Fergus reined back his horse a length or two, while the officer spoke rapidly to Lord Sackville.
"I don't care a fig," the latter burst out passionately.
The officer continued to speak. The general listened sullenly, then turning to Fergus, he said:
"Well, sir, we shall leave the matter as it is. As soon as this battle is over, I shall waive my rank and meet you."
"I shall be ready at any time," Fergus said; and then, formally saluting, he rode away.
"I suppose you have no answer, Major Drummond," the duke said, when he returned to his quarters; "but indeed, there is none needed."
"I have no answer, sir, and indeed did not wait for one. Lord Sackville and I had a somewhat hot altercation;" and he related, word for word, what had passed.
"It is a pity, but I cannot blame you," the duke said, when Fergus had finished. "The man has given me a great deal of trouble, ever since he joined us with his force. He is always slow in obeying orders. Sometimes he seems wilfully to misunderstand them, and altogether he is a thorn in my side. I am glad, indeed, that the British infantry division are entirely under my control. With them I have no difficulty whatever. He was entirely in the wrong in this matter; and I certainly should address a remonstrance to him, on the subject of his manner and language to one of my staff, but our relations are already unpleasantly strained, and any open breach between us might bring about a serious disaster."
"I certainly should not wish that you should make any allusion to the matter, sir. Possibly I may have an opportunity of teaching him to be more polite, after we have done with the French."
By two sudden strokes the duke, in the third week of July, obtained possession of Bremen, thereby obtaining a port by which stores and reinforcements from England could reach him; and also recaptured Osnabrueck, and found to his great satisfaction that the French had also established a magazine there, so that the stores were even larger than when they had taken it from him.