eace--that the deluge of blood was
over, and Germany saved!"

"Your father and your betrothed will now receive bad tidings of you. Are
you not afraid of grieving them?"

"Both of them will weep for me--so will many other Germans, and their
tears will water the flowers upon my grave."

"You believe, then, that I shall have you executed?"

"I should consider it but natural for you."

"But it may please me to pardon you. Tell me, in that case, what you
would do?"

"Accomplish my purpose," replied Staps, calmly. "I have sworn to kill
you. I must fulfil my oath or die!"

"Ah, you have either a morbid mind or a morbid body!" exclaimed
Napoleon, vehemently.

"No, I have neither one nor the other," replied Staps, composedly; "my
mind is healthy, and so is my body."

"Send for Corvisart," ordered the emperor, turning to his suite. "But
let no one dare tell him what is transpiring here."

An adjutant hastened out, and Napoleon turned again to Staps. "Are you a
freemason or one of the Illuminati?"

"Neither."

"Did you ever hear of Moreau and Pichegru?"

"I did."

"And what do you think of these men, who tried to take my life?"

"I think that they were afraid of death."

"Did you know Schill and Doernberg?"

Staps hesitated a moment, and replied: "I knew Schill. I saw him on the
day after the battle of Jena, and we swore to devote our thoughts, our
energies, and our lives, to the German fatherland, and never to grow
weary in our struggle against the tyrant. There were three of us who
took this oath. The first was Count Pueckler, who shot himself; the
second was shot, Ferdinand von Schill; the third will also be shot,
Frederick Staps!"

"He is insane," repeated Napoleon, shuddering involuntarily at the
tranquillity of the prisoner.

The door opened, and the emperor's physician, M. de Corvisart, entered.

"Corvisart, come hither," the emperor said, vehemently. "Examine this
young man, and tell me what is the matter with him." The marshals and
generals stepped aside, and the physician approached the prisoner, whose
hands had been untied a moment previously. "Examine his pulse,
Corvisart; examine him carefully and tell me whether he has a fever, or
is insane."

Staps quietly stretched out his hand; Corvisart took it and laid his
fingers on the pulse. Silence reigned in the room. The marshals and
generals in full uniform surrounded the group; in the midst stood the
emperor, whose face was sadder to-day than