The other men had gone off to smoke, but Alured prepared to turn in at once. The fact

was, he had not learned to smoke yet. There were so many things, as Miss Tremenheere told him, which he had yet to learn. But knowledge of the kind he lacked would come soon enough, unsought. The world has much to teach, lessons both good and bad, and its pupils cannot quite choose their own curriculum. A man who has got his experience by heart, has indeed, tasted of the tree of knowledge, and knows both good and evil.

That night at Moynehan, our hero had barely got his teeth into the fruit.

CHAPTER X.

MOYNEHAN CASTLE: QUITE AT HOME.

"Poor boy," she said; "can he not read-no books? Quoit, tennis, ball-no games? Nor deals in that Which men delight in, martial exercise ? "

TENNYSON: The Princess.

No. 3 of the detailed instructions drawn up by the far-seeing Major Frere for Alured's guidance on joining was to this effect :

A re

"3. Call upon the adjutant, and beg of him to provide you with a good servant. spectable old soldier if possible."

Draycott being evilly disposed towards Alured at first, had told him to fish for himself; he did not keep a registry office, the adjutant said. Whereupon Davidson found a man for Alured, Grimes by name, No. 2847, Theophilus Grimes; a soldier of fifteen years' service, with a fine weather-beaten face, somewhat discoloured by time and the tropics. He was more or less broken down by the continuous strain of these heavy fifteen years. Sentry-go" once a week, and drink once an hour, must have its

effect upon the constitution in the end. Not that Grimes was a drunkard. Far from it. He had three good-conduct badges, each of which he had earned nobly by the strength of his head. When the other men fell into the clutches of the sergeant of the guard, Grimes carried his liquor bravely to his barrack-room, and was half asleep before tattoo roll-call began.

On the departure of the 145th for the East, Grimes had been declared unfit for active service. He had remained, therefore, at the depot, helping, as old soldiers do, to train recruits by their advice and example. Grimes looked upon his master as a recruit, whom he was bound to dry-nurse and instruct.

It was Grimes himself who brought in Alured's hot water the morning after the ball at Moynehan. His fairy footfall soon awakened his master, for Grimes, seeking to do honour to himself and his profession, had taken into wear that morning his last issued ammunition boots. They were of a stiff uncompromising material, and might have been made by the armourer-sergeant; creaking at each move till the very windows rattled and vibrated at the

noise, their aggrieved owner apostrophizing them at intervals thus:

and

you

66

"Is it grease ye want? Bad luck to youwon't take the blacking yet.' Quiet, will you?" "Make less noise or I'll have you off." And sometimes with a long-drawn sigh he murmured, "Oh! me boots. This is no place, sure, for store boots."

But all the time Grimes was taking stock of the room and its contents. Naturally the mansions of the great were not among his daily experiences. I doubt very much whether he had seen the inside of a large country house before. But it was a confirmed habit with this astute old soldier to depreciate everything he came across. He had examined his master's kit the very first day, with severely critical eyes. Declared that them boots would never do at all. They were too narrow. And the uniform clothes were all too loose. And the blacking brushes (provided by Messrs. Jobson), were just rubbish compared with those in the quartermaster's store. "You'll have to give that sword away, sir. It won't do for the Crimayer." "Lord save us! and is this the

new pattern shakoo-hat-cap? You can't go to parade in this rigga-my-dandy. It's the first that's come to these barracks, and the men'll all be laughing in the ranks, sir." And when the boxes had been inspected and their contents condemned, other things got their turn. Ballybanagher and its products, natural and artificial were roundly abused. The milk called pig's wash; the bread, bran; the people, savages. Alured was told that the adjutant was "no drill." "Nor yet Sergeant Gaskitt. There's none of them fit to carry the pace-stick or Lance-Corporal Raper;" who was drill instructor to the squad in which, years ago, Grimes had learnt his exercises. The messman was a villain, and Mrs. Moriarty, who was to do Alured's washing, "an old soldier." She'd rob him of the very shirts off his back; and wash the sheets into holes, and “divil a darn in the socks."

As soon as Grimes recovered his first astonishment at Moynehan, he attacked the bedroom furniture.

"A tin foot-pan for a bath. It ought to be mahogany. And not a bootjack, nor a