re I occupied in the co-partnery.

"Always be careful of the morrow on a campaign, Tiernay--no squandering, no
waste; that's one of my principles," said he, gravely, as he watched me
while I tied up the bread and wine in the napkin. "You'll soon see the
advantage of serving under an old soldier."

I confess the great benefit had not already struck me, but I held my peace
and waited; meanwhile he continued--

"I have studied my profession from my boyhood, and one thing I have
acquired, that all experience has confirmed, the knowledge, that men must
neither be taxed beyond their ability nor their endurance; a French
soldier, after all, is human; eh, is't not so?"

"I feel it most profoundly, mon capitaine," replied I, with my hand on my
empty stomach.

"Just so," rejoined he; "every man of sense and discretion must confess
it. Happily for you, too, I know it; ay, Tiernay, I know it, and practice
it. When a young fellow has acquitted himself to my satisfaction during
the day--not that I mean to say that the performance has not its fair share
of activity and zeal--when evening comes and stable duty finished, arms
burnished, and accoutrements cleaned, what do you think I say to him?--eh,
Tiernay, just guess now?"

"Probably, sir, you tell him he is free to spend an hour at the canteen,
or take his sweetheart to the theatre."

"What! more fatigue! more exhaustion to an already tired and worn-out
nature!"

"I ask pardon, sir, I see I was wrong; but I had forgotten how thoroughly
the poor fellow was done up. I now see that you told him to go to bed."

"To bed! to bed! Is it that he might writhe in the nightmare, or suffer
agony from cramps? To bed after fatigue like this! No, no, Tiernay, that
was not the school in which _I_ was brought up; _we_ were taught to think
of the men under our command; to remember that they had wants, sympathies,
hopes, fears, and emotions like our own. I tell him to seat himself at the
table, and with pen, ink, and paper before him, to write up the blanks. I
see you don't quite understand me, Tiernay, as to the meaning of the
phrase, but I'll let you into the secret. You have been kind enough to
give me a peep at your note-book, and you shall in return have a look at
mine. Open that volume, and tell me what you find in it."

I obeyed the direction, and read at the top of a page, the words
"Skeleton, 5th Prairial," in large characters, followed by several
isolated words, denoting the streng