ire and smoke."
"Well," said the lady preparing to depart, "you seem to be well clothed
and to have plenty to eat." As I was showing her out of the room, she
said, "If I were to give you a Scottish pound note, would you share it
amongst you and your fellows?" "Yes, ma'am" said I, "when we have
dismissed guard." Whereupon she placed the note in my hand, and I thanked
her cordially. I had not the slightest idea who the donor of the note
was, or who were the people who had been our guard-room guests, until the
next day. We were then relieved from guard by the 78th Highlanders, who
were only about 300 strong, and had just returned from the Indian Mutiny.
It was while upon the esplanade, where there were a thousand of the
Waterloo and Peninsular pensioners assembled for drilling, that I noticed
my lady guest and a gentleman reviewing the veterans. They were walking
up and down the ranks, and every now and again the lady stopped before an
old soldier, spoke to him, and, before passing on, put into his hand a
Scottish pound note. It was said that during the week she presented no
less than a thousand of these notes to the soldiers. One old hero, I saw,
got five pound notes. I asked the captain of the guard who the lady was.
He seemed much surprised when I assured him that I did not know who she
was; but greater was my surprise on being told that the lady was the
Empress of the French.

ADIEU! EDINBURGH--A DISAPPOINTMENT

Orders were issued for our regiment to remove to the ancient town of
Ayr--news which delighted me greatly. Next day the regiment, numbering
about a thousand men, mustered for the last time in Edinburgh. The
inhabitants of Auld Reekie turned out in their thousands to see us march
to the railway station and to bid us adieu. The regimental band--which,
by-the-bye, included many able musicians from the West Riding of
Yorkshire; Wilsden, Haworth and Cowling being among the towns furnishing
the band men--played lively airs during our march to the station, such as
"Good-bye, sweetheart!" and "The girl I left behind me." At the station I
met a sore disappointment. Since the issuing of the orders of removal to
Ayr, I had been buoyantly thinking of what happy times I should have in
Ayr, and my feelings can be imagined when I found I was among the
detachment which was to be sent on to the barracks at Hamilton--a small
town on the Clyde about ten miles from Glasgow. However, I determined to
make the best of the matt