t to have seen him," Terence said. "And now, Nita,
when he returns you are to give him this little box. It contains a
present to help you both to start housekeeping, in good style. You
see that I have put your name and his both on it. No one can say
what may happen in war. Remember that this is your joint property;
and if, by ill fortune, he should not come back again, then it
becomes yours."

"Oh, senor, you are altogether too good! Oh, I am a lucky girl! I
am sure that no maid ever went to church before with such splendid
ornaments. How envious all the girls will be of me!"

"And I expect the men will be equally envious of Garcia, Nita. Now,
if you will take my advice, you will not show these things to
anyone at present; but will hide them in the box, in some very safe
place, until you are quite sure that the French will never come
back again. If your neighbours saw them, some ill-natured person
might tell the French that you had received them from an English
officer, and then it might be supposed that you had been acting as
a spy for us; so it is better that you should tell no one, not even
your uncle--that is, if you have not already mentioned it to him."

"I have never told him," the girl said. "He is a good man and very
kind; but he is very timid, and afraid of getting into trouble. If
he asks me who you are and what you wanted, I shall tell him that
you are an English officer who was in prison, in the convent; that
you always bought your fruit of me, and said, if you ever came to
Salamanca again, you would find me out."

"That will do very well. Now I will say goodbye, Nita. If we remain
here after the French have retreated, I will come and see you
again; for there will be so many English officers here that I would
not be noticed. But there may be a battle any day; or Marmont may
fall back, and we should follow him; so that I may not get an
opportunity again."

"I hope you will come, I do hope you will come! I will bury all
these things, this evening, in the ground in the kitchen, after my
uncle has gone to bed."

"Well, goodbye, Nita. I must be off now, as I have a friend with
me. When you see Garcia, you can tell him that you have given me a
kiss. I am sure he won't mind."

"I should not care if he did," the girl said saucily, as she held
up her face. "Goodbye, senor. I shall always think of you, and pray
the Virgin to watch over you."

After Marmont fell back across the Douro there was a pause in th