RUBY. 



WAS a colonel commanding a regiment 

 of German cavalrymen in South Mis- 

 souri, and must have a horse; it was 

 desirable to be conspicuously well mounted, and 

 so it must be a showy horse ; being a heavy 

 weight and a rough rider, it must be a good 

 horse. With less rank, I might have been com- 

 pelled to take a very ordinary mount and be 

 content : my vanity would not have availed me, 

 and my rough riding must have ceased. 



But I was chief ruler of the little world that 

 lay encamped on the beautiful banks of the Rou- 

 bie d'Eaux ; and probably life was easier to all 

 under me when I was satisfied and happy. I an? 

 not conscious of having been mean and crabbed, 

 or of favoring those who favored me to the disad- 



