Year: 1878

market where they would be apprecia-
ted. And SO, at the mature age of twen-
ty.two, he left us, his profession, his
home, and his prospects. He disappear
ed, and six months after we heard he
was with, say the 10th Dragons, in In
dia. We wrote, and offered to buy his
discharge, but he would "have none of
u.s." He liked it very well; was already
corporal; expected the three stripes soon;
and was "Gentleman Jack" with his
comrades.


Some six months after this l was sent
out to India with company; and as
my sister was getting thin, and show
ing other signs of the desrability of a
sea-voyage, and of warm climate, it
was agreed should take her over. We
reached Calcutta, and in few weeks
settled down. There was war going on
and was placed in charge of one of the
chief depots for small arms and ammu-
milton, besides having my regular duties
with the company. One day l was down
at the store, when my sister arrived pale
and breathless.


Look, Charles, poor Gerald's in
dreadful trouble"


put her in an office chair, and took
the newspaper, and read


Yesterday evening as an officer of
the 40th Dragon Guards was returning
to camp he was shot at from behind
clump of bushes the bullet struck him
in the thigh, and lodged in the saddle.
Although wounded so severely he had
sufficient presence of mind to ride
straight to the bushes, and there found
one of his own men, a corporal of the
troop, nicknamed "Gentleman Jack"
by his comrades, whose rifle was still
smoking from the discharge. Fortunate
ly, at this moment the guard arrived,
and the man was at once arrested. A
court-martial will, of course, be held at
once, and, although the man has previ-
ously borne good character and is re-
ported to be respectfully connected, it is
to be hoped he will receive the proper
reward for so abominable crime"


co." said, "this is all nonsense.
Gerald's no murderer, or else he's very
much changed. I'll see what they say
at headquarters"


DO for Gods sake, go. If anything
happened to Gerald I should never for
give myself, for if had run away with
him when papa was so cruel, he never
would have enlisted at ALL"


&C nnt,1t tal I.
home, and I'll come home with the tele-
graph news"


went to headquarters they gave
me permission to use the telegraph for
question or two. The report was not
encouraging.


1t was our Gerald, the officer had seen
the flash and heard the report AN ex-
tremely loud report, as if there had been
two charges of powder in the carbine.


The bullet was found in the saddle,
and one cartridge was missing from his
twenty rounds. Court-martial had de-
clared him guilty, and the generals con-
firmation of the sentence had just ar
rived. Fifty lashes in the camp square,
and four years imprisonment in the civil
jail. Sentence to be carried out on the
18th. Everybody was sorry, but quite
convinced that he had tried to murder
his superior officer. No one could un-
derstand with what motive.


did not know what to think; there
was more evidence forthcoming in day
or two, when we had the papers.


His statementin defence was, that he
had just been returning from guard,
when he remembered that he had forgot.
ten to bring in book one of the officers
had asked him to bring in from the
town, some three miles distant. With
out stopping to think he walked off at
once, got the book, and was within half
a mile of the camp when he fancied he
saw tiger. He got behind the bushes
to watch, and saw one making for the
distant camp. Anxious to secure the
prize, he incautiously broke open one of
his packages and loaded, to have shot
at it. He had covered the beast, and
was firing at the tiger, when he heard
another report simultaneously with that
of his carbine. He saw the tiger roll
right over as If shot, and then bound
away. In another instant the officer
came round the copse bleeding, and or
dered him into arrest. He was quite
sure that he had hit the tiger, and equal
ly sure that another rifle was fired at
the same moment that he pulled the