That red coat there, I knew him when he was a
schoolboy; and now he is a captain in the Guards, and won his
Victoria Cross at Inkermann: that bright green coat is the best
farmer, as well as the hardest rider, for many a mile round; one who
plays, as he works, with all his might, and might have been a beau
sabreur and colonel of dragoons. So might that black coat, who now
brews good beer, and stands up for the poor at the Board of
Guardians, and rides, like the green coat, as well as he works. That
other black coat is a county banker; but he knows more of the fox
than the fox knows of himself, and where the hounds are, there will
he be this day. That red coat has hunted kangaroo in Australia:
that one, as clever and good as he is brave and simple, has stood by
Napier's side in many an Indian fight: that one won his Victoria at
Delhi, and was cut up at Lucknow, with more than twenty wounds: that
one has--but what matter to you who each man is? Enough that each
can tell one a good story, welcome one cheerfully, and give one out
here, in the wild forest, the wholesome feeling of being at home
among friends.
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