A very brief chapter will suffice to record the doings of two of our characters, not destined to perform very foreground parts in the present drama. We mean Mr. O'Shea and Charles Heathcote. They had established themselves in lodgings in a certain locality called Manchester Buildings, much favored by some persons who haunt the avenues of “the House,” and are always in search of “our Borough Member.” Neither the aspect of their domicile, nor their style of living, bespoke flourishing circumstances. O'Shea, indeed, had returned to town in cash, but an unlucky night at the “Garottoman” had finished him, and he returned to his lodgings one morning at daybreak two hundred and seventeen pounds worse than nothing.

Heathcote had not played; nay, he had lived almost penuriously; but in a few weeks all his resources were nigh exhausted, and no favorable change had occurred in his fortunes. At the Horse Guards he had been completely unsuccessful. He had served, it is true, with distinction, but, as he had quitted the army, he could not expect to be restored to his former rank, while, by the rules of the service, he was too old to enter as a subaltern. And thus a trained soldier, who had won fame and honor in two campaigns, was, at the age of twenty-six, decided to be superannuated. It was the chance meeting of O'Shea in the street, when this dilemma was mentioned, that led to their ultimate companionship, for the Member at once swore to bring the case before the House, and to make the country ring from end to end with the enormity. Poor Heathcote, friendless and alone at the moment, caught at the promise, and a few days afterwards saw them domesticated as chums at No.—, in the locality already mentioned.

“You 'll have to cram me, Heathcote, with the whole case. I must be able to make an effective speech, narrating all the great exploits you have done, with everywhere you have been, before I come to the grievance, and the motion for 'all the correspondence between Captain Heathcote and the authorities at the Horse Guards, respecting his application to be reinstated in the army.' I 'll get a special Tuesday for the motion, and I 'll have Howley in to second me, and maybe we won't shake the Treasury benches! for you see the question opens everything that ever was, or could be, said about the army. It opens Horse Guards cruelty and irresponsibility, those Bashi-Bazouks that rule the service like despots; it opens the purchase system from end to end; it opens the question of promotion by merit; it opens the great problem of retirement and superannuation. By my conscience! I think I could bring the Thirty-nine Articles into it, if I was vexed.”

The Member for Inch had all that persuasive power a ready tongue and an unscrupulous temper supply, and speedily convinced the young soldier that his case would not alone redound to his own advancement but become a precedent, which should benefit hundreds of others equally badly treated as himself.

It was while thus conning over the project, O'Shea mentioned, in deepest confidence, the means of that extraordinary success which, he averred, had never failed to attend all his efforts in the House, and this was, that he never ventured on one of his grand displays without a previous rehearsal at home; that is, he assembled at his own lodgings a supper company of his most acute and intelligent friends—young barristers, men engaged on the daily or weekly press—the smart squib-writers and caricaturists of the day—alive to everything ridiculous, and unsparing in their criticism; and by these was he judged in a sort of mock Parliament formed by themselves. To each of these was allotted the character of some noted speaker in the House, who did his best to personate the individual by every trait of manner, voice, and action, while a grave, imposing-looking man, named Doran, was a capital counterfeit of the “Speaker.”

O'Shea explained to Heathcote that the great advantage of this scheme consisted in the way it secured one against surprises; no possible interruption being omitted, nor any cavilling objection spared to the orator. “You'll see,” he added, “that after sustaining these assaults, the attack of the real fellows is only pastime.”

The day being fixed on, the company, numbering nigh twenty, assembled, and Charles Heathcote could not avoid observing that their general air and appearance were scarcely senatorial. O'Shea assured him gravity would soon succeed to the supper, and dignity come in with the whiskey-punch. This was so far borne out that when the cloth was removed, and a number of glasses and bottles were distributed over the blackened mahogany, a grave and almost austere bearing was at once assumed by the meeting. Doran also took his place as Speaker, his cotton umbrella being laid before him as the mace. The orders of the day were speedily disposed of, and a few questions as to the supply of potables satisfactorily answered, when O'Shea arose to bring on the case of the evening,—a motion “for all the correspondence between the authorities of the Horse Guards and Captain Heathcote, respecting the application of the latter to be reinstated in the service.”

The Secretary-at-War, a red-faced, pimply man, subeditor of a Sunday paper, objected to the production of the papers; and a smart sparring-match ensued, in which O'Shea suffered rather heavily, but at last came out victorious, being allowed to state the grounds for his application.

O'Shea began with due solemnity, modestly assuring the House that he wished the task had fallen to one more competent than himself, and more conversant with those professional details which would necessarily occupy a large space in the narrative.

“Surely the honorable member held a commission in the Clare Fencibles.”

“Was not the honorable member's father a band-master in the Fifty-fourth?” cried another.

“To the insolent interruptions which have met me,” said O'Shea, indignantly—

“Order! order!”

“Am I out of order, sir?” asked he of the Speaker.

“Clearly so,” replied that functionary. “Every interruption, short of a knock-down, is parliamentary.”

“I bow to the authority of the chair, and I say that the ruffianly allusions of certain honorable members 'pass by me like the idle wind, that I regard not.'”

“Where 's that from? Take you two to one in half-crowns you can't tell,” cried one.

“Done!” “Order! order!” “Spoke!” with cries of “Goon!” here convulsed the meeting; after which O'Shea resumed his discourse.

“When, sir,” said he, “I undertook to bring under the notice of this House, and consequently before the eyes of the nation, the case of a distinguished officer, one whose gallant services in the tented field, whose glorious achievements before the enemy have made his name famous in all the annals of military distinction, I never anticipated to have been met by the howls of faction, or the discordant yells of disappointed and disorderly followers—mere condottieri—of the contemptible tyrant who now scowls at me from the cross-benches.”

Loud cheers of applause followed this burst of indignation.

An animated conversation now ensued as to whether this was strictly parliamentary; some averring that they “had heard worse,” others deeming it a shade too violent, O'Shea insisting throughout that there never was a sharp debate in the House without far blacker insinuations, while in the Irish Parliament such courtesies were continually interchanged, and very much admired.

“Was n't it Lawrence Parsons who spoke of the 'highly gifted blackguard on the other side?'” and “Didn't John Toler allude to the 'ignorant and destitute spendthrift who now sat for the beggarly borough of Athlone?'” cried two or three advocates of vigorous language.

“There's worse in Homer,” said another, settling the question on classical authority.

The discussion grew warm. What was, and what was not, admissible in language was eagerly debated; the interchange of opinion, in a great measure, serving to show that there were few, if any, freedoms of speech that might not be indulged in. Indeed, Heathcote's astonishment was only at the amount of endurance exhibited by each in turn, so candid were the expressions employed, so free from all disguise the depreciatory sentiments entertained.

In the midst of what had now become a complete uproar, and while one of the orators, who by dint of lungs had overcome all competitors, was inveighing against O'Shea as “a traitor to his party, and the scorn of every true Irishman,” a fresh arrival, heated and almost breathless, rushed into the room.

“It's all over,” cried he; “the Government is beaten. The House is to be dissolved on Wednesday, and the country to go to a general election.”

Had a shell fallen on the table, the dispersion could not have been more instantaneous. Barristers, reporters, borough agents, and penny-a-liners, all saw their harvest-time before them, and hurried away to make their engagements; and, in less than a quarter of an hour, O'Shea was left alone with his companion, Charles Heathcote.

“Here's a shindy!” cried the ex-M. P., “and the devil a chance I have of getting in again, if I can't raise five hundred pounds.”

Heathcote never spoke, but sat ruminating over the news.

“Bad luck to the Cabinet!” muttered O'Shea. “Why would they put that stupid clause into their Bill? Could n't they wait to smuggle it in on a committee? Here I am clean ruined and undone, just as I was on the road to fame and fortune. And I can't even help a friend!” said he, turning a pitiful look at Heathcote.

“Don't waste a thought about me!” said Heathcote, good-humoredly.

“But I will!” cried O'Shea. “I 'll go down to the Horse Guards myself. Sure I'm forgetting already,” added he, with a sigh, “that we 're all 'out;' and now, for a trifle of five hundred, there's a fine chance lost as ever man had. You don't know anybody could accommodate one with a loan,—of course, on suitable terms?”

“Not one,—not one!”

“Or who 'd do it on a bill at three months, with our own names?”

“None!”

“Is n't it hard, I ask,—isn't it cruel,—just as I was making a figure in the House? I was the 'rising man of the party,'—so the 'Post' called me,—and the 'Freeman' said, 'O'Shea has only to be prudent, and his success is assured.' And wasn't I prudent? Didn't I keep out of the divisions for half the session? Who's your father's banker, Heathcote?”

“Drummonds, I believe; but I don't know them.”

“Murther! but it is hard! five hundred,—only five hundred. A real true-hearted patriot, fresh for his work, and without engagements, going for five hundred! I see you feel for me, my dear fellow,” cried he, grasping Heathcote's hand. “I hear what your heart is saying this minute: 'O'Shea, old boy, if I had the money, I 'd put it in the palm of your hand without the scratch of a pen between us.'”

“I 'm not quite so certain I should,” muttered the other, half sulkily.

“But I know you better than you know yourself, and I repeat it. You 'd say, 'Gorman O'Shea, I 'm not the man to see a first-rate fellow lost for a beggarly five hundred. I 'd rather be able to say one of these days, “Look at that man on the Woolsack,—or, maybe, Chief Justice in the Queen's Bench—well, would you believe it? if I hadn't helped him one morning with a few hundreds, it's maybe in the Serpentine he 'd have been, instead of up there.”' And as we 'd sit over a bottle of hock in the bay-window at Richmond, you 'd say, 'Does your Lordship remember the night when you heard the House was up, and you had n't as much as would pay your fare over to Ireland?'”

“I'm not so certain of that, either,” was the dry response of Heathcote.

“And of what are you certain, then?” cried O'Shea, angrily; “for I begin to believe you trust nothing, nor any one.”

“I 'll tell you what I believe, and believe firmly too,—which is, that a pair of fellows so completely out at elbows as you and myself had far better break stones on a highroad for a shilling a day than stand cudgelling their wits how to live upon others.”

“That is not my sentiment at all,—suum cuique,—stone-breaking to the hard-handed; men of our stamp, Heathcote, have a right—a vested right—to a smoother existence.”

“Well, time will tell who is right,” said Heathcote, carelessly, as he put on his hat and walked to the door. A half-cold good-bye followed, and they parted.

Hour after hour he walked the streets, unmindful of a thin misty rain that fell unceasingly. He was now completely alone in the world, and there was a sort of melancholy pleasure in the sense of his desolation. “My poor father!” he would mutter from time to time; “if I could only think that he would forget me! if I could but bring myself to believe that after a time he would cease to sorrow for me!” He did not dare to utter more, nor even to himself declare how valueless he deemed life, but strolled listlessly onward, till the gray streaks in the murky sky proclaimed the approach of morning.

Was it with some vague purpose or was it by mere accident that he found himself standing at last near the barracks at Knightsbridge, around the gate of which a group of country-looking young fellows was gathered, while here and there a sergeant was seen to hover, as if speculating on his prey? It was a time in which more than one young man of station had enlisted as a private, and the sharp eye of the crimp Boon scanned the upright stature and well-knit frame of Heathcote.

“Like to be a dragoon, my man?” said he, with an easy, swaggering air.

“I have some thought of it,” said the other, coldly.

“You 've served already, I suspect,” said the sergeant, in a more respectful tone.

“For what regiment are you enlisting?” asked Heathcote, coldly, disregarding the other's inquiry.

“Her Majesty's Bays,—could you ask better? But here's my officer.”

Before Heathcote had well heard the words, his name was called out, and a slight, boyish figure threw his arms about him.

“Charley, how glad I am to see you!” cried he.

“Agincourt!—is this you?” said Heathcote, blushing deeply as he spoke.

“Yes, I have had my own way at last; and I'm going to India too.”

“I am not,” said Heathcote, bitterly. “They 'll not have me at the Horse Guards; I am too old, or too something or other for the service, and there's nothing left me but to enter the ranks.”

“Oh, Charley,” cried the other, “if you only knew of the breaking heart you have left behind you!—if you only knew how she loves you!”

Was it that the boyish accents of these few words appealed to Heathcote's heart with all the simple force of truth?—was it that they broke in upon his gloom so unexpectedly,—a slanting sun-ray piercing a dark cloud? But so it is, that he turned away, and drew his hand across his eyes.

“I was off for a day's hunting down in Leicestershire,” said Agincourt. “I sent the nags away yesterday. Come with me, Charley; we shall be back again to-morrow, and you 'll see if my old guardian won't set all straight with the War-Office people for you. Unless,” added he, in a half-whisper, “you choose in the mean while to put your trust in what I shall tell you, and go back again.”

“I only hope that I may do so,” said Heathcote, as he wrung the other's hand warmly, “and I'd bless the hour that led me here this morning.”

It was soon arranged between them that Agincourt should drive round by Heathcote's lodgings and take him up, when he had packed up a few things for the journey. O'Shea was so sound asleep that he could scarcely be awakened to hear his companion say “good-bye.” Some vague, indistinct idea floated before him that Heathcote had fallen upon some good fortune, and, as he shook his hand, he muttered,—

“Go in and win, old fellow; take all you can get, clear the beggars out, that's my advice to you.” And with these sage counsels he turned on his pillow, and snored away once more.

“Wasn't that Inch-o'-brogue I heard talking to you?” asked Agincourt.

“Yes. The poor fellow, like myself, is sorely hard up just now.”

“My old governor must get him something. We 'll think of him on our return; so jump in, Charley, or we shall be late for the train.”

How contagious was that happy boy's good humor, and how soon did his light-heartedness impart its own quality to Heathcote's spirits. As they whirled along through the brisk fresh air of the morning, the youth recounted all that passed with him since they met,—no very great or stirring events were they, it is true, but they were his,—and they were his first experiences of dawning manhood; and, oh! let any of us, now plodding along wearily on the shady side of life, only bethink us of the joyful sunshine of our youth, when the most commonplace incidents came upon us with freshness, and we gloried in the thought of having a “part,” an actual character to play, in that grand drama they call the World.

We would not, if we could, recall his story; we could not hope that our reader would listen as pleasurably as did Heathcote to it; enough that we say they never felt the miles go over, nor, till their journey was ended, had a thought that they were already arrived at their destination.