orgotten the taste of them."

"It is not lively work, O'Grady, but it is worse for me here. You
have got Dicky Ryan to stir you up and keep you alive, and
O'Flaherty to look after your health and see that you don't exceed
your allowance; while practically I have no one but Herrara to
speak to, for though Bull and Macwitty are excellent fellows in
their way, they are not much as companions.

"However, I think we must be nearly at the end of it. We have got
pretty well all the troops up here, except those who are to remain
at Lisbon."

"I see the men," O'Grady said, "but I don't see the victuals. We
can't march until we get transport and food, and where they are to
come from no one seems to know."

"I am afraid we shall do badly for a time in that respect, O'Grady.
Sir Arthur has not had time, yet, to find out what humbugs the
Spaniards are, and what wholesale lies they tell. Of course, he had
some slight experience of it when we first landed, at the Mondego;
but it takes longer than that to get at the bottom of their want of
faith. Craddock learnt it after a bitter experience, and so did
Moore. I have no doubt that the Spaniards have represented to Sir
Arthur that they have large disciplined armies, that the French
have been reduced to a mere handful, and that they are only waiting
for his advance to drive them across the frontier. Also, no doubt,
they have promised to find any amount of transport and provisions,
as soon as he enters Spain. As to relying upon Cuesta, you might as
well rely upon the assistance of an army of hares, commanded by a
pig-headed owl."

"I can't make out, meself," O'Grady said, "what we want to have
anything to do with the Spaniards for, at all. If I were in Sir
Arthur's place, I would just march straight against the French and
thrash them."

"That sounds well, O'Grady, but we know very little about where the
French are, what they are doing, or what is their strength; and I
think that you will allow that, though we have beaten them each
time we have met them, they fought well. At Rolica we were three to
one against them, and at Vimiera we had the advantage of a strong
position. At Corunna things were pretty well even, but we had our
backs to the wall.

"I am afraid, O'Grady, that just at present you are scarcely
qualified to take command of the army; except only on the one
point, that you thoroughly distrust the Spaniards.

"Well, Dick, have you been having any fun lately?"

"It is