"I don't care a straw if undistinguishable ruin should fall upon us all!"
"Which is certain to be the case, if the said transports are not there," replied the other, with a yawn. "But come, Crawford, fill your glass again; is this champagne some of the stuff we found in Colbert's baggage?"
"My fate will soon be decided," said the other, pursuing his own thoughts; "to-morrow, perhaps, for I can see some indication of taking up a position here, in front of Lugo."
"Yes; but the infernal miners failed at the bridges of the Minho, and the Sil—the river of gold."
"Thus, I say," continued Cosmo, doggedly, "Paget, old fellow, my fate will soon be decided!"
"And it is——"
"Death on a Spanish battle-field, or to rot in an English prison!"
"Don't talk so bitterly; once in London again, we shall see what can be done. Another glass of this sparkling liquid!—wine, wine, I say—drown the blue devils in a red sea of it!" exclaimed the gay Paget.
"Something stronger than wine for me now," said Cosmo, as he filled a large glass nearly full with undiluted brandy, and drained it; "life is short, and not very merry here."
"Egad! I know no place, however, where it is so difficult to live and so easy to die."