They found the army near the city of Amal, upon lake Dalboe, beyond the
borders of Norway. Baumgardt rode with his companions directly towards
Amal, where the head quarters were established. At the gates they
encountered colonel Brenner.
'Is it here we again meet, my dear traveling companion?' cried he to
Arwed. 'I am sorry for it.'
'The soldier is indeed but a mere machine,' answered Arwed, 'who may
not venture to love or regret any thing; yet is our present meeting of
some importance to me, as I need your evidence to clear myself in the
eyes of colonel Baumgardt. He is disposed to consider me a marauder or
something worse, because he encountered me traveling without you on the
road towards Frederickshall.'
'I gave the captain a furlough,' said Brenner to Baumgardt; 'and the
fieldmarshal is already informed of it.' Baumgardt bowed in silence.
'Is there now any further hindrance to my taking leave of you?' said
Arwed politely to the colonel. 'As soon as I am relieved from my
present situation I will not fail to wait upon you for some further
explanations.'
Baumgardt rode onward without deigning a word in reply.
'Come directly with me to my old friend Duecker,' said Brenner to
Arwed. 'He arrived at head quarters, as I hear, early this morning, and
I have come into the city on purpose to seek him. You must give to him
and me an account of what has happened during your journey.'
When they arrived at Duecker's quarters they found he was not at home.
Swedenborg was sitting in the room, in his traveling cloak, awaiting
his return; and so busily studying some leaves of parchment full of
signs and figures, that he did not observe the entrance of the new
comers.
'God greet you, Swedenborg!' said Arwed with sad cordiality, extending
his hand.
Swedenborg stared steadily at him for a long time, his eye indicating
his entire absence of mind. Finally, a remembrance of Arwed's face
seemed to return to him--he finished the notes he was making upon his
parchments, put them aside, and then for the first time seized the
proffered hand.
'Thereto art thou chosen, young man,' cried he pathetically with his
hollow spirit-voice: 'always to be present when the weightiest events
are occurring in the army, without being able to do any thing for the
common good. At this moment is to be decided who is to rule over
Sweden, and you can neither aid nor prevent, as it happened to you at
the death of the king.'
'Is this a question yet to be decided?' asked Brenner. 'I think there
is no longer any doubt that Ulkrika will be queen.'
'That is not so certain as you may think,' answered Swedenborg. 'The
princess has indeed received the premature homage of the senate, and
lavished rewards upon the generals; but the army has a voice in this
business, and the superior right of the young duke is as clear as the
sun. According to the Nordkioping compact of inheritance, no woman can
become heir to the throne unless she be either unmarried, or married
with the consent of the states to a Lutheran prince. But Ulrika has,
without the consent of the states, married the prince of Hesse, who
professes the Calvinistic faith.'
'Ulrika will nevertheless purchase the crown by surrendering a portion
of its sovereignty,' retorted Brenner; 'and at this price they will let
her off.'
'Hardly, if the young duke bids the same,' answered Swedenborg.
'General Duecker is even now with him for the purpose of prompting him
to it. May God give efficacy to his words, for Sweden will have a bad
government under this Ulrika.'
At this moment old Duecker entered with furious haste, threw his plumed
hat angrily upon the floor, and paced rapidly up and down the room
without perceiving the officers.
'Nothing accomplished?' asked Swedenborg dejectedly.
'What can be accomplished,' indignantly replied the general, 'when one
has to do with a boy who is governed by fools? He relies confidently
upon the strength of his party. He will inherit the royal power wholly
unimpaired or not at all. And it is most certain that with his
confidence and indolence he will be compelled to accept the latter
alternative.'
'The last effort vain!' said Swedenborg, taking his hat. 'God preserve
your excellency! I am going.'
'Will you also desert me, my dear ally?' asked Duecker despairingly.
'How can I be further useful in this place?' said Swedenborg. 'The
siege is raised; my knowledge can never more be needed here. I go again
to the examination of the mines. Under the present circumstances this
upper air will no longer exactly agree with me, and I must see whether
that of the mines will not be better for my constitution.' He now
turned to Arwed. 'We shall meet again!' said he with a mysterious
emphasis.
'Who knows!' answered Arwed, who looked to the future with sad
misgivings.
'We shall meet again!' cried Swedenborg with greater emphasis; 'It is
revealed to me by a dark, voiceless feeling which is vouchsafed to me
by the Lord rather as a chastisement than as a mercy-gift. We shall
meet again, and if I do not deceive myself, in the heaviest hour of
your life. God give you strength to bear it.' He strode forth.
'Did you accomplish your object, Gyllenstierna?' Duecker now anxiously
asked.
'Had I but reached Goertz an hour earlier,' answered Arwed. 'I
witnessed his arrest.'
'That was the last hope!' cried Duecker, sorrowfully. 'Now is Goertz
lost, as is also Sweden to the duke, beyond remedy!'
'Hast thou hoped until now?' asked Brenner with astonishment.
'Of what was not his spirit capable?' retorted Duecker. 'I have just
now learned to know him aright from a letter of his to the king. Had
Goertz saved himself, he had sufficient influence with the czar to have
the occupation of the throne by the duke made the condition of peace.
We can hardly imagine what he could not have accomplished. He was the
man for Charles's gigantic plans; he was the man to save the tottering
kingdom. Now will the sick in their paroxysms call upon the physician
for cure, and who will help them?'
'Your fears carry you too far, general,' said Arwed. 'The enemies of
Goertz may not be so embittered but that his life may be respected, if
only from a holy fear of the manes of their fallen king.'
'You are too young to understand your nation thoroughly,' retorted
Duecker. 'The proud senators will never forgive the foreigner for
annihilating the last remains of their power by his bold measures; the
people, who never dared to impeach their adored king, sought in Goertz
the source of his misfortunes. Ulrika hates him, as she hates her
nephew,--she fears his activity in the cause of the latter, and she can
make an agreeable sacrifice to their prejudices by offering him up. He
is a dead man!'
'Then must you assist in procuring my immediate discharge from the
service, dear general,' said Arwed earnestly.
'Wherefore?--What has entered your head?' asked Duecker. 'You choose an
unsuitable time. A great number of promotions will be immediately made,
to win the army; your father is a strong supporter of the queen, and
you may perhaps leap the rank of major and obtain a regiment.'
'I fear on the contrary,' answered Arwed gloomily, 'that I can no
longer honorably remain a Swedish officer. But that is the least. A
being, dearer to me than all others, can now hope for help and
consolation from me alone. I must instantly proceed to Stockholm, even
should I be compelled to desert from the army for that purpose.'
'There is yet no necessity for that,' said Duecker. 'The guards break
up to-day for Stockholm, and will proceed there in advance of the
remainder of the forces. Therefore do nothing precipitately. If your
wish for a discharge should continue, I will endeavor to obtain its
accomplishment at a proper time. Such a request, just at this time,
would only render you suspected and hated, and would probably be
unsuccessful.'
'That is the voice of a father,' said Arwed feelingly, 'You best know
what is the most proper course for me, and I willingly hearken to you.'
At that moment the field music was heard in the distance sounding a
wild alarm, and the thunder of the artillery through the city
accompanied the peal like a powerful bass.
'What is that?' asked Brenner with surprise.
'The prince has operated suddenly and powerfully,' answered Duecker;
'more suddenly and energetically to obtain Sweden's crown for his wife,
than to obtain a victory over Sweden's enemies. The army is won, and
Ulrika is queen. That is what the thunder of the cannon denotes.'