"And from there, I suppose, you found your way to England, and enjoyed a short rest from your labours?"
"No, sir. The captain of the privateer, who thought that we had rendered him valuable assistance in the fight, sailed out with us on to the ship track, and put us on board a transport bound for Lisbon."
"Well, you are more heart and soul in it than I am," the general laughed. "I should not have been able to deny myself a short run in England."
"I was anxious to get back to my regiment, sir, as I was afraid that, if I did not return before the next campaign opened, some other officer might be appointed to its command."
"You need not trouble yourself on that score, in future, Colonel O'Connor," Lord Wellington said. "If you have the bad luck to be captured again, I shall know that your absence will be temporary and, if it became necessary to appoint anyone else to your command, it would only be until your return."
On leaving the commander-in-chief's quarters, the adjutant general asked Terence when he thought of rejoining his regiment.
"I am going to start at once, sir. I ordered my horse to be saddled and in readiness, at ten o'clock."
"You must not think of doing so," the adjutant said. "The road is very bad, and not at all fit to be traversed on a dark night like this. Besides, you would really gain nothing by it. If you leave at daybreak, you will overtake your regiment before it has marched many miles."
Chapter 14: Effecting A Diversion
"I have been expecting you for the last month," Ryan exclaimed, "though how you were to get through the French lines was more than I could imagine. Still, I made sure you would do it, somehow."
"You gave me credit for more sharpness than I possess, Dick. I felt sure it could not be done, and so I had to go right down to Cadiz, and back to Lisbon by ship. It was a very much easier affair than ours was, and I met with no adventures and no difficulties on the way.
"Well, Herrara, I heard at headquarters that the regiment is going on well, and they fought stoutly at Banos. Your loss was not heavy, I hope?"
"We had fifty-three killed, and a hundred more or less seriously wounded. More than half of them have rejoined. The vacancies have been filled up, and the two battalions are both at their full strength.
"Two of the captains, Fernandez and Panza, were killed. I have appointed two of the sergeants temporarily, pending your confirmation, on your return."
"It is well that it is no worse. They were both good men, and will be a loss to us. Whom have you appointed in their places?"
"Gomes and Mendoza, the two sergeant majors. They are both men of good family, and thoroughly know their duty. Of course I filled their places, for the time, with two of the colour sergeants."
"I suppose you have ridden from headquarters, Terence," Ryan put in, "and must be as hungry as a hunter. We were just going to sit down to a couple of chickens and a ham, so come along."
While they were taking their meal, Terence gave them an account of the manner in which he had escaped from Salamanca.
"So you were in our old quarters, Terence! Well, you certainly have a marvellous knack of getting
out of scrapes. When we saw your horse carrying you into the middle of the French cavalry, I thought for a moment that the Minho regiment had lost its colonel; but it was not for long, and soon I was sure that, somehow or other, you would give them the slip again. Of course I have been thinking of you as a prisoner at Ciudad, and I was afraid that they would keep a sharper watch over you, there, than they did at Bayonne. Still, I felt sure that you would manage it somehow, even without the help we had.
"What are your orders?"
"I have none, save that we are to march to Miranda, where we shall find a guerilla force under Moras; and we are to operate with him, and do all we can to attract the attention of the French. That is all I know, for I have not had time to look at the written instructions I received from the adjutant general when I said goodbye to him, last night; but I don't think there are any precise orders.
"What were yours, Herrara?"
"They are that I was to consult with Moras; to operate carefully, and not to be drawn into any combat with superior or nearly equal French forces; which I took to mean equal to the strength of the regiment, for the guerillas are not to be depended upon, to the smallest extent, in anything like a pitched combat."
"There is no doubt about that," Terence agreed. "For cutting off small parties, harassing convoys, or anything of that sort, they are excellent; but for down-right hard fighting, the guerillas are not worth their salt. The great advantage of them is that they render it necessary for the French to send very strong guards with their baggage and convoys; and occasionally, when they are particularly bold and numerous, to despatch columns in pursuit of them. If it were not for these bands, they would be able to concentrate all their troops, and would soon capture Andalusia and Valencia, and then turn their attention to other work. As it is, they have to keep the roads clear, to leave strong garrisons everywhere, and to keep a sufficient force in each province to make head against the guerillas; for if they did not do so, all their friends would be speedily killed, and the peasantry be constantly incited to rise."