The Scot Abroad.

Bavarian , remarking my bewilderment , Avhispered to me that it ivas Suvarov himself . He chattered for a minute or tivo ivith his officers , and then , looking hard at me ( I suppose he thought I looked rather greener than the rest , ancl wanted to give me a start ) asked in Russ , which one of the others interpreted for me , " How many stars are there in the sky ?' ' " None at present , " answered I in French ; " they only come out at night !" The old felloiv laughed A \ 'hen they repeated ivhat I had said , and told me I ought to

have been a Russian ; ancl ivith that he bolted out as sudden as he came in , ancl I never saw him again . It Avas a few clays after our glimpse of the enemy ' s menage , that the first taste of retribution overtook my friend the Englishman . We ivere strolling through the camp ivith a Turkish officer , whose acquaintance we had made the day before , and the interpreter was abusing the Scotch to his heart ' s contentas usual , whento his utter

, , astonishment ( and to mine , too , for that matter ) Hassan Bey turned upon him , and broke out fiercely , ' ¦ ' I'll tell ye ivhaat , ma mon , gin ye daur loivse yere tongue upon ma country like thaat , I'll gie ye a cloot on the lug that'll male' it tingle fra this till hahWe'en !" You should hai'e seen the Englishman ' s face ; I think I never saw a man really thunderstruck before . " Why , good gracious ! " stammered he at length , " I thought you were a Turk !"

" And sae I am a Turk the noo , ma braiv chiel , " retorted the irate Glasgoiv Mussulman ; and a better ane than yell ever mak ' , forbys , for ye ken nae mair o' the ivays than my faither ' s auld leather breeks , that ne ' er traivvelled further than jist frae Glasgae to Greenock , and back again ; but Avhen I gang hame ( as I'll do or it ' slang , ifit . be God's AVUII ) I'll jist be Wully Forbes , son o' auld Daddie Forbes o' the Gorbals , for a' that ' s come and gane !"

At that moment , as if to add to the effect of this Avonderftil metamorphosis , a splendidly dressed Hungarian , Avhom I remembered to have seen among the Russian officers , AA'ith ivhoni we had dined , called out from the other bank of the stream that separated our outposts from the enemy ' s ' , " Wully , mon , there ' s truce , the noo for tiva hours ; jist come ivi' me , and we'll hae a glass o' whusky thegither !" At this second miracle , the interpreter's face assumed a look of undefined apprehension , Avonderful and edifying to behold—exactly the look of Moliere ' s "Malade Imaginaire , " when he began to Avonder Avhether there AA'as really anything serious the matter with him .

" Isn t that fellow a Hungarian 1 " said he , in a IOAV , horror-stricken tone . ' What on earth makes him talk Scotch ?" " Perhaps he ' s got a cold , " suggested I ; " but I must tell you that some of our sai'ants hold a theory that Scotch ivas the original language , to Avhich all nations ivill one day return ; ancl this looks rather like it , doesn't it 1 " " Scotch the original language ! " shrieked my companion ; and , breaking off in the middle of his sentence , he subsided in a silence more oppressive than words .

A feiv days after this , a scouting party , of AA'hich I had the command , took a Russian officer ; and , in order to cheer him up a bit under this misfortune , I asked him to dine AA'ith me , the party being completed by my friend the interpreter . Luckily our prisoner ivas a good hand at French , of ivhich AVO both kneiv enough to go on ivith ; so the conversation Avent smoothly enough , except that my Englishman , AVIIO thought no small beer of Mmself as a philologist , would keep bringing out scraps of ivhat he imagined

to be Russ , making the disconsolate captive grin like a fox-trap Avhenever he thought no one ivas looking at him . At last , after we had drunk each other ' s health all around , and finished Avhat little wine Ave had , the Russian called on me for a song ; and as I didn ' t ktioiv any in Russ , I gave him a French one instead , Avhich I had picked up on the voyage out . Then our interpreter followed on with an old Latin drinking song ( which our new friend seemed perfectly to understand ) ; and Avhen he had finished ,

turned to the Russian , and said A'ery politely , " Won't you oblige us ivith a song yourself ? it ought to go all round . " The Russian bowed , leaned backed a little , looked at us both Avith an indescribable grin , and burst forth in the purest native dialect with " Auld Lang Syne . "