WE GET OUR DISCHARGES 



enlist sooner or later, and it would be better for 

 you to take on in your old company. It looks as 

 if the war would continue for some time yet, and, 

 as we will probably all be ordered into the States 

 soon, there will be good opportunities for well- 

 trained soldiers to get commissions in the volun- 



teers." 



"We're very grateful to the captain for his good 

 opinion, but weVe concluded to go down into 

 the buffalo range and put in the winter skinning 

 wolves," said Tom. "Next summer, if we take a 

 notion to re-enlist, we'll hunt the old company 

 up." 



"All right, men," said the captain, apparently 

 not wishing to seem unduly anxious about the mat- 

 ter; "you may go to the first sergeant and tell him 

 I order your discharges and final statements made 



out." 



Thanking him, we saluted and marched off. 

 The documents were made out in due course 

 and handed to us by the sergeant, with compli- 

 ments on the good service we had all performed 

 and the expression of a hope that when we had 

 "blowed in our money" we would go back to 

 the old company. For some hours we were busy 

 packing up, happy in the feeling that we were 

 once more citizens. We spent some time shaking 

 hands and bidding good-by to every one, and in 

 some cases the partings were rather moving. 



ii 



