[Illustration: Cover art] THE 'SCOTS BRIGADE' _AND OTHER TALES_ BY JAMES GRANT AUTHOR OF 'THE ROMANCE OF WAR' 'The dying and dead strewed the breach at Meenen, Where our brave Scottish blades met the troops of Turenne; When cannon and firelock and musketoon played, As often, elsewhere, on the old Scots Brigade! Holland's Bulwark--in many a battle of yore-- From the woods of Brabant to the far Frisian shore; Never Frenchman, nor Spaniard, nor German essayed To withstand the hot charge of the old Scots Brigade!' _Camp Song._ LONDON GEORGE ROUTLEDGE AND SONS BROADWAY, LUDGATE HILL NEW YORK: 9, LAFAYETTE PLACE 1882 CONTENTS. THE SCOTS BRIGADE: I. THE LOVER II. THE COLONEL-COMMANDANT III. SWORD-PLAY IV. DOLORES V. 'THE BULWARK OF HOLLAND' VI. AT THE GOLDEN SUN VII. THE GENERAL'S SECRET VIII. THE RIDOTTO IX. THE ABDUCTORS X. THE FAIR WIDOW XI. OMNIA VINCIT AMOR XII. CONCLUSION THE STORY OF THE CID RODRIGO OF BIVAR THE BOY-GENERAL. THE STORY OF JEAN CAVALIER THE BUGLE-BOY OF BADAJOZ THE VOYAGE OF THE 'BON ACCORD' A TALE OF THE RETREAT FROM CABUL DICK STAPLES OF THE 'QUEEN'S OWN' THE STORY OF LIEUTENANT JAMES MOODY OF BARTON'S REGIMENT 'OLD MINORCA;' OR, GENERAL MURRAY OF THE SCOTS FUSILIERS [Illustration: Chapter 1 headpiece] THE SCOTS BRIGADE. [Illustration: Chapter 1 tailpiece] THE SCOTS BRIGADE. CHAPTER I. THE LOVER. 'And you will not accompany me to call on these ladies, uncle?' said the young man persuasively. 'Certainly not, boy; do you take me for a fool--der Duyvel!' was the snappish rejoinder, as the General tossed his silver-mounted meerschaum on the table, and thrust his chair back on the polished oak floor, 'I have suspected you for some time past, and know, from old experience, that a young fellow in love is lost to the service and himself; among women he is as helpless as a rudderless ship among the thousand shoals of the Zuyder Zee! You are my heir, as you know, provided your conduct and obedience satisfy me. I am rich enough for both of us, and I had begun to hope that, like me, you would go through the world without the encumbrance of a wife. I shall not see you make a fool of yourself, without making an effort to save you. I shall give you a Beating Order, and send you to recruit for the Brigade in Scotland; or how would you like to roast on detachment at Guayana, or among the Dutch Isles in the Caribbean Sea?' 'Such a separation would be death to me, and to Dolores too.' 'Dol--what?' roared the General, grasping the knobs of his arm-chair and glaring at the speaker; 'how familiar we are, it seems! Where the devil did she get that absurd name?' 'From a Spanish ancestress, and with the name much of her beauty,' replied the younger man, who had a very pleasant voice and manner, which, if somewhat sad and soft, possessed the charm of cultured influences and refinement.