In regard to the sword and lance, I certainly prefer the lance; the lance is so keen, it goes through a man before he knows it. I was always very careful never to let a swordsman get under my lance, and in fighting with cavalry I made full use of the pennon to baffle an enemy's horse. The weapons of troops on active service are made as keen as razors, and it was a common thing during the Mutiny to see a party of soldiers under the shade of a great tree waiting their turn to get their blades sharpened and the dints removed, ready for the next fight with the rebels. Our gallant little army was like a ship cleaving its way through the sea, for wherever we went, the enemy, like the waters, closed in behind. (_To be continued._) [Illustration: LANCE-CORPORAL GOATE WINNING THE V.C.] _Playwrights' Manuscripts._ We here present our readers with fac-similes of the manuscripts of several of the most popular of living playwrights, chosen from some of the best-known of their plays. Most of them tell their own story; but we may call particular attention to the specimen by Mr. Irving, who is not generally known to be a playwright. Yet the manner in which he treats a drama like "Louis XI." (a page of which we give), by cutting, adding, and writing in soliloquies, manifestly makes him a joint-author in the play. [Illustration: Fac-simile of a page of MS. from Mr. ROBERT BUCHANAN'S play, _Clarissa_.] [Illustration: Fac-simile of a page of MS. from Mr. GEORGE R. SIMS' play, _The Lights o' London_. Act III. Scene 1.] [Illustration: Fac-simile of a page of MS. from Mr. H. PETTITT'S play, _Hands across the Sea_.] [Illustration: Fac-simile of a page of MS. from a play now being written by Mr. JEROME K. JEROME.] [Illustration: Fac-simile of a page of MS. from Mr. HENRY A. JONES' play, _The Dancing Girl_.] [Illustration: Fac-simile of a page of original MS. of _Louis XI._, with alterations by Mr. HENRY IRVING.] [Illustration: Fac-simile of soliloquies inserted by Mr. HENRY IRVING at the places marked Q and * in the preceding page.] _The Luckiest Man in the Colony._ +By S. W. Hornung.+