ly remain with me, my dearest Louisa; look at me with your
cheering eyes, and inspire my heart with hope. Whenever I falter, remind
me of this hour in which I vowed to you to struggle to the last."

"Thanks, my king and husband!" exclaimed the queen; "whatever may
happen, let us meet it, united in love, hope, and faith in God!"

"Yes," said the king; "adversity itself is not devoid of exalted
moments, and you, my Louisa, have become dearer to me in these days. I
know now by experience what a treasure you are to me. Let the storm rage
outside, if all is calm within."

"It is my pride and happiness to possess the love of the best of men,"
said the queen; "and though we leave no inheritance to our children, we
shall leave them at least the example of our wedded life; let them learn
from it to be happy in themselves."

"_Madame la Reine est servie_!" shouted a merry voice behind them; and
when the queen turned, she saw her son, Crown-Prince Frederick William,
who approached her with rosy cheeks and laughing eyes. "Pardon me,
dearest parents, for venturing to enter the room without your
permission, but I longed to salute you, and therefore assumed the duty
of the steward, who was about to announce that dinner is ready."

"And I suppose my son found this announcement exceedingly interesting,
and longed just as much for his dinner as for his parents," exclaimed
the queen, smiling and looking with beaming eyes at her favorite son.

"Oh, no, no," said the crown prince, laughing, "I thought first of my
beloved parents, but then--yes, I confess the idea of getting my dinner
is very agreeable, considering that I have been on the ice for several
hours."

"Well, my husband," asked the queen, merrily, "shall we comply with the
wishes of the young epicure? Shall we permit him to conduct us to the
dining-room?"

"Yes, certainly," said the king, offering his arm to his wife. "Lead the
way, M. Steward!" The crown prince assumed a grave air, and, after
bowing to his parents in the reverential manner of a royal steward, he
preceded them with ludicrous strides, and commenced singing in a ringing
voice: "_Immer langsam voran, dass die oesterreichsche landwehr
nachkommen kann_."[36]

[Footnote 36: "Always slowly forward, that the Austrian landwehr may be
able to follow,"--a well-known humorous song, ridiculing the slowness of
the Austrian militia.]

The king laughed more heartily than he had done for many weeks, while
the queen loo