The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-03-29
A NIGHT OF ADVENTURE,
London Society.

Iub lOtbuuG W 10 aJudCilSb w Ne'N'NAS ~
garrison artillery in the southern district. AT
that time there was great scarcity OF subal-
terms in the Royal regiment and found myself
the only officer of rank in battery of recruits
some two hundred strong AS may be i'm
| agined, / had quite as much work on my hands
as cared for
1t was with mingled feelings that heard the
news that Lord Beaconsfeld had determined on
calling out the reserves. On the one hand the
act seemed prophetic of imminent war; with all
the chances of promotion and distinction that
such prospect opens to the soldier, while on
the other there was the immediate certainty of
plenty of additional hard work, and of endless
trouble with men just transferred from their
civil occupations to the stirring life of the army
On the whole however, think l rather enjoyed
the excitement offered by the change.
One morning 1 was called into the colonels
Office informed that large detachment of forty
men of the Reserve was to join my battery from
Wales and that was to proceed thither imme-
diately with a trustworthy sergeant and bring
| them to the depot. The colonel did not scruple
to tell me that he would not have intrusted SO
difficult task to an officer with little expert
ence and length of service as myself had he had
| any other to send; but there was
no one available, he must make virtue
| of necessity, and hoped / would prove
| worthy of the confidence repoSed in me. At the
same time he gave me to understand that, once
the men were in my charge, l should be held re-
sponsible for any who managed to desert or
| otherwise absent themselves on the journey.
| l always disiked responsibility and had,
| moreover an dea-whether we'll or i'll founded
| I shall not pause to consider-that the small pay
| of subaltern was not intended to cover any
duties of great Importance, but was merely an
Of Yin
fixed pieces of routine, such visiting guards,
going round to inspect the mems dinners, and so
on. 1 cannot, therefore, say that l at all rel
ished the order had just received, especially
since could very we'll realize the difficulty of
conveying forty rude Welsh miners so long
| distance through country unknown to them.
| / only stipulated, however, that the sergeant
| who to be my companion should be man
| knew and could trust, and who could talk Welsh
on occasion. Fortunately, just such one as
| needed was available, and we started on our
journey determined to make the best of it.
do not intend here to give an account of the
| manner in which l carried out my mission,
though, indeed, some of the incidents
| amusing enough. | was compelled perforce to
stay longer than had intended in Wales, gath
ering my men together. and on the morning Of
| our final departure half the population of the
country seemed to be collected together to see
us off Had there been the least unwiIngness
on the part of the new recruits to join, should
have been quite unable to muster them among
their relatives only too willing to serve her
/ Majesty and to drink her health. Man after man
was carried aloft by his admiring friends, dead
| drunk, and thrust into the carriages anywhere
| and anyhow, till my number was complete, and
| the amused engne-driyer could at length start
his train Of the whole party think that my
| self, my sergeant and Q single total abstainer,
who happened to be the sole one of my men
| who could speak word Of En-
glish were the only persons sober. kept
| my charges we'll supplied with liquor, in defiance
of all precedent carried them from EustOn to
| London Bridge in couple of omnibuses, and
had them all safely housed in barracks before
they well knew they had started fear some of
them must have felt very i'll the day after but
that, of course, could not help
But the adventure l am about to relate had
little to do with my Reserve men. 1t took place
on the second night after my arrival in Wales,
| My sergeant and had taken up our quarters in
a little Out-of-the way village on the. coast, not
far from the Menai straits. For many reasons
do not care to give its name We had arrived
| there late in the evening, as darkness was draw
ing on; and by dnt of my companions knowl-
edge of the language. had found out the position
of the only place of entertainment that
| availabe-a little inn situated at some distance
| from the town. | was struck, on approaching
it, by the wild and picturesque beauty of the To-
| cality. 1t was perched on the top of a high
cliff, which seemed almost to overhang the sea
| below; and, between the door and the verge of
| the perpendicular descent unguarded by fence
or rail nothing interviewed but patch of grass,
| blackened and withered by the spray cast up by
the westerly gales of the equinox, and not more
than four yards wide. Why the builder should
have selected such a spot was not easy to say.
| Perhaps he was man who loved to watch the
wild moods of the ocean, and found them har-
monize with those of his own soul 1t looked
the very place for some terrible scene of mid
night murder and violence. such often hap
| pened in the old smuggling days
The house itself was good one, and the land
| lord. as he came to the door to welcome us
| seemed a Ouiet good Oatuped looking He
| showed us to our rooms, and served supper
in a lofty chamber whose windows looked out
upon the sea- that already began to moan through
the rocky caves and passes with the reStles
| ton that foretells a rising storm.
After supper my sergeant stroled down to
| the village to see his men and arrange about
getting them.together in the morning; and the
| landlord, with whom he had struck up
| acquaintance accompanied him to show him
the person ne required. Before leaving the
house he said something to my cOmrade in
| Welsh.
HE says SIR said the sergeant saluting
''that he hopes you won't mind being left alone
in the house for an hour two. No one will
intrude upon you. There is one other gentle
man stopping here, but he is out now and most
likely won't be back till morning. He is man
who goes about with a hammer collecting bits of
rock
''Ah, geologist" replied ''No, have no
objection to be left alone. l would come down
| to the village with you, but that am tired,
and l think will just smoke pipe and go to
| bed"
This message being duly translated to my host
| he made me bow and the two started off, shut
| ting the door after them. | lit my pipe aud
made myself comfortable with a couple of chairs
by the fire. There is no more sleepy occupation
than watching tobacco smoke curling upwards,
and soon fell into doze [ do not know how
| long had slept when | was awakened by stir
| in the room and saw at once that the 'other
gentleman" had returned sooner than he was
expected, and was regarding me with some
| interest.
He was a man of about thirty-fve tall and
well-made, dressed in thick frieze suit, with
| belt of the same material around the waist. In
| his hand were bag of fossils and rock speci-
mems and a biologists hammer. These he laid
on the table, and then came over and shook
| hands with me.