266 A JACOBITE EXILE

will have been cut down, houses levelled, intrenchments
thrown up, camps scattered here and there, and I own that
in the dark, I might, as Captain Carstairs says, very easily
miss my way. I think his proposal therefore unites the
greatest chances of getting through their line and entering
the town, with a possibility of drawing off the troops with-
out great loss in case of failure.”

The other three officers at once agreed, and orders were
issued for the men to lie down until five o’clock and rest
themselves before pursuing their march. It was past that
hour before they were in motion again. Major Sion, with
a peasant from the neighbourhood of Notteburg, rode
ahead. Then came the troop of cavalry, with the guns
close behind them, followed by the infantry. As they
approached the Russian lines the peasant several times
went on in advance, and presently a trooper rode down the
line with the order that the troops with firearms were to
light their matches and the spearmen to keep in a com-
pact body. They were now not far from the Russian lines,
and the destruction that had been wrought during the last
ten days was visible to them. Every tree and bush had
been felled for use in the intrenchments or for the erection
of shelters. A few blackened walls alone showed where
houses had stood. Gardens had been destroyed and
orchards levelled.

Light smoke could be seen rising at many points from
the Russian fires, and when the troops were halted they
were but half a mile from the intrenchments.

Word was passed down that the rapid Swedish march was
to be moderated, and that they were to move carelessly
and at a slow rate as if fatigued by a long march, and that
the spears were to be carried at the trail, as they were so
much longer than those used by the Russians that their
length would, if carried erect, at once betray the national-
ity of the troops. There was no attempt at concealment,