第 9 页

licked. It was a close thing, for the boy fainted right off; but he's

come round now, and says he's all right."

"Hurrah for Eton!" Carruthers shouted enthusiastically. "Hurrah! By

Jove, he is game, and no mistake. He won a hard fight or two at Eton,

but nothing like this. I call it splendid."

"The boy might have been killed," the major said gravely; while the

younger officers joined in Carruthers's exclamation at Tom's pluck.

"It is shameful that it was allowed. I suppose the quarrel began in

their quarters. Sergeant Howden is in charge of the room, and ought to

have stopped it at once. Every non-commissioned officer ought to have

stopped it. I will have Howden up before the colonel to-morrow."

"I think, major," Captain Manley said, "if you will excuse me, the

best plan, as far as the boy is concerned, is to take no notice of

it. As it is, he must have won the hearts of all the regiment by his

pluck, and if he is not seriously hurt, it is the very best thing, as

it has turned out, that could have happened. If any one gets into a

scrape about it, it might lessen the effect of the victory. I think if

you call Howden up, and give him a quiet wigging, it will do as well,

and won't injure the boys. What do you think?"

"Yes, you are right, Manley, as it has turned out; but the boy might

have been killed. However, I won't do more than give Howden a hearty

wigging, and will then learn how the affair begun. I think, Dr.

Stathers, that it would be as well if you went round and saw both of

them. You had better, I think, order them into hospital for the night,

and then the boy can go to bed at once, and come out again to-morrow,

if he has, as I hope, nothing worse than a few bruises. Please come

back, and tell us how you find them."

The report was favorable, and the next morning Tom came out of

hospital, and took his place as usual, with the party upon the

ramparts--pale, and a good deal marked, but not much the worse for his

battle; but it was some days before the swelling of his adversary's

face subsided sufficiently for him to return to duty.

Tom's victory--as Captain Manley had predicted--quite won the hearts

of the whole regiment, and the nicknames of "Sir Tom," and "Sir

Peter"--which had been given to them in jest after Tom's speech

about Sir Arthur Wellesley--were now generally applied to them. The

conversation in the mess-room had got about, and the old soldiers who

had served under Colonel Scudamore would have done anything for the

lads, although, as yet, they were hardly known personally except to

the band, as their devotion to work kept them quite apart from the

men.

It was just three weeks after they had joined before the order came

for embarkation, and a thrill of pleasure and excitement ran through

the regiment when it was known that they were to go on board in four

days. Not the least delighted were Tom and Peter. It had already been

formally settled that they were to accompany the regiment, and it

was a proof of the popularity that they had gained, that every one

looked upon their going as a matter of course, and that no comment

was excited even among those who were left behind. Three days before

starting they had met Captain Manley in the barrack-yard, and after

saluting, Tom said, "If you please, sir, we wanted to ask you a

question."

"What is that, lads?"

"If you please, sir, we understand that the boys of the band have

their bags carried for them, but the company buglers carry knapsacks,

like the men?"

"Yes, boys; the company buglers carry knapsacks and muskets."

"I am afraid we could not carry muskets and do much marching, sir, but

we have each a brace of pistols."

Captain Manley smiled. "Pistols would not look the thing on a

parade-ground, boys; but in a campaign people are not very particular,

and I have no doubt the colonel will overlook any little breach of

strict uniformity in your cases, as it is evident you can't carry

muskets. You can use your pistols, I hope," he said with a smile. "Hit

a penny every time at twenty paces!"

"No, sir, we can't do that," Tom said seriously. "We can hit a

good-sized apple nineteen times out of twenty."

"The deuce you can!" Captain Manley said. "How did you learn to do

that?"

"We have practiced twelve shots a day for the last six months, sir. We

were thinking of asking you, sir, if you would like to carry a brace

of them through the campaign. They are splendid weapons; and we shall

only carry one each. They would get rusty and spoil, if we left them

behind, and we should be very pleased to think they might be useful to

you, after your great kindness to us."

"It is not a very regular thing, boys," Captain Manley said, "for a

captain to be borrowing a brace of pistols from two of his buglers;

but you are exceptional buglers, and there is something in what you

say about rusting. Besides, it is possible you may lose yours, so I

will accept your offer with thanks, with the understanding that I will

carry the pistols, and you shall have them again if anything happens

to yours. But how about the knapsacks?"

"We were thinking of having two made of the regimental pattern, sir,

but smaller and lighter, if you think that it would be allowed."

"Well, I think, boys, if you are allowed to carry pistols instead of

muskets, no great objection will be made as to the exact size of the

knapsacks. Yes, you can get them made, and I will speak to the colonel

about it."

"Perhaps," he hesitated, "you may be in want of a little money; do

not hesitate if you do. I can let you have five pounds, and you

can pay me," he said with a laugh, "out of your share of our first

prize-money."

The boys colored hotly.

"No, thank you, Captain Manley; we have plenty of money. Shall we

bring the pistols to your quarters?"

"Do, lads, I am going in to lunch now, and will be in in half an

hour."

The boys at once went out and ordered their knapsacks. They had just

sold their watches, which were large, handsome, and of gold, and had

been given to them by their father when they went to Eton. They were

very sorry to part with them, but they agreed that it would be folly

to keep gold watches when the twenty pounds which they obtained for

them would buy two stout and useful silver watches and would leave

them twelve pounds in money. They then returned to barracks, took out

a brace of their pistols, carefully cleaned them, and removed the

silver plates upon the handles, and then walked across to Captain

Manley's quarters.

Rather to their surprise and confusion they found five or six other

officers there, for Captain Manley had mentioned at lunch to the

amusement of his friends that he was going to be unexpectedly provided

with a brace of pistols, and several of them at once said that they

would go up with him to his quarters, as they wanted to see the boys

of whom they had spoken so much during the last fortnight. Tom and

Peter drew themselves up and saluted stiffly.

"You need not be buglers here, boys," Captain Manley said. "This is

my room, we are all gentlemen, and though I could not, according

to the regulations, walk down the street with you, the strictest

disciplinarian would excuse my doing as I like here."

The boys flushed with pleasure at Captain Manley's kind address, and

as he finished Carruthers stepped forward and shook them warmly by the

hand.

"How are you both?" he said. "You have not forgotten me, I hope."

"I had not seen you before. I did not know you were in the regiment,

Carruthers," the boys said warmly, pleased to find a face they

had known before; and then breaking off:--"I beg your pardon--Mr.

Carruthers."

"There are no misters here as far as I am concerned, Scudamore. There

were no misters at Eton. This is a change, isn't it? Better than

grinding away at Greek by a long way. Well, I congratulate you on your

fight. You showed there was some good in dear old Eton still. I wish

you had let me know it was coming off. I would have given anything

to have seen it--from a distance, you know. If it had been the right

thing, I would have come and been your backer."

There was a general laugh, and then the officers all began to talk to

the boys. They were quiet and respectful in their manners, and fully

confirmed the favorable report which Captain Manley had given of them.

"Where are the pistols, boys?" their friend asked presently.

"Here, sir," and the boys produced them from under their jackets. "We

have no case, sir; we were obliged to leave it behind us when we--"

"Ran away," one of the officers said, laughing.

"They are a splendid pair of pistols," Captain Manley said, examining

them; "beautifully finished, and rifled. They look quite new, too,

though, of course, they are not."

"They are new, sir," Tom said; "we have only had them six months, and

they were new then."

"Indeed," Captain Manley said surprised; "I thought, of course, they

were family pistols. Why, how on earth, if it is not an impertinent

question, did you boys get hold of two brace of such pistols as these?

I have no right to ask the question, boys. I see there has been a

plate on the handles. But you said you had no relations, and I was

surprised into asking."

The boys colored.

"The question was quite natural, sir; the pistols were presented to us

by some people we traveled with once; we took the plates off because

they made a great fuss about nothing, and we thought that it would

look cockey."

There was a laugh among the officers at the boys' confusion.

"No one would suspect you of being cockey, Scudamore," Captain Manley

said kindly; "come, let me see the plates."

The boys took the little silver plates from their pockets and handed

them silently to Captain Manley, who read aloud, to the surprise of

those around him,--"'To Tom' and 'Peter,' they are alike except the

names. 'To Tom Scudamore, presented by the passengers in the Highflyer

coach on the 4th of August, 1808, as a testimony of their appreciation

of his gallant conduct, by which their property was saved from

plunder.' Why, what is this, you young pickles, what were you up to on

the 4th of August last year?"

"There was nothing in it at all, sir," Tom said; "we were on the coach

and were stopped by highwaymen. One of the passengers had pistols,

but was afraid to use them, and hid them among the boxes. So when the

passengers were ordered to get down to be searched, we hid ourselves,

and when the highwaymen were collecting their watches, Peter shot one,

and I drove the coach over another. The matter was very simple indeed;

but the passengers saved their money, so made a great fuss about it."

There was much laughter over Tom's statement, and then he had to

give a detailed account of the whole affair, which elicited many

expressions of approval.

"It does you credit, boys," Captain Manley said, "and shows that you

are cool as well as plucky. One quality is as valuable as the other.

There is every hope that you will do the regiment credit, boys, and

you may be sure that we shall give you every chance. And now good-bye

for the present."

"Good-bye, sir," Tom and Peter again drew themselves up, gave the

military salute, and went off to their comrades.

For when the order came to prepare for the embarkation, both Spanish

and bugling were given up, and the boys entered into the pleasure

of the holiday with immense zest. They had no regimental duties to

perform beyond being present at parade. They had no packing to do, and

fewer purchases to make. A ball or two of stout string, for, as Peter

said, string is always handy, and a large pocket-knife, each with

a variety of blades, were the principal items. They had a ring put

to the knives, so that they could sling them round the waist. They

had, therefore, nothing to do but to amuse themselves, and this they

did with a heartiness which astonished the other boys, and proved

conclusively that they did not want to be unsociable. They hired a

boat for a sail and took five or six other boys across to Ryde, only

just returning in time for tattoo, and they played such a number of

small practical jokes, such as putting a handful of peas into the

bugles and other wind instruments, that the band-master declared that

he thought that they were all bewitched, and he threatened to thrash

the boys all round, because he could not find out who had done it.

Especially angry was the man who played the big drum. This was a

gigantic negro, named Sam, a kind-hearted fellow, constantly smiling,

except when the thought of his own importance made him assume a

particularly grave appearance. He was a general favorite, although the

boys were rather afraid of him, for he was apt to get into a passion

if any jokes were attempted upon him, and of all offences the greatest

was to call him Sambo. Now none of the men ventured upon this, for

when he first joined, Sam had fought two or three desperate battles on

this ground, and his great strength and the insensibility of his head

to blows had invariably given him the victory. But, treated with what

he conceived proper respect, Sam was one of the best-tempered and

best-natured fellows in the regiment; and he himself, when he once

cooled down, was perfectly ready to join in the laugh against himself,

even after he had been most put out by a joke.

The day before the regiment was to embark, the officers gave a lawn

party; a large number of ladies were present, and the band was, of

course, to play. The piece which the bandmaster had selected for the