them, we could then gallop round and join the troops on the
plateau."

"I should say, sir, that if I were to steal out to where they have
been fighting for the last six hours, I might get a couple of
uniforms to put over our own. They will be lying thick enough
there, poor chaps. If we had them on, we might pass through any
troops we might meet, as we both speak English."

"That is a good idea, Mike, if you can carry it out."

"Sure I can do that, and without difficulty, your honour. I expect
the enemy have drawn back a little, so as to be in some sort of
order if we were to fall upon them in the night; and I know that
all our men have been recalled. I will fasten the horses to this
tree, and perhaps your honour will keep an eye on them."

"I will stay with them, Mike."

The soldier at once made off. The village was now crowded with
troops. All order was at an end, and the regiments were
considerably mixed up. The officers went among them, saying that
an attempt was going to be made to pass through the enemy, and
join the force on the plateau. They pointed out that there was at
least as much hope in being able to do so as in making off singly.

Many of the soldiers, not having themselves suffered defeat,
responded to the call; and several bodies, four or five hundred
strong, marched out into the darkness. The majority, however,
decided to shift for themselves, and stole away in threes and