Christianity, and, furious at this
interference of Kilian, she seized the opportunity when the latter had
gone with his followers on an expedition against the pagan Saxons to
have Kilian and his two companions murdered.

The cathedral was naturally an object of interest to the Scotch soldiers
in the time of Gustavus, and there was an animated argument in the
quarters of the officers of Munro's regiment on the night of their
arrival as to whether St. Kilian had done well or otherwise in insisting
upon his new convert repudiating his wife. The general opinion, however,
was against the saint, the colonel summing up the question.

"In my opinion," he said, "Kilian was a fool. Here was no less a matter
at stake than the conversion of a whole nation, or at least of a great
tribe of heathens, and Kilian imperilled it all on a question of minor
importance; for in the first place, the Church of Rome has always held
that the pope could grant permission for marriage within interdicted
degrees; in the second place, the marriage had taken place before
the conversion of the duke to Christianity, and they were therefore
innocently and without thought of harm bona fide man and wife. Lastly,
the Church of Rome is opposed to divorce; and Kilian might in any case
have put up with this small sin, if sin it were, for the sake of saving
the souls of thousands of pagans. My opinion is that St. Kilian richly
deserved the fate which befell him. And now to a subject much more
interesting to us--viz, the capture of Marienburg.

"I tell you, my friends, it is going to be a warm business; the castle
is considered impregnable, and is strong by nature as well as art, and
Captain Keller is said to be a stout and brave soldier. He has 1000 men
in the garrison, and all the monks who were in the town have gone up and
turned soldiers. But if the task is a hard one the reward will be rich;
for as the Imperialists believe the place cannot be taken, the treasures
of all the country round are stored up there. And I can tell you more,
in the cellars are sixty gigantic tuns of stone, the smallest of which
holds twenty-five wagon loads of wine, and they say some of it is a
hundred years old. With glory and treasure and good wine to be won we
will outdo ourselves tomorrow; and you may be sure that the brunt of the
affair will fall upon the Scots."

"Well, there is one satisfaction," said Nigel Graheme--who after Leipzig
had been promoted to the rank of major-