Chapters 4 & 5 Summary

After reaching their destination for the evening, Harper recalls something that happened in an earlier military campaign, and he and Sharpe share a laugh. Harper then informs the troops that he will perform an inspection. His goal is to find out who among his troops sold ammunition for wine. Rather than submit to an inspection, the troops offer several bottles of wine. While Harper goes to the river to try to catch fish with his collection of maggots, Sharpe takes a walk. He encounters a beautiful young woman, the same woman he had seen from a window in Abrantes. She is leading a horse that has a problem with its metal horseshoe. Sharpe assists the young woman by removing the horse's shoe. In the brief discussion that follows, Sharpe learns that the woman is with Lieutenant Gibbons, but he does not learn the...