ry handsome presents, from all those officers whose things
I had in charge. Some hundred miles before I had reached Cape Town, the
old Dutchman had tried hard to persuade me to remain behind, with all
the property, till he and his family returned. This I resolutely
refused: desertion was of itself bad enough, without adding to it the
crimes of breach of trust and theft. I had not, in our long and arduous
march, lost or injured a single thing, but delivered them all safe into
the custody of their rightful owners, and in the evening went to see my
Sabina at her friend's house, where I was informed that the family
proposed leaving Cape Town for their home on the following Monday. After
a severe struggle, I consented to accompany them; for which purpose I
stole out of the barracks after hours, and joined them at the appointed
place outside the town. I need not say my arrival was hailed with
delight, for I had kept them waiting an hour beyond the appointed time;
Sabina locked her arm in mine; the procession moved on; and in my
excessive love I forgot my crime. Reader, judge me not too harshly;
consider my youth, and the temptation I had to contend against; and,
before you utterly condemn me, place yourself under the same combination
of circumstances, and tell me how you would have acted in my place.

We had proceeded about thirty miles from Cape Town, and were busily
engaged building castles of future bliss, when--oh, short-sighted
mortals!--the provost-marshal thrust his head into the waggon, and
pointed a pistol at me, saying, if I attempted to move, he would shoot
me. This mandate was too pointed to be disobeyed; and, in ten minutes
after, I was on my way back to Cape Town, having been dragged from the
embraces of her for whom I had sacrificed my all. From that moment I
never saw or heard of the fair Sabina or her family, who would also
undoubtedly have been seized, but that I took all the blame upon my own
shoulders. I was tried by a regimental court-martial for being absent
from morning parade, and for desertion, and sentenced to receive 999
lashes, being more than fifty lashes for every year I was old; but my
commanding officer was a kind and affectionate man, and had known me
from the day I entered his regiment; he could not consent that I should
receive a single lash, but sent for me, and admonished me like a parent,
painted the crime of desertion in all its enormities, and dismissed me,
with the assurance of his full