[Illustration: THE GIRL'S OWN PAPER VOL. XX.--NO. 988.] DECEMBER 3, 1898. [PRICE ONE PENNY.] [Illustration: SIGRID.] _All rights reserved._] "OUR HERO." A TALE OF THE FRANCO-ENGLISH WAR NINETY YEARS AGO. BY AGNES GIBERNE, Author of "Sun, Moon and Stars," "The Girl at the Dower House," etc. CHAPTER X. Little rest could be allowed in those days to England's most gallant sons. Moore had a short time with those whom he loved best--with the mother especially, who was more to him than all the world beside--and again he was called away. In this year, 1797, a French invasion was already looked for, and he had to go, with an engineer officer, to survey the eastern coast, and to decide on preparations for such an invasion. After which he was despatched against Irish rebels in our unquiet sister-isle, there to be once more laid low with a severe illness. Despite this attack he made himself so invaluable to the Lord-Lieutenant, Earl Cornwallis, one of his many personal friends, that when needed on the Continent by Sir Ralph Abercrombie, he could not at once be ordered thither. However, the need for his services became urgent, and English ministers appealed to Cornwallis, whose reply was:-- "I am sure you know me too well to suspect that any selfish consideration can weigh a moment with me against the general interests of the country. You shall have all the troops you ask, and General Moore, who is a greater loss to me than the troops. But he will be of infinite service to Abercrombie; and I likewise think it an object of the state that an officer of his talents and character should have every opportunity of acquiring knowledge and experience in his profession." This was 1799, and ten thousand British troops were sent to Holland under Abercrombie. On October 2nd that engagement took place, to which the letters copied by Jack Keene bore reference. Moore received two wounds in the course of five hours' determined fighting. The first, in his leg, he quietly ignored; the second, in his face, felled him to the ground in a stunned condition. He and his men were then nearly surrounded by a strong body of the enemy, and Moore would have been made prisoner but that his men carried him off. He was assisted to the rear, and when his wounds had been dressed he rode ten miles back to his quarters, so faint with loss of blood that his horse had to be led, and he could barely keep his seat. A few days later he very nearly put an end to his own life by accidentally drinking a strong sugar-of-lead lotion, used to bathe his cheek. Happily he kept his self-command, and the measures instantly taken prevented any ill result. The letter from Sir Ralph Abercrombie to Dr. Moore had been written on the field of battle, which the commanding officer never left that night.