us prince and lord, John George of
Saxony, has entrusted to me, George Hermann von Schweinitz, the defence
of this city of Freiberg, with orders to hold it to the last man. That
being so, I stand in no need of advice from you, either now or at any
other time. As commandant, I am here to give orders, and you are here
to obey them. Whoever talks to me of surrender shall be considered a
traitor to his country, and treated accordingly. Basta!'[3] And
Schweinitz emphasized the close of his speech by a thundering blow of
his fist on the table before him, and turned his back on the
Burgomaster in high dudgeon. Schoenleben himself, as he took his
departure and returned home, was quite as angry a man as the indignant
warrior.

'God is my witness,' said the Burgomaster to himself, when, somewhat
later, he was thinking the matter over more quietly, 'that neither
cowardice nor disloyalty to my prince made me speak as I did. But when
I think that the town may yet share the awful fate that befell
Magdeburg, then indeed I set the well-being of my thousands of
fellow-citizens far above my own reputation for valour. Alas! who can
give my fearful heart any assurance about these things?'

[1] A small German copper coin.

[2] A gulden is now worth about two shillings English.

[3] Enough.

CHAPTER VI.

THE SECOND ASSAULT.

On the following day Burgomaster Schoenleben took his way to the
council-chamber, which now, indeed, fully deserved its name. Both
before and after the commencement of the siege, the magistrates had
enough to do in devising necessary plans, even had not their time been
fully occupied in carrying their plans into execution. Among other
duties, they had to arrange for the accommodation of the wounded, the
burial of the dead, and the bodily needs both of those who were
defending the city and their families; while not neglecting, on the
other hand, to guard against a wasteful use of the provisions, to
preserve the strictest order in the city, and to arrange for many other
things beside.

Schoenleben did not give his fellow councillors the slightest hint about
his quarrel with the commandant, but took care quietly to make out
their several opinions, and he did not find one man among them who,
either from fear of the Swedes or from personal inclination, was
disposed to support his views.

After quitting the council-chamber, he could not help noticing, as he
passed along the ranks of the auxilia