had led him so far had disappeared, and instinctively he drew bridle.
He stared at the window.

"Mark one!" cried a second roisterer, and a cork, better aimed than the
orange, struck the Colonel sharply on the chin. A shout of laughter
greeted the hit.

He raised his hat. "Gentlemen," he remonstrated, "gentlemen----"

He could proceed no further. A flight of corks, a renewed cry of "Cock!
cock! cock!" a chorus of "Fetch him, Ponto! Dead, good dog! Find him,
Ponto!" drowned his remonstrances. Perhaps in the scowling face at his
elbow--for William Bale had followed him and was looking very fierce
indeed--the wits of the --th found more amusement than in the master's
mild astonishment.

"Who the devil is he?" cried one of the seniors, raising his voice
above the uproar. "English or Irish?"

"Irish for a dozen!" a voice answered. "Here, Paddy, where's your
papers?"

"Ay, be jabers!" in an exaggerated brogue; "it's the broth of a boy he
is, and never a face as long as his in ould Ireland!"

"Gentlemen," the Colonel said, getting in a word at last. "Gentlemen, I
have been in many companies before this, and----"

"And by G--d, you shall be in ours!" one of the revellers retorted. And
"Have him in! Fetch him in!" roared a dozen voices, amid much laughter.
In a twinkling half as many young fellows had leapt from the windows,
and surrounded him. "Who-whoop!" cried one, "Who-whoop!"

"Steady, gentlemen, steady!" the Colonel said, a note of sternness in
his voice. "I've no objection to joining you, or to a little timely
frolic, but----"

"Join us you will, whether or no!" replied one, more drunken or more
turbulent than the rest. He made as if he would lay hands on the
Colonel, and, to avoid violence, the latter suffered himself to be
helped from his saddle. In a twinkling he was urged through the
doorway, leaving his reins in Bale's hand, whose face, for sheer wrath
and vindictiveness, was a picture.

Boisterous cries of "Hallo, sobersides!" and "Cock, cock, cock!"
greeted the Colonel, as, partly of his own accord and partly urged by
unceremonious hands, he crossed the threshold, and shot forward into
the room.

The scene presented by the apartment matched the flushed faces and the
wandering eyes which the windows had framed. The long table was strewn
with flasks and glasses and half-peeled fruit, the floor with empty
bottles. A corner of the table had been cleared for a main at hazard;
but to make up for this the