e distance upon
the Meissner Hills, and it was principally Russian Landwehr which drove
the French back as a storm sweeps a field of stubble. When the remnant
of them fell back into the fortifications, the Russians quietly marched
off to their previous positions. So that at the very time when the
council of war was held at Gouvion de St. Cyr's, the decision which it
arrived at was communicated to, or, more probably, overheard by persons
who were not supposed to have this in their power. Strangely enough,
the advocate knew every detail of the deliberation; for instance, that
Gouvion was opposed to the expedition, and only yielded lest he might
be thought wanting in courage, in a case where rapidity of decision was
a desideratum. Count von der Lobau was determined to march out and
endeavour to cut his way to the emperor's army. But how did the
surrounding force know so soon of what was projected? For they knew of
it in the course of an hour. Not only was it apparently impossible to
get across the strongly fortified bridge; and if not, the river would
have had to be swum, and the various trenches and walls got over.
Moreover, the whole of Dresden was palisaded, and carefully guarded by
sentries, to a considerable distance round. Where was the possibility
of any human being surmounting all those obstacles in such a short
space of time! One might think of telegraphic signals, made by means of
lights from some tall tower or loftily situated house. But consider the
difficulty of carrying that out, and the risk of detection, for such
signals would have been easily seen. At all events it remains an
incomprehensible thing how what actually happened came to pass; and
that is enough to suggest to a lively imagination all sorts of
mysterious and sufficiently extraordinary hypotheses to account for
it."

"I bow my knee in deep reverence before Saint Serapion," said Lothair;
"and before the most worthy of his disciples, and I am quite sure that
a Serapiontic account of the important incidents of the war, as seen by
him, if given in his characteristic style, would be exceedingly
interesting, as well as very instructive, to imaginative members of the
profession of arms. At the same time I have little doubt that the
incidents in question came about quite naturally, and in the ordinary
course of events. But you had to get your landlord's servant-girl, the
pleasing Dorothea, into the water, as a sort of deluding Nixie; and
she----"

"Do