feeble; but he was a soldier; I felt safe, and could sleep once more. Just the sight of Needham and his old blue uniform coming at night, after taps, was a comfort to me.
 
Anxiety filled my soul, for Jack was scouting in the Stein Mountains all winter in the snow, after Indians who were avowedly²⁸ hostile, and had threatened to kill on sight. He often went out with a small pack-train, and some Indian scouts²⁹, five or six soldiers, and I thought it quite wrong for him to be sent into the mountains with so small a number.
 
Camp MacDermit was, as I have already mentioned, a "one-company post." We all know what that may mean, on the frontier. Our Second Lieutenant³⁰ was absent, and all the hard work of winter scouting fell upon Jack, keeping him away for weeks at a time.
 
The Piute Indians were supposed to be peaceful, and their old chief, Winnemucca, once the warlike and dreaded³¹ foe³² of the white man, was now quiet enough, and too old to fight. He lived, with his family, at an Indian village near the post.
 
He came to see me occasionally. His dress was a curious mixture of civilization and savagery³³. He wore the chapeau and dress-coat of a General of the American Army, with a large epaulette on one shoulder. He was very proud of the coat, because General Crook³⁴ had given it to him. His shirt, leggings and moccasins were of buckskin, and the long braids of his coal-black hair, tied with strips of red flannel³⁵, gave the last touch to this incongruous costume.
 
But I must say that his demeanor³⁶ was gentle and dignified³⁷, and, after recovering from the superficial impressions which his startling costume had at first made upon my mind, I could well believe that he had once been the war-leader, as he was now the political head of his once-powerful tribe.
 
Winnemucca did not disdain³⁸ to accept some little sugar-cakes from me, and would sit down on our veranda³⁹ and munch⁴⁰ them.
 
He always showed me the pasteboard medal which hung around his neck, and which bore General Howard's signature; and he always said: "General Howard tell me, me good Injun, me go up—up—up"—pointing dramatically towards Heaven. On one occasion, feeling desperate for amusement, I said to him: "General Howard very good man, but he make a mistake; where you go, is not up—up—up, but," pointing solemnly to the earth below us............