June 1st;--Henri waiting for them, in Sagan Country his head-
quarter; and on both hands of that, Fouquet and he spread out,
since the middle of May, in their long thin Chain of Posts, from
Landshut to Colberg again, like a thin wall of 300 miles.
To Friedrich the Russian movements are, and have been, full of
enigma: "Going upon Colberg? Going upon Glogau; upon Breslau?"
That is a heavy-footed certainty, audibly tramping forward on us,
amid these fond visions of the air! Certain too, and visible to a
duller eye than Friedrich's; Loudon in Silesia is meditating
mischief. "The inevitable Russians, the inevitable Loudon; and
nothing but Fouquet and Henri on guard there, with their long thin
chain of posts, infinitely too thin to do any execution!" thinks
the King. To whom their modes of operating are but little
satisfactory, as seen at Schlettau from the distance.
"Condense yourself," urges he always on Henri; "go forward on the
Russians; attack sharply this Corps, that Corps, while they are
still separate and on march!" Henri did condense himself, "took
post between Sagan and Sprottau; post at Frankfurt,"--poor
Frankfurt, is it to have a Kunersdorf or Zorndorf every year, then?
No; the cautious Henri never could see his way into these
adventures; and did not attack any Corps of the Russians. Took post
at Landsberg ultimately,--the Russians, as usual, having Posen as
place-of-arms,--and vigilantly watched the Russians, without coming
to strokes at all. A spectacle growing gradually intolerable to the
King, though he tries to veil his feelings.

Neither was Fouquet's plan of procedure well seen by Friedrich in
the distance. Ever since that of Regiment Manteuffel, which was a
bit of disappointment, Loudon has been quietly industrious on a
bigger scale. Privately he cherishes the hope, being a swift