"now, let us talk about our journey," the muleteer said, when he had taken two or three whiffs at his cigarette. "nita tells me that you wish, if possible, to join your army near badajoz. that suits me well, for i have orders from a merchant here to fetch him twelve mule loads of sherry from xeres; and badajoz is, therefore, on my way. the merchant has a permit, signed by marmont, for me to pass unmolested by any french troops; saying that the wine is intended for his use, and that of his staff. if it were not for that, there would be small chance, indeed, of his ever getting it. there is so little trade, now, that it is scarce possible to buy a flask of the white wine of the south, here. of course, the pass will be equally useful going down to fetch it for, without it, my mules would be certain to be impressed for service, by the french.
"so you see, nothing could have happened more fortunately for, anywhere between the tagus and badajoz, we can turn off from estremadura into portugal. it would not be safe to try near badajoz, for soult's army is scattered all over there and, though the pass would be doubtless respected by superior officers, if we fell in with foraging parties they would have no hesitation in shooting me, tearing up the pass, and carrying off my mules. for your sake as well as my own, therefore, i would turn off and cross the mountains--say, to portalegre--and go down to elvas. there you would be with your friends; and i could cross again, further south, and make my way down to xeres."
"they say that two of marmont's divisions started south, yesterday."
"that is unfortunate, for they will leave little behind them in the way of food and drink; and we shall find it better to travel by by-roads. i should not mind being impressed, if it were only for the march down to badajoz; but once with an army, there is no saying how long one may be kept."
"if we find any difficulty in crossing into portugal this side of badajoz, i shall not mind going down to cadiz. i should have no difficulty, there, in getting a ship to lisbon."
"well, we shall see," the muleteer said. "we will go the short way, if we can. i hate the portuguese, and they are no fonder of us; but with you with me, of course, i should not be afraid of interference from them."
"but the portuguese are fighting on our side, and aiding us to help you."
"yes, because they think it is better that the war should be carried on here than in their own country. besides, from what i hear, it is with no goodwill that they fight under your british general; but only because he tells them that, unless they furnish so many troops, he will have nothing more to do with them, but will sail away with his army to england."
"that may be true, garcia; but you know that when we were here--for i was with the british army that marched through salamanca--the spanish authorities were no more willing to assist than were the portuguese; and not a single soldier--with the exception of two or three thousand half-armed men under romana--joined, from the day we crossed the frontier to that on which we embarked to corunna."
"the authorities are all bad," garcia said scornfully. "they only think of feathering their own nests, and of quarrelling among themselves. the people are patriots, but what can they do when the juntas keep the arms the english have sent us in their magazines, and divide the money among themselves? then our generals know nothing of their business, and have their own ambitions and rivalries. we are all ready to fight; and when the drum is beaten and we are called out, we go willingly enough. but what do we do when we go out? we are marched backwards and forwards without motive; the officers are no good; and when at last we do see the french we are always beaten, and the generals and the officers are the first to run away.
"we ought in the first place to rise, not against the french, but against the juntas, and the councillors, and the hidalgos. then, when we have done with them, we ought to choose officers from among ourselves, men that have done good service as leaders of partisans. then we could meet the french. we are brave enough, when we are well led. see how the people fought at saragossa, and since then at gerona, and many other places. we are not afraid of being killed, but we have no confidence in our chiefs."
"i have no doubt that is so, garcia; and that, if the regiments were trained by british officers, as some of the portuguese now are, you would fight well. unfortunately, as you say, your generals and officers are chosen, not for their merits, but from their influence with the juntas, whose object is to have the army filled with men who will be subservient to their orders.
"then there is another thing against you: that is, the jealousy of the various provinces. there is no common effort. when valencia is invaded, for example, the valencians fight; but they have no idea of going out from their homes to assist castile or catalonia and so, one after another, the provinces are conquered by the french."
"that is so," garcia said thoughtfully. "if they were to rise here i would fight, and take my chance of being killed; but i should not care to risk my life in defence of valencia, with which i have nothing whatever to do. i don't see how you are to get over that, so long as we are divided into provinces."
"nor do i, garcia. in times of peace these various governments may work well enough; but nothing could be worse than the system, when a country is invaded.
"what time do you start, tomorrow?"
"as soon as the gates are open. that will be at five o'clock. it is eleven now, so we had better get some sleep. in the morning i must see that your dress is all right. nita has given me a bottle of walnut juice, to stain your face and hands.
"do you lie down on the bed, senor. i will wrap myself up in this cloak. i am more accustomed to sleep on that than on the bed."
terence removed his outer garments and, in a few minutes, was sound asleep. at four o'clock garcia roused him. the morning was breaking and, with the assistance of the muleteer, he made his toilet and stained his face, neck, and hands, and darkened his hair. then they each ate a piece of bread with a bunch of grapes, took a drink of red wine, and then sallied out; garcia carrying his sheepskin cloak, and terence the three coloured blankets. a quarter of a mile farther, they came to an inn frequented by muleteers.
"i have told my mate about you," garcia said, "so you need not be afraid of him; nor indeed of any of us. there is not a muleteer who would not do what he could to aid the escape of a british officer."
most of the mules were already saddled, and garcia went up with terence to a man who was buckling a strap.
"sanchez," he said, "this is our new comrade, juan, who i told you would accompany us this journey."
the man nodded.
"it will be all the better," he said. "twelve mules are rather too much for two men to manage, when we get among the mountains."
garcia and terence at once set to work to assist, and in ten minutes the cavalcade started. garcia rode the leading mule, three others being tied in single file behind it. terence came next, and sanchez brought up the rear. the animals were fine ones, and garcia was evidently proud of them; showing their good points to terence, and telling him their names. the mules were all very fond of their master, turning their heads at once when addressed by name; and flapping their long ears in enjoyment, as he rubbed their heads or patted their necks.
the town was already astir and, as they reached the gates, country carts were pouring in, laden with fruits and vegetables for the market. garcia stopped for a moment, as an old man came along with a cart.
"how are you, father?"
"how are you, garcia? off again?"
"yes; i am going to xeres for wine, for the french general."
"i see that you have got a new comrade."
"yes; the journey is a long one, and i thought that it was as well to have another mate."
"yes, it is dangerous travelling," the old man said. "well, goodbye, and good fortune to you!"
garcia put his mules in motion again, and they passed through the gate and soon left salamanca behind. there was little conversation on the way. the two spaniards made and smoked cigarettes continually; and terence endeavoured to imitate them, by addressing the endearing words they used to their animals, having learned the names of the four of which he was in charge. at first they did not respond to this strange voice but, as they became accustomed to it, each answered, when its name was called, by quickening its pace and by a sharp whisk of the tail, that showed it understood that it was addressed.
terence knew that his escape would not be discovered until eight o'clock, when the doors were opened and the prisoners assembled in the yard for the roll call. should any pursuit be organized, which was unlikely, it would be in the direction of ciudad; as it might be supposed that an escaped prisoner would naturally make for the nearest spot where he could join his friends. one prisoner more or less would, however, make but little difference; and the authorities would probably content themselves with sending a message by a trooper, to all the towns and villages on that road, to arrest any suspicious persons travelling without proper papers.
on the line they were pursuing, the risk of interference was very small. the marshal's pass would be certainly respected by the officers of the corps under his command; and it was not until they fell in with parties of soult's troops that any unpleasantness was to be apprehended; though even here the worst that could be looked for, if they met any large body of troops, would be that the mules might be taken, for a time, for service in the army.
after a long day's journey they halted, for the night, at a village. here they found that the troops marching south had encamped close at hand for the night, and the resources of the place had been completely exhausted. this mattered but little, as they carried a week's store of bread, black sausage, cheese, onions, garlic, and capsicums. the landlord of the little inn furnished them with a cooking pot; and a sort of stew, which terence found by no means unpalatable, was concocted. the mules were hobbled and turned out on to the plain to graze; for the whole of the forage of the village had been requisitioned, for the use of the cavalry and baggage animals of the french column.
on the following morning they struck off from the road they had been following and, travelling for sixteen hours, came down on it again at the foot of the pass of bejar; and learned from some peasants that they had got ahead of the french column, which was encamped two or three miles down the road. before daybreak they were on their way again, and reached banos in the afternoon. there were but few inhabitants remaining here; for the requisitions for food and forage, made by the troops that had so frequently passed through the defiles, were such that the position of the inhabitants had become intolerable and, when they learned from garcia that two divisions of french troops would most probably arrive that evening, and that marmont's whole army would follow, most of the inhabitants who remained hastily packed their most valuable belongings in carts, and drove away into the hills.
the landlord of the largest inn, however, stood his ground. he was doing well; and the principal officers of troops passing through always took up their quarters with him, paid him fairly for their meals and saw that, whatever exactions were placed upon the town, he was exempted from them. therefore the muleteers were able to obtain a comfortable meal and, after resting their animals for three hours, and giving them a good feed of corn, went on a few miles farther; and then, turning off, encamped among the hills. they were about to wrap themselves in their cloaks and blankets, and to lie down for the night, when a number of armed men suddenly appeared.
"who are you, and whither are you going?" one, who appeared to be their leader, asked.
"we are bound for xeres," garcia replied, rising to his feet. "we are commissioned by senor moldeno, the well-known wine merchant of salamanca, to procure for him--as much good xeres wine as our mules will carry."
"it is a pity that we did not meet you on the way back, instead of on your journey there. we should appreciate the wine quite as thoroughly as his customers would do. but how do you propose to bring your wine back, when the whole country south swarms with soult's cavalry?"
"don moldeno obtained a pass for us from marmont; who, i suppose, is one of his customers."
"we could not think of allowing wine to pass for the use of a french marshal," the man said.
"it is not likely that he will drink it for some time," garcia said, carelessly; "for he is marching in this direction himself. two of his divisions have probably, by this time, reached banos; and we heard at salamanca that he himself, with the rest of them, will follow in a day or two."
"that is bad news," the man said. "there will be no travellers along here, while the army is on its march. are your mules carrying nothing now?"
"nothing at all. the mules would have been requisitioned two days ago, as were most of the others in salamanca; but marmont's pass saved us."
"are you carrying the money to buy the wine with?"
"no, don moldeno knew better than that. i have only a letter from him to the house of simon peron, at xeres. he told me that that would be sufficient, and they would furnish me with the wine, at once, on my handing the letter to them."
"well, comrades," the man said, to the others gathered round, "it is evident that we shall get no booty tonight; and may as well be off to our own fires, where supper is waiting for us; and move away from here at daybreak. the french may have parties of horse all over the hills, tomorrow, searching for provisions, cattle, and sheep."
"that was a narrow escape," garcia said, as the brigands moved off. "i wonder they did not take our mules; but i suppose they had as many as they want--three or four would be sufficient to carry their food, and anything they may have stolen--more than that would only be a hindrance to them in moving about, especially now they know that the french may be in the neighbourhood in a few hours, if they have not arrived already.
"well, senor, what is the next thing to be done?"
terence did not answer for some little time.
"it is not easy to say," he replied at length. "seeing that marmont and soult are practically united, there can be no doubt that our troops will have to fall back again to portugal. the whole country is covered with french cavalry and, in addition, we have to run risks from these brigands; who may not always prove so easy to deal with as the men who have just left us. what do you think yourself? you know the country, and can judge far better than i can as to our chance of getting through."
"i don't think it will be possible, senor, to carry out the plan of trying to cross into portugal, in this direction. it seems to me, now that soult is engaged, and there can be no large bodies of french near seville, our best plan would be to make for that town; whence, so far as we know, the country is clear of the enemy down to cadiz; and when we reach that port, you can take ship to lisbon."
"but in that case i shall not be able to get the money to pay you, for i shall not be known; and although i could doubtless get a passage, i do not think that i could obtain any funds."
"do not speak of it, senor. the british will be in salamanca one of these days, and then you will be able to pay me; or, if i should not be there at the time, you can leave the money for me with nita, or her father. it was for her sake that i undertook the business; and i have no doubt, whatever, that you will discharge the debt when you enter salamanca."
"that i certainly will, and to make it more certain i will ask one of the officers of my old regiment to undertake to find her out, and to pay the money; in case i may be with my own men, in some other part of the country."
"that will be quite enough, senor. do not trouble yourself further on the matter. we will start for seville at daybreak."
travelling rapidly, the little party kept along the range of the sierras; and then proceeded by the valley of the tagus and crossed the river at talavera; and then, keeping nearly due south, struck the guadiana at ciudad real and, crossing la mancha, gained the sierra morena; held west for some distance along the southern slopes; and then turned south and struck the guadalquivir between cordova and seville, and arrived safely at the latter town. they had been obliged to make a great number of detours, to avoid bodies of the enemy; but the muleteer had no difficulty in obtaining information, from the peasants, as to the whereabouts of the french and, after reaching the plains, always travelled at night. they fell in twice with large parties of guerillas; but these were not brigands for, as the country was still unconquered, and the french only held the ground they occupied, the bands had not degenerated into brigandage; but were in communication with the local authorities, and acted in conformity with their instructions, in concert with the spanish troops.
it was, however, nearly a month from the date of their leaving salamanca before they arrived at cadiz. terence had, during the journey, greatly improved his knowledge of spanish by his conversation with the muleteers and, as the language was so similar to the portuguese, he soon acquired facility in speaking it. they put up at a small fonda, or inn, frequented by muleteers; and terence at once made his way to the house where he heard that the british agent resided. the latter, on hearing his story, was surprised, indeed, that he should have made his way through spain from a point so far away as salamanca; and occupied, for the greater portion of the distance, by the french.
"a sloop-of-war is sailing tomorrow for the tagus," he said, "and i will give you a letter to her captain; who will, of course, give you a passage."
terence informed him of the great services the muleteer had rendered him, and asked him if he could advance him sufficient money to repay the man.
"i certainly have no funds at my disposal for such a purpose, captain o'connor,"--for terence had said nothing about his portuguese rank, finding that its announcement always caused a certain amount of doubt--"but i will strain a point, and grant you thirty pounds, on your bill upon your agent at lisbon. i have no doubt that it will be met on presentation. but should, for example, your vessel be wrecked or captured, which i am by no means contemplating as likely, the amount must go down among subsidies to spaniards who have rendered good service."
"thank you, sir. that will be sufficient, not to reward the man for the risk he has run and the fidelity that he has shown, but it will at least pay him for the service of his mules. i do not suppose that he would earn more, and it will be a satisfaction, to me, to know that he is at least not out of pocket."
the agent at once handed him a bag of silver, together with a letter to the officer in command of the daphne. he hired a boat and was rowed off to the ship; which was lying, with several other small british warships, in the port. when he ascended the side the officer on duty asked him somewhat roughly, in bad spanish, what he wanted.
"i have a letter for captain fry," he replied in english, to the surprise of the lieutenant. "i am a british officer, who was taken prisoner at the battle of fuentes d'onoro."
"you must not blame me for having taken you for a spaniard," the lieutenant said in surprise, as he handed the letter terence held out to the midshipman, with a request to deliver it to the captain. "your disguise is certainly excellent and, if you speak spanish as well as you look the part, i can quite understand your getting safely through the country."
"unfortunately, i do not. i speak it quite well enough for ordinary purposes, but not well enough to pass as a native. i travelled with a muleteer, who did all the talking that was necessary. i have been a month on the journey, which has greatly improved my spanish. i knew little of it when i started, but i should not have got on so quickly had i not been thoroughly up in portuguese; which, of course, helped me immensely."
the midshipman now came up and requested terence to follow him to the captain's cabin. the captain smiled as he entered.
"it is well that mr. bromhead vouched for you, captain o'connor; for i certainly should have had difficulty in bringing myself to believe that you were a british officer. i shall, of course, be very glad to give you a passage; and to hear the story of your adventures, which ought to be very interesting."
"i have had very few adventures," terence replied. "the muleteer knew the country perfectly; and had no difficulty in obtaining, from the peasants, news of the movements of the french. when i started i had no idea of making such a long journey; but had intended to join lord beresford in front of badajos, if i could not manage to cross the frontier higher up; but marmont's march south rendered that impossible, and i thought that the safer plan would be to keep well away from the frontier; as of course things are much more settled in the interior, and two or three muleteers with their animals would excite little attention, even if we passed through a town with a large french garrison; except that the mules might have been impressed and, as i had no means of recompensing my guide in that case, i was anxious to avoid all risk.
"when do you sail, sir?"
"at eight o'clock tomorrow. you cannot very well go in that attire," the captain said, smiling. "i shall be glad to advance any sum that you may require to procure clothes. you can, no doubt, pay me on your arrival at lisbon."
terence gladly accepted a loan of ten pounds and, with it, returned to shore. on reaching the little inn, he at once handed thirty pounds to garcia. the man, however, absolutely refused to accept it.
"no, senor; since you have got money, i will take fifty dollars to pay for food and forage on my way back; although really you have cost me nothing, for i had to make the journey on business. but even did you owe me the money, i would not take it now. i may not be so lucky on my way back as we have been in coming, and might be seized by brigands; therefore i would, in any case, rather that you left the matter until you come to salamanca."
"but that may not be for a long time. it is quite as likely that we may be obliged to quit portugal, and embark for england, as that we shall ever get to salamanca."
"who knows, senor! luck may turn. however, i would rather that it were so. i have had the pleasure of your having made the journey with me, and i shall have pleased nita. if you come, well and good. if not, it cannot be helped, and i shall not grieve over it. if i had money with me i might lose it, and it might cost me my life."
terence had again gone out, and purchased a suit of clothes befitting a spanish gentleman. he took the muleteer with him. they had no longer any reason for concealing their identity and, should he find it necessary to announce himself to be a british officer, it might be useful to have corroboration of his story. he also laid in a fresh stock of linen, of which he was greatly in need and, next morning, after a hearty farewell to garcia, he went down to the port in his new attire and, carrying a small valise containing his purchases, took a boat to the ship.
the evening before he had called in at the agent's, to thank him again, when the latter told him that he had some urgent despatches from the junta of cadiz to that of seville; and some despatches of his own to persons at cordova, and others in madrid, who were in communication with the british government; and he offered a sum, for their safe delivery, that would recompense the muleteer for the whole of his journey. this garcia had gladly acceded to, on condition that he might stop for a day, to get the wine at xeres.
the voyage to lisbon lasted three days, and was a very pleasant one to terence. on his arrival there he at once repaid the captain the loan he had received from him, having over thirty pounds still in hand. he next saw the agent, and requested him to pay the bill when presented and, after waiting three days to obtain a fresh uniform, started up the country and rejoined wellington, who had been compelled to fall back again behind the coa. he reported himself to the adjutant general.
"you have just arrived in time, captain o'connor," the latter said, "for your regiment is under orders to start, tomorrow, to join the force of the guerilla moras who, with two thousand men, is in the mountains on our frontier near miranda; and intends to threaten zamora, and so compel marmont to draw off some of his troops facing us here. your regiment is at present on the douro, fifteen miles away. how have you come here?"
"i travelled by a country conveyance, sir. i am at present without a horse, but no doubt i can pick one up, when i have obtained funds from the paymaster."
"i will give you an order on him for fifty pounds," the adjutant said. "of course, there is a great deal more owing to you; but it will save trouble to give you an order for that sum, on account. i don't suppose you will want more. i will have inquiries made about a horse. if you return here in an hour, i daresay i shall hear of one for sale.
"your regiment has not done much fighting since you left it, but they behaved well at banos, where we had a very sharp fight. they came up just at the critical moment, and they materially assisted us in beating off the attack of the french; who were in greatly superior force, and nearly succeeded in capturing, or exterminating, the light division."
on his return, terence found that one of the officers on the adjutant general's staff knew of a horse that had been captured, by a trooper, in a skirmish with french dragoons three days before. it was a serviceable animal and, as the soldier was glad to take ten pounds for it, terence at once purchased it. the adjutant told him that, on mentioning his return, lord wellington had requested him to dine with him; and to come half an hour before the usual time, as he wished to question him with reference to the state of the country he had passed through, and of the strength and probable movements of the french troops in those districts.
"i am glad to see you back again, colonel o'connor," the general said, when he entered. "of course, i heard how you had been captured, and have regretted your absence. colonel herrara is a good officer in many ways, and the regiment has maintained its state of efficiency; but he does not possess your energy and enterprise, nor the readiness to assume responsibilities and to act solely upon his own initiative--a most valuable quality," he said, with one of his rare smiles, "when combined with sound judgment, for an officer commanding a partisan corps like your own; but which, if general, would in a very short time put an end to all military combinations, and render the office of a commander-in-chief a sinecure.
"now, sir, will you be good enough to point out, on this map, exactly the line you followed in travelling from salamanca to cadiz: and give me any information you gained concerning the roads, the disposition of the people, and the position and movements of the french troops."
terence had anticipated that such information would be required of him; and had, every evening when they halted, jotted down every fact that he thought could be useful and, on the voyage to lisbon, had written from them a full report, both of the matters which the general now inquired about, and of the amount of supplies which could probably be obtained in each locality, the number of houses and accommodation available for troops, the state and strength of the passes, and the information that garcia had obtained for him of mountain tracks by which these passes could be turned, by infantry and cavalry in single file.
"i have brought my report, sir," he said, producing it. "i endeavoured to make the most of my opportunities, to gain all the information possible that might be useful to myself, or the commander of any column moving across the same country. i fear that it is far from being perfect but, as i wrote it from my notes, made at the end of each day, i think it will answer its purpose, as far as it goes."
attached to each day's journey was a rough sketch map showing the crossroads, rivers, bridges, and other particulars. the general took the bulky report, sat down and read a page here and there, and glanced at the maps. he looked up approvingly.
"very good, indeed, colonel o'connor. if all officers would take advantage of their opportunities, as you have done, the drudgery my staff have to do would be very much lightened, and they would not be constantly working in the dark."
he handed the report to the adjutant general.
"this may be of great utility when an advance begins," he said. "you had better have two or three copies of it made. it will be useful to the quartermaster's department, as well as to yourself; and of great assistance to the officers in command of any detached parties that may be despatched to gather in supplies, or to keep in check an enemy advancing on our flank. some day, when i can find time, i will read the whole report myself.
"it will be well to have a dozen copies made of the first five or six pages, and the maps, for the perusal of any officer sent out with a detachment on scouting duty, as a model of the sort of report that an officer should send in of his work, when on such duty."
the party at dinner was a small one, consisting only of some five or six officers of the headquarter staff, and two generals of divisions. after dinner, lord wellington asked terence how he escaped from salamanca, and the latter briefly related the particulars of his evasion.
"this is the second time you have escaped from a french prison," lord wellington said, when he had finished. "the last time, if i remember rightly, you escaped from bayonne in a boat."
"but you did not get to england in that boat, surely, colonel o'connor?" one of the generals laughed.
"no, sir; we were driven off shore by a gale, and picked up by a french privateer. we escaped from her as she was lying in port at brest, made our way to the mouth of the river sienne, about nine miles north of granville; and then, stealing another boat, started for jersey. we were chased by a french privateer but, before she came up to us, a jersey privateer arrived and engaged her. while the fight was going on we got on board the jersey boat, which finally captured the frenchman, and took her into port."
"and from there, i suppose, you found your way to england, and enjoyed a short rest from your labours?"
"no, sir. the captain of the privateer, who thought that we had rendered him valuable assistance in the fight, sailed out with us on to the ship track, and put us on board a transport bound for lisbon."
"well, you are more heart and soul in it than i am," the general laughed. "i should not have been able to deny myself a short run in england."
"i was anxious to get back to my regiment, sir, as i was afraid that, if i did not return before the next campaign opened, some other officer might be appointed to its command."
"you need not trouble yourself on that score, in future, colonel o'connor," lord wellington said. "if you have the bad luck to be captured again, i shall know that your absence will be temporary and, if it became necessary to appoint anyone else to your command, it would only be until your return."
on leaving the commander-in-chief's quarters, the adjutant general asked terence when he thought of rejoining his regiment.
"i am going to start at once, sir. i ordered my horse to be saddled and in readiness, at ten o'clock."
"you must not think of doing so," the adjutant said. "the road is very bad, and not at all fit to be traversed on a dark night like this. besides, you would really gain nothing by it. if you leave at daybreak, you will overtake your regiment before it has marched many miles."
