“Surely! Ferdinand went with high hopes to the assembly of the Electors at Regensburg. He intended to crush out the rights of the Protestants completely, besides arranging for the choice of his son as his successor. It turned out differently from what he expected. There was a storm of complaints on all sides, and in the midst of the excitement Maximilian of Bavaria appeared upon the scene. He satirically charged that Wallenstein was only the leader of the imperial halberdiers whom he had collected in Germany at an exorbitant price. Was it not most atrocious, he said, that the Electors, the pillars of the empire, should be made subordinate to the imperial army commanders, especially in Brandenburg, where this had been the case for years?” “This much I know,” said the Preceptor, “his expenses are not to be reckoned by thousands or hundreds of thousands, but by millions.” “Twenty million gulden,” said Burgsdorf, “and perhaps more. Everything combined to force Ferdinand to displace Wallenstein. Many teeth chattered at the thought, ‘Will the mighty Wallenstein give up his sword without resistance?’ He has done it. They say that the stars told him he must obey the Emperor’s behest.” Leuchtmar interrupted: “May he not contemplate taking it up again? Then he will make more extortionate demands than the former ones.” “Very possible,” replied Burgsdorf. “He has a penetrating foresight.” The Preceptor now asked: “Was the arrival of Gustavus Adolphus known at that time to Regensburg?” “No,” replied Burgsdorf; “otherwise the Emperor would have had most substantial reasons for deferring the dismissal of his favorite, who has now retired to his kennel in Prague. But who can tell what is going on now in his brains? What may they be hatching—cruel scenes of blood and revenge? But let us drop this fiend and speak of that brilliant hero, Gustavus Adolphus! It seems to me that the lightning of his sword is already flashing all over Germany. He will measure himself with Tilly, who is now in supreme command of the Catholic army.” “Truly, this news,” said Leuchtmar, “is soul-inspiring. I feel already as if a new order of things had come. But how are affairs at the court? Above all, what does Schwarzenberg say?”