rtance. At all
events, I will just go and hear what he has to say.'

With thoughts like these working in his mind, Schoenleben betook himself
to the commandant, who laughed boisterously as he shook hands with his
visitor, and began at once with: 'Torstenson has already sent a third
time to demand the surrender of the city, as if he thought he had
knocked us into a cocked hat by that assault we repulsed so easily. He
has been kind enough, too, to remind me that Breisach, Regensburg,
Gross-Glogau, and Leipzig have all been besieged and taken by the
Swedes, and to add that it is quite out of the question for a badly
fortified place like Freiberg to withstand his power. We are not to
count on any assistance, and if I reject his present kind offers he
will take the place by storm, and will not spare even the babe at its
mother's breast.'

'And what answer do you propose to send to all this, Herr Colonel?'
asked Schoenleben. 'I suppose you sent for me to see what my opinion
might be?'

'Not a bit of it, my dear Schoenleben, I assure you,' replied von
Schweinitz, laughing. 'The Swede has received his answer some time
since, and there was not the smallest need to trouble you in any way
about the matter. The enemy has received from me, take my word for it,
the only possible answer a soldier could send to such a demand, and I
now want to consult with you about pushing matters a little farther.'

'But,' said Schoenleben in an offended tone, 'I should have thought that
as acting-Burgomaster I ought at least to have had a word to say where
the weal or woe of the thousands of families under my care was at
stake. Pray, what is to happen when you and your soldiers are all
killed, the citizens and other combatants worn out with their excessive
duties in this bitter weather, the walls destroyed, the gates taken by
storm, and the Swede bursts in at last to put his threats into
execution?'

'What!' cried Schweinitz, astounded by this sudden outburst. 'Is it
the Burgomaster of the loyal city of Freiberg I hear speaking such
words as these?'

'Undoubtedly it is,' replied Schoenleben; 'and when Leipzig chose of her
own free will to open her gates to the Swedish forces, she was not
branded as disloyal. I am not speaking now of surrender, but of my
absolute right to have at least one word in all that concerns Freiberg.'

'Listen to me, Herr Schoenleben,' said Schweinitz roughly, 'and hear my
fixed determination. Our illustrio