I afterwards learned that the old Spanish land grants had given rise to illimitable and never-ending litigation.
Every morning we rode across country.

There were no fences, but the wide irrigation ditches gave us a plenty of excitement, and the riding was glorious.

I had no occasion yet to realize that we had left the line of the army.
A camping trip to the head-waters of the Pecos, where we caught speckled trout in great abundance in the foaming riffles and shallow pools of this rushing mountain stream, remaining in camp a week under the spreading boughs of the mighty pines, added to the variety and delights of our life there.
With such an existence as this, good health and diversion, the time passed rapidly by.
It was against the law now for soldiers to marry; the old days of "laundresses" had passed away.

But the trombone player of the Tenth Infantry band (a young Boston boy) had married a wife, and now a baby had come to them.

They could get no quarters, so we took the family in, and, as the wife was an excellent cook, we were able to give many small dinners.