of King William? If you like, you shall return the
pledge, by drinking to Napoleon."

The sergeant laughed.

"I'll do that," he said. "You said, if you remember, when I
proposed the king, that you did not wish to hear of his death; and
I can say the same for your Napoleon. Especially," he added with a
chuckle, "as he's our prisoner."

The boys went into a cabaret near, and drank a glass of beer with
the sergeant; and then--saying "Goodbye," very heartily--left him,
and went into the town; well pleased to have got so well out of a
scrape which might have been a very unpleasant one.

They slept at a hotel, and were down at the station at the
appointed time. It was a long journey--thirty-six hours--to
Mayence. But the boys were too pleased--when they saw the line that
the train was following--to have cared, had it been twice as far.
The difficulties of escape from the western fortresses would have
been immense; whereas, at Mayence, they were comparatively close to
the frontier. At Mayence, too, the position of the prisoners was
comfortable. They were allowed to live anywhere in the town, and to
take their meals when they chose. They were obliged, twice a day,
to answer at the muster roll; and were not, of course, allowed to
go outside the fortifications.

The one drawback, to the position of the French officers, was the
utterly insufficient sum which the Prussian Government allowed them
for board and lodging--only forty-five francs a month; that is to
say, fifteen pence a day. It is needless to say that the officers
who had nothing else to depend upon literally starved, upon this
pittance; which was the more inexcusable that the French Government
allowed more than twice this sum to the German officers who were
taken prisoners.

Upon this head, however, the boys had no discomfort. They had
plenty of money in their pockets, for present uses; and they knew
that they could obtain further supplies by writing home, via
Switzerland. They were, therefore, unaffectedly glad when the train
came to a stop at the station of Mayence, and the order was given
for all to alight.

Chapter 13: The Escape.

The first thing that the Barclays did, after reporting themselves,
was to settle themselves in a lodging--no very easy thing to find,
for the town was crowded with troops, and prisoners. However, as
they were able to pay a higher sum than the great majority of
French officers, in their position, they had no very great