He gazed from the window, and his eyes rested for some time on the statue of the Great Frederick.
"He too was alone!" he said softly, "and alone when greatest!"
His countenance became more cheerful, he glanced at his watch, then smiled at his privy councillor, and said:
"Now, my dear Schneider, puff!" He made a little movement with his mouth as if he were blowing something away and pointed to the door.
"I vanish, your majesty," cried Schneider, as with comic haste he rushed to the door; there he stood still for a moment and said, "I wish all your majesty's enemies could be as quickly dispersed by the breath of your mouth."
The king remained alone.
"I stand then on the brink of decision!" said the king thoughtfully, "and the fate of my house and of my kingdom lies at the point of the sword. Who would have thought that I, called to the throne in my old age, should yet have to undertake so great a war, and that I myself should lead the newly organized army, the work of long thought and zealous toil, which I believed I should bequeath to my son, as an instrument, as a security for future power and greatness,--that I myself should lead this army into the field, there to prove it on the same battle fields where my great ancestor inscribed his name in such glorious characters. And yet," he added with a dreamy look, "there often came upon me a dark foreboding. When I stood before the altar at Königsberg, there to be solemnly invested with the insignia of my royal office, as I took the sword of state a feeling seized me, sudden and unexpected, as a warning, or a promise from on high. I felt compelled to use the sword against the enemies of my kingdom, who in a distant assembly were conspiring against it, and from the depths of my heart a vow arose to God, never to draw the sword without dire necessity, but once drawn, to wield it in God's name, until the enemies of my people lay beneath my feet! That foreboding is fulfilled," he whispered, "and now let us go forward, and God be with us!"
The king folded his hands together and remained silent for a time, with his head bent down.
Then he walked rapidly to his long writing-table, cheerful energy and decision beaming from his face, and with a firm hand he rang his bell.
"The minister-president, Count Bismarck," he commanded, as the gentleman-in-waiting appeared.