We remained in this camp two weeks, and everyone had a good time with the exception of the wounded men, and even they were more cheerful than one in health could have thought possible.

Game was plentiful and easy to get, and we had all the fresh meat we wanted, and it was an ideal place to lay around and rest when we were tired hunting, and there was a plenty of grass for the horses and a cool spring of water to quench the thirst of man and beast.

After the first week, the wounded men took more or less exercise every day, and so kept their strength, and it was surprising how fast their wounds healed.

The day before the one set to start for the settlement, I asked the man that had the wounded hip if he thought he could ride on horseback.  He answered, “Yes, if I had a gentle horse so I could ride sideways, I could stand it to ride a half a day without stopping to rest.”

I told him that I had a horse that was very gentle and would just suit his case.

That evening the Capt. and I talked the matter over together.  He said he thought we had better pull out in the morning and travel slowly so as not to tire the wounded men too much, for the farmers would have sold their crops by the time we got to Dallas, and we could do as well with our horses as we could at any time of the year.

In the morning we left the camp that we had grown to almost love, the Capt. and I taking the lead with the wounded men at our side, and the other men brought up the rear, driving the horses who had grown fat and glossy in the weeks of rest.

When we were mounted, the Capt. said to the wounded men, “Now boys, when you begin to feel tired, say so, and we will stop and camp at once.”

I never heard a word of complaint from one of them, and we had ridden ten miles or so, when we came to a cool stream of water and a plenty of grass, and the Capt. said, “This is a good place to stop and give our sick boys a rest.”

So we dismounted and went into camp.  After we had our dinner, several of the men came and asked the Capt. if he was going any further that night, and he replied that he was not.  The boys said, “All right, we will catch some fish then.”

In about two hours they came from the stream, and each man had a string of good-sized catfish, and the reader may be sure that we all enjoyed that fish supper.

From the time we left the camp in the valley until we reached the settlement, we only traveled ten miles a day.

We traveled this way for the benefit of the wounded men, and they reached the settlement not worse for the journey, but they were much stronger than when we started.

The morning before we reached the settlement, as we were about to mount our horses, one of the men said to the Capt., “Say, Cap, haven’t you forgotten to do something?”

The Capt. looked around in a surprised way and said, “I do not remember anything that I could have forgotten to do.  What is it?”