第 7 页

you a chance of showing that there is more in you than in other boys,

be sure you shall have the chance."

"Thank you very much indeed, colonel," both boys exclaimed.

"Now, Manley, I shall be obliged if you will take them to the

adjutant, and tell him to swear them in and attest them in regular

form; the surgeon will, of course, examine them. Please tell the

quartermaster to get their uniforms made without loss of time; and

give a hint to the bugle-major that I should be pleased if he will pay

extra attention to them, and push them on as fast as possible."

Captain Manley carried out these instructions, the boys were duly

examined by the surgeon and passed, and in half an hour became His

Majesty's servants.

"Now, boys," Captain Manley said as he crossed with them to the

quarters of the bandmaster, "you will have rather a difficult course

to steer, but I have no doubt you will get through it with credit.

This is something like a school, and you will have to fight before you

find your place. Don't be in a hurry to begin; take all good-natured

chaff good-naturedly; resent any attempt at bullying. I have no doubt

you will be popular, and it is well that you should be so, for then

there will be no jealousy if your luck seems better than that of

others. They will, of course, know that you are differently born and

educated to themselves, but they will not like you any the worse for

that, if they find that you do not try to keep aloof from them or give

yourselves airs. And look here, boys, play any tricks you like with

the men, but don't do it with the non-commissioned officers. There is

nothing they hate so much as impudence from the boys, and they have

it in their power to do you a great deal of good or of harm. You will

not have much to do with the bandmaster. Only a portion of the band

accompanies us, and even that will be broken up when we once enter

upon active campaigning. Several of the company buglers have either

left lately, or have got their stripes and given up their bugles, and

I do not fancy that their places will be filled up before we get out

there. Now, your great object will be to get two of these vacancies. I

am afraid you are too young, still there will be plenty more vacancies

after we are once in the field, for a bullet has no respect for

buglers; and you see the better you behave the better your chance of

being chosen."

"What is the difference exactly, sir?" Tom asked.

"The company bugler ranks on the strength of the company, messes,

marches, and goes into action with them; the other buglers merely form

part of the band, are under the bandmaster, play at the head of the

regiment on its march, and help in the hospitals during a battle."

"Macpherson," he said as he entered the bandmaster's quarters, where a

number of men and a few lads were practicing, "I have brought you two

lads who have entered as buglers."

The bandmaster was a Scotchman--a stiff-looking, elderly man.

"Weel, Captain Manley, I'm wanting boys, but they look vera young, and

I misdoubt they had better have been at school than here. However,

I'll do my best with them; they look smart lads, and we shall have

plenty of time at the depot to get them into shape."

"Lots of time, Macpherson, lots of time. They say they know a few

calls on the bugle, so perhaps they had better stick to the calls at

present; you will have plenty of time to begin with them regularly

with the notes when all the bustle is over."

"Eh, ye know the calls, boys? Hardy and Graves, give them your bugles,

and let us hear them. Now for the advance."

Tom and Peter felt very nervous, but they had really practiced hard

for an hour a day for the last four months, and could play all the

calls they knew steadily and well. The bandmaster made no remark until

they had sounded some half a dozen calls as he named them, and then

he said, "The lads have a vera gude idea of it, Captain Manley. They

are steadier and clearer than mony a one of the boys already. Will ye

begin at once, lads, or will ye wait till ye get your uniform?"

"We had rather begin at once," the boys answered together.

"Vera gude. Hardy, take two bugles out of the chest, and then take

these lads--What's your name, boys? Eh? Scudamore? A vera gude

name--take them over to Corporal Skinner, he will be practicing with

the others on the ramp."

With a word of grateful thanks to Captain Manley as he went out before

them, the boys followed their new guide out to the ramparts. A guide

was hardly necessary, for an incessant bugling betokened the place,

where, in one of the bastions behind the barracks, seven or eight

buglers were sounding the various calls under the direction of

Corporal Skinner.

The corporal was a man of few words, for he merely nodded when the

boy--who had not opened his lips on the way, indeed, he was too busy

wondering who these young swells were, and what they had run away for,

to say a word--gave the bandmaster's message to the effect that the

new-comers knew some of the calls and were to be under his tuition for

the present, pointed to them where to stand, and in another minute Tom

and Peter were hard at work adding to the deafening din. After half

an hour's practice they were pleased at seeing Captain Manley stroll

up and call their instructor aside, and they felt sure that he was

speaking to him of them. This was so, for the officer was carrying out

the instructions he had received from Colonel Tritton.

"Corporal," he said, "I want to say a word to you about those boys who

have just joined. They seem to have a fair idea of the calls."

"Yes, sir, they only know a few, but those they do know they can sound

as well as any of them."

"That is right, corporal. Now look here, what I am going to say is not

to go farther, you understand."

"Yes, sir, I will keep my mouth shut."

"Very well. You can see the lads are not like most of our band boys.

They are a gentleman's sons who have got into some scrape or other and

run away from school."

"I was thinking as much, sir."

"The colonel believes that he knows their family, Skinner; but of

course, that will not make any difference in regard to them. Still he

would be pleased, I know, if they could sound the calls well enough to

go with the regiment. They are most anxious to learn. Now I shall be

glad if you can get them up to the mark. It will, of course, entail a

lot of extra trouble upon you, but if you can get them fit in time, I

will pay you a couple of guineas for your extra time."

"Thank you, sir," the corporal saluted. "I think I can manage it--at

any rate if I don't it won't be for want of trying."

"Who are those nice-looking lads I saw with you, Manley?" Major James

asked as the captain came into the messroom to lunch.

"Those are two buglers in his Majesty's Norfolk Rangers."

There was a general laugh.

"No, but really, Manley, who are they? I was quite struck with them;

good style of boys."

"It is a fact, major. Harding will tell you so," and he nodded to the

adjutant.

"Yes, Manley is saying the thing that's right," the adjutant answered.

"The doctor passed them, and I swore them in."

"I am sorry for it," the major said. "There were three or four of us

standing on the mess-room steps and we all noticed them. They were

gentlemen, if I ever saw one, and a hard life they will have of it

with the band boys. However, they are not likely to stay there. They

have run away from school, of course, and will be claimed. I wonder

you enlisted them."

"The colonel's orders, major," the adjutant said. "Manley took them to

him, I believe, and then brought them to me."

"I don't think you need feel anxious about them among the boys,

major," Captain Manley said. "I fancy they can hold their own. I

found them outside the gate where a row was going on among some of

the recruiting sergeants, and one of those boys had just tripped up

a sergeant of the 15th and nearly broken his head."

There was a general laugh.

"They are quite interesting, these prodigies of yours, Manley. How did

the boy do it? I should not have thought him strong enough to have

thrown a man off his balance."

"I asked Summers about it afterwards," Captain Manley said, "the

fellow gave one of the boys a box on the ear, and in an instant the

boy stooped, caught his foot and pulled it forward and up. The thing

was done in a moment, and the sergeant was on his back before he knew

what's what."

"By Jove," a young ensign said, "I have seen that trick done at Eton."

"That is just where the boy said he learnt it," Captain Manley said.

"The colonel asked him suddenly, and it slipped out."

"If they're Etonians, I ought to know them," the ensign said. "I only

left six months ago. What are their names?"

"Their name is Scudamore."

"By Jove, they were in the same house with me. Uncommonly sharp little

fellows, and up to no end of mischief. It was always believed, though

no one could prove it, that they were the boys who nearly suffocated

the bargee."

There was a roar of laughter.

"Tell us all about, Carruthers."

"Well, there was not very much known about it. It seems the fellow

purposely upset a boat with four or five of our fellows in it, and

that night a dozen lighted crackers were thrown down into the little

cabin where the fellow was asleep; the hatch was fastened and he

was sent drifting down stream with the crackers exploding all about

him. The smoke nearly suffocated the fellow, I believe There was a

tremendous row about it, but they could not bring it home to any one.

We always put it down to the Scudamores, though they never would own

to it; but they were the only fellows in the boat who would have done

it, and they were always up to mischief."

"But what makes them come here as buglers?" the major asked.

"Their father was a banker, I believe, down in the Eastern Counties

somewhere. He died suddenly in the middle of the half before I left,

and they went away to the funeral and never came back again."

"The fact is," Captain Manley said, "I fancy by what they say, though

they did not mention their father was a banker, that he lost all his

money suddenly and died of the shock. At any rate they are alone

in the world, and the colonel has no doubt that they are some

relation--nephews, I should imagine--of Peter Scudamore, who was our

colonel when I joined. One of them is called Peter. They acknowledged

that they had a particular reason for choosing this regiment; but

they would neither acknowledge or deny that he was a relation. Now

that we know their father was a banker, we shall find out without

difficulty--indeed I have no doubt the colonel will know whether Peter

Scudamore had a brother a banker."

"What's to be done, Manley?" Major James said. "I don't like the

thought of poor old Peter's nephews turning buglers. All of us field

officers, and the best part of you captains, served under him, and

a better fellow never stepped. I think between us we might do

something."

"I would do anything I could," Carruthers said, "and there are Watson

and Talbot who were at Eton too. Dash it, I don't like to think of two

Etonians in a band," "You are all very good," Captain Manley said,

"but from what I see of the boys they will go their own way. They have

plenty of pride, and they acknowledge that their reason for refusing

to say whether they are any relation of the colonel was that they

did not want to be taken notice of or treated differently from other

boys, because it would cause jealousy, and make their position more

difficult. All they asked was that they might accompany the regiment,

and not remain behind at the depot; and as, fortunately, they have

both been practising with the bugle, and can sound most of the calls

as well as the others, the colonel was able to grant their request.

Had they been older, of course, we could have arranged for them to go

with us as volunteers, we who knew the colonel, paying their expenses

between us: as it is, the only thing we can do for them--and that is

what they would like best is to treat them just like the other boys,

but to give them every chance of distinguishing themselves. If they

don't get knocked over, they ought to win a commission before the

campaign is over."

In the meantime Tom and Peter had been introducing themselves to the

regiment. The exercise over, they had returned to dinner. It was a

rough meal, but the boys enjoyed it, and after it was over a number

of the men of the band, with whom they messed, crowded round to ask

the usual questions of new-comers--their curiosity heightened in the

present instance by the fact that the boys differed so widely from

ordinary recruits.

"Look here," Tom said, laughing, "I can't answer you all at once, but

if you put me on the table I will tell you all about us."

There was a general laugh, and many of the soldiers other than the

band sauntered up to see what was going on.

"The first thing to tell you," Tom said, "is our names. We go by the

names of Tom and Peter Scudamore, but I need scarcely tell you that

these are not our real names. The fact is--but this is quite a

secret--we are the eldest sons of Sir Arthur Wellesley--"

Here Tom was interrupted by a shout of laughter.

"Sir Arthur," Tom went on calmly, "wished to make us colonels of two

of the Life Guard regiments, but as they were not going on foreign

service we did not see it, and have accordingly entered the regiment