e minutes the whole were put to
the rout--guns, baggage, and ammunition taken; and the French
general-in-chief as much stripped of his rearguard, as ever a peacock was
plucked of his tail."

"Will the duke follow up the blow?" was my enquiry.

"Beyond doubt. I have just left him giving orders for the advancement of
the whole line at daybreak; and unless M. Dumouier is remarkably on the
alert, we shall have him supping in the camp within the next twenty-four
hours. But you will have better intelligence from himself; for he bade me
prepare you for meeting him, as he rides to the wing from which the march
begins."

"Excellent news! You and Varnhorst will be field-marshals before the
campaign is over." His countenance changed.

"No; my course unfortunately lies in a different direction. The duke has
been so perplexed, by the delays continually forced upon him by the
diplomacy of the Allied cabinets, that he has been more than once on the
point of giving up the command. Clairfait's success, and the prospect of
cutting off the retreat of the French, or of getting between them and
Paris, have furnished him with new materials; and I am now on my way to
Berlin, to put matters in the proper point of view. Farewell, Marston, I
am sorry to lose you as a comrade; but we _must_ meet again--no laurels
for _me_ now. The duke must not find me here; he will pass by within the
next five minutes."

The noble fellow sprang from his horse, and shook my hand with a fervour
which I had not thought to be in his grave and lofty nature.

"Farewell!" he uttered once more, and threw himself on his saddle, and was
gone.

I had scarcely lost the sound of his horse's hoofs, as they rattled up the
stony ravine of the hill, when the sound of a strong body of cavalry
announced the approach of the generalissimo. He soon rode up, and
addressed me with his usual courtesy. "I really am afraid, Mr Marston,
that you will think me in a conspiracy to prevent your enjoying a night's
rest, for all our meetings, I think, have been at the 'witching hour!' But
would you think it too much to mount your horse now, and ride with me,
before you send your despatches to your cabinet? I must visit the troops
of the left wing without delay; we can converse on the way."

I was all obedience, a knight of Prussia, and therefore at his highness's
service.

"Well, well, I thought so. You English gentlemen are ready for every thing.
In the mean time, while your horse is