“What is that!” exclaimed the frightened nurse, rushing to the door.
The maid stopped her, saying, “You must not go there. Open the window in the room on the riverside and look out. But no, you had better not. It will cool off the room and may make the child ill. No; you stay here and I will look myself.”
Thereupon she went to the room, closing the door behind her, opened the tall shutters, and looked out. A great crowd of people was crossing the long bridge, led by several torch-bearers and drummers.
When she returned the nurse asked her what was going on.
“You need have no fear,” she replied, though the expression on her face showed that she was alarmed herself. “It is just as I told you. It is only the panic which the English have caused among the people.”
“But if they should really come, and the people should resist them, and there should be cutting and stabbing and bullets were flying, we might be hurt ourselves.”
The maid sought to calm the nurse although the increasing din around the castle and in the neighboring streets made her own alarm more and more perceptible. To allay their fears, they talked about casual things. One said to the other: “Our young master in the cradle is three months old and has not yet been christened. Alas! how times have changed since the christening of the Margrave Sigismund in the nineties! That was a festival indeed! I remember it as distinctly as if it were but yesterday.”
“Oh! tell me something about it.”
“Since you desire it, nurse, I will. Now pay attention. There were so many princes, counts, and nobles assembled that the castle could not accommodate them all. The people of both cities took part in it. It was December and the snow-covered houses were decorated with fir and pine branches, which gave them a welcoming appearance. In front of the castle were five arches similarly decorated with wreaths and pictures. On one arch hung a ring and over it a crown. It also was surmounted by a figure of Fortune, poised upon a sphere, holding a red banner upon which was inscribed in gold letters the word ‘Victory.’ On the third day there were fireworks. Have you ever seen them? No? How well I remember them! But how could you ever know of such things in Ukermark? They were displayed on the evenings of the festival. About eight o’clock an attendant entered and said: ‘Just now the Elector called from the balcony, “Master Hans, when I give the signal, by word or whistle, set them off!”’ We put kerchiefs on our heads and went to the open windows. We had not to wait long when a cannon sounded. Then we saw fiery devices of every kind, serpentine balls, set pieces, bombs, showers of stars, and many hundred rockets, until at last it seemed as if all the stars in the sky were dancing around us. When they were all discharged, fifteen mortars thundered. The ground shook; several hundred panes were broken in the castle, the cathedral, and other buildings near by. So much snow fell from the castle roof that the kettledrummers and trumpeters, stationed on an upper balcony, had to stop playing for a long time. You would have imagined that great alarm might have ensued, but it all went off well and not a person was injured. Oh, but it was not much like the times nowadays. Where can we get the money for such a celebration now?”
The nurse suddenly sprang from her seat. A shot was heard. “Oh dear!” cried she. “The English are entering the city, and it means fighting.”