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AMERICAN BOYS' LIFE OF
CHAPTER XIII
In Camp at Tampa—To Port Tampa in Coal Cars—Theodore Roosevelt's Quick Move to obtain a Transport—The Wait in the Harbor—Off for Cuba at Last
That the path of the soldier is not always one full of glory can easily be proven by what happened to the Rough Riders when, late in May, they were ordered to Tampa, Florida, where a part of the army was gathering in readiness to be transported to Cuba.
"We were just wild to go," says one of the number, in speaking of that time. "We were tired of staying at San Antonio and drilling day in and day out, rain or shine. I guess everybody felt like hurrahing when we piled on to the cars.
"Colonel Roosevelt—he was only Lieutenant-Colonel then—had six troops under him, and he did all he could to make the boys comfortable. But the cars were crowded, and travelling was so slow it took
