worked pretty
hard when I first arrived; but the drill for the first six months
was tremendous, and I used to be glad to crawl into bed, as soon as
I had had my supper.

"Well, you have been a poor companion so far, Drummond."

"I am afraid I have been, but will try and make up for it, in the
future.

"I suppose there is no doubt that we shall march, in the first
place, on Dresden."

"I think that there is no doubt of that. There is no Saxon army to
speak of, certainly nothing that can offer any serious opposition.
From there there are three or four passes by which we could pour
into Bohemia. Saxony is a rich country, too, and will afford us a
fine base for supplies, as we move on. I suppose the Austrians will
collect an army to oppose us, in Bohemia. When we have thrashed
them, I expect we shall go on straight to Vienna."

Fergus laughed.

"It all sounds easy enough, Lindsay. I only hope that it will come
off just as you prophesy."

"That is one advantage of fighting in a foreign service, Fergus.
One fights just as stoutly for victory as if one were fighting for
home, but if one is beaten it does not affect one so much. It is
sad to see the country overrun, and pillaged; but the houses are
not the houses of our own people, the people massacred are not
one's own relations and friends. One's military vanity may be hurt
by defeat; otherwise, one can bear it philosophically."

"I never looked at it in that light before, Lindsay, but no doubt
there is a great deal in what you say. If my father had fallen on a
German battlefield, instead of at Culloden, our estates would not
have been confiscated, our glens harried, and our clansmen hunted
down and massacred. No, I see there is a great difference. I
suppose I should fight just as hard, against the Austrians, as I
should have done against the English at Culloden, had I been there;
but defeat would have none of the same consequences. No, putting it
as you do, I must own that there is a distinct advantage in foreign
service, that I never appreciated before.

"But I see people are leaving, and I am not sorry. As we are going
to be up before daybreak, the sooner one turns in the better."

Karl had received the order to call his master at three, to have
breakfast ready at half past, and the horses at the door at four,
with somewhat less than his usual stolidity.

"You will have harder work in the future, Karl," Fergus said.

"I shall be glad of it, sir. Never hav