Part 34 (1/2)
The two officers were silent when Ronsfeldt concluded.
”We have made fools of ourselves,” Stauffen said at last, ”and we must apologize, Ritzer.”
”Certainly we must,” the other agreed heartily. ”It seemed to us that his trying to make us put aside the respect due to his rank was a sort of affectation, and really impressed it more disagreeably upon us. We took him for an upstart favourite; though we might have known, had we thought of it, that the king never promotes unduly. Who could possibly have believed that a young fellow, not yet twenty, I should say, could have so distinguished himself? It will be a lesson to us both not to judge by appearances.”
The day was cold and cheerless, and after an hour spent on the rampart most of the party were glad to return to the casemates.
Fergus was one of the last to go back. To his disgust the two officers rose and saluted formally, as he came in.
”We wish,” Captain Stauffen said, ”to express to you our deep regret at the unworthy way in which we received your request, this morning, to lay aside the distinction of rank while we are prisoners here. We were both under an error. Our regiments having only joined from Berlin a short time before the king marched with us to Hochkirch, we were altogether ignorant of the manner in which you had gained your rank, and had thought that it was the result of favouritism. We now know your highly distinguished services, and how worthily you have gained each step; and we both sincerely hope that you will overlook our boorish conduct, and will endeavour to forget the manner in which we received your kindly advances.”
”Say no more about it, gentlemen,” Fergus replied heartily. ”I have had luck, and availed myself of it, as a.s.suredly you would have done had the same opportunities occurred to you. I can quite understand that it seemed to you monstrous that, at my age, I should be your senior officer. I feel it myself. I am often inclined to regret that I should thus have been unduly pushed up.
”However, let us say no more about it. I do hope that we shall be as three good comrades together; and that, within this casemate at any rate, there will be no question whatever of rank, and that you will call me Drummond, as I shall call you both by your names.
”Now, let us shake hands over the bargain. Let us draw our stools round the stove and have a comfortable talk.
”I have been speaking to Major Leiberkuhn about ordering things. He tells me that the commandant says that one list must be made. On this the orders of each of the casemates must be put down separately. A sergeant will go out every day with it. Money must be given to him to cover the full extent of the orders. He will return the change, each day, when he hands in the articles required.
”I have ordered some tobacco, some better cigars than these, and three bottles of good Hungarian wine. The sergeant is going in half an hour, so we shall be able to enjoy our chat this evening. I always take the precaution of carrying twenty golden Fredericks, sewn up in the lining of my tunic. It comes in very useful, in case of an emergency of this kind.”
”I am afraid that neither of us has imitated your forethought,”
Ritzer said with a laugh. ”I have only my last month's pay in my pocket, and Stauffen is no better off.”
”Ah, well! With thirty pounds among us, we shall do very well,”
Fergus said. ”We must be careful because, if we do make our escape, we shall want money to get disguises.”
”You are not really in earnest, Drummond,” Stauffen said, ”in what you say about escaping?”
”I am quite in earnest about getting away, if I see a chance; though I admit that, at present, the matter seems a little difficult.”
”Perhaps if you will tell us about your escape from Spielberg, we shall be able to get a hint from it.”
They now drew up their seats round the stove, and Fergus told them in detail the manner of his escape, omitting only the name of the n.o.blemen at Vienna who had a.s.sisted him.
”It was excellently done,” Ritzer said warmly. ”Your making off in that Austrian uniform, at the only moment when such a thing could be done, was certainly a masterly stroke.”
”So was the taking of the post horses,” Stauffen agreed, ”and your getting a disguise from the postmaster. I should like to have seen the Austrian's look of surprise, when he got his uniform back again.
”I am afraid that your adventures do not afford us any hint for getting away from here. Even you will admit that three Austrian uniforms could not be secured, and the tale by which you procured the post horses would hardly hold good in the case of three.”
”No, if we get away at all it must be done in an entirely different manner. The place is not so difficult to get out of as Spielberg was, for with patience we could certainly manage to cut off the rivet heads of the bars. But I don't see, at present, how we could cross this wide moat, with a sentry pacing up and down thirty feet above us; nor climb up the brick wall on the other side, without making a noise. That done, of course we could, on a dark night, cross the glacis and swim the outer moat. All that accomplished, the question of disguises will come in. Just at present it is not very easy to see how that is to be managed.
”Can you swim?”
Both officers replied in the affirmative.
”Well, that is something gained. As to the rest, we need not bother about it, at present. We are not uncomfortable where we are, and if we get back in time for the next campaign, that is all that really matters.”
The others laughed at the confident tone in which he spoke, but after hearing the details of the prior attempt, it seemed to them that their companion was capable of accomplis.h.i.+ng what almost seemed to be impossibilities. They had, they knew, very slight chance of being exchanged so long as the war lasted. A few general officers, or others whose families possessed great influence, were occasionally exchanged; but it was evidently the policy of Austria to retain all prisoners. In the first place she desired to reduce Frederick's fighting force, and in the second, the number of Austrians taken had been very much larger than that of the Prussians captured, and the support of some fifteen or twenty thousand prisoners of war added to the drain on Frederick's resources. Three campaigns had pa.s.sed without materially altering the position of the combatants, and as many more might elapse before the war came to an end. Indeed, there was no saying how long it might last, and the prospect was so unpleasant that the two officers were inclined to run a very considerable risk in attempting to obtain freedom.