nly do my best to escape before spring."

"I don't think there is much chance of that," the other said
gloomily. "If we had been left at Prague, or even at Bruenn, there
might have been some chance; but in these fortresses, where
everything is conducted on a very severe system, and they are
veritable prisons, I don't think that anything without wings has a
chance of getting away."

As a rule, officers taken prisoners in war enjoyed a considerable
amount of liberty; and were even allowed to reside in the houses of
citizens, on giving their parole. The enforced embodiment of the
Saxons in the Prussian army had, however, excited such a storm of
indignation throughout Europe that it greatly damaged Frederick's
cause. It was indeed an unheard-of proceeding, and a most mistaken
one, for the greater part of the Saxons seized opportunities to
desert, as soon as the next campaign began. It was the more
ill-advised, since Saxony was a Protestant country, and therefore
the action alienated the other Protestant princes in Germany, whose
sympathies would have otherwise been wholly with Prussia; and it
was to no small extent due to that high-handed action that, during
the winter, the Swedes joined the Confederacy, and undertook to
supply an army of 50,000 men; France paying a subsidy towards their
maintenance, and the members of the Confederacy agreeing that, upon
the division of Prussia, Pomerania should fall to the share of
Sweden. Thus it may be said that the whole of Central and Northern
Europe, with the exception only of Hanover, was leagued against
Prussia.

It was a result of this general outburst of indignation that,
instead of being kept in a large town and allowed various
privileges, the prisoners taken at the battle of Lobositz were
treated with exceptional severity, and confined in isolated
fortresses. Fergus and his companion were lodged in a small room in
one of the towers. The window was strongly barred, the floor was of
stone, the door massive and studded with iron. Two truckle beds, a
table, and two chairs formed the sole furniture.

"Not much chance of an escape here," Captain Hindeman said, as the
door closed behind their guards.

"The prospect does not look very bright, I admit," Fergus said
cheerfully; "but we have a proverb, 'Where there is a will there is
a way'. I have the will certainly and, as we have plenty of time
before us, it will be hard if we do not find a way."

He went to the window and look