With Frederick the Great Part 37

"I myself should regret this deeply. Prussia, although she taxes the population heavily, at least permits no disorders nor ill treatment of the people, no plundering of the villages; while the Austrians, Croats, and Pandoors will spread like a swarm of hornets over the land, and the state of the Saxons under their so-called rescuers will be infinitely worse than it has been under their conquerors."

"It would be a heavy blow to the king to lose Dresden," Fergus agreed, "but I am by no means sure that he would not be better without it; except, of course, that it would bring the enemy so much nearer to Berlin, otherwise the loss of Saxony would be a benefit to him. During all his movements, and in all his combinations, he is forced to keep an eye on Dresden. At one moment it is Soubise, with his mixed army of French, Austrians, and Confederate troops, who have to be met and, leaving all else, Frederick is forced to march away two or three hundred miles, and waste two or three precious months before he can get a blow at them. Then he has to leave a considerable force to prevent them gathering again, while he hurries back to prevent Daun from besieging Dresden, or to wrest Silesia again out of his hands.

Saxony lost, he could devote his whole mind and his whole power to the Russian and Austrian armies; who will no doubt, at the next campaign, endeavour to act together; and the nearer they are to each other, the more easily and rapidly can he strike blows at them alternately."

"Perhaps you are right," the count said, "and certainly the Austrians would have to keep a considerable force to garrison Dresden and hold Saxony; for they would be sure that, at the very first opportunity, Frederick would be among them raining his blows rapidly and heavily. As to any advance north, they would not dare attempt it; for Frederick, who can move more than twice as fast as any Austrian army, would fall on their flank or rear and annihilate them.

"Still, the blow would be undoubtedly a heavy one for the king, inasmuch as it would greatly raise the spirits of his enemies, and would seem to show them that the end was approaching."

"I think the end is a good way off still, count. Even if the Russians and Austrians marched across Prussia, they would hold little more than the ground they stood on. Frederick would be ever hovering round them, attacking them on every opportunity, and preventing them from sending off detached columns; while the cavalry of Ziethen and Seidlitz would effectually prevent Cossacks and Croats from going out to gather stores for the armies, and to plunder and ma.s.sacre on their own account. I doubt whether anything short of the annihilation of his army would break the king's spirit and, so far as I can see, that is by no means likely to take place."

"However, the point at present, my friend, is that if the Austrians get Dresden, it may be long before we see you again."

"I fancy that when the army goes into winter quarters again, if I am able to get leave of absence, I shall do myself the pleasure of paying you a visit, whether the city has changed hands or not. If one can travel twice through Austria without being detected, it is hard indeed if I cannot make my way into Saxony."

"But you must not run too great risks," the countess said. "You know how glad we should be to see you, and that we regard you as one of ourselves; but even a mother could hardly wish a son to run into such danger, in order that they might see each other for a short time."

"What do you say, Thirza?" her father asked.

The girl, thus suddenly addressed, coloured hotly.

"I should be glad to see him, father--he knows that very well--but I should not like him to run risks."

"But he is always running risks, child; and that, so far as I can see, without so good a reason. At any rate, I shall not join your mother in protesting. What he says is very true. He has twice made his way many hundreds of miles in disguise, for the purpose of getting here in time for the first fighting; and I do not think that there will be anything like the same risk in his coming here to pay us a visit.

"At the same time, I would not say a single word to induce him to do so. There is no saying where he may be when the next winter sets in, or what may take place during the coming campaign. In times like these it is folly to make plans of any sort, three months in advance. I only say therefore that, should everything else be favourable, I think that an Austrian occupation of Saxony would not be a very serious obstacle to his paying us a visit, next winter.

"Once here, he would be absolutely safe, and as the household know what he has done for us--and probably for them, for there is no saying whether some, at least, of them might not have been killed by those villains--their absolute discretion and silence can be relied upon.

"However, it may be that we shall see him long before that. The king may have occasion to be here many times, during the summer."

The count would not hear of Fergus returning to the hotel where he had put up, and for a week he remained at the chateau, where the time pa.s.sed very pleasantly. The luxurious appointments, the hospitable attentions of his host and hostesses, and the whole of his surroundings formed a strong contrast, indeed, both to his life when campaigning, and the five months he had spent in the casemate at Linz.

At the end of that time he felt he ought to be on the move again.

He had learnt that the officers of the marshal's staff had been dispersed, some being attached to other divisions; and that Lindsay was now upon the staff of Prince Henry. The prince was out Erfurt way, and had already had some sharp fighting with the French and the Confederate army. Fergus had learned this on the day after his arrival at the chateau, and also that to the east there was no sign of any movement on the part of Daun or of the king. He therefore suffered himself to be persuaded to stay on for the week.

"n.o.body is expecting you, Drummond," the count said. "No doubt they will be glad to see you, but they will be just as glad ten days later as ten days earlier. You are believed to be safe in some Austrian prison, and you may be sure that no one will make any inquiries whether you spent a week, or a month, in recovering from your fatigues before taking up your duties again. At any rate, you must stay for at least a week."

The visit was, indeed, extended two days beyond that time; for the count and countess so pressed him that he was glad to give way, especially as his own inclinations strongly seconded their entreaties. On the ninth morning he was astonished when his bedroom door opened and Karl came in, and gave his morning's salute as impa.s.sively as if he had seen him the evening before.

[Ill.u.s.tration: "Why, Karl!" Fergus exclaimed, "where do you spring from--when did you arrive?"]

"Why, Karl!" he exclaimed, "where do you spring from--how did you know that I was here--when did you arrive?"

"I arrived last night, major, but as it was late we went straight to the stable."

"Who is we, Karl?"

"The count's messenger, sir. He reached me at Erfurt, where I was with Captain Lindsay, four days ago; and I started with him half an hour later. He had set out from here with a led horse, and had ridden through with but one night in bed; and we had changes of horses, coming back. And Tartar is in good condition, major. I led him all the way down."

"That is most kind and thoughtful of the count," Fergus exclaimed, as he began to dress.

"Well, I am heartily glad to see you again, Karl. I was by no means sure that you had got off safely at Hochkirch. I looked round for you, directly I had been captured; but could see nothing of you, and knew not whether you had ridden off, or had been killed by that volley that finished poor Turk, and brought about my capture."

"It was a bad business, major, and I have never forgiven myself that I was not by your side; but the thing was so sudden that I was taken altogether by surprise. My horse was grazed with a bullet, and what with that and the sudden flash of fire, he bolted. I had just caught sight of you and Turk, going down in a heap, as my horse spun round; and it had galloped a full hundred yards before I could check it.

"Then I did not know what was best to do. It seemed to me that you must certainly be killed. If I had been sure that you had been wounded and taken prisoner I should have gone back; but even then I might, more likely than not, have been shot by the Austrians before I could explain matters. But I really thought that you were killed; and as, from the shouting and firing, it seemed to me that the enemy had it all their own way there, I rode back to the farmhouse.

"Luckily the Austrians had not got there, so I took Tartar and rode with him to the king's quarters, and left him with his grooms, who knew him well enough; and then later on, having nothing else to do, I joined Seidlitz, and had the satisfaction of striking many a good blow in revenge for you.

"Late in the afternoon when the fighting was over I found Captain Lindsay, and told him about your loss. He comforted me a bit by saying that he did not think you were born to be shot, and said that I had better stay with Donald till there was news about you.

Two days later he told me they had got the list of the prisoners the Austrians had taken, and that you were with them, and unwounded.

"Then, major, I was furious with myself that I had not been taken prisoner, too. I should have been more troubled still if Captain Lindsay had not said that, in the first place, Tartar would have been lost if I had not come back straight to fetch him; and that, in the second place, it was not likely you would have been able to keep me with you had I been a prisoner, and we might not even have been shut up in the same fortress.

"I asked him what I had better do, and he said:

"'I am going west to join Prince Henry. You had better come with me. You may be sure that there will be no questions asked about you, one way or the other. I have no doubt Major Drummond will be back in the spring. He is sure to get out, somehow.'

"It seemed to me that that was the best plan too, major. If I had been sent back to my regiment, I don't know what I should have done with your horse; and then, if you did return, I might not have heard about it, and you would not have known what had become of me.

Once or twice during the last month Captain Lindsay has said to me:

"'Your master ought to have been here before this, Karl. I quite reckoned on his arriving by the end of March.'

"I said perhaps you had not been able to get out, but he would not hear of it. He said once:

"'If you were to head up the major in a barrel, he could find a way out of it somehow. He will be back soon.'

"He seemed so positive about it that I was not a bit surprised when the messenger came, and said that you were at the count's here, and that I was to ride with him post haste, so as to catch you before you started to join the king at Breslau.

"Captain Lindsay was as pleased as I was. He was just mounting when the messenger came in, but wrote a line on the leaf of his pocket book. Here it is, sir."

The slip of paper merely contained the words:

"A thousand welcomes, my dear Drummond! I have been expecting you for some time. I wish you had turned up here, instead of at Dresden. Hope to see you again soon."

By this time Fergus had dressed.

"My dear count," he exclaimed, as he entered the room where the count and his wife and daughter were already a.s.sembled, "how can I thank you for your great kindness, in taking such pains to fetch Karl and my horse down for me."

"I had no great pains about the matter," the count replied, with a smile. "I simply wrote to my steward that a messenger must be sent to Erfurt, at once; to order Major Drummond's soldier servant to come here, at all speed, with his master's horse and belongings.

"'Make what arrangements you like,' I said, 'for relays of horses; but anyhow, he must get to Erfurt in three days, and I will give him four for coming back again with the man. He is to be found at the quarters of Captain Lindsay, who is on the staff of Prince Henry. If Captain Lindsay himself is away, you must find out his servant.'

"That was all the trouble that I had in the matter. You have really to thank Thirza, for it was her idea. Directly you had left the room, after your telling us that Lindsay was with Prince Henry and most likely at Erfurt, she said:

"'I should think, father, that there would be time to fetch Major Drummond's servant and horse. It is not so very far, and surely it might be done in a week.'