Under Wellington\'s Command

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When morning broke they were within five miles of the Douro, and
entered the wood where they intended to pass the day, as they were
unaware whether any French troops were stationed along the river.
Both were still dressed as countrymen, and Leon went in the
afternoon to a little hamlet, half a mile from the wood. There he
learned that 2000 French were encamped at a village, a mile from
the bridge at Miranda. But one of the peasants, on Leon's telling
him that he was a lieutenant of Moras, offered to guide them to a
ford, of whose existence he did not think the French were aware.

It was seldom used, as it could only be forded in very dry seasons;
but as the water now was, it would only be necessary to swim their
horses a distance of a few yards. The two friends slept a great
part of the day and, as the sun set, finished the provisions they
had brought with them, and were ready to start when, two hours
later, their guide arrived from the village. His information proved
correct. He led them straight to the ford, which they found
unguarded and, rewarding him handsomely for his trouble, swam
across and, an hour later, entered Miranda and put up at a small
inn.

They mounted early the next morning and, in the afternoon, after a
three hours' ride across the mountains, came down into the valley;
where their arrival excited much enthusiasm among the troops, the
garrison having been joined by Macwitty's column.

"I cannot say that I was not expecting to see you, Captain Ryan,"
Macwitty said, as he shook hands heartily; "for I heard, from the
colonel, that Don Leon had started with a party to try and get you
out of prison, and that he was sure he would accomplish it, if it
were at all possible. I am expecting him here in a day or two, with
the rest of the regiment; for I had a message two days ago from
him, saying that it was too cold to remain on the hills any longer,
and that he should start on the day after the messenger left. Of
course the messenger was mounted; but our men can march as far, in
a day, as a man can ride, and are sure to lose no time. They would
take the Leon road for some distance, then strike off and cross the
upper Esla at Maylorga, follow the road down, avoiding Benavente,
cross the Tera at Vega, take the track across the mountains, and
come down into the valley from above. He said that he should only
bring such stores as they would be able to carry on the march, and
that he hoped to get here before the French were aware that he had
left the mountains."

Late in the afternoon Leon's followers arrived. They had travelled
at night, so as to avoid being questioned by the French cavalry,
who were scattered all over the country. Ryan was glad to see the
men who had risked so much for him, and very pleased to be able to
exchange his peasant's clothes for his uniform. The next morning,
he and Leon mounted and rode by the track by which Terence would
arrive, and met him halfway between Vega and the camp. The greeting
was a hearty one, indeed and, as Ryan shook hands with Moras, he
said:

"I cannot tell you, senor, how much I am indebted to Don Leon for
the splendid way in which he managed my rescue. Nothing could have
been more admirably contrived, or better carried out. It certainly
seemed to me, after I had been there a day or two, that a rescue
was simply impossible; though I knew that Colonel O'Connor would do
his best to get me out, as soon as he learned that I was captured."

"I gave you credit for better sense, Dick, than to ride right into
the hands of the French," Terence said, as he and Ryan rode on
together at the head of the column.

"I think you would have done it yourself, Terence. The night was
dark, and I could not see ten yards ahead of me. If they had been
on the march, of course, I should have heard them; but by bad luck
they had halted just across the road I was following. It was very
fortunate that you put all the numbers wrong in your despatches,
and I can tell you it was a mighty comfort to me to know that you
had done so; for I should have been half mad at the thought that
they had got at your real strength, which would have entirely
defeated the object of our expedition. As it was, I had the
satisfaction of knowing that the capture of the despatches would do
more good than harm.

"Did the man who followed me get through?"

"Yes, he kept his eyes open, Dicky," Terence said. "He returned ten
days later, with a letter from the adjutant general, saying that
the commander-in-chief was highly satisfied with my reports; and
that the forward movement of the French had ceased and, at several
points, their advanced troops had been called in. Spies had brought
news that ten thousand men, under General Drouet, had marched for
Salamanca; and that reports were current in the French camp that a
very large force had crossed the frontier, at the northeastern
corner of Portugal, with the evident design of recovering the north
of Leon, and of cutting the main line of communication with France.

"He added that he trusted that I should be able to still further
harass the enemy, and cause him to send more reinforcements. He
said that, doubtless, I should be very shortly driven back into
Portugal again; but that he left the matter entirely to my
judgment, but pointed out that, if I could but maintain myself for
another fortnight, the winter would be at hand; when the passes
would be blocked with snow, and Marmont could no longer think of
invading Portugal in force. As it is now more than a month since
that letter was written, and certainly further reinforcements have
arrived, I think the chief will be well satisfied with what we have
done. I have sent off two letters since then, fully reporting on
the work we have been at between Burgos and Valladolid; but whether
they have reached him, I cannot tell."

"Macwitty has one despatch for you. He tells me it came nearly a
fortnight ago; but that he had, at that time, been compelled to
fall back behind the Esla; and that, as the country beyond swarmed
with parties of the French cavalry, he thought that no messenger
could get through, and that great harm might result were the
despatches to fall into the hands of the enemy."

"Well, I daresay it will keep, Dick, and that no harm will have
been done by my not receiving it sooner.

"Now, tell me all about your escape. Were you lodged in our old
convent?"

"I had no such luck, Terence. I was in the city prison, in the
centre of the town; and my window, instead of looking out into the
street, was on the side of the courtyard. The window was strongly
barred, no civilians were allowed to enter the prison, and I think
that even you, who have a sort of genius for escapes, would have
found it, as I did, simply impossible to get away."

"No, the lookout was certainly bad; and you had none of the
advantages we had, at Bayonne, of being guarded by friendly
soldiers. If I had, at Salamanca, not been able to make friends
with a Spanish girl--

"Well, tell me all about it."

Ryan gave full details of the manner in which Don Gonzales had
contrived his escape.

"That was well managed, indeed," Terence said. "Splendidly done.
Leon is a trump. He ought to have been born an Irishman, and to
have been in our regiment. I don't know that I can give him higher
praise than that."

On their arrival in the valley, they found that another courier had
returned, half an hour before. Both despatches expressed the
commander-in-chief's extreme satisfaction with the manner in which
Terence had carried out his instructions.

"The employment of your force in cutting the main road between
Valladolid and Valencia, and between the latter place and Burgos;
while at the same time you maintained a hold on the country south
of the Douro, thus blocking the roads from Salamanca both to Zamora
and Valladolid, was in the highest degree deserving of commendation.
The garrisons of all the towns named were kept in a state of constant
watchfulness, and so great was the alarm produced that another
division followed that of Drouet. This has paralyzed Marmont. As snow
has already begun to fall among the mountains, it is probable that he
will soon go into winter quarters. Your work, therefore, may be
considered as done and, as your position in the mountains must soon
become untenable, it would be well if you, at once, withdraw all your
forces into Portugal."

Moras also received a despatch signed by Lord Wellington himself,
thanking him warmly for the services he had rendered.

"I may say, sir, that yours is the first case, since I have had the
honour to command the British force in the Peninsula, that I have
received really valuable assistance from a body of irregular
troops; and that I am highly sensible of the zeal and ability which
you have shown in cooperating with Colonel O'Connor, a service
which has been of extreme value to my army. I must also express my
high gratification, not only with the conduct of the men under your
command when in action, but at the clemency shown to French
prisoners; a clemency, unfortunately, very rare during the present
war. I shall not fail to express, to the central Spanish
authorities, my high appreciation of your services. I have given
orders to the officer commanding the detachment of British troops
at Miranda that, should you keep your force together near the
frontier, he will, as far as possible, comply with any request you
may make for supplies for their use."

Moras was highly gratified with this despatch.

"I shall," he said, "stay in this valley for the winter; but I
shall not keep more than a hundred, or a hundred and fifty men with
me. The peasants will disperse to their homes. Those remaining with
me will be the inhabitants of the towns; who could not safely
return, as they might be denounced by the Spanish spies, in French
pay, as having been out with me. We have plenty of supplies stored
up here to last us through the winter."

Terence at once sent off a report of his return, and an
acknowledgment of the receipt of the despatches from headquarters
and, the next day, in obedience to his orders, marched with his
regiment across the frontier, and established himself in Miranda.

The answer came in five days. It was brief.

"On receipt of this Colonel O'Connor will march, with the regiment
under his command, to Pinhel; and there report himself to General
Crawford."

Terence had ridden over, the afternoon before, to the valley; where
he found that but two hundred of the guerillas remained. Fifty of
these were on the point of leaving, the rest would remain with
Moras through the winter.

On arrival at Pinhel after three days' marching, he reported
himself to General Crawford. The general himself was absent but,
from the head of his staff, he received an order on the
quartermaster's department. Tents for his men were at once given
him, and a spot pointed out for their encampment. Six regiments
were, he heard, in the immediate neighbourhood; and among them he
found, to his great joy, were the Mayo Fusiliers. As soon as the
tents were erected, rations drawn, and a party despatched to obtain
straw for bedding from the quartermaster's department, Terence left
Herrara and the two majors to see that the troops were made
comfortable, and then rode over with Ryan to the camp of the
Fusiliers.

They were received with the heartiest welcome by the colonel and
officers; in whose ranks, however, there were several gaps, for the
regiment had suffered heavily at Fuentes d'Onoro.

"So you have been taken prisoner again, Terence!" Captain O'Grady
exclaimed; "sure, it must be on purpose you did it. Anyone may get
taken prisoner once; but when it happens twice, it begins to look
as if he was fonder of French rations than of French guns."

"I didn't think of it in that light, O'Grady; but now you put it
so, I will try and not get caught for the third time."

"We heard of your return, of course, and that you had gone straight
with your regiment to Miranda. We had a line from Dicky, the day
before he started; and mighty unkind we have thought it that neither
of you have sent us a word since then, and you with nothing to do at
all, at all; while we have been marching and countermarching, now
here and now there, now backwards and now forwards, ever since
Fuentes d'Onoro, till one's legs were ready to drop off one."

"Give someone else a chance to put in a word, O'Grady," the colonel
said. "Here we are, all dying to know how O'Connor slipped through
the hands of the French again; and sorra a word can anyone get in,
when your tongue is once loosened. If you are not quiet, I will
take him away with me to my own quarters; and just ask two or three
men, who know how to hold their tongue, to come up and listen to
his story."

"I will be as silent as a mouse, colonel dear," O'Grady said,
humbly; "though I would point out that O'Connor, being a colonel
like yourself, and in no way under your orders, might take it into
his head to prefer to stop with us here, instead of going with you.

"Now, Terence, we are all waiting for your story. Why don't you go
on?"

"Because, as you see, I am hard at work eating, just at present. We
have marched twenty miles this morning, with nothing but a crust of
bread at starting; and the story will keep much better than
luncheon."

Terence did not hurry himself over his meal but, when he had
finished, he gave them particulars of his escape from Salamanca,
his journey down to Cadiz, and then round by Lisbon.

"I thought there would be a woman in it, Terence," O'Grady
exclaimed. "With a soft tongue, and a presentable sort of face, and
impudence enough for a whole regiment, it was aisy for you to put
the comhether on a poor Spanish girl, who had never had the good
luck to meet an officer of the Mayo Fusiliers before. Sure, I have
always said to meself that, if I was ever taken prisoner, it would
not be long before some good-looking girl would take a fancy to me,
and get me out of the French clutches. Sure, if a young fellow like
yourself, without any special recommendations except a bigger share
of impudence than usual, could manage it; it would be aisy, indeed,
for a man like meself, with all the advantages of having lost an
arm in battle, to get round them."

There was a shout of laughter round the table, for O'Grady had, as
usual, spoken with an air of earnest simplicity, as if the
propositions he was laying down were beyond question.

"You must have had a weary time at Miranda, since you came back,
O'Connor," the colonel said, "with no one there but a wing of the
65th."

"I don't suppose they were to be pitied, colonel," Doctor
O'Flaherty laughed. "You may be sure that they kept Miranda lively,
in some way or other. Trust them for getting into mischief of some
sort."

"There is no saying what we might have done if we had, as you
suppose, been staying for the last two months at Miranda; but in
point of fact that has not been the case. We have been across the
frontier, and have been having a pretty lively time of it--at least
I have, for Dick has spent a month of it inside a French prison."

"What!" the major exclaimed, "were you with that force that has
been puzzling us all, and has been keeping the French in such hot
water that, as we hear, Marmont was obliged to give up his idea of
invading Portugal, and had to hurry off twenty thousand men, to
save Salamanca and Valladolid from being captured? Nobody has been
able to understand where the army sprung from, or how it was
composed. The general idea was that a division from England must
have landed, at either Oporto or Vigo, or that it must have been
brought round from Sicily; for none of our letters or papers said a
word about any large force having sailed from England. Not a soul
seemed to know anything about it. I know a man on Crawford's staff,
and he assured me that none of them were in the secret.

"A French officer, who was brought in a prisoner a few days since,
put their numbers down at twenty-five thousand, at least;
including, he said, a large guerilla force. He said that Zamora had
been cut off for a long time, that the country had been ravaged,
and posts captured almost at the gates of Salamanca; and that
communications had been interrupted, and large convoys captured
between Burgos and Valladolid; and that one column, five thousand
strong, had been very severely mauled, and forced to fall back.
This confirmed the statements that we had before heard, from the
peasantry and the French deserters. Now there is a chance of
penetrating the mystery, which has been a profound puzzle to us
here, and indeed to the whole army.

"The officer taken seemed to consider that the regular soldiers
were Portuguese; but of course that was nonsense. Beresford's
troops were all with him down south and, as to any other Portuguese
army, unless Wellington has got one together as secretly as he got
up the lines of Torres Vedras, the thing is absurd. Besides, who
had ever heard of Portuguese carrying on such operations as these,
without having a lot of our men to stiffen them, and to set them a
good example?"

Terence did not, at once, answer. Looking round the table he saw
that, in place of the expressions of amusement with which the
previous conversation had been listened to, there was now, on every
face, a deep and serious interest. He glanced at Ryan, who was
apparently absorbed in the occupation of watching the smoke curling
up from his cigar. At last he said:

"I fear, major, that I cannot answer your question. I may say that
I have had no specific orders to keep silence but, as it seems that
the whole matter has been kept a profound secret, I do not think
that, unless it comes out in some other way, I should be justified
in saying anything about it.

"I think that you will agree with me, Ryan."

Dick nodded.

"Yes, I agree with you that it would be best to say nothing about
it, till we hear that the facts are known. What has been done once,
may be done again."

"Quite so, Dick. I am glad that you agree with me.

"However, there can be no objection to your giving an account of
your gallant charge into the middle of the French cavalry, and the
story of your imprisonment and escape.

"I am sure, colonel, that it will be a source of gratification to
you, to know that one of your officers dashed, single handed, right
into the midst of a French squadron."

Ryan laughed.

"I am afraid the interest in the matter will be diminished,
colonel, when I mention that the charge was executed at night, and
that I was ignorant of the vicinity of the French until I rode into
the middle of them."

There was again a general laugh.

"I was on my way with despatches for Lord Wellington," he went on,
"when this unfortunate business happened."

"That was unfortunate, indeed, Ryan," the colonel said. "They did
not capture your despatches, I hope?"

"Indeed and they did, colonel. They had fast hold of me before I
could as much as draw my sword. They, however, gained very little
by them for, knowing that it was possible I might be captured, the
despatches had been so worded that they would deceive, rather than
inform, anyone into whose hands they might fall; though of course,
I had instructions to explain the matter, when I delivered them
safely."

Then he proceeded to give a full account of his rescue from the
prison of Salamanca. This was listened to with great interest.

"It was splendidly managed," the colonel said, when he had brought
his story to an end. "It was splendidly managed. Terence himself
could not have done it better. Well, you are certainly wonderfully
handy at getting into scrapes. Why, you have both been captured
twice, and both times got away safely.

"When I gave you your commission, Terence, I thought that you and
Ryan would keep things alive; but I certainly did not anticipate
that you would be so successful, that way, as you have been."

"I have had very little to do with it, colonel," Ryan said.

"No, I know that at Athlone Terence was the ringleader of all the
mischief that went on. Still, you were a good second, Ryan; that
is, if that position does not really belong to O'Grady."

"Is it me, colonel?" O'Grady said, in extreme surprise, and looking
round the table with an air of earnest protest, "when I was always
lecturing the boys?"

"I think, O'Grady, your manner of lecturing was akin to the
well-known cry:

"'Don't throw him into the pond, boys.'"

At this moment there was a sound of horses drawing up in front of
the house.

"It is the general and his staff," one of the ensigns said, as he
glanced through the window.

The table had been cleared, but there was a sudden and instant rush
to carry away bottles and glasses to hiding places. Newspapers were
scattered along the table and, when the door opened half a minute
later and the general entered, followed by his staff, the officers
of the Mayo Fusiliers presented an orderly and even studious
appearance. They all rose and saluted, as the general entered.

"I hope I am not disturbing you, gentlemen," General Crawford said
gravely, but with a sly look of amusement stealing across his
rugged face; "I am glad to see you all so well employed. There is
no doubt that the Irish regiments are greatly maligned. On two or
three occasions, when I have happened to call upon their officers,
I have uniformly found them studying the contents of the
newspapers. Your cigars, too, must be of unusually good quality,
for their odour seems mingled with a faint scent of--what shall I
say? It certainly reminds me of whisky though, as I see, that must
be but fancy on my part. However, gentlemen, I have not come in to
inspect your mess room, but to speak to Colonel O'Connor," and he
looked inquiringly round.

Terence at once stepped forward, and again saluted. The general,
whom Terence had not before met, looked him up and down, and then
held out his hand.

"I have heard of you many times, Colonel O'Connor. General Hill has
talked to me frequently of you and, not long since, when I was at
headquarters, Lord Wellington himself spoke to me for some time
about you, and from his staff I learned other particulars. That you
were young, I knew; but I was not prepared to find one who might
well pass as a junior lieutenant, or even as an ensign. This was
the regiment that you formerly belonged to; and as, on sending
across to your corps, I learned that you were here, I thought it as
well to come myself to tell you, before your comrades and friends,
that I have received from headquarters this morning a request from
the adjutant general to tell you personally, when you arrived, the
extreme satisfaction that the commander-in-chief feels at the
services that you have rendered.

"When I was at headquarters the other day, I was shown the reports
that you have, during the last six weeks, sent in; and am therefore
in a position to appreciate the work you have done. It is not too
much to say that you have saved Portugal from invasion, have
paralyzed the movements of the French, and have given to the
commander-in-chief some months in which to make his preparations
for taking the field in earnest, in the spring.

"Has Colonel O'Connor told you what he has been doing?" he said
suddenly, turning to Colonel Corcoran.

"No, general. In answer to our questions he said that, as it seemed
the matter had been kept a secret, he did not feel justified in
saying anything on the subject, until he received a distinct
intimation that there was no further occasion for remaining
silent."

"You did well, sir," the general said, again turning to Terence,
"and acted with the prudence and discretion that has, with much
dash and bravery, distinguished your conduct. As, however, the
armies have now gone into winter quarters; and as a general order
will appear, today, speaking of your services, and I have been
commissioned purposely to convey to you Lord Wellington's approval,
there is no occasion for further mystery on the subject.

"The force whose doings have paralyzed the French, broken up their
communications, and compelled Marmont to detach twenty thousand men
to assist at least an equal force in Salamanca, Zamora, Valladolid,
and Valencia, has consisted solely of the men of Colonel O'Connor's
regiment; and about an equal number of guerillas, commanded by the
partisan Moras. I need not tell you that a supreme amount of
activity, energy, and prudence, united, must have been employed
thus to disarrange the plans of a French general, commanding an
army of one hundred thousand men, by a band of two battalions of
Portuguese, and a couple of thousand undisciplined guerillas. It is
a feat that I, myself, or any other general in the British army,
might well be proud to have performed; and too much praise cannot
be bestowed upon Colonel O'Connor, and the three British officers
acting under his command; of all whose services, together with
those of his Portuguese officers, he has most warmly spoken in his
reports.

"And now, colonel, I see that there are on your mess table some
dark rings that may, possibly, have been caused by glasses. These,
doubtless, are not very far away, and I have no doubt that, when I
have left, you will very heartily drink the health of your former
comrade--I should say comrades, for I hear that Captain Ryan is
among you.

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