Sköll. That was a blow! [Shouting down.] Hail to King Wid--
Hans [seizes him like lightning and hurls him to the ground, then springs on the bench, waving his sword above his head and shouting.] Back from his body! You men below there, is there one that wears a sword and armor?
Voices. I!--I!--I!
Hans Lorbass. He will break through the lists with me and drive away this robber of Samland!
[Cries of rage, together with the crashing of the lists. Hans Lorbass storms upon the guards, who retreat to one side, and dashes below. The Queen comes upon the scene half unconscious, supported by Anna Goldhair and her other women. The Chancellor and other nobles. Sköll has squeezed himself behind the corner pillar on the right.]
Cölestin [turning from the Queen to a group of men who stand gazing down on the tumult below]. How goes it now?
Chancellor. That man whose summons hurled the brand of mutiny among us, look how great and small, man and woman crowd around him shouting and hustle the Duke to the door! There, he is gone!--the other left! Who was the devil?
[The uproar grows fainter and seems to lose itself in the distance.]
Cölestin. I know not whether he was a devil or an angel; for without his shriek of hate we should still be lying beneath the foot of tyranny, bleeding and weaponless as he who lies below.
[Chancellor motions to him, pointing towards the Queen, who has revived and is looking about her wildly.]