Chapter 16—A Brace of Frenchmen Capture a Town
When tidings of the disappearance of Schultz reached Frankville, Max’s first words were, “Suppose it should be merely a trick!”
He reflected, however, that the results to Steeltown had been so disastrous as to make such an hypothesis inadmissible. Still, as hatred is an unreasoning passion, the exasperated rage of such a man as Herr Schultz might really render him capable of sacrificing everything to it. Whether or not this was the case, it was undeniably necessary to be on the qui vive.
The Council of Defense issued a proclamation exhorting the inhabitants to be on their guard against false reports spread by the enemy, with the object of lulling them into security. Frankville judged it prudent to continue all the preparations for defense,
