as the officer assured Kohlhaas, was open to
his use as before.

In the meanwhile, Nagelschmidt was so hampered on all sides by soldiers
and officers of the law in the woods of the Erzgebirge, that being
utterly destitute of means to carry out the part he had chosen, he hit
upon the thought of really drawing Kohlhaas into his interest. He had
learned with tolerable accuracy, through a traveller who passed on the
road, the state of the suit at Dresden, and was of opinion, that in
spite of the open hostility which existed between them, it would be
possible to induce the horse-dealer to enter into a new alliance with
him. He therefore sent a man to him, with a scarcely legible letter,
to the effect, that if he would come to the Altenburg territory, and
resume the conduct of the band, who had assembled there, out of the
relics of the one that had been dismissed, he would furnish him with
horses, men, and money, to assist him in flying from his prison at
Dresden. At the same time, he promised to be better and more obedient
in future than he had been; and to prove his fidelity and devotion, he
offered to come to Dresden himself and effect Kohlhaas's liberation.
Now the fellow to whom this letter was entrusted had the misfortune to
fall into convulsions of a dangerous sort, such as he had been subject
to from his youth, close to Dresden, and the consequence was, that the
letter which he carried in his doublet, was discovered by people who
came to assist him, and that he himself, as soon as he had recovered,
was arrested, and removed to the seat of government, attended by a
numerous guard. The Governor von Wenk had no sooner read the letter
than he hastened to the elector, in whose castle he found the two von
Tronkas (the chamberlain having recovered of his wounds) and Count
Kallheim, president of the chancery. These gentlemen were of opinion,
that Kohlhaas should be arrested without delay, and prosecuted on the
ground of a secret understanding with Nagelschmidt, since, as they
attempted to prove, such a letter could not have been written, had not
others been previously sent by the horse-dealer, and had not some
criminal compact been formed, for the perpetration of new atrocities.
The elector firmly refused to violate the free conduct which he had
granted to Kohlhaas, on the mere ground of this letter. Nay, according
to his opinion, it rather showed, that no previous communication had
existed between Kohlhaas and Nagelsc