he have proceeded a yard in any
direction without falling over the bodies which so thickly strewed the
ground around him.

Though in fact it wanted but two hours of daylight when he recovered
consciousness, the time appeared interminable; but at last, to his
delight, a faint gleam of light spread across the sky. Stronger and
stronger did it become until the day was fairly broken. It was another
hour before he heard voices approaching. Almost holding his breath he
listened as they approached, and his heart gave a throb of delight as he
heard that they were speaking in Swedish. A victory had been won, then,
for had it not been so, it would have been the Imperialists, not the
Swedes, who would have been searching the field of battle.

"There are but few alive," one voice said, "the cold has finished the
work which the enemy began."

Malcolm, unable to rise, lifted his arm and held it erect to call the
attention of the searchers; it was quickly observed.

"There is some one still alive," the soldier exclaimed, "an officer,
too; by his scarf and feathers he belongs to the Green Brigade."

"These Scotchmen are as hard as iron," another voice said; "come, bring
a stretcher along."

They were soon by the side of Malcolm.

"Drink this, sir," one said, kneeling beside him and placing a flask of
spirits to his lips; "that will warm your blood, I warrant, and you must
be well nigh frozen."

Malcolm took a few gulps at the potent liquor, then he had strength to
say:

"There is something the matter with my left arm, I can't move it, and I
think I am hit in the body."

"You are hit in the body, sure enough," the man said, "for there is
a bullet hole through your cuirass, and your jerkin below it is all
stained with blood. You have been hit in the left arm too, and the blood
is frozen to the ground; but we will soon free that for you. But before
trying to do that we will cut open the sleeve of your jerkin and bandage
your arm, or the movement may set it off bleeding again, and you have
lost a pool of blood already."

Very carefully the soldiers did their work, and then placing Malcolm on
the stretcher carried him away to the camp. Here the surgeons were all
hard at work attending to the wounded who were brought in. They had
already been busy all night, as those whose hurts had not actually
disabled them found their way into the camp. As he was a Scotch officer
he was carried to the lines occupied by Colonel Henderson with