Karl’s eyes, blue and cold as frozen water, cast a strange glance on the elegant figure of Stanislaus Leczinski.
“Count,” he said, “here is the future King of Poland.”
The minister was startled into an imprudence; staring at the amazed face of the young noble, he cried impetuously:
“The Palatine is too young, sire!”
“He is older than I am,” said Karl dryly.
CHAPTER III
KARL, having given a new King to Poland, and satisfied his somber pride by being an “incognito” spectator of the election of the man whose elevation he owed entirely to Sweden, marched on Lemberg, the capital of Galicia, and took this town by assault, enriching his army with the treasures of Augustus that were stored here, and that the inhabitants surrendered to troops that neither burnt nor pillaged; he had hardly established his garrison in the conquered town when he was joined by Stanislaus Leczinski, cast from his throne after a reign of six weeks, and forced to fly for his life before the Elector of Saxony, who had appeared before Varsovia with a new army of 20,000 men, and had triumphantly entered the capital, scattering the Polish guard of Stanislaus and the Swedish garrison under Count Horn. His reverse was received with calm by the King of Sweden; it did not touch him personally, as he had not been present at the disaster, and he was not displeased at the opportunity to twice give the throne of Poland to the man whom he called friend.
“Let Augustus amuse himself,” he told Stanislaus. “How long do you think he will hold Varsovia when I am before the gates?”
The words, spoken quietly and in no spirit of boasting, proved to be the truth.
Karl, with Stanislaus riding at his side, marched back on the capital, and the army of Augustus, consisting of lukewarm Poles, raw Saxon recruits, and vagabond Muscovites, melted before the approach of the terrible captain.