ured Sergeant Rich.

'His lordship shall have a full hogshead; but not by you;' the
General shot a shrewd glance at the man and bade me step outside
and summon the quartermaster who waited in the corridor.
'Quartermaster,' said he, 'convey this visitor of ours to the
kitchens. Give him what meat and wine he demands. Let him depart
when he will and carry as much as he will--under his skin.
Meantime order out three of the pack-nags, and tell the cellarer to
fetch up six firkins of the sack sent down to me last Thursday by Mr
Trenchard. Have them slung, a pair to each horse, and well secured--
for the roads are slippery. And you, Master Fleming--'

I saluted; flushing, perhaps, a little with pleasure that he
remembered my name.

'Do you mount guard to-night? Then we must find you a substitute.
What say you to convoying this wine, with a trumpet, to my Lord
Crawford? You may choose half a dozen of your troop to ride with
you. The road to Alton cannot easily be missed; and, if it could--
why, these night sallies are the best of training for a young
soldier. I doubt, Master Fleming, that since this morning, when I
promoted you cornet, you have heard talk that glanced upon your
rawness, hey? Well, here is a chance for you to learn. For my part
I call no man a finished campaigner until he can smell his way
through a strange country in the dark. You fancy the errand?
Then go, and prosper: and be sure my Lord Crawford will treat you
kindly, when he has once tasted my wine.'

CHAPTER II.

The stroke of one in the morning, sounding after us from Farnham
clock through the fine frosted air, overtook us well upon the road.
I had made speed, and so had the quartermaster and cellarer. As for
Sergeant Orlando Rich, if he had not achieved speed he had at least
made haste. Before I started my pack-horses from the guardroom door
the cellarer came to me and reported him drunk as a fly; and stepping
into the great kitchen for a slice of pasty, to fortify me against
the night's work, I saw my hero laid out and snoring, with his
shoulder-blades flat on the paved floor. So I left him to sleep it
off.

A fellow of the general's own guard helped me lead my horses to the
door of the Bear, and there I tumbled out my substitute, and six
passably good troopers I had chosen to take with me. They were
Carey, our youngest sergeant, and as good-natured a fellow as I knew;
Randles, who stood well for advancement to the post my