RUBY. 65 



than that; I am too old a cavalryman to be 

 caught by such chaff." 



To the great glee of the Hun, whose faith in 

 Ruby was unbounded, Davidson's whole staff 

 turned the laugh on me for trying to deceive 

 the General just because he had been dining. 



I mounted, and started off with one of Ruby's 

 enormous lifts, that brought the whole company 

 to their feet. It was the supreme moment with 

 him. Full of consciousness, as though he knew 

 the opportunity would never come again, and 

 quivering in anticipation of his triumph, he was 

 yet true to his training, and held himself subject 

 to my least impulse. 



We had lain in our camp for more than a week, 

 and there was not a vestige left of the recently 

 substantial fences, — only the suggestive and con- 

 spicuous gateways that stood to mark the march 

 of our armies from the Chesapeake to the Indian 

 Nation. But Ruby built fences in his imagina- 

 tion higher than any he had ever faced, and 

 cleared them without a scratch, landing close as 

 though the Helena ditch were still to be taken. 



