ut was transferred to the care of a quaint
old boy who made an astonishing display of learning. He had four or five
Latin proverbs at his command. He knew the Greek alphabet, had picked
up a bit of Hindostani on Indian service, and a little bit of French
and Turkish in the Crimea. All these he aired upon me in a very natural
manner, and I was much impressed with his erudition, until a grinning
depot man got me into a corner and told me that 'the sergeant had
shown me the whole bag o' thricks at wonst,' He paid every well-dressed
recruit that compliment, it seemed; and the depot man warned me that
he too would make a bid for my clothes, and would offer me a scarecrow
rig-out in return.

'If ye'll take my tip,' said the depot man, 'ye'll say neither yes nor
no till ye get to barracks. Kape the ould blagyard hangin' on and off
till ye get inside the gates, and then tell him to go to blazes. If ye
loike to work him properly, ye can kape him as smooth as soft soap all
the way. If ye say no too early he'll be on t'ye like a ton o' pig-iron.
It's the truth I'm tellin' ye,' he added, 'as sure as God made little
apples.'

He thought his advice was worth a drink. I thought so too, and he got
it.

We steamed away next day in the _Apollo_, bound for Cork. We had a
rough passage, and the depot sergeant took me into his private cabin
and cheered me with a glass of whisky, the first I had ever tasted. He
began, when he had thus softened my heart, to try the bargain about the
suit of clothes, and produced a set of garments the like of which I do
not think I ever saw.

'You'll not be allowed to keep these,' he explained, fingering me all
over to test the quality of the cloth I wore. 'You'll be in regimentals
in a day or two, and it'll make no difference to you.'

One of the officers of the vessel looked in whilst this business was
going on and broke in gruffly, 'You join your regiment looking like a
gentleman, young man. Your officers won't think any the worse of you
for going in decent. Damn it all, sergeant, what d'ye want to spoil the
lad's prospects for?'

So a second time the suit was saved; but it went a week later to an old
soldier who was leaving the regiment and whom it fitted to a hair. He
was to leave a certain portion of his kit behind for me, which, as he
assured me, would be of the utmost use; but he sold such articles as
belonged to him to the men in his own barrack-room that evening, and
decamped without seeing m