custom of the Court to allow its victim a choice in the manner of his death. It was also a habit of the judges of this Court to sit until the sentence they had pronounced was carried out, and thus there could be no chance of mistake or rescue. No feature of any judge was visible except the eyes through the holes pierced for the purposes of vision in the long black cloaks which completely enveloped their persons. As Wilhelm was brought to a stand before this assemblage, the Freigraf nodded his head and the guards in silence undid the thongs which pinioned together wrists and elbows, leaving the prisoner absolutely unfettered.--This done, the guard retreated backwards to the opposite wall, and Wilhelm stood alone before the seven sinister doomsmen. He expected that his examination, if the Court indulged in any such, would be begun by the Freigraf, but this was not the case. The last man to the left in the row had a small bundle of documents on the table before him. He rose to his feet, bowed low to his brother judges, and then with less deference to the prisoner. He spoke in a voice lacking any trace of loudness, but distinctly heard in every corner of the room because of the intense stillness. There was a sweet persuasiveness in the accents he used, and his sentences resembled those of a lady anxious not to give offence to the person addressed. “Am I right in supposing you to be Wilhelm, lately of Schonburg, but now of Frankfort?” “You are right.” “May I ask if you are a member of the Fehmgerichte?” “I am not. I never heard of it until this afternoon.” “Who was then your informant regarding the order?” “I refuse to answer.” The examiner inclined his head gracefully as if, while regretting the decision of the witness, he nevertheless bowed to it. “Do you acknowledge his lordship the Archbishop of Mayence as your over lord?” “Most assuredly.” “Have you ever been guilty of an act of rebellion or insubordination against his lordship?” “My over-lord, the Archbishop of Mayence, has never preferred a request to me which I have refused.” “Pardon me, I fear I have not stated my proposition with sufficient clearness, and so you may have misunderstood the question. I had in my mind a specific act, and so will enter into further detail. Is it true that in the Wahlzimmer you entered the presence of your over-lord with a drawn sword in your hand, commanding a body of armed men lately outlaws of the Empire, thus intimidating your over-lord in the just exercise of his privileges and rights as an Elector?” “My understanding of the Feudal law,” said Wilhelm, “is that the commands of an over-lord are to be obeyed only in so far as they do not run counter to orders from a still higher authority.”