With Moore at Corunna

With Moore at Corunna Page 3

by G. A. Henty

  WITH MOORE AT CORUNNA

  CHAPTER I

  THE MAYO FUSILIERS

  "What am I to do with you, Terence? It bothers me entirely; there is not asoul who will take you, and if anyone would do so, you would wear out hispatience before a week's end; there is not a dog in the regiment that doesnot put his tail between his legs and run for his bare life if he seesyou; and as for the colonel, he told me only the other day that he had somany complaints against you, that he was fairly worn out with them."

  "That was only his way, father; the colonel likes a joke as well as any ofthem."

  "Yes, when it is not played on himself; but you haven't even the sense torespect persons, and it is well for you that he could not prove that itwas you who fastened the sparrow to the plume of feathers on his shako theother day, and no one noticed it till the little baste began to flutterjust as he came on to parade, and nigh choked us all with trying to holdin our laughter, while the colonel was nearly suffocated with passion. Itwas lucky you were able to prove that you had gone off at daylightfishing, and that no one had seen you anywhere near his quarters. By myfaith, if he could have proved it was you he would have had you turned outof the barrack gate, and word given to the sentries that you were not tobe allowed to pass in again."

  "I could have got over the wall, father," the boy said, calmly; "but mind,I never said that it was I who fastened the sparrow in his shako."

  "Because I never asked you, Terence; but it does not need the asking. WhatI am to do with you I don't know. Your Uncle Tim would not take you if Iwere to go down upon my knees to him. You were always in his bad books,and you finished it when you fired off that blunderbuss in his garden ashe was passing along in the twilight, and yelled out 'Death to theProtestants!'"

  The boy burst into a fit of laughter. "How could I tell that he was goingto fall flat upon the ground and shout a million murders, when I firedstraight into the air?"

  "Well, you did for yourself there, Terence. Not that the old man wouldever have taken to you, for he never forgave my marriage with his niece;still, he might have left you some money some day, seeing that there is noone nearer to him, and it would have come in mighty useful, for you arenot likely to get much from me. But we are no nearer the point yet. Whatam I to do with you at all? Here is the regiment ordered on foreignservice and likely to have sharp work, and not a place where I can stowyou. It beats me altogether!"

  "Why not take me with you, father?"

  "I have thought of that, but you are too young entirely."

  "I am nearly sixteen, father. I am sure I am as tall as many boys ofseventeen, and as strong too. Why should I not go? I am certain I couldstand roughing it as well as Dick Ryan, who is a good bit over sixteen.Could I not go as a volunteer? Or I might enlist; the doctor would pass mequick enough."

  "O'Flaherty would pass you if you were a baby in arms; he is as full ofmischief as you are, and has not much more discretion; but you could notcarry a musket, full cartridge-box, and kit for a long day's march."

  "I can carry a gun through a long day's shooting, dad; but you might makeme your soldier servant."

  "Bedad, I should fare mighty badly, Terence; still as I don't see anythingelse for you, I must try and take you somehow, even if you have to go as adrummer. I will talk it over with the colonel, though I doubt whether hehas forgotten that sparrow yet."

  "He would not bear malice, dad, even if he were sure that it was me--whichhe cannot be."

  The speaker was Captain O'Connor of his Majesty's regiment of MayoFusiliers, now under orders to proceed to Portugal to form part of theforce that was being despatched under Sir Arthur Wellesley to assist thePortuguese in resisting the advance of the French. He was a widower, andTerence was his only child. The boy had been brought up in the regiment.His mother had died when he was nine years old, and Terence had beenallowed by his father to run pretty nearly wild. He picked up a certainamount of education, for he was as sharp at lessons as at most otherthings. His mother had taught him to read and write, and the officers andtheir wives were always ready to lend him books; and as, during the hourswhen drill and exercise were going on, he had plenty of time to himself,he had got through a very large amount of desultory reading, and, having aretentive memory, knew quite as much as most lads of his age, although theknowledge was of a much more irregular kind.

  He was a general favourite among the officers and men of the regiment,though his tricks got him into frequent scrapes, and more than oneprophesied that his eventual fate was likely to be hanging. He was greatat making acquaintances among the country people, and knew the exact spotwhere the best fishing could be had for miles round; he had also beengiven leave to shoot on many of the estates in the neighbourhood.

  His father had, from the first, absolutely forbidden him to associate withthe drummer boys.

  "I don't mind your going into the men's quarters," he said, "you will cometo no harm there, but among the boys you might get into bad habits; someof them are thorough young scamps. With the men you would always be one oftheir officers' sons, while with the boys you would soon become a mereplaymate."

  As he grew older, Terence, being a son of one of the senior officers,became a companion of the ensigns, and one or other of them generallyaccompanied him on his fishing excursions, and were not unfrequentlyparticipators in his escapades, several of which were directed against thetranquillity of the inhabitants of Athlone. One night the bells of thethree churches had been rung simultaneously and violently, and the ideathat either the town was in flames, or that the French had landed, or thatthe whole country was up in arms, brought all the inhabitants to theirdoors in a state of violent excitement and scanty attire. No clew was everobtained as to the author of this outrage, nor was anyone able to discoverthe origin of the rumour that circulated through the town, that a largeamount of gunpowder had been stored in some house or other in themarket-place, and that on a certain night half the town would be blowninto the air.

  So circumstantial were the details that a deputation waited on ColonelCorcoran, and a strong search-party was sent down to examine the cellarsof all the houses in the market-place and for some distance round. Theseand some similar occurrences had much alarmed the good people of Athlone,and it was certain that more than one person must have been concerned inthem.

  "I have come, Colonel," Captain O'Connor said, when he called upon hiscommanding officer, "to speak to you about Terence."

  The colonel smiled grimly. "It is a comfort to think that we are going toget rid of him, O'Connor; he is enough to demoralize a whole brigade, tosay nothing of a battalion, and the worst of it is he respects no one. Iam as convinced as can be that it was he who fastened that baste of a birdin my shako the other day, and made me the laughing stock of the wholeregiment on parade. Faith, I could not for the life of me make out whatwas the matter, there was a tugging and a jumping and a flutteringoverhead, and I thought the shako was going to fly away. It fairly gave mea scare, for I thought the shako had gone mad, and that the divil was init. I have often overlooked his tricks for your sake, but when it comes tohis commanding officer, it is too serious altogether."

  "Well, you see, Colonel, the lad proved clearly enough that he was out ofthe way at the time; and besides, you know he has given you many a heartylaugh."

  "He has that," the colonel admitted.

  "And, moreover," Captain O'Connor went on, "even if he did do this, whichI don't know, for I never asked him" ("Trust you for that," the colonelmuttered), "you are not his commanding officer, though you are mine, andthat is the matter that I came to speak to you about. You see there is noone in whose charge I can leave him, and the lad wants to go with us; hewould enlist as a drummer, if he could go no other way, and when he gotout there I should get the adjutant to tell him off as my soldierservant."

  "It would not do, O'Connor," the colonel laughed.

  "Then I thought, Colonel, that possibly he might go as a volunteer--mostregiments take out one or two young fellows, who have not interest enough
to obtain a commission."

  "He is too young, O'Connor; besides, the boy is enough to corrupt a wholeregiment; he has made half the lads as wild as he is himself. Sure you cannever be after asking me to saddle the regiment with him, now that thereis a good chance of getting quit of him altogether."

  "I think that he would not be so bad when we are out there, Colonel; it isjust because he has nothing to do that he gets into mischief. With plentyof hard work and other things to think of I don't believe that he would beany trouble."

  "Do you think that you can answer for him, O'Connor?"

  "Indeed and I cannot," the captain laughed; "but I will answer for it thathe will not joke with you, Colonel. The lad is really steady enough, and Iam sure that if he were in the regiment he would not dream of playingtricks with his commanding officer, whatever else he might do."

  "That goes a long way towards removing my objection," the colonel said,with a twinkle in his eye; "but he is too young for a volunteer--avolunteer is the sort of man to be the first to climb a breach, or to riskhis life in some desperate enterprise, so as to win a commission. Butthere is another way. I had a letter yesterday from the Horse Guards,saying that as I am two ensigns short, they had appointed one who willjoin us at Cork, and that they gave me the right of nominating another. Iown that Terence occurred to me, but sixteen is the youngest limit of age,and he must be certified and all that by the doctor. Now Daly is away onleave, and is to join us at Cork; but O'Flaherty would do; still, I don'tknow how he would get over the difficulty about the age."

  "Trust him for that. I am indeed obliged to you, Colonel."

  "Don't say anything about it, O'Connor; if we had been going to stay athome I don't think that I could have brought myself to take him into theregiment, but as we are going on service he won't have much opportunityfor mischief, and even if he does let out a little--not at my expense, youknow--a laugh does the men good when they are wet through and theirstomachs are empty." He rang a bell. "Orderly, tell the adjutant andDoctor O'Flaherty that I wish to see them. Mr. Cleary," he went on, assoon as the former entered, "I have been requested by the Horse Guards tonominate an ensign, so as to fill up our ranks before starting, and I havedetermined to give the appointment to Terence O'Connor."

  "Very well, sir, I am glad to hear it; he is a favourite with us all, butI am afraid that he is under age."

  "Is there any regular form to be filled up?"

  "None that I know of in the case of officers, sir. I fancy they pass somesort of medical examination at the Horse Guards, but, of course, in thiscase it would be impossible. Still, I should say that, in writing to statethat you have nominated him, it would be better to send a medicalcertificate, and certainly it ought to be mentioned that he is of theright age."

  At this moment the assistant-surgeon entered. "Doctor O'Flaherty," thecolonel said, "I wish you to write a certificate to the effect thatTerence O'Connor is physically fit to take part in a campaign as anofficer."

  "I can do that, Colonel, without difficulty; he is as fit as a fiddle, andcan march half the regiment off their legs."

  "Yes, I know that, but there is one difficulty, Doctor, he is under theregulation age."

  O'Flaherty thought for a moment and then sat down at the table, and takinga sheet of paper, be began:

  _I certify that Terence O' Connor is going on for seventeen years ofage, he is five feet eight in height, thirty-four inches round thechest, is active, and fully capable of the performance of his dutiesas an officer either at home or abroad._

  Then he added another line and signed his name.

  "As a member of a learned profession, Colonel," he said, gravely, "I wouldscorn to tell a lie even for the son of Captain O'Connor;" and he passedthe paper across to him.

  The colonel looked grave, and Captain O'Connor disappointed. He wasreassured, however, when his commanding officer broke into a laugh.

  "That will do well, O'Flaherty," he said; "I thought that you would findsome way of getting us out of the difficulty."

  "I have told the strict truth, Colonel," the doctor said, gravely. "I havecertified that Terence O'Connor is going on for seventeen; I defy any manto say that he is not. He will get there one of these days, if a Frenchbullet does not stop him on the way, a contingency that it is needless forme to mention."

  "I suppose that it is not strictly regular to omit the date of his birth,"the colonel said; "but just at present I expect they are not veryparticular. I suppose that that will do, Mr. Cleary?"

  "I think that you can countersign that, Colonel," the adjutant said, witha laugh. "The Horse Guards do not move very rapidly, and by the time thatletter gets to London we may be on board ship, and they would hardlybother to send a letter for further particulars to us in Spain, but willno doubt gazette him at once. The fact, too--which of course you willmention--that he is the son of the senior captain of your regiment, willin itself render them less likely to bother about the matter."

  "Well, just write out the letter of nomination, Cleary; I am a mighty badhand at doing things neatly."

  The adjutant drew a sheet of foolscap to him and wrote:--

  _To the Adjutant-general, Horse Guards,_

  _Sir, I have the honour to inform you that, in accordance with theprivilege granted to me in your communication of--_

  and he looked at the colonel.

  "The 14th inst.," the latter said, after consulting the letter.

  _--I beg to nominate as an ensign in this regiment, Terence O'Connor, the son of Captain Lawrence O' Connor, its senior captain. Iinclose certificate of Assistant-surgeon O' Flaherty,--the surgeonbeing at present absent on leave--certifying to his physical fitnessfor a commission in his Majesty's service. Mr. O' Connor having beenbrought up from childhood in the regiment is already perfectlyacquainted with the work, and will therefore be able to take up hisduties without difficulty. This fact has had some influence in mychoice, as a young officer who had to be taught all his duties wouldhave been of no use for service in the field for a considerable timeafter landing in Portugal. Relying on the nomination being approvedby the commander-in-chief, I shall at once put him on the staff ofthe regiment for foreign service, as there will be no time to waityour reply._

  _I have the honour to be_

  _Your humble, obedient servant,_

  Then he left a space, and added:

  _Colonel Mayo Fusiliers._

  "Now, if you will sign it, Colonel, the matter will be complete, and Iwill send it off with O'Flaherty's certificate today."

  "That is a good stroke, Cleary," the colonel said, as he read it aloud."They will see that it is too late to raise any questions, and the 'goingon for seventeen' will be accepted as sufficient."

  He touched a bell.

  "Orderly, tell Mr. Terence O'Connor that I wish to see him."

  Terence was sitting in a state of suppressed excitement at his father'squarters. He had a strong belief that the matter would be managed somehow,for he knew that the colonel had no malice in his disposition, and wouldnot let the episode of the bird--for which he was now heartilysorry--stand in the way. On receiving the message he at once went acrossto the colonel's quarters. The latter rose and held out his hand to him ashe entered.

  "Terence O'Connor," he said, "I am pleased to be able to inform you thatfrom the present moment you are to consider yourself an officer in hisMajesty's Mayo Fusiliers. The Horse Guards have given me the privilege ofnominating a gentleman to the vacant ensigncy, and I have had greatpleasure in nominating your father's son. Now, lad," he said, in differenttone of voice, "I feel sure that you will do credit my nomination, andthat you will keep your love of fun and mischief within reasonablebounds."

  "I will try to do so, Colonel," the lad said, in a low voice, "and I amgrateful indeed for the kindness that you have shown me. I have alwayshoped that some day I might obtain a commission in your regiment, butnever even hoped that it would be until after I had done something todeserve it. Indeed I did not think that it was even possible that I couldobta
in a commission until----"

  "Tut, tut, lad, don't say a word about age! Doctor O'Flaherty hadcertified that you are going on for seventeen, which is quite sufficientfor me, and at any rate you will see that boyish tricks are out of placein the case of an officer going on for seventeen. Now, your father hadbest take you down into the town and get you measured for your uniforms atonce. You must make them hurry on with his undress clothes, O'Connor. Ishould not bother about full-dress till we get back again; it is notlikely to be wanted, and the lad will soon grow out of them. If thereshould happen to be full-dress parade in Portugal, Cleary will put him onas officer of the day, or give him some duties that will keep him fromparade. We may get the route any day, and the sooner he gets his uniformthe better."

  Two days later Terence took his place on parade as an officer of theregiment. He had witnessed such numberless drills that he had picked upevery word of command, knew his proper place in every formation, and fellinto the work as readily as if he had been at it for years. He had beenheartily congratulated by the officers of the regiment.

  "I am awfully glad that you are one of us, Terence," Dick Ryan said. "Idon't know what we should have done without you. I expect we shall havetremendous fun in Portugal."

  "I expect we shall, Dick; but we shall have to be careful. We shall be onactive service, you see, and from what they say of him I don't think SirArthur Wellesley is the sort of man to appreciate jokes."

  "No, I should say not. Of course, we shall have to draw in a bit. It wouldnot do to set the bells of Lisbon ringing."

  "I should think not, Dick. Still, I dare say we shall have plenty of fun,and at any rate we are likely, from what they say, to have plenty offighting. I don't expect the Portuguese will be much good, and as thereare forty or fifty thousand Frenchmen in Portugal, we shall have all ourwork to do, unless they send out a much bigger force than is collecting atCork. It is a pity that the 10,000 men who have been sent out to Sweden onwhat my father says is a fool's errand are not going with us instead. Wemight make a good stand-up fight of it then, whereas I don't see that withonly 6,000 or 7,000 we can do much good against Junot's 40,000."

  "Oh, I dare say we shall get on somehow!" Dick said, carelessly. "SirArthur knows what he is about, and it is our turn to do something now. Thenavy has had it all its own way so far, and it is quite fair that weshould do our share. I have a brother in the navy, and the fellows aregetting too cheeky altogether. They seem to think that no one can fightbut themselves. Except in Egypt we have never had a chance at all ofshowing we can lick the French just as easily on land as we can at sea."

  "I hope we shall, Dick. They have certainly had a great deal more practiceat it than we have."

  "Now I think we ought to do something here that they will remember us forbefore we start, Terence."

  "Well, if you do, I am not with you this time, Dick. I am not going tobegin by getting in the colonel's bad books after he has been kind enoughto nominate me for a commission. I promised him that I would try and notget into any scrapes, and I am not going to break my word. When we onceget out there I shall be game to join in anything that is not likely tomake a great row, but I have done with it for the present."

  "I should like to have one more good bit of fun," Ryan said; "but I expectyou are right, Terence, in what you say about yourself, and it is no useour thinking to humbug Athlone again if you are not in it with us;besides, they are getting too sharp. They did not half turn out last time,and, indeed, we had a narrow escape of being caught. Well, I shall be veryglad when we are off; it is stupid work waiting for the route, with allleave stopped, and we not even allowed to go out for a day's fishing."

  Three days later the expected order arrived. As the baggage had all beenpacked up, that which was to be left behind being handed over to the careof the barrack-master, and a considerable portion of the heavy baggagesent on by cart, there was no delay. Officers and men were alike delightedthat the period of waiting had come to an end, and there was loud cheeringin the barrack-yard as soon as the news came. At daybreak next morning therest of the baggage started under a guard, and three hours later the MayoFusiliers marched through the town with their band playing at their head,and amid the cheers of the populace.

  As yet the martial spirit that was roused by the struggle in the Peninsulahad scarcely begun to show itself, but there was a strong animosity toFrance throughout England, and a desire to aid the people of Spain andPortugal in their efforts for freedom. In Ireland, for the most part,there was no such feeling. Since the battle of the Boyne and the siege ofLimerick, France had been regarded by the greater portion of thepeasantry, and a section of the population of the towns, as the naturalally of Ireland, and there was a hope that when Napoleon had all Europeprostrate under his feet he would come as the deliverer of Ireland fromthe English yoke. Consequently, although the townspeople of Athlonecheered the regiment as it marched away, the country people held alooffrom it as it passed along the road. Scowling looks from the women greetedit in the villages, while the men ostentatiously continued their work inthe fields without turning to cast a glance at them.

  Terence was not posted to his father's company, but was in that of CaptainO'Driscol, although the lad himself would have preferred to be withCaptain O'Grady, with whom he was a great favourite. The latter was one ofthe captains whose companies were unprovided with an ensign, and he hadasked the adjutant to let him have the lad instead of the ensign who wasto join at Cork.

  "The matter has been settled the other way, O'Grady; in the colonel'sopinion he will be much better with O'Driscol, who is more likely to keephim in order than you are."

  O'Grady was one of the most original characters in the regiment. He wasrather under middle height, and had a smooth face, a guileless andinnocent expression, and a habit of opening his light-blue eyes as inwonder. His hair was short, and stuck up aggressively; his brogue was thestrongest in the regiment; his blunders were innumerable, and his look ofamazement at the laughter they called forth was admirably feigned, savethat the twinkle of his eye induced a suspicion that he himself enjoyedthe joke as well as anyone. His good-humour was imperturbable, and he wasimmensely popular both among men and officers.

  "O'Driscol!" he repeated, in mild astonishment. "Do you mean to say thatO'Driscol will keep him in better order than meself? If there is one manin this regiment more than another who would get on well with the lad itis meself, barring none."

  "You would get on well enough with him, O'Grady, I have no doubt, but itwould be by letting him have his own way, and in encouraging him inmischief of all kinds."

  O'Grady's eyebrows were elevated, and his eyes expressed hopelessbewilderment.

  "You are wrong entirely, Cleary; nature intended me for a schoolmaster,and it is just an accident that I have taken to soldiering. I flattermeself that no one looks after his subalterns more sharply than I do. Myonly fear is that I am too severe with them. I may be mild in my manners,but they know me well enough to tremble if I speak sternly to them."

  "The trembling would be with amusement," the adjutant grumbled. "Well, thecolonel has settled the matter, and Terence will be in Orders to-morrow asappointed to O'Driscol's company, and the other to yours."

  "Thank you for nothing, Cleary," O'Grady said, with dignity. "You wouldhave seen that under my tuition the lad would have turned out one of thesmartest officers in the regiment."

  "You have heard of the Spartan way of teaching their sons to avoiddrunkenness, Captain O'Grady?"

  "Divil a word, Cleary; but I reckon that the best way with the haythenswas to keep them from touching whisky. It is what I always recommend tothe men of my company when I come across one of them the worse forliquor."

  The adjutant laughed. "That was not the Spartan way, O'Grady; but theadvice, if taken, would doubtless have the same effect."

  "And who were the Spartans at all?"

  "I have not time to tell you now, O'Grady; I have no end of business on myhands."

  "Thin what do you keep me talking here f
or? haven't I a lot of work on mehands too. I came in to ask a simple question, and instead of giving me acivil answer you kape me wasting my time wid your O'Driscols and yourSpartans and all kinds of rigmarole. That is the worst of being in anIrish regiment, nothing can be done widout ever so much blather;" andCaptain O'Grady stalked out of the orderly-room.

  On the march Terence had no difficulty in obtaining leave from his captainto drop behind and march with his friend Dick Ryan. The marches were longones, and they halted only at Parsonstown, Templemore, Tipperary, andFermoy, as the colonel had received orders to use all speed. At each placea portion of the regiment was accommodated in the barracks, while the restwere quartered in the town. Late in the evening of the fifth day's marchthey arrived at Cork, and the next day went on board the two transportsprovided for them, and joined the fleet assembled in the Cove. Some of theships had been lying there for nearly a month waiting orders, and thetroops on board were heartily weary of their confinement. The news,however, that Sir Arthur Wellesley had been at last appointed to commandthem, and that they were to sail for Portugal, had caused great delight,for it had been feared that they might, like other bodies of troops, beshipped off to some distant spot, only to remain there for months and thento be brought home again.

  Nothing, indeed, could exceed the vacillation and confusion that reignedin the English cabinet at that time. The forces of England were fritteredaway in small and objectless expeditions, the plans of action were changedwith every report sent either by the interested leaders of insurrectionarymovements in Spain, or by the signally incompetent men who had been sentout to represent England, and who distributed broadcast British money andBritish arms to the most unworthy applicants. By their lavishness andsubservience to the Spaniards our representatives increased the naturalarrogance of these people, and caused them to regard England as a powerwhich was honoured by being permitted to share in the Spanish effortsagainst the French generals. General Spencer with 5,000 men was kept formonths sailing up and down the coast of Spain and Portugal, receivingcontradictory orders from home, and endeavouring in vain to co-operatewith the Spanish generals, each of whom had his own private purposes, andwas bent on gratifying personal ambitions and of thwarting the schemes ofhis rivals, rather than on opposing the common enemy.

  Not only were the English ministry incapable of devising any plan ofaction, but they were constantly changing the naval and military officersof the forces. At one moment one general or admiral seemed to possesstheir confidence, while soon afterwards, without the slightest reason, twoor three others with greater political influence were placed over hishead; and when at last Sir Arthur Wellesley, whose services in Indiamarked him as our greatest soldier, was sent out with supreme militarypower, they gave him no definite plan of action. General Spencer wasnominally placed under his orders by one set of instructions, whileanother authorized him to commence operations in the south, withoutreference to Sir Arthur Wellesley. Admiral Purvis, who was junior toAdmiral Collingwood, was authorized to control the operations of SirArthur, while Wellesley himself had scarcely sailed when Sir Hew Dalrymplewas appointed to the chief command of the forces, Sir Harry Burrard wasappointed second in command, and Sir Arthur Wellesley was reduced to thefourth rank in the army that he had been sent out to command, two of themen placed above him being almost unknown, they never having commanded anymilitary force in the field.

  The 9,000 men assembled in the Cove of Cork knew nothing of these things;they were going out under the command of the victor of Assaye to measuretheir strength against that of the French, and they had no fear of theresult.

  "I hope," Captain O'Grady said, as the officers of the wing of theregiment to which he belonged sat down to dinner for the first time onboard the transport, "that we shall not have to keep together in goingout."

  "Why so, O'Grady?" another captain asked.

  "Because there is no doubt at all that our ship is the fastest in thefleet, and that we shall get there in time to have a little brush with theFrench all to ourselves before the others arrive."

  "What makes you think that she is the fastest ship here, O'Grady?"

  "Anyone can see it with half an eye, O'Driscol. Look at her lines; she isa flyer, and if we are not obliged to keep with the others we shall be outof sight of the rest of them before we have sailed six hours."

  "I don't pretend to know anything about her lines, O'Grady, but she looksto me a regular old tub."

  "She is old," O'Grady admitted, reluctantly, "but give her plenty of windand you will see how she can walk along."

  There was a laugh all round the table; O'Grady's absolute confidence inanything in which he was interested was known to them all. His horse hadbeen notoriously the most worthless animal in the regiment, but althoughcontinually last in the hunting field, O'Grady's opinion of her speed wasnever shaken. There was always an excuse ready; the horse had been badlyshod, or it was out of sorts and had not had its feed before starting, orthe going was heavy and it did not like heavy ground, or the country wastoo hilly or too flat for it. It was the same with his company, with hisnon-commissioned officers, with his soldier servant, a notoriously drunkenrascal, and with his quarters.

  O'Grady looked round in mild expostulation at the laugh.

  "You will see," he said, confidently, "there can be no mistake about it."

  Two days later a ship-of-war entered the harbour, the usual salutes wereexchanged, then a signal was run up to one of her mast-heads, and againthe guns of the forts pealed out a salute, and word ran through thetransports that Sir Arthur Wellesley was on board. On the following daythe fleet got under way, the transports being escorted by a line-of-battleship and four frigates, which were to join Lord Collingwood's squadron assoon as they had seen their charge safe into the Tagus.

  Before evening the _Sea-horse_ was a mile astern of the rearmost ship ofthe convoy, and one of the frigates sailing back fired a gun as a signalto her to close up.

  "Well, O'Grady, we have left the fleet, you see, though not in the way youpredicted."

  "Whist, man! don't you see that the captain is out of temper because theyhave all got to keep together, instead of letting him go ahead?"

  Every rag of sail was now piled on to the ship, and as many of the otherswere showing nothing above their topgallant sails she rejoined the restjust as darkness fell.

  "There, you see!" O'Grady said, triumphantly, "look what she can do whenshe likes."

  "We do see, O'Grady. With twice as much sail up as anything else, she hasin three hours picked up the mile she had lost."

  "Wait until we get some wind."

  "I hope we sha'n't get anything of the sort--at least no strong winds; theold tub would open every seam if we did, and we might think ourselveslucky if we got through it at all."

  O'Grady smiled pleasantly, and said it was useless to argue with soobstinate a man.

  "I am afraid O'Grady is wrong as usual," Dick Ryan said to Terence, whowas sitting next to him. "When once he has taken an idea into his headnothing will persuade him that he is wrong; there is no doubt the_Sea-horse_ is as slow as she can be. I suppose her owners have someinterest with the government, or they would surely never have taken upsuch an old tub as a troop-ship."

  CHAPTER II

  TWO DANGERS

  The next day, in spite of the sail she carried, the _Sea-horse_ laggedbehind, and one of the frigates sailed back to her, and the captainshouted angry orders to the master to keep his place in the convoy.

  "If we get any wind," O'Grady said, as the frigate bore up on her courseagain, "it will take all your time to keep up with her, my fine fellow.You see," he explained to Terence, "no vessel is perfect in all points;some like a good deal of wind, some are best in a calm. Now this shipwants wind."

  "I think she does, Captain O'Grady," Terence replied, gravely. "At anyrate her strong point is not sailing in a light wind."

  "No," O'Grady admitted, regretfully; "but it is not the ship's fault. Ihave no doubt at all that her bottom is foul, and that
she has a lot ofbarnacles and weeds twice as long as your body. That is the reason why sheis a little sluggish."

  "That may be it," Terence agreed; "but I should have thought that theywould have seen to that before they sent her to Cork."

  "It is like enough that her owners are well-wishers of Napoleon, Terence,and that it is out of spite that they have done it. There is no doubt thatshe is a wonderful craft."

  "I am quite inclined to agree with you, Captain O'Grady, for as I havenever seen a ship except when the regiment came back from India ten yearsago, I am no judge of one."

  "It is the eye, Terence. I can't say that I have been much at sea myself,except on that voyage out and home; but I have an eye for ships, and cansee their good points at a glance. You can take it from me that she is awonderful vessel."

  "She would look all the better if her sails were a bit cleaner, and not sopatched," Terence said, looking up.

  "She might look better to the eye, lad, but no doubt the owners know whatthey are doing, and consider that she goes better with sails that fit herthan she would with new ones."

  Terence burst into a roar of laughter. O'Grady, as usual, looked at him inmild surprise.

  "What are you laughing at, you young spalpeen?"

  "I am thinking, Captain O'Grady," the lad said, recovering himself, "thatit is a great pity you could not have obtained the situation of Devil'sAdvocate. I have read that years ago someone was appointed to defend OldNick when the others were pitching into him, and to show that he was notas black as he was painted, but was a respectable gentleman who had beenmaligned by the world."

  "No doubt there is a good deal to be said for him," O'Grady said,seriously. "Give a dog a bad name, you know, and you may hang him; and Ihave no doubt the Old One has been held responsible for lots of things henever had as much as the tip of his finger in at all, at all."

  Seeing that his captain was about to pursue the matter much further,Terence, making the excuse that it was time he went down to see if themen's breakfast was all right, slipped off, and he and Dick Ryan had ahearty laugh over O'Grady's peculiarities.

  "I think, O'Grady," Captain O'Driscol said, two days later, "we are goingto have our opportunity, for unless I am mistaken there is going to be achange of weather. Those clouds banking up ahead look like a gale from thesouthwest."

  Before night the wind was blowing furiously, and the _Sea-horse_ takinggreen sea over her bows and wallowing gunwale under in the waves. Atdaylight, when they went on deck, gray masses of cloud were hurryingoverhead and an angry sea alone met the eye. Not a sail was in sight, andthe whole convoy had vanished.

  "We are out of sight of the fleet, O'Grady," Captain O'Driscol said,grimly.

  "I felt sure we should be," O'Grady said, triumphantly. "Sorra one of themcould keep foot with us."

  "They are ahead of us, man," O'Driscol said, angrily; "miles and milesahead."

  "Ahead, is it? You must know better, O'Driscol; though it is little enoughyou know of ships. You see we are close-hauled, and there is no doubt thatthat is the vessel's strong point. Why, we have dropped the rest of themlike hot potatoes, and if this little breeze keeps on, maybe we shall bein the Tagus days and days before them."

  O'Driscol was too exasperated to argue.

  "O'Driscol is a good fellow," O'Grady said, turning to Terence, "but it isa misfortune that he is so prejudiced. Now, what is your own opinion?"

  "I have no opinion about it, Captain O'Grady. I have a very strong opinionthat I am not going to enjoy my breakfast, and that this motion does notagree with me at all. I have been ill half the night. Dick Ryan is awfullybad, and by the sounds I heard I should say a good many of the others arethe same way. On the main deck it is awful; they have got the hatchesbattened down. I just took a peep in and bolted, for it seemed to me thateveryone was ill."

  "The best plan, lad, is to make up your mind that you are quite well. Ifyou once do that you will be all right directly."

  Terence could not for the moment reply, having made a sudden rush to theside.

  "I don't see how I can persuade myself that I am quite well," he said,when he returned, "when I feel terribly ill."

  "Yes, it wants resolution, Terence, and I am afraid that you are deficientin that. It must not be half-and-half. You have got to say to yourself,'This is glorious; I never enjoyed myself so well in my life,' and whenyou have said that and feel that it is quite true, the whole thing will beover."

  "I don't doubt it in the least," Terence said; "but I can't say it withouttelling a prodigious lie, and worse still, I could not believe the liewhen I had told it."

  "Then I am afraid that you must submit to be ill, Terence. I know oncethat I had a drame, and the drame was that I was at sea and horriblysea-sick, and I woke up and said to myself, 'This is all nonsense, I am aswell as ever I was;' and, faith, so I was."

  Ill as Terence was, he burst into a fit of laughter.

  "That was just a dream, Captain O'Grady; but mine is a reality, you know.I don't think that you are looking quite well yourself."

  "I am perfectly well as far as the sea goes, Terence; never was better inmy life; but that pork we had for dinner yesterday was worse than usual,and I think perhaps I ought to have taken another glass or two to correctit."

  "It must have been the pork," Terence said, as seriously as O'Gradyhimself; "and it is unfortunate that you are such an abstemious man, or,as you say, its effects might have been corrected."

  "It's me opinion, Terence, my boy, that you are a humbug."

  "Then, Captain O'Grady, it is clear that evil communications must havecorrupted my good manners."

  "It must have been in your infancy then, Terence, for divil a bit ofmanners good or bad have I ever seen in you; you have not even the goodmanners to take a glass of the cratur when you are asked."

  "That is true enough," Terence laughed. "Having been brought up in theregiment, I have learned, at least, that the best thing to do with whiskyis to leave it alone."

  "I am afraid you will never be a credit to us, Terence."

  "Not in the way of being able to make a heavy night of it and then turnout as fresh as paint in the morning," Terence retorted; "but you see,Captain O'Grady, even my abstinence has its advantages, for at least therewill always be one officer in the corps able to go the round of thesentries at night."

  At this moment the vessel gave such a heavy lurch that they were boththrown off their feet and rolled into the lee-scuppers, while, at the samemoment, a rush of water swept over them. Amidst shouts of laughter fromthe other officers the two scrambled to their feet.

  TWO FRENCH PRIVATEERS BEAR DOWN UPON THE _SEA-HORSE_]

  "Holy Moses!" O'Grady exclaimed, "I am drowned entirely, and I sha'n't getthe taste of the salt water out of me mouth for a week."

  "There is one comfort," Terence said; "it might have been worse."

  "How could it have been worse?" O'Grady asked, angrily.

  "Why, if we hadn't been in the steadiest ship in the whole fleet we mighthave been washed overboard."

  There was another shout of laughter. O'Grady made a dash at Terence, butthe latter easily avoided him and went down below to change his clothes.

  The gale increased in strength, and the whole vessel strained so heavilythat her seams began to open, and by one o'clock the captain requestedMajor Harrison, who was in command, to put some of the soldiers at thepumps. For three days and nights relays of men kept the pumps going. Hadit not been for the 400 troops on board, the _Sea-horse_ would longbefore have gone to the bottom; but with such powerful aid the water waskept under, and on the morning of the fourth day the storm began to abate,and by evening more canvas was got on her. The next morning two vesselswere seen astern at a distance of four or five miles. After examining themthrough his glass, the captain sent down a message to Major Harrisonasking him to come up. In three or four minutes that officer appeared.

  "There are two strange craft over there, Major; from their appearance Ihave not the least doubt that they are Fre
nch privateers. I thought Ishould like your advice as to what had best be done."

  "I don't know. You see, your guns might just as well be thrown overboardfor any good they would be," the major said. "The things would not be safeto fire a salute with blank cartridge."

  "No, they can hardly be called serviceable," the master agreed. "I spoketo the owner about it, but he said that as we were going to sail with aconvoy it did not matter, and that we should have some others for the nextvoyage."

  "I should like to see your owner dangling from the yardarm," the majorsaid, wrathfully. "However, just at present the question is what had bestbe done. Of course they could not take the ship from us, but they wouldhave very little difficulty in sinking her."

  "The first thing is to put on every stitch of sail."

  "That would avail us nothing; they can sail two feet to our one."

  "Quite so, Major; I should not hope to get away, but they would think thatI was trying to do so. My idea is that we should press on as fast as wecan till they open fire at us; we could hold on for a bit, and then haulup into the wind and lower our top-sails, which they will take for a proofof surrender."

  "You won't strike the flag, Captain; we cannot do anything treacherous."

  "No, no, I am not thinking of doing that. You see, the flag is not hoistedyet, and we won't hoist it at all till they get close alongside, then wecan haul it up, and sweep their decks with musketry. Of course your menwill keep below until the last moment."

  "That plan will do very well," the major agreed, "that is, if they ventureto come boldly alongside."

  "One is pretty sure to do so, though the other may lay herself ahead orastern of us, with her guns pointed to rake us in case we make anyresistance; but seeing what we are, and that we carry only four small gunseach side, they are hardly likely to suspect anything wrong. I am not atall afraid of beating them off; my only fear is that after they havesheared away they will open upon us from a distance."

  "Yes, that would be awkward. However, if they do, we must keep the menbelow, and in the meantime you had better get your carpenter to cut upsome spars and make a lot of plugs in readiness to stop up any holes theymake near the water-line. I don't think they are likely to make veryragged holes, the wood is so rotten the shot would go through the side asif it were brown paper; still, you might get a lot of squares of canvasready, with hammers and nails."

  The strange craft were already heading towards the _Sea-horse._ No timewas lost in setting every stitch of canvas that she could carry; the windwas light now, but the vessel was rolling heavily in a long swell. Themajor examined the guns closely and found that they were even worse thanhe had anticipated, the rust holes eaten in the iron having been filled upwith putty, and the whole painted. He was turning away, with anexclamation of disgust, when Terence, who was standing near, said to him:

  "I beg your pardon, Major, but don't you think that if we were to windsome thin rope very tightly round them three or four inches thick, theymight stand a charge or two of grape to give them at close quarters; weneedn't put in a very heavy charge of powder. Even if they did burst, Ishould think that the rope would prevent the splinters from flying about."

  "The idea is not a bad one at all, Terence. I will see if the captain hasgot a coil or two of thin rope on board."

  Fortunately the ship was fairly well supplied in this respect, and a fewof the sailors who were accustomed to serving rope, with a dozen soldiersto help them, were told off to the work. The rope was wound round astightly as the strength of a dozen men could pull it, the process beingrepeated five or six times, until each gun was surrounded by as manylayers of rope. A thin rod had been inserted in the touch-hole. The cannonwas then loaded with half the usual charge of powder, and filled to themuzzle with bullets. The rod was then drawn out, and powder poured inuntil it reached the surface.

  While this was being done, all the soldiers not engaged in the work wentbelow, and the officers sat down under shelter of the bulwarks. The twoprivateers, a large lugger and a brig, had been coming up rapidly, and bythe time the guns were ready for action they were but a mile away.Presently a puff of smoke burst out from the bows of the lugger, and around shot struck the water a short distance ahead of the _Sea-horse_.She held on her course without taking any notice of it, and for a fewminutes the privateer was silent; then, when they were but half a mileaway the brig opened fire, and two or three shots hulled the vessel.

  "That will do, Captain," the major said. "You may as well lay-to now."

  The _Sea-horse_ rapidly flew up into the wind, the sheets were thrownoff, and the upper sails were lowered, one after the other, the job beingexecuted slowly, as if by a weak crew. The two privateers, which had beensailing within a short distance of each other, now exchanged signals, andthe lugger ran on, straight towards the _Sea-horse_, while the brig tooka course which would lay her across the stern of the barque, and enablethem to rake her with her broadside. Word was passed below, and thesoldiers poured up on deck, stooping as they reached it, and taking theirplaces under the bulwarks. The major had already asked for volunteersamong the officers, to fire the guns. All had at once offered to do so.

  "As it was your proposal, Terence," the major said, "you shall have thehonour of firing one; Ryan, you take another; Lieutenant Marks and Mr.Haines, you take the other two, and then England and Ireland will beequally represented."

  The deck of the lugger was crowded with men, and the course she wassteering brought her within a length of the _Sea-horse_. Some of the menwere preparing to lower her boats, when suddenly a thick line of red coatsappeared above the bulwarks, two hundred muskets poured in their fire,while the contents of the four guns swept her deck. The effect of the firewas tremendous. The deck was in a moment covered with dead and dying men;half a minute later another volley, fired by the remaining companies,completed the work of destruction. The halliards of one of the lugger'ssails had been cut by the grape, and the sail now came down with a run tothe deck.

  "Down below, all of you," the major shouted, "the fellow behind will rakeus in a minute."

  The soldiers ran down to the hold again. A minute later the brig, sailingacross the stern, poured in the fire of her guns one by one. Standing muchlower in the water than her opponent, none of her shot traversed the deckof the _Sea-horse_, but they carried destruction among the cabins andfittings of the deck below. As this, however, was entirely deserted, noone was injured by the shot or flying fragments. The brig then took up herposition three or four hundred yards away, on the quarter of the_Sea-horse_, and opened a steady fire against her.

  To this the barque could make no reply, the fire of the muskets beingwholly ineffective at that distance. The lugger lay helpless alongside the_Sea-horse_; the survivors of her crew had run below, and dared notreturn on deck to work their guns, as they would have been swept by themusketry of the _Sea-horse_.

  Half an hour later Terence was ordered to go below to see how they weregetting on in the hold.

  Terence did so. Some lanterns had been lighted there, and he found thatfour men had been killed and a dozen or so wounded by the enemy's shot,the greater portion of which, however, had gone over their heads. Thecarpenter, assisted by some of the non-commissioned officers, was busyplugging holes that had been made in her between wind and water, and hadfairly succeeded, as but four or five shots had struck so low, the enemy'sobject being not to sink, but to capture the vessel. As he passed upthrough the main deck to report, Terence saw that the destruction here wasgreat indeed. The woodwork of the cabins had been knocked into fragments,there was a great gaping hole in the stern, and it seemed to him thatbefore long the vessel would be knocked to pieces. He returned to thedeck, and reported the state of things.

  "It looks bad," the major said to O'Driscol. "This is but half an hour'swork, and when the fellows come to the conclusion that they cannot make usstrike, they will aim lower, and there will be nothing to do but to choosebetween sinking and hauling down our flag."

  After delivering his repor
t, Terence went to the side of the ship andlooked down on the lugger. The attraction of the ship had drawn her closerto it, and she was but a few feet away. A thought struck him, and he wentto O'Grady.

  "Look here, O'Grady," he said, "that fellow will smash us up altogether ifwe don't do something."

  "You must be a bright boy to see that, Terence; faith, I have beenthinking so for the last ten minutes. But what are we to do? The musketswon't carry so far, at least not to do any good. The cannon are next touseless. Two of that lot you fired burst, though the ropes prevented anydamage being done."

  "Quite so, but there are plenty of guns alongside. Now, if you go to themajor and volunteer to take your company and gain possession of thelugger, with one of the mates and half a dozen sailors to work her, we canget up the main-sail and engage the brig."

  "By the powers, Terence, you are a broth of a boy," and he hurried away tothe major.

  "Major," he said, "if you will give me leave, I will have up my companyand take possession of the lugger; we shall want one of the ship'sofficers and half a dozen men to work the sails, and then we will go outand give that brig pepper."

  "It is a splendid idea, O'Grady."

  "It is not my idea at all, at all; it is Terence O'Connor who suggested itto me. I suppose I can take the lad with me?"

  "By all means, get your company up at once."

  O'Grady hurried away, and in a minute the men of his company poured uponto the deck.

  "You can come with me, Terence; I have the major's leave," he said to thelad.

  At this moment there was a slight shock, as the lugger came in contactwith the ship.

  "Come on, lads," O'Grady said, as he set the example of clambering downonto the deck of the lugger. He was followed by his men, the first mateand six sailors also springing on board. The hatches were first put on tokeep the remnant of the crew below. The sailors knotted the halliards ofthe main-sail, the soldiers tailed on to the rope, and the sail wasrapidly run up. The mate put two of his men at the tiller, and thesoldiers ran to the guns, which were already loaded.

  "Haul that sheet to windward," the mate shouted, and the four sailors,aided by some of the soldiers, did so. Her head soon payed off, and amid acheer from the officers on deck the lugger swept round. She mounted twelveguns. O'Grady divided the officers and non-commissioned officers amongthem, himself taking charge of a long pivot-gun in the bow.

  "Take stiddy aim, boys, and fire as your guns bear on her; you ought notto throw away a shot at this distance."

  As the lugger came out from behind the Sea-horse, gun after gun was fired,and the white splinters on the side of the brig showed that most, if notall, of the shots had taken effect. O'Grady's gun was the last to speakout, and the shot struck the brig just above the water-line.

  "Take her round," he shouted to the mate; "give the boys on the other sidea chance." The lugger put about and her starboard guns poured in theircontents.

  "That is the way," he shouted, as he laboured away with the men with himto load the pivot-gun again; "we will give him two or three more rounds,and then we will get alongside and ask for his health."

  The brig, however, showed no inclination to await the attack. Some shotshad been hastily fired when the lugger's first gun told them that she wasnow an enemy, and she at once put down her helm and made off before thewind, which was now very light.

  "Load your guns and then out with the oars," Captain O'Grady shouted. "Bejabers, we will have that fellow. Let no man attend to the _Sea-horse_;it's from me that you are to take your orders. Besides," he said toTerence, "there is no signal-book on board, and they may hoist as manyflags as they like."

  The twelve sweeps on board the lugger were at once got out, and eachmanned by three soldiers. O'Grady himself continued to direct the fire ofthe pivot-gun, and sent shot after shot into the brig's stern. The latterhad but some four hundred yards' start, and although she also hurriedlygot out some sweeps, the lugger gained upon her. Her crew clustered ontheir taffrail, and kept up a musketry fire upon the party working thepivot-gun. Two of these had been killed and four wounded, when O'Gradysaid to the others:

  "Lave the gun alone, boys; we shall be alongside of her in a few minutes;it is no use throwing away lives by working it. Run all the guns over tothe other side; we will give them a warming, and then go at her."

  The _Sea-horse_ had hoisted signals directly those on board perceivedthat the lugger was starting in pursuit of the brig. Terence had informedhis commanding officer of this, but O'Grady replied:

  "I know nothing about them, Terence; most likely they mane 'Good-luck toyou! Chase the blackguard, and capture him.' Don't let Woods come near me,whatever you do; I don't want to hear his idea of what the signals maymane."

  Terence had just time to stop the mate as he was coming forward.

  "The ship is signalling," he said.

  "I have told Captain O'Grady, sir," Terence replied. "He does not knowwhat the signal means, but has no doubt that it is instructions to capturethe brig, and he means to do so."

  The officer laughed.

  "I think myself that it would be a pity not to," he said; "we shall bealongside in ten minutes. But I think it my duty to tell you what thesignal is."

  "You can tell me what it is," Terence said, "and it is possible that inthe heat of action I may forget to report it to Captain O'Grady."

  "That is right enough, sir. I think it is the recall."

  "Well, I will attend to it presently," Terence laughed.

  When within a hundred yards of the brig the troops opened a heavy musketryfire, many of the men making their way up the ratlines and so commandingthe brig's deck. They were answered with a brisk fire, but the Frenchshooting was wild, and by the shouting of orders and the confusion thatprevailed on board it was evident that the privateersmen were disorganizedby the sight of the troops and the capture of their consort. The brig'sguns were hastily fired, as they could be brought to bear on the lugger,as she forged alongside. The sweeps had already been got in, and thelugger's eight guns poured their contents simultaneously into the brig,then a withering volley was fired, and, headed by O'Grady, the soldierssprang on board the brig.

  As they did so, however, the French flag fluttered down from the peak, andthe privateersmen threw down their arms. The English broadside and volleyfired at close quarters had taken terrible effect. Of the crew of eightymen thirty were killed and a large proportion of the rest wounded. Thesoldiers gave three hearty cheers as the flag came down.

  The privateersmen were at once ordered below.

  "Lieutenant Hunter," O'Grady said, "do you go on board the lugger with theleft wing of the company. Mr. Woods, I think you had better stay here,there are a good many more sails to manage than there are in the lugger.One man here will be enough to steer her; we will pull at the ropes foryou. Put the others on board the lugger."

  "By the by, Mr. Woods," he said, "I see that the ship has hoisted asignal; what does it mean?"

  "I believe that to be the recall, sir; I told Mr. O'Connor."

  "You ought to have reported that same to me," O'Grady said, severely;"however, we will obey it at once."

  The _Sea-horse_ was lying head to wind a mile and a half away, and thetwo prizes ran rapidly up to her. They were received with a tremendouscheer from the men closely packed along her bulwarks. O'Grady at oncelowered a boat and was rowed to the _Sea-horse_, taking Terence with him.

  "You have done extremely well, Captain O'Grady," Major Harrison said, ashe reached the deck, "and I congratulate you heartily. You should,however, have obeyed the order of recall; the brig might have proved toostrong for you, and, bound on service as we are, we have no right to riskvaluable lives except in self-defence."

  "Sure I knew nothing about the signal," O'Grady said, with an air ofinnocence; "I thought it just meant 'More power to ye! give it 'em hot!'or something of that kind. It was not until after I had taken the brigthat I was told that it was an order of recall. As soon as I learned that,we came along as fast as we
could to you."

  "But Mr. Woods must surely have known."

  "Mr. Woods did tell me, Major," Terence put in, "but somehow I forgot tomention it to Captain O'Grady."

  There was a laugh among the officers standing round.

  "You ought to have informed him at once, Mr. O'Connor," the major said,with an attempt at gravity. "However," he went on, with a change of voice,"we all owe so much to you that I must overlook it, as there can be verylittle doubt that had it not been for your happy idea of taking possessionof the lugger we should have been obliged to surrender, for I should nothave been justified in holding out until the ship sank under us. I shallnot fail, in reporting the matter, to do you full credit for your share init. Now, what is your loss, Captain O'Grady?"

  "Three men killed and eleven wounded, sir."

  "And what is that of the enemy?"

  "Thirty-two killed and about the same number of wounded, more or less. Wehad not time to count them before we sent them down, and I had not timeafterwards, for I was occupied in obeying the order of recall. I am sorrythat we have killed so many of the poor beggars, but if they had hauleddown their flag when we got up with them there would have been no occasionfor it. I should have told their captain that I looked upon him as anobstinate pig, but as he and his first officer were both killed, there wasno use in my spaking to him."

  "Well, it has been a very satisfactory operation," the major said, "and weare very well out of a very nasty fix. Now, you will go back to the brig,Captain O'Grady, and prepare to send the prisoners on board. We will sendour boats for them. Doctor Daly and Doctor O'Flaherty will go on boardwith you and see to the wounded French and English. Doctor Daly will bringthe worst cases on board here, and will leave O'Flaherty on the brig tolook after the others. They will be better there than in this crowdedship. The first officer will remain there with you with five men, and youwill retain fifty men of your own company. The second officer, with fivemen, will take charge of the lugger. He will have with him fifty men ofCaptain O'Driscol's company, under that officer. That will give us alittle more room on board here. How many prisoners are there?"

  "Counting the wounded, Major, there are about fifty of them; her crew waseighty strong to begin with. There are only some thirty, including theslightly wounded, to look after."

  "If the brig's hold is clear, I think that you had better take charge ofthem. At present you will both lie-to beside us here till we havecompleted our repairs, and when we make sail you are both to follow us,and keep as close as possible; and on no account, Captain O'Grady, are youto undertake any cruises on your own account."

  "I will bear it in mind, Major; and we will do all we can to keep up withyou."

  A laugh ran round the circle of officers at O'Grady's obstinacy inconsidering the _Sea-horse_ to be a fast vessel, in spite of the evidencethat they had had to the contrary. The major said, gravely:

  "You will have to go under the easiest sail possible. The brig can go twofeet to this craft's one, and you will only want your lower sails. If youput on more you will be running ahead and losing us at night. We shallshow a light over our stern, and on no account are you to allow yourselvesto lose sight of it."

  A party of men were already at work nailing battens over the shatteredstern of the _Sea-horse_. When this was done, sail-cloth was nailed overthem, and a coat of pitch given to it. The operation took four hours, bywhich time all the other arrangements had been completed. The holds of thetwo privateers were found to be empty, and they learned from the Frenchcrews that the two craft had sailed from Bordeaux in company but four dayspreviously, and that the _Sea-horse_ was the first English ship that theyhad come across.

  "You will remember, Captain O'Grady," the major said, as that officerprepared to go on board, "that Mr. Woods is in command of the vessel, andthat he is not to be interfered with in any way with regard to making ortaking in sail. He has received precise instructions as to keeping nearus, and your duties will be confined to keeping guard over the prisoners,and rendering such assistance to the sailors as they may require."

  "I understand, Major; but I suppose that in case you are attacked we maytake a share in any divarsion that is going on?"

  "I don't think that there is much chance of our being attacked, O'Grady;but if we are, instructions will be signalled to you. French privateersare not likely to interfere with us, seeing that we are together, and ifby any ill-luck a French frigate should fall in with us, you will haveinstructions to sheer off at once, and for each of you to make your way toLisbon as quickly as you can. You see, we have transferred four guns fromeach of your craft to take the place of the rotten cannon on board here,but our united forces would be of no avail at all against a frigate, whichwould send us to the bottom with a single broadside. We can neither runnor fight in this wretched old tub. If we do see a French frigate coming,I shall transfer the rest of the troops to the prizes and send them off atonce, and leave the _Sea-horse_ to her fate. Of course we should be verycrowded on board the privateers, but that would not matter for a few days.So you see the importance of keeping quite close to us, in readiness tocome alongside at once if signalled to. We shall separate as soon as weleave the ship, so as to ensure at least half our force reaching itsdestination."

  Captain O'Driscol took Terence with him on board the lugger, leaving hislieutenant in charge of the wing that remained on board the ship.

  "You have done credit to the company, and to my choice of you, Terence,"he said, warmly, as they stood together on the deck of the lugger. "I didnot see anything for it but a French prison, and it would have broken myheart to be tied up there while the rest of our lads were fighting theFrench in Portugal. I thought that you would make a good officer some dayin spite of your love of devilment, but I did not think that before youhad been three weeks in the service you would have saved half the regimentfrom a French prison."

  CHAPTER III

  DISEMBARKED

  As soon as the vessels were under way again it was found that the luggerwas obliged to lower her main-sail to keep in her position astern of the_Sea-horse_, while the brig was forced to take in sail after sail untilthe whole of the upper sails had been furled.

  "It is tedious work going along like this," O'Driscol said; "but it doesnot so much matter, because as yet we do not know where we are going toland. Sir Arthur has gone on in a fast ship to Corunna to see the SpanishJunta there, and find out what assistance we are likely to get fromNorthern Spain. That will be little enough. I expect they will take ourmoney and arms and give us plenty of fine promises in return, and donothing; that is the game they have been playing in the south, and ifthere were a grain of sense among our ministers they would see that it isnot of the slightest use to reckon on Spain. As to Portugal, we know verylittle at present, but I expect there is not a pin to choose between themand the Spaniards."

  "Then we are not going to Lisbon?" Terence said, in surprise.

  "I expect not. Sir Arthur won't determine anything until he joins us afterhis visit to Corunna, but I don't think that it will be at Lisbon, anyhow.There are strong forts guarding the mouth of the river, and ten or twelvethousand troops in the city, and a Russian fleet anchored in the port. Idon't know where it will be, but I don't think that it will be Lisbon. Iexpect that we shall slip into some little port, land, and wait for Junotto attack us; we shall be joined, I expect, by Stewart's force, that havebeen fooling about for two or three months waiting for the Spaniards tomake up their minds whether they will admit them into Cadiz or not. Yousee, at present there are only 9,000 of us, and they say that Junot has atleast 50,000 in Portugal; but of course they are scattered about, and itis hardly likely that he would venture to withdraw all his garrisons fromthe large towns, so that the odds may not be as heavy as they look, whenwe meet him in the field. And I suppose that at any rate some of thePortuguese will join us. From what I hear, the peasantry are brave enough,only they have never had a chance yet of making a fight for it, owing totheir miserable government, which never can make up its mind t
o doanything. I hope that Sir Arthur has orders, as soon as he takes Lisbon,to assume the entire control of the country and ignore the nativegovernment altogether. Even if they are worth anything, which they aresure not to be, it is better to have one head than two, and as we shallhave to do all the fighting, it's just as well that we should have thewhole control of things too."

  For four days they sailed along quietly. On the morning of the fifth thesignal was run up from the _Sea-horse_ for the prizes to close up to her.Mr. Woods, the mate on board the brig, at once sent a sailor up to themast-head.

  "There is a large ship away to the south-west, sir," he shouted down.

  "What does she look like?"

  "I can only see her royals and top-sails yet, but by their square cut Ithink that she is a ship-of-war."

  "Do you think she is French or English?"

  "I cannot say for certain yet, sir, but it looks to me as if she isFrench. I don't think that the sails are English cut anyhow."

  Such was evidently the opinion on board the _Sea-horse_, for as theprizes came up within a hundred yards of her they were hailed by the majorthrough a speaking-trumpet, and ordered to keep at a distance for thepresent, but to be in readiness to come up alongside directly orders weregiven to that effect.

  In another half-hour the look-out reported that he could now see the lowersails of the stranger, and had very little doubt but that it was a largeFrench frigate. Scarcely had he done so before the two prizes were orderedto close up to the _Sea-horse_. The sea was very calm and they were ableto lie alongside, and as soon as they did so the troops began to betransferred to them. In a quarter of an hour the operation was completed,Major Harrison taking his place on board the lugger; half the men wereordered below, and the prize sheered off from the _Sea-horse_.

  "The Frenchman is bearing down straight for us," he said to O'Driscol;"she is bringing a breeze down with her, and in an hour she will bealongside. I shall wait another half-hour, and then we must leave the_Sea-horse_ to her fate; except for our stores she is worthless. Well,Terence, have you any suggestion to offer? You got us out of the lastscrape, and though this is not quite so bad as that, it is unpleasantenough. The frigate when she comes near will see that the _Sea-horse_ isa slow sailer, and will probably leave her to be picked up at her leisure,and will go off in chase either of the brig or us. The brig is to make forthe north-west and we shall steer south-east, so that she will have tomake a choice between us. When we get the breeze we shall either of usgive her a good dance before she catches us--that is, if the breeze is nottoo strong; if it is, her weight would soon bring her up to us."

  "Yes, Major, but perhaps she may not trouble about us at all. She wouldsee at once that the lugger and brig are French, and if they were both tohoist French colours, and the _Sea-horse_ were to fly French colours overEnglish, she would naturally suppose that she had been captured by us, andwould go straight on her course without troubling herself further aboutit."

  "So she might, Terence. At any rate the scheme is worth trying. If theyhave anything like good glasses on board they could make out our coloursmiles away. If she held on towards us after that, there would be plenty oftime for us to run, but if we saw her change her course we should knowthat we were safe. Your head is good for other things besides mischief,lad."

  The lugger sailed up near the ship again, and the major gave the captaininstructions to hoist a French ensign over an English one, and then,sailing near the brig, told them to hoist French colours.

  "Keep all your men down below the line of the bulwarks, O'Grady. Mr.Woods, you had better get your boat down and row alongside of the ship,and ask the captain to get the slings at work and hoist some of our storesinto her; we will do the same on the other side. Tell the captain to lowera couple of his boats; also take twenty soldiers on board with you withouttheir jackets; we will do the same, so that it may be seen that we have astrong party on board getting out the cargo."

  In a few minutes the orders were carried out, and forty soldiers were atwork on the deck of the Sea-horse, slinging up tents from below, andlowering them into the boats alongside. The approach of the frigate wasanxiously watched from the decks of the prizes. The upper sails of the_Sea-horse_ had been furled, and the privateers, under the smallestpossible canvas, kept abreast of her at a distance of a couple of lengths.The hull of the French frigate was now visible. "She is very fast," themate said to the major, "and she is safe to catch one of us if the breezeshe has got holds."

  As she came nearer the feeling of anxiety heightened.

  "They ought to make out our colours now, sir."

  Almost immediately afterwards the frigate was seen to change her course.Her head was turned more to the east. A suppressed cheer broke from thetroops.

  "It is all right now, sir," the mate said; "she is making for Brest. Wehave fooled her nicely."

  The boats passed and repassed between the _Sea-horse_ and the prizes, andthe frigate crossed a little more than a mile ahead.

  "Five-and-twenty guns a-side," the major said. "By Jove! she would havemade short work of us."

  As it was not advisable to make any change in the position until thefrigate was far on her way, the boats continued to pass to and fro,carrying back to the _Sea-horse_ the stores that had just been removed,until the Frenchman was five or six miles away.

  "Don't you think that we might make sail again, Captain?" the major thenhailed.

  "I think that we had better give him another hour, sir. Were she to see usmaking sail with the prize to the south it would excite suspicion at once,and the captain might take it into his head to come back again to inquireinto it."

  "Half an hour will surely be sufficient," the major said. "She istravelling at eight or nine knots an hour, and she is evidently bound forport. It would be unlikely in the extreme that her commander would beatback ten miles on what, after all, might be a fool's errand."

  "That is true enough, sir. Then in half an hour we shall be ready to sailagain."

  The major was rowed to the _Sea-horse_. "We may as well transfer the menat once," he said. "We have had a very narrow escape of it, Captain, andthere is no doubt that we owe our safety entirely to the sharpness of thatyoung ensign. We should have been sunk or taken if he had not suggestedour manning the lugger in the first place, and of pretending that the shiphad been captured by French privateers in the second."

  "You are right, Major. Another half-hour and the craft would havefoundered under us; and the frigate would certainly have captured the_Sea-horse_ and one of the prizes if the Frenchman had not, as hethought, seen two privateers at work emptying our hold. He is a sharpyoung fellow, that."

  "That he is," the major agreed. "He has been brought up with the regiment,and has always been up to pranks of all kinds; but he has used his wits togood purpose this time, and I have no doubt will turn out an excellentofficer."

  Before sail was made the major summoned the officers on board the_Sea-horse_. The troops from the lugger and brig were drawn up on deck,and the major, standing on the poop, said in a voice that could be heardfrom end to end of the ship:

  "Officers and men, we have had a narrow escape from a French prison, andas it is possible that before we arrive at our destination we may fall inwith an enemy again and not be so lucky, I think it right to take thisoccasion at once of thanking Mr. O' Connor, before you all, in my ownname, and in yours, for to his intelligence and quickness of wit it isentirely due that we escaped being captured when the brig was pounding uswith its shot, without our being able to make any return, and it wascertain that in a short time we should have had to haul down our flag orbe sunk. It was he who suggested that we should take possession of thelugger, and with her guns drive off the brig. As the result of thatsuggestion this craft was saved from being sunk, and the brig was alsocaptured.

  "In the second place, when that French frigate was bearing down upon usand our capture seemed certain, it was he who suggested to me, that byhoisting the French flag and appearing to be engaged in transferring t
hecargo of the ship to the privateers, we might throw dust into the eyes ofthe Frenchmen. As you saw, the ruse succeeded perfectly. I therefore, Mr.O'Connor, thank you most heartily in my own name, and in that of yourfellow-officers, also in the name of the four hundred men of the regiment,and of the ship's company, for the manner in which you have, by yourquickness and good sense, saved us all from a French prison, and saved hisMajesty from the loss of the wing of a fine regiment."

  As he concluded the men broke into loud cheering, and the officersgathered around Terence and thanked and congratulated him most heartily onthe service that he had rendered them.

  "You are a broth of a boy, Terence," Captain O'Grady said. "I knew that itwas in you all along. I would not give a brass farthing for a lad who hadnot a spice of divil-ment in him. It shows that he has got his wits abouthim, and that when he steddys down he will be hard to bate."

  Terence was so much overpowered at the praise he had received that, beyondprotesting that it was quite undeserved, he had no reply to make to thecongratulations that he received from the captain. O'Driscol, seeing thathe was on the verge of breaking down, at once called upon him to take hisplace in the boat, and rowed with him to the lugger.

  A few minutes later all sail was set on the _Sea-horse_, and with heryards braced tautly aft she laid her course south, close-hauled; a freshbreeze was now blowing, and she ploughed her way through the water at arate that almost justified O'Grady's panegyrics upon her. In another threedays she entered the port of Vigo, where the convoy was to rendezvous, andall were glad to find that the whole fleet were still there. On anchoring,the major went on board the _Dauphin_, which had brought theheadquarters, and the other wing of the regiment. He was heartily greetedby the colonel.

  "We were getting very uneasy about you, Harrison," he said. "The last shipof the convoy came in three days ago, and we began to fear that you musthave been either dismasted or sunk in the gale. I saw the senior navalofficer this morning, and he said that if you did not come in during theday he would send a frigate out in search of you; but I could see by hismanner that he thought it most likely that you had gone down. So you mayimagine how pleased we were when we made out your number, though we couldnot for the life of us make out what those two craft flying the Englishcolours over the French, that came in after you, were. But of course theyhad nothing to do with you. I suppose they were two privateers that hadbeen captured by one of our frigates, and sent in here with prize crews torefit before going home. They have both of them been knocked about a bit."

  "I will tell you about them directly, Colonel; it is rather a long story.We have had a narrow squeak of it. We got through the storm pretty well,but we had a bad time of it afterwards, and we owe it entirely to youngO'Connor that we are not, all of us, in a prison at Brest at present."

  "You don't say so! Wait a moment, I will call his father here; he will beglad to hear that the young scamp has behaved well. I may as well callthem all up; they will like to hear the story."

  Turning to the group of officers who were standing on the quarter-deck ashort distance away, waiting to hear the news when the major had given hisreport, he said: "You may as well come now and hear Major Harrison'sstory; it will save his telling it twice. You will be glad to hear,O'Connor, that Terence has been distinguishing himself in some way, thoughI know not yet in what; the major says that if it had not been for him thewhole wing of the regiment would have now been in a French prison."

  "Terence was always good at getting out of scrapes, Colonel, though Idon't say he was not equally good in getting into them; but I am glad tohear that this time he has done something useful."

  The major then gave a full account of their adventure with the privateers,and of the subsequent escape from the French frigate.

  "Faith, O'Connor," the colonel said, warmly, holding out his hand to him,"I congratulate you most heartily, which is more than I ever thought to doon Terence's account. I had some misgivings when I recommended him for acommission, but I may congratulate myself as well as you that I did so. Iwas sure the lad had plenty in him, but I was afraid that it was morelikely to come out the wrong way than the right; and now it turns out thathe has saved half the regiment, for there is no doubt from what Harrisonsays that he has done so."

  "Thank you, Colonel; I am glad indeed that the boy has done credit to yourkindness. It was a mighty bad scrape this time, and he got out of itwell."

  "Of course, Major, you will give a full report in writing of this, andwill send it in to Sir Arthur; he arrived this morning. I will go on boardthe flag-ship at once and report as to the prizes. Who they belong to Ihave not the least idea. I never heard of a transport capturing a coupleof privateers before; but, I suppose, as she is taken up for the king'sservice and the prizes were captured by his Majesty's troops, they willrank as if taken by the navy, that is, a certain amount of their valuewill go to the admiral. Anyhow, the bulk of it will go, I should think, tothe troops--the crew and officers of the ship, of course, sharing."

  "It won't come to much a head, Colonel, anyhow. You see, they were bothempty, and there is simply the value of the ships themselves, which Idon't suppose would fetch above five or six hundred apiece."

  "Still, the thing must be done in a regular way, and I must leave it inthe admiral's hands. I will take your boat, Major, and go to him at once.You will find pen and ink in my cabin, and I should be glad if you wouldwrite your report by the time that I return; then I will go off at once toSir Arthur."

  "I have it already written, Colonel," the major said, producing thedocument.

  "That looks to me rather long, Harrison, and busy as Sir Arthur must be,he might not take the trouble to read it. I wish you would write outanother, as concise as you can make it, of the actual affair, saying atthe end that you beg to report especially the conduct of Ensign O'Connor,to whose suggestions the escape of the ship both from the privateers andFrench frigate were due. I will hand that in as the official report, andwith it the other, saying that it gives further details of the affair. Ofcourse, with them I must give in an official letter from myself, inclosingyour two reports. But first I will go and see the admiral."

  In a little over half an hour he returned. "The admiral knows no more thanI do whether the navy have anything to do with the prizes or not. Being sosmall in value he does not want to trouble himself about it. He says thatthe matter would entail no end of correspondence and bother, and that thecrafts might rot at their anchors before the matter was decided. He thinksthe best thing that I can do will be to sell the two vessels for what theywill fetch, and divide the money according to prize rules, and say nothingabout it. In that way there is not likely ever to be any question aboutit, while if the Admiralty and Horse Guards once get into a correspondenceover the matter, there is no saying what bother I might have; and that heshould advise me, if I do not adopt that plan, to simply scuttle themboth, and report that they have sunk. Now I will just write my officialletter and take it to head-quarters."

  In two hours he was back again.

  "I have not seen the chief," he said, "but I gave the reports to hisadjutant-general. General Fane was with him; he is an old friend of mine,and I told him the story of your voyage, and the adjutant-general joinedin the conversation. Fane was waiting to go in to Sir Arthur, who wasdictating some despatches to England, and he said that if he had a chancehe would mention the affair to Sir Arthur; and, at any rate, the otherofficer said that he would lay the reports before him, with such mentionthat Sir Arthur would doubtless look through them both. I find that thereis a bit of insurrection going on in Portugal, but that no one thinks muchwill come of it, as bands of unarmed peasants can have no chance with theFrench. Nothing is determined as yet about our landing. Lisbon and theTagus are completely in the hands of the French.

  "Sir Arthur is going down to Oporto to-morrow, where it is likely that hewill learn more about the situation than he did at Corunna. Fane says thathe hopes we shall soon be ashore, as the general is not the man to let thegrass grow under his
feet."

  After holding counsel with his officers the colonel determined to adoptthe advice he had received, and to sell the two craft for what they wouldfetch, the officers all agreeing to refund their shares if any questionswere ever asked on the subject. The captain of the _Sea-horse_ agreed toaccept the share of a captain in the line, and his mates those of firstand second lieutenant. The colonel put himself in communication with somemerchants on shore, and the two craft were sold for twelve hundred pounds.

  "This gave something over a pound a head to the 400 soldiers and the crew,twice that amount to the non-commissioned officers, and sums varying fromten pounds apiece to the ensigns to fifty pounds to the major. The admiralwas asked to approve of the transaction, and said, 'I have no rightformally to sanction it, since, so far as I know, it is not a strictlynaval matter; but I will give you a letter, Colonel, saying that you haveinformed me of the course that you have adopted, and that I consider thatunder the peculiar circumstances of the capture, and the fact that thereare no men available for sending the prizes to England, the course was thebest and most convenient that could possibly be adopted, though, had thecraft been of any great value, it would, of course, have been necessary torefer the matter home.'"

  A week passed without movement. The expedition had left England on the12th of July, 1808, and Sir Arthur rejoined it towards the end of themonth. He had learned at Oporto from Colonel Brown, our agent there, that,contrary to what he had been told at Corunna, there were no Spanish troopsin the north of Portugal, but that a body of some 8,000 Portugueseirregulars and militia, half-armed and but slightly disciplined, wereassembled on the river Mondego. After a consultation with Admiral SirCharles Cotton, Sir Arthur had concluded that an attack at the mouth ofthe Tagus was impracticable, owing to the strength of the French there,the position of the forts that commanded the entrance of the river, andthe heavy surf that broke in all the undefended creeks and bays near.There was then the choice of landing far enough north of Lisbon to ensurea disembarkation undisputed by the French, or else to sail south, joinSpencer, and act against the French army under Dupont.

  Sir Arthur finally determined that the Mondego River was the mostpracticable for the enterprise. The fort of Figueira at its mouth wasalready occupied by British marines, and the Portuguese force was at leastsufficient to deter any small body of troops approaching theneighbourhood. Therefore, to the great joy of the troops, the order wasgiven that the fleet should sail on the following morning; two days laterthey anchored off the mouth of the Mondego. Just before starting a vesselarrived with despatches from Spencer, saying that he was at St. Mary's andwas free to act with Sir Arthur, and a fast vessel was despatched withorders to him to sail to the Mondego.

  On arriving there Sir Arthur received the mortifying intelligence that SirHew Dalrymple had been appointed over his head, nevertheless he continuedto push on his own plans with vigour, pending the arrival of that general.With this bad news came the information that the French general, Dupont,had been defeated. This set free a small force under General Anstruther,and some fast-sailing craft were at once despatched to find his command,and order it to sail at once to the Mondego. Without further delay,however, the landing of the troops began on the 1st of August, and the9,000 men, their guns and stores, were ashore by the 5th.

  On that day Spencer fortunately arrived with 3,300 men. He had notreceived Sir Arthur's orders, but the moment that Dupont surrendered hehad sailed for the Tagus, and had learned from Sir C. Cotton, whocommanded the fleet at the entrance to the river, where Sir Arthur was,and at once sailed to join him. While the troops were disembarking SirArthur had gone over to the Portuguese head-quarters, two miles distant,to confer with Bernardin Friere, the Portuguese commander-in-chief. Thevisit was a disappointing one. He found that the Portuguese troops werealmost unarmed, and that their commander was full of inflated ideas. Heproposed that the forces should unite, that they should relinquish thecoast, and march into the interior and commence an offensive campaign, andwas lavish in his promises to provide ample stores of provisions. TheEnglish general saw, however, that no effectual assistance could be hopedfor from the Portuguese troops, and as little from the promises of theircommander. He gave Friere 5,000 muskets for his troops, but absolutelydeclined to adopt the proposed plan, his own intention being to keep nearthe coast, where he could receive his supplies from the ships and bejoined by reinforcements.

  As soon as they had landed the Mayo regiment was marched to a village twomiles inland, and, with two others of the same brigade, encamped near it.All idea of keeping up a regimental officers' mess had been abandoned, andas soon as the tents were pitched and the troops had settled down in them,O'Grady said to Terence:

  "We will go into the village and see if we can find a suitable place fortaking our meals. It may be that in time our fellows will learn how tocook for us, but, by jabers! we will live dacent as long as we can. Myservant, Tim Hoolan, has gone on ahead to look for such a place, and he isthe boy to find one if there is one anyhow to be got. As our companies arenumber 1 and 2, it is reasonable that we should stick together, and thoughO'Driscol's a quare stick, with all sorts of ridiculous notions, he is agood fellow at heart, and I will put up with him for the sake of havingyou with me."

  As they entered the village the servant came up. "I have managed it,Captain; we have got hold of the best quarters in the village; it is aroom over the only shebeen here. The ould scoundrel of a landlord wantedto keep it as a general room, but I brought the Church to bear on him, andI managed it finally."

  "How did you work it, Tim?"

  "Sure, your honour, I went to the praste, and by good luck his house is infront of the church. I went into the church, and I crossed myself beforethe altar and said a prayer or two. As I did so who should come out of thevestry but the father himself. He waited until I had done and then came upto me, and to my surprise said in good Irish:

  "'So it's a Catholic you are, my man?'

  "'That am I, your riverence,' said I, 'and most all of the rigiment are;sure, we were raised in the ould country, and belong, most of us, toCounty Mayo, and glad we were to come out here to fight for those of thetrue religion against these Frenchmen, who they say have no religion atall, at all. And how is it you spake the language, your riverence, if Imay be so bold as to ask?'"

  "Then he told me that he had been at college at Lisbon, where the sons ofmany Catholic Irish gentlemen were sent to be educated, and that he hadlearned it from them.

  "'And how is it that you are not with your regiment, my man?'

  "'I am here to hire rooms for the officers, your riverence, just a placewhere they can ate a dacent meal in peace and quietness. I have been tothe inn, but I cannot for the life of me make the landlord understand. Hehas got a room that would be just suitable, so I thought I would come toyour riverence to explain to you that the rigiment are not heretics, buttrue sons of the Church. I thought that, being a learned man, I might makeshift to make you understand, and that you would maybe go wid me andexplain the matter to him.'

  "'That will I,' says he; and he wint and jabbered away with the innkeeper,and at last turned to me and said: 'He will let you have a room, seeingthat it is for the service of good Catholics and not heretics.'"

  "But, you rascal, you know that we are not Catholics."

  "Sure, your honour, didn't I say that most all the rigiment wereCatholics; I did not say all of them."

  "I must go and explain the matter to him, Hoolan. If he calls upon us, aslike he may do, he would find out at once that you have desaved him."

  "Sure, your honour, if you think that it is necessary, of course it mustbe done; but would it not be as well to go to the shebeen first and totake possession of the room, and to get comfortably settled down in itbefore ye gives me away?"

  "I think it might be worth while, Tim," O'Grady said, gravely. "What doyou say, Terence?"

  "I think the matter will keep for a few hours," Terence said, laughing,"and when we are once settled there it will be very hard to t
urn us out."

  The room was found to be larger than they had expected, and O'Gradyproposed that they should admit the whole officers of their wing to shareit with them, to which Terence at once agreed heartily. "I think that witha little squeezing the place would hold the officers of the fivecompanies, and the major and O'Flaherty. The more of us there are, themerrier, and the less fear of our being turned out."

  "That is so. We had better put the names up on the door. You go down andtry and make that black-browed landlord understand that you want somepaper and pen and ink."

  With some difficulty and much gesticulation Terence succeeded. The namesof the officers were written down on a paper and it was then fastened onthe door.

  "Now, Terence, I will go and fetch the boys; you and Hoolan make thelandlord understand that we want food and wine for fifteen or sixteenofficers. Of course they won't all be able to get away at once. We mustcontint ourselves with anything we can get now; afterwards we will send upour rations, and with plenty of good wine and a ham (there are lots ofthem hanging from the ceiling down below), we shall do pretty well, withwhat you can forage outside."

  Terence left this part of the work to Hoolan, who, by bringing up a numberof plates and ranging them on the table, getting down a ham and cutting itinto slices, and by pointing to the wine-skins, managed to acquaint thelandlord with what was required. In this he was a good deal aided by theman's two nieces, who acted as his assistants, and who were much quickerin catching his meaning than was the landlord himself. Very soon the roombelow was crowded with officers from other regiments, and Hoolan went upto Terence:

  "I think, Mr. O'Connor, that it would be a good job if you were to go downand buy a dozen of them hams. A lot of them have been sold already, and itwon't be long before the last has gone, though I reckon that there arethree or four dozen of them still there."

  "That is a very good idea, Tim. You come down with me and bring themstraight up here, and we will drive some nails into those rafters. Iexpect before nightfall the place will be cleared out of everything thatis eatable."

  The bargain was speedily concluded. The landlord was now in a bettertemper. At first he had been very doubtful of the intentions of thenew-comers. Now that he saw that they were ready to pay for everything,and that at prices much higher than he could before have obtained, hisface shone with good-humour. He and the two girls were already busydrawing wine and selling it to the customers.

  "I will get some wood, your honour, and light a fire here, or it is mightylittle dinner that you will be getting. The soldiers will soon be droppingin, that is, if they don't keep this place for officers only, for thereare two other places where they sell wine in the village. When I came uptwo officers had a slice of ham each on the points of their swords overthe fire."

  "That will be a very good plan, Tim; you had better set to work about itat once, and at the same time I will try and get some bread."

  By the time that O'Grady returned with seven or eight other officers thefire was blazing. Terence had managed to get a sufficient number of knivesand forks; there was, however, no table-cloth in the house. He and Terencewere cooking slices of ham on a gridiron over the fire.

  "This is first-rate, O'Grady," Major Harrison said; "the place is crowdeddown below, and we should have fared very badly if you had not managed toget hold of this room."

  "If some of the boys will see to the cooking, Major, I will go down withHoolan and get a barrel of wine and bring it up here; then we shall dofirst-rate."

  "How about the rations, Major?" Terence asked.

  "They have just been served out. I sent my man down to draw the rationsfor the whole wing at once, and told him to bring them up here."

  "And I have told mine," Captain O'Driscol said, "to go round the villageand buy up two or three dozen chickens, if he can find them, and as manyeggs as he can collect. I think that we had better tell off two of the menas cooks. I don't think it is likely that they will be able to get muchdone that way below. Hoolan and another will do."

  "I should think it best to keep Hoolan as forager; he is rather a geniusin that capacity. I think he has got round those two girls, whether by hisred hair or his insinuating manners I cannot say, but they seem ready todo anything for him, and we shall want lots of things in the way of potsand pans and so on."

  "Very well, Terence, then we will leave him free and put two others on."

  CHAPTER IV

  UNDER CANVAS

  In a short time O'Grady returned, followed by Hoolan, carrying a smallbarrel of wine.

  "It is good, I hope," the major said, as the barrel was set down in onecorner of the room.

  "I think that it is the best they have; one of the girls went down withTim into the cellar and pointed it out to him. I told him to ask her for_bueno vino_. I don't know whether it was right or not, but I think sheunderstood."

  "How much does it hold, O'Grady?"

  "I cannot say; five or six gallons, I should think; anyhow, I paid threedollars for it."

  "You must put down all the outgoings, O'Grady, and we will square up whenwe leave here."

  "I will put them down, Major. How long do you think we shall stop here?"

  "That is more than anyone can say; we have to wait for Anstruther andSpencer. It may be three or four days; it may be a fortnight."

  Dick Ryan assisted Terence in the cooking, while Tim went down to getsomething to drink out of. He returned with three mugs and two horns.

  "Divil a thing else is there that can be found, yer honour," he said, ashe placed them on the table; "every mortial thing is in use."

  "That will do to begin with," the major said; "we will get our own thingsup this afternoon. We must manage as best we can for this meal; it isbetter than I expected by a long way."

  Tim now relieved the two young officers at the gridiron, and sitting downat the benches along the table the meal was eaten with much laughter andfun.

  "After all, there is nothing like getting things straight from thegridiron," the major said.

  O'Grady had got the bung out of the barrel and filled the five drinkingvessels, and the wine was pronounced to be very fair. One by one the otherofficers dropped in, and Hoolan was for an hour kept busy. The major, whospoke a little Spanish, went down and returned with a dozen bottles ofspirits, two or three of which were opened and the contents consumed.

  "It is poor stuff by the side of whisky," O'Grady said, as he swallowed astiff glass of it; "still, I will not be denying that it is warming andcomforting, and if we can get enough of it we can hold on till we get homeagain. Here is success to the campaign. I will trouble you for thatbottle, O'Driscol."

  "Here it is. I shall stick to wine; I don't care for that fiery stuff.Here is success to the campaign, and may we meet the French before long!

  "We are pretty sure to do that," he went on, as he set his horn down onthe table. "If Junot knows his business he won't lose a day beforemarching against us directly he hears of our landing. He will know wellenough that unless he crushes us at once he will have all Portugal up inarms. Here, Terence, you can have this horn."

  The difficulty of drinking had to some extent been solved by Hoolan, whohad gone downstairs, and returned with a tin pot capable of holding abouta couple of quarts. This he had cleaned by rubbing it with sand and water,and it went round as a loving-cup among those unprovided with mugs orhorns. When all had finished, the two soldier servants, who had nowarrived with the rations, were left in charge. O'Driscol's servant hadbrought in a dozen fowls and a large basket full of eggs, and, orderingsupper to be ready at eight, the officers returned to their camp. Theyfound that their comrades had done fairly well. Several rooms had beenobtained in the village, and hams, black sausages, and other provisionspurchased, and cooked in a rough way on a gridiron.

  "I am afraid that it is too good to last," the colonel said, as theofficers gathered around him as the bugle sounded for parade; "a week ofthis and the last scrap of provisions here will have been eaten, and weshall have nothing but ou
r rations to fall back upon. There is one thing,however, that is not likely to give out, that is wine. They grow it abouthere, and I hear that the commissariat have bought up large quantitieswithout difficulty to serve out to the troops."

  The regiment had a long afternoon's drill to get them out of the slacknessoccasioned by their enforced idleness on the voyage. When it was over theywere formed up, and the colonel addressed a few words to the men.

  "Men of the Mayo regiment," he said, "I trust that, now we are fairlyembarked upon the campaign, you will so behave as to do credit toyourselves and to Ireland. Perhaps some of you think that, now that youare on a campaign, you can do just as you like. Those who think so arewrong; it is just the other way. When you were at home I did not think itnecessary that I should be severe with you; and as long as a man was able,when he came into barracks, to walk to his quarters, I did not troubleabout him. But it is different here; any breach of duty will be mostseverely punished, and any man who is found drunk will be flogged. Any manplundering or ill-treating the people of the country will be handed overto the provost-marshal, and, unless I am mistaken, he is likely to beshot.

  "Sir Arthur Wellesley is not the man to stand nonsense. There must be nostraggling; you must keep within the bounds of the camps, and no one mustgo into the village without a permit from the captain of his company. Asto your fighting--well, I have no fear of that; we will say nothing aboutit. Before the enemy I know that you will all do your duty, and it is justas necessary that you should do your duty and be a credit to your regimentat other times. There are blackguards in the regiment, as there are inevery other, but I tell them that a sharp eye will be kept upon them, andthat no mercy will be shown them if they misbehave while they are inPortugal. That is all I have to say to you."

  "That was the sort of thing, I think, Major," he said, as, after the menwere dismissed, he walked back to his tent with Major Harrison.

  "Just the sort of thing, Colonel," the other said, smiling; "and said inthe sort of way that they will understand. I am afraid that we shall havetrouble with some of them. Wine and spirits are cheap, and it will be verydifficult to keep them from it altogether. Still, if we make an example ofthe first fellow who is caught drunk it will be a useful lesson to thewhole. A few floggings at the start may save some hanging afterwards. Iknow you are averse to flogging--there have only been four men flogged inthe last six months--but this is a case where punishment must be dealt outsharply if discipline is to be maintained, and the credit of the regimentbe kept up."

  O'Grady and one of the other officers called upon the priest to thank himfor his good offices in obtaining the room for them.

  "I am afraid from what my man tells me that he did not state the casequite fairly to you. Our regiment was, as he said, raised in Ireland, andthe greater portion of the men are naturally of your faith, Father, but wereally have no claim to your services whatever."

  The priest smiled.

  "I am, nevertheless, glad to have been of service to you, gentlemen," hesaid, courteously; "at least you are Irishmen, and I have many goodfriends countrymen of yours. And you have still another claim upon us all,for are you not here to aid us to shake off this French domination? I hopethat you are comfortable, but judging from what I see and hear whenpassing I fear that your lodging is a somewhat noisy one."

  "You may well say that, Father; and we do our full share towards making itso; but having the room makes all the difference to us. They have no timeto cook downstairs, and it is done by our own servants; but it is handy tohave the wine and other things within call, and if we always do as well,we shall have good cause to feel mighty contented; for barring that we arerather crowded, we are just as well off here as we were at home, savingonly in the quality of the spirits. Now, Father, we cannot ask you upthere, seeing that it is your own village, but if you would like to take awalk through the camps we should be glad to show you what there is to beseen, and can give you a little of the real cratur. It is not much of itthat we have been able to bring ashore, for the general is mighty stiff inthe matter of baggage, but I doubt whether there is one of us who did notmanage to smuggle a bottle or two of the real stuff hidden in his kit."

  The priest accepted the invitation, and was taken through the brigadecamp, staying some time in that of the Mayos, and astonishing some of thesoldiers by chatting to them in English, and with a brogue almost asstrong as their own. He then spent half an hour in O'Grady's tent, andsampled the whisky, which he pronounced excellent, and of which hisentertainer insisted upon his taking a bottle away with him.

  Three days later it was known in camp that two French divisions had beenset in motion against them, the one from Abrantes to the east underLoison, the other from the south under Laborde. Junot himself remained atLisbon. The rising in the south, and the news of the British landingcaused an intense feeling among the population, and the French generalfeared that at any moment an insurrection might break out. The naturalpoint of junction of these two columns would be at Leirya. That nightorders were issued for the tents of the division to which the Mayoregiment belonged to be struck before daylight, and the troops were to beunder arms and ready to march at six o'clock.

  "Good news!" O'Grady said, as he entered the mess-room at four o'clock inthe afternoon, after having learned from the colonel the orders for thenext morning; "our brigade is to form the advanced guard, and we are tomarch at six tomorrow."

  A general exclamation of pleasure broke from the five or six officerspresent. "We shall have the first of the fun, boys; hand me that horn,Terence. Here is to Sir Arthur; good-luck to him, and bad cess to theFrench!"

  The toast was drunk with some laughter. "Now we are going to campaign inearnest," he went on; "no more wine swilling, no more devilled ham----"

  "No more spirits, O'Grady," one of the group cut in; "and as for the wine,you have drunk your share, besides twice your share of the spirits."

  "Whin there is nothing to do, Debenham, I can take me liquor inmoderation."

  "I have never remarked that, O'Grady," one of the others put in.

  "In great moderation," O'Grady said, gravely, but he was again interruptedby a shout of laughter.

  "Ye had to be helped home last night, O'Grady, and it took Hoolan aquarter of an hour to wake you this morning. I heard him say, 'Now, masterdear, the bugle will sound in a minute or two; it's wake you must, orthere will be a divil of botheration over it.' I looked in, and there youwere. Hoolan was standing by the side of you shaking his head gravely, asif it was a hopeless job that he had in hand, and if I had not emptied awater-bottle over you, you would never have been on parade in time."

  "Oh! it was you, was it?" O'Grady said, wrathfully. "Hoolan swore by allthe saints that he had not seen who it was. Never mind, me boy, I will beeven wid ye yet; the O'Grady is not to be waked in that fashion; mind Iowe you one, though I am not saying that I should have been on parade intime if you had not done it; I only just saved my bacon."

  "And hardly that," Terence laughed, "for the adjutant was down upon youpretty sharply; your coatee was all buttoned up wrong; your hair had notbeen brushed, and stuck up all ways below your shako; your sword-belt wasall awry, and you looked worse than you did when I brought you home."

  "Well, it is a poor heart that never rejoices, Terence. We must make anight of it, boys; if the tents are to be struck before daylight it willbe mighty little use your turning in."

  "You won't catch me sitting up all night," Terence said, "with perhaps atwenty-mile march in the morning, and maybe a fight at the end of it. Ifit is to Leirya we are going it will be nearer thirty miles than twenty,and even you, seasoned vessel as you are, will find it a long walk afterbeing up all night, and having had pretty hard work to-day."

  "I cannot hold wid the general there," O'Grady said, gravely; "he has beenkapeing us all at it from daybreak till night, ivery day since we landed,and marching the men's feet off. It is all very well to march when we havegot to march, but to keep us tramping fifteen or twenty miles a day whenthere is no
occasion for it is out of all reason."

  "We shall march all the better for it to-morrow, O'Grady. It has been hardwork, certainly, but not harder than it was marching down to Cork; and weshould have a good many stragglers to-morrow if it had not been for thelast week's work. We have got half a dozen footsore men in my companyalone, and you would have fifty to-morrow night if the men had not had allthis marching to get them fit."

  "It is all very well for you, Terence, who have been tramping all over thehills round Athlone since you were a gossoon; but I am sure that if I hadnot had that day off duty when I showed the priest round the camp I shouldhave been kilt."

  "Here is the general order of the day," the adjutant said, as he came inwith Captain O'Connor. "The general says that now the army is about totake the field he shall expect the strictest discipline to be maintained,and that all stragglers from the ranks will at once be handed over to theprovost-marshal, and all offences against the peasantry or their propertywill be severely punished. Then there are two or three orders that do notconcern us particularly, and then there is one that concerns you, Terence.The general has received a report from Colonel Corcoran of the MayoFusiliers stating that 'the transport carrying the left wing of thatregiment was attacked by two French privateers, and would have beencompelled to surrender, she being practically unarmed, had it not been forthe coolness and quick wit of Ensign Terence O'Connor. Having read thereport the general commanding fully concurs, and expresses his highsatisfaction at the conduct of Ensign O'Connor, which undoubtedly savedfrom capture the wing of the regiment.'

  "There, Terence, that is a feather in your cap. Sir Arthur is not given topraise unduly, and it is seldom that an ensign gets into general orders.It will do you good some day, perhaps when you least expect it."

  "I am heartily pleased, my lad," Captain O'Connor said, as he laid hishand upon Terence's shoulder. "I am proud of you. I have never seen my ownname in general orders, but I am heartily glad to see yours. Bedad, when Ithink that a couple of months ago you were running wild and getting intoall sorts of mischief, it seems hard to believe that you should not onlybe one of us, but have got your name into general orders."

  "And all for nothing, father," Terence said. "I call it a beastly shamethat just because I thought of using that lugger I should be cracked upmore than the others."

  "It was not only that, though, Terence; those guns that crippled thelugger could not have been fired if you had not thought of putting roperound them, and that French frigate would never have left you alone hadnot you suggested to the major how to throw dust into their eyes. No, mylad, you thoroughly deserve the credit that you have got, and I am surethat there is not a man in the regiment who would not say the same."

  "Gintlemen," Captain O'Grady said, solemnly, "we will drink to the healthof Ensign Terence O'Connor; more power to his elbow!" And the toast wasduly honoured.

  "It is mighty good of me to propose it," O'Grady went on, after Terencehad said a few words of thanks, "because I have a strong idea that inanother two or three minutes I should have made just the same suggestionthat you did, me lad. I knew at the time that there was a plan I wanted topropose, but sorra a word came to me lips. I was just brimful with it whenyou came up and took the words out of me mouth. If I had spoken first itis a brevet majority I had got, sure enough."

  "You must be quicker next time, O'Grady," the adjutant said, when thelaughter had subsided; "as you say, you have missed a good thing by yourslowness. I am afraid your brain was still a little muddled by yourindulgence the night before."

  "Just the contrary, me boy; I feel that if I had taken just one glass moreof the cratur me brain would have been clearer and I should have been tothe fore. But I bear you no malice, Terence. Maybe the ideas would nothave managed to straighten themselves out until after we had had to hauldown the flag, and then it would have been too late to have been any good.It has happened to me more than once before that I have just thought of agood thing when it was too late."

  "It has occurred to most of us, O'Grady," Captain O'Connor said, laughing."Terence, you see, doesn't care for whisky, and perhaps that has somethingto do with his ideas coming faster than ours. Well, so we are offto-morrow; though, of course, no one knows which way we are going tomarch, it must be either to Leirya or along the coast road. It is a goodthing Spencer has come up in time, for there is no saying how strong theFrench may be; though I fancy they are all so scattered about that, afterleaving a garrison to keep Lisbon in order, and holding other points,Junot will hardly be able at such short notice to gather a force muchsuperior to ours. But from what I hear there are some mighty strongpositions between this and Lisbon, and if he sticks himself up on the topof a hill we shall have all our work to turn him off again."

  "I fancy it will be to Leirya," the adjutant said; "the Portuguese reportthat one French division is at Candieros and another coming from Abrantes,and Sir Arthur is likely to endeavour to prevent them from uniting."

  That evening there was a grand feast at the mess-room. The colonel hadbeen specially invited, and every effort was made to do honour to theoccasion. Tim Hoolan had been very successful in a foraging expedition,and had brought in a goose and four ducks, and had persuaded thelandlord's nieces to let him and the cook have sole possession of thekitchen. The banquet was a great success, but the majority of thosepresent did not sit very long afterwards. The colonel set the example ofrising early.

  "I should advise you, gentlemen, to turn in soon," he said. "I do not saywhere we are to march to-morrow, but I can tell you at least that themarch is a very long one, and that it were best to get as much sleep aspossible, for I can assure you that it will be no child's play; and Ithink that it is quite probable we shall smell powder before the day isover."

  Accordingly, all the young officers and several of the seniors left withhim, but O'Grady and several of the hard drinkers kept it up untilmidnight, observing, however, more moderation than usual in theirpotations.

  There was none of the grumbling common when men are turned out of theirbeds before dawn; all were in high spirits that the time for action hadarrived; the men were as eager to meet the enemy as were their officers;and the tents were all down and placed in the waggons before daylight. Theregimental cooks had already been at work, and the officers went round andsaw that all had had breakfast before they fell in. At six o'clock thewhole were under arms and in their place as the central regiment in thebrigade. They tramped on without a halt until eleven; then the buglesounded, and they fell out for half an hour.

  The men made a meal from bread and the meat that had been cooked the nightbefore, each man carrying three days' rations in his haversack. There wasanother halt, and a longer one, at two o'clock, when the brigade restedfor an hour in the shade of a grove.

  "It is mighty pleasant to rest," O'Grady said, as the officers threwthemselves down on the grass, "but it is the starting that bates one. Ifeel that my feet have swollen so that every step I take I expect my bootsto burst with an explosion. Faith, if it comes to fighting I shall takethem off altogether, and swing them at my belt. How can I run after theFrench when I am a cripple?"

  "You had better take your boots off now, O'Grady," one of the otherssuggested.

  "It is not aisy to get them off, and how should I get them on again? No;they have got there, and there they have got to stop, bad cess to them! Itold Hoolan to rub grease into them for an hour last night, but the rascalwas as drunk as an owl."

  There was no more talking, for every man felt that an hour's sleep woulddo wonders for him; soon absolute quiet reigned in the grove, andcontinued until the bugle again called them to their feet. All knew nowthat it was Leirya they were making for, and that another ten miles stillremained to be accomplished. A small body of cavalry which accompaniedthem now pushed on ahead, and when half the distance had been traversed atrooper brought back the news that the enemy had not yet reached the town.It was just six o'clock when the brigade marched in amid the cheers andwild excitement of the inhabitants. The waggon
s were not yet up, and thetroops were quartered in the town, tired, and many of them foot-sore, butproud of the march they had accomplished, and that it had enabled them toforestall the French.

  Laborde, indeed, arrived the same night at Batalha, eight miles distant,but on receiving the news in the morning that the British had alreadyoccupied Leirya, he advanced no farther. His position was an exceedinglydifficult one; his orders were to cover the march of Loison from Abrantes,and to form a junction with that general; but to do so now would be toleave open the road through Alcobaca and Obidos to the commanding positionat Torres Vedras. Batalha offered no position that he could hope to defenduntil the arrival of Loison; therefore, sending word to that general tomove from Torras Novas, as soon as he reached that town, to Santarem, andthen to march to join him at Rolica, he fell back to Alcobaca and then toObidos, a town with a Moorish castle, built on a gentle eminence in themiddle of a valley.

  Leaving a detachment here, he retired to Rolica, six miles to the south ofit. At this point several roads met, and he at once covered all theapproaches to Torres Vedras, and the important port of Peniche, and couldbe joined by Loison marching down from Santarem.

  The advanced brigade of the British force remained in quiet possession ofLeirya during the next day, and on the following, the 11th of August, themain body of the army arrived, having taken two days on the march. ThePortuguese force also came in under Friere. That general at once tookpossession of the magazines there, and although he had promised theEnglish general that their contents should be entirely devoted to themaintenance of the English army, he divided them among his own force. Disgusted as the British commander was at this barefaced dishonesty, hewas not in a position to quarrel with the Portuguese. It was essential tohim that they should accompany him, not for the sake of the assistancethat they would give, for he knew that none was to be expected from them,but from a political point of view. It was most important that the peopleat large should feel that their own troops were acting with the British,and that no feelings of jealousy or suspicion of the latter should arise.Friere was acting under the orders of the Bishop and Junta of Oporto,whose great object was to keep the Portuguese army together and not torisk a defeat, as they desired to keep this body intact in order that, ifthe British were defeated, they should be able to make favourable termsfor themselves. Consequently, even after appropriating the whole of thestores and provisions found at Leirya, Friere continued to make exorbitantdemands, and to offer a vigorous opposition to any further advance.

  So far did he carry this that the British general, finding that in noother way could he get the Portuguese to advance with him, proposed thatthey should follow behind him and wait the result of the battle, to whichFriere at last consented. The Portuguese, in fact, had no belief whateverthat the British troops would be able to withstand the onslaught of theFrench, whom they regarded as invincible. Colonel Trant, however, one ofour military agents, succeeded in inducing Friere to place 1,400 infantryand 250 cavalry under the command of Sir Arthur.

  The addition of the cavalry was a very useful one, for the English hadwith them only 180 mounted men; the country was entirely new to them,scarcely an officer could speak the language, and there was no means,therefore, of obtaining information as to the movements of the enemy.Moving forward through Batalha, and regaining the coast road at Alcobaca,the British forces arrived at Caldas on the 15th; and on the same dayJunot quitted Lisbon with a force of 2,000 infantry, 2,000 cavalry, andten pieces of artillery, leaving 7,000 to garrison the forts and keep downthe population of the city. His force was conveyed to Villa Franca bywater, and the general then pushed forward to Santarem, where he foundLoison, and took command of his division.

  The British advanced guard, after arriving at Caldas, pushed forward,drove the French pickets out of Brilos, and then from Obidos. Here,however, a slight reverse took place. Some companies of the 95th and 60thRifles pressed forward three miles farther in pursuit, when they weresuddenly attacked in flank by a greatly superior force, and had it notbeen that General Spencer, whose division was but a short distance behind,pressed forward to their assistance, they would have suffered heavily; asit was they escaped with the loss of two officers and twenty-seven menkilled and wounded. Their rashness, however, led to the discovery thatLaborde's force had taken up a strong position in front of the village ofRolica, and that he apparently intended to give battle there.

  The next day was spent in reconnoitring the French position. It was a verystrong one. Rolica stood on a table-land rising in a valley, affording aview of the road as far as Obidos. The various points of defence there,and on the flank, were held by strong parties of the enemy. A mile in therear was a steep and lofty ridge that afforded a strong second line ofdefence. By the side of this ridge the road passed through a deep defile,and then mounted over a pass through the range of hills extending from thesea to the Tagus, and occupying the intermediate ground until close toLisbon. Laborde's position was an embarrassing one. If he retired uponTorres Vedras his line of communication with Loison would be lost, if hemoved to meet Loison he would leave open the direct road to Lisbon, whileif he remained at Rolica he had to encounter a force almost three timeshis own strength.

  Trusting in the advantages of his position, and confident in the valour ofhis troops, he chose the last alternative. Very anxiously, during the day,the British officers watched the French line of defence, fearful lest theenemy would again retreat. By sunset they came to the conclusion thatLaborde intended to stay where he was, and to meet them. The French,indeed, had been so accustomed to beat the Spanish and Portuguese, thatthey had not woke up to the fact that they had troops of a very differentmaterial facing them.

  "We ought to have easy work," Major Harrison said, as the officersgathered round the fire that had been built in front of the colonel'stent; "the people here all declare that Laborde has not above 5,000 troopswith him, while, counting Trant's Portuguese, we have nearly 14,000."

  "There will be no credit in thrashing them with such odds as that," DickRyan grumbled.

  "I suppose, Ryan," Major Harrison said, "if you had been in Sir Arthur'splace you would have preferred remaining at Leirya until Junot could havegathered all his forces, and obtained a reinforcement of some fiftythousand or so from Spain, then you would have issued a general ordersaying, that as the enemy had now a hundred thousand troops ready, thearmy would advance and smite them."

  "Not so bad as that, Major," the young ensign said, colouring, as therewas a general laugh from the rest; "but there does not seem muchsatisfaction in thrashing an enemy when we are three to one against him."

  "But that is just the art of war, Ryan. Of course, it is glorious todefeat a greatly superior army and to lose half your own in doing so; thatmay be heroic, but it is not modern war. The object of a general is, ifpossible, to defeat an enemy in detail, and to so manoeuvre that he isalways superior in strength to the force that is immediately in front ofhim, and so to ensure victory after victory until the enemy are destroyed.That is what the general is doing by his skilful manoeuvring; he hasprevented Junot from massing the whole of the army of Portugal against us.

  "To-morrow we shall defeat Laborde, and doubtless a day or two later weshall fight Loison; then I suppose we shall advance against Lisbon, Junotwill collect his beaten troops and his garrison, there will be anotherbattle, and then we shall capture Lisbon, and the French will have toevacuate Portugal. Whereas, if all the French were at Rolica they wouldprobably smash us into a cocked hat, in spite of any valour we might show;and as we have no cavalry to cover a retreat, as the miserable horses canscarcely drag the few guns that we have got, and the carriages are sorickety that the artillery officers are afraid that as soon as they firethem they will shake to pieces, it is not probable that a single man wouldregain our ships."

  "Please say no more, Major; I see I was a fool."

  "Still," Captain O'Connor said, "you must own, Major, that one does liketo win against odds."

  "Quite so, O'Connor; individual
s who may survive such a battle no doubtwould be glad that it was a superior force that they had beaten, but thenyou see battles are not fought for the satisfaction of individuals.Moreover, you must remember that the proportion of loss is much heavierwhen the numbers are pretty equally matched, for in that case they mustmeet to a certain extent face to face. Skill on the part of the generalmay do a great deal, but in the end it must come to sheer hard fighting.Now, I expect that to-morrow, although there may be hard fighting, it isnot upon that that Sir Arthur will principally rely for turning the Frenchout of those strong positions.

  "He will, no doubt, advance directly against them with perhaps half hisforce, but the rest will move along on the top of the heights, and sothreaten to cut the French line of retreat altogether. Laborde is, theysay, a good general, and therefore won't wait until he is caught in atrap, but will fall back as soon as he sees that the line of retreat isseriously menaced. I fancy, too, that he must expect Loison up some timetomorrow, or he would hardly make a stand, and if Loison does come up,Ryan's wish will be gratified and we shall be having the odds against us.

  "Then you must remember that our army is a very raw one. A largeproportion of it is newly raised, and though there may be a few men herewho fought in Egypt, the great bulk have never seen a shot fired inearnest; while, on the other hand, the French have been fighting all overEurope. They are accustomed to victory, and are confident in their ownvalour and discipline. Our officers are as raw as our men, and we mustexpect that all sorts of blunders will be made at first. I can tell youthat I am very well satisfied that our first battle is going to be foughtwith the odds greatly on our side. In six months I should feel prettyconfident, even if the French had the same odds on their side."

  "The major gave it you rather hotly, Dick," Terence said to his friend, asthey sauntered off together from the group. "I am glad that you spokefirst, for I had it on the tip of my tongue to say just what you did, andI expect that a good many of the others felt just the same."

  "Yes, I put my foot in it badly, Terence. I have no doubt the major wasright; anyhow, I have nothing to say against it. But for all that I wishthat either we were not so strong or that they were stronger. What creditis there, I should like to know, in thrashing them when we are three toone? Anyhow, I hope that we shall have some share in the scrimmage. Weshall get an idea when the orders are published to-night, and shall seewhere Fane's brigade is to be put."

  CHAPTER V

  ROLICA AND VIMIERA

  At nine o'clock in the evening it became known that the general plan ofattack predicted by Major Harrison was to be carried out. Some fivethousand men under General Ferguson were to ascend the hills on the leftof the valley, while Trant, with a thousand Portuguese infantry and somePortuguese horse, were to move on the hills on the right; the centre, ninethousand strong, and commanded by Sir Arthur himself, were to marchstraight up the valley.

  Early in the morning the British troops marched out from Obidos.Ferguson's command at once turned to the left and ascended the hills,while Trant's moved to the west.

  After proceeding a short distance, Fane's brigade moved off from the roadand marched along the valley, equidistant from the main body and fromFerguson, forming a connecting link between them; and on reaching thevillage of St. Mamed, three-quarters of a mile from the French position,Hill's brigade turned off to the right. From their elevated position theFrench opened fire with their artillery, and this was answered by thetwelve guns in the valley and from Ferguson's six guns on the heights.Fane's brigade, extended to its left, was the first in action, and droveback the French skirmishers and connected Ferguson with the centre. Theythen turned to attack the right of the French position; while Ferguson,seeing no signs of Loison's force, descended from the high ground to therear of Fane, while the Portuguese pressed forward at the foot of thehills on the other side of the valley and threatened the enemy's leftflank.

  BATTLE OF ROLICA map.]

  Seeing that his position was absolutely untenable, Laborde did not waitthe assault, but fell back, covered by his cavalry, to the far strongerposition in his rear. A momentary pause ensued before the Britishcontinued their advance. The new position of the French was of greatnatural strength, and could be approached only by narrow paths winding upthrough deep ravines on its face. Ferguson and Fane received orders tokeep to the left, and so turn the enemy's right. Trant similarly was topush forward and threaten his left flank, while Hill and Nightingaleadvanced against the front.

  The battle commenced by a storm of skirmishers from these brigades runningforward. These soon reached the foot of the precipitous hill and plungedinto the passes. Neither the fire of the enemy nor the difficulties of theascent checked them. Spreading right and left from the paths they madetheir way up, and taking advantage of the shelter afforded by greatboulders, broken masses of rock, and the stumps of trees, climbed upwherever they could find a foothold. The supporting columns experiencedmuch greater difficulty; the paths were too narrow, and the ground toobroken for them to retain their formation, and they made their way forwardas best they could in necessary disorder.

  The din of battle was prodigious, for the rattle of musketry was echoedand re-echoed from the rocks. The progress of the skirmishers could onlybe noted by the light smoke rising through the foliage and by the shoutsof the soldiers, which were echoed by the still louder ones of the French,gathered strongly on the hill above them. As the British made their wayup, Laborde, who was still anxiously looking for the expected coming ofLoison, withdrew a portion of his troops from the left and strengthenedhis right, in order to hold on as long as possible on the side from whichaid was expected. The ardour of the British to get to close quartersfavoured this movement.

  It had been intended that the 9th and 29th Regiments should take theright-hand path where the track they were following up the pass forked,and so join Trant's Portuguese at the top of the hill and fall upon theFrench left. The left-hand path, however, was the one that would take themdirect to the enemy, and the 29th, which was leading, took this, and the9th followed them. So rapidly did they press up the hill that they arrivedat the crest before Ferguson and Fane, on the left, and Trant on theright, had got far enough to menace the line of retreat, and so shake theenemy's position. The consequence was, that as the right wing of the 29tharrived at the top of the path it was met by a very heavy fire before itcould form, and some companies of a French regiment, who had been cut offfrom the main body by its sudden appearance, charged through thedisordered troops and carried with them a major and fifty or sixty otherprisoners.

  The rest of the wing, thus exposed to the full fire of the French, fellback over the crest, and there rallied on the left wing; and being joinedby the 9th, pushed forward again and obtained a footing on the plateau.Laborde in vain endeavoured to hurl them back again. They maintained theirfooting, but suffered heavily, both the colonels being killed, with manyofficers and men. But the 5th Regiment were now up, and at other pointsthe British were gathering thickly at the edge of the plateau. Fergusonand Trant were pushing on fast past the French flanks, and Laborde, seeingthat further resistance would lead to great disaster, gave the order toretire to a third position, still farther in the rear. The movement wasconducted in splendid order. The French steadily fell back by alternatemasses, their guns thundering on their flanks, while their cavalry coveredthe rear by repeated charges.

  Gaining the third position, Laborde held it for a time, and so enabledisolated bodies of his force to join him. Then, finding himself unable toresist the impetuosity of the British attack, he retired, still disputingevery foot of ground, and took to the narrow pass of Runa. He then marchedall night to the strong position of Montechique, thereby securing hisjunction with Loison, but leaving the road to Torres Vedras open to theBritish. The loss of the French in this fight was 600 killed and wounded,and three guns. Laborde himself was among the wounded. The British lostnearly 500 killed, wounded, or taken prisoners. The number of thecombatants actually engaged on either side was about 4,000
, and the losssustained showed the obstinacy of the fighting. Sir Arthur believed thatthe French had, as they retreated, been joined by Loison, and thereforeprepared to march at once by the coast-line to seize the heights of TorresVedras before the French could throw themselves in his way.

  Great was the disappointment among officers and men of the Mayo Fusiliersthat they had taken no part whatever in the actual fighting, beyonddriving in the French skirmishers at the beginning of the operations.

  "Divil a man killed or wounded!" Captain O'Grady remarked, mournfully, asthe regiment halted at the conclusion of the fight. "Faith, it is too bad,entirely; there we are left out in the cold, and scarce a shot has beenfired!"

  "There are plenty of others in the same case," Captain O'Driscol said."None of our three brigades on the left have had anything to do with thematter, as far as fighting went. I don't think more than four thousand ofour troops were in action; but you see if it had not been for our advance,Hill and Nightingale might not have succeeded in driving Laborde off thehill. There is no doubt that the French fought well, but it's our advancethat forced him to retire, not the troops in front of him; so that, evenif we have not had any killed or wounded, O'Grady, we have at least thesatisfaction of having contributed to the victory."

  "Oh, bother your tactics! We have come here to fight, and no fighting havewe had at all, at all. When we marched out this morning it looked as if wewere going to have our share in the divarshon, and we have been fairlychated out of it."

  "Well, O'Grady, you should not grumble," Terence said, "for we had somefighting on the way out, which is more than any of the other troops had."

  "That was a mere skirmish, Terence. First of all we were shot at, andcould not shoot back again; and thin we shot at the enemy, and they couldnot shoot back at us. And as for the boarding affair, faith, it did notlast a minute. The others have had two hours of steady fighting,clambering up the hill, and banging away at the enemy, and shouting andcheering, and all sorts of fun; and there were we, tramping along amongthose bastely stones and rocks, and no one as much as took the trouble tofire a shot at us!"

  "Well, if we had been there, O'Grady, we should have lost about a hundredand twenty men and officers--if we had suffered in the same proportion asthe others--and we should now be mourning their loss--perhaps you amongthem. We might have been saying: 'There is O'Grady gone; he was a beggarto talk, but he meant well. Faith, the drink bill of the regiment willfall off.'"

  "Well, it might have been so," O'Grady said, in a more contented voice;"and if I had been killed going up the hill, without even as much ascatching a glimpse of the Frenchies, I would niver have forgiventhem--niver!"

  There was a roar of laughter at the bull.

  "Phwat is it have I said?" he asked, in surprise.

  "Nothing, O'Grady; but it would be an awful thing for the French to knowthat after your death you would have gone on hating them for ever."

  "Did I say that? But you know my maneing, and as long as you know that,what does it matter which way I put it? Well, now, I suppose Sir Arthur isgoing to take us tramping along again. Ah, it is a weary thing being asoldier!"

  "Why, you were saying yesterday, O'Grady, that your feet were getting allright," Terence said.

  "All right in a manner, Terence. And it is a bad habit that you have gotof picking up your supayrior officer's words and throwing them into histeeth. You will come to a bad end if you don't break yourself of it; andthe worst of it is, you are corrupting the other lads, and the youngofficers are losing all respect for their seniors. I am surprised, Major,that you and the colonel don't take the matter in hand before thediscipline of the regiment is destroyed entirely."

  "You draw it upon yourself, O'Grady, and it is good for us all to have alaugh sometimes. We should all have missed you sorely had you gone down onthat hill over there--as many a good fellow has done. I hear that both the9th and 29th have lost their colonels."

  "The Lord presarve us from such a misfortune, Major! It would give us astep all through the regiment; but then, you see--" And he stopped.

  "You mean I should be colonel, O'Grady," the major said, with a laugh;"and you know I should not take things as quietly as he does. Well, yousee, there are consolations all round."

  The firing had ceased at four o'clock, and until late that night a largeportion of the force were occupied in searching the ground that had beentraversed, burying the dead, and carrying the wounded of bothnationalities down into the hospital that had been established at Rolica.Sir Arthur determined to march at daybreak, so as to secure the passesthrough Torres Vedras; but in the evening a messenger arrived with thenews that Anstruther and Acland's division, with a large fleet ofstore-ships, were off the coast. The dangerous nature of the coast, andthe certainty that, should a gale spring up, a large proportion of theships would be wrecked, rendered it absolutely necessary to secure thedisembarkation of the troops at once. The next morning, therefore, he onlymarched ten miles to Lourinha, and thence advanced to Vimiera, eight milesfarther, where he covered the disembarkation of the troops.

  The next day Anstruther's brigade were with difficulty, and some loss,landed on an open sandy beach, and on the night of the 20th Acland'sbrigade were disembarked at Maciera Bay. The reinforcements were mostopportune, for already the British had proof that Junot was preparing aheavy blow. That general had, indeed, lost no time in taking steps tobring on a decisive battle. While the British were marching to Lourinha,he had, with Loison's division, crossed the line of Laborde's retreat, andon the same evening reached Torres Vedras, where the next day he wasjoined by Laborde, and on the 20th by his reserve. In the meantime he sentforward his cavalry, which scoured the country round the rear of theBritish camp, and prevented the general from obtaining any informationwhatever as to his position or intentions.

  The arrival of Acland's brigade on the night of the 20th increased thefighting strength of the army to 16,000 men, with eighteen guns, exclusiveof Trant's Portuguese, while Sir Arthur judged that Junot could not putmore than 14,000 in the field. Previous to leaving Mondego he had sent toSir Harry Burrard notice of his plan of campaign, advising him to let SirJohn Moore, on his arrival with 5,000 men, disembark there and march onSantarem, where he would protect the left of the army in its advance,block the line of the Tagus, and menace the French line of communicationbetween Lisbon and the important fortress of Elvas. The ground at Santaremwas suited for defence, and Moore could be joined with Friere, who wasstill, with his 5,000 men, at Leirya.

  The general intended to make a forced march, keeping by the sea-road. Astrong advance guard would press forward and occupy the formidableposition of Mathia in the rear of the hills. With the main body heintended to seize some heights a few miles behind Torres Vedras, and tocut the road between that place and Montechique, on the direct road toLisbon, and so interpose between Junot and the capital. At twelve o'clockthat night Sir Arthur was roused by a messenger, who reported that Junot,with 20,000 men, was advancing to attack him, and was but an hour's marchdistant. He disbelieved the account of the force of the enemy, and had nodoubt but that the messenger's fears had exaggerated the closeness of hisapproach. He therefore contented himself with sending orders to thepickets to use redoubled vigilance, and at daylight the whole Britishforce was, as usual, under arms.

  Nothing could have suited the British commander better than that Junotshould attack him, for the position of Vimiera was strong. The town wassituated in a valley, through which the little river Maciera flows. Inthis were placed the commissariat stores, while the cavalry and Portuguesewere on a small plain behind the village. In front of Vimiera was a steephill with a flat top, commanding the ground to the south and east for aconsiderable distance. Fane's and Anstruther's infantry, with six guns,were posted here. Fane's left rested on a churchyard, blocking a roadwhich led round the declivity of the hill to the town. Behind thisposition, and separated by the river and road, was a hill extending in ahalf-moon to the sea.

  BATTLE OF VIMIERA. map]

&nbs
p; Five brigades of infantry, forming the British right, occupied thismountain. On the other side of the ravine formed by the river, just beyondVimiera, was another strong and narrow range of heights. There was nowater to be found on this ridge, and only the 40th Regiment and somepickets were stationed here. It was vastly better to be attacked in such aposition than to be compelled to storm the heights of Torres Vedras, heldby a strong French army. The advance of the French was fortunate inanother respect. On the 20th Sir Harry Burrard arrived in the bay on boarda frigate, and Sir Arthur, thus superseded, went on board to report theposition of affairs, renewing his recommendation that Sir John Mooreshould land at Mondego and march to Santarem. Sir Harry Burrard, however,had already determined that his force should land at Maciera, and herefused to permit Sir Arthur's plan of advance to be carried out, andordered that no offensive step should be undertaken until Sir John Moorehad landed.

  The advance of Junot, happily, left Wellesley at liberty to act; anddisposing his force in order of battle, he awaited the appearance of theenemy. It was not until seven o'clock that a cloud of dust was seen risingabove the opposite ridge, and an hour later a body of cavalry crowned theheight and sent out a swarm of scouts in every direction. Almostimmediately afterwards a body of cavalry and infantry were seen marchingalong the road from Torres Vedras to Lourinha, threatening to turn theleft of the British position. As the British right was not menaced, fourof the brigades on the hill on that flank were ordered to cross the valleyand to take post with the 40th Regiment for the defence of the ridge.

  This movement, being covered by the Vimiera heights, was unseen by theenemy; the 5th brigade and the Portuguese were on a second ridge behindthe other, and thus assisted to cover the English left and protect itsrear. The ground between the crest on which the French were first seen andour position was so thickly covered with wood, that after the enemy haddescended into it no correct view of their movements could be obtained.

  Junot had intended to fall upon the English army at daybreak, but thedefiles through which the force had to pass had delayed the march, as hadthe fatigue of the troops, who had been marching all night. From theheight from which he obtained a view of the British position it seemed tohim that the British centre and right were held in great strength, andthat the left was almost unguarded. He therefore determined to attack uponthat flank, which, indeed, was in any case the most favourable, as, werehe successful there, he would cut the line of the British retreat and penthem up on the sea-shore.

  The march of the four brigades through Vimiera to take post on the Britishleft was hidden from him, and he divided his force into two heavy columns,one of which was to attack the British left, and having, mounted theheight to sweep all before it into the town; the other was to attackVimiera Hill, held by Anstruther and Fane.

  Brennier commanded the attack against the left, Laborde against thecentre, Loison followed at a short distance. Kellermann commanded thereserve of Grenadiers. Unfortunately for the success of Junot's plan, hewas unaware of the fact that along the foot of the ridge on the Britishleft ran a deep ravine, that rendered it very difficult to attack exceptat the extreme end of the position.

  "We are going to have our share of the fun to-day," O'Grady said, as hestood with a group of officers, watching the wooded plain and the head ofLaborde's column debouching from among the trees, and moving towards thehill.

  There was a general murmur of satisfaction from the officers, for althoughthey had all laughed at O'Grady's exaggerated regrets at their not beingengaged at Rolica, all were somewhat sore at the regiment having had noopportunity of distinguishing itself on that occasion. No sooner had thecolumn cleared the wood than the six guns posted with Fane's andAnstruther's brigade at once opened fire upon it. It had been intendedthat Brennier's attack should begin at the same time as Laborde's, butthat advance had been stopped by the defile, which was so steep and soencumbered with rocks, brushwood, and trees, that his troops had the mostextreme difficulty in making their way across. This enabled Acland, whosebrigade was in the act of mounting the heights from the town, to turn hisbattery against Laborde's column, which was thus smitten with a shower ofgrape both in front and flank, and to this was added a heavy musketry firefrom the three brigades.

  "Take it easy, lads, take it easy," the colonel said, as he walked up anddown the ranks. "They are hardly in range yet, and you had better keepyour ammunition until they get to the foot of the hill, then you can blazeaway as hard as you like."

  Junot, receiving news of the arrest of Brennier's column and the obstaclesthat he had encountered, and seeing that the whole British fire was nowdirected against Laborde, ordered Loison to support that general with onebrigade, and directed Solignac to turn the ravine in which Brennier wasentangled and to fall upon the left extremity of the enemy's line.

  Fane had been given discretionary power to call up the reserve artilleryposted in the village behind him, and seeing so strong an attack againsthis position about to be made called it up to the top of the hill.

  Loison and Laborde now formed their troops into three columns of attack.One advanced against that part of the hill held by Anstruther's brigade,another endeavoured to penetrate by the road past the church on Fane'sextreme left, while the main column, represented by a large number of thebest troops, advanced against the centre of the position. The reserveartillery, and the battery originally there, opened a terrible fire, whichwas aided by the musketry of the infantry. But with loud shouts the Frenchpressed forward, and although already shaken by the terrible fire of theartillery, and breathless from their exertions, they gained the crest ofthe hill. Before they could re-form a tremendous volley was poured intothem, and with a wild yell the Mayo Fusiliers and the 50th charged them infront and flank and hurled them down the hill.

  In the meantime, Anstruther, having repulsed the less serious attack madeon him, detached the 43d to check the enemy's column moving through thechurchyard, and prevented their advance until Kellermann brought up aforce of Grenadiers, who, running forward with loud shouts, drove back theadvanced companies of the 43d. The guns on the heights were turned uponthem with great effect, and those of Acland's and Bowe's brigades on theleft of the ridge took them in flank and brought them almost to astand-still; then the 43d, in one mass, charged furiously down on thecolumn, and after a fierce struggle drove them back in confusion.

  The French attacks on this side had now completely failed, and ColonelTaylor, riding out with his little body of cavalry, dashed out into theconfused mass, slaying and scattering it. Margaron, who commanded asuperior force of French cavalry, led them down through their infantry,and falling upon the British force killed Taylor and cut half his squadronto pieces. Kellermann took post with his reserve of Grenadiers in apine-wood in advance of the wooded country through which they hadadvanced, while Margaron's horsemen maintained a position covering theretreat of the fugitives into the wood. At this moment Solignac reachedhis assigned position and encountered Ferguson's brigade, which was on theextreme left of the division, and was taken by surprise on finding a forceequal to his own where he had expected to find the hill untenanted.Ferguson was drawn up in three lines on a steep declivity. A heavyartillery fire opened upon the French as soon as they were seen, while the5th brigade and the Portuguese marched along the next ridge and threatenedthe enemy's rear.

  Ferguson did not wait to be attacked, but marched his brigade against theFrench, who, falling fast under the musketry and artillery fire which hadswept their lines, fell back fighting to the farthest edge of the ridge.Solignac was carried off severely wounded, and his brigade was cut offfrom its line of retreat and driven into a low valley, in which stood thevillage of Peranza, leaving six guns behind them. Ferguson left tworegiments to guard these guns, and with the rest of his force pressed hardupon the French; but at this moment Brennier, who had at last surmountedthe difficulties that had detained him, fell upon the two regimentssuddenly, and retook the guns.

  The 82d and 71st, speedily recovered from their surprise, rall
ied on somehigher ground, and then, after pouring in a tremendous volley of musketry,charged with a mighty shout and overthrew the French brigade and recoveredthe guns. Brennier himself was wounded and taken prisoner, and Fergusonhaving completely broken up the brigade opposed to him would have forcedthe greater part of Solignac's troops to surrender, if he had not beenrequired to halt by an unexpected order. The French veterans speedilyrallied, and in admirable order, protected by their cavalry, marched offto join their comrades who had been defeated in their attack upon theBritish centre.

  It was now twelve o'clock; the victory was complete; thirteen guns hadbeen captured. Neither the 1st, 5th, nor Portuguese brigades had fired ashot, and the 4th and 8th had suffered very little, therefore Sir Arthurresolved with these five brigades to push Junot closely, while Hill,Anstruther, and Fane were to march forward as far as Torres Vedras, and,pushing on to Montechique, cut him off from Lisbon. Had this operationbeen executed Junot would probably have lost all his artillery, and seventhousand stragglers would have been driven to seek shelter under the gunsof Elvas, from which fortress, however, he would have been cut off hadMoore landed as Sir Arthur wished at Mondego. Unhappily, however, thelatter was no longer commander-in-chief. Sir Harry Burrard, who had beenpresent at the action, had not interfered with the arrangements, but assoon as victory was won he assumed command, sent an order arrestingFerguson's career of victory, and forbade all further offensive operationsuntil the arrival of Sir John Moore.

  The adjutant-general and quartermaster supported his views, and SirArthur's earnest representations were disregarded. Sir Arthur's plan wouldprobably have been crowned with success, but it was not without peril. TheFrench had rallied with extraordinary rapidity under the protection oftheir cavalry. The British artillery-carriages were so shaken as to bealmost unfit for service, the horses insufficient in number and wretchedin quality, the commissariat waggons in the greatest confusion, and thehired Portuguese vehicles had made off in every direction. The Britishcavalry were totally destroyed, and two French regiments had just madetheir appearance on the ridge behind the wood where Junot's troops werereforming.

  Sir Harry Burrard, with a caution characteristic of age, refused to adoptWellesley's bold plan. A great success had been gained, and that wouldhave been imperilled by Junot's falling with all his force upon one orother of the British columns. Sir Arthur himself, at a later period, whena commission was appointed by Parliament to inquire into thecircumstances, admitted that, though he still believed that success wouldhave attended his own plan, he considered that Sir Harry Burrard'sdecision was fully justified on military grounds.

  Junot took full advantage of the unexpected cessation of hostilities. Here-formed his broken army on the arrival of the two regiments, whichbrought it up to its original strength; and then, covered by his cavalry,marched in good order until darkness fell. He had regained the command ofthe passes of Torres Vedras, and the two armies occupied precisely thesame positions that they had done on the previous evening.

  One general, thirteen guns, and several hundred prisoners fell into thehands of the British, and Junot's total loss far exceeded that of theBritish, which was comparatively small. At the commencement of the fightthe British force was more than two thousand larger than that of theFrench, but of these only a half had taken an active part in the battle,while every man in Junot's army had been sent forward to the attack.

  Sir Harry Burrard's command was a short one, for on the following morningSir Hew Dalrymple superseded him. Thus in twenty-four hours a battle hadbeen fought and the command of the army had been three times changed, astriking proof of the abject folly and incapacity of the British ministryof the day.

  Two of these three commanders arrived fresh on the scene without anyprevious knowledge of the situation, and all three differed from eachother in their views regarding the general plan of the campaign; the lasttwo were men without any previous experience in the handling of largebodies of troops, and without any high military reputation; while the mandisplaced had already shown the most brilliant capacity in India, and wasuniversally regarded as the best general in the British service. Dalrympleadopted neither the energetic action advised by Sir Arthur nor theinactivity supported by Burrard, but, taking a middle course, decided toadvance on the following morning, but not to go far until Sir John Moorelanded at Maciera.

  Sir Arthur was strongly opposed to this policy. He pointed out that therewere at present on shore but seven or eight days' provisions for the forceat Vimiera. No further supplies could be obtained in the country, and atany moment a gale might arise and scatter or destroy the fleet, from whichalone they could draw supplies during their advance. The debate on thesubject was continuing when the French general, Kellermann, bearing a flagof truce and escorted by a strong body of cavalry, arrived at the outpostsand desired a conference. The news was surprising, indeed. Junot's forcewas practically unshaken. He possessed all the strong places in Portugal,and could have received support in a short time from the French forces inSpain.

  Upon the other hand, the position of the British, even after winning avictory, was by no means a satisfactory one; they had already learnt thatit was useless to rely in the slightest degree upon Portuguese promises orPortuguese assistance, and that, even in the matter of provisions andcarriage, their commander-in-chief expected to be maintained by those whohad come to aid in freeing the country of the French, instead of thesereceiving any help from him. In carriage the British army was whollydeficient; of cavalry they had none. When Sir John Moore landed therewould be but four days' provisions on-shore for the army, and were thefleet driven off by a gale, starvation would at once threaten them.

  The gallantry with which the French had fought in both engagements, theskill with which they had been handled, and above all, the quickness andsteadiness with which, after defeat, they had closed up their ranks anddrawn off in excellent order, showed that the task of expelling suchtroops from the country would, even if all went well in other respects, bea very formidable one, and the offer of a conference was therefore at onceembraced by Sir Hew Dalrymple.

  Kellermann was admitted to the camp. His mission was to demand a cessationof arms in order that Junot might, under certain conditions, evacuatePortugal. The advantage of freeing the country from the French withoutfurther fighting was so evident that Sir Hew at once agreed to discuss theterms, and took Sir Arthur Wellesley into his counsels. The latter quiteagreed with the policy by which a strong French army would be quietly gotout of the country, in which it held all the military posts and strongpositions. A great moral effect would be produced, and the whole resourcesof Portugal would then be available for operations in Spain.

  By the afternoon the main points of the convention had been generallyagreed upon. The French were to evacuate Portugal, and were to be conveyedin the English vessels to France with their property, public or private.There was to be no persecution of persons who had been the adherents ofFrance during the occupation; the only serious difference that arose wasas to the Russian fleet in the Tagus. Kellermann proposed to have itguaranteed from capture, with leave to return to the Baltic. This,however, was refused, and the question was referred to Admiral Cotton,who, as chief representative of England, would have to approve of thetreaty before it could be signed.

  Kellermann returned to Lisbon with Colonel Murray, thequartermaster-general, and after three days' negotiations the treaty wasfinally concluded, the Russian difficulty being settled by their vesselsbeing handed over to the British, and the crew transported in Englishships to the Baltic. The convention was, under the circumstances,unquestionably a most advantageous one. It would have cost long and severefighting and the siege of several very strong fortresses before the Frenchcould have been turned out of Portugal. Heavy siege-guns would have beennecessary for these operations. At the very shortest calculation a yearwould have been wasted, very heavy loss of life incurred, and an immenseexpenditure of money before the result, now obtained so suddenly andunexpectedly, had been arrived at.
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  Nevertheless, the news of the convention was received with a burst ofpopular indignation in England, where the public, wholly ignorant of thedifficulty of the situation, had formed the most extravagant hopes,founded on the two successes obtained by their troops. The result was thata commission was appointed to investigate the whole matter. The threeEnglish generals were summoned to England to attend before it, and sogross were the misrepresentations and lies by which the public had beendeceived by the agents of the unscrupulous and ambitious Bishop of Oportoand his confederates, that it was even proposed to bring the generals totrial who had in so short a time and with such insufficient means freedPortugal from the French. Sir John Moore remained in command of the troopsin Portugal.

  CHAPTER VI

  A PAUSE

  The Mayo Fusiliers had suffered their full proportion of losses at thebattle of Vimiera. Major Harrison had been killed, Captain O'Connor hadbeen severely wounded, as his company had been thrown forward asskirmishers on the face of the hill, and a third of their number hadfallen when Laborde's great column had driven them in as it charged up theascent. Terence's father had been brought to the ground by a ball thatstruck him near the hip; had been trampled on by the French as they passedup over him, and again on their retreat; and he was insensible when, assoon as the enemy retired, a party was sent down to bring up the wounded.By the death of the major, O'Connor, as senior captain, now attained thatrank, but the doctor pronounced that it would be a long time before hewould be able to take up his duties. Another captain and three subalternshad been killed, and several other officers had been wounded. Among thesewas O'Grady, whose left arm had been carried away below the elbow by around shot. As Terence was in the other wing of the regiment he did nothear of his father's wounds until after the battle was over, and on theorder being given that there was to be no pursuit the regiment fell out ofits ranks. As soon as the news reached him he obtained permission to godown to Vimiera, where the church and other buildings had been turned intotemporary hospitals, to which the seriously wounded had been carried assoon as the French retired. Hurrying down, he soon learned where thewounded of General Fane's brigade had been taken. He found the tworegimental doctors hard at work. O'Flaherty came up to Terence as soon ashe saw him enter the barn that had been hastily converted into a hospitalby covering the floor deeply with straw.

  'I should not have minded being hit, Father, if you hadescaped.']

  "I think your father will do, Terence, my boy," he said, cheeringly; "wehave just got the bullet out of his leg, and we hope that it has nottouched the bone, though we cannot be altogether sure. We shall know moreabout that when we have got through the rough of our work. Still, we haveevery hope that he will do well. He is next the door at the further end;we put him there to let him get as much fresh air as possible, for, by thepowers, this place is like a furnace!"

  Captain O'Connor was lying on his back, the straw having been arranged soas to raise his shoulders and head. He smiled when Terence came up to him.

  "Thank God you have got safely through it, lad!"

  "I should not have minded being hit, father, if you had escaped," Terencesaid, with difficulty suppressing a sob, while in spite of his efforts thetears rolled down his cheeks.

  "The doctors say I shall pull through all right. I hear poor Harrison iskilled; he was a good fellow. Though it has given me my step, I amheartily sorry. So we have thrashed them, lad; that is a comfort. I wasafraid when they went up the hill that they might be too much for us, andI was delighted when I heard them coming tearing down again, though I hadnot much time to think about it. They had stepped over me pretty much asthey went up, but they had no time to pick their way as they came backagain, and after one or two had jumped on me, I remembered no more aboutit until I found myself here with O'Flaherty probing the wound and hurtingme horribly. I am bruised all over, and I wonder some of my ribs are notbroken; at present they hurt me a good deal more than this wound in thehip. Still, that is only an affair of a day or two. Who have been killedbesides the major?"

  "Dorman, Phillips, and Henderson are killed. O'Grady is wounded, I hear,and so are Saunders, Byrne, and Sullivan; there have been some others hit,but not seriously; they did not have to fall out."

  "O'Grady is over on the other side somewhere, Terence; I heard his voicejust now. Go and see where he is hurt."

  O'Grady was sitting up with his back to the wall; the sleeves of hisjacket and shirt had been cut off, and a tourniquet was on his arm justabove the elbow.

  "Well, Terence," he said, cheerfully, "I am in luck, you see."

  "I can't see any luck about it, O'Grady."

  "Why, man, it might have been my right arm, and where should I have beenthen? As to the left arm, one can do without it very well. Then, again, itis lucky that the ball hit me below the elbow and not above it. O'Flahertysays they will be able to make a dacent job of it, and that after a bitthey will be able to fit a wooden arm on, so that I can screw a fork intoit. The worst of it at present is, that I have a terrible thirst on me,and nothing but water have they given me, a thing that I have not drunkfor years. They have tied up the arteries, and they are going presently totouch up the loose ends with hot pitch to stop the bleeding altogether. Itis not a pleasant job; they have done it to three or four of the menalready. One of them stood it well, but the others cried a thousandmurders. O'Flaherty has promised me a drink of whisky and water beforethey do it, and just at present I feel as if I would let them burn all mylimbs at the same price. It is sorry I am, Terence, to hear that yourfather is hit so hard, but O'Flaherty says he will get through it allright. Well, he will get his majority, though I am mightily sorry thatHarrison is killed; he was a good boy, though he was an Englishman. Ah,Terence, my heart's sore when I think what I said that evening after thefight at Rolica! I did not mean it altogether, but the words come home tome now. It is not for meself but for the poor boys that have gone. It wasjust thoughtlessness, but I would give me other arm not to have said thosewords."

  "I know that you did not mean it, O'Grady, and we were all feeling sorrythat the regiment had not had a chance to be in the thick of it."

  "Here they are, coming this way with the pitch kettle. You had better getaway, lad, before they begin."

  Terence was glad to follow the advice, and hurried out of the barn andwalked three or four hundred yards away. He was very fond of O'Grady, whohad always been very kind to him, and who was thoroughly warm-hearted anda good fellow, in spite of his eccentricities. In a quarter of an hour hereturned. Just as he was entering, O'Flaherty came out of the door.

  "I must have a breath of fresh air, Terence," he said. "The heat isstifling in there, and though we are working in our shirt-sleeves we arejust as damp as if we had been thrown into a pond."

  "Has O'Grady's arm been seared?"

  "Yes, and he stood it well; not a word did he say until it was over. Thenhe said, 'Give me another drink, O'Flaherty; it's wake-like I feel.'Before I could get the cup to his lips he went off in a faint. He has comeround now and has had a drink of weak whisky and water, and is lying quietand composed. It is better that you should not go near him at present. Ihope that he will drop off to sleep presently. I have just given a glanceat your father, and he is nearly, if not quite, asleep too, so you hadbetter leave them now and look in again this evening. Now that the affairis over, and there is time to go round, they will clear out some housesand get things more comfortable. The principal medical officer was roundhere half an hour ago. He said they would fit up rooms for the officers atonce, and I will have your father, O'Grady, and Saunders carried up onstretchers and put into a room together. If they can bear the moving itwill be all in their favour, for it will be cooler there than in this ovenof a place. I hear the church has been requisitioned, and that the worstcases among our men will be taken there."

  In comparison with the loss of the French that of the British had beenvery small. From their position on commanding heights they had sufferedbut little from the fire of the French artillery,
and the casualties werealmost confined to Fane's brigade, the 43d Regiment, Anstruther's, and thetwo regiments of Ferguson's brigade that had been attacked by Brennier,and before nightfall the whole of the wounded had been brought in andattended to, the hospitals arranged, and the men far more comfortablybestowed than in the temporary quarters taken up during the heat of theconflict. As there was no prospect of an immediate movement, the soldierservants of the wounded officers had been excused from military duty andtold off to attend to them, and when Terence went down in the evening hefound his father, O'Grady, and Saunders--the latter a younglieutenant--comfortably lodged in a large room in which three hospitalbeds had been placed. O'Grady had quite recovered his usual good spirits.

  "Don't draw such along face, Terence," he said, as the lad entered; "weare all going on well. Your father has been bandaged all over the chestand body, and is able to breathe more comfortably; as for me, except thatI feel as if somebody were twisting a red-hot needle about in my arm, I amas right as possible, and Saunders is doing first-rate. The doctorsthought at first that he had got a ball through his body; after they gothim here they had time to examine him carefully, and they find that it hasjust run along the ribs and gone out behind, and that he will soon beabout again. If it wasn't that the doctors say I must drink nothing butwater with lemon-juice squeezed into it, I would have nothing to complainof. We have got our servants. Hoolan came in blubbering like a calf, theomadhoun, and I had to threaten to send him back to the regiment before hewould be sensible. He has sworn off spirits until I am well enough to taketo them, which is a comfort, for I am sorry to say he is one of those menwho never know when they have had enough."

  "Like master, like man, O'Grady."

  "Terence, when I get well you will repint of your impudence to yoursupayrior officer, when he is not able to defend himself."

  Terence went across to his father's bed.

  "Do you really feel easier, father?"

  "A great deal, lad. I was so bruised that every breath I took hurt me;since I have been tightly bandaged I am better, ever so much. Daly saysthat in a few days I shall be all right again as to that, but that theother business will keep me on my back for a long time. He has examined mywound again, and says he won't touch it for a few days; but I can see thathe is rather afraid that the bone has been grazed if not splintered. Youhave not heard what is going to be done, have you?"

  "No, father; the talk is that no move will be made anyhow until Sir JohnMoore lands with his troops; after that I suppose we shall go forward."

  "It is a pity we did not push forward to-day, lad, if, as I hear, half theforce were never engaged at all. Junot would not have carried off a gun ifour fellows had been launched against them while they were in disorder. Asit is, I hear they have marched away over that ridge in as good order asthey came, and so we shall have all the work of thrashing them to do overagain."

  "They say that is what Sir Arthur wanted to do, father, but Burrardoverruled him."

  "Did any man ever hear of such nonsense as a general who knows nothing atall about the matter coming and taking over the command from a general whohas just won a battle, and who has all the ins and outs of the matter athis finger-ends!"

  "Now, my dear O'Connor," O'Grady broke in, "you know what Daly said, thequieter you lie and the less you talk the better. He did not say so tomeself; in the first place, because he knew it would be of no use, and inthe second, because there is no raison on earth why, because a man haslost a bit of his arm, his tongue should not wag. And what does thecolonel say, Terence; is he not delighted with the regiment?"

  "He is that, and he has a right to be," Terence said. "The way they wentat the French, and tumbled them over the crest and down the hill wassplendid. The tears rolled down his cheeks when he heard that the majorand the others were killed, but he said that a man could not die moregloriously. He shook hands with all the officers after it was over, andsent a party down to the town to buy and bring up some barrels of wine,and served out a good allowance to each man. As soon as the firing ceasedI heard him tell O'Driscol that he was proud to have commanded theregiment."

  "That is good, Terence; and now, do you think that you could bring me upjust a taste of the cratur?"

  "The divil a drop, O'Grady; if Daly and O'Flaherty both say that you arenot to have it, it is certain that it is bad for you. But I'll tell youwhat I will do; I have one bottle of whisky left, and I will promise youthat it sha'n't be touched till you are well enough to drink it, and if weare marched away, as I suppose we shall be, I will hand it over toO'Flaherty to give you when you are fit to take it. He tells me that hewill be left to look after the wounded when we move."

  "I could not trust him, Terence; I would hand over a bag of gold uncountedto him, but as for whisky, the temptation would be too great for anIrishman to resist. Look here, you put it into a wooden box and nail it upsecurely, and write on it 'O'Grady's arm,' and hand it over to himsolemnly, and tell him that I have a fancy for burying the contentsmyself, which will be true enough, though it is me throat I mean to buryit in."

  Knowing that it was best they should be left in quiet, Terence soon leftthem and returned to the regiment.

  "Well, Dick, what did you think of a battle?" he asked his chum.

  "I don't quite know what I did think. It does not seem to me that Ithought much about it at all, what with the noise of the firing and theshouting of the men, and the whistle overhead of the French round shot,and the men cheering, the French shouting and the excitement, there was notime for thinking at all. From the time the skirmishers came running upthe hill to the time when we rolled the French down it, I seem to havebeen in a dream. It's lucky that I had no words of command to give, for Iam sure I should not have given them. I don't think I was frightened atall; somehow I did not seem to think of the danger. It was just a horribleconfusion."

  "I felt very much like that, too. It was not a bit like what it was whenwe took that brig; I felt cool enough when we jumped on to her deck. Butthen there was no noise to speak of, while the row this morning wastremendous. I tried to cheer when the men did, but I could not hear my ownvoice, and I don't know whether I made any sound or not."

  A delay of some weeks took place after the battle of Vimiera. The MayoFusiliers were not among the troops who entered Lisbon in order to overawethe populace and prevent attacks both upon French soldiers and officers,and Portuguese suspected of leaning towards the French cause. Throughoutthe country everything was in confusion. A strong party, at whose headwere the Bishop of Oporto and Friere, denounced the convention with theFrench--against whom they themselves had done nothing--as gross treacheryon the part of the English to Portugal. They endeavoured in every way toexcite the feelings of the population, both in the country and thecapital, against the British; but in this they failed altogether, for thepeople were too thankful to get rid of the oppression and exactions of theinvaders to feel aught but satisfaction at their being compelled to leavethe country.

  The Junta at Oporto, at whose head was the bishop, desired to grasp theentire power throughout the country, and were furious at being thwarted intheir endeavours to prevent a central Junta being established at Lisbon.Throughout Spain also chaos reigned. Each provincial Junta refusedco-operation with others, and instead of concerting measures forresistance against the great force that Napoleon was assembling on thefrontier, thought only of satisfying the ambitions and greed of itsmembers. The generals disregarded alike the orders from the central Juntaat Madrid and those of the provincial Juntas, quarrelled among themselvesto a point that sometimes approached open hostility, and each acted onlyfor his private ends. Arms had been sent in vast numbers from England;yet, while the money so lavishly bestowed by British agents went into thepockets of individuals, the arms were retained by the Juntas of Seville,Cadiz, and the maritime ports, and the armies of Spain were left almostunarmed.

  The term army is indeed absurd, as applied to the gatherings of peasantswithout, an idea of discipline, with scarcely any instruction in dri
ll,and in the majority of, cases, as the result proved, altogether deficientin courage; and yet, while neglecting all military precautions and readyto crumble to pieces at the first approach of the French, the arroganceand insolence of the authorities, civil and military alike, wereabsolutely unbounded. They disregarded wholly the advice of the Britishofficers and agents, and treated the men who alone could save them fromthe consequences of their folly with open contempt.

  After a fortnight's halt at Vimiera the Mayo Fusiliers were marched, withfour other regiments, to Torres Vedras, where they took up their quarters.In the middle of October O'Grady and Saunders rejoined, and Terenceobtained a few days' leave to visit his father.

  The latter's progress had been slow; the wound was unhealed, pieces ofbone working their way out, and the doctors had decided that he must beinvalided home, as it was desirable to clear out the hospitals altogetherbefore the army marched into Spain.

  "They think the change of air will do me good," Major O'Connor said toTerence, as they were chatting together after the latter arrived, "and Ithink so myself. It is evident that I cannot take part in the nextcampaign, but I hope to rejoin again in the spring. Of course it is hard,but I must not grumble; if the bullet had been half an inch more to theright it would have smashed the bone altogether, then I should have hadsmall chance indeed, for taking off the leg at the hip is an operationthat not one man in twenty survives. O'Flaherty says he thinks that allthe bits of bone have worked out now, and that I may not be permanentlylame; but if it is to be so, lad, it is of no use kicking against fate. Ihave got my majority, and if permanently disabled by my wounds, can retireon a pension on which I can live comfortably.

  "So I hear that Sir John Moore is going to march into Spain. By the way,you have got some cousins in Oporto or the neighbourhood, though I don'tsuppose you are likely to run against them."

  "I never heard you say anything about them before, father."

  "No; I don't think that I ever did mention it. A first cousin of mine wentover, just about the time that I was married, to Oporto, and establishedhimself there as a wine merchant. He had been out there before for a firmin Dublin, and when Clancy's father died, and he came into some money hewent out, as I said, and started for himself. He was a sharp fellow anddid well, and married the daughter of a big land-owner. We used to hearfrom him occasionally. He died about a year ago, and left a girl behindhim; she had been brought up in her mother's religion. He never said muchabout his wife, but I fancy she was a very strong Roman Catholic, and thatthey did not quite agree about the girl, who, as I gathered, had ahankering after her father's religion. However, after Clancy died we neverheard any more of them.

  "There was a letter from their man of business announcing the death, andstating that Clancy had left his own property, that is to say, the moneyhe had made in business, to the girl. What has become of her since I donot know. It was no business of mine, though I believe that I was hisnearest relation--at least my uncle had no other children, and there wereneither brothers nor sisters except him and my father. Still, as he left awidow who had a good big property on her own account, and was connectedwith a lot of grandee families, there was no occasion for me to mix myselfup in the affair; and, indeed, it never entered my head to do so. Yet,Clancy and I were great friends, and I should be glad to know what hasbecome of his girl. I fancy that she is about your age, and if Mooreshould take you up north you might make some inquiries there. The mother'sfamily name was Montarlies, and I fancy, from what Clancy said, herfather's property was somewhere to the north of Oporto, so I expect thatat that town you would be likely to hear something of them."

  "All right, father; if we go there I will be sure to make some inquiries."

  On the fourth day after Terence's arrival the hospital was broken up, theconvalescents marched for Torres Vedras, and Major O'Connor, with fourother officers and forty men, were put on board a ship to be taken toEngland.

  "Your visit has done your father good, Terence," O'Flaherty said, as,after seeing the party safely on board ship, he returned to the townwhence they were to march with the convalescents, sixty in number, amongwhom were five officers. "He has brightened up a deal the last four days,and his wound looks distinctly more healthy. I have a strong hope that allthose splinters have worked out now, and your being here has given him afillip, so that he is altogether better and more cheerful. I hope by thespring he will be able to rejoin us. I can tell you I am mighty glad to beoff again myself. It has been pretty hard work here, for I have had, forthe last fortnight, a hundred and twenty men on my hands. At first therewere three of us here, but two went off with the last batch ofconvalescents, and I have been alone since. Luckily Major Peters has beenwell enough to look after things in general, and help the commissariatman; still, with forty bad cases, I have not had much time on my hands. Ofcourse I knew him and all the other officers, but they all belonged toother regiments, and it was not like being among the Mayos. And when doyou think we will be starting again?"

  "I have no idea. I have heard that Moore is doing everything he can tohurry on things, but that he is awfully hampered for want of money. It isscandalous. Here are our agents supplied with immense sums for the use ofthese blackguard Spaniards, yet they keep their own army without funds."

  "If the general has no funds, Terence, he had better be stopping where heis. There is no getting anything in Portugal without paying ten times theproper price for it, and from what I hear of the Spaniards they willcharge twenty times, put the money in their pockets, and then not evengive you what you paid for. As to their being any good to us as allies, itis not to be hoped for; they will take our arms and our money, expect usto feed their troops, and will then run away at the sight of a Frenchsoldier; you will see if they don't."

  "I hear that the Junta of Corunna says that all the north will rise assoon as we enter their country."

  "They may rise and flock round us until they have got arms and money, andthen they will go off to their homes again. That is the sort of assistancethat is to be had from them. We should do a deal better if there was not aSpaniard in the country, and it was left to us to fight it out with theFrench."

  "In that case, O'Flaherty, we should never cross the frontier at all. Theysay that Napoleon is gathering a great army, and against such a force,with the French troops already in Spain, our twenty or twenty-fivethousand men would fare very badly, especially as they say that theemperor is coming himself."

  "That is worse news than the other, Terence. It is only because the Frenchgenerals have always been quarrelling among themselves that the wholePeninsula has not been conquered; but with Napoleon at the head of affairsit would be a different matter altogether, and my humble opinion is thatwe had better stay where we are until he has wiped out the Spaniardsaltogether."

  Terence laughed.

  "You don't take a sanguine view of things."

  "You have been with the regiment, Terence, and have had very little to dowith the natives. I have not seen very much of them either, thankgoodness; but I have seen quite enough to know that though perhaps thepeasants would make good soldiers, if officered by Englishmen, there ismighty little feeling of patriotism among the classes above them. Readingand writing may be good for some countries, but as far as I see here,reading and writing spoil them here, for every man one comes across whocan sign his name is intent either on filling his pocket, or on workingsome scheme or other for his own advantage. If I were Sir John Moore Iwould send up a division to Oporto, hang the bishop and every member ofthe Junta, shoot Friere and a dozen of his principal officers, and if thepeople of Oporto gave them the chance clear the streets with grape-shot.Why, if it hadn't been for a small guard of our fellows with the Frenchgarrisons that were marched down there to embark, the Portuguese wouldhave murdered every man-jack of them. They did murder a good many, androbbed them all of their baggage; and if it had not been that our menloaded and would have fired on them if they had gone further, not aFrenchman would have got off alive. If this had been done in Lisbo
n, wherethe French had been masters, there might have been some sort of excuse forit; but they had never been near Oporto at all, and therefore the peoplethere had no scores to settle with them."

  "I am afraid, O'Flaherty, that an army worked on your principles wouldnever get far from the coast, for we should have the whole country againstus."

  "So much the better if we never got far from the coast. How much help havewe had from them? There is not a single horse or waggon for transportexcept those we have hired at exorbitant prices; not a single ounce offood. They would not even divide with us the magazines at Leirya, whichthey had no share in capturing. The rabble they call an army has neverfired a shot or marched a yard with us, except Trant's small command, andthey were kept so far out of it in both fights, that I doubt whether theyfired a shot; and yet they take upon themselves to throw every obstacle inour way, to dictate to our generals, and to upset every plan as soon as itis formed.

  "Well, I shall be glad to be back with the regiment again, Terence. Thereis some fun going on there anyhow, and I have not had a hearty laugh sinceO'Grady went off ten days ago."

  "We were all heartily glad to see him back again," Terence said. "He doesnot seem a bit the worse for having lost his hand."

  "No, he has got through it a deal better than I had expected, consideringthat he is not what might be called a very temperate man."

  "Not by any means. It is not very often that he takes more liquor than hecan carry, but he generally goes very close to the mark."

  "I kept him very short here," O'Flaherty laughed, "and told him that if hedid not obey orders I would have him invalided home; I have got him topromise that he will draw in a bit in future, and have good hopes of hiskeeping it, seeing that when the army starts again you won't get muchchance of indulging."

  "It will be a good thing for others as well as O'Grady," Terence said,quietly. "I suppose in Ireland the whisky does not do much harm, seeingthat it is a wet country; but here I notice that they cannot drink half asmuch as they were accustomed to without feeling it."

  "That is true for you, Terence. Half a bottle here goes as far as a bottlein the old country; and I find with the wounded, spirits have a very badeffect, even in very small quantities. There is one thing, when the troopsare on the march they not only get small chance of getting drink, butmighty little time to think of it. When you have been doing your twentymiles a day, with halts and stoppages on these beastly roads and defiles,and are on your feet from daylight until late in the evening, and then,perhaps, a turn at the outposts, a man hasn't got much time for divarshon;and even if there is liquor to be had, he is glad enough when he has had aglass or so to wrap himself in his cloak and lie down to sleep. I havenearly sworn off myself, for I found that my head troubled me in themorning after a glass or two, more than it did after an all-night'ssitting at Athlone. Ah, Terence, it is lucky for you that you have nofancy for it!"

  "I hope I never shall have, O'Flaherty. If one has got thoroughly wetthrough in a long day's fishing, it may be that a glass of punch may keepaway a cold, though even that I doubt. But I am sure that I am betterwithout it at any other time; and I hope some day the fashion will change,and instead of it being considered almost as a matter of course after adinner that half the men should be under the table, it will then be lookedupon as disgraceful for a man to get drunk, as it is now for a woman to doso."

  O'Flaherty looked at his companion with amused surprise. "Faith, Terence,that would be a change indeed, and you might as well say that you hope thetime will come when you can whip off a fellow's leg without his feelingpain."

  "Perhaps that may come too," Terence laughed; "there is no saying."

  The next morning the detachment started at daybreak and marched to TorresVedras, where they heard that a general movement was expected to begin.The regiment had now a comfortable mess, and the situation was freelydiscussed as scraps of news arrived from Lisbon. Could the Englishministry have heard the comments on their imbecility passed by theofficers of the British army, even they might have doubted the perfectwisdom of their plan. On the 6th of October, Moore had received a despatchstating that 30,000 infantry and 5,000 cavalry were to be employed in thenorth of Spain. Ten thousand of these were to be sent out direct fromEngland, the remainder were to be composed of regiments from the army inPortugal. Moore had the choice of taking the troops round in ships or ofmarching them direct. He decided upon the latter course, for arrangementshad been made by Sir Hew Dalrymple to enter Spain by Almeida, and,moreover, he thought that the resources of the sea-coast of Galicia wouldnot be more than sufficient to supply transport and food for the 10,000men who were to land there under the command of Sir David Baird.

  The English general's difficulties were indeed overwhelming. He hadsoldiers who, although but recently raised, had shown themselves goodfighters; but he was altogether without even transport sufficient for theofficers. With an ample supply of money, an experienced staff, and awell-organized commissariat, the difficulties might have been overcome,but Sir John Moore was practically without money. His staff had noexperience whatever, and the commissariat and transport officers werealike ignorant of the work they were called upon to perform. He wasunacquainted with the views of the Spanish government, and uninformed asto the numbers, composition, and situation of the Spanish armies with whomhe was to act, or with those of the enemy. He had a winter march of 300miles before he could join Sir David Baird, who would have 200 miles tomarch from Corunna to join him, and there was then a distance of another300 miles to be traversed before he reached the Ebro, which was designatedas the centre of his operations.

  And all this had to be done while a great French army was already pouringin through the passes of the Pyrenees. No more tremendous, or, it may besaid, impossible, task was ever assigned to an English commander; and toadd to the absurdity of their scheme, the British government sent off SirDavid Baird without instructions, and even without money. The Duke of Yorkhad vainly protested against the plan of the ministry, and had pointed outthat nothing short of an army of 60,000 men, fully equipped with allnecessaries for war--money, transport, and artillery--could achievesuccess of any kind.

  Upon the day Terence rejoined, news came from the engineers in advancethat the assurances Sir John Moore had received that the road by which thearmy was to travel was perfectly practicable for artillery andbaggage-waggons, were wholly false, and it was probable that the artilleryand cavalry would have to make a long circuit to the south.

  It was too late now to change the route for the rest of the army. Nearlyhalf the force had already started on the road to Almeida, and thesupplies for their subsistence had been collected at that town. Thereforeit was necessary that the main body of the infantry should travel by thatroad, while three thousand were to act as a guard for the artillery andcavalry on the other route.

  CHAPTER VII

  THE ADVANCE

  "It is enough to drive Sir John out of his senses," the colonel said, asthe news was discussed after mess. "These people must be the championliars of the world. Not content with doing nothing themselves, they seemto delight in inventing lies to prevent our doing anything for them. Whoever heard of an army marching, without artillery and cavalry, one way,while these arms travelled by a different road entirely, and that not fora march of twenty miles, but for a march of three hundred? One battery isto go with us. But what will be the use of six guns against an enemy withsixty? Every day the baggage is being cut down owing to these blackguardPortuguese breaking their engagements to furnish waggons, and we shallhave to march pretty nearly as we stand, and to take with us nothingbeyond one change of clothes."

  Loud exclamations of discontent ran round the table. It was bad enoughthat in the midst of a campaign waggons should break down and baggage beleft behind, but that troops should start upon a campaign with scarcelythe necessaries of life had caused general anger in the army; and no orderwould have been more willingly obeyed than one to march upon Lisbon, shootevery public official, establish a state of siege, and
rule by martiallaw, seizing for the use of the army every draught animal, waggon, andcarriage that could be found in the city, or swept in from the countryround. The colonel had not exaggerated matters. The number of tents to betaken were altogether insufficient for the regiment, even with the utmostcrowding possible. The officers' baggage had been cut down to twentypounds a head--an amount scarcely sufficient for a single change ofclothes and boots. Even the amount of ammunition to be taken would beinsufficient to refill the soldiers' pouches after the supply they carriedwas exhausted.

  The paucity of baggage would not have mattered so much had the march begunat the commencement of summer, instead of just as winter was setting in.In the former case, men could have slept in the open air, and a solitaryblanket and one change of clothes would have sufficed; but with the wetseason at hand, to be followed by winter cold, the grievance was a veryserious one. Terence had already learned that the brigade was to march intwo days, and that the great bulk of the baggage was to be stored atTorres Vedras, which was to be occupied on their leaving by some of thetroops that would remain in Portugal.

  "Faith, it is an evil look-out, Terence," O'Grady, who was sitting next tohim, said, pathetically. "Sorra a drop of whisky is there in the camp, andnow we sha'n't be able to have even a drink of their bastely spirits,onless we can buy it at the towns; and as Anstruther's division has goneon ahead of us, it is likely that every drop has been drunk up."

  "It will be all the better for you, O'Grady. Daly tells me that your armis not fully healed yet. I know that you would not like to be left behindwhen we have once started."

  "That is true enough, but a drop of the cratur hurts no one."

  "I beg your pardon, O'Grady, it is very bad for anything like a wound. Thedoctor told me, when I was chatting with him before dinner, that he reallydid not think that you could go, for you would not obey his orders to giveup spirits altogether."

  "Well, I own that it has been smarting a good deal the last few days,"O'Grady admitted, reluctantly, "though I have not said as much to thedoctor. I don't know that you are not about right, Terence; but faith,after being kept upon bastely slops by O'Flaherty, it was not in humannature to drink nothing but water when one gets a chance. At any rate, Iam not likely to find any great temptation after we have started."

  "Well, you had better begin to-night, O'Grady. I am going to get away assoon as I can, and if you will take my advice you will come too."

  "What! and us to march in two days? It is not to be thought of. You manewell, Terence, but a lad like you must not take to lecturing yoursupayrior officer. Shure, and don't I know what to do for meself betterthan any other?"

  Terence saw that it was useless to endeavour to persuade him to move, andpresently went round to Dr. Daly and said, quietly:

  "Doctor, O'Grady tells me that his arm has been hurting him a good dealmore during the last two days. I expect they will make a night of it thisevening, and again to-morrow, and if he once begins, nothing will stop himuntil they break up. Could not you do anything?"

  "I will talk to him like a father, Terence. You are a good boy to havetold me; I might have gone away without thinking of it."

  "Don't mention my name, Doctor."

  The doctor nodded, and Terence went away and took a vacant seat at somedistance from him. Presently the doctor got up and went round to O'Grady.The supply of claret had just been finished, and bottles of spirits hadbeen placed upon the table. O'Grady stretched out his hand to one nearhim, but the doctor quietly removed it.

  "Not for you, O'Grady," he said; "you have had more than sufficient winealready. I have been doubting whether you are fit to go on with theregiment; and, by the powers, if you touch spirits to-night or to-morrow,I will put your name down in the list of those who are to be left behindas unfit for service!"

  "Sure you are joking, Doctor?"

  "Never was more earnest in my life, O'Grady. You don't want to be leftbehind, I suppose, in some filthy Portuguese town, while we march on, andthat is what it will come to if your wound inflames. I told you thismorning that it was not doing as well as it ought to, and that you mustcut off liquor altogether. I have had my eye upon you, and you have takendown more than a bottle of wine already. I don't think I ought to let yougo with us, even as it is; but, by the piper that played before Moses, ifyou don't go off to your quarters, without touching a drop more, I willhave you left behind!"

  "You are mighty hard on a poor fellow, and must have a heart of stone totreat a man, who has lost his arm and wants a bit of comfort, in suchfashion. Faith, I would not do it to a dog."

  "There would be no occasion, O'Grady; a dog has got sense."

  "And I haven't? Thank ye for the compliment. I will appeal to the colonel.Colonel, the doctor says if I drink a drop of spirits to-night orto-morrow he will put me down in the black list. Now, I ask you, do theregulations justify his using such a threat as that?"

  "I think they do," the colonel said, with a laugh. "I think that his orderis good and sensible, and I endorse it. You know yourself that spirits arebad for you, with an arm only just healed up. Now, behave like araisonable fellow, and go off to your quarters. You know well enough thatif you stop here you won't be able to keep from it."

  "Faith, if the two of you are against me I have nothing more to say. It ismighty hard that after having lost an arm in the service of my country Ishould be treated like a child and sent off to bed."

  "I am going, too, O'Grady," Terence, who had gone back to his originalplace, now said. "There is no occasion to go to bed. I have a box of goodcigars in my tent, and we can sit there and chat as long as you like."

  But O'Grady's dignity was ruffled.

  "Thank you, Mr O'Connor," he said, stiffly; "but with your lave I will doas I said."

  "That is the best thing," the doctor said. "You have not had a longnight's rest since you rejoined. I am going myself, and I see that some ofthe others are getting up, too, and it would be a good thing if all woulddo so, for, with such work as we have got before us, the more sleep weget, while we can, the better."

  As nearly half the officers now rose from their seats, O'Grady wasmollified, and as he went out he said:

  "I think, after all, Terence, I will try one of those cigars of yours."

  On the 14th of October Fane's brigade left Torres Vedras.

  'I AM TOLD THAT YOU WISH TO SPEAK TO ME, GENERAL.']

  A number of the troops had been stationed along the line of route to befollowed, and these had started simultaneously with the departure ofFane's brigade from Torres Vedras. The discontent as to the reduction ofbaggage ceased as soon as the troops were in motion. They were going toinvade Spain, and ignorant as the soldiers were of the real state ofaffairs, none doubted but that success would attend them there. Among theofficers better acquainted with the state of things there was no suchfeeling of confidence, but they hoped that they should at least give asgood an account of themselves as before, against any French force ofanything like equal strength they might encounter. O'Grady, influenced bythe doctor's threats, which he knew the latter would be firm enough tocarry out, had obeyed his orders, and had confided to Terence, when theregiment formed up at daybreak for the march, that his arm felt muchbetter.

  "I don't say that the doctor may not have been right, Terence, but he neednot have threatened me in that way, at all, at all."

  "I don't know," Terence replied. "I feel pretty sure that if he hadn't,you would not have knocked off spirits. Well, it is a glorious morning forstarting, but I am afraid the fine weather won't last long. Everyone saysthat the rains generally begin about this time."

  As Terence fell in with his company the adjutant rode up.

  "Mr. O'Connor, you are to report yourself to the brigadier."

  Wondering much at the message, Terence hurried to the house occupied byGeneral Fane. He and several officers were standing in front of it.

  "I am told that you wish to speak to me, General," he said, saluting.

  "Oh, you are Mr. O'Connor! Can you rid
e?"

  "Yes, sir," Terence replied; for he had often had a scamper across thehills around Athlone on half-broken ponies, and occasionally on the horsesof some of his friends in the regiment.

  "I have a vacancy on my staff. Lieutenant Andrews was thrown when ridingout from Lisbon with a despatch last night, and broke a leg. I was onboard the flag-ship when your colonel brought his report about the fightbetween the transport and the two privateers. I read it, and was so muchstruck with the quickness and intelligence you displayed, that I made anote at the time that if I should have a vacancy on my staff I wouldappoint you."

  "I am very much obliged, General," Terence said, "but I have no horse."

  "I have arranged that. Lieutenant Andrews will not be fit for service fora long time. It is a compound fracture, and he will, the doctor says,probably be sent back to England by the first ship that arrives after hereaches Lisbon. His horse is therefore useless to him, and as it is only anative animal and would not fetch a ten-pound note, he agreed at once tohand it over to his successor, and in fact was rather glad to get it offhis hands. He has an English saddle, bridle, and holsters; he will takefive pounds for them. If you happen to be short of cash the paymaster willsettle it for you."

  "Thank you, sir; I have the money about me, and I am very much obliged toyou for making the arrangement."

  Terence was indeed in funds, for in addition to the ten pounds that hadfallen to him as his share of the prize money, his pay had been almostuntouched from the day he left England, and his father had, on embarking,added ten pounds to his store.

  "I won't want it, Terence," he said; "I have got another twenty pounds byme, and by the time I get to England I shall have another month's pay todraw, and shall no doubt be put in a military hospital, where I shall haveno occasion for money till I am out again."

  "But I sha'n't want it either, father."

  "There is never any saying, lad; it is always useful to have money on acampaign. You may be in places where the commissariat breaks downaltogether, and you have to depend on what you buy; you may be left behindwounded, or may be taken prisoner, one never can tell. I shall feel morecomfortable about you if I know that you are well provided with cash,whatever may happen. My advice is, Terence, get fifteen or twenty poundsin gold sewn up in your boot; have an extra sole put on, and the moneysewn inside. If it is your bad luck to be taken prisoner, you will findthe money mighty useful in a great many ways."

  Terence had followed this advice and had fifteen pounds hidden away,besides ten that he carried in his pockets; he therefore hurried to thehut where Lieutenant Andrews was lying. He was slightly acquainted withhim, as he had been Fane's aide-de-camp from the time of landing. Theyoung lieutenant's servant was standing at the door with a horse readysaddled and bridled.

  "I am very sorry to hear of your injury," he said to the young officer.

  "Yes, it is a horrible nuisance," the other replied; "and just as we werestarting, too. There is an end of my campaigning for the present. I shouldnot have minded if it had been a French ball, but to be merely thrown froma horse is disgusting."

  "I am extremely obliged to you for the horse, Andrews, but I would ratherpay you for it; it is not fair that I should get it for nothing."

  "Oh, that is all right! It would be a bother taking it down, and I shouldnot know what to do with it when I got to Lisbon; it would be a nuisancealtogether, and I am glad to get rid of it. The money is of no consequenceto me one way or the other. I wish you better luck with it than I havehad."

  "At any rate here are five pounds for the saddle and bridle," and he putthe money down on the table by the bed.

  "That is all right," the other said, without looking at it; "they are welloff my hands, too. I hope the authorities will send me straight on boardship when I get to Lisbon; my servant will go down with me. If I am keptthere, he will of course stay with me until I sail; if not, he will rejoinas soon as he has seen me on board. He is a good servant, and I canrecommend him to you; he is rather fond of the bottle, but that is hisonly fault as far as I know. He is a countryman of yours, and you will beable to make allowances for his failing," he added, with a laugh.

  There was no time to be lost--the bugles were sounding--so, with a briefadieu, Terence went out, mounted the horse and rode after the general, whohad just left with his staff, and taken his place at the head of thecolumn. As he passed his regiment, he stopped for a moment to speak to thecolonel.

  "I heard that you were wanted by the general, Terence," the latter said,"and I congratulate you on your appointment. I am sorry that you areleaving us, but, as you will be with the brigade, we shall often see you.O'Driscol is as savage as a bull at the loss of one of his subalterns.Well, it is your own luck that you have and another's; drop in thisevening, if you can, and tell us how it was that Fane came to pick youout."

  "It was thanks to you, Colonel. If you remember, you told us at Vigo thatFane was on board when you went to make your report, and that he and SirArthur's adjutant-general read it over together, and asked you a good manyquestions. It was owing to that affair that he thought of me."

  "That is good, lad. I thought at the time that more might come of it thanjust being mentioned in orders, and I am very glad that it was for thatyou got it. At any rate, come in this evening; I want to hear where youhave stolen that horse from, and all about it."

  Terence rode off and took his place with his fellow aide-de-camp behindthe two other officers of the staff. He scarcely knew whether to be glador sorry, at present, at the change that had so suddenly taken place. Itwas gratifying to have been selected as he had been. It was certainly morepleasant to ride through a campaign than to march; and there would be agood many more chances of distinguishing himself than there could be as aregimental officer; while, on the other hand, he would be away from thecircle of his friends and comrades, and should greatly miss the fun andjollity of the life with them.

  "An unfortunate affair this of Andrews," Lieutenant Trevor, his fellowaide-de-camp, said.

  "Most unfortunate. I little thought when you and he lunched with us twodays since that to-day he would be down with a broken leg and I riding inhis place. Just at present I certainly do not feel very delighted at thechange. You see, from my father being a captain in the regiment, I havebeen brought up with it, and to be taken so suddenly away from them seemsa tremendous wrench."

  "Yes, I can understand that," the other said. "In my case it is different.My regiment was not coming out, and of course I was greatly pleased whenthe general gave me a chance of going with him. Still, you see, as yourregiment is in the brigade you will still be able to be with it when offduty, and when the end of the campaign comes you will return to it.Besides, there are compensations--you will at least get a roof to sleepunder, at any rate nine times out of ten. I don't know how you feel it,but to me it is no small comfort being on horseback instead of trampingalong these heavy roads on foot. The brigadier is a capital fellow; andthough he does keep us hard at work, at any rate he works hard himself,and does not send us galloping about with all sorts of trivial messagesthat might as well be unsent. Besides, he is always thoughtful andconsiderate. Is he related to you in any way?"

  "Not at all."

  "Then I suppose you had good interest in some way, or else how did he cometo pick you out?"

  "It was just a piece of luck," Terence said; "it was because he had heardmy name in connection with a fight the transport I came over in had withtwo French privateers."

  "Oh, yes, I remember now," the other said; "I had forgotten that the namewas O'Connor. I remember all about it now. He told us the story at Vigo,and you were put in general orders by Sir Arthur. I know the chief spokevery highly about your conduct in that affair. It is just like him toremember it, and to pick you out to take Andrews' place. Well, you fairlywon it, which is more than one can say for most staff appointments, whichare in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred the result of pure favouritismor interest.

  "Well, O'Connor, I am very glad to have you on the staf
f. You see, itmakes a lot of difference, when there are only two of us, that we shouldlike each other. I own I have not done anything as yet to get any credit,for at Vimiera it was just stand up and beat them back, and I had not asingle message to carry, and, of course, at Rolica our brigade was not init; but I hope I shall get a turn some day. Then it was your father whowas badly wounded?"

  "Yes; I saw him off to England four days ago. I hope that he will be ableto rejoin before long, but it is not certain yet that the wound won'tbring on permanent lameness. I am very anxious about it, especially as hehas now got his step, and it would be awfully hard on him to leave theservice just as he has got field-officer's rank."

  "Yes, it would be hard. However, I hope that the sea-voyage and Englishair will set him up again."

  Presently one of the officers who were in front turned and said: "Thegeneral wishes you to ride back along the line, Mr. Trevor, and reportwhether the intervals between the regiments are properly kept, and also asto how the baggage-waggons are going on."

  As Trevor turned to ride back the general cantered on, followed by thethree officers and the four troopers who served as orderlies. Two milesahead they came to a bridge across a torrent. The road, always a bad one,had been completely cut up by the passage of the provision and ammunitioncarts going to the front, and was now almost impassable.

  "Will you please to ride back, Mr. O'Connor, and request the colonel ofthe leading regiment to send on the pioneers and a company of men at thedouble to clear the road and make it passable for the waggons."

  The work was quickly done. While some men filled up the deep ruts, otherscut down shrubs and bushes growing by the river bank, tied them intobundles, and put them across the narrow road, and threw earth and stonesupon them, and in half an hour from the order being given the buglesounded the advance. The head of the column had been halted just before itreached the bridge, and the men fell out, many of them running down to thestream to refill their water-bottles. As the bugle sounded they at oncefell in again, and the column got into motion. General Fane and his staffremained at the bridge until the waggons had all crossed it.

  "It is not much of a job," Fane said. "Of course the four regimentspassing over it flattened the earth well down, but the waggons have cut itall up again. The first heavy shower will wash all the earth away, and ina couple of days it will be as bad as before. There are plenty of stonesdown in the river, but we have no means of breaking up the large ones, orof carrying any quantity of small ones. A few hundred sappers andengineers, with proper tools, would soon go a long way towards making theroad fairly fit for traffic, but nothing can be done without tools andwheel-barrows, or at least hand-barrows for carrying stones. You see, themen wanted to use their blankets, but the poor fellows will want thembadly enough before long, and those contractors' goods would go all topieces by the time they had carried half a dozen loads of stones. At anyrate, we will content ourselves with making the road passable for our ownwaggons, and the troops who come after us must do the same. By the way,Mr. O'Connor, you have not got your kit yet."

  "No, sir; but I have no doubt that it is with the regimental baggage, andI will get it when we halt to-night."

  "Do so," the general said. "Of course it can be carried with ours, but Ishould advise you always to take a change of clothes in your valise, and ablanket strapped on with your greatcoat."

  "I have Mr. Andrews' blanket, sir. It was strapped on when I mounted, andI did not notice it."

  "That is all right. The store blankets are very little use for keeping offrain, but we all provided ourselves with good thick horse-cloths beforeleaving England. They are a great deal warmer than blankets, and arepractically water-proof. I have no doubt that Mr. Andrews told his servantto strap it on as usual."

  Many and many a time during the campaign had Terence good reason forthinking with gratitude of Andrews' kindly thought. His greatcoat, whichlike those of all the officers of the regiment, had been made at Athlone,of good Irish frieze lined with flannel, would stand almost any amount ofrain, but it was not long enough to protect his legs while lying down. Butby rolling himself in the horse-cloth he was able to sleep warm and dry,when without it he would have been half-frozen, or soaked through withrain from above and moisture from the ground below. He found that thebrigadier and his staff carried the same amount of baggage as otherofficers, the only difference being that the general had a tent forhimself, his assistant-adjutant and quartermaster one between them, whilea third was used as an office-tent in the day, and was occupied by the twoaides-de-camp at night.

  The baggage-waggon allotted to them carried the three tents, their scantykits, and a box of stationery and official forms, but was mainly ladenwith musketry ammunition for the use of the brigade. After marchingeighteen miles the column halted at a small village. The tents werespeedily pitched, rations served out, and fires lighted. The general tookpossession of the principal house in the village for the use of himselfand his staff, and the quartermaster-general apportioned the rest of thehouses between the officers of the four battalions. The two aides-de-campaccompanied the general in his tour of inspection through the camp.

  "It will be an hour before dinner is ready," Trevor said, as they returnedto the house, "and you won't be wanted before that. I shall be about ifthe chief has any orders to send out. I don't think it is likely that hewill have; he is not given, as some brigadiers are, to worrying; and,besides, there are the orderlies here to take any routine orders out, soyou can be off if you like."

  Terence at once went down to the camp of the Mayo Fusiliers. The officerswere all there, their quartermaster having gone into the village to fixtheir respective quarters.

  "Hooray, Terence, me boy!" O'Grady shouted, as he came up, "we allcongratulate you. Faith, it is a comfort to see that for once merit hasbeen recognized. I am sure that there is not a man in the regiment butwould have liked to have given you a cheer as you rode along this morningjust before we started. We shall miss you, but as you will be up and downall day and can look in of an evening, it won't be as if you had been puton the staff of another brigade. As to Dicky Ryan, he is altogether downin the mouth, whether it is regret for your loss or whether it is fromjealousy at seeing you capering about on horseback, while he is trampingalong on foot, is more than I know."

  "If you were not my superior officer, Captain O'Grady, I should make apersonal onslaught on you," Ryan laughed. "You will have to mind how youbehave now, Terence; the brigadier is an awfully good fellow, but he ispretty strict in matters of discipline."

  "I will take care of meself, Dicky, and now that you will have nobody tohelp you out of your scrapes, you will have to mind yourself too."

  "I am glad that you have got a lift, Terence," Captain O'Driscol said;"but it is rather hard on me losing a subaltern just as the campaign isbeginning in earnest."

  "Menzies likes doing all the work," Terence said, "so it won't make somuch difference to you."

  "It would not matter if I was always with my company, Terence, but now,you see, that I am acting as field-officer to the left wing till yourfather rejoins, it makes it awkward."

  "I intend to attach Parsons to your company, O'Driscol," the colonel said."Terence went off so suddenly this morning that I had no time to think ofit before we marched, but he shall march with your company to-morrow. Youwill not mind, I hope, Captain Holland?"

  "I shall mind, of course, Colonel; but, as O'Driscol's company has nowreally only one officer, of course it cannot be helped, and as Menzies isthe senior lieutenant, I have no doubt that he can manage very well withParsons, who is very well up in his work."

  "Thank you, Captain Holland; it is the first compliment that you ever paidme; it is abuse that I am most accustomed to."

  "It is thanks to that that you are a decent officer, Parsons," CaptainHolland laughed. "You were the awkwardest young beggar I ever saw when youfirst joined, and you have given me no end of trouble in licking you intoshape. How do you think you will like your work, Terence?"

 
"I think I shall like it very much," the lad replied. "The otheraide-de-camp, Trevor, is a very nice fellow, and every one likes Fane; asto Major Dowdeswell and Major Errington, I haven't exchanged a word witheither of them, and you know as much about them as I do."

  "Errington is a very good fellow, but the other man is very unpopular. Heis always talking about the regulations, as if anyone cared a hang aboutthe regulations when one is on service."

  "I expect that if Fane were not such a good fellow Dowdeswell would makehimself a baste of a nuisance, and be bothering us about pipe-clay andbuttons, and all sorts of rigmarole," O'Grady said; "as if a man wouldfight any the better for having his belt white as snow!"

  "He would not fight any the better, O'Grady, but the regiment would doso," the colonel put in. "All these little matters are nothing inthemselves, but still they have a good deal to do with the discipline ofthe regiment; there is no doubt that we are not as smart in appearance aswe ought to be, and that the other regiments in the brigade show up betterthan we do. It is a matter that must be seen to. I shall inspect theregiment very carefully before we march to-morrow."

  There was a little silence among the group, but a smile stole over severalof the faces. As a rule, the colonel was very lax in small matters of thiskind, but occasionally he thought it necessary to put on an air ofseverity, and to insist upon the most rigid accuracy in this respect; butthe fit seldom lasted beyond twenty-four hours, after which things went onpleasantly again. Some of the officers presently sauntered off to warn thecolour-sergeants that the colonel himself intended to inspect the regimentclosely before marching the next morning, and that the men must be warnedto have their uniforms, belts, and firearms in perfect order.

  Terence remained for some little time longer chatting, and then gotpossession of his kit, which was carried by Tim Hoolan across to hisquarters.

  "We are all sorry you've left us, yer honour," that worthy said, as hewalked a short distance behind Terence; "the rigiment won't be like itselfwidout you. Not that it has been quite the same since you joined usreg'lar, and have taken to behaving yourself."

  "What do you mean, you impudent rascal?" Terence said, with a pretence atindignation.

  "No offence, yer honour, but faith the games that you and Mr. Ryan andsome of the others used to play, kept the boys alive, and gave mightycontintment to the regiment."

  "I was only a lad then, Hoolan."

  "That was so, yer honour, and now you are a man and an officer, it isnatural it should be different."

  "Tim Hoolan, you are a humbug," Terence said, laughing.

  "Sorra a bit of one, yer honour. I am not saying that you won't grow a bitmore; everyone says what a fine man you will make. But sure ye saved ourwing from being captured, and you would not have us admit that, if it hadnot been for a boy, a wing of the Mayo Fusiliers would have been capturedby the French. No, your honour, when we tell that story we spake of one ofour officers who had the idea that saved the _Sea-horse_, and broughtthim two privateer vessels into Vigo."

  "Well, Tim, it is only three months since I joined, and I don't suppose Ihave changed much in that time; but of course I cannot play tricks now asI used to do, before I got my commission."

  "That is so, yer honour; the rigiment misses your tricks, though they didbother us a bit. Three times were we turned out at night, under arms, whenwe were at Athlone, once on a wet night too, and stood there for two hourstill the colonel found out it was a false alarm, and there was me and Mr.Ryan, and two or three others as was in the secret, nigh choking ourselveswith laughter, to hear the men cursing and swearing at being called out ofbed. That was a foine time, yer honour."

  "Attention, Tim!" Terence said, sharply.

  They had now entered the village, and the burst of laughter in whichHoolan indulged at the thought of the regiment being turned out on a falsealarm was unseemly, as he was accompanying an officer. So Tim straightenedhimself up, and then followed in Terence's footsteps with militaryprecision and stiffness.

  "There is a time for all things, Tim," the latter said, as he took thelittle portmanteau from him. "It won't do to be laughing like that insight of head-quarters. I can't ask you to have a drink now; there is nodrink to be had, but the first time we get a chance I will make it up toyou."

  "All right, yer honour! I was wrong entirely, but I could not have helpedit if the commander-in-chief had been standing there."

  Terence went up to the attic that he and Trevor shared. There was nochanging for dinner, but after a wash he went below again.

  "You are just in time," Trevor said, "and we are in luck. The head man ofthe village sent the general a couple of ducks, and they will help out ourrations. I have been foraging, and have got hold of half a dozen bottlesof good wine from the priest.

  "We always try to get the best of things in the village, if they will butpart with them. That is an essential part of our duties. To-morrow it willbe your turn."

  "But our servants always did that sort of thing," Terence said, in somesurprise.

  "I dare say, O'Connor, but it would not do for the general's servant to begoing about picking up things. No matter what he paid, we should havetales going about in no time of the shameful extortion practised by ourservants, who under threats compelled the peasantry to sell provisions forthe use of their masters at nominal prices."

  "I did not think of that," Terence laughed. "Yes, as the Portuguese havecirculated scores of calumnious lies on less foundation, one cannot be tooparticular. I will see what I can do to-morrow."

  CHAPTER VIII

  A FALSE ALARM

  The march was continued until the brigade arrived at Almeida, which theyreached on the 7th of November, and Sir John Moore and the head-quartersstaff came up on the following day. All the troops were now assembled atthat place; for Anstruther, by some misconception of orders, had haltedthe leading division, instead of, as intended by the general, continuinghis march to Salamanca. The condition of the troops was excellent.Discipline, which had been somewhat relaxed during the period ofinactivity, was now thoroughly restored. The weather had continued fine,and the steady exercise had well prepared them for the campaign which wasbeginning. Things, however, were in other respects going on unfavourably.

  The Junta of Corunna had given the most solemn promises that transport andeverything necessary for the advance of Sir David Baird's force should beready by the time that officer arrived. Yet nothing whatever had beendone, and so conscious were the Junta of their shortcomings, that when thefleet with the troops arrived off the port they refused to allow them toenter without an order from the central Junta, and fifteen days werewasted before the troops could disembark. Then it was found that neitherprovisions nor transport had been provided, and that nothing whatever wasto be hoped for from the Spanish authorities. Baird was entirelyunprovided with money, and was supplied with L8,000 from Moore's scantymilitary chest, while at the very time the British agent, Mr. Frere, wasin Corunna with two millions of dollars for the use of the Spaniards,which he was squandering, like the other British agents, right and leftamong the men who refused to put themselves to the slightest trouble tofurther the expedition.

  Spain was at this time boasting of the enthusiasm of its armies, and ofthe immense force that it had in the field, and succeeded in persuadingthe English cabinet and the English people that with the help of a littlemoney they could alone and unaided drive the French right across thefrontier. The emptiness of this braggadocio, and the utter incapacity ofthe Spanish authorities and generals was now speedily exposed, forNapoleon's newly arrived armies scattered the Spaniards before them likesheep, and it was only on one or two occasions that anything like severefighting took place. Within the space of three weeks there remained of thegreat armies of Spain but a few thousand fugitives hanging togetherwithout arms or discipline. Madrid, the centre of this pretendedenthusiasm and patriotism, surrendered after a day's pretence atresistance, and the whole of the eastern provinces fell, practicallywithout a blow, into the hands of the invaders.<
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  At present, however, Moore still hoped for some assistance from theSpaniards. He, like Baird, was crippled for want of money, but determinednot to delay his march, and sent agents to Madrid and other places to makecontracts and raise money; thus while the ministers at home squanderedhuge sums on the Spaniards, they left it to their own military commandersto raise money by means of loans to enable them to march. Never in thecourse of the military history of England were her operations so crippledand foiled by the utter incapacity of her government as in the openingcampaigns of the Peninsular War.

  While Baird was vainly trying to obtain transport at Corunna, areinforcement of some five thousand Spanish troops under General Romanalanded at San Andero, and, being equipped from the British stores, joinedthe Spanish general, Blake, in Biscay. These troops had been raised forthe French service at the time Napoleon's brother Joseph was undisputedKing of Spain. They were stationed in Holland, and when the insurrectionat home broke out, the news of the rising was sent to them, and inpursuance of a plan agreed upon they suddenly rose, marched down to a portand embarked in English ships sent to receive them, and were in thesetransported to the northern coast of Spain.

  Sir David Baird was a man of great energy, and, having succeeded inborrowing a little more money from Mr. Frere, he started on his march tojoin General Moore. He had with great difficulty hired some country cartsat an exorbitant rate, but the number was so small that he was obliged tosend up his force in half-battalions, and so was able to proceed but veryslowly.

  Sir John Moore was still in utter ignorance of the situation in Spain. Thejealousy among the generals, and the disinclination of the central Juntato appoint any one person to a post that might enable him to interferewith their intrigues, had combined to prevent the appointment of acommander-in-chief, and there was no one therefore with whom Sir Johncould open negotiations and learn what plans, if any, had been decidedupon for general operations against the advancing enemy.

  On the day that Moore arrived at Almeida, Blake was in full flight,pursued by a French army 50,000 strong, and Napoleon was at Vittoria with170,000 troops.

  Of these facts he was ignorant, but the letters that he received from LordWilliam Bentinck and Colonel Graham, exposing the folly of the Spanishgenerals, reached him. On the 11th he crossed the frontier of Spain,marching to Ciudad-Rodrigo. On that day Blake was finally defeated, andone of the other armies completely crushed and dispersed. These eventsleft a large French army free to act against the British. Sir John Moore,however, did not hear of this until a week later. He knew, however, thatthe situation was serious; and after all the reports of Spanishenthusiasm, he was astonished to find that complete apathy prevailed, thatno effort was made to enroll the population, or even to distribute thevast quantity of British muskets stored up in the magazines of the cities.

  The general arrived at Salamanca with 4,000 British infantry. The Frenchcavalry were at Valladolid, but three marches distant. On the 18th moretroops had arrived, and on the 23d 12,000 infantry and six guns were atSalamanca. But Moore now knew of the defeat of Blake, and that the Frencharmy that had crushed him was free to advance against Salamanca. But hedid not yet know of the utter dispersal of the Asturian army, or that thetwo armies of Castanos and Palafox were also defeated and scattered beyondany attempt at rallying, and that their conquerors were also free to marchagainst him. Although ignorant of the force with which Napoleon hadentered Spain, and having no idea of its enormous strength, he knew thatit could not be less than 80,000 men, and that it could be joined by atleast 30,000 more.

  His position was indeed a desperate one. Baird was still twenty marchesdistant, his cavalry and artillery still far away. It would requireanother five days to bring the rear of his own army to Salamanca, as onlya small portion could come forward each day, owing to want of transport;and yet, while in this position of imminent danger, the Spanishauthorities, through Mr. Frere and other agents, were violently urging anadvance to Madrid.

  General Moore was indeed in a position of imminent danger; but the lyingreports as to the strength of the Spanish army induced him for a moment tomake preparations for such a movement. When, however, he learned the utteroverthrow and dispersal of the whole of the Spanish armies, he saw thatnothing remained but to fall back, if possible, upon Portugal.

  It was necessary, however, that he should remain at Salamanca until Hopeshould arrive with the guns, and the army be in a position to show a frontto the enemy. Instructions had been previously sent to Hope to march tothe Escurial. Hope had endeavoured to find a road across the mountains ofCiudad-Rodrigo, but the road was so bad that he dared not venture upon it,as the number of horses was barely sufficient to drag the guns andammunition waggons along a good road. He therefore kept on his way untilhe reached the Escurial; but after advancing three days farther towardsMadrid, he heard of the utter defeat of the Spaniards and the flight oftheir armies. His cavalry outposts brought in word that more than 4,000cavalry were but twelve miles away, and that other French troops were atSegovia and other places. The prospect of his making his way to join SirJohn Moore seemed well-nigh hopeless; but, with admirable skill andresolution, Hope succeeded in eluding some of his foes, in checking othersby destroying or defending bridges, and finally joined the main forcewithout the loss of any of the important convoy of guns and ammunitionthat he was escorting.

  The satisfaction of the troops at the arrival of the force that had beenregarded as lost was unbounded. Hitherto, unprovided as they were withartillery and cavalry, they could have fought only under suchdisadvantages as would render defeat almost inevitable, for an enemy couldhave pounded them with artillery from a distance beyond their musketrange, and they could have made no effectual reply whatever. His cavalrycould have circled round them, cut their communications, and charged downon their lines in flank and rear while engaged with his infantry. Nowevery man felt that once again he formed part of an army, and that thatarmy could be relied upon to beat any other of equal numbers.

  Terence had enjoyed the march to Salamanca. The fine weather had brokenup, and heavy rains had often fallen, but his thick coat kept him dryexcept in the steadiest downpours; while on one or two occasions only thegeneral and his staff had failed to find quarters available. As theyproceeded they gradually closed up with the troops forming a part of thesame division, and at Almeida came under the command of General Fraser,whose division was made complete by their arrival. Up to this point theyoung aide-de-camp's duties had been confined solely to the work of thebrigade--to seeing that the regiments kept their proper distances, thatnone of the waggons loitered behind, and that the roads were repaired,where absolutely necessary, for the baggage to pass.

  In the afternoon he generally rode forward with Major Errington, thequartermaster-general of the brigade, to examine the place fixed upon forthe halt, to apportion the ground between the regiments, and ascertain theaccommodation to be obtained in the village. Two orderlies accompaniedthem, each carrying a bundle of light rods. With these the ground wasmarked off, a card with the name of the regiment being inserted in a slitat the end of the rod; the village was then divided in four quarters forthe accommodation of the officers. But beyond fixing the name of eachregiment to the part assigned to it, no attempt was made to allot anyspecial quarters to individual officers, this being left for theregimental quartermaster to do on the arrival of the troops.

  When the column came up Terence led each regiment to the spot marked off,and directed the baggage-waggons to their respective places. While he wasdoing this, Trevor, with the orderlies, saw the head-quarters baggagecarried to the house chosen for the general's use, and that the place wasmade as comfortable as might be, and then endeavoured to add to therations by purchases in the village. Fane himself always remained with thetroops until the tents were erected, and they were under cover, therations distributed, and the fires lighted. The latter operation was oftendelayed by the necessity of fetching wood from a distance, the wood in theimmediate neighbourhood having been cut down and burned e
ither by theFrench on their advance, or by the British regiments ahead.

  He then went to his quarters, where he received the reports of themedical, commissariat, and transport officers, wrote a report of the stateof the road and the obstacles that he had encountered, and sent it back byan orderly to the officer commanding the six guns which were following aday's march behind him. These had been brought along with great labour, itbeing often necessary to take them off their carriages and carry them upor down difficult places, while the men were frequently compelled toharness themselves to ropes and aid the horses to drag the guns andwaggons through the deep mud. Between the arrival of the troops and dinnerTerence had his time to himself, and generally spent it with his regiment.

  "Never did I see such a country, Terence," O'Grady complained to him oneday. "Go where you will in ould Oirland, you can always get a jugful ofpoteen, a potful of 'taties, and a rasher of bacon; and if it is avillage, a fowl and eggs. Here there are not even spirits or wine; as fora chicken, I have not seen the feather of one since we started, and Idon't believe the peasants would know an egg if they saw it."

  "Nonsense, O'Grady! If we were to go off the main road we should be ableto buy all these things, barring the poteen, and maybe the potatoes, butyou could get plenty of onions instead. You must remember that the Frencharmy came along here, and I expect they must have eaten nearly everythingup on their way, and you may be sure that Anstruther's brigade gleaned allthey left. As we marched from the Mondego we found the villagers wellsupplied--better a good deal than places of the same size would be inIreland--except at our first halting-place."

  "I own that, although Hoolan sometimes fails to add to our rations, wehave not been so badly off, Terence. He goes out with two or three more ofthe boys directly we halt, laving the other servants to get the tentsready, and he generally brings us half a dozen fish, sometimes a dozen,that he has got out of the stream.

  "He is an old hand, is Tim, and if he can't get them for dinner he getsthem for breakfast. He catches them with night-lines and snares, and allsorts of poaching tricks. I know he bought a bag with four or five poundsof lime at Torres Vedras, and managed to smuggle it away in the regimentalbaggage. I asked him what it was for, and the rascal tipped me a wink, asmuch as to say, Don't ask no questions, master; and I believe that hedrops a handful into a likely pool when he comes across one. I have neverdared to ask him, for my conscience would not let me countenance such anunsportsmanlike way of getting round the fish."

  "I don't think that there is much harm in it under the presentcircumstances," Terence laughed. "It is not sport, but it is food. I amafraid, Tim, that you must have been poaching a good deal at home or youwould never have thought of buying lime before starting on this march."

  "I would scorn to take in an Oirish fish, yer honour!" Hoolan said,indignantly. "But it seems to me that as the people here are trating usin just as blackguardly a manner as they can, shure it is the least we cando to catch their fish any way we can, just to pay them off."

  "Well, looking at it in that light, Tim, I will say no more against thepractice. I don't think I could bring myself to lime even Portuguesewater, but my conscience would not trouble me at eating fish that had beencaught by somebody else."

  "I will bear it in mind, yer honour, and next time we come on a good poola dish of fine fish shall be left at your quarters, but yer honour mustnot mintion to the gineral where you got them from. Maybe his consciencein the matter of ateing limed fish would be more tender than your own, andit might get me into trouble."

  "I will take care about that, Tim; at any rate, I will try and manufacturetwo or three hooks, and when we halt for a day will try and do a littlefishing on my own account."

  "I will make you two or three, Mr. O'Connor. I made a couple for Mr. Ryan,and he caught two beauties yesterday evening."

  "Thank you, Hoolan. Fond as I am of fishing, I wonder it did not strike mebefore. I can make a line by plaiting some office string, with twistedhorse-hair instead of gut."

  "I expect that that is just what Mr. Ryan did, yer honour. I heard theadjutant using powerful language this morning because he could not find aball of twine."

  After this Terence generally managed to get an hour's fishing before theevening twilight had quite faded away; and by the aid of a long rod cut onthe river bank, a line manufactured by himself, and Hoolan's hook baitedwith worms, he generally contrived to catch enough fish to supplement theordinary fare at the following morning's breakfast.

  "This is a welcome surprise, Trevor," the brigadier said the first timethe fish appeared at table. "I thought I smelt fish frying, but I feltsure I must be mistaken. Where on earth did you get them from?"

  "It is not my doing, General, but O'Connor's. I was as much surprised asyourself when I saw Burke squatting over the fire frying three fine fish.I asked him where he had stolen them. He told me that Mr. O'Connor broughtthem in at eight o'clock yesterday evening."

  "Where did you get them from, O'Connor?"

  "I caught them in the stream that we crossed half a mile back, sir. Ifound a likely pool a few hundred yards down it, and an hour's work theregave me those three fish. They stopped biting as soon as it got dark."

  "What did you catch them with?"

  Terence explained the nature of his tackle.

  "Capital! You have certainly given us a very pleasant change of food, andI hope that you will continue the practice whenever there is a chance."

  "There ought often to be one, General. We cross half a dozen littlemountain streams every day, and the villages are generally built close toone. I don't suppose I should have thought of it, if I had not found thatsome of the men of my regiment have been supplying the mess with them. Ihope to do better in future, for going over the ground where some of thetroops in front of us have bivouacked I came upon some white feathersblowing about, and I shall try to tie a fly. That ought to be a good dealmore killing than a worm when the light begins to fade."

  "You have been a fisherman, then, at home?"

  "Yes, sir; I did a good deal of fishing round Athlone, and was taught totie my own flies. I wish I had a packet of hooks--the two one of ourfellows made for me are well enough for worms, but they are rather clumsyfor flies."

  "I used to be fond of fishing myself," Fane said; "but I have alwaysbought my tackle, and I doubt whether I should make much hand at it, ifleft to my own devices. We are not likely to be able to get any hooks tillwe get to Almeida, but I should think you would find some there."

  "I shall be able to get some wire to make them with, no doubt, sir."

  "I fancy after we have left Almeida you won't find many opportunities offishing, O'Connor. We shall have other work on hand then, and shall, Ihope, be able to buy what we want; at any rate, we shall have as good achance of doing so as others, while along this road there is nothing to behad for love or money, and the peasants would no doubt be glad to sell usanything they have, but they are living on black bread themselves; and,indeed, the greater part have moved away to less-frequented places. Nodoubt they will come back again as soon as we have all passed, but howlong they will be allowed to live in peace and quietness is more than Ican say. As long as it is only our troops who come along they have nothingmuch to complain of, for they can sell everything they have to dispose ofat prices they never dreamt of before; but they complain bitterly of theFrench, who ate their fruit and drank their wine, killed their pigs andfowls, appropriated their cattle and horses, and they thought themselveslucky to escape with their lives. You see there are very few men abouthere; they have all gone off to join one or other of the Portuguesebands."

  "I fancy these Portuguese fellows will turn out useful some day, General,"Major Errington said. "They are stout fellows, and though I don't thinkthe townspeople would be of any good, the peasantry ought to make goodsoldiers if they were well drilled and led."

  "That is a very large if," Fane laughed. "I see no signs of any leader,and unless we could lend them a few hundred non-commissioned officers Idon't see
where their drill instructors are to come from. Still, I havemore hope of them than I have of the Spaniards. Those men under Trant werenever tried much under fire, but they certainly improved in disciplinevery much in the short time they were with us. If we could but get rid ofall the Portuguese authorities and take the people in hand ourselves, weought to be able to turn out fifty thousand good fighting troops in thecourse of a few months, but so long as things go on as they are I see nohope of any efficient aid from them."

  At Almeida Terence managed to procure some hooks. They were clumsily made,but greatly superior to anything that he could turn out himself. He wasalso able to procure some strong lines, but the use of flies seemed to bealtogether unknown. However, during his stay he made half a dozendifferent patterns, and with these in a small tin box and a coil of linestowed away at the bottom of one of his holsters, he felt that ifopportunity should occur he ought to be able to have fair sport. He hadsuffered a good deal during the heavy rains, which came on occasionally,from the fact that his infantry cloak was not ample enough to cover hislegs when riding. He was fortunate enough here to be able to buy a pair oflong riding-boots, and with these and a pair of thick canvas trousers,made by one of the regimental tailors, and coming down just below theknee, he felt that in future he could defy the rain.

  At Salamanca there were far better opportunities of the officerssupplementing their outfits. Landing on the Mondego early in August, theyhad made provision against the heat, but had brought no outfit at allsuited for wear in winter, and all seized the opportunity of providingthemselves with warm under-garments, had linings sewn into greatcoats, andotherwise prepared for the cold which would shortly set in. The greaterpart of the troops were here quartered in the convents and other extensivebuildings, and as Fane's brigade was one of the first to arrive theyenjoyed a short period of well-earned rest. Terence had by this timepicked up a good deal of Portuguese, and was able to make himself prettywell understood by the Spanish shopkeepers. He, as well as the otherofficers, was astonished and disgusted at the lethargy that prevailedwhen, as all now knew, the great Spanish armies were scattered to thewinds, and large bodies of French troops were advancing in all directionsto crush out the last spark of resistance.

  The officers of the Mayo Fusiliers had established a mess, and Terenceoften dined there. He was always eagerly questioned as to what was goingto be done.

  "I can assure you, O'Grady," he said, one day, "that aides-de-camp are notadmitted to the confidence of the officer commanding-in-chief. I know nomore as to Sir John's intentions than the youngest drummer-boy. I supposethat everything will depend upon the weather, and whether General Hope,with the artillery and cavalry, manages to join us. If he does, I supposewe shall fight a battle before we fall back. If he does not, I suppose weshall have to fall back without fighting, if the French will let us."

  "I wish, Terence, you would give these lazy Spaniards a good fright, justas you gave the people at Athlone. Faith, I would give a couple of months'pay to see them regularly scared."

  "If I were not on the staff I might try it, O'Grady, but it would never dofor me to try such a thing now."

  Dick Ryan, who was standing by, winked significantly, and in a short timehe and Terence were talking eagerly together in a corner of the room.

  "Who is to know you are a staff-officer, Terence?" the latter urged."Isn't it an infantry uniform that you are wearing? and ain't therehundreds of infantry officers here? It was good fun at Athlone, but Idon't think that many of them believed there was any real danger. It wouldbe altogether different here; they are scared enough as it is, though theywalk about with their cloaks wrapped round them and pretend to be mightyconfident."

  "Let us come and talk it over outside, Dick. It did not much matter beforeif it had been discovered we had a hand in it. Of course the colonel wouldhave given us a wigging, but at heart he would have been as pleased at thejoke as any of us. But it is a different affair here."

  Going out, they continued their talk and arranged their plans. Late thefollowing night two English officers rushed suddenly into a drinking-shopclose to the gate through which the road to Valladolid passed.

  "The French! the French!" one exclaimed. "Run for your lives and give thealarm!"

  The men all leapt to their feet, rushed out tumultuously, and scatteredthrough the streets, shouting at the top of their voices: "The French arecoming! the French are coming! Get up, or you will all be murdered in yourbeds!"

  The alarm spread like wildfire, and Terence and Ryan made their way back,by the shortest line, to the room where most of the officers were stillsitting, smoking and chatting.

  "Any news, O'Connor?" the colonel asked.

  "Nothing that I have heard of, Colonel. I thought I would drop in for acigar before turning in."

  A few minutes later Tim Hoolan entered.

  "There is a shindy in the town, your honour," he said to the colonel."Meself does not know what it is about; but they are hallooing and bawlingfit to kill themselves."

  One of the officers went to the window and threw it up.

  "Hoolan is right, Colonel; there is something the matter. There--" hebroke off as a church bell pealed out with loud and rapid strokes.

  "That is the alarm, sure enough!" the colonel exclaimed. "Be off at once,gentlemen, and get the men up and under arms."

  "I must be off to the general's quarters!" Terence exclaimed, hastilyputting on his greatcoat again.

  "The divil fly away with them," O'Grady grumbled, as he hastily finishedthe glass before him; "sorrow a bit of peace can I get at all, at all, inthis bastely country."

  Terence hurried away to his quarters. A score of church bells were nowpealing out the alarm. From every house men and women rushed outpanic-stricken, and eagerly questioned each other. All sorts of wildreports were circulated.

  "The British outposts have been driven in; the Valladolid gate has beencaptured; Napoleon himself, with his whole army, is pouring into thetown."

  The shrieks of frightened women added to the din, above which the Britishbugles calling the troops to arms could be heard in various quarters ofthe city.

  "Oh, here you are, Mr. O'Connor!" General Fane exclaimed, as he hurriedin. "Mr. Trevor has just started for the convent; he may be intercepted,and therefore do you carry the same message; the brigade is to get underarms at once, and to remain in readiness for action until I arrive. Fromwhat I can gather from these frightened fools, the French have alreadyentered the town. If the convent is attacked, it is to be defended untilthe last. I am going to head-quarters for orders."

  A good deal alarmed at the consequences of the tumult that he and DickRyan had excited, Terence made his way through the streets at a run; hisprogress, however, was impeded by the crowd, many of whom seized him as hepassed and implored him to tell them the news. He observed that not aweapon was to be seen among the crowd; evidently resistance was absolutelyunthought of. Trevor had reached the convent before him. The fourregiments had already gathered there under arms.

  "Have you any orders, Mr. O'Connor?" Colonel Corcoran asked, eagerly, forthe Mayo Fusiliers happened to be formed up next the gate of the convent.

  "No, sir; only to repeat those brought by Mr. Trevor, as the generalthought that he might be intercepted on the way. The troops are to remainhere in readiness until he arrives. If attacked, they are to hold theconvent until the last."

  "Have you seen any signs of the French?"

  "None, whatever, Colonel."

  "Did you hear any firing?"

  "No, sir; but there was such an uproar--what with the church bells,everyone shouting, and the women screaming--that I don't suppose I shouldhave heard it unless it had been quite close."

  "We thought we heard musketry," the colonel replied, "but it might havebeen only fancy. There is such a hullabaloo in the city that we might nothave heard the fire of small-arms, but I think that we must have heardartillery."

  In ten minutes Fane with his staff galloped in. "The brigade will marchdown towards the
Valladolid gate," he said. "If you encounter any enemies,Colonel Corcoran you will at once occupy the houses on both sides of thestreet and open fire upon them from the windows and roofs; the otherregiments will charge them. At present," he went on, as the colonel gavethe order for the regiment to march, "we can obtain no information as tothe cause of this uproar. An officer rode in, just as I was starting, fromAnstruther's force, encamped outside the walls, asking for orders, andreporting that his outposts have seen no signs of the enemy. I believe itis a false alarm after all, and we are marching rather to reassure thepopulace than with any idea of meeting the enemy."

  The troops marched rapidly through the streets, making their way withoutceremony through the terrified crowd. They had gone but a short distancewhen the bells of the churches one by one ceased their clamour, and a hushsucceeded the din that had before prevailed. When the head of the columnreached the gate, they saw Sir John Moore and his staff sitting there onhorseback. Fane rode up to him for orders.

  "It is, as I fancied, wholly a false alarm," the general said. "How itcould have started I have no idea. I have had another report fromAnstruther; all is quiet at the outposts, and there is no sign whatever ofthe enemy. There is nothing to do but to march the troops back tobarracks. However, I am not sorry, for possibly the scare may wake theauthorities up to the necessity of taking some steps for the protection ofthe town."

  Terence rode back with General Fane to his quarters.

  "I cannot make out," Trevor said, as they went, "how the scare can havebegun; everything was quiet enough. I was just thinking of turning in whenwe heard a shouting in the streets. In three minutes the whole town seemedto have gone mad, and I made sure that the French must be upon us; but Icould not make out how they could have done so without our outposts givingthe alarm. Where were you when it began?"

  "I was in the mess-room of the Mayos, when one of the servants ran in tosay that there was a row. Directly afterwards the alarm-bells began toring, the colonel at once gave orders for the regiment to be got underarms, and I ran back to the general for orders; and I must have passed yousomewhere on the road. Did you ever see such cowards as these Spaniards?Though there are arms enough in the town for every man to bear amusket--and certainly the greater portion of them have weapons of somesort or other--I did not see a man with arms of any kind in his hand."

  "I noticed the same thing," Trevor said. "It is disgusting. It was evidentthat the sole thought that possessed them was as to their own wretchedlives. I have no doubt that, if they could have had their will, they wouldhave disarmed all our troops, in order that no resistance whatever shouldbe offered. And yet only yesterday the fellows were all bragging abouttheir patriotism, and the bravery that would be shown should the Frenchmake their appearance. It makes one sick to be fighting for such people."

  The following afternoon Terence went up to the convent.

  "Well, O'Connor, have you heard how it all began?" the colonel asked, ashe went into the mess-room.

  "No one seems to know at all, Colonel. The authorities are makinginquiries, but, as far as I have heard, nothing has taken place to accountfor it."

  "It reminds me," the colonel said, shutting one eye and looking fixedly atTerence, "of a certain affair that took place at Athlone."

  "I was thinking the same myself," Terence replied, quietly, "only thescare was a good deal greater here than it was there; besides, a good manyof the townspeople in Athlone did turn out with guns in their hands,whereas here, I believe every man in the town hid his gun in his bedbefore running out."

  "I always suspected you of having a hand in that matter, Terence."

  "Did you, Colonel?" Terence said, in a tone of surprise. "Well, as,fortunately, I was sitting here when this row began, you cannot suspect methis time."

  "I don't know; you and Ryan came in together, which was suspicious initself, and it was not two minutes after you had come in that the rumpusbegan. Just give me a wink, lad, if you had a finger in the matter. Youknow you are safe with me; besides, ain't you a staff-officer now, andoutside my jurisdiction altogether?"

  "Well, Colonel, a wink does not cost anything," Terence said, "so here isto ye."

  He exchanged a wink with the colonel, who burst into a fit of laughter soloud that he startled all the other officers, who at once came up to hearthe joke.

  "It is just a little story that Terence has been telling me," the colonelsaid, when he had recovered his breath, "about the scare last night, andhow a young woman, with next to nothing on her, threw her arms round hisneck and begged him to save her. The poor young fellow blushed up to hiseyelids with the shame of it in the public streets!"

  CHAPTER IX

  THE RETREAT

  O'Grady asked no questions, but presently whispered to Terence: "Faith, yedid it well, me boy."

  "Did what well, O'Grady?"

  "You need not tell me about it, Terence. I was expecting it. Didn't Ispake to ye the day before about it, and didn't I feel sure that somethingwould come of it? When that row began last night, I looked at you hard andsaw you wink at that young spalpeen, Dicky Ryan; and sure all the timethat we were standing there, formed up, I well-nigh burst the buttons offme coatee in holding in me laughter, when everyone else was full ofexcitement.

  "'Are you ill, O'Grady?' the colonel said, for I had to sit meself down onsome steps and rock meself to and fro to aise meself. 'Is it sick ye are?''A sudden pain has saised me, Colonel,' says I, 'but I will be all rightin a minute.' 'Take a dram out of me flask,' says he; something must havegone wrong wid ye.' I took a drink--"

  "That I may be sure you did," Terence interrupted.

  "--And thin told him that I felt better; but as we marched down throughthe crowd and saw the fright of the men, and the women screaming in theirnight-gowns at the windows, faith, I well-nigh choked."

  "Have you spoken to Ryan about this absurd suspicion, O'Grady?"

  "I spoke to him, but I might as well have spoke to a brick wall. Divil athing could I get out of him. How did you manage it at all, lad?"

  "How could I manage it?" Terence said, indignantly. "No, no, O'Grady; Iknow you did make some remark about that scare at Athlone, and said itwould be fun to have one here. I was a little shocked at hearing such athing from, as you often say, a superior officer, and it certainly appearsto me that it was you who first broached the idea. So I have much moreright to feel a suspicion that you had a hand in the carrying of it outthan for you to suspect me."

  "Well, Terence," O'Grady said, in an insinuating way, "I won't ask you anyquestions now, and maybe some day when you have marched away from thisplace, you will tell me the ins and outs of the business."

  "Maybe, O'Grady, and perhaps you will also confess to me how you managedto bring the scare about."

  "Go along wid you, Terence, it is yourself knows better than anyone elsethat I had nothing to do with it, and I will never forgive you until youmake a clean breast of it to me."

  "We shall see about it," Terence laughed. "Anyhow, if you allude to thesubject again, I shall feel it my duty to inform the colonel of my reasonsfor suspecting that you were concerned in spreading those false reportslast night."

  "It was first-rate, wasn't it?" Dick Ryan said, as he joined Terence, whenthe latter left the mess-room.

  "It was good fun, Dicky; but I tell you, for a time I was quite as muchscared as anyone else. I never thought that it would have gone quite sofar. When it came to all the troops turning out, and Sir John andeveryone, I felt that there would be an awful row if we were ever foundout."

  "It was splendid, Terence. I knew that we could not be found out when wehad not told a soul. Did you ever see such a funk as the Spaniards wereall in, and after all their bragging and the airs that they had giventhemselves. Our men were so savage at their cowardice, that I believe theywould have liked nothing better than an order to pitch into them. Anddidn't the women yell and howl? It is the best lark we have ever had."

  "It is good fun to look back at, Dicky, but I shall be glad when we are
out of this. The Spanish authorities are making all sorts of inquiries,and I have no doubt that they will get hold of some of the men in thatwine-shop, and it will come out that two British officers started thealarm."

  "What if it did?" Ryan said. "There were only two wretched candles burningin the place, and they could not have got a fair sight at us, and indeedthey all jumped up and bolted the moment we spoke. I will bet that thereis not one among them who would be able to swear to us though we werestanding before him; and I have no doubt if they were questioned every manwould give a different account of what we were like. I have no fear thatthey will ever find us out. Still, I shall be glad when we are out of thisold place. Not because I am afraid about our share in that business beingdiscovered, but we have been here nearly a fortnight now, and as we knowthere is a strong French force within ten miles of us, I think that it isabout time that the fun began. You don't think that we are going toretreat, do you?"

  "I don't know any more about it than you do, Dicky; but I feel absolutelysure that we shall retreat. I don't see anything else for us to do. Everyday fresh news comes in about the strength of the French, and as theSpanish resistance is now pretty well over, and Madrid has fallen, theywill all be free to march against us; and even when Hope has joined us weshall only be about 20,000 strong, and they have, at the least, ten timesthat force. I thing we shall be mighty lucky if we get back across thefrontier into Portugal before they are all on us."

  Sir John Moore, however, was not disposed to retire without doingsomething for the cause of Spain. The French armies had not yet penetratedinto the southern provinces, and he nobly resolved to make a movement thatwould draw the whole strength of the French towards him, and give time forthe Spaniards in the south to gather the remains of their armies togetherand organize a resistance to the French advance. In view of the number andstrength of the enemy, no more heroic resolution was ever taken by amilitary commander, and it was all the more to be admired, inasmuch as hecould hope to win no victory that would cover himself and his army withglory, no success that would satisfy the public at home, and at best hecould but hope, after long, fatiguing, and dangerous marches, to effecthis retreat from the overwhelming forces that would be hurled against him.

  While remaining at Salamanca, Sir John, foreseeing that a retreat intoPortugal must be finally carried out, took steps to have magazinesestablished on two of the principal routes to the coast, that a choicemight be left open to him by which to retire when he had accomplished hismain object of diverting the great French wave of invasion from the south.

  On the 11th of December the march began, and for the next ten days thearmy advanced farther and farther into the country. So far Moore had onlySoult's army opposing his advance towards Burgos, and it might be possibleto strike a heavy blow at that general before Napoleon, who was convincedthat the British must fall back into Portugal if they had not alreadybegun to do so, should come up. He had been solemnly assured that heshould be joined by Romana with 14,000 picked men, but that general hadwith him but 5,000 peasants, who were in such a miserable condition thatwhen the British reached the spot where the junction was to be effected,he was ashamed to show them, and marched away into Leon.

  The British, in order to obtain forage, were obliged to move along severallines of route. Sir David Baird's division joined them as they advanced,and when they reached the Carrion their effective force amounted to 23,583men, with sixty pieces of artillery. On the French side, Soult had--onhearing of the British advance to the north-east, by which, if successful,they would cut the French lines of communication between Madrid and thefrontier--called up all his detached troops, and wrote to the governor ofBurgos to divert to his assistance all troops coming along the road fromFrance, whatever their destination might be.

  On the 21st Lord Paget, with the 10th and 15th Hussars, surprised a Frenchcavalry force at Sahagun, and ordered the 15th to turn their position andendeavour to cut them off. When with the 10th Hussars Lord Paget arrivedin the rear of the village, he found six hundred French dragoons drawn upand ready to attack him. He at once charged and broke them and pursuedthem for some distance. Twenty were killed, thirteen officers and 154 mentaken prisoners. On the 23d, Soult had concentrated his forces at the townof Carrion, and that night the British troops were got in motion to attackthem, the two forces being about even in numbers; but scarcely had hemoved forward when reports, both from Romana and his own spies, reachedSir John Moore to the effect that his march had achieved the object withwhich it was undertaken. Orders had been sent by Napoleon for the whole ofthe French armies to move at once against the British, while he himself,with the troops at Madrid, 70,000 strong, had started by forced marches tofall upon him.

  The instant Moore received this information he arrested the forwardmovement of his troops. His object had been attained. The French invasionof the south was arrested, and time given to the Spaniards. There wasnothing now but to fall back with all speed. It was well indeed that hedid not carry out his intention of attacking Soult. The latter had thatday received orders from the emperor not to give battle, but to fall back,and so tempt Moore to pursue, in which case his line of retreat would havebeen intercepted and his army irretrievably lost.

  The order to retreat was an unwelcome one indeed to the troops. For twelvedays they had marched through deep snow and suffered fatigues, privations,and hardships. That evening they had expected to be repaid for theirexertions by a battle and a victory on the following morning, and theorder to retreat, coming at such a moment, was a bitter disappointmentindeed.

  They were, of course, ignorant of the reasons for this sudden change, andthe officers shared the discontent of the troops, a feeling that largelyaccounted for the disorders and losses that took place during the retreat.

  Napoleon led his troops north with his usual impetuosity. The deep snowchoked the passes through the mountains. The generals, after twelve hoursof labour, reported the roads impracticable, but Napoleon placed himselfat the head of the column, and, amidst a storm of snow and driving hail,led them over the mountain. With tremendous efforts he reached Desillas onthe 26th; while Houssaye entered Valladolid on the same day, and Ney, withthe 6th corps, arrived at Rio Seco.

  Full of hope that he had caught the British, the emperor pushed on towardsBarras, only to find that he was twelve hours too late. Moore had, theinstant he received the news, sent back the heavy baggage with the mainbody of infantry, himself following more slowly with the light brigade andcavalry, the latter at times pushing parties up to the enemy's line andskirmishing with his outposts to prevent Soult from suspecting that thearmy had retreated. On the 26th the whole army, moving by differentroutes, approached the river Esla, which they crossed in a thick fog,which greatly hindered the operation. A brigade remained on the left bankto protect the passage, for the enemy's cavalry were already close athand, and Soult was hotly pressing in pursuit.

  A strong body of horse belonging to the emperor's army intercepted LordPaget near Mayorga, but two squadrons of the 10th Hussars charged up therising ground on which they had posted themselves, and, notwithstandingtheir disadvantage in numbers and position, killed twenty and took ahundred prisoners. Moore made but a short pause on the Esla, for thatposition could be turned by the forces advancing from the south. Hewaited, therefore, only until he could clear out his magazines, collecthis stragglers, and send forward his baggage. He ordered the bridge bywhich the army had crossed to be broken down, and left Crawford to performthis duty.

  Short as the retreat had been, it had already sufficed to damage mostseriously the morale of the army. The splendid discipline and order thathad been shown during the advance was now gone; many of the regimentalofficers altogether neglected their duties, and the troops wereinsubordinate. Great numbers straggled, plundered the villages, andcommitted excesses of all sorts, and already the general had been forcedto issue an order reproaching the army for its conduct, and appealing tothe honour of the soldiers to second his efforts. Valiant in battle,capable of the greatest ef
forts on the march, hardy in enduring fatigueand the inclemency of weather, the British soldier always deterioratesrapidly when his back is turned to the enemy. Confident in his bravery,regarding victory as assured, he is unable to understand the necessity forretreat, and considers himself degraded by being ordered to retire, andregards prudence on the part of his general as equivalent to cowardice.

  The armies of Wellington deteriorated with the same rapidity as thisforce, when upon two occasions it was necessary to retreat when threatenedby overwhelming forces; and yet, however disorganized, the British soldierrecovers his discipline the instant he is attacked, and fiercely turnsupon his pursuers. At the bridge across the Esla two privates of the 3dgave an example of splendid courage and determination. It was night. Someof the baggage was still on the farther bank, and the two men were postedas sentries beyond the bridge, their orders being that if an enemyappeared, one should fire and then run back to the bridge and shout towarn the guard whether the enemy were in force or not. The other was tomaintain his post as long as possible.

  WHAT DO YOU MEAN, TERENCE? WE WOULD HAVE THRASHED THEM OUTOF THEIR BOOTS IN NO TIME]

  During the night the light cavalry of the imperial guard rode down.Jackson, one of the sentries, fired and ran back to give the alarm. He wasovertaken, and received over a dozen sabre cuts; nevertheless he staggeredon until he reached the bridge, and gave the signal. Walton, the othersentry, with equal resolution stood his ground and wounded several of hisassailants, who, as they drew off, left him unhurt, although his cap,knapsack, belt, and musket were cut in over twenty places, and his bayonetbent double.

  Terence O'Connor's duties had been light enough during the advance, butduring the three days of the retreat to the Esla he had been incessantlyoccupied. He and Trevor had both been directed to ride backwards andforwards along the line of the brigade to see that there was no stragglingin the ranks, and that the baggage carts in the rear kept close up. Thetask was no easy one, and was unpleasant as well as hard. Many of theofficers plodded sulkily along, paying no attention whatever to their men,allowing them to straggle as they chose; and they were obliged to reportseveral of the worst cases to the brigadier. With the Mayo Fusiliers theyhad less trouble than with others. Terence had, when he joined them attheir first halt after the retreat began, found them as angry anddiscontented as the rest at the unexpected order, and was at once assailedwith questions and complaints.

  He listened to them quietly, and then said:

  "Of course, if you all prefer a French prison to a few days' hardmarching, you have good reason to grumble at being baulked in your wishes;that is all I have to say about it."

  "What do you mean, Terence?" O'Grady asked, angrily. "Soult's force wasnot stronger than ours, at least so we heard; and if it had been it wouldmake no difference, we would have thrashed them out of their boots in notime."

  "I dare say we should, O'Grady, and what then?"

  "Well, I don't know what then," O'Grady said, after a moment's silence;"that would have been the general's business."

  "Quite so; and so is this. There you would have been with perhaps a coupleof thousand wounded and as many French prisoners, and Napoleon with 60,000men or so, and Ney with as many more, and Houssaye with his cavalrydivision, all in your rear cutting you off from the sea. What would havebeen your course then?"

  A general silence fell upon the officers.

  "Is that so?" the colonel asked at last.

  "That is so," Terence said, gravely. "All these and other troops aremarching night and day to intercept us. It is no question of fighting now.Victory over Soult, so far from being of any use, would only have burdenedus with wounded and prisoners, and even a day's delay would be absolutelyfatal. As it is, it is a question whether we shall have time to get backto the coast before they are all posted in our front. Every hour is of thegreatest importance. You all know that we have talked over lots of timeshow dangerous our position is. General Fane told us, when the orders toretreat were issued, that he believed the peril to be even more imminentthan we thought. We all know when we marched north from Salamanca, that,without a single Spaniard to back us, all that could be hoped for was toaid Saragossa and Seville and Cadiz to gather the levies in the south andprepare for defence, and that erelong we should have any number of enemiesupon us. That is what has precisely happened, and now there is grumblingbecause the object has been attained, and that you are not allowed tofight a battle that, whether won or lost, would equally ruin us."

  "Sure ye are right," O'Grady said, warmly, "and we are a set of omadhouns.You have sense in your head, Terence, and there is no gainsaying you. Iwas grumbling more than the rest of them, but I won't grumble any more.Still, I suppose that there is no harm in hoping we shall have just a bitof fighting before we get back to Portugal."

  "We shall be lucky if we don't have a good deal of fighting, O'Grady, andagainst odds that will satisfy even you. As to Portugal, there is nochance of our getting there. Ney will certainly cut that road, and theemperor will, most likely, also do so, as you can see for yourself on themap."

  "Divil a map have I ever looked at since I was at school," O'Grady said."Then if we can't get back to Portugal, where shall we get to?"

  "To one of the northern seaports; of course, I don't know which has beendecided upon; I don't suppose the general himself has settled that yet. Itmust depend upon the roads and the movements of the enemy, and whetherthere is a defensible position near the port that we can hold in case thefleet and transports cannot be got there by the time we arrive."

  "Faith, Terence, ye're a walking encyclopeydia. You have got the matter atyour finger ends."

  "I don't pretend to know any more than anyone else," Terence said, with alaugh. "But of course I hear matters talked over at the brigade mess. Idon't think that Fane knows more of the general's absolute plans than youdo. I dare say the divisional generals know, but it would not go further.Still, as Fane and Errington and Dowdeswell know something about warbesides the absolute fighting, they can form some idea as to the plansthat will be adopted."

  "Well, Terence," the colonel said, "I didn't think the time was coming sosoon when I was going to be instructed by your father's son, but I willown that you have made me feel that I have begun campaigning too late inlife, and that you have given me a lesson."

  "I did not mean to do that, Colonel," Terence said, a good deal abashed."It was O'Grady I was chiefly speaking to."

  "Your supeyrior officer!" O'Grady murmured.

  "My superior officer, certainly," Terence went on, with a smile; "but who,having, as he says, never looked at a map since he left school--while Ihave naturally studied one every evening since we started from TorresVedras--can therefore know no more about the situation than does TimHoolan. But I certainly never intended my remarks to apply to you,Colonel."

  "They hit the mark all the same, lad, and the shame is mine and not yours.I think you have done us all good. One doesn't care when one is retreatingfor a good reason, but when one marches for twelve days to meet an enemy,and then, when just close to him, one turns one's back and runs away, itis enough to disgust an Englishman, let alone an Irishman. Well, boys, nowwe see it is all right, we will do our duty as well on the retreat as wedid on the advance, and divil a grumble shall there be in my hearing."

  From that moment, therefore, the Mayo Fusiliers were an example to thebrigade. Any grumble in the ranks was met with a cheerful "Whist, boys! doyou think that you know the general's business better than he doeshimself? It is plenty of fighting you are likely to get before you havedone, never fear. Now is the time, boys, to get the regiment a good name.The general knows that we can fight. Now let him see that we can waitpatiently till we get another chance. Remember, the better temper you arein, the less you will feel the cold."

  So, laughing and joking, and occasionally breaking into a song, the MayoFusiliers pushed steadily forward, and the colonel that eveningcongratulated the men that not one had fallen out.

  "Keep that up, boys," he said. "It
will be a proud day for me when we getto our journey's end, wherever that may be, to be able to say to thebrigadier: 'Except those who have been killed by the enemy, here is myregiment just as it was when it started from the Carrion--not a man hasfallen out, not a man has straggled away, not a man has made a baste ofhimself and was unfit to fall in the next morning.' I know them," he saidto O'Driscol, as the regiment was dismissed from parade. "They will notfall out, they will not straggle, but if they come to a place where wine'sin plenty, they will make bastes of themselves; and after all," he added,"after the work they have gone through, who is to blame them?"

  At the halt the next evening at Bembibre the colonel's forebodings thatthe men could not be trusted where liquor was plentiful were happily notverified. There were immense wine-vaults in the town. These were brokenopen, and were speedily crowded by disbanded Spaniards, soldiers,camp-followers, muleteers, women and children--the latter taking refugethere from the terrible cold. The rear-guard, to which the Mayo regimenthad been attached the evening before, found that Baird's division had goneon, but that vast numbers of drunken soldiers had been left behind.General Moore was himself with the rear-guard, and the utmost efforts weremade to induce the drunkards to rejoin their regiments. He himselfappealed to the troops, instructing the commanders of the differentregiments to say that he relied implicitly upon the soldiers to do theirduty. The French might at any moment be up, and every man must be in hisranks. No men were to fall out or to enter any wine-house or cellar, buteach should have at once a pint of wine served out to him, and as muchmore before they marched in the morning.

  After the colonel read out this order, he supplemented it by saying, "Now,boys, the credit of the regiment is at stake. It is a big honour that hasbeen paid you in choosing you to join the rear-guard, and you have got toshow that you deserve it. As soon as it can be drawn, you will have yourpint of wine each, which will be enough to warm your fingers and toes.Wait here in the ranks till you have drunk your wine and eaten some of thebread in your haversacks, and by that time I will see what I can do foryou. You will have another pint before starting; but mind, though I hopethere isn't a mother's son who would bring discredit on the regiment, Iwarn you that I shall give the officers instructions to shoot down any manwho wanders from the ranks in search of liquor. The French may be here inhalf an hour after we have started, and it is better to be shot than to besabred by a French dragoon, which will happen surely enough to every bastewho has drunk too much to go on with the troops."

  Only a few murmurs were heard at the conclusion of the speech.

  "Now, gentlemen," the colonel said, "will half a dozen of you see to thewine. Get hold of some of those fellows loafing about there and make themroll out as many barrels as will supply a pint to every man in theregiment, ourselves as well as the men. O'Grady, take Lieutenant Hortonand Mr. Haldane and two sergeants with you. Here is my purse. Go throughthe town and get some bread and anything else in the way of food that youcan lay your hands upon. And, if you can, above all things get sometobacco."

  O'Grady's search was for a time unsuccessful, as the soldiers andcamp-followers had already broken into the shops and stores. In anunfrequented street, however, they came across a large building. Heknocked at the door with the hilt of his sword. It was opened after a timeby an old man.

  "What house is this?"

  "It is a tobacco factory," he replied.

  "Be jabers, we have come to the right place. I want about half a ton ofit. We are not robbers, and I will pay for what we take." Then anotheridea struck him. "Wait a moment, I will be back again in no time. Horton,do you stay here and take charge of the men. I am going back to thecolonel."

  He found on reaching the regiment that the men were already drinking theirwine and eating their bread.

  "I am afraid I shall never keep them, O'Grady," the colonel said,mournfully. "It is scarcely in human nature to see men straggling about asfull as they can hold, and know that there is liquor to be had for takingit and not to go for it."

  "It is all right, Colonel. I know that we can never keep the men if weturn them into the houses to sleep; but I have found a big building thatwill hold the whole regiment, and the best of it is that it is a tobaccofactory. I expect it is run by the authorities of the place, and as we aredoing what we can for them, they need not grudge us what we take; andfaith, the boys will be quiet and contented enough, so that they do butget enough to keep their pipes going, and know that they will march in themorning with a bit in their knapsacks."

  "The very thing, O'Grady! Pass the word for the regiment to fall in theinstant they have finished their meal."

  It was not long before they were ready, and in a few minutes, guided byO'Grady, the head of the regiment reached the building.

  "Who is the owner of this place?" the colonel asked the old man, who, witha lantern in his hand, was still standing at the door.

  "The Central Junta of the Province has of late taken it, your Excellency."

  "Good! Then we will be the guests of the Central Junta of the Province forthe night." Then he raised his voice, "Boys, here is a warm lodging foryou for the night, and tobacco galore for your pipes; and, for those whohaven't got them, cigars. Just wait until I have got some lights, and thenfile inside in good order."

  There was no difficulty about this, for the factory was in winter workedlong after dark set in. In a very few minutes the place was lighted upfrom end to end. The troops were then marched in and divided amongst thevarious rooms.

  "Now, boys, tell the men to smoke a couple of pipes, and then to lie downto sleep. In the morning each man can put as much tobacco into hisknapsack and pockets as they will hold, and when we halt they can givesome of it away to regiments that have not been as lucky as themselves."

  The men sat down in the highest state of satisfaction. Boxes of cigarswere broken open, and in a couple of minutes almost every man and officerin the regiment had one alight in his mouth. There were few, however, whogot beyond one cigar; the warmth of the place after their long march inthe snow speedily had its effect, and in half an hour silence reigned inthe factory, save for a murmur of voices in one of the lower rooms wherethe officers were located.

  "O'Grady, you are a broth of a boy," the colonel said. "The men havescarce had a smoke for the last week, and it will do them a world of good.We have got them all under one roof, and there is no fear that anyone willwant to get out, and they will fall in in the morning as fresh as paint.Half an hour before bugle-call three or four of you had best turn out witha dozen men, and roll up enough barrels from the vaults to give them thedrink promised to them, before starting. Who will volunteer?"

  Half a dozen officers at once offered to go, and a captain and threelieutenants were told off for the work.

  "They know how to make cigars, if they don't know anything else," CaptainO'Driscol said; "this is a first-rate weed."

  "So it ought to be by the brand," another officer said. "I took the twoboxes from a cupboard that was locked up. There are a dozen more likethem, and I thought it was as well to take them out; they are at presentunder the table. I have no doubt that they are real Havannas, and haveprobably been got for some grandee or other."

  "He will have to do without them," O'Grady said, calmly, as he lighted hissecond cigar; "they are too good for any Spaniard under the sun. And,moreover, if we did not take them you may be sure that the French wouldhave them to-morrow, and I should say that the Central Junta of theProvince will be mighty pleased to know that the tobacco was smoked bytheir allies instead of by the French."

  "I don't suppose that they will care much about it one way or another,"O'Driscol remarked; "their pockets are so full of English gold that theloss of a few tons of tobacco won't affect them much. I enjoy my cigarimmensely, and have the satisfaction of knowing that for once I have gotsomething out of a Spaniard--it is the first thing since I landed."

  "Well, boys, we had better be off to sleep," the colonel said. "I am sosleepy that I can hardly keep my eyes open, and you ought
to be worse, foryou have tramped well-nigh forty miles to-day. See that the sentry at thedoor keeps awake, Captain Humphrey; you are officer of the day; upon myword I am sorry for you. Tell him he can light up if he likes, but if hesees an officer coming round he must get rid of it. Mind the sentries arechanged regularly, for I expect that we shall sleep so soundly that if allthe bugles in the place were sounding an alarm we should not hear them."

  "All right, Colonel! I have got Sergeant Jackson in charge of the reliefsin the passage outside, and I think that I can depend upon him, but I willtell him to wake me up whenever he changes the sentries. I don't say Ishall turn out myself, but as long as he calls me I shall know that he isawake, and that it is all right. I had better tell him to call you half anhour before bugle-call, Sullivan, so that you can wake the others and getthe wine here; he mustn't be a minute after the half-hour. Thank goodness,we don't have to furnish the outposts to-night."

  In ten minutes all were asleep on the floor, wrapped in their greatcoats,the officer of the day taking his place next the door so that he could beroused easily. Every hour one or other of the two non-commissionedofficers in charge of the guard in the passage opened the door a fewinches and said softly, "I am relieving the sentries, sir;" and each timethe officer murmured assent.

  Sullivan was called at the appointed time, got up, and stretched himself,grumbling:

  "I don't believe that I have been asleep ten minutes."

  On going out into the passage, however, where a light was burning, hiswatch told him that it was indeed time to be moving. He woke the others,and with the men went down to the cellars. Here the scene of confusion wasgreat; drunken men lay thickly about the floor, others sat, cup in hand,talking, or singing snatches of song, Spanish or English. Hastily pickingout enough unbroken casks for the purpose, he set the men to carry them upto the street, and they were then rolled along to the factory. Just asthey reached the door the bugle-call sounded; the men were soon on theirfeet, refreshed by a good night's sleep. The casks were broached, and thewine served out.

  "It is awful, Colonel," Sullivan said. "There will be hundreds of men leftbehind. There must have been over that number in the cellar I went into,and there are a dozen others in the town. I never saw such a disgustingscene."

  Scarcely had they finished when the assemble sounded, and the regiment atonce fell-in outside the factory, every man with knapsack and haversackbulging out with tobacco. They then joined the rest of the troops in themain street. General Moore had made a vain attempt to rouse the besottedmen. A few of those least overcome joined the rear-guard, but the greaternumber were too drunk to listen to orders, or even to the warning that theFrench would be into the town as soon as the troops marched out.

  CHAPTER X

  CORUNNA

  As the confusion in the streets increased from the pouring out from thehouses and cellars of the camp-followers--women and children, togetherwith men less drunk than their comrades, but still unable to walksteadily--who filled the air with shouts and drunken execrations, ColonelCorcoran rode along the line.

  "Just look at that, boys," he said. "Isn't it better for you to bestanding here like dacent men, ready to do your duty, than to be rollingabout in a state like those drunken blackguards, for the sake of half anhour's pleasure? Sure it is enough to make every mother's son of you swearoff liquor till ye get home again. When the French get inside the townthere is not one of the drunken bastes that won't be either killed ormarched away a thousand miles to a French prison, and all for half anhour's drink."

  The lesson was indeed a striking one, and careless as many of the menwere, it brought home to them with greater force than ever before in theirlives, not only the folly but the degradation of drunkenness. A fewminutes later, General Moore, who was riding up and down the line,inspecting the condition of the men in each regiment, came along.

  "Your men look very well, Colonel," he said, as he reached the Fusiliers."How many are you short of your number?"

  "Not a man, General; I am happy to say that there was not a single onethat did not answer when his name was called."

  "That is good, indeed," the general said, warmly. "I am happy to say thatall the regiments of the rear-guard have turned out well, and shownthemselves worthy of the trust reposed in them; none, however, can give sogood a report as you have done. I selected your regiment to strengthenthis division from the excellent order that I observed you kept along theline of march, and I am glad indeed that it has shown itself so worthy ofthe honour. March your regiment across to the side of the street, let theothers pass you, and fall in at the rear of the column. I shall give theMayo Fusiliers the post of honour, as a mark of my warm approbation forthe manner in which they have turned out."

  Scarcely had the troops left the town when the French cavalry poured in.Now that it was too late, the sense of danger penetrated the brains of therevellers, and the mob of disbanded Spanish and British soldiers andcamp-followers poured out from the cellars. Few of the soldiers had thesense even to bring up their muskets. Most of those who did so were toodrunk to use them, and the French troopers rode through the mob, sabringthem right and left, and trampling them under foot, and then, ridingforward without a pause, set out in pursuit of the retiring columns. Asthey came clattering along the road the colonel ordered the last twocompanies to halt, and when the head of the squadron was within fiftyyards of them, and the troopers were beginning to check their horses, aheavy volley was poured in, which sent them to the right-about as fast asthey had come, and emptied a score of saddles. Then the two companiesformed fours again, and went on at the double until they reached the rearof the column.

  All day the French cavalry menaced the retreat, until Lord Paget came backwith a regiment of hussars and drove them back in confusion, pursuing thema couple of miles, with the view of discovering whether they were followedby infantry. Such, however, was not the case, and the column was notfurther molested until they reached Cacabolos, where they were halted. Therest of the army had moved on, the troops committing excesses similar tothose that had taken place at Bembibre, and plundering the shops andhouses.

  The division marched over a deep stream crossed by a stone bridge, andtook up their ground on a lofty ridge, the ascent being broken byvineyards and stone walls. Four hundred men of the rifles and as manycavalry were posted on a hill two miles beyond the river to watch theroads. They had scarcely taken their post when the enemy were seenapproaching, preceded by six or eight squadrons of cavalry. The rifleswere at once withdrawn, and the cavalry, believing that the whole Frencharmy was advancing, presently followed them, and, riding fast, came up tothe infantry just as they were crossing the bridge.

  Before all the infantry were over the French cavalry came down at afurious gallop, and for a time all was confusion. Then the rifles,throwing themselves among the vineyards and behind the walls, opened aheavy fire. The French general in command of the cavalry was killed, witha number of his troops, and the rest of the cavalry fell back. A regimentof light infantry had followed them across the bridge, and two companiesof the 52d and as many of the Mayo regiment went down the hill andreinforced the rifles. A sharp fight ensued until the main body of theFrench infantry approached the bridge. A battery of artillery opened uponthem, and seeing the strength of the British division, and believing thatthe whole army was before him, Soult called back his troops. Thevoltigeurs retired across the bridge again, and the fight came to an end.Between two and three hundred men had been killed or wounded.

  As soon as night came on the British force resumed its march, leaving twocompanies of the rifles as piquets at the bridge. The French crossed againin the night, but after some fighting, fell back again without having beenable to ascertain whether the main body of the defenders of the positionwere still there. Later on the rifles fell back, and at daybreak rejoinedthe main body of the rear-guard, which had reached Becerrea, eighteenmiles away. Here General Moore received the report from the engineers hehad sent to examine the harbours, and they reported in favour of Co
runna,which possessed facilities for defence which were lacking at Vigo.Accordingly he sent off orders to the fleet, which was lying at the latterport, to sail at once for Corunna, and directed the various divisions ofthe army to move on that town.

  The rear-guard passed the day without moving, enjoying a welcome restafter the thirty-six miles they had covered the day before. By this marchthey had gained a long start of the enemy and had in the evening reachedthe town the division before them had quitted that morning. The scene asthey marched along was a painful one. Every day added to the numbers ofthe stragglers. The excesses in drink exhausted the strength of the troopsfar more than did the fatigue of the marches. Their shoes were worn out;many of them limped along with rags tied round their feet. Even morepainful than the sight of these dejected and worn-out men was that of thecamp-followers. These, in addition to their terrible hardships andfatigue, were worn out with hunger, and almost famished. Numbers of themdied by the roadside, others still crawled on in silent misery.

  Nothing could be done to aid these poor creatures. The troops themselveswere insufficiently fed, for the evil conduct of the soldiers who firstmarched through the towns defeated all the efforts of the commissariat;for they had broken into the bakers' shops and so maltreated theinhabitants that the people fled in terror, and no bread could be obtainedfor the use of the divisions in the rear. Towards evening the next day thereserve approached Constantina. The French were now close upon their rear.A bridge over a river had to be crossed to reach the town, and as therewas a hill within a pistol-shot of the river, from which the Frenchartillery could sweep the bridge, Sir John Moore placed the riflemen andartillery on it. The enemy, believing that he intended to give battle,halted, and before their preparations could be made the troops were acrossthe bridge, and were joined by the artillery, which had retired at fullspeed.

  The French advanced and endeavoured to take the bridge. General Paget,however, held the post with two regiments of cavalry, and then fell backto Lugo, where the whole army was now assembled. The next day Sir JohnMoore issued an order strongly condemning the conduct of the troops, andstating that he intended to give battle to the enemy. The news effected aninstant transformation. The stragglers who had left their regiments andentered the town by twos and threes at once rejoined their corps. Fifteenhundred men had been lost during the retreat, of whom the number killedformed but a small proportion. But the army still amounted to its formerstrength, as it was here joined by two fresh battalions, who had been leftat Lugo by General Baird on his march from the coast. The force thereforenumbered 19,000 men; for it had been weakened by some 4,000 of the lighttroops having, early in the retreat, been directed towards other ports, inorder to lessen as far as possible the strain on the commissariat.

  The position was a strong one, and when Soult at mid-day came up at thehead of 12,000 men he saw at once that until his whole force arrived hecould not venture to attack it. Like the British, his troops had sufferedseverely from the long marches, and many had dropped behind altogether.Uncertain whether he had the whole of the British before him, he sent abattery of artillery and some cavalry forward; when the former openedfire, they were immediately silenced by a reply from fifteen pieces. Thenhe made an attack upon the right, but was sharply repulsed with a loss offrom three to four hundred men; and, convinced now that Moore was ready togive battle with his whole force, he drew off.

  The next day both armies remained in their positions. Soult had beenjoined by Laborde's division, and had 17,000 infantry, 4,000 cavalry, and50 guns; the English had 16,000 infantry, 1,800 cavalry, and 40 guns. TheFrench made no movement to attack, and the British troops were furious atthe delay. Soult, however, was waiting until Ney, who was advancing byanother road, should threaten the British flank or cut the line ofretreat. Moore, finding that Soult would not fight alone, and knowing thatNey was approaching, gave the order for the army to leave its positionafter nightfall and march for Corunna. He exhorted them to keep goodorder, and to make the effort which would be the last demanded from them.It was indeed impossible for him to remain at Lugo, even if Ney had notbeen close at hand, for there was not another day's supply of bread in thetown.

  He took every precaution for securing that no errors should take place asto the route to be followed in the dark, for the ground behind theposition was intersected by stone walls and a number of intricate lanes.To mark the right tracks, bundles of straw were placed at intervals alongthe line, and officers appointed to guide the columns. All theseprecautions, however, were brought to naught by the ill-fortune that haddogged the general along the whole line of retreat. A tremendous storm ofwind and rain set in, the night was pitch dark, the bundles of straw werewhirled away by the wind, and when the army silently left their post atten o'clock at night, the task before them was a difficult one indeed. Allthe columns lost their way, and one division alone recovered the mainroad; the other two wandered about all night, buffeted by the wind,drenched by the rain, disheartened and weary.

  Some regiments entered what shelters they could find, the men soonscattered to plunder, stragglers fell out in hundreds, and at daybreak theremnants of the two divisions were still in Lugo. The moment the lightafforded means of recovering their position, the columns resumed theirmarch, the road behind them being thickly dotted by stragglers. Therearguard, commanded by the general himself, covered the rear, butfortunately the enemy did not come up until evening; but so numerous werethe stragglers that when the French cavalry charged, they mustered insufficient force to repel their attack, a proof that it was not so muchfatigue as insubordination that caused them to lag behind. The rear-guardhalted a few miles short of Friol and passed the night there, whichenabled the disorganized army to rest and re-form. The loss during thisunfortunate march was greater than that of all the former part of theretreat, added to all the losses in action and during the advance.

  The next day the army halted, as the French had not come up in sufficientnumbers to give battle, and on the following day marched in good orderinto Corunna, where, to the bitter disappointment of the general, thefleet had not yet arrived. At the time, Sir John Moore was blamed by theignorant for having worn out his troops by the length of the marches; butthe accusation was altogether unfounded, as is proved by the fact that therear-guard--upon whom the full brunt of the fighting had fallen, who hadfrequently been under arms all night in the snow, had always to throw outvery strong outposts to prevent surprises, and had marched eighty miles intwo days, had suffered far more than the other troops, owing to the factthat the food supply intended for all had been several times wasted anddestroyed by the excesses of those who had preceded them--yet who, whenthey reached Corunna, had a much smaller number missing from their ranksthan was the case with the three other divisions.

  After all the exertions that had been made, and the extraordinary successwith which the general had carried his force through a host of enemies,all his calculations were baffled by the contrary winds that delayed thearrival of the fleet, and it remained but to surrender or fight a battle,which, if won, might yet enable the army to embark. Sir John did not evenfor a moment contemplate the former alternative. The troops on arrivingwere at once quartered in the town. The inhabitants here, who had sosullenly held aloof from Baird's force on its arrival, and had refused togive him the slightest aid, now evinced a spirit of patriotism seldomexhibited by the Spaniards, save in their defence of Saragossa, and on afew other occasions.

  Although aware that the army intended, if possible, to embark, and thatthe French on entering might punish them for any aid given to it, theycheerfully aided the troops in removing the cannon from the sea-face andin strengthening the defences on the land side. Provisions in amplequantity were forthcoming, and in twenty-four hours the army, knowing thatat last they were to engage the foe who had for the last fortnight huntedthem so perseveringly, recovered its confidence and discipline. This wasaided by the fact that Corunna had large magazines of arms and ammunition,which had been sent out fifteen months before, from England, and
werestill lying there, although Spain was clamouring for arms for its newlyraised levies.

  To the soldiers this supply was invaluable. Their muskets were so rustedwith the almost constant downfall of rain and snow of the past month as tobe almost unserviceable, and these were at once exchanged for new arms.The cartridge-boxes were re-filled with fresh ammunition, an abundantstore served out for the guns, and, after all this, two magazinescontaining four thousand barrels of powder remained. These had beenerected on a hill, three miles from the town, and were blown up so thatthey should not fall into the hands of the enemy. The explosion was aterrible one, and was felt for many miles round. The water in the harbourwas so agitated that the shipping rolled as if in a storm, and manypersons who had gone out to witness the explosion were killed by fallingfragments.

  The ground on which the battle was to take place was unfit for theoperations of cavalry. The greater portion of the horses were hopelesslyfoundered, partly from the effects of fatigue, partly from want of shoes;for although a supply of these had been issued on starting, no hammers ornails had been sent, and the shoes were therefore useless. It would in anycase have been impossible to ship all these animals, and accordingly, as ameasure of mercy, the greater portion of them were shot. Three days werepermitted Moore to make his arrangements, for it took that time for Soultto bring up his weary troops and place them in a position to give battle.Their position was a lofty ridge which commanded that upon which Sir JohnMoore now placed his troops, covering the town. On the right of the Frenchridge there was another eminence upon which Soult had placed eleven heavyguns.

  On the evening of the 14th there was an exchange of artillery fire, but itled to nothing. That afternoon the sails of the long-expected fleet weremade out, and just at nightfall it entered the harbour. The dismountedcavalry, the sick, the remaining horses, and fifty guns were embarked,nine guns only being kept on shore for action. On the 15th Soult occupiedhimself in completing his preparations. Getting his great guns on to therocks on his left, he attacked and drove from an advanced position somecompanies of the 5th Regiment, and posted his mass of cavalry so as tothreaten the British right, and even menace its retreat to the town fromthe position it held. Had the battle been delayed another day, Sir JohnMoore had made every preparation for embarking the rest of his troopsrather than await a battle in which even victory would be worthless, forNey's corps would soon be up. The French, however, did not afford him anopportunity of thus retiring.

  Terence O'Connor speedily paid a visit to his regiment at Corunna, for hehad, of course, accompanied Fane's brigade during the retreat. He wasdelighted to find that there had been only a few trifling casualties amongthe officers, and that the regiment itself, although it had lost some menin the fighting that had taken place, had not left a single stragglerbehind, a circumstance that was mentioned with the warmest commendation byGeneral Paget in his report of the doings of the rear-guard.

  "I was awfully afraid that it would have been quite the other way,"Terence said. "I know how all the three other divisions suffered, thoughthey were never pressed by the enemy, and had not a shadow of excuse fortheir conduct."

  "You did not know us, me boy," O'Grady said. "I tell ye, the men weresplendid. I expect if we had been with the others we should have behavedjust as badly; but being chosen for the rear-guard put our boys all ontheir mettle, and every man felt that the honour of the regiment dependedon his good conduct. Then, too, we were lucky in lighting on a big storeof tobacco, and tobacco is as good as food and drink. The men gave a lotaway to the other regiments, and yet had enough to last them until we gothere."

  "Then they were not above doing a little plundering," Terence laughed.

  "Plunder is it!" O'Grady repeated, indignantly. "It was a righteousaction, for the factory belonged to the Central Junta of the Province, andit was just stripping the French of their booty to carry it away. Faith,it was the most meritorious action of the campaign."

  "Have you got a good cigar left, O'Grady?"

  "Oh, you have taken to smoking, have you?"

  "I was obliged to, to keep my nose warm. On the march, Fane and the majorand Errington all smoked, and they looked so comfortable and contentedthat I felt it was my duty to keep them company."

  "I have just two left, Terence, so we will smoke them together, and I havegot a bottle of dacent spirits. Think of that, me boy; thirty-two dayswithout spirits! They will never believe me when I go home and tell 'em Iwent without it for thirty-two mortal days."

  "Well, you have had wine, O'Grady."

  "It's poor stuff by the side of the cratur, still I am not saying that itwasn't a help. But it was cold comfort, Terence, a mighty cold comfort."

  "You are looking well on it, anyhow. And how is the wound?"

  "Och, I have nigh forgot I ever had one, save when it comes to ateing. Timhas to cut my food up for me, and I never sit down to a male withoutwishing bad cess to the French. When we get back I will have a patentmachine for holding a fork fixed on somehow. It goes against me grain tohave me food cut up as if I was a baby; if it wasn't for that I should notmiss my hand one way or the other. In fact, on the march it has been acomfort that I have only had five fingers to freeze, instead of ten. Thereis a compensation in all things. So we are going to fight them at last?There is no chance of the fleet coming to take us off before that, Ihope?" he asked, anxiously, "for we should all break our hearts if we wereobliged to go without a fight."

  "I don't think there is any chance of that, O'Grady, though I should bevery glad if there were. I am not afraid of the fighting, but we certainlysha'n't win without heavy loss, and every life will be thrown away, seeingthat we shall, after all, have to embark when the battle is over. Ney,with 50,000 men, is only two or three marches away.

  "Well, Dicky, how do you do?" he asked, as Ryan came up.

  "I am well enough, Mr. Staff Officer. I needn't ask after yourself, foryou have been riding comfortably about, while we have been marched rightoff our legs. Forty miles a day, Terence, and over such roads as they havein this country; it is just cruelty to animals."

  "I would rather have been with you, Dicky, than see to the horribleconfusion that has been going on. Why, as soon as the day's march was overwe had to set to work to go about trying to keep order. A dozen times Ihave been nearly shot by drunken rascals whom I was trying to get toreturn to their corps. Worse still, it was heartrending to see the miseryof the starving women and camp-followers. I would rather have been onoutpost duty, with Soult's cavalry hovering round, ready to charge at anymoment."

  "It is all very well to say that, Terence!" O'Grady exclaimed. "But waituntil you try it a bit, my boy. I had five nights of it, and that widout adrop of whisky to cheer me. It was enough to have made Samson weep, letalone a man with only one hand, and a sword to hold in it, and a bad couldin his head. It was enough to take the heart out of any man entoirely, andif it hadn't been for the credit of the regiment, I could often have satdown on a stone and blubbered. It is mighty hard for a man to keep up hisspirits when he feels the mortal heat in him oozing out all over, and hisfingers so cold that it is only by looking that one knows one has got asword in them, and you don't know whether you are standing on your feet oron your knee-bones, and feel as if your legs don't belong to you, but arethe property of some poor chap who has been kilt twenty-four hours before.Och, it was a terrible time! and a captain's pay is too small for it, ifit was not for the divarsion of a scrimmage now and then!"

  "How about an ensign's pay?" Ryan laughed. "I think that on such work aswe have had, O'Grady, the pay of all the officers, from the colonel down,ought to be put together and equally divided."

  "I cannot say whether I should approve the plan, Ryan, until I have madean intricate calculation, which, now I am comfortable at last, would be asin and a shame to ask me brain to go through; but as my present idea isthat I should be a loser, I may say that your scheme is a bad one, and notto say grossly disrespectful to the colonel, to put his value down as onlyequal to that of a slip of a lad
like yourself. Boys nowadays have norespect for their supeyrior officers. There is Terence, who is not sixteenyet--"

  "Sixteen three months back, O'Grady," Terence put in.

  "Yes, I remember now, but a week or two one way or the other makes nodifference. Here is Terence, just sixteen, who ought to be at schooltrying to get a little learning into his head, laying down the law to hissupeyrior officers, just because he has had the luck to get onto thebrigadier's staff. I think sometimes that the world is coming to an end."

  "At any rate, O'Grady," Terence laughed, "I am half a head taller than youare, and could walk you off your legs any day."

  "There! And he says this to a man who has gone through all the fatigues ofthe rear-guard, while he has been riding about the country like agentleman at aise."

  "Well, I cannot stop any longer," Terence said. "I am on my way up to seehow they are getting on with the earthworks, and the general may want meat any moment."

  "I would not trouble about that," O'Grady said, sarcastically; "perhaps hemight make a shift to do widout you, widout detriment to the service."

  Terence made no reply, but, mounting, rode off up the hill behind thetown. At two o'clock on the 16th a general movement of the French line wasobserved, and the British infantry, 14,500 strong, drew up in order ofbattle along the position marked for them. The British were fighting undera serious disadvantage, for not only had Soult over 20,000 infantry, withvery powerful artillery and great strength in cavalry, but owing to theirposition on the crest running somewhat obliquely to the higher oneoccupied by the French, the heavy battery on the rocks to their rightraked the whole line of battle. Hope's division was on the British left,Baird's on the right. Fraser's division was on another ridge some distancefrom the others, and immediately covering the town of Corunna; and Paget,with his division to which the Mayo regiment was still attached, wasposted at the village of Airis, on the height between Hope's division andthe harbour, and looking down the valley between the main position and theridge held by Fraser.

  From here he could either reinforce Hope and Baird, or advance down thevalley to repel any attack of the French cavalry, and cover the retreat ofthe main body if forced to fall back. The battle commenced by the Frenchopening fire with their field-guns, which were distributed along the frontof their position, and by the heavy battery on their left, while theirinfantry descended the mountain in three heavy columns, covered by cloudsof skirmishers. The British piquets were at once driven in, and thevillage of Elvina, held by a portion of the 50th, carried. The Frenchcolumn on this side then divided into two portions; one endeavoured toturn Baird's right and enter the valley behind the British position, whilethe other climbed the hill to attack him in front. The second column movedagainst the British centre, and the third attacked Hope's left, whichrested on the village of Palavia Abaxo.

  The nine English guns were altogether overmatched by those of Soult'sheavy battery. Moore, seeing that the half-column advancing by Baird'sflank made no movement to penetrate beyond his right, directed him tothrow back one regiment and take the French in flank. Paget was ordered toadvance up the valley, to drive back the French column, and menace theFrench battery, uniting himself with a battalion previously posted on ahill to keep the threatening masses of French cavalry in check. He alsosent word to Fraser to advance at once and support Paget. Baird launchedthe 50th and 42d Regiments to meet the enemy issuing from Elvina. Theground round the village was broken by stone walls and hollow roads, butthe French were forced back, and the 50th, entering the village with thefleeing enemy, drove them, after a struggle, beyond the houses.

  Map of the Battle of Corunna.]

  The 42d, misunderstanding orders, retired towards the hill, and theFrench, being reinforced, again attacked Elvina, which the 50th heldstubbornly until again joined by the 42d, which had been sent forward byMoore himself. Paget was now engaged in the valley, the advance of theenemy was arrested, and they suffered very heavily from the fire of theregiments on the height above their flank, while Paget steadily gainedground. The centre and left were now hotly engaged, but held their groundagainst all the attacks of the enemy, and on the extreme left advanced anddrove the French out of the village of Palavia Abaxo, which they hadoccupied. Elvina was now firmly held, while Paget carried all before himon the right, and, with Fraser's division behind him, menaced the greatFrench battery.

  Had this been carried, the two divisions could have swept along the Frenchposition, crumpling up the forces as they went, and driving them downtowards the river Moro, in which case they would have been lost. Owing,however, to the battle having been begun at so late an hour, darkness nowfell. The general himself, while watching the contest at Elvina, had beenstruck by a cannon-ball and mortally wounded. General Baird had also beenstruck down. This loss of commanders combined with the darkness to arrestthe progress of the victorious troops, and permitted the French, who werealready falling back in great confusion, to recover themselves andmaintain their position.

  The object for which the battle had been fought was gained. Night, whichhad saved the French from total defeat, afforded the British theopportunity of extricating themselves from their position, and GeneralHope, who now assumed the command, ordered the troops to abandon theirpositions and to march down to the port, leaving strong piquets with firesburning to deceive the enemy. All the arrangements for embarkation hadbeen carefully arranged by Sir John Moore, and without the least hitch orconfusion the troops marched down to the port, and before morning were allon board with the exception of a rear-guard, under General Beresford,which occupied the citadel.

  At daybreak the piquets were withdrawn and also embarked, and a forceunder General Hill, that had been stationed on the ramparts to cover themovement, then marched down to the citadel, and there took boats for theships. By this time, however, the French, having discovered that theBritish position was abandoned, had planted a battery on the heights ofSan Lucia and opened fire on the shipping. This caused much confusionamong the transports. Several of the masters cut their cables, and fourvessels ran ashore. The troops, however, were taken on board of othertransports by the boats of the men-of-war. The stranded ships were fired,and the fleet got safely out of harbour.

  The noble commander, by whose energy, resolution, and talent thiswonderful march had been achieved, lived only long enough to know that hissoldiers were victorious, and was buried the same night on the ramparts.His memory was for a time assailed with floods of abuse by that portion ofthe press and public that had all along vilified the action of the Britishgeneral, had swallowed eagerly every lie promulgated by the Junta ofOporto, and by the whole of the Spanish authorities; but in time hisextraordinary merits came to be recognized to their full value, and hisname will long live as one of the noblest men and best generals GreatBritain has ever produced.

  Beresford held the citadel until the 18th, and then embarked with histroops and all the wounded; the people of Corunna, remaining true to theirpromises, manned the ramparts of the town until the last British soldierwas on board.

  The British loss in the battle was estimated at 800 men; that of theFrench was put down at 3,000. Their greater loss was due to the fact thatthey assumed the offensive, and were much more exposed than the defenders;that the nine little guns of the latter were enabled to sweep them withgrape, while the British were so far away from the French batteries thatthe latter were obliged to fire round shot; and lastly that the newmuskets and fresh ammunition gave a great advantage to the British overthe rusty muskets and often damaged powder of the French. Paget's divisionhad suffered but slightly, the main loss of the English having occurred inand around Elvina, and from the shot of the heavy battery that swept thecrest held by them. Two officers killed and four wounded were the onlycasualties in that division, while but thirty of the rank and file wereput out of action.

  CHAPTER XI

  AN ESCAPE

  While the battle was at its height Terence was despatched by the brigadierto carry an order to one of the regiments that had
pushed too far forwardin its ardour. Scrambling over rough ground, and occasionally leaping awall, he reached the colonel. "The general requests you to fall back alittle, sir; you are farther forward than the regiment on your flank. Theenemy are pushing a force down the hill in your direction, and as there isno support that can be sent to you at present, he wishes your extremeright to be in touch with the left of the regiment holding Elvina."

  "Very good. Tell General Fane that I will carry out his instructions.Where is he now?"

  "He is in the village, sir." Terence turned his horse to ride back. Thedin of battle was almost bewildering. A desperate conflict was going on infront of the village, where every wall was obstinately contested, theregiment being hotly engaged with a French force that was rapidlyincreasing in strength. The great French battery was sending its missilesfar overhead against the British position on the hill, the British gunswere playing on the French troops beyond the village, and the French lightfield-pieces were pouring their fire into Elvina. Terence made his wayacross the broken ground near the village. Galloping at a low stone wall,the horse was in the act of rising to clear it when it was struck in thehead by a round shot. Terence was thrown far ahead over the wall, and fellheavily head-foremost on a pile of stones covered by some low shrubs.

  The shock was a terrible one, and for many hours he lay insensible. Whenhe recovered consciousness, he remained for some time wondering vaguelywhere he was. Above him was a canopy of foliage, through which the rays ofthe sun were streaming. A dead silence had succeeded the roar of battle.He put his hand to his head, which was aching intolerably, and found thathis hair was thick with clotted blood.

  "Yes, of course," he said to himself at last; "I was carrying a message toFane. I was just going to jump a wall and there was a sudden crash. Iremember--I flew out of the saddle--that is all I do remember. I have beenstunned, I suppose. How is it so quiet? I suppose the battle is over."

  Then he sat suddenly upright.

  "The sun is shining," he said. "It was getting dusk when I was riding backto the village. I must have lain here all night."

  Suddenly he heard a gun fired; it was quickly followed by others. He roseon his knees and looked cautiously over the bushes.

  "It is away there," he said, "on those heights above the harbour. The armymust have embarked, and the French are firing at the ships."

  "POOR OLD JACK! HE HAS CARRIED ME WELL EVER SINCE I GOT HIMAT TORRES VEDRAS."]

  His conjecture was speedily verified, for, looking along the crest whichthe British had held during the fight, he saw a large body of Frenchtroops just reaching the top of the rise. He stood up now and lookedround. No one could be seen moving in the orchards and vineyards round. Hepeered over the wall; his horse lay there in a huddled-up heap.

  "A round shot in the head!" he exclaimed; "that accounts for it. Poor oldJack! he has carried me well ever since I got him at Torres Vedras."

  He climbed down and got what he was in search of--a large flask full ofbrandy-and-water, which he carried in one of the holsters. He took a longdrink, and felt better at once.

  "I may as well take the pistols," he said, and, putting them into hisbelt, climbed over the wall again, and lay down among the bushes.

  He was now able to think clearly. Should he get up and surrender himselfas a prisoner to the first body of French troops that he came across? orshould he lie where he was until nightfall, and then try to get away? Ifhe surrendered, there was before him a march of seven or eight hundredmiles to a French prison; if he tried to get away, no doubt there weremany hardships and dangers, but at least a possibility of rejoining sooneror later. At any rate, he would be no worse off than the many hundreds whohad straggled during the march, for it was probable that the greatmajority of these were spread over the country, as the French, pressingforward in pursuit, would not have troubled themselves to hunt downfugitives, who, if caught, would only be an encumbrance to them.

  He was better off than they were, for at any rate he could make himselfunderstood, which was more than the majority of the soldiers could do; andat least he would not provoke the animosity of the peasants by the roughmeasures they would be likely to take to satisfy their wants. The worst ofit was that he had no money. Then suddenly he sat up again and looked athis feet.

  "This is luck!" he exclaimed; "I had never given the thing a thoughtbefore."

  On his arrival at Corunna he had thrown away the riding-boots he hadbought at Salamanca. The constant rains had so shrunk them that he couldno longer wear them without pain, and he had taken again to the boots thathe carried in his valise.

  From the time when, at his father's suggestion, he had had extra solesplaced on them, above which were hidden fifteen guineas, the fact of themoney being there had never once occurred to him. He had had sufficientcash about him to pay for purchases at Salamanca and on the road, and,indeed, had five guineas still in his pocket, though he had drawn no payfrom the time of leaving Torres Vedras.

  This discovery decided him. With twenty guineas he could pay his way formonths, and he determined to make the attempt to escape.

  The firing continued for some time and then ceased.

  "The fleet must have got out," he said to himself. "It is certain that theFrench have not taken Corunna. We were getting the best of it up to thetime I was hurt, and it would be dark in another half-hour, and therecould be no fighting on such ground as this, after that. Besides, Corunnais a strong fortress, and we could have held out there for weeks, forSoult can have no battering train with him; besides, everything was readyfor embarkation, and I know that it was intended, whether we won or lost,that the troops should go on board in the night."

  As he lay there he could occasionally hear the sound of drums and trumpetsas the troops marched from their positions of the night before, to take upothers nearer to the town. At times he heard voices, and knew that theywere searching for wounded over the ground that had been so desperatelycontested; but the spot where he was lying lay between the village and theground where the regiment he had gone to order back had been engaged withthe enemy, and as no fighting had taken place there, it was unlikely thatthe search-parties would go over it. This, indeed, proved to be the case,and after a time he fell off to sleep, and did not wake until night wasclosing in. He was hungry now, and again crossing the wall he took half achicken and a piece of bread that his servant had thrust into his walletjust before starting, and made a hearty meal. He unbuckled his sword andleft it behind him; he had his pistols, and a sword would be only anencumbrance.

  As soon as it became quite dark he made his way cautiously down thevalley, passed the spot where the French column had suffered so heavily,and then, turning to the left, traversed the narrow plain that divided theposition on which the French heavy battery had been placed and the plateauon which their cavalry had been massed. Numerous fires blazed in the widevalley behind, where the reserve had been stationed on the previousmorning, and he doubted not that the French cavalry were there, especiallyas he found no signs of life on the plateau above. Coming presently on asmall stream he bathed his head for a considerable time, and thenproceeded on his way, feeling much brighter and fresher than he had donebefore.

  The ground began to ascend more steeply, and after an hour's walking hestood on the crest of the hill and looked down on the position that theFrench had held, and beyond it on Corunna and the sea. The cold wasextreme. He had brought with him his greatcoat and blanket, and, wrappinghimself in these, lay down in a sheltered position and slept again tillmorning broke. His head was now better, and he was able to think moreclearly than he could the day before. The first thing was to decide as tohis course. It would be dangerous to make direct for the frontier ofPortugal. Now that the British army had embarked, Soult would be free toundertake operations in that country, and would doubtless shortly put histroops in motion in that direction, and his cavalry would be scatteringall over the province collecting provisions. Moreover, there would be theterrible range of the Tras-os-Montes to pass, and no certai
nty whatever ofbeing well received by the Portuguese peasants north of Oporto.

  His constant study of the staff maps was now of great assistance to him.He determined to turn west until he reached the river Minho some distancebelow Lugo, which he could do by skirting the top of the hills. He wouldtherefore strike it somewhere about the point where the river Sil joinedit, and, following this, would find himself at the foot of the CantabrianHills, dividing the Asturias from Leon. Then he could be guided bycircumstances, and could either cross these mountains and make for aseaport, or could journey down through Leon to Ciudad-Rodrigo, which wasstill held by a Spanish garrison, and from there make his way throughPortugal to Lisbon.

  He questioned whether it would be wise for him to attempt to get the dressof a Spanish peasant instead of his uniform, but he finally decided thatuntil he was beyond any risk of being captured by parties from eitherSoult or Ney's armies, it would be better to continue in uniform. If takenin that dress it would be seen that he was a straggler from Moore's army,and he would be simply treated as a prisoner of war; while, if taken inthe dress of a peasant, he would be liable to be treated as a spy andshot. Having made up his mind, he started at once, and in three hours wasat the foot of the hills on the other side of which ran the road from Lugoto Corunna, which proved so disastrous to the army. He presently arrivedat a small hamlet, and the children in the streets ran shrieking away asthey saw him. Women appeared at the doors and looked out anxiously; theyhad not before seen a British uniform, and at once supposed that he wasFrench. Seeing that he was alone, several men armed with clubs and pickscame out.

  "I am an English officer," he said, "and I desire food and shelter for afew hours. I have money to pay for it."

  The peasants at once came round him. Confused accounts had reached them ofthe doings on the other side of the hills. They knew that an English armyhad marched from Lugo to Corunna, hotly pursued by the French, but theyhad heard nothing of what had happened afterwards. They eagerly asked fornews. Terence told them that there had been a great battle outsideCorunna, that the French had been repulsed with much loss, and that theEnglish had embarked on board ships to take them round to Lisbon, there tomarch east to meet the French again.

  Nothing could be kinder than the treatment he received. They told him thatNey's army was between the Sil and Lugo, but that no French troops hadcrossed the Minho as yet.

  They were eager to know why the English, if they had beaten the French,sailed away. But when he said that Soult would have been joined by Ney ina couple of days, and would then be well-nigh double the strength of theBritish, who would be so hotly pressed that they would be unable toembark, the peasants saw that what they considered their desertion couldnot have been avoided. The news of the terrible defeats that had, a monthbefore, been inflicted upon their armies had not reached them, and Terencedid not think it necessary to enlighten them. He told them that the marchnorth of the English had been intended to bring all the French forces inthat direction, and so to enable the Spanish armies to operatesuccessfully, and that not only Soult and Ney, but Napoleon himself, hadbeen drawn off from the south in pursuit of them.

  They were filled with satisfaction, and he was at once taken into one ofthe cottages. A good meal was shortly placed before him, his head wascarefully bandaged, and he was then asked how it was that he had notembarked with the rest of the army. He related how he had been leftbehind, and then asked them their opinion as to his best course, tellingthem the plan he himself had formed. They agreed at once that this was thewisest one, but that it would be dangerous to try it until Ney's force hadmoved from its present position. They knew that he had a division atOrense on the Minho, and that parties of his cavalry had scoured the plainas far as the river Ulla, and urged upon him to remain with them untilsome news was obtained of the movements of the French army.

  He gladly accepted the invitation, and for a couple of days remained atthe little hamlet. One of the peasants came in at the end of that time,saying that the French in Corunna had crossed the mountains and hadarrived at Santiago, twenty miles distant, and that their cavalry werescouring the country. They also brought news that Romana was at Toabado,and that he had but two or three thousand men with him, the rest havingbeen routed and cut up by the French cavalry. Terence at once determinedto join him.

  The fact that he still had some troops with him had no influence incausing him to form this resolution. Romana had been so often defeatedthat he knew that his men would, after their recent misfortunes, scatterat once before even the weakest French detachment. But Romana himself knewthe country well, was a man of great resource and activity, and was likelyto evade all efforts to capture him. He thought then that by joining himand sharing his fortunes he was more likely to have some opportunity ofmaking his way to Lisbon than he would have if left to his own resources,especially as he had no doubt that Soult would at once prepare to invadePortugal by occupying all the passes, and thus render it next toimpossible to journey thither alone and on foot. One of the peasantsoffered to guide him across the hills to Toabado. They started at once,and at daybreak next morning reached the village.

  As Romana had been several times in personal communication with Sir JohnMoore, Terence was acquainted with his appearance, and seeing him standingat the door of the principal house of the village, went up to him andsaluted him. The latter looked upon him with great surprise.

  "How have you managed to pass through the French?" he asked.

  "I have seen none of them, Marquis. I was wounded in the battle ofCorunna, and after lying insensible all that night, found, when Irecovered in the morning, that the French had advanced and that I was intheir rear. I heard their guns from the heights above the town, and knewthat our army had gained their transports. I lay concealed all day andthen crossed the mountains, and have been resting for two days at avillage on the other side of the hills. The news came that you were here,and I decided to join you at once. I was on the staff of General Fane,and, knowing the duties of an aide-de-camp, thought I might make myselfuseful to you until there was an opportunity of my rejoining a Britishforce."

  "You are welcome, sir," Romana said, courteously. "It was only thismorning that we learned from a prisoner that my men took that you haddriven back Soult before Corunna and had embarked safely. I was in greatfear that your army would have been captured. I see that you have beenwounded on the head."

  "It can scarcely be called a wound, Marquis. I was carrying a message onthe battle-field; when I was taking a wall my horse was struck with around shot. I was thrown over his head onto a heap of rough stones, and itwas a marvel to me that I was not killed."

  "I am just going to breakfast, senor, and shall be glad if you will joinme. I have no doubt that you will do justice to it."

  Romana, who had commanded the Spanish troops which had escaped fromHolland, was the most energetic of the Spanish generals. Defeated often,he was speedily at the head of fresh gatherings, and ready to take thefield again. As a partisan chief he was excellent, but possessed nomilitary talent, and was, like the Spaniards generally, full of grand bututterly impracticable schemes, and in spite of his experience to thecontrary, confident that the Spaniards would overthrow the French.

  "I have been unfortunate," he said, in reply to the inquiry as to how manytroops he had with him. "At your English general's request I took adifferent course with my army to that which he was pursuing, in order thathis magazines should be untouched. I crossed his line of retreat, butunfortunately Franceschi's cavalry come down upon us, cut up my artilleryand infantry, and scattered my force entirely. However, some threethousand have rejoined, and I expect in a short time to be at the head of20,000. I ought to have more, but these Galician peasants are stubbornfellows. They know nothing of the affairs of Spain, and although they willfight in defence of their own villages, they have no interest in anythingbeyond, and hang back from joining an army that might operate outsidetheir province. You see, until now it has been untouched by war. They havesuffered in no way from French ext
ortions and outrages. As soon as theyfeel the smart themselves, I doubt not they will be as full of hatred ofthe invaders as people are elsewhere, and as ready to take up arms againstthem."

  Romana's troops were but a motley gathering. The force that he had broughtwith him from Holland had been landed at Santander, marched to Bilbao, andjoined Blake's army, and had shared in the crushing defeat suffered bythat general at Espinosa, where most of them were taken prisoners. Theywere again incorporated in the French army, and afterwards took part inthe Russian campaign, and in the retreat no less than four thousand ofthem were taken prisoners by the Russians and handed over by them toBritish transports sent to Cronstadt to fetch them. Romana himself hadescaped from the battle-field, and afterward raised a fresh force. Thishad dwindled away from 15,000 to 5,000 when he joined Moore on hisadvance, and now amounted to barely 2,000, of whom the greater portion hadthrown away their arms in their flight.

  On the following day Romana, with a small body of cavalry, left Toabado,crossed the Minho, descended into the valley of the Tamega, and tookrefuge close to the Portuguese frontier line. Here he was, for a time,safe from the pursuit of the French, the insignificance of his force beinghis best protection. Soult lost no time. As soon as the English army hadleft, Corunna opened its gates to him, as did Ferrol, although neither ofthese towns could have been taken without a siege, and Soult must havebeen delayed until a battering-train was brought from Madrid.

  The magazines of British powder and stores that had been lying for monthsin Ferrol were invaluable to him.

  The soldiers were set to work to make fresh cartridges, and then, aftersix days' halt to give rest to his weary and footsore men, he began toprepare to carry out Napoleon's orders to invade Portugal. Ney, with20,000 men, was to maintain Galicia, and, reinforced by a fresh division,Soult was to march direct upon Oporto with 25,000 men, leaving 12,000 inhospital, and 8,000 to keep up the line of communication with Ney. It tooksome time to complete all the arrangements and to gather the force at St.Jago Compostella, and it was not until the first of February that he wasable to move.

  On the day of his arrival on the frontier, Romana despatched Terence toSir John Cradock, who now commanded the British troops in Portugal, whichhad been augmented by fresh arrivals from England until their numbersalmost equalled that of the force with which Sir John Moore marched intoSpain.

  Romana asked that arms and money should be sent to him, promising toharass the French advance, and cut their communications from the rear.Terence gladly consented to carry his despatch; he was furnished with oneof the best horses in the troop, and at once started on his journey. Itwas a long and harassing one; many ranges of mountains and hills had to becrossed, by roads difficult in the extreme at the best of times, butalmost impassable in winter. Three times he was seized by parties ofPortuguese militia and raw levies, but was released on convincing theirleaders that he was the bearer of a communication to the English general.

  The distance to be travelled was, in a direct line, over two hundred andthirty miles. This was greatly increased by the circuitous nature of theroute through the mountainous country, so that it took nine days, andwould have much exceeded this time, had Terence not found a British forceat Coimbra, and there exchanged his worn-out animal for a fresh one,placed at his disposal by the officer in command.

  Cradock was experiencing exactly the same difficulties that Moore haddone. The Spanish and Portuguese authorities united in pressing him toadvance, the former urging upon him that his presence would be the signalfor the Spanish armies in the south to unite and entirely overthrow theFrench, while the latter were desirous that he should march toCiudad-Rodrigo, defeat the French at Salamanca, and so protect Portugalfrom invasion from that side.

  That Portugal might be attacked from the north and south simultaneously bySoult and Victor did not enter into their calculations, but while urgingan advance, the Junta would take no steps whatever to enable the army tomove; they would neither afford him facilities for collecting transport,nor order the roads that he would have to traverse to be put in order, andthwarted all his efforts to raise a strong force among the Portuguese.

  There was, indeed, some improvement in the latter respect. At their ownrequest, Lord Beresford had been sent out from England to take the commandof the Portuguese armies, and as he had brought many British officers withhim, some 20,000 men had been armed and drilled, and could be reckonedupon to do some service, if employed with British troops to give thembackbone. The Portuguese peasantry were strong and robust, and by naturecourageous, and needed only the discipline--that they could not receivefrom their own officers--to turn them into valuable troops. According tothe law of the country every man was liable for service, and had thecorrupt Junta been dismissed, and full power been given to the British, anarmy of 250,000 men might have been placed in the field for the defence ofthe country, with a proper supply of arms and money.

  But so far from assisting, the Junta threw every possible impediment inthe way. They feared that any real national effort, if successful, wouldget altogether beyond their control, and that they would lose the powerthat enabled them to enrich themselves at the expense of the people. Notonly that, but they were engaged in a struggle for supremacy with theJunta of Oporto, which was striving by every means to render itself thesupreme authority of the whole of Portugal.

  Terence had hoped that when he arrived at Lisbon he should meet the armyhe had left at Corunna, for Sir John Moore's instructions had been precisethat the fleet was to go thither. These instructions, however, had beendisobeyed, and the fleet had sailed direct for England. It had on the wayencountered a great storm, which had scattered it in all directions.Several of the ships were wrecked on the coast of England, and the armywhich would have been of inestimable service at Lisbon, now served only,by the tattered garments and emaciated frames of the soldiers, to excite aburst of misplaced indignation against the memory of the general whosegenius had saved it from destruction.

  On arriving at head-quarters and stating his errand, Terence was at onceadmitted to the room where Sir John Cradock was at work.

  "I am told, sir, that you are the bearer of a despatch from the Spanishgeneral, Romana. Before I open it, will you explain how it was that youcame to be with him?"

  Terence gave a brief account of the manner in which, after being leftbehind on the field of Corunna, he had succeeded in joining Romana.

  The general's face, which had at first been severe, softened as heproceeded.

  "That is altogether satisfactory, Mr. O'Connor," he said. "I feared thatyou might have been one of the stragglers, among whom I hear were manyofficers, as well as thousands of men belonging to Sir John Moore's army.We received news of his glorious fight at Corunna and the embarkation ofhis army, by a ship that arrived here but three days since from that port.Have you heard of the death of that noble soldier himself?"

  "No, sir," Terence replied, much shocked at the news. "That is a terribleloss, indeed. He was greatly loved by the army. He saw into every matterhimself, was with the rearguard all through the retreat, and labourednight and day to maintain order and discipline, and it was assuredly nofault of his if he failed."

  "Was your own regiment in the rear-guard?"

  "Yes, sir. It had the honour of being specially chosen by Sir John Moorefor its steadiness and good conduct. I was not with it, but was one ofBrigadier-general Fane's aides-de-camp. It was while carrying a message tohim that my horse was killed and I myself stunned by being thrown onto aheap of stones."

  Sir John Cradock nodded, and then opened Romana's despatch. He raised hiseyebrows slightly. He had been accustomed to such appeals for arms andmoney, and knew how valueless were the promises that accompanied them.

  "What force has General Romana with him?"

  "Some two hundred cavalry and three or four thousand peasants, about aquarter of whom only are armed."

  "He says that he expects to be joined by twenty thousand men in a fewdays. Have you any means of judging whether this state
ment is wellfounded?"

  "That I cannot say. General Romana seems to me to be a man of greaterenergy than any Spaniard I have hitherto met, and I know that he hasalready sent messages to the priests throughout that part of Galiciaurging upon them the necessity of using their influence among thepeasantry. He got a force together in a very short time, after thecomplete defeat and capture of his own command by the French, at the timeof Blake's defeat, and I think that he might do so again, though whetherthey would be of any use whatever in the field I cannot say; but shouldSoult advance into Portugal, I should think that bands of this sort mightvery much harass him."

  "No doubt they might do so. I will see, at any rate, if I can obtain somemoney from the political agents. I have next to nothing in my militarychest, and our forces are at a standstill for the want of it. But thatdoes not seem to matter. While our troops are ill-fed, ragged, almostshoeless, and unpaid, every Spanish or Portuguese rascal who holds out hishand can get it filled with gold. As to arms, they are in the first placewanted for the purpose of the Portuguese militia, who are likely to be agood deal more useful than these irregular bands; and in the second place,there are no means whatever of conveying even a hundred muskets, let alonethe ten thousand that Romana is good enough to ask for. By the way, areyou aware whether Sir John Moore intended the army to sail to England?"

  "Certainly not, sir. I know that up to the moment the battle began thepreparation for the embarkation went on unceasingly, and General Fane toldme the night before that we were to be taken here. Whether Sir John may,at the last moment, have countermanded that order I am unable to say."

  "Yes, I know that it was his intention, for I received a letter from him,written after his arrival at Corunna, saying that the embarkation couldnot be effected without a battle, and that if he beat Soult he should atonce embark and bring the troops round here, as Ney's approaching forcewould render Corunna untenable. Just at present the arrival of 20,000tried troops would be invaluable. General Baird will, of course, havesucceeded Sir John Moore?"

  "General Baird was severely wounded, sir. He had just ridden up to GeneralFane when he was struck. General Hope would therefore be in command afterSir John Moore was killed."

  "I have heard no particulars of the battle," Sir John said, "beyond thatit has been fought and Soult has been driven back, that Sir John Moore iskilled, and that the army has embarked safely. And do I understand youthat it was towards the end of the battle that you were hurt?"

  "It was getting dusk at the time, General, but I cannot say how longfighting went on afterwards."

  "Will you please to sit down at that table and give me, as nearly as youcan, a sketch of the position of our troops and those of the French, andthen explain to me, as far as you may have seen or know, the movements ofthe corps and the course of events."

  As Terence had, the evening before the battle, seen a sketch-map on whichGeneral Fane had written the names and positions of the British force andthose of the French, he was able to draw one closely approximating to it.In ten minutes he got up and handed the sketch to Sir John Cradock.

  "I am afraid it is very rough, sir," he said, "but I think that it maygive you an idea of the position of the town and the neighbouring heights,and the position occupied by our troops."

  "Excellent, Mr. O'Connor!"

  "I had the advantage of seeing a sketch-map that the brigadier drew out,sir."

  "Well, benefited from it. Now point out to me the various movements. Itseems to me that this large French battery must have galled the whole lineterribly; but, on the other hand, it is itself very exposed."

  "General Fane said, sir, that he thought Soult was likely to beover-confident. Our army was in frightful confusion on the retreat fromLugo, and the number of stragglers was enormous. Although many came innext day, the field-state showed that over 2,000 were still absent fromthe colours. The brigadier was observing that there was one advantage inthis, namely, that Soult would suppose that the whole army wasdisorganized, and might, therefore, take more liberties than he wouldotherwise have done; and that, at any rate, he was likely to rely upon hisgreat force of cavalry on this plateau to cover the battery hill from anyattack on its left flank. It was for that purpose that General Pagetposted one of the regiments on this eminence on the right of the valley,which had the effect of completely checking the French cavalry."

  He then related the incidents of the battle as far as they had come underhis notice.

  "A very ably fought battle," Sir John Cradock said, as he followed on themap Terence's account of the movements. "Soult evidently miscalculated SirJohn's strength and the fighting powers of his troops. He hurled his wholeforce directly against the position, specially endeavouring to turn ourright, but the force he employed there was altogether insufficient for thepurpose. From his position I gather that he could not have known of theexistence of Paget's reserve up the valley, but he must have seen Fraser'sdivision on the hill above Coranto. I suppose he reckoned that thisturning movement would shake the British position, throw them intoconfusion, and enable his direct attack to be successful before Frasercould come to their support. I am much obliged to you for yourdescription, Mr. O'Connor; it is very clear and lucid. I will write anote, which you shall take to Mr. Villiers, and it is possible that youmay get help from him for Romana. I shall be glad if you will dine with mehere at six o'clock."

  "I am much obliged to you, General, but I have nothing but the uniform inwhich I stand, which is, as you see, almost in rags, and stained with mireand blood."

  "I think it is probable that you will have no difficulty in buying a freshuniform in the city; so many officers have come out here with exaggeratedideas of the amount of transport, that they have had to cut down theirwardrobes to a very large extent."

  He touched the bell. "Will you ask Captain Nelson to step in," he said tothe clerk who answered. "Captain Nelson," he said, as one of his staffentered, "I want you to take Mr. O'Connor under your charge. He has justarrived from the north, and was present at the battle of Corunna. He wason Brigadier Fane's staff. As at present he is unattached, I shall put himdown in orders to-morrow as an extra aide-de-camp on my staff. He will beleaving to-morrow for the northern frontier. I wish you to see if youcannot get him an undress uniform. He belongs to the infantry. I will giveyou an order on the paymaster, Mr. O'Connor, to honour your draft for anyamount that you may need. I dare say you are in arrears of pay."

  "Yes, Sir John. I have drawn nothing since we marched from Torres Vedrasin October."

  CHAPTER XII

  A DANGEROUS MISSION

  Captain Nelson at once took Terence under his charge.

  "You certainly look as if you wanted a new uniform," he said. "You musthave had an awfully rough time of it. If only for the sake of policy, weought to get you into a new one as soon as possible, for the very sight ofyours would be likely to demoralize the whole division by affording apainful example of what they might expect on a campaign."

  Terence laughed. "I know I look a perfect scarecrow. Do you think that youcan find me something? I really don't know what I should have done if Ihad not had my greatcoat, for I could never have ventured to walk throughthe street from the little inn where I put up my horse, if I could nothave hidden myself in it."

  "I can, fortunately, put you in the right way without difficulty. There isa man here who has made a business of buying up uniforms. I believe hesends most of them to England, where they would certainly fetch a gooddeal more than he gave for them; but I know that he keeps a stock by him,for there is a constant demand. The work out in the country here does fora uniform in no time, and many men who, before marching for the frontier,parted with all their extra kit for a song, are glad enough to write tohim for a fresh outfit at three times the price he gave them two or threemonths before."

  "I wonder they don't send their surplus outfit back to England direct,"Terence said.

  "Well, you see, there is the risk of the things being lost or stolen onthe way home, or being ruined by damp before
they are wanted again.Besides, a man thinks there is no saying whether he shall ever want themagain, or how long the war will last, and is glad to take anything he canget to save himself any further bother about them."

  Terence was fortunate in being able to buy an undress uniform, withfacings similar to those of his own regiment, and to lay in a stock ofunderclothes at a very much lower price than he could have purchased themfor even at home. Before leaving the shop he put on his new uniform andleft the old one to be thrown away.

  "Now," Captain Nelson said, when they left the shop, "it is just our lunchtime. You must come with me and tell us all about your wonderful march andthe fight at the end of it."

  "I was going down to see about my horse."

  "Oh, that is all right! I sent down an orderly to bring him up to ourstables. There, this is where we mess," he said, stopping before a hotel."We find it much more comfortable than having it in a room athead-quarters. Besides, one gets away from duty here. Of course, the chiefknows where we are, and can send for us if we are wanted; but one gets offbeing set to do a lot of office work in the evening, and we find ourselvesmuch more free and comfortable when we haven't got two or three of thebig-wigs of the staff. So they have a little mess of their own there, andwe have a room kept for ourselves here."

  There were more than a dozen officers assembled when the two entered theroom, where a meal was laid; for Captain Nelson had looked into the hotelfor a moment on their way to the tailor's, to tell his companions whoTerence was, and to say that he should bring him in to lunch. They hadtold some of their acquaintances. Terence was introduced all round, and assoon as the first course was taken off the table he was asked manyquestions as to the march and battle; and by the time when, an hour later,the party broke up, they had learned the leading incidents of thecampaign.

  "You may guess how anxious we were here," one of them said, "when Moore'slast despatch from Salamanca arrived, saying that he intended to advance,and stating his reasons. Then there was a long silence; all sorts ofrumours reached us. Some said that, aided by a great Spanish army, he hadoverthrown Napoleon, and had entered Madrid; others, again, stated thathis army had been crushed, and he, with the survivors, were prisoners, andwere on their way to the frontier--in fact, we had no certain news untilthree days ago, when we heard of the battle, his death, and theembarkation of the army, and its sailing for England. The last was aterrible blunder."

  "Only a temporary one, I should think," Captain Nelson said. "From Mr.O'Connor's account of the state of the army, I should think that it isjust as well that they should have gone home to obtain an entirely newrig-out; there would be no means of fitting them out here. A fortnightought to be enough to set them up in all respects, and as we certainlyshall not be able to march for another month--"

  "For another three months, you mean, Nelson."

  "Well, perhaps for another three months, the delay will not mattermaterially."

  "It won't matter at all, if the French oblige us by keeping perfectlyquiet, but if Soult menaces Portugal with invasion from the north, Lapissefrom the centre, and Victor from the south, we may have to defendourselves here in Lisbon before six weeks are out."

  "Personally, I should not be sorry," another said, "if Soult does invadethe north and captures Oporto, hangs the bishop, and all the Junta. Itwould be worth ten thousand men to us, for they are continually atmischief. They do nothing themselves, and thwart all our efforts. They areworse than the Junta here--if that is possible--and they have excited thepeasants so much against us that they desert in thousands as fast as theyare collected, while the population here hate us, I believe, quite as muchas they hate the French. But why they should do so Heaven knows, when wehave spent more money in Portugal than the whole country contained beforewe came here."

  After the party had broken up, Captain Nelson took Terence to Mr.Villiers, who, on reading the general's letter and hearing from Terencehow Romana was situated, at once said that he would hand over to him20,000 dollars to take to the Spanish general.

  "How am I to carry it, sir? It will be of considerable weight, if it is insilver."

  "I will obtain for you four good mules," Mr. Villiers said, "and an escortof twelve Portuguese cavalry under an officer."

  "May I ask, sir, that the money shall be packed in ammunition-boxes, andthat no one except the officer shall know that these contain anything butammunition?"

  "You have no great faith in Portuguese honesty, Mr. O'Connor."

  "As to their honesty as a general thing, sir, I express no opinion,"Terence said, bluntly; "as to the honesty of their political partisans, Ihave not a shadow of belief. Moreover, there is no love lost between themand the Spaniards, and though possibly money for any of the Portugueseleaders might be allowed to pass untouched by others--and even of this Ihave great doubt--I feel convinced that none of them would allow it to goout of the country for the use of the Spaniards if they could lay hold ofit by the way."

  "Those being your sentiments, sir, I think that it is a pity the duty isnot intrusted to some officer of broader views."

  "I doubt whether you would find one, sir; especially if he has, likemyself, been three or four months in the country. I have simply acceptedthe duty, and not sought it, and should gladly be relieved of it. GeneralRomana sent me here with a despatch, and it is my duty, unless GeneralCradock chooses another messenger, to carry back the reply, and anythingelse with which I may be intrusted. I have for the past three months beenincessantly engaged on arduous and fatiguing duty. I have ridden for thelast nine days by some of the worst roads to be found in any part of theworld, I should say, and have before me the same journey. Besides, if Ireceive the general's orders to that effect, I may have to stay with theSpanish general, and in that case shall, I am sure, be constantly upon themove, and that among wild mountains. If this treasure is handed over to meI shall certainly do my best to take it safely and to defend it, ifnecessary, with my life; but it is assuredly a duty of which I wouldgladly be relieved. But that, sir, it seems to me, is a question solelyfor the commander-in-chief."

  Mr. Villiers gazed in angry surprise at the young ensign; then thinking,perhaps, that he would put himself in the wrong, and as his interferencesin military matters with Sir John Cradock had not met with the success hedesired for them, he checked the words that rose to his lips, and said,shortly: "The convoy will be ready to start from the treasury at daybreakto-morrow."

  "I shall be there--if so commanded by General Cradock."

  As soon as they had left the house Captain Nelson burst into shout oflaughter.

  "What is it?" Terence asked, in surprise.

  "I would not have missed that for twenty pounds, O'Connor; it is the firstbit of real amusement I have had since I landed. To see Villiers--whoregards himself as the greatest man in the country, who not only thinksthat he regulates every political intrigue in Spain and Portugal, butassumes to give the direction of every military movement also, and triesto dictate to the general on purely military matters--quietly cheeked byan ensign, is the best thing I ever saw."

  "But he has nothing to do with military matters, has he?"

  "No more than that mule-driver there, but he thinks he has; and yet, evenin his own political line, he is the most ill-informed and gullible offools, even among the mass of incompetent agents who have done theirutmost to ruin every plan that has been formed. I doubt whether he hasever been correct in a single statement that he has made, and am quitesure that every prophecy he has ventured upon has been falsified, everynegotiation he has entered into has failed, and every report sent home togovernment is useful only if it is assumed to be wrong in everyparticular; and yet the man is so puffed up with pride and arrogance thathe is well-nigh insupportable. The Spaniards have fooled him to the top ofhis bent; it has paid them to do so. Through his representations theministry at home have distributed millions among them. Arms enough havebeen sent to furnish nearly every able-bodied man in Spain, and harmrather than good has come of it. Still, he is a very great man, an
d ourgenerals are obliged to treat him with the greatest civility, and topretend to give grave consideration to the plans that, if they emanatedfrom any other man, would be considered as proofs that he was only fit fora mad-house. And to see you looking calmly in his face and announcing yourviews of the Spanish and Portuguese was delightful." And Captain Nelsonagain burst into laughter at the recollection.

  Terence joined in the laugh. "I had no intention of offending him," hesaid. "Of course I have often heard how he was pressing General Moore tomarch into Spain, and promising that he should be met by immense armiesthat were eager and ready to drive the French out of that country, andwere only waiting for his coming to set about doing so. I know that thebrigadier and his staff used to talk about what they called Villiers'phantom armies, but as I only said what everyone says who has been inSpain, it never struck me that I was likely to give him serious offence."

  "And if you had thought so, I don't suppose it would have made anydifference, O'Connor."

  "I don't suppose it would," Terence admitted; "and perhaps it will do himgood to hear a straightforward opinion for once."

  "It will certainly do him no harm. Now, you had better tell the chief thatyou are to have the money. I should think that he will probably send atrooper with you as your orderly. Certainly, he has no reason to have ahigher opinion of the Portuguese than you have."

  "I will go back with you, Captain Nelson; but as you were present, willyou kindly tell the general? I don't like bothering him."

  "Certainly, if you wish it."

  On arriving at head-quarters Terence sat down in the anteroom and took upan English paper, as he had heard no home news for the last three months.Presently Captain Nelson came out from the general's room and beckoned tohim. He followed him in. Four or five officers of rank were with thegeneral, and all were looking greatly amused when he entered.

  "So you have succeeded in obtaining money for Romana," the general said.

  "Yes, sir, there was no difficulty about it. Mr. Villiers asked me a fewquestions as to the situation on the frontier, and at once said that Ishould have L5,000 to take him."

  "Captain Nelson tells us that you were unwise enough to express an opinionas to the honesty of the Portuguese escort that he proposed to send withyou."

  "I said what I thought, General, and had no idea that Mr. Villiers wouldtake it as an offence, as he seemed to."

  "Well, he has his own notions on these things, you see," the general said,dryly, "and they do not exactly coincide with our experience; but then Mr.Villiers claims to understand these people more thoroughly than we cando."

  Terence was silent for a moment. "I only went by what I have seen, youknow," he said, after a pause, "and certainly had no intention of angeringMr. Villiers. But it seemed to me that, as I was responsible for takingthis money to Romana, it was my duty to suggest a precaution that appearedto me necessary."

  "Quite right, quite right; and it is just as well, perhaps, that Mr.Villiers should occasionally hear the opinions of officers of the armyfrankly expressed. Certainly, I think that the precaution you suggestedwas a wise one, and if Mr. Villiers does not do so, I will see that it iscarried out.

  "I have asked Captain Nelson to go with you, taking the treasure, to thebarracks and see that the money is taken out of the cases and repacked inammunition-boxes. It would be unwise in the extreme to tempt the cupidityof any wandering parties that you might fall in with by the sight oftreasure-cases. Your suggestion quite justifies the opinion that I hadformed of you from the brief narrative that you gave me of the battle ofCorunna. For the present, gentlemen, I have appointed Mr. O'Connor as anextra aide-de-camp on my staff. He served in that capacity withBrigadier-general Fane from the time that the troops marched from here,which is in itself a guarantee that he must, in the opinion of thatgeneral, be thoroughly fit for the work.

  "I think, Mr. O'Connor, that, going as you will as an officer on my staff,it is best that you should be accompanied by a couple of troopers, and Ihave just spoken to Colonel Gibbons, who will detach two of his best menfor that service. In addition to your being in charge of the treasure, youwill also carry a despatch from myself to General Romana, with suggestionsas to his co-operation in harassing the advance of the French. I will notdetain you further now. Don't forget the dinner hour."

  A large party sat down to table. There were the officers Terence had seenthere in the afternoon, and several colonels and heads of departments ofthe army, and Terence, although not shy by nature, felt a good dealembarrassed when, as soon as the meal was concluded, several maps were, bythe general's orders, placed upon the table, and he was asked to give asfull an account as he was able of the events that had happened from thetime General Moore marched with his army from Salamanca, and so cuthimself off from all communication.

  It was well that Terence had paid great attention to the conversationsbetween General Fane and the officers of the brigade staff, had studiedthe maps, and had made himself, as far as he could, master of the detailsof the movements of the various divisions, and had gathered from Fane'sremarks fair knowledge of General Moore's objects and intentions.Therefore, when he had overcome his first embarrassment, he was able togive a clear and lucid account of the campaign, and of the difficultiesthat Moore had encountered and overcome in the course of his retreat. Theofficers followed his account upon the maps, asked occasional questions,and showed great interest in his description of the battle.

  When he had done, Sir John Cradock said: "I am sure, gentlemen, that youall agree with me that Mr. O'Connor has given us a singularly clear andlucid account of the operations of the army, and that it is mostcreditable that so young an officer should have posted himself up sothoroughly, not only in the details of the work of his own brigade, but inthe general plans of the campaign and the movements of the variousdivisions of the army."

  There were also hearty compliments from all the officers as they rose fromthe table.

  "I doubt, indeed, Sir John," one of them said, "whether we should everhave got so clear an account as that he has given from the officialdespatches. I own that I, for one, have never fully understood what seemeda hopeless incursion into the enemy's country, and I cannot too muchadmire the daring of its conception. As to the success which has attendedit, there can be no doubt, for it completely paralysed the march of theFrench armies, and has given ample time to the southern provinces of Spainto place themselves in a position of defence. If they have not takenadvantage of the breathing time so given them, it is their fault, and inno way detracts from the chivalrous enterprise of Moore."

  "No, indeed," Sir John agreed; "the conception was truly an heroic one,and one that required no less self-sacrifice than daring. There are fewgenerals who would venture on an advance when certain that it must befollowed by a retreat, and that at best he could but hope to escape from aterrible disaster. It is true that he gained a victory which, under thecircumstances, was a most glorious one, but this was the effect ofaccident rather than design. Had the fleet been in Corunna when hearrived, he would have embarked at once, and in that case he would havebeen attacked with ferocity by politicians at home, and would have beenaccused of sacrificing a portion of his army on an enterprise thateveryone could have seen was ordained to be a failure before itcommenced."

  "Did you know General Fane personally before you were appointed to hisstaff?"

  "No, General; he commanded the brigade of which my regiment formed part,and of course I knew him by sight, but I had never had the honour ofexchanging a word with him."

  "Then, may I ask why you were appointed to his staff, Mr. O'Connor?"

  Terence hesitated. There was nothing he disliked more than talking of whathe himself had done. "It was a sort of accident, General."

  "How an accident, Mr. O'Connor? Your conduct must have attracted hisattention in some way."

  "It was an accident, sir," Terence said, reluctantly, "that General Fanehappened to be on board Sir Arthur Wellesley's ship at Vigo when mycolonel went there to make a report
of some circumstances that occurred onthe voyage."

  "Well, what were these circumstances?" the general asked. "You have shownus that you have the details of a campaign at your finger ends, surely youmust be able to tell what those circumstances were that so interestedGeneral Fane that he selected you to fill a vacancy on his staff."

  Terence felt that there was no escape, and related as briefly as he couldthe account of the engagement with the two privateers, and of their narrowescape from being captured by a French frigate.

  "That is a capital account, Mr. O'Connor," Sir John Cradock said, smiling,as he brought it to a conclusion. "But, so far, I fail to see yourparticular share in the matter."

  "My share was very small, sir."

  "I think I can fill up the facts that Mr. O'Connor's modesty has preventedhim from stating," one of the officers said.

  "It happened that before we sailed from Ireland six weeks ago, an officerof the Mayo Fusiliers, who had been invalided home in consequence of awound, dined at our mess, and he told the story very much as Mr. O'Connorhas told it, but he added the details that Mr. O'Connor has omitted.Restated that really the escape of the wing of the regiment was entirelydue to an ensign who had recently joined--a son of one of the captains ofthe regiment. He said that, in the first place, when the cannon were foundto be so honeycombed with rust that it would have been madness to attemptto fire them, this young officer suggested that they should be bound roundwith rope just like the handle of a cricket bat. This suggestion wasadopted, and they were therefore able to pour in the broadside thatcrippled the lugger and brought her sails down, leaving her helpless underthe musketry fire of the troops. In the second place, when the ship wasbeing pounded by the other privateer without being able to make any reply,and must shortly have either sunk or surrendered, this young officersuggested to one of the captains that the lugger, lying helplessalongside, should be boarded, and her guns turned on the brig, asuggestion that led not only to the saving of the ship, but the capture ofthe brig itself.

  "Lastly, when the French frigate hove in sight, the troops weretransferred to the two prizes, and were about to make off, in which caseone of them would almost certainly have been captured. He suggested thatthey should hoist French colours, and that both should be set to work totransfer some of the stores from the ship to the privateers. Thissuggestion was adopted, with the result that on the frigate approaching,and seeing, as was supposed, two French privateers engaged in rifling aprize, she continued on her way without troubling herself further aboutthem. Sir Arthur Wellesley issued a most laudatory notice of Mr.O'Connor's conduct in general orders."

  Most of those present remembered seeing the order, now that it wasmentioned, and the general, turning to Terence, who was colouring scarletwith embarrassment and confusion, said, kindly:

  "You see, we have got at it after all, Mr. O'Connor. I am glad that itcame from another source, for I do not suppose that we should have got allthe facts from you, even by cross-questioning. You may think, and I haveno doubt that you do think, that you received more credit than youdeserved for what you consider were merely ideas that struck you at themoment; but such is not my opinion, nor that, I am sure, of the otherofficers present. The story which we have just heard of you, and theaccount that you have given of the campaign, afford great promise, I mayalmost say a certainty, of your attaining, if you are spared, higheminence in your profession.

  "Your narrative showed that you are painstaking, accurate, andintelligent. The facts that we have just heard prove you to beexceptionally quick in conceiving ideas, cool in action, and able to thinkof the right thing at the right time--all qualities that are requisite fora great commander. I warmly congratulate you, that at the verycommencement of your career you should have had the opportunity affordedyou for showing that you possess these qualities, and of gaining the warmapprobation of men very much older than yourself, and all of wideexperience in their profession. I am sorry now that you are startingto-morrow on what I cannot but consider a useless, as well as a somewhatdangerous, undertaking. I should have been glad to have utilized yourservices at once, and only hope that you will erelong rejoin us."

  So saying, he rose. The hour was late, for Terence's description of thecampaign and battle had necessarily been a very long one, and the party atonce broke up, all the officers present shaking the lad warmly by thehand.

  "You are a lucky fellow, O'Connor," Captain Nelson said, as he accompaniedhim to his room, in which a second bed had been set up for the youngensign's accommodation. "You will certainly get on after this. There werea dozen colonels and two generals of brigade among the party, and I fancythat there is not one of them that will not bear you in mind and say agood word for you, if opportunity occurs, and Sir John himself is sure topush you on. I should say that not an officer of your rank in the army hassuch good chances, and you look such a lad, too. You did not show it somuch when you first arrived; of course you were fagged and travel-stainedthen, but now I should not take you for more than seventeen. Indeed, Isuppose you are not, as you only joined the service six months ago."

  "No; I am not more than seventeen," Terence said, quietly, not thinking itnecessary to state that he wanted a good many months yet to that age, forto do so would provoke questions as to how he obtained his commissionbefore he was sixteen. "But, you see, I have had a good many advantages. Iwas brought up in barracks, and I suppose that sharpens one's wits a bit.When I was quite a young boy I used to be a good deal with the juniorofficers; of course, that made me older in my ideas than I should havebeen if I had always associated with boys of my own age. Still, it hasbeen all luck, and though Sir John was kind enough to speak very warmlyabout it, I really can't see that I have done anything out of the way."

  "Luck comes to a good many fellows, O'Connor, but it is not every one whohas the quickness to make the most of the opportunity. You may say thatthey are only ideas; but you see you had three valuable ideas, and none ofyour brother officers had them, and you cannot deny that your brainsworked more quickly than those of the others.

  "Well, we may as well turn in at once, as we have all got to be up beforedaylight. I am very glad that Sir John has given you a couple of troopers.It will make you feel a good deal more comfortable anyhow, even if youdon't get into any adventure where their aid may be of vital importance."

  "It will indeed; alone I should have very little influence with thePortuguese guard. These might be perfectly honest themselves, but theymight not be at all disposed to risk their lives by offering anyopposition to any band that might demand the ammunition they would believewere in the cases. I was twice stopped by bands of scantily armed peasantson my way down, and although they released me on seeing the letter that Icarried to the general, it was evident that they felt but little good-willtowards us, and had I had anything about me worth taking, my chance ofreaching Lisbon would have been small."

  "The Junta of Oporto has spared no pains in spreading all sorts ofatrocious lies against us ever since the escort of the French prisonersinterfered to save them from the fury of the populace, though perhaps thepeasants in this part of the country still feel grateful to us for havingdelivered them from the exactions of the French.

  "In the north, where no French soldier has set foot, they have been taughtto regard us as enemies to be dreaded as much as the French. Up to thepresent time all the orders for the raising of levies have beendisregarded north of the Douro, and though great quantities of arms havebeen sent up to Oporto, I doubt whether a single musket has beendistributed by the Junta. That fellow Friere, the general of what theycall their army, is as bad as any of them. I hope that if Soult comes downthrough the passes he will teach the fellow and his patrons a wholesomelesson."

  "And do you think that the troops here will march north to defend Oporto?"

  "I should hardly think that there is a chance of it. Were our force to doso, Lisbon would be at the mercy of Victor and of the army corps atSalamanca. Cuesta is, what he calls, watching Victor. He is one of themost obstinate a
nd pigheaded of all the generals. Victor will crush himwithout difficulty, and could be at Lisbon long before we could get backfrom Oporto. No, Lisbon is the key of the situation; there are very strongpositions on the range of hills between the river and the sea at TorresVedras, which could be held against greatly superior forces. The townitself is protected by strong forts, which have been greatly strengthenedsince we came. The men-of-war can come up to the town, aid in its defence,and bring reinforcements; and provisions can be landed at all times.

  "The loss of Lisbon would be a death-blow to Portuguese independence, andyou may be sure that the ministry at home would eagerly seize theopportunity of abandoning the struggle here altogether. Do you know thatat the present moment, while urging Sir John Cradock to take the offensivewith only 15,000 men against the whole army of France in the Peninsula,they have had the folly to send a splendid expedition of from thirty toforty thousand good troops to Holland, where they will be powerless to doany good, while their presence here would be simply invaluable. Well, wewill not enter upon that subject to-night; the folly and the incapacity ofMr. Canning and his crew is a subject that, once begun, would keep onetalking until morning."

  CHAPTER XIII

  AN AWKWARD POSITION

  When Captain Nelson and Terence went out, just as the morning wasbreaking, they found the two troopers waiting in the street. Each held aspare horse; the one was that upon which Terence had ridden from Coimbra,the other was a fine English horse.

  "What horse is this?" Terence asked.

  "It is a present to you from Sir John Cradock," Captain Nelson said. "Hetold me last night that the troopers had been ordered to ask for it whenthey took your horse this morning, and that his men were ordered to handit over to them. He wished me to tell you that he had pleasure inpresenting the horse to you as a mark of his great satisfaction at themanner in which you had mastered the military details of Sir John Moore'sexpedition, and the clearness with which you had explained them."

  "I am indeed greatly obliged to the general; it is most kind of him,"Terence said. "Will you please express my thanks to him in a proper way,Captain Nelson."

  They rode to the Treasury, where they found the Portuguese escort, withthe mules, waiting them. The officer in charge of the Treasury was alreadythere, and admitted the two officers.

  "I have packed the money in ammunition-boxes," he said. "I receivedinstructions from Mr. Villiers to do so."

  "It is evident that your words had some effect, Mr. O'Connor," CaptainNelson said aside to Terence. "I suppose that when he thought it over hecame to the conclusion that, after all, your suggestions, were prudentones, and that it would add to the chance of the money reaching Romanawere he to adopt it."

  "I am glad that he did so, for had the money been placed in the ordinarychests and then brought to the barracks to be packed in ammunition-cases,the Portuguese troopers would all have been sure of the nature of thecontents; whereas now, whatever they may suspect, they cannot be sureabout it, because there is a large amount of ammunition stored in the samebuilding."

  Some of the guard stationed in the Treasury carried the chests out, andassisted the muleteers to lash them in their places.

  TERENCE RECEIVES A PRESENT OF A HORSE FROM SIR JOHNCRADOCK]

  "I cannot thank you too warmly, Captain Nelson, for the kindness that youhave shown me," Terence said.

  "Not at all," that officer replied; "I simply carried out the general'sorders, and the duty has been a very pleasant one. No, I don't think Iwould mount that horse if I were you," he went on, as Terence walkedtowards his acquisition. "I would have him led as far as Coimbra, whileyou ride the horse you borrowed there, then he will be fresh for thefurther journey."

  "That would be the best way, no doubt, though our stages must all becomparatively short ones, owing to our having mules with us."

  "I should not press them if I were you. I don't suppose that it will makemuch difference whether Romana gets the money a few days sooner or later."

  "None whatever, I should say," Terence laughed, as he mounted his horse."Still, I do think that he will be able to gather a mob of peasants. Ofcourse, being almost without arms, they will be of no use whatever forfighting, but still they may harass Soult's communications, cut offstragglers, and compel him to move slowly and cautiously."

  Terence now saluted the Portuguese officer, who said, as he returned thesalute:

  "My name, senor, is Juan Herrara."

  "And mine is Terence O'Connor, senor. Our journey will be a somewhat longone together, and I hope that we shall meet with no adventures oraccidents by the way."

  "I hope not, senor. My instructions are simple; I am to place myself underyour orders, and to convey eight cases of ammunition to the northernfrontier, and to follow the routes that you may point out. I was orderedalso to pick the men who are to form the escort. I have done so, and Ithink I can answer that they can be relied upon to do their duty under allcircumstances."

  Terence now turned, and with a hearty farewell to Captain Nelson, rode onby the side of Lieutenant Herrara. The two British troopers followed them,the four mules with their two muleteers kept close behind, and the twelvePortuguese troopers brought up the rear.

  "It is a strong escort for four mules carrying ammunition," the Portugueseofficer said, with a smile.

  "It may seem so," Terence laughed, "but you see the country, especiallynorth of the Douro, is greatly disturbed."

  "Very much so, and I think that the precaution that has been taken is avery wise one. I have been informed what is really in the cases. Were Igoing by myself with a sergeant and twelve men, I should say that to putthe money in ammunition-cases was not only absolutely useless butdangerous, the disproportion between the force and the value of theammunition would be so great that it would attract attention at once, butas you are with us it is more likely to pass without observation. You arean officer on the staff of the English general. You have your own twoorderlies, and, as you are carrying despatches, it is considered necessarythat you should have an escort of our people. The cases in that eventwould seem to be of little importance, but to be simply travelling with usto have the advantage of the protection of our escort."

  "You are quite right, Senior Herrara, and it would have been vastly betterhad the money been stowed in sacks filled up with grain; then they couldfollow a short distance behind us, and it would seem that they were simplycarrying forage for our use on the road."

  "That would have been very much better, senior. You might have it done atTorres Vedras."

  "The money is in bags, each containing two hundred dollars. There will beno trouble in transferring them to sacks filled with plenty of forage. Twoof your soldiers have behind them a bundle or two of faggots, a basket offowls, and other matters; these can be piled on the top of the sacks, sothat the fact that the principal load was forage would hardly be noticed.You might mention to the muleteers that I thought that it would be aconsiderable saving of weight if we used sacks instead of those heavycases, and that the ammunition would travel just as well in the one as theother. We must arrange so that the muleteers do not suspect anything."

  "As a rule," Herrara said, "they are very trustworthy. There is scarcely acase known in which they have stolen goods intrusted to them, howevervaluable; but it would be easy to place a few packets of ammunition in themouth of each sack, and call them in to cord them up firmly. The sight ofthe ammunition would go far to lessen any suspicions they might have."

  They reached Torres Vedras that night. Terence spoke to the officer incommand there, and was furnished with the sacks he required, and enoughforage to fill them. The boxes were put into a room in the barracks, andhere Terence, with his two orderlies, opened the cases and transferred thebags of money to the centre of the sacks. Two or three dozen packets ofammunition were obtained, and a few put into the mouths of the sacks.These were left open, and the room locked up, two of the Portuguesesoldiers being placed on guard before it. Terence and Lieutenant Herrarawere invited to dine at mess a
nd had quarters assigned to them, andTerence, after dinner, again, but much more briefly than before, gave theofficers at the station a sketch of the retreat and battle.

  The next morning the muleteers were called in to fasten up the sacks. Atthe suggestion of the officer in command, a tent was also taken.

  "You may want it badly before you are done," he said. "If I were you Ishould always have it pitched, except when you are at a village, for youcan have the sacks in as beds, and so keep them under your eye; and if, asyou tell me, you are giving out that they contain ammunition, it wouldseem but a natural step, as you are so able to keep it dry."

  The mules looked more heavily laden than upon the preceding day, but theywere carrying no heavier burden, for the weight of the tent, its poles,the basket of fowls, Terence's valise, and other articles, wereconsiderably less than those of the eight heavy cases that had been leftbehind. The two officers now rode at the head of the detachment, and twoonly of the Portuguese soldiers kept in rear of the mules, which nowfollowed at a distance of thirty or forty yards behind them. They stoppedthat night at Rolica and the next at Leirya. This was a long march, and ashort one the next day brought them to Pombal, and the following afternoonthey arrived at Coimbra. Here they spent another pleasant evening with theregiment stationed in the town.

  "By the way, O'Connor," one of the officers said, after the dinner wasover and cigars lighted, "I suppose you don't happen to have any relationsat Oporto?"

  "Well, I do happen to have some," Terence answered, in some surprise. "Whydo you ask?"

  "Well, that is singular," the officer said; "I will tell you how ithappened. I was with the party that escorted the French prisoners down toOporto. Just as we had got into the town--it was before the row began, andbeing early in the morning, there were very few people about--a headappeared at a window on the second floor of a big convent standing on theleft side of the road. I remember the name was carved over the door-it wasthe Convent of Santa Maria. I happened to catch sight of the nun, and sheat once dropped a little letter, which fell close to me. I picked it upand stuck it into my glove, and thought no more about it for a time, forthe mob soon began to gather, to yell and threaten the prisoners, and myhands were too full, till we had got them safely on board a ship, to thinkany more of the matter. When I took off my glove the letter fell out. Itwas simply addressed 'to an English officer.'

  "'_I, an English girl, am detained here, a prisoner, principally becausemy Spanish relations wish to seize my property. I have been made a nun byforce, though my father was a Protestant, and taught me his religion. Ipray you to endeavour to obtain my freedom. I am made most miserable here,and am kept in solitary confinement. I have nothing to eat but bread andwater, because I will not sign a renunciation of my property. The Bishopof Oporto has himself threatened me, and it is useless to appeal to him.Nothing but an English army being stationed here can save me. Have pityupon me, and aid me_.'

  "It was signed '_Mary O'Connor_.' Of course no British troops have beenthere since, but if we are sent there I had made up my mind to bring thematter before the general, and ask him to interfere on the poor girl'sbehalf; though I know that it would be an awkward matter. For if there isone thing that the Portuguese are more touchy about than another, it isany interference in religious matters, and the bishop, who is a mostintolerant rascal, would be the last man who would give way on such asubject."

  "I have not the least doubt in the world but that it is a cousin of mine,"Terence said. "Her father went out to join a firm of wine merchants inOporto. I know that he married a very rich Portuguese heiress, and thatthey had one daughter. My father told me that he gathered from hiscousin's letters that he and his wife did not get on very well together.He died two years ago, and it is quite possible that the mother, who mayperhaps want to marry again, has shut the girl up in a convent to get ridof her altogether, and to make her sign a document renouncing her right tothe property in favour of herself, or possibly, as the bishop seems tohave meddled in the affair, partly of the Church.

  "I quite see that nothing can be done now, but if we do occupy Oporto,some day, which is likely enough, I will speak to the general, and if hesays that it is a matter that he cannot entertain, I will see what I cando to get her out."

  "It is awkward work, O'Connor, fooling with a nunnery either here or inSpain. The Portuguese are not so bigoted as the Spaniards across thefrontier, but there is not much difference, and if anyone is caughtmeddling with a nunnery they would tear him to pieces, especially inOporto, where men who are even suspected of hostility to the bishop aremurdered every day."

  "I don't want to run the risk of being torn to pieces, certainly, butafter what you have told me of her letter, I will not let my little cousinbe imprisoned all her life in a nunnery, and robbed of her property,without making some strong effort to save her."

  "I will give you the letter presently, O'Connor; I have it in apocket-book at my quarters. By the by, how old is your cousin?"

  "About my own age, or a little younger."

  The subject of the conversation was then changed, and half an hour laterthe officer left the room and returned with the letter.

  "At any rate," he said, "if we do go to Oporto you will have moreopportunity for getting the general to move than I should."

  Terence had handed over the horse he had borrowed, with many thanks forits use, and received his own again, which was in good condition after itsrest of seven or eight days. It was by no means a valuable animal, but hethought it as well to take it on with him in case any of the other horsesshould meet with an accident or break down during the journey through themountains.

  Coimbra was the last British station through which they would pass, andthe real difficulties of the journey would now begin. Terence had, beforestarting, received a sum of money for the maintenance of himself and hisescort upon the way, and he had done all in his power to see that thetroopers were comfortable at their various halting-places.

  The journey as far as the Douro passed without any adventure. Theyencountered on the road several bands of peasants armed with pikes, clubs,hoes, and a few guns. These were for the most part ordenancas or levies,called out when a larger force than the regular troops and militia wasrequired. They were on their way to join the forces assembling under theedicts, and beyond pausing to stare at the British officer with the twodragoons behind him and an escort of their own troops, they paid noattention to the party.

  They crossed the Douro at St. Joa de Pesquiera, and on stopping at a largevillage some ten miles beyond, found it occupied by a rabble of some twothousand men, absolutely useless for service in the field, but capable ofoffering an obstinate defence to the passage of a river, or of impeding anenemy's advance through a mountain defile. As they stopped before theprincipal inn a man, dressed in some attempt at a uniform, came out from adoor.

  "You are a British officer, sir?" he asked Terence, raising his broad hatcourteously.

  "I am an officer on the English general's staff, and am proceeding on amission from him to the northern frontier to ascertain the best means ofdefence, and the route that the enemy are most likely to move by if theyattempt to invade Portugal from that direction."

  "The French general would hardly venture to do that," the officer said,disdainfully, "when there will be 50,000 Portuguese to bar his way."

  "He may be in ignorance of the force that will gather to meet him,"Terence said, gravely, and with difficulty restraining a smile at theconfident tone of this leader of an armed mob. "However, I have my ordersto carry out. Do you not think," he said, turning to Herrara, "that itwill be better for us to go on to the next hamlet, if there is one withintwo or three miles. I fear there is little chance of obtaining anyaccommodation for our men here."

  "There is no need for that," the Portuguese colonel broke in. "There is alarge house at the end of the village that is at present vacant; theproprietor, who was a disturber of the peace, and who belonged to theFrench faction, was killed last week in the course of a disturbancecre
ated by him. I, as Commissioner of the Junta here, had the house closedup, but it is quite at your service."

  As the march had already been a long one, Terence thought it best toaccept the offer. The colonel called a man, who presently brought a key,and accompanied them to the house in question. It showed signs at once ofmob violence. The snow in the garden was trampled down, the windowsbroken, and one of the lower ones smashed in as if an entry had beeneffected here. The door was riddled with bullet holes. Upon this beingopened the destruction within was seen to be complete, rooms being strewnwith broken furniture and litter of all sorts.

  "At any rate there is plenty of firewood," the lieutenant said, as heordered his men to clear out one of the rooms. "There has been dastardlywork here," he went on, as the man who had brought the key left the place.

  "Yes, I have no doubt the proprietor, whoever he was, has been foullymurdered, and as likely as not by the orders of that fellow we met, whosays he is Commissioner of the Junta. I should not be surprised if we havetrouble with him before we have done. I should think, Herrara, you hadbetter send off a couple of men to get what they can in the way ofprovisions and a skin of wine. This is a cheerless-looking place, andthese broken windows are not of much use for keeping out the cold. Bull,you had better see if you can find something among all this rubbish tohang up in front of the window, for in its present state it merely createsa draught."

  The orderly went out, and returned with two torn curtains.

  "There has been some bad work going on here, sir," he said. "There arepools of blood in three of the rooms upstairs, and it is evident thatthere has been a desperate struggle. One of the doors is broken in, andthere are several shot-holes through it."

  "I am afraid there has been bad work. I suppose the man here was obnoxiousto somebody, so they murdered him. However, it is not our business."

  Some of the horses were stabled in a large shed, the others in the lowerrooms of the house, the soldiers and muleteers taking possession of thelarge kitchen, where they soon had a huge fire burning. The windows onthis side of the house were unbroken. The two orderlies soon fastened upthe curtains across the windows of the officers' room, and when the firewas lighted it had a more cheerful aspect. The burdens of the mules werebrought into the room opposite, where there was a key in the door and barsacross the windows. Presently the soldiers returned with some meat, acouple of fowls, bread, and some wine, together with a bunch of candles.The fowls were soon plucked, cut in two, and grilled over the fire, and ina quarter of an hour after the men's return the two officers sat down tosupper. The meal was just finished when there was a knock at the outerdoor, and the soldier acting as sentry came in and said that ColonelCortingos desired to speak to them.

  "I suppose that is the fellow we saw in the town," Terence said; "show himin."

  The supposition was a correct one, for the man entered, accompanied by twoothers. Terence had no doubt that this fellow was the author of the attackupon the house, and the murderer of the proprietor and others. He did notfeel disposed to be exceptionally civil to him, but as he had a couple ofthousand men under his command and had certainly put the only availableplace in the village at their disposal, he rose as he entered.

  "These two gentlemen," the colonel began, "form, with myself, thecommittee appointed by the Junta of Oporto to organize the nationalresistance here and in the surrounding neighbourhood, to keep our eye uponpersons suspected of being favourable to the enemy, and to arrest and sendthem to Oporto for trial. We are also enjoined to make close inquiriesinto the business of all persons who may pass through here."

  "I have already told you," Terence said, quietly, "that I am an officer onthe staff of the English general, and that I have a mission from him tosee what are the best means of defending the northern passes, and, I mayadd, to enter into such arrangements as I may think proper with theleaders of any bands who may be gathered for the purpose of defendingthem. As I am acting under the direct orders of the general, I in no wayrecognize the right of any local authority to interfere with me in anyway."

  "And I, Lieutenant Herrara, have been ordered by the colonel of myregiment to command the escort of Portuguese cavalry told off to accompanythis British officer, and also feel myself free from any interference orexamination by civilians."

  "I am a colonel!" Cortingos said, angrily.

  "By whom appointed, if I may ask?"

  "By the Junta of Oporto."

  "I was not aware that they possessed the right of granting highcommissions," Herrara said, "although, of course, they can grant temporaryrank to those who command irregular forces. This British officer hasassured you as to the object of his journey, and unless that object hashad the approval of the military authorities at Lisbon he would not havebeen furnished with an escort by them."

  "I have only his word and yours as to that," Cortingos said, insolently."I am acting under the orders of the supreme authority of this province."

  "You are doing your duty, no doubt," the lieutenant said, "in making theseinquiries. This officer has answered them, and I will answer any furtherquestions if I consider them to be reasonable."

  "We wish, in the first place," Cortingos said, "to examine any officialpasses you may have received."

  "Our official passes are our uniforms," Herrara replied, haughtily.

  "Uniforms have been useful for purposes of disguise before now," Cortingosreplied. "I again ask you to show me your authority."

  "Here is an authority," Terence broke in. "Here is a despatch from GeneralSir John Cradock to General Romana."

  "Ah, ah, a Spaniard."

  "A Spanish general, a marquis and grandee of Spain, who has been fightingthe French, and who is now with a portion of his army preparing to defendthe passes into Portugal."

  Cortingos held out his hand for the paper, but Terence put it back againinto the breast-pocket of his uniform.

  "No, sir," he said; "this communication is for the Marquis of Romana, andfor him only. No one else touches it so long as I am alive to defend it."

  The colonel whispered to his two associates.

  "We will let that pass for the present," he replied, and turning toTerence again, said, "In the next place we wish to know the nature of thecontents of the sacks that are being carried by the mules that accompanyyou."

  "They contain ammunition, and forage for our horses," Lieutenant Herrarasaid. "You can, if you choose, question the muleteers, who fastened up thesacks and had an opportunity of seeing the ammunition."

  "In the name of the Junta I demand that ammunition!" Cortingos said, withan air of authority. "It is monstrous that ammunition should be taken toSpaniards, who have already shown that they are incapable of using it withany effect, while here we have loyal men ready to die in their country'sdefence, but altogether unprovided with ammunition."

  "For that, sir, you must apply to your Junta. Since they give you orders,let them give you ammunition; there is enough in Oporto to supply thewhole population, had they arms; and you may be assured that I and my menwill see that the convoy intrusted to our charge reaches its destination."

  "IN THE NAME OF THE JUNTA, I DEMAND THAT AMMUNITION,"]

  "I believe that there is not only ammunition, but money in those sacks,"said Cortingos. "It would be an act of treachery to allow it to pass,when, even if not taken to them directly, it might fall into the hands ofthe French. It is needed here; my men lack shoes and clothes, and as yousay the object of your mission is to see to the defence of our frontier,any money you may have cannot be better applied than to satisfy thenecessities of my soldiers. However, we do not wish to take steps thatmight appear unfriendly. And, therefore, if you will allow us to inspectthe contents of those sacks, we will let you pass on if we find that theycontain no money--confiscating only the ammunition for the use of thetroops of the province."

  "I refuse absolutely," Herrara said, "to allow anything confided to mycharge to be touched."

  "That is your final decision," the man said, with a sneer.

&n
bsp; "Final and absolute."

  "I also shall do my duty;" and then, without another word, the colonelwith his two associates left the house.

  "We shall have trouble with that fellow," Herrara said.

  "So much the better," Terence replied. "We have evidence here that thescoundrel is a murderer. No doubt he had some private enmity against theowner of this establishment, and so denounced him to the Junta, and thenattacked the place, murdered him, and perhaps some of his servants, andsacked the house. They won't find it so easy a job as it was last time;all the windows are barred, and there are only three on this floor todefend. The shutters of two of them are uninjured, so it is only the onewhere they broke in before that they can attack, while our men at thewindows upstairs will make it hot for them as they approach. But I shouldhardly think that the men he calls soldiers will venture to attack a partyof regular troops."

  The lieutenant shrugged his shoulders.

  "He will tell them some lies, probably assert that we are French agents indisguise taking money to the French army. Indeed, there is neither ordernor discipline among these bands, and, roused to a pitch of fury, theywould murder their own leaders as readily as anyone else. The Junta actsas if the province were altogether independent, and numbers of men ofposition have been butchered on the pretence of their being adherents ofthe French, when their sole crime was that they disapproved of the doingsof the bishop and his tools. You will see that the night will not pass offwithout something happening. Of course, I shall be sorry to have to orderthe men to fire. In the first place it would render it very difficult forus to resume our journey; and in the second, if we succeed in getting outalive, they will send a lying account of the affair to Lisbon, and therewill be all sorts of trouble. Still, of course, if they attack the housewe shall defend ourselves."

  The two officers then made a tour of the house and carefully examined themeans of defence. The broken shutters were replaced in their position inthe window, and were backed with a pile of the fragments of furniture. Thehorses were all brought in from the shed outside, the soldiers were warnedthat the mob in the place were likely to attack them, and four of themwere placed as sentries at the upper windows; and, by the looks of the menwhen the lieutenant made the communication to them, Terence saw that theycould be relied upon.

  "I have no doubt that we shall be able to defend the place successfully,"Terence said to the two British troopers; "but if the worst comes to theworst we will all mount inside the house, throw open the door behind, andthen go right at them. But I hope that we shall avoid a fight, for if wehave one, it will be very difficult for us to make our way to the north,or to get back across the Douro."

  In an hour one of the sentries at the upper window brought news that alarge number of men were approaching. Terence at once gave some ordersthat he and the lieutenant had agreed upon to the two soldiers, and fourof the Portuguese troopers, and then went up with the lieutenant to thewindow over the door. He threw it open just as a crowd of men poured intothe garden in front.

  "What is it?" he asked. "What do you want?"

  "I demand entrance to this house in the name of the Junta of Oporto," avoice which he recognized as that of Cortingos replied. "If that isrefused I shall denounce you as traitors to Portugal, and your blood willbe on your own heads."

  "We respect the orders of the Junta," Herrara replied, "and are ready toopen the door as you demand; but I must first be assured that it is reallythe committee appointed by the Junta that demand it."

  Several of the men had torches, and these were brought forward, and theysaw the man and his two associates standing in front.

  "Good, I will open the door," the lieutenant said, and he and Terence wentdown. The bars were removed and the door thrown open, the two officerswalked a few paces outside, and then halted.

  Followed closely by their armed followers, the three men approached,confident in the strength of their following.

  "Enter, gentlemen," Terence said. "I protest against this invasion, byforce, but I cannot oppose it."

  The three men entered the door, the two officers standing aside andallowing them to pass. The instant the three Portuguese had enteredTerence and the lieutenant threw themselves suddenly upon those followingthem. Two or three rolled over with the suddenness of the assault, and therest recoiled a step or two. Before they could recover themselves Herraraand Terence dashed through the door, which was slammed to and barred bythe two English troopers. Meanwhile, the three men had been seized by thePortuguese troopers, their coats torn off them, and their hands tiedbehind their backs, and then they were hurried upstairs.

  Yells of fury filled the air outside, shots were fired at the windows, andmen began to beat the door and shutters with bludgeons and hatchets.Suddenly a light appeared from a window above, and Cortingos and his twofriends were seen standing there. By the side of each stood a trooper,holding a rope with a noose round the prisoners' necks. For a moment therewas a silence of stupefaction outside, followed by a yell of fury from themob. Herrara went to the window and shouted: "My friends." Again there wasa moment of silence, as each wanted to hear what he said. "My friends, atthe first shot that is fired, or the first blow that is struck at thedoors of this house, these three men will be hung out of the window. Theyhave deceived you grossly. I am an officer of the National Army, thesetroopers are men of the 2d Portuguese Dragoons. We have been appointed bythe military authorities of Lisbon to escort this British officer, who ison the staff of the British general, and whose commission is to makearrangements with the Spanish general, Romana to harass the rear of theFrench, and attack their convoys should they attempt to enter the northernpasses.

  "These three scoundrels have deceived you, in order, as they hoped, toobtain some money that they believed us to be escorting. As loyalPortuguese, I warn you against attempting to aid the fellows in a deedwhich would bring disgrace upon the national name, and would result in theBritish general refusing to assist in the defence of your country. You arebrave men, but you see these three cowards are trembling like children. Weadvise you to appoint fresh officers among yourselves, and to remainfaithful to your duty, which is to march when ordered to the defence ofthe defiles. These three fellows we shall take with us, and will see thatthey do not further deceive you. Already they have done harm enough bygoading you to theft, and to murder a man whose only fault was that he wasmore patriotic than they are. Be assured that in no case would you be ableto carry this house. It is defended by sixteen well-armed men, andhundreds of you would throw away your lives in the attempt. Therefore, Iadvise you to go back to your quarters, and in the morning assemble andchoose your officers."

  The crowd stood irresolute.

  "Tell them to go, you cur," Herrara said to Cortingos, standing back fromthe window and giving him a kick that almost sent him on his face. "Tellthem to disperse at once, if you don't want to be dangling from the end ofthis rope."

  Cortingos stepped forward, and in a quavering voice told the men todisperse to their quarters.

  "We have made a mistake," he said. "I am now convinced that these officersare what they appear to be. I beseech you do not cause trouble, anddisperse at once--quietly."

  Hoots of derision and scorn rose from the peasants.

  "I have a good mind to fire a shot before I go," one of the peasantsshouted, "just for the pleasure of seeing three such cowards hung."

  Another yell of disgust and anger arose, and then the crowd melted away.

  "Keep these three fellows at the window. Remove the ropes from theirnecks, and take your place behind them; you will be relieved every hour.If they move, bayonet them at once."

  "We shall die of cold," one of the men whimpered.

  "That would be a more honourable death than you are likely to meet,"Terence said, scornfully. "I fancy if I don't hang you, those men in thevillage will do so if they can lay hands on you."

  "How about the sentries, sir?" the corporal of the escort asked Herrara asthey went downstairs. "They can all be removed except the
one keepingguard over these men--he is to be relieved every hour--and one inside thedoor, he can be relieved every two hours."

  The night passed quietly. Just as they were preparing to start nextmorning, the soldier on guard over the prisoners shouted, "There is acrowd of men coming!"

  "Get your arms ready," Herrara said to the escort; "but I don't thinkthere will be any occasion to use them."

  Terence went to the door. "Bull, do you and Macwitty keep close behind;but whatever happens don't use your weapons, unless I order you to do so."

  The crowd stopped at the gate, two of them only coming forward.

  "We are ready to fight, sir," one said, addressing Terence, "but we haveno officers; none of us know anything about drill. We will follow you, ifyou will command us, and you will find that we won't turn our backs to theenemy. We know that English officers will fight."

  "Wait a minute or two," Terence said, after a moment's hesitation, "I willthen give you my answer."

  Herrara had followed him out and heard the offer.

  "I don't know what to do, Herrara," Terence said, as he re-entered thehouse. "My instructions are to join Romana, and to remain with him for atime, sending word to Lisbon as to the state of things, and aiding him inany way in my power. Here are between two and three thousand stout,healthy fellows, evidently disposed to fight. If they were armed I wouldnot hesitate a moment, but I don't suppose that there are a hundredmuskets among them, and certainly Romana has none to give them. Still, inthe defiles we might give a good deal of trouble to the French by rollingstones down, breaking up bridges, and that sort of thing."

  "It would be good fun," Herrara laughed. "As for myself," he said, "I haveorders to return as soon as I have seen the treasure safely in Romana'scamp. If it hadn't been for that I should have liked nothing better,though there would not have been much chance for cavalry work in thesedefiles."

  "I will talk to them again," Terence said. "It is not often that one getsthe chance of an independent command. It is just the sort of work I shouldlike."

  He went out again. "I should like to command a number of brave fellows,"he said, "but the question is about arms. There have been any quantitysent out by England for your use; but instead of being served out, theJuntas keep them all hidden up in magazines. Even now, when the French aregoing to invade your country, they still keep them locked up, and send youout with only pikes and staves to fight against a well-armed army. It isnothing short of murder."

  "Down with the Juntas!" cried half a dozen of the men standing near enoughto hear what was said.

  "I don't say 'Down with the Juntas!'" Terence replied; "but I do say takearms if you can get them. Are there any magazines near here?"

  "There is one at Castro, ten miles away," the man said. "I know that thereare waggon-loads of arms there."

  "Well, my friends, the matter stands thus: I, as a British officer, cannotlead you to break open magazines; but I say this, if you choose to go in abody to Castro and do it yourselves, and arm yourselves with all themuskets that you can find there, and bring with you a good store ofammunition in carts that you could take with you from here, and then cometo me at a spot where I will halt to-night five or six miles beyondCastro, I will take command of you. But mind, if I command, I command. Imust have absolute obedience. It is only by obeying my orders withoutquestion that you can hope to do any good. The first man who disobeys me Ishall shoot on the spot, and if others are disposed to support him I shallleave you at once."

  "I will consult the others," the man said. "Many of us, I know, will beglad to fight under an English officer, and agree to obey him implicitly."

  "Very well, I will give you a quarter of an hour to decide."

  Before that time had elapsed a dozen men came to the door with theprincipal spokesman.

  "We have made up our minds, senor. We will follow you, and we will armourselves at Castro. It is a sin that the arms should be lying there idlewith so many hands ready to use them."

  "That is good," Terence said. "Now, my first order is that you wait untilI have been gone an hour; then, that you form up in military order, fourabreast; the men with guns in front, the others after them. You must go assoldiers, and not as a mob. You must march into Castro peacefully andquietly, not a man must straggle from the ranks. You must go to theauthorities and demand the arms and ammunition; if they refuse to givethem to you, march--always in regular order--to the magazine and burst itopen; then distribute the muskets and a hundred rounds of ammunition toeach man having one, take the rest of the stores in carts, and then marchaway along the road north until you come to the place where we are halted.

  "Observe the most perfect order in Castro. If any man plunders or meddlesin any way with the inhabitants and is reported to me, I shall know how topunish him. From the moment that you leave this place remember that youare soldiers of Portugal, and you must behave so as to be an honour to itas well as a defence. Now let us all shout 'Viva Portugal!'"

  A great shout followed the words, and then Terence went indoors, and fiveminutes later started with his convoy, telling the three prisoners theycould go where they liked.

  CHAPTER XIV

  AN INDEPENDENT COMMAND

  As they left the village the Portuguese lieutenant burst into a sudden fitof laughter.

  "What is it, Lieutenant?" Terence asked.

  "I am laughing at the way in which you--who, as you tell me, have onlybeen six months in the army--without hesitation organize what is really arising against the authorities, you having already taken representativesof the Junta prisoners--"

  "Yes; but you must remember that they took upon themselves to endeavour toforcibly possess themselves of the treasure in my charge."

  "That is true enough; still, you did capture them. You treated them withconsiderable personal indignity, imprisoned them, and threatened theirlives. Then you incite, say 2,500 ordenancas to break open magazines."

  "No, no, Lieutenant, I did not incite them. You will remember theyexpressed a desire to march under my command to fight against the French.I simply pointed out to them that they had no arms, and asked if theycould get any; and hearing that there were plenty lying useless a fewmiles away, suggested that those arms would do more good in their handsthan stowed away in magazines. Upon their agreeing with me on this head, Iadvised them to proceed in a quiet and orderly way, and to have no riotingor disturbance of any sort. I said that if they, after arming themselves,came to me and still wished to follow me, I would undertake to commandthem. You see, everything depends upon the manner in which the thing isput."

  "But you must remember, senor, that the Junta will naturally view thematter in the light in which their representatives will place it beforethem."

  "I think it unlikely," Terence replied, "that they will have anyopportunity of doing so. I took care that they were removed from thewindow before I met the deputies of the men. They will consequently beunaware of the arrangements made, and will, perhaps, go out as soon as wehave left and try to persuade the men to follow and attack us. As it waspossible that they might take this course, I took the precaution ofsending out one of the muleteers, with instructions to mention casually tothe men that I was leaving the three fellows behind me, and that it mightbe as well for them to confine them under a guard so as to prevent theirgoing to Oporto at present and making mischief."

  "I agree with you, senor, that they are certainly not likely to make anyreport as to the proceedings here."

  "I fancy not; in fact I should not be at all surprised if at the presentmoment they are hanging from the windows of the house of the man theycaused to be murdered. They will most richly deserve their fate, and itmay save us some trouble. No doubt the Junta will hear some day that theordenancas here rose, killed the three members of their committee,obtained arms at Castro, and marched into the mountains. The Junta willcare nothing whatever for the killing of its three agents; plenty of menof the same kind can be found to do their work. That the mutineersafterwards fell in with a British officer, and pla
ced themselves under hiscommand, will not concern the Junta one way or the other, and they willcertainly be a great deal more useful in that way than they would be inremaining unarmed here. They may even, when the French once get in motion,come to regard the affair altogether as satisfactory. If all the newlevies were to act in exactly the same way, Portugal would be verymaterially benefited."

  "But how are you going to feed them?"

  "That is rather a serious question. I suppose they will have to be fed inthe same way as other irregular bands. However, I shall consider myselffully justified in devoting a fifth of the money I am carrying to thatpurpose. I obtained from Villiers L5,000 to enable Romana to support thelevies he is raising. Those levies will be for the most part unarmed, andtherefore practically useless; and as these Portuguese will be at any ratefairly armed, and are likely to be of very much greater service than ahorde of Galician peasants, a portion at least of the money can be verymuch more usefully employed in feeding them than were it all given toRomana, I have no doubt whatever that when I explain the circumstances toGeneral Cradock, he will entirely approve of my appropriating a smallportion of the money that Villiers has chosen to throw away on Romana.When you return I shall get you to carry a report from me to the general,stating what I have done. I have no doubt he will warmly approve of it."

  On approaching Castro they made a detour to avoid the town.

  "There may be more representatives of the Junta there," Terence said, "andwe may have even more trouble with them than we had with the last. I don'twant any more bother, especially as I have much greater interest in themoney now than I had before. I have not a shadow of belief in those bandsof Portuguese peasants, but I do think that, with the aid of my twotroopers, I shall be able to lick these fellows into some sort of shape,and to annoy Soult, if I cannot stop him. I hope they will find a goodsupply of powder, besides the muskets and ammunition at Castro; we shallwant it for blowing up bridges and work of that sort."

  "I wish I could go with you," Herrara said.

  "I really don't see why you should not. I would take the blame on my ownshoulders. One of your troopers could carry my report to the general, andI will say that under the circumstances I have taken upon myself to retainyou with me in order to assist me in drilling and organizing this band,conceiving that your services with me would be very much more useful thanwith your regiment. You see, you were placed under my orders, so that noblame can fall upon you for obeying them, and at any rate you certainlywill be doing vastly better service to the country than if you werestationed at Lisbon, with no prospect of an advance for a long time tocome. Still, of course, I will not retain you against your will."

  "I should like it of all things," Herrara said; "but do you really thinkthat the general would approve?"

  "I have not the least doubt that he would, and at any rate if he did nothe would only blame me, and not you. Your help would certainly beinvaluable to me, and so would that of your men. They are all pickedsoldiers, and if we divided the force up into twelve companies, they wouldvery soon teach them as much drill as is necessary for work like this.Each trooper would command one of the companies, my two orderlies wouldact as field officers; you would be colonel, and I should be politicalofficer in command."

  Herrara burst into a fit of laughter.

  "You are the strangest fellow I ever met, senor. Here is a very seriousbusiness, and you take it as easily as if it were a game of play. However,it does seem to me that we might do some good service. At any rate I amquite willing to obey your orders. It would be an adventure to talk of allone's life."

  "That is right," Terence said; "and there will be some credit to begained, too. Indeed, we can safely say that our band will be very muchbetter organized than nineteen out of twenty of the irregular bands."

  The track they followed was a very bad one, and the point at which theyregained the main road was eight miles north of Castro. There was a smallvillage here, and they at once halted. Although they had travelled slowlythey knew that the men could not come along for some time, as they werenot to start until an hour after them, and would be detained for someconsiderable time at Castro. It was indeed nearly three hours before acolumn marching in good order was seen coming along the road.

  "That is a good sign," Terence said; "they have obeyed orders strictly;whether they have got the arms I cannot tell yet. The men at the head ofthe column have certainly muskets, but as the armed men were to go infront that is no proof."

  However, as the column approached, it could be seen that at any rate avery considerable number were armed.

  "We had better form them up as they come, Herrara. If the head of thecolumn stops it will stop them all, and then there will be confusion."

  The road through the village was wide. When a hundred ranks had passedthey were halted, faced round, and marched forward, and so they continueduntil the village was filled with a dense mass of men, twenty deep.Terence observed with satisfaction that they had with them six bullockcarts filled with ammunition-cases, spare muskets, and powder-barrels. Themen who had first spoken to Terence had headed the column, and these hadstopped by his side as the others marched in.

  "You have succeeded, I see," he said. "I hope that you were enabled toaccomplish it without violence."

  "They were too much surprised to offer much resistance. Five fellows, whosaid they were the committee appointed by the Junta, came to us and toldus that unless we dispersed at once we should be severely punished. Wetold them that we had come out of our homes at the orders of the Junta,but that as the Junta had not supplied us with arms we had come for them,as we were not going to fight the French with nothing but sticks. Theythen threatened us again, and we told them that if they hindered us fromdefending the country we should hang them at once; and as they saw wemeant it, they went quietly off to their houses. Then we broke down thedoor of the magazine. We found four thousand muskets there. Each man tookone, and we left the remainder and enough ammunition for them, and havebrought the rest here, together with a hundred spare muskets.

  "We have observed excellent order, and no one was hurt or alarmed. Theonly men who left the ranks were a score who went round to the bakers'shops by my orders, and bought up all the bread in the place. We found abag with a thousand dollars at the quarters of Cortingos."

  "What became of him and his two associates?"

  "They had the impudence to come out and harangue us when you had gone; butwe tied them up to the branch of a tree, so there is an end of them."

  "And a very fitting end, too," Terence said. "What have you done with themoney?"

  "The bag is in that cart, senor."

  "You had better appoint four of your number as treasurers. I would rathernot touch it. You must be as careful as you can, and spend it only on thebarest necessaries of life. We shall have few opportunities of buyingthings in the mountains, but when we do come upon them they must be paidfor. Of course, we shall go no farther to-night. How many men have you?"

  "About two thousand five hundred, senor."

  "They must be told off into twelve companies. That will be two hundred andten to each company. I shall appoint one of these soldiers to each companyto drill and command it. I propose that each company shall elect its otherofficers. Lieutenant Herrara will, under my orders, command the regiment.The two English soldiers with me will each take command of six companies.The first thing to be done is to tell off the men into companies.

  "This we will at once do. After that they can be marched just outside thevillage, and each company will then fall out and elect its officers. Whenthat is done the men will be quartered in the village. I have set apartone room in each house for the inhabitants, and the men must pack astightly as they can into the others; and of course the sheds and stablesmust also be utilized."

  With the assistance of the troopers the work of dividing the force up intocompanies was accomplished in an hour. Herrara then called his men to him.

  "You will each take the command of a company," he said, "and drill thema
nd teach them the use of their arms. This force is now under the commandof this British officer. Acting under his orders, I take the command ofthe force under him. So long as we are out you will each act as captainsof your companies, and your British comrades will act as field officers,each taking the command of six companies. We are going to hinder theadvance of the French, and to cut their communications with Spain. It willbe a glorious and most honourable duty, and I rely most implicitly on yourdoing your best to make the men under your command fit to meet the enemy.Captain Juan Sanches, you will take the first company;" and so he allottedto each his command.

  The soldiers saluted gravely, but with an air of delight.

  "You will, in the first place, march your men to various spots around thevillage; they will then fall out and select six officers each. You willsee that each man knows the number of his company, so that they can fallin without hesitation as soon as the order is given. While you are away weshall examine the houses and allot so many to each company."

  In the meantime Terence had been similarly instructing the two orderlies.Although standing at attention, a broad grin of amusement stole over theirfaces as he went on:

  "I did not expect this any more than you did," he said; "but my orderswere open ones, and were to assist General Romana in hindering the advanceof the French, and I think that I cannot do so better than by augmentinghis forces by 2,500 well-armed men. I rely greatly upon you to assist mein the work. You will, as you see, each occupy the position of fieldofficers, while the Portuguese troopers will each have the command of acompany. In order to support your authority I shall address you each asmajor, and you can consider that you hold that rank as long as we are outwith this force. I have seen enough of you both to know that you will doyour duty well. You will understand that this is going to be no child'splay; it will be a dangerous service. I shall spare neither myself nor anyunder my command. There will be lots of fighting and opportunities for youto distinguish yourselves, and I hope that I shall be able to speak inhigh terms of you when I send in my report to General Cradock."

  "We will do our best, sir," Andrew Macwitty said. "How are we to addressyou?"

  "I shall keep to Mr. O'Connor, and shall consider myself a politicalofficer with supreme military authority. Your titles are simply for localpurposes, and to give you authority among the Portuguese."

  "We don't know enough of the lingo to give the words of command, sir,"William Bull said.

  "That will not matter. The Portuguese dragoons will teach them as muchdrill as it is necessary for them to know. If you have to post them in aposition you can do that well enough by signs; but at the same time it ismost desirable that you should both set to work in earnest and try to pickup a little of the language. You both know enough to make a start with,and if you ride every day with one or other of the captains of companies,and when they are drilling the men stand by and listen to them, you willsoon learn enough to give the men the necessary orders. As a rule, the twowings will act as separate regiments; each of them is rather stronger thanthat of a line regiment at its full war strength, and it will be moreconvenient to treat them as separate regiments, and, until we get to thefrontier, march them a few miles apart.

  "In this way they can occupy different villages, and obtain betteraccommodation than if they were all together. They have money enough tobuy bread and wine for some time. You and the captains under you hadbetter each form a sort of mess. You will, of course, draw rations ofbread and wine, and I will provide you with money to buy a sheepoccasionally or some fowls, to keep you in meat."

  The two troopers walked gravely away, but as soon as they were at a littledistance they turned round the corner of a house and burst into a shout oflaughter.

  "How are you finding yourself to-day, Major Macwitty?"

  "Just first-rate; and how is yoursel', Major Bull?" and they again wentoff into another shout of laughter.

  "This is a rum start, and no mistake, Macwitty."

  "Ay, but it is no' an unpleasant one, I reckon. Mr. O'Connor knows what heis about, though he is little more than a laddie. The orderly who broughtour orders to go with him, said he had heard from one of the general'smess waiters that the general and the other officers were saying the youngofficer had done something quite out of the way, and were paying himcompliments on it, and the general had put him on his own staff inconsequence, and was saying something about his having saved a wing of hisregiment from being captured by the French. The man had not heard it all;but just scraps as he went in and out of the room with wine, but he saidit seemed something out of the way, and mighty creditable. And now what doyou think of this affair, Bull?"

  "There is one thing, and that is that there is like to be, as he said,plenty of fighting, for I should say that he is just the sort of fellow togive us the chance of it, and I do think that these Portuguese fellowsreally mean to fight."

  "I think that mysel', but there is no answering for these brown-skinchaps. Still, maybe it is the fault of the officers as well as the men."

  "It will be a rare game anyhow, Macwitty. At any rate I will do my best toget the fellows into order. He is a fine young officer, and a thoroughgentleman, and no mistake. He goes about it all as if he had beenaccustomed to command two regiments all his life, and these Portuguesefellows seem to have taken to him wonderfully. At any rate it will be athing for us to talk about all our lives--how we were majors for a bit,and fought the French on our own account."

  "Yes, if we get home to tell about it," Macwitty said, cautiously. "Idinna think we can reckon much on that yet. It is a desperate sort of abusiness, and he is ower young to command."

  "I would rather have a young officer than an old one," Bull said,carelessly; "and though he is Irish, I feel sure that he has got his headscrewed on the right way. Look how well he managed last night. Why, an oldgeneral could not have done better. If he hadn't caught those threefellows in a trap, I doubt whether we should have got out of the scrape.Sixteen or seventeen men against over two thousand is pretty long odds. Weshould have accounted for a lot of them, but they would have done for usin the end."

  "You are right there, Bull. I thought mysel' that it was an awkward fix,and certainly he managed those Portuguese fellows well, and turned the lotround his little finger. Ay, ay; he knows what he is doing perfectly well,young as he is."

  "Well, we had best be off to look after our commands,"

  Bull laughed. "I suppose they will call mine the first regiment, as I havethe right wing."

  While the men were away, Terence and Herrara, with the head man of thevillage, went round to all the houses, and marked on pieces of paper thenumber of men who could manage to lie down on the floors and passages,with the number of the company, and fixed them on the doors; they alsomade an arrangement with the proprietor of a neighbouring vineyard tosupply as much wine as was required, at the rate of a pint to each man.When the men returned four men were told off from each company to fetchthe rations of bread, and another four to carry the wine. They wereaccompanied by one of the newly elected sergeants to check the quantity,and see that all was done in order. To prevent confusion the companieswere kept drawn up until the rations had been distributed; then they weretaken into their quarters, filling every room, attic and cellar, barn,granary, and stable in the village. Then Terence and Herrara in one room,and the troopers in another of the little inn, sat down to a meal Terencehad ordered as soon as they arrived.

  The next morning at daybreak they marched off. Terence rode at their head,Herrara at the rear of the regiment, and each captain at the head of hiscompany. From time to time Terence rode up and down the line, and orderedthe men to keep step.

  "It is just as easy," he said to the captains, "for the men to do so as towalk along anyhow, and they will find that the sound of all the footfallstogether helps them to march steadily and lessens fatigue. Never mindabout the slope of their muskets; you must not harass them about littlethings, else they will get sulky; it will all come gradually."

  Four marches of
twenty miles each took them over the mountains in fourdays. The Portuguese marched well, and not a single man fell out from theranks, while at the end of the day they were still fresh enough to allowof an hour's drill. Even in that short time there was a very appreciabledifference in their appearance. They had already learned to keep theirdistances on the march, to slope their muskets more evenly on theirshoulders, and to carry themselves with a more erect bearing. The firsttwo drills had been devoted to teaching them how to load and aim, theother two to changes of formation, from column into line and back again.

  "They would make fine soldiers, sir," Bull said, on the fourth evening,"after they have had six months' drill."

  "No doubt they would move more regularly," Terence agreed, "but inmountain warfare that makes little difference; as soon as they havelearned to shoot straight, and to have confidence in themselves, they willdo just as well holding a defile or the head of a bridge as if they hadbeen drilled for months. We must get hold of some horns of some sort, andthey must learn a few simple calls, such as the advance, retire, formsquare, and things of that sort. With such large companies the voice wouldnever be heard in the din of a battle. I hope that we shall get at least aweek to practise skirmishing over rough ground and to fall back in goodorder, taking advantage of every rock and shelter, before we get underfire. Do you know anything about blowing up bridges?"

  "Not me, sir. That is engineers' business."

  "It is a thing that troopers ought to know something about too, Bull; forif you were far in advance without an engineer near you, you might do goodservice by blowing up a bridge and checking the advance of an enemy.However, I dare say we shall soon find out how it is best done. Now,to-morrow morning we will have three hours of skirmishing work on thesehillsides. By that time the other regiment will have come up, and then wewill march together to join Romana."

  The Spanish general was much surprised at the arrival of Terence at thehead of two well-armed regiments. His force had swelled considerably inpoint of numbers, for he had sent messengers all over the country to thepriests, and these, having a horror of the French, had stirred up thepeasants by threats of eternal perdition if they came back; while Romanaissued proclamations threatening death to all who did not take up arms.Thus he had some 8,000 men collected, of whom fully half were his owndispersed soldiers. He received Terence with effusion.

  "Have you brought me arms?" was his first question.

  "No, sir; no transport could be obtained in Lisbon, and it was foundimpossible to despatch any muskets to you. I have, however, four thousandpounds, in dollars, to hand over. At starting I had five thousand, but ofthese I have, in the exercise of my discretion, retained a thousand forthe purchase of provisions and necessaries for these two Portugueseregiments which are under my command, and with which I hope to do goodservice by co-operating with your force. Have you not found greatdifficulty in victualling your men?"

  "No, I have had no trouble on that score," the marquis said. "I found thata magazine of provisions had been collected for the use of General Moore'sarmy at Montrui, three miles from here, and have been supporting my troopson the contents. The money will be most useful, however, directly we move.Fully half of my men have guns, for the Galician peasants are accustomedto the use of arms. I wish that it had been more, but four thousand poundswill be very welcome. Do you propose to join my force with yourregiments?"

  "Not exactly to join them, General; my orders are to give you suchassistance as I can, and I think that I can do more by co-operating withyou independently. In the first place, I do not think that my Portuguesewould like to be commanded by a Spanish general; in the second place, itwould be extremely difficult to feed so large a body of troops in thesemountains, and the smaller the number the more easily can they move about.Besides, in these defiles a large force of undisciplined men could not actefficiently, and in case of a reverse would fall rapidly into confusion. Ipropose to use my force as a sort of flying column, co-operating withyours. Thus, if you attack the head of a column, I will fall on theirflank or rear, will harass their line of communication, blow up bridgesand destroy roads, and so render their movements slow and difficult. Bysuch means I should certainly render you more efficient service than if myregiments were to form a part of your force."

  "Perhaps that would be best," Romana said. "Could you supply me with anyammunition? For although the peasants have guns, very few have more than afew rounds of ammunition, and even this is not made up into cartridges."

  "That I can do, sir. I can give you 20,000 rounds of ammunition and tenbarrels of powder. I have no lead, but you may perhaps be able to obtainthat."

  "Yes. The priests, in fact, have sent in a considerable amount. They havestripped the roofs off their churches. That will be a most welcome supplyindeed, and I am heartily obliged to you."

  The gift of the ammunition had the effect of doing away with anydiscontent the Spaniard may have felt on finding that Terence was going toact independently of him. It had indeed already flashed across his mindthat it might be unpleasant always to have a British officer with him,from whose opinion he might frequently differ, and who might endeavour tocontrol his movements. He had hardly expected that, with so much on theirhands, and the claims that would be made from Oporto for assistance, theywould have sent any money; and the sixteen thousand dollars were thereforemost welcome, while the ammunition would be invaluable to him.

  Terence had taken out his share of the money, and the cart with theremainder for Romana was now at the door. The sacks were brought in,Romana called in four or five officers, the dollars were counted out and areceipt given to Terence for them.

  "I will send the ammunition up in half an hour, Marquis."

  "I thank you greatly, senor. I will at once order a number of men to setto work casting bullets and preparing cartridge-cases. In the meantime,please let me hear what are your general's plans for the defence ofPortugal."

  Terence told him that he was unaware what were the intentions of theBritish general, but that, from what he learned during the few hours thathe was at Lisbon, he thought it improbable in the extreme that Sir JohnCradock would be able to send any force to check the advance of the Frenchupon Oporto.

  "In the first place," he said, "he is absolutely without transport; and inthe second Victor has a large army, and now that Saragossa has fallen,there is nothing to prevent his marching direct upon Lisbon. Lapisse is atSalamanca and can enter Portugal from the east. The whole country is inconfusion; with the exception of a force gathering under Lord Beresfordthere is no army whatever. Lisbon is almost at the mercy of the mob, who,supported by the government, march about with British muskets and pikes,killing all they suspect of being favourable to the French, and evenattacking British soldiers and officers in the streets.

  "Were the general to march north, he would not get news of Victor'sadvance in time to get back to save Lisbon, therefore I fear that it isabsolutely impossible for him to attempt to check the French until theycross the Douro, perhaps not until they cross the Mondego. The levies ofthe northern province are ordered to assemble at Villa Real, and Ibelieve, from what I gathered on the march, that some thousands of men arethere, but I doubt very greatly whether they are in a state to offer anydetermined resistance to Soult."

  "That is a bad look-out," the general said, gloomily; "still, we must hopefor the best, as Spain will soon raise fresh armies, and so occupy theattention of the enemy that Soult will have to fall back. I am incommunication with General Silveira, who will advance to Chaves; he hasfour thousand men. He has written to me that the bishop had collected50,000 peasants at Oporto."

  "Where they will probably do more harm than good," Terence said,scornfully. "I would rather have half a regiment of British troops thanthe whole lot of them. It is not men that are wanted, it is discipline,and 50,000 peasants will be even more unmanageable and useless than 5,000would be. By the way, General, I have now to inform you that GeneralCradock has done me the honour of placing me on his personal staff."

&nb
sp; "I am glad to hear it," the marquis said, courteously; "it will certainlyincrease your authority greatly."

  Terence, leaving Romana, marched his troops to within a mile of Monterey,choosing a spot where there was a wood which would afford some shelter tothe troops, and would give them a supply of firewood. At Monterey he wouldbe able to purchase provisions, and he wished to keep them apart fromRomana's men, whose undisciplined habits and general insubordination wouldcounteract his efforts with his own men.

  The next ten days were spent in almost incessant drilling, and inpractising shooting. Bread and wine were obtained from Monterey, and hepurchased a large flock of sheep at a very low price, the peasants, intheir fear of the French, being very anxious to turn their flocks andherds into money, which could be hid away securely until the tide ofinvasion had passed. Laborious and frugal in their habits, these peasantsseldom touch meat, and the troops were highly gratified at the rationssupplied to them, and worked hard and cheerfully at their drill.

  Among so many men there were naturally a few who were inclined to beinsubordinate. These were speedily weeded out. The offenders were promptlyseized, flogged, and expelled from the force, their places being suppliedfrom among the peasants, many of whom were desirous of enlisting. Terencesent these off, save a few he selected, to Silveira, as his own force wasquite as large as could properly be handled. With improved food andincessant drill the men rapidly developed into soldiers. Each carried arough native blanket rolled up like a scarf over one shoulder. This wasindeed the only point of regular equipment. They had no regular uniform,but they were all in their peasant dresses. There was no communicationbetween them and Romana's forces, for the animosity between the twopeoples amounted to hatred. The Portuguese would indeed have marched toattack them as willingly as they would have received the order to moveagainst the French.

  During this week of waiting, Silveira with 4,000 men arrived at Chaves,and a meeting took place between him and Romana. Both had plans equallywild and impracticable, neither would give way, and as they were wellaware that their forces would never act together, they decided to actindependently against the French. At the end of eight days the news camethat Soult, having made all his preparations, had left Orense on his marchsouthward.

  Terence had bought a quantity of rough canvas, and the men, as they satround the fires after their day's work was over, made haversacks in whichthey could carry rations for four or five days. As soon as the news wasreceived that Soult was advancing, Terence ordered sufficient bread tosupply them for that time, from the bakehouses of Monterey. A hundredrounds of ball-cartridge were served round to each. A light cartcontaining eight barrels of powder, a bag with 1,000 dollars, and thetent, was the only vehicle taken, and the rest of the ammunition andpowder was buried deep in the wood, and the bulk of the money privatelyhidden in another spot by Terence and Herrara. Twelve horns had beenobtained; several of the men were able to blow them, and these, attachedone to each company, had learned a few calls. Terence and Herrara tooktheir post at the edge of the wood to watch the two regiments march past.

  "I think they will do," Terence said; "they have picked up marvellouslysince they have been here; and though I should not like to trust them inthe plain with Franceschi's cavalry sweeping down upon them, I think thatin mountain work they can be trusted to make a stand."

  "I think so," Herrara agreed. "They have certainly improved wonderfully.Our peasants are very docile and easily led when they have confidence intheir commander, and are not stirred up by agitators, but they are givento sudden fury, as is shown by the frightful disorders at Lisbon andOporto. However, they certainly have confidence in you, and if they aresuccessful in the first skirmish or two they can be trusted to fightstoutly afterwards."

  CHAPTER XV

  THE FIRST SKIRMISH

  Soult had spent a month in making his preparations for the invasion ofPortugal. The time, however, had not been wasted by him. Vigo, Tuy, andGuardia had all been occupied without opposition. Salvatierra on the Minhohad been taken possession of, and thus three roads were open to him bywhich to cross low down on the river, namely, at Guardia, Tuy, andSalvatierra. These roads afforded the shortest and easiest line to Oporto.Romana and Silveira had both been of opinion that he would march southfrom Orense, through Monterey, and up the valley of the Tamega, and theirplans were all made with a view of opposing his advance in that direction.The night before Terence marched he called upon Romana.

  "It seems to me probable, Marquis, as it does to you, that the French willadvance by this line, but it is possible that they may follow the northbank of the Minho and cross at Salvatierra or Tuy. By that route theywould have several rivers to cross but no mountains or defiles. Were theyto throw troops across there they would meet with no opposition until theyarrived at Oporto. It seems to me that my best plan would be to march westand endeavour to prevent such a passage being made. If I could do so itwould prevent your position being turned. There are no bridges marked onmy map, and if I could secure the boats we should, at any rate, causeSoult much difficulty and delay. No doubt there are some local leviesthere, and we should be able to watch a considerable extent of the river;indeed, so far as I can see, they must cross, if they cross at all there,at one of the three towns on the north side, for it is only by the roadsrunning through these that they could carry their artillery and baggage."

  "I think that will be an excellent plan," Romana said, "for although Ibelieve that they will come this way, I have been very uneasy at thethought that they might possibly cross lower down, and so turn ourposition altogether. But you will have to watch not only the three placesthrough which the roads pass, but other parts of the river, for they maythrow a few hundred men across in boats at any point, and these fallingsuddenly upon your parties on the bank, might drive them away and enablethe main body to cross without resistance."

  "I will keep as sharp a look-out as I can, Marquis." Marching north fromMonterey the troops moved through Villa Real and Gingo, and then, turningwest, crossed the river Lima, there a small stream, and then following thevalley of that river for some distance, turned off and struck the Minhoopposite Salvatierra, having covered fifty miles in two days. Here aconsiderable number of armed peasants and ordenancas were gathered. Theywere delighted at the arrival of two well-armed regiments; and hearingfrom Herrara that Terence was a staff-officer of the British general, andwas sent by him to direct the defence of the river, they at once placedthemselves under his orders.

  Terence found, to his satisfaction, that on the approach of the Frenchmost of the boats had been removed to the south side of the river andhauled up the bank. His first order was that anyone acquainted with theposition of any boats on the other side of the river should at once informhim of it. It was not long before he heard of some twenty or thirty thathad been hidden by their owners on the other side, in order that theymight have the means of crossing to escape the French exactions. Atnightfall several boats were launched, and parties of men, directed bythose who had given information, started to cross the river and bringthose boats over. The Minho was at this time in flood and was running withgreat rapidity, and Terence felt confident that in its present state noneof the enemy's cavalry would attempt to cross it by swimming.

  He decided on placing the largest part of his force opposite Tuy, as theprincipal road south passed through this town, and he would here besupported by the guns of the fortress of Valenca. He stationed his firstbattalion here, with orders to line the river for six miles above andbelow this spot. Half of the second battalion he left under Macwitty, andwith the other half determined to march down towards the mouth of theriver. The next morning all the boats returned, bringing those for whichthey had been searching, and after closely questioning the guides he feltassured that there could be so few remaining that the French would hardlyattempt to cross the river in the face of the crowd of peasants--whom theycould not but see--lining the southern bank.

  As soon as the boats had returned he marched with the three companies.When half-way
between Valenca and Caminha he met a peasant, who hadcrossed from the northern bank in a boat that had escaped the search ofthe French. He reported that some days before some 10,000 of the Frenchhad arrived in the neighbourhood of the village Campo Sancos, and that adivision had been hard at work since their arrival transporting some largefishing-boats and heavy guns from the harbour of Guardia to Campo Sancos.The guns had been placed in a battery on a height, and the boats launchedin a little river that ran into the Minho village. Terence learned thatthe work was now nearly completed, and the peasant had risked his life incoming across to give information.

  Terence at once sent off a mounted man to Valenca to request Herrara tomarch down with the first battalion and to send on to Macwitty to leaveone company to assist the ordenancas to guard the river betweenSalvatierra and Valenca, and to take post with the other two in front ofthe latter town. At nightfall he was joined by Herrara.

  After explaining the situation to him, Terence said:

  "It will not be necessary to watch the river above Campo Sancos, for itwould be impossible to row heavy fishing-boats against this stream, sothey must land somewhere between that place and the mouth of the river.Thus we have only some eight miles to guard, and as we have eighteenhundred men, besides the peasants, we ought to be able to do thatthoroughly. I expect they will endeavour to make the passage to-night, andthey will certainly cross, as nearly as they can, opposite the village.The battery is about a mile below it, and is no doubt intended to covertheir landing. I shall post myself with two companies of the firstbattalion there, and extend another company from that point up to CamposSancos. You, with the other three companies and the three companies of thesecond battalion, will watch the river below.

  "It is unlucky that there is no moon at present. I do not expect, however,that the attack will take place till morning, for, in the first place, thepeasant said that although the guns had been got up to the height they hadnot yet been placed in position, and as we have noticed no movement thereall day, nor seen a French soldier anywhere near the river, they will onlybe beginning work now, and can hardly have finished it until well on inthe night. Besides, when the first party who crossed have obtained afooting here, the boats will have to go backwards and forwards. No doubtthe cavalry will be among the first to cross, and they would hardly getthe horses on board in the dark. It is of vital importance to repel thisattack, for if the French got across they would be at Vianna to-morrowevening, and at Oporto three days later. I don't suppose that place willresist for a day; and if, as is probable, Victor moves up from the south,he and Soult may be in front of Lisbon in ten days' time.

  "You had better tell your captains this, in order that they may understandhow vital it is to prevent the passage. From what I hear from thepeasants, the boats will not be able to carry more than three or fourhundred men, and wherever they land we ought to be able to crush thembefore the boats can cross again and bring over reinforcements."

  "Well, Bull, I think we are likely to have fighting tonight," Terencesaid, as Herrara marched off with his men.

  "I hope so, sir. I don't think they will be able to cross in our face, andit will do the men a lot of good to win the first fight."

  "If Romana's troops were worth anything, Soult would find himself in anawkward position. He has got his whole army jammed up in the corner here,and if he cannot cross there is nothing for him to do but to march alongthe river to Orense, and then come down by the road through Monterey.There are several streams to cross as he marches up the bank. Romana issure to have heard of his concentrating somewhere down near the mouth ofthe river, and I should think that by this time he will have crossed nearOrense, and will arrive in time to dispute the passage of these streams.He told me that the Galician peasants have been so enraged by their cattlebeing carried off for the use of the French army that they will rise ininsurrection the instant the French march, and if that is the case, theyand Romana ought to be able to give Soult a lot of trouble before hereaches Orense."

  "I don't think those fellows with Romana are likely to do much, sir. TheFrench will just sweep them before them."

  "I am afraid so, Bull; still, if we can prevent the French from crossinghere and compel them to follow the long road through Monterey, we shallhave done good service. It would give Portugal another seven or eight daysto prepare, and will send the enemy through a country where undisciplinedtroops ought to be able to make a stand even against soldiers like theFrench."

  All through the night Terence and his major patrolled the bank from thepoint facing Campo Sancos to a mile below that on which the French wereplacing their guns. Everything went on quietly, sentries at intervals keptwatch, and the men, wrapped in their blankets, lay down in parties offifty at short intervals.

  "The day is beginning to break," Terence said, as he met Bull coming backfrom the lower end of the line. "I am not afraid now, for if we can butsee them coming we can gather two or three hundred men at any point theymay be making for. Besides, our shooting would be very wild in the dark."

  "That it would, sir; not one shot in fifty would hit the boats, let alonethe men; and when the Portuguese saw the boats come on without pause inspite of their fire, they would be likely to lose heart and to getunsteady."

  "We may as well stop here, Bull. It will be light enough to see across theriver in another quarter of an hour, and if there are no boats comingthen, I think it is pretty certain that they will not begin untilto-morrow night. The peasant said that they have only got 10,000 troopsthere as yet, and we know that Soult has more than double that, and he maywait another day for them all to come up."

  Ten minutes later one of the sentries close to them shouted out that hecould see boats. Terence ran up to him.

  "Where are they, my man?"

  "Nearly opposite, sir."

  Terence gazed fixedly for a moment, and then said: "I see them; they areheading straight across." Then he gave the order to the man who alwaysaccompanied him with a horn, to blow the alarm.

  At the sound, the troops sprang to their feet, and some hundreds ofpeasants, who were lying down a short distance behind, ran up. The hornwas evidently heard on the other side of the river, for immediately theguns of the battery opposite opened fire, and their shot whizzed overhead.The boats plied their oars vigorously, and the French soldiers cheered;they were but some three hundred yards away when first discovered. ThePortuguese were coming rapidly up at the double. Terence shouted that nota shot was to be fired until he gave the order. He was obeyed by his ownmen, but the peasants at once began a wild fire at the boats. By the timethese were within fifty yards of the shore Terence saw with satisfactionthat fully a company had come up. The men stood firmly, although the ballsfrom the French battery ploughed up the ground around them.

  "Wait until the first boat grounds," Terence shouted again. Another minuteand the first fishing-boat touched the shore. Then the horn sounded, andthe front line of the Portuguese poured a terrible volley into it. A fewof the French soldiers only succeeded in gaining the land, and these wereat once shot down. Then the troops opened a rolling fire upon the otherboats. The French replied with their musketry, but their fire was feeble.They had expected to have effected a landing with but slight opposition,and the concentrated fire of the troops and the peasantry convinced themthat, even should they gain the shore, they would be greatly outnumbered,and would be shot down before they could gather in any regular formation.Many of the rowers, who were Spanish peasants forced into the work, hadfallen. Most of their comrades left the oars and threw themselves into thebottom of the boats, and the craft drifted down the stream.

  Shouts of triumph rose from the Portuguese, who obeyed the signal to formfours, and marched along parallel with the boats, forming lineoccasionally and firing heavy volleys. The French soldiers now seized theoars and rowed the craft into the middle of the river, and then slowly andpainfully made their way to Campo Sancos, having lost more than half ofthe three hundred men who had left there. The French battery ceased tofire, and the din of
battle was succeeded by a dead silence. Onceconvinced that the French had abandoned the attempt to land, thePortuguese broke into loud shouts of triumph, which were only checked whenTerence ordered them to form up in close order. When they did so headdressed a few words to them, complimenting them upon the steadiness thatthey had shown, and upon their obeying his order to reserve their firetill the French were close at hand.

  "I was convinced that you would behave well," he said, "and in future Ishall have no hesitation in meeting a body of French equal in numbers toyourselves."

  Messengers were at once despatched to order up all the troops that hadbeen posted below, and in two hours the whole force, with the exception ofthe three companies, between them and Salvatierra, were assembled.

  "The question is, Herrara," Terence said, when he and his colonel hadexchanged congratulations on the repulse of the French, "what will Soultdo next?

  "That is a question upon which everything depends. I don't think he willtry again here. He has been eight days in preparing those boats to cross,and now that he knows there is a very strong force here, and that even ifhe got three or four times as many boats he would scarcely be able toforce a passage, my idea is that he will abandon the attack and march atonce for Orense. In that case the question is, shall we wait until we haveassured ourselves that he has gone, and then follow and harass his rear?or shall we march up the river and then cross to help Romana to bar hispassage?"

  "I think the latter will be the best plan. You see, we should not becutting his communication were we to march now, because when he hascrossed the river Avia he will have direct communication with Ney, andwill of course draw all his supplies from the north, so I think that wehad better lose no time in pushing up along the river."

  The troops were ordered to light fires and cook their breakfast. Whilethis was going on Terence assembled the peasant bands, and told them thathe thought the French would not make another attempt to cross, but thatthey must remain in a state of watchfulness until they received certainnews from the other side that they had marched for Orense.

  As soon as breakfast was over and the cooking-pots packed in the cart, thetwo regiments started on their march. They were in high spirits, andlaughed and sang as they tramped along. They had lost but two killed bythe French musketry fire, and there were but five so severely wounded asto be unable to take their places in the ranks. These Terence ordered tobe taken in a country cart to Pontelima, and he provided them with moneyfor their support there until cured.

  The men having been on foot all night, Terence halted them after doingfifteen miles. On the following morning, soon after they had started, theysaw a large body of French cavalry following the road by the river. Thesewere La Houssaye's, who had been quartered at Salvatierra. The river herewas narrower than it had been below, and halting the troops and formingthem in line, two or three volleys were fired across the river. These didsome execution, and caused much confusion in the French ranks. Thehorsemen, however, galloped rapidly up the river, and were soon out ofrange.

  "That settles the question, Herrara. The French are retracing their steps,and bound for Orense. Soult has not let the grass grow under his feet, andthe cavalry are evidently sent on to clear out any bands of peasants thatmay be gathering at the rivers."

  La Houssaye, indeed, twice in the course of the day broke up irregularbands, and burned two villages. The infantry and artillery, after passingthrough Salvatierra, moved by the main road. This, however, was found tobe so bad that the artillery were, with ten of the sixteen light guns, andsix howitzers, left behind at Tuy, with a great ammunition and baggagetrain, together with 900 sick. A garrison of 500 men were left in thefort. Orders were given that all stragglers were to be retained at thatplace.

  "THE FRENCH CAVALRY RODE UP TOWARDS THE SQUARES, BUT WEREMET WITH HEAVY VOLLEYS"]

  The march of the French was not unopposed. When they arrived at the riverMorenta they found 800 Spaniards had barricaded the bridges and repulsedthe advance parties of cavalry. On the 17th, at daybreak, the leadingdivision attacked them fiercely, carried the bridge, and pursued themhotly, until at a short distance from Ribadavia the Spaniards rallied uponsome 10,000 irregulars arrayed in order of battle in a strong positioncovering the town. The rest of the division and a brigade of cavalry cameup, and, directed by Soult himself, attacked the Spaniards, drove themthrough the town and across the Avia with great loss. Twenty priests werefound among the slain. The next day three or four thousand otherirregulars from the valley of Avia were attacked and scattered, and on the18th the French cavalry, with three brigades of infantry, entered Orense.

  An hour earlier Terence had arrived on the other side of the river, andhad at once made preparations for blowing up the bridge. The men had beenbut a short time at work when numbers of the townsmen streamed across thebridge and reported that a great body of the French were entering thetown. Terence had a hasty consultation with Herrara, and both agreed thatthey could not hope to hold the bridge long against the whole French army,especially as they had learned two hours before from a peasant who hadridden up, that strong bodies of French troops had crossed the river bythe ferries at Ribadavia and Barbibante, and that they might shortly beattacked in flank. The powder-barrels were therefore hastily repacked, andthe troops marched off towards the hills on their left.

  They were but half-way across the plain when a regiment of French cavalrywere seen riding in pursuit. The regiments were at once formed intosquares within fifty yards of each other, and Terence and Bull in thecentre of one square, and Herrara and Macwitty in the other, exhorted themen to stand steady, assuring them there was nothing whatever to be fearedfrom the cavalry if they did so. The French rode up towards the squares,but were met by heavy volleys, and after riding round them drew off,having suffered considerable loss, being greatly surprised at finding thatinstead of a mob of armed men, such as they had met at Avia, they wereencountered by soldiers possessing the steadiness of trained troops.

  The regiments resumed their march until far up the hill, where theyproceeded to cut down trees and brushwood and to form an encampment, astheir leader had decided to stay here and await events until Soult'sintentions were clearly shown. There were two courses open to the Frenchgeneral. He might advance to Allaritz and then march along the Lima, bejoined by his artillery and train from Tuy, and then move direct uponOporto, or he might follow the valley of the Tamega to Chaves, whence hewould have the choice of routes, and take either that over the Sierra deCabrera to Braga, or continue his course down the valley until he reachedthe Douro.

  It was not until the 4th of March that the French again moved forward. Inthe meantime Terence was forced to remain quiet, except that each day hemarched his men farther among the hills and drilled them for some hoursperseveringly. The affair on the Minho and the repulse of the Frenchcavalry had given them great confidence in themselves and their leader,and had shown them the value of steadiness, and of maintaining order anddiscipline in the ranks. They therefore devoted themselves even morewillingly and zealously than before to their military exercises, and theten days taken by Soult in preparing for the advance were well spent inaccustoming the Portuguese to rapid movements among the mountains, and toattaining a fair knowledge of what would be required of them in mountainwarfare. Two companies always remained in the camp, and these had severalskirmishes with bodies of French marauders, and small parties of cavalrymaking across the country to ascertain the position and strength of thePortuguese.

  The advance of the French was rapid, and on the 5th the cavalry and aportion of the infantry reached Villa Real, where, on the evening of thesame day, two divisions of infantry arrived. That night Terence with hismen having on the 4th marched along the hills parallel to the road, made aforced march, crossed the road and took up a position on the spur of themountains between Montalegre and the river. Even yet it was doubtful whichroute Soult intended to follow, as the division at Villa Real might beintended only to prevent Romana and Silveira falling upon his flank. As hemarched d
own the valley of the Lima, he had learned from Romana that heand Silveira had decided to fall back to Chaves, and that he agreed withTerence's opinion that he had better remain in the rear of the French, andintercept their communications with Orense.

  On the following morning the French advanced in force to Monterey. Romanaabandoned the position as they advanced, drew off to Verin, and thenretired along the road towards Sanabria. He thus left it open to himselfeither to follow the road to Chaves, as agreed upon, or to retire intoSpain through the mountains. Franceschi's cavalry and a battalion ofFrench infantry overtook between two and three thousand men forming therear of Romana's column. The latter drew up in a great square. Franceschiattacked the rear face with his infantry, passed with his cavalry roundthe sides of the square, and placed himself between it and the rest of theretiring column. He had with him four regiments of cavalry, and now hurleda regiment at each side of the square.

  The Spaniards were at once seized with dismay, broke their formation, andin a moment the French cavalry were upon them, cutting and trampling themdown. Twelve hundred were killed and the rest made prisoners. As soon asRomana heard of the disaster that had befallen his rearguard, he broke hisengagement with Silveira and led his force over the mountains into Spain,where the news of his defeat caused the Spanish insurgent bands todisperse rapidly to their homes, where they delivered up their arms; andeven the priests, who had been the main promoters of the rising, seeingthe failure of all their plans, advised them to maintain a peaceableattitude in future.

  Silveira was not more fortunate, for two thousand of his troops with someguns, issuing from the mountains just as Franceschi returned from theannihilation of Romana's rearguard, the French cavalry charged andcaptured the Portuguese guns, and drove Silveira down the valley.

  Soult paused two days at Monterey, the baggage and hospital train, and agreat convoy of provisions being brought up from Orense, under the guardof a whole division. This rendered it evident that he intended to cuthimself off altogether from Spain, and to subsist entirely upon thecountry. It was clear then that it was useless to attempt to fall upon hisrear, and by a long march through the mountains Terence took his forcedown to Chaves.

  Here he found that Silveira, deserted by Romana and beaten by Franceschi,had fallen back to a mountain immediately behind Chaves. Terence continuedhis march until he joined him. He found a great tumult going on among histroops; always insubordinate, they were now in a state of mutiny. Many ofthe officers openly advocated that they should desist from a struggle inwhich success was altogether hopeless, and should go over and join theFrench. The troops, however, not only spurned the advice, but fell uponand killed several of those who offered it, and demanded from Silveirathat he should lead them down to defend Chaves. This he refused to do,saying that the fortifications were old and useless, the guns worn out,and that were they to shut themselves up there, they would be surroundedand forced to surrender.

  This refusal excited the mutineers to the highest pitch, and when Terencearrived they were clamouring for his death. A small party of soldiers whoremained faithful to him surrounded him, but they would speedily have beenoverpowered had it not been for the arrival of Terence's command. As soonas he understood what was happening, he formed his men into a solid body,marched through the excited crowd, and formed up in hollow square roundthe general. The firm appearance of the force and the fact that theypossessed more arms than the whole of Silveira's army, had its effect. Themutineers, however, to the number of 3,500, determined to carry out theirintentions, and at once marched away to Chaves. Silveira remained with buta few hundred men, as the 2,000 routed by Franceschi had not rejoined him.

  "I owe you my life, senor," he said to Terence, "for those mad fools wouldcertainly have murdered me."

  "It is not surprising," Terence said. "A mob of men who are not soldierscannot be expected to observe discipline, especially when insubordinationand anarchy have been absolutely fomented by the authorities, crimes ofall sorts perpetrated by their orders, and no efforts whatever made topunish ill-doers."

  "Your men seem to be disciplined and obedient," Silveira said.

  "They have been taught to be so, General, and I believe that I can relyupon them absolutely. If you had but officers and discipline, I am certainthat your soldiers would be excellent; but as it is, with a fewexceptions, your officers are worse than useless. They are appointed as areward for their support of the Junta; they are ignorant of their duties,and many of them favour the French; they regard their soldiers as raised,not for the defense of Portugal, but for the support of the Junta. I haveseen enough to know that the peasants are brave, hardy, and ready tofight. But what can they do when they are but half-armed, and no attemptwhatever is made to discipline them? Have you heard, since these troublesbegan, of a single man being shot for insubordination, or of a singleofficer being punished even for the grossest neglect of orders? It isnothing short of murder to put a mob of half-armed peasants to standagainst French troops."

  "All that is quite true," Silveira said, heartily. "However, I shall do mybest, and shall, I doubt not, soon have another force collected, for nowthat the French have fairly entered Portugal, and are marching towards thecapital, every man will take up arms. And you, senor, what do you mean todo?"

  "I shall harass the French as I see an opportunity, but I shall notsubject my men to certain disaster by joining any of the new levies. Iknow what my men can do, and what I can do with them; but if mixed up withthousands of raw peasants they would be swept away by the latter and sharein any misfortune that might befall them. What I have seen of your troopsto-day, and what I saw of Romana's, is quite enough to show me that tolead peasants into the field is simply to bring misfortune and death uponthem. Far better that each leader should collect two or three hundred menand teach them discipline and a little drill instead of taking a mobthousands strong out to battle. Those men that have marched down intoChaves will, you will see, offer no resistance, and will simply be killedor made prisoners to a man. Now, may I ask if you have any stores here,General? We have had great difficulty in buying food up in the mountains,and as it will be useless to you, and certainly cannot be carried off, Ishould be glad to fill the men's haversacks before we go farther."

  "Certainly. I had enough meat and bread for my whole force for a week, andyou are welcome to take as much as you require. Which way do you proposemarching?"

  "I am waiting to see which way the French go after leaving Chaves. Whetherthey go down the valley or across the mountains to Braga, I shallendeavour to get ahead of them; and as my men are splendid marchers, Ihave no doubt that I shall succeed in doing so, even if the French have afew hours' start. If I can do nothing else, I can at least make theircavalry keep together instead of riding in small parties all over thecountry to sweep in food."

  Fires were soon lighted, some bullocks killed and cut up, and a heartymeal eaten. They had already made a very long march, and were ordered tolie down until nightfall. Silveira marched away with his men, and Terenceand Herrara sat and watched the road, down which bodies of French troopscould already be seen advancing from Monterey towards Chaves. As theyapproached the town, gun after gun was fired. The advance-guard halted andwaited until the whole division had come up.

  CHAPTER XVI

  IN THE PASSES

  On the following day the French cavalry, with a division of infantry, tookup their position beyond the town, so as to cut off the retreat of thegarrison, who were then summoned to surrender. No reply was made, but forthe next twenty-four hours the defenders, although in no way attacked,kept up a random fire from the guns on the walls, and with musketry, towhich no reply whatever was made by the French.

  On the following day, the whole army having now come up, the town wasagain summoned, and at once surrendered, when Soult, who did not wish tobe hampered with a mob of prisoners, contemptuously allowed them to departto their homes.

  After bringing up his sick from Chaves, and discovering that the passesthrough the mountains were unocc
upied, and that the Portuguese army was atBraga, Soult, on the 14th, began to move in that direction, both for thepurpose of crushing Friere and getting into communication with Tuy, andbeing joined by his artillery from there. As soon as this movement wasseen from the hill where Terence's regiments had been for three daysresting, preparations were made for marching, and with haversacks wellfilled with bread and meat, the troops started in good spirits. Terenceprocured the services of a peasant well acquainted with the mountains, andwas led by paths used by shepherds across the hills, and after a twelvehours' toilsome journey came down into the defiles that the French werefollowing. There he learned from peasants, that, with the exception of asmall scouting party two days before, there were no signs of any hostileforce.

  The men were at once set to work to destroy a bridge across a torrent atthe mouth of a defile. It was built of stone, but was old and in badrepair, and the men had little difficulty in prising the stones of theside walls from their places, and throwing them down into the stream.Another party made a hole over the key of an arch. A barrel of powder wasplaced here, and a train having been laid, was covered up by a pile ofrocks. A third party formed a barricade six feet high, across the end ofthe bridge, and also two breastworks, each fifty yards away on eitherside, so as to flank the approaches to the other end and the bridge. Thetroops were extended along the hillsides, one battalion on each side ofthe defile, under the shelter of the rocks and brush.

  While these preparations were being made, the horses were taken up to thetop of the hills by some paths known to the peasants of a little villagenear the mouth of the defile, the women and children following them.Terence and Herrara had a consultation, and then the former called Bulland Macwitty to him.

  "Now," he said, "you understand that while we will defend this defile aslong as we can, we will run no risk of a defeat that might end in a rout.We shall inflict heavy loss upon them before they can repair the bridge,and can certainly force their cavalry to remain quiet until they bring uptheir infantry. Colonel Herrara, you, with one company of the secondbattalion, will hold the village, and we shall sweep the column advancingalong the bottom of the defile with a fire from each flank, while theywill also be exposed to your fire in front. When they succeed in makingtheir way up to within charging distance you will evacuate the village andjoin Macwitty on the hill.

  "They must attack us there on both sides, for no troops could marchthrough until the hillsides are cleared. It is probable that they may dothis before they attempt to attack the village, but in any case you mustkeep up a steady fire until they get within fifty yards of you, thenretire up the hill, but leave a party to keep them in check until the resthave gained the crest and formed up in good order. By the time you do thisthey will have driven in your rear-guard. The French will be breathlesswith their exertions when they reach you. Wait till a considerable numberhave gained the crest, then, before they have time to form, pour a heavyvolley into them and charge, and then sweep them with your fire until theyreach the bottom. The next time they will no doubt attack in much greaterforce; in that case we will move quietly off without waiting for them, andwill reunite at the village of Romar, five miles in the rear. If we find,as we near it, that the French are in possession, we will halt, and I willsend orders to the second regiment as to what is to be done. If the forceis not too great we will attack them at night."

  "How will you know where we shall be, sir?" Macwitty said.

  "I have arranged with Colonel Herrara that when you halt you shall lighttwo fires a short distance from each other. I will reply by lighting one,and the fires are then to be extinguished."

  This being arranged, Terence went down and applied a match to the train,and then retired at a run. Three minutes later there was a heavyexplosion, rocks flew high in the air, and when the smoke cleared away, acheer from the hillside told that the explosion had been successful.Terence returned to the bridge; a considerable portion of the arch hadbeen blown away, and putting fifty men to work, the gap was soon carriedacross the road and widened, so that there was a chasm twelve feet across.The parties who were to man the breastworks were now posted. Terencehimself took the command here. The defenders consisted of a company ofBull's battalion.

  Half an hour later a deep sound was heard, and as it grew louder the headof a column of cavalry was seen approaching. The whole of the force on thehillsides were hidden behind rocks or brushwood; not a head was shownabove the breastworks. The cavalry, however, halted, and an officer withfour men rode forward. When within fifty yards of the bridge a volley oftwenty muskets flashed out from the work behind it. The officer and threemen fell, the other galloped back to the main body. He had seen nothingbeyond the fact that there was a breastwork across the road, andFranceschi, thinking that he had but a small force of peasants in front ofhim, ordered a squadron to charge, and clear the obstacle.

  As before, they were allowed to approach to within fifty yards of thebridge, when from the breastwork in front, and the two side redoubts astorm of musketry was poured into them. The effect was terrible; the headof the squadron was swept away, but a few men charged forward until closeto the break in the bridge. Most of these fell, but a few galloped back,and the remains of the squadron then trotted off in good order.

  No further movement took place for an hour, and then a body of infantry,some two thousand strong, appeared. As they passed the cavalry, the firsttwo companies were thrown out in skirmishing order, and were soon swarmingdown towards the stream. The banks of this, although very steep, were notimpassable by infantry, and the defenders of the two side redoubts spreadthemselves out along the bank, and, as the skirmishers approached, openedfire.

  For a time the rattle of firearms was incessant. When the main body ofFrench infantry had, as their commander thought, ascertained the strengthof the defenders, they advanced in solid order until near the bridge, andthen wheeled off on either flank and advanced with loud shouts. A horn wassounded, and from the hillsides near a scattering fire of musketry openedat once. The French, however, pushed forward without a pause. Terence'shorn sounded again, the men fell back from the bank, and the whole companyran at full speed across the narrow valley, and took their place withtheir comrades on the hillside.

  The French crossed the stream under a heavy fire, and, dividing into twoportions, prepared to assault both hills simultaneously. The combat wasobstinate, the French suffered heavily, but pushed their way upunflinchingly. The Portuguese, encouraged by the shouts of their officers,held their ground obstinately, retreating only at the sound of theirhorns, and renewing the combat a short distance higher up. Being shelteredby the rocks behind which they lay, their loss was but trifling incomparison to that of the French, who were forced to expose themselves asthey advanced, and whose numbers dwindled so rapidly that when half-way upthey were on both sides brought to a stand-still, and then, taking shelterbehind the rocks, they maintained the contest on more equal terms.

  But by this time a column of 4,000 men was marching down to the stream,and, dividing like the first, climbed the hills. The Portuguese now fellback more rapidly, their fire slackened, and the French, with loud shouts,pressed up the hill. Presently the resistance ceased altogether, and,firing as they advanced at the flying figures, of whom they caught anoccasional glimpse, the French pressed forward as rapidly as the nature ofthe ground would permit, cheering loudly. At last they reached the top ofthe hill, and the leaders paused in doubt as they saw before them someeleven or twelve hundred men drawn up in line four deep at a distance offifty yards. Every moment added to the number of the French, and as theyarrived their officers tried to form them into order. When their numbersabout equalled those of the Portuguese, two heavy volleys were poured intothem, and then, with loud shouts, the Portuguese rushed at them withlevelled bayonets.

  The charge was irresistible. The French were hurled over the crest andwent down the hill, carrying confusion and dismay among those climbing up.The Portuguese pressed them hotly, giving them no time to rally, andforcing them down to the
bottom of the hill without a check. Then at thesignal they fell back to the post that they had held at the beginning ofthe fight. The success was equal on both hillsides, and the regimentscheered each other's victory with shouts which rose high above the roar ofmusketry. With their usual discipline, the French speedily rallied, inspite of the heavy fire that from both sides swept their ranks, and theyprepared, when joined by another regiment which was approaching at thedouble to their assistance, to renew the assault.

  Terence saw that, this time, the odds would be too great to withstand. Hishorn sounded the retreat, and the Portuguese turned to make their way upthe hill just as a French battery opened fire. Sheltered among the rocks,the infantry below were unconscious of the movement, for on either side acompany had been left to continue their fire until the main body gainedthe top of the hill, when they too were summoned by the horns to fallback. The wounded had been all taken up the hill, and were laid inblankets and carried off by their comrades. As the two regiments marchedaway from the crest of the defile the soldiers were in the highestspirits. They had repulsed with heavy loss a French force of three timestheir own strength, and they greeted Terence and Bull, as they rodetogether along the column, with enthusiastic cheers.

  The wounded, which in the first battalion numbered forty-three, weredespatched with a party a hundred strong to a village four miles awayamong the mountains, and the regiment marched on until it reached thepoint agreed upon.

  Two men were sent forward to reconnoitre the village, and returned withthe report that it had already been occupied by a very strong force ofFrench cavalry. Half an hour later two wreaths of smoke rose on theopposite hill. Sticks had been gathered in readiness, and the answeringsignal was at once made. Two minutes later the smoke ceased to rise oneither side. Terence now received the reports of the captains of the sixcompanies, and found that fifteen men had been killed, and that hisstrength was thus reduced by fifty-eight. The men were now told that theycould lie down, the companies keeping together so as to be ready forinstant action.

  Trifling wounds, of which there were some two or three and twenty, werethen attended to and bandaged. Some of these were quite serious enough tohave warranted the men falling out, but the delight and pride they felt attheir success had been so great that they had refused to be taken off withtheir disabled comrades. Terence made a round of the troops and addresseda few words to each company, praising their conduct, and thanking them forthe readiness and quickness with which they had obeyed his orders.

  "You see, my lads," he said, "what can be done by discipline. Had it notbeen for the steady drill you have had ever since we marched, we could nothave hoped to oppose the French, and I should not have ventured to havedone so. Now, you see, you have proved that you are as brave as the enemy,and not only have you beaten them with heavy loss, but the effect of thisfight will be to render them more cautious in future and slower in theirmovements, and the news of the blow you have struck will inspirit yourcountrymen everywhere."

  Having nothing else to do until after darkness fell, Terence, afterfinishing his round, sat down and added an account of the fight to thereport he had written up at their last halting-place. This was written induplicate, one copy being intended for General Cradock, and the other forthe Portuguese authorities at Oporto. Outposts had been thrown out towardsthe village as soon as they halted, and after opening their haversacks,eating a meal, and quenching their thirst at a little rivulet that randown to the village, the men lay down to sleep, tired with their longnight's march and the excitement of the battle.

  Terence was no exception to the general rule, for although he had had hishorse, yet for the greater part of the distance he had marched on foot, asthe ruggedness of the ground traversed had in most places been too greatto travel in safety on horseback in the dark. When night fell all were ontheir feet again, refreshed by a long sleep. Two men were now sent down toreconnoitre the village again. They reported that it was still occupied bythe cavalry. The infantry, as they could see by the fires along the road,had bivouacked there, and one regiment at least had passed through thevillage and had occupied the road ahead.

  Terence had already written out his instructions to Herrara in triplicate,and three men were despatched with these. They were warned to be extremelycareful, for the men who had first been sent, had reported that the Frenchhad posted sentries out on their flanks. One of the messengers was to makea long detour to cross the road half a mile ahead of the French, and thento make his way along on the opposite hillside to the spot where Herrarawas posted. The other two were to make their way as best they couldthrough the village. The pieces of paper they carried were rolled up intolittle balls, and they were ordered that, if noticed and an alarm given,these were at once to be swallowed.

  Soon after ten o'clock the regiment formed up. Terence had given detailedorders to the captain of each company. These were instructed to call uptheir men twenty at a time, and to explain their orders to them, so thatevery man should know exactly what to do. No sound had been heard in thevillage, and Terence felt sure that Herrara must have received his orders,and at a quarter past ten he with one company moved slowly down towardsthe village; Bull, with the main body of the force, marching westwardalong the hills. Six men had volunteered for the service of silencing theFrench outposts, and these, leaving their muskets behind, stole forward inadvance of the company, which halted at some little distance from theFrench centre.

  In a quarter of an hour they returned. Eight French sentries had beensurprised and killed, the Portuguese crawling up to them until near enoughto spring upon and stab them without the slightest alarm being given. Thecompany now moved silently forward again until within a hundred yards ofthe village, when they halted until the church clock struck eleven. Thenthey rushed down into the village. As they entered it shots were fired,and an outcry rose from the other side, showing that Herrara had managedmatters as well as they had. The surprise was complete; the street wasfull of horses, while the soldiers had taken shelter in the houses. Ascene of the wildest confusion ensued. The horses were shot, for it wasmost important to cripple this most formidable arm of the French service,and the men were attacked as they poured out of the houses.

  Bull, with a hundred men, made his way straight to the upper end of thevillage and repelled the desperate attempts of a squadron of horse thatwere posted beyond it in readiness for action, to break through to theassistance of their comrades, while Terence and Herrara, each with ahundred men, held the road at the lower end of the village to check aninfantry attack there. It was not long before it was delivered. The Frenchinfantry, disciplined veterans, accustomed to surprises, had sprung totheir feet when the first shot was fired, and forming instantly intocolumn, came on at a run, led by their officers. Terence, with fifty men,four deep, barred the way across the road; the rest of his men werestationed along the high ground flanking it on one side, while Herrarawith his hundred flanked the opposite side.

  As the French came on the Portuguese on the high ground remained silentand unnoticed, but when a flash of fire ran across the road and a deadlyvolley was poured in upon the enemy, those on the flanks at once openedfire. For a moment the column paused in surprise, and then opened fire attheir unseen assailants, whose fire was causing such gaps in the ranks.The colonel and several other officers who had been at its head hadfallen; in the din no orders could be heard, and for some minutes the headof the column wasted away under the rain of bullets. Then a generalofficer dashed up, and another body of Frenchmen came along at a run.Terence's horn rang out loudly; the signal was repeated in the village,the fire instantly ceased, and when the French column rushed into theplace not a foe was to be seen, but the street was choked up by deadhorses and men.

  These reinforcements did not pause, but making their way over theobstacles pressed on to where a roar of fire in front showed how hotly theadvance-guard was engaged. Here the surprise had been rather lesscomplete. Some of the outposts had given the alarm, and the French were ontheir feet before, after pouring t
errible volleys into them, a thousandmen fell upon them on either side. Great numbers of the French fell underthe fire, and the long line was broken up into sections by the impetuousrush of the Portuguese. Nevertheless, the French soldiers hung together,and the combat raged desperately until the head of the relieving columncame up. Then, as suddenly as before, the attack ceased. Not a gun wasfired, and, as if by magic, their assailants stole away into the darkness,while the French opened a random fire after them.

  An hour later the two Portuguese regiments united on the road two miles inadvance of the village. Their loss had been eighty-four killed and ahundred and fifty wounded, of which seventy were serious cases. Thesewere, as before, sent off to be cared for in the mountain villages. TheFrench loss, as Terence afterward heard, had been very heavy; threehundred of the cavalry had been killed, and upwards of four hundredinfantry. Great was the enthusiasm when the two regiments met, and after ashort halt marched away together into the hills and encamped in a wood twomiles from the road.

  "What next, Generalissimo?" Herrara, whose left arm had been broken by abullet, asked.

  "I think that we have done enough for the present," Terence said. "We willleave it to the rest of the army to do a little fighting now. We havelost, in killed and wounded, some two hundred men, and I don't wish to seethe whole force dwindle away. I propose that we do not go near Braga. Ihave no idea of putting myself under the command of Friere; I have seenenough of him already. So we will travel by by-roads till we get nearOporto, then we will find out how matters stand there. My own idea is thatwhen the French army approaches, the Junta's courage will ooze out of itsfinger ends, and that the 50,000 peasants, which it calls an army, willbolt at the first attack of the French. So, as I don't mean to be trappedthere, we will rest on our laurels until we see how matters go."

  It was well for the corps that Terence abstained from joining the army atBraga. As the French entered the pass of Benda Nova, the peasants rushedfuriously down upon them. Many broke into the French columns, and fightingdesperately, were slain. The survivors made their way up the hillside, andthen making a detour, fell upon the rear of the column, killed fiftystragglers and plundered the baggage. This spontaneous action of thepeasants was the only attempt made to bar the advance of the French, andFriere permitted them to pass through defile after defile without firing ashot. His conduct aroused the fury of his troops, and the feeling wasfanned by agents of the bishop, who had now become jealous of him, and hismen rushing upon him dragged him from a house in which he had takenrefuge, and slew him--a fit end to the career of a man who had provedhimself as unpatriotic as he was incapable.

  On the 18th Soult arrived near Braga, and the Portuguese, who were nowcommanded by Eben, a German officer in the British service, drew up tomeet him. The French began their advance on the 20th, and half an hourlater the Portuguese army was a mob of fugitives. The vanquished army lost4,000 men and all their guns, 400 only being taken prisoners; the restdispersed in all directions, carrying tales of the invincibility of theFrench. Had it not been for the stout resistance offered by 3,000 men,placed on a position in the rear commanding the road, which checked thepursuit of the cavalry and enabled the fugitives to make off, scarce a manof the Portuguese would have escaped to tell the tale.

  Terence had approached Oporto, and encamped in a large wood, when thefugitives brought him news of the crushing defeat that they had suffered.The soldiers were so furious when they heard of the disgraceful rout, thatTerence and Herrara had difficulty in preventing them from killing thefugitives. The result strengthened his position. The troops on arriving attheir present camping-place were eager to be led into Oporto. Terence andHerrara had talked the matter over several times, and agreed that such astep might be fatal. Standing, as this town did, on the north side of theriver, the only means of leaving it was the bridge of boats, and ifanything happened to this all retreat would be cut off.

  The defeat at Braga at once confirmed their opinion that the army ofpeasants that the bishop had gathered round Oporto would be able to makebut little resistance to the French attack.

  "It would be terrible," Herrara said; "50,000 fugitives, and a greatportion of the inhabitants of the town, all struggling to cross thebridge, with the French cavalry pressing on their rear, and the Frenchartillery playing upon them. It is not to be thought of."

  The troops, however, had been full of confidence in the valour of theircountrymen, and from their own success against the French believed thatthe army at Braga would certainly defeat Soult, and there had been somedissatisfaction that they had not been permitted to take part in thevictory. The news brought by the fugitives at once dissipated the hopesthat they had entertained. They saw that their commander had acted wiselyin refusing to join the army there, and their feeling of contempt for theundisciplined ordenancas and peasants equalled the confidence they hadbefore reposed in them. Terence ordered the two regiments to form into ahollow square and addressed them.

  "Soldiers," he said, "I know that it was a disappointment to you that Idid not take you to Braga. Had I done so, not one of you would haveescaped, for when the rest fled like a flock of sheep you could not alonehave withstood the attack of the whole French army. I know that you wishto enter Oporto. I have withstood that wish, and now you must see that Iwas right in doing so. The peasants gathered in its defence are even lessdisciplined than those at Braga, and Soult will, after two or threeminutes' fighting, capture the place. Were you there you could not preventsuch a result. You might hold the spot at which you were stationed, but ifthe French broke in at any other point you would be surrounded and killedto a man. What use would that be to Portugal? You can do more good byliving and fighting another day.

  "Even if you should fall back with the other fugitives, what chance ofsafety would there be? You know that there is but one bridge of boatsacross the river, and that will soon be blocked by a panic-stricken crowd,and your chance of crossing would be slight indeed. The men who fought atBraga, those men who will fight before Oporto, are no more cowards thanyou are, and had they gained as much discipline as you have, I would marchdown with you at once and join in the defence. But a mob cannot withstanddisciplined troops. When the Portuguese have learned to be soldiers, theymay fight with a hope of success; until then it is taking them toslaughter to set them in line of battle against the French. Soult may behere in twenty-four hours, therefore I propose to march you down to theriver above Oporto. We are sure to find boats there, and we will cross atonce to the other side and encamp near the suburb at the south end of thebridge, and when the fugitives pour over we will take our station there,cover their retreat, and prevent the French from crossing in pursuit."

  A murmur of satisfaction broke from the soldiers and swelled into a shout.Soon after evening fell the corps marched from the wood, and two hourslater came down on the bank of the Douro. As Terence anticipated, therewere plenty of fishermen's boats hauled up, and the regiments passed overby companies. By three in the morning all were across, and by five theyencamped in a wood beyond the steep hill rising behind the Villa Novasuburb, on the left bank of the river. As soon as he had seen the soldierssettled Terence borrowed the clothes of one of the men, and putting theseon instead of his uniform, he sent for Bull and Macwitty, and the twosoldiers soon arrived. They looked in astonishment at their officer.

  "I am going into the town," he said, "partly to judge for myself of thestate of things there, and partly on a little private business of my own.It is possible that I may get into trouble. I hope that I shall not do so,but it is as well to be prepared for any emergency that might happen. If,then, I do not return, you are to look to Colonel Herrara for orders. Whenthe French enter Oporto, which I am certain they will do as soon as theyattack it, you may gather your men at this end of the bridge, cover theretreat, and repulse all efforts of the French to cross. As soon as thoseattempts have ceased, you will march with the two regiments for Coimbra,and report yourselves to the officer commanding there. Here are mydespatches to the general, in which I h
ave done full justice to yourbravery and your conduct. Here is also a note to the officer commanding atCoimbra. I have spoken to him about your conduct, and have asked him toallow you to continue with the Portuguese until an order is received fromSir John Cradock. I have given Colonel Herrara a duplicate of mydespatches and official orders, in case you should be killed."

  "Cannot we go with you, sir?" Bull asked.

  "I don't think so, Bull. Dress as you might, you could hardly be taken foranything but an Englishman. Your walk and your complexion, to say nothingof your hair, would betray you both at once. The first person who happenedto address you would discover that you were not natives, and the chancesare he would denounce you, and that you would be torn to pieces before youcould offer any explanation. Now, I think that I can pass readily enough.The wind and rough weather have brought me to nearly the right colour, andI know how to speak Portuguese well enough to ask any question withoutexciting suspicion."

  "But why not take two of the men with you?" Macwitty said. "They could doany talking that was necessary; and should anyone suggest that you are nota native, they could declare that you were a comrade from their ownvillage."

  Bull strongly approved of the suggestion, and Terence, though in somerespects he would rather have been alone, at last agreed to it.

  "They may as well take their arms; not for use, but to give them theappearance of two men from the camp who had come down to make purchases inthe city."

  Daylight was just breaking as the three crossed the bridge of boats intothe town, and passed through it up the hill to the great camp that hadbeen established there. It covered a large extent of ground, and containedtents sufficient for the whole of the 50,000 men assembled. A shortdistance away was the line of intrenchments on which the peasants had beenfor some weeks engaged. They consisted of forts crowning a succession ofrounded hills, and connected by earthen ramparts, loopholed houses,ditches, and an abattis of felled trees. No less than two hundred gunswere in place on the forts. It was a position that two thousand goodtroops should have been able to hold against an army.

  "It is a strong position," Terence said to the two men with him.

  "Yes, the French can never pass that," one of them said, exultingly.

  "That we shall see. They ought not to, certainly, but whether they will ornot is another matter."

  They wandered about for a couple of hours. Once one of the Portuguesejoined a group of peasants, and learned from them something of the stateof things in the town, representing that they had but just arrived.

  "You are lucky. You will see how we shall destroy the French army. Ourguns will sweep them away. Every man in the town is full of confidence,and the traitors are all trembling in their houses. When the news of thebusiness at Braga came yesterday, and we learned the treachery of ourgenerals, the people rose, dragged fifteen suspected men of rank from theprison and killed them. There is not a day that some of these traitors arenot rooted out."

  "That is well," the other said; "it is traitors that have brought us tothis pass."

  "You will see how we shall fight when the French come. The bishop himselfhas promised to come out in his robes to give us his blessing, and to calldown the wrath of heaven on the French infidels."

  After having finished his survey of the line, Terence returned to thecity, and following the instructions that he had received as to thesituation of the convent at Santa Maria, he was not long in finding it. Itwas a massive building; the windows of the two lower stories were closelybarred. He could not see any way of opening communications with hiscousin, or of devising any way of escape. He, however, thought that itmight possibly be managed if he could send in a rope to her and a pulley,with means of fixing it; in that way he could lower her to the ground. Butall this would be very difficult to manage, even if he had ample time athis disposal, and in the present circumstances it was altogetherimpossible. He stared at the house for a long time in silence, but no ideacame to him, and it was with a feeling of hopelessness that he recrossedthe bridge and rejoined the troops.

  "I am glad to see you back, sir," Bull said, heartily. "I have been in afunk all this morning that something might happen to you."

  "It has all gone off quietly. I will now tell you and Macwitty what mybusiness here is. I may need your help, and it is a matter in which noneof the Portuguese would dare to offer me any assistance."

  "I think they would do maist anything for you, sir," Mac-witty said. "Theyhave that confidence in you, they would go through fire and water if youwere to lead them."

  "They would do almost anything but what I want done now. I have a cousin,a young lady, who is an heiress to a large fortune. Her father is dead,and her mother, a wealthy land-owner, has had her shut up in a convent,where they are trying to force her, against her will, to become a nun. Sheis kept a prisoner, on bread and water, until she consents to sign a papersurrendering all her rights. Now, what I want to do is to get her out. Itcannot be done by force; that is out of the question. It is a strongbuilding, and even if the men would consent to attack a convent, whichthey would not do, all the town would be up, and we should have the wholepopulace on us. So that force is out of the question. Now, the French aresure to take the place. When they do, there will be an awful scene. Theywill be furious at the resistance they have met with, and at the lossesthat they have suffered. They will be maddened, and reasonably, by thefrightful tortures inflicted upon prisoners who have fallen into the handsof the Portuguese, and you may be sure that for some time no quarter willbe given. The soldiers will be let loose upon the city, and there will beno more respect for a convent than a dwelling-house. You may imagine howfrightfully anxious I am. If it had not been for the French I would havelet the matter stand until our army entered Oporto, but as it is, I musttry and do something; and, as far as I can see, the only chance will be inthe frightful confusion that will take place when the French enter thetown."

  "We will stand by you, Mr. O'Connor, you may be sure. You have only got totell us what to do, and you may trust us to do it."

  Macwitty, who was a man of few words, nodded. "Mr. O'Connor knows that,"he said.

  "Thank you both," Terence said, heartily. "I must think out my plan, andwhen I have decided upon it I will let you know."

  CHAPTER XVII

  AN ESCAPE

  During his visit to the other side of the river Terence had seen, withgreat satisfaction, that a powerful battery, mounting fifty guns, had beenerected on the heights of Villa Nova, and its fire, he thought, shouldeffectually bar any attempt of the French to cross the bridge.

  It would indeed be madness for them to attempt such an operation, as theboats supporting the bridge could be instantly sunk by the concentratedfire of the battery. He said nothing of this on his return to camp, as itmight have given rise to fresh agitation among the men, were they to beaware that their presence was not really required for the defence of thebridge. After a short stay in camp he again went down into the town, withthe idea that he was more likely to hit upon some plan of action therethan he would be in the camp.

  The two men again went with him. Another prolonged stare at the conventfailed to inspire him with any scheme that was in the slightest degreepracticable. He fell back upon the conclusion he had mentioned to the twotroopers, that the only chance would be to take advantage of the wildconfusion that would prevail upon the entry of the French. The difficultythat presented itself to him was, that the nuns would be so appalled bythe approach of the French that it would be unlikely that they would thinkof leaving the protection--such as it was--of the convent, and wouldshrink from encountering the wild turmoil in the streets. Even if they didso, it would be too late for them to have any chance of getting across thebridge, which would be thronged to a point of suffocation by the mob offugitives, and might readily be destroyed by one or two of the boats beingsunk by the French artillery.

  The one thing evident was, that he must arrange to get a boat and tostation it at the end of some street going down to the river from theneighbour
hood of the convent. That part of the city being some distancefrom the bridge, the streets would soon be deserted, and there would notbe a wild rush of fugitives to the boat, which would be the case were itto be lying alongside anywhere near the bridge. Upon the other hand, itwould be less likely that the nuns would leave the convent if all wascomparatively quiet in that neighbourhood, and did they do so it would bedifficult in the extreme to carry off his cousin from their midst,ignorant, too, as he was of her appearance. After looking for some time atthe convent, he returned to the more busy part of the town. Presently heheard a great shouting; every window opened, and he saw a crowd comingalong the street. By the candles, banners, crucifixes, and canopies it wasevident that it was a religious procession. He was about to turn off intoa side street when the thought struck him that possibly it was the bishophimself on his way up to the camp; therefore he remained in his place,doffed his hat, and, like all around him, went down on one knee.

  The procession was a long and stately one, and in the midst, walkingbeneath a canopy, came the bishop himself. Terence gazed at him fixedly inorder to impress on his mind the features of the man whose ambition hadcost Portugal so dearly, and at whose instigation so much blood of themost honest and capable men of the province had been shed. The face fullyjustified the idea that he had formed of the man. The bishop was ofcommanding presence, and walked with the air of one who was accustomed tosee all bow before him; but on the other hand, the face bore traces of hisviolent character. There was a set smile on his lips, but his brow washeavy and frowning, while his receding chin contradicted the strength ofthe upper part of his face. There was, too, a look of anxiety andrestlessness betrayed by a nervous twitching of the lips.

  "The scoundrel is a coward," Terence said to himself. "He may professabsolute confidence, but I don't think he feels it, and I will bet oddsthat he won't be in the front when the time for fighting comes."

  Terence walked away after the procession had passed.

  "If one could get hold of the bishop," he said to himself, "one might getan order on the superior of the convent to hand over Mary O'Connor to thebearer, but I don't see how that can possibly be managed. Of course, he issurrounded by priests and officials all day, and his palace will beguarded by any number of soldiers, for he must have many enemies. Theremust be scores of relatives of men who have been killed by his orders, whowould assassinate him, bishop though he is, had they the chance. And evenif I got an order--and it seems to me impossible to do so--it would not bemade out in the name of Mary O'Connor. I know that they change their nameswhen they go into nunneries, and she may be Sister Angela or Cecilia, oranything else, and I should not know in the slightest degree whether thename he put down was the one that she really goes by. No, that idea is outof the question."

  Returning to the camp, he held counsel with Herrara. The latter, he knew,had none of the bigotry so general among his countrymen. He had beforetold him about his cousin being shut up against her will, and of theletter that she had thrown out, but had hitherto said nothing of hisintention to bring about her escape if possible.

  "I had an idea that that was what was in your mind when you went off soearly this morning, O'Connor. I have a high respect for the Church, but Ihave no respect for its abuses. And the shutting up of a young lady, andforcing her to take the veil in order to rob her of her property, is ashateful to me as it can be to you, so that I should have no hesitation inaiding you in your endeavour to bring about her escape. Have you formedany plan?"

  "No; I have thought it over again and again, but cannot think of anyscheme."

  "If that is the case, O'Connor, I fear that it is useless for me to try todo so; you are so full of ideas always, that if you cannot see your wayout of the difficulty, it is hopeless to expect that I could do so. If youcan contrive any plan I will promise to aid you in any way you can pointout, but as to inventing one, I should never do so if I racked my brainever so much."

  "There must be some way," Terence said. "I used to get into all sorts ofscrapes when I was a boy, but found there was always some way out of them,if one could but hit upon it. The only thing that I can think of, is tocarry her off in the confusion when the French enter the town."

  "I should say that the nuns would never think of leaving their convent,O'Connor; it is their best hope of safety to remain there."

  "No doubt it is, but the French don't always respect the convents--verymuch the contrary, indeed. No, I don't think that they would go out merelyto rush into the street; but they might go out if they thought they couldget over the bridge before the French arrived."

  "They might do that, certainly; indeed, it would be the best thing theycould do."

  "Do you think that if one were to dress up as a priest, or as one of thebishop's attendants, and to go as from him with an order to the ladysuperior to take the nuns at once across the bridge to the convent on theother side, she would obey it?"

  "Not without some written order," Herrara said. "The bishop wouldnaturally send someone who would be known to her, or if he did send astranger he would give him a letter or some token she would recognize;otherwise, she could not know that it was his order."

  "That is what I was afraid of, Herrara, but it is what I shall try, if Ican see no other way. Indeed, I see only one chance of getting over thedifficulty. The bishop is a tyrant of the worst kind. Now, as far as I canremember, tyrants of his sort--that is to say, tyrants who rule by workingon the passions of the mob--are always cowards. I watched the bishopclosely when I saw him to-day, and I am convinced he is one also. Even inthat kneeling crowd he could not conceal it. There was a nervous twitchingabout his lips which, to my mind, showed that he was in a state of intenseanxiety, and that under all his swagger and show of confidence he was,nevertheless, in a horrible state of alarm. That being so, it seems to meextremely likely that when the fighting begins he will make a bolt of it.He won't wait for the French to enter, for he would know well enough thatin their fury at their defeat, the fugitives, if they came upon him, wouldbe likely to tear him limb from limb, just as they have murdered dozens ofinfinitely better men; so I think that he will make off beforehand. Iimagine that he will go secretly, and with only two or three attendants."

  "But you could never carry him off without an alarm being raised, if thatis what you are thinking of, O' Connor."

  "No, I am not thinking of that; but if I could, say with Bull andMacwitty, suddenly attack him like three robbers, we might carry offsomething that would serve as a sort of passport to the lady abbess. Forinstance, he had a tremendously big ring on. I noticed it as he held uphis hands, as if on purpose to show it off."

  "That was his episcopal ring," Herrara laughed. "Yes, if you could gethold of that, it would be a key that would open the door of any convent."

  "Do you think she would hand my cousin over to me if I showed it to herand gave her a message as from the bishop?"

  "Yes, if you knew the name. You see, from the day she was made a nun shelost her former name altogether; and certainly the bishop would send forher under her convent name."

  "That is what I was thinking myself. Then I must get them all out."

  "You have got to get the ring first," Herrara said with a smile.

  "Yes, yes, I mean if I get it."

  "But if the French have entered the town you can never get them across thebridge."

  "No, I know that. I mean to get a boat and have it lying off the end ofsome quiet street. I could put a couple of our men into that, for theywould only regard it, when I had got her on board, as an effort on my partto save one of the nuns from the French. One thing to do would be to getthe robe of a priest, or the dress of one of the bishop's officials."

  Herrara thought for some time. "I think that I could do that for you,O'Connor. Of course I have a good many acquaintances in Oporto, among themsome ladies. I was intending to go across this evening and see some ofthem, and implore them to leave the town before it is too late. One ofthese friends of mine might buy some robes for me; a woman can do
thatsort of thing when a man cannot. She can pretend that she wants to buy therobe as a present for the parish priest, or her father confessor, orsomething of that sort. At any rate, it is worth trying."

  "It is, indeed, Herrara, and if you could manage it I should be greatlyobliged to you."

  "I will go across at once. I expect Soult will be close up to-morrowmorning, or at any rate the next day. It may be another couple of daysbefore he gets his whole force concentrated, but in four days anyhow hisshot will be rattling down into the town. I will go and see what I can do.You had better get one of my troopers to get the boat for you."

  Herrara did not return until early on the following morning.

  "I have managed it," he said, as Terence, who was getting very anxiousabout him, ran forward to meet him.

  "There is one family in Oporto whose eldest son is a brother officer ofmine, and I have visited them here with him, and have met them severaltimes at Lisbon. Indeed, I may tell you frankly that had it not been forthe troubles, his sister would, ere this time, have been affianced to me.I had hoped that they had left the town before this, but they told me thatany movement of that sort might bring disaster on them. Two of herbrothers are in the army, and the bishop could not, therefore, pretendthat the father was a traitor to the country; being an elderly man, thelatter has in fact held aloof altogether from politics; but he iscertainly not of the bishop's party, and the bishop considers that all whoare not with him are against him. Had they attempted to leave the townthere is no doubt he would have made it a pretext for arresting thefather, and would certainly do so on the first opportunity. However, theyquite believed that the great force that there is here would be sufficientto defend the fortifications, and were completely taken aback when I toldthem that I was absolutely convinced that the place would fall at thefirst attack of the French.

  "They agreed to make all preparations for leaving at once. Their horseshave been seized, nominally that they should be used on thefortifications, but really, I have no doubt, to prevent their leaving. Ofcourse I told them all about what we had been doing, in which they wereintensely interested. For aught they know, their house may be watched; sothey will come out in some of their servants' clothes. I told them thatthey must leave on the night before Soult made his attack. Of course hewill summon the town, and the bishop will, of course, refuse to surrender,and you may be sure the French will attack on the following day. They leftme alone with Lorenza for a time, and I took that opportunity of tellingher about your plan, and what you wanted, and she promised to procure youthe dress of an ecclesiastic to-morrow. I told her that you were about mysize and height.

  "She knew your cousin personally, and was very fond of her, and thereforeentered all the more readily into our plans to get her out. She said thatshe disappeared suddenly some months ago, and that her mother had givenout that she had been suddenly seized with the determination to enter aconvent, much against her own wishes. Lorenza felt sure that this was nottrue, for she knew that your cousin had heard from her father much aboutthe Reformed religion, and was in her heart disposed that way. The motheris engaged to be married to a nobleman who is one of the bishop's warmestsupporters, and the general idea was that Mary O'Connor had been forcedinto a nunnery against her will. I sat talking with them until late lastnight, and they would not hear of my leaving, especially as they said thatthe town was full of bands of ruffians, who traversed the streets,attacking and robbing anyone of respectable appearance. As I had rather afancy to try what a comfortable bed was like again, I did not need muchpressing."

  "Thank you greatly, Herrara, I am indeed obliged to you; things seem tolook really hopeful. I have arranged with Bull and Macwitty that on theevening before the attack is likely to take place we will watch all nightat this end of the bridge. The bishop won't leave until the last thing,but I would wager any money he will do so that night. He won't go fartherthan Villa Nova, so as to be ready to cross again at once if the newscomes that the French have been beaten off. No doubt he will make theexcuse that as an ecclesiastic he could take no active part in thedefence, but had been engaged in prayer, which had done more towardsgaining the victory than his presence could possibly have done."

  "I should not be surprised if that should be his course," Herrara said,smiling. "At any rate, for your sake I hope that it will be. Have you seenabout a boat?"

  "Yes, I spoke to Francesco Nortis yesterday evening, and told him that Iwanted to hire a boat with two boatmen for the next week. They were to beat his service night and day. He was to tell them that he would not wantit for fishing, but that, in case, by any possibility, the French took thetown, he should be able to go across and bring some friends over. When Itold him that money was no object, he said that there would be nodifficulty about it. They will be glad enough to get a good week's pay andnext to nothing to do for it."

  Two days passed quietly. On the first day the news arrived that Silveirahad invested Chaves on the day of the battle of Braga, and had forced thegarrison, which consisted of but a hundred fighting men, with twelvehundred sick, to capitulate.

  Day after day news came of the advance of the French. They had moved inthree columns. Each had met with a stout resistance, but had carried thepasses and bridges after severe loss. One of the columns had been held forsome time in check at the Ponte D'Ave, but had carried it at last,whereupon the Portuguese had murdered their general and dispersed.

  On the 26th, six days after the battle of Braga, Franceschi's cavalry wereseen approaching the position in front of Oporto. The alarm bells rung,the troops hurried to their positions, but the day passed off quietly, theconfidence of the people being still further raised by the arrival of2,000 regular troops sent by Beresford to their assistance. As there werealready seven or eight thousand regular troops in the camp, it seemed toall that as Soult had but 20,000 men fit for action, the defences ought tobe held against him for any length of time. The majority, indeed, believedthat he would not even venture to attack the town when upon his arrival heperceived its strength, especially when they knew that he had but a fewguns with him, his park of artillery being still at Tuy, which was closelyinvested by the Spaniards.

  On the following day the whole French army settled down in front of thePortuguese works, and a wild and purposeless fire was now opened by thedefenders, although the French were far beyond musket-range.

  Soult sent in a message to the bishop urging him to surrender. He assuredhim that resistance was hopeless, and that it was his earnest desire tosave so great a city from the horrors of a storm. The message was sent bya prisoner, who was seized by the mob in spite of the flag of truce thathe carried, and would have been murdered had he not assured the peoplethat he came with a message from Soult, to the effect that, seeing thehopelessness of attacking the town or of marching back to the frontier insafety, he wished to negotiate for a surrender for himself and his army.

  At one point the Portuguese displayed a white flag, and shouted that theywished to surrender. A French general advanced with another officer, butwhen they reached the lines the Portuguese fell upon him, killed hiscompanion, and carried the general a prisoner into the town. Thenegotiations were prolonged until evening, but the bishop declined allSoult's overtures, and the fire from the intrenchments continued. In thecourse of the evening Merle's division, in order to divert attention fromthe points Soult had fixed upon for the attack, moved towards thePortuguese left, when a tremendous fire of artillery and musketry openedupon it. The division made its way forward, and occupied some hollowground which shielded it from fire, within a very short distance of theintrenchments. Feeling that the crisis was at hand, Terence had everythingprepared. The boatmen were told that they might be required that night,and that they were to have the boat in readiness to start at any moment.Herrara had warned his friends, and went to their house with six of hismen, as soon as it became dusk, to escort them over. Terence with his twotroopers, clad in the dresses of two of the tallest of the men and wrappedin cloaks, with their broad hats pressed low down u
pon their foreheads,went down to the end of the bridge as soon as it became quite dark. Theriver was three hundred yards broad, but the sound of the confusion andalarm that prevailed in the city could be plainly heard, although theevening had set in rough and tempestuous. The shouts of the excited mobmingled with the clanging of the church bells.

  "That does not sound like confidence in victory," Terence remarked.

  "Quite the other way, sir. I should say that after all their braggingevery man in the place is in a blue funk."

  A great many people, especially women with children, were making their wayacross the bridge. About nine o'clock a little knot of five or six men,following a tall figure, passed them.

  "That is the bishop," Terence whispered, and in pursuance of the ordersthat he had previously given them, the two men followed him as he fell inat a short distance behind the group. These turned off from the main roadand took one that led up to the Serra Convent, standing on the crest of arugged hill. As soon as they had passed beyond the houses at the foot ofthe hill, and the road was altogether deserted, Terence said to the men:

  "Now is our time. Do you take the attendants; I will manage the bishop."

  They moved forward quickly and silently until they were close to thegroup, then they dashed forward. As the startled attendants turned roundthe troopers fell upon them, and with heavy blows from their fists knockedthem to the ground like nine-pins. The bishop turned round and shouted:

  "Villains, I am the bishop!"

  "I know that!" Terence exclaimed, and sprang at him.

  The prelate reeled and fell. Terence threw himself upon him, and seizinghis hand wrested from it the episcopal ring. Then, upon seeing that thebishop had fainted, probably from fright, Terence leapt to his feet. Thefive attendants were lying on the ground.

  "All right, lads," he said, "we have got what we wanted, but just stripoff one of these fellows' clothes. Take this one, he is a priest."

  It took but a minute for the two troopers to strip off the garment andpick up the three-cornered hat.

  "Now, come along, men."

  They reached the houses again without hearing so much as a cry from theastounded Portuguese, who as yet had but a vague idea of what had happenedto them. The capture of the clothes had been rendered necessary byHerrara's report, two days before, that the young lady had failed to getthe clothes, for the shopman had asked so many questions concerning themthat she had said carelessly that it made no matter. She had intended togive them as a present and a surprise, but as there seemed a difficultyabout it she would give money instead, and let the priest choose his ownclothes. She had purposely entered a shop in the opposite end of the townfrom that in which her father lived, so that there would be less chance ofher being recognized.

  Herrara said that she would try elsewhere, but Terence at once begged himto tell her not to do so.

  "The bishop is sure to have some of his priests with him," he said, "andif I rob him of his ring, I might just as well rob one of them of hisclothes."

  On returning to the camp Terence found that his comrade had alreadyarrived with a gentleman and three ladies. The tent had been given up forthe use of the latter. Herrara had warned him not to say a word to the oldgentleman of his adventure.

  "He and the others know nothing about it," he said, "and it is just aswell that they shouldn't, for he is somewhat rigid in his notions, andmight be rather horrified at your assaulting a bishop, however great ascoundrel he might be, and would be specially so at the borrowing of hisring."

  At twelve o'clock heavy peals of thunder were heard, followed by atremendous outbreak of firing from the intrenchments, two hundred guns anda terrific musketry fire opening suddenly.

  "The French are attacking!" Herrara exclaimed.

  "I don't think so," Terence replied. "It is more likely to be a falsealarm. The troops may have thought that the thunder was the roar of Frenchguns. Soult would hardly make an attack at night, or, not knowing thenature of the ground behind the intrenchments, his men would be fallinginto confusion, and perhaps fire into each other."

  As, after a quarter of an hour of prodigious din, the fire slackened andpresently ceased altogether, it was evident that this supposition was acorrect one. The morning broke bright and still, and an hour later thecannonade began again. Terence at once, after telling Herrara to form thetroops up and march them down to the end of the bridge, left the camp, andafter proceeding a short distance took off his uniform and donned theattire of the ecclesiastic, and then hurried down into the town. He wasaccompanied by the two troopers in their peasant dress. These left him atthe bridge. The din was now tremendous, every church bell was ringingfuriously, and frightened women were already crowding down towards thebridge.

  Their point of crossing had already been decided upon--it was at the endof a street close to the convent, and when Terence reached the convent thetwo men were already standing at the end of the street, awaiting him.

  "Now, you do your part of the business and I will do mine," Terence said,and he moved forward to the door of the convent, where he would be unseenshould anyone look out.

  The two troopers went to the middle of the street, opposite the windowwhich the officer had described to Terence, and both shouted in astentorian voice:

  "Mary O'Connor!"

  The shout was heard above the tumult of the battle and the din in thecity, and a head appeared at the window and looked down with a bewilderedexpression.

  "Mary O'Connor," Bull shouted again, "a friend is here to rescue you. Youwill leave the convent directly with the rest. Look out for us."

  Then they walked on, and passed Terence.

  "Have you seen her face?"

  "We have, sir. We shall know her again, never fear."

  Terence now seized the bell and rung it vigorously. The door opened, and aterrified face appeared at the window.

  "I have a message from the bishop to the lady superior."

  The door was opened, and was at once closed and barred behind him. He wasled along some passages to the room where the lady superior, pale andagitated, was awaiting him.

  "Have the French entered the intrenchments?" she asked.

  "I trust they have not entered yet, but they may do so at any moment. Thebishop is at the Serra Convent, and from there has a view over the town tothe intrenchments. He begs you to instantly bring the nuns across, forthey will be in safety there, whereas no one can say what may happen inthe town. Here is his episcopal ring in proof that I am the bearer of hisorders. I pray you to hasten, sister, for a crowd of fugitives are alreadypouring over the bridge, and there is not a moment to be lost."

  "The nuns are just coming down to prayer in the chapel, and we will startinstantly."

  In two minutes upward of a hundred frightened women were gathered in thecourtyard.

  "Are all here?" Terence asked the lady superior.

  "All of them."

  "I asked because I know that he is specially anxious that one, who is asort of prisoner, should not fall into the hands of the French, as thatmight cause serious trouble."

  "I know whom you mean," and she called out "Sister Theresa!" There was noanswer.

  "MACWITTY WAS STANDING COVERING THE TWO BOATMEN WITH HISPISTOLS"]

  "It is well you asked," she said. "They have forgotten her." She gaveorders to one of the sisters, who at once entered the house, and returnedin a minute with a young nun. The door was now opened, and they moved outin procession. Terence could hear regular volleys amidst the roar of gunsand the incessant crack of muskets.

  "I fear that they have entered the intrenchments," he said. "Hasten,sister, or we shall be too late."

  With hurried steps they passed along the deserted streets. As they nearedthe bridge a crowd of fugitives were hastening in that direction, and whenthey approached its head they found it blocked by a struggling mass.

  "What is to be done?" the lady superior asked in consternation.

  "We must wait a minute or two; they may clear off."

  Bu
t every second the crowd increased, and was soon thick behind them.Already the line of nuns was broken up by the pressure. Terence had kepthis eyes on the two tall figures who had followed, at first behind them,and had then quickened their footsteps until abreast of the centre of theline, and to his satisfaction saw that they had one of the nuns betweenthem, and were forcing their way with her through the crowd behind. Atthis moment a terrible cry arose from the crowd. A troop of Portuguesedragoons rode furiously down the street leading to the bridge, and dashedinto the crowd, trampling down all in their way in their reckless terror,until they gained the end of the bridge. As they rode on to it, two of theboats, already low in the water from the weight upon them, gave a surgeand sank, carrying with them hundreds of people. The crowd recoiled with acry of horror.

  "There is no escape now, sister," Terence said; "go back to the convent."

  "Home, sisters!" she cried in a loud, shrill voice, that made itself heardeven over the screams of the drowning people and the wails and cries ofthe mob.

  Terence placed himself before the lady superior, and by main force made away through the crowd; which was the more easy as, seeing their onlyescape cut off, numbers were now beginning to disperse to their homes. Themovement was converted into a wild rush when a troop of French cavalrycame thundering down to the bridge. In a moment all was mad confusion andfright. The nuns followed their superior, and all thought of decorum beingnow lost, fled with her like a flock of frightened sheep along the streetleading to the convent. Terence paused a moment. He saw that the Frenchtroopers threw themselves from their horses, and, all animosity being forthe moment forgotten in the horror of the scene, set to work to endeavourto save the drowning wretches, regardless of the fire which, as soon asthe French appeared, was opened by the battery on the height of VillaNova.

  Then he sped away after the nuns, whom he soon passed. He turned down thestreet next to the convent, and, on reaching the end, saw the two trooperswith a nun in a boat ten yards away. Macwitty was standing covering thetwo boatmen with his pistols.

  "Row back to the shore again," he roared out in English, "and take offthat gentleman there." The men did not understand his words, but theyunderstood his gestures, and a stroke or two took them alongside. Terenceleapt in and told the men to row across the river.

  "This is an unexpected meeting, cousin," he said to the girl.

  "They have been telling me who you are, and how you have effected myrescue," she said, bursting into tears. "How can I thank you?"

  "Well, this is hardly a time for thanks," he said, "and I am as glad asyou are that it has all turned out well. I will tell you all about it assoon as we are across."

  They were nearly over when he exclaimed to the troopers:

  "The French have repaired the bridge with planks. See, they are crossing!"

  They sprang out on reaching the opposite shore. A moment later a rattle ofmusketry broke out.

  "Macwitty," he said, "I will give this young lady into your charge. Takeher straight up to the camp. There are three ladies there," he said to hiscousin, "and in the tent they have some clothes for you to change into. Itwill not be long before I shall rejoin you. But I must join my regimentnow; they are engaged with the enemy."

  As he hurried along with Bull, he could hear above the sound of themusketry the sharp crack of the field-guns from the opposite side of theriver.

  "They are covering the passage, Bull."

  As he came up he found that Herrara had taken possession of the housesnear the end of the bridge. A part of his troops filled the windows, whilethe main body lined the quay. The French were recoiling, but a mass oftheir troops could be seen at the further end of the bridge, and two fieldbatteries were keeping up an incessant fire. Herrara was posted with acompany at the end of the bridge.

  "We had better fall back, Herrara, before they form a fresh column ofattack. We might repulse them again, but they will be able to cross byboats elsewhere, and we shall be taken in front and rear. Let us draw offin good order. The infantry will be sure to march straight against thebattery on the hill behind, and it will be half an hour before the cavalrycan cross, and by that time we shall be well on our way; whereas, if westop here until we are taken in flank and rear, we shall be cut topieces."

  "I quite agree with you," Herrara said, and ordered the man with the hornstanding beside him to sound the retreat.

  The men near at once formed up and got in motion, those in the housespoured out, and in two minutes the whole force were going up the hill at atrot, but still preserving their order. Five minutes later the head of theFrench column poured over the bridge. Just as the troops reached the placeof encampment the fire of the battery ceased suddenly.

  CHAPTER XVIII

  MARY O'CONNOR

  Never was a large force of men driven from a very strong position,carefully prepared and defended by a vast number of guns, so quickly andeasily as were the Portuguese before Oporto. The bishop, after rejectingSoult's summons and disregarding his prayers to save the city from ruin,suddenly lost heart, and after all his boasting, slipped away after darkto the Serra Convent, leaving the command to the generals of the army. Thefeint which Soult had made with Merle's division the night before againstthe Portuguese left succeeded perfectly, the Portuguese massing theirforces on that side to resist the expected attack.

  Soult's real intentions, however, were to break through the centre of theline and then to drive the Portuguese right and left away from the town,while he pushed a body of troops straight through the city to seize thebridge and thus cut off all retreat. Accordingly he commenced the attackon both wings. The Portuguese weakened their centre to meet these, andthen the central division of the French rushed forward, burst through theintrenchments, and carried at once the two principal forts. Then twobattalions marched into the town and made for the bridge, while the restfell on the Portuguese rear. The French right carried in succession anumber of forts, took fifty pieces of artillery, and drove off a greatmass of the Portuguese from the town, while Merle met with equal successon the other flank. Half the Portuguese, therefore, were driven up thevalley of the Douro, and the other half down towards the sea.

  Maddened by terror, some of them strove to swim across, others to get overin small boats. Lima, their general, shouted to them that the river wastoo wide to swim, and that those who took to boats would be shot down bythe pursuing French. Whereupon his own troops turned upon him and murderedhim, although the French were but a couple of hundred yards away; theythen renewed their attempt to cross, and many perished. Similar scenestook place in the valley above the town, but here the French cavalryinterposed between the panic-stricken fugitives and the river, and soprevented them throwing away their lives in the hopeless attempt to swimacross. In the meantime incessant firing was going on in the city. TheFrench column arriving at the bridge, after doing their best to rescue thedrowning people, sacrificed to the heartless cowardice of the Portuguesecavalry, speedily repaired the break caused by the sinking boats andprepared to cross the river, while others scattered through the town.

  The inhabitants fired upon them from the roofs and windows, and twohundred men defended the bishop's palace to the last. Every house was thescene of conflict. The French on entering one of the principal squaresfound a number of their comrades, who had been taken prisoners and sent tothe town, still alive but horribly mutilated, some of them having beenblinded, others having legs cut off, and all mutilated in various ways.This terrible sight naturally goaded them to such a state of fury thatSoult in vain endeavoured to stop the work of slaughter and pillage. Thiscontinued for several hours, and altogether the number of Portuguese whoperished by drowning and slaughter in the streets was estimated at tenthousand, of which the number killed in the defence of the works formedbut an insignificant portion.

  Terence on his arrival at the camp in the wood resumed his uniform.Herrara had, on the previous day, purchased a light waggon and two horsesfor the use of the ladies, and as soon as the men had strapped on thecloaks and
blankets which they had left behind them when they advanced tothe defence of the bridge, the retreat began. Not until he had seen thecolumn fairly on its way did Terence ride up to speak to the occupants ofthe waggon. He had not been introduced by Herrara to his friends, for onhis return from his encounter with the bishop the ladies had alreadyretired to their tent.

  "I must introduce myself to you, Don Jose. I am Terence O' Connor, anensign in his Britannic Majesty's regiment of Mayo Fusiliers and anaide-de-camp of General Cradock, a very humble personage, though atpresent in command of these troops--irregular regiments of the Portuguesearmy."

  "Lieutenant Herrara has told us so much about you, Senor O'Connor, that wehave been looking forward with much pleasure to meeting you. Allow me topresent you to my wife and daughters, who have been as anxious as myselfto meet an officer who has done such good services to the cause, and towhom it is due at the present moment that we are here, instead of being inthe midst of the terrible scenes that are no doubt at this moment beingenacted in Oporto."

  Terence bowed deeply to the ladies, and then said to his cousin:

  "I almost require introducing to you, for I caught but a glimpse of you aswe crossed the river, and you look so different now that you have got ridof that hideous attire that I don't think that I should have known you."

  "You have changed greatly, too, Senor O'Connor."

  Terence burst into a laugh.

  "My dear cousin, it is evident that you know very little of Englishcustoms, though you speak English so well. We don't call our cousins Mr.and Miss; you will have to call me Terence and I shall certainly call youMary. Macwitty brought you back to camp all right?"

  "Yes; but it was terrible to hear all that firing, and I was wondering allthe time whether you were being hurt."

  "There is a great deal of powder fired away to every one that gets hit."

  "Do you know what has happened in the town?" Don Jose asked.

  "I know no more than what my cousin has no doubt told you of that terriblescene at the bridge. It is evident that the French burst through the lineswithout any difficulty, as we saw no soldiers, except those cowardlycavalrymen, before the French arrived. It is probable that theintrenchments were carried in the centre, and Soult evidently sent a bodyof soldiers straight through the town to secure the bridge. I think hemust have cut off the main body of the defenders of the intrenchments fromentering the town and must either have captured them or driven them off.The fire of cannon had ceased over there before we retired, and it isclear from that that the whole of the intrenchments must have beencaptured. There was, however, a heavy rattle of musketry in the town, andI suppose that the houses, and perhaps some barricades, were beingdefended. It was a mad thing to do, for it would only excite the fury ofthe French troops, and get them out of hand altogether. If there had beenno resistance the columns might have marched in in good order; but eventhen I fear there might have been trouble, for unfortunately, yourpeasants have behaved with such merciless cruelty to all stragglers whofell into their hands, that the thirst for vengeance would in any casehave been irrepressible. Still, the officers might possibly have preservedorder had there been no resistance."

  "Shall we be pursued, do you think, senor?" Don Jose's wife asked.

  "I do not think so. Possibly parties of horse may scour the country forsome distance round, to see if there is a body of troops here, but we aretoo strong to be attacked by any but a very numerous body of horse; and ifthey should attempt it, you may be sure that we can render a very goodaccount of ourselves. We have beaten off the French horse once, and, assince then we have had some stiff fighting, I have no fear of the menbeing unsteady, even if all Franceschi's cavalry came down upon us. Ofthat, however, there will be little chance; the French have their handsfull for some days, and a few scouting parties are all that they arelikely to send out."

  "You speak Portuguese very well, Terence," Mary O'Connor said, in thatlanguage, hesitating a little before she used his Christian name.

  "I have been nearly nine months in the country, during most of which Ihave been on the staff, and have had to communicate with peasants andothers, and for the past two months I have spoken nothing else; necessityis a good teacher. Besides which, Lieutenant Herrara has been good enoughto take great pains in correcting my mistakes and teaching me the properidioms; another six months of this work and I have no doubt I shall beable to pass as a native."

  After marching fifteen miles the column halted, Terence feeling assuredthat the French would not push out their scouting parties more than threeor four miles from Villa Nova. They halted at the edge of a forest, and aparty under one of the officers was at once despatched to a village twomiles away, and returned in an hour with a drove of pigs that had beenbought there, and a cart laden with bread and wine. Fires had already beenlighted, and after seeing that the rations were divided among the variouscompanies, Terence went to the tent. Herrara was chatting with hisfriends, and Mary O'Connor came out at once and joined him.

  "That is right, Mary; we will take a stroll in the wood and have a talktogether. Now tell me how you have got on. I had expected to find youquite thin and almost starving."

  "No, I have had plenty of bread to eat," she laughed; "the sisters kept mewell supplied. I am sure that most of them were sorry for me, and theyused to hide away some of their own bread and bring it to me when they hada chance. The lady superior was very hard, and if I had had to dependentirely on what she sent me up I should have done very badly. I alwaysate as much as I could, as I wanted to keep up my strength; for I knewthat if I got weak I might give way and do what they wanted, and I wasquite determined that I would not, if I could help it."

  "Macwitty told you, I suppose, how I came to hear where you wereimprisoned?"

  "Yes; he said that the officer had given you the letter that I dropped tohim; yet how did he come to know that you were my cousin?"

  "It was quite an accident; just the similarity of name. We were chatting,and he said, casually, 'I suppose that you have no relatives at Oporto,'and I at once said I had, for fortunately my father had been telling meabout your father and you, the last time I saw him, that is four monthsago. He was badly wounded at Vimiera and invalided home. Then CaptainTravers told me about getting your letter and what was in it, and I feltsure that it was you, and of course made up my mind to do what I could toget you out, though at the time I did not think that I should be in Oportountil I entered with the British army."

  "But I cannot think how you got us all to start, and walked along with thelady superior as if you were a friend of hers. Macwitty had not time totell me that. I was so frightened and bewildered with the dreadful noiseand the strangeness of it all that I could not ask him many questions."

  "It was by virtue of this ring," he said, holding up his hand.

  "Why," she exclaimed in surprise, "that is the bishop's! I noticed it onhis finger when he came one day to me and scolded me, and said that Ishould remain a prisoner if it was for years until my obstinate spirit wasbroken. But how did you get it?"

  "Not with the bishop's good-will, you may be sure, Mary," Terence laughed;and he then told her how he had become possessed of it.

  The girl looked quite scared.

  "It sounds dreadful, doesn't it, Mary, to think that I should have laidhands upon a bishop, and such a bishop, a man who regards himself as thegreatest in Portugal. However, there was no other way of getting the ring,and I could not see how, without it, I could persuade the lady superior toleave her convent with you all; and to tell you the truth, I would ratherhave got it that way than any other. The bishop is, in my opinion, a manwho deserves no respect. He has terrorized all the north of Portugal, hascaused scores of better men than himself to be imprisoned or put to death,and has now by his folly and ignorance cost the lives of no one knows howmany thousand men, and brought about the sack of Oporto."

  "Did you hear anything of my mother?" the girl asked.

  "No; my Portuguese was not good enough for me to ask questions withou
trisking being detected as a foreigner at once. She has behaved shamefullyto you, Mary."

  "She never liked me," the girl said, simply. "She and father never got onwell together, and I think her dislike began by his taking to me, and myliking to be with him and getting to talk English. There was a terriblequarrel between them once because she accused him of teaching me to be aProtestant, although he never did so. He did give me a Bible, and I usedto ask him questions and he answered them, that was all; but as it didseem to me that he was much wiser in all things than she was, I thoughtthat he might be wiser in religion too. I would have given up the propertydirectly they wanted me to, if they would have let me go away to England;but when they took me to the convent and cut off my hair, and forced me tobecome a nun, I would not give way to them. I never took the vows,Terence; I would not open my lips, but they went on with the service justthe same. I was determined that I would not yield. I thought that theEnglish would come some day, and that I might be freed then."

  "What would you have done in England if you had gone there, Mary?"

  "I should have found your father out, and gone to him. Father told me thatyour father was his greatest friend, and just before he died he told methat he had privately sent over all his own money to a bank at Cork, andordered it to be put in your father's name. It was a good deal of money,for he would not give up the business when he married my mother, thoughshe wanted him to; but he said that he could not live in idleness on hermoney, and that he must be doing something. And I know that he kept up thehouse in Oporto, while she kept up her place in the country. He told methat the sum he had sent over was L20,000. That will be enough to live on,won't it?"

  "Plenty," Terence laughed. "I had no idea that I was rescuing such anheiress. I was sure that there was no chance of your getting your mother'smoney, at any rate, as long as the bishop was leader of Oporto. Howeverjust your claim, no judge would decide in your favour."

  "Now tell me about yourself, Terence, and your home in Ireland, and allabout it."

  "My home has been the regiment, Mary. My father has a few hundred acres inCounty Mayo, and a tumble-down house; that is to say, it was a tumble-downhouse when I saw it four years ago, but it had been shut up for a goodmany years, and I should not be surprised if it has quite tumbled downnow. However, my father was always talking of going to live there when heleft the army. The land is not worth much, I think. There are five hundredacres, and they let for about a hundred a year. However, my father hasbeen in the regiment now for about eighteen years; and as I was born inbarracks I have only been three or four times to Ballinagra, and then onlybecause father took a fancy to have a look at the old house. My motherdied when I was ten years old, and I ran almost wild until I got mycommission last June."

  "And how did you come to be a staff-officer of the English general?" sheasked.

  "I have had awfully good luck," Terence replied. "It happened in all sortsof ways."

  "Please tell me everything," she said. "I want to know all about you."

  "It is a long story, Mary."

  "So much the better," she said. "I know nothing of what has passed for thelast year, and I dare say I shall learn about it from your story. Youdon't know how happy I am feeling to be out in the sun and in the airagain, and to see the country after being shut up in one room for a year.Suppose we sit down here and you tell me the whole story."

  Terence accordingly related the history of his adventures since he hadleft England. The girl asked a great many questions, and speciallyinsisted upon hearing his own adventures very fully.

  "It is no use your keeping on saying that it is all luck," she said whenhe had finished. "Your colonel could not have thought that it was luckwhen he wrote the report about that adventure at sea, and your generalcould not have thought so, either, or he would not have praised you in hisdespatch. Then, you know, General Fane must have thought that it was quiteout of the way or he would not have chosen you to be on his staff. Thenafterwards the other general must have been pleased with you, or he wouldnot have put you on his staff and sent you off on a mission to GeneralRomana. It is quite certain that these things could not have been allluck, Terence. And anyhow, you cannot pretend that it was luck that thisregiment of yours fought so well against the French, while none of theothers seem to have fought at all. I suppose that you will say next thatit was all luck that you got me out of the convent."

  "There was a great deal of luck in it, Mary. If that cowardly bishophadn't left Oporto secretly, after declaring that he would defend it untilthe last, I could never have got his ring."

  "You would have got me out some other way if he hadn't," the girl said,with confidence. "No, Terence, you can say what you like, but I shallalways consider that you have been wonderfully brave and clever."

  "Then you will always think quite wrong," Terence said, bluntly.

  "I shall begin to think that you are a tyrant, like the Bishop of Oporto,if you speak in that positive way. How old are you, sir?"

  "I was sixteen six months ago."

  "And I was sixteen three days ago," she said. "Fancy your commanding twothousand soldiers and only six months older than I am."

  "It is not I, it is the uniform," Terence said. "They obey me when theywon't obey their own officers, because I am on the English general'sstaff. They know that we have thrashed the French, and that their ownofficers know nothing at all about fighting, and they have no respectwhatever for them. More than that, they despise them because they knowthat they are always intriguing, and that really, although they may becalled generals, they are but politicians. You will see, when they getEnglish officers to discipline them, they will turn out capital soldiers;but they think so little of their own, that if anything goes wrong theirfirst idea is that their officers must be traitors, and so fall upon themand murder them.

  "You look older than I do, Mary. You seem to me quite a woman, while, inspite of my uniform and my command, and all that, I am really only a boy."

  "I suppose I am almost a woman, Terence, but I don't feel so. You see outhere girls often marry at sixteen. I know father said once that he hoped Ishouldn't marry until I was eighteen, and that he wanted to keep me young.I never thought about getting almost a woman until the bishop told me oneday that if I chose to marry a senor that he would choose for me, he wouldget me absolution from my vows, and that I need not then resign myproperty."

  "The old blackguard!" Terence exclaimed, angrily. "And what did you say tohim?"

  "I said that, in the first place, I had never thought of marrying; that inthe second place, I had not taken any vows; and in the third place thatwhen I did marry I would choose for myself. He got into a terrible rage,and said that I was an obstinate heretic, and that some day when I wastired of my prison I would think better of it."

  "I would have hit the bishop hard if I had known about that," Terencegrumbled. "If ever I fall in with him again I will pay him out for it.Well, anyhow, I may as well take off his ring; it might lead to awkwardquestions if anyone noticed it."

  "I think that you had certainly better do so, Terence; it might cost youyour life. The bishop is a bad man, and he is a very dangerous enemy. Ifhe heard that an English officer was wearing an episcopal ring, and uponinquiring found that that officer had been in Oporto at its capture, hewould know at once that it was you who assaulted him, and he would neverrest until he had your life. You had better throw it away."

  "All right, here goes!" Terence said, carelessly, and he threw the ringinto a clump of bushes. "Now, Mary, it is getting dark, and I should thinksupper must be waiting for us."

  "Yes, it is late; we have been a long while, indeed," the girl said,getting up hastily. "I forgot all about time."

  "We are in plenty of time," Terence said, looking at his watch. "As we allhad some cold meat for lunch as soon as we arrived, I ordered dinner atsix o'clock, and it wants twenty minutes of that time now."

  "It is shocking, according to our Portuguese ideas," she said, demurely,"for a young lady and gentleman to be talking
together for nearly threehours without anyone to look after them."

  "It is not at all shocking, according to Irish ideas," Terence said,laughing, "especially when the young lady and gentleman happen to becousins."

  They walked a short time in silence, then she said:

  "I have obeyed you, Terence, and haven't uttered a word of thanks for whatyou have done for me."

  "That shows that you are a good girl," Terence laughed.

  "Good girls always do as they are told; at least they are supposed to,though as to the fact I never had any experience, for I have no sisters,and there were no girls in barracks; still, I am glad that you kept yourpromise, and hope that you will always do so. Being a cousin, of course itwas natural that I should try to rescue you."

  "And you would not if I hadn't been a cousin?"

  "No, I don't say that. I dare say I should have tried the same if I hadheard that any English or Irish girl was shut up here. I am sure I shouldif I had seen you beforehand."

  She coloured a little at the compliment, and said, lightly: "Father toldme once that Irishmen were great hands at compliments. He told me thatthere was some stone that people went to an old castle to kiss--I thinkthat he called it the Blarney Stone--and after that they were able to sayall sorts of absurd things."

  "I have never kissed the Blarney Stone," Terence said, laughing. "If Iwanted to kiss anything, it would be something a good deal softer thanthat."

  They were now entering the camp, and in a few minutes they arrived at thetent.

  "I began to think that you were lost, O'Connor," Herrara said, as theycame up.

  "We had a lot to talk about," Terence replied. "My cousin has beeninsisting upon my telling her my whole history, and all about what haspassed here since she was shut up a year ago, and, as you may imagine, itwas rather a long story."

  A few minutes later they sat down on the ground to a meal in which roastpork was the leading feature.

  "This is what we call in England a picnic, senora," Terence said to DonJose's wife.

  "A picnic," she repeated; "what does that mean? It is a funny word."

  "I have no idea why it should be called so," Terence said. "It means anopen-air party. The ladies are supposed to bring the provisions, and thegentlemen the wine. Sometimes it is a boating party; at other times theydrive in carriages to the spot agreed upon. It is always very jolly, andmuch better than a formal meal indoors, and you can play all sorts oftricks."

  "What sort of tricks, senor?"

  "Oh, there are lots of them. I was always having fun before I became anofficer. My father was one of the captains of the regiment, and I wasgenerally in for any amusement that there was. Once at a picnic, Iremember that I got hold of the salt-cellars and mustard-pots beforehand,and I filled up one with powdered Epsom salts, which are horribly nasty,you know, and I mixed the mustard with cayenne pepper. Nobody could makeout what had happened to the food. They soon suspected the mustard, butnobody thought of the salt for a long time. The colonel was furious overit, but fortunately they could not prove that I had any hand in thematter, though I know that they suspected me, for I did not get aninvitation to a picnic for a long time afterwards."

  The three girls laughed, but Don Jose said, seriously: "But you would havegot into terrible trouble if you had been found out, would you not?"

  "I should have got a licking, no doubt, senor; but I was pretty accustomedto that, and it did not trouble me in any way. At any rate, it did notcure me of my love for mischief. I am afraid I never shall be cured ofthat. I used to have no end of fun in the regiment, and I think that itdid us all good. It takes some thinking to work out a bit of mischiefproperly, and I suppose if one can think one thing out well, one can thinkout another."

  "It seems to have succeeded well in your case, anyhow," Herrara laughed."Perhaps if it had not been for your playing that trick at the picnic youwould never have taken command of that mob, and we should never have goneto Oporto, and my friends and your cousin would be there now--that is, ifthey had not been killed."

  "It may have had something to do with it," Terence admitted.

  "And now, senor," Don Jose said, "which way are you going to take us?"

  "We shall go straight on to Coimbra," Terence said, "unless we come upon aBritish force before that. Two long days' march will take us there. Afterthat I must do as I am ordered; my independent command will come to an endthere. I hope that I shall soon hear that my regiment has returned fromEngland."

  "And what is to become of me? I have not thought of asking," Mary O'Connorsaid.

  "That must depend upon circumstances, Mary. If I go down to Lisbon, I hopethat we shall all travel together, and I can then put you on board atransport returning to England. I am sure to find letters from my fatherthere, telling me where he is and whether he is coming back with theregiment."

  "We shall be very happy, senor," Don Jose said, courteously, "to takecharge of the senora, until there is an opportunity for sending her toEngland. I have, of course, many friends in Lisbon, and shall take a housethere the instant I arrive, and Donna O'Connor will be as one of my ownfamily."

  "I am extremely obliged to you, Don Jose. I have been wondering all day asI rode along what I should do with my cousin if, as is probable, I amobliged to stay at Coimbra until I receive orders from Lisbon. Your kindoffer relieves me of a great anxiety. I think that it will be prudent forher to take another name while she is at Lisbon. There will certainly beno inquiries after her, for the lady superior of her convent will, ofcourse, conclude that she was accidentally separated from the others inthe crush, and that she was trampled on, or killed; and, indeed, therewill be such confusion in Oporto that the loss of a nun more or less wouldfail to attract attention. At any rate, it is likely to be a long timebefore any report the lady superior will make to the bishop will reachhim--months, perhaps, for she is not likely to take any particular painsto tell him news that would certainly anger him.

  "Still, if he goes to Lisbon, as no doubt he will, and by any chancehappens to hear that Miss O'Connor was one of those who had escaped fromthe sack of Oporto, he might make inquiries, and then all sorts of troublemight arise, even if he did not have her carried off by force, which wouldbe easy enough in a place so disturbed as Lisbon at present is."

  "I think that you are right, senor," Don Jose said, gravely. "At any rateit would be as well to avoid any risk. What name shall we call her?"

  "You can call her Miss Dillon, senor, that is the name of an officer inour regiment."

  "But the bishop might meet her in the street by chance; what then?"

  "I don't think that he would know me," Mary O'Connor put in. "I have seenhim, but I don't suppose that he ever noticed me until he saw me in mynun's dress, and, of course, I look very different now. Still, he is verysharp, and I will take good care never to go out without a veil."

  "That will be the safest plan, Mary," Terence said, "though I don't thinkanyone would recognize you. Of course, he supposes that you are stillsnugly shut up in the convent; still, it is just as well not to run theslightest risk."

  They made two long marches and reached Coimbra early on the third morning,bringing the first news that had been received there of the storming ofOporto. Terence at once reported himself to the commanding officer.

  "I was wondering where these two regiments came from, Mr. O'Connor," thecolonel said. "I watched them march in, and thought that they were themost orderly body that I have seen since we came out here. Whose corps arethey?"

  "Well, Colonel, they are my corps. I will tell you about it presently; itis a long story."

  "How strong are they?"

  "The field state this morning made them two thousand three hundred andfifty-five. They were two thousand five hundred to begin with; the restare either killed or wounded."

  "Oh, you have had some fighting then."

  "We have had our share, at any rate, Colonel, and I think I can venture tosay that no other Portuguese corps shows so good a record."

  "We hav
e a large number of tents in store, and I will order a sufficientnumber to be served out to put all your men under canvas, with theunderstanding that if the army advances this way the tents must be handedback to us. There are quantities of uniforms also. There have beenship-loads sent over for the use of the Portuguese militia, who were toturn out in their hundreds of thousands, but who have yet to bediscovered. Would you like some of them?"

  "Very much, indeed, Colonel. It would add very greatly to theirappearance; though, as far as fighting goes, I am bound to say that Icould wish nothing better."

  "Really! Then all I can say is you have made a very valuable discovery.Hitherto the fighting powers of the Portuguese have been invisible to thenaked eye. But if you have found that they really will fight under somecircumstances, we may hope that, now Lord Beresford has come out to takecommand of the Portuguese army, and is going to have a certain number ofBritish officers to train and command them, they will be of some utility,instead of being simply a scourge to the country and a constant drain onour purse."

  "Have you heard that Oporto is captured, sir?"

  "No, you don't say so!"

  "Captured in less than an hour from the time that the first gun wasfired."

  "Just what I expected. When you have political bishops who not onlypretend to govern a country, but also assume the command of armies, howcan it be otherwise? However, you shall tell me about it presently. I willgo down with you at once to the stores and order the issue of the tentsand uniforms. My orders were that the uniforms were to be served out tomilitia and ordenancas; under which head do your men come?"

  "The latter, sir; that is what they really were, but they hung the threemen the Junta sent to command them, and placed themselves in my hands, andI have done the best I could with them, with the assistance of LieutenantHerrara--who, as you may remember, accompanied me in charge of theescort--and my own two troopers and his men, and between us we have reallydone much in the way of disciplining them."

  Two hours later the tents were pitched on a spot half a mile distant fromthe town. By the time that this was done the carts with the uniforms cameup, to the great delight of the men.

  "I have to go to the commandant again now, Herrara; let the uniforms beserved out to the men at once. Tell the captains to see to their fittingas well as possible. I have no doubt that the colonel will come down toinspect them this afternoon, and will probably bring a good many officerswith him, so we must make as good a show as possible."

  Herrara's friends and Mary O'Connor had, on arriving at Coimbra, hiredrooms, as Don Jose had determined to stay for a few days before going on,because his wife had been much shaken by the events that had taken place,and his eldest daughter was naturally anxious to wait until she knewwhether Herrara would be able to return to Lisbon, or would remain withthe corps. By the time Terence returned to the colonel's quarters it waslunch time.

  "You must come across to mess, Mr. O'Connor," the commandant said."Everyone is anxious to hear your news, and it will save your going overit twice if you will tell it after lunch. I fancy every officer in thecamp will be there."

  CHAPTER XIX

  CONFIRMED IN COMMAND

  Terence, after lunch was over, first related to the officers all that heknew of the siege of Oporto, explaining why he did not choose to sacrificethe men under him by joining the undisciplined rabble in theintrenchments, but determined to keep the head of the bridge. Theylistened with breathless interest to his narrative of the attack andcapture of Oporto.

  "But how was it that that fifty-gun battery did not knock the bridge topieces when the French tried to cross?"

  "That is more than I can say, Colonel. I should fancy that they were soterrified at the utter rout on the other side, which they could see wellenough, for they had a view right over the town to the intrenchments, thatthey simply fired wildly. I don't believe a single ball hit the bridge,though, of course, they ought to have sunk a dozen boats in a couple ofminutes. My men could have held it for days, though they were sufferingsomewhat from the fire of two of the French field batteries; but I foundthat no steps whatever had been taken to remove the boats from the otherside. There were great numbers of them all along the bank, and the enemycould have crossed a mile higher up, at the spot where I took my men over,and so fallen on our rear, therefore I withdrew to save them from beingcut up or captured uselessly."

  "Now tell us about those troops of yours, O'Connor."

  Terence gave a somewhat detailed account of the manner in which he tookthe command and of the subsequent operations, being desirous of doingjustice to Herrara and his troopers, and to his own two orderlies. Therewas much laughter among the officers at his assumption of command, and atthe subsequent steps he took to form his mob of men into an orderly body;but interest took the place of amusement as he told how they had preventedthe French from crossing at the mouth of the Minho, and caused Soult totake the circuitous and difficult route by Orense. His subsequent defenceof the defile and the night attack upon the French, surprised them much,and when he brought his story to a conclusion there were warm expressionsof approval among his hearers.

  "I must congratulate you most heartily, Mr. O'Connor," the colonel said."What seemed at first a very wild and hare-brained enterprise, if youdon't mind my saying so, certainly turned out a singular success. It wouldhave seemed almost impossible that you, a young ensign, should be able toexercise any authority over a great body of mere peasants, who haveeverywhere shown themselves utterly insubordinate and useless under theirnative officers. It is nothing short of astonishing; and it is mostgratifying to find that the Portuguese should, under an English officer,develop fighting powers far beyond anything with which they have beenhitherto credited. What are you going to do now?"

  "I was intending to send my despatches on to Sir John Cradock, and waithere for orders."

  "I think that you had better take your despatches on yourself, Mr. O'Connor. I do not suppose that they are anything like so full as the storyyou have told us, which, I am sure, would be of as much interest to thegeneral as it has been to us."

  "I will do so, sir, and will start this evening. My horse had three days'rest at Villa Nova, and is quite fit to travel."

  "You must be feeling terribly anxious about your cousin," the officer whohad first told him about her remarked; "there is no saying what may havehappened in Oporto after it was stormed."

  "I should indeed be, if she were there," Terence replied; "but I am happyto say that she is at present in Coimbra, having travelled with us underthe charge of some Portuguese ladies, friends of Herrara."

  "You don't mean to say that you persuaded the bishop to let her out of theconvent?"

  "Scarcely," Terence laughed, "though the bishop did unwittingly aid me."

  "I congratulate you on getting her out," the colonel said.

  "Travers was telling us the day after you left what a curious coincidenceit was that the nun who threw him out a letter should turn out to be acousin of yours. Will you tell us how you managed it?"

  "I don't mind telling it, sir, if all here will promise not to repeat it.The Bishop of Oporto is a somewhat formidable person, and were he to lodgea complaint against me he might get me into serious trouble, and isperfectly capable of having me stabbed some dark night in the streets ofLisbon; therefore, I think it would be as well to omit any details of theshare he played in the matter. Without that the story is simple enough.Having got a boat with two men in it at the end of the street in whichstood the convent, I went there in the dress of an ecclesiastic, just asthe French burst into the town. The bishop had fled on the night before tothe Serra Convent on the other side of the river, and I was able toproduce an authority from him which satisfied the lady superior that I wasthe bearer of his order for her and the nuns to make for the bridge, andto cross the river at once.

  "Of course, I accompanied them. The crowd was great and they naturally gotseparated. In the confusion my orderlies managed to get my cousin out ofthe crowd, and took her straight to the boa
t. As soon as I saw that theyhad gone, I persuaded the lady superior to take the rest of the nuns backto the convent at once, as the bridge was by this time broken, and theFrench had made their appearance. She got the nuns together and made offwith them as fast as they could run, and after seeing that they were allnearly back to their convent without any signs of the French being near, Ijoined the others in the boat, and we rowed across the river. It was asimple business altogether, though at first it seemed very hopeless."

  "Especially to get the authority of the bishop," the colonel said, with asmile.

  "That certainly seemed the most hopeless part of the business," Terencereplied; "but happily I was able to manage it somehow."

  "Well, you certainly have had a most remarkable series of adventures, Mr.O'Connor. Now we will go and inspect your corps. Of course they will berationed while they are here, and will be under my general orders until Ihear from Cradock."

  "Quite so, Colonel; I am sure they will be proud of being inspected byyou. Of course, they are unable to do any complicated manoeuvres, butthose they do know they know pretty thoroughly, and can do them in a roughand ready way that for actual work is, I think, just as good as aparade-ground performance. I will go on ahead, sir, and form them up."

  "I would rather, if you don't mind, that they should have no warning," thecolonel said; "we will just go down quietly, and see how quickly they canturn out."

  "Very well, sir."

  All there expressed their wish to go, and as all were provided with horsesor ponies of some kind, in ten minutes they rode off in a body. Hisofficers had been very busy all the time that Terence had been away,serving out the uniforms and seeing that they were properly put on. Thework was just over, and the men were sauntering about round their tentswhen the party arrived. Herrara came up and saluted. He was known to thecolonel, as he had dined with Terence at the mess on their way through.

  After a few words, Terence said to Herrara:

  "Have the assembly blown, and let the men fall in."

  Herrara walked back to the tents, and a moment later a horn blew. It hadan uncouth sound, and bore no resemblance to the ordinary call, but it waspromptly obeyed. The men snatched their muskets from the piles in front ofthe tents, and in a wonderfully short time the whole were formed up intheir ranks, stiff and immovable.

  "Excellently done!" the colonel said; "no British regiment could havefallen in more smartly."

  Accompanied by Terence, and followed by the rest of the officers, he rodealong the line. The evening before Terence had impressed upon the captainsof companies the necessity for having the rifles perfectly clean, as theywere about to join a British camp, so that the pieces were all in perfectorder. When the inspection was over the mounted group drew off a little.

  "The troops will form up in columns of companies," Terence said, and Bulland Macwitty, who were at the head of their respective regiments, gave theorders. The movements were well executed. The men, proud of their uniform,and on their mettle at being inspected by British officers, did theirbest, and that best left little to be desired. After marching past, theyformed into company squares to resist cavalry, then retired by alternatecompanies, and then formed into line.

  "Excellently done!" said the colonel. "Indeed, I can hardly believe itpossible that a party of peasants have in a month's time been formed intoa body of good soldiers. I should like the officers to come up."

  "Call the officers."

  There was an officers' call, and this now sounded, and the twelve captainswith their two majors rode to the front and saluted. "Mr. Herrara," thecolonel said, "I have seen with surprise and the greatest satisfaction themovements of the men under you; they do you the greatest credit, and Ishall have pleasure in sending in a most favourable report to the general,the result of my inspection of the regiments. I hear from Mr. O'Connorthat your men have shown themselves capable of holding their own againstthe French, and I can say that I should feel perfectly confident in goinginto action with my regiment supported by such brave and capable troops.Would that instead of 2,000 we had 100,000 Portuguese troops equally to betrusted, we should very speedily turn the French out of Portugal and drivethem from the Peninsula."

  The officers bowed and rode off. The troops had not learned the salute,and when the horn sounded they were at once dismissed drill.

  "Well, Mr. O'Connor, I must congratulate you most heartily on what youhave done. If nothing else, you have added to our army a couple of strongregiments of capable soldiers. If I had not seen it myself I should havethought it impossible that over 2,000 men could be converted into soldiersin so short a time, and that without experienced non-commissioned officersto work them up."

  Returning to Coimbra with the colonel, Terence rode to the house whereHerrara's friends had taken rooms, and told them that he was going toleave them. Don Jose at once wrote several letters of introduction toinfluential friends at Lisbon, telling them that he and his daughters hadescaped from the sack of Oporto, and asking them to show every kindness tothe officer, to whom they chiefly owed their safety.

  Terence meanwhile returned to camp, arranged with Herrara and the twomajors that everything was to go on as usual during his absence, urgingthem to work hard at their drill, and to impress upon the men thenecessity, now that they were in uniform, of carrying themselves assoldiers, and doing credit to their corps.

  Five days later he arrived at Lisbon, taking with him a report from thecommandant of his inspection of the corps.

  "I had begun to be afraid that you had been killed or taken prisoner, Mr.O'Connor," Sir John Cradock said, as Terence presented himself, "or thatyou must have fallen back with Romana into Spain. He seems to have behavedvery badly, for, as I hear, although he had 10,000 men with him, half ofthem regular troops, he retired without a shot being fired--except by tworegiments who were mauled by the French cavalry--and left Silveira in thelurch."

  "I was on other business, General, and I fear that you will think that Iexceeded my orders; but I hope that you will consider that the result hasjustified my doing so. Will you kindly first run your eye over this reportby the officer commanding at Coimbra?"

  Sir John Cradock read the report with a puzzled expression of face, thenhe said: "But what regiments are these that Colonel Wilberforce speaks ofin such high terms? Were they part of Romana's force? He speaks of them asa corps under your command, and as being 2,300 strong."

  "They were not Romana's men, sir, but a body of ordenancas, of whom, as myreport will inform you, I came by a combination of circumstances to takethe command, appointing Lieutenant Herrara, who commanded my escort,colonel, my two orderlies as majors, and the Portuguese troopers of myescort as captains of companies. We have been several times engaged withthe French, and I cannot speak too highly of the behaviour of officers andmen."

  Sir John Cradock burst into a laugh. "You certainly are a cool hand, Mr.O'Connor. Assuredly I did not contemplate when I sent you off that youwould return as colonel of two regiments."

  "Nor did I, sir. But, you see, you gave me general instructions to concertmeasures with Romana for the defence of the frontier. I saw at once thatRomana was hopeless, and was therefore myself driven to take thesemeasures. As Oporto has fallen I cannot say they were successful, but atleast I may say that we gave Oporto fourteen days' extra time to prepareher defence, and if she did not take advantage of the time it was not myfault."

  The look of amusement on the general's face turned to one of interest.

  "How did you do that, sir?"

  "My corps prevented Soult from crossing at the mouth of the Minho,General, killing some two hundred of his men and driving his boats backacross the river. When the French general saw that he could not cross inface of such opposition, he was obliged to march his army round by Orenseand down by the passes, which ought to have been successfully defended bythe Portuguese."

  "That was good service, indeed, Mr. O'Connor. I received despatches fromour agents at Oporto, saying that Soult's landing had been repulsed byarmed peasants
."

  "My men were little more than armed peasants then, sir, though they hadhad a few days' hard drill; still, a British officer would scarcely havecalled them soldiers."

  "Well, I think that Wilberforce's report shows that they have a right tothat title now. Take a seat, Mr. O' Connor, and a newspaper--there aresome that arrived two days ago--while I look over your report."

  Terence had written in much greater detail than is usual in officialreports, as he wished the general to see how well the men and theirofficers had behaved. It was twenty minutes before the general finishedit.

  "A very remarkable report, Mr. O'Connor; very remarkable. You must dinewith me this evening. I have many questions to ask you about it, and alsoabout the storming of Oporto, of which we have, as yet, received nodetails, although a messenger from the bishop brought us the news somedays ago. He seems to have made a terrible mess of it."

  "He ought to be hung, sir!" Terence said, indignantly. "After getting allthose unfortunate peasants together he sneaked off and hid himself in aconvent on the other side of the river, on the very night before theFrench attacked."

  "Unfortunately, Mr. O'Connor, we cannot give all men their deserts, or weshould want all the rope on board the ships in the harbour for thepurpose. The bishop is a firebrand of the most dangerous kind; and Isuppose we shall have him here in a day or two, for he said in his letterthat he was on his way. There is one comfort: he will be too busy inquarrelling with the authorities to have any time to spend on his quarrelswith us. Then I shall see you in an hour's time. Please ask Captain Nelsonto come in here; I have some notes for him to write."

  Terence bowed and retired.

  "What a nuisance!" Captain Nelson said. "I was wanting to hear all thatyou had been doing."

  "I am to dine with the general," Terence said. "Perhaps I shall meet youthere."

  Captain Nelson found that he was wanted to write notes of invitation tosuch of the officers who were still at Lisbon as had dined there whenTerence was last the general's guest; and as the general's invitationsoverrode all other engagements, most of them were present when Terencereturned.

  "Mr. O'Connor has another story for you, gentlemen," the general said,when the cloth was removed and the wine put upon the table. "I am not surewhether I am right in calling him Mr. O' Connor, for he has beenperforming the duties of a colonel, commanding two regiments in thePortuguese service. I will preface his story by reading the report ofColonel Wilberforce, commanding at Coimbra, of the state of efficiency ofhis command."

  There was a look of surprise at the general's remarks, and that surprisewas greatly heightened on the reading of Colonel Wilberforce's report.

  "Now, Mr. O'Connor," the general said, when he had finished, "I am surethat we shall all be obliged by your giving us a detailed statement of themanner in which you raised those regiments, and of the operations that youundertook with them; and the more details you give us the better, for itis well that we should understand how the Portuguese can be best handled.I may say at once that, personally, we are greatly indebted to you forhaving proved that, when even partially disciplined and well led, they arecapable of doing very good service, a fact of which, I own, I have beenhitherto very doubtful."

  Smiles were exchanged among the auditors when Terence described the mannerin which he came to command the body of undisciplined ordenancas. When hespoke of the state in which he found Romana's army, and the reason for hisdetermination to keep his column intact, they listened more attentively,and exchanged looks of surprise when he described his rapid march to themouth of the Minho, and the repulse of Soult's attempt to cross from Tuy.He then described how he had joined Silveira, and the mutiny of thatgeneral's troops. Still more surprise was manifested when he related theaction in the defile and the bravery with which his troops had behaved,and the manner in which they had been handled by the troopers that he hadappointed as their officers. The night attack on the cavalry and infantryof the head of Soult's column was equally well received. His reasons fornot joining the army at Braga, and of keeping aloof from the mob ofpeasants at Oporto were as much approved as was the holding of the bridgefor a while, and his reasons for withdrawing.

  "Well, gentlemen," the general said, when Terence had finished, "I thinkyou will allow that my aide-de-camp, Mr. O'Connor, has given a goodaccount of himself, and that if he went outside my orders, his doing sohas been most amply justified."

  "It has, indeed, General," one of the senior officers said, warmly. "I cananswer for myself, that I should have been proud to have been able to tellsuch a story."

  A murmur of approval ran round the table.

  "It is difficult to say whether Mr. O'Connor's readiness to acceptresponsibility, or the manner in which, in the short space of a month, heturned a mob of peasants into regular soldiers, or the quickness withwhich he marched to the spot threatened by Soult, and so compelled him toentirely change the plan of his campaign, or his conduct in the defence ofthe defile, and in his night attack, are most remarkable."

  "I should wish to say, General, that in telling this story I have beenchiefly anxious to do justice to the hearty co-operation of LieutenantHerrara, and the services rendered by my own two orderlies and histroopers. By myself, I could have done absolutely nothing. Their work washard and incessant, and the drill and discipline of the troops was whollydue to them."

  "I understand, Mr. O'Connor; it is quite right for you to say so, and Ithoroughly recognize that they must have done good service; but it is tothe man that plans, organizes, and infuses his own spirit into those underhis command, that everything is due. Now, Mr. O'Connor, I think I will askyou to leave us for a few minutes; the case is rather an exceptional one,and I shall be glad to chat the matter over with the officers present.Well, gentlemen, what do you think that we are to do with Mr. O'Connor?"he went on, with a smile, as the door closed behind Terence.

  "My experience affords me no guide, General," another of the seniorofficers said. "It is simply amazing that a lad of seventeen--I suppose heis not much over that--should have conceived and carried out such a plan.It sounds like a piece of old knight-errantry. Clive did as much, butClive was some years older when he first became a thorn in the side of theFrench. What is your opinion, sir?"

  "He is already a lieutenant," the general said. "I sent home a strongrecommendation that he should be promoted, when he was last here, andreceived an intimation three days ago that he had been gazetted lieutenantand transferred to my staff. This time I shall simply, send home a copy ofthe report he has furnished me with, and that of Colonel Wilberforce, andsay that I leave the reports to speak for themselves, but that in myopinion it is a case altogether exceptional. That is all I can do now. Thequestion of course is, whether he shall return to staff service again, orshall continue in command of the corps with which he has done so much. Ifhe does the latter he must have local rank, otherwise he would be liableto be overruled by any Portuguese officer of superior rank. I think thatthe best way would be to send a copy of the reports to Lord Beresford,saying that my opinion is very strong that Lieutenant O'Connor should beallowed to retain an independent command of the corps that he has raisedand disciplined; and that I will either myself bestow local rank upon him,and treat the corps as forming a part of the British army, like that ofTrant, or that he should give him local rank as its colonel, in which casehe would operate still independently, but in connection with Beresford'sown force."

  "I should almost think that the first step would be best, General, if Imight say so. In the first place, Beresford will have any number ofirregular parties operating with him, while such a corps would beinvaluable to us. They are capable of taking long marches, they know themountains and forests, and would keep us supplied with news, while theyharassed the enemy. As an officer on your staff, O'Connor would have amuch greater power among the Portuguese population than he would have onhis own account in their own army, and he would be very much less likelyto be interfered with by the leaders of other parties and corps."

  "
Perhaps that would be the best way, Colonel. I will send the reports toBeresford, and say that I have appointed Lieutenant O'Connor to remain incommand of this corps, which I shall attach to my own command; and sayingthat I shall be obliged if he will have a commission made out for him,giving him the local rank of colonel in the Portuguese army. Beresford ishimself a gallant soldier, and will appreciate, as you do, the work thatO'Connor has done; and as he knows nothing of the lad's age he willcomply, as a matter of course, with my request. I shall, in writing home,strongly recommend his two cavalrymen for commissions. As to Herrara, Ishall ask Beresford to give him the rank of lieutenant-colonel. I shallsuggest to Beresford that his troopers should all receive commissions inhis army. They have all earned them, which is more than I can say of anyother Portuguese soldiers, so far as I have heard."

  Terence was then called in again.

  "In the first place, I have a pleasant piece of news to give you, Mr. O'Connor, namely, that I have received from home an official letter, that onmy recommendation you have been gazetted to the rank of lieutenant andtransferred to my staff; in the second place, I have decided, that whilestill retaining you on my staff, you will be continued in your presentcommand; I shall obtain for you a commission as colonel in the Portugueseservice, but your corps will form part of my command, and act with theBritish army. I shall request Lord Beresford to appoint Mr. Herrara to therank of lieutenant-colonel, and shall recommend that commissions be givento his troopers. The two orderlies, of whose services you spoke so highly,I shall recommend for commissions in our army, and shall request LordBeresford to give them local rank as majors."

  Terence coloured with pleasure and confusion.

  "I am greatly obliged to you, General," he said; "but I do not at all feelthat the services that I have tried to perform----"

  "That is for me to judge," the general said, kindly. "All the officershere quite agree with me, that those services have been very marked andexceptional and are at one with me as to how they should be recognized.Moreover, in obtaining for you the rank of colonel in the Portuguese army,I am not only recognizing those services, but am adding to the power thatyou will have of rendering further services to the army. Although attachedto our forces, you will receive your colonel's commission from LordBeresford, who is now the general appointed by the Portuguese governmentto command their army."

  It was now late, and the party rose. All of them shook hands warmly withTerence, who retired with his friend Captain Nelson. The latter told himbefore they went in to dinner that he had had a bed put up for him in hisown room.

  "Well, Colonel O'Connor," Nelson laughed, "you must allow me to be thefirst to salute you as my superior officer."

  "It is absurd altogether," Terence said, almost ruefully. "Still, CaptainNelson, though I may hold a superior rank in the Portuguese army, thatgoes for very little. I have seen enough of Portuguese officers to knowthat even their own soldiers have not got any respect for them, and in ourown army I am only a lieutenant."

  "That is so, lad; however, there was never promotion more deserved. And asyou hung, or rather left to be hung, a Portuguese colonel, it is onlyright that you should supply the deficiency."

  "I hope I shall not have to wear a Portuguese uniform," Terence said,earnestly.

  "I should think not, O'Connor, but I will ask the general in the morning.Of course, you will not wear your present uniform, because you are nowgazetted into the staff and out of your own regiment. Now we will smoke aquiet cigar before we turn in. Have you any other story to tell me thatyou have not already related?"

  "Well, yes, I have one, but it is only of a personal interest;" and hethen gave an account of his discovery of his cousin in the convent atOporto, and how he had managed to rescue her, ending by saying: "I havetold you the story, Nelson, so that if by any unexpected accident it isfound out that she is an escaped nun, and her friends appeal to thegeneral for protection, you may be aware of the circumstances, and help."

  "Certainly I will do so," Captain Nelson said, warmly. "You certainly havea wonderful head for devising plans."

  "I began it early," Terence laughed. "I was always in mischief before Igot my commission, and I suppose that helps me; but you see I hadwonderful luck."

  "I don't say anything against your luck; but good luck is of no use unlessa fellow knows how to take advantage of it, and that is just what you havedone. I suppose that you will stay here for a day or two."

  "My horse wants a couple of days' rest, and I have my uniform to get. Isuppose I can get one made in a couple of days, whether it is a Portugueseor an English one."

  "Yes, I dare say you will be able to manage that."

  The next morning, to his great satisfaction, Terence learned that thegeneral said he had better wear staff uniform, and he accordingly wentwith Captain Nelson and was measured.

  "Your Portuguese seems to have improved amazingly in the two months youhave been away," the latter said, as they came out from the shop; "youseem to jabber away quite fluently."

  "I have been talking nothing else, and Herrara has acted as my instructor,so I get on very fairly now."

  At this moment a carriage drove past them.

  "That is the Bishop of Oporto," said Terence; "I suppose he has justarrived."

  "It is a good thing that he does not know you as well as you know him,"Captain Nelson said, dryly; "if he did, your adventures would be likely tobe cut short by a knife between your shoulders some dark night."

  "He does not know me at all," Terence laughed; "the advantages are all onmy side in the present case."

  "It is an advantage," Captain Nelson laughed. "When I think that you haveraised your hand against that venerable but somewhat truculent prelate, Ishudder at your boldness. I only caught a glimpse of him as he passed, butI could see that he looks rather scared."

  "Perhaps he hasn't recovered yet from the fright I gave him," laughedTerence; "I have seen and heard enough of his doings, and paid him a verysmall instalment of the debt due to him."

  The uniforms were promised for the next evening, and Terence felt when heput them on that they were a considerable improvement upon his late one,stained and discoloured as it was by wet, mud, and travel. After paying avisit to the general to say good-bye, Terence mounted and started forCoimbra.

  Upon his arrival there four days later he at once reported himself to thecommandant.

  "I received a copy of the general order of last Tuesday," the latter said,"and congratulate you warmly on being confirmed in your rank. I thoughtthat it would be so, for one could not reckon that, had another taken yourplace, your corps would have maintained its present state of efficiency."

  "You are very good to say so, Colonel, but any British officer appointedto command it would do as well or better than I should."

  "I don't think that he would in any way; but certainly he would not befollowed with the same confidence by his men as they would follow you, andwith troops like these everything depends upon their confidence in theircommander."

  "The corps is now attached to our army, Colonel; you were good enough toorder them to be rationed before, but I have now an order from the generalfor them to draw pay and rations the same as the British troops."

  "That is all right," the colonel said, examining the document; "I willtake a copy of it, but as it is a general order you must keep the originalyourself. I see that you have now adopted the uniform of the staff. It iscertainly a great improvement upon that of an infantry officer, andappearances go for a good deal among these Portuguese. I see, by the way,that you have got your step in our army."

  "Yes, Colonel, the general was good enough to recommend me. Of course I amglad in one way, but I am sorry that it has put me out of the regimentthat I have been brought up with. But, of course, it was necessary, for Icould not have gone over other men's heads in it."

  "No, when a man gets special promotion it is always into another regimentfor that reason. You will be glad to hear that your men have been behavingextremely well in your absenc
e, and that I have not heard of a single caseof drunkenness or misconduct among them. I have been down there severaltimes, and always found them hard at work drilling; they seem to me toimprove every time I see them."

  On leaving the colonel's quarters Terence rode to his cousin's. Mary rosewith an exclamation of surprise as he entered.

  "What a handsome uniform, Terence! How is it that you have changed it?"

  "I am now regularly on the general's staff, Mary, and this is theuniform."

  "You look very well in it," she said; "don't you think so, Lorenza?"

  "I do, indeed," her friend agreed; "it does make a difference."

  "Well, to begin with, it is clean and new," Terence laughed; "and thoughthe other was not old, it had seen its best days. But I have more news,Mary; you have now to address your cousin as colonel."

  Mary clapped her hands, and Don Jose and his family uttered exclamationsof pleasure.

  "It is quite right," Mary said; "it is ridiculous that Senor Herrarashould be colonel and you only Mr. O'Connor."

  "It does not matter much about a name," he said. "I commanded before and Ishall do so now, but I have got Portuguese rank."

  "Why did not they make you an English colonel?" Mary asked, ratherindignantly.

  Terence laughed. "I shall be lucky if I get that in another twenty years,Mary. I am a lieutenant now--I have got the step since you saw melast--but I am to rank as a colonel in the Portuguese army as long as Icommand this corps, which I am glad to say is now to form a part of theBritish army. Herrara is to have the rank of lieutenant-colonel. Bull andMacwitty will, I hope, get their commissions as ensigns in the Britisharmy, with local rank of majors. The general will recommend that Herrara'stroopers all get commissions in the Portuguese army."

  "Ah, well! I am pleased that your services are appreciated, Terence. Weare very glad that you have come back, Lorenza especially so, as, now youhave returned, she thinks she will see more of Senor Herrara."

  "The bishop is in Lisbon, Mary."

  "That is not such good news, Terence. I will be very careful to keep outof his way."

  "Do," he said. "I have spoken to Captain Nelson, one of the general'sstaff, about you, and if by any chance you should be recognized as anescaped nun, I hope that Don Jose will go to him at once and ask him toobtain the general's protection for you, which will, I am sure, be given.Your father was an Irishman. You are a British subject, and have a rightto protection. You won't forget the name, Don Jose--Captain Nelson?"

  "I will write it down at once," the Portuguese said, "but as Donna Marywill pass under the name of Dillon, and her dress has so changed herappearance, I do not think that there is the smallest fear of her beingrecognized. Indeed, no one could know her except the bishop himself."

  "You may be sure that I shall not go out much in Lisbon," Mary said, "andif I do I will keep my promise to be always closely veiled."

  CHAPTER XX

  WITH THE MAYOS

  The news that Terence brought to the regiment gave great and generalsatisfaction. Herrara was delighted to hear that he was to be made alieutenant-colonel in his army. Bull and Macwitty were overjoyed onhearing that they had both been recommended for commissions, and Herrara'stroopers were equally pleased. The rank and file felt no lessgratification, both at the honour of being attached to the British army,and at the substantial improvement in their condition that this wouldentail.

  On the following day Herrara's friends and Mary O'Connor left for Lisbon,and the latter astonished Terence by bursting into tears as she saidgood-bye to him.

  "I have said nothing yet of the gratitude that I feel to you, Terence, forall that you have done for me, for you have always stopped me whenever Ihave tried to, but I shall always feel it, always; and shall think of youand love you dearly."

  "It has been just as fortunate for me as it has been good for you, Mary,"he said. "I have never had a sister, and I seem to have found one now."

  The girl looked up, pouting. "I don't think," she said, "I shouldparticularly care about being a sister; I think that I would rather remaina cousin."

  Terence looked surprised and a little hurt.

  "You are only a silly boy," she laughed, "but will understand better someday. Well, good-bye, Terence," and the smile faded from her face.

  TERENCE BIDS GOOD-BYE TO HIS COUSIN, MARY O'CONNOR.]

  "Good-bye, dear. Take great care of yourself in Lisbon, and be sure thatyou look out to see if the Mayo Fusiliers arrive while you are there. Iheard that they were about to embark again with a force that General Hillis bringing out, but my father won't be with them, I am afraid. I have notheard from him, but I should hardly think that he will be fit for hardservice again; yet, if he should be, he will tell you where to go to tillwe get back. At any rate, don't start for England until the regimentcomes. I fancy that it will be at Lisbon before you are, and Don Jose caneasily find out for you whether father is with it. If he is not, go toBallinagra. I have written instructions how you are to travel, but you hadbetter write to him there directly you land, and I have no doubt that hewill come over and fetch you. I don't know anything about London, but youhad better see Captain Nelson at Lisbon. Here is a note I have written tohim, asking him where you had better go, and what you had better do whenyou get to London."

  The day after the party had left, Terence marched with his corps north,and established himself at Carvalho, where the road from Oporto passedover the spurs of the Serra de Caramula, in order to check the incursionsof French cavalry from Oporto. In the course of the next fortnight he hadseveral sharp engagements with them. In the last of these, when making areconnaissance with both regiments, he was met by the whole ofFranceschi's cavalry. They charged down on all four sides of the squareinto which he formed his force, expecting that, as upon two previousoccasions, the Portuguese would at once break up at their approach. Theystood, however, perfectly firm, and received the cavalry with suchwithering volleys that Franceschi speedily drew off, leaving upwards oftwo hundred dead behind him.

  The day after this fight Terence received a letter from Mary, saying thatGeneral Hill had arrived before they reached Lisbon, and that Don Jose hadlearned that Major O'Connor had retired on half-pay. Also that CaptainNelson had obtained a passage for her in one of the returning transports,and had given her a letter to his mother, who resided in London, askingher to receive her until she heard from the major.

  A few days afterwards he learned from Colonel Wilberforce that the Englisharmy had marched for Leirya. General Hill's force of five thousand men andthree hundred horses for the artillery arrived at an opportune moment. Thestorming of Oporto, the approach of Victor to Badajos, after totallydefeating Cuesta's Spanish army, killing three-fifths of his men, andcapturing thousands of prisoners, while Lapisse was advancing from theeast, had created a terrible panic in Portugal. Beresford's orders weredisobeyed, many of his regiments abandoned their posts, and the populacein Lisbon were in a state of furious turmoil. Hill's arrival to someextent restored confidence, the disorders were repressed, and Sir JohnCradock now felt himself strong enough to advance.

  Terence's report of the repulse of Franceschi's cavalry was answered by aletter from Cradock himself, expressing warm approval at the conduct ofthe corps.

  "There is but little fear of an advance by Soult at present," he said. "Hemust know that we have received reinforcements, and he will not venture tomarch on Lisbon, as the force now gathering at Leirya could operate uponhis flank and rear. I shall be glad, therefore, if you would march withyour command to the latter town. The example of your troops cannot buthave a good effect upon the raw Portuguese levies, and, in the event ofour advancing to the relief of Ciudad-Rodrigo, could render good serviceby clearing the passes, driving in the French outposts, and keeping mewell informed of the state of the roads, the accommodation available forthe troops, and the existence of supplies."

  Immediately on receipt of this Terence marched for Leirya, where theBritish army was under canvas. On the way down they halted for a ni
ght atCoimbra.

  "An official letter came for you last night, O'Connor," ColonelWilberforce said. "I kept it until I should have an opportunity offorwarding it to you. Here it is, duly addressed, Colonel O'Connor, theMinho Regiment."

  This was the name Sir John Cradock suggested to Terence, as a memorial ofthe service they had rendered in repulsing Soult at that river. It was thefirst time Terence had seen his name with the prefix of colonel.

  "It looks like a farce," he said, as he broke the seal.

  Inside was an official document, signed by Lord Beresford, to the effectthat as a recognition of the very great services rendered by LieutenantO'Connor, an officer on the staff of Sir John Cradock, when in command ofthe two battalions of the Minho Regiment, and in accordance with thestrong recommendation of the British general, Lieutenant Terence O'Connoris hereby appointed to the rank of colonel in the Portuguese service, withthe pay and allowances of his rank. Colonel O' Connor is to continue incommand of the regiments, which will be attached to the British army,under the command of Sir John Cradock.

  "Here is also a letter for your friend Herrara, and a much more bulky one;will you hand it to him?"

  Herrara's letter contained his promotion to lieutenant-colonel, with anorder to remain under Terence's command; also fourteen commissions, twogiving Bull and Macwitty the Portuguese rank of major, the remaining beingcaptain's commissions for the twelve troopers.

  Two days later they reached Leirya. The April sun rendered shelterunnecessary for the Portuguese, and after establishing them, for thepresent, a quarter of a mile away from the British camp, he went andreported his arrival to the officer in command, and was told that he couldnot do better than bivouac on the ground he had selected. Leaving theheadquarters he soon found where the Mayo regiment was encamped, and madehis way to the officers' marquee. They were just sitting down to lunchwhen, at the entry of an officer on the general's staff, the colonel atonce rose gravely. O'Grady was the first to recognize the newcomer.

  "Be jabers," he shouted, "but it is Terence O' Connor himself!" There wasa general rush to shake hands with him, and a din of voices and aconfusion of questions and greetings.

  "And what in the world have you got that uniform on for, Terence?" O'Gradyasked, when the din somewhat subsided. "We saw that the general hadappointed you as one of his aides-de-camp when you got here after Corunna,but you would wear your own uniform all the same."

  "What matters about his uniform, O'Grady?" the others exclaimed. "What wewant to know is how he saved his life at Corunna, when we all thought thathe was either killed or taken prisoner."

  "Wait till the lad has got something to eat and drink," the colonel said,peremptorily. "Pray take your seats, gentlemen. You take this chair by me,O'Connor; and now, while you are waiting for your plate, tell us in a fewwords how you escaped. Everyone made sure that you were killed. We heardthat Fane had sent you to carry an order, that you had delivered it, andthen started to rejoin him; from that time nobody saw you alive or dead."

  "The matter was very simple, Colonel. My horse was hit in the head with around shot. I went a frightful cropper on some stones in the middle of aclump of bushes. I lay there insensible all night, and coming-to in themorning, saw that the French had advanced, and the firing on the hill overthe town told me that the troops had got safely on board ship. I lay quietall day, and at night made off, sheltered for a couple of days with somepeasants on the other side of the hill, joined Romana, went to thePortuguese frontier with him, and then rode to Lisbon, where Sir JohnCradock was good enough to put me on his staff."

  "We heard you had turned up safely at Lisbon, and glad we were, as you maybe sure, and a good jollification we had over it. As for O'Grady, it hasserved as an excuse for an extra tumbler ever since."

  "Bad excuses are better than none," Terence laughed, "and if it hadn'tbeen that, it would have been something else."

  "Shut up, you young scamp," O'Grady said. "How is it that you have notanswered my question? Why are you wearing staff-officer's uniform insteadof your own?"

  "Have you not heard, Colonel," Terence said, "that I no longer belong tothe regiment?"

  There was a chorus of expressions of regret round the table.

  "And how has that happened, Terence?" the colonel asked. "That is bad newsfor us all, anyway."

  "I was gazetted lieutenant a month ago, Colonel. I suppose you had sailedfrom England before the _Gazette_ came out."

  "I suppose so, lad. Well, you richly deserved your promotion, if it wasonly for that affair on board the _Sea-horse_, and you ought to have hadit long ago."

  "I am awfully sorry to leave the regiment. It has been my home as long asI can remember, and wherever I may be, I shall always regard it in thatlight."

  "And so you remain on the staff at present, O'Connor?"

  "Well, sir, I am on the staff still, but for the present I am on detachedduty."

  "What sort of duty, Terence?"

  "I have the honour to command two Portuguese regiments that marched in anhour ago."

  A shout of laughter followed the announcement.

  "Bedad, Terence," O'Grady said, "that crack on your head hasn't changedyour nature, thanks to your thick skull. I suppose it is poking fun at usthat you are. But you won't take us in this time."

  "I saw the regiments pass at a distance," the colonel said, "and theymarched in good order, too, which is more than I have seen any otherPortuguese troops do. Now you mention it, I did see an officer, in whatlooked like a British uniform, riding with the men, but it was too far offto see what branch of the service he belonged to. That was you, was it?"

  "That was me, sure enough, Colonel."

  "And what were you doing there? Tell us, like a good boy."

  "Absurd as it may appear, and, indeed, absurd as it is, I am in command ofthose two regiments."

  Again a burst of incredulous laughter arose. Terence took out hiscommission and handed it to the colonel.

  "Perhaps, Colonel, if you will be kind enough to read that out loud, myassurance will be believed."

  "Faith, it was not your assurance that we doubted, Terence, me boy!"O'Grady exclaimed. "You have plenty of assurance, and to spare; it is thestatement that we were doubting."

  The colonel glanced down the document, and his face assumed an expressionof extreme surprise.

  "Gentlemen," he said, rising, "if you will endeavour to keep silence for aminute, I will read this document."

  The surprise on his own face was repeated on the faces of all thosepresent, as he proceeded with his reading. O'Grady was the first to breakthe silence.

  "In the name of St. Peter," he said, "what does it all mean? Are you surethat it is a genuine document, Colonel? Terence is capable of anything byway of a joke."

  "It is undoubtedly genuine, O'Grady. It is dated from Lord Beresford'squarters, and signed by his lordship himself as commander-in-chief of thePortuguese army. How it comes about beats me as much as it does you. Butbefore we ask any questions we will drink a toast. Gentlemen, fill yourglasses; here is to the health of Colonel Terence O'Connor."

  The toast was drank with much enthusiasm, mingled with laughter, for manyof them had still a suspicion that the whole matter was somehow anelaborate trick played by Terence.

  "Now, Colonel O'Connor, will you please to favour us with an account ofhow General Cradock and Lord Beresford have both united in giving you sobig a step up."

  "It is a long story, Colonel."

  "So much the better," the colonel replied. "We have nothing to do, and itwill keep us all awake."

  Terence's account of his interview with the colonel of the ordenancas, thedemand by Cortingos that he should hand over the money he was escorting,and the subsequent gathering to attack the house, and the manner in whichthe leaders were captured, the rioters appeased and subsequently advisedto direct their efforts to obtain arms and ammunition, excitedexclamations of approval; but the belief that the story was a pure romancestill prevailed in the minds of many, and Terence saw Capt
ain O'Grady andDick Ryan exchanging winks. It was not until Terence spoke of his rapidmarch to the mouth of the Minho, as soon as he heard that the French wereconcentrating there, that he began to be seriously listened to; and whenhe told how Soult's attempt to cross had been defeated, and the Frenchgeneral obliged to change the whole plan of the campaign, and to marchround by Orense, the conviction that all this was true was forced uponthem.

  "By the powers, Terence!" the colonel exclaimed, bringing his hand down onhis shoulder, "you are a credit to the ould country. I am proud of you, meboy, and it is little I thought when O'Flaherty and myself conspired toget ye into the regiment that you were going to be such a credit to it.Gentlemen, before Colonel O'Connor goes further, we will drink his healthagain."

  This time there was no laughter mixed with the cheers. Many of theofficers left their seats and came round to shake his hand warmly, O'Gradyforemost among them.

  "Sure I thought at first that it was blathering you were, Terence; but,begorra, I see now that it's gospel truth you are telling, and I am proudof you. Faith, I am as proud as if I were your own father, for haven't Ibrought you up in mischief of all kinds? Be the poker, I would have givenme other arm to have been with you."

  The rest of the story was listened to without interruption. When it wasconcluded, Colonel Corcoran again rose.

  "Gentlemen, we will for the third time drink to the health of ColonelO'Connor, and I think that you will agree with me that if ever a mandeserved to be made a colonel it's himself."

  This time O'Grady and three others rushed to where Terence was sitting,seized him, and before he knew what they were going to do, hoisted himonto the shoulders of two of them, and carried him in triumph round thetable. When at length quiet was restored, and Terence had resumed hisseat, the colonel said:

  "By the way, Terence, there was a little old gentleman called on me threedays after we landed to ask if Major O'Connor was with the regiment. Itold him that he was not, having gone on half-pay for the present onaccount of a wound. He seemed rather pleased than otherwise, I thought,and I asked him pretty bluntly what he wanted to know for. He brought aninterpreter with him, and said through him that he hoped that I would notpress that question, especially as a lady was concerned in the matter. Itbothered me entirely. Why, from the time we landed at the Mondego tillyour father was hit at Vimiera I don't believe we ever had the chance tospeak to a woman. It may be that it was some lady that nursed him thereafter we had marched away, and who had taken a fancy to him. The ould manmay have been her father, and was perhaps mighty glad to hear that themajor was not coming back again."

  Terence burst into a shout of laughter.

  "My dear Colonel," he said, "the respectable old gentleman did not call onbehalf of his daughter, but on behalf of a cousin of mine, who was wantingto find my father; and Don Jose, who was in charge of her, was glad tohear that he was going to remain in England."

  "A cousin!" O'Grady exclaimed. "Why how in the name of fortune does a ladycousin of yours come to be cruising about in such an outlandish place asthis?"

  "That is another story, Colonel, and I have talked until I am hoarse now,so that that must keep until another sitting. It is quite time that I wasoff to see how my men are getting on."

  "Of course you will dine with us?"

  "Not to-night, Colonel; this has been a long sitting, and I would rathernot begin a fresh one."

  "Well, we will come and have a look at your regiments."

  "I would rather you did not come until to-morrow, Colonel. The men havemarched five-and-twenty miles a day for the last five days, and they wantrest, so I should not like to parade them again. If you will come over,say at twelve o'clock to-morrow, I shall be proud to show them."

  The corps now possessed five tents, Terence having obtained four more atCoimbra. Herrara and himself occupied one, while two were allotted to theofficers of each regiment. Bull and Macwitty had both by this time pickedup sufficient Portuguese to be able to get on comfortably, and had agreedwith Terence that although they would like to remain together, it wasbetter that each should stay with the officers of his own regiment.

  At twelve o'clock next day Colonel Corcoran came over with nearly thewhole of the officers of the Mayo regiment, and was accompanied by manyothers, as they had the night before given many of their acquaintances anoutline of Terence's story.

  The men had been on foot from an early hour after breakfast. There hadbeen a parade. Every man's firelock, accoutrements, and uniform had beenvery closely inspected, and when they fell in again at a quarter to twelvea most rigid inspection would have failed to find any fault with theirappearance. Terence joined the colonel as soon as he came on the ground.

  "So your officers are all mounted, I see, Terence?"

  "Yes, Colonel; you see the companies are over two hundred strong, for thelosses we had have been filled up since, and one officer to each corpscould do but little unless he were mounted."

  "The men looked uncommonly well, Terence, uncommonly well. I should liketo walk along the line before you move them."

  "By all means, Colonel. Their uniforms do not fit as well as I shouldlike, but I had to take them as they were served out, and have had noopportunity of getting them altered."

  Since the inspection at Coimbra the men had been taught the salute, and asTerence shouted:

  "Attention! General salute! Present arms!" the men executed the order witha sharpness and precision that would have done no discredit to a Britishline regiment. Then the colonel and officers walked along the line, afterwhich the troops were put through their manoeuvres for an hour, and thendismissed.

  "Upon my word, it is wonderful," Colonel Corcoran said. "Why, if thebeggars had been at it six months they could not have done it better."

  There was a chorus of agreement from all the officers round.

  "We could not have done some of those movements better ourselves, couldwe, O'Driscol?"

  "That we could not," the major said, heartily. "Another three months' workand these two regiments would be equal to our best; and I can understandnow how they stood up against the charge of Franceschi's cavalryregiments."

  "Now, Colonel, I cannot ask you all to a meal," Terence said; "myarrangements are not sufficiently advanced for that yet; but I managed toget hold of some very good wine this morning, and I hope that you willtake a glass all round before you go back to camp."

  "That we will, and with pleasure, for the dust has well-nigh choked me. Itis a different thing drilling on this sandy ground from drilling on astretch of good turf. Of course, you will come back and lunch with us, andbring your friend Herrara."

  Herrara, however, excused himself. He did not know a word of English, andfelt that until he could make himself understood he would feeluncomfortable at a gathering of English officers. After lunch Terence wascalled upon to tell the story about his cousin. Among his friends of theregiment he had no fear of his adventure with the bishop getting abroad,and he therefore related the whole story as it happened.

  "By my sowl," O'Grady said to him, afterwards, "Terence O'Connor, you takeme breath away altogether. To think that a year ago you were just agossoon, and here ye are a colonel--a Portuguese colonel, I grant, butstill a colonel--fighting Soult, and houlding defiles, and making nightattacks, and thrashing the French cavalry, and carrying off a nun from aconvent, and outwitting a bishop, and playing all sorts of divarsions. Itbates me entirely. There is Dicky Ryan, who, as I tould him yesterday, hadjust the same chances as you have had, just Dicky Ryan still. I tould himhe ought to blush down to his boots."

  "And what did he say, O'Grady?"

  "The young spalpeen had the impudence to say that there was I, CaptainO'Grady, just the same as when he first joined, and, barring the loss ofan arm, divil a bit the better. And the worst of it is, it was trueentirely. If I could but find a pretty cousin shut up in a convent youwould see that I would not be backward in doing what had to be done; butno such luck comes to me at all, at all."

  "Quite so, O' Grad
y; I have had tremendous luck. And it has all come aboutowing to my happening to think it would be a good thing to take possessionof that French lugger."

  "Don't you think it, me boy," O'Grady said, seriously. "No doubt a man mayhave a turn of luck, though it is not everyone who takes advantage of itwhen it comes. But when you see a man always succeeding, always doingsomething that other fellows don't do, and making his way up step by step,you may put it down that luck has very little to do with the matter, andthat he has got something in him that other men haven't got. You may havehad some luck to start with--enough, perhaps, to have got you yourlieutenancy, though I don't say that it was luck; but you cannot put therest of it down to that."

  At this moment Dick Ryan came and joined them.

  "Well, Dicky," Terence said, "have you had no fun lately in the regiment?"

  "Not a scrap," Ryan said, dismally. "There was not much chance of fun onthat long march; on board ship there was a storm all the way; then we werekept on board the transport at Cork nearly three months. Everyone was outof temper, and a mouse would not have dared squeak on board the ship. Ihave had a bad time of it since the day we lost you."

  "Oh, well, you will have plenty of chances yet, Dicky."

  "It has not been the same thing since you have gone, Terence," hegrumbled. "Of course we could not always be having fun; but you know thatwe were always putting our heads together and talking over what might bedone. It was good fun, even if we could not carry it out. I tried to stirup the others of our lot, but they don't seem to have it in them. I wishyou could get me transferred to your regiment. I know that we should haveplenty of fun there."

  "I am afraid that it could not be done, Dicky, though I should like itimmensely. But you see you have not learned a word of Portuguese, and youwould be of no use in the world."

  "There it is, you see," O'Grady said. "That is one of the points which hadno luck in it, Terence. You were always trying to talk away with thepeasants; and, riding about as you did as Fane's aide-de-camp, you hadopportunities of doing so and made the most of them. Now there are notthree other fellows in the regiment who can ask a simple question. I canshout _Carajo!_ at a mule-driver who loiters behind, and can add two orthree other strong Portuguese words, but there is an end of it. Cradockwould never have sent you that errand to Romana if you could not havetalked enough to have made yourself understood. You could never have jawedthose mutineers and put them up to getting hold of the arms. If Dicky Ryanand I had been sent on that mission we should just have been as helplessas babies, and should, like enough, have been murdered by that mob. Therewas no luck about that, you see; it was just because you had done yourbest to pick up the language, and nobody else had taken the trouble tolearn a word of it."

  "I see that, O'Grady," Ryan said, dolefully. "I don't envy Terence a bit.I know that he has quite deserved what he has got, and that if I had hadhis start, I should never have got any farther. Still, I wish I could gowith him. I know that he has always been the one who invented our plans.Still, I have had a good idea sometimes."

  "Certainly you have, Dicky; and if I have generally started an idea, youhave always worked it up with me. Well, if you will get up Portuguese abit, and I see a chance of asking for another English officer, say asadjutant, I will see if I cannot get you; but I could not ask for youwithout being able to give as a reason that you could speak Portuguesewell."

  "I will try, Terence; upon my honour, I will try hard," Ryan said. "I willget hold of a fellow and begin to-day."

  "Quite right, Dicky," O'Grady said. "Faith, I would do it meself, if itwasn't in the first place that I am too old to learn, and in the secondplace that I niver could learn anything when I was a boy. I used to getthrashed every day regularly, but divil a bit of difference did it make. Igot to read and write, and there I stuck. As for the ancients, I wasalways mixing them up together; and whether it was Alexander or Caesar whomarched over the Alps and burnt Jerusalem, divil a bit do I know, and Idon't see that if I did know it would do me a hap'orth of good."

  "I don't think that particular piece of knowledge would, O'Grady," Terenceagreed, with a hearty laugh; "still, even if you did learn Portuguese, Icouldn't ask for you. I don't mind Dicky, because he is only a year seniorto me; but if they made me commander-in-chief of the Portuguese army, Icould never have the cheek to give you an order."

  Three weeks later came the startling news that Sir Arthur Wellesley hadarrived at Lisbon, and was to assume the command of the army. Sir JohnCradock was to command at Gibraltar. There was general satisfaction at thenews, for the events of the last campaign had given all who served underhim an implicit confidence in Sir Arthur; but it was felt that Sir JohnCradock had been very hardly treated. In the first place, he was a goodway senior to Sir Arthur, and in the second place, he had battled againstinnumerable difficulties, and the time was now approaching when he wouldreap the benefit of his labours. To Terence the news came almost as ablow, for he felt that it was probable he might be at once appointed to aBritish regiment.

  Personally he would not have cared so much, but he would have regretted itgreatly for the sake of the men who had followed him. It was true thatthey might obey Herrara as willingly as they did himself, but he knew thatthe native officers did not possess anything like the same influence withthe Portuguese that the English did, and that there might be a rapiddeterioration in their discipline and morale. He remained in a state ofuncertainty for a week, at the end of which time he received a letter fromCaptain Nelson, and tearing it open, read as follows:--

  _My Dear O' Connor,_

  _I dare say you have been feeling somewhat doubtful as to your positionsince you heard that Sir Arthur has superseded Sir John Cradock. I maytell you at once that he has taken over the whole of Sir John's staff,yourself, of course, included. I ventured to suggest to Sir John that heshould mention your case to Sir Arthur, and he told me that he hadintended to take the opportunity of the first informal talk he had withhim to do so. The opportunity came yesterday, and Sir John went fully intoyour case, showed him the reports, and mentioned how he came to appointyou because of the clear and lucid description you gave of the movementsof every division of Moore's army._

  _Sir Arthur remembered your name at once, and the circumstances under whichhe had mentioned you in general orders for your conduct on board thetransport coming out. Sir John told me that he said, 'There is no doubtthat O'Connor is a singularly promising young officer, Sir John. The checkhe gave Soult on the Minho might have completely reversed the success ofthe Frenchman's campaign had he had any but Spaniards and Portuguese tooppose him. The report shows that O'Connor has done wonders with those tworegiments of his, and I shall not think of removing him from theircommand. A trustworthy native corps of that description would be of thegreatest advantage, and will act, like Trant and Wilson's commands, as theeyes of the army. I am much obliged to you for your having brought thecase before my notice, for otherwise, not knowing the circumstances, Imight very well have considered that the position of a lieutenant on mystaff as the commander of two native regiments was an anomalous one. Ishould, no doubt, have inquired how it occurred before I thought ofsuperseding an officer you had selected, but your explanation more thanjustifies his appointment.' So you see, Terence, the change will make nodifference in your position. And as I fancy Sir Arthur will not let thegrass grow under his feet, you are likely to have a lively time of itbefore long. By the way, a Gazette has arrived, and it contains theappointment of your two men to commissions._

  While waiting at Leirya, Terence had ordered uniforms for all theofficers. He had, after consultation with Herrara, decided upon oneapproximating rather to the cavalry than to infantry dress, as being moreconvenient for mounted officers. It consisted of tight-fitting greenpatrol jacket, breeches of the same colour, and half-high boots and agold-embroidered belt and slings. The two English officers wore a yellowband round their caps, and Herrara a gold one.

  "I am sure, Colonel O'Connor," Bull said, when Terence told Macwitty andhim that th
ey had been gazetted to commissions, "we cannot thank youenough. Macwitty and I have done our best, but it has been nothing morethan teaching drill to a lot of recruits."

  "We had two or three hard fights, too, Bull; and I have very good reasonfor thinking most highly of you, for I should never have got the corpsinto an efficient state without your assistance. And, indeed, I doubtwhether I should have ventured upon the task at all if I had not been surethat I should be well seconded by you."

  "It is good of you to say so, Colonel," Macwitty said; "but at any rate,it has been a rare bit of luck for us, and little did we think when wewere ordered to accompany you it was going to lead to our gettingcommissions. Well, we will do our best to deserve them."

  "That I am sure you will, Macwitty; and now that the campaign is going tocommence in earnest, and we may have two or three years' hard fighting,you may have opportunities of getting another step before you go home."

  Three days later an order came to Terence to march north again with hiscorps, and to place himself in some defensible position north of theMondego, and to co-operate, if necessary, with Trant and Silveira, alsoordered to take post beyond the river. Cuesta, the Portuguese general, hadgathered a fresh army of six thousand cavalry and thirty thousandinfantry. The greater portion were in a position in front of Victor'soutposts. Between the Tagus and the Mondego were 16,000 Portuguese troopsof the line, under Lord Beresford, that had been drilled and organized tosome extent by British officers. The British and German troops numbered22,000 fighting men.

  Sir Arthur Wellesley, at Lisbon, had the choice of either falling uponVictor or Soult. The former would be the most advantageous operation, but,upon the other hand, the Portuguese were most anxious to recover Oporto,their second city, with the fertile country round it.

  Another fact which influenced the decision was that Cuesta was alikeincapable and obstinate, and was wholly indisposed to co-operate warmlywith the British. The British commander, therefore, decided in the firstplace to attack Soult, and the force at Leirya was ordered to march toCoimbra. Five British battalions and two regiments of cavalry, with 7,000Portuguese troops, were ordered to Abrantes and Santarem to check Victor,should he endeavour to make a rapid march upon Lisbon. Four Portuguesebattalions were incorporated in each British brigade at Coimbra, Beresfordretaining 6,000 under his personal command. On the 2d of May Sir Arthurreached Coimbra and reviewed the force, 25,000 strong, 9,000 beingPortuguese, 3,000 Germans, and 13,000 British.

  Soult was badly informed of the storm that was gathering about him, ormany of his officers were disaffected, and were engaged in a plot to havehim supplanted; consequently, they kept back the information they receivedof the movements of the British.

  "WHO ARE YOU, SIR, AND WHAT TROOPS ARE THESE?" SIR ARTHUR]

 

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