Tales from Many Sources - Vol. V by Various
page 59 of 272 (21%)
page 59 of 272 (21%)
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behind him_.
And he reached the three roads, and M'Alister was asleep in the ditch. But when, with jingle and clatter, the field officer of the day reached the spot, the giant Highlander stood like a watch-tower at his post, with a little snow on the black plumes that drooped upon his shoulders. HOSPITAL.--"HAME." John Broom did not see the Highlander again for two or three days. It was Christmas week, and, in spite of the war panic, there was festivity enough in the barracks to keep the errand-boy very busy. Then came New Year's Eve--"Hogmenay," as the Scotch call it--and it was the Highland regiment's particular festival. Worn-out with whiskey-fetching and with helping to deck barrack-rooms and carrying pots and trestles, John Broom was having a nap in the evening, in company with a mongrel deer-hound, when a man shook him, and said, "I heard some one asking for ye an hour or two back; M'Alister wants ye." "Where is he?" said John Broom, jumping to his feet. "In hospital; he's been there a day or two. He got cold on outpost duty, and it's flown to his lungs, they say. Ye see he's been a hard drinker, has M'Alister, and I expect he's breaking up." |
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