in the balconies, the sweet
voices in the orange-shaded patios of Jalapa, had neither brightness nor
music for us. We were both thoroughly miserable.

To add to this unhappy state of things, a bad feeling had sprung up
among the officers of our army--a jealousy between the old and the new.
Those of the old standing army, holding themselves as a species of
military aristocracy, looked upon their brethren of the new regiments as
"interlopers"; and this feeling pervaded all ranks, from the
commander-in-chief down to the lowest subaltern.

It did not, however, interest all individuals. There were many
honourable men on both sides who took no part in a question so
ridiculous, but, on the contrary, endeavoured to frown it down. It was
the child of idleness and a long spell of garrison duty. On the eve of
a battle it always disappeared. I have adverted to this, not that it
might interest the reader, but as explaining a result connected with
myself.

One of the most prominent actors in this quarrel, on the side of the
"old regulars", was a young officer named Ransom, a captain in an
infantry regiment. He was a good fellow in other respects, and a brave
soldier, I believe; his chief weakness lay in a claim to be identified
with the "aristocracy."

It is strange that this miserable ambition is always strongest where it
should exist with the least propriety. I have observed, in travelling
through life--and so has the reader, no doubt--that _parvenus_ are the
greatest sticklers for aristocratic privilege; and Captain Ransom was no
exception to this rule. In tumbling over some old family papers, I had
found a receipt from the gallant captain's grandfather to my own
progenitor, acknowledging the payment of a bill for leather breeches.

It so happened that this very receipt was in my portmanteau at the time;
and, nettled at the "carryings-on" of the tailor's grandson, I drew it
forth and spread it out upon the mess-table. My brethren of the mess
were highly tickled at the document, several of them copying it off for
future use.

A copy soon reached Ransom, who, in his hour of indignation, made use of
certain expressions that, in their turn, soon reached me.

The result was a challenge, borne by my friend Clayley, and the affair
was arranged for the following morning.

The place chosen for our morning's diversion was a sequestered spot upon
the banks of the river Zedena, and along the solitary road that leads
out to