up over him, and again on their retreat; and he was insensible when, as
soon as the enemy retired, a party was sent down to bring up the wounded.
By the death of the major, O'Connor, as senior captain, now attained that
rank, but the doctor pronounced that it would be a long time before he
would be able to take up his duties. Another captain and three subalterns
had been killed, and several other officers had been wounded. Among these
was O'Grady, whose left arm had been carried away below the elbow by a
round shot. As Terence was in the other wing of the regiment he did not
hear of his father's wounds until after the battle was over, and on the
order being given that there was to be no pursuit the regiment fell out of
its ranks. As soon as the news reached him he obtained permission to go
down to Vimiera, where the church and other buildings had been turned into
temporary hospitals, to which the seriously wounded had been carried as
soon as the French retired. Hurrying down, he soon learned where the
wounded of General Fane's brigade had been taken. He found the two
regimental doctors hard at work. O'Flaherty came up to Terence as soon as
he saw him enter the barn that had been hastily converted into a hospital
by covering the floor deeply with straw.


[Illustration: 'I should not have minded being hit, Father, if you had
escaped.']


"I think your father will do, Terence, my boy," he said, cheeringly; "we
have just got the bullet out of his leg, and we hope that it has not
touched the bone, though we cannot be altogether sure. We shall know more
about that when we have got through the rough of our work. Still, we have
every hope that he will do well. He is next the door at the further end;
we put him there to let him get as much fresh air as possible, for, by the