"Those are no bad terms: a gold florin a month! none of us will object to them. Have you had an answer from the Duke?" said the Magdeburger.
"Not yet," said the general. "But, bassa manelka! tell me, how do you come to know my secret, peasant, or I'll cut off your ear, and pin it to my hat? Tell me immediately, or off it comes."
"Long Peter," cried the little captain Muckerle, "let him go in peace, for God's sake! he is a resolute man, and possesses the art of witchcraft. I recollect his face as well as if it was but to-day, when we had orders to arrest him in Ulm, and were sent to look for him at the stable of Herrn von Kraft, the clerk of the council, where he resided. He was a spy, and was able to make himself smaller and smaller, not bigger than a sparrow, and flew away from us."
"What!" cried the gallant general, and edged away from the peasant; "is this the man? Why did not the magistrates of Ulm order all the sparrows to be shot, because a Würtemberger spy had turned himself into one?"
"That's him," whispered Muckerle; "that's the fifer of Hardt; I knew him as soon as I saw him."
The general and his companions did not recover their astonishment for some time. They beheld the man of whom many wonderful stories had been related with mingled curiosity and apprehension. Hans was clever enough, however, to understand what they whispered to each other, without the appearance of remarking the state of surprise he had created among them. At length, Long Peter, the official organ of the rest, took heart, twisted his whiskers, and, taking off his enormous hat, thus addressed the fifer of Hardt: "Pardon us, worthy companion, and highly respected fifer of Hardt, that we have treated you with so little ceremony; but how could we know who it was we had among us? be many times welcome; I have long wished to see so renowned a man as the fifer of Hardt, who had the power of flying away from Ulm like a sparrow in the middle of the day."
"Let's have done with those old stories," interrupted the fifer, hastily. "I heard this day from the Duke, who desired me to find you out, to know if you were still inclined to join him upon the terms he has proposed."
"Canto cacramento! he is a good man! a gold ducat a month and four measures of wine daily! Long may he live!" cried the general.
"When will he come?" asked captain Löffler. "Where shall we meet him?"
"This very day, if no ill luck attends him. He was to advance upon Heimsheim this morning, where the garrison is weak, and, when he has taken it, he will come on this way."