o so, and the King,
cursing his son, turns away, to bury his grief in the wilderness.
Theoda follows him into exile, while Teut joins in the solemn
procession to Moloch's temple.

Hiram is triumphant; but suddenly cries of woe are heard. Teut's
mother, in despair at her son's apostasy, has precipitated herself from
the rocks into the sea, and filled her son's heart with bitter sorrow
and pangs of remorse.

Hiram however succeeds once more in recalling him to his allegiance to
Moloch by telling him sternly, that all human feelings must be
sacrificed to the god.

{494}

When the people return, he orders them to cut down the sacred yew, the
timber of which is to be used for building the first ships known in
Thule, and that are destined for the war against the Romans.--

The third Act takes place some months later. A bountiful harvest has
been gathered in. With a charming chorus and dance the reapers
celebrate their first harvest festival.

Hiram's power has grown immensely; he has fostered the people's
superstitious dread by forbidding them to approach the temple of Moloch
at night, as death would be the inevitable fate of any mortal, wo
should dare to be present at Hiram's nightly converse with the god.

Hiram hails the reapers and after having sacrificed corn and bread to
the idol, he describes to his breathless hearers all the wonders of
Italy. They decide to sail on the following morning,--the ships lying
ready at anchor,--to conquer the greatest city of the world.

After they have left Wolf appears with some warriors. Their time of
revenge is near; Wolf delivers the King's shoulder belt to one of the
soldiers and orders him to rouse the country with the cry "Thule is in
danger", and to summon all the King's loyal subjects against Hiram and
Teut the apostate.

Night sets in and the priests of Moloch march forth from the temple,
warning everybody away from its door.--

{495}

Teut keeping guard sits before it in deep thought. Suddenly he hears a
well known voice. A roe appears and springs into the grove of the
temple followed by Theoda, who with her spear leaps lightly over the
wall.

For a moment Teut stands spell bound, but remembering the awful warning
he darts after her.

When Theoda emerges from the grove alone, she suddenly recognizes the
fatal place. Seeing Teut she implores him to save her from death. In
his first mad impulse he is about to stab both himself and her, but his
love rest