Under Wellington's Command: A Tale of the Peninsular War Page 4

  Chapter 3: Prisoners.

  On the 31st of July Terence reached the neighbourhood of Banos andlearned, from the peasantry, that a French army had passed throughthe town early on the preceding day. No resistance, whatever, hadbeen offered to its passage through the pass of Bejar; and theSpanish at Banos had retreated hastily, after exchanging a fewshots with the French advanced guard. The peasantry had alldeserted their villages, but had had some skirmishes with smallforaging parties of cavalry. Several French stragglers had beenkilled in the pass.

  Hoping to find some of these still alive, and to obtain informationfrom them, Terence continued his march for Banos; sending on two ofthe best mounted of the Portuguese horsemen, to ascertain if therewas any considerable French force left there. He was within half amile of the town when he saw them returning, at full speed, chasedby a party of French dragoons; who, however, fell back when theysaw the advancing infantry.

  "What is your news?" Terence asked, as the troopers rode up.

  "Banos is full of French troops," one of them replied, "and columnsare marching down the pass. From what I can see, I should thinkthat there must be 16,000 or 20,000 of them."

  In fact, this was Soult's second army corps--the first, which hadpreceded it, having that morning reached Plasencia, where theycaptured 400 sick in the hospitals, and a large quantity of storesthat had been left there, from want of carriage, when the Britisharmy advanced. Terence lost no time in retreating from so dangerousa neighbourhood, and at once made for the mountains he had justleft.

  Two regiments of French cavalry set out in pursuit, as soon as theparty that had chased the Portuguese troopers entered Banos withthe news that a body of infantry, some 2000 strong, was close athand. They came up before the Portuguese had marched more than amile. The two battalions were halted, and thrown into square. TheFrench rode fearlessly down upon them, but were received with sohot and steady a fire that they speedily drew off, withconsiderable loss. Then the regiment ascended the hills and, halfan hour later, halted.

  "The question is, what is to be done?" Terence said to Herrara andhis two majors. "It is evident that, for once, the information weobtained from the Spaniards is correct, and that Soult must have atleast 30,000 men with him. Possibly his full strength is not upyet. By this time the force that passed yesterday must be atPlasencia, and by tomorrow may be on the Tagus, and Sir Arthur'sposition must be one of great danger. Putting Cuesta and theSpaniards altogether aside as worthless, he has, even with thatbrigade we saw marching in soon after we started, only 22,000 or23,000 men; and on one side of him is Victor, with some 40,000; onthe other is Soult, with perhaps as many more. With starving andexhausted troops his chances are small, indeed, unless he can crossthe Tagus. He might beat one marshal or the other, but he canhardly beat the two of them.

  "The first thing to do is to send two troopers off, with duplicatedespatches, telling Sir Arthur of Soult's passage. He might nototherwise hear of it for some time, and then it might be too late.The peasantry and the village authorities will be too busy carryingoff their effects, and driving their animals to the hills, to thinkfor a moment of sending information. That is evidently the firstthing to be done.

  "Until we see what is going to happen, I don't think we can dobetter than cross the Sierra, and encamp at some spot where we canmake out the movements of the French on the plain. At the same timewe can keep an eye on the road to Plasencia, and be able to sendinformation to Sir Arthur, if any further bodies of French troopscome down into the valley. Our position is evidently a dangerousone. If the news has reached Sir Arthur, he will have fallen backfrom Talavera at once. Victor will no doubt follow on his heels,and his cavalry and those of Soult will speedily meet each other.Therefore it will be, in all ways, best to see how matters developthemselves before moving down into the plain."

  Accordingly two of the troopers were sent off with information that15,000 French were already in the valley, and that as many morewould be there on the following day. Then the regiment marchedacross the Sierra and took post high up on the slope, withPlasencia ten miles away on the right, and the spires of Oropesavisible across the valley.

  On the following day another army corps was seen descending fromBanos to Plasencia, while a large body of troops marched from thattown to Navalmoral, thus cutting off the retreat of the British bythe bridge of boats at Almaraz. Clouds of dust on the distant plainshowed that a portion, at least, of the Allied Army had arrived atOropesa; and bodies of French cavalry were made out, traversing theplain and scattering among the villages. Two more troopers weresent off with reports, and warned, like the others, to takedifferent routes, and make a wide circuit so as to avoid theFrench, and then to come down upon Oropesa. If the troops therewere British, they were to deliver their reports to the general incommand. If it was occupied by Spaniards, they were to proceed toTalavera and hand them in at headquarters.

  On the following day, still another army corps marched down toPlasencia, raising Soult's force to 54,000. On that day Cuesta, whohad undertaken to hold Talavera, retreated suddenly; alarmed byVictor's army making an advance, and leaving to their fate the 1500British wounded in the hospital. These, however, were benefited bythe change. They had been dying of hunger for, although there wasan abundance of provisions in Talavera, the inhabitants refused tosell any to the British, and jealously concealed their stores intheir houses. Nor would Cuesta do anything to aid them; and thusthe men who had fought and suffered for the Spanish cause were leftto perish, while there was abundance around them. The conduct ofthe Spaniards, from the moment the British crossed the frontier tothe time of their leaving Spain, was never forgotten or forgiven bythe British troops, who had henceforth an absolute hatred for theSpanish, which contributed in no small degree to the excessesperpetrated by them upon the inhabitants of Badajos, and otherplaces, taken subsequently by storm.

  The French, on entering Talavera, treated the British wounded withthe greatest kindness, and henceforth they were well fed and caredfor.

  The first report sent by Terence reached Sir Arthur safely, tenhours after it was sent out, and apprised him for the first time ofthe serious storm that was gathering in his rear; and he had,without an hour's delay, given orders for the army to march toOropesa, intending to give battle to Soult before Victor could comeup to join his fellow marshal. The second report informed him ofthe real strength of the army towards which he was marching, andshowed him the real extent of his danger. So he at once seized theonly plan of escape offered to him, marching with all speed toArzobispo, and crossing the Tagus by the bridge there, Cuesta'sarmy following him. As soon as the Tagus was passed, Crauford'sbrigade was hurried on to seize the bridge of boats at Almaraz, andprevent the French from crossing there.

  Fortunately, Soult was as ignorant of the position of the Allies asSir Arthur was of his and, believing that the British werefollowing Victor and pressing forward towards Madrid, he hadconducted his operations in a comparatively leisurely manner.Therefore, it was not until the British were safely across theTagus that he ascertained the real state of affairs, and puthimself in communication with Victor.

  On the morning following the crossing Terence was apprised, by anote sent back by one of the troopers, of the movement that hadtaken place. It was written upon a small piece of paper, so that itcould be destroyed at once, by the bearer, if he should bethreatened with capture, and contained only the following words:

  "Your report invaluable. The Allied Army moves to Arzobispo, andwill cross the Tagus there. You must act according to yourjudgment. I can give no advice."

  "Thank God the British army has escaped!" Terence said, afterreading the despatch to his officers; "now we have only to think ofourselves. As to rejoining Sir Arthur, it is out of the question;the valley is full of French troops. Ney has joined Soult, andthere are 100,000 Frenchmen between us and our army. If I had anyidea where Wilson is, we might endeavour to join him, for he mustbe in the same plight as ourselves. Our only chance, so far as Ican see, is to cross their line of com
munications and to endeavourto join Beresford, who is reported as marching down the frontierfrom Almeida."

  "Would you propose to pass through Banos, Colonel?" Herrara asked."The mountains there are almost, if not quite, impassable; but wemight get a peasant to guide us."

  "I don't like going near Banos, Herrara. The French are almost sureto have left a strong body there, and the chances are against ourfinding a peasant; for the inhabitants of all the villages, for tenmiles round, have almost certainly fled and taken to the hills.

  "I think it would be safer to follow along this side of the Sierra,cross the road a few miles above Plasencia, then make for themountains, and come down on the head of the river Coa. Beresford isprobably in the valley of that river. We are more likely to find aguide, that way, than we are by going through Banos. We shall havetough work of it whichever way we go, even if we are lucky enoughto get past without running against a single Frenchman."

  "Would it not be better to wait till nightfall, Colonel?" Bullasked.

  Terence shook his head.

  "There is no moon," he said; "and as to climbing about among thesemountains in the dark, it would be worse than running the risk of afight with the French. Besides, we should have no chance whateverof coming across a peasant. No, I think we must try it as soon asit gets light, tomorrow morning. We had better dress up a score ofmen in peasant clothes; and send them off, in couples, to searchamong the hills. Whoever comes across a man must bring him in,whether he likes it or not. The Spaniards are so desperately afraidof the French that they will give us no information, whatever,unless forced to do so; and we shall have even more difficulty thanthe British. There must have been thousands of peasants, andothers, who knew that Soult had come down upon Plasencia; and yetSir Arthur obtained no news.

  "There is one comfort: there can be little doubt that Soult is justas much in the dark as to the position of the British army."

  By nightfall three peasants had been brought in. All shook theirheads stolidly, when questioned in Portuguese; but upon Terencehaving them placed against a rock, and twelve men brought up andordered to load their muskets, one of them said, in Spanish:

  "I know where a path across the mountains leaves the road, but Ihave never been over the hills, and know nothing of how it runs."

  "Ah! I thought you could make out my question," Terence said."Well, you have saved the lives of yourself and your comrades. Takeus to the path, tomorrow, and set us fairly on it; and you shall beallowed to go free, and be paid five dollars for your trouble."

  Then he turned to Bull.

  "Put four men to guard them," he said, "and let the guard bechanged once every two hours. Their orders will be to shoot thefellows down, if they endeavour to make their escape. They arequite capable of going down into Plasencia and bringing the Frenchupon us."

  At daybreak they were on the march and, two hours later, came downinto the valley through which the road from Banos ran down toPlasencia. They had just crossed it when the head of a column ofcavalry appeared, coming down the valley. It at once broke into agallop.

  "How far is it to where the path begins to ascend the mountains?"Terence asked, holding a pistol to the peasant's head.

  "Four miles," the man replied sullenly, looking with apprehensionat the French.

  Terence shouted orders to Bull and Macwitty to throw their men intosquare, and as they had been marching, since they reached levelground, in column of companies, the movement was carried out beforethe enemy arrived.

  The French cavalry, believing that the battalions were Spanish, andwould break at once, charged furiously down upon them. They were,however, received with so heavy a fire that they drew offdiscomfited, leaving many men and horses on the ground.

  "They are a strong body," Terence said quietly to Bull, in thecentre of whose square he had taken up his position. "I should saythere are 3000 of them, and I am afraid they are the head ofanother division."

  "Yes, there are the infantry coming down the valley. We must presson, or we shall be caught before we get into the hills."

  The battalions were soon in motion but, immediately they started,the cavalry prepared to charge again.

  "This will never do, Bull. If we form square every time, we shallbe delayed so much that the infantry will soon be up. You must doit now, and quickly; but we will start next time in column, eightabreast; and face the men round in lines, four deep either way, ifthey charge again."

  The French, this time, drew off without pressing their charge home;and then, trotting on, took their place between the Portuguese andthe mountains.

  "Form your leading company in line, four deep, Bull. The columnshall follow you."

  The formation was quickly altered and, preceded by the line, tocover them from the charge in front, the column advanced at a rapidpace. The cavalry moved forward to meet them, but as the twoparties approached each other the line opened so heavy a fire thatthe French drew off from their front, both to the right and left.Bull at once threw back a wing of each company, to prevent anattack in flank; and so, in the form of a capital T, the columnkept on its way. Several times the French cavalry charged down,compelling them to halt; but each time, after repulsing the attack,the column went on.

  "It would be all right if we had only these fellows to deal with,"Terence said to Bull, "but their infantry are coming on fast."

  The plain behind was, indeed, covered with a swarm of skirmishers,coming along at the double.

  "We must go at the double, too, Bull," Terence said, "or they willbe up long before we get to the hills. We are not halfway yet. Keepthe men well in hand, and don't let them fall into confusion. Ifthey do, the cavalry will be down upon us in a minute."

  The cavalry, however, were equally conscious of the importance ofchecking the Portuguese, and again and again dashed down upon them,with reckless bravery; suffering heavily whenever they did so, butcausing some delay each time they charged.

  "I shall go back to the rear, Bull. Mind, my orders are precisethat, whatever happens behind to us, you are to push forward untilyou begin to climb the hills."

  Then, without waiting for an answer, he galloped back.

  Although the column pressed on steadily at the double, the delaycaused by the cavalry, and the fact that the French infantry werebroken up--and able, therefore, to run more quickly--was bringingthe enemy up fast. Herrara was riding at the head of the secondbattalion, and to him Terence repeated the instructions he hadgiven Bull.

  "What are you going to do, Colonel?" the latter asked.

  "There is some very broken ground, a quarter of a mile ahead," hereplied. "I intend to hold that spot with the rear company. It willbe some little time before the French infantry will be able to formand attack us; and the ground looks, to me, too broken for theircavalry to act. As soon as I can see that you are far enough aheadto gain the hill, before they can overtake you again, I shallfollow you with the company; but mind, should I not do so, you musttake the command of the two battalions, cross the mountains, andjoin Beresford."

  He galloped on to Macwitty, who was riding in the rear, andrepeated the order to him.

  "Well, Colonel, let me stop behind with the company, instead ofyourself."

  "No, no, Macwitty. It is the post of danger and, as commandingofficer, I must take it. It is a question of saving the twobattalions at the cost of the company, and there is no doubt as tothe course to be taken. Do you ride on at once, and take your postat the rear of the company ahead of this, and keep them steady.Here come their cavalry down again on the flank."

  There was another charge, three or four heavy volleys, and then theFrench drew off again. The bullets of their infantry were nowwhistling overhead.

  "A hundred yards farther," Terence shouted, "and then we will facethem."

  In front lay an upheaval of rock, stretching almost like a wallacross the line they were following. It was a sort of naturaloutwork, pushed out by nature in front of the hill, and rose somefifty feet above the level of the plain. There were many places atw
hich it could be climbed, and up one of these the track ranobliquely. Hitherto it had been but an ill-defined path, but heresome efforts had been made to render it practicable, by cuttingaway the ground on the upper side, to enable laden mules to passup.

  Terence reined up at the bottom of the ascent, and directed the mento take up their post on the crest; the leading half of the companyto the right, and the other half to the left of the path. Beforeall were up the French light troops were clustering round, but arush was prevented by the heavy fire that opened from the browabove, and the company were soon scattered along the crest, a yardapart.

  In five minutes some two thousand French infantry were assembled. Amounted officer rode some distance to the right and left, toexamine the ground. It was evident that he considered that theposition, held by 200 determined men, was a formidable one. Lyingdown, as they were, only the heads of the Portuguese could be seen;while a force attacking them would have to march across levelground, affording no shelter whatever from the defenders' fire, andthen to climb a very steep ascent. Moreover, the whole force theyhad been pursuing might be gathered, just behind.

  After another five minutes' delay, half a battalion broke up intoskirmishers; while the rest divided into two parties, and marchedparallel to the rocks, left and right. Terence saw that thesemovements must be successful for, with 200 men, he could not defenda line of indefinite length. However, his object had now beenachieved. The descent behind was even and regular, and he could seethe column winding up the hill, somewhat over half a mile away. Ofthe French cavalry he could see nothing. They had, after their lastcharge, ridden off, as if leaving the matter in the hands of theirinfantry.

  He ordered the bugler to sound the retreat, in open order; and thePortuguese, rising to their feet, went down the gentle slope at atrot. They were halfway to the hills when the long lines of theFrench cavalry were seen, sweeping down upon them from the right;having evidently ridden along the foot of the steep declivity,until they came to a spot where they were able to ascend it.

  At the sound of the bugle the rear company instantly ran togetherand formed a square and, as the French cavalry came up, opened acontinuous fire upon them. Unable to break the line of bayonets,the horsemen rode round and round the square, discharging theirpistols into it, and occasionally making desperate efforts to breakin. Suddenly the cavalry drew apart, and a battalion of infantrymarched forward, and poured their fire into the Portuguese.

  Terence felt that no more could be done. His main body was safefrom pursuit, and it would be but throwing away the lives of hisbrave fellows, did he continue the hopeless fight. He thereforewaved a white handkerchief, in token of surrender; shouted to hismen to cease fire and, riding through them with sheathed sword,made his way to the officer who appeared to be in command of thecavalry.

  'We surrender, sir, as prisoners of war.']

  "We surrender, sir," he said, "as prisoners of war. We have doneall that we could do."

  He could speak but a few words of French, but the officerunderstood him.

  "You have done more than enough, sir," he said. "Order your men tolay down their arms, and I will guarantee their safety."

  He ordered his cavalry to draw back and, riding up to the infantry,halted them. Terence at once ordered his men to lay down theirarms.

  "You have done all that men could do," he said. "You have savedyour comrades, and it is no dishonour to yield to twenty times yourown force. Form up in column, ready to march."

  The commander of the cavalry again rode up, this time accompaniedby another officer.

  "The general wishes to know, sir," the latter said in English, "whoyou are, and what force this is?"

  "I am Colonel O'Connor, holding that rank in Lord Beresford's army;and have the honour to be on the staff of Sir Arthur Wellesley,though at present detached on special service. The two battalionsthat have marched up the hill are the Minho regiment of Portuguese,under my command. We were posted on the Sierra and, being cut offfrom rejoining the British by the advance of Marshal Soult's army,were endeavouring to retire across the mountains into Portugal,when you cut us off."

  The officer translated the words to the general.

  "Tell him," the latter said, "that if all the Portuguese fought aswell as those troops, there would have been no occasion for theBritish to come here to aid them. I have never seen troops betterhandled, or more steady. This cannot be the first time they havebeen under fire."

  Terence bowed, when the compliment was translated to him.

  "They fought, General, in the campaign last year," he said, "andthe regiment takes its name from the fact that they preventedMarshal Soult from crossing at the mouth of the Minho; but theirfirst encounter with your cavalry was near Orense."

  "I remember it well," the general said, "for I was in command ofthe cavalry that attacked you. Your men were not in uniform, then,or I should have known them again. How did you come to be there?For at that time, the British had not advanced beyond Cintra."

  "I had been sent with a message to Romana and, happening to comeacross this newly-raised levy, without officers or commander, Itook the command and, aided by two British troopers and aPortuguese lieutenant, succeeded in getting them into shape; anddid my best to hold the pass to Braga."

  "Peste!" the general exclaimed. "That was you again, was it? It wasthe one piece of dash and determination shown by the Portuguese,during our advance to Oporto, and cost us as many men as all therest of the fighting put together.

  "And now, Colonel, we must be marching. Major Portalis, here, willtake charge of you."

  In a few minutes the French cavalry and infantry were on theirmarch towards Plasencia, the Portuguese prisoners guarded on bothsides by cavalry marching with them; their captain being, likeTerence, placed in charge of an officer. The Portuguese marchedwith head erect. They were prisoners, but they felt that they haddone well, and had sacrificed themselves to cover the retreat oftheir comrades; and that, had it not been for the French infantrycoming up, they might have beaten off the attacks of their greatbody of cavalry.

  On their arrival at Plasencia, the troops were placed in a largebuilding that had been converted into a prison. Here were somehundreds of other prisoners, for the most part Spaniards, who hadbeen captured when Soult had suddenly arrived.

  Terence was taken to the quarters of General Foy, who was incommand there. Here he was again questioned, through the officerwho spoke English. After he translated his answers to the general,the latter told him to ask Terence if he knew where Wilson was.

  "I do not, sir," he replied; "we were together on the Sierra, afortnight ago, but he marched suddenly away without communicatingwith me, and I remained at Banos until ordered to march to theAlberche. We took part in the battle there, and were then orderedback, again to support the Spaniards at Banos; but Marshal Soulthad marched through the pass, and the Spaniards had disappearedbefore we got there. We remained among the mountains untilyesterday when, hearing that the British had crossed the Tagus, andseeing no way to rejoin them, I started to cross the mountains tojoin Lord Beresford's force, wherever I might find it."

  "General Heron reports that the two battalions under your commandfought with extraordinary steadiness, and repulsed all the attemptsof his cavalry to break them; and finally succeeded in drawing offto the mountains, with the exception of the two companies thatformed the rear guard. How is it that there is only one officer?"

  "They were, in fact, one company," Terence said. "My companies areeach about 200 strong, and the officer captured with me was itscaptain."

  "General Heron also reports to me that your retreat was admirablycarried out," General Foy said, "and that no body of Frenchveterans could have done better.

  "Well, sir, if you are ready to give your parole not to escape, youwill be at liberty to move about the town freely, until there is anopportunity of sending a batch of prisoners to France."

  "Thank you, general. I am ready to give my parole not to make anyattempt to escape, and am obliged to you for you
r courtesy."

  Terence had already thought over what course he had best take,should he be offered freedom on parole, and had resolved to acceptit. The probabilities of making his escape were extremely small.There would be no chance whatever of rejoining the army; and apassage, alone, across the all-but-impassable mountains, was not tobe thought of. Therefore he decided that, at any rate for thepresent, he would give his promise not to attempt to escape.

  Quarters were assigned to him in the town, in a house where severalFrench officers were staying. These all showed him great courtesyand kindness. Between the English and French the war was,throughout, conducted on honourable terms. Prisoners were welltreated, and there was no national animosity between eitherofficers or men.

  When he went out into the town one of the French officers generallyaccompanied him, and he was introduced to a number of others. Heset to work, in earnest, to improve the small knowledge of Frenchthat he possessed and, borrowing some French newspapers, and buyinga dictionary in the town, he spent a considerable portion of histime in studying them.

  He remained three weeks at Plasencia. During that time he heardthat the army of Venegas had been completely routed by Victor, thatCuesta had been badly beaten soon after crossing the Tagus, andAlbuquerque's cavalry very roughly treated. Five guns and 400prisoners had been taken. Ney had marched through Plasencia, on hisway back to Valladolid to repress an insurrection that had brokenout in that district; and on his way met Wilson, who was trying toretreat by Banos, and who was decisively beaten and his commandscattered.

  Terence was now told to prepare to leave, with a convoy ofprisoners, for Talavera. He was the only British officer and, beingon parole, the officer commanding the detachment marching with theprisoners invited him to ride with him, and the two days' journeywas made very pleasantly.

  At Talavera he remained for a week. The Portuguese prisonersremained there, but the British who had been captured in Plasencia,and the convalescents from the hospital at Talavera--in all 200strong, among whom were six British officers--were to march to thefrontier, there to be interned in one of the French fortresses.

  The officer who had commanded the escort, on the march fromPlasencia, spoke in high terms of Terence to the officer in chargeof the two hundred men who were to go on with them. The party hadbeen directed not to pass through Madrid, as the sight of over twohundred British prisoners might give rise to a popular demonstrationby the excitable Spaniards, which would possibly lead to disorder.He was therefore directed to march by the road to the Escurial, andthen over the Sierra to Segovia, then up through Valladolid andBurgos. The escort was entirely composed of infantry and, as Terencecould not therefore take his horse with him, he joined the otherofficers on foot.

  To his great surprise and joy he found that one of these was hischum, Dick Ryan.

  "This is an unexpected pleasure, Dicky!" he exclaimed.

  "Well, yes, I am as pleased as you are at our meeting, Terence; butI must own that the conditions might have been more pleasant."

  "Oh, never mind the conditions!" Terence said. "It is quite enough,for the present, that we both are here; and that we have got beforeus a journey that is likely to be a jolly one. I suppose that youhave given your parole, as I have; but when we are once in prisonthere will be an end of that, and it is hard if, when we put ourheads together, we don't hit on some plan of escape.

  "Do you know the other officers? If so, please introduce me tothem."

  As soon as the introductions were completed, Terence asked Ryanwhere he had been wounded.

  "I was hit by a piece of a French shell," the latter replied."Fortunately it did not come straight at me, but scraped along myribs, laying them pretty well bare. As it was a month ago, it isquite healed up; but I am very stiff still, and am obliged to bevery careful in my movements. If I forget all about it, and give aturn suddenly, I regularly yell; for it feels as if a red-hot ironhad been stuck against me. However, I have learned to be carefuland, as long as I simply walk straight on, I am pretty well allright.

  "It was a near case, at first; and I believe I should have died ofstarvation if the French had not come in. Those brutes of Spaniardswould do nothing whatever for me, and I give you my word of honourthat nothing passed my lips, but water, for three days."

  "Perhaps it was a good thing for you, Dicky, and kept down fever."

  "I would have run the chance of a dozen fevers, to have got a goodmeal," Ryan said indignantly. "I don't know but that I would havechanced it, even for a crust of bread. I tell you, if the Frenchhad not come in when they did, there would not have been a manalive in hospital at the end of another forty-eight hours. The menwere so furious that, if they could have got at arms, I believeeveryone who could have managed to crawl out would have joined in asally, and have shot down every Spaniard they met in the streets,till they were overpowered and killed.

  "Now, let us hear your adventures. Of course, I saw in orders whatgood work you did, that day when you were in our camp, against theFrench when they attacked Donkin. Some of our fellows went acrossto see you, the morning after the big battle; but they could notfind you, and heard afterwards, from some men of Hill's division,that you had been seen marching away in a body, along the hills."

  Terence then gave an account of the attack by the French upon hisregiment, and how he had fallen into their hands.

  "That was well done, Terence. There is some pleasure in being takenprisoner, in that sort of way. What will become of your regiment,do you suppose?"

  "I have no idea. Herrara may be appointed to the command. I shouldthink that most likely he would be, but of course Sir Arthur mayput another English officer at its head. However, I should say thatthere is no likelihood of any more fighting, this year. Ney's corpshas gone north, which is a sign that there will be no invasion ofPortugal at present; and certainly Sir Arthur is not likely to takethe offensive again, now that his eyes have been thoroughly openedto the rascality and cowardice of the Spaniards; and by next springwe two may be back again. We have got into so many scrapestogether, and have always pulled through them, that I don't thinkthe French will keep us long.

  "Have you stuck to your Portuguese, Dicky?"

  "I have, and am beginning to get on very fairly with it."

  "That is right. When we get back I will apply for you as myadjutant, if I get the command of the regiment again."