The stranger chuckled.
“Scars are not the only guarantee of valour,” he said.
The Colonel ventured: “You brought away some of your own, sir?”
“No,” said the old fellow. “No; Wellington and I got off scot-free.”
The Colonel dared again: “Were you, may I ask, on his personal staff?”
“Well, yes,” said the stranger, chuckling still more, “I suppose you might call it that.”
Suppose? Colonel Manton gaped. It was positively a matter of history that not one of that staff had escaped death or mutilation. The other may have noticed his perplexity, for he turned on him with an air of sudden annoyance.
“You haven’t the assurance to question my word, I hope, sir?” he demanded.
“Certainly not,” answered the Colonel.
“I could give you convincing proof,” said the stranger. “Did the Commander-in-Chief—now did he or did he not—visit General Blücher at Wavre the night before the battle to make sure of his co-operation?”