marching, you have good reason to grumble at being baulked in your wishes;
that is all I have to say about it."

"What do you mean, Terence?" O'Grady asked, angrily. "Soult's force was
not stronger than ours, at least so we heard; and if it had been it would
make no difference, we would have thrashed them out of their boots in no
time."

"I dare say we should, O'Grady, and what then?"

"Well, I don't know what then," O'Grady said, after a moment's silence;
"that would have been the general's business."

"Quite so; and so is this. There you would have been with perhaps a couple
of thousand wounded and as many French prisoners, and Napoleon with 60,000
men or so, and Ney with as many more, and Houssaye with his cavalry
division, all in your rear cutting you off from the sea. What would have
been your course then?"

A general silence fell upon the officers.

"Is that so?" the colonel asked at last.

"That is so," Terence said, gravely. "All these and other troops are
marching night and day to intercept us. It is no question of fighting now.
Victory over Soult, so far from being of any use, would only have burdened
us with wounded and prisoners, and even a day's delay would be absolutely
fatal. As it is, it is a question whether we shall have time to get back
to the coast before they are all posted in our front. Every hour is of the
greatest importance. You all know that we have talked over lots of times