After this was over, and cigars were lighted—­for the officers had all adopted the custom of the country—­the colonel said courteously, “Would you mind telling us, Major Kennedy, how it is that you, who by your name are Irish, although you speak excellent French, have made your way so rapidly as to be already a major?”

“Not at all, Colonel.  I am, myself, as much surprised at it as you may be.  But, really, my present rank is only temporary.  I am going down to Badajos, on a special mission for the Duke of Orleans, and as he thought that I should be received better were I a field officer, instead of captain, he has given me the temporary rank of major while so employed.

“I will briefly tell you how I obtained the other steps.  The first was given me, by the king, on my appointment as aide-de-camp to the Duke of Berwick; His Majesty being good enough to take an interest in me, owing to a little adventure in which I had become involved.  It concerned, I may say, the almost accidental rescue of a lady, who had been carried off by a nobleman of the court.”

“I remember now,” the colonel said.  “The lady was Mademoiselle de Pointdexter, and her abductor Vicomte de Tulle.  It happened a month or so before our regiment left Paris for Spain, and was the chief topic of talk.  I recall your name, now, in connection with the affair, and how warmly everyone spoke of your gallantry.  Well, Major, how did you gain your next step?”

“I had the good fortune to be the only one who survived, of four aides-de-camp who were sent off by the Duke of Berwick, at Oudenarde, to make their way through the allied lines with orders, to the division cut off from the rest of the army in the village of Diepenbeck, to disperse and make off across the country, as best they could.  My comrades were all killed, but I was lucky enough to succeed in reaching the village uninjured, with the exception of a ball in the wrist, which caused the loss of my hand, and, I may say, almost of my life.  It was because of the favourable report, which the duke was pleased to make of this service, that I received my rank as captain.”

“It was well earned, too, sir,” the colonel said warmly.  “I confess, I thought when you arrived that, although Irish by name, you must have had some very powerful influence at your back to have risen so early.  Unhappily, promotion often bears no relation whatever to merit; and one sees young nobles, with no other recommendation than that of their birth, placed over the heads of officers of five-and-twenty years service.  No one is jealous of a man who owes his rise to brilliant deeds of courage, or signal ability; but it is galling to see these young popinjays thrust forward, simply by family influence.”

In passing over the hills the next day, a large party of armed men made their appearance, suddenly, on a height above; but, seeing that an attack was likely to meet with a stout resistance, and as little booty would be obtainable, they did not interfere with their passage.  Desmond congratulated himself on having an escort, for it would have gone hard with him, had he been accompanied only by Mike.