manner, satisfied that he had given the regiment
a lesson which would not be forgotten
in a hurry.

Nor were these lessons thrown away; but
their result was to render the officers dissatisfied,
and the men discontented: the former
felt that all their efforts were held as nought,
and the latter that no amount of good conduct
made them safe, when Mad Jock gave way to
one of his indiscriminate fits of passion; for
on such occasions the best man was as likely
to suffer as the worst. In short, these ill-
considered visitations on the part of Mad
Jock had a precisely contrary effect to that
which he intended; they caused him to be
held up to ridicule by the men; neutralised
the authority of the officers in general; and
drove more than one man to desertion.

It was in the midst of troubled waters like
these that Maurice Savage had to steer his
way, to avoid punishment, and acquire
approbation; that he succeeded in doing so, was
owing to more causes than one. The counsel of
Mac Manus, whose motto was, "Do your
duty first, Maurice, and complain afterwards,"
proved of no slight service; not less so was
the spectacle of Corporal Rattler, whom
nothing could keep from coming drunk to
parade, for which he was reduced to the
ranks—flogged—sent to hospital and finally
sent home with phthisis pulmonalis, an
incurable invalid; nor was the example thrown
away of two or three men, little older than
himself, but who had been better prepared
before they joined for the education they now
received, and were already making their way
upward; but, without doubt, the most
serviceable thing for Maurice, as well as for the
whole regiment, was the displacement of
Colonel Stormy from his command, by the
sudden return of the Lieuteuant-Governor of
the province, who had been hastily ordered
out by the Horse Giiards, when the consequence
of certain indiscretions on the part
of Mad Jock became only too apparent at
head-quarters. A private letter from a friend
in office, to the last named gallant but
blundering individual, advising retirement,
and showing where good terms might be had,
induced Colonel Stormy to apply for leave of
absence as soon as the General arrived; and,
after taking farewell of "his boys," with tears
in his eyes and something that sounded very
like "dromedaries " on his lips, he recrossed
the Atlantic, was gazetted a few months
afterwards, as having sold out, pocketed a
heavy sum by the transaction, and was never
heard of afterwards.

The regiment, left in the mean time to
the care of the steady-going Major, began
once more to hold up its head, and by the
time the new Lieutenant-Colonel joined, was
in a fit state to profit by the measures which
the latter had been instructed by the
Commander-in-Chief to adopt, in anticipation of
general improvements which "the Duke"
then meditated.

This officer was discriminating, just and
liberal; he knew how to make allowances for
the temptations to which a soldier is exposed;
he was able to forbear when, more from
thoughtlessness than wilful misconduct, a
man got into trouble; he saw clearly what
was fairly to be expected from the troops
under his command, and refrained from
exacting impossibilities; and he was endowed
with that accuracy of judgment which, made
all his rewards worthily bestowed. Thus
qualified, he was quick to discover that
Maurice Savage was not the least undeserving
of the care with which he regarded
all, and the recommendation of the young
man to the probationary rank of lance-corporal
was favourably received. The advice
which he gave on the occasion, was not thrown
away, and five years had not passed by from
the time when Maurice Savage "took the
shilling" from Serjeant Pike, before he
became that worthy's superior in rank; indeed
the last reports from the regiment, now
stationed in Upper Canada, make mention of
the early retirement of the Serjeant-Major
who is about to claim his discharge and settle
in that country, and the letter which conveys
this intelligence adds, that when this event
takes place it is almost certain he will be
succeeded by Colour-Serjeant Savage.

At his age, with the testimonials of good
conduct which he has already received, and
the prospect which now opens before him,
there is nothing improbable in the expectation,
that in a few years he may be recommended
for a commission. He has always invested
his spare money in the Regimental Savings'
Bank, where it is as safe and as lucrative to
him as if in the Bank of England. His
increased pay enables him constantly to add
to the amount; and, should the expectation
be realised, which has become a legitimate
goal for the soldier's hopes, Maurice Savage
will scarcely stand in need of the hundred
pounds which is now presented to every non-
commissioned officer, to enable him to bear
the expenses and assist him in supporting the
rank to which he has wisely been permitted
to attain.

A word on parting about Patrick Mac
Manus. The new system was introduced too
late for him to profit by it to any extent. He
was " too ould," he said, "to learn from books
and them kind of things, but he didn't see
that they did the boys any kind of harrum."
He thought, perhaps, that "he might have
cut more of a figure, if, instead of powthering
the outside of his head when he first entered
the service, he had been made to put something
into it. He was thankful, too," he
added, "for the warrant that gave him an
extra sevenpence a-day pension for good s
arvice, after knocking about for more than
thirty years; and anyhow he'd be happy to
drink long life to them as made it their study
now to care for the soldier's wants, and give
him a man's chance of gettin' on in the world,