!' was given, and the whole head of the column broke like a shell, and
rolled horse over man on the earth.

"'Very well done! very well, indeed!' said Sir Arthur, turning as coolly
round to me as if he was asking for more gravy.

"'Mighty well done!' said I, in reply; and resolving not to be outdone in
coolness, I pulled out my snuff-box and offered him a pinch, saying, 'The
real thing, Sir Arthur; our own countryman,--blackguard.'

"He gave a little grim kind of a smile, took a pinch, and then called
out,--

"'Let Sherbroke advance!' while turning again towards me, he said, 'Where
are your people, Colonel?'

"'Colonel!' thought I; 'is it possible he's going to promote me?' But
before I could answer, he was talking to another. Meanwhile Hill came up,
and looking at me steadily, burst out with,--

"'Why the devil are you here, sir? Why ain't you at the rear?'

"'Upon my conscience,' said I, 'that's the very thing I'm puzzling myself
about this minute! But if you think it's pride in me, you're greatly
mistaken, for I'd rather the greatest scoundrel in Dublin was kicking me
down Sackville Street, than be here now!'

"You'd think it was fun I was making, if you heard how they all laughed,
Hill and Cameron and the others louder than any.

"'Who is he?' said Sir Arthur, quickly.

"'Dr. Quill, surgeon of the Thirty-third, where I exchanged, to be near my
brother, sir, in the Thirty-fourth.'

"'A doctor,--a surgeon! That fellow a surgeon! Damn him, I took him for
Colonel Grosvenor! I say, Gordon, these medical officers must be docked of
their fine feathers, there's no knowing them from the staff,--look to that
in the next general order.'

"And sure enough they left us bare and naked the next morning; and if the
French sharpshooters pick us down now, devil mend them for wasting powder,
for if they look in the orderly books, they'll find their mistake."

"Ah, Maurice, Maurice!" said Shaugh, with a sigh, "you'll never
improve,--you'll never improve!"

"Why the devil would I?" said he. "Ain't I at the top of my
profession--full surgeon--with nothing to expect, nothing to hope for? Oh,
if I had only remained in the light company, what wouldn't I be now?"

"Then you were not always a doctor?" said I.

"Upon my conscience, I wasn't," said he. "When Shaugh knew me first, I was
the Adonis of the Roscommon militia, with more heiresses in my list than
any man in the regiment; but Shaugh and myself were always unlucky."