The Young Carpenters of Freiberg

Оглавление

Unknown. The Young Carpenters of Freiberg

CHAPTER I. THE MILLER'S WIFE OF ERBISDORF

CHAPTER II. THE FAMILY AT HOME

CHAPTER III. PRIVATE RIGHTS MUST GIVE PLACE TO PUBLIC NECESSITIES

CHAPTER IV. THE ENEMY BEFORE THE TOWN

CHAPTER V. THE SOWER OF TARES

CHAPTER VI. THE SECOND ASSAULT

CHAPTER VII. CONRAD UNDER THE WINDOW-SEAT

CHAPTER VIII. ORDINARY INCIDENTS OF A SIEGE

CHAPTER IX. DIVERSE HUMAN HEARTS

CHAPTER X. WAR OFTEN OPPOSES THE TEACHINGS OF CHRISTIANITY

CHAPTER XI. HISTORICAL

CHAPTER XII. TREACHERY AND DELIVERANCE

Отрывок из книги

Conrad reached the town without any further adventure, and found it in a state of high excitement. The drawbridges before the gates were up, and the city walls and towers swarmed with armed men. 'The Swedes have been seen,' was the general outcry, and the mere sound of the words had been enough to throw the whole place into a ferment. To the number of about six hundred, the Swedes had appeared and opened a parley with the town, demanding supplies, and when—as was only to be expected—their demands were refused, they had drawn off and retired to the neighbourhood of Wilsdruf. As soon as ever Conrad reached home, which he did at last, pushing his truck before him and hobbling along in a very lame fashion over the rough pavement, he took off the shoe he had turned into a money-box.

'I thought so,' he cried. 'I was sure those hard gulden would raise blisters. But I say, mistress, that's a great deal better than coming home without any money at all. I can tell you I have had a narrow escape. Just look here; this scratch on my left hand was done by a Swedish bullet aimed at my heart. I have lots of news to tell you about my journey.'

.....

'And that,' said the elder journeyman, 'is just because this long, long war has given us a new sort of men—men in whom desperate greediness takes the place of a heart, and whose conscience has been replaced by an empty purse, to fill which is their one object in life. Their general is their god, and they follow him or desert him just according as he leads them to victory and plunder, or to defeat. They march from country to country, selling their services to whichever side they think will give them the richest booty. Swedes! I can assure you, there is not a Swede left in the Swedish army, or, at all events, very few. The men the great Gustavus Adolphus brought over the Baltic Sea are gone long ago, and those who have taken their places will sell both soul and body any day to the highest bidder.'

'Yes,' interrupted the apprentice, 'that's just what I say. The Swedes are no more Swedes than I am; else how could I have understood the oaths of the Swedish dragoon that fired at me to-day? He swore in good round German, and it was one of the most wonderful oaths I ever heard. He said'—

.....