this, however, was too good for his present purpose; he, therefore, exchanged it for worse with a Jew dealer in second-hand clothes.
He destroyed the marshal’s letter, which could now be of no service to him, and thus equipped, the companion of princes, the friend of Count Konigsegg, the possessor of a splendid hotel, and a gilt chariot, who had kept a hussar, and an opera girl, figured at court, and had an audience from the empress, and was possessed of a letter of credit for a 1000l. (animated by the same spirit which had, when he suffered the stage-coach to leave him behind, urged him rather to overtake it on foot than incur the expense of hiring horses by his delay) set out from Vienna alone, on foot, in a mean habit, and with an empty pocket, for that army, in which he was to rise by his merit, to a distinguished command. Having arrived at a village near Prague, where a party of Konigsegg’s regiment was quartered, he enlisted by a feigned name as a private soldier. In this humble station he made so great a progress in the language, and behaved with so much diligence, as to be particularly noticed by the lieutenant who commanded the party.
In about two months time, Konigsegg wrote to the colonel, inquiring after Hume Caldwell, and, at the same time, sent an ensign’s commission for him. The colonel, in great astonishment, wrote, in answer to the marshal, that he knew no such person, nor had he ever received any recommendation of him, neither had any such person joined the regiment. The marshal in his reply, expressed great regard for the young gentleman, and directed inquiry to be made after him. Inquiry was immediately made, but no tidings could be heard; at last, somebody informed the colonel, that there was an Irish soldier at certain quarters, who might possibly know something of him. He was immediately sent for, and the colonel, asking him if he knew of any such person, mentioning, at the same time, that there was a commission sent down for him, was surprised to hear him answer, that he was the man.
