Not yet established in barracks, Mr. Spoonbill slept at an hotel, and thither he was assisted by two of his boon companions, whom he insisted on regaling on devilled biscuits and more brandy and water, out of sheer gratitude for their kindness. Nor was this reward thrown away, for it raised the spirits of these youths to so genial a pitch that, on their way back--with a view, no doubt, to give encouragement to trade--they twisted off, as they phrased it, “no end to knockers and bell-handles,” broke half a dozen lamps, and narrowly escaping the police (with whom, however, they would gloriously have fought rather than have surrendered) succeeded at length in reaching their quarters,--a little excited it is true, but by no means under the impression that they had done anything--as the articles of war say--“unbecoming the character of an officer and a gentleman.” In the meantime, the jaded waiter at the hotel had conveyed their fellow-Ensign to bed, to dream--if he were capable of dreaming--of the brilliant future which his first day’s experience of actual military life held out. II.--A SUBALTERN’S DAY. However interesting it might prove to the noble relatives of Ensign Spoonbill to learn his progress, step by step, we must--for reasons of our own--pass over the first few weeks of his new career, with only a brief mention of the leading facts. His brother-officers had instructed him in the art of tying on his sash, wearing his forage cap on one side, the secret of distinguishing his right hand from his left, and the mysteries of marching and counter-marching. The art of holding up his head and throwing out his chest, had been carefully imparted by the drill-serjeant of his company, and he had, accordingly, been pronounced “fit for duty.” What this was may best be shown, by giving an outline of “a subaltern’s day,” as he and the majority of his military friends were in the habit of passing it. It may serve to explain how it happens that British officers are so far in advance of their continental brethren in arms in the science of their profession, and by what process they have arrived at that intellectual superiority, which renders it a matter of regret that more serious interests than the mere discipline and well-being of only a hundred and twenty thousand men have not been confided to their charge.