With Frederick the Great: A Story of the Seven Years' War

  Chapter 14: Breaking Prison.

  "He seems to be a pleasant fellow," Fergus said, "and disposed todo his best to make us comfortable; so if we don't see any chanceof getting away, we shall be able to get through the winter veryfairly."

  "You don't think there is any chance of escape, surely, major?"

  "Pray, drop the major, Captain Stauffen, and let us call each otherby our names, while we are here. The discipline of the Prussianarmy is admirable, and must, as a rule, be most stringentlymaintained by all sorts of forms and observances; but here by ourthree selves, confined in this casemate for no one can say howlong, it is ridiculous that we should be always stiff andceremonious. You are both some years older than I am. I have hadthe good fortune to have better opportunities than you have had,and have been promoted accordingly; but while here, let us try andforget all about that, and make things as pleasant all round aspossible."

  The two officers agreed, but not without grave doubts; for to themit was quite a serious matter to relax, even in a prison, thestringent rules that guided the relation of officers to each otherin the Prussian army.

  "It is a strong place," Fergus went on, "but I don't know that itis as difficult to break out of as the last place I was in."

  "Have you been a prisoner before?" the two officers asked together,for both belonged to a regiment that was not with Frederick atLobositz, and had indeed only recently come down from Berlin.

  "Yes, I was taken at Lobositz and marched to Spielberg, and managedto get away from there. It is a long story, and will do to passaway the evening, when we have got the fire and can sit comfortablyand talk round it. My cell there was so high in the castle that,with the wall and the rock below, there was a fall of a hundred andfifty feet, at least; so that the difficulties of escape were agood deal greater than they are here--or perhaps I should sayseemed to be a good deal greater, for I don't know that they were.

  "There is the tramp of a sentry outside. I suppose he walks up anddown the whole length of the six casemates. I counted them as wecame in. We are at one end, which, of course, is an advantage."

  "Why so?" one of the others asked with a puzzled expression offace.

  "Well, you see, the sentry only passes us once to every twice hepasses the casemate in the middle, and has his back to us twice aslong at a time."

  "I should not have thought of that," Stauffen said. "Yes, I can seethat if we were escaping through this door, which seems to meimpossible, that it would be an advantage;" and he glanced at hiscompanion, as if to say that there was more in this fortunate youngofficer than they had thought.

  Among the officers who had served throughout with Frederick, themanner in which Fergus had gained his promotion was well known. Hisrescue of Count Eulenfurst and his family was the general subjectof talk at Dresden, and even putting aside the gallantry of theaction, it was considered that the army in general were indebted tohim, for having saved them from the disgrace that would haveattached to them had this murderous outrage been carried outsuccessfully. The manner in which he had saved half the Prussiancavalry from destruction, by his charge through the Austriansquadron, had similarly been talked over, in every regiment engagedat Lobositz. Those who had been at Zorndorf were cognizant of thefact that he had gained his majority by saving the king's life, asthis had been mentioned in the general orders of the day.

  The regiment, however, to which the two officers belonged had comedown from Berlin but six months before; and had formed a part ofthe command of Prince Maurice until Frederick had returned fromZorndorf, and had, with a portion of the force of Prince Maurice,marched out to compel Daun to abandon his impregnable position atStolpen. They had not particularly observed Fergus on their journeysouth; and when, during the last two or three days of the march,they had noticed him, they had regarded him as some fortunate youngfellow who had, by royal favour, received extraordinary promotion,and had been pushed up over the heads of older men simply fromfavouritism. Thus their manner towards him had been even more stiffand ceremonious than usual.

  "Do you think, then," Stauffen said, "that there is any chance ofour making our escape?"

  "Oh, I have not had time to think about it, yet!" Fergus laughed."There is generally a way, if one can but find it out; but I haveno doubt that it will take a good deal of thinking before we hitupon it, and if it does nothing else for us, it will be anamusement through the long evenings to have to puzzle it out. Thereis no hurry, for it is not likely that there will be any morefighting before the army goes into winter quarters; and so that weare there when the campaign opens in the spring, it will be soonenough."

  The door opened now. Two soldiers brought in a stove. It was placednearly in the centre of the room. The flue went up to the top ofthe arch, and then turned at right angles, and passed out of thecasemate through a hole just over the window.

  After lighting the stove, they brought in two bundles of rushes andspread them over the floor; and then carried in a tray with dinner,and placed it on the little table. There were three stools standingby the side of the three barrack beds, each placed in a corner ofthe room. These they carried to the table.

  The others waited to see upon which side Fergus placed his. He putit down on one side.

  "Excuse me, major," Stauffen said, changing it--putting him facingthe fire, and placing his own on one side, while his companion wasopposite to him.

  Then they stood, stiffly waiting, until Fergus, with a shrug of hisshoulders, took his place.

  The dinner consisted of a thin soup, followed by the meat of whichit had been made, stewed up and served with a good gravy and twosorts of vegetables. The bread was white and good. A bottle ofrough country wine was placed by the side of each.

  "The commandant feeds us better here than I was fed at Spielberg,"Fergus said cheerfully. "If I got broth there I did not get meat;if I had meat I had no broth; and they only gave me half a bottleof wine. The commandant evidently does as he says, and makes themoney he gets for our keep go far. Let us drink his health, and abetter employment to him. He evidently feels being kept here,instead of being with the army in the field. In fact, he is just asmuch a prisoner as we are, without even the satisfaction of beingable to talk over plans for escape.

  "Ah! I see he has sent a box of cigars, too. I finished my last aswe rode here today, and was wondering when I should be able to getsome more in; also tobacco for my pipe. I hope you both smoke."

  Stauffen and his companion, whose name was Ritzer, both did so.

  "I am glad of that," Fergus said. "I think it is very cheery andsociable when everyone smokes, but certainly when only two out ofthree do, it looks somehow as if the one who does not is left outin the cold. I never smoked until I came out here, two years and ahalf ago; but there is no doubt that at the end of a day's hardwork, or when you have got to do a long ride in the dark, it isvery comforting."

  His efforts to keep the conversation going were not verysuccessful. The two officers were evidently determined to maintainthe distinction of rank and, saying to himself that they wouldprobably soon get tired of it, he ceased to attempt to break downthe barrier they insisted upon keeping up. After dinner was overthey lighted their cigars, and then went out and mounted the stepsfrom the yard to the ramparts.

  They were soon joined by the officers from the other casemates and,separating into groups, strolled up and down, making remarks on thecountry round and the town behind them. Fergus had at once left hisfellow prisoners and joined two or three others with whom he hadbeen previously acquainted, one being a captain of the 3rd RoyalDragoons.

  "You are with Stauffen and Ritzer, are you not, major?" the lattersaid. "I have a brother in the same regiment, and so know them. Howdo you get on with them?"

  "At present they are rather stiff and distant, and insist upontreating me as the senior officer; which is absurd when we areprisoners, and they are both some fifteen years older than I am. Idetest that sort of thing. Of course in a great garrison town likeBerlin or Dresden the strict rules of discipline must be o
bserved.I think they are carried altogether too far, but as it is thecustom of the service there is nothing to be said about it; buthere, as we are all fellows in misfortune, it seems to me simplyridiculous."

  "It becomes a second nature after a time," the officer said. "Thetwo with me are both lieutenants, and I should feel a littlesurprised if they did not pay me the usual respect."

  "Yes, but then you are the older man, and would naturally take thelead, in any case. To me, I can assure you, it is most disagreeableto have men much older than myself insisting upon treating me astheir superior officer; especially as, their regiment having onlyrecently joined us, I suppose they set me down as some youngfavourite or other, who has got his promotion over the heads ofdeserving officers because he is related to someone in power."

  "They ought to know that there is not much promotion to be gainedin that way in our army, major. The king is the last man who wouldpromote anyone for that cause. Why, Schwerin's son has served forfour years and is still a cornet in our regiment! No doubt the kingwould be glad to promote him if he specially distinguished himself,but as he has had no opportunity of doing so, he will probably workhis way up in the regiment as everyone else does."

  Two or three more officers came up and joined the party, andpresently Captain Ronsfeldt strolled away and joined another group.It was not long before he engaged Stauffen and Ritzer inconversation.

  "You have Major Drummond in with you, have you not?"

  "Yes," Stauffen said shortly. "Who is the young fellow, do you knowhim?"

  "Yes, he first joined our regiment as junior cornet. It was lessthan two years and a half ago. I was senior lieutenant at the time,and now I am pretty well up on the list of captains, thanks to thework we have done and the vacancies that death has made."

  "And that boy has gone over your head, and is now walking about asa major, with the order on his breast. It is enough to make onesick of soldiering. Who is he related to?"

  "He is related to Marshal Keith," Ronsfeldt said quietly.

  "Ah! That explains it."

  "I don't think you quite understand the case, Stauffen. Certainlyyou don't, if you think that there has been any favouritism. Idon't think anyone ever heard of Frederick promoting a man out ofhis turn, save for merit; and I suppose there is no one in the armywho has won his rank more worthily, and who is more generallyrecognized as deserving it. I have never heard a single word raisedagainst the honours he has received.

  "When he rides through the camp men nudge each other and say, 'Thatyoung fellow in staff uniform is Major Drummond;' and there is nota soldier but tries to put a little extra respect into his salute."

  "Are you joking, Ronsfeldt?" Ritzer asked in astonishment.

  "I was never less so, Ritzer;" and he then gave them an account ofthe manner in which Fergus had obtained his promotion.

  The two officers were silent when Ronsfeldt concluded.

  "We have made fools of ourselves," Stauffen said at last, "and wemust apologize, Ritzer."

  "Certainly we must," the other agreed heartily. "It seemed to usthat his trying to make us put aside the respect due to his rankwas a sort of affectation, and really impressed it moredisagreeably upon us. We took him for an upstart favourite; thoughwe might have known, had we thought of it, that the king neverpromotes unduly. Who could possibly have believed that a youngfellow, not yet twenty, I should say, could have so distinguishedhimself? It will be a lesson to us both not to judge byappearances."

  The day was cold and cheerless, and after an hour spent on therampart most of the party were glad to return to the casemates.Fergus was one of the last to go back. To his disgust the twoofficers rose and saluted formally, as he came in.

  "We wish," Captain Stauffen said, "to express to you our deepregret at the unworthy way in which we received your request, thismorning, to lay aside the distinction of rank while we areprisoners here. We were both under an error. Our regiments havingonly joined from Berlin a short time before the king marched withus to Hochkirch, we were altogether ignorant of the manner in whichyou had gained your rank, and had thought that it was the result offavouritism. We now know your highly distinguished services, andhow worthily you have gained each step; and we both sincerely hopethat you will overlook our boorish conduct, and will endeavour toforget the manner in which we received your kindly advances."

  "Say no more about it, gentlemen," Fergus replied heartily. "I havehad luck, and availed myself of it, as assuredly you would havedone had the same opportunities occurred to you. I can quiteunderstand that it seemed to you monstrous that, at my age, Ishould be your senior officer. I feel it myself. I am ofteninclined to regret that I should thus have been unduly pushed up.

  "However, let us say no more about it. I do hope that we shall beas three good comrades together; and that, within this casemate atany rate, there will be no question whatever of rank, and that youwill call me Drummond, as I shall call you both by your names.

  "Now, let us shake hands over the bargain. Let us draw our stoolsround the stove and have a comfortable talk.

  "I have been speaking to Major Leiberkuhn about ordering things. Hetells me that the commandant says that one list must be made. Onthis the orders of each of the casemates must be put downseparately. A sergeant will go out every day with it. Money must begiven to him to cover the full extent of the orders. He will returnthe change, each day, when he hands in the articles required.

  "I have ordered some tobacco, some better cigars than these, andthree bottles of good Hungarian wine. The sergeant is going in halfan hour, so we shall be able to enjoy our chat this evening. Ialways take the precaution of carrying twenty golden Fredericks,sewn up in the lining of my tunic. It comes in very useful, in caseof an emergency of this kind."

  "I am afraid that neither of us has imitated your forethought,"Ritzer said with a laugh. "I have only my last month's pay in mypocket, and Stauffen is no better off."

  "Ah, well! With thirty pounds among us, we shall do very well,"Fergus said. "We must be careful because, if we do make our escape,we shall want money to get disguises."

  "You are not really in earnest, Drummond," Stauffen said, "in whatyou say about escaping?"

  "I am quite in earnest about getting away, if I see a chance;though I admit that, at present, the matter seems a littledifficult."

  "Perhaps if you will tell us about your escape from Spielberg, weshall be able to get a hint from it."

  They now drew up their seats round the stove, and Fergus told themin detail the manner of his escape, omitting only the name of thenoblemen at Vienna who had assisted him.

  "It was excellently done," Ritzer said warmly. "Your making off inthat Austrian uniform, at the only moment when such a thing couldbe done, was certainly a masterly stroke."

  "So was the taking of the post horses," Stauffen agreed, "and yourgetting a disguise from the postmaster. I should like to have seenthe Austrian's look of surprise, when he got his uniform backagain.

  "I am afraid that your adventures do not afford us any hint forgetting away from here. Even you will admit that three Austrianuniforms could not be secured, and the tale by which you procuredthe post horses would hardly hold good in the case of three."

  "No, if we get away at all it must be done in an entirely differentmanner. The place is not so difficult to get out of as Spielbergwas, for with patience we could certainly manage to cut off therivet heads of the bars. But I don't see, at present, how we couldcross this wide moat, with a sentry pacing up and down thirty feetabove us; nor climb up the brick wall on the other side, withoutmaking a noise. That done, of course we could, on a dark night,cross the glacis and swim the outer moat. All that accomplished,the question of disguises will come in. Just at present it is notvery easy to see how that is to be managed.

  "Can you swim?"

  Both officers replied in the affirmative.

  "Well, that is something gained. As to the rest, we need not botherabout it, at present. We are not uncomfortable where we are, and ifwe get back in time
for the next campaign, that is all that reallymatters."

  The others laughed at the confident tone in which he spoke, butafter hearing the details of the prior attempt, it seemed to themthat their companion was capable of accomplishing what almostseemed to be impossibilities. They had, they knew, very slightchance of being exchanged so long as the war lasted. A few generalofficers, or others whose families possessed great influence, wereoccasionally exchanged; but it was evidently the policy of Austriato retain all prisoners. In the first place she desired to reduceFrederick's fighting force, and in the second, the number ofAustrians taken had been very much larger than that of thePrussians captured, and the support of some fifteen or twentythousand prisoners of war added to the drain on Frederick'sresources. Three campaigns had passed without materially alteringthe position of the combatants, and as many more might elapsebefore the war came to an end. Indeed, there was no saying how longit might last, and the prospect was so unpleasant that the twoofficers were inclined to run a very considerable risk inattempting to obtain freedom.

  A week later the snow began to fall heavily, and the moat froze.

  "There is no getting across that without being seen, even on thedarkest night," Fergus said, as he walked up and down the rampartwith his two companions, "unless the sentry was sound asleep; andin such weather as this, that is the last thing likely to happen.Unless something altogether unexpected occurs, we shall have topostpone action till spring comes.

  "Now that we have bought some books we can pass the time awaycomfortably. It was a happy thought of Major Leiberkuhn that eachof us should buy one book, so that altogether we have got someforty between us; which, taking our reading quietly, will last usfor a couple of months. They mayn't be all equally interesting; butas the sergeant bought them second-hand, at about half a franc avolume, we can lay in another stock without hurting ourselves,whenever we choose."

  A few days later they bought several sets of draughts, chessmen,and dominoes, and a dozen packs of cards. This had been arranged ata general meeting, held in the major's casemate. Strict rules hadbeen laid down that there should be no playing for money. Severalof the prisoners had had only a few marks in their pockets whencaptured.

  They agreed to meet at three o'clock, in two of the casemates byturn, as one would not hold the whole number. This made a greatbreak in their day. It would have been better if the meeting hadbeen held in the evening; but the regulation that, during thewinter months, they were locked up at five, prevented this beingadopted. So the cold weather passed not altogether unpleasantly.The strict rule that every case in which the slightest differenceof opinion arose should, at once, be submitted to the adjudicationof Major Leiberkuhn and the senior officer of the casemate in whichit occurred, effectually prevented all disputes and quarrels overthe cards and other games; and their good fellowship remained,therefore, unbroken.

  In March the sun gained power, the snow and ice began to melt, andFergus again began to think how an escape could be effected.

  "I can think of only one plan," he said to his two companions, oneevening. "It is clear that it is altogether hopeless to think ofgetting out by the door but, as we agreed, it would be possible tochip off the heads of the rivets, unbar the shutters, and letourselves down into the moat. If we were to make our way along atthe foot of the wall, the chance of our being seen by the sentryabove would be very slight; for of course we should choose a nightwhen the wind was blowing hard, and the water ruffled. In that caseany splash we might make would not be heard.

  "Swimming along to the corner of this face of the fort, we wouldturn and keep along until we reached the spot where the cut runs tothe river. Crossing the moat to that would be the most dangerouspart of the business, and we ought, if possible, to dive across.There is a low wall there, and a cheval-de-frise on the top of it.We should have to get out by the side of that, and then either swimalong the cut, or crawl along the edge of it till we get to theriver.

  "Then we must crawl along under the shelter of its banks towardsthe town, till we get to a boat hauled up, or swim to one moored alittle way out in the stream. Then we must row up the river forsome distance, and land."

  "That all seems possible enough, Drummond," Captain Ritzer said;"but what about our uniforms?"

  "We must leave them behind, and swim in our underclothes. I shouldsay we should take a couple of suits with us. We could make them upinto bundles, and carry them on our heads while we swim. Of course,if we take them we shall not be able to dive; but must swim acrossthe moat to the cut, and trust to the darkness for the sentries notseeing us. Then, once on board a boat, we could take off our wetthings and put the dry ones on."

  "But we can hardly wander about the country in shirts and drawers,Drummond," Stauffen suggested.

  "Certainly not. My idea is that, as soon as we are a mile or twoaway, we should either board some boat where we see a light, andoverpower the boatmen and take their clothes, if they will not sellthem to us; or else land at some quiet house, and rig ourselvesout. There should be no great difficulty about that. Once riggedout we must make south, for as soon as our escape is found out thenext morning, cavalry will scour the country in every direction onthis side of the river, and give notice of our escape at every townand village.

  "After lying up quiet for a time, we must journey at least fiftymiles west. We might make for Munich if we like; or strike the Isarat Landshut, and then work up through Ratisbon, and then throughthe Fichtel Mountains to Bayreuth, and so into Saxony; or fromLandshut we can cross the Bohmerwald Mountains into Bohemia; or, ifwe like, from Munich we can keep west into Wuertemberg, up throughHesse-Darmstadt and Cassel into Hanover; or, lastly, we can go onto Mannheim and down the Rhine, and then come round by sea toHamburg."

  The others laughed.

  "It looks a tremendous business, anyhow, Drummond, and I shouldnever think of attempting it by myself," Ritzer said; "but if youassure me that you think it will be possible, I am ready to tryit."

  "I think that there is every chance of success, Ritzer. I really donot see why it should fail. Of course there is risk in it, but oncefairly on the other side of the moat, and on the river bank, itseems comparatively safe. We can see that there are always a lot ofboats moored in the stream, this side of the bridge; and by takinga small boat, we might put off to one of them and get our change ofclothes, at once bind and gag the crew--there are not likely to beabove two or three of them--give them a piece of gold to pay forthe clothes, and then row straight up the river and land a mile ortwo away. That would make it plain sailing.

  "Of course we should push the boat off when we landed, and it wouldfloat down past the town before daylight. The chances are that theboatmen, finding that they are no losers by the affair, would makeno complaint to the authorities; but even if they did, we should befar beyond their reach by that time. All we have got to do is tochoose a really dark night, with wind and rain.

  "The first job to be done is to get the heads off these rivets. Ihave examined them carefully. They are roughly done, and I don'tfancy that the iron is very hard; and our knives will, I think,make a comparatively short job of it."

  "We could not work at night," Ritzer said. "The sentry in frontwould hear the noise."

  "I think of sawing the heads off," Fergus said. "With the help of alittle oil, I fancy the steel will cut through the iron. YesterdayI tapped the edge of my knife against the edge of the stoneparapet--it is good steel, but very brittle--and I managed to makea pretty fair saw of it. Tomorrow I will do yours, if you like."

  All carried clasp knives for cutting their food with, when servingin the field. They had oil which they had bought for dressingsalads with, and Fergus at once attacked one of the rivets.

  "It cuts," he said, after three or four minutes' work. "Of courseit will be a long job, but we ought to do it in a week. There arethree bars, and if we cut the rivets at one end of each, I have nodoubt we shall be able to turn the bars on the rivets at the otherend."

  They relieved each other at short intervals,
and worked the greaterpart of the night. At the end of that time the head of one of therivets was cut almost through.

  "We will leave it as it is now," Fergus said. "A quarter of anhour's work will take it off. As it is, no one would notice whathas been done, unless he inspected it closely."

  Greatly encouraged by this success, the others now entered warmlyinto his plans. Using his knife instead of a stone, he was able thenext day to convert their knives into much better saws than his ownhad been; and the other two rivets were cut in a much shorter timethan the first.

  They waited another week and then the wind began to rise, and byevening half a gale was blowing, and the rain falling heavily.There was no moon, and the night would be admirably suited fortheir purpose. Their supper was brought in at six o'clock. Knowingthat they would not be visited again until the morning, they atonce began work.

  As soon as they had finished cutting one rivet they tried the bar,and their united strength was quite sufficient to bend it farenough to allow it being withdrawn from the rivet; then, throwingtheir weight upon it, it turned upon the bolt at the other end,until it hung perpendicularly. In another half hour the other twobars were similarly removed, and the heavy shutters opened. Theywere closed again, until their preparations were complete.

  First they ate their supper, then sat and talked until nine. Thenthey knotted their sheets together, and tied the underclothes intobundles.

  "The Austrian government will be no losers," Fergus laughed. "Theywill get three Prussian uniforms, instead of six suits of prisonunderclothing. Now, shall I go first, or will one of you?"

  "We will go according to rank," Ritzer laughed.

  "Very well. Now mind, gentlemen, whatever you do, take the waterquietly. I will wait until you are both down, then we will followeach other closely, so that we can help one another if necessary. Ican hardly see the water from here; and the sentry, being twice asfar off from it as we are, will see it less. Besides, I think itlikely that they will be standing in their sentry boxes, in such arain as this; and I feel confident that we shall get across withoutbeing seen. The river is high, and the opposite wall of the moat isonly a foot above the water, so we shall have no difficulty ingetting out on the other side.

  "I have the money sewn in a small bag round my neck. We may as welltake our knives with us. They will help us to tackle the boatmen. Ithink that is everything. Now, we will be off."

  Fastening the sheet firmly to one of the bars, he swung himselfout, slid down the rope quietly and noiselessly, and entered thewater, which was so cold that it almost took his breath away. Heswam a stroke or two along the wall, and waited until joined byboth his comrades. Their casemate being the end one, they had butsome ten or twelve yards to swim to the angle of the wall.

  Another fifty took them to a point facing the cut. Fergus had pacedit on the rampart above, and calculated that each stroke would takethem a yard. It was too dark to see more than the dim line of thewall on the other side. He waited until the others joined him.

  "Are you all right?" he asked, in a low voice.

  "Yes, but this cold is frightful."

  "We shall soon be out of it," he said. "Wait till I have gone a fewyards, and then follow, one after the other."

  The surface of the moat was so ruffled by the wind that Fergus hadlittle fear of being seen, even if the sentry above was out andwatching; but he felt sure that he would be in his sentry box, andso swam boldly across. He at once climbed onto the lower wall, andhelped his two companions out. They were completely numbed by thecold.

  "Come along," he said. "We are on the lower side of the cut. Crawlfor a short distance, then we can get up and run, which will be thebest thing for us."

  In three minutes they were up on the river bank.

  "Now we can change our clothes," he said. "The others will soon getwet through, but they won't be as cold as these are."

  The things were soon stripped off. Each gave himself a rub with oneof the dry shirts, and they were soon dressed in the double suitsand stockings.

  "That is better," Fergus said cheerfully. "Now for a run along thetowing path."

  A quarter of a mile's run and circulation was restored, and allfelt comparatively comfortable. They had, at the suggestion ofFergus, wrung out the things they had taken off; and thrown themover their shoulders, so as to afford some protection against therain. They now dropped into a slower pace and, after going for amile, they neared the spot where the craft were lying moored in theriver.

  Several small boats were drawn up on the shore. One of these theylaunched, put out the oars, and rowed quietly to a large barge,fifty yards from the bank, on which a light was burning. Takingpains to prevent the boat striking her side, they stepped on board,fastened the head rope, and proceeded aft. A light was burning inthe cabin and, looking through a little round window in the door,they saw three boatmen sitting there, smoking and playing cards.They opened their knives, slid back the door, and stepped in.