us that his father had warned him he would very soon tire of soldiering, and that his brother-officers would only make a fool of him, and torment his life out of him.

Remarkably sensible old gentleman," said Bolton, sotto voce; "by Jove! aw- -I should like to make

his acquaintance."

"People always like their prophecies to come true," said Harry Leicester, "and the old boy will find his words verified in a very short time. I see Daniel Lambert is on the point of disappearing under the table; when he is fairly there, I vote for embellishing his beautiful countenance with a few touches of high art. There's room for us all to try our hands upon him, and each can stick to the style he likes best."

We were all slightly elevated, and the proposal was received with unanimous approbation; besides, the 21st were rather given to amusements of this description, and very few weeks passed without their being convicted of some practical joke against her Majesty's lieges.

Cornet Potts was accordingly placed in a gracefully reclining attitude in a chair; and Harry Leicester, as principal operator, commenced his "little improvements," as he called them.

"Some idiot has declared that beauty unadorned is adorned the most," he soliloquized, as, brush in hand, he calmly surveyed the sleeping porpoise before him; "but this remark I hold to be rank folly, and calculated to do an incredible deal of mischief. It is one of those popular delusions that everybody credits because nobody will take the trouble to contradict them. Now look here; will anybody say that a couple of well-defined eyebrows-" here he gave

Potts an extremely well-developed pair-" are not a very great adornment to this sleeping beauty? Silence gives consent; so I take it for granted that our friend is considered to be benefited by these little touches." "Give him moustaches, Harry," said Cornet Wylde; "they're the only pair he is ever likely to have."

"Those little adjuncts shall not be forgotten," replied Leicester, gravely. "There they go-by Jove! the fellow's getting quite handsome. Now let me see the effect from a little distance. Very good indeed. Our friend's ruling expression is rather difficult to find; I should say his face is like Viola's history, 'a blank, my lord.' Now a bad expression is decidedly better than none at all, so we'll give him a touch of ferocity; lamp black is a useful invention. I'm blessed if his worthy father, the grazier, would recognise his own flesh and blood."

Several of the others now lent a helping hand, and the unconscious Potts received a nose of a brightly rubicund tint, and cheeks to match; while everybody put a touch here and a stroke there, as their taste or fancy guided them, till his visage was one mass of streaks and patches, and the only thing he resembled was the harlequin in a pantomime.

'He'll about do, now," said Leicester, giving him a final touch on the chin; "it's as neat a bit of painting as one would wish to see."

"Doosed good imitation of a chessboard," observed Bolton, inspecting him through his eye-glass; "pity the fellow can't see himself-aw. By Jove! how he'd stare."

“We have no intention of denying him that little gratification," replied Leicester; "I should think not, indeed! The pleasing sight will greet his eyes the

first thing in the morning-wonder what he'll think of himself?" and Leicester laid down his brush, and laughed heartily as he gazed on the absurd-looking spectacle that Cornet Potts now presented.

The somnolent youth was then carried to his own apartment, and laid on his bed.

He was very indignant next morning when he looked in the glass, and discovered how he had been decorated; and in the course of the day he appealed to Colonel Fitzneville, who looked extremely disgusted at his presumption, and told him that the matter was no concern of his; Mr. Potts was old enough to take care of himself. In fact, the colonel wished to get rid of him, and would have winked at any proceedings calculated to drive him from the regiment. The other officers seeing this, acted accordingly, and the unfortunate cornet's existence soon became a thing by no means to be envied; it was wonderful that the constant annoyances he encountered had not the effect of reducing his enormous bulk; but, on the contrary, he seemed to grow larger every day.

They blackened one side of his face, and left the other au naturel; they filled his boots with water, and his bed with broken-glass; they cut his uniform into little shreds, and, fitting them skilfully together, laid it on his bed as if ready for wearing; in fact, they left nothing undone that could aggravate the poor wretch, who stood it all meekly enough for some time, though his submission had anything but the effect of wearing out his tormentors.

He wrote long letters home and poured his complaints into the paternal ear; but the worthy old grazier did not mind them at first, and seemed to think his hopeful son was only "sarved right" for his

folly in preferring the idle life of a soldier to the profitable employment of training oxen in the way they should go; therefore his sympathy was not forthcoming. However, at last, he did become indignant at the repeated practical jokes of which his unlucky offspring was the victim; and one fine day down came the old gentleman upon the unlicensed jokers, and having written a very irate letter to the commander-in-chief, a courtmartial was ordered to sit in judgment on the whole affair, and the officers of the 21st found themselves rather in a scrape.

However, they came off pretty well on the whole; their good interest and high connexions helped them through the business; and the trial ended with a strong denunciation of the system of practical joking from the presiding judge, and a gentle reprimand to Colonel Fitzneville and his officers, accompanied by a hint that if the offence were repeated, the next sentence would not be such a mild one.

The unfortunate youth was now sent to Coventry by the whole regiment; and after a faint attempt at resistance he fairly knocked under, and the Gazette speedily contained the welcome announcement:

"Rupert Godwin, gent., to be cornet by purchase, vice Potts, resigned."

ABOUT this time a number of recruits belonging to the 144th and several other infantry regiments were ordered to embark in a steamer sailing from Glasgow to Dublin. The draft also included some invalids who had been left behind, and a number of soldiers who had been on leave; and owing to the illness of the officer left in charge, it became necessary that some one should go over and take the command. The duty devolved on Captain Lascelles, and I accompanied him in the capacity of subaltern.

We accordingly crossed over, collected the various soldiers and recruits, and embarked on board one of the large steam-packets which left Glasgow late in the afternoon, and generally arrived off Dublin about ten o'clock the next morning.

There was a fine fresh breeze which carried us pleasantly along, and Lascelles and I being good sailors, did not suffer in the least from the motion of the vessel, though a considerable number of the passengers were compelled to quit the deck and take refuge on the sofas of the state cabin.

There were seven or eight ladies on board; one a