o report."

The next morning Fergus started early. Two days previously, a
Prussian governor had been appointed to Dresden, and three thousand
men were left under his command. Similar appointments were also
made to all the fortified towns in Saxony; for now that the
negotiations were broken off, and the King of Poland had declared
finally for the Confederates, Saxony was to be treated as a
conquered country. Nevertheless, strict injunctions were given that
all cattle, wheat, and other provisions taken for the use of the
garrisons, or for storing up in fortresses whence it might be
forwarded to the army, were to be paid for; and that any act of
pillage or ill treatment was to be most severely punished, as the
king was still most anxious to gain the goodwill of the mass of the
population.

Chapter 5: Lobositz.

In Dresden itself, the feeling was far from hostile to the
invaders. The discontent with the vicious government had been
extreme, and the imposts now levied were less onerous than those
which had been wasted in profusion and extravagance. The conduct of
the troops had been admirable; and in the case of Count Eulenfurst,
the personal visit of the king to express his regrets, and his
generosity to the families of the servants, had produced a most
excellent effect.

As Fergus rode into the camp, mounted on his new acquisition, it at
once caught the marshal's eye.

"Why, Fergus," he exclaimed, "have you been robbing the King of
Poland's stables? That is a noble animal, indeed."

"It was a present from Count Eulenfurst, marshal," Fergus replied.
"He sent me two, but one of them he is going to keep for me until I
return; for I could not part with Rollo, who is as good a horse as
anyone can wish to ride; and I know his paces."

"You are right, lad, for it is always well to accustom yourself to
a horse, before you want to use it in action; but in faith, it will
be a pity to ride such a horse as that through the heat of a
battle."

"I feel that, sir; but as the count, in his letter with the horses,
said that he hoped they would carry me safely through dangers as
grave as those I had encountered at his house, I feel that he would
be hurt if, on my return, I admitted to him that I had saved it for
show occasions."

"You are right," Keith said approvingly; "but that is the more
reason that you should accustom yourself to it, before you use it
for such work; as horse and rider should be as one on the field of