"
"You draw it upon yourself, O'Grady, and it is good for us all to have a
laugh sometimes. We should all have missed you sorely had you gone down on
that hill over there--as many a good fellow has done. I hear that both the
9th and 29th have lost their colonels."
"The Lord presarve us from such a misfortune, Major! It would give us a
step all through the regiment; but then, you see--" And he stopped.
"You mean I should be colonel, O'Grady," the major said, with a laugh;
"and you know I should not take things as quietly as he does. Well, you
see, there are consolations all round."
The firing had ceased at four o'clock, and until late that night a large
portion of the force were occupied in searching the ground that had been
traversed, burying the dead, and carrying the wounded of both
nationalities down into the hospital that had been established at Rolica.
Sir Arthur determined to march at daybreak, so as to secure the passes
through Torres Vedras; but in the evening a messenger arrived with the
news that Anstruther and Acland's division, with a large fleet of
store-ships, were off the coast. The dangerous nature of the coast, and
the certainty that, should a gale spring up, a large proportion of the
ships would be wrecked, rendered it absolutely necessary to secure the
disembarkation of the troops at once.
Pages:
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116