good musician, and he made it an object to teach his
children to play on the piano; and though they were quite young, both
of them knew a number of very beautiful tunes.

On one stormy evening, near the end of winter, all four of them sat
together near their splendid piano. The duke had composed a little
song for his two children. It was such a pleasant, lively melody, that
they had learned it very easily, and each of them could play it. Their
mother, however, did not know it, and the children now thought it a
great thing for them to have the privilege of teaching it to her.

"Carl," said the duke, "you play, and we will sing."

And they sang this song:--

"Take courage, bird;
Our Father says,
In winter's storms
And summer's rays
You have no barns,
You sow no wheat,
But God will give you bread to eat."

While they were singing, they heard some one knock at the door. They
heard the bell ring, and when the door was opened, five soldiers, clad
in uniform, demanded Duke Erlan to deliver himself up. They walked
straight up to him, and told him that he must go immediately to
prison. His wife cast herself at their feet, and begged them to let
him live in peace.

"We cannot help it," said they. "We have our orders, and must obey
them."

Not five minutes elapsed before that good man was taken from the midst
of his happy family, and hurried to prison. The duchess and her son
and daughter were overwhelmed with sorrow. They could not sleep that
night, and the next morning, as they looked out of the window and saw
how the storm had prevailed in the vineyards and on the fields, they
felt that the storm in their own hearts had been far more destructive.

The unhappy duchess now determined to use every means to rescue her
beloved husband. She went to the judges and assured them of her
husband's innocence; but they did not seem to have any more feeling
than so many marble statues. She received, in reply to her entreaties,
this answer:--

"In a few days your husband will be beheaded."

She returned to the castle after three days, and found that it was
occupied by soldiers. The furniture had all been taken away, and the
treasures were missing. She was not permitted even to enter the
castle, and was informed that her children, for whom she was weeping
in great sorrow, were gone--nobody could tell where.

It was late at night, and she did not know where she wou