The Schoolmaster and His Son [pp. 344-351]

THE LADIES' REPOSITOR r.
disgrace my father's honorable name. I added
that he well knew the villain was not I.
"Stop your whining," was his reply. "I
don't want these melancholy fellows in my
company."
"It is well you do not want me," I replied,
"for I have decided either to go back to Sommerhausen and confess the whole truth, or to
enlist in the Swedish army, where it would be
a greater honor to serve, than to steal with a
gang of thieves like you."
At this the Captain burst into a loud lauglh,
and said, mockingly, "You have decided to go
back to Sommerhausen or to join the Swedes?
You are, indeed, an unsophisticated youth!
Why, you milk-sop, you poor little quill-driver,
do you not know that you are my prey-a dove
who has fallen into the clutches of the hawk?
Look at me! If one gives me a finger he belongs to me, body and soul. Now, Sir Secretary, get up and put some wood on that fire!"
Then he kicked me.
I was beside myself with rage, and knew
not what I did. I threw the villain upon the
ground, and beat him upon the head with a
stone. The men then seized me and released
the Captain, who sprang upon me, threw me
down, and stamped upon me. After venting
his rage in this manner he ordered me to be
bound, declaring that I should be hung tomorrow. I was now bound hand and foot, and
thrown into the ditch in mire and water, where
I must remain till morning. Althqugh the cords
were so tightly drawn around me that I could
not move a limb, one of the soldiers was ordered
to climb a high tree and keep guard over me.
The others lay down and slept.
No sleep came to my eyes. But amid all the
cold despair and hours of that night, when
almost every sense was benumbed, one thought
was uppermost in my soul-that thought was
revenge. I felt that I would gladly die, if I
could first take the life of my deadly enemy.
As I lay there brooding over this thought,
some one came softly creeping to my side. "I
will cut your cords," a voice whispered, " and
then we will flee together to the Swedish camp.
We are not more than half an hour's distance
from Kitzingen. Answer quickly, but speak
softly."
By the moonlight I recognized Paradeiser's
servant.
"I thank you for your kindness," I replied,
"and will gladly fly with you to the Swedes.
But, after you have cut the cords, lend me your
knife a moment, that I may plunge it to the
heart of the villain who has brought all this
misery upon me."
"Then remain in your ditch and be hung
to-morrow morning," said the boy.
And he would not set me free till I had
sworn to go quietly away with him. Then he
cut the cords, and we escaped without waking
the guard. In half an hour we reached Kitz-
ingen, and concealed ourselves in a vineyard
till dawn, when we presented ourselves to the
Swedish camp. We were cordially received
by the commandant, an affable, friendly man,
who finding that I could use the musket, but
would prefer to enlist in the cavalry, took me
into his own regiment of dragoons, which was
accounted one of the best in the army. His
men being drilled both to the use of the sword
and the musket, illustrated the old proverb,
"If dragoon falls from his horse, a musketeer
rises." The same day we went to Niirnberg,
where the whole army was assembling. Here
I lost all trace of the boy to whom I owed my
life. I never saw him again.
CHAPTER XVI.
THE LETTER CONTINUED.
Proudly and exultingly, I who had always
longed to be a soldier, began my soldier's life,
little dreaming how mournfully it would end.
Our regiment was composed of young recruits
from Sweden and Finnland. They were the
sons of respectable people, mostly farmers and
fishermen, and their habits were the same as
those of the first Swedish soldiers who came to
Sommerhausen. They sang their hymn morning and evening, and never sat down to eat
without first asking God's blessing upon their
food. These pious habits made them the derision of the other soldiers. Our regiment was
every day exercised in shooting, fencing, and
riding. Our head-quarters were in a mill. One
of these new recruits, a noble Christian youth,
Olufsohn by name, was very kind and friendly
to me, but I preferred the society of those wild
fellows who had been a long time in the army,
and had come to regard neither God nor man.
With them I smoked, and drank, and played.
As Olufsohn one day remonstrated with me,
I asked him why he had joined the army if he
preferred to be a bigot, and how he thought
such a pious fellow was going to get along as a
soldier. He replied that he had not come as an
adventurer, but his old mother had sent him to
fight for his king, and he would try to do his
duty, leaving the rest with God.
Now there were among us many who had run
away firom their parents, but not one who had
come by their express desire, and so all made
sport of Olufsohn because he had declared that
he had been sent by his mother. They used to
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