358 CALL ON GENERAL MILES. 



canter nearly all day, Moss leading, and I had found him a 

 very pleasant companion, as he had lived a long time in the 

 West and had a great collection of stories connected with it. 

 Of course I said nothing of what I had heard, nor did he 

 allude to it. He left us the next morning, intending to be in 

 Miles City by night, offering to take me with him ; but I 

 preferred arriving with my things, as I wished to make myself 

 presentable before calling on General Miles, to whom I had a 

 letter of introduction. As there was no hotel, Moss offered me 

 a bed at his saloon; but this I declined with thanks, as I 

 should hardly have felt comfortable there, so I promised to 

 look him up if I came to Miles City, which he said was about 

 two miles from Fort Keogh, on the opposite side of the Yellow- 

 stone River. The two following days I rode on the stage, 

 through a very uninteresting country, reaching Fort Keogh 

 early in the afternoon of the second. Here I went to call on 

 General Miles, who was in command; but my appearance, I 

 fear, was anything but prepossessing, as I had a four months' 

 beard, long hair, and was very much tanned ; my clothes, too, 

 were not in first-rate condition, and my boots had not been 

 blacked since I left Bismarck. 



The General received me very kindly, and said that he would 

 put me up as long as he remained at the post ; but he was on 

 the point of going East on leave, after which he would be 

 transferred to another command, so that he was selling off 

 everything and did not know how much furniture I should find 

 in my room, nor how long what there was would remain there. 

 I was soon comfortably established, finding a good bed, 

 wash-stand, some chairs, and a carpet; and it was a great 

 source of amusement during my stay, as we inquired each 



