But, by some
lucky misunderstanding at headquarters, you were soon after made a
lieut. colonel."
"Do you know," said L'Isle, laughing, "that this is, to me, quite a
new version of that little affair? Did you hear whether we did the
French any damage, while they beset us so closely?"
"Nothing was said on that score. So I suppose you did them little
harm."
"It is lucky for me that your informant had not the reporting of this
affair at headquarters."
"It is said that you had that more adroitly done by your own friends."
"They give me credit at least for good diplomacy," said L'Isle. "Or,
at all events, it is a good thing to have a friend at court--that is,
at the elbow of the commander-in-chief. And it seems that I have one
there. But still you make a great mistake in declining my services as
a teacher of the Spanish tongue. I may be a blundering soldier, but
have made myself thoroughly master of the languages of the Peninsula,
and have a decided aptitude for teaching. Let me begin by warning you
against a blunder we English always commit, in trying to speak a
tongue not our own, with the mouth half open, and the hands in the
pockets.
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