Page 134 - A Jacobite Exile

"It was very kind of the king to send for me," Charlie said to the Swede,
"and I am really sorry that you should have had so long a ride on my

account, Captain Pradovich."

"As to that, it is a trifle," the officer said. "If I had not been riding here, I
should be riding with the king elsewhere, so that I am none the worse. But,
in truth, I am glad I came, for yesterday evening I saw the czar himself. I

conversed with him for some time. He expressed himself very courteously
with respect to the king, and to our army, against whom he seems to bear

no sort of malice for the defeat we inflicted on him at Narva. He spoke of it
himself, and said, 'you will see that, some day, we shall turn the tables upon
you.'

"The king will be pleased when I return with you, for we all feared that you

might be very badly hurt. All that we knew was that some of your men had
seen you cut down. After the battle was over, a search was made for your
body. When it could not be found, questions were asked of some of our

own men, and some wounded Russians, who were lying near the spot
where you had been seen to fall.

"Our men had seen nothing, for, as the Russians closed in behind your
company as it advanced, they had shut their eyes and lay as if dead, fearing

that they might be run through, as they lay, by the Cossack lances. The
Russians, however, told us that they had seen two of the Cossacks

dismount, by the orders of one of their officers, lift you on to a horse, and
ride off with you. There was therefore a certainty that you were still living,
for the Russians would assuredly not have troubled to carry off a dead

body. His majesty interested himself very much in the matter, and
yesterday morning sent me off to inquire if you were alive, and if so, to

propose an exchange.

"I was much pleased, when I reached Plescow yesterday, to learn that your

wound is not a serious one. I saw the doctor, who, I found, was a
countryman of yours, and he assured me that it was nothing, and made

some joke that I did not understand about the thickness of North Country
skulls.