gets the news, to send
some fifteen or twenty thousand troops up here to clear the
country.

"Now, the first thing to do is to draw up a report of the
engagement, and to send it off to Wellington. I think that it will
be a good thing, Dick, for you to carry it yourself. I don't think
that there is any fear of your being interrupted on your way to
Miranda, and as an officer you will be able to get fresh horses,
and take the news quicker than an orderly could do; and it is of
great importance that the chief should know, as soon as possible,
what has taken place here. I shall speak very strongly of your
services during the past week, and it is always a good thing for an
officer selected to carry the news of a success; and lastly, you
can give a much better account of our operations, since we crossed
the frontier, than an orderly could do, and Wellington may want to
send orders back for our future work."

"I am game," Ryan said, "and thank you for the offer. How long will
you be?"

"Well, it is eight o'clock now, and if you start at midnight it
will be soon enough; so if you have finished your supper, you had
better lie down on that bed in the next room and get a sleep; for
you were marching all last night, and will want some rest before
starting on such a journey."

Chapter 15: Dick Ryan's Capture.

Terence wrote two despatches, one giving a full account of the
engagement, the other a detail of the work that had been performed
since they crossed the frontier. He wrote them in duplicate, so
that he might send off another messenger, three hours later; in
case, by any chance, Ryan failed to reach Miranda. He carefully
abstained from giving any real account of the strength of the
various columns, in each case putting the number at five times
their actual strength so that, if the despatches should miscarry,
not only would no information be conveyed to the French, but they
would be led to believe that the invading force was vastly stronger
than they had hitherto supposed. Ryan was, of course, to explain,
when he delivered the despatches, that the figures must in all
cases be divided by five, and the reason why false numbers had been
inserted.

Terence let him sleep until one o'clock, and then roused him.
Several French horses had been found, straying riderless along the
valley; and the best of these was picked out for him. A few minutes
later, Dick was on his way to Miranda. The road by which he was to
travel w