other, contrive to start his festivities too early, efforts were made to keep him in the background until the officers had left.
It was the practice to see that all members of the troop who were absent on duty should be specially well-cared for, and in my case the dinner brought to the stable consisted of a huge plateful of miscellaneous food—beef, goose, ham, vegetables, plum-pudding, blanc-mange—plus a basin of beer, a packet of tobacco, and a new clay pipe!
At night the horses were looked after "night guard which paraded about five or six o'clock in the evening and came off duty at réveille on the following morning. It was mainly composed of recruits and other men who were required to attend training or do other work during the day-time. The chief duties of a "sentry" of the night guard were to perambulate outside the stables, tie up any horse that might get loose (some of the old troop-horses were extraordinarily clever at slipping their head collars and finding their way to the corn-bin), see that the doors were kept closed, and, in the phraseology of the "orders," call the corporal of the guard in the event of fire or other unusual occurrence." The sentry was armed with either a sword or a carbine (no ammunition), though what assistance he was supposed to derive therefrom in the performance of his duties no one ever understood.
The nights were sometimes intensely cold and always interminably long, although the two hours "on" sentry were followed by four hours "off," and to the tired recruit the bales of forage offered tempting resting-places. That way lay danger if not disaster, for once he succumbed to the temptation to sit down it was a hundred to one that he would fall asleep, and if he did he might wake up to find himself confronted by an officer or non-commissioned with the result that he would officer going the "rounds," be made prisoner and tried by court-martial. The punishment for this crime was invariably two months' imprisonment, and although young soldiers must be made to realise their responsibilities when on sentry, a little more consideration in dealing with tired lads not yet out of their teens
