ready to assist the newly-joined young
officers as far as they could. A few rough practical jokes were
played; but Ralph took them with such perfect good temper that they
were soon abandoned.

He applied himself very earnestly to mastering the mystery of drill,
and it was not long before he was pronounced to be efficient, and he
was then at Captain O'Connor's request appointed to his company, in
which there happened to be a vacancy for an ensign. He had had the
good luck to have an excellent servant assigned to him. Denis Mulligan
was a thoroughly handy fellow, could turn his hand to anything, and
was always good tempered and cheery.

"The fellow is rather free and easy in his ways," Captain O'Connor
told Ralph when he allotted the man to him; "but you will get
accustomed to that. Keep your whisky locked up, and I think you will
be safe in all other respects with him. He was servant to Captain
Daly, who was killed at Toulouse, and I know Daly wouldn't have parted
with him on any account. His master's death almost broke Denis' heart,
and I have no doubt he will get just as much attached to you in time.
These fellows have their faults, and want a little humoring; but, take
them as a whole, I would rather have an Irish soldier servant than one
of any other nationality, provided always that he is not too fond of
the bottle. About once in three months I consider reasonable, and I
don't think you will find Mulligan break out more frequently than
that."

Ralph never regretted the choice O'Connor had made for him, and found
Denis an excellent servant; and his eccentricities and the opinions
which he freely expressed afforded him a constant source of amusement.

A few days later Captain O'Connor came into his room. "Pack up your
kit. The company is ordered on detached duty, and there is an end to
your dancing and flirting."

"I don't know about flirting," Ralph laughed. "As far as I can see you
do enough for the whole company in that way. But where are we going
to?"

"We are ordered to Ballyporrit. An out of the way hole as a man could
wish to be buried in. It seems that there are a lot of stills at work
in the neighborhood. The gauger has applied for military aid. A nice
job we have got before us. I have had my turn at it before, and know
what it means. Starting at nightfall, tramping ten or fifteen miles
over the hills and through bogs, and arriving at last at some wretched
hut only to find a wretched old woman sitting