“Ah, ah!  Is that so?  Going to put your head into the den of the Lion Augustus.  Well, I rather envy you, for it is likely, by all accounts, to be dull work here for some time.  It is hard to be sitting idle, while the Russian guns are thundering round Narva.  Now, I must join the baron again.  Where would you rather ride—­after us, or behind the escort?”

“Behind the escort.  I think it will be more natural, and I can chat more freely with my servant.  He is a Lithuanian, but speaks Swedish, and I hope to get some information from him.”

The lieutenant rode on, and, as he passed the troopers, he told them that the two men behind had the baron’s permission to ride with them, in order that they might have protection from the bands of pillagers who were roaming through the country.

“Now, Stanislas,” Charlie said.  “We can talk freely together.  Do you know Warsaw?”

“I have been there several times, sir, but I never stopped there long.  Still, I can find my way about the town.”

“When were you there last?”

“Some two months ago.  It was just before I entered the Swedish service.”

“And what do the people say about the war?”

“They are bitterly opposed to it.  The king entered upon it without consulting the diet, which was altogether contrary to the constitution.  It is true that the king may do so, in cases of emergency, and obtain the sanction of the diet afterwards.  There was no urgency here, and the king made his agreement with the czar and the king of Denmark without anyone knowing of it.  He certainly obtained a sort of sanction from the diet afterwards, but everyone knows how these things are worked.  He has a strong party, of course, because it is the interest of a great many people to retain him in power, as no one can say who would be chosen to succeed him.  But among the people in general, the traders and the peasants, he is hated, and so are his Saxon soldiers.

“Suppose he had gained a slice of Swedish territory.  It would not have benefited them; while, as it is, all sorts of misfortunes and troubles have come upon the country, and none can say how much greater may ensue.

“Poland is always split up into parties.  They used to unite against the Turk, and they would unite again against the Swedes, if their country was invaded; but as long as King Charles keeps his army beyond the frontier, they are too deeply engaged in their own quarrels to think of anything else.”

“Then, even if I were known, in the city, to be in the Swedish service, there would be little danger, Stanislas?”

“I do not say that, at all,” the man said gravely.  “In the first place, Warsaw is held by Saxon soldiers, who would show you but scant mercy, were you known to be a Swedish officer; and, in the second place, the lower classes are ever ready to make tumults; and, if worked upon by the archbishop, or the nobles of the king’s party, they would readily enough tear a stranger to pieces.