Note 2 — Chapter IV

During the last Santa Cruz camp Perry, who was experiencing his first military camp, became the victim of an aged and time-honored joke. He was told that the firing of the gun announcing sunrise could not be accomplished unless the key was found; he was hurriedly dispatched in search of it. He was sent from one to another, and finally applied to Adjutant Williams for the key of the gun. While still pursuing his search the report of the gun filled the air; thinking they had found the key he paid no more attention to the matter, until he was apprised that a practical joke had been played on him by reading an account of it in the papers, at the same time receiving from friends in the city a highly ornate and polished hardwood key.