How it was that I was sustained under these difficulties, I knew not then; but now I know: the Almighty was my support, though I was heedless of His help. ‘His arm unseen conveyed me safe’; and I feel at this moment some satisfaction, which I hope may be pardoned, that though heavily pressed with the sufferings of those days, I never fell out of the line of march, or impeded the public service by imbecility of purpose or disposition to flinch from duty. Previous to embarkation I was provided with the article needed; and, praised be the Lord! I have never wanted a pair of shoes from that day to this. On getting into the boat which conveyed me on board the ship, determined to forget my former vexations, I threw my old shoes into the sea, and there, like my past troubles, they were soon out of sight and forgotten. 70 CHAPTER IV. DISASTERS OF THE RETREAT—VOYAGE HOME IN THE HINDOSTAN—ORDERED TO PORTUGAL—LANDED AT LISBON—ARRIVAL AT TALAVERA—THE HEROINE OF MATAGORDA—SIEGE OF CIUDAD RODRIGO BY THE FRENCH—THE DEFENCE OF LISBON—CAPTAIN GUACHÉ—GALLANTRY OF GENERAL CRAUFORD—TERRIBLE COMBAT AT BARBA DEL PUERCO. During a violent snow-storm which overtook us on our march upon Corunna, several of my comrades, and myself among the rest, wearied with fatigue, took refuge one evening in a small out-house or hovel, as it afforded temporary shelter from the descending storm. There we resolved to pass the night; and having gathered a few sticks, we placed them in the middle of the shed, and kindled a fire for mutual benefit. In the course of the night we were surprised by hearing a rap at the door, accompanied by the weak tone of some one craving admission. Half a dozen voices instantly exclaimed: ‘Come in!’ when, lo! a woman, recognised as the wife of a soldier, but hardly able to stand, crept into the shed, and asked protection from the hurricane that was loudly howling along the sierra. Had Satan himself begged an entrance at such a moment, we should scarcely have been able to repress our pity. The poor, wandering woman was received with rough but honest sympathy, and was invited to approach the fire. When able to speak she asked for a certain company, to which her husband belonged; we told her it was considerably in advance, and at present out of her reach. Modesty prevented the poor 71creature from further explanation; when, to the surprise of the men present, the weak cry of a child was heard. The fact was, the mother had in the course of the preceding day given birth to an infant while on the snowy ridge of a desolate mountainous tract, and without the company of a single human being; and yet, so far all was well: there is One Who tempers the wind to the shorn lamb. The lives both of the mother and her offspring were likely to survive. English soldiers know how to feel, nor are they quite destitute of discretion; they may be rather rough in manner, nor can they at all times invent the