'Silence!' thundered the king. 'At this moment has the father entrusted to me an important duty, for the execution of which I must prepare,' and, beckoning to his guards, they dragged before him a mercenary soldier in chains.
'This unhappy man,' said the king solemnly and significantly, 'has, like a second Judas, been planning treason against Zion, and has publicly manifested his wicked intentions through disobedience to the commandments of the Spirit. His blood be upon his own head.'
The king's sword swung, the head of the victim fell, and the horrible man stepped directly before Tuiskoshirer with the bloody sword in his hand and asked him, 'what hast thou particularly to say to this assembly, my brother?'
'That I bow myself under the hand of the Lord,' tremblingly answered Tuiskoshirer, and Wahrendorf proceeded to read the list of names to the end.
There were named, in the whole, eight and twenty missionaries. The king dispersed them toward Osnabruck, Coesfeld, Warendorf and Soest. 'Forsake every thing,' he admonished them, 'fear nothing, and promulgate the faith.' 'Amen!' cried the multitude, as they departed from the cathedral.
CHAPTER XVII.
Alf was sitting in the twilight near the good Clara, narrating to her at full length the singular proceedings at the cathedral, at which he had been present, when his friend Hanslein entered in a state of great excitement.
'How much can be made of a good-for-nothing fellow!' cried he. 'Would you ever have thought, brother, that I was a block out of which a duke could have been carved?'
'Duke!' asked Alf in astonishment, supposing that he must have heard falsely.
'A duke! nothing less!' laughingly answered Hanslein. 'The king's majesty has become a little anxious about his personal safety in the midst of his trusty subjects; and he no longer considers his dear life entirely secure among them. He has therefore divided Zion into twelve districts and appointed a duke for each, from among his trustiest supporters; and he, with an adequate military force, is to watch over the order and repose of his district and smother every disturbance at its birth. Having become such a thing, I beg of you to show me all proper respect.'