68 HORSE, FOOT, AND DRAGOONS. 



the other hand, down below us we see the rectangular rows of 

 huts and white tents of the camp, and the spires and chimneys 

 of Aldershot Town, toned down by the distance and the soft 

 gray of the atmosphere. 



Returning at sunset from some such walk, our appetites 

 sharpened by the exercise and the pure, sweet air, we hurry 

 to our quarters, dress for dinner, and repair to the mess-room, 

 already half filled with ofificers in their handsome mess uniforms. 

 It is a large, comfortable room, carpeted with rugs and furnished 

 with easy, leather-covered chairs and divans. Pictures of sport- 

 ing and military subjects, an ordnance map, copies of orders 

 and regulations are on the walls, and scattered in confusion over 

 the tables are newspapers and magazines, books of tactics, the 

 " Army List," etc. Punctually at eight o'clock dinner is an- 

 nounced, and we enter the dining-room and take our places 

 at the long table, covered with its glittering array of glassware 

 and gold and silver plate — racing -cups won by, and trophies 

 presented to, the mess. It is a long, wide room, with high ceil- 

 ings and large plate-glass windows. Portraits of the Queen and 

 of the Prince of Wales, in the uniform of the corps, hang on the 

 walls over two wide fireplaces, while over a handsome sideboard 

 are fastened various trophies of the chase in foreign lands, 

 among which are the branching antlers and huge, mule-shaped 

 head of an American moose, shot in the wilds of the Canadian 

 forests by one of the members of the mess. The dinner of 

 several courses bears evidence of the skill of the mess cook ; 

 and as the decanters are passed around the table towards its 

 end, the only toast of the evening — the Queen — is drunk stand- 

 ing and in respectful silence. Then with the coffee and cigars 

 the events of the day are discussed, conversation becomes more 

 o-eneral, and from the commandant to the latest joined sub- 

 altern, all seem to feel that peace with the world and one's self 



