This time I was
somewhat surprised to hear the corporal say, "Very
well, Mr. Flipper, very well, sir."
And this with other things shows there was a friendly
feeling toward me from the first. After having thus
expressed himself, he directed me to print my name on
each of four pieces of paper, and to tack them up in
certain places in the room, which he indicated to me.
I did this several times before I could please him;
but at last succeeded. Another corporal visited me
during the day and declared everything out of order,
although I had not touched a single thing after once
satisfying the first corporal. Of course I had to
rearrange them to suit him, in which I also finally
succeeded.
At eleven o'clock the mail came. I received a letter,
and to my astonishment its postmark was "West Point,
N. Y., May 21st." Of course I was at a loss to know
who the writer was. I turned it over and over, looked
at it, studied the postmark, finally opened it and
read it.*
*This letter by some means has been misplaced, and
all efforts to find it, or to discover what its
exact contents were, have failed. However, it was
from James Webster Smith, the first and then only
cadet of color at West Point. It reassured me very
much, telling me not to fear either blows or insults,
and advising me to avoid any forward conduct if I
wished also to avoid certain consequences, "which,"
said the writer, "I have learned from sad experience,"
would be otherwise inevitable.
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