As I reached the gate I looked back, and
I saw a green-coated horseman, whom I knew to be Count Stein,
clear the pig-sty and gallop furiously with a shout of triumph
across the garden.
"Surrender, your Majesty, surrender!" he yelled; "we will give
you quarter!" I slipped through the gate, but had no time to
lock it on the other side. Stein was at my very heels, and the
Lancer had already turned his horse. Springing upon my Arab's
back, I was off once more with a clear stretch of grass land
before me. Stein had to dismount to open the gate, to lead his
horse through, and to mount again before he could follow.
It was he that I feared rather than the Lancer, whose horse was
coarse-bred and weary. I galloped hard for a mile before I
ventured to look back, and then Stein was a musket-shot from me,
and the Lancer as much again, while only three of the others were
in sight. My nine Prussians were coming down to more manageable
numbers, and yet one was too much for an unarmed man.
It had surprised me that during this long chase I had seen no
fugitives from the army, but I reflected that I was considerably
to the west of their line of flight, and that I must edge more
toward the east if I wished to join them.
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