e first five years av my service, whin I was what I wud give
my sowl to be now, I tuk whatever was within my reach an' digested
ut--an' that's more than most men can say. Dhrink I tuk, an' ut did me
no harm. By the Hollow av Hiven, I cud play wid four women at wanst,
an' kape them from findin' out anythin' about the other three, an'
smile like a full-blown marigold through ut all. Dick Coulhan, av the
battery we'll have down on us to-night, could drive his team no better
than I mine, an' I hild the worser cattle! An' so I lived, an' so I
was happy till afther that business wid Annie Bragin--she that turned
me off as cool as a meat-safe, an' taught me where I stud in the mind
av an honest woman. 'Twas no sweet dose to swallow.

'Afther that I sickened awhile an' tuk thought to my reg'mental work;
conceiting mesilf I wud study an' be a sargint, an' a major-gineral
twinty minutes afther that. But on top av my ambitiousness there was
an empty place in my sowl, an' me own opinion av mesilf cud not fill
ut. Sez I to mesilf, "Terence, you're a great man an' the best set-up
in the reg'mint. Go on an' get promotion." Sez mesilf to me, "What
for?" Sez I to mesilf, "For the glory av ut!" Sez mesilf to me, "Will
that fill these two strong arrums av yours, Terence?" "Go to the
devil," sez I to mesilf. "Go to the married lines," sez mesilf to me.
"'Tis the same thing," sez I to mesilf. "Av you're the same man, ut
is," said mesilf to me; an' wid that I considhered on ut a long while.
Did you iver feel that way, Sorr?'

I snored gently, knowing that if Mulvaney were uninterrupted he would
go on. The clamour from the bivouac fires beat up to the stars, as the
rival singers of the companies were pitted against each other.

'So I felt that way an' a bad time ut was. Wanst, bein' a fool, I wint
into the married lines more for the sake av spakin' to our ould
colour-sergint Shadd than for any thruck wid women-folk. I was a
corp'ril then--rejuced afterwards, but a corp'ril then. I've got a
photograft av mesilf to prove ut. "You'll take a cup av tay wid us?"
sez Shadd. "I will that," I sez, "tho' tay is not my divarsion."

'"'Twud be better for you if ut were," sez ould Mother Shadd, an' she
had ought to know, for Shadd, in the ind av his service, dhrank
bung-full each night.

[Illustration: 'Thin whin the kettle was to be filled, Dinah
came in--my Dinah.'--P. 117.]

'Wid that I tuk off my gloves--there was pipe-clay in thim, so