He was bleeding from several wounds, but none of them were serious.
Nigel was beside him as they began to descend the hill; but scarcely
had he gone a step when he fell headlong, struck by a ball from an
arquebus. Malcolm and one of the sergeants raised him, and between
them carried him to the foot of the hill; then, when the remains
of the regiments started to rejoin Duke Bernhard, they were forced
to leave him. Although Malcolm kept up with his regiment in the
retreat he was so utterly exhausted by loss of blood that he could
no longer accompany them. By the death of so many of his seniors he
was now one of the majors of the regiment, if that could be called
a regiment which was scarce a company in strength. A few days
after the battle Colonel Munro received orders to march with his
shattered remnant, scarce one of whom but was from wounds unfit for
present service, by easy stages to North Germany, there to await
the arrival of reinforcements from Scotland, which might raise
the regiment to a strength which would enable it again to take the
field.
Malcolm remained behind until his strength slowly returned. The
colonel, before leaving, had bade him take his time before rejoining,
as months would probably elapse before the regiment would again be
fit for service. As soon as he was able to travel he journeyed to
Nuremberg. On arriving at the abode of Jans Boerhoff he learned that
Thekla was no longer an inmate of the family.
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