The Boy Soldier; Or, Garibaldi's Young Captain — page 188: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

SS ee i i 182! THE BOY SOLDIER; OR, GARIBALDI’S) YOUNG CAPTAIN. y Buty theres they »were: tossing and: rolling; and pitching.and plunging) aboub without any help for Tn) consequence’ they. had to. make a virtue of, necessity; andiatrange things on board as comfort- able as possible. #!) : 0% D9 is ) The evenings'wére devoted to story-telling and like/amusements'} and the old count, being a per- fect mine of adventure, the time passed quickly and: pleasantly by. ) f You haveyhad many long years'of soldiering, count,” said Frank,.oné: evening as they lingered over supper; 9 LB ris “Many ‘years; my lad, aye, fully a quarter ‘of a century off and on,’ “You see,” said the count, ‘“‘I wasian orphan, and being brought! up» by cold-heartéd relations, I got more dicks than‘half-pence, ©» 9 ‘But there was> plenty ‘of ‘blood’ in me, my braye lads,:and blood,you know, will tell one of these! days, | ! “They sent me to the village school when I was about eight years oldj» but'the old master soon wanted to get rid of me. © “They wanted to stuff a lot of! Greek and» Latin into me, but after long trying; much thrashing, and great patience, I found the only thing anyone could stuff me with to my own liking was good eating. In that department I always excelled, | “I did not stay long at the village school: And for a good reason why. “We formed a club and raised’ a conspiracy against the master, rif , | ‘‘He found it out, and mounted me on 4 boy’s back for the ptrpose’ of soundly thrashing me with r ' rather ‘a heavy cane, * | ‘*T knocked the big’ boy over with a sound smack on the jaw,' and then having’ got possession of the’ cane,» I laid’ about me right and left until I cleared ‘out the whole'-school,: and remained’ the only one in possession. — ee | o“' Difinished’ my performance by smashine’ the desks°and' everything I possibly could, and then returned home; - “When I'reached my uncle’s' house, he ‘looked and frowned like a thunder cloud. d ft90 “ ‘All-he is fit for is’ té be’a soldier,’ said the old schoolmaster. _ “*That’s just what I should like to be,’ [answered joyfully, 9) “It was then decided that I should be ‘sent to a preparatory seminary in order to fit me, in.a few years, for the Cadet’s College, at Padua. “I worked very hard at the seminary for three or four years, and longed for the time when I should have learned sufficient to enter as a cadet. “Now Thad héard a great deal of these cadets, and knew them to be violent, “frolicsome fellows, fond of a spree, and of kicking up a row with the quiet, easy going tavern keepers and others, and pails ready to ‘go out’ when called upon to fight “In fact, their reputation was that ‘of perfect fire-eaters, \ jane “The time came, and I started for the Cadet Academy, “On my first entering the lodge gate, I was met by'a posse of these gentlemen. “One asked my name, “Another where I came from. “And a third knocked Because, he said, my new hat over my eyes, '“€ T looked cool,’ ‘Of FRortunately, further attentions wére spared me by a new comer, and I escaped, ‘The, head of;my, room told me my principal business avas to wait upon him, brush and mend his clothes, and make myself generally useful, “For I found,the other two young. cadets were favourites of his, whom she had applied for, one being a personal friend, and the other a particularly clever fellow, engaged to coach him in mathe- matics.) » F “T remember the first morning, on coming out after breakfast, being struck with astonishment at - seeing a pair of legs sticking out of the large mortar opposite the dining-hall, the owner evidently occupying the bore of that weapon, and making frantic efforts to extricate himself from his uncom- fortable position. “He was with difficulty released. “He was a wretched ‘last-joined,’ still in plain clothes, who had ventured to appear on parade in a cap with anchor buttons. “Besides my regular duties, I had to fag out at cricket, and never see an innings. ‘© And often for an hour or so to work the treadle of one of the lathes, as my master was fond of turning, and we had no steam power then as we have now. “Picking up ninepins was another pursuit I took no delight in. | “And conveying cooked chicken, jellies, and other luxuries in my coat-pockets for my master when under ‘arrest,’ was anything but a pleasant employment, ‘““My greatest difficulty was in procuring fresh eogs for tea (which in those days we partook of in our rooms), no easy task when you have neither money nor credit. “Yet I generally managed it, cooking them afterwards in a nightcap tied to a long string, and lowered for three minutes into the copper of boiling water with which we made our tea. ‘Woe me if the eggs were boiled too hard, or found to contain young chickens. ~ ‘My neckties and other superfluities were bartered away to a wandering vendor of fish for stale crabs, pickled mackerel, shrimps or lobsters. by “My master, being a bit of a gourmand, was neyer satisfied with the plain bread and butter, which was all that we were allowed. “So, when every supply was exhausted, I used to pay a slight visit of a morning to the general store (where parcels and goods were deposited when they arrived) to try and discover whether any kind parent had sent a hamper of good things to their affectionate son, ** And when visiting other rooms, I always kept one eye open, looking out for ‘straws’ lying about, evident tokens of recent unpacking. ““Was I successful in any discovery, I boldly entered the happy room at tea-time, with my room- mate’s compliments, in the hope that they would kindly ask me to partake of what they had. “ But it was a very different affair when we received a hamper from any sympathising relative. How carefully we brought it over to our room, when few were about, hiding it away out of sight, and allowing only a very little to remain on our table at a time, so as not to ronse the expectations of any casual visitor. ; ‘“In less than a week we ‘last-joined’ were in- troduced to anew functionary of stern and sober mien, a sergeant of artillery, who was to be our drill-instructor,. +: © ‘He was evidently a Tartar, and always prefixed his orders or remarks with ‘ Last-jined,’ “ He first placed us in two ranks, a little apart = ee se + a oO Gomicbooks.co