alternately on the sitarre (native guitar or
violin), accompanied by the tom-tom (native
drum), and the voices of those who were
disposed and able to sing. As for the Lieutenant
and myself, we beguiled the time in
conversation, and with ecarté. Towards
sunset a palkee dâk carriage was reported to
be in sight, coming down the road. "Hooray!"
cried the Lieutenant. " Come along! let us
board him. I am in want of a few small
matters."

It was not long before the dak carriage
was abreast of the encampment.

"Stop! " shouted the Lieutenant to the
driver, who instantly pulled up. " Who have
you got inside?"

Before the driver had time to reply, the
door was slided open, and an elderly gentleman,
rubbing his eyes with his knuckles, put
out his night-capped head, and exclaimed:

"Hulloa!"

"What! Have we woke you out of your
sleep, old boy?" said the Lieutenant, laughing.

"Yes," replied the old boy, very
goodhumouredly. " What do you want ? "

"Only to ask you how you are?"

"I'm pretty well," was the reply: " but
half choked with the dust."

"What's taking you down the country?"

"Urgent private affairs."

"Going to be married, I suppose?"

"Well, you have just guessed it."

"Make my most respectful salaam to your
intended; will you?"

"By all means."

"When do you expect to reach Cawnpore?"

"To-morrow, at three P.M."

"And how do you stand affected for
liquors and weeds? Do you want anything,
old boy? Brandy, beer, soda-water? Say
the word?"

"Nothing. I have more in the well here,
than I shall be able to consume."

"Then I'll trouble you for the surplus; for
I am very short, and cannot get anything till
I reach Agra, while you can replenish at
every station, you know."

"All right, my child! " exclaimed the old
boy; and, with the greatest cheerfulness he
alighted and began to unpack his stores. From
these, the Lieutenant took six bottles of
beer, two bottles of brandy, a dozen of
sodawater, and three hundred Manilla cheroots.
This done, the old boy expressed a desire to
push on; but the Lieutenant detained him
for at least ten minutes, with a series of
questions, several of which (I thought), were
somewhat impertinent; for instance, he
inquired his intended's name? whether she
was tall, short, or of the middle height ? what
was the colour of her hair and eyes?
goodlooking, and accomplished? And, to all these
questions, the old boy responded with as
serious an air as if the Lieutenant had a
perfect right to put them.

At last the old boy proceeded on his
journey.

"Do you know him?" I inquired of the
Lieutenant, as the carriage rolled away.

"Oh, yes," was the reply. " He is a major
commanding a native infantry regiment at
Banda. He is a very good fellow and has
heaps of property; but a frightful fool, except
in the way of money-making; and at that
he is awfully clever. I first made his
acquaintance in Afghanistan. He was then in
the commissariat department, and was only
taken out of the department about a year ago,
when he attained his majority. He knows
nothing whatever of soldiering; having been
in staff employ ever since he was an ensign.
All the sepoys, as well as his officers, laugh
at him as he comes on the parade ground,
and attempts to handle the regiment; and
after the farce is over, he laughs with them.
For thirty years he was employed in
commissariat duties, in which he is very efficient.
At the expiration of that period, he became
a major; and then, according to the rules of
the service, he was withdrawn from staff
employ, and appointed to command a corps!"

"Surely, you are jesting?"

"On my honour, I am serious. That is a
part of our military system, sir."

Here our conversation was interrupted by
the approach of the soubadhar native
commissioned officer who pronounced in a deep,
sonorous, but feeble and inarticulate voice,
that familiar word " Sahib! " or, as more
commonly pronounced, " Sarb!"

"Well, old man, what is the matter? " said
the Lieutenant to the almost imbecile native
veteran, who had served in the time of Lord
Lake, and who ought to have been pensioned
many years previously, despite any
remonstrances against such a measure. The old
man, forthwith began to detail a string
of grievances, which the Lieutenant
faithfully(?) promised to see remedied, albeit
he could understand but a few words the
old man said so very indistinct was his
speech, from sheer old age, and the loss of
his teeth.

"A grievance, real or imaginary, is quite
necessary for that old man's existence,"
said the Lieutenant, "and if he can't find
one for himself (which is a very rare
circumstance), he will concoct one for the
sepoys. To make grievances is the end and
object of that old man's life; and, I am sorry
to say, that he is a perfect representative
of the entire body of native commissioned
officers, who are, generally speaking, despised
by the men of the regiment, as well as by
the European officers. These are the gentlemen
who brew or ferment all the mischief
that occasionally occurs in native regiments.
They suggest to the men to make all sorts
of extortionate demands, just as a regiment
is on the point of marching. That old man's
present grievance, as far as I could collect, is
that the water is very bad here, at this