acle at the billiard-table, and a hero in the racquet-court. His
refined education, however, fortunately preserved him from the fate
of many other lively youths: he did not degenerate into a mere hero of
sports and brawls, the genius of male revels, the arbiter of roistering
suppers, and the Comus of a club. His boyish feelings had their play; he
soon exuded the wanton heat of which a public school would have served
as a safety-valve. He returned to his books, his music, and his pencil.
He became more quiet, but he was not less liked. If he lost some
companions, he gained many friends; and, on the whole, the most
boisterous wassailers were proud of the accomplishments of their
comrade; and often an invitation to a mess dinner was accompanied by a
hint that Armine dined there, and that there was a chance of hearing him
sing. Ferdinand now became as popular with the Governor's lady as with
the Governor himself, was idolised by his Colonel's wife, while not a
party throughout the island was considered perfect without the presence
of Mr. Armine.

Excited by his situation, Ferdinand was soon tempted to incur expenses
which his income did not justify. The facility of credit afforded him
not a moment to pause; everything he wanted was furnished him; and until
the regiment quitted the garrison he was well aware that a settlement
of accounts was never even desired. Amid this imprudence he was firm,
however, in his resolution never to trespass on the resources of his
father. It was with difficulty that he even brought himself to draw for
the allowance which Sir Ratcliffe insisted on making him; and he would
gladly have saved his father from making even this advance, by vague
intimations of the bounty of Lord Grandison, had he not feared this
conduct might have led to suspicious and disagreeable enquiries. It
cannot be denied that his debts occasionally caused him anxiety, but
they were not considerable; he quieted his conscience by the belief
that, if he were pressed, his grandfather could scarcely refuse to
discharge a few hundred pounds for his favourite grandson; and, at all
events, he felt that the ultimate resource of selling his commission
was still reserved for him. If these vague prospects did not drive away
compunction, the qualms of conscience were generally allayed in the
evening assembly, in which his vanity was gratified. At length he paid
his first visit to England. That was a happy meeting. His kind father,
his dea