But when in the dead of that night he was awakened to find a British
sergeant with a halbert and six redcoats with fixed bayonets
surrounding his bed it occurred to him belatedly that what one man
can see in a mirror is also visible to another, and that Marshal
Massena, Prince of Esslingen, waiting for information beyond Ciudad
Rodrigo, would never enjoy the advantages of a report of Count
Samoval's masterly constructive and deductive reasoning.
CHAPTER IX
THE GENERAL ORDER
Sir Terence sat alone in his spacious, severely furnished private
room in the official quarters at Monsanto. On the broad carved
writing-table before him there was a mass of documents relating to
the clothing and accoutrement of the forces, to leaves of absence,
to staff appointments; there were returns from the various divisions
of the sick and wounded in hospital, from which a complete list was
to be prepared for the Secretary of State for War at home; there
were plans of the lines at Torres Vedras just .received, indicating
the progress of the works at various points; and there were documents
and communications of all kinds concerned with the adjutant-general's
multifarious and arduous duties, including an urgent letter from
Colonel Fletcher suggesting that the Commander-in-Chief should take
an early opportunity of inspecting in person the inner lines of
fortification.
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