nt, even if its representatives in the council had
opposed the proposal; therefore very many of the men had joined
unwillingly, while in other cases the French declared that the levy
had been made up by hiring idlers and ne'er-do-wells in the towns,
so as to avoid having to put the conscription into force in the
rural districts.

The officers were declared to be as incapable as the men, and had
it not been that an Austrian contingent some five thousand strong
had been joined with them, and the drilling largely undertaken by
the non-commissioned officers of this force, nothing approaching
order or discipline could have been maintained. All the Frenchmen
lamented their fortune in having to act with such allies, instead
of being with the purely French army that was gradually pressing
the Duke of Cumberland to the seaboard.

Fergus waited until the party had left the inn, when the landlord
himself came across to hand him his reckoning.

"Bad times, master," he said. "Bad times," shaking his head
ruefully.

"Yes, they are bad enough, landlord; but I should say that you must
be doing a good trade, with all these soldiers in the town."

"A good trade!" the landlord repeated. "I am being ruined. Do you
not know that, in addition to levying a heavy contribution on the
town, they issued a regulation settling the prices at which the
troops were to be served, at beer shops and inns: breakfast--and
you saw what those fellows ate--4 pence; a tumbler of wine, 1
pence; dinner, 5 pence. Why, each item costs me more than double
that; and as nobody brings in cattle, for these might be seized on
the way, and no compensation given, so meat gets dearer. We are
waiting until there is none to be had, on any terms; and then we
shall send representatives to the general, to point out to him that
it is absolutely impossible for us to obey the regulations.

"Ah, these are terrible times! We could not have suffered more than
this, had Coburg joined Frederick; though they say that Richelieu's
French army is plundering even worse, in Hanover and the country
beyond it, than Soubise is doing here.

"Moreover, one would rather be plundered by an enemy than by
fellows who pretend to come hither as friends. If Frederick would
march in here, I would open my house free to all comers, and would
not grudge the last drop of wine in my cellar."

"There is never any saying," Fergus replied. "The King of Prussia
always appears when least expected, and m