how dangerous our position is. General Fane told us, when the orders to
retreat were issued, that he believed the peril to be even more imminent
than we thought. We all know when we marched north from Salamanca, that,
without a single Spaniard to back us, all that could be hoped for was to
aid Saragossa and Seville and Cadiz to gather the levies in the south and
prepare for defence, and that erelong we should have any number of enemies
upon us. That is what has precisely happened, and now there is grumbling
because the object has been attained, and that you are not allowed to
fight a battle that, whether won or lost, would equally ruin us."

"Sure ye are right," O'Grady said, warmly, "and we are a set of omadhouns.
You have sense in your head, Terence, and there is no gainsaying you. I
was grumbling more than the rest of them, but I won't grumble any more.
Still, I suppose that there is no harm in hoping we shall have just a bit
of fighting before we get back to Portugal."

"We shall be lucky if we don't have a good deal of fighting, O'Grady, and
against odds that will satisfy even you. As to Portugal, there is no
chance of our getting there. Ney will certainly cut that road, and the
emperor will, most likely, also do so, as you can see for yourself on the
map."

"Divil a map have I ever looked at since I was at school," O'Grady said.
"Then if we can't get back to Portugal, where shall we get to?"

"To one of the northern seaports; of course, I don't know which has been
decided upon; I don't suppose the general himself has settled that yet. It
must depend upon the roads and the movements of the enemy, and whether
there is a defensible position near the port that we can hold in case the
fleet and transports cannot be got there by the time we arrive."