"Perhaps they have got news of the Prussian approach." In a quarter of an hour several general officers arrived, and entered the house.

It was evident that a council of war had been summoned.

Half an hour elapsed, and then a number of aides-de-camp and staff officers rode off in haste.

A few minutes later, a trumpet sounded a regimental call, and then the assembly.
Before it had died away, similar calls echoed from all parts of the town.

Soldiers ran hastily through the streets, mounted officers dashed in every direction, and the citizens came to their doors, in surprise at this sudden movement.
Fergus had no longer any doubt about the cause of the stir.