Excerpt from The Bivouac: Or, Stories of the Peninsular War Yes, Mary; we might have been happy had fate permitted it. I would have sacrificed the field of glory for the home of love. Hand in hand, we would have passed through life together and the tranquil enjoyment Of domestic felicity would have amply compensated the wild excitement that attends a martial career. Pshaw! This is dreaming; rouse thyself - here comes the harbinger Of war 1 As he spoke, a light dragoon rode forward at a brisk trot, and pulling up at the door of the Greyhound, held a brief colloquy With the orderly in attendance, to whom he surrendered his bridle. The clattering Of a steel scab bard on the brick pavement of the corridor announced his approach to the chamber Of the commandant; next moment he was in the presence, and delivered a sealed despatch, marked Private. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.