She even, for his benefit, called into requisition the
unwilling service of old Moodie, who had habitually taken his post
behind her, like a sentinel, not troubling himself about the wants of
the guests. The colonel might have choked with thirst before he
spontaneously handed him a decanter.
Colonel Bradshawe having made himself comfortable, next sought to make
himself agreeable. "What a delightful contrast between my situation
to-day, and this day year, Lady Mabel."
"Where were you then?"
"About this hour we were fording the Aguada, in a snow storm, to
invest Ciudad Rodrigo."
"That was somewhat different from our present occupation."
"We soon finished that little job, however, before we had suffered
many privations there. But it proved to be but the opening of a
campaign, which I began, after a time, to think would never come to an
end."
"And, unhappily," said Lady Mabel, "it did not end quite so well as it
promised to do."
"Fortune is a fickle mistress, and fond of showing her character in
war," said the colonel. "Sometimes she favors one party with a run of
luck, then shifts suddenly over to the other side. So with
individuals, only there she is most apt to work at cross purposes.
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