And other Tales
BY JAMES GRANT
AUTHOR OF
"THE ROMANCE OF WAR," "FIRST LOVE AND LAST LOVE,"
"THE WHITE COCKADE," ETC., ETC.
LONDON
GEORGE ROUTLEDGE AND SONS
THE BROADWAY, LUDGATE
NEW YORK: 416 BROOME STREET
1874
CONTENTS.
KOTAH: A TALE OF THE INDIAN MUTINY
LA BELLE TURQUE: THE STORY OF THE PRINCESS CECILE
THE MARQUIS DE FRATTEAUX, CAPTAIN OF FRENCH HORSE
SOCIVISCA: THE STORY OF A GREEK OUTLAW
PAQUETTE: AN EPISODE OF THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR
APPARITIONS AND WONDERS:
LEAVES FROM OLD LONDON LIFE; 1664-1705
"THERE WERE GIANTS IN THOSE DAYS"
"I have been forced to believe in the existenceand influence of an unseen world, of somethingwhich is described in that line of Dryden's,
"'With silent steps I follow you all day.'
"I have felt the influence of the spiritual andinvisible on the senses, though I know nothing ofthe complications, the deceptions and allegedperils, forming a portion of that which is nowtermed spiritualism; and which affirms that theunseen world cannot become manifest, save inobedience to certain occult laws which regulatethe phenomena of nature."
What rigmarole was this?
Could the speaker—this man with the melancholytone and saddened eye—actually be thesame handsome Jack Arkley, my old collegechum at Sandhurst, who was always rathersceptical even in religious matters, who was one ofthe merriest fellows there, who had been oncenearly rusticated for breaking the lamps anddismounting the guns to spite the adjutant, but who,as a Queen's cadet, had more marks of excellencethan any of us; who was afterwards thebeau-ideal of a fine young English officer—a primebat and bowler, who pulled a good stroke oar,had such a firm seat in his saddle, and who wasthe best hand for organizing a picnic, a ball, ora scratch company, for amateur theatricals; andwho in the late expedition against the Looshais,had won the reputation of being a regularfire-eater—a fellow who would face the devil in hisshirt sleeves!
Could the champagne of "the Rag" haveaffected him, thought I, as he continued earnestlyand sadly, and while manipu