CHAPTER V.

JUDITH AND HOLOFERNES.

When the first rays of the sun glittered in the waves of the River Main, the castle of Marienburg was in the hands of the Swedes. The king rode up to the courtyard, which was covered with killed and wounded enemies, and amongst these were more than a score of monks. Some of these appeared to the king to be shamming death.

"Stand up," he said to them, "and no evil shall befall you."

Immediately many of those who were pretending to be dead stood on their feet sound and well, and bowed low, full of joy and gratitude to the king.

The castle had been taken by storm, and the soldiers were allowed to plunder. The quantity of silver, and gold, and weapons, and other valuable things was enormous. The king reserved the armoury, with its complete equipments for 7,000 infantry and 4,000 cavalry, 48 guns and 4 mortars, the stables with fine and valuable horses, and the wine cellar filled with the very best wines. The library was sent to Upsala, and donated to the university. The sacred statues of gold and silver found their way to the Treasury. Although many of the inhabitants of the town were allowed to take away their property, the booty was so great that when the soldiers divided it, the money was measured in helmets. At last Keller had to lead the way to the concealed treasure vault. This was deep down in the rock underneath the cellar of the castle; here the bishop kept his treasures. Fryxell relates, that when the soldiers carried up the heavy chests, the bottom fell out of one of them, and the gold rolled over the courtyard. The soldiers hurried to pick it up. Some they gave to the king, but most of it went into their own pockets. Gustaf Adolf saw this, and said, laughing, "Never mind, boys; now that it has once come into your hands, you may as well keep it." The spoil was so great that after that day there was scarcely a soldier in the whole army who did not have a new suit of clothes. In the camp a cow was sold for a riks thaler, a sheep for a few stivers, and the learned Salvius writes, "Our Finnish boys, who are now accustomed to the winelands down here, are not likely to wish to return to Savolax. In the Livonian war they often had to put up with water and mouldy bread, now the Finns can concoct a beverage in their helmets with wine and spices."

Amongst the prisoners was the Count of Lichtenstein and Lady Regina. The king ordered that they should both be treated with the greatest respect. He offered the young lady a safe conduct to go to the bishop, her uncle. Lady Regina rejected this on account of the insecurity of the times, and asked as a favour to be allowed to remain under the king's protection for the present. Gustaf Adolf agreed to this.

"I do this unwillingly," said the king, smiling, to the Margrave of Baden Durlach, who was riding by his side. "Young ladies are a luxury in the camp, and they turn the heads of my attendants; but she may come with me to Frankfurt, as a hostage; it will bind the hands of the bishop."

"Your Majesty knows how to attract everybody through your generosity," replied the Margrave with the politeness of a courtier.

"Lieutenant Bertel," said the king, turning to the officer close to him, who had the command of a troop of Finnish cavalry, "I give Lady Regina von Emmeritz into your charge. She has my permission to bring with her an elderly lady, a young girl, and her father confessor. See to it, that you are not smitten, lieutenant, and above all give close heed to the monk; that set is not to be relied upon."

Bertel saluted with his sword, and remained silent.

"One thing more," continued the king. "I have not forgotten that you were the first one who entered the sally-port. When you have brought the young lady to safety, you must appear on duty in my life-guards. Have you understood me?"

"Yes, your Majesty."

"Good." And the king then said to the Margrave with a smile, "Believe me, it would have been serious to leave this beautiful dark-eyed girl in the charge of one of my susceptible Swedes. This boy is a Finn; they are the most phlegmatic people I know of. They are poor gallants; they need a year to catch fire. A girl can drive twenty of them out of a ball-room; but if it comes to a battle with Pappenheim, then your grace knows what they can do."

Gustaf Adolf gained victory after victory in the late autumn. Tilly, who had come too late to save Würzburg, did not dare to attack him, and irritated by his bad luck and constant defeats, drew back to the Bavarian frontier. Gustaf Adolf marched down the Main, entered Aschaffenburg, and compelled the cautious Frankfurters to open their gates. On December the 6th the king forced a march over the Rhine near Oppenheim, and entered Mainz on the 9th, which the Spaniard de Sylva had so proudly thought that he could defend against three Swedish kings. The victorious Swedish army was now spread over the north and west part of Germany, and the conqueror had chosen his winter quarters in Frankfurt-on-the-Main. A splendid court here assembled around the hero; it was here that flattery had previously adorned his head with the crown of the German Empire. It was here that Maria Elenora came flying on longing wings to embrace her husband; in Henau, where he had come to meet her, she clasped him in her arms and said,

"At last the great Gustaf Adolf is captured."

One day at the end of December, 1631, the king gave a splendid banquet in Frankfurt on account of the queen's arrival. Great crowds of people filled the place outside the castle, the high Gothic windows at night shone bright as day. Ale and wines flowed constantly from big casks for the people's entertainment; around the tap-holes workmen and soldiers jostled each other, holding out tankards and goblets, which were quickly filled and as suddenly empty again. The good citizens of Frankfurt were beside themselves with admiration for the great king. From man to man, the famous tales of his justice and mildness circulated: now he had ordered a soldier to be hanged because he had taken with force a burgher's hen; now he had stopped in the streets and spoken familiarly with those whom he met. They imagined that they saw his shadow reflected by the small window-panes and wondered whether the German crown would not be placed upon that mighty head that very evening.

In the saloon of the castle a royal magnificence prevailed. Gustaf Adolf knew his consort's weakness for display, and probably wished to produce an effect on the assembled German nobility. The floor was covered with rich Flemish carpets, and over the windows were draperies of crimson velvet with tassels of gold; costly chandeliers, heavy with a thousand wax-lights, hung from the ceiling, which was adorned with arabesques.

They had just finished one of those measured and stately Spanish dances, which were at that time in vogue, and the heavy-footed Northmen had tried in vain to compete with the German and French aristocracy.

The king had offered his arm to the queen, and they made a promenade through the magnificent saloons. His tall and corpulent figure, and simple dignity of manner, which at once inspired reverence and love, seemed still more majestic by the side of the slender and delicate queen, who with sincere devotion leaned on his arm. Maria Elenora was then thirty-two years of age, and had retained a great portion of her beauty, which had gained her so many admirers in her youth. On her black hair, which was arranged in small curls about her snow-white temples, flashed a diadem of fabulous value, which was a recent gift from the king; her expressive blue eyes rested with indescribable affection upon her royal spouse; she seemed to forget herself, absorbed in the admiration which the king excited.

In the wake of the royal couple followed a crowd of all the illustrious personages of whom Protestant Germany could boast at that time.

One saw here the deposed King Frederick of Bohemia, the Duke of Weimar and Würtemberg, the Landgrave of Hesse, the Margrave of Baden Durlach, the Count of Wetterau, as well as other distinguished chevaliers; not less than twelve ambassadors from foreign courts had assembled here round the hero feared by all Europe. Of the king's own, Tott, Baner, and Gustaf Horn were occupied in other directions with affairs of war; but here at Gustaf Adolf's side, great as himself, even in outer form, was the gifted Oxenstjerna, and behind him the man with the pale, unpretending aspect, the calm, penetrating, and commanding look, Lennart Torstensson, as well as the proud Finn, Wittenberg, then colonel. Many of the Swedish generals, and almost all the Finns, Stälhandske, Ruuth, Forbus, and others, did not thrive well amidst the ceremonial of the royal saloon and amongst this haughty nobility whose court etiquette appeared to the stern warriors unbearably tedious, and had therefore withdrawn in good time to one of the smaller saloons, where pages in gold-embroidered velvet suits profusely poured the choicest Rhine wines into silver goblets.

Among this brilliant assemblage ought to be included the members of the common council of the city of Frankfurt, and many of its most prominent citizens, with their wives and daughters, as well as a large number of ladies, from the high-born duchess down to the scarcely less proud councillor's wife. Yes, and one saw here even a small number of Catholic prelates, easily recognisable by their bald heads; for the king wished to proclaim religious freedom by word and deed; the prelates, although in their hearts cursing the paltry _rôle_ they played here, once invited, did not dare to stay away.

This scene was doubly gorgeous from the splendour of the attire. The king, however, wore a tight-fitting suit of black velvet stitched with silver, a Spanish cape of white satin, embroidered by the queen's hands, short yellow leather top-boots, and the broad lace collar which one sees in all his portraits, with the short hair and long goatee. The luxury-loving queen wore a richly jewelled dress of silver brocade with a short waist and half-bare arms; even the little white satin slippers glittered with brilliants.

The ladies of the aristocracy and the rich burghers' wives vied with each other in display; silver and gold fabrics, velvet, satin, and costly Brabant laces; also ribbons of all sorts of colours, buckles, rosettes, and long sashes, which, fluttering in the air, gave a picturesque effect. Princes and knights, some in wide German, others in close-fitting Spanish costumes, with their plumed hats under their arms, and attendant pages in silver and velvet, completed this bright scene in a time when uniforms were unknown. Flattery and admiration followed the king.

"Sire," said the artful king of Bohemia to him, "your Majesty can only be compared to Alexander of Macedon."

"My cousin," answered Gustaf Adolf, smiling, "you do not mean to liken the good city of Frankfurt to Babylon?"

"No, sire," joined in the French ambassador, Breze, who walked by their side; "his Bohemian Majesty only wishes to liken the Rhine to Granicus, and hopes that the new Alexander's Hyphasis may lie beyond the frontiers of Bohemia."

"You must confess, Count Breze," said the king, changing the conversation, "that our Northern beauties and your French beauties have been conquered to-day by a German."

"Sire, I am of your opinion, that her Majesty the Queen does not need the enviable position by your side to be truly victorious," replied the courteous Frenchman.

"My consort will be grateful for your politeness, minister, but she resigns to Lady von Emmentz the preference that belongs to youth."

"Your Majesty flatters to a great extent our national German pride," said the Duke of Würtemberg bowing.

"Beauty is cosmopolitan, your grace. It was truly a great booty my soldiers took at Würzburg."

The king then approached Lady Regina. Her radiant beauty was still more charming through the tight-fitting black velvet dress strewed with silver stars in which she was robed.

"My lady," he said courteously. "I should be happy if the mourning you wear covered a heart that could forget all sad memories and only live in the hope of a brighter future, when war and battles no longer frighten the colour away from your beautiful cheeks. Believe me, lady, the time will come, and I am wishing for it with all my heart as much as you are, and let this hope bring joy to these lips where it always ought to remain."

"By your Majesty's side one forgets everything," replied Lady Regina, and rose respectfully from her high crimson-covered chair. But her cheeks grew still paler while she spoke, which showed that she could not forget the past and her present captivity.

"Are you not well, lady?"

"Very well, your Majesty."

"Perhaps you have something to complain of? Have confidence in me--as a friend!"

"Your Majesty is very kind----"

Regina struggled with herself. At last she said, with her eyes on the floor,

"Your Majesty's goodness leaves nothing to wish for."

"We shall meet again."

The king continued his walk through the saloon.

Lady Regina withdrew to a deep window recess in one of the other rooms and wept.

"Holy Virgin," she prayed, "forgive me, that my heart does not belong to you alone. You who can see into my inmost being, you know that I have not enough strength to hate this heretic king as you demand of me. He is so great, so noble. Woe unto me, I shudder to think of the holy charge you have given me!"

"Courage, my daughter," whispered a voice close by, and Lady Regina's evil spirit, the pale Jesuit, stood behind her.

"The hour is approaching," he said in a low tone. "The godless king has been taken by your beauty; rejoice, my child. The Holy Virgin has decided his destruction. This night he shall die."

"Oh, my father, my father, what do you demand of me?"

"Listen to me, my daughter. When Holofernes, the King of Assyria, besieged Bethulia, there was a widow, Judith, the daughter of Merari, beautiful as you, my child, devoted as you. She fasted three times, and then she walked out and gained the favour of the enemy of her faith and people. The saints gave his life into her hands, she drew his sword and cut off his head, and delivered her people."

"Mercy, my father!"

"It was counted unto her great honour and ever-lasting salvation, and her name was mentioned among the greatest in Israel. You will some day be mentioned like that, my daughter, amongst the saints of the Holy Catholic Church. Last night the Holy Franciscus was visible by my bedside. He said, the time has come, go to Judith, tell her that I will give Holofernes' head into her hands."

"What shall I do, my father?"

"Mark closely how you ought to deport yourself. This very evening you must request a private audience of the king."

"Impossible!"

"You shall reveal to him a fictitious plot against his life. He will listen to you. You shall entice the ring from him. Once in possession of it, I will be ready to assist you. But if he refuses you the ring, then take this paper, it contains a deadly poison; St. Franciscus has given it himself to me. You shall mix it in the beverage which the king drinks at night."

Lady Regina took the paper, and leaned her curly head against the window-frame, and she hardly seemed to have taken any notice of the Jesuits terrible injunction. An entirely new thought had seized this ardent soul, and was working itself to clearness. The Jesuit misunderstood her; he supposed that her silence proceeded from submission to his despotism, from fanatic ecstasy over the martyr-crown he had held up to her.

"Have you understood me, my daughter?" asked he.

"Yes, my father."

"You will, then, this evening, ask the king for a private audience? You will..."

"Yes, my father."

"Benedicta, ten benedicta, thou thrice-blessed instrument, go to thy heavenly glory!" And the Jesuit disappeared in the throng.

The large clock in the coronation chamber pointed to midnight. Through an ingenious mechanism, invented by a Nuremberger, two immense tables, set with elegant silver service, rolled out from an adjoining room at the twelfth stroke, and stood at once, as if risen from the floor, in the centre of the saloon. Upon a given sign from the master of the ceremonies, the king and queen placed themselves before two crimson chairs at the middle of the upper table, and all the guests in rows, according to rank and dignity, around the festive boards. One of the prelates present said grace in a loud voice, after which the king himself recited a short psalm, and the rest with practised voices joined in. They now seated themselves with considerable bustle, and once arrived so far, they did not allow themselves to be too much incommoded by ceremony. The courses were both many and savoury. Richelieu had sent Gustaf Adolf a French cook; but the king, far from spoiled by good living, only employed the fine Frenchman for ornamental dishes on occasions like this; perhaps he did not rely fully upon the cardinal's gift, for it was said that Richelieu's dinners were scarcely less dangerous than those of the former Borgias. And besides, the Netherland and German cooking was at that time more praised than the French. The tables' greatest ornaments at this banquet were a wild boar roasted whole, decorated with flowers and laurel leaves, and a piece of pastry, presented by a baker of Frankfurt, and representing the triumphant march of a Roman Emperor. Everyone believed that they recognised in this small hero, Gustaf Adolf's features, and many jesting words were exchanged, when each found a resemblance between the attending Romans and his neighbour. The queen, whose delicate hand was destined to break this masterpiece of culinary art, with a smile put one of the last slaves in the triumphal march on her silver plate; but Gustaf Adolf, generally endowed with a good appetite, seized the great pastry hero rather ungently with his warrior hand, and placed a considerable portion of his person upon his plate.

In the meantime the goblets were filled with the best Rhenish and Spanish wines, and the king drank the queen's health in a plain simple manner, and all the other guests followed his example. At the top of the table stood the royal pages in glittering uniforms, one behind each chair, and at the lower end one stood behind every other chair. They refilled the goblets, and the king then drank to Frankfurt's welfare; immediately afterwards he rose from the table and left the room with the queen on his arm, and they retired to their own apartments. Gustaf Adolf always lived as a plain soldier ought to do, and was generally quick at his meals, but under favourable circumstances would stay an hour at the table. The king, however, did not ask the others to follow his example, and left in his place as host a high officer of the court.

This time it was the old Scotchman, Patrick Ruthwen, who was a good boon companion, and he filled his post with great credit. Oxenstjerna left the room with the king. The ladies also left the hall, but the gentlemen remained behind enjoying themselves over their wine and the nuts which had been handed round on silver dishes; amongst the latter were artificial ones made of stone, which looked so natural that they were constantly mistaken for real From this joke came the saying, "it is a hard nut to crack." The heroes of the Thirty Years' War were nearly all great topers; to empty at a draught one of the large beakers of Rhenish wine was a small matter to them. But on this occasion they had to restrain themselves, because they all knew the high moral principles of the king, and hence did not dare to turn their goblets upside down too often. They did not break up until a late hour, and some of the commanders treated each other to a rare product just imported from the Low Countries, and it was passed from hand to hand in small boxes; each man bit off a piece, and some with frightful grimaces spat it out again, whilst others kept it in their mouths with evident enjoyment. Doubtless, the reader has already guessed, this was tobacco.

While this feasting was going on in the hall, the queen had gone to rest with her ladies in waiting, but the king was still talking to Axel Oxenstjerna. What these two great men were conversing about is easier to guess than to tell. Perhaps it was about Sweden's poverty, or the Emperor's power, or the power of God, which is still greater, or the victory of the Light, or the crown of the Roman kingdom, or a German Protestant empire in the future. No one knows this for certain; for after the king's death all his secrets followed Oxenstjerna to the grave.

It was very late, and Oxenstjerna was about to leave, when Bertel, the officer on duty, announced that a closely veiled lady requested an audience of the king. It was a strange favour to ask at this time of the night, and both Gustaf Adolf and his minister were greatly surprised; but that there must be an important reason for such a secret visit was obvious to them both, and the king ordered Bertel to bring the lady in, and told Oxenstjerna to remain.

Bertel left the room, and returned in a few moments with a tall lady thickly veiled, and dressed in black. She seemed greatly agitated and surprised not to find the king alone; she was unable to utter a word.

"Madam," said the king in a somewhat irritable tone--he did not like such a visit at this late hour; for if it was known it would tend to excite gossip amongst the courtiers, and perhaps awaken the jealousy of his sensitive wife--"a visit at this hour of the night must have some important object in order to justify it. I should first of all like to know who you are."

The lady was still silent.

The king thought he could guess the cause of her silence, and continued, pointing to his companion:

"This is minister Oxenstjerna, my friend, and I have no secrets from him."

The lady dressed in black then threw herself at the king's feet and drew back her veil. The king retreated several paces when he recognised Lady Regina von Emmeritz; her dark eyes flashed with an enthusiastic fire, but her face was as pale as that of a marble statue.

"Stand up, lady," said Gustaf Adolf in a kind tone, and stretched out his hand to lift her up. "What now leads you to seek an audience with me? Speak, I beg of you; tell me without fear what troubles you have in your heart; will you not comply with my wish?"

Lady Regina sighed deeply, and began to speak in a low voice almost impossible to hear, but she gradually assumed a louder tone, supported by her enthusiasm.

"Your Majesty, I have come to you because you asked me to come. I come to you because I have hated you, sire; for a long time I have prayed daily to the Holy Virgin, that she would destroy you, and your whole army. Your Majesty, I am only a weak girl, but an honest Catholic; you have pursued our Church with war, and plundered our convents; driven away our holy fathers, and melted down our holy golden images; you have slain our soldiers, and dealt our cause deadly blows that can never be repaired. Therefore I have taken a Holy Oath to bring about your destruction, and relying upon the Holy Virgin's help I have followed your steps from Würzburg in order to kill you."

The king and Oxenstjerna looked at each other as if they doubted the young girl's sanity. Lady Regina saw this, and continued to speak with more vehemence than before.

"Sire, you think me mad, because I speak thus to the conqueror of Germany. But listen to me further. When I saw you for the first time in the castle of Würzburg, and how kindly and generously you sheltered the weak, and spared those who had been captured, I then said to myself, 'This conduct seems to be inspired from Heaven, but nevertheless it must come from hell.' But when I followed you here, and saw your greatness as a man combined with your heroic qualities, sire, I hesitated to carry out my vow, and my hatred became a burden to me. I struggled with myself, and your kindness to-night has conquered my resolve. Sire, now I love you as much as I have hated you before. I admire you, and am devoted to you----"

The beautiful girl let her eyes sink to the floor.

"Well," said the king, hesitating with great emotion.

"Your Majesty, I have made this confession because you are great and noble enough not to misunderstand me. But I have not come to you at this late hour only to confess an unhappy girl's feelings. I have come here to save you, sire."

"Explain yourself."

"Hear me, your Majesty. I am disarmed, but others much more dangerous remain. Some of our body, men without mercy, have sworn to kill you. Oh! you do not know what these men are capable of doing. They have drawn lots in order to decide who shall kill you, and the most dangerous of them is near you in disguise daily. Your Majesty cannot escape from them. To-day or to-morrow, perhaps, you may be assassinated or poisoned. Your death is sure."

"My life is in the hand of God, and not at the mercy of a murderous fanatic," said Gustaf Adolf in a very calm voice. "The evil have not as much power as Will. Be assured, Lady von Emmeritz, I do not fear them."

"No, sire, the saints have decided your death. I know that you rely upon this ring"--and Regina grasped the king's hand--"but it will not help you. Sire, I say to you that your death is certain, and I have not come here to save your life and thus betray the cause of our Holy Church."

"Then why, lady, did you come here now?"

Lady Regina again threw herself at the king's feet with almost adoration.

"Sire, I have come to save your soul. I cannot bear to think that a hero like yourself, so noble, so great, should be lost for ever. Hear me, I beg, I implore you by your eternal salvation, with certain death staring you in the face, do not continue in your heretical faith, whose fruit is eternal damnation. I pray you, abjure these evil doctrines while there is still time, and come back to the only way of redemption, the Holy Catholic Church; give up your faith and go to the Holy Father in Rome; confess your sins to him, and use your victorious sword in the service of the true Church, instead of using it for her destruction. She will receive you with open arms, and whether your Majesty lives or dies, your Majesty can always depend upon being placed among the chosen saints in Heaven."

The king for the second time raised the young girl from the ground, and looked straight into her burning eyes, and said in an impressive voice:

"When I was as young as you are, Lady von Emmeritz, my teacher, old Skytte, brought me up with the same enthusiastic devotion to the Protestant faith that you have for the Catholic. At that time I hated the Pope with all my soul, as you now hate Luther, and I prayed to God that the time might come when I could destroy Antichrist and convert all those that believed in him to the true light. Since then I have not altered my principles, but I have learned through experience that the paths are many, although the goal is One. I stand steadily by my faith, and am prepared to die for it, if God so decides. But I respect the faith of a Christian, even if it is quite different from my own, and I know that God's mercy can bring a soul to salvation, even if its way is obscured by dark mists and illusions. Go, Lady von Emmeritz, I forgive you; although deluded by the fanatical teachings of the monks, you have tried to draw me from the battle for the Light. Go, poor child, and let the Word of God, and the lessons of Life, teach you not to rely upon saints, who are no better than we are, or images, or rings, as they cannot alter the highest law. I thank you because your intentions are good, although you are inexperienced. Be without fear for my life, which is in the hand of Him who knows how to use it."

King Gustaf Adolf was truly great when he spoke these words.

Lady Regina stood there, at the same time crushed and uplifted by the king's magnanimous spirit. Perhaps she remembered his answer to the burghers of Frankfurt, when they asked him to be allowed to remain neutral; "neutrality is a word which I cannot bear to hear, least of all amidst the battle between light and darkness, betwixt liberty and slavery." Brought up to hate the Protestant faith, she could not understand how it was possible for the sword which had destroyed the worldly power of the church to be laid aside in the presence of its spiritual power over the hearts and minds of men.

The fanatical young girl raised her tear-stained eyes towards the king. Her cheeks turned pale, on which had before burned the fire of enthusiasm, and her eyes were fixed with terror on the scarlet-coloured hangings which surrounded the king's bed.

Oxenstjerna, who was more suspicious than Gustaf Adolf, had closely watched the young lady the whole time, and at once noticed her agitation.

"Your Majesty," said he in Swedish to the king, "be on your guard, there are owls in the marshes."

Then without waiting for an answer he drew his sword and walked steadily towards the magnificent bed, which was a gift from the burghers of Frankfurt; the royal hero had exchanged the eider-down pillows for a simple mattress, and a coarse blanket of Saxon wool, the same as his soldiers used in their winter camps.

"Stop!" cried Regina with evident reluctance. But it was too late. Oxenstjerna had with a sudden movement pulled back the hangings, and revealed a pale face with dark burning eyes, surmounted by a black leather skull-cap. The hangings were still further drawn back, and the whole features of the monk became visible; his hands were clasped round a crucifix of silver.

"Step forward, devoted father," said Oxenstjerna in a satirical tone. "A man of your merits should not remain in concealment. Your reverence has chosen a peculiar place for your evening devotions. With his Majesty's permission I will furnish you with a larger audience."

At the sound of the bell, Lieutenant Bertel with two men from the life-guards entered, and placed themselves on both sides of the exit with their long halberts.

The king looked at Lady Regina, but more sadness than anger was to be seen in his eyes. It pained him that so young and beautiful a girl could take part in such a detestable plot.

"Mercy, your Majesty! mercy for my father confessor! He is innocent!" cried the unhappy girl.

"Will your Majesty allow me to ask a few questions in your place?" said Oxenstjerna.

"Do as you think best, minister," said the king.

"Very well. What did your reverence come here for?"

"To bring back a great sinner to the true fold," said the monk hypocritically, with his eyes turned upwards.

"Really, one must say that you are very zealous. And for such a holy purpose you carry with you the image of the crucified Saviour?"

The monk bowed whilst devoutly making the sign of the cross.

"Your reverence is very humble. Give me the crucifix, that I may admire this work of art."

The monk unwillingly handed it to him.

"A beautiful object. It required a clever artist to design this holy image."

The minister passed his hands over all parts of the crucifix. At last, when he touched the breast of the image, a sharp dagger sprang forth.

"See, your reverence carries a very innocent-looking toy. A keen dagger, just suitable to thrust through a noble king's heart! Miserable monk," said Oxenstjerna in a terrible voice, "do you know that your horrible crime becomes a hundred times more detestable through the blasphemous method you wish to employ?"

Like all the kings of the Vasa line, Gustaf Adolf had a hasty temper in his youth, which more than once brought him into trouble. But the experience of manhood had cooled his blood; still one could sometimes see the quick Vasa disposition get beyond control. This now happened. He was quite great enough, however, to look calmly upon this treacherous attempt against his life, although the preservation of Germany depended upon it, and he looked down with great disgust upon the discovered traitor, who now stood trembling before his indignant judge. But the horrible misuse of the Saviour's holy image as a weapon against his life--he who was prepared to sacrifice himself for the pure teachings of Jesus Christ--appeared to him to be such a terrible blasphemy against all in life that he considered holy and right, that his calmness was instantly changed to the most terrible anger.

Noble and great as a lion in his wrath, he stood in front of the cringing Jesuit, who was unable to bear the glance of his eyes.

"On your knees," said the king in a thunderous voice, stamping violently with his foot on the floor.

The Jesuit fell down as if struck by lightning, and crawled in mortal terror to the king's feet, like a poisonous reptile, spell-bound by the king's look: powerless at the conqueror's feet.

"Ye serpent's brood," continued the king beside himself with anger, "how long do ye think that the Almighty will endure your iniquities? By God! I have seen much; I have seen your Antichrist and Romish rule cover the world with all the deeds of darkness; I have seen ye, monks and Jesuits, poison frightened consciences with your devil's teachings about murder and crimes committed for the glory of Heaven; but a deed so black as this, a blasphemy against everything that is holy in Heaven and upon earth, I have never before dreamed of. I have forgiven ye all; ye have plotted against my life at Demmin and other places; I have not taken revenge; ye have acted worse than Turks and barbarians towards the innocent Lutherans; wherever ye have had the power ye have destroyed their churches, and burned them at the stake, driven them away from house and home; and what is worse, ye have tried to draw them from their faith with arguments and force to your idolatrous religion, which worships deeds and miserable images instead of the living God and His only Son. For all this, I have not retaliated upon your cloisters and churches and consciences; ye have gone free in your faith, and no one has touched a hair of your heads. But now I know you, servants of the devil; the Almighty God has delivered ye into my hand; I shall scatter ye like chaff; I shall punish you, ye desecrators of the temple; I shall follow you to the end of the world, as long as this arm is able to wield the Lord's sword. Ye have hitherto seen me mild and merciful, ye will now see me hard and terrible; I will destroy you and your accursed faith on earth; it will be such a judgment as the world has not seen since the destruction of Rome."

The king walked up and down the room with hasty steps, without deigning to bestow a glance on the prostrate Jesuit or the trembling Regina, who was standing by the window covering her face with her hands. Oxenstjerna, always calm and collected, was alarmed at the king's anger, and feared that he would go too far, and now tried to modify it.

"Will your Majesty deign to order Lieutenant Bertel to take the monk into safe custody, and let a court-martial make a terrible example of him?"

"Mercy, your Majesty!" cried Regina, who was blindly devoted to her father confessor. "Mercy! I am the guilty one. I have advised him to take this terrible step. I alone deserve to be punished for it."

At this noble self-sacrifice a faint ray of hope illumined the Jesuit's pale features, but he did not dare to rise up. The king took no notice of this appeal. Instead, he turned all his wrath upon the guard.

"Lieutenant Bertel," he said sharply, "you have commanded my life-guard to-night; through your neglect this wretch has slipped into the room. Take him at once to prison, and you shall answer for his safety with your head. Then you can go and take your place in the ranks. From this moment you are degraded to the position of a private soldier."

Bertel saluted, but did not speak. What pained him more than the loss of his commission was the sacrifice of the king's favour, especially as he knew that he had kept a ceaseless watch. It was a complete mystery to him how the Jesuit had got in. The latter had now grasped the king's knees and prayed for mercy. But in vain. The king pushed him backwards, and he was taken away gnashing his teeth and his heart full of revenge.

Gustaf Adolf then turned to the trembling girl at the window, took her hand and looked straight into her eyes.

"Lady," he said with asperity, "it is said that when the king of the darkness wishes to do a terrible evil deed on earth, he sends his instruments dressed as angels of light. What do you wish me to think of you?"

Lady Regina had courage enough to lift up her eyes once more to the great king.

"I have nothing more to say. Kill me, sire, but save my father confessor!" she said with fanatical resolution.

The king, still looking angrily into her eyes, could not yet control himself.

"If your father, lady, had been an honest man, he would have taught his daughter to fear God, honour the king, and speak the truth to every man. You wished to convert me; I will instead educate you, you seem to be in great want of it. Go, you remain my prisoner until you have learned to speak the truth. Oxenstjerna, is the severe old Lady Marta at Korsholm still alive?"

"Yes, your Majesty."

"She will have a pupil to educate. At the first opportunity this girl is to be sent to Finland."

Lady Regina, proud and silent, left the room.

"Your Majesty!" said Oxenstjerna reproachfully.