e. An
ex-Militaire, who was present, went further; and, after a few
instructive observations concerning the system of fortification
practised by the Romans, and the effect of the catapult (with a passing
allusion or two to Vauban, and more modern times), was just proving to
us that we had no cause for the slightest uneasiness, because the house
was completely out of the line of fire, when a shot sent the bricks of
the cellar-ventilator rattling down about our ears. No one was hurt,
however; and, as the Militaire jumped, with a brimming bumper in his
hand, on to the table (which the falling bricks had cleared of the
bottles), and defied any other shot to trouble us, we were all quite
reassured at once; and this proved to be our last scare. The night
passed away quietly, and, in the morning, we found that the troops had
moved off to occupy another position, abandoning the town to the enemy.
On leaving the cellar, we found the enemy's cavalry scouring the
streets, and a placard posted up guaranteeing that the townsfolk and
their property should not be molested.

"Ludwig joined the throng, eager to see the new spectacle, which was
watching the arrival of the enemy's commander-in-chief, who was coming
in at the gate, with a pompous fanfare of trumpets, surrounded by a
brilliant escort. Scarcely could he believe his eyes when he saw his
old college-friend Ferdinand among the staff, in a quiet-looking
uniform, with his left arm in a sling, curvetting close past him on a
beautiful sorrel charger. 'It was he--it was really and truly himself
and no other!' Ludwig cried involuntarily. He couldn't overtake him,
his horse was going too fast, and Ludwig hastened, full of thought,
back to his room. But he couldn't get on with any work; he could think
of nothing but his old friend, whom he had not seen for years; and the
happy days of youth which they had spent together rose to his memory
bright and clear. At that time Ferdinand had never shown any turn for
soldiering: he was devoted to the Muses, and had evinced his poetic
vocation in many a striking poem; so that this transformation was all
the more incomprehensible; and Ludwig burned with anxiety to speak with
him, though he had no notion where or how he should find him. The
bustle and movement in the streets increased; a considerable portion of
the enemy's forces, with the Allied Princes at their head, passed
through the town, as a halt was to be made in the neighbourhood for a
da