“Strange indeed! Perhaps it is a pillar-saint.”
“Give him a charge of powder, and we shall soon see.”
At the rattle of arms which was now heard there, rose a howl so terrible and multitudinous, that no one thought it came from the pillar-saint. At the same time the apparent heap of stones moved and became a living mass.
A volley was fired, and the wolves fled. Königsmarck rode through the smoke, and now saw a one-armed Imperialist standing on the chimney, which was all that was left of a burnt cottage. “Come down, and let us look at you,” he said.
The maimed man clambered down with his single arm, showing incredible agility. “We ought to have him to scale the wall with a storming-party,” said the General to himself.
“Alone _now_--thanks to your grace, for the wolves have been round me for six hours.”
“What is your name? Where do you come from? Whither do you wish to go?”
“My name is Odowalsky; I come from Vienna; and I shall go to hell, if I don’t get help.”
“Yes, as sure as I live! With anybody, if only I can live. I have lost my arm; I was given a house; they burnt it, and threw me out on the highway--with wife and child, of course!”
“I can find the way to Prague, to the Hradschin and the Imperial treasure-house, Wallenstein’s palace, the royal castle, Wallenstein’s dancing-hall, and the Loretto Convent. There there is _multum plus Plurimum_.”
“That is something different. Come with me, and you shall have a horse, Mr. First Lieutenant, and then let us see what you are good for.”
Odowalsky received a horse, and the General bade him ride beside him. He talked confidentially with him the whole night till they again rejoined the main body of the army.
Some days later Königsmarck stood with his little troop on the White Mountain left of Prague--“Golden Prague,” as it was called. It was late in the evening of the fifteenth of June. He had Odowalsky at his side, and seemed to be particularly good friends with him. But the troop knew nothing of the General’s designs, and, as they saw that he went towards Prague, his officers were astounded, for the town was well fortified, and defended by a strong body of armed citizens.
“One can at any rate look at the show,” Königsmarck answered to all objections; “that costs nothing.”