ed Gotzkowsky, fervently.
"The property and welfare of Berlin are in danger. I must go to the
general!"

"Then go along," said Bachmann, "and may God give power to your words!
I have warned you, and that is all I can do."

Gotzkowsky did not answer him. Trembling with eagerness and
impatience, he dressed himself, and throwing his cloak around him, he
once more left his house, with the alacrity of a young man.

General Bachmann looked after him, smiling thoughtfully. "He is a
noble fellow," said he, "and Berlin has good reason to be grateful to
him, and to love him. But who knows? perhaps, for that very reason,
she will one day hate him. Noble-mindedness is so soon forgotten! It
is the solid weight that sinks to the bottom, while light deeds float
on top. Mankind is not fond of being grateful. I would like to know
whether Berlin will ever show a due appreciation of this noble man?"

* * * * *

CHAPTER VII.

THE HORRORS OF WAR.

The Russians had at last allowed themselves to be carried away by the
example set them by the Austrians and Saxons. Like them, they roamed
through Berlin, robbing and plundering, unmindful of discipline, and
forgetting the severe punishments which Tottleben inflicted on those
whose misdeeds reached his ear.

Like the Austrians, the Cossacks entered houses with wanton arrogance,
and, under the pretext of being Russian safeguards, they stole, and
robbed, and ill-treated in the rudest manner those who opposed their
demands. They had even managed to reduce their robbery and extortion
to a kind of system, and to value the human person after a new
fashion. It was a sort of mercantile transaction, and the Cossacks
were the brokers in this new-fashioned business. Stealthily and
unheard, they slipped into houses, fell upon the unsuspecting women
and children, and dragged them out, not to capture them as the Romans
did the Sabine women, but to hold them as so much merchandise, to be
redeemed by their friends and relatives at high and often enormous
ransoms.

But the Cossacks drew but small profit from this hunt after noble
human game. They were only servants, acting under orders from their
officers. These latter divided the booty, throwing to the Cossacks a
small reward for their skill in robbing.

Thus, for some days, Berlin was not only subjugated by the enemy, but
a prey to robbers and slave-dealers, and moans and lamentations were
heard in every house