being great! I am fifty-eight and you are seventy. And look; I
am a broken twig, and you tower above me like an ancient oak,
and as strong." To the chancellor he said: "And what is the
budget?"

"Sire, it is fairly quiet in the lower town. The native troops
have been paid, and all signs of discontent abated. The duchess
can do nothing but replace von Rumpf. The Marshal is a straw in
the wind; von Wallenstein and Mollendorf, I hold a sword above
their necks. Nearly half the Diet is with us. There has been
some strange meddling in the customs. Englishmen have brought me
complaints, through the British legation, regarding such
inspections as were never before heard of in a country at peace.
I consulted the chief inspector and he affirmed the matter. He
was under orders of the minister of police. It appears to me
that a certain Englishman is to be kept out of the country for
reasons well known to us. I have suspended police power over the
customs. Ah, Sire, if you would but agree with Monseigneur to
dismiss the cabinet."

"It is too late," said the king.

"There is only one flaw," continued the chancellor. "This flaw
is Colonel Beauvais, chief in command of the cuirassiers, who in
authority stands between the Marshal and General Kronau. I fear
him. Why? Instinct. He is too well informed of my projects for
one thing; he laughs when I suggest in military affairs. Who is
he? A Frenchman, if one may trust to a name; an Austrian, if one
may trust from whence he came, recommended by the premier
himself. He entered the cuirassiers as a Captain. You yourself,