e barrels in the saddle), he seized it out of the
holster, and hastened therewith after Hermann Lepper, who was riding
back to the carriage, and shot him, so that he fell from his nag. Hans
Lagebusch took to flight, and rode to Ribbenitz; Herr Heinrich
Sonneberg ran into the wood, and concealed himself among the bushes; my
brother, who had a hunting-spear, placed himself against the hind
wheel, that they might not attack him from behind; in front he defended
himself, and kept off one after another, inflicting wounds on them, for
he thrust his spear into the side of one of them near his leg, so that
riding to the bushes he fell from his horse, which escaped, and he
remained lying there. Another then fiercely attacked my brother, and
cut a piece from his head the size of a thaler, and even a little bit
of his skull, at the same time wounded him in the neck with his sword,
so that he fell and was considered dead. The miscreant plundered the
carriage, took all that was therein, and also carried off the horse of
their wounded comrade; as they saw he was so much wounded that there
was little life remaining in him, and not being able to carry him away,
they left him lying there. They left the driver his horses, and rode
away with their booty. Herr Heinrich Sonneberg returned to the
carriage; they laid my brother in it, and the woman bound up his head
with her handkerchief, and held it in her lap. The dead body they laid
at his feet, and thus drove slowly to Ribbenitz. There his wounds were
dressed, and the surgeon put some plaster on his neck. A rumour of this
came to Rostock. The councillor sent his servants to the spot, who
found the wounded highwayman, and took him to Rostock; but, alas! he
died as soon as they reached the prison, so that they could not learn
who the others were. It did not, however, remain quite secret, but was
hushed up by their connections, and the high magistrates did not in
good earnest investigate the matter. The dead miscreant was however
brought before the court, and from thence taken to the Landwehr to have
his head cut off, which was placed on a pole, where it was to be seen
for many years. Lagebusch brought the tidings to Stralsund, and the
councillor sent along with my father a close carriage with four of the
city horses; we took our beds with us, and starting in the evening,
travelled all night through, so that we reached Ribbenitz early in the
morning. We found my brother very weak, but we remai