118 A JACOBITE EXILE

much matter to me who was king, but I thought it was a
fine opportunity to study gunshot wounds, so I joined the
royal army, and was at the battle of the Boyne. I had
plenty of work with wounds early in the day, but when,
after the Irish had fairly beat the Dutchman back all day,
they made up their minds to march away at night, I had to
lave my patients and be offtoo. ‘Then I was shut up in Lim-
erick; and I was not idle there, as you may guess. When
at last the surrender came I managed to slip away, having
no fancy for going over with the regiments that were to
enter the service of France. I thought I could have gone
back to Dublin, and that no one would trouble about me;
but some one put them up to it, and I had to go without
stopping to ask leave. I landed at Bristol, and there for
a time was nearly starving.

“I was well-nigh my wits’ end as to what to do for a liy-
ing, and had just spent my last shilling, when I met an
English captain who told me that across at Goettenburg
there were a good many Irish and Scotchmen who had,
like myself, been in trouble at home. He gave me a pas-
sage across, and took me to the house of a man he knew.
Of course, it was no use my trying to doctor people when
they could not tell me what was the matter with them,
and I worked at one thing and another, doing anything I
could turn my hands to, for four or five months. That is
how I got to pick up Swedish. Then some people told me
that Russia was a place where a doctor might get on, for
that they had got no doctors for their army who knew any-
thing of surgery, and the czar was always ready to take on
foreigners who could teach them anything. I had got my
diploma with me, and some of my friends came forward
and subscribed enough to rig me out in clothes and pay my
passage. What was better, one of them happened to have
made the acquaintance of Le lord, who was, as you may
nave heard, the czar’s most intimate friend.