sh, there would be a
reward beyond all your possible dreams. Obtain the plans, then, and--"

He checked abruptly. The door had opened, and in a Venetian mirror
facing him upon the wall the major caught the reflection of a British
uniform, the stiff gold collar surmounted by a bronzed hawk face with
which he was acquainted.

"I beg your pardon, gentlemen," said the officer in Portuguese, "I was
looking for--"

His voice became indistinct, so that they never knew who it was that
he had been seeking when he intruded upon their privacy. The door had
closed again and the reflection had vanished from the mirror. But there
were beads of perspiration on the major's brow.

"It is fortunate," he muttered breathlessly, "that my back was towards
him. I would as soon meet the devil face to face. I didn't dream he was
in Lisbon."

"Who is he?" asked Minas.

"Colonel Grant, the British Intelligence officer. Phew! Name of a Name!
What an escape!" The major mopped his brow with a silk handkerchief.
"Beware of him, Monsieur de Samoval."

He rose. He was obviously shaken by the meeting.

"If one of you will kindly make quite sure that he is not about I think
that I had better go. If we should meet everything might be ruined."
Then with a change of manner he stayed Samoval, who was already on his
way to the door. "We understand each other, then?" he questioned them.
"I have my papers, and at dawn I leave Lisbon. I shall report your
conclusions to the Prince, and in anticipation I may already offer you
the expression of his profoundest gratitude. Meanwhile, you know what
is to do. Opposition to the policy, and the plans of the
fortifications--above all the plans."

He shook hands with them, and having waited until Samoval assured him
that the corridor outside was clear, he took his departure, and was soon
afterwards driving home, congratulating himself upon his most fortunate
escape from the hawk eye of Colquhoun Grant.

But when in the dead of that night he was awakened to find a British
sergeant with a halbert and six redcoats with fixed bayonets surrounding
his bed it occurred to him belatedly that what one man can see in a
mirror is also visible to another, and that Marshal Massena, Prince of
Esslingen, waiting for information beyond Ciudad Rodrigo, would
never enjoy the advantages of a report of Count Samoval's masterly
constructive and deductive reasoning.

CHAPTER IX. THE GENERAL ORDER

Sir Terence sat alone in