was ordered to join his company, which was up at the Spotted Tail
Agency. It was expected that the Sioux under this chief would
break out at any minute. They had become disaffected about some
treaty. I did not like to be left alone with the Spiritualist, so
Jack asked one of the laundresses, whose husband was out with the
company, to come and stay and take care of me. Mrs. Patten was an
old campaigner; she understood everything about officers and
their ways, and she made me absolutely comfortable for those two
lonely months. I always felt grateful to her; she was a dear old
Irish woman.

All the families and a few officers were left at the post, and,
with the daily drive to Cheyenne, some small dances and
theatricals, my time was pleasantly occupied.

Cheyenne in those early days was an amusing but unattractive
frontier town; it presented a great contrast to the old
civilization I had so recently left. We often saw women in cotton
wrappers, high-heeled slippers, and sun-bonnets, walking in the
main streets. Cows, pigs, and saloons seemed to be a feature of
the place.

In about six weeks, the affairs of the Sioux were settled, and
the troops returned to the post. The weather began to be
uncomfortably hot in those low wooden houses. I missed the
comforts of home and the fresh sea air of the coast, but I tried
to make the best of it.

Our sleeping-room was very small, and its one window looked out
over the boundless prairie at the back of the post. On account of