army. They sent me to a vile place of
incarceration called a "congee house," where I was
fed principally on rice-water, and at last I
was conveyed to Bombay, tried by court-martial,
sentenced, and publicly drummed out of my
regiment as a coward. Yes, I, the son of a
gentleman, and the possessor of a genteel private
property, had the facings cut off my uniform,
and, to the sound of the "Rogues' March," was
dismissed from the service of the Honourable
East India Company with ignominy and
disgrace.

I can scarcely tell how I reached England
again; whether a berth was given me, whether
I paid for it, or whether I worked my passage
home. I can only remember that the ship in
which I was a passenger broke her back in
Algoa Bay, close to the Cape, and became a
total wreck. There was not the slightest danger;
we were surrounded by large and small craft,
and every soul on board was saved; but I shook
so terribly and incessantly while the boats were
leaving the vessel, that the whole ship's company
hooted and groaned at me when I was shoved
over the side, and I was not allowed to go in
the long-boat, but was towed alone and aft in
the dingy to shore.

I took passage in another ship, which did
nothing but shake all the way from the Cape to
Plymouth, and at last I reached England. I
wrote innumerable letters to my friends and
relatives, to Tilly and to my uncle Bonsor; but the
only answer I received was a few formal lines
from my uncle's lawyer, telling me that my
illegible scrawls had come to the hands of the
persons for whom they were designed; but that
no further notice could be taken of my
communications. I was put into the possession of my
property to the last penny, but it seems to me
that I must have shaken it away either at dice
or bagatelle, or ninepins or billiards. And I
remember that I never made a stroke at the
latter game without hitting my adversary with
the cue in the chest, knocking down the marker,
sending the balls scudding through the
windows, disarranging the scores, and cutting holes
in the cloth, for which I had to pay innumerable
guineas to the proprietor of the rooms.

I remember one day going into a jeweller's
shop in Regent-street to purchase a watch-key.
I had only a silver one now, my gold repeater
had been shaken away in some unaccountable
manner. It was winter-time, and I wore an
overcoat with long loose sleeves. While the
shopkeeper was adjusting a key to my watch,
my ague fit came upon me with demoniacal
ferocity, and, to my horror and dismay, in
catching hold of the counter to save myself, I
tilted a trayful of diamond rings over. Some
fell on the floor; but some, horror and
anguish! fell into the sleeves of my overcoat. I
shook so that I seemed to have shaken diamond
rings into my hands, my pockets, my very boots.
By some uncontrollable impulse I attempted
flight, but was seized at the very shop door,
and carried, shaking, to the police-station.

I was taken before a magistrate, and
committed, still shaking, in a van, to gaol. I shook
for some time in a whitewashed cell, when I
was brought up, shaking, to the Central Criminal
Court, and placed, shaking, on my trial for an
attempted robbery of fifteen hundred pounds'
worth of property. The evidence was clear
against me. My counsel tried to plead something
about "kleptomania," but in vain. My
uncle Bonsor, who had come expressly up from
Dover, spoke strongly against my character. I
was found guilty; yes, I, the most innocent and
unfortunate young man breathing, and sentenced
to seven years' transportation ! I can recal the
awful scene vividly to memory now. The jury
in a body were shaking their heads at me. So
was the judge, so was my uncle Bonsor, so were
the spectators in the gallery ; and I was holding
on by the spikes on the ledge of the dock,
shaking from right to left like ten thousand
million aspen-leaves. My skull was splitting,
my brain was bursting, when—

                           I WOKE.

I was lying in a very uncomfortable position
in a first-class carriage of the Dover mail-train;
everything in the carriage was shaking; the oil
was surging to and fro in the lamp; my
companions were swaying to and fro, and the sticks
and umbrellas were rattling in the network above.
The train was "at speed," and my frightful dream
was simply due to the violent and unusual
oscillation of the train. Then, sitting up, and rubbing
my eyes, immensely relieved, but holding
on by the compartments near me (so violently
did the carriages shake from side to side), I
began to remember what I had dreamed or
heard of others' dreams before; while at sea,
or while somebody was knocking loudly at the
door; and of the odd connexions between
unusual sound and motion on the thoughts of our
innermost souls. And again with odd distinctness
I remember that at one period of my
distempered vision, namely, when I was attested
and examined as a recruit, I had remained
perfectly still and steady. This temporary freedom
from ague I was fain to ascribe to the customary
two or three minutes' stoppage of the train at
Tunbridge Wells. But, thank Heaven, all this
was but a dream!

"Enough to shake one's head off!" exclaimed
the testy old lady opposite, alluding to the
oscillation of the train, as the guard appeared
at the window with a shout of "Do—VOR !"

"Well, mum, it have bin a shaking most
unusual all the way down," replied that
functionary. "Thought we should have bin off the
line, more than once. Screws will be looked to
to-morrow morning. 'Night, sir!" — this was to
me: I knew the man well. "Merry Christmas
and a happy new year! You'll be wanting a fly
to Snargatestone Villa, won't you, sir? Now,
por —TER !"

I did want that fly, and I had it. I paid the
driver liberally, and did not scatter his money
over the pavement. Mr. Jakes insisted upon
my having something hot in the dining-room the
moment I arrived. The weather was so "woundy