turret, the only banner
of the Cross now raised on earth; the symbol of God's mystic love alone
floats high enough to pierce into the unclouded blue of the stormy sky!

The white and sleeping mist gradually awakens; the sighing and howling
of the bleak winds are heard above; the vapor palpitates in the first
rays of the coming sun, and a drifting ice-floe of curdling clouds
drives wildly o'er this quickening sea of fog and foam.

Other voices, human voices, mingle with the wails and sobs of the
passing storm: borne upward on the ghastly waves of the spectral cloud
sea, they break against the walls of the granite castle.

The pallid shroud of mist is suddenly riven, and through the walls of
the chasm torn through the heart of the white foam, glimpses are seen of
the abyss below.

How dark it looks in the depths! A sea of heads in wild commotion surges
there; the valley swarms with human life as ocean's slimy sands with
creeping things that writhe and sting.

The sun! the sun! He mounts above the rocky peaks; the pallid vapors
rise in blood and melt in gold, and as they roll and lift into the sky,
more and more distinctly grow upon the view the threatening swarms of
men still gathering below.

The quivering mist rolls into crimson clouds and scales the craggy
cliffs; it dies softly away into the blue depths of the infinite sky.
The valley glitters like a sea of light, throws back the dewy sunshine
in a dazzling glare, for every hand is armed with sharp and sparkling
blades and points of steel--and millions are seen pouring into its
depths, numberless as they will pour into the vale of the Last Judgment.

* * * * *

A cathedral church in the castle of the Holy Trinity.

Lords, senators, dignitaries are seen seated on either side, each
under the banner of a king or knight. Bands of nobles stand behind
the banners. The Archbishop is in front of the high altar, a choir
of stoled Priests kneel behind and around it. The Man appears,
pauses a few moments on the threshold of the church, then advances
slowly up the aisle to the Archbishop, holding a banner in his
hand.

CHORUS OF PRIESTS. O God of our fathers! we, Thy last priests, pray in
the last church of Thy Son now standing upon earth for the faith of our
ancestors! Deliver us from our enemies, O Lord our God!

FIRST COUNT. See with what pride Count Henry regards us.

SECOND COUNT. As if the