nd himself again alone. "Now let the Electoral Prince come on, we are
ready to receive him. There will be a hard struggle, but I have been
victorious over all my enemies for twenty years, and shall probably
conquer the little Electoral Prince too! Now a hurried toilet, and then
to the Elector, to open the skirmish in his neighborhood! Ah, we shall
see, my young Prince! For you shouts the rabble of Berlin, for me speaks
the Elector! We shall see which of us two has built upon the sand!"

III.--THE HOME-COMING.

"May I be so bold as to come in, most noble sir?" asked Count
Schwarzenberg, as he opened the door leading into the Electoral cabinet
and thrust in his head, encircled by a hundred beautifully arranged curls.

"Behold, there is Adam Schwarzenberg!" cried Elector George William,
wheeling his chair from the writing table. "Why do you ask, count, since
you know that you are always privileged to enter unannounced? Come closer,
and be heartily welcome!"

And the Elector leaned both his arms upon the wooden aims of his chair,
making an effort to rise. But the count was at his side in a moment,
gently forcing him back into his seat, while at the same time he half bent
one knee and imprinted a kiss upon the Elector's right hand.

"If your grace treats me with such formality, and rises on my account,
then I must believe that you love me no longer," he said, with soft,
insinuating voice. "But you well know, beloved master, that I could not
live without your love, and that existence itself would seem gloomy and
dark to me if the star of your favor and love should cease to shine upon
it."

"Live, my Adam, live merrily, then, and joyously, for you well know that I
love you," replied George William, nodding to the count in most friendly
manner. "And how could it be otherwise, when I know that I can depend upon
your love, and that you are the only one truly interested in my not being
called away yet awhile, and in having me tarry a little longer upon earth.
Come, my friend, sit down. Draw up your armchair close to my side--no,
opposite to me, that I may look at you. I love dearly to behold your
handsome, noble face, and then console myself with the thought that, after
all, the Elector of Brandenburg can not be such a pitiful little Prince,
since such a proud, distinguished lord as Count Schwarzenberg is his
minister."

"Say his servant, his slave, his humble subject, most gracious sir! Yes,
look at me, my much-lov