The weather is too bad entirely, your honor, and the
boys are well-nigh broken-hearted at turning their backs to the
Frenchmen."
"Ah, well, they will turn their faces to-morrow, Denis; and as for the
weather, I guess you have got wet before now digging praties in the
old country."
"I have that, your honor, many and many a time; and it's little I
cared for it. But then there was a place to go into, and dry clothes
to put on, and a warm male to look forward to, with perhaps a drop of
the crater afterward; and that makes all the difference in the world.
What we are going to do to-night, sorra of me knows."
"You will have to lie down in the mud, Denis."
"Is it lie down, your honor? And when shall I get the mud off my
uniform? and what will the duke say in the morning if he comes round
and sees me look like a hog that has been rowling in his sty?"
"You won't be worse than any one else, Denis; you see we shall all be
in the same boat. Well, here's the tinder. I should recommend you to
break up a cartridge, and sprinkle the powder in among the leaves that
you light your fire with."
"That's the difficulty, your honor; I have got some wood, but divil a
dry leaf can I find."
"Look here, Denis. Open your knapsack under the wagon, and take out a
shirt and tear it into strips. You will soon get a fire with that, and
we can easily replace the shirt afterward.
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