a without being detected, it is
hard indeed if I cannot make my way into Saxony."

"But you must not run too great risks," the countess said. "You
know how glad we should be to see you, and that we regard you as
one of ourselves; but even a mother could hardly wish a son to run
into such danger, in order that they might see each other for a
short time."

"What do you say, Thirza?" her father asked.

The girl, thus suddenly addressed, coloured hotly.

"I should be glad to see him, father--he knows that very well--but
I should not like him to run risks."

"But he is always running risks, child; and that, so far as I can
see, without so good a reason. At any rate, I shall not join your
mother in protesting. What he says is very true. He has twice made
his way many hundreds of miles in disguise, for the purpose of
getting here in time for the first fighting; and I do not think
that there will be anything like the same risk in his coming here
to pay us a visit.

"At the same time, I would not say a single word to induce him to
do so. There is no saying where he may be when the next winter sets
in, or what may take place during the coming campaign. In times
like these it is folly to make plans of any sort, three months in
advance. I only say therefore that, should everything else be
favourable, I think that an Austrian occupation of Saxony would not
be a very serious obstacle to his paying us a visit, next winter.

"Once here, he would be absolutely safe, and as the household know
what he has done for us--and probably for them, for there is no
saying whether some, at least, of them might not have been killed
by those villains--their absolute discretion and silence can be
relied upon.

"However, it may be that we shall see him long before that. The
king may have occasion to be here many times, during the summer."

The count would not hear of Fergus returning to the hotel where he
had put up, and for a week he remained at the chateau, where the
time passed very pleasantly. The luxurious appointments, the
hospitable attentions of his host and hostesses, and the whole of
his surroundings formed a strong contrast, indeed, both to his life
when campaigning, and the five months he had spent in the casemate
at Linz.

At the end of that time he felt he ought to be on the move again.
He had learnt that the officers of the marshal's staff had been
dispersed, some being attached to other divisions; and that Lindsay
was now