months,
Smyth obtained a week's leave of absence from the commanding officer,
having received a pressing invitation to visit a gentleman's family, to
whom he had letters of introduction, and who resided more than twenty
miles from ----. This town bordered on a very wild, hilly moorland track
of country, then, and perhaps now, the refuge of numerous bands of
smugglers, and then also a hiding-place for a number of unfortunate people
with arms in their hands. The road--if such it could be called--to his
friend's house ran principally along the borders of this territory, though
it sometimes diverged into it for several miles. However, matters had been
tolerably quiet in the immediate district about ---- for some time, and he
resolved to go, especially as there was capital sporting at L----. It is
unimportant to enter into a narration of all his sporting feats--how many
birds he bagged, or how many salmon he caught, or _ought_ to have caught,
had it not been for some "untoward" occurrence, specifying the exact
weight of the missing fish to an ounce--as fishermen generally do. On the
fourth afternoon after his arrival, a letter was put into his hands, (just
as the cloth was drawn, and the party were going to discuss the
superlative merits of some genuine _poteen_,) which the servant said had
been brought by a man, who waited in the hall. It was from Colonel ----,
and briefly stated that peremptory orders had just been received from
head-quarters, that all officers absent on leave should instantly return
to duty. This was a disagreeable piece of intelligence, particularly at
that hour, but _necessitas non habet legem_, as Dr. Birch used to tell our
hero at school--the orders were imperative. Long and loud were the laments
and remonstrances of the party, we are assured. After ordering Dart to be
saddled, the Lieutenant stepped into the hall to have a moment's survey of
the bearer of the letter, who the Colonel informed him in a postscript was
a man well acquainted with the country, and would safely guide him back
to ----. He found a tall, lumbering sort of fellow, one of the "finest
pisantry in the world," whose appearance was not much in his favour. He
started on seeing Smyth, who fancied that he discovered something deeper
in the glance of his eye than his bogtrotting bearing first betokened. But
it was only transitory; the fellow had a straight-forward story to tell,
and of course Colonel ---- would send a trustworthy messenger