“I would change places with you to-day, if I could, and give you boot into the bargain. You see us now in our Sunday clothes, and you think we look nice. So we do; for there’s not a finer sight to be seen in this world than a battalion of cavalry drawn up in line, unless it be that same battalion making a charge. But you ought to see us and our clothes after a hard scout!” “Well, you don’t go on scout every day,” said Oscar. “Besides, you have a life position; you get good pay for what you do, and there are your chances for promotion. You’ll be a colonel yourself some day.” “Not much. We go by the seniority rule in peace times, and there are a good many on the list above me, I tell you. Nothing but a war that will kill off some of my seniors will advance me.” CHAPTER XV. THE HUNTING PARTY. Joel Warwick was a dashing young officer, proud of his chosen profession, and anxious for an opportunity to distinguish himself in it. Although he was fresh from West Point—he had been on the plains but little more than a year—he had shown himself to be possessed of a good many qualities that go to make up a first-class soldier. “I have been thinking of you ever since we were introduced,” continued the lieutenant, “and wondering if you really knew the worth of the attentions that have been shown you. You came out here a perfect stranger, and yet you were received at once on terms of intimacy by the colonel, who can’t do too much for you; while we little fellows, who have risked our lives in obedience to his orders, must keep our distance. The gulf between line and field officers in the regular army is a wide one, and no subordinate must attempt to cross it. Before my commander will be as free with me as he is with you, I must wear an eagle on my shoulders.” “And yet he thinks a great deal of you,” said Oscar. “He told me that you would some day make a fine officer.” “Did he say that?” exclaimed the lieutenant, his eyes sparkling with pleasure. “Well, I knew that he was satisfied with me. If he wasn’t, he never would have invited me to go on this hunt.” “What did you do to please him?”