d be no
doubt about it. A party of English cavalry was travelling in a line with
us, and in the same direction. I caught a glimpse of their red coats and
of their flashing arms glowing and twinkling among the tree-trunks.
Once, as they passed through a small clearing, I could see their whole
force, and I judged that they were of about the same strength as my
own--a half squadron at the most.

You who have heard some of my little adventures will give me credit for
being quick in my decisions, and prompt in carrying them out. But here I
must confess that I was in two minds. On the one hand there was the
chance of a fine cavalry skirmish with the English. On the other hand,
there was my mission at the Abbey of Almeixal, which seemed already to
be so much above my power. If I were to lose any of my men, it was
certain that I should be unable to carry out my orders. I was sitting
my horse, with my chin in my gauntlet, looking across at the rippling
gleams of light from the further wood, when suddenly one of these
red-coated Englishmen rode out from the cover, pointing at me and
breaking into a shrill whoop and halloa as if I had been a fox. Three
others joined him, and one who was a bugler sounded a call, which
brought the whole of them into the open. They were, as I had thought, a
half squadron, and they formed a double line with a front of
twenty-five, their officer--the one who had whooped at me--at their
head.

For my own part, I had instantly brought my own troopers into the same
formation, so that there we were, hussars and dragoons, with only two
hundred yards of grassy sward between us. They carried themselves well,
those red-coated troopers, with their silver helmets, their high white
plumes, and their long, gleaming swords; while, on the other hand, I am
sure that they would acknowledge that they had never looked upon finer
light horsemen than the fifty hussars of Conflans who were facing them.
They were heavier, it is true, and they may have seemed the smarter, for
Wellington used to make them burnish their metal work, which was not
usual among us. On the other hand, it is well known that the English
tunics were too tight for the sword-arm, which gave our men an
advantage. As to bravery, foolish, inexperienced people of every nation
always think that their own soldiers are braver than any others. There
is no nation in the world which does not entertain this idea. But when
one has seen as much as I have done, one