either among the men or the officers; all were
for the king. But at the same time, as it seemed to them that it was the
cardinal who had stopped the persecution of the Huguenots, and who had
now gone to war with the Austrians to prevent the Protestant princes
of Germany being altogether subjugated by the Imperialists, they felt
grateful to him; for of course Scotchmen are all on the side of the
princes, and nigh half the army of Gustavus Adolphus was composed of my
countrymen."

"I do not suppose," Chavigny laughed, "that the cardinal would have
cared very much for the destruction of all the Protestant princes
of Germany, had it not been that their ruin would make Austria more
formidable than ever. As long as Gustavus lived and the Swedes were able
to hold their own against the Imperialists, France troubled herself
in no way in the matter; but when the Swedes were finally routed
at Nordlingen, and it seemed that the Imperialists would triumph
everywhere--for most of the Protestant princes were leaving the
Confederacy and trying to make the best terms they could for
themselves--Richelieu stepped in; and now we see France, which for the
past hundred years has been trying to stamp out Protestantism, uniting
with Protestant Holland and Sweden to uphold the Protestant princes of
Germany, and this under the direction of a cardinal of the Church of
Rome. And here are we riding behind a Huguenot general, who perhaps more
than any other possesses the cardinal's confidence."

"It seems strange," de Lisle said, "but it is assuredly good policy.
While fighting Austria we are fighting Spain, for Austria and Spain are
but two branches of one empire. Spain is our eternal enemy. True, she is
not as formidable as she was. Henry of Navarre's triumph over the Guises
half emancipated us from her influence. The English destroyed her
naval power. Holland well nigh exhausted her treasury, and brought such
discredit on her arms as she had never before suffered. Still, she and
Austria combined dominate Europe, and it is on her account that we have
taken the place of the Swedes and continued this war that has raged for
so many years."

CHAPTER II: CHOOSING A LACKEY

The policy of the great cardinal had for its objects the aggrandizement
of France, as well as the weakening of the power of Austria. So long as
the struggle between the Protestant princes and the Swedes against the
Imperialists had been maintained with equal successes on bo