only three hundred killed and wounded. You would think that
that was enough; but when I tell you that the cannon were so old
and rotten that seventy cannon, and thirty mortars, burst during
the siege, it seems to me that every one of those three hundred
must have been damaged by our own cannon, and that the Spaniards
did not succeed in hitting a single man.

"That is mighty encouraging for you, Mrs. O'Halloran; for I don't
think that our cannon will burst this time and, if the Spaniards do
not shoot better than they did before, it is little work, enough,
that is likely to fall to the share of the surgeons."

"Thank you," Mrs. O'Halloran said. "You have told that very nicely,
Teddy Burke. I did not know anything about it, before; and I had
some idea that it was when the English were besieged here that the
Queen of Spain sat on that rock which is called after her; but I
see now that it was Ferdinand's Isabella, and that it was when the
Moors were besieged here, hundreds of years before.

"Well, I am glad I know something about it. It is stupid to be in a
place, and know nothing of its history. You are rising in my
estimation fast, Dr. Burke."

"Mistress O'Halloran," the doctor said, rising and making a deep
bow, "you overwhelm me, entirely; and now I must say goodnight, for
I must look in at the hospital, before I turn in to my quarters."

Chapter 8: The Siege Begins.

On the 19th of June General Eliott, accompanied by several of his
officers, paid a visit to the Spanish lines to congratulate General
Mendoza, who commanded there, on the promotion that he had just
received. The visit lasted but a short time, and it was remarked
that the Spanish officer seemed ill at ease. Scarcely had the party
returned to Gibraltar than a Swedish frigate entered the bay,
having on board Mr. Logie, H.M. Consul in Barbary, who had come
across in her from Tangier. He reported that a Swedish brig had put
in there. She reported that she had fallen in with the French
fleet, of twenty-eight sail of the line, off Cape Finisterre; and
that they were waiting there to be joined by the Spanish fleet,
from Cadiz.

The news caused great excitement; but it was scarcely believed, for
the Spanish general had given the most amicable assurances to the
governor. On the 21st, however, the Spaniards, at their lines
across the neutral ground, refused to permit the mail to pass; and
a formal notification was sent in that intercourse between
Gibra