304 LIFE OX 1HB MISSISSIPPI. no risk, which I would decline. I became the willing butt of their jokes i this perfected my popularity; I became a favourite. I early found a private who lacked a thumb—what joy it was to me! And when I found that he alone, of all the company, had lost a thumb, my last misgiving vanished, I was sure I was on the right track. This man's name was Krager, a Ger- man. There were nine Germans in the company. I watched, to see who might be his inti- mates ; but he seemed to have no especial intimates. But / was his Intimate; and I took care to make the intimacy grow. Sometimes I so hungered for my revenge that I could hardly restrain myself