as very considerable latitude among the soldiers, and
it was only because he was followed by two attendants that the boy had
taken him to be an officer, probably a young captain. The quietness of
his dress had not even led him to believe that he belonged to a noble
family.

"This lad tells me that he is the son of Captain Campbell of the
Scottish regiment?"

"That is so, general."

"And also that you were a sergeant in his father's company, and have
since taken care of him."

"I have done the best I could for him, general; but indeed the officers
of the regiment allow me quite as much as the lad's food costs."

"He seems to be a careful student of military history, sergeant?"

"That he is, sir. I don't think there has been a battle, or even a
skirmish, in the past ten years which he cannot tell you the ins and
outs of. He will sit here for hours as quiet as a mouse when some
soldiers from the wars come in, and sometimes he gets books lent him
with the plans of battles and sieges, and when he is not doing that he
is in the barrack yard watching the men drill. I believe he knows all
the words of command as well as any captain in the Scottish regiment. As
to handling his musket, I have taught him that myself, and the use of
a sword, too, since he was ten years old, and the men of his father's
company have taken pleasure in teaching the lad all they knew in that
way."

"He reminds me of my own boyhood," the general said. "I like his looks,
and it seems to me that he has the making of a good officer. All the
officers of the regiment are men of good Scottish families, and as such
can serve in any capacity. I have often need of a young officer who can
carry my messages on a field of battle, and can be trusted to understand
their import and deliver them faithfully. Now, Campbell," he said,
turning to the lad, who was standing with flushed face and eyes beaming
with delight and gratitude, "I will give you the choice. I will either
appoint you a volunteer for a year, in which time, if your conduct is
satisfactory, I will name you lieutenant, or I will take you directly
into my own household. My object in either case would be to produce an
officer likely to be useful to his Majesty.

"I should certainly not have adopted that course had it not been that
you appear already to have learned the duties of a soldier, and to
be acquainted with the ordinary drill and with the necessities of a
soldier's life. If you enter my hous