nceals himself behind the hangings and cautiously looks out upon
the street. A dense throng of soldiers surges beneath his windows; the
whole street, the whole square is packed with them. Angry faces, the
voices of furious men, hundreds upon hundreds of uplifted fists and
portentous growls!

"He shall pay us our money! He wants to cheat us out of our pay! He wants
to put us upon summer allowance and pocket the rest of the money! It is
said this is done by the Elector's command. But it is a lie, an abominable
lie! Schwarzenberg lets nobody command him. He is master here. He wants us
to starve that his own riches may be increased. We will not suffer it! He
shall pay us for it! Hurrah! Storm the house!"

"A mutiny!" muttered Count Schwarzenberg. "They were to have rebelled, and
so they do. But they rebel against me! I flung down the sword, and its
point is turned against myself. So the spirits of hell grant what they
have promised us--what we have purchased at the price of our souls! They
give the reward, but even while they are paying it out to us it becomes a
curse and ruins us!"

How they storm and rage and roar without! How they beat and hammer against
the locked doors! Count Schwarzenberg stands behind the window and hears
them! He hears other voices, too--Goldacker, Kracht, and Rochow
endeavoring to calm them, exhorting them to be patient.

Futile efforts! Ever louder grow the knocking and thundering against the
house. Stones are hurled against the walls, the window shutters rattle and
are shivered to pieces, the doors creak and give way.

"If they attempt to murder me, I shall not stand on the defensive,"
murmurs Count Schwarzenberg to himself, as he retires from the window,
slowly traverses the apartment, and again sinks down upon the chair by his
writing table. The door of the cabinet is violently torn open, and in rush
the Commandants von Kracht and von Rochow, followed by the captains of
their regiments.

"Gracious sir, it is impossible to calm these madmen. They no longer heed
orders. They are beside themselves with rage. They have already broken
open the doors and forced their way into the entrance hall. They will
plunder and despoil the whole palace! We can save nothing more, prevent
nothing more! You are lost, so are we, and all Berlin!"

"Be it so!" says Schwarzenberg loftily. "Let the whole earth fall down and
overwhelm me in its ruins. I shall but be buried beneath them!"

"Gracious sir, only hear