I think in other respects there is nothing very distinctive about our dress.

It will be more difficult to concoct a story, but we must hope that we sha'n't be asked many questions, and I see no reason why we should be.

We shall look like peasants going from a country village to a town, but if we could hit upon some story to account for our not speaking the dialect, it would of course be a great advantage." They walked along in silence for some time.

Then he went on: "I should say we might give out that we are three Saxons who, having been forced at Pirna to enter the Prussian army, had been taken prisoners at Hochkirch and had been marched down with the others to Vienna; and that there, on stating who we were and how we had been forced against our will into Frederick's army, we were at once released, and are now on our way back to Saxony; and are tramping through Bavaria, so as to avoid the risk of being seized and compelled to serve either in the Austrian army or the Prussian; and that we are working our way, doing a job wherever we can get a day or two's employment, but that at present, having worked for a time at Vienna, we are able to go on for a bit without doing so.
"I think with that story we could keep to the plan of going up through Ratisbon.

It would be immensely shorter, and the story would be more probable than that we should make such a big detour to get home." "Yes, I should think that would do well," Ritzer said, "and will shorten the way by two hundred miles.