OR, THE YOUNG RIFLEMAN. BY CAPTAIN RAFTER, 66 AUTHOR OF THE GUARDS," "OUR INDIAN ARMY," &c. "There was an ancient sage philosopher, Who had read Alexander Ross over; And swore the world, as he could prove, IN THREE VOLUMES. VOL. III. LONDON: HURST AND BLACKETT, PUBLISHERS, SUCCESSORS TO HENRY COLBURN, 13, GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET. 1855. 249. X.490. PERCY BLAKE. CHAPTER I. ALBANY BARRACKS. AFTER a tedious and most melancholy passage, we at length arrived at Portsmouth; when, having obtained three months' leave of absence, I endeavoured for some time to dissipate my sad reflections in the pleasures of the metropolis. These were indeed a treat, after two years' sharp service in the Peninsula: but, as they did not suffice for the accomplishment of my object, I paid a visit to my friends and relations in Tipperary; where the pleasures of the field, and the charms of unbounded hospitality, ba VOL. III. B |