breast, and the French two
abreast at each side; but before a mile had been passed the order
was no longer strictly observed, and the men trudged along, smoking
their pipes, laughing and talking, the French and English
alternately breaking into a marching song. There was no fear of the
prisoners trying to escape. They could, at night, have got away
from their guards easily enough; but there was nowhere for them to
go, if they had done so. The English, smarting from the cruelty and
ill faith of the inhabitants of Talavera and the Spanish
authorities, felt a burning hatred of the Spanish; while the
Spaniards, on their side, deceived by the lying representations of
their Juntas, had no love whatever for the English, though ready
enough to receive money and arms from them.

On leaving Zadorra, the French officer in command said to Terence:

"Now, colonel, we shall have to be more careful during our marches,
keeping a sharp lookout at night. The country here is infested by
guerillas, whom all our efforts cannot eradicate. The mountains of
Navarre and Biscay are full of them. Sometimes they are in bands of
fifteen or twenty strong, sometimes they are in hundreds. Some of
them are at ordinary times goatherds, shepherds, muleteers, and
peasants; but a number of them are disbanded soldiers--the remains
of armies we have defeated and broken up, and who prefer this wild
life in the mountains to returning to their homes. Our convoys are
constantly attacked, and have always to be accompanied by a strong
guard."

"As we have no waggons with us, I should think that they would
hardly care to molest us," Terence said.

"That renders it less likely, certainly, colonel; but they fight
from hatred as much as for booty, and no French soldier who falls
into their hands is ever spared. Generally they are put to death
with atrocious tortures. At first there was no such feeling here
and, when my regiment was quartered at Vittoria, some three years
ago, things were quiet enough. You see, the feeling gradually grew.
No doubt some of our men plundered. Many of the regiments were
composed of young conscripts, with very slight notions of
discipline. Those from the country districts were, as a rule, quiet
lads enough; but among those from the towns, especially such places
as Toulouse, Lyons, and Marseilles, were young scoundrels ready for
any wickedness, and it is to these that the troubles we now have
are largely due.

"Of course the peasant