new-comers. Now that he saw that they were ready to pay for everything,
and that at prices much higher than he could before have obtained, his
face shone with good-humour. He and the two girls were already busy
drawing wine and selling it to the customers.

"I will get some wood, your honour, and light a fire here, or it is mighty
little dinner that you will be getting. The soldiers will soon be dropping
in, that is, if they don't keep this place for officers only, for there
are two other places where they sell wine in the village. When I came up
two officers had a slice of ham each on the points of their swords over
the fire."

"That will be a very good plan, Tim; you had better set to work about it
at once, and at the same time I will try and get some bread."

By the time that O'Grady returned with seven or eight other officers the
fire was blazing. Terence had managed to get a sufficient number of knives
and forks; there was, however, no table-cloth in the house. He and Terence
were cooking slices of ham on a gridiron over the fire.

"This is first-rate, O'Grady," Major Harrison said; "the place is crowded
down below, and we should have fared very badly if you had not managed to
get hold of this room."

"If some of the boys will see to the cooking, Major, I will go down with
Hoolan and get a barrel of wine and bring it up here; then we shall do
first-rate."

"How about the rations, Major?" Terence asked.