But
though a commission was a tempting prize, I preferred to remain in the
position I was holding. He said that if at any time I felt that I
wanted a commission, I only needed to ask for it, and it would be given
to me.
All I looked forward to was the life of the Plains. It was enough for
me to be in the saddle, trusting each day to find some new adventure.
Army life would mean a great deal of routine, and routine was something
I could not endure.
So, giving up forever any hope of wearing an officer's shoulder-straps,
I was about to turn back to the prairies to see what new opportunities
for excitement offered, when a strange new call came to me.
General J.J. Reynolds, who had just arrived at Fort McPherson with the
Third Cavalry, called me into the office one day and told me that he
had a letter, railroad tickets, and five hundred dollars for me.
Furthermore he informed me that a thirty days' leave of absence was
awaiting me whenever I wanted to take it.
All this was the doing of the "Millionaires' Hunting Party," headed by
James Gordon Bennett and the Jeromes, which I had guided the year
before.
I was, in short, invited to visit my former charges in New York, and
provided by them with money and mileage, and leisure for the trip.
CHAPTER IX
Of course going to New York was a very serious business, and not to be
undertaken lightly.
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