t us of the
means."

"Ay!" sternly interrupted Marguerite, "I parted with my child, and
silenced a mother's longings, proud nobles, that he might not become the
tool of your ruthless policy; I gave up a mother's joy in nourishing and
in cherishing her young, that the little innocent might live among his
fellows, as God had created him, their equal and not their victim!"

Balthazar paused, as was usual with him when ever his energetic wife
manifested any of her strong and masculine qualities, and then, when deep
silence had followed her remark, he proceeded.

"We wanted not for wealth; all we asked was to be like others in the
world's respect. With our money it was very easy to find those in another
canton, who were willing to take the little Sigismund into their keeping.
After which, a feigned death, and a private burial, did the rest. The
deceit was easily practised, for as few cared for the griefs as for the
happiness of the headsman's family The child had drawn near the end of its
first year, when I was called upon to execute my office on a stranger. The
criminal had taken life in a drunken brawl in one of the towns of the
canton, and he was said to be a man that had trifled with the precious
gifts of birth, it being suspected that he was noble. I went with a heavy
heart, for never did I strike a blow without praying God it might be the
last; but it was heavier when I reached the place where the culprit
awaited his fate. The tidings of my poor son's death reached me as I put
foot on the threshold of the desolate prison, and I turned aside to weep
for my own woes, before I entered to see my victim. The condemned man had
great unwillingness to die; he had sent for me many hours before the fatal
moment, to make acquaintance, as he said, with the hand that was to
dispatch him to the presence of his last and eternal judge."

Balthazar paused; he appeared to meditate on a scene that had probably
left indelible impressions on his mind. Shuddering involuntarily, he
raised his eyes from the pavement of the chapel, and continued the
recital, always in the same subdued and tranquil manner.

"I have been the unwilling instrument of many a violent death--I have seen
the most reckless sinners in the agonies of sudden and compelled
repentance, but never have I witnessed so wild and fearful a struggle
between earth and heaven--the world and the grave--passion and the rebuke
of Providence--as attended the last hours of that unhap