After pushing the boat out into the stream, Terence and his
companion allowed it to drift quietly for some distance; and then,
getting out the oars, rowed hard until they were beyond the mouth
of the river. The tide was, they thought, by the level of the water
where they had embarked, within an hour or two of flood. They
therefore determined to shape their course to the north of the
point where they believed Jersey to lie, so that when tide turned,
it would sweep them down upon it. The wind was too light to be of
any assistance, but the stars were bright, and the position of the
north star served as a guide to the direction they should take.
It had taken them some considerable time to launch the boat, and
they calculated that it was nearly midnight when they left the
mouth of the river. There was no occasion to row hard for, until it
became daylight and they could see the island of Jersey, they could
not shape their course with any certainty; and could only hope that
by keeping to the north of it they would not find, in the morning,
that the tide had taken them too far to the south.
"We are very lucky in our weather," Terence said as, after
labouring at the heavy oars for a couple of hours, they paused for
a few minutes' rest. "If it had been a strong wind, it would never
have done for us to have started. I believe in bad weather there
are tremendous currents about the islands, and desperately rough
water. A fog would have been even worse for us. As it is, it seems
to me we cannot go very far wrong. I suppose the tide is about
turning now; but if by daylight we find that we have been carried a
long way past the island, we shall soon have the tide turning
again, which will take us back to it.
"I am more afraid of falling in with a French privateer than I am
of missing the island. There are sure to be some of them at
Granville, to say nothing of Saint Malo. I don't suppose any of
those at Granville will put out in search of us, merely to please
the Maire; but if any were going to sea, they would be sure to keep
a lookout for us."
"If they did see us, we should have no chance of getting away,
Terence. This boat is not so big as the one we stole at Bayonne,
but it rows much heavier."
"There is one thing--even a privateer could not sail very fast in
this light wind and, if it freshens in the morning, we can get up
the sail."
"Then I hope it will get up a bit," Ryan said, "for after another
five or six hours' rowing, with these beastly oars, my hands will
be raw; and I am sure my back and arms will be nearly broken."
"We must risk that, Dick. We calculated fifteen miles in a straight
line across to Jersey, so that we must jog along at the rate of a
couple of miles an hour to get far enough to the west. Now then,
let us be moving again."
The night seemed interminable to them; and they felt relieved,
indeed, when morning began to break. In another half hour it would
be light enough for them to see for a considerable distance.
Unshipping their oars, they stood up and looked round.
"That must be Jersey," Terence exclaimed, pointing to the north.
"The current must have taken us past it, as I was afraid it would.
What time is it, Dick?"
"Nearly eight."
"Then tide must be turning already. The island must be six miles
away now. If we row hard we shall know, in half an hour, whether we
are being carried north or south."
"But we must be going north if tide has turned, Terence?"
"I don't know--I remember that the mate of the Sea Horse said that,
in the Channel, the course of the current did not change at high
and low water; so there is no saying what way we are going, at
present. Well, there is a little more wind, and I suppose we had
better get up our sail. There is Jersey, and whether we get there a
little sooner or a little later cannot make much difference. I am
sure we are both too tired to row her much faster than we can
sail."
Terence agreed, and they accordingly stepped the mast and hoisted
the sail. At first the boat moved but slowly through the water, but
the wind was freshening and, in half an hour, she was foaming
along.
"Tide is against us, still," Terence said presently. "I don't think
we are any nearer Jersey that when we first saw it."
"Look there!" Ryan exclaimed, a few minutes later, "there is a
lugger coming out from the direction of Granville."
"So there is, Dick, and with the wind behind her, she won't be very
long before she is here. I should say that she is about six or
seven miles off, and an hour will bring her up to us."
"I will get out an oar, Terence. That will help us a bit. We can
change about, occasionally."
Terence was steering with the other oar, while he held the sheet.
The boat was travelling at a good rate, but the lugger was fast
running down towards them.
"There is a schooner coming out from Jersey!" Terence exclaimed,
joyously. "If she is a British privateer we may be saved yet. I had
just made up my mind that we were in for another French prison."
Ryan looked over his shoulder.
"She is farther off than the lugger," he said.
"Yes, but the current that is keeping us back is helping her on
towards us. It will be a close thing; but I agree with you, I am
afraid that the lugger will be here first.
"Change seats with me. I will have a spell at the oar."
He was a good deal stronger than Ryan, and he felt comparatively
fresh after his hour's rest, so there was a perceptible increase in
the boat's speed after the change had been effected. When the
lugger was within a mile of them, and the schooner about double
that distance, the former changed her course a little, and bore up
as if to meet the schooner.
"Hurrah!" Ryan shouted. "The Frenchman is making for the schooner
and, if the Jersey boat don't turn and run, there will be a fight."
"The lugger looks to me the bigger boat," Terence said, as he
stopped rowing for a moment. "However, we are likely to be able to
slip off while they are at it."
Rapidly the two vessels approached each other and, when within a
mile, a puff of smoke broke out from the lugger's bow; and was
answered almost instantly by one from the schooner. Running fast
through the water, the vessels were soon within a short distance of
each other. Terence had ceased rowing, for there was no fear that
the lugger, which was now abeam of them, would give another thought
to the small boat.
The fight was going on in earnest, and the two vessels poured
broadsides into each other as they passed; the lugger wearing round
at once, and engaging the schooner broadside to broadside.
"The Frenchman has the heavier metal," Terence said. "I am afraid
the schooner will get the worst of it. The lugger is crowded with
men, too. What do you say, Dick? Shall we do our best to help the
schooner?"
"I think we ought to," Ryan agreed, at once. "She has certainly
saved us, and I think we ought to do what we can."
Accordingly he brought the boat nearer to the wind. The two vessels
were now close-hauled, and were moving but slowly through the
water. The boat passed two or three hundred yards astern of the
lugger, sailed a little farther; and then, when able to lay her
course for the schooner, went about and bore down towards her. Just
as they did so, the halliards of the schooner's mainsail were shot
asunder, and the sail ran down the mast. There was a shout of
triumph from the lugger, and she at once closed in towards her
crippled adversary.
"They are going to try and carry the schooner by boarding," Terence
exclaimed. "Keep her as close as she will go, Dick," and, seizing
his oar again, he began to row with all his might.
By the time they came up, the two vessels were side by side. The
guns had ceased their fire, but there was a rattle of pistol shots,
mingled with the clash of arms and the shouts of the combatants.
Running up to the schooner's side, Terence and Ryan clambered on
the channel and sprung on to the deck of the schooner.
A desperate fight was going on forward, where the two vessels
touched each other. There was no one aft. Here some fifteen or
twenty feet of water separated the ships, and even the helmsmen had
left the wheel to join in the fight. About half of the lugger's
crew had made their way on to the deck of the schooner, but the
Jersey men were still fighting stoutly. The rest of the lugger's
crew were gathered in the bow of their own vessel, waiting until
there should be a clear enough space left for them to join their
comrades.
"Things look bad," Terence exclaimed. "The French crew are a great
deal stronger. Lend me a hand to turn two of these eight-pounders
round. There are plenty of cartridges handy."
They drew the cannon back from their places, turned them round,
loaded them with a charge of powder, and then rammed in two of the
bags of bullets that were lying beside them. The schooner stood
higher out of the water than the lugger, and they were able to
train the two cannon so that they bore upon the mass of Frenchmen
in the latter's bow.
"Take steady aim," Terence said. "We are only just in time; our
fellows are being beaten back."
A moment later the two pieces were fired. Their discharge took
terrible effect among the French, sweeping away more than half of
those gathered in the lugger's bow.
"Load again!" Terence exclaimed. "They are too strong for the
Jersey men, still."
For a moment the French boarders had paused; but now, with a shout
of fury, they fell upon the crew of the schooner, driving them back
foot by foot towards the stern. The cannon were now trained
directly forward and, when the crowd of fighting men approached
them, Terence shouted in French to the Jersey men to fall back on
either side.
The captain, turning round and seeing the guns pointing forward,
repeated the order in a stentorian shout. The Jersey men leapt to
one side or the other, and the moment they were clear the two
cannon poured their contents into the midst of the French; who had
paused for a moment, surprised at the sudden cessation of
resistance.
Two clear lanes were swept through the crowd; and then, with a
shout, the captain of the schooner and his crew fell upon the
Frenchmen. Ryan was about to rush forward, when Terence said:
"No, no, Ryan, load again; better make sure."
The heavy loss they had suffered, however, so discouraged the
French that many at once turned and, running back, jumped on to the
deck of the lugger; while the others, though still resisting, were
driven after them.
As soon as the guns were reloaded they were trained, as before, to
bear on the lugger's bow and, as the French were driven back, they
were again fired. This completed the discomfiture of the enemy and,
with loud shouts, the Jersey men followed them on to the deck of
their own ship.
Terence and Ryan now ran forward, snatched up a couple of
cutlasses, and joined their friends; and were soon fighting in the
front line. But the French resistance was now almost over. Their
captain had fallen and, in five minutes, the last of them threw
down their arms and surrendered; while a great shout went up from
the crew of the schooner. The French flag was hauled down and, as
soon as the prisoners had been sent below, an ensign was brought
from the schooner, fixed to the flag halliards above the tricolor,
and the two hoisted together.
The captain had already turned to the two men who had come so
opportunely to his assistance.
"I do not know who you are, or where you come from, men, but you
have certainly saved us from capture. I did not know it was the
Annette until it was too late to draw off, or I should not have
engaged her; for she is the strongest lugger that sails out of
Granville, and carries double our weight of metal, with twice as
strong a crew; but whoever you are, I thank you most heartily. I am
half owner of the schooner, and should have lost all I was worth,
to say nothing of perhaps having to pass the next five years in a
French prison."
"We are two British officers," Terence said. "We have escaped from
a French prison, and were making our way to Jersey when we saw that
lugger coming after us, and should certainly have been captured had
you not come up; so we thought the least we could do was to lend
you a hand."
"Well, gentlemen, you have certainly saved us. Jacques Bontemps,
the captain of the Annette, was an old acquaintance of mine. He
commanded a smaller craft before he got the Annette, and we have
had two or three fights together.
"So it was you whom I saw in that little boat! Of course, we made
out that the lugger was chasing you, though why they should be
doing so we could not tell; but we thought no more about you after
the fight once began, and were as astonished as the Frenchmen when
you swept their bow. I just glanced round and saw what looked like
two French fishermen, and thought that you must be two of the
lugger's crew who, for some reason or other, had turned the guns
against their own ship.
"It will be a triumph, indeed, for us when we enter Saint Helier.
The Annette has been the terror of our privateers. Fortunately she
was generally away cruising, and many a prize has she taken into
Granville. I have had the luck to recapture two of them, myself;
but when she is known to be at home we most of us keep in port, for
she is a good deal more than a match for any craft that sails out
from Saint Helier.
"She only went into Granville yesterday, and I thought that there
was no fear of her being out again, for a week or so. When I saw
her, I took her for a smaller lugger that sails from that port, and
which is no more than a match for us. The fact is, we were looking
at her chasing you, and wondering if we should be in time, instead
of noticing her size. It was not until she fired that first
broadside that we found we had caught a tartar. We should have run,
if there had been a chance of getting away; but she is a
wonderfully fast boat, and we knew that our only chance was to
knock away one of her masts.
"And now, we will be making sail again. You must excuse me for a
few minutes."
In half an hour the main halliards had been repaired, and the sail
hoisted. When other damages were made good the captain, with half
his crew, went on board the lugger; and the two vessels sailed
together for Jersey. Terence and his companion had accompanied the
captain.
"Now, gentlemen, you may as well come down with me into the cabin.
It is likely enough that you will be able to find some clothes, in
Bontemps' chest, that will fit you. He was a dandy, in his way. At
any rate, his clothes will suit you better than those you have on."
They found, indeed, that the lugger's captain had so large a store
of clothing that they had no difficulty, whatever, in rigging
themselves out. While they were changing, the captain had left
them. He returned, presently, with a beaming face.
"She is a more valuable prize than I hoped for," he said. "She is
full almost to the hatches with the plunder she had taken in her
last cruise. I cannot make out what led her to come out of
Granville, unless it was in pursuit of you."
"I expect it was that," Terence said. "We were arrested by the
Maire of Granville, and had to tie him and one of his officials up.
He was a pompous little man; and no doubt, when he got free, went
down to the port and persuaded the captain of the lugger to put
out, at once, to endeavour to find us. I expect he told him that we
were prisoners of importance, either English spies or French
emigres.
"Well, Captain, I am glad that the capture has turned out well for
you."
"You certainly ought to share it," the captain said; "for if it had
not been for you, matters would have gone all the other way, and we
should have undoubtedly been captured."
"Oh, we don't want to share it! We have helped you to avoid a
French prison, but you have certainly saved us from the same thing,
so we are fairly quits."
"Well, we shall have time to talk about that when we get into port.
In the meantime we will search Jacques' lockers. Like enough there
may be something worth having there. Of course, he may have taken
it ashore, directly he landed; but it is hardly likely and, as he
has evidently captured several British merchantmen while he has
been out, he is sure to have some gold and valuables in the
lockers."
The search, indeed, brought to light four bags of money, each
marked with the name of an English ship. They contained, in all,
over 800 pounds; with several gold watches, rings, and other
valuables.
"Now, gentlemen," the captain said, "at least you will divide this
money with me. The Annette and the cargo below hatches are
certainly worth ten times as much, and I must insist upon your
going shares with me. I shall feel very hurt if you will not do
so."
"I thank you, Captain," Terence said, "and will not refuse your
offer. We shall have to provide ourselves with new uniforms, and
take a passage out to Portugal, which is where our regiments are,
at present; so the money will be very useful."
"And I see you have not a watch, monsieur. You had better take one
of these."
"Thanks! I parted with mine to a good woman, who helped me to
escape from Bayonne; so I will accept that offer, also."
In two hours the schooner entered the port of Saint Helier; the
lugger, under easy sail, following in her wake. They were greeted
with enthusiastic cheers by the crowd that gathered on the quays,
as soon as it was seen that the prize was the dreaded Annette--which
had, for some months past, been a terror to the privateers and
fishermen of the place--and that she should have been captured by
the Cerf seemed marvellous, indeed.
A British officer was on the quay when they got alongside. He came
on board at once.
"The governor has sent me to congratulate you, in his name, Captain
Teniers," he said, "on having captured a vessel double your own
size, which has for some time been the terror of these waters. He
will be glad if you will give me some particulars of the action;
and you will, when you can spare time afterwards, go up and give
him a full report of it."
"I owe the capture entirely to these two gentlemen, who are
officers in your army. They had escaped from a French prison, and
were making for this port when I first saw them this morning, with
the Annette in hot chase after them. It did not strike me that it
was her, for it was only last night that the news came in that she
had been seen, yesterday, sailing towards Granville; and I thought
that she was the Lionne, which is a boat our own size. I came up
before she had overhauled the boat and, directly the fight began, I
could see the mistake I had made. But as she was a good deal faster
than we were, it was of no use running. There was just a chance
that I might cripple her, and get away."
He then related the incidents of the fight.
"Well, I congratulate you, gentlemen," the officer said, heartily.
"You have indeed done a good turn to Captain Teniers. To whom have
I the pleasure of speaking?"
"My name is O'Connor," replied Terence. "I have the honour to be on
Sir Arthur Wellesley's staff; and have the rank of captain in our
army, but am a colonel in the Portuguese service. This is
Lieutenant Ryan, of His Majesty's Mayo Fusiliers."
The officer looked a little doubtful, while Terence was speaking.
It was difficult to believe that the young fellow, of one or two
and twenty, at the outside, could be a captain on Lord Wellington's
staff--for Sir Arthur had been raised to the peerage, after the
battle of Talavera--still less that he should be a colonel in the
Portuguese service. However, he bowed gravely, and said:
"My name is Major Chalmers, of the 35th. I am adjutant to the
governor. If it will not be inconvenient, I shall be glad if you
will return with me, and report yourselves to him."
"We are quite ready," Terence said. "We have nothing to do in the
way of packing up, for we have only the clothes we stand in; which
were, indeed, the property of the captain of the lugger, who was
killed in the action."
Telling Captain Teniers that they would be coming down again, when
they had seen the governor, the two friends accompanied the
officer. Very few words were said on the way, for the major
entertained strong doubts whether Terence had not been hoaxing him,
and whether the account he had given of himself was not altogether
fictitious. On arriving at the governor's he left them for a few
minutes in the anteroom; while he went in and gave the account he
had received, from the captain, of the manner in which the lugger
had been captured; and said that the two gentlemen who had played
so important a part in the matter were, as they said, one of them
an officer on the staff of Lord Wellington and a colonel in the
Portuguese army, and the other a subaltern in the Mayo Fusiliers.
"Why do you say, as they said, major? Have you any doubt about
it?"
"My only reason for doubting is that they are both young fellows of
about twenty, which would accord well enough with the claim of one
of them to be a lieutenant; but that the other should be a captain
on Lord Wellington's staff, and a colonel in the Portuguese
service, is quite incredible."
"It would seem so, certainly, major. However, it is evident that
they have both behaved extraordinarily well in this fight with the
Annette, and I cannot imagine that, whatever story a young fellow
might tell to civilians, he would venture to assume a military
title to which he had no claim, on arrival at a military station.
Will you please ask them to come in? At any rate, their story will
be worth hearing."
"Good day, gentlemen," he went on, as Terence and Ryan entered. "I
have to congratulate you, very heartily, upon the very efficient
manner in which you assisted in the capture of the French privateer
that has, for some time, been doing great damage among the islands.
She has been much more than a match for any of our privateers here
and, although she has been chased several times by the cruisers,
she has always managed to get away.
"And now, may I ask how you happened to be approaching the island,
in a small boat, at the time that the encounter took place?"
"Certainly, sir. We were both prisoners at Bayonne. I myself had
been captured by the French, when endeavouring to cross the
frontier into Portugal with my regiment; while Lieutenant Ryan was
wounded at Talavera, and was in the hospital there when the
Spaniards left the town, and the French marched in."
"What is your regiment, Colonel O'Connor?"
"It is called the Minho regiment, sir, and consists of two
battalions. We have had the honour of being mentioned in general
orders more than once; and were so on the day after the first
attack of Victor upon Donkin's brigade, stationed on the hill
forming the left of the British position at Talavera."
The governor looked at his adjutant who, rising, went to a table on
which were a pile of official gazettes. Picking out one, he handed
it to the governor, who glanced through it.
"Here is the general order of the day," he said, "and assuredly
Lord Wellington speaks, in the very highest terms, of the service
that Colonel O'Connor and the Minho regiment, under his command,
rendered. Certainly very high praise, indeed.
"You will understand, sir, that we are obliged to be cautious here;
and it seemed so strange that so young an officer should have
attained the rank of colonel, that I was curious to know how it
could have occurred."
"I am by no means surprised that it should seem strange, to you,
that I should hold the rank I claim. I was, like my friend
Lieutenant Ryan, in the Mayo Fusiliers; when I had the good fortune
to be mentioned, in despatches, in connection with an affair in
which the transport that took us out to Portugal was engaged with
two French privateers. In consequence of the mention, General Fane
appointed me one of his aides-de-camp; and I acted in that capacity
during the campaign that ended at Corunna. I was left on the field,
insensible, on the night after that battle.
"When I came to myself, the army was embarking; so I made my way
through Galicia into Portugal and, on reaching Lisbon, was
appointed by Sir John Craddock to his staff; and was sent by him on
a mission to the northern frontier of Portugal.
"On the way I took the command of a body of freshly-raised
Portuguese levies, who were without an officer or leader of any
kind. With the aid of a small escort with me, I formed them into a
reliable regiment, and had the good fortune to do some service with
them. I was therefore confirmed in my command, and was given
Portuguese rank. Sir Arthur Wellesley, on succeeding Sir John
Craddock in the supreme command, still kept my name on the
headquarter staff, thereby adding greatly to my authority; and
continued me in the independent command of my regiment.
"After Talavera we were despatched to aid the Spaniards in holding
the pass of Banos but, before we arrived there, Soult had crossed
the pass and, being cut off by his force from rejoining the army, I
determined to cross the mountains into Portugal. In so doing we
came upon a French division, on its march to Plasencia, and the
company of my regiment with which I was were cut off, and taken
prisoners."
"Forgive me for having doubted you, Colonel O'Connor. I should, of
course, have remembered your name. In his report of his operations,
before and subsequent to the battle of Talavera, Lord Wellington
mentions, more than once, that his left during his advance was
covered by the partisan corps of Wilson and O'Connor; and mentions,
too, that it was by messengers from Colonel O'Connor that he first
learned how formidable a force was in his rear, and was therefore
able to cross the Tagus and escape from his perilous position. Of
course, it never entered my mind that the officer who had rendered
such valuable service was so young a man.
"There is only one mystery left. How was it, when you and Mr. Ryan
escaped from Bayonne, that you are found in a boat in the Bay of
Saint Malo?"
"It does seem rather a roundabout way of rejoining," Terence said,
with a smile. "We escaped in a boat and made along the north coast
of Spain but, when off Santander, were blown out to sea in a gale,
and were picked up by a French privateer. We were supposed to be
two Spanish fishermen and, as the privateer was short of boats,
they took ours and enrolled us among their crew. They were on their
way to Brest, and we took an opportunity to desert, and made our
way on foot until we reached the mouth of the river Sienne; and
made off in a boat, last night. This morning we saw the privateer
in chase of us, and should certainly have been recaptured had not
the Cerf come up and engaged her. While the fight was going on we
had gone on board the schooner, unperceived by either party, and
took what seemed to us the best way of aiding our friends; who were
getting somewhat the worst of it, the crew of the lugger being very
much stronger than the crew of the schooner."
"Well, I hope that you will both, at once, take up your quarters
with me as long as you stay here; and I shall then have an
opportunity of hearing of your adventures more in detail."
"Thank you very much, sir. We shall be very happy to accept your
kind invitation; but I hope we shall not trespass upon your
hospitality long, for we are anxious to be off, as soon as
possible, so as to rejoin without loss of time. I am particularly
so for, although it will be two or three months before there is any
movement of the troops, I am afraid of finding someone else
appointed to the command of my regiment; and I have been so long
with it, now, that I should be sorry indeed to be put to any other
work."
"That I can quite understand. Well, there is no regular
communication from here, but there is not a week passes without
some craft or other sailing from here to Weymouth."
"We would rather, if possible, be put on board some ship on her way
to Portugal," Terence said. "If we landed in England, we should
have to report ourselves, and might be sent to a depot, and be
months before we got out there again. I spoke to the captain of the
Cerf about it, this morning; and he was good enough to promise
that, as soon as he had repaired damages, he would run out into the
Bay, and put us on board the first ship he overhauled bound for the
Peninsula."
"That would be an excellent plan, from your point of view," the
governor said. "Teniers is one of the best sailors on the island,
and has several times carried despatches for me to Weymouth. You
could not be in better hands."
Four days later the schooner was ready to sail again.
"This will be my last voyage in her," the captain said. "I have had
an offer for her, and shall sell her as soon as I come back again,
as I shall take the command of the Annette. I ought to do well in
her, for her rig and build are so evidently French that I shall be
able to creep up close to any French vessel making along the coast,
or returning from abroad, without being suspected of being an
enemy. Of course, I shall have to carry a much stronger crew than
at present; and I hope to clip the wings of some of these French
privateers, before long."
They had, on the day of their landing, ordered new uniforms, and
had purchased a stock of underclothing. They were fortunate in
being able to pick up swords and belts, and all were now ready for
them and, on the fifth day after landing, they said goodbye to the
governor, and sailed on board the Cerf.
When twenty-four hours out the vessel lay to, being now on the
track of ships bound south. On the following day they overhauled
six vessels and, as the last of these was bound with military
stores for Lisbon, Terence and Ryan were transferred to her. With a
hearty adieu to the skipper, they took their places in the boat and
were rowed to the vessel; being greeted, on their departure, by a
loud and hearty cheer from the crew of the privateer. There were no
passengers on board the store ship, and they had an uneventful
voyage, until she dropped anchor in the Tagus.
After paying the captain the small sum he charged for their
passage, they landed. They first went to a hotel and put up. On
sallying out, Ryan had no difficulty in learning that the Mayo
Fusiliers were at Portalegre.
Terence took his way to headquarters. The first person he met, on
entering, was his old acquaintance Captain Nelson, now wearing the
equipments of a major. The latter looked at him inquiringly, and
then exclaimed:
"Why, it is O'Connor! Why, I thought you were a prisoner! I am
delighted to see you. Where have you sprung from?"
"I escaped from Bayonne and, after sundry adventures, landed an
hour ago. In the first place, what has been done with my regiment?"
"It is with Hill's division, which is at Abrantes and Portalegre."
"Who is in command?"
"Your friend Herrara. No British officer has been appointed in your
place. There was some talk of handing it over to Trant in the
spring but, as nothing can be done before that, no one has yet been
nominated."
"I am glad, indeed, to hear it. I have been fidgeting about it,
ever since I went away."
"Well, I will take you in to the adjutant general, at once. I heard
him speak, more than once, of the services you rendered by sending
news that Soult and Ney were both in the valley, and so enabling
Lord Wellington to get safely across the Tagus. He said it was an
invaluable service. Of course Herrara reported your capture, and
that you had sacrificed yourself, and one of the companies, to
secure the safety of the rest. Now, come in."
[Illustration: 'This is Colonel O'Connor, sir.']
"This is Colonel O'Connor, sir," Major Nelson said, as he entered
the adjutant general's room. "I could not resist the pleasure of
bringing him in to you. He has just escaped from Bayonne, and
landed an hour ago."
"I am glad to see you, indeed," the adjutant general said, rising
and shaking Terence warmly by the hand. "The last time we met was
on the day when Victor attacked us, in the afternoon, after sending
the Spaniards flying. You rendered us good service that evening,
and still greater by acquainting the commander-in-chief of the
large force that had gathered in his rear--a force at least three
times as strong as we had reckoned on. A day later, and we should
have been overwhelmed. As it was, we had just time to cross the
Tagus before they were ready to fall upon us.
"I am sure Lord Wellington will be gratified, indeed, to hear that
you are back again. I suppose you will like to return to your
command of the Minho regiment?"
"I should prefer that to anything else," Terence said, "though, of
course, I am ready to undertake any other duty that you might
intrust to me."
"No, I think it would be for the good of the service that you
should remain as you are. The difficulty of obtaining anything like
accurate information, of the strength and position of the enemy, is
one of the greatest we have to contend with; and indeed, were it
not for Trant's command and yours, we should be almost in the dark.
"Please sit down for a minute. I will inform Lord Wellington of
your return."