sent the same evening into our cantonments to ascertain whether we remained quiet, &c. &c. Spite of my eagerness for more active service, it was not without regret that I saw the time approach when I expected to leave for ever the tranquil abode of Strytem; and some such thoughts occupied me this very evening (_15th_), as I sauntered about the great avenue after Leathes had left me. Most of the other officers had gone to the ball at Brussels, and I remained quite alone. The balmy softness of the air, the beauty and repose of the scenery, were, I thought, more exquisite than ever; and I continued in the avenue until the increasing obscurity of the evening drove me in to enjoy an hour or two with ‘The Hermit of the Chaussée D’Antin’; ere I retired for the night. CHAPTER XI. _June 16th._--It would appear that our Quartermaster-General of the cavalry took a peculiar pleasure in disturbing people at very unseasonable hours. He served me so at Dendermonde, and now he has done precisely the same at Strytem. As on that occasion, I was sound asleep when my servant, bustling into the room, awoke me _en sursaut_. He brought a note which an orderly hussar had left, and ridden off immediately. The note had nothing official in its appearance, and might have been an invitation to dinner; but the unceremonious manner in which the hussar had gone off without his receipt looked curious. My despatch was totally deficient in date, so that time and place were left to conjecture; its contents pithy--they were as follows, viz.:-- “Captain Mercer’s troop will proceed with the utmost diligence to Enghien, where he will meet Major M‘Donald, who will point out the ground on which it is to bivouac to-night. “Signed, * * * D.A.Q.M.-Gen.”