MPLISHED RASCAL.

In the late fifties a young man of very attractive manners and
extraordinary accomplishments appeared in St. Peter. His name was La
Croix, or at least he said it was, and no questions were asked. We had
not at that time acquired the habit of asking newcomers what names they
went by in the States, as was the usual practice in the early settlement
of Texas and California. We were an unsuspicious people, and accepted
those who settled among us for what they said they were and appeared to
be.

It was soon discovered that La Croix spoke French fluently; nearly all
our first settlers were French. He said he learned it while living in
New Orleans. He soon developed a large acquaintance with military
matters, and we made him captain of our militia company (now the
national guard), and he drilled us up to a high state of discipline and
skill in company tactics and movements. I had the honor of being second
lieutenant of the company. This art, he said, he acquired as sergeant of
a company in the crack New York Seventh.

He was a graceful and adroit fencer, and could explain the difference
between the French system and the American plan as taught at West Point.
I learned both from him. His conversational powers and the extent of his
general knowledge surpassed anything that ever graced the border. In a
word, he possessed all the qualities, including personal beauty, that
were necessary to make him a general favorite with both men and women.
He did not fail to improve all his advantages.

He soon became the trusted bookkeeper for one of our business concerns,
courted and married a lovely young girl from a neighboring town, and
settled down to a life of domestic felicity, esteemed by all, questioned
by none.

Shortly after his marriage the Civil War began, and in due course of
time a baby was born to his house. Shortly after the latter event he
announced that news had arrived that certain stock of the Chemical Bank,
in New York, which he had inherited from his father, who had died in New
Orleans, was in danger of confiscation by the federal government as
rebel property, and he was obliged to go East and take care of it. He
made the most elaborate preparations for the comfort of his wife and
child during his absence, and departed. We gave him a splendid send-off,
and several of us, I among the rest, entrusted him with commissions to
perform for us in New York, and for a long time that was the last we
heard o