d to the supper, and dignity come in with the
whiskey-punch. This was so far borne out that when the cloth was
removed, and a number of glasses and bottles were distributed over
the blackened mahogany, a grave and almost austere bearing was at once
assumed by the meeting. Doran also took his place as Speaker, his cotton
umbrella being laid before him as the mace. The orders of the day were
speedily disposed of, and a few questions as to the supply of potables
satisfactorily answered, when O'Shea arose to bring on the case of the
evening,--a motion "for all the correspondence between the authorities
of the Horse Guards and Captain Heathcote, respecting the application of
the latter to be reinstated in the service."

The Secretary-at-War, a red-faced, pimply man, subeditor of a
Sunday paper, objected to the production of the papers; and a smart
sparring-match ensued, in which O'Shea suffered rather heavily, but at
last came out victorious, being allowed to state the grounds for his
application.

O'Shea began with due solemnity, modestly assuring the House that he
wished the task had fallen to one more competent than himself, and
more conversant with those professional details which would necessarily
occupy a large space in the narrative.

"Surely the honorable member held a commission in the Clare Fencibles."

"Was not the honorable member's father a band-master in the
Fifty-fourth?" cried another.

"To the insolent interruptions which have met me," said O'Shea,
indignantly--

"Order! order!"

"Am I out of order, sir?" asked he of the Speaker.

"Clearly so," replied that functionary. "Every interruption, short of a
knock-down, is parliamentary."

"I bow to the authority of the chair, and I say that the ruffianly
allusions of certain honorable members 'pass by me like the idle wind,
that I regard not.'"

[Illustration: 312]

"Where 's that from? Take you two to one in half-crowns you can't
tell," cried one.

"Done!" "Order! order!" "Spoke!" with cries of "Goon!" here
convulsed the meeting; after which O'Shea resumed his discourse.

"When, sir," said he, "I undertook to bring under the notice of this
House, and consequently before the eyes of the nation, the case of a
distinguished officer, one whose gallant services in the tented field,
whose glorious achievements before the enemy have made his name famous
in all the annals of military distinction, I never anticipated to
have been met by the howls of fact