ve gone up the tree fast," General Lacy said.

"Very fast, sir; but I owe it to good fortune, and not to his
influence. I was, in each case, promoted by the king himself."

"A good judge of men, and not accustomed to give promotion easily.
Will you tell me how it happened?"

"There is not much to tell, sir. On the first occasion, I freed
Count Eulenfurst of some rascals who were maltreating him and his
family."

"I remember the circumstance," Lacy said warmly. "I heard it from a
Saxon officer, who joined us at the end of the first campaign,
after the Saxon army was disbanded and the officers were allowed to
go free. He was at Dresden for a time, and heard the story. It was
a gallant business. I think you killed six of them. And what was
the next occasion?"

"The next followed very quickly, general; and was given for
carrying an order to the Prussian horse, which enabled them to get
back to our lines before the Austrian cavalry fell upon them."

"I was there," Lacy said. "So you were the officer who charged
through a squadron of our cavalry, accompanied by a single orderly!
You certainly won your promotion fairly there. And where did you
get your last step?"

"At Zorndorf where, in the melee, when the Russians broke our
ranks, I was fortunate enough to intercept three Russian dragoons
who were making for the king, who was hemmed in among the infantry
he was trying to rally."

"A good reason, again, for promotion. Well, if you go on, you are
likely to rise as high as your cousin. But it is a poor life. As I
looked down upon Keith's face today, I thought how empty is any
honour that adventurers like ourselves can gain. I myself have
risen too; but what does it bring? Responsibility, toil, the
consciousness that a solitary mistake may bring you into disgrace;
and that, in any case, the end may be like this: death on a
battlefield, fighting in a quarrel in which you have no concern,
and of which you may disapprove; a grave soon forgotten; a name
scarce known to one's countrymen. It is not worth it."

The general spoke in a tone of deep feeling.

"I have made up my mind not to continue in the service, after the
war is over," Fergus said, after a short pause; "although the king
has personally been very kind to me and, when the marshal remained
in Bohemia, he took me on his own staff."

"That is right, and as you are young, a few years' further service
will do you no harm. It will, indeed, do you good; that is, i