“Did I not tell you, Kennedy, that your luck would bring good fortune to us all!  And, by the powers, it has done so!  Faith, if anyone had said a month ago that I should by now be on the Duke of Berwick’s staff, I should have laughed in his face, if indeed I had not quarrelled with him for mocking at me.  And now here we are, with money to buy horses and outfit, and with no more drilling recruits and attending parades.”

“But not an end to work, O’Sullivan,” Desmond Kennedy said.  “You won’t find much idle time, when you are serving with the duke.”

“No.  He has the name of being a strict commander, sparing neither himself nor his soldiers; and I have heard that his staff have a very hard time of it.  However, I am not afraid of hard work, when it is done on horseback, and there are many more chances of promotion on the staff than there are in marching regiments.  Well, I don’t mind being taken prisoner a dozen times if this is what comes of it, providing always that you are taken with me, Kennedy, and are there to help me out of the scrape.”

“We should have to have Mike prisoner, too,” Desmond laughed, “for without his help we should be in Newgate at present.”

“I don’t believe it.  I am sure that, even if he hadn’t turned up, you would have managed somehow.”

In a short time, the duke came out.

“I am likely to be detained here another week, before I start for Flanders.  That will give you time to procure your outfit of horses and equipments and arms.  You will require two horses each, and these should be good ones.  I doubt whether, if you get proper outfits, the sum that His Majesty has given you will suffice to buy two horses.  I have, however, in my stables here, plenty of good animals that have been taken from the enemy, and one will be given to each of you.  Therefore, it will be only necessary for you to purchase one.

“I am staying here, and should be obliged, when you have taken a lodging, if you would send me your address.  I shall then let you know where and when you are to join me.  Is there anything else that you would ask me?”

“I would ask, sir, that I might take my servant with me,” Desmond said.

“Certainly; and you can do so without further question.  One man, more or less, will make no difference to O’Brien’s regiment, and it would be a pity that you should not have him with you, for it is evident that he is at once faithful, and possesses a large amount of shrewdness.”

After thanking the duke for the present of the horses, the three officers, having drawn their money, left the palace and rode back to Paris.  They went first to the barracks, and returned the horses and uniforms, with many thanks, to the officers who had lent them; had an interview with Lord Galmoy, and informed him of their new appointments.

“You have well won them,” he said, “and I wish you every good fortune.  Assuredly, you are more likely to rise under the Duke of Berwick than as subaltern in the Irish Brigade, though promotion is not slow there, owing to the vacancies that battle always makes in their ranks.”