It was impossible to avoid paying a tribute of praise to Ody Brophy for the tact with which he avoided the storm with which he was threatened; and upon this occasion he proved himself as good a pilot as ever guided a vessel, and to the full equal to one I once heard of in the harbour of Cork. A captain of a man-of-war, newly appointed to a ship on the Irish station, took the precaution, in “beating out” of harbour, to apprise the pilot that he was totally unacquainted with the coast, and therefore he must rely on the pilot’s local knowledge for the safety of his ship. “You are perfectly sure, pilot,” said the captain, “you are well acquainted with the coast?” “Do I know my own name, sir.” “Well, mind, I warn you not to approach too near the shore.” “Now make yourself aisy, sir; in troth you may go to bed iv you plaise.” “Then shall we stand on?” “Why—what else would we do?” “Yes, but there may be hidden dangers which you know nothing about.” “Dangers! I’d like to see the dangers dare hide themselves from Mick—sure, don’t I tell you I know every rock on the coast” (here the ship strikes), “_and that’s one of 'em_.” CHAPTER XIII Spanish village accommodation—The siege of Ciudad Rodrigo—Picton’s address to the Connaught Rangers in front of the breach—Lieutenant William Mackie and the forlorn hope. The brigade reached Robleda at nine o’clock at night, and our quarters there, which at any time would have been considered good, appeared to us, after our wretched billets at Aldea-de-Ponte, and the fatigue of a harassing march, sumptuous. The villages in Spain, like those of France, are well supplied with beds, and the house allotted to me, D‘Arcy, and Captain Peshall, was far from deficient in those essentials. A loud knocking at the door of the cottage announced the arrival of Peshall, who, like some others, had been “thrown out” on the march, and who sought for his billet in the best manner he could. He was a man who might boast of as well-stocked a canteen as any other captain in the army; and upon this occasion it made a proud display. The fireplace was abundantly supplied with wood, and at each side of the chimney there was a profusion of that kind of furniture which I ever considered as indispensable to complete the garniture of a well-regulated cuisine, no matter whether in a cottage or château—I mean hams, sausages, and flitches of well-cured bacon.