Recruiting Sergeant Nighttime Lodging Incident
Between two and three in the morning, Roderick is startled awake by a dreadful noise—the sergeant, in his sleep, bellows threats about running halberts through guts and blowing out brains. Strap, bolting from bed in the dark, collides with someone and cries “Fire! murder!”—alarming the entire house. Lights reveal the sergeant, who had dreamed his newly-listed recruits mutinied, lying on the floor in confusion. The commotion brings an absurd assembly: the landlady in her shift and breeches worn backward, her husband wrapped in her petticoat, a drummer with a bolster about his middle, and others draped in blankets and sheets. Order is eventually restored, and the night passes without further disturbance.
Journey to the Schoolmaster’s Village
Exhausted from their extra exertions, Roderick and Strap arrive at a small village in the twilight and seek lodging. Directed to a humble public-house, they are greeted by a venerable old man with long gray hair, seated by a fire in a neat kitchen. To their surprise, he addresses them in Latin: “Salvete, pueri. Ingredimini.” Roderick responds fluently with Horace, delighting their host, who clasps his hand and exclaims “Fili mi dilectissime!”
Lodging at the Schoolmaster’s Inn
The host proves to be a schoolmaster whose modest income compels him to keep good liquor for travelers. His daughter, a rosy-cheeked damsel, serves them a bottle of quadrimum—excellent four-year-old ale of the schoolmaster’s own brewing. The conversation flows in Latin, and the old man shares his philosophy of life, quoting Horace: he is happiest in the company of his bottle and his beloved Horace edition. His wife rests in heaven, his daughter marries next week, and he has two chief pleasures in life.
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