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"Well, is it anything of moment you desire to communicate?" "Something of great importance." "Speak on, and be quick, for time presses." "Your excellency is resolved to burn down the cathedral?" "Have I not told you that I would?" replied Melac, with a frown. "Nothing in heaven or on earth shall save it."
Retaliate upon the men, but spare the women. If, in every Frenchman, you see a Melac, look upon every woman as your Marie. Will you promise me this?" "I will, general. At last I shall have vengeance, I shall serve my country, and when my work is done, may God release me from this fearful earthly bondage!" "Utter no such sinful wishes.
In a few moments the market-place was empty, and the people, exhausted and cowed though they were, by two months of oppression, had flown to take advantage of this last act of grace. "Now, my excellent brother," said Melac to the monk, "you see that I am quite safe, and can dispense with your protection." "The day is not yet at an end," said the monk, solemnly.
General Melac and his murderous hordes were in the old city of Speier, squandering the goods and money of which they had robbed the unfortunate inhabitants. Scarcely two months had elapsed since the departure of the French from Esslingen, and in that short interval they had laid more than one hundred towns in ashes.
The nearer the gates, the denser the throng, many of whom were fainting with misery and exhaustion; but many also to whom despair lent strength. Melac was there, enjoying the scene; sometimes glancing toward the gates, sometimes toward the wagons which, for miles around, covered the extensive plain outside of the city.
No sooner were Melac's commands uttered than they were obeyed, for he that tarried when the tyrant spoke was sure to come to grief. The monk swung himself into the saddle with the agility of a trooper, and, although the horse reared and plunged, he never swerved from his seat. "Verily you are a curious specimen of a monk," laughed Melac. "I never saw a brother so much to my taste before.
He then made a passage for himself through the crowd and approached General Melac. The prebendary had ceased to speak, and there was a solemn stillness in the market-place, for every sigh was hushed to catch the words that were to follow. Melac looked around that he might sec how many thousand human beings were acknowledging his power, then he drew in his rein and smiled that deadly smile!
One hour earlier, the vaults of the house of God had rung with shrieks and groans, but the victims were now dying or dead. General Melac went among the prostrate bodies, looking here and there behind the pillars, to see whether any thing of value had been overlooked by his subordinates.
You remember that I was absent from your side during two hours to-day?" Melac nodded, and the monk went on: "Those two hours I spent by the dying-bed of this sacristan, the only depositary of the secret. He was wounded among the rest, was conveyed to a neighboring house, and there I received his last confessions.
Melac comprehended that he was betrayed, and making desperate efforts to free himself, he lost his footing, and fell at full length on the granite pavement of the tower. The monk now sprang upon his body, and drawing from his bosom a long handkerchief, he tied it fast over his victim's mouth. "Your cries might be heard, and some fool might come to the rescue," said he.
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