The Young Captives / A Narrative of the Shipwreck and Suffering of John and William Doyley

respected Herr Burgomaster!' anno

assure you, if confidence may be put in any human being, you may trust this man. He is brave, faithful, and

, my good fellow?' Schweinitz asked

ellency?' inqu

in full, and get him to hasten to our assistance. The service is not without some danger, for you

uppose,' repli

lling to do it, or not?' inquired

a reward,' said Roller.

y; 'and I will myself give you a couple of ducat

uld give me the highest pay. But it seems to me that we all make up, as it were, one body in what we have to do, to defend town, wife and child, from the enemy. Very well, then; you

n hold the mountain-city for a long time indeed, but we must not neglect means that ma

soners!' said the child to Conrad, who happened to be passing on the way to his mother's house. 'One of them has such a dreadful great beard,' Dollie continued; 'I am sure he

and was laid on his shoulder, and a voice he always dreaded to hear said, this time

ather that the startled boy stare

' So saying, he drew the boy aside into the passageway of the town hall. 'Listen

ad cheerfully. 'Oh yes; I

said Jüchziger. 'I just want you to go

led down,' ob

orner of that cellar your mother buried a little box with all sorts of pr

They will be sure to kill me, and take th

very carefully),-'a safe-conduct that I shall give to you. You are only to get it out if you meet a Swede, and then they'll not only not hurt a hair

say anything about t

nted to keep all the things in it for you. But now she sees how wrong that was, and she has confe

asked Conrad again. 'No

eep out with the men. Roller the miner is going out with them as well; he and Wahle are going

other,' said Conrad, 'to tell her ab

r. 'Why, there's Roller; he has not even told his wife, though he is going all the way to Bohemia,

ith a sigh. 'So give me my safe-conduct, and

o creep up the bed of the Münzbach. No one wi

folded and sealed paper, on which was writt

had taken leave of Jüchziger, the latter muttered to himself: 'Either the Swedes will put an end to him, or else h

When he found himself really outside the gate, and heard the tumult of battle all around him, his heart beat thick and fast. The men who made the sortie threw themselves at once on the enemy's advanced works, shot or cut down such Swedes as were in them, set fire to the wooden barricades

mself between two fires, did not know which way to turn, and at last, in his bewilderment, started to run straight across country. Suddenly, without any warning, he went head over heels into

ut his arms. As he started to hurry along it, he stumbled on the dead bodies of several soldiers, some of which looked so dreadful that he turned about and ran as hard as he could go in the opposite direction. As he rounded a s

teps, and drawing his paper from his breast,

nd stood staring at the boy, who was again ca

at last, 'isn't this Conrad

Master Prieme?' sa

t, how came you h

th the sortie,

f this abominable ditch, and then my foot slipped and down I came into it myself, and the detestable

ntinuous firing above their heads hinted that it would

ditch,' grumbled Prieme again. 'If the Swedes put in an app

' said Conrad patronizingly

e, looking at him in aston

,' said Conrad produc

be a safe-conduct? Why, a safe-conduct is a sort of thing that even the most sava

wn to himself, Conrad straightway cast all his stepfather's cautions to the winds,

then we all know how people we should never have expected-why, there was the Burgomaster of Bautzen was loaded into a cannon and fired off for trying to betray his native

to hide the safe-conduct in his breast again. Master Prieme's strong arm would soon have gained the day, however, and deprived the

ner of war; and Conrad Schmidt, loudly calling attention to his

d not see any of those men who tortured people and slaughtered little children. In front of Marshal Torstenson's quarters a huge cask of wine was being unloaded, a task in which several peasants were forced to render unwilling aid. When their work was done, however, they got off with not

s much alike as one egg is like another. One wears a grey coat, another a red o

rooper, who came towards him with some appearance of curiosity, and with a single

with the red beard again. I am sure he is taking out a pis

r, the major wants you,' relieved him of the Swede's presence. 'Hillner!' whispered Conrad

nrad's safe-conduct in his hand. This, then, was the man whose hand played with the lives and property of so many thousand people. From just inside the door where he had to stand, Conrad stared with beating heart at the dreadful man who had conquered great armies, plundered and wasted whole countries, taken strongholds by storm, and was now conquered himself. For a shaft was quivering in his flesh t

at this great general, who had at his disposal the lives of thousands of his fellow-creatures, could not control his own desires; for near him stood a table on which among other things was a bottle of

ers. 'The town must and shall be mine, this week, thi

hysician warningly, as he saw the gener

it was not the wine, but those six months in the damp dungeon

talwart fighting-man. His tall body was enveloped in a great, shaggy fur coat right down to the feet, and a white nightcap c

but the mustache on t

of the man who now

me to live in your town

the sixties,' replied Conrad,

tarving in

And then that is all my stepfather's fault, bec

s hold together still? Are t

had a tiff with the Herr Commandant, but now they are just like broth

en there are left in Freibe

arms and legs does a bit of fighting. And there are nearly sixty thousand of

ring at our dear old town. Why should we be the people you are so angry with, and why did you choose us out? The whole wide world lies open before you, and I am sure there are many strong cities in Germany you could easily take if you would just attack them. Do you expect to seize many lumps

!' cried an o

nd pray,' he continued, turning to Conrad, 'who is to blame for your trouble but

ow what your excellency's pardon is like. Inside the town there, t

He made a hasty sign to the boy to withdraw, which he was nothing loth to do

an outlet in giving orders for a general assault on the works of the city, especially on the Peter Gate. The firing of the double and single a

in his corner, joined in softly. And the Swedes, too, awed by the holy sounds, stood like statues, facing the singers; the sword rested in its sheath, the bullet in the arquebuse, and the shell in the mortar. In years that were gone, the Swedes themselves used to sing like that as they marched to battle, and now they stood and joined in s

ely seized the barbican, mounted from it to the gate-tower, which was now commanded by their artillery, and placed sharp-shooters in it, who at once opened a galling fire with double arquebuses, hand-grenades, and stones on the occupants of the nearest posts held by the defenders. By way of covering themselves from this fire, the besieged at once constructed a new battery on the upper cistern in the Peter Street. From this they

note on