Colonel Preston daily superintended in person the training of his recruits; and the presence of the fine old man, with his mingled kindness and enthusiasm, kindled a kindred spirit even in the breast of the dullest fellow among us. It seemed to me--but it might be fancy--that he took particular interest in myself, for he frequently spoke to me with such words of encouragement or praise, that my young heart swelled with gratitude; and I felt certain when the time came, that I would follow the brave old man, even to the cannon's mouth, with the devotion of a son, rather than the mere obedience of a soldier. An anecdote of our veteran colonel, then current, related that when George II., who frequently displayed much favour and partiality for the Greys (notwithstanding his hatred of the Scots), was reviewing them in Hyde Park one day before the Marshal Duke de Broglie and a prince of the House of Bourbon, Louis Philippe, Duke of Orleans, he said-- "Monseigneur le Prince, did you ever see a finer regiment?" "They are fine indeed," replied the Prince, as the royal staff passed along the line; "but pardon me if I think them inferior to our Gendarmes de la Garde. Did your majesty ever see _them_?" "No," replied the king; "but I have little doubt that my Scots Greys have--eh, Colonel Preston?" "Yes," said the Colonel, grimly, "we _have_ seen them." "Where?" asked Louis Philippe. "At Dettingen, when auld Jamie Campbell, who was killed at Fontenoy, led us to the charge against them." "Well--well," said the king, impatiently, "and what followed?" "We cut them to pieces, and there I took their _white standard_, cleaving the bearer down to the breeks; and the prince, if he chooses, may see it now, hanging in Westminster Hall." At Newmarket my chivalry received a severe shock, by being present at the execution of a Light Dragoon who was shot for desertion. He had been sentenced to three hundred lashes by a regimental court-martial. On this, he appealed to a general court, which, instead of confirming the former sentence, inflicted the penalty of--death! It was long before I forgot the horrors of that scene; the grey light of the early morning--our pale faces on parade--the ominous silence--the almost whispered words of command--the pallid prisoner, as he knelt beside his black deal coffin, and the shriek with which he fell within it as the death volley rang across the far extent of the open heath, and then the trumpet sounding to form open column and pass the poor corpse by files, announced that all was over. CHAPTER IX. MY HOPE FOR THE FUTURE. I have stated that I was placed in the troop of Captain Francis Lindsay, which for a time separated me from my friends, Charters and Kirkton. This was one of the nine troops of Light Horse, or Hussars, lately formed, one of which had been added to every regiment of heavy cavalry.