ed to him asked what disposition he wished to have
made of his property after his death, with the help of a notary he
made out a will in favor of his children and appointed his honest
friend, the bailiff at Kohlhaasenbrueck, to be their guardian. After
that, nothing could match the peace and contentment of his last days.
For in consequence of a singular decree extraordinary issued by the
Elector, the prison in which he was kept was soon after thrown open
and free entrance was allowed day and night to all his friends, of
whom he possessed a great many in the city. He even had the further
satisfaction of seeing the theologian, Jacob Freising, enter his
prison as a messenger from Dr. Luther, with a letter from the latter's
own hand--without doubt a very remarkable document which, however, has
since been lost--and of receiving the blessed Holy Communion at the
hands of this reverend gentleman in the presence of two deans of
Brandenburg, who assisted him in administering it.

Amid general commotion in the city, which could not even yet be weaned
from the hope of seeing him saved by an electoral rescript, there
now dawned the fateful Monday after Palm Sunday, on which Kohlhaas was
to make atonement to the world for the all-too-rash attempt to procure
justice for himself within it. Accompanied by a strong guard and
conducted by the theologian, Jacob Freising, he was just leaving the
gate of his prison with his two lads in his arms--for this favor he
had expressly requested at the bar of the court--when among a
sorrowful throng of acquaintances, who were pressing his hands in
farewell, there stepped up to him, with haggard face, the castellan of
the Elector's palace, and gave him a paper which he said an old woman
had put in his hands for him. The latter, looking in surprise at the
man, whom he scarcely knew, opened the paper. The seal pressed upon
the wafer had reminded him at once of the frequently mentioned
gipsy-woman, but who can describe the astonishment which filled him
when he found the following information contained in it: "Kohlhaas,
the Elector of Saxony is in Berlin; he has already preceded you to the
place of execution, and, if you care to know, can be recognized by a
hat with blue and white plumes. The purpose for which he comes I do
not need to tell you. He intends, as soon as you are buried, to have
the locket dug up and the paper in it opened and read. Your Lisbeth."

Kohlhaas turned to the castellan in the ut