pinion he will
not assault Ciudad Kodrigo."

"Then he will be a fool."

"H'm! As to that I think we are agreed. But the question just now is
how am I to get across the Tormes? The ford, I suppose, is watched on
both sides." I nodded. "And I suppose it will be absolutely fatal to
remain here long after daybreak?"

"Huerta swarms with soldiers," said I, "we have sixteen in the posada
and a cavalry picket just behind. A whole battalion has eaten the
village bare, and is foraging in all kinds of unlikely places. To be
sure you might have a chance in the loft above us, under the hay."

"Even so, you cannot hide our horses."

"Your horses?"

"Yes, they're outside at the back. I didn't know there was a cavalry
picket so close, and Jose must have missed it in the darkness."

Jose looked handsomely ashamed of himself.

"They are well-behaved horses," added the Captain. "Still, if they
cannot be stowed somewhere, it is unlikely they can be explained away,
and of course it will start a search."

"Our stable is full."

"Of course it is. Therefore you see we have no choice--apart from
our earnest wish--but to cross the ford before daybreak. How is it
patrolled on the far side?"

"Cavalry," said I; "two vedettes."

"Meeting, I suppose, just opposite the ford? How far do they patrol?"

"Three hundred yards maybe: certainly not more."

The Captain pursed up his lips as if whistling.

"Is there good cover on the other side? My map shows a wood of fair
size."

"About half a mile off; open country between. Once there, you ought to
be all right; I mean that a man clever enough to win there ought to
make child's-play of the rest."

He mused for half a minute. "The stream is two wide for me to hear the
movements of the patrols opposite. Jose has a wonderful ear."

"Yes, Captain, I can hear the water from where we stand," Jose put in.

"He is right," said I, "it's not a question of distance, but of the
noise of the water. The ford itself will not be more than twenty yards
across."

"What depth?"

"Three feet in the middle, as near as can be. I have rubbed down too
many horses these last three days not to know. The river may have
fallen an inch since yesterday. They have cleared the bottom of the
ford, but just above and below there are rocks, and slippery ones."

"My horse is roughed. Of course the bank is, watched on this side?"

"Two sentries by the ford, two a little up the road, and the
guard-house not twent