"None of our three brigades on the left have had anything to do with the
matter, as far as fighting went. I don't think more than four thousand of
our troops were in action; but you see if it had not been for our advance,
Hill and Nightingale might not have succeeded in driving Laborde off the
hill. There is no doubt that the French fought well, but it's our advance
that forced him to retire, not the troops in front of him; so that, even
if we have not had any killed or wounded, O'Grady, we have at least the
satisfaction of having contributed to the victory."
"Oh, bother your tactics! We have come here to fight, and no fighting have
we had at all, at all. When we marched out this morning it looked as if we
were going to have our share in the divarshon, and we have been fairly
chated out of it."
"Well, O'Grady, you should not grumble," Terence said, "for we had some
fighting on the way out, which is more than any of the other troops had."
"That was a mere skirmish, Terence. First of all we were shot at, and
could not shoot back again; and thin we shot at the enemy, and they could
not shoot back at us. And as for the boarding affair, faith, it did not
last a minute. The others have had two hours of steady fighting,
clambering up the hill, and banging away at the enemy, and shouting and
cheering, and all sorts of fun; and there were we, tramping along among
those bastely stones and rocks, and no one as much as took the trouble to
fire a shot at us!"
"Well, if we had been there, O'Grady, we should have lost about a hundred
and twenty men and officers--if we had suffered in the same proportion as
the others--and we should now be mourning their loss--perhaps you among
them.
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