There was a laugh all round the table; O'Grady's absolute confidence in anything in which he was interested was known to them all. His horse had been notoriously the most worthless animal in the regiment, but although continually last in the hunting field, O'Grady's opinion of her speed was never shaken. There was always an excuse ready; the horse had been badly shod, or it was out of sorts and had not had its feed before starting, or the going was heavy and it did not like heavy ground, or the country was too hilly or too flat for it. It was the same with his company, with his non-commissioned officers, with his soldier servant, a notoriously drunken rascal, and with his quarters. O'Grady looked round in mild expostulation at the laugh. "You will see," he said, confidently, "there can be no mistake about it." Two days later a ship-of-war entered the harbour, the usual salutes were exchanged, then a signal was run up to one of her mast-heads, and again the guns of the forts pealed out a salute, and word ran through the transports that Sir Arthur Wellesley was on board. On the following day the fleet got under way, the transports being escorted by a line-of-battle ship and four frigates, which were to join Lord Collingwood's squadron as soon as they had seen their charge safe into the Tagus. Before evening the _Sea-horse_ was a mile astern of the rearmost ship of the convoy, and one of the frigates sailing back fired a gun as a signal to her to close up. "Well, O'Grady, we have left the fleet, you see, though not in the way you predicted." "Whist, man! don't you see that the captain is out of temper because they have all got to keep together, instead of letting him go ahead?" Every rag of sail was now piled on to the ship, and as many of the others were showing nothing above their topgallant sails she rejoined the rest just as darkness fell. "There, you see!" O'Grady said, triumphantly, "look what she can do when she likes." "We do see, O'Grady. With twice as much sail up as anything else, she has in three hours picked up the mile she had lost." "Wait until we get some wind." "I hope we sha'n't get anything of the sort--at least no strong winds; the old tub would open every seam if we did, and we might think ourselves lucky if we got through it at all." O'Grady smiled pleasantly, and said it was useless to argue with so obstinate a man. "I am afraid O'Grady is wrong as usual," Dick Ryan said to Terence, who was sitting next to him. "When once he has taken an idea into his head nothing will persuade him that he is wrong; there is no doubt the _Sea-horse_ is as slow as she can be. I suppose her owners have some interest with the government, or they would surely never have taken up such an old tub as a troop-ship." CHAPTER II TWO DANGERS