ime, and therefore must the Electoral Prince be
saved."

"Say how can it be done, show me a way to save him!"

"I know the way, and I will take it. I would save you and the child from
bloodguiltiness and sin. Swear to me, Gabriel, that you will do what I
shall require of you. Think of that hour upon the Lido when I gave myself
to you. Think of the hour when this child was born, and I laid it in your
arms and said: 'Take it. It is a gift of my love. Take the child with whom
God has blessed us, and pronounced us pure!' And you swore to me with
tears that you would be a faithful father to our child all his life, and
shield him as far as in you lay from all the pains of earth. By the memory
of that oath I now require you, Gabriel Nietzel, to lay your hand upon my
child's head, and solemnly swear to me, by God, by our child, and by your
love for me, to do exactly what I shall now demand of you."

With reverential, timid admiration Gabriel Nietzel looked into Rebecca's
countenance, which was beaming with energy and beauty. He could not turn
away his glance from her, for it seemed as if his inmost soul was held
spellbound by her large, flaming eyes, resting fixedly upon him. Ever
looking at Rebecca, he laid his hand upon the head of the child that lay
slumbering in the cradle, and said in a distinct, solemn voice: "I swear
by God, by our child, and by my love for you, Rebecca, that I shall do
exactly what you will require of me."

She nodded her head as proudly and gravely as if she had been a queen, who
had just received the homage of her vassal.

"Listen then, Gabriel," she said. "You take the trunk, I take the child,
and let us be going, for the wagon is waiting for us outside the
Willow-bank Gate, as you know. Do not speak to me by the way, for I have
still much to plan and ponder. Time does not stand still, and every moment
increases the Prince's peril. If help does not reach him to-night, then is
he lost beyond hope of recovery. Come!"

Already a question was trembling on Gabriel Nietzel's lips. He wished to
ask, "Can he by any possibility be saved?" But she had said, "Do not speak
to me," and, obedient to his oath, he remained dumb, took up the trunk,
and followed Rebecca, who had tenderly lifted the child from its crib and
had just gone out of the door. Swiftly they passed side by side through
the streets, which were still deserted, for all loungers and street idlers
were still tarrying in Broad Street or on the c