It is always very jolly, and
much better than a formal meal indoors, and you can play all sorts of
tricks."
"What sort of tricks, senor?"
"Oh, there are lots of them. I was always having fun before I became an
officer. My father was one of the captains of the regiment, and I was
generally in for any amusement that there was. Once at a picnic, I
remember that I got hold of the salt-cellars and mustard-pots beforehand,
and I filled up one with powdered Epsom salts, which are horribly nasty,
you know, and I mixed the mustard with cayenne pepper. Nobody could make
out what had happened to the food. They soon suspected the mustard, but
nobody thought of the salt for a long time. The colonel was furious over
it, but fortunately they could not prove that I had any hand in the
matter, though I know that they suspected me, for I did not get an
invitation to a picnic for a long time afterwards."
The three girls laughed, but Don Jose said, seriously: "But you would have
got into terrible trouble if you had been found out, would you not?"
"I should have got a licking, no doubt, senor; but I was pretty accustomed
to that, and it did not trouble me in any way. At any rate, it did not
cure me of my love for mischief. I am afraid I never shall be cured of
that. I used to have no end of fun in the regiment, and I think that it
did us all good.
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