"'A note for you, sir,' said the mess waiter, presenting me with a rose-colored three-cornered billet. It was from _la chère_ Boggs herself, and ran thus:--
DEAR SIR,--Mr. M'Phun and a few friends are coming to tea at my house after meeting; perhaps you will also favor us with your company. Yours truly, ELIZA BOGGS.
"What was to be done? Quit the mess; leave a jolly party just at the jolliest moment; exchange Lafitte and red hermitage for a _soirée_ of elders, presided over by that sweet man, Mr. M'Phun! It was too bad!--but then, how much was in the scale! What would the widow say if I declined? What would she think? I well knew that the invitation meant nothing less than a full-dress parade of me before her friends, and that to decline was perhaps to forfeit all my hopes in that quarter forever.
"'Yes,' said I, in a half-whisper, 'I'll go,--tell the servant, I'll go.'
"At this moment my tender epistle was subtracted from before me, and ere I had turned round, had made the tour of half the table. I never perceived the circumstance, however, and filling my glass, professed my resolve to sit to the last, with a mental reserve to take my departure at the very first opportunity. Ormond and the paymaster quitted the room for a moment, as if to give orders for a broil at twelve, and now all seemed to promise a very convivial and well-sustained party for the night.
"'Is that all arranged?' inquired the major, as Ormond entered.
"'All right,' said he; 'and now let us have a bumper and a song. Adjutant, old boy, give us a chant.'
"'What shall it be, then?' inquired I, anxious to cover my intended retreat by any appearance of joviality.
"When I was in the Fusiliers Some fourteen years ago."'
"'No, no; confound it! I've heard nothing else since I joined the regiment. Let us have the "Paymaster's Daughter."'
"'Ah! that's pathetic; I like that,' lisped a young ensign.
"'If I'm to have a vote,' grunted out the senior major, 'I pronounce for "West India Quarters."'
"'Yes, yes,' said half-a-dozen voices together; 'let's have "West India Quarters." Come, give him a glass of sherry, and let him begin.'
"I had scarcely finished off my glass, and cleared my throat for my song, when the clock on the chimney-piece chimed half-past nine, and the same instant I felt a heavy hand fall upon my shoulder. I turned and beheld my servant Tim. This, as I have already mentioned, was the hour at which Tim was in the habit of taking me home to my quarters; and though we had dined an hour later, he took no notice of the circumstance, but true to his custom, he was behind my chair. A very cursory glance at my 'familiar' was quite sufficient to show me that we had somehow changed sides; for Tim, who was habitually the most sober of mankind, was, on the present occasion, exceedingly drunk, while I, a full hour before that consummation, was perfectly sober.