Bill Bell's famous and much maligned whistle made its appearance during this period, for First Sergeant McGeer had departed for the Officers' Training Camp at Plattsburg, and the one long and one short signal was in order for any time of the day or night. Because it was rumored that McGeer would return to the Company if unsuccessful in his quest for a commission, he received the best wishes of all the men and was treated to a shower bath in his bunk the night before he left—an honor accorded to but few men in the Company. Straw ticks had been issued and they were filled and put to use now to replace the cots, which, in various stages of demolition, had been turned in and, according to the best information, sent to Camp Devens to accommodate the first men of the selective draft to arrive at that cantonment. Fall weather, with its snappy morning air and delightful days, gradually replaced the warmer days of late summer, enthroning football in the place baseball had occupied. The first game was a heart-breaking affair in which neither A Company nor B Company was able to score, the second was also a tie in which C Company scored seven points equally with A Company, and the third was disastrous for the finances of the old Company, for D Company, formerly M Troop, scored four touchdowns to one for A. All plans were interrupted on September 23, when orders were sent out from Battalion Headquarters to strike tents and roll packs preparatory to leaving the camp. This accomplished, with a day's cooked rations issued and loaded down with packs which would have taxed the capacity of the staunchest of pack mules and taken prizes for the variety of form and number of bundles and bags hung over them, the column, in command of Captain Wolf, toiled out through the streets of Niantic and interminably along the roads leading in the direction of New London. Halts for rest were short and infrequent, and the one called for the noon lunch seemed to be the only event which could have saved from complete collapse many in the long, struggling procession. There was much speculation on the truth of the rumor that a train was awaiting the men before they finally saw the head of the column turn back toward Niantic. A squad of grinning cooks stood at present arms with brooms and sticks of wood, but this sight did not tend to sweeten the tempers of the returning men who found they must again pitch their tents and rearrange their belongings to the best advantage for a longer stay. Sweetly worded memoranda from Headquarters conveyed the information that the Major was pleased with the showing the men had made in breaking camp, but they failed to explain why orders prohibiting men from riding in any form of conveyance on the march did not apply to a man from C Company who rode by several times while the column was on the march and turned on the men gazes of pitying condescension.