say that I was afraid that we
should not be moving until the spring. Shall we go in and say
goodbye to our fellows?"

"Yes, we may as well; but mind, don't say where we are going to,
only that we are ordered away. I don't suppose that the regiments
will know anything about it, till within an hour of the time they
march. There can be no doubt that it is a serious business. Ciudad
held out for weeks against Massena; and with Marmont within a few
days' march, with an army at least as strong as ours, it will be a
tough business, indeed, to take it before he can come up to its
relief; and I can well understand that it is all important that he
shall know nothing about the siege, till it is too late for him to
arrive in time."

"We have come in to say goodbye, colonel," Terence said, as he and
Ryan entered the mess room of the Mayo Fusiliers that evening.

"And where are you off to, O'Connor?"

"Well, sir, I don't mind mentioning it in here, but it must go no
further. The chief, knowing what we are capable of, proposes that I
shall make a rapid march to Madrid, seize the city, and bring King
Joseph back a prisoner."

There was a roar of laughter.

"Terence, my boy," Captain O'Grady said, "that is hardly a mission
worthy of a fighting man like yourself. I expect that you are
hiding something from us, and that the real idea is that you should
traverse Spain and France, enter Germany, and seize Boney, and
carry him off with you to England."

"I dare not tell you whether you are right or not, O'Grady. Things
of this sort must not even be whispered about. It is a wonderfully
good guess that you have made and, when it is all over, you will be
able to take credit for having divined what was up; but for mercy's
sake don't talk about it. Keep as silent as the grave and, if
anyone should ask you what has become of us, pretend that you know
nothing about it."

"But you are going, O'Connor?" the colonel said, when the laughter
had subsided.

"Yes, colonel. We march tomorrow morning. I daresay you will hear
of us before many days are over; and may, perhaps, be able to make
even a closer guess than O'Grady as to what we are doing. I am
heartily glad that we are off. We are now at our full strength
again. Most of the wounded have rejoined, and I could have filled
up the vacancies a dozen times over. The Portuguese know that I
always manage to get food for my men, somehow; which is more than
can be said for the other Portuguese