"
A general exclamation of pleasure broke from the five or six officers
present. "We shall have the first of the fun, boys; hand me that horn,
Terence. Here is to Sir Arthur; good-luck to him, and bad cess to the
French!"
The toast was drunk with some laughter. "Now we are going to campaign in
earnest," he went on; "no more wine swilling, no more devilled ham----"
"No more spirits, O'Grady," one of the group cut in; "and as for the wine,
you have drunk your share, besides twice your share of the spirits."
"Whin there is nothing to do, Debenham, I can take me liquor in
moderation."
"I have never remarked that, O'Grady," one of the others put in.
"In great moderation," O'Grady said, gravely, but he was again interrupted
by a shout of laughter.
"Ye had to be helped home last night, O'Grady, and it took Hoolan a
quarter of an hour to wake you this morning. I heard him say, 'Now, master
dear, the bugle will sound in a minute or two; it's wake you must, or
there will be a divil of botheration over it.' I looked in, and there you
were. Hoolan was standing by the side of you shaking his head gravely, as
if it was a hopeless job that he had in hand, and if I had not emptied a
water-bottle over you, you would never have been on parade in time."
"Oh! it was you, was it?" O'Grady said, wrathfully.
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