222 The Rough Riders 



sang; but most of the men gave vent to their feel- 

 ings by improvised dances. In these the Indians 

 took the lead, pure bloods and half-breeds alike, the 

 cowboys and miners cheerfully joining in and form- 

 ing part of the howling, grunting rings that went 

 bounding around the great fires they had kindled. 



Next morning Sergeant Wright took down the col- 

 ors, and Sergeant Guitilias the standard, for the last 

 time ; the horses, the rifles, and the rest of the regi- 

 mental property had been turned in ; officers and men 

 shook hands and said good-by to one another, and 

 then they scattered to their homes in the North and 

 the South, the few going back to the great cities of 

 the East, the many turning again toward the plains, 

 the mountains, and the deserts of the West and the 

 strange Southwest. This was on September I5th, 

 the day which marked the close of the four months' 

 life of a regiment of as gallant fighters as ever wore 

 the United States uniform. 



The regiment was a wholly exceptional volunteer 

 organization, and its career cannot be taken as in 

 any way a justification for the belief that the aver- 

 age volunteer regiment approaches the average regu- 

 lar regiment in point of efficiency until it has had 

 many months of active service. In the first place, 

 though the regular regiments may differ markedly 

 among themselves, yet the range of variation among 



