g stiff and
motionless upon the roof.

"Listen, dragoons," said the king; "if you take off my roof, the snow
will fall in my bed to-night, and you do not wish that, do you?"

"No, we do not wish it, sire," said Fritz Kober, ashamed, slipping
softly from the roof; the others followed his example, and prepared to
be off, giving melancholy glances at the wood lying on the ground.
The king looked thoughtfully after them, and murmured, softly, "Poor
fellows, I have deprived them of a pleasure.--Halloo, dragoons," he
cried aloud, "listen!"

The soldiers looked back, frightened and trembling.

"Tell me," said the king, "what use were you going to make of the wood?"

"Cook noodles, sire," said Fritz Kober; "Henry Buschman promised to cook
noodles for us, and the bacon is already cut; but we have no wood."

"Well, if the bacon is cut," said the king, smiling, "and if Henry
Buschman has promised to make the noodles, he must certainly keep his
word; take the wood away with you."

"Hurrah! long life to our king and to our good Fritz Kober," cried the
soldiers, and, collecting the wood, they hastened away.

The king stepped back, silently, into the small, low room of the hut.
Alone, there once more the smile disappeared, and his countenance became
sad and anxious. He confessed to himself what he had never admitted to
friend or confidant, that it was a daring and most dangerous undertaking
to meet the Austrian army of seventy thousand with his thirty-three
thousand men.

"And should I fail," said the king, thoughtfully, "and lead these brave
troops to their death without benefit to my country--should they die an
unknown death--should we be conquered, instead of conquering! Oh,
the fortune of battles lies in the hands of Providence; the wisest
disposition of troops, the most acute calculations are brought to naught
by seeming accident. Should I expose my army to the fearful odds, should
I hazard so many lives to gratify my ambition and my pride? My generals
say it will be wiser not to attack, but to wait and be attacked. Oh,
Winterfeldt, Winterfeldt, were you but here, you would not advise this,
not you! Why have you been taken from me, my friend? Why have you left
me alone among my enemies? I can find, perhaps, resources against my
enemies, but I will never find another Winterfeldt." [Footnote: The
king's own words.--Retzow, vol. i.. p. 220.] The king leaned his head
upon his breast, and tears rolled down his cheeks.

"Ho