e differences in character, aptitude, and willingness among
his raw recruits. This man, whose name was Hardy, made a powerful
impression on our hero from the first; there was something so quiet and
even gentle about him, in spite of his firm and inflexible demands in
regard to the matters of drill and duty. To please this man, Miles gave
himself heart and soul to his work, and was soon so efficient as to be
allowed to join the regiment.

And here he found, to his surprise and satisfaction, that the sergeant
and young soldier with whom he had travelled to Portsmouth, were members
of the company to which he was attached. As we have said, Miles had
taken a great fancy at first sight to the young private, whose name was
William Armstrong. Our hero was of an affectionate disposition, and
would have allowed his warm feelings to expend themselves on a dog
rather than have denied them free play. No wonder, then, that he was
attracted by the handsome manly countenance and deferential manner of
Armstrong, who, although an uneducated youth, and reared in the lower
ranks of life, was gifted with those qualities of the true gentleman
which mere social position can neither bestow nor take away. His
intellect also was of that active and vigorous fibre which cannot be
entirely repressed by the want of scholastic training.

The affection was mutual, for the contrasts and similarities of the two
men were alike calculated to draw them together. Both were tall, broad,
square-shouldered, erect, and soldierly, yet, withal, modest as well in
demeanour as in feeling, and so exactly like to each other in size and
figure, and in the quiet gravity of their expressions, that they might
well have been taken for twin brothers. When, in uniform, the two
strode along the streets of Portsmouth, people were apt to turn and look
at them, and think, no doubt, that with many such men in the British
army it would go hard with the foes of Old England!

The bond of union was still further strengthened by the fact that, while
the comparatively learned Miles was enthusiastic and communicative, the
unlettered Armstrong was inquisitive and receptive, fond of prying into
the nature of things, and always ready as well as competent to discuss--
not merely to _argue_. Observe the distinction, good reader.
Discussion means the shaking of any subject into its component parts
with a desire to understand it. Argument has come very much to signify
the enravelm