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Abruptly he asked: "Where's Tavora?" He was thinking perhaps of the comfort that such wine would bring to a company of war-worn soldiers in the valley of the Agueda. "Some ten leagues from here," answered Souza, and pointed to a map that hung upon the wall. The lieutenant rose, and rolled a thought unsteadily across the room.
There is another somewhat similar, but less successful, in the church of São Sebastião at Lagos. Nearer Coimbra there are some fine monuments to the Silveira family at Goes not far from Louzã, and four less interesting to the Lemos in the little parish church of Trofa near Agueda.
Unfortunately the lofty calm of the Commander-in-Chief was not shared by his lieutenants. The Light Division was quartered along the River Agueda, watching the Spanish frontier, beyond which Marshal Ney was demonstrating against Ciudad Rodrigo, and for lack of funds its fiery-tempered commander, Sir Robert Craufurd, found himself at last unable to feed his troops.
I suppose that my story, spreading about the camp, at length penetrated to headquarters: for on Christmas Day, a transport arriving and landing some light guns and a detachment of artillery, I was sent forward with them towards Villa del Ciervo on the left bank of the Agueda, where, by all accounts, the 52nd were posted.
His one aim ow was to obtain possession of it not merely a part of it, but all of it and carry it off, thereby accomplishing two equally praiseworthy ends: to rescue a conventful of monks from damnation, and to regale the much-enduring, half-starved campaigners of the Agueda. Thus reasoned Mr. Butler with admirable, if drunken, logic.
Agueda at Burgos, where it is placed over the principal door, in the inside, and the other is in the Monastery of St. Pedro de Cardena, where it is hung up by two chains on the left of the dome; on the right, and opposite to this coffer, is the banner of the Cid, but the colour thereof cannot now be known, for length of time and the dampness of the Church have clean consumed it.
Soon after I rejoined, we crossed the Agueda into Portugal again, to take up our winter quarters in that country.
"As you say, Marmont will march upon the Agueda, but in my opinion he will not assault Ciudad Kodrigo." "Then he will be a fool." "H'm! As to that I think we are agreed. But the question just now is how am I to get across the Tormes? The ford, I suppose, is watched on both sides." I nodded. "And I suppose it will be absolutely fatal to remain here long after daybreak?"
The greater portion of the English army was indeed lying on the Agueda, but there were detached bodies of British and large numbers of Portuguese troops at various points along the whole line of the Portuguese frontier, and with the commanders of these Lord Wellington was in constant communication.
The next morning a bridge was thrown over the Agueda at Marialva, six miles below Ciudad, but the investment was delayed, owing to the slowness and insufficiency of the transport. Ciudad Rodrigo was but a third-class fortress, and could have been captured by the process of a regular siege with comparatively slight loss to the besiegers.
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