Behind the tent, picketed in rows by short ropes, were the horses and
mules. And lined up to the right of the tent were twenty big,
long-bodied Studebaker wagons, each with four barrels of water. Two
more wagons at the other side of the tent were piled high with boxes
and bags of provisions.
Truxton and Conniston unsaddled swiftly, and after staking out their
horses, Conniston throwing his roll of bedding down behind the tent,
they walked around to the front. Already most of the men were up,
rolling blankets or hurrying to the rude tables. Several of them had
gone to the aid of the cooks, and now were hurrying up and down
between the parallel boards, setting out immense black pots of coffee,
great lumps of butter, big pans of mush, beans, stewed "jerky," and
potatoes boiled in their jackets. The men who had rolled out of their
beds fully dressed, save for shoes, formed in a long line near the
tent door and moved swiftly along the tables, taking up knives,
forks, plates, and cups as they went, helping themselves generously to
each different dish as they came to it. Many stopped at the farther
ends of the boards, standing and eating from them. Many more took
their plates and cups of coffee away from the tables and squatted down
to eat, placing their dishes upon the sand. There was remarkably
little confusion, no time lost, as the two hundred men helped
themselves to their breakfast.
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