The man gave me a name, with which I suppose he was provided.
“How long were you in the Thirty —?” I inquired.
“Five year, sir.”
“I had a schoolfellow in that regiment, Captain Thorpe, a tall man with red whiskers—did you know him?”
“There was a captain, sir, with large red whiskers, and I think his name was Thorpe; but he warn’t captain of my company, so I didn’t know for certain,” replied the man, after an affected hesitation.
“The Thirty — was one of the first of our regiments that landed, I think?” I remarked.
“Yes, your honour, it were.”
“You impudent impostor!” I said; “the Thirty — did not go out till the spring of ’55. How dare you tell me you belonged to it?”
The fellow blenched for a moment, but rallied and said, “I didn’t like to contradict your honour for fear you should be angry and wouldn’t give me nothing.”
“That’s very polite of you,” I said, “but still I have a great mind to give you into custody. Stay; tell me who and what you are, and I will give you a shilling and let you go.”