The Bronze Statue, or, The Virgin's Kiss — page 83: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

THE BRONZE STATUE. a1 To reason upon the inference that|}me. Six weeks do I accord for that this Princess retains those treasures, is | purpose ; and if at the expiration of the unnecessary : the designing individuals interval my requisitions remain unat~ who have spirited the Princess away | tended to, the head of the Marquis of into some impervious place of conceal- Schomberg shall roll upon the scaffold. ment, were not likely to have neglected | Then another period of six weeks shall the transportation of the gold and sil be allowed; and if the Princess and ver, the jewels and the precious stones, her treasures be still not forthcoming, te the same spot. Hearken, then, my | the executioner shall be called upon to lords,’ exclaimed the Taborite chieftain, ‘deal with the Baron of Altendorf.— raising his voice in a manner evincing A third interval of six weeks will then his determination to listen to noremon-|be accorded; and it will prove your strance against the conditions he was, fault, my lords, if in the end the Count imposing— hearken, I say, to the terms | of Rosenberg be likewise doomed to which I prescribe as the only means | death | Should, however, such a ca- whereby ye may save your lives from tastrophe arrive, a fourth period of six the executioner and your estates from | weeks will be granted; and if, at the confiscation.’ expiration thereof, neither the Princess ‘And those terms?’ ejaculated seve- | nor her hoarded wealth should be in ral voices, in a tone of deep anxiety. | my power; then woe, woe to the city | | | ) ‘The surrender of the Princess Eli-|of Prague,’ exclaimed Zitzka, his one zgabetha and her treasures into my/|eye flashing fire and his countenance hands !’ responded Zitzka. becoming terrible to behold : ‘ for naught ‘By heavens! I for one know not| shall save it from my indignation ; but where her Royal Highness is conceal- | I will surrender it to the sack and pil- ed!’ exclaimed a Bohemian peer. ‘lage of my troops, who will so utterly | ‘Nor I! said the Count of Rosen- | destroy it that not one stone shall be berg, his countenance flushing with in- . upon another! Guards, come hith- dignation: ‘and even were it other-| er?’ wise, 1 would sooner perish than de-| And before the assembled nobles liver a helpless, orphan maiden into thy | could recover from the consternation power !’ into which the speech of the formidable ‘My lords!’ exclaimed the Taborite | Zitzka had thrown them, the door was chieftain. sternly, ‘I ask not who is| dashed violently open and the hall was aware of the Princess’s abode, or who | filled with the Taborite warriors. is not: neither do I seek to learn the Their chieftain’s orders were speedi- course which each individual amongst |ly given and as expeditiously obeyed : you is inclined to pursue. But this as- | for while the Marquis of Schomberg, surance will I give you—that, as the | the Baron of Altendorf, and the Count Almighty is my judge! the Princess|of Rosenberg were hurried away to Elizabetha shall receive worthy and/|another part of the immense building honorable treatment at my hands. [| in order to be retained in sure custody, would sooner die the most horrible of |the rest of the nobles were escorted deaths than injure a hair of her head.|from the hall—conducted out of the Nevertheless, it is necessary for the | Castle—and then suffered to disperse peace of Bohemia that she be remov- | whithersoever their inclinations or cir- ed from amidst those who may, as I ere | cumstances prompted. now observed, make a rallying-signal of| The hall was cleared—Zitzka and Sir her name and use her treasures in the | Ernest de Colmar alone remaining in it. cause of those monarchial interests} ‘TI told you that I should be here this which never again shall become para-| evening,’ said the Taborite chieftain, mount in Bohemia. Now, therefore,|turning with a smile towards the your lordships understand me,—and Knight; ‘and I have kept my word. three amongst ye must remain as hos-/} Prague is in my power once again: but tages in my hands until the conditions | it will be the fault of these nobles if the be fulfilled. The Marquis of Schom-| inhabitants sustain wrong or injury at berg—the Baron of Altendorf—and the|my hands. Ah! they little thought Count of Rosenberg,’ continued, Zitz- | that whilé encamped in the distant pro ka, slowly selecting these peers from | vinces, I was purposely suffering their the rest, ‘will be held in an honorable | machinations to reach a point that could captivity within the walls of this eastle, ‘not fail to render me the master of their as guarantees that the Princess and ‘lives and their liberties! But on these her treasures shall be delivered up to|subjects we will converse at a future ——— — a comicbooks.com