IN THE COLDSTREAM GUARDS 21 



before the late Sir Henry Bouverie and Captain Wedderburn, 

 who was then, I think, adjutant. Sir Henry said, " I should 

 find it much less trouble to do my duty," and wished me good 

 morning; and I thought, from Wedderburn's good-humoured 

 smile, that there was not much the matter. I returned to 

 Cranford and hunted away again more gaily than ever. In 

 those days we used to do the Deptford and Woolwich Dockyard 

 duties, and a terrible bore they were Deptford, Woolwich, and 

 Chatham ! oh, what bores ! The best of them was, that in 

 regard to the two former, one officer remained, and did all the 

 duty, while the others went away, so we each got a spell of 

 leave in turn. Alas ! it was at Deptford that I very nearly was 

 caught out again. The detachment duty lasted three weeks, 

 and my week of duly included the first of September. It 

 happened to be the last day of my duty too, the last day of 

 August, and on the next day an officer would return to relieve 

 me. It was much too near a thing for me not to be off, so on 

 the last day of my duty, instead of going my rounds at night, I 

 started for Cranford, to be ready for the shooting on the first. I 

 went out at break of day to pick up the outside birds that were 

 free to others, when, on my return to breakfast at eight o'clock 

 or soon after, there, in that memorable stone yard, stood another 

 military apparition ! Bolt upright, in full uniform, a sergeant 

 of the Guards, with hand to cap, it said, "You forgot the 

 report, sir." Delighted was I this time to find that the ghost 

 was a friendly one ; so asking him " if the docks were safe and 

 all right," on receiving his reply in the affirmative, I bid him to 

 the housekeeper's room to breakfast, wrote the report, and gave 

 him a sovereign to speed his return by coach. How many 

 friends that were in that regiment with me are gone, swept off 

 by the hand of time ! I never see Colonel Bentinck now ; nor 

 did I use to sit by the side of Colonel Salway in the House of 

 Commons without thinking of many a happy hour. 



Two or three other amusing anecdotes of the Guards, and 

 then hark forward ! When we were quartered at Chatham, it 

 chanced that I much wished to be in the midst of the season for 



