again half
regretting that the plot had been formed. The companions and the
friends of his childhood, the invited guests who, for many weeks, had
been his associates in gay festivities, and in the interchange of all
kindly words and deeds, were, at his command, before the morning
should dawn, to fall before the bullet and the poniard of the midnight
murderer. His mother witnessed with intense anxiety this wavering of
his mind. She therefore urged him no longer to delay, but to
anticipate the hour, and to send a servant immediately to sound the
alarm.

Charles hesitated, while a cold sweat ran from his forehead. "Are you
a coward?" tauntingly inquired the fiendlike mother. This is the
charge which will always make the poltroon squirm. The young king
nervously exclaimed, "Well, then, begin."

There were in the chamber at the time only the king, his mother, and
his brother the Duke of Anjou. A messenger was immediately dispatched
to strike the bell. It was two hours after midnight. A few moments of
terrible suspense ensued. There was a dead silence, neither of the
three uttering a word. They all stood at the windows looking out into
the rayless night. Suddenly, through the still air, the ponderous
tones of the alarm-bell fell upon the ear, and rolled, the knell of
death, over the city. Its vibrations awakened the demon in ten
thousand hearts. It was the morning of the Sabbath, August 24th, 1572.
It was the anniversary of a festival in honor of St. Bartholomew,
which had long been celebrated. At the sound of the tocsin, the signal
for the massacre, armed men rushed from every door into the streets,
shouting, "_Vive Dieu et le roi!_"--_Live God and the king!_

CHAPTER V.

MASSACRE OF ST. BARTHOLOMEW.

1572

The commencement of the massacre.--The house forced.--Flight of the
servants.--Death of Admiral Coligni.--Brutality.--Fate of the Duke
of Guise.--Excitement of the Parisians.--Fiendish spirit of
Charles.--Fugitives butchered.--Terror of Marguerite.--Flight of
Marguerite.--Terrors of the night.--Remarkable escape of
Maximilian.--Efforts to save his life.--The disguise.--Scene in the
street.--The talisman.--Arrival at the college.--His protection.--Henry
taken before the king.--He yields.--Paris on the Sabbath
following.--Encouragement by the priests.--The massacre
continued.--Exultation of the Catholics.--Triumphal procession.--Extent
of the massacre.--Magnanimity of Catholic officers.--The Bishop
of Lisieu