RUBY. 57 



their day, before the age of railroads, the " vil- 

 lage " flourished in all its freshness and simplicity. 

 It had now acquired the picturesque dilapidation, 

 in the manner of fences and gates and defective 

 window-panes, that marked the Southern domicile 

 during the war. Ruby had strained himself quite 

 seriously during the march, and had been left to 

 come on slowly with the quartermaster's train. 

 This left me quite free for the social life, such 

 as it was, to which we — the only available men 

 that had been seen there since Price gathered his 

 forces at Springfield — were welcomed with a 

 reserved cordiality. Our facilities for forming 

 a correct opinion of society were not especially 

 good, but I fancied I should have passed my time 

 to as good advantage in the saddle. 



We soon left for an active expedition in the di- 

 rection of Little Rock, of which it is only neces- 

 sary to say, here, that it lasted about a month, 

 and brought the writer acquainted with some very 

 unsatisfactory horses, — a fact which heightened 

 his pleasure, on striking the White River bottom 

 again, at finding that Ruby had been brought 



