It would
be altogether different here; they are scared enough as it is, though they
walk about with their cloaks wrapped round them and pretend to be mighty
confident."
"Let us come and talk it over outside, Dick. It did not much matter before
if it had been discovered we had a hand in it. Of course the colonel would
have given us a wigging, but at heart he would have been as pleased at the
joke as any of us. But it is a different affair here."
Going out, they continued their talk and arranged their plans. Late the
following night two English officers rushed suddenly into a drinking-shop
close to the gate through which the road to Valladolid passed.
"The French! the French!" one exclaimed. "Run for your lives and give the
alarm!"
The men all leapt to their feet, rushed out tumultuously, and scattered
through the streets, shouting at the top of their voices: "The French are
coming! the French are coming! Get up, or you will all be murdered in your
beds!"
The alarm spread like wildfire, and Terence and Ryan made their way back,
by the shortest line, to the room where most of the officers were still
sitting, smoking and chatting.
"Any news, O'Connor?" the colonel asked.
"Nothing that I have heard of, Colonel. I thought I would drop in for a
cigar before turning in."
A few minutes later Tim Hoolan entered.
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