"She should not have been left unattended." And this severity was directed at Major Searles by his wife, to which he feebly pleaded vain extenuations, without hope of their acceptance.
"No, no, my dear; you were always a careless person; one is never safe to place dependence on you in minor matters. I declare, all men are alike —leastwise soldiers are. A blanket and a haversack, and the world may wag at will, so far as they concern themselves." Rising, she adjusted her hat, saying: "I must run down to Mrs. Taylor's for a minute. Her baby is very ill, and she has sent for me. You will stay here, Major," and she swept out.
"When do you depart for your hunting with Mr. Harding, Ermine?" asked Searles.
"I must go soon. He left camp three days ago, and I have promised to follow."
"I should think you would be delighted to hunt. I know I should if I were a man," cheerfully remarked the young woman.
"I have always hunted, Miss Searles. I think I should like to do something else."
"What, pray?"
"Oh, I don't know, something with a white shirt in it."
"Isn't that foolish? There is no more fun in a white shirt than there is in a buckskin one, and there is no fun in either when it rains, I am told."
A passing officer appealed to the Major to come out; he was needed, together with other requests to follow, with reasons why haste was important.