he knew also that they
were ardent in their emotions, permeated with a love of liberty,
courageous in defence of their ancestral rights; and he foresaw that if
he could once but rouse their passions by a vivid picture of Danish
tyranny, he could make of them the finest soldiers in all Christendom.
By Lent the little army was four hundred strong. With this force
Gustavus marched to the great copper-mine at Falun, where he seized the
Danish steward and took possession of the royal rents, as well as of a
quantity of clothing and some silk which he at once turned to a good use
as banners for his army. He then retired to his camp, but shortly after
returned, this time fifteen hundred strong. This rapid increase in his
forces produced an instantaneous effect. No sooner did he appear than
the miners joined his ranks, and further than that they wrote to their
friends in all the neighboring provinces to join him too. Gustavus then
fixed the headquarters of his army near the southern boundary of
Dalarne, and started, April 3, on a journey in person through several of
the northern provinces to enlist recruits.[56]

Meantime Slagheck had concentrated the Danish forces in and near the
Castle of Vesteras, deeming this the best point at which to hold the
patriots at bay. One detachment, indeed, proceeded north as far as the
Dalelf, on the southern frontier of Dalarne, and encamped there,
thinking to prevent the enemy from crossing. While waiting, the Danish
leader is said to have inquired the population of Dalarne, and on being
told that it was about twenty thousand, to have asked how the province
could support so many. The answer was that the people were not used to
dainties, that their only drink was water, and in hard times their only
food a bread made from the bark of trees. "Even the Devil," ejaculated
the officer, "could not vanquish men who live on wood and water;" and
with that he ordered a retreat. Before they got off, however, the Swedes
fell upon them and drove them home in flight. About the same time the
burgomaster and Council of Stockholm despatched a letter to the
northern provinces, urging them to pay no heed to the lies of Gustavus;
and Archbishop Trolle, after several epistles of a like nature, set sail
along the coast of the Baltic to the north to use his influence in
quelling the insurrection. But wherever he tried to land he was met by
the peasantry with threats and imprecations; and he soon beat a hasty
and igno