, 1874-04-12

bent. Then, with de1trous wrench the brass
cock Was drawn from the bunghole> through
which there trickled few inky drops Of rain
water, as ii the water-butt were shedding bitter
| tears at the separation.
Unluckily for John Chinaman Just as he was
| making off with his booty, the sentry caught
| aight Of him, and
| GAVE CHASE.
Then began series OF doubles and slips and
grabs. comminglcd with 8 curious junblo OF
Chinese aud Mlesiau. .'Hi-yah!" from the
Celestial, as he ducked just in time to save him
selt from being caught BY tho M nape = Of the neck;
moment from the sentry, as he Wildly clutched
| the alr Just where the Chinamnns head ought
to have been. Backward and forward, round and
round, diving, ducking, gasping and cursins,
An end by the Chinaman becoming 80 terrified
at the unearthly noises made by his pursuer,
whose Impressions grew more and more hoarso
and cultural as their uttercr became more and
more blown, that in panic he gave himself mp,
and quietly submitted to the indignity Of being
held BY his pigtail.
'.Ah yer thaying baste!" exclaimed Private
! Denis Masrath-such was the sentry's namo-as
Then feeling rather st 8 loss to know what to do
! with bis prisoner OF Wat now that he had got
him. he brought one Of his hobnailed ammuni-
ton boots into violent contact with John China
symptoms OF indecision, and also OF impressing
his prisoner with proper sense OF his captor's
power and hls own help!essness.
Notwithstanding that this proceeding indicated
ter, our Hibernian friend exhibited signs Of IT,
| resolution.
! "Divil bit nv mo knows what I've been run
| min afther yer for!'' he exclaimed "But, be-
| corral" and here he raised his voice to high
| pitch, "now I've got ger, I'll kape yer!"
With these last words, he gave the pigtai1 a
| hearty pull, just to show the Chinaman tho
| tight hold he had Of him, when, horror !! the
| pigtail
CAME OFF IN HIS HASp3,
| and its late owner bounded of like an arrow
| shot from bow. Private Denis Mag1ath stood
| aghast for some moments, looking by turns st
| the pigtail in bis hand and the fast-recedng
| form OF the Chinaman, and, with each look,
| poared as il about to go through the unpara1-
| ieled performance Of gradually turning himself
| inside out. At last it closed With anap. aud
| then the following words were heard to pro-
coed from it: "Ho1y frost! Two pulled the tail
| out ov UNI! Sure, I've had enough runniu; ye
may go, and the diyl burn ye!" and upon this
| he threw tho tail in the direction the Chinaman
had taken, and resumed his walk. The brass
! cock after having been ruthlessly torn from the
| bosom Of its water-butt, had been thrust into
the breast OF the Chinaman'e jacket where it
had nestled until in the scuf11e it had dropped
on the ground, to lie for a long time unnoticed.
"Halloa! !" said the sentry, at last catching
that thaying baste's dhropped- shure, it's
| brass cock he's stole out ov some bar1."
Then tinge Of melancholy shaded his
! features, and soft light came into his eyes as
thersh good liquor bein' waahted somewheres,
| this very moment, whilsht I'm shtandlng here
as dhry as bone. Maybe, he added in a tone
OF almost passionate feryor, sits somewhere
quite c1ose."
Tho suspense OF the moment Was too much to
DO long endured and in order to settle his hopes
and fears as soon as possible, he subjected the
brass cock to an examination IN which nose and
mouth took part. .........
he exclaimed. in tones Of the deepest disgust.
| Tet it washto ~ And here the brass cock WAS
varv nearly hoinr pitched contomptuously away,
but on second thought it was put into his
| pocket,
The next morning, after coming of guard,
Private Magrath betook himself to his quon-
dam master, one Liout. Thorner, who Was
also Acting-Adjutant and to him be gave the
brass cook, together with q most elaborate and
detailed account OF how it had come into his
possession, which, with all apologies to Mr. Ma
grath, we have taken the liberty OF reproducing
IN these pages.
t.You should have taken it to the Sergeant Of
your guard, and he would have entered the
Circumstance in his report" said Lieut..
| Thorner However, put it down, and I'll sec
| about7t"
Now when man, with nothing particular on
| hand at the moment, saTB he'll see about " a
thing, instead Of doing 50 then and there. the
| odds are very much in favor OF his never trou-
/ bling his head in the mstter. This WIS the case
with Lieut.: Turner. Ho dismissed the subject
from his mind, and tho brass cock lay for days,
idle and unheeded, on his table, until On his
being suddenly ordered away on detachment, to-
gether with Private Magrath, to place We will
call ChoofoW, it was packed up with the rest OF
that young officers goods and chattels.
Hero at Choofow it shone in quito new sphere.
Lieut. Thorner's quarters were somewhat baro Of
articles OF Vertu, and the brass cock, cleaned Of
its yerdigris coat, occupied prominent position
as chimncy-piece ornament. It was not long,
however, at Choofow before her Britannia Ma
jestys Consul at that port saw it. and recollect-
ing that he had d bcer-barrcl IN want OF such an
article: begged It OF Ileut. IhoInef, VINO, hav!hg
quite 1orgo'ten ITS previous history, presented II
With al due ceremony and 1t was forthwith
INSTALLED IN TIE cossuI's CELLAR.
In the meantime, stirring e7euta had been 60
ing on at Hong-Aong. fow days after the de-
parturo OF Liout. Thorner, the first rumble Of
the coming storm Was heard in the Office, which
is already known to our readers. There e, sat the
opposite to hun sat the Fort-Adjutant. letter