"
"Then we will be off without a minute's delay," the count said.
"I sent off the litter last night and started myself at daybreak,
promising the countess to be back with you ere nightfall, so we
have no time to lose."
The news soon spread that Malcolm Graheme was about to leave the
camp, and many of the Scottish officers came in to say adieu to
him; but time pressed, and half an hour after the arrival of the
count he started for Leipzig with Malcolm in a litter swung between
two horses. As they travelled at a foot pace Malcolm did not find
the journey uneasy, but the fresh air and motion soon made him
drowsy, and he was fast asleep before he had left the camp an hour,
and did not awake until the sound of the horses' hoofs on stone
pavements told him that they were entering the town of Leipzig.
A few minutes later he was lying on a couch in the comfortable
apartments occupied by the count, while the countess with her own
hands was administering refreshments to him, and Thekla was looking
timidly on, scarce able to believe that this pale and helpless
invalid was the stalwart young Scottish soldier of whose adventures
she was never weary of talking.
CHAPTER XIX A PAUSE IN HOSTILITIES
Never had Malcolm Graheme spent a more pleasant time than the two
months which he passed at Mansfeld. Travelling by very easy stages
there he was so far convalescent upon his arrival that he was able
to move about freely and could soon ride on horseback.
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