ter for my constitution.' He now
turned to Arwed. 'We shall meet again!' said he with a mysterious
emphasis.

'Who knows!' answered Arwed, who looked to the future with sad
misgivings.

'We shall meet again!' cried Swedenborg with greater emphasis; 'It is
revealed to me by a dark, voiceless feeling which is vouchsafed to me
by the Lord rather as a chastisement than as a mercy-gift. We shall
meet again, and if I do not deceive myself, in the heaviest hour of
your life. God give you strength to bear it.' He strode forth.

'Did you accomplish your object, Gyllenstierna?' Duecker now anxiously
asked.

'Had I but reached Goertz an hour earlier,' answered Arwed. 'I
witnessed his arrest.'

'That was the last hope!' cried Duecker, sorrowfully. 'Now is Goertz
lost, as is also Sweden to the duke, beyond remedy!'

'Hast thou hoped until now?' asked Brenner with astonishment.

'Of what was not his spirit capable?' retorted Duecker. 'I have just
now learned to know him aright from a letter of his to the king. Had
Goertz saved himself, he had sufficient influence with the czar to have
the occupation of the throne by the duke made the condition of peace.
We can hardly imagine what he could not have accomplished. He was the
man for Charles's gigantic plans; he was the man to save the tottering
kingdom. Now will the sick in their paroxysms call upon the physician
for cure, and who will help them?'

'Your fears carry you too far, general,' said Arwed. 'The enemies of
Goertz may not be so embittered but that his life may be respected, if
only from a holy fear of the manes of their fallen king.'

'You are too young to understand your nation thoroughly,' retorted
Duecker. 'The proud senators will never forgive the foreigner for
annihilating the last remains of their power by his bold measures; the
people, who never dared to impeach their adored king, sought in Goertz
the source of his misfortunes. Ulrika hates him, as she hates her
nephew,--she fears his activity in the cause of the latter, and she can
make an agreeable sacrifice to their prejudices by offering him up. He
is a dead man!'

'Then must you assist in procuring my immediate discharge from the
service, dear general,' said Arwed earnestly.

'Wherefore?--What has entered your head?' asked Duecker. 'You choose an
unsuitable time. A great number of promotions will be immediately made,
to win the army; your father is a strong supporter of the queen, and
you may perhaps