ed a goblet, and striking his fist upon
the table, exclaimed, 'a curse upon this whole expedition!'

'Jesus Maria!' cried Bibran and Lamormaine, crossing themselves, while
Dohna earnestly inquired why he uttered such an imprecation.

'Because so much baseness, sir count,' fiercely answered Goes, 'mingles
with the performance of our great and holy duty. Our people plainly
show, that they are more anxious about the gold than the souls of the
heretics. Every thief in the regiment will become a rich man in
Schweidnitz. In the end it will become a disgrace to be called a
Lichtensteiner, and I have a hundred times regretted, that in my pious
zeal I opened a path for the entrance of these vagabonds into the poor
city.'

'It could be wished,' interposed father Lamormaine, in a conciliatory
manner, 'that the business had been undertaken in a less public and
violent manner, and I have heretofore expressed the same opinion to the
count. This open and public assault upon these heretics will serve as a
warning to the others, and enable them to rally in their own defence.
By rallying their forces they will learn their strength; their courage
and obstinacy will increase, all who suffer for their erroneous belief
will be considered martyrs, and in the end they will make many
converts. We should have operated cautiously and quietly; commencing
with them softly, we should have increased the pressure by slow
degrees, and should have thus avoided every open scandal. A constant
dropping will wear a stone, and I am confident that we could easily and
quietly have converted all Silesia in the course of a year.'

'Yes, that is the way with you gentlemen with shaven crowns,' cried the
count with a savage laugh. 'You step very softly by nature, but when
you have an object to attain, you also bind _felt_ upon the soles of
your shoes. Not so with me. My motto is, 'bend or break,--and so far I
have found it a very good one. I can boast of having accomplished more
than the apostle Peter. He indeed, upon one occasion, converted three
thousand souls by preaching a sermon: but I have many times converted a
greater number in a day, and that too without preaching. One year for
Silesia! Give me soldiers enough, and I will convert all Europe for you
in a year, by my method.'

'What sort of a conversion would it be?' asked Lamormaine, shrugging
his shoulders. At that moment Dohna's adjutant entered the room.

'The rich Heinze,' whispered he to his chie