"I trust, if Hatton is bent on dying in the field, he will choose some occasion when they do not fire blank-cartridges."
As his colonel seemed little interested in his sporting intelligence, the adjutant turned to a topic that looked a little more like business. "I see that Commissary Shortridge has got back."
"Ah!" said L'Isle, suppressing a yawn, "where has he been?"
"He has been to Lisbon."
"What carried him there?" mechanically asked the colonel, evidently not caring to know.
"Business of the commissariat, he says."
"So I suppose," said L'Isle, carelessly.
"But I suppose no such thing," said Meynell. "The first thing these fellows think of is not the supply of the troops, but their own comfort. He only went to Lisbon to bring his wife here."
"What!" said L'Isle, with sudden interest, "is Mrs. Shortridge in Elvas?"
"Yes. She came with him last night."