“Miss Pine Leaf, I—or rather we—have said farewell to Frisco.
“It was sad that I never saw any battleship (excepting one shamefaced gunboat) in the bay of the Golden Gate. A bay without battleship is like a door without a lock.
“Can you fancy any Japanese city without soldiers?
“American soldier?
“I am sorry to say that I have met no soldier in my four months at the Pacific.
“I presume that the practical Meriken jins can’t bear to see such a useless ornamentation. Yes! Soldiers are degenerating, in my opinion, to the rank of a fireplace on a hot summer day. How stimulating, however, was the sound of the fearless hoofs of a cavalier! When the sabres of a regiment flashed in the sunlight, I could never keep from fluttering my paper handkerchief.
“I shall not excite myself in such a joy in Amerikey.
“I made the acquaintance of one colonel at Mrs. Willis’. He is a jolly business man. Just think of a colonel plus merchant! Is it possible? He changes his white shirt every morning, and shines his shoes twice a day. I should say that he will carry a sheet and opera hat, and leave his gun behind, whenever he is summoned to a battle-field. Possibly he has hidden his colonelship in his trunk.
“I found afterward that every old gentleman is a colonel or judge.
“Everything in California is made for just a woman.