“I think you are right,” the other said.  “If one gets a good man, a soldier servant is invaluable.  If, as is often the case, he is a bad one, well, one is far better without him.  It is curious how men who have been smart soldiers, when in the ranks, are apt to go to the bad when they become servants.  They have more time on their hands, are free from most of the parades, have no sentry duty to perform, and the consequence is that they become slovenly and careless, and in nine cases out of ten give way to drink at every opportunity.  If Mr. Kennedy’s servant is really a good one, you will be better off, with a third of his services, than you would be with the whole of that of an ordinary soldier servant.

“You have just returned from England, have you not?  The duke told Captain Fromart that you were among those who were captured in the Salisbury, but that you had made your escape.  He gave no particulars, for indeed, the duke is not given to much speech.  As a general he is splendid, but it would be more pleasant for his staff if he were to unbend a little.”

“Yes, we managed to give them the slip,” O’Neil said, “thanks to Monsieur Kennedy and his servant.  Did you return from Spain with the general, Captain Fromart?”

“Yes.  There was nothing doing at the moment, and he gave us the option of accompanying him or staying behind.  We vastly preferred the trip, as we considered it, for of course we had no idea that the duke was about to be sent to Flanders.  You hear a good deal of the climate of Spain.  It is said to be lovely.  I vow that it is detestable.  The heat, when it is hot, is terrible, and when it is not hot, there is a bitter wind that chills you to the bone.  A great portion of the country is but half populated, and you can go a day’s march without coming to a village.  The roads are villainous.  There is nothing to buy, and it is as much as the transport can do to get, I will not say enough bread, but a bare sufficiency to maintain the troops.  Moreover, the duke has been constantly thwarted in his plans by the Spaniards, who are ready enough to make promises, but never take a single step towards their fulfilment.  The duke’s temper is of the shortest, and he has quarrelled openly with most of the leading Spaniards, and has threatened, four or five times, to throw up his command and return to France.  He did do so a year ago, but affairs went so badly, without him, that the cause of France was seriously imperilled by his absence, and it was at the urgent request of Philip that he returned; for at that time the English general, Peterborough, was striking dismay all over the country, and if the duke’s advice had not been taken, all our officers acknowledge that we should speedily have crossed the Pyrenees.”

“And do the population incline towards Philip or the Austrian?”