One company left our command near here and I think went to Fort Larned or Fort Dodge, Kansas, the other two going on to the railroad at Fort Harker, where one company remained, and if I remember right, one company went on to Fort Hayes. I remained with Captain Kerin's company at Fort Harker for a day or two during which time the paymaster came and paid us for June. Captain Kerin was a typical Irishman and his company, almost without exception were Irish, and they were very much devoted to each other. The captain looked on his men very much I thought, as a father would look on a bunch of wayward children. The payment was made by the middle of the afternoon and by night I think most of the men were drunk, the few on guard duty being about the only sober ones, and the captain told me they would stay that way until their money was all gone. A funny thing occurred that evening. The captain and I were sitting in his tent talking when there was a scratch at the tent cloth and when the captain said, "Come!" the flap was thrown back and one of the sergeants saluted and said: "Report for duty, captain." The captain said: "Sergeant, have ye got any money?" "Yis, captain, a little." "Go and spend it, go and spend it." The sergeant saluted and dropped the tent flap and walked away and the captain turned to me and said: "No use trying to do anything with them until the money is spent, and the whiskey is out of them." Two or three hours afterwards the sergeant returned, scratched on the tent, threw the flap back as before and saluted, and again said in a rather husky voice: "Report for duty, captain." "Sergeant, have you got any money?" "Not a cint, captain." "Very well, report to the first sergeant for duty." The captain told me this was a fair illustration of his experience on every pay day. It is hardly necessary to say that the captain was not a West Point graduate, but he was a royal good fellow and a good soldier and I observed while in the service that officers promoted from the ranks were the most devoted to the interests and comforts of their men. The trip back to my post was east by rail to Junction City and thence on the M., K. and T. to its terminus in the territory. The railway was then under construction and the terminus was changed every month or so. From the railroad I went by stage to Fort Sill. Nothing of interest occurred on the way until we arrived at the last stage station east of the fort. We had breakfast there and were told we had better get in the stage as they were about ready to start. We found a bunch of men hitching up a pair of mules to a light stage-like vehicle, and were told that they were just breaking them in and that it was better to get in the stage first. The driver was already up in his seat and Mr. Stearns, a very large man and owner of the ranch where we had breakfast, was up beside the driver, and was going with us some three or four miles to where they had made a