In the course of the next week Alf had sufficiently softened Eliza's anger: she had with a heavy heart learned to share her beloved husband's name with her unloved sister, and Alf now went to his worthy kinsman, the former burgomaster Kippenbrock, to invite him to the marriage feast. He found the good man a perfect contrast to his terrible ex-colleague; in the short brown butcher's jacket and white apron, with his sleeves rolled up, he was standing in his shop, making sausages;--his full, red, contented face covered with glistening drops of perspiration, a proof that he pursued his occupation with right good will.
'I am rejoiced, good kinsman, that you have so easily submitted to the loss of political greatness.'
'Yes, kinsman,' answered Gerhard familiarly, laying down his sausage-knife, 'to thee I may say it; thou wilt keep clean lips, and so it will remain in the family--when I was compelled to lay down the burgomastership and take off the chain of honor, I might as well have been knocked on the head with an axe, like one of my own fat oxen, and I bore my deposition not at all submissively; but as I reflected more upon the subject, I came to consider it less an evil, and now all is well with me. There was much vexation about the office also, and I oftentimes felt that I was not adapted to it. When a man once undertakes to perform duties, which his education has not prepared him for, he always continues unsuitable for the place, and often inadvertently does great injustice to the people. It was truly a fortunate circumstance, however, that my learned colleague Knipperdolling had sufficient acuteness to keep us out of difficulty, else I should have been compelled to abandon my office on the first day. Now, comparatively, I live in heaven, slaughtering my oxen and my swine, which I understand thoroughly--my sausages are always the best in Munster--and it is wholly a different thing when one is quite at home in his employment. Mark me, if the chief prophet should at any time offer me an office, so true as my name is Gerhard Kippenbrock, I would say NO, and would stick to my hatchet and chopping-block!'
Alf praised his noble renunciation of office, and then formally brought forward his invitation.
'I wish you much happiness!' cried Gerhard, heartily shaking his kinsman's hand. 'That all the preparations of the meat kind for the marriage and festival are to be my care, is already understood; and I may, moreover, take some care for the new housekeeping.'
Alf wished to protest against such great generosity; but he answered,--'I, an old housekeeper, must understand these things better than a young chicken like you,--I know what one housewife has cost me, and you take two at once. There are the rich trencher-caps, the bodices, the cloth and silk doublets and robes, and the furred cloak, and shoes and stockings, and the golden ornaments, and the bed and other white linen, all in double proportion--and, God preserve us, finally the baby-clothes and the cradle also. You will be compelled to wield your hammer merrily in the workshop, and will be too much occupied to be able to make the necessary preparations, and your old butcher kinsman will stand you in good stead.
To strike out one half of this formidable list, Alf related to him how he had come by his second bride.
'Heigh! surely! let us see!' exclaimed Gerhard: 'the child's conduct pleases me very much. To be sure it is a singular circumstance, and the prophet might make various objections to it if it were made known to him; but I rejoice heartily that it has afforded you an opportunity to obtain the maiden; who, I honestly confess to you, was the one of the two sisters whom I always wished you might have. She has an angel's heart. Eliza is not bad; but she has an imperious domineering spirit, and will often warm your head for you; particularly if the little Clara should in time excite an interest in your heart.'
Alf's asseverations, that he could be in no danger of so great an evil, were drowned by the noise and cries of an immense multitude of people who crowded the streets on their return from the market place.
'There has been another public day,' grumbled Gerhard, looking through the window; 'and so it goes on continually. They crowd to the public meetings and make much noise with their debates; but nothing is effected for the general good, and meanwhile the bishop is constantly diminishing the limits within which he has enclosed us; so that we shall soon be unable to go outside the city walls. I am heartily tired of the whole business. So long as my oxen hold out, and I can drive them to our pasture, so long will I look on; but when that ends, God will forgive my sins if I become an episcopalian as well as others.'
'Hush, kinsman!' cried Alf, who that moment caught a glimpse of the duodecemvir Dilbek, passing by the street window.
Gerhard clapped his hands upon his mouth as the tailor danced into the shop and embraced the stout butcher with friendly warmth.
'I greet thee dear brother and colleague!' cried he in ecstasy.
'Colleague?' murmured Gerhard, turning himself again to his sausage table. 'We are not so far.'
'What did I say,' cried Dilbek, slapping Alf upon the shoulder: 'what did I say to you on our way towards Munster?'
'Your conversation has not so much weight with me as to cause me to mark or remember it,' answered Alf, peevishly.
'I said,' declaimed Dilbek, 'give to our prophet, our great Johannes, the world, and he would govern it in fine style. Now, the commencement is made. Johannes the First, has this day become king over Zion, otherwise called Munster.'
'King!' cried Alf and Gerhard in a breath.
'King,' repeated Dilbek. 'And he has obtained the honor in his usually sly way. Early this morning he caused us, the twelve judges, to be called to his house. 'Thus saith the Lord,' declared he to us; 'Even as I aforetime have taken Saul and after him David, from tending their sheep, and made them kings over my people, so set I Johannes Bockhold, my prophet, to be king over Zion.'
'King!' sighed Alf inaudibly, and once again thought with bitter repentance of Tuiskoshirer's crown.
'Honestly to confess it,' pursued the chattering Dilbek, 'this declaration was not much to our taste, as it lessened our official authority, and we had much to urge against it; but there we struck the wrong chord. 'Ye short sighted men!' cried the prophet; 'must I not take this office upon myself against my will? Rather would I drive horses and oxen, did I not feel myself irresistibly drawn by the hand of God. Therefore down, instantly;--resign your offices and do homage to your king.'
'The man has a methodical madness in depriving people of offices and honors,' growled Gerhard, vexed by his reminiscences.
'Still we were not satisfied,' continued Dilbek; 'and as we knew of no other expedient, we referred the whole matter to the people. That, however, did not help us. While Johannes labored with us, that withered old fox, Tuiskoshirer, wrought upon the people; and as we judges in a body accompanied the prophet to the market-place, the little man came to meet us there with a large naked sword, which he presented to Johannes, saying in a howling voice, 'In the name of God I give to thee, Johannes, the kingly dignity: govern thy people well! Long live the king of Zion! shouted the multitude with one voice, while we judges were standing and looking as though the butter had fallen from our bread. His kingly majesty, however, permitted mercy to prevail over right, and advanced a part of us to high honors; graciously remembering his old fellow laborers in God's kingdom. Knipperdolling is raised from the office of executioner to be governor of the city, Varend Rothman is the royal orator, I am lord steward, four of the twelve judges have been made royal counsellors, and in you, sir Gerhard, have I the honor and pleasure of greeting the royal treasurer.'
'No jokes!' blustered the butcher, whilst his full-moon face, lighted up by joy, once more exhibited a glistening crimson.
'I should be ashamed of myself,' said Dilbek, 'to jest in an unseemly manner with one of the high officers of the kingdom of Zion.'
'These incessant changes and innovations are almost enough to turn one's brain,' said Gerhard, while Alf was pouring water upon his hands with which he carefully washed his face and arms.
At the same time Dilbek continued: 'I bring to the lord treasurer the invitation of his majesty to repair immediately to the royal palace, to receive further commands.'
'My black dress suit, Susanna!' cried Gerhard, looking into the sitting room; 'my mantle, my plumed cap, my golden chain and sword!'
'Is your name nevertheless still called Kippenbrock?' asked Alf, significantly, by way of reminding his fickle kinsman, of his former protestations.
'Hold your tongue!' cried the new treasurer, as with inconceivable celerity (notwithstanding his corpulency) he encased himself in the official robes which his wife with joyful surprise had brought him.
'If it be agreeable to you, my lord steward,' said Gerhard to Dilbek, 'I will now accompany you to the king's majesty.'
'I commend myself to you, lady treasurer,' said Dilbek with a profound bow to the butcher's wife, and the two lords of the new kingdom departed.
'Now is Munster indeed wholly mad,' said Alf, 'and my worthy kinsman with the rest. If I were only so myself, I should feel better than I now do in my clear moments.'
About mid-day some time afterwards, Alf came from his workshop to the parlor. The dinner already smoked upon the table; but his two elected brides were standing at the window eagerly examining some pieces of money which Tuiskoshirer was showing to them. Alf approached the group.
'The gold and silver money which the new king has caused to be coined,' said Tuiskoshirer in a friendly and honied tone, laying a couple of pieces in his hand. Alf read on the reverse:
'The Word has become flesh and dwells amongst us. Whosoever is not born of water and of the Spirit cannot enter into the kingdom of God. One king over us, one God, one Faith, one Baptism. At Munster, 1534.'
'That is God's government, may it soon extend over the whole world!' sighed Tuiskoshirer, most religiously rolling up his eyes.
'Under these kings we shall soon arrive at the pinnacle of prosperity!' exclaimed Eliza, turning over the money in Alf's hand. On the other side, the wild inspired face of the prophet, in his kingly dress, boldly cut and well resembling the original, presented itself to the eyes of the beholder.
Alf looked upon the wild and passionate eyes of the presentment, which seemed almost to roll in the masterly impression, and, mentally recurring to the pitiless human butchery with which the prophet had commenced the exercise of power, shudderingly cast the money upon the table.
Eliza hastily took up the largest piece to gaze once more upon the crowned figure. 'Yes,' she finally exclaimed, forgetting herself, 'that is a king for the whole world or none.'
'What is the matter with you, Eliza?' asked Alf, with surprise. 'You have never before spoken of the prophet with such partiality.'
'Crowns make beautiful!' whispered Tuiskoshirer, with a malicious laugh, and at that instant lord steward Dilbek rushed into the room.
'To the windows, children, if you wish to see something very particularly magnificent. The king is making his first tour through the city on horseback, and will immediately pass this way.'
'The king?' asked Eliza with joyful surprise, a deeper and more beautiful crimson suffusing her face as she hastened out of the room.
'What can all this mean?' sighed Alf, looking a moment after her, and then stepping to the window.
Nearer and nearer sounded the cry, 'Hail king of Zion!' from the dense multitude who preceded the royal procession through the streets.
'Now give attention,--here comes the procession,' cried Dilbek. Already were heard the snorting and neighing of the first of the king's horses. At the head of the procession came four pages, in costly gold-embroidered velvet garments; a naked sword with a golden hilt, Tuiskoshirer's crown upon an open bible, the golden globe (emblem of imperial power), and two crossed swords, borne by lords and gentlemen, followed.
'That beautiful, light-haired boy who bears the great sword, is the bishop's own son,' whispered Dilbek to Alf, who recognized in the two foremost pages the victims he had torn from the tiger claws of the ferocious Matthias.
'Poor youths,' said he, 'hardly may I rejoice that I saved your miserable lives, since this compulsory servile duty rendered to your father's deadly enemy, must destroy the Spirit; which is a far greater evil than the destruction of the body.'
Now came, snorting and prancing, the dapple-grey charger that bore the king. The fair youth, who found himself quite at home in his high station, presented in his princely attire a truly majestic appearance. High white ostrich feathers waved over the jeweled ornaments of his purple cap. Through the slashed folds of his gold-embroidered over-dress appeared the under garment of purple velvet, trimmed with gold lace. The ermine mantle which floated down upon the golden saddle cloth of the noble steed, completed the beautifultout-ensemble, and Alf himself, notwithstanding his inward dislike of the prophet, could hardly conceal his admiration.
'Is it not true, that dress makes the man?' triumphantly whispered the lord steward to him. 'All this is the work of my ingenious needle. For three nights I have not been in bed,--in which time I directed the execution of all the difficult portions of the work. Now, God be praised! every thing has prospered with me, and I want to see, who will recognize the mass-dress out of which I have put it all together.'
Meanwhile the king had passed by. Behind him came governor Knipperdolling and treasurer Kippenbrock, superbly mounted. Twelve yeomen of the guard, clothed in the royal livery, ash-color and green, upon princely horses with golden saddles, brought up the rear. The procession now halted a moment. Alf leaned farther out of the window to see what had occurred. He just then perceived that the king was bowing with indescribable grace to the fair Eliza, who, to see the better, had stationed herself before the house door. In sweet confusion the graceful girl returned the royal greeting, and, as the prince finally rode on after the bearers of the regalia, looked long and earnestly after him.
'This is a sudden and wonderful change!' exclaimed Alf, angrily. 'I see well that I must celebrate my nuptials to-morrow; if, indeed they are ever to be celebrated.'
'Hadst thou accepted my offer, brother,' said Tuiskoshirer, in a tone of friendly reproach, 'thou wouldst have spared thyself this, and who knows how many more afflictions.'
Followed by Dilbek, he went forth. Alf remained, in a pensive mood, thoughtlessly playing with the coins which had been left upon the table. 'Yes, truly,' murmured he at length, with bitterness, 'he who dares to coin money is held in higher consideration than he who is obliged to receive it in the way of business.'
The gentle Clara then approached him. 'Do not be angry with my sister,' said she, entreatingly, in her kind way. 'Her heart is good in the main, and she will soon repent of an error into which she has been led by her vanity and pride.'
'Good hearted child!' exclaimed Alf, affected by the faithful intercession of the rejected one; 'why has not that ungrateful girl thy heart and soul, or thou her beautiful exterior? Then nothing would have been wanting to my happiness!' He went out; and Clara retired to her chamber, where she secretly and bitterly wept over the well intended but deeply wounding eulogium of the beloved youth.
The next morning Alf returned from a visit to the royal orator Rothman, with whom, to make an end at once of all apprehensions, he had arranged that his baptism and his marriage with both of the sisters should take place that afternoon. As he approached Trutlinger's house he was not a little astonished to find some of the yeomen of the guard, in the green and ash-colored livery, before the house door, holding some saddle horses. A milk white palfrey with costly trimmings and a purple gold-embroidered covering, particularly attracted his attention. Anxious to learn what it all meant, he walked into the parlor, where he encountered Tuiskoshirer and the lord steward Dilbek, in their court dresses.
'Hail, hail! prosperity has befallen thee, my brother!' cried the little prophet, ardently embracing him. 'Even as Abraham was accounted worthy of being commanded to offer to the Lord the most beloved object which he possessed upon earth, so likewise art thou also elected and favored among thousands; not merely to present, but really and truly to offer up, thy heart upon the altar of duty to thy king and lord.'
'Madness seems to catch early in the morning,' sighed Alf peevishly, 'and I cannot understand a word of all this. Both of you being gentlemen, you have nothing to neglect, and have leisure to spend the day as you please. I, however, am a handicraftsman, who must labor for my livelihood; therefore tell me in short plain words what you want of me, so that I may give you a proper answer and then go to my workshop.'
'Thy answer, my good fellow, is of very little consequence,' replied Tuiskoshirer with a malicious laugh. 'We await our answer from the worthy maiden Eliza, to whom we are sent by our all-merciful king to request her to become his third wife and queen of Zion.'
'My God!' stammered Alf, becoming deathly pale and leaning against the wall for support.
'It cannot be helped now, my friend,' whispered the lord steward to him; 'therefore submit with a good grace to what must at any rate happen; so that you may hereafter be able to claim a recompense for your ready acquiescence.'
'Has Eliza already consented?' asked Alf, with tremulous lips.
'She has retired to her chamber,' answered Tuiskoshirer, 'to take counsel of the Spirit. As soon as she comes forth we shall all be enlightened as to her decision.'
'No, no!' cried Alf, wringing his hands, 'nature and love have bound us too closely; she cannot leave me.'
Meanwhile the chamber door flew open and the beautiful Eliza appeared. At the first glance she was not recognized by Alf. A dress embroidered with silver and fastened with a jewelled girdle, rustled about her slender and fascinating figure; her bosom and arms sparkled with the richest gems, and from her dark locks arose, meteor-like, a radiant diadem.
'Hail to our queen Eliza!' cried Tuiskoshirer and Dilbek, sinking upon their knees before her majestic form.
'The Spirit has decided,' said Eliza, giving them her hand to kiss. 'I have listened to its voice. Conduct me to my king and husband.'
'Eliza!' cried Alf, in boundless sorrow, stepping before the false fair one.
'Thou here, Alf?' said she, with some slight agitation. 'I would willingly have spared thee the pain of this parting.'
'Thou art my promised bride, my wife in the sight of God!' shrieked he, despairingly. 'Thou canst not, thou darest not leave me!'
'Before the great affairs of the world, the little interests of private and humble life must yield,' answered Eliza pathetically. 'The king of Zion needs me, that my kiss may sweeten the wearisomeness of governing. How then can I be so selfish as to regard the bands which previously connected me with thee? The people of Israel have a claim upon me paramount to thine, and joyfully I go to fulfil my exalted duties in obedience to the voice of the Spirit.'
'No, thou hast never loved me!' exclaimed Alf.
'I was always well disposed towards thee,' stammered the new queen, affected by sudden emotion. Soon however recovering herself, she said to him in the tone of a mistress, 'when I am seated upon Zion's throne you may safely rely upon my favor.'
She now quickly took Dilbek's proffered arm and hastened forth with him, without giving a single glance backward. Tuiskoshirer, however, stopped long enough to ask the astonished and bewildered Alf, 'dost thou not now repent, my brother, that thou rejectedst my proposition?'--and then followed the pair.
'Woman's love and woman's truth!' indignantly, exclaimed the unhappy youth, seizing his dark brown locks with powerless rage.
At Clara's request the previously arranged marriage was postponed. Alf's baptism, also, for which his desire daily decreased, had not yet taken place. The pretext for the delay of both ceremonies was the changes which had been occasioned in Trutlinger's house by Eliza's sudden elevation. In consequence of the daily increasing disorder and confusion in Munster these omissions were not noticed by any body; and half the city, who, since the polygamy ordinance of the twelve judges, were living unrestrainedly with their newly selected partners, saw nothing amiss in Alf and the little Clara's following the general example. They lived together, quiet and retired, like orphan brother and sister; and it became for Alf quite a soothing custom to extract consolation and encouragement, under his bitter disappointment, from the mild and friendly eyes of Clara. The maiden also, now that she no longer felt the yoke of her proud sister, and no longer saw the beloved youth in the arms of another, began to recover herself, and gradually resumed her florid complexion, so that Alf contemplated her with increasing pleasure from day to day; but the maiden kept her love for him deeply buried in her own chaste bosom, and closely guarded her eyes and lips lest they should betray her heart. Her deportment towards Alf, however, was always kind and affectionate, and she assiduously endeavored to anticipate all his wants. This peaceful mode of life, also restored to her mind a portion of that serenity which had gladdened her earlier and happier days. Already were her softly tinged cheeks graced by frequent smiles; her fine blue eyes, which formerly always looked through a veil of tears towards heaven or upon the ground, now often sparkled with a playful archness which rendered the thoughtful maiden doubly charming; and from her lips escaped many a pleasing lighthearted jest. Alf, wondering at the change which had taken place, could hardly turn his eyes away from her; and, as a natural consequence, the wound which Eliza's unfaithfulness had made in his heart was daily less and less felt.
While the storm of wild passions began to subside in the narrow circle in which Alf and Clara moved, the whirlwind which menaced the state was rushing and roaring constantly nearer and nearer. The frivolities and horrors, which the anabaptists had up to this period enacted under the shield of a fanatical schism, had excited the indignation of the virtuous and intelligent portion of the people throughout Germany. Disregarding all existing differences upon other subjects, catholics and protestants united in the determination that their misrule should no longer be suffered; and that if neither the deceivers nor deceived would listen to christian instruction and mild admonition, there was no other course left but to root them out with the sword. The Rhenish provinces held a convention at Coblentz, at which John Frederick, the Lutheran electoral prince of Saxony, voluntarily appeared. At this convention it was agreed to furnish the bishop of Munster three hundred cavalry and three thousand foot soldiers, as auxiliaries against his rebellious subjects. The brave Ulrich, count Oberstein, held the command of the forces and directed the siege.
Yet Munster's walls, towers and ditches were, through the providence of the prophets (who, in this, acted with great foresight,) in such excellent condition, and the fanatical garrison exhibited every where so much watchfulness and spirit, that Oberstein was convinced, that a storm attempted under these circumstances might indeed conduct his soldiers to butchery but would not accomplish his object. Accordingly, after the attempt to enter the city by treason from within had been frustrated, the commander contented himself with closely investing it on all sides and cutting off its supplies. The light minded people troubled themselves very little about this investment of their city, at first, as the consequences were not immediately felt; but no sooner did the scarcity of provisions become so pressing that the public tables spread by order of the king could no longer be supplied, and the people actually began to feel hunger, than their spirits began to sink, and here and there murmurings and complaints were heard. These complaints, to be sure, were made covertly, from fear of the iron sceptre which weighed upon the necks of the free and privileged anabaptists; but nevertheless they reached the ears of the king, who saw that something must be done, however unwillingly, in conformity with the example of his bold predecessor; and he therefore determined to try how far fanaticism and cunning, without courage, would answer the purpose. Besides, he was desirous of ridding himself of some of the prophets, who were disposed to play the Samuel to his Saul, and sought to relieve him of the cares of government. To reach all these objects with one blow, he devised a new piece of jugglery, which did honor at least to his practical knowledge of stage effect.
While from the cathedral yard the trumpet blasts sounded through the streets as if they were blowing for the last judgment, Hanslein rushed into Alf's shop in complete armor. 'How, comrade, not yet in armor?' cried he. 'Arm thyself and thy people quickly. The whole community is called together to-day, and none should fail to be present.'
'Is the enemy already at the gates?' asked Alf, busily equipping himself.
'Not quite, this time,' answered Hanslein. 'I hope, too, that the ceremonies of to-day will go off peaceably. We may, however, expect important occurrences. The prophet Tuiskoshirer has commanded the king to hold the sacrament of the Lord's supper at the cathedral, and then send out his apostles to all parts of the world. The last thought is not so bad; for the bishop has us enclosed within such narrow limits, that if the eloquence of our orators does not succeed in bringing us speedy help from without, it will soon be time to be thinking of a decent capitulation.'
'As long as our walls stand,' said Alf, 'and we are able to use our weapons, I do not fear for the city.'
'That is bravely spoken,' said Hanslein, 'but I have already perceived evidences that the people begin to grow hungry. When starvation once commences, it will be easy to calculate how long we can keep the city, and when the strong hands in which you trust will become powerless. So much do I know of the state of affairs, that I am determined this very day to cut off my connection with this place, and seek an opportunity to save myself quietly before the closing of the gates. A good cat always finds a loop-hole, and, if I may take the liberty, I wish to give you a friendly invitation to accompany me in my evasion. By heavens, it is surely better to be off in time, than to stay and starve here, or in the end to become too intimately acquainted with the tender mercies of his reverence's bailiff.'
During this conversation Hanslein, with Alf and his men had arrived at the church yard, through the whole of which were placed immensely long tables, covered with white cloths. Upon these tables the royal pages were serving up smoking flesh to the great satisfaction of the men of Munster, who, to the number of four thousand stout hearts, in complete armor, their hungry stomachs tightly compressed under their coats of mail, were standing by.
The king now appeared in majestic dignity, wearing a short silk body coat instead of his royal robes. At a signal from him the servants placed the people at the tables. After a short prayer, full of unction, he nodded graciously to the multitude and the repast began.
After the first course had been consumed, the roasted meats were removed, and the flagons began to circulate.
'This is a strange sort of a holy supper,' whispered Alf to Hanslein, as he passed a full jug to him.
'It appears to be only the introduction,' whispered Hanslein in answer. 'It is a sort of love feast, such as was customary with the old christians. Have but a little patience, the best is yet to come.'
No sooner were the meats gone, than the king again approached the assembly. He was accompanied by two pages of honor, who brought the holy bread upon golden plates. 'Take and eat,' said he, with earnest solemnity, 'in commemoration of the Lord's death!' Thus saying, he went through the long ranks, breaking the bread to every man, who received it with great devotion. Hanslein, who best knew the worthiness of the new high priest, was not able to suppress a satirical laugh, when his turn came. After the king, followed the first queen, the beautiful widow of Matthias, in a simple white dress, the golden chalice in her hand, accompanied by the second and third queens, who brought golden vessels of wine after her.
As she came to Alf for the purpose of presenting the chalice to him, she started back in soft confusion, surprised at the beauty of the youth, whose dark curling locks contrasted finely with his blooming face and true German eyes. Alf, also, paralysed by the appearance of such wonderful beauty as he had never before seen, remained motionless. Here were more than Eliza's and Clara's united charms, and thetout-ensembleseemed to approach perfection. Large, full and voluptuous, an ideality in form, arose her stately figure. Her queenly bosom, upon which her brown locks were restlessly waving, shamed the whiteness of her dress; and her alabaster neck was surmounted by a cherub head, whose deep blue interrogating eyes spoke so plainly of soft wishes and glowing desires, that Alf's senses were wrapped in a flame.
'Take and drink!' murmured the sweet vision, presenting the chalice, with trembling hands. The youth eagerly drained it, while his eyes were immovably fixed upon the dispenser, who was so disturbed by his gaze that she forgot the last words of the ritual, and, covered with crimson blushes, proceeded to his next neighbor. As Eliza, who followed her, rustled by Alf's seat, she gave him a strange look with those eyes which in former times had made him so happy. There was much in that glance--repentance, grief, rage and jealousy--while through the whole was yet to be discerned a glimpse of her former love; but the impression, which that glance made upon Alf, was not strong enough to withdraw his attention from the first queen, and he followed her, as she went along the ranks, with gleaming eyes.
At that moment his friend Hanslein passed his hand over his eyes, and said in an under tone, 'forget not my brother, that it is the first queen after whom you are gazing, and that our lord the king allows no jesting in such affairs.'
'Let him come and call me to account!' blustered Alf. 'I will so defend myself, that of a thousand questions he shall not answer one. Already in possession of the masterpiece of the universe, and able to make his selection from all the beauty of Munster, he has yet torn my promised bride from my heart, like the merciless rich man in the bible, who, despite his numerous flocks, must rob his poor neighbor of his only lamb, to satisfy his wicked appetite.'
In the hymn of praise, with the singing of which by the whole assembly the festival was closed, the complaints of the youth were lost, until with much difficulty Hanslein finally succeeded in assuaging his anger.
The king now once more presented himself before the multitude; this time in full regal attire, with all the insignia of his high office, and surrounded by his insignia bearers and guards. With a loud voice he asked the people whether they were prepared to fulfil the will of God, and to live and die for the faith. Like the murmuring of the ocean before a storm, a loud awful 'Aye!' roared through the human mass standing there.
Then from behind the king, pressed forward a new prophet, named Wahrendorf. 'Thus saith the Lord,' cried he with a glowing fanatical enthusiasm: 'choose a number from among my people of Zion, and let them go out to all the ends of the earth, to work miracles and do my work publicly before all people. Whoever receives this command and obeys it not, shall die the death.'
The prophet then drew forth a scroll from his bosom, and hastened to read the names of the new missionaries. The prophet Tuiskoshirer drew near to the reader with his usual knavish smile, to listen; nodding his head exultingly as the names of some of his opponents were read; but when he heard Wahrendorf cry, 'John Tuiskoshirer!' as if astounded by a clap of thunder the little withered man shrunk within himself and turned his red glowing eyes upon the king. 'I, also, deceived!' murmured he to himself. 'The villain shall not obtain his victory easily.'
'Thou errest, my brother!' howled he to Wahrendorf: 'and mistakest the word of man for the voice of the Spirit. The night before the last I had a vision, in which I was commanded to remain in Zion to guard these flocks from their adversaries.'
'Silence!' thundered the king. 'At this moment has the father entrusted to me an important duty, for the execution of which I must prepare,' and, beckoning to his guards, they dragged before him a mercenary soldier in chains.
'This unhappy man,' said the king solemnly and significantly, 'has, like a second Judas, been planning treason against Zion, and has publicly manifested his wicked intentions through disobedience to the commandments of the Spirit. His blood be upon his own head.'
The king's sword swung, the head of the victim fell, and the horrible man stepped directly before Tuiskoshirer with the bloody sword in his hand and asked him, 'what hast thou particularly to say to this assembly, my brother?'
'That I bow myself under the hand of the Lord,' tremblingly answered Tuiskoshirer, and Wahrendorf proceeded to read the list of names to the end.
There were named, in the whole, eight and twenty missionaries. The king dispersed them toward Osnabruck, Coesfeld, Warendorf and Soest. 'Forsake every thing,' he admonished them, 'fear nothing, and promulgate the faith.' 'Amen!' cried the multitude, as they departed from the cathedral.
Alf was sitting in the twilight near the good Clara, narrating to her at full length the singular proceedings at the cathedral, at which he had been present, when his friend Hanslein entered in a state of great excitement.
'How much can be made of a good-for-nothing fellow!' cried he. 'Would you ever have thought, brother, that I was a block out of which a duke could have been carved?'
'Duke!' asked Alf in astonishment, supposing that he must have heard falsely.
'A duke! nothing less!' laughingly answered Hanslein. 'The king's majesty has become a little anxious about his personal safety in the midst of his trusty subjects; and he no longer considers his dear life entirely secure among them. He has therefore divided Zion into twelve districts and appointed a duke for each, from among his trustiest supporters; and he, with an adequate military force, is to watch over the order and repose of his district and smother every disturbance at its birth. Having become such a thing, I beg of you to show me all proper respect.'
'What new experiment will not this wicked king try in my poor native city?' sighed Alf.
'This lamentation comes from sheer envy,' said Hanslein, jestingly, 'because you are not created a duke. Make yourself easy, however; for you also are raised to high honors. The king has named you commander of the life guards, and I bring you his gracious commands that you forthwith appear before him. You will commence duty even to-day, that the timid tailor may this night sleep under the safeguard of your good sword.'
'I commander of the life guards!' repeated Alf, moodily. 'How can it have happened that the king selected me?'
'That has happened as many other things do in this world,' answered Hanslein, with a significant smile. 'I can explain all these things satisfactorily to myself, and I consider that you, with the command of the guards, have drawn a much better prize than I with my dukedom. Enjoy your good fortune with circumspection.' So saying he departed.
'Strange!' said Alf, buckling on again his scarcely laid aside coat of mail. 'Strange!' cried he again, as he girded on his sword, when his eye fell upon a small fresh wine spot on the neck-piece of his armor. The charming queen with the chalice instantly stood before his mind's eye, and an obscure suspicion of a connection between the recent occurrence and his present elevation sent a burning blush to his face. To conceal it, he pressed the knight's helmet low down upon his forehead, which he had sought out as becoming his new office, extended his hand to the good Clara for a hasty farewell, and with winged strides proceeded toward the royal palace.
A royal page conducted him immediately to the king, who advanced to meet him as graciously as if he had been born to a throne.
'The affair of the bishop's camp has proved thee to be an able warrior,' said the king, with a dignity becoming his station; 'I owe thee some recompense for a great loss; and thou hast moreover been so much commended on all sides, that I have determined to bring thee nearer to my person. Thou shalt henceforth lead my body guard as its commander; so that the head upon which the welfare of Zion depends may at least sleep in safety.'
Alf suggested some doubts of his fitness for the office.
'No qualifications are needed,' replied the king, 'but watchfulness, courage and truth. I desire no oath from you. Christ says, 'Let your communication be yea, yea; nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.' Give me therefore the hand grip of an honest man, that you will be my faithful guard.'
Alf reluctantly gave his right hand to the king, for he shuddered at the idea of connecting himself personally with this man--he shuddered at touching a hand that had shed so much blood.
'The yeomen of the guard are already assigned to you,' proceeded the king; 'but now it is fitting that you be introduced to the first queen; 'and he signified to him by a gracious nod that the audience was over. Alf proceeded with a beating heart towards the apartments of the queen.
'Walk in! walk in!' cried a silvery voice in the room, at the door of which Alf's name and dignity had been announced by the lady in waiting. He stepped in. Upon an elevated and gilded chair, in full dignity, sat the queen. He was so much dazzled by her beauty that he scarcely observed the other two queens, who were sitting upon less elevated seats on each side of her.
'It is you, young man,' said the enchantress, in the sweetest tones, 'whom henceforth we shall have to thank for the safety of our days and the tranquillity of our nights.'
Alf bowed in silence.
'Only be careful continued the queen, with an alluring smile, 'that you do not rob the ladies of the palace of their repose, whom it is your duty to guard.'
The embarrassed Alf could not find presence of mind to enable him to answer, and queen Eliza sprang from her seat and hastened to the window.
'You are already married?' asked the queen.
'Only engaged--I am--I was--and am half way so yet,' stammered Alf, very unintelligibly.
'And the other half?' asked the queen, mischievously. Eliza turned her burning glance upon the floor.
'Permit me to be silent upon that point,' said Alf, with becoming modesty.
The charming woman extended her hand to him to kiss.
Alf seized it hastily, and impressed upon the warm, yielding, velvet skin an almost endless kiss, believing at the same time that he felt a slight pressure from her taper fingers. Heading the confirmation of his suspicions, as he looked up, in the melting eyes of the lady, and forgetting every thing in the momentary transport, he spread out his arms as if he would have fallen upon her neck.
He was rebuked however by a severe look; but in contradiction to that look, the queen said to him in the tenderest and most friendly manner, 'we shall see each other again soon,'--and dismissed him.
Intoxicated, confused, and entirely incapable of connected thought, the youth withdrew.
On the following night Alf, installed in his new office and fully equipped, sat in an arm chair before the door of the royal sleeping apartments. He was even lightly slumbering, and a well known trio of beautiful women led by the god of dreams were dancing around him, when he was dazzled by a ray of light which fell suddenly upon his face. He awoke, sprang upon his feet and drew his sword.
'Put up your sword, brother,' whispered a hoarse voice to him; and the worthy Tuiskoshirer, in his traveling cloak, with his bundle swung over his back and a dark lantern in his hand, stood before him.
'What do you want here?' quickly asked Alf. 'Ought you not, according to the king's command, to have been already on your way to Osnabruck with your companion?'
'Yes,' answered Tuiskoshirer, with a bitter smile, 'so has the great king who has become a severe and mighty lord over our heads commanded; and the leaders who faithfully placed him upon the summit, he scornfully thrusts from him, now that he no longer needs their aid. Luckily, he has allowed me to delay my departure a few hours, and a skilful head can accomplish much in that time.'
'Tell me briefly what you want of me,' said Alf, 'and then take yourself hence, that your chattering may not awaken the king.'
'God forbid!' hissed Tuiskoshirer. 'Who would awaken the sleeping tiger? While he sleeps, at least, he murders not. Rather would I prolong his sleep into eternity.'
'Man, what is your design?' exclaimed Alf, partly guessing his horrible intentions.
'Thou hast already once rejected my good will,' answered Tuiskoshirer; and, since this ungrateful bedlamite has been placed upon the throne to which I would have raised thee, thou must more than once have regretted thy folly. I have this day closely watched thee, and know the magnet with which thy apparently insensible and rugged nature is to be moved. Wherefore I have taken my life in my hand, and once more ventured into this den of murderers, to offer to thee life's sweetest blossoms, which none but a fool would leave unplucked when they fell in his path radiant with exhaling beauty. Oppose me not now,' begged he, as Alf was about to reply. 'Thou shalt go with me, and see and hear for thyself, and then decide as may seem good to thee.'
'Whither wouldst thou lead me?' asked Alf, drawing back.
'Do you not suspect?' asked Tuiskoshirer, smiling; and Alf, on whom a light suddenly began to dawn, delightedly followed the tempter, who led him through the dark, silent passage toward the apartments of the queen.
'We have attained our object,' said Tuiskoshirer, on arriving before a room the door of which he opened with a false key. They entered and passed through the anti-chamber, where the waiting women were sleeping, to the bed-chamber of the first queen.
'Behold!' said Tuiskoshirer, impressively, as he directed the rays from his lantern upon the bed in which the beauteous woman was sleeping.
Alf drew nearer. A heavenly smile played upon the sweet face of the queen, to which a sound sleep gave a yet lovelier tint of rose. Alf was about to rush forward, when Tuiskoshirer forcibly dragged him back. 'Wilt thou mar all?' whispered the prophet to him; 'and deprive thyself of the greatest earthly happiness through thy impetuosity? That beauteous woman shall indeed be thine; but now is not the time. Such ware is to be purchased only at a price about which we must have some conversation. As yet you have only seen, now I must be heard; and when you have decided, act with the speed and energy which become a man about to attain the accomplishment of all his dearest wishes.'
During this conversation he drew the youth through the rooms, closed the last with his false key, and they went both together back to the royal anti-chamber. Tuiskoshirer, in whose little dull eyes twinkled a hellish triumph, bolted the outer door on the inner side, motioned to Alf to walk softly, and cautiously opening the door of the king's bed-chamber entered on tiptoe, making a sign to Alf to follow.
Alf obeyed, and both now stood before the bed of the king, near which, upon velvet cushions, lay the crown and other emblems of royalty. Tuiskoshirer drew aside the heavy, purple, gold-embroidered silk curtains, and disclosed the sleeper lying there with open staring eyes, large drops of sweat upon his forehead, froth about his mouth, and clenched fists,--a shocking sight.
'The king is ill and must soon awaken,' said Alf, apprehensively.
'Oh no,' said Tuiskoshirer, calmly. 'Since sleep always flies the night couch of the murderer, he never goes to bed without his sleeping draught. He cannot escape the dreams which then torment him undisturbedly; and it is well, that in this life he should learn something of that world of spirits, which darkly and heavily rules over him with arm already outstretched for his terrible reward.'
'Kneel down!' the slumberer now cried. 'Down! I must see blood, blood!' and he swung his right arm as if his death-dealing sword was at its usual occupation.
'I have first shown you the reward,' said Tuiskoshirer, to Alf,--'here is the deed which is to merit it. Here sleeps the cowardly, sensual, cold, murderous, inhuman monster. Thousands more will he yet destroy, if life and power remain to him. Can another word be necessary to determine your course? Reject not again, for the third time, the good fortune which twice you have thrust from you. Here lies the king's sword drunk with innocent blood,--one determined thrust therewith,--we can bruit it abroad that he has committed suicide,--Munster will be relieved from his tyranny,--thou wilt mount the vacant throne, thine will be the glorious Gertrude, the false Eliza, and the other beauteous wives,--and that the crown shall stand firmly upon thy head, leave to the care of old Tuiskoshirer, who will give it to thee in the presence of the assembled multitude.'
Alf stood there upon the narrow passage way, glanced with flashing eyes upon the sleeping tyrant, and his hand already moved towards the weapon.
'Now strike!' urged Tuiskoshirer. 'Every moment's delay will be at the expense of human life. Thou wilt take upon thyself all the crimes which this wretch may in future commit, if now thou sparest him, through foolish tenderness.'
The true German honesty had soon conquered in the pure mind of the youth. 'He has my pledge,' said he to himself. 'Confiding in my faith he laid him down to sleep.' Then Alf turned to the venomous little man with all the fury which the latter, to satisfy his own revenge, had kindled in his breast; suddenly seizing him by the nape of his neck, he dragged him sprawling through all the apartments and down the stairs, until he reached the outer door of the palace, when he roughly sat him down. 'Go thy ways thither!' cried the youth, pointing the way towards Osnabruck, 'and if thou art in Munster at sunrise, I will expose thee to the king, that he may execute justice upon thee.'
Gasping for breath and groaning with anguish, the foiled tempter staggered forth into the midnight darkness of the streets.