by Lieutenant Wadding's bull bitch Juno, at
which interesting ceremony all the junior
members of the court were to have " assisted."
It was the more provoking, because the
proprietor of the animal to be baited,—a
gentleman in a fustian suit, brown leggings,
high-lows, a white hat with a black crape
round it, and a very red nose, indicative of a
most decided love for "cordials and
compounds"—had just, "stepped up" to say that
"the bedger must be dror'd that mornin',"
as he was under a particular engagement to
repeat the amusement in the evening for some
gents at a distant town and " couldn't
no how, not for no money, forfeit his sacred
word." The majority of the young gentlemen
present understood perfectly what this corollary
meant, but, with Ensign Spoonbill amongst
them, were by no means in a hurry to " fork
out" for so immoral a purpose as that of
inducing a fellow-man to break a solemn
pledge. That gallant officer, however, laboured
under so acute a feeling of disappointment,
that, regardless of the insult offered to the
worthy man's conscience, he at once
volunteered to give him " a couple of sovs " if he
would just "throw those snobs over," and
defer his departure till the following day;
and it was settled that the badger should be
"drawn " as soon as the patrons of Joe Baggs
could get away from the court-martial,—for
which in no very equable frame of mind they
now got ready,—retiring to their several
barrack-rooms, divesting themselves of their
sporting costume and once more assuming
military attire.

At the appointed hour, the court
assembled. Captain Huff prepared for his
judicial labours by calling for a glass of his
favourite "swizzle," which he dispatched at
one draught, and then, having sworn in the
members, and being sworn himself, the
business began by the appointment of
Lieutenant Hackett as secretary. There were two
prisoners to be tried: one had " sold his
necessaries " in order to get drunk; the second
had made use of " mutinous language " when
drunk; both of them high military crimes,
to be severely visited by those who had
no temptation to dispose of their wardrobes,
and could not understand why a soldier's beer
money was not sufficient for his daily
potations; but who omitted the consideration that
they themselves, when in want of cash,
occasionally sent a pair of epaulettes to "my
uncle," and had a champagne supper out of
the proceeds, at which neither sobriety nor
decorous language were rigidly observed.

The case against him who had sold his
necessaries—to wit, " a new pair of boots, a
shirt, and a pair of stockings," for which a
Jew in the town had given him two shillings
—was sufficiently clear. The captain and the
pay-serjeant of the man's company swore to
the articles, and the Jew who bought them
(an acquaintance of Lieutenant Hackett, to
whom he nodded with pleasing familiarity),
stimulated by the fear of a civil prosecution,
gave them up, and appeared as evidence
against the prisoner. He was found " guilty,"
and sentenced to three months' solitary
confinement, and " to be put under stoppages,"
according to the prescribed formulæ.

But the trial of the man accused of drunkenness
and mutinous language was not so readily
disposed of; though the delay occasioned by
his calling witnesses to character served only
to add to the irritation of his virtuous and
impartial judges. He was a fine-looking
fellow, six feet high, and had as soldier-like a
bearing as any man in the Grenadier company,
to which he belonged. The specific acts which
constituted his crime consisted in having
refused to leave the canteen when somewhat
vexatiously urged to do so by the orderly
serjeant, who forthwith sent for a file of the
guard to compel him; thus urging him, when
in an excited state, to an act of insubordination,
the gist of which was a threat to knock
the serjeant down, a show of resistance, and
certain maledictions on the head of that
functionary. In this, as in the former instance,
there could be no doubt that the breach of
discipline complained of had been committed,
though several circumstances were pleaded
in extenuation of the offence. The man's
previous character, too, was very good; he was
ordinarily a steady, well-conducted soldier,
never shirked his hour of duty, was not given
to drink, and, therefore, as the principal
witness in his favour said, "the more aisily
overcome when he tuck a dhrop, but as
harrumless as a lamb, unless put upon."

These things averred and shown, the Court
was cleared, and the members proceeded to
deliberate. It was a question only of the
nature and extent of the punishment to be
awarded. The general instructions, no less
than the favourable condition of the case,
suggested leniency. But Captain Huff was
a severe disciplinarian of the old school, an
advocate for red-handed practice—the drum
head and the halberds—and his opinion, if it
might be called one, had only too much weight
with the other members of the Court, all of
whom were prejudiced against the prisoner,
whom they internally—if not openly—
condemned for interfering with their day's
amusements. " Corporal punishment, of
course," said Captain Huff, angrily; and his
words were echoed by the Court, though the
majority of them little knew the fearful
import of the sentence, or they might have
paused before they delivered over a fine
resolute young man, whose chief crime was an
ebullition of temper, to the castigation of the
lash, which destroys the soldier's self-respect;
degrades him in the eyes of his fellows;
mutilates his body, and leaves an indelible scar
upon his mind. But the fiat went forth, and
was recorded in " hundreds " against the
unfortunate fellow; and Captain Huff having
managed to sign the proceedings, carried
them off to the commanding officer's quarters,