Page 106 - A Jacobite Exile

occupied it without opposition.

He had not forgotten his promise, and the company of Captain Jervoise was
one of those selected for the work. Its officers were delighted at the

prospect of a change, and, when the party started, Captain Jervoise was
proud of the show made by his men, whose active and vigorous condition
contrasted strongly with the debility and feebleness evident, so generally,

among the Swedish soldiers.

As soon as Marienburg was entered, the men were set to work, to raise and
strengthen the rampart and to erect bastions; and they were aided, a few
days later, by a reinforcement of two hundred infantry, sent by the king,

with some cannon, from the garrison of Derpt. As the place was surrounded
by a morass, it was, ere long, put into a position to offer a formidable

defence against any force that the Russians or Saxons might bring against
it.

The Swedes engaged on the work gained strength rapidly, and, by the time
the fortifications were finished, they had completely shaken off the effects

of the fever.