With Frederick the Great | Page 5

and Poland are jealous of him, and France none too well disposed. So
at present the King of Prussia is like to leave his neighbours alone; for
he may need to draw his sword, at any time, in self defence."

It was but a few days after this that Maggie Drummond received this
short letter from her cousin, Marshal James Keith:
"My dear Cousin,
"By your letter, received a few days since, I learned that Fergus is now
nearly sixteen years old; and is, you say, as well grown and strong as
many lads two or three years older. Therefore it is as well that you
should send him off to me, at once. There are signs in the air that we
shall shortly have stirring times, and the sooner he is here the better. I
would send money for his outfit; but as your letter tells me that you
have, by your economies, saved a sum ample for this purpose, I abstain
from doing so. Let him come straight to Berlin, and inquire for me at
the palace. I have a suite of apartments there; and he could not have a
better time for entering upon military service; nor a better master than
the king, who loves his Scotchmen, and under whom he is like to find
opportunity to distinguish himself."
A week later, Fergus started. It needed an heroic effort, on the part of
his mother, to let him go from her; but she had, all along, recognized
that it was for the best that he should leave her. That he should grow up
as a petty laird, where his ancestors had been the owners of wide
estates, and were powerful chiefs with a large following of clansmen
and retainers, was not to be thought of. Scotland offered few openings,
especially to those belonging to Jacobite families; and it was therefore
deemed the natural course, for a young man of spirit, to seek his fortune
abroad and, from the days of the Union, there was scarcely a foreign
army that did not contain a considerable contingent of Scottish soldiers
and officers. They formed nearly a third of the army of Gustavus
Adolphus, and the service of the Protestant princes of Germany had
always been popular among them.
Then, her own cousin being a marshal in the Prussian army, it seemed
to Mrs. Drummond almost a matter of course, when the time came, that
Fergus should go to him; and she had, for many years, devoted herself
to preparing the lad for that service. Nevertheless, now that the time
had come, she felt the parting no less sorely; but she bore up well, and
the sudden notice kept her fully occupied with preparations, till the

hour came for his departure.
Two of the men rode with him as far as Leith, and saw him on board
ship. Rudolph had volunteered to accompany him as servant, but his
mother had said to the lad:
"It would be better not, Fergus. Of course you will have a soldier
servant, there, and there might be difficulties in having a civilian with
you."
It was, however, arranged that Rudolph should become a member of
the household. Being a handy fellow, a fair carpenter, and ready to turn
his hand to anything, there would be no difficulty in making him useful
about the farm.
Fergus had learnt, from him, the price at which he ought to be able to
buy a useful horse; and his first step, after landing at Stettin and taking
up his quarters at an inn, was to inquire the address of a horse dealer.
The latter found, somewhat to his surprise, that the young Scot was a
fair judge of a horse, and a close hand at driving a bargain; and when
he left, the lad had the satisfaction of knowing that he was the
possessor of a serviceable animal, and one which, by its looks, would
do him no discredit.
Three days later he rode into Berlin. He dismounted at a quiet inn,
changed his travelling dress for the new one that he carried in his valise,
and then, after inquiring for the palace, made his way there.
He was struck by the number of soldiers in the streets, and with the
neatness, and indeed almost stiffness, of their uniform and bearing.
Each man walked as if on parade, and the eye of the strictest martinet
could not have detected a speck of dust on their equipment, or an
ill-adjusted strap or buckle.
"I hope they do not brace and tie up their officers in that style," Fergus
said to himself.
He himself had always been accustomed to a loose and easy attire,

suitable for mountain work; and the high cravats and stiff collars,
powdered heads and pigtails, and tight-fitting garments, seemed