support; another had a family of children; and that man had just married a wife. Others, who were not provided with such good excuses, feigned deafness, bad eyes, lame shoulders, weak ankle bones, fits, rheumatic pains, or some other disqualification, to escape the irksome duties of praying and fighting under Puritan commanders. Many kissed their own thumbs instead of the Bible when they took their oaths of service, meaning to desert the first opportunity that offered; still there were numbers of idle rustics who came when they were called out, and did as they were bid, without further question; and these, in spite of their officers and sergeants, and Puritan comrades, contrived their own amusements, and laughed at the grave preachments which forbade them. As a file of these young swains passed Cuthbert, one struck the end of a lighted match under his pony’s tail; and to the astonishment of Cuthbert, and the disturbance of the whole division following, the poor animal, hitherto as lazy and patient as a laden donkey, began kicking with such sudden activity and vigour, that the rider had some difficulty in keeping his seat. However, though inwardly vexed, Cuthbert stuck close to the saddle, and putting a good face on the vexatious incident disarmed the laughter which was at first generally excited by joining in it himself, till a humane sergeant plucked away the burning cause of the animal’s pain and terror,--and the frightened beast stood still, trembling and in a bath of sweat. Until this moment Cuthbert was at a loss to know what had so alarmed his pony; but he now alighted and made a complaint about what had been done to an officer that was passing. The grave personage whom he addressed said, with a sly smile,--“Verily, friend, thy little garron was in the way, and I counsel thee to patience in this matter:--there is no harm done, and verily thou didst stick to thy saddle like a sergeant-major of cavalry.” Without waiting for any rejoinder, the officer marched on; and no sooner had the infantry defiled, than the shrill tones of a few trumpets announced the advance of four troops of horse. As these fine men walked their powerful animals along the street, they cast down looks of contempt upon poor Cuthbert and his little hack; and he could not but feel that he had never as yet rightly conceived what were the naked realities of soldiership. There were far more unpleasant and painful experiences to come than the petty mortifications of this his first contact with troops. However, he had a wise, generous, and noble friend to instruct and arm his mind in the path on which he had entered; and his spirit was now in its first moment of weakness and need sustained and comforted by his appearance.