BRINGING THE HORSES ASHORE AT PONCE.
CHAPTER VII.
IN THE ENEMY'S COUNTRY.
The morning of August 5th broke clear, however, and the day was one of the few without rain that the Troopers enjoyed while in Puerto Rico. A fine breeze was blowing, and the cavalrymen's ideas of the country began to take on a roseate hue. Everywhere their eyes met deep green tropical foliage and the cute little yellow houses without windows; strange old churches and curious natives made the entire scene appear more like a theatrical setting than a reality.
In the morning before five o'clock the blaring of trumpets announced a hurry call. As soon as the men came to their senses they heard the non-commissioned officers shouting: "Fall in without arms." The Troop never appeared to better advantage. The guard, the fourth platoon, tumbled out fully armed, and were standing in place in two minutes, and one minute later the entire Troop, in column of fours, with the captain in command, was double-quicking toward the dock. When the men got there, ten or fifteen minutes ahead of anyone else except the regulars, who arrived shortly after the Troop, they found that a lighter loaded with five thousand rifles for the infantry was sinking close to shore.
No example of the discipline, which always prevails in the City Troop, could be more striking than the one then witnessed by a score of other commands, which came rushing, all disorganized, to the scene. While the men in other companies were hesitating and wondering what to do, the City Troop broke into regular squads, under the command of the non-commissioned officers, and began methodical relief work. Every rifle was saved. Regular army officers on the spot warmly complimented Captain Groome upon the showing made by his men.
That afternoon Captain Groome, with Major Flagler and Major McMichael, of General Wilson's staff, rode out from Ponce into the country looking for a suitable camp site. The heat was intense, the dust thick, and a place which would fulfill all requirements was not easily found. The officers kept at it, however, until satisfied; although they were in a state of complete exhaustion upon their return. Indeed, all the men's faces for the first few days in Puerto Rico showed plainly the enervating influence of the climate, to which they could not easily get accustomed. Their tasks done, the Troopers would throw themselves down upon bales of hay, piles of boards or even the pavements, too weary to care where they were or how they looked. Men famed for their strength and endurance at home, would sit by the hour with their heads in their hands, rendered listless and weak by the heat and moisture.
That night again the men spread their blankets on the stones outside the cathedral. A citizen placed his front porch at the disposal of the Troop as a guard house. This furnished protection for the sentries on duty from the heavy showers which invariably occurred about midnight.