"
The two troopers walked gravely away, but as soon as they were at a little
distance they turned round the corner of a house and burst into a shout of
laughter.
"How are you finding yourself to-day, Major Macwitty?"
"Just first-rate; and how is yoursel', Major Bull?" and they again went
off into another shout of laughter.
"This is a rum start, and no mistake, Macwitty."
"Ay, but it is no' an unpleasant one, I reckon. Mr. O'Connor knows what he
is about, though he is little more than a laddie. The orderly who brought
our orders to go with him, said he had heard from one of the general's
mess waiters that the general and the other officers were saying the young
officer had done something quite out of the way, and were paying him
compliments on it, and the general had put him on his own staff in
consequence, and was saying something about his having saved a wing of his
regiment from being captured by the French. The man had not heard it all;
but just scraps as he went in and out of the room with wine, but he said
it seemed something out of the way, and mighty creditable. And now what do
you think of this affair, Bull?"
"There is one thing, and that is that there is like to be, as he said,
plenty of fighting, for I should say that he is just the sort of fellow to
give us the chance of it, and I do think that these Portuguese fellows
really mean to fight.
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