there are ever small fishing-boats ready to receive
the fugitive and place him safely upon some passing ship. But excuse
me, sir! the sun has been blazing down so hotly upon my head that I feel
thoroughly wearied, and will follow the example of my coachman. Look!
he is fast asleep, and the horses are moving on of their own good-will.
Good-night, Baron Trenck."

He closed his eyes, and in a short time his loud snores and the nodding
of his head from side to side gave assurance that he, also, was locked
in slumber.

Profound stillness reigned around. Trenck gave himself wholly to
the enjoyment of the moment. The peaceful stillness of the forest,
interrupted only at intervals by the snorting of the horses, the
sleepy chatter of the birds among the dark green branches, and the soft
rustling and whispering of the trees, filled him with delight.

"It is clear," he said to himself, "that this arrest in Dantzic was
only a manoeuvre to terrify me. I rejected the proposal of the Prussian
ambassador in Vienna, to return to Berlin and enter again the Prussian
service, so the king wishes to punish and frighten me. This is a jest--a
comedy!--which the king is carrying on at my expense. If I were really
regarded as a deserter, as a prisoner for the crime of high treason, no
officer would dare to guard me so carelessly. In the beginning, I was
harshly treated, in order to alarm and deceive me, and truly those
twelve silent hussars, continually surrounding the closed carriage, had
rather a melancholy aspect, and I confess I was imposed upon. But the
mask has fallen, and I see behind the smiling, good-humored face of the
king. He loved me truly once, and was as kind as a father. The old love
has awakened and spoken in my favor. Frederick wishes to have me again
in Berlin--that is all; and he knows well that I can be of service to
him. He who has his spies everywhere, knows that no one else can give
him such definite information as to the intentions and plans of Russia
as I can--that no one knows so certainly what the preparations for war,
now going on throughout the whole of Russia, signify. Yes, yes: so it
is! Frederick will have me again in his service; he knows of my
intimacy with the all-powerful wife of Bestuchef; that I am in constant
correspondence with her, and in this way informed of all the plans
of the Russian government. [Footnote: Frederick Trenck's "Memoirs."]
Possibly, the king intends to send me as a secret ambassador t