Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1895-07-11

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appearance again, We noticed that
pumice stone had done its work nobly.
and there remained but q faint shade
OF green paint on his nasal extremity.
but it was enough to give him sort OF
"ghost-in-H Hamlet" look, that we
thought very becoming II is not Tor
one moment to be supposed that he
was IN anywise abashed by this or any
other circumstance; not one jot. When
the Arab pilot boarded our ship outside
Alexandria, the oficious Mr.. Rubbit
pounced upon him and wanted to ex.
plain to him what his duties were. nm
til the man fed in terror up the bridge
steps, his long white drapery flying in
the wind.
At Alexandria we regretfully took
our leave Of the good ship Orontes and
proceeded overland to Suez, and event
ually to Calcutta, where we separated,
~ Of u regretting to part with the
cver-genial Maj. Ball and his mare. II
would take too long to recount 1.-THE
Of the fun wherewith that fine old
officer lightened the tedium OF the sea
passage.
Shortly after arrival at headquar-
tiers we were startled out of our regu-
lar pleasurable routine Of social lite
by the outbreak Of the great mutiny
Of the Bengal army, and from that time
on IL was work and fight all the time,
and It was many months later when
we heard Of the sequel to the ''boots"
incident.
It appears that all the facts Of sig,
mailing the Orontes had been noted
down in the log-book Of the admiral'a
ship, and at the conclusion Of the
cruise the book had in due course been
forwarded to the admiralty. Here the
clerk with too little to do came across
the paragraph and retailed It as q good
story at his club. From thence IL
passed from mouth to mouth, and
eventually came to the knowledge Of
the leader OF the opposition for the
time being Sir George Gray, l think it
was, although at this distance Of time I
will not be quite sure-and he, desiring
to make political capital out Of It, one
evening arose in his place in the house
of commons and asked the first lord Of
the admiralty--his voice trembling
with indignant emotions "Since when
the British navy had SO far lost Its
dignity that some Of her majesty's
ships were used as q medium for ad-
vertising firm of backing manufac-
turers?"
Iforget what the reply was, but an
investigation took place, and the
wretched result of the joke was the
placing OF poor Lockhart on the re-
tired list. lie was never promoted and
never went to sea again in an official
capacity.
All Of which goes to prove that It
does not do to joke with an admiral.
Later still, was on duty outside the
Khotwalse at Agra one morning in
November, 1857, with half troop Of
my regiment, the Queens Lancers,
when deserted white figure coming
up the road leading dilApidated horse.
The pair advanced towards the picket,
and with some difficulty / recognized
Mai. Ball! He broke down utterly when
he learned who | was, and begged q
pail of water for the mare. 1t was the
old story; the men Of the two native
batteries he commanded, after protest.
ing faithfulness to their salt through
thick and thin, had at last week pre-
viously revolted, seized treasure and
guns and ammunition, burned down
the station and decamped, leaving the
major to shift for himself. He had hid
by day and crawled by night through
a country whose every inhabitant had
a hand raised against the ''feringhee."
His clothes had long since given out to
the attacks Of the thorns and BRAN
bles, and all he possessed in the world
was q bed sheet he had stolen and the
mare, and she had carried him fifty
miles that morning.
While he was telling me this in few
words, one of my men brought a pail Of
water and held it up to the mares
mouth; she languidly swallowed few
mouthfuls, looked up at the major,
whinnied affectionately, laid her head
against his shoulder and fell dead. Her
noble heart had BURST. E. M. Hardy,
in Illustrated American.
WHAT CHILDREN TALK ABOUT
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