A HOME OF TOMMY ATKINS. 59 



step, middle-sized, sturdy fellows, their Glengarries cocked rak- 

 ishly on one side of their heads, their shining black leathers 

 and the silver ornaments on the officers' trappings gleaming 

 brightly in the sunlight. There is a smart, tidy look about the 

 men in spite of their hard morning's drill in the " Long Valley," 

 and the consequent powdering of yellow dust they have received. 

 I watch them as they wheel off the road, moving over the level 

 surface of the " Queen's Parade," now being crossed in various 

 directions by returning battalions, winding in scarlet -hued and 

 glittering columns over the green turf, while the air is filled 

 with the scream of the fifes and the stirring rattle of the drums. 

 As it nears the lines of huts the battalion halts, and a group of 

 men who have been awaiting its approach advances and takes 

 position facing it, while at a command from their chief the offi- 

 cers sheathe their sabres, and leaving the ranks, form an irreg- 

 ular semicircle about him. A measure of discipline is to be 

 enforced, and the men are to witness the punishment and dis- 

 grace of one of their number. The man, a sergeant, a rather 

 good-looking young fellow, with crisp, curling blond hair and 

 sunburned face, seems keenly to feel his position, as, under 

 guard of a soldier with drawn bayonet, he stands with bowed 

 head and cap in hand facing his comrades, while the adjutant, in 

 monotonous, formal tones, reads aloud the record of his offence, 

 his trial and his sentence. Hardly has the sound of the last 

 words of the officer died away, when the sergeant-major, with a 

 few rapid cuts of his knife, severs the chevrons from the sleeves 

 of the culprit's tunic, and as the badges of his former rank drop 

 to the ground, the latter, bringing his hand to his forehead in 

 salute to his officers, rapidly marches down the front of the 

 line and returns to his quarters. It was a painful scene, and 

 seems to have made an impression on the men as they are dis- 

 missed and move silently off the .ground. 



