my appointment, I did not anticipate it at so early a period. After the warmest congratulations upon all sides, I proposed to Ellen that we should walk over to Colonel Warburton's, to inform him of the circumstance. The gallant veteran cordially shook me by the hand, and placing his spectacles before his eyes, now dimmed with age and infirmity, he pored over the Gazette, making comments upon the names of all those he was personally acquainted with, or whose services had been conspicuous. I see "I congratulate you, my dear boy," said he" Ensign Courtenay, I mean. Colonel Douglas has been appointed to your regiment. I thought he would not be satisfied to remain long in inactivity; he is one of the best officers in his Majesty's service-you could not be under a finer fellow." I expressed my delight, when Warburton continued "Douglas's late regiment is in the East Indies. I knew honest Jock' would soon effect an exchange: I heard as much last week, from an old comrade. You are, indeed, fortunate to have got into so good a regiment, and under so excellent an officer." Upon the following morning, I tried to 'pump' the drill-sergeant as to the character of the corps and the major then in temporary command; but I could elicit nothing, except that theth bore the highest reputation, and that the major had been brought up in a good school. Sergeant Whittaker was too discreet a soldier to speak disrespectfully of his superiors, or he might have told me a tale that would have taken much from the delight I then experienced at the prospect of joining my regiment. He concluded, however, by assuring me that Colonel Monteith, then in Canada with the first battalion, and Colonel Douglas, lately gazetted to the second, were men of the most unblemished honour, and that they were respected and loved by all ranks, from the field-officers down to the drummerboy. This intelligence delighted me not a little; and I now not only felt happy at belonging to so distinguished a regiment, but had even a greater gratification when I thought of my uniform. I had quite satisfied my mind that scarlet, buff, and gold were the most tasteful and harmonious of colours; and if I had required any further proof, it would have been found in the effect produced upon the æsthetic sensibilities of milliners' apprentices and maid-servants by Corporal Stallard, of 'ours,' when in his Sunday guise he strutted up and down the High-street, the 'observed of all observers.' CHAPTER V. Alas! I have had playmates, I have had companions, How some they have died, and some they have left me, C. LAMB. THERE is an indescribable, mournful pleasure in reverting to the companions of our youth, and we are still old-fashioned and perhaps unworldly enough, to have juvenile feelings and strong associations spring up in our minds upon such occasions. The death of an associate of one's boyish days especially calls forth from the heart many a kindly feeling that has been from time to time imperceptibly stored there past acts of attachment-bygone feelings of kindness-temporary matters of interest-all rise up to the memory in the freshness of their first impression: such impressions wake up the recollection of early dreams, of hopes gone by, of joys never again to return. Alas, for the brilliant imaginations of our youth! bright and beautiful as they are, they wither away. These melancholy reflections completely absorbed every thought when the mournful event to which I am about to refer took place. A large party had assembled, during the Christmas holidays, to welcome my father back to Courtenay Manor. Christmas, that inclement but hospitable season, when good fellowship is more keenly and uninterruptedly enjoyed than ever, when the nipping frost without, makes our roaring fires and kindly sympathies burn brighter within. This happy season was kept up with the good old customs of our ancestors (albeit the feudal grandeur |