Year: 1877

CONTINUED.


THE orderly-book was gonel Death


and furies What was to be done
now? The prank of the night before,
though, like most practical jokes, more
amusing to their perpetrators than to
their victims, seemed to have been but
the prologue to a more serious jest oneof
those jests which are paradoxically, but
truly, called mo joke" AS long as the
ghost was content to confine the over
fiowings of his animal spirits to new
combinations of the tables and chairs to
a novel arrangement of the bed-clothes,
or to a summary divorce of the shovel
and tongs, his effervescences, if not alb
solutely agreeable, were at least not pos
itively mischieyous. But to meddle
with what was none of his business, but,
on the contrary, with what was emphat-
,ically the business of his majesty's-th
regiment, was an entirely different affair.
The ghost could not be loyal ghost,
that was plainly to be seen. Old Wood,
to be sure, had no particular reason to
love government that intended pro-
noting him to the yard-arm, if it could
have laid hold of him. but it was not
handsome in him to resort to such pit
iful revenge as this; particularly in his
own house. 1t was hardly fair to visit
the sins of Queen Anne's Lords of the
Admiralty upon an unoftending captain
and adjutant in the army of King
George. 1t is plain that he was rebel
at heart, and, had he been in the flesh,
would have waged war in the name of
the colonies against his liege sovereign,
with as much g,tSto as he did against
especially if there happened to be any
rich London or Bristol ships within
range of his guns. He had a natural
taste for such pursuits; his only mistake
lay in interfering as an amateur in what
was strictly professional monopoly
There is great virtue in a commission Or
letter-of-marque. A piece of sheep-skh
and pair of epaulettes make all the
difference in the world in the moral
qualities Of actions. In many cases it
makes all the difference between hemp
en- cord and red ribbon round mans
neck. Many hero has gone ont Of the
world in the embrace of halter his
achievements only recorded IN the New
gate Calendar, who, had his noun sub
atantive been only qualified by ansadjec-
tive or two, would have received the
senate's thanks" have glitterel with
medals and orders, and been conmemo-
rated by word-famous historishs and
poets. Such is luck but it is hone of
my business to moralize in this Way. All
have to do is to relate this true passage
of history with the most absolute accu-
racy of detail.


While we have been indulgihg in these
profitable reflections our hep has been
through variety of evolutiDns. First,
he stood aghast, as if, instead of gazing
upon nothing at all, his sight had been
blasted by some particularly ill-favored
apparition. This was the only idea that
his look and gesture communicated to
his trusty squire, who turned his eyes
with difficulty in the direction of his
master S, In the confident expectation OF
being rewarded by the vision Of raw
head and bloody bones at the very least.
Disappointed, however, of any such
pleasing spectacle, he was by no means
so ill-infoImed in the very rudiments OF
demonOlogy, as not to know that it did
not necessarily follow, because he could
discern nothing beyond the common,
that his master was equally unfortunate.


What is it, sir Where is it, sir ~
inquired John, in voice of hollow
emotion.


The orderly-book, you scoundrel
the orderly-book ~ responded the cap
tain, in low, concentrated tone.


. The orderly-book, your honorl' re-
turned John. Well, sir, never heard
OF the ghost of book walking before
What does 1t look like, sir ~