“Are you seeking information, sir, or are you bestowing it?” he inquired. “Ah! Your pardon, Monsieur le Comte. I inquire of course. I put forward arguments to anticipate conditions that may possibly be erroneous.” Samoval waived the point. “There is another force besides the British and Portuguese troops that you have left out of your calculations.” “And that?” The major was still faintly incredulous. “You should remember what Wellington obviously remembers: that a French army depends for its sustenance upon the country it is invading. That is why Wellington is stripping the French line of penetration as bare of sustenance as this card-table. If we assume the existence of the barrier--an impassable line of fortifications encountered within many marches of the frontier--we may also assume that starvation will be the overwhelming force that will cut off the French retreat.” The other’s keen eyes flickered. For a moment his face lost its assurance, and it was Samoval’s turn to smile. But the major made a sharp recovery. He slowly shook his iron-grey head. “You have no right to assume an impassable barrier. That is an inadmissible hypothesis. There is no such thing as a line of fortifications impassable to the French.” “You will pardon me, Major, but it is yourself have no right to your own assumptions. Again you overlook something. I will grant that technically what you say is true. No fortifications can be built that cannot be destroyed--given adequate power, with which it is yet to prove that Massena not knowing what may await him, will be equipped.