Northern Spain. That will be little enough. I expect they will take our
money and arms and give us plenty of fine promises in return, and do
nothing; that is the game they have been playing in the south, and if
there were a grain of sense among our ministers they would see that it is
not of the slightest use to reckon on Spain. As to Portugal, we know very
little at present, but I expect there is not a pin to choose between them
and the Spaniards."

"Then we are not going to Lisbon?" Terence said, in surprise.

"I expect not. Sir Arthur won't determine anything until he joins us after
his visit to Corunna, but I don't think that it will be at Lisbon, anyhow.
There are strong forts guarding the mouth of the river, and ten or twelve
thousand troops in the city, and a Russian fleet anchored in the port. I
don't know where it will be, but I don't think that it will be Lisbon. I
expect that we shall slip into some little port, land, and wait for Junot
to attack us; we shall be joined, I expect, by Stewart's force, that have
been fooling about for two or three months waiting for the Spaniards to
make up their minds whether they will admit them into Cadiz or not. You
see, at present there are only 9,000 of us, and they say that Junot has at
least 50,000 in Portugal; but of course they are scattered about, and it
is hardly likely that he would venture to withdraw all his garrisons from
the large towns, so that the odds may not be as heavy as they look, when
we meet him in the field. And I suppose that at any rate some of the
Portuguese will join us. From what I hear, the peasantry are brave enough,
only they have never had a chance yet of making a fight for it, owing to
their miserable government, which never can make up its mind to do
anything. I hope that Sir Arthur has orders, as soon as he takes Lisbon,
to assume the entire control of the country and ignore the native
government altogether. Even if they are worth anything, which they are