by G. A. Henty
Chapter 9: In Disguise.
Leitmeritz, lying as it did but a short distance beyond the mouthof the defiles leading into Saxony, was an admirably chosenposition. Supplies for the army could be brought up by the Elbe,and a retreat was assured, should an overwhelming force advance tothe attack; while from this spot Frederick could march, at once,either to the defence of Silesia, or to check an enemy approachingfrom the west towards the defiles through the mountains.
The news of the defeat at Kolin set all the enemies of Prussia inmovement. The Russian army entered East Prussia, where there was noadequate force to oppose it; the Swedes issued from Stralsund; theFrench pressed hard upon the so-called British column ofobservation, and forced the Duke of Cumberland to retreat beforethem. Another French army, in conjunction with that of the GermanConfederacy, threatened the western passes into Saxony.
As yet, it was impossible to say where Marshal Daun and Prince Karlwould deliver their blow, and great efforts were made to fill upthe terrible gaps created at Prague and Kolin, in the regimentsmost hotly engaged, with fresh troops; who were speedily rendered,by incessant drills and discipline, fit to take their places in theranks with the veterans.
The king was lodged in the cathedral close of the city. Keith withhis division occupied the other side of the river, across which abridge was at once thrown. Prince Maurice and Bevern had gone toBunzlau, at the junction of the Iser and Elbe; but when, upon acrowd of light Austrian horse approaching, the Prince sent to theking to ask whether he should retreat, he was at once recalled, andthe Prince of Prussia appointed in his stead.
On the 2nd of July came news which, on the top of his othertroubles, almost prostrated Frederick. This was of the death of hismother, to whom he was most fondly attached. He retired from publicview for some days; for although he was as iron in the hour ofbattle, he was a man of very sensitive disposition, and fondlyattached to his family.
His chief confidant during this sad time was the Englishambassador, Mitchell; a bluff, shrewd, hearty man, for whom theking had conceived a close friendship. He had accompanied Frederickfrom the time he left Berlin, and had even been near him on thebattlefields; and it was in no small degree due to his despatchesand correspondence that we have obtained so close a view ofFrederick, the man, as distinct from Frederick the king andgeneral.
The Prince of Prussia, however, did no better than Prince Maurice.The main Austrian army, after much hesitation, at last crossed theElbe and moved against him; thinking, doubtless, that he was a lessformidable antagonist than the king. The prince fell back, but insuch hesitating and blundering fashion that he allowed theAustrians to get between him and his base, the town of Zittau,where his magazines had been established.
Zittau stood at the foot of the mountain, and was a Saxon town. TheAustrians had come to deliver Saxony, and they began the work byfiring red-hot balls into Zittau, thereby laying the whole town inashes, rendering 10,000 people homeless, and doing no injurywhatever to the Prussian garrison or magazines.
The heat, however, from the ruins was so terrible that the fivebattalions in garrison there were unable to support it and,evacuating the town, joined the prince's army; which immediatelyretired to Bautzen on the other side of the mountains, leaving thedefiles to Saxony and Silesia both unguarded.
As messenger after messenger arrived at Leitmeritz, with reports ofthe movements of the troops, the astonishment and indignation ofFrederick rose higher and higher. The whole fruits of the campaignwere lost, by this astounding succession of blunders; and onhearing that Zittau had been destroyed, and that the army hadarrived at Bautzen in the condition of a beaten and disheartenedforce, he at once started, with the bulk of the army, by the Elbepasses for that town; leaving Maurice of Dessau, with 10,000 men,to secure the passes; and Keith to follow more slowly with thebaggage train and magazines.
On his arrival at Bautzen Frederick refused to speak to hisbrother, but sent him a message saying that he deserved to bebrought before a court martial, which would sentence him and allhis generals to death; but that he should not carry the matter sofar, being unable to forget that the chief offender was hisbrother. The prince resigned his command, and the king, in answerto his letter to that effect, said that, in the situation createdby him, nothing was left but to try the last extremity.
"I must go and give battle," he wrote, "and if we cannot conquer,we must all of us get ourselves killed."
Frederick, indeed, as his letters show, had fully made up his mindthat he would die in battle, rather than live beaten. The animosityof his enemies was, to a large extent, personal to himself; and hebelieved that they would, after his death, be inclined to givebetter terms to Prussia than they would ever grant, while he lived.For three weeks the king vainly tried to get the Austrians to givebattle, but Prince Karl and Daun remained on the hill from whichthey had bombarded Zittau, and which they had now stronglyfortified.
Their barbarous and most useless bombardment of Zittau had donetheir cause harm; for it roused a fierce cry of indignationthroughout Europe, even among their allies; excited public feelingin England to the highest point in favour of Frederick; and createda strong feeling of hostility to the Austrians throughout Saxony.
As soon as Keith and the waggon train arrived, bringing up thePrussian strength to 56,000, the king started, on the 15th August(1757), for Bernstadt; and then, to the stupefaction of theAustrians--who had believed that they had either Saxony or Silesiaat their mercy, whenever they could make up their mind which oughtfirst to be gobbled up--so rapidly did the Prussian cavalry pushforward that Generals Beck and Nadasti were both so taken bysurprise that they had to ride for their lives, leaving baggagecoaches, horses, and all their belongings behind them.
On the 16th, Frederick with the army marched and offered battle tothe Austrians; but although so superior in numbers, they refused tobe beguiled from their fortified hill. At last, after tempting themin vain, Frederick was forced to abandon the attempt and return toSaxony, bitterly disappointed. He had wanted, above all things, tofinish with the Austrians; so as to be able to move off to theother points threatened.
He now arranged that Bevern and Winterfeld should take the commandin his absence, watch the Austrians, and guard Silesia; while he,with 23,000 men, marched on the 31st of August from Dresden, withthe intention of attacking the combined French and GermanConfederacy force, under Soubise, that had already reached Erfurt.Keith accompanied the king on his harassing march.
Since the arrival of the army at Leitmeritz, Fergus had beenincessantly engaged in carrying despatches between that town andDresden; and worked even harder while the king was trying, but invain, to bring about an engagement with the Austrians. For thefirst few days after starting for Erfurt, he had a comparativelyquiet time of it. The marshal was now constantly the king'scompanion, his cheerful and buoyant temper being invaluable toFrederick, in this time of terrible anxiety. Fergus would havefound it dull work, had it not been for the companionship ofLindsay, who was always light hearted, and ready to make the bestof everything.
"I would rather be an aide-de-camp than a general, at present,Drummond," he said one day. "Thank goodness, we get our orders andhave to carry them out, and leave all the thinking to be done byothers! Never was there such a mess as this. Here we are inOctober, and we are very much as we were when we began in March."
"Yes, except that all our enemies are drawing closer to us."
"They are closer, certainly, but none of them would seem to knowwhat he wants to do; and as for fighting, it is of all things thatwhich they most avoid. We have been trying, for the last twomonths, for a fight with the Austrians, and cannot get one. Now weare off to Erfurt, and I will wager a month's pay that the Frenchwill retire, as soon as we approach; and we shall have all thislong tramp for nothing, and will have to hurry back again, as fastas we came."
"It is unfortunate that we had to come, Lindsay. Things always seemto go badly, when the king himself is not present. The princes makeblunder after blunder, and I have no faith in
Bevern."
"No," Lindsay agreed, "but he has Winterfeld with him."
"Yes, he is a splendid fellow," Drummond said; "but everyone knowsthat he and Bevern do not get on well together, and that the dukewould very much rather that Winterfeld was not with him; and withtwo men like that, the one slow and cautious, the other quick anddaring, there are sure to be disagreements. We are going to attacka force more than twice our own strength, but I am much morecertain as to what will be the result, than I am that we shall findmatters unchanged when we get back here."
The foreboding was very quickly confirmed. A day or two later camethe news that the Austrians had suddenly attacked an advancedposition called the Jakelsberg; where Winterfeld, who commanded thevan of Bevern's army, had posted two thousand grenadiers. PrinceKarl undertook the operation by no means willingly; but theindignation, at Vienna, at his long delays had resulted inimperative orders being sent to him, to fight. Nadasti was to leadthe attack, with fifteen thousand men; while the main armyremained, a short distance behind, ready to move up should ageneral battle be brought on.
The march was made at night, and at daybreak a thousand Croats, andforty companies of regular infantry, rushed up the hill. Althoughtaken by surprise, the Prussians promptly formed and drove themdown again. Winterfeld was some miles behind, having been escortingan important convoy; and rode at a gallop to the spot, as soon ashe heard the sound of cannon; and brought up two regiments, at arun, just as the grenadiers were retiring from the hill, unable towithstand the masses hurled against them.
Sending urgent messages to Bevern, to hurry up reinforcements,Winterfeld led his two regiments forward, joined the grenadiersand, rushing eagerly up the hill, regained the position. But theAustrians were not to be denied, and the fight was obstinatelysustained on both sides. No reinforcements reached Winterfeld and,after an hour's desperate fighting, he was struck in the breast bya musket ball and fell, mortally wounded.
The Prussians drew off, slowly and in good order, at two o'clock inthe afternoon; and soon afterwards the Austrians also retired,nothing having come of this useless battle save heavy loss to bothsides, and the killing of one of Frederick's best and most trustedgenerals. It was not, however, without result; for Bevern, freedfrom the restraint of his energetic colleague, at once fell back toSchlesien, where he was more comfortable, near his magazines.
Keith sent for Fergus, on the evening when this bad news hadarrived.
"I want you, lad, to undertake a dangerous service. Now thatWinterfeld has been killed, the king is more anxious than ever asto the situation. It is enough to madden anyone. It is imperativethat he should get to Erfurt, and fight the French. On the otherhand, everything may go wrong with Bevern while he is away, to saynothing of other troubles. Cumberland is retreating to the sea; theRussians are ever gaining ground in East Prussia; there is nothing,now, to prevent the remaining French army from marching on Berlin;and the Swedes have issued from Stralsund. It may be that by thistime Soubise has moved from Erfurt; and this is what, above allthings, we want to know.
"You showed so much shrewdness, in your last adventure, that Ibelieve you might get through this safely. Doubtless there arecavalry parties, far in advance of Erfurt, and these would have tobe passed. The point is, will you undertake this mission, to go toErfurt to ascertain the force there, and if possible theirintentions, and bring us back word?"
"I shall be glad to try, marshal. There should be no difficultyabout it. I shall, of course, go in disguise. I should not belikely to fall in with any of the enemy's cavalry patrols, tillwithin a short distance of Erfurt; but should I do so, there wouldbe little chance of their catching me, mounted as I am.
"I could leave my horse within a short distance of the town. Two orthree hours would be sufficient to gather news of the strength ofthe force there, and the movements of any bodies of detachedtroops."
"Yes, you should have no great difficulty about that. A largeproportion of the population are favourable to us and, being sonear the frontier of Hanover, your accent and theirs must be soclose that no one would suspect you of being aught but a townsman.
"Of course, the great thing is speed. We shall march from eighteento twenty miles a day. You will be able to go fifty. That is tosay, if you start at once you can be there in the morning; and onthe following morning you can bring us back news."
An hour later Fergus, dressed as a small farmer, started. It was amain line of road, and therefore he was able to travel as fast, atnight, as he would do in the day. There was the advantage, too,that the disparity between his attire and the appearance of thehorse he rode would pass unnoticed, in the darkness. He had withhim a map of the road, on a large scale; and beneath his cloak hecarried a small lantern, so as to be able to make detours, to avoidtowns where detachments of the enemy's cavalry might be lying.
He had started two hours after the troops halted, and had fourhours of daylight still before him, which he made the most of, andby sunset he was within fifteen miles of Erfurt. So far, he had notleft the main road; but he now learned, from some peasants, thatthere was a small party of French hussars at a place three milesahead. He therefore struck off by a byroad and, travelling slowlyalong, turned off two hours later to a farmhouse, the lights fromwhich had made him aware of its proximity.
He dismounted a hundred yards from it, fastened his horse looselyto a fence, and then went forward on foot, and peeped in cautiouslyat the window. It was well that he had taken the precaution, forthe kitchen into which he looked contained a dozen French hussars.He retired at once, led his horse until he reached the road again,and then mounted.
Presently he met a man driving a cart.
"My friend," he said, "do you know of any place where a quiet mancould put up, without running the risk of finding himself in themidst of these French and Confederacy troops?"
"'Tis not easy," the man replied, "for they are all over thecountry, pillaging and plundering. We are heartily sick of them,and there are not a few of us who would be glad, if the King ofPrussia would come and turn them out, neck and crop."
"I don't care what sort of a place it is, so that I could put myhorse up. It is a good one and, like enough, some of these fellowswould take a fancy to it."
"I don't think that it would be safe in any farmhouse within tenmiles of here; but if you like to come with me, my hut stands atthe edge of a wood, and you could leave him there without muchrisk."
"Thank you, very much; that would suit me well. It is just what Ihad intended to do, but in the darkness I have no great chance offinding a wood.
"How far are we from Erfurt, now?"
"About five miles."
"That will do very well. I have some business to do there, and cango and come back by the afternoon."
In a quarter of an hour they arrived at the man's house. It was buta small place.
"Not much to rob here," his host said grimly. "They have taken mytwo cows, and all my poultry. My horse only escaped because theydid not think him fit for anything.
"This is a stranger, wife," he went on, as a woman rose, in somealarm, from a stool upon which she was crouching by the fire. "Hewill stop here for the night and, though there is little enough tooffer him, at least we can make him welcome."
He took a torch from the corner of the room, lighted it at thefire, and went out.
"You are right about your horse, my friend," he said; "and it issmall chance you would have of taking him back with you, if any ofthese fellows set eyes on him. I see your saddlery hardly matcheswith your horse."
Fergus had indeed, before starting, taken off his saddle and othermilitary equipments; and had replaced them with a common countrysaddle and bridle, adding a pair of rough wallets and the commonestof horse cloths, so as to disguise the animal as much as possible.
"I am sorry that I cannot give you a feed for the animal," the manwent on; "but I have none, and my horse has to make shift with whathe can pick up."
"I have one of my wallets full. I baited the horse at inns, as Icame along
. He may as well have a feed, before I take him out intothe wood."
He poured a good feed onto a flat stone. As he did so, thepeasant's horse lifted up his head and snuffed the air.
"You shall have some too, old boy," Fergus said; and going across,was about to empty some on to the ground before it, when its owner,taking off his hat, held it out.
"Put it into this," he said. "It is seldom, indeed, that he getssuch a treat; and I would not that he should lose a grain."
Fergus poured a bountiful feed into the hat.
"Now," he said, "I can supplement your supper, as well as yourhorse's;" and from the other wallet he produced a cold leg of pork,that Karl had put in before he started; together with three loaves;and two bottles of wine, carefully done up in straw.
The peasant looked astonished, as Fergus took these out and placedthem upon the table.
"No, no, sir," he said, "we cannot take your food in that way."
"You are heartily welcome to it," Fergus said. "If you do notassist me to eat it, it will be wasted. Tomorrow I shall breakfastat Erfurt, and maybe dine, also. I will start as soon as I getback."
"Well, well, sir, it shall be as you please," the man said; "but itseems that we are reversing our parts, and that you have become thehost, and we your guests."
It was a pleasant meal by the torch light. Many a month had passedsince the peasants had tasted meat; and the bread, fresh from thePrussian bakeries, was of a very different quality to the blackoaten bread to which they were accustomed. A horn of good winecompleted their enjoyment.
When the meal was done, the man said:
"Now, master, I will guide you to the wood."
There was no occasion to lead the horse; for it, as well as itscompanion, had been trained to follow their master like dogs, andto come to a whistle. The wood was but two or three hundred yardsoff, and the peasant led the way through the trees to a small openspace in its centre. The saddle and bridle had been removed beforethey left the cottage; and Fergus tethered the horse, by a footrope, to a sapling growing on the edge of the clearing. Then hepatted it on the neck, and left it beginning to crop the shortgrass.
"It won't get much," the peasant said, "for my animal keeps itpretty short. It is his best feeding place, now; and I generallyturn it out here, at night, when the day's work is done."
"What is its work, principally?"
"There is only one sort, now," the man said. "I cut faggots in theforest, and take a cart load into Erfurt, twice a week. I hope, bythe spring, that all these troubles will be over, and then Icultivate two or three acres of ground; but so long as theseFrench, and the Confederacy troops, who are as bad, are about, itis no use to think of growing anything.
"Now, sir, is there anything that I can do for you?" he went on,after they returned to the cottage, and had both lit their pipesand seated themselves by the fire.
"I can see that you are not what you look. A farmer does not rideabout the country on a horse fit for a king, or put up at a cottagelike this."
"Yes; you can help me by leading me by quiet paths to Erfurt. Itell you frankly that my business, there, is to find out how strongthe French and Confederacy army is, in and around the town; alsowhether they are taking any precautions against an attack, and ifthere are any signs that they intend to enter Hanover, or to movetowards Dresden."
"I daresay I can learn all that for you, without difficulty; for Isupply several of the inns with faggots. There are troops quarteredin all of them, and the helpers and servants are sure to hear whatis going on. Not, of course, in the inns where the French arequartered, but where the German men are lodged. They speak plainlyenough there, and indeed everyone knows that a great many of themare there against their will. The Hesse and Gotha and Dessau menwould all prefer fighting on the Prussian side, but when they werecalled out they had to obey.
"At what time will you start?"
"I should like to get to Erfurt as soon as the place is astir."
"That is by five," the man said. "There is trumpeting and drummingenough by that time, and no one could sleep longer if they wantedto."
"Then we will start at dawn."
The peasant would have given up his bed to Fergus, but the latterwould not hear of it, and said that he was quite accustomed tosleeping on the ground; whereupon the peasant went out, andreturned with a large armful of rushes; which, as he told Fergus,he had cut only the day before to mend a hole in the thatch. Ferguswas well content, for he knew well enough that he should sleep verymuch better, on fresh rushes, than he should in the peasant's bedplace, where he would probably be assailed by an army of fleas.
As soon as the man and his wife were astir in the morning, Fergusgot up; bathed his head and face in a tiny streamlet, that ranwithin a few yards of the house; then, after cutting a hunch ofbread to eat on their way, the two started.
They did not come down upon the main road until within a mile and ahalf of the town, and they then passed through a large village,where a troop of French cavalry were engaged in grooming theirhorses. They attracted no attention whatever, and entered Erfurt ata quarter-past five. They separated when they got into the town,agreeing to meet in front of the cathedral, at eleven o'clock.
Fergus went to an eating house, where he saw a party of Frenchnon-commissioned officers and soldiers seated. They were talkingfreely, confident that neither the landlord, the man who wasserving them, nor the two or three Germans present could understandthem.
It was evident that they had very little confidence in Soubise.
"One would think," a sergeant said, "that we were going to changeour nationality, and to settle down here for life. Here we havesome fifty thousand men, and there is nothing to stop our going toDresden, except some ten thousand or twelve thousand Prussians.They say that Daun has an army that could eat up Frederick, and itis certain that he could not spare a sergeant's guard to help barthe way.
"I cannot understand it, comrades. This leisurely way of making warmay suit some people, but it is not our way."
"And we must admit that it is not the Prussians' way," anothersaid. "They are our enemies; though why, I am sure I don't know.That is not our business. But the way that they dash out, and setthe Austrians dancing, is really splendid. I wish that our owngenerals had a little of Fritz's energy and go."
There was a general murmur of assent.
"Here we are, September beginning, and next to nothing done. Nowthere would be enough to do, if Fritz could get away from Daun anddash off in this direction."
"Yes," another said, "there would be plenty to do, but I would notmind wagering that we should not wait for him; and after all, I amnot sure if it would not be the best thing to do, for these Germanswith us are little better than a rabble."
"That is so, Francois; but, mixed up with us as they would be, theywould have to fight whether they liked it or not. At any rate, ifwe don't mean to fight, what are we here for?"
"That I cannot say," another laughed; "but I own I am not so eagerto fight as you seem to be. We are very comfortable. We ride aboutthe country, we take pretty well what we like. It is better thanbeing in barracks, at home.
"While, on the other hand, it is no joke fighting these Prussians.The fights are not skirmishes, they are battles. It is not aquestion of a few hundred killed, it is a question of ding-dongfighting, and of fifteen or twenty thousand killed on each side--nojoke, that. For my part, I am quite content to take it easy atErfurt, and to leave it to the Austrians to settle matters withthese obstinate fellows."
So they continued talking, and Fergus saw that, so far, no newswhatever of Frederick's march against Erfurt had reached them. Helearned, too, that although there were some outlying bodies to thenorth, the main bulk of the force lay in and around Erfurt.
The contempt with which the French soldiers spoke of the Germanportion of the army was very great. Each little state had, by theorder of the Council of the Confederacy, been compelled to furnisha contingent, even if its representatives in the council hadopposed the proposal;
therefore very many of the men had joinedunwillingly, while in other cases the French declared that the levyhad been made up by hiring idlers and ne'er-do-wells in the towns,so as to avoid having to put the conscription into force in therural districts.
The officers were declared to be as incapable as the men, and hadit not been that an Austrian contingent some five thousand stronghad been joined with them, and the drilling largely undertaken bythe non-commissioned officers of this force, nothing approachingorder or discipline could have been maintained. All the Frenchmenlamented their fortune in having to act with such allies, insteadof being with the purely French army that was gradually pressingthe Duke of Cumberland to the seaboard.
Fergus waited until the party had left the inn, when the landlordhimself came across to hand him his reckoning.
"Bad times, master," he said. "Bad times," shaking his headruefully.
"Yes, they are bad enough, landlord; but I should say that you mustbe doing a good trade, with all these soldiers in the town."
"A good trade!" the landlord repeated. "I am being ruined. Do younot know that, in addition to levying a heavy contribution on thetown, they issued a regulation settling the prices at which thetroops were to be served, at beer shops and inns: breakfast--andyou saw what those fellows ate--4 pence; a tumbler of wine, 1pence; dinner, 5 pence. Why, each item costs me more than doublethat; and as nobody brings in cattle, for these might be seized onthe way, and no compensation given, so meat gets dearer. We arewaiting until there is none to be had, on any terms; and then weshall send representatives to the general, to point out to him thatit is absolutely impossible for us to obey the regulations.
"Ah, these are terrible times! We could not have suffered more thanthis, had Coburg joined Frederick; though they say that Richelieu'sFrench army is plundering even worse, in Hanover and the countrybeyond it, than Soubise is doing here.
"Moreover, one would rather be plundered by an enemy than byfellows who pretend to come hither as friends. If Frederick wouldmarch in here, I would open my house free to all comers, and wouldnot grudge the last drop of wine in my cellar."
"There is never any saying," Fergus replied. "The King of Prussiaalways appears when least expected, and more unlikely things havehappened than that he should appear here, some fine morning."
As Fergus was sallying out, a mounted officerdashed by at a gallop]
Having paid his reckoning, he went to the door. As he was sallyingout, a mounted officer dashed by at a headlong gallop; his horsewas flecked with foam, and it was evident that he had ridden farand fast, on an important errand.
Having nothing to do until he should meet the peasant, Fergusfollowed the officer at a leisurely pace; and in five minutes cameup with the horse, held by a soldier at the entrance gate of a verylarge house. Sentries were pacing up and down in front of it, andofficers going in and out.
"Is that the headquarters of the French general?" he asked atownsman.
"Yes," and the man walked on with a muttered malediction.
A few minutes later several mounted officers rode out, and dashedoff in haste in various directions.
"There is evidently something up," Fergus said to himself. "Perhapsthey have got news of the Prussian approach."
In a quarter of an hour several general officers arrived, andentered the house. It was evident that a council of war had beensummoned. Half an hour elapsed, and then a number of aides-de-campand staff officers rode off in haste. A few minutes later, atrumpet sounded a regimental call, and then the assembly.
Before it had died away, similar calls echoed from all parts of thetown. Soldiers ran hastily through the streets, mounted officersdashed in every direction, and the citizens came to their doors, insurprise at this sudden movement.
Fergus had no longer any doubt about the cause of the stir. Thegreat thing, now, was to ascertain whether the army would advanceto take up some strong position outside the town and oppose thePrussian advance, or whether they would march away.
Being fifty thousand in number, the former would appear to be thenatural course for a general to adopt; as Frederick had with himbut twenty-three thousand men. Of this fact, however, Soubise wouldbe ignorant, and might only have heard that the Prussian army wasmarching to annihilate him.
Before long baggage waggons began to clatter through the streets.They were being driven westward, and it was in the same directionthat the regiments made their way.
Fergus followed them to the plain outside the town. The tents hadalready been struck; the troops, as they arrived from the town andcamp, were marshalled in order; a long train of baggage waggonswere already making their way westward; and there was no longer anygrounds for doubt that Soubise was retreating.
It was just eleven o'clock when Fergus returned to the cathedral.The peasant was awaiting him.
"They all seem on the move," the latter said. "I have heard muchabout them."
"It does not matter, now," Fergus replied. "I must get back to yourplace, as quickly as I can."
Not a word was spoken, until they had left the town.
"They must be going up into Hanover, to join the French armythere," the peasant said.
"They are running away. Frederick will be here tomorrow night, orat any rate next day."
"The news seems too good to be true, master. How have you learntit?"
"I have learnt it from no one here. I am one of the king'sofficers, and I came on here to find out whether the enemy would belikely to come out and fight, or would bolt when they heard of hisadvance."
"The Lord be praised!" the man said piously, taking off his hat ashe spoke. "I thought, sir, that there was something curious in yourhaving such a horse; and still more so, in your wanting to find outall about the force of the enemy here. But it was no business ofmine; and I felt that you must be a friend for, had you beenAustrian or French, you would have ridden boldly into the town."
As they went along the road they were met by several troops ofcavalry, riding at full speed.
"Is the way we came this morning the shortest?"
"Yes, sir, by a good mile."
"Then we will return by it," said Fergus.
As soon as they left the main road they went at a run for somedistance, and then broke into a fast walk. In an hour from the timeof leaving Erfurt, they arrived at the hut.
"I will run along and fetch your horse, sir," the peasant said.
"No, I will go myself. He does not know you, and might refuse tolet you come near him."
In a few minutes, Fergus returned with his horse. The saddle,bridle, and wallets were quickly put on. Fergus dropped his pistolsinto his saddlebags, and buckled on the sword he had brought withhim. It was not his own, but one he had bought at starting--a goodpiece of steel, but with a battered and rusty sheath that showedthat it had been lying for weeks, possibly for months, on somefield of battle before being picked up.
Then, with a word of adieu and thanks to the peasant and his wife,and slipping a crown piece into the hand of the latter, he mountedand rode off.
