Here, then, was a point of considerable difficulty for me at once. My
instructions had never provided for such a conjuncture, and I was totally
unable to determine what was best to be done; both my men and their horses
were completely tired by a march of fourteen leagues, and had a pressing
need of some rest; on every side of me the preparations for flight were
proceeding with all the speed that fear inspires; and to my urgent request
for some information as to food and shelter, I could obtain no other reply
than muttered menaces of the fate before me if I remained, and exaggerated
accounts of French cruelty.

Amidst all this bustle and confusion a tremendous fall of heavy rain set
in, which at once determined me, come what might, to house my party, and
provide forage for our horses.

As we pushed our way slowly through the encumbered streets, looking on
every side for some appearance of a village inn, a tremendous shout rose in
our rear, and a rush of the people towards us induced us to suppose
that the French were upon us. For some minutes the din and uproar were
terrific,--the clatter of horses' feet, the braying of trumpets, the
yelling of the mob, all mingling in one frightful concert.

I formed my men in close column, and waited steadily for the attack,
resolving, if possible, to charge through the advancing files,--any retreat
through the crowded and blocked-up thoroughfares being totally out of the
question. The rain was falling in such torrents that nothing could be seen
a few yards off, when suddenly a pause of a few seconds occurred, and from
the clash of accoutrements, and the hoarse tones of a loud voice, I judged
that the body of men before us were forming for attack.

Resolving, therefore, to take them by surprise, I gave the word to charge,
and spurring our jaded cattle, onward we dashed. The mob fled right and
left from us as we came on; and through the dense mist we could just
perceive a body of cavalry before us.

In an instant we were among them; down they went on every side, men and
horses rolling pell-mell over each other; not a blow, not a shot striking
us as we pressed on. Never did I witness such total consternation; some
threw themselves from their horses, and fled towards the houses; others
turned and tried to fall back, but the increasing pressure from behind held
them, and finally succeeded in blocking us up among them.

It was just at this critical moment that a sudden gleam of light from a
window fell upon the disordered mass, and to my astonishment, I need not
say to my delight, I perceived that they were Portuguese troops. Before
I had well time to halt my party, my convictions were pretty well
strengthened by hearing a well-known voice in the rear of the mass call
out,--

"Charge, ye devils! charge, will ye? Illustrious Hidalgos! cut them down;
_los infidelos, sacrificados los!_ Scatter them like chaff!"

One roar of laughter was my only answer to this energetic appeal for my
destruction, and the moment after the dry features and pleasant face of old
Monsoon beamed on me by the light of a pine-torch he carried in his right
hand.

[Illustration: MAJOR MONSOON TRYING TO CHARGE.]

"Are they prisoners? Have they surrendered?" inquired he, riding up. "It is
well for them; we'd have made mince-meat of them otherwise; now they shall
be well treated, and ransomed if they prefer."

"_Gracios excellenze!_" said I, in a feigned voice.

"Give up your sword," said the major, in an undertone.

"You behaved gallantly, but you fought against invincibles. Lord love them!
but they are the most terrified invincibles."

I nearly burst aloud at this.

"It was a close thing which of us ran first," muttered the major, as he
turned to give some directions to an aide-de-camp. "Ask them who they are,"
said he, in Spanish.

By this time I came close alongside of him, and placing my mouth close to
his ear, holloed out,--

"Monsoon, old fellow, how goes the King of Spain's sherry?"

"Eh, what! Why, upon my life, and so it is,--Charley, my boy, so it's you,
is it? Egad, how good; and we were so near being the death of you! My poor
fellow, how came you here?"

A few words of explanation sufficed to inform the major why we were there,
and still more to comfort him with the assurance that he had not been
charging the general's staff, and the conmander-in-chief himself.

"Upon my life, you gave me a great start; though as long as I thought you
were French, it was very well."

"True, Major, but certainly the invincibles were merciful as they were
strong."

"They were tired, Charley, nothing more; why, lad, we've been fighting
since daybreak,--beat Victor at six o'clock, drove him back behind the
Tagus; took a cold dinner, and had at him again in the afternoon. Lord love
you! we've immortalized ourselves. But you must never speak of this little
business here; it tells devilish ill for the discipline of your fellows,
upon my life it does."

This was rather an original turn to give the transaction, but I did not
oppose; and thus chatting, we entered the little inn, where, confidence
once restored, some semblance of comfort already appeared.

"And so you're come to reinforce us?" said Monsoon; "there was never
anything more opportune,--though we surprised ourselves today with valor, I
don't think we could persevere."

"Yes, Major, the appointment gave me sincere pleasure; I greatly desired
to see a little service under your orders. Shall I present you with my
despatches?"

"Not now, Charley,--not now, my lad. Supper is the first thing at this
moment; besides, now that you remind me, I must send off a despatch myself,
Upon my life, it's a great piece of fortune that you're here; you shall be
secretary at war, and write it for me. Here now--how lucky that I thought
of it, to be sure! And it was just a mere chance; one has so many things--"
Muttering such broken, disjointed sentences, the major opened a large
portfolio with writing materials, which he displayed before me as he rubbed
his hands with satisfaction, and said, "Write away, lad."

"But, my dear Major, you forget; I was not in the action. You must
describe; I can only follow you."

"Begin then thus:--

HEADQUARTERS, ALVAS, JUNE 26.
YOUR EXCELLENCY,--Having learned from Don Alphonzo Xaviero
da Minto, an officer upon my personal staff--

"Luckily sober at that moment--"

That the advanced guard of the eighth corps of the French
army--

"Stay, though, was it the eighth? Upon my life, I'm not quite clear as to
that; blot the word a little and go on--"

That the--corps, under Marshal Victor, had commenced a forward
movement towards Alcantara, I immediately ordered a flank
movement of the light infantry regiment to cover the bridge over the
Tagus. After breakfast--

"I'm afraid, Major, that is not precise enough."

"Well--"

About eleven o'clock, the French skirmishers attacked, and drove
in our pickets that were posted in front of our position, and following
rapidly up with cavalry, they took a few prisoners, and killed old
Alphonzo,--he ran like a man, they say, but they caught him in
the rear.

"You needn't put that in, if you don't like."

I now directed a charge of the cavalry brigade, under Don
Asturias Y'Hajos, that cut them up in fine style. Our artillery,
posted on the heights, mowing away at their columns like fun.

Victor didn't like this, and got into a wood, when we all went
to dinner; it was about two o'clock then.

After dinner, the Portuguese light corps, under Silva da Onorha,
having made an attack upon, the enemy's left, without my orders,
got devilish well trounced, and served them right; but coming up
to their assistance, with the heavy brigade of guns, and the cavalry,
we drove back the French, and took several prisoners, none of whom
we put to death.

"Dash that--Sir Arthur likes respect for the usages of war. Lord, how dry
I'm getting!"

The French were soon seen to retire their heavy guns, and
speedily afterwards retreated. We pursued them for some time, but
they showed fight; and as it was getting dark, I drew off my forces,
and came here to supper. Your Excellency will perceive, by the
enclosed return, that our loss has been considerable.

I send this despatch by Don Emanuel Forgales, whose services--

"I back him for mutton hash with onions against the whole regiment--"

--have been of the most distinguished nature, and beg to recommend
him to your Excellency's favor.

I have the honor, etc.


"Is it finished, Charley? Egad, I'm glad of it, for here comes supper."

The door opened as he spoke, and displayed a tempting tray of smoking
viands, flanked by several bottles,--an officer of the major's staff
accompanied it, and showed, by his attentions to the etiquette of the
table and the proper arrangement of the meal, that his functions in his
superior's household were more than military.

We were speedily joined by two others in rich uniform, whose names I now
forget, but to whom the major presented me in all form,--introducing me,
as well as I could interpret his Spanish, as his most illustrious ally and
friend Don Carlos O'Malley.




CHAPTER LIV.


THE SUPPER.

I have often partaken of more luxurious cookery and rarer wines; but never
do I remember enjoying a more welcome supper than on this occasion.

Our Portuguese guests left us soon, and the major and myself were once
more tête-a-tête beside a cheerful fire; a well-chosen array of bottles
guaranteeing that for some time at least no necessity of leave-taking
should arise from any deficiency of wine.

"That sherry is very near the thing, Charley; a little, a very little
sharp, but the after-taste perfect. And now, my boy, how have you been
doing since we parted?"

"Not so badly, Major. I have already got a step in promotion. The affair at
the Douro gave me a lieutenancy."

"I wish you joy with all my heart. I'll call you captain always while
you're with me. Upon my life I will. Why, man, they style me your
Excellency here. Bless your heart, we are great folk among the Portuguese,
and no bad service, after all."

"I should think not, Major. You seem to have always made a good thing of
it."

"No, Charley; no, my boy. They overlook us greatly in general orders
and despatches. Had the brilliant action of to-day been fought by the
British--But no matter, they may behave well in England, after all; and
when I'm called to the Upper House as Baron Monsoon of the Tagus,--is that
better than Lord Alcantara?"

"I prefer the latter."

"Well, then, I'll have it. Lord! what a treaty I'll move for with Portugal,
to let us have wine cheap. Wine, you know, as David says, gives us a
pleasant countenance; and oil,--I forget what oil does. Pass over the
decanter. And how is Sir Arthur, Charley? A fine fellow, but sadly
deficient in the knowledge of supplies. Never would have made any character
in the commissariat. Bless your heart, he pays for everything here as if he
were in Cheapside."

"How absurd, to be sure!"

"Isn't it, though? That was not my way, when I was commissary-general about
a year or two ago. To be sure, how I did puzzle them! They tried to audit
my accounts, and what do you think I did? I brought them in three thousand
pounds in my debt. They never tried on that game any more. 'No, no,' said
the Junta, 'Beresford and Monsoon are great men, and must be treated with
respect!' Do you think we'd let them search our pockets? But the rogues
doubled on us after all; they sent us to the northward,--a poor country--"

"So that, except a little commonplace pillage of the convents and
nunneries, you had little or nothing?"

"Exactly so; and then I got a great shock about that time that affected my
spirits for a considerable while."

"Indeed, Major, some illness?"

"No, I was quite well; but--Lord, how thirsty it makes me to think of it;
my throat is absolutely parched--I was near being hanged!"

"Hanged!"

"Yes. Upon my life it's true,--very horrible, ain't it? It had a great
effect upon my nervous system; and they never thought of any little pension
to me as a recompense for my sufferings."

"And who was barbarous enough to think of such a thing, Major?"

"Sir Arthur Wellesley himself,--none other, Charley?"

"Oh, it was a mistake, Major, or a joke."

"It was devilish near being a practical one, though. I'll tell you how it
occurred. After the battle of Vimeira, the brigade to which I was attached
had their headquarters at San Pietro, a large convent where all the church
plate for miles around was stored up for safety. A sergeant's guard was
accordingly stationed over the refectory, and every precaution taken to
prevent pillage, Sir Arthur himself having given particular orders on the
subject. Well, somehow,--I never could find out how,--but in leaving the
place, all the wagons of our brigade had got some trifling articles of
small value scattered, as it might be, among their stores,--gold cups,
silver candlesticks, Virgin Marys, ivory crucifixes, saints' eyes set in
topazes, and martyrs' toes in silver filagree, and a hundred other similar
things.

"One of these confounded bullock-cars broke down just at the angle of the
road where the commander-in-chief was standing with his staff to watch the
troops defile, and out rolled, among bread rations and salt beef, a whole
avalanche of precious relics and church ornaments. Every one stood aghast!
Never was there such a misfortune. No one endeavored to repair the mishap,
but all looked on in terrified amazement as to what was to follow.

"'Who has the command of this detachment?' shouted out Sir Arthur, in a
voice that made more than one of us tremble.

"'Monsoon, your Excellency,--Major Monsoon, of the Portuguese brigade.'

"'The d--d old rogue, I know him!' Upon my life that's what he said. 'Hang
him up on the spot,' pointing with his finger as he spoke; 'we shall see
if this practice cannot be put a stop to.' And with these words he rode
leisurely away, as if he had been merely ordering dinner for a small party.

"When I came up to the place the halberts were fixed, and Gronow, with a
company of the Fusiliers, under arms beside them.

"'Devilish sorry for it, Major,' said he; 'It's confoundedly unpleasant;
but can't be helped. We've got orders to see you hanged.'

"Faith, it was just so he said it, tapping his snuff-box as he spoke, and
looking carelessly about him. Now, had it not been for the fixed halberts
and the provost-marshal, I'd not have believed him; but one glance at them,
and another at the bullock-cart with all the holy images, told me at once
what had happened.

"'He only means to frighten me a little? Isn't that all, Gronow?' cried I,
in a supplicating voice.

"'Very possibly, Major,' said he; 'but I must execute my orders.'

"'You'll surely not--' Before I could finish, up came Dan Mackinnon,
cantering smartly.

"'Going to hang old Monsoon, eh, Gronow? What fun!'

"'Ain't it, though,' said I, half blubbering.

"'Well, if you're a good Catholic, you may have your choice of a saint,
for, by Jupiter, there's a strong muster of them here.' This cruel allusion
was made in reference to the gold and silver effigies that lay scattered
about the highway.

"'Dan,' said I, in a whisper, 'intercede for me. Do, like a good, kind
fellow. You have influence with Sir Arthur.'

"'You old sinner,' said he, 'it's useless.'

"'Dan, I'll forgive you the fifteen pounds.'

"'That you owe _me_,' said Dan, laughing.

"'Who'll ever be the father to you I have been? Who'll mix your punch with
burned Madeira, when I'm gone?' said I.

"'Well, really, I am sorry for you, Monsoon. I say, Gronow, don't tuck him
up for a few minutes; I'll speak for the old villain, and if I succeed,
I'll wave my handkerchief.'

"Well, away went Dan at a full gallop. Gronow sat down on a bank, and
I fidgeted about in no very enviable frame of mind, the confounded
provost-marshal eying me all the while.

"'I can only give you five minutes more, Major,' said Gronow, placing his
watch beside him on the grass. I tried to pray a little, and said three or
four of Solomon's proverbs, when he again called out: 'There, you see it
won't do! Sir Arthur is shaking his head.'

"'What's that waving yonder?'

"'The colors of the 6th Foot. Come, Major, off with your stock.'

"'Where is Dan now; what is he doing?'--for I could see nothing myself.

"'He's riding beside Sir Arthur. They all seem laughing.'

"'God forgive them! what an awful retrospect this will prove to some of
them.'

"'Time's up!' said Gronow, jumping up, and replacing his watch in his
pocket.

"'Provost-Marshal, be quick now--'

"'Eh! what's that?--there, I see it waving! There's a shout too!'

"'Ay, by Jove! so it is; well, you're saved this time, Major; that's the
signal.'

"So saying, Gronow formed his fellows in line and resumed his march quite
coolly, leaving me alone on the roadside to meditate over martial law and
my pernicious taste for relics.

"Well, Charley, this gave me a great shock, and I think, too, it must have
had a great effect upon Sir Arthur himself; but, upon my life, he has
wonderful nerves. I met him one day afterwards at dinner in Lisbon; he
looked at me very hard for a few seconds: 'Eh, Monsoon! Major Monsoon, I
think?'

"'Yes, your Excellency,' said I, briefly; thinking how painful it must be
for him to meet me.

"'Thought I had hanged you,--know I intended it,--no matter. A glass of
wine with you?'

"Upon my life, that was all; how easily some people can forgive themselves!
But Charley, my hearty, we are getting on slowly with the tipple; are they
all empty? So they are! Let us make a sortie on the cellar; bring a candle
with you, and come along."

We had scarcely proceeded a few steps from the door, when a most vociferous
sound of mirth, arising from a neighboring apartment, arrested our
progress.

"Are the dons so convivial, Major?" said I, as a hearty burst of laughter
broke forth at the moment.

"Upon my life, they surprise me; I begin to fear they have taken some of
our wine."

We now perceived that the sounds of merriment came from the kitchen,
which opened upon a little courtyard. Into this we crept stealthily, and
approaching noiselessly to the window, obtained a peep at the scene within.

Around a blazing fire, over which hung by a chain a massive iron pot, sat a
goodly party of some half-dozen people. One group lay in dark shadow; but
the others were brilliantly lighted up by the cheerful blaze, and showed
us a portly Dominican friar, with a beard down to his waist, a buxom,
dark-eyed girl of some eighteen years, and between the two, most
comfortably leaning back, with an arm round each, no less a person than my
trusty man Mickey Free.

It was evident, from the alternate motion of his head, that his attentions
were evenly divided between the church and the fair sex; although, to
confess the truth, they seemed much more favorably received by the latter
than the former,--a brown earthen flagon appearing to absorb all the worthy
monk's thoughts that he could spare from the contemplation of heavenly
objects.

"Mary, my darlin,' don't be looking at me that way, through the corner of
your eye; I know you're fond of me,--but the girls always was. You think
I'm joking, but troth I wouldn't say a lie before the holy man beside me;
sure I wouldn't, Father?"

The friar grunted out something in reply, not very unlike, in sound at
least, a hearty anathema.

"Ah, then, isn't it yourself has the illigant time of it, Father dear!"
said he, tapping him familiarly upon his ample paunch, "and nothing to
trouble you; the best of divarsion wherever you go, and whether it's
Badahos or Ballykilruddery, it's all one; the women is fond of ye. Father
Murphy, the coadjutor in Scariff, was just such another as yourself, and
he'd coax the birds off the trees with the tongue of him. Give us a pull at
the pipkin before it's all gone, and I'll give you a chant."

With this he seized the jar, and drained it to the bottom; the smack of his
lips as he concluded, and the disappointed look of the friar as he peered
into the vessel, throwing the others, once more, into a loud burst of
laughter.

"And now, your rev'rance, a good chorus is all I'll ask, and you'll not
refuse it for the honor of the church."

So saying, he turned a look of most droll expression upon the monk, and
began the following ditty, to the air of "Saint Patrick was a Gentleman":--

What an illegant life a friar leads,
With a fat round paunch before him!
He mutters a prayer and counts his beads,
And all the women adore him.
It's little he's troubled to work or think,
Wherever devotion leads him;
A "pater" pays for his dinner and drink,
For the Church--good luck to her!--feeds him.

From the cow in the field to the pig in the sty,
From the maid to the lady in satin,
They tremble wherever he turns an eye.
He can talk to the Devil in Latin!
He's mighty severe to the ugly and ould,
And curses like mad when he's near 'em;
But one beautiful trait of him I've been tould,
The innocent craytures don't fear him.

It's little for spirits or ghosts he cares;
For 'tis true as the world supposes,
With an Ave he'd make them march down-stairs,
Av they dared to show their noses.
The Devil himself's afraid, 'tis said,
And dares not to deride him;
For "angels make each night his bed,
And then--lie down beside him."

A perfect burst of laughter from Monsoon prevented my hearing how Mike's
minstrelsy succeeded within doors; but when I looked again, I found
that the friar had decamped, leaving the field open to his rival,--a
circumstance, I could plainly perceive, not disliked by either party.

"Come back, Charley, that villain of yours has given me the cramp, standing
here on the cold pavement. We'll have a little warm posset,--very small and
thin, as they say in Tom Jones,--and then to bed."

Notwithstanding the abstemious intentions of the major, it was daybreak
ere we separated, and neither party in a condition for performing upon the
tight-rope.




CHAPTER LV.


THE LEGION.

My services while with the Legion were of no very distinguished character,
and require no lengthened chronicle. Their great feat of arms, the repulse
of an advanced guard of Victor's corps, had taken place the very morning I
had joined them, and the ensuing month was passed in soft repose upon their
laurels.

For the first few days, indeed, a multiplicity of cares beset the worthy
major. There was a despatch to be written to Beresford, another to
the Supreme Junta, a letter to Wilson, at that time with the corps of
observation to the eastward. There were some wounded to be looked after, a
speech to be made to the conquering heroes themselves, and lastly, a few
prisoners were taken, whose fate seemed certainly to partake of the most
uncertain of war's proverbial chances.

The despatches gave little trouble; with some very slight alterations, the
great original, already sent forward to Sir Arthur, served as a basis for
the rest. The wounded were forwarded to Alcantara, with a medical staff; to
whom Monsoon, at parting, pleasantly hinted that he expected to see all the
sick at their duty by an early day, or he would be compelled to report the
doctors. The speech, which was intended as a kind of general order, he
deferred for some favorable afternoon when he could get up his Portuguese;
and lastly, came the prisoners, by far the most difficult of all his cares.
As for the few common soldiers taken, they gave him little uneasiness,--as
Sir John has it, they were "mortal men, and food for powder;" but there
was a staff-officer among them, aiguilletted and epauletted. The very
decorations he wore were no common temptation. Now, the major deliberated a
long time with himself, whether the usages of modern war might not admit of
the ancient, time-honored practice of ransom. The battle, save in glory,
had been singularly unproductive: plunder there was none; the few
ammunition-wagons and gun-carriages were worth little or nothing; so that,
save the prisoners, nothing remained. It was late in the evening--the
mellow hour of the major's meditations--when he ventured to open his heart
to me upon the matter.

"I was just thinking, Charley, how very superior they were in olden times
to us moderns, in many matters, and nothing more than in their treatment of
prisoners. They never took them away from their friends and country;
they always ransomed them,--if they had wherewithal to pay their way. So
good-natured!--upon my life it was a most excellent custom! They took any
little valuables they found about them, and then put them up at auction.
Moses and Eleazar, a priest, we are told, took every piece of gold, and
their wrought jewels,--meaning their watches, and ear-rings. You needn't
laugh, they all wore ear-rings, those fellows did. Now, why shouldn't
I profit by their good example? I have taken Agag, the King of the
Amalekites,--no, but upon my life, I have got a French major, and I'd let
him go for fifty doubloons."

It was not without much laughing, and some eloquence, that I could persuade
Monsoon that Sir Arthur's military notions might not accept of even the
authority of Moses; and as our headquarters were at no great distance,
the danger of such a step as he meditated was too considerable at such a
moment.

As for ourselves, no fatiguing drills, no harassing field-days, and no
provoking inspections interfered with the easy current of our lives.
Foraging parties there were, it was true, and some occasional outpost duty
was performed. But the officers for both were selected with a tact that
proved the major's appreciation of character; for while the gay, joyous
fellow that sung a jovial song and loved his _liquor_ was certain of being
entertained at headquarters, the less-gifted and less-congenial spirit had
the happiness of scouring the country for forage, and presenting himself as
a target to a French rifle.

My own endeavors to fulfil my instructions met with but little
encouragement or support; and although I labored hard at my task, I must
confess that the soil was a most ungrateful one. The cavalry were, it is
true, composed mostly of young fellows well-appointed, and in most cases
well-mounted; but a more disorderly, careless, undisciplined set of
good-humored fellows never formed a corps in the world.

Monsoon's opinions were felt in every branch of the service, from the
adjutant to the drumboy,--the same reckless, indolent, plunder-loving
spirit prevailed everywhere. And although under fire they showed no lack of
gallantry or courage, the moment of danger passed, discipline departed with
it, and their only conception of benefiting by a victory consisted in the
amount of pillage that resulted from it.

From time to time the rumors of great events reached us. We heard that
Soult, having succeeded in re-organizing his beaten army, was, in
conjunction with Ney's corps, returning from the north; that the marshals
were consolidating their forces in the neighborhood of Talavera; and that
King Joseph himself, at the head of a large army, had marched for Madrid.

Menacing as such an aspect of affairs was, it had little disturbed the
major's equanimity; and when our advanced posts reported daily the
intelligence that the French were in retreat, he cared little with what
object of concentrating they retired, provided the interval between us
grew gradually wider. His speculations upon the future were singularly
prophetic. "You'll see, Charley, what will happen; old Cuesta will pursue
them, and get thrashed. The English will come up, and perhaps get thrashed
too; but we, God bless us! are only a small force, partially organized and
ill to depend on,--we'll go up the mountains till all is over!" Thus did
the major's discretion not only extend to the avoidance of danger, but he
actually disqualified himself from even making its acquaintance.

Meanwhile our operations consisted in making easy marches to Almarez,
halting wherever the commissariat reported a well-stocked cellar or
well-furnished hen-roost, taking the primrose path in life, and being, in
words of the major, "contented and grateful, even amidst great perils!"




CHAPTER LVI.


THE DEPARTURE.

On the morning of the 10th July a despatch reached us announcing that Sir
Arthur Wellesley had taken up his headquarters at Placentia for the purpose
of communicating with Cuesta, then at Casa del Puerto; and ordering me
immediately to repair to the Spanish headquarters and await Sir Arthur's
arrival, to make my report upon the effective state of our corps. As for
me, I was heartily tired of the inaction of my present life, and much as I
relished the eccentricities of my friend the major, longed ardently for a
different sphere of action.

Not so Monsoon; the prospect of active employment and the thoughts of being
left once more alone, for his Portuguese staff afforded him little society,
depressed him greatly; and as the hour of my departure drew near, he
appeared lower in spirits than I had ever seen him.

"I shall be very lonely without you, Charley," said he, with a sigh, as we
sat the last evening together beside our cheerful wood fire. "I have little
intercourse with the dons; for my Portuguese is none of the best, and only
comes when the evening is far advanced; and besides, the villains, I fear,
may remember the sherry affair. Two of my present staff were with me then."

"Is that the story Power so often alluded to, Major; the King of Spain's--"

"There, Charley, hush; be cautious, my boy. I'd rather not speak about that