"No matter," said the irate Colonel, "we cannot have any such officer in the district--certainly not under my command. I mean that my orders shall be carried through at whatever risk. Now, I put it to you plainly, do you prefer to send in your papers or be publicly broken?" "I shall not send in my papers," said Louis de Raincy, warmly, "and you cannot break me, publicly or otherwise!" "And pray why not?" Louis lifted his hand in the direction of Castle Raincy, an imposing pile of towers showing up dark on a hill to the west. "That's why," he said, curtly. "I am the heir to a peerage, and my grandfather--well, I need not speak of him. Besides, I know the Duke of York, who is still commander-in-chief." Laurence's temper got the better of him. "It is you and the like of you who defy regulations and are the shame of the British army." "Not so," said Louis, in a very level tone, "say rather officers who scramble for every safe money-making little post-recruit--raising, keg-hunting, 'stay-in-a-comfortable-corner' men, and keep as far away from the real fighting as possible. If the cap fits, why, put it on! And as soon as the war is over, if you still require any satisfaction, I am your man. In the meantime, Colonel Laurence, you will no longer be troubled with me. I have got my transfer to the Duke's army at Hernandez, and I am ordered to join my new regiment by the first ship to leave Liverpool with cavalry details. We shall soon be ready for the push across the Pyrenees in the rear of Soult!" Colonel Laurence took the paper and glanced at it. Then he grunted and began to march out of barracks. He knew very well that, since the British army was officered on much more aristocratic and family lines than in later days, he could not hope to strike Louis Raincy with any real penalty. But nevertheless he turned about for a parting shot. "That paragon of yours, the daughter of Ferris of Cairn Ferris, ran off with the chief criminal. She led the attack on the Castle here. They are hidden somewhere. If I catch them within my jurisdiction, I shall put a bullet through each of them." "You can do as you like with Stair Garland," Louis Raincy called back, "but remember if you touch Patsy Ferris I will put a bullet through you if I have to hold the pistol to your ear! But I am not anxious--both of them would be quickly avenged. I advise you, Laurence, to leave that wasp's nest alone. You do not understand this people. I do!" * * * * *