o Desmond's room.

"As we may be possibly ordered to Spain," Kennedy said, "I should
like to know a little about what we are going to fight about; for,
although I know a good deal about the war in Flanders, no news
about that in Spain ever reached Kilkargan."

"Well, you know, of course," O'Neil said, "that Philip the Fifth
is a grandson of Louis; and is naturally supported by France
against the Archduke Charles of Austria, who is competitor for the
throne, and who is, of course, supported by England. Six thousand
English and Dutch troops were sent to aid the Archduke Charles in
his attempt to invade Spain and dethrone Philip. The King of
Portugal, who is a member of the allied confederacy, promised to
have everything ready to cooperate with them. They found, however,
on their arrival, that no preparations had been made, and they
were accordingly distributed, for a time, among the garrisons on
the frontier.

"Philip, on his part, had not been so inactive, and two
armies--the one commanded by the Duke of Berwick, and the other by
General Villadarias--invaded Portugal. Berwick surprised and
captured two Dutch battalions, and then captured Portalagre, and
compelled the garrison, including an English regiment of infantry,
to surrender.

"The allies, to make a diversion, sent General Das Minas into
Spain, with fifteen thousand men, who captured one or two towns
and defeated a body of French and Spanish troops. The hot weather
now set in, and put a stop to hostilities, and the troops on both
sides went into quarters. The general--I forget his name--who
commanded the English and Dutch contingent, was so disgusted with
the proceedings of the Portuguese that he resigned his command,
and the Earl of Galway was appointed in his place. The next year
he crossed the frontier, captured several towns, without much
fighting, and invested Badajos. Here, however, a stern resistance
was met with. Galway's hand was carried off by a shot, and the
French general (Tesse) coming up in force to the relief of the
town, and the Portuguese not arriving at all, the allies were
obliged to fall back upon Portugal. But Philip was threatened from
a fresh quarter.

"In June, the Earl of Peterborough sailed from Portsmouth with
five thousand men, and at Lisbon took on board the Archduke
Charles. At Gibraltar some more troops were embarked, and
Peterborough set sail for the coast of Valencia. Peterborough
himself, one of the most daring of men, an