but they will never dream of my making such attempt
with a force which, I must own, is not always to be relied upon.
They are always shifting and changing. After a long march, half of
them will desert; then in a few days the ranks swell again.
Consequently, the men have little discipline and no confidence in
each other, and are little better than raw levies; but for rough
street fighting I have no doubt they would be all right, especially
when backed by good troops like yours.

"How would you proceed? As yours is the real fighting body, you
should have the command."

"Not at all," Terence said warmly. "You are my senior officer, not
only in rank but in age and experience. My orders were to assist
you as far as I could and, while we are together, I am ready to
carry out your orders in any way."

"Will your men be able to attack in the morning?"

"Certainly. They will have a good night's rest, and will be quite
ready for work, say, at four o'clock in the morning. It is not more
than two hours' march to Coimbra, so that we shall be there by
daybreak. Have they any troops between us and the town?"

"They have a post at a village, a mile this side, O'Connor. Do you
know how far their army is, on the other side of the river?"

"I know that they had a division close to Leiria, the day before
yesterday; but whether they have any large body just across the
Mondego, I cannot say."

"Then we will first surprise their post. I will undertake that.
Will you march your force down the river, close to the town? I have
a hundred cavalry and, as soon as I have captured the post, I will
send them on at a gallop; with orders to ride straight through to
the bridge, and prevent any mounted messengers passing across it.
As soon as you hear them come along the road, do you at once enter
the town. I will bring my men on at the double, and we shall not be
many minutes after you.

"It would be as well for you to enter it by several streets, as
that will cause greater confusion than if you were in a solid body.
The principal point is the great convent of Santa Clara, which has
been converted into a hospital. No doubt a portion of the garrison
are there; the rest will be scattered about in the public
buildings, and can be overpowered in detail.

"I think we are certain of success. I hope you will stop for a time
and take supper with me and, in the meantime, I will send down
orders for my men to be under arms, here, at half-past three."