he offer. His officers now abandoned him, and
Gallas, who was appointed as his successor, took command of the army.

With a few devoted adherents, and one regiment of troops, he took refuge
in the strong fortress of Egra, hoping to maintain himself there until
he could enter into some arrangement with the Swedes. The officers
around him, whom he had elevated and enriched by his iniquitous bounty,
entered into a conspiracy to purchase the favor of the emperor by the
assassination of their doomed general. It was a very difficult
enterprise, and one which exposed the conspirators to the most imminent
peril.

On the 25th of February, 1634, the conspirators gave a magnificent
entertainment in the castle. They sat long at the table, wine flowed
freely, and as the darkness of night enveloped the castle, fourteen men,
armed to the teeth, rushed into the banqueting hall from two opposite
doors, and fell upon the friends of Wallenstein. Though thus taken by
surprise, they fought fiercely, and killed several of their assailants
before they were cut down. They all, however, were soon dispatched. The
conspirators, fifty in number, then ascended the stairs of the castle to
the chamber of Wallenstein. They cut down the sentinel at his door, and
broke into the room. Wallenstein had retired to his bed, but alarmed by
the clamor, he arose, and was standing at the window in his shirt,
shouting from it to the soldiers for assistance.

"Are you," exclaimed one of the conspirators, "the traitor who is going
to deliver the imperial troops to the enemy, and tear the crown from the
head of the emperor?"

Wallenstein was perfectly helpless. He looked around, and deigned no
reply. "You must die," continued the conspirator, advancing with his
halberd. Wallenstein, in silence, opened his arms to receive the blow.
The sharp blade pierced his body, and he fell dead upon the floor. The
alarm now spread through the town. The soldiers seized their arms, and
flocked to avenge their general. But the leading friends of Wallenstein
were slain; and the other officers easily satisfied the fickle soldiery
that their general was a traitor, and with rather a languid cry of "Long
live Ferdinand," they returned to duty.

Two of the leading assassins hastened to Vienna to inform the emperor of
the deed they had perpetrated. It was welcome intelligence to Ferdinand,
and he finished the work they had thus commenced by hanging and
beheading the adherents of Walle