The young officer heard him with great politeness, but declined giving any answer. The next moment he turned towards the ladies, and was making himself as agreeable as time and circumstances would admit; when a shot came crashing through the roof, broke down the ceiling, and knocking the flue of the stove to pieces, rebounded from the wall, and rolled harmlessly beneath the table. He was the only person who did not start, or evince any dread. He merely cast his eyes upward and smiled. He then turned to poor----, who stood quite collected, but very pale, near where the stove had stood, and held out his hand to him. “On my honour,” said the young soldier, “it grieves me to the very heart; but I must obey my orders. It is no longer an affair of posts; the enemy is pressing on us in force. The Allied columns are in sight; their cannon shot have but now penetrated your roof; we have but driven in their pickets; very soon they will be here; and in the event of their advance, my orders are to burn down this house and the neighbouring village.” A sudden flush rushed into Mr----‘s face. “Indeed! does the Prince really--” The young officer bowed, and with something more of sternness in his manner than he had yet used, he said, “Mr----, I duly appreciate your situation, and respect your feelings; but the Prince of Eckmuhl is my superior officer, and under other circumstances”--Here he slightly touched the hilt of his sword. “For myself I don’t care,” said----, “but what is to become of my sisters?” “They must proceed to Hamburgh.” “Very well--let me order the stuhl wagen, and give us, at all events, half an hour to move our valuables.” Here Mr----exchanged looks with his sisters. “Certainly,” said the young officer; “and I will myself see you safe into the city.” Who says that eels cannot be made used to skinning? The poor girls continued their little preparations with an alacrity and presence of mind that truly surprised me. There was neither screaming nor fainting, and by the time the carriage was at the door, they, with two female domestics, were ready to mount. I cannot better describe their vehicle, than by comparing it to a canoe mounted on four wheels, connected by a long perch, with a coachbox at the bow, and three gig bodies hung athwart ships, or slung inside of the canoe, by leather thongs. At the moment we were starting, Mr ---- came close to me and whispered, “Do you think your ship will still be in the river?” I answered that I made no doubt she was. “But even if she be not,” said he, “the Holstein bank is open to us. Anywhere but Hamburgh now.” And the scalding tears ran down his cheeks. At this moment there was a bustle on the hill top, and presently the artillery began once more to play, while the musketry breezed up again in the distance. A mounted bugler rode half way down the hill, and sounded the recall. The young officer hesitated. He man waved his hand, and blew the advance.