The multitude crowded the market-place, waiting to see what new thing
was to be done there. Then sounded in the distance a solemn funeral
march from the trumpets and horns, and duke Hanslein with his soldiers
formed a wide circle to admit the king and his household.
Next came the procession. After the music followed Alf, with a division
of his guards; then the king, and then the high bailiff; between them,
yet in her night-gown, pale and tottering, with streaming hair and
folded hands, Eliza. After these followed the stately Gertrude, the
other wives, and the persons connected with the court. Another division
of the guards closed.
At a signal from the king, Krechting stepped reverently back and the
thirteen wives formed a circle about their lord and Eliza. 'Kneel down,
ye pure!' thundered the king, and the circle of women fell upon their
knees; in an instant the king's sword glistened in the air and Eliza's
head flew from its bloody trunk!
'Accursed murderer,' screamed Alf, frantic with grief and terror at the
wholly unexpected death of the once so well beloved woman, and sprang
forward with high waving sword to hew down the king where he stood. The
faithful Hanslein caught his upraised arm. 'Good colonel,' cried he,
'it was only yesterday that you were sick with a fever, and now the
paroxysms have returned again. Help me, friends, to overpower him and
bear him to his house where he can be taken care of.'
He was seized by the guards from all sides, and notwithstanding his
furious opposition, was soon disarmed and carried away.
'The person who has been judged has blasphemed the Spirit as manifested
through her king and husband,' said Johannes, to the people. 'She had
in a spiritual sense broken her marriage vows, and well deserved her
punishment. Give to God the glory!'
The remaining thirteen wives rose up and with clear voices sang, 'Glory
to God in the highest!' The horns and the trumpets triumphantly fell
in. The king seized Gertrude's hand and commenced a merry dance with
her upon the open market-place. The other wives and the courtiers
followed the high example. The poor infatuated people likewise joined
in the dance and sprang actively about, notwithstanding their empty
stomachs; and from all mouths arose the cry of jubilee; 'glory be to
God in the highest!'