At last the time arrived for us to go on guard, for there was a chain of cadet sentinels all around the camp. We dreaded our first night on post, but each plebe had to experience it. Our guns were not loaded, and we had no cartridges; the rifle with the bayonet on is all we had to protect ourselves with. It was amusing afterwards to compare notes of our experiences. Some who had boasted most fared the worst. Some had had their rifles taken away, some had been tied to a tree, some rolled down into Fort Clinton ditch[23] alongside of Posts No. 2 and No. 3. Others had been frightened by ghosts, or confused by numerous parties approaching at the same time from different directions. Some replies to the challenge being a band of Indians, a body of armed troops, and the Prince of Wales. Of course, the plebe would call for the corporal of the guard, but this official never got around in time to see anyone, except the sentinel. The poor plebe was then taken to task for allowing himself to be disarmed, or for not detaining parties till the corporal arrived. When questioned as to who the parties were the answer invariably was “I could not recognize any of them.” When the old guard marched off the next morning each member fired three shots at a target.[24] When it came M⸺s’ time to fire he was badly frightened because he had never fired a gun. And when asked why he did not close his left eye when aiming he said that no one had told him to close it. On the 12th of August we again visited the trunk rooms, and this time to put away our dress coats, white pants, dress hats, etc., as we were to go on a campaign. A knapsack and a half of a shelter tent were issued to each cadet. After packing our knapsacks and getting everything, except our wall tents, in readiness, we fell in at the sound of the drum. Our wall tents were left standing with the walls fastened down and the flaps tied in front. To the time of “The Girl I Left Behind Me” we marched in a drenching rain about a dozen miles westward up into the mountains; halted, stacked arms, unslung knapsacks, and unloaded the big six-mule wagons that had followed us. We then pitched the “A” tents that were provided for our use now; we then dug a trench around each tent, and so as not to lie in the mud we cut boughs to sleep on. We then got our rifles and knapsacks, and were soon at home again, but this time in more contracted quarters. We were now taught to live at Camp Lookout in regular army style, and as there is no delinquency book in the army we had none in this camp. We ate army rations and slept on the ground. We built camp fires, sang songs, and otherwise enjoyed our freedom, for no one said anything about palms to the front out there in the mountains. The camp was in the woods, between Long Pond and Round Pond. We obtained drinking water from one, and utilized the other to wash and to bathe in. We remained out there about ten days, and each cadet learned to do guard duty in the woods.