"I know but little of the men I am with at present, beyond the fact
that they are bandits, nor can I say whether they are disbanded
soldiers, or criminals who have escaped from justice; but at any
rate they show me no ill will. I have no doubt I shall be able to
get on fairly with them, until I am able to make my escape. I wish
I had poor Stanislas with me. Only one of the men here speaks
Swedish, and he does not know very much of the language. I cannot
say, at present, whether the twenty men here are the whole of the
band, or whether they are only a portion of it. Nor do I know
whether the men subsist by plundering the peasants, or venture on
more serious crimes. Thanking you for your great kindness during my
stay at Warsaw, I remain, yours gratefully--
"Charlie Carstairs."
While he was occupied in writing this letter, an animated
conversation was going on between the bandits. Charlie gathered
that this related to their future operations, but more than this he
could not learn. In a postscript to the letter, he requested Allan
Ramsay to hand over to the bearer some of the clothes left in his
lodgings, and to pay him for his trouble.
"As to the money I left in your hands, I do not think it worth
while for you to send it.
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