"Amen!" said Herzberg, in a firm voice. "Last evening, when the shades of death were already gathering on his brow, his majesty King Frederick sent for me, and whispered these words, in faltering tones: 'On the morrow you will present my salutations to my successor beside my body.' Your majesty, King Frederick greets you through me!" Frederick William inclined his head in response. "You were with the king when he died, were you not, my dear Sello?" "Yes, sire, I was." "At what hour did the king die?" Sello raised his hand, and pointed solemnly to the large clock which stood against the wall on a marble stand. "Your majesty, the hands of that clock stopped the moment the king breathed his last sigh. Sire, behold the first monument erected to the memory of our great king!" Frederick William looked both astonished and pleased. "This is truly wonderful," he observed, in an undertone. "They were then right! We are surrounded by wonders. The hand of a mysterious agency is visible in all things!" He walked up to the clock, and a feeling of awe crept over him as he regarded the dial. To him the hands were ghostly fingers pointing to the moment at which the king had died. "Twenty minutes past two," said the king, softly. "Strange, passing strange!" He turned and beckoned to his valet to approach. "Rietz, at what time did I call you last night, when I was awakened by some fearful anxiety?" "It was exactly twenty minutes past two, your majesty! I am certain of it, because you commanded me to consult your watch at the time." "Yes, that was the exact time," murmured the king to himself. "The spirits woke me, that I might greet the new day that was dawning for me." "Le roi est mort! Vive le roi!" The king, who gave enlightenment and freedom of thought to his people, is dead! King Frederick is dead! A shadow darkens the sun of this first morning of the new era. This shadow will soon become a lowering cloud, and night and darkness will sink down over Prussia. "Le roi est mort! Vive le roi!" [Illustration: THE DEAD KING.] Frederick William had been gazing thoughtfully at the clock. With an effort he suddenly aroused himself. The hands of that clock proclaimed the cessation of the old and the beginning of the new era--of his era. He must be prepared to meet its requirements. For the second time he approached the corpse. "Where are the king's decorations?" he demanded of Strützki, the attendant, in whose arms the king had breathed his last. Hastily drying his eyes, Strützki stepped softly to the little cabinet, and opened it. "Leave the others," commanded the king, "and bring me only the ribbon of the Order of the Black Eagle." Strützki speedily returned with the designated order. Holding the broad orange ribbon in his hand, the king now turned to the Minister von Herzberg.