rob all the ben in the neighbourhood and lay the pig under contribution a service to which they had been long and which they discharged with incredible zeal and that the garrison table groaned under the weight of their spoils i wish with all my heart my readers could see tlie von as he presided at the head of the banquet it was a sight worth beholding � he sat in his greatest glory surrounded by his like that famous alexander whose thirsty virtues he did most imitate � telling stories of his hair breadth adventures and heroic exploits at which though all his knew them to be vm t jet did they m w i j v � op fort s and utter many of astonishment nor could the general pronounce any thing that bore the remotest semblance to a joke but the stout would strike his fist upon the table till every glass rattled again throwing himself back in the chair and uttered gigantic of swearing most horribly it was the best joke he ever heard in his life � thus all was and and hideous within fort and so did von the bottle than in less than four short hours he made himself and his whole garrison who all the df dead drunk and singing songs and drinking patriotic none of which but was as long as a or a plea in no sooner did things come to this pass than the and his who had kept themselves sober rose on their tied them neck and heels and took formal possession of the fort and all its in the name of queen of at the same time an oath of to all the dutch soldier could be made sober enough to swallow it then put the in order appointed his and friend a si i wind dried water drinking to the k of the garrison command and departed bearing with him this truly amiable garrison and their commander who when brought to himself by a sound bore no little resemblance to a fish or sea monster caught upon dry land the of the garrison was done to prevent the of intelligence to new for as much as the cunning in his he dreaded the vengeance of the sturdy peter whose name spread as much terror in the neighbourhood as did that of the among his enemies ttie feminine of fame chapter ii showing how profound secrets are often brought to light with the proceedings of peter the when he heard of the misfortunes of general von whoever first described common fame or rumour as belonging to the sex was a very owl for she has in truth certain feminine qualities to an astonishing degree particularly that benevolent anxiety to take care of the affairs of others which keeps her continually hunting after secrets and about them whatever is done openly and in the face of the world she takes but transient notice of but whenever a transaction is done in a corner and attempted to be in mystery then her goddess ship is at her wit s end to find it out and takes a most mischievous and lady like pleasure in it to the world it is this truly feminine that her continually to be into of princes listening at the key holes of chambers and peering through history of when our worthy are sitting with closed doors between a dozen excellent modes of the nation it is this which makes her so to all wary and � such a stumbling block to private and secret which she often by means and instruments which never would hare been thought of by any but a female head thus it was in the case of the affair of fort no doubt the cunning imagined that by securing the garrison he should for a long time prevent the history of its fate from reaching the cars of the gallant his was blown to the world when he least expected it and by one of the last beings he would ever have suspected of as to the wide mouthed deity this was one or a kind of on to the garrison who seemed to belong to nobody and in a manner to be self he was one of those vagabond who about the world as if ihey had no right or business in it and who the skirts of society and garrison and country village has one or more of this kind whose life is a kind of whose � xi ence is without motive who comes from the lord knows where who lives the his person knows how and seems to be made for no earthly purpose but to keep up the ancient order of idleness � this was supposed to have some indian in his veins which was manifested by a in indian complexion and cast of but more especially by his he was a tall fellow swift of ind long he was generally a half indian dress with belt and his hair hung in straight gallows about his ears and added not ar little to his ing it is an old remark that ns of indian mixture are half civilized half e and half devil a third half being express for their particular convenience it � similar reasons and probably with equal that the back wood men of are i half man half horse and half by on the and held great respect and e above character may have presented to the garrison as to whom they familiarly gallows certain it is he acknowledged one � was an utter enemy to work holding no manner of estimation � but � the fort depending upon chance for a getting drunk whenever c familiarly termed liquor and stealing whatever he could his hands on every day or two he was sure to get a sound for some of his which however as it broke no bones he made very 