ty could be settled. After
some bickering on both sides it was agreed that a congress of the three
realms should meet on the 10th of the following July, to determine
Christiern's right to the crown of Sweden or to tribute; and until that
day there should be peace between the realms. This agreement was put
into writing and signed and sealed by Christiern and the regent a few
days before September 8. The regent then ordered provisions sent out to
the Danish soldiers to relieve their want. And still the fleet continued
to hang about the coast, waiting, so it was given out, for fair weather.
In reality, the Danish monarch was dallying with the hope of putting
into effect a diabolical scheme which he had concocted. There being now
a truce between the kingdoms, he ventured to despatch a messenger to
Sture with hostages, to beg the regent to come out to the fleet and hold
a conference. After consultation with his Cabinet, the regent answered
that he could not accede to this request, and the hostages were
returned. Christiern then sent again to say that he would gladly meet
him at an appointed spot on land, provided six persons named--among them
Hemming Gad and the regent's nephew, Gustavus--should first be placed on
board the Danish fleet as hostages. A day was set and the hostages set
forth. All unconscious, the rope was already tightening around their
necks. On the 25th of September, as had been agreed, the regent rode to
the appointed place of meeting. But the Danish king was nowhere to be
seen. Two whole days the regent waited, and on the third discovered that
he had been entrapped. The fleet was on its way to Denmark, and the
Swedish hostages were prisoners on board. Before putting out to sea, the
monarch touched land once more to despatch a couple of letters,--one to
the burghers of Stockholm, the other to all the inhabitants of Sweden.
These letters are dated October 2. Their purpose was to make his
treachery seem less brutal. He declared that the regent had violated the
terms of the truce by ill-treating the Danish prisoners in his hands,
and not surrendering them as had been stipulated in the treaty. "On this
ground," said the tyrant, some four days after seizing the hostages, "I
declare the treaty off."[31]

Repairing with his captives to Copenhagen, the tyrant placed them in
confinement in different parts of Denmark. Gustavus was placed in Kaloe
Castle, under the charge of the commandant, who was a distant relative