FIDO BEGINS HIS HISTORY, AND TELLS HOW HE WAS PRESENTED BY THE KING OF PRUSSIA TO THE LITTLE PRINCESS AMELIA.

MUTILATED and solitary as I now appear, I once had a brother whom I fondly thought would have been my inseparable companion through life; a brother born in the same hour with myself, yet not exactly a twin-brother either, for he was neither fashioned by the same hand, nor cast in the same mould. But yet I loved him well. We were ushered into existence precisely at the same moment; he was the object upon which fell my astonished gaze when I first woke into being; and for many years we remained ogling each other, with languishing fondness, upon the same mantelpiece.

It was towards the end of December, in the year 17-, that, having been pronounced "herrlich" by a chorus of thirsty workmen in the great china manufactory of Berlin, I was suffered to burst the bonds which held me in darkness, and to claim a share of that admiration which my brother had already excited. "Wie schön! Wie herrlich! Wie gottlich! Wie WUNDERBAR!!" greeted my ears, and I was borne forth with my companion to the obermeister of the works, a great man in his way, as was evident by the anxiety with which his opinion was waited for.

He was at supper when we were announced, and his growl at being disturbed so terrified the poor workmen who carried us that they were on the point of bearing us back to the fabrique, when one of them more bold than the others exclaimed

"Herr Obermeister, we have brought his majesty's puppy-dogs."

No sooner did he hear the words, than he rushed to the door, calling out, "Bring them hither-bring them hither! Why did you not say, at once, that you brought his majesty's puppy-dogs? I have been in a fever the whole day, lest they should not succeed again this time. Baron Blumensdorf has sent every hour to learn the progress of the baking. One would think there was truth in the story which is going about, that the king had threatened him with the schlague, in spite of his high rank, if they were not taken to the palace by to-night. They are his etrennes to the Princess Amelia!"

Aug.-VOL. LXXX. NO. CCCXX.

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He lifted the napkin, beneath which we were softly reposing upon a bed of willow shavings, and uttered the same uncouth expression of delight which had saluted our entrance into being, and in the ecstasy of his enjoyment, promised an extra jug of beer to each of the workmen that very night; which promise was followed by so feeble a cheer, that I half suspected that they knew he would not keep it. We were that very instant placed in a wooden case and conveyed, on the high-mettled steed of the court estafette, to the royal palace at Potsdam.

It was late when we arrived at the palace, and we were immediately borne to Blumensdorf's apartment. He must have been awaiting us in a state of the most cruel anxiety, for he snatched the box which contained us from the hands of the trembling valet who held it, and uttering a most frightful oath, began to tear open the lid, which was fastened down by iron tacks, without any other assistance than that afforded by his long bony fingers, and his hard blunted nails! He tore us rudely from the couch of willow shavings amid which we had rested so cosily, and never even deigning to glance towards us, he placed us on a silver salver which was ready at hand; then giving one frightened look at the mirror to see that his uniform and accoutrements were all in order, he strode hurriedly across the room to the Buhl timepiece on the console opposite. Looking closely down into its very face (for he was near-sighted and blinked dreadfully), he shrieked out, in accents of the greatest terror—

"Mein Gott! only five minutes to eleven! just five minutes left to gain his majesty's dressing room! two flights of stairs; and my right knee stiffer than ever with this sudden thaw after the hard weather!”

With these words, he snatched us up from the table and hurried from the room. The man was a perfect giant, six feet two at least, with a coarse grizzly beard, and thick moustaches; and yet he was in such terror, that he could scarcely stand, and more than once during the journey up those narrow back stairs was on the point of letting us slip from his grasp, so violently did he tremble. What in the world could occasion this childlike terror? Nature had intended him to fear no man on earth. No doubt, then, he was called upon to meet some dire and awful peril, the very thought of which made me quake and slide about upon the salver in perfect convulsions of alarm. Meanwhile, with sundry accompaniments of swearing, puffing, blowing, we had mounted the double flight of stairs, and reached a small low door panelled in the wainscot at the end of a long dark corridor. I was astounded. The Colossus, the man-monster who carried us, having placed us upon the floor, knelt down beside us, and scratched gently and humbly upon the door, just as I myself should have done, if I had been gifted with the power of motion, and in dread of a whipping from my offended master. The door was opened by a figure much of the same dimensions with that of Blumensdorf, and who wore the same uniform, but with less ornament and embroidery. He ushered us with great haste and bustle, through a curtained door into a small low room, whose tapestried walls, and closed shutters, prevented the slightest sound without from reaching the ears of its occupants. The room was almost in total darkness; for the single individual seated there, had taken the single taper to hold betwixt his eye and the long written report which he was perusing. Every thing throughout the apartment bore the stamp of avarice and contempt of comfort. Although there were but two thin logs of wood upon the hearth, they could not agree to burn in harmony,

for they did nothing but hiss most angrily at each other, and send forth, in lieu of flame, two separate and meagre veins of bluish smoke, which, rather than unite even in going together up the chimney, came forward creeping lazily along the dingy-looking glass, and were lost in the carved foliage of the ceiling. The walls were destitute of furniture; the tiled floor was uncarpeted even before the fire-place; and the draught which blew from the uncurtained window caused the flame of the solitary taper to flicker so violently, that the moustaches of the reader and the document under perusal, shared alternately the danger of ignition. Blumensdorf approached, with every sign of awe and respect, this studious individual, and knelt down at his feet, holding the salver upon which we were placed in amazement at arm's length towards the personage, whose countenance I was unable to see, for it was completely hidden by the paper he was reading. But nothing could arouse the latter from the intense study in which he was plunged. Not even the noise of Blumensdorf's iron boots upon the tiles, nor the announcement of his entrance by the Hercules who had ushered him in, had power to cause him even to turn towards where the poor baron knelt, humble and trembling, as if awaiting sentence of banishment or death.

I know not how long we might have remained thus, had not the chillness of the atmosphere struck upon the nerves of poor Blumensdorf, and caused him to sneeze most tremendously. Ye gods, how he did sneeze! once-twice-thrice! The very roof rang again each time the awful sound reverberated through the apartment. Never was I in such awful peril; for the mysterious personage, before whom poor Blumensdorf was kneeling in such humility, suddenly rose, and rushed upon the unhappy colonel in a kind of insane fury, with flaming visage and uplifted sword, in an attitude which threatened to put a period to our three existences at one and the same moment. Blumensdorf bent his head almost to the very dust, and so got but one vigorous blow of the plat d'épée upon his shoulders. His presence of mind saved him from annihilation. He held up the salver before he ventured to utter a syllable, and the sight at once calmed the ire to which the sneezing had given rise.

"Pardon me, your majesty," at length faltered out the culprit, and not daring to add another word, he paused, and held us close beneath his majesty's nose. His majesty smiled a grim smile, but his rage was forgotten; and, having examined my brother with approbation, he took me in his grasp and held me to the light. I can safely say, that the investigation was mutual, for I really was curious to behold the person whose presence could thus subdue a man of such mould as Blumensdorf, and render him more puling and crouching than a little child.

I had expected to find in the man who held me, some wondrous being, some death-distilling Jupiter, whose frown alone was all-sufficient to terrify, whose nod was powerful to annihilate. Blumensdorf had addressed him as "Your majesty," and I had imagined in my simplicity, that the title was meant to imply something awful and majestic, and superior to the rest of mankind. But no-the person so addressed was of thin, spare form, and long pale visage. His small black eyes peered from beneath their overhanging brows, like two living sparks of fire-every feature in his countenance seemed to partake of the same strange restlessness, for his ashy lip quivered unceasingly, and his nostrils dilated, with a quick sharp motion, which would have made me

blink as he gazed close into my face, if I had been subject to such an infirmity. The hand with which he grasped me trembled also with such violence, that I felt in danger every moment of being precipitated to the floor.

He was attired in an old and faded uniform of dark blue, faced with white, and braided with yellow. His wasted limbs were encased tightly in his white leather inexpressibles, while all below the knee danced at ease in the enormous jack boots of polished leather. His coat was ludicrously turned back so as to display the white lining, which fashion might at first have been supposed to have been invented in order to enable the wearer to sit at ease, but the idea was contradicted by the direction in which the sword was hung crosswise, at right angles from the person, causing the beholder to wonder what on earth could become of it when the bearer sought to repose in those high-backed chairs which were just then the fashion. His majesty having contemplated me to his entire satisfaction, set me down at length, and turning to Blumensdorf, said, in as stern a voice as though he had been passing severest judgment-"You may retire-but before you go to rest, beat up the guard at the eastern gate, make them form into line before the door of the guard-house, and see that no man sleeps in his woollen jacket. Let those who are discovered thus transgressing be placed in confinement, and receive to-morrow twenty stripes of the schlague."

The colonel bowed low, and moved towards the door.

His majesty recalled him,—“ Oh, another thing. See that the men on duty have their leather chin-stays tightly buckled-'tis a windy night, try them every one yourself." Blumensdorf looked rather blank. "Then go to the second postern, and see that the beer cans are cleaned and hung against the wall, examine them each with your own eyes— that post is the most slatterly of all. I shall go one round myself tonight, and see that every thing is in order, and my commands attended to. Wait till I arrive. When I have passed you may repair to-bed, you will still have time enough for sleep till dawn."

Blumensdorf glanced at the clock. It was already somewhat past twelve, and with a look of despair, he hurried from the room. When he had disappeared, his majesty took us from the table, and placed us in the pocket of his coat; but as I did not quite sink to the bottom, I was enabled to behold all that passed. His majesty first of all removed the two logs, putting an end to the barren feud which had existed between them all the evening, by covering them thickly with ashes, to prevent their burning away too quickly, then blew out the single taper, and in the dark groped his way to a small door in the corner of the apartment, through which he passed along a narrow passage, dimly lighted by a miserable lamp suspended from the ceiling, calling aloud as he hurried along, "Hallo, Fritz, Trenck, where are you?"

The summons was answered by a boy of about twelve years of age, who had been asleep on one of the benches which ran along the wall of the passage, and who came stumbling forwards, rubbing his eyes, and stammering out, "So please your majesty-"

A smart rap of the cane of "his majesty" upon the shoulders soon awoke him thoroughly, and another one upon the knuckles of the hand which he had raised to rub away the pain, instantly checked the low groan he was about to utter,

"What! asleep again ?" shouted his majesty. "By the Lord, 'twould seem that young and old are bent on nought but sleep in this palace. Why, you young scoundrel, know you not that life is dwindled more than half by the waste of time in sleep? How dare you slumber at your post? Fleusberg shall make you smart for this to-morrow. A week's arrest, and seven chapters of Deuteronomy to get by heart, do you hear? Now light me to her majesty's chamber. How is the princess tonight?"

The poor boy checked the movement of impatience to which the hard sentence had given rise, and turning on his tormentor a look full of feeling, he replied in a trembling voice, "The princess is still suffering, your majesty. The fever is abating, so the doctor said as he left the room, but the pain and restlessness still remain."

While he yet spoke, he knelt down as Blumensdorf had done, and scratched at a low door, which was immediately opened by a tired-looking abigail, and his majesty entered, leaving poor Trenck to stand shivering on the outside, waiting to light him on his return. The room we now entered was, although far from brilliant, still comfortable, and for the first time since I had left my oven I felt warm. There were, at least, curtains to the windows, and thick heavy draperies to the bed. There was a blazing fire on the hearth, and tapers burning in the silver flambeaux on the mantel-piece, and what added more than all to the genial air of comfort which the apartment wore, there was a lady seated in an armchair by the fire, at work upon one of those nameless pieces of female industry, called knitting, knotting, or netting, which are of so much use in killing both time and grief.

She rose as his majesty entered, with her finger on her lips, and advanced towards him-then pointed to the small bed which stood in a corner of the room, and from which proceeded at intervals a low moan, or rather hum, as if the person who occupied the couch were endeavouring to remember snatches of some half-forgotten tune. His majesty paused, and glanced towards the little bed from whence the sound proceeded. How was the countenance of that man altered since I first beheld it, when the giant Blumensdorf was kneeling so humbly at his feet! Never shall I forget the appealing look he turned upwards, as if in prayer to Heaven, clasping his hands with a nervous anguish which would have moved a heart of stone. No longer the haughty tyrant, but the trembling father of a sick child, he moved about in subdued silence, not even daring to utter a sound either of impatience or command. At a sign from the queen, he sat down in the fauteuil from which she had arisen, and drew from his feet the heavy jackboots, the creaking of which over the carpet he feared might irritate his darling. Her majesty had already placed her hand upon the little silver bell which stood upon the table, in order to summon Trenck to perform that office, but the king, with the fierce impatience which seemed to form the chief ingredient of his character, had snatched it from her, taking care to muffle the clapper, lest the sound should reach the little princess. It was a pleasant sight to behold the coarse, vulgar tyrant of a few minutes before, brought so low as this; fearing even to breathe lest it might rob the child of one moment's repose. Yes, he who had just rewarded the poor page with hard blows and threats of punishment for catching one instant's slumber, would have given half his kingdom could he have insured a few hours'