MILITAR YAD VENTURES. 207 



wonderfully rapid vicissitudes I had been 

 subject to in so short a period. 



I leaned back in my easy chair, half 

 asleep and half awake, for, in my weak 

 state, and after the heat of the canton- 

 ments, the exertion of travelling in a 

 palanquin along the dusty roads had tired 

 me sorely ; but, now that I was rested and 

 refreshed, I felt considerably better, and 

 the pure, fresh mountain air, cooled by 

 passing over the perpetual snow, came to 

 me as a precious gift from heaven, to re- 

 store me to that health and manliness 

 which would enable me to follow out the 

 profession I had adopted, and in which 

 my whole soul was wrapped up. A sol- 

 dier's life was the only life I cared for; 

 from my earliest recollection, my chief 

 ambition was to be an officer, and, now 

 that my feet were resting well on the 



