Obtaining thirty days' leave of absence from the department, I struck out for the East.

On arriving in Chicago, in February, 1872, I was met at the depot by Colonel M.V.Sheridan, who said that his brother, the General, had not yet returned, but had sent word that I was to be his and the Colonel's guest, at their house, while I remained in Chicago.
I spent two or three days very pleasantly in the great city of the West, meeting several of the gentlemen who had been out on the Sheridan hunt in September--General Stager, Colonel Wilson, editor of the _Journal_; Mr.
Sam Johnson, General Rucker and others--by all of whom I was most cordially received and well entertained.

I was introduced to quite a number of the best people of the city, and was invited to several "swell" dinners.

I also accompanied General Sheridan--who meantime had returned to the city--to a ball at Riverside--an aristocratic suburb.
[Illustration: AN EMBARRASSING SITUATION] On this occasion I became so embarrassed that it was more difficult for me to face the throng of beautiful ladies, than it would have been to confront a hundred hostile Indians.

This was my first trip to the East, and I had not yet become accustomed to being stared at.