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Gustav swiveled his head toward Torstensson, as if to bring the artillery commander under a gun himself.

"Corpus Evangelicorum," the king stated boldly. "What say you now, skeptic Le

Chapter 48

Rebecca and Ed Piazza remained in the farmhouse the next day, while Gustav Adolf prepared to move against Tilly. They would spend the entire day, and the next, working with the king's quartermasters to organize the new Swedish logistical base.

The rest of the delegation went with the Swedish army. Tom and Rita and Heinrich, who had spent the previous weeks working with the machine shops to get the ca

"The key is the hostlers as much as the artillerymen," Torstensson informed them, as they watched the Swedish guns being brought into position. "My horses and wagons are owned by the artillery stable."

The information meant nothing to Tom and Julie, but Heinrich started. Unlike the two Americans, he was quite familiar with the practices of the day. "You mean-?" He pointed to the hostlers guiding the horses forward and unhitching the ca

Torstensson nodded. "Army men. Mine-all of them, to a man." His lip curled in a magnificent sneer. "Not a single one of them is a misbegotten wretched coin-counting-" The rest trailed off into muttered obscenities.

Heinrich chuckled. He turned to Tom and Julie and explained.

"Every other army I know uses civilian contractors to handle the horses and wagons in the artillery train."

Tom's eyes widened. "That's crazy!" he grunted.

As always in the field, whenever possible, Tom spoke in German. Torstensson, hearing the words, gri

Torstensson intended to test those guns today. He had had his men selecting ca

"Half again the range, I'll wager," he said softly, staring at the enemy entrenchments across the river.

Gustav Adolf was studying the same entrenchments, from a position further up the river. Trying to, at least. His myopia made the exercise a bit pointless.

His bodyguard, Anders Jцnsson, was standing to his right. One of Anders' unofficial jobs was to serve as his king's eyes. He leaned over and whispered: "Tilly's got all his men in those woods beyond the marsh, just as you expected. I can't see a one by the riverbank itself."

Gustav nodded. The gesture was more one of frustration than agreement, however. He wished he could see for himself.

He heard a feminine sound. The American girl-Julie Sims-was clearing her throat.

"Uh, sir-uh, I mean, Your Majesty-uh-"

He turned and peered down at her. She and Mackay were standing to his left. The girl herself was right at his elbow.

"Yes?"

Again, she cleared her throat. Then, in halting German: "Why don't you wear spectacles, sir? I mean, Your Majesty?"

Anders hissed. A few feet behind, the Scottish bodyguards stiffened.

There was going to be a royal explosion!

For an instant, the king felt his hot vanity surging to the fore. But there was something about the i

"Impossible!" he barked. "I tried, once. The spectacles flew off my nose at the first clash of the sabers."

Julie tried to speak again. But she had apparently reached the limit of her German. She whispered hurriedly to her fiancй. His face a bit pale-like all of Gustav's soldiers, Mackay was well aware of the king's sensitivity on this subject-the Scotsman translated.

"She says that she didn't mean normal spectacles, Your Majesty. She was referring to the kind of sports spectacles that-" Here, Mackay stumbled himself. How to explain a basketball game?

He managed, more or less, and in the process described to the king of Sweden the special goggle-style spectacles which young American athletes wore.

Gustav's eyes widened. "Impossible!" he repeated. "Absurd!"

His temper was rising, now. He glared at the impudent girl. The glare transferred itself to the peculiar firearm in her hands-then, to the telescope mounted upon it. Despite his irritation, the king recognized the superb craftsmanship embodied in both the firearm and the optical piece.

The girl seemed quite properly abashed by now. Perhaps in an attempt to mollify the royal outrage, she held up the weapon. "Would you like to look?" she asked.

Scowling, Gustav took the weapon and held it up for inspection. Despite the peculiarities of the thing, its use was clear enough. A moment later, he had the butt nestled against his shoulder and was peering through the telescope.

His a

The next few minutes were devoted to a careful inspection of his opponent's position. The Swedish and the Bavarian armies were located on opposite banks of the Lech, just south of the small river's confluence with the Danube. Here, the river passed through a low, marshy plain, flanked by higher land on either side. Tilly had marshaled his forces in the elevated woods beyond the marsh. Clearly enough, the old Catholic general was confident that the boggy terrain on the river banks would impede any Swedish advance badly enough to prevent a crossing. His flanks were well anchored by fortifications, and he had his own batteries drawn up in the center. It was, to all appearances, a well-nigh impregnable position.

But The king smiled grimly, as he studied a particular stretch of the river through the telescope. Directly opposite the high ground where Torstensson was positioning his seventy-two guns, the Lech made a wide loop. The river's meandering course had left a spit of land projecting toward the Swedes on the opposite bank. If a strong force could be moved across the water, onto that spit, under the cover of the Swedish guns, the king would have his bridgehead.

The king lowered the rifle. "Just as the Fi

"Splendid telescope," he said. "Though I found that peculiar flaw a bit distracting."

Mackay translated. Julie frowned-insult her scope!-and demanded an explanation. Mackay translated. The king explained:

Those two black lines meeting right in the center of the eyepiece.

Mackay translated. Julie-royal temper be damned-growled her response. Mackay translated.

The king erupted anew. "Nonsense!" he bellowed. Waving a great hand angrily: "That's five hundred yards!"

Imperiously, he pointed to Mackay and spoke to Julie. "Give this braggart that gun!" To Mackay: "Now-sir. Make good your boast!"

Mackay swallowed. Then, explained. The king's eyes bulged. Her?

Mackay nodded. The stare was transferred to-to-this-this impudent female!

Julie had had enough. She hefted the rifle. "Tell that fathead to pick his target," she snarled.