button he had so fortunately retained was that of the 'Royal Light Bobs;' the men's faces, he well knew, would be pretty plainly marked by his fists; and therefore neither of the strange pair doubted that the ruffians would easily be brought to justice.

But man proposes, and God, in His great mercy, disposes. On Gordon and Mrs. Moran presenting themselves at the head-quarters of the 'Light Bobs' the next day, they found there was no need for vengeance. The two unhappy youths had not been in their tents all night; but when daylight came, two dead bodies were discovered lying on the plain in front of the lines, shot dead, and on being brought in they were found to be Bolt and Dyver-the latter with the button of his coat, that Gordon held in his hand, missing. Whether or not they had intended to blow up Mrs. Moran in her hut, could now never be known; and whether they intended to desert to the Russians, to escape possible punishment for their crime, or merely lost their way, and got outside the lines by accident, must also ever remain a mystery.

Gordon Hastings took care that before many days were over Mrs. Moran's 'den' should be rebuilt almost exactly as it was before; and there she continued doing an excellent business until the close of the campaign, when she returned to England, and took a little shop

in Chatham, where she may still be found amongst her old friends the soldiers, to whom she often tells the tale of being blown up by the "only inimies, honey, I iver had!"

But before that happy event, she nursed Gordon Hastings, like a mother, through a most severe fever he fell a victim to; and the surgeons said that only for the care of Mother Moran the young Guardsman must have assuredly died.

SOOKA THE SYCE; OR, SEA

HORSES IN REALITY.

"NOW

CHAPTER I.

THE MERMAID'S CARGO.

OW then, Jack Black! out of the way will you? or sure you'll have your skull stove in with that cro'jack* tackle!" cried Pat Madden, mipshipman of the good ship Mermaid, a merchantman, then on her voyage from Bombay to China, with a cargo of army horses.

"The young sahib not break Sooka's skull, or him make complain," was the mild remonstrance of the head ghorawallah, who had daily, from the very commencement of the passage, suffered no little annoyance from the pranks of the four junior officers on board, and did not feel at all inclined to allow such conduct to continue during the whole of the long and anxious voyage.

"Faith, I wouldn't be bothered breaking your sooty

* Cross-jack, i.e., the lowest square sail on the mizzen-mast.

pate, so you needn't think it; but the cro'jack won't be so particular. An' if you don't clear out of that, it'll be apt to fetch you a crack you won't forget in a hurry. Sure it's for your own good I'm telling you.'

"The sahib says true, Sooka," remarked another native, named Duberry-a sort of second in command. over the horses, who, having been on this sort of duty before, had some ideas of the working of a ship: "The sahib is right, and you had better move." Sooka had considerable reason to doubt, as a rule, the affection of his subordinate, who was very jealous and ill-disposed, on account of being placed under the orders of one who had never previously made the trip; but on this occasion the man was obviously in the right, for the weather tackle of the crossjack now flapped ominously near Sooka's head, and threatened every minute to dash against it; so he shifted his position, and went down into the waist to attend to some ordinary duty.

"Him one great hang fool! Madden Sahib," remarked. Duberry-a cunning looking specimen of humanity, and yet possessor of that wonderful mobility of feature which often enables a native to completely screen his real emotions-moving more aft with the midshipman of the watch, who was just then having the sails trimmed.

"I don't suppose he's a bigger fool than you, Duberry," was the reply, given with that calm impartiality of abuse with which the more ignorant Europeans are in the habit of treating the natives.

"Ah! but he is great fool. He tell Captain Blunt Sahib of Evans Sahib" (this latter was another of the four midshipmen on board) "beating dat horse, day we come aboard-Evans Sahib, he get good talkeetalkee for it!"

"Oh, ho! that was master Sooka's doing, was it? I thought old Blunt saw it himself."

"Né, sahib; I hear Sooka tell," was the eager reply, "and he make bobbery* too, because I not report the chota sahib, and I get trouble too with Captain Blunt."

"Sure you don't love Mr. Sooka overmuch then, do you?" queried the middy with a grin, detecting the latent ill-will of the man.

"I like him well, sahib;; only he not kind man; make too much plenty bobbery 'bout not'ing, and I get scrape!"

"Serve you right, too. You're all of a lot, and one nigger's just as bad as another——”

"Mr. Madden," interrupted the Captain of the ship, who had just come on to the poop, "give over gossiping

*Used to express a disturbance of any kind, moral or physical.