a
profound silence, weary of his guests, and fearing, half unconsciously, to
remain alone. The count and his companion tried various subjects of
conversation, but could interest him in nothing. At length Brahe, who
supposed that sorrow for the queen was the cause of his depression, said
with a deep sigh, and pointing to her portrait, which hung in the room,

"What a likeness that is! How truly it gives the expression, at once so
gentle and so dignified!"

"Nonsense!" said the king, angrily, "the portrait is far too flattering;
the queen was decidedly plain."

Then, vexed at his unkind words, he rose and walked up and down the room,
to hide an emotion at which he blushed. After a few minutes he stopped
before the window looking into the court; the night was black, and the
moon in her first quarter.

The palace where the kings of Sweden now reside was not completed, and
Charles XI. who commenced it, inhabited the old palace, situated on the
Ritzholm, facing Lake Modu. It is a large building in the form of a
horseshoe: the king's private apartments were in one of the extremities;
opposite was the great hall where the States assembled to receive
communications from the crown. The windows of that hall suddenly appeared
illuminated. The king was startled, but at first supposed that a servant
with a light was passing through; but then, that hall was never opened
except on state occasions, and the light was too brilliant to be caused by
a single lamp. It then occurred to him that it must be a conflagration;
but there was no smoke, and the glass was not broken; it had rather the
appearance of an illumination. Brahe's attention being called to it, he
proposed sending one of the pages to ascertain the cause of the light, but
the king stopped him, saying, he would go himself to the hall. He left the
room, followed by the count and doctor, with lighted torches. Baumgarten
called the man who had charge of the keys, and ordered him, in the king's
name, to open the doors of the great hall. Great was his surprise at this
unexpected command. He dressed himself quickly, and came to the king with
his bunch of keys. He opened the first door of a gallery which served as
an antechamber to the hall. The king entered, and what was his amazement
at finding the walls hung with black.

"What is the meaning of this?" asked he.

The man replied, that he did not know what to make of it, adding, "When
the gallery was last opened, there was certa