Above this fireplace hang some curious things--stags' horns, and
weapons of bygone times, and among them a buff coat, an iron helmet, a
cuirass, and two long straight swords, which evidently belonged to one
of the gentlemen with flowing love-locks and broad collars turned down
over their mail, whose portraits are hung on each side. But below
these is a more modern helmet, such a helmet as was worn by Light
Dragoons about a century ago, of lacquered leather with a huge comb of
fur, a scarlet turban wound about it, and a short plume of red and
white. Also there is a curved sword with a crimson sash draped round
it; and below these again, neatly spread in a glass case, is a quaint
little child's coat of yellow, with red collar, cuffs and lapels, two
tiny red wings at the shoulders and two tiny red tails behind; which
garment an inscription, now much faded, declares to be a drummer's coat
of the time of the Peninsular War.
Now it is easy to guess to whom the Light Dragoon's helmet and sword
and sash belonged, for immediately on one side of it is a portrait of a
very handsome man with dark hair and eyes, dressed in a blue coat with
silver braid, with the crimson sash round his waist, the curved sword
at his side, and the identical helmet under his arm; and you may read
underneath the picture that it represents Captain Richard Bracefort,
who was killed at the battle of Salamanca.
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