had been made upon one of their officers. The "Little Cornet" was a
general favourite, short as was the time since he had joined; while
Hugh was greatly liked by the men of his own troop. Rupert's
colonel at once sent for him, to learn the particulars of the
outrage. Rupert was unable to give farther particulars as to his
assailants than that they were German soldiers; that much the dim
light had permitted him to see, but more than that he could not
say. He stated his reasons for believing Sir Richard Fulke was the
originator of the attack, since he had had a quarrel with him in
England, but owned that, beyond suspicions, he had no proof. The
colonel at once rode down to headquarters, and laid a complaint
before the Earl of Athlone, who promised that he would cause every
inquiry to be made. Then the general commanding the Hesse
contingent was communicated with, and the colonel of the cavalry
regiment to which Sir Richard Fulke belonged was sent for.

He stated that Captain Fulke had been away on leave of absence for
three days, and that he had gone to England. The regiment was,
however, paraded, and it was found that five troopers were missing.
No inquiry, however, could elicit from any of the others a
confession that they had been engaged in any fray, and as all were
reported as having been in by ten o'clock, except the five missing
men, there was no clue as to the parties engaged. The five men
might have deserted, but the grounds for suspicion were very
strong. Still, as no proof could be obtained, the matter was
suffered to drop.

The affair caused, however, much bad feeling between the two
regiments, and the men engaged in affrays when they met, until the
order was issued that they should only be allowed leave into the
town on alternate days. This ill feeling spread, however, beyond
the regiments concerned. There had already been a good deal of
jealousy upon the part of the Continental troops of the honour
gained by the British in being first in at the breaches of Venloo
and Liege, and this feeling was now much embittered. Duels between
the officers became matters of frequent occurrence, in spite of the
strict orders issued against that practice.

As Rupert had anticipated, the letter by which he had been
entrapped turned out a forgery. Lord Fairholm was extremely
indignant when he heard the use that had been made of his name, and
at once made inquiries as to the trooper who had carried the note
to Rupert. Th