And that incomparable climate! How I revelled in it! When the fog rolled in from the Golden Gate, and enveloped the great city of Saint Francis in its cold vapors, the Island of the Angels lay warm and bright in the sunshine.
The old Spaniards named it well, and the old Nantucket whalers who sailed around Cape Horn on their way to the Ar'tic, away back in the eighteen twenties, used to put in near there for water, and were well familiar with its bright shores, before it was touched by man's handiwork.
Was there ever such an emerald green as adorned those hills which sloped down to the bay?
Could anything equal the fields of golden escholzchia which lay there in the sunshine?
Or the blue masses of "baby-eye," which opened in the mornings and held up their pretty cups to catch the dew?
Was this a real Paradise?
It surely seemed so to us; and, as if Nature had not done enough, the Fates stepped in and sent all the agreeable young officers of the regiment there, to help us enjoy the heavenly spot.
There was Terrett, the handsome and aristocratic young Baltimorean, one of the finest men I ever saw in uniform; and Richardson, the stalwart Texan, and many others, with whom we danced and played tennis, and altogether there was so much to do and to enjoy that Time rushed by and we knew only that we were happy, and enchanted with Life.
Did any uniform ever equal that of the infantry in those days?
The dark blue, heavily braided "blouse," the white stripe on the light blue trousers, the jaunty cap?
And then, the straight backs and the slim lines of those youthful figures! It seems to me any woman who was not an Egyptian mummy would feel her heart thrill and her blood tingle at the sight of them.
Indians and deserts and Ehrenberg did not exist for me any more.

My girlhood seemed to have returned, and I enjoyed everything with the keenest zest.
My old friend Charley Bailey, who had married for his second wife a most accomplished young San Francisco girl, lived next door to us.
General and Mrs.Kautz entertained so hospitably, and were so beloved by all.

Together Mrs.Kautz and I read the German classics, and went to the German theatre; and by and by a very celebrated player, Friedrich Haase, from the Royal Theatre of Berlin, came to San Francisco.

We never missed a performance, and when his tour was over, Mrs.Kautz gave a lawn party at Angel Island for him and a few of the members of his company.

It was charming.