CAMPAIGNING WITH MAX. 125 



be thought of for that tired crew ; the bogey of 

 incessant pursuit loomed up portentously close 

 upon our rear-guard, and sent its shadow deep 

 into the bowels of our commander, who was miles 

 away in the advance, and who would allow us 

 only the fewest possible hours in the very dead 

 of night for hasty cooking and scant repose. We 

 were a worn and weary lot as we finally went into 

 camp at the rear of the town ; worn and weary, 

 sadly demoralized, and almost dismounted. I 

 had lost fifteen hundred good horses, and my 

 men, who had been eager and ready for a suc- 

 cessful campaign, were broken in spirit and sadly 

 weakened in discipline. 



All who had been compelled to bear the brunt 

 of the hard work now needed for themselves and 

 their horses absolute rest for days; but being 

 called into the city the morning after our arrival, 

 my eyes were greeted with the spectacle of Gen- 

 eral Sooy Smith, no longer ill, and with no trace 

 of shame or annoyance on his face. He, had shed 

 his modest and prudent attire, and shone out with 

 all the brass radiance of a full-fledged major-gen- 



