Vienna the sum of five thousand pounds, the amount proffered for your
Joan of Arc. Your obstinacy has driven me into the commission of a
misdemeanour. God forgive you. But I have kept my word.

"I am already beyond your reach, and you will search in vain for my
trace. In consideration for your feelings, and to cause you as
little annoyance as possible, I have placed _my_ Joan of Arc into the
hands of a skilful artist; and I trust to forward you as accurate a
copy as can be made.

"Yours, MOUNTPLEASANT."

And Milor kept his word, mein Lieber, and the copy hangs Am Graben to
this day in the place of the original. The original shines among the
paintings in the splendid collection of Milor at Mountpleasant Castle.

I will not pretend to say, concluded Vater Bohm, reloading his pipe, that
the English have any taste, but they certainly have a strange passion for
pictures; and, let them once get an idea into their heads, they are the
most obstinate people in the world in the pursuit of it.

CHAPTER XIX.

AN EXECUTION AT VIENNA.

Carl Fickte, a native of Vienna, stood condemned for execution. His
crime was murder. He was convicted of having enveigled his nephew, of
eight years old, to the Molker bastion of the city fortification, and of
having thrown him over the parapet into the dry ditch below. The depth
of the fall was between thirty and forty feet, and the shattered body of
the boy explained his miserable death. His nephew's cloak became
loosened in the struggle, and remained in the hands of Fickte, who sold
it, and spent the produce in a night's debauch. This cloak led to the
discovery of the murderer, and after a lapse of eight months to his
conviction and execution.

I had resolved to witness the last act of the law, and started from home
at six o'clock on the appointed morning. A white mist filled the air,
and gradually thickened into rain; and by the time I had reached the
spot--a distance of about two miles--a smart shower was falling. The
place of execution is a field in the outskirts of the city, bounded on
one side by the main road, and close to the "Spinnerinn am Kreuz," an
ancient stone cross, standing on the edge of the highway. From this spot
a beautiful view of the city is obtained.

The crowd was already gathering, and carts, benches, and platforms were
in course of arrangement by enterprising spe