MILITARY AD VENTURES. 319 



I was now fit for duty, and took my 

 guards, parades, courts-martial, etcetera, 

 as they came ; and the station being 

 particularly gay at that time, my life was a 

 very pleasant one. We got up theatricals 

 in the regiment, and having always had a 

 taste for acting, I took part in most of the 

 plays that were produced. All this, how- 

 ever, was too much happiness to last, for, 

 before I had been back with my regiment 

 three months, I was again laid up with 

 fever, which gradually got worse, instead 

 of better, and I was nearly at death's door. 

 The medical officers were at their wit's 

 end, as I declared I would not go home ; 

 but, as I did not mend, the serious ques- 

 tion was at last put to me by one of my 

 doctors, whether I preferred remaining in 

 India to die as a certainty, or going home 

 to be cured in all probability, by the 



