t the rim, and drew a paper from between
the fur and the inner lining, which he handed to the queen, with a
profound bow. While the queen was occupied breaking the seal and reading
the letter, the chamberlain was busily engaged in restoring his hat to
its former proportions. The queen's pale face brightened more and more
as she read; with joy and triumph she glanced from the paper at the
chamberlain, and said, with a brilliant smile: "You are really a
messenger of peace; a time will come when I can better reward your
faithful services than by words. I beg you to open that door, and call
Father Guarini." The chamberlain obeyed her command, and Father Guarini
entered. He greeted Schonberg with a gracious nod, then fixed his dark
and piercing eyes upon the queen, who arose humbly to receive him. "I
hope, venerable father, that you have heard the news, brought by our
faithful baron?" said the queen, in a soft voice. "I have heard!"
replied the Jesuit father, solemnly; "I have heard that God has
delivered these heretics into our hands. We are the chosen people to
free the world of these blasphemous adversaries of the Church."

"What is your meaning?" asked the queen, with apparent surprise. Father
Guarini looked at her significantly; a cruel smile played upon his thin,
colorless lips. "My daughter, we understand each other fully," said he,
in a soft, low voice; "soul speaks to soul in such a crisis as this.
When the baron handed you this letter, when he told you that the
chamberlain of the King of Prussia was faithful to our holy cause, ready
for any act you might approve, a door separated us; I could not look
upon your countenance, and yet, my daughter, I read the secret thoughts
of your heart. I saw your eyes sparkle, your lips smile, and understood
your holy purpose." The queen trembled, and stepped shudderingly back.
"Holy father," she murmured, "have compassion with a sinful thought,
which I suppressed quickly, and which I will never listen to again."

"Why do you call it a sinful thought?" said the priest, with a
diabolical smile. "All weapons are blessed and made holy by God, when
employed against heretics. The poison of the hemlock and the opium-plant
is part of God's holy creation. He made them as weapons for the
just against the unjust, and, when used for pious purposes, they are
sanctified means of grace. Be not ashamed of your great thought, my
daughter; if Anderson is faithful, as the chamberlain asserts, with