and the two battalions are both at their full
strength.

"Two of the captains, Fernandez and Panza, were killed. I have
appointed two of the sergeants temporarily, pending your
confirmation, on your return."

"It is well that it is no worse. They were both good men, and will
be a loss to us. Whom have you appointed in their places?"

"Gomes and Mendoza, the two sergeant majors. They are both men of
good family, and thoroughly know their duty. Of course I filled
their places, for the time, with two of the colour sergeants."

"I suppose you have ridden from headquarters, Terence," Ryan put
in, "and must be as hungry as a hunter. We were just going to sit
down to a couple of chickens and a ham, so come along."

While they were taking their meal, Terence gave them an account of
the manner in which he had escaped from Salamanca.

"So you were in our old quarters, Terence! Well, you certainly have
a marvellous knack of getting out of scrapes. When we saw your
horse carrying you into the middle of the French cavalry, I thought
for a moment that the Minho regiment had lost its colonel; but it
was not for long, and soon I was sure that, somehow or other, you
would give them the slip again. Of course I have been thinking of
you as a prisoner at Ciudad, and I was afraid that they would keep
a sharper watch over you, there, than they did at Bayonne. Still, I
felt sure that you would manage it somehow, even without the help
we had.

"What are your orders?"

"I have none, save that we are to march to Miranda, where we shall
find a guerilla force under Moras; and we are to operate with him,
and do all we can to attract the attention of the French. That is
all I know, for I have not had time to look at the written
instructions I received from the adjutant general when I said
goodbye to him, last night; but I don't think there are any precise
orders.

"What were yours, Herrara?"

"They are that I was to consult with Moras; to operate carefully,
and not to be drawn into any combat with superior or nearly equal
French forces; which I took to mean equal to the strength of the
regiment, for the guerillas are not to be depended upon, to the
smallest extent, in anything like a pitched combat."

"There is no doubt about that," Terence agreed. "For cutting off
small parties, harassing convoys, or anything of that sort, they
are excellent; but for down-right hard fighting, the guerillas are
not worth their salt. The great advanta