will deliver
thee, and thou shalt glorify me." Put your trust in the Lord, not in
the Imperialists, and not in your own might. Think who it was that
broke the power of Sennacherib before Jerusalem, when a hundred and
eighty thousand of Israel's foes perished in a single night! The Lord
our God! And His power is not lessened since that day, neither is His
glory dimmed. Three men once sang in the midst of the burning fiery
furnace. Cannot we, too, lift our feeble voices to God where we stand
in the deadly breach? Let "Jesus! Jesus! Jesus!" be our shout of
victory when the foe comes on against us; and let us, ere we part,
chant together the jubilant words, "Jesus lives; I shall live also. O
Death! where is thy sting?"'

So they sang, and their voices sounded far out into the night; they
knelt, and their pastor invoked God's blessing on them for the
approaching battle,--for victory, if so it might be, or for a happy and
joyous entrance into the better land.

CHAPTER XII.

TREACHERY AND DELIVERANCE.

With the exception of babes and very young children, no one in Freiberg
slept that night. All were wakeful and astir. Men stood armed for
battle in their places on the city walls; women and children prayed in
the churches; mothers watched with anxious hearts over slumbering
little ones, not knowing when the dreaded Swedes might burst in to
slaughter all alike.

'Stay with me, my son,' Mistress Juechziger begged of Conrad. 'Do not
let your poor blind mother be left to meet the Swedes alone. At least,
let us die together.'

Conrad obeyed like a dutiful son, though staying in the house to-night
was a task most irksome to his adventurous spirit, which urged him
forth into the busy turmoil where the brave citizens were making ready
to fight for all they held dear.

Juechziger, too, seemed a stranger to peace and quietness of spirit,
though for a very different reason. He was seen first in one place and
then in another, in different parts of the city. At last he hastened
through the streets towards his own house, but took special care to
avoid the churches and the praying people. After entering the
living-room of his home, he moved restlessly about the apartment,
alternately taking up and laying down various trifling objects. At
last, towards ten at night, he started forth with the Swedish
treasure-box under his arm, and did not return.

'Whatever can there be in that box!' said Conrad after a time to