"you could not wish for a better cradle."

He took out some lint that he had brought with him, together with
some flat splints, bound the hand in its proper position, and then
laid the arm from the elbow to the fingers in the cradle, round
which he tightly put a few bandages to keep it in position.

"Now for your scarf," he said, and with this made a sling to
support the arm.

The whole operation did not take five minutes.

"Now, Mr. Kennedy, you had best lie down and get what sleep you
can. I will take the other half of your boot, and the other boot
also. It will be no use without its fellow. It will make three
wounded men comparatively comfortable, and I will send for some
more from the troopers."

"Yes, lie down at once, Kennedy," Berwick said. "We are going to
march off at daybreak, and the marshal and I have arranged
everything between ourselves. You had better try and eat
something, if it is only a wing of that chicken and a few
mouthfuls of meat. Your faintness must be due as much to hunger as
to your wound, for you have been at work since early morning, and
cannot have had time to eat anything."

This was indeed the case, and Desmond managed to swallow a few
mouthfuls, and then lay down upon the sofa, where, in spite of the
pain of his wound, he presently dozed off, being utterly worn out
with the work and excitement of the day.

Before morning, some five thousand of the troops from Diepenbeck
had marched into the camp, in good order and with their arms, and
as soon as it was daylight the whole force started for Ghent. With
deep regret, Desmond had learned from the marshal, before lying
down, that none of his comrades had returned; and as they had not
reached Diepenbeck, he felt sure that they were either killed or
prisoners.

"D'Eyncourt will, of course, be treated as a prisoner of war; but
if the identity of O'Sullivan or O'Neil is proved with the
officers of that name who escaped from Newgate, it is likely to go
hard with him."

After repulsing the cavalry sent in pursuit, the army marched away
unmolested, being joined as they went by large numbers of
fugitives, who had made their way through the allied lines in
small parties. Marlborough's army remained on the ground they had
won, collecting and caring for the wounded of both armies.

Two days later, Berwick's corps joined Vendome, and that of Eugene
marched into Marlborough's camp. In spite of the loss that he had
suffered at Oudenarde, this