or taking fortified towns. Here was I, inside of one, the gates closed,
locked, and barred behind me, a wall of thirty feet high, and a ditch
of fifty feet deep, to keep me in, and hang me if I could penetrate into
the interior. I suppose I was in what is called a parallel, and I walked
along, turning into a hundred little, crooked corners, and zig-zag
contrivances, where an embrasure, and a cannon in it, were sure to be
found. But as nothing are so like each other as stone walls, and as
I never, for the life of me, could know one seventy-four pounder from
another, I wandered about, very sadly puzzled to ascertain if I had not
been perambulating the same little space of ground for an hour and a
half. Egad! thought I, if there were no better engineers in the world
than me, they might leave the gates wide open, and let the guard go to
bed. Hollo, here's some one coming along, that's fortunate, at last--and
just then, a man wrapped in a loose cloak, German fashion, passed close
beside me.

"May I ask, mein Herr, which is the direction of the town, and where
I can find an inn?" said I, taking off my hat, most punctiliously, for
although it was almost pitch-dark, that courtesy cannot ever be omitted,
and I have heard of a German, who never talked to himself, without
uncovering.

"Straight forward, and then to your left, by the angle of the
citadel--you can take a short cut through the covered way----"

"Heaven forbid!" interrupted I; "where all is fair and open, my chance
is bad enough--there is no need of a concealed passage, to confuse me."

"Come with me, then," said he, laughing, "I perceive you are a
foreigner--this is somewhat longer, but I'll see you safe to the
'Kaiser,' where you'll find yourself very comfortable."

My guide was an officer of the garrison, and seemed considerably
flattered by the testimony I bore to the impregnability of the fortress;
describing as we went along, for my better instruction, the various
remarkable features of the place. Lord, how weary I was of casemates and
embrasures, of bomb-proofs and culverins, half-moons and platforms; and
as I continued, from politeness to express my surprise and wonderment,
he took the more pains to expound those hidden treasures; and I verily
believe he took me a mile out of my way, to point out the place, in
the dark, where a large gun lay, that took a charge of one hundred
and seventy livres weight. I was now fairly done up; and having sworn
solemnly t