f his wife, fading
from his mind, was replaced by that of the friend, whom, in fancy, he
followed to the bottom of the lake.

He hastily arose, opened the window, inhaled the bracing mountain air
and looked out into the dark night.

There, wrapped in slumber, lies the world, the palace with its rich and
varied life, your wife, your child; and beyond, as far as the eye can
reach, the rich land over which you rule. And while millions of beings
cry to you in their hour of need, are you to be dragged down by one
mortal?

The king turned round, with the intention of sending for Bronnen.

It is not well to give one's-self up to solitude and the company of
evil spirits.

And yet he hesitated. From out of the darkness, there rose a demon with
a thousand glittering, cunning eyes. He had known him from youth and
his name was--distrust. Who knows that this gentleman, with his
high-sounding phrases, is not availing himself of your humility and the
tender mood which has unmanned you, for his own selfish ends? for all
men are selfish, especially when dealing with royalty. He means to rule
me and, through me, the country. Who knows whether he ever loved her or
declared his passion to her. She neither could nor would have dared
conceal that from me. The story was a ready invention of his, intended
to make him my companion in grief. But I know no companion. I will have
none. If I cannot do all by myself, I am not a king, and if I am not a
king, what am I? No, my wise and noble-hearted gentleman--

An inner voice admonished him that it was wrong to judge Bronnen as he
judged other men, but he would not listen to it. He drew himself up as
if conscious of his power and dignity. Suddenly, a sound from the
forest broke upon his ear. It was the first wild, mournful cry of the
stag. The huntsman in him was now aroused. His hand quickly sought his
weapon, but the thought vanished with the swiftness of the stag's
flight through the forest, and gave way to another that raised a smile
on the king's countenance. The stag, thought he, was crying to him.
Nature knows nothing of such unfaithfulness as that with the thought of
which you are now tormenting yourself. The laws of nature do not
recognize unfaithfulness; it is simply a violent and arbitrary creation
of man. But neither does nature's law recognize a king, or the right of
any creature to rule others of the same species. But it is not nature
alone that directs human life. There is also