“Has the artillery gone?”
“It has.”
“And Patterson too?”
“No, Patterson is here; he is nursing Kettling, of whom he is very fond, and who wounded himself rather badly with his own sword. If I did not know Kettling to be a daring officer, I should think that he had cut himself of purpose to avoid the campaign.”
“It will be needful to leave about a hundred men here, also in Rossyeni and in Kyedani. The Swedish garrisons are small, and De la Gardie, as it is, is asking men every day from Löwenhaupt. Besides, when we march out, the rebels, forgetting the defeat of Shavli, will raise their heads.”
“They are growing strong as it is. I have heard again that the Swedes are cut down in Telshi.”
“By nobles or peasants?”
“By peasants under the leadership of a priest; but there are parties of nobles, particularly near Lauda.”
“The Lauda men have gone out under Volodyovski.”
“There is a multitude of youths and old men at home. These have taken arms, for they are warriors by blood.”