u have been a soldier of the King of Spain,' said I; 'how did you
like the service?'

"'Not so well but that I should have been glad to leave it forty years
ago; the pay was bad, and the treatment worse. I will now speak Swiss to
you; for, if I am not much mistaken, you are a German man, and understand
the speech of Lucerne. I should soon have deserted from the service of
Spain, as I did from that of the Pope, whose soldier I was in my early
youth before I came here; but I had married a woman of Minorca, by whom I
had two children: it was this that detained me in these parts so long.
Before, however, I left Minorca, my wife died; and as for my children,
one went east, the other west, and I know not what became of them. I
intend shortly to return to Lucerne, and live there like a duke.'

"'Have you then realized a large capital in Spain?' said I, glancing at
his hat and the rest of his apparel.

"'Not a cuart, not a cuart; these two wash-balls are all that I possess.'

"'Perhaps you are the son of good parents, and have lands and money in
your own country wherewith to support yourself.'

"'Not a heller, not a heller. My father was hangman of Lucerne, and when
he died, his body was seized to pay his debts.'

"'Then doubtless,' said I, 'you intend to ply your trade of soap-boiling
at Lucerne. You are quite right, my friend; I know of no occupation more
honourable or useful.'

"'I have no thoughts of plying my trade at Lucerne,' replied Benedict.
'And now, as I see you are a German man, Lieber Herr, and as I like your
countenance and your manner of speaking, I will tell you in confidence
that I know very little of my trade, and have already been turned out of
several fabriques as an evil workman; the two wash-balls that I carry in
my pocket are not of my own making. _In kurtzen_, I know little more of
soap-boiling than I do of tailoring, horse-farriery, or shoe-making, all
of which I have practised.'

"'Then I know not how you can hope to live like a hertzog in your native
canton, unless you expect that the men of Lucerne, in consideration of
your services to the Pope and to the King of Spain, will maintain you in
splendour at the public expense.'

"'Lieber Herr,' said Benedict, 'the men of Lucerne are by no means fond
of maintaining the soldiers of the Pope and the King of Spain at their
own expense; many of the guard who have returned thither beg their bread
in the streets: but when I go, it shall be in a c