years before that, at Almansa, here in Spain?"

"That instance is still more unfair," exclaimed L'Isle. "Our
Peninsular allies ran away, while we fought their battle. Still,
though the enemy were two to our one, the result might have been
different. But the French had an English general, the Duke of Berwick,
to win the battle for them, and we had a French commander, DeRuvigny,
whom Dutch William had made Earl of Galway, to lose it for us."

"Then, after all," exclaimed Lady Mabel, "the Englishman won the
field."

"Yes, to our cost," said L'Isle, bitterly. "What made it more
provoking was, that we had at that very time the man to mate him;"
and, standing up on his stirrups, he raised his clenched hand above
his head, exclaiming: "O, for one hour of Peterborough to grapple with
his countryman and redeem the day!"

"What is the matter with Colonel L'Isle?" asked Mrs. Shortridge, who
was riding close behind with Cranfield.

"He is only leaping back to the beginning of the last century,"
answered Lady Mabel, "to reverse the issue of the battle of Almansa."

"Why, has not the colonel fighting enough before him," said Cranfield,
laughing, "that he must go back so far for more?"

"Let us be content with what we have," said L'Isle joining in the
laugh. "It is useless to dwell on old disasters but by way of shunning
new ones. It has been our constant luck to go into battle shoulder to