Reginie7ital Prisoners 151 



the regimental tailor, and a nice suit of dittoes provided 

 for him, made out of the very thick brown paper in which 

 the regimental clothing is annually forwarded from Pimlico, 

 It is extremely strong, rather shiny, and, I feel sure, is 

 very warm. It happened to be a hard frost at the time, 

 and though the prisoner refused at first to wear the 

 clothing provided — I suppose because it was not fashionable 

 enough for him — he was stripped naked, and left with 

 nothing else to put on, and when he was visited again in 

 about an hour's time it was found he had overcome his 

 scruples, and was comfortably dressed. It did not matter 

 how many times he destroyed such suits, for others could 

 be supplied at short notice, but somehow he seemed to 

 have lost the desire to do so. At first he had been very 

 riotous, smashing the window-panes, and kicking at the 

 guard-room door, so that the riflemen on duty complained 

 that they could get no rest. Arguing that a horse tears 

 his clothing because he is too hot in his skin, I presumed 

 that the man broke the glass because he also was too hot, 

 and therefore the windows were left unmended, with the 

 broken pieces on the floor. We took his boots off so that 

 he would not be able to make so much noise in his 

 stockings, but he gave up kicking altogether ! He got 

 rather cautious, too, about walking, as he said he was 

 afraid of cutting his feet, having no boots on ; but I pointed 

 out to him that as he had put the glass on the floor him- 

 self, no doubt he had some good reason for doing so, and 

 we did not wish to interfere. The colonel got rather 

 uneasy lest the man should take cold, but an old great- 

 coat was given to him, and he really enjoyed excellent 

 health. He lived in his brown paper for some time, and 

 wore it at his trial by the court-martial, and nearly every 



