"Yes, we may as well; but mind, don't say where we are going to, only that we are ordered away. I don't suppose that the regiments will know anything about it, till within an hour of the time they march. There can be no doubt that it is a serious business. Ciudad held out for weeks against Massena; and with Marmont within a few days' march, with an army at least as strong as ours, it will be a tough business, indeed, to take it before he can come up to its relief; and I can well understand that it is all important that he shall know nothing about the siege, till it is too late for him to arrive in time." "We have come in to say goodbye, colonel," Terence said, as he and Ryan entered the mess room of the Mayo Fusiliers that evening. "And where are you off to, O'Connor?" "Well, sir, I don't mind mentioning it in here, but it must go no further. The chief, knowing what we are capable of, proposes that I shall make a rapid march to Madrid, seize the city, and bring King Joseph back a prisoner." There was a roar of laughter. "Terence, my boy," Captain O'Grady said, "that is hardly a mission worthy of a fighting man like yourself. I expect that you are hiding something from us, and that the real idea is that you should traverse Spain and France, enter Germany, and seize Boney, and carry him off with you to England." "I dare not tell you whether you are right or not, O'Grady. Things of this sort must not even be whispered about. It is a wonderfully good guess that you have made and, when it is all over, you will be able to take credit for having divined what was up; but for mercy's sake don't talk about it. Keep as silent as the grave and, if anyone should ask you what has become of us, pretend that you know nothing about it." "But you are going, O'Connor?" the colonel said, when the laughter had subsided. "Yes, colonel. We march tomorrow morning. I daresay you will hear of us before many days are over; and may, perhaps, be able to make even a closer guess than O'Grady as to what we are doing. I am heartily glad that we are off. We are now at our full strength again. Most of the wounded have rejoined, and I could have filled up the vacancies a dozen times over. The Portuguese know that I always manage to get food for my men, somehow; which is more than can be said for the other Portuguese regiments, though those of Trant and Pack are better off than Beresford's regulars. Then, too, I think they like fighting, now that they feel that they are a match for the French, man for man. They get a fair share of it, at any rate. The three months that we have been idle have been useful, as the new recruits know their work as well as the others." "Then you don't know how much longer we are going to stop in this bastely hole?" O'Grady asked. "Well, I will tell you this much, O'Grady: I fancy that, before this day week, you will all have work to do; and that it is likely to be hot."