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I conversed with him for some time. He expressed him-
self very courteously with respect to the king and to our
army, against whom he seems to bear no sort of malice for
the defeat we inflicted on him at Narva. He spoke of it
himself, and said, ‘you will see that some day we shall
turn the tables upon you.’ ‘The king will be pleased when
I return with you, for we all feared that you might be very
badly hurt. All that we knew was that some of your men
had seen you cut down. After the battle was over a
search was made for your body. When it could not be
found, questions were asked of some of our own men, and
some wounded Russians who were lying near the spot where
you had been seen to fall.

“Our men had seen nothing, for as the Russians closed
in behind your company as it advanced they had shut their
eyes and lay as if dead, fearing that they might be run
through as they lay by the Cossack lances. ‘The Russians,
however, told us that they had seen two of the Cossacks
dismount by the orders of one of their officers, lift you on
to a horse, and ride off with you. ‘There was therefore a
certainty that you were still living, for the Russians would
assuredly not have troubled to carry off a dead body. His
majesty interested himself very much in the matter, and
yesterday morning sent me off to inquire if you were alive,
and if so, to propose an exchange. I was much pleased
when I reached Plescow yesterday to learn that your wound
is not a serious one. I saw the doctor, who, I found, was
a countryman of yours, and he assured me that it was noth-
ing, and made some joke that I did not understand about
the thickness of North Country skulls.

“The czar arrived in the afternoon, but J did not see
him until late in the evening, when I was sent for. I found
him with the general in command, and several other offi-
cers, among whom was your friend the doctor. The czar
was at first ina furious passion. He abused the general