Visitors felt more than a passing interest in us two little ones, for
accounts of the sufferings of the Donner Party had been carried to all
the settlements on the Pacific coast and had been sent in print or
writings to all parts of the United States as a warning against further
emigration to California by way of Hastings Cut-Off. Thus the name we
bore awakened sympathy for us, and in the huts of the lowly natives as
well as in the homes of the rulers of the province, we found welcome
and were greeted with words of tenderness, which were often followed by
prayers for the repose of the souls of our precious dead.
Marked attentions were also shown us by officers and soldiers from the
post. The latter gathered in the evenings at the Brunner home for
social intercourse. Some played cards, checkers, and dominoes, or
talked and sang about "_des Deutschen Vaterland_." Others reviewed
happenings in our own country, recalled battles fought and victories
won. And we, sitting between our foster grandparents, or beside Jakie,
listening to their thrilling tales, were, unwittingly, crammed with
crumbs of truth and fiction that made lasting impressions upon our
minds.
Nor were these odd bits of knowledge all we gained from those soldier
friends. They taught us the alphabet, how to spell easy words, and then
to form letters with pencil. They explained the meaning of fife and
drum calls which we heard during the day, and in mischievous
earnestness, declared that they, the best fighters of Colonel
Stephenson's famous regiment of New York Volunteers, had pledged their
arms and legs to our defence, and had only come to see if we were
worth the price they might have to, pay.
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