I made no reply; but retiring the two paces which the general had called me forward, I remained on the right of my guard, looking most respectfully at the general. After a moment’s thought he gave me the countersign, and having received the parole in exchange rode away. I was in hopes that the unpleasant affair had ended here; but immediately after I was relieved from guard I was sent for by Colonel Johnson, who, although not my immediate commanding officer, commanded both battalions as senior lieutenant-colonel. To him therefore the general complained, and to him he seemed to attach most blame for allowing so young an officer, and so totally ignorant of his duty, to take charge of a quarter-guard. All the field officers of the two battalions were summoned on the occasion to Colonel Johnson’s tent, and in their presence the general recounted the whole transaction. I remained perfectly silent. On his coming towards a conclusion, when he mentioned my having refused to let him pass, which he repeated with emphasis, I saw a suppressed smile on the faces of both Colonel Johnson and Colonel Belson. But Major Browne, impatient of restraint, broke into a laugh exclaiming, “Well, he is only one year in the Service; I am many, yet I wish I knew my duty as well; and,” continued he with increased laughter, “it is the first time I ever heard of a boy ensign taking his own general prisoner.” Browne was wrong as to my rank, for I had been five days a lieutenant. [Sidenote: COALS OF FIRE.] However, the general did not seem to enjoy the joke as much as Browne did, and ordered Colonel Johnson to reprimand me. Johnson, who was brother-in-law to the general and one of the most gentlemanlike persons possible, bowed assent, but in some way gave the general to understand that he was at a loss to understand what particular part of my conduct it was for which I was to be censured. The general having retired, Johnson’s rebuke to me was very slight indeed, particularly when I mentioned, as I refrained from doing while the general was there, that the countersign and parole, with which I should have been furnished before sunset, were not sent to me until midnight, just as the grand rounds advanced. But if the lieutenant-governor recollected this anecdote when at Gibraltar, it certainly caused no difference in his courtesy or hospitality towards me; for he insisted that whenever I visited Gibralter I should always make the convent my headquarters. CHAPTER XIV. A LITTLE CAMPAIGN FROM TARIFA. To relate the many and divers occurrences which took place during our stay at Tarifa, although all more or less interesting, would swell these pages to an imprudent size. I shall therefore pass over many and come down to the month of January 1811. [Sidenote: PLANS OF GENERAL GRAHAM.]