Part 35 (1/2)
”But the bishop might meet her in the street by chance; what then?”
”I don't think that he would know me,” Mary O'Connor put in. ”I have seen him, but I don't suppose that he ever noticed me until he saw me in my nun's dress, and, of course, I look very different now. Still, he is very sharp, and I will take good care never to go out without a veil.”
”That will be the safest plan, Mary,” Terence said, ”though I don't think anyone would recognize you. Of course, he supposes that you are still snugly shut up in the convent; still, it is just as well not to run the slightest risk.”
They made two long marches and reached Coimbra early on the third morning, bringing the first news that had been received there of the storming of Oporto. Terence at once reported himself to the commanding officer.
”I was wondering where these two regiments came from, Mr. O'Connor,” the colonel said. ”I watched them march in, and thought that they were the most orderly body that I have seen since we came out here. Whose corps are they?”
”Well, Colonel, they are my corps. I will tell you about it presently; it is a long story.”
”How strong are they?”
”The field state this morning made them two thousand three hundred and fifty-five. They were two thousand five hundred to begin with; the rest are either killed or wounded.”
”Oh, you have had some fighting then.”
”We have had our share, at any rate, Colonel, and I think I can venture to say that no other Portuguese corps shows so good a record.”
”We have a large number of tents in store, and I will order a sufficient number to be served out to put all your men under canvas, with the understanding that if the army advances this way the tents must be handed back to us. There are quant.i.ties of uniforms also. There have been s.h.i.+p-loads sent over for the use of the Portuguese militia, who were to turn out in their hundreds of thousands, but who have yet to be discovered. Would you like some of them?”
”Very much, indeed, Colonel. It would add very greatly to their appearance; though, as far as fighting goes, I am bound to say that I could wish nothing better.”
”Really! Then all I can say is you have made a very valuable discovery. Hitherto the fighting powers of the Portuguese have been invisible to the naked eye. But if you have found that they really will fight under some circ.u.mstances, we may hope that, now Lord Beresford has come out to take command of the Portuguese army, and is going to have a certain number of British officers to train and command them, they will be of some utility, instead of being simply a scourge to the country and a constant drain on our purse.”
”Have you heard that Oporto is captured, sir?”
”No, you don't say so!”
”Captured in less than an hour from the time that the first gun was fired.”
”Just what I expected. When you have political bishops who not only pretend to govern a country, but also a.s.sume the command of armies, how can it be otherwise? However, you shall tell me about it presently. I will go down with you at once to the stores and order the issue of the tents and uniforms. My orders were that the uniforms were to be served out to militia and ordenancas; under which head do your men come?”
”The latter, sir; that is what they really were, but they hung the three men the Junta sent to command them, and placed themselves in my hands, and I have done the best I could with them, with the a.s.sistance of Lieutenant Herrara--who, as you may remember, accompanied me in charge of the escort--and my own two troopers and his men, and between us we have really done much in the way of disciplining them.”
Two hours later the tents were pitched on a spot half a mile distant from the town. By the time that this was done the carts with the uniforms came up, to the great delight of the men.
”I have to go to the commandant again now, Herrara; let the uniforms be served out to the men at once. Tell the captains to see to their fitting as well as possible. I have no doubt that the colonel will come down to inspect them this afternoon, and will probably bring a good many officers with him, so we must make as good a show as possible.”
Herrara's friends and Mary O'Connor had, on arriving at Coimbra, hired rooms, as Don Jose had determined to stay for a few days before going on, because his wife had been much shaken by the events that had taken place, and his eldest daughter was naturally anxious to wait until she knew whether Herrara would be able to return to Lisbon, or would remain with the corps. By the time Terence returned to the colonel's quarters it was lunch time.
”You must come across to mess, Mr. O'Connor,” the commandant said. ”Everyone is anxious to hear your news, and it will save your going over it twice if you will tell it after lunch. I fancy every officer in the camp will be there.”
CHAPTER XIX
CONFIRMED IN COMMAND
Terence, after lunch was over, first related to the officers all that he knew of the siege of Oporto, explaining why he did not choose to sacrifice the men under him by joining the undisciplined rabble in the intrenchments, but determined to keep the head of the bridge. They listened with breathless interest to his narrative of the attack and capture of Oporto.