To Cuba 51 



it turned out, we were not allowed to take either it 

 or the horses. 



It was dusk when I inarched my long files of dusty 

 troopers into the station-yard. I then made all dis- 

 mount, excepting the troop which I first intended to 

 load. This was brought up to the first freight-car. 

 Here every man unsaddled, and left his saddle, 

 bridle, and all that he did not himself need in the car, 

 each individual's property being corded together. 

 A guard was left in the car, and the rest of the men 

 took the naked horses into the pens to be fed and 

 watered. The other troops were loaded in the same 

 way in succession. With each section there were 

 thus a couple of baggage-cars in which the horse- 

 gear, the superfluous baggage, and the travel ra- 

 tions were carried ; and I also put aboard, not only 

 at starting, but at every other opportunity, what 

 oats and hay I could get, so as to provide against 

 accidents for the horses. By the time the baggage- 

 cars were loaded the horses of the first section had 

 eaten and drunk their fill, and we loaded them on 

 cattle-cars. The officers of each troop saw to the 

 loading, taking a dozen picked men to help them; 

 for some of the wild creatures, half broken and fresh 

 from the ranges, were with difficulty driven up the 

 chutes. Meanwhile I superintended not merely my 

 own men, but the railroad men ; and when the delays 

 of the latter, and their inability to understand what 



