tactics, a player too well
versed in the game to overlook the possible moves of an opponent.

"Ha!" he said, with the ghost of a sneer. "Far instance, Monsieur le
Comte?"

"The overwhelming force exists," said Samoval.

"Where is it then? Whence has it been created? If you refer to the
united British and Portuguese troops, you will be good enough to bear in
mind that they will be retreating before the Prince. They cannot at once
be before and behind him."

The man's cool assurance and cooler contempt of Samoval's views stung
the Count into some sharpness.

"Are you seeking information, sir, or are you bestowing it?" he
inquired.

"Ah! Your pardon, Monsieur le Comte. I inquire of course. I put forward
arguments to anticipate conditions that may possibly be erroneous."

Samoval waived the point. "There is another force besides the British
and Portuguese troops that you have left out of your calculations."

"And that?" The major was still faintly incredulous.

"You should remember what Wellington obviously remembers: that a French
army depends for its sustenance upon the country it is invading. That
is why Wellington is stripping the French line of penetration as bare
of sustenance as this card-table. If we assume the existence of the
barrier--an impassable line of fortifications encountered within many
marches of the frontier--we may also assume that starvation will be the
overwhelming force that will cut off the French retreat."

The other's keen eyes flickered. For a moment his face lost its
assurance, and it was Samoval's turn to smile. But the major made a
sharp recovery. He slowly shook his iron-grey head.

"You have no right to assume an impassable barrier. That is an
inadmissible hypothesis. There is no such thing as a line of
fortifications impassable to the French."

"You will pardon me, Major, but it is yourself have no right to your own
assumptions. Again you overlook something. I will grant that technically
what you say is true. No fortifications can be built that cannot be
destroyed--given adequate power, with which it is yet to prove that
Massena not knowing what may await him, will be equipped.

"But let us for a moment take so much for granted, and now consider
this: fortifications are unquestionably building in the region of Torres
Vedras, and Wellington guards the secret so jealously that not even the
British--either here or in England--are aware of their nature. That is
why the Cabinet