"Well, now, Colonel, you see, this is how it was: I hadn't nothin' ag'in my master,--he was a right nice man; but then, you see, he drinked, and I didn't know what might become of me some time. Then, you see, I knowed this man was stiddy, an' he'd jess done bought a yallar gal I kinder had a notion for, an' so,--don't ye see why?--well, the hoss could have won the _race_ fast enough, but then, you see, my master,--well, he was a drinkin' kind of a man, an' I thought I might as well fix it. I knowed I was up for stakes, an' that's how I come to Missouri; I ain't no Missouri man _born_, but that's how it was." He had become a good body-servant without forgetting his stable training, and his horses bore testimony to his skill and fidelity. After going through the routine of a well-regulated stable, he gave each horse a half-hour's stroking with the flat of his hands, brisk and invigorating; and the result was a more blooming condition and more vigorous health than is often seen in horses on a campaign. The best substitute that could be secured for a stable was a very heavy canvas blanket, covering the horse from his ears to his tail and down to his knees, water-proof and wind-proof. It was a standing entertainment with the less dignified members of the mess to invite attention to Ruby as he stood moping under this hideous housing. Certainly I never saw him thus without thinking that his time had at last come, and that he surely would never again be able to carry me creditably. Yet, as Ike's devotion continued, he grew better and better, commanding daily more of the respect and admiration of all who knew him, and attaching himself to me more and more as we learned each other's ways. One never loves but one horse entirely, and so Ruby never quite filled Vixen's place; but as a serviceable friend, he was all that could be desired. The unsupplied want of my life, that had made me restless and discontented, was now satisfied, and my duties became easy, and my pastimes (the principal times of South Missouri warfare) entirely agreeable. It was no slight addition to these sources of contentment to feel that the command had at last awakened to a sense of its dereliction, and was fast reforming its ways. I had hardly owned Ruby for a fortnight before the old cheerfulness and alacrity returned to the regiment, and by the time we broke up our camp on the Roubie d'Eaux and went over to Lebanon for the shooting season, the entire organization was in a most satisfactory condition.