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When this burglarious, larcenons felony
Appears to have been committed.
Fritz. There's another-

The stranger

Idenst. The Hungarian?
Fritz. He who help'd

To fish the Baron from the Oder.

Idenst. Not

All gipsies, and ill-clothed and sallow people.

Prisoners we'll have at least, if not the
culprit ;

And for the Baron's gold-if 'tis not found,
At least he shall have the full satisfaction
Of melting twice its substance in the raising
The ghost of this rouleau. Here's alchymy

Unlikely. But, hold-might it not have been For your Lord's losses!
One of the suite?

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Fritz. He hath found a better.
Idenst. Where?

Fritz. In a most immense inheritance. The late Count Siegendorf, his distant kinsman,

Is dead near Prague, in his castle, and my
Lord

Is on his way to take possession.

Idenst. Was there no heir?

Fritz. Oh, yes; but he has disappear'd Long from the world's eye, and perhaps

the world.

A prodigal son, beneath his father's ban
For the last twenty years; for whom his sire
Refused to kill the fatted calf; and, therefore,
If living, he must chew the husks still. But

From steward to scullion, save in the fair The Baron would find means to silence him,

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We scorn it as we do board-wages: then
Had one of our folks done it, he would not
Have been so poor a spirit as to hazard
His neck for one rouleau, but have swoop'd
all;

Also the cabinet, if portable.

Idenst. There is some sense in that-
Fritz. No, Sir; be sure

'Twas none of our corps; but some petty,
trivial

Picker and stealer, without art or genius.
The only question is - Who else could have
Access, save the Hungarian and yourself?
Idenst. You don't mean me?
Fritz. No, Sir; I honour more
Your talents-

Idenst. And my principles, I hope.
Fritz. Of course. But to the point:

What's to be done?

Idenst. Nothing-but there's a good deal to be said.

We'll offer a reward; move heaven and earth,

Were he to re-appear: he's politic,
And has much influence with a certain
court.

Idenst. He's fortunate.

Fritz. "Tis true, there is a grandson, Whom the late Count reclaim'd from his son's hands,

And educated as his heir; but then
His birth is doubtful.

Idenst. How so?
Fritz. His sire made

A left-hand,love,imprudent sort of marriage,
With an Italian exile's dark-eyed daughter:
Noble, they say, too; but no match for such
A house as Siegendorf's. The grandsire ill
Could brook the alliance; and could neer

be brought

To see the parents, though he took the son.
Idenst. If he's a lad of mettle, he may yet
Dispute your claim, and weave a web that

may

Puzzle your Baron to unravel.

Fritz. Why,

For mettle, he has quite enough; they say,
He forms a happy mixture of his sire
And grandsire's qualities,-impetuous as
The former, and deep as the latter; but
The strangest is, that he too disappear'd
Some months ago.

Idenst. The devil he did!
Fritz. Why, yes;

It must have been at his suggestion, at

And the police (though there's nonc nearer | An hour so critical as was the eve

than

Frankfort); post notices in manuscript
(For we've no printer); and set by my clerk
To read them (for few can, save he and I).
We'll send out villains to strip beggars, and
Search empty pockets; also, to arrest

Of the old man's death, whose heart was
broken by it.

Idenst. Was there no cause assign'd?
Fritz. Plenty, no doubt,

And none perhaps the true one. Some averr'd
It was to seek his parents; some, becaus

The old man held his spirit in so strictly | Would look into the fiery eyes of war, (But that could scarce be, for he doted on As ardently for glory as you dared An obscure death to save an unknown

him);

A third believed he wish'd to serve in war, But peace being made soon after his departure,

He might have since return'd, were that the motive;

A fourth set charitably have surmised, As there was something strange and mystic in him,

That in the wild exuberance of his nature, He had join'd the black bands, who lay waste Lusatia,

The mountains of Bohemia and Silesia, Since the last years of war had dwindled into

A kind of general condottiero-system
Of bandit-warfare; each troop with its chief,
And all against mankind.

Idenst. That cannot be.

A young heir, bred to wealth and luxury, To risk his life and honours with disbanded - Soldiers and desperadoes!

Fritz. Heaven best knows!

But there are human natures so allied
Unto the savage love of enterprise,
That they will seek for peril as a pleasure.
I've heard that nothing can reclaim your
Indian,

» Or tame the tiger, though their infancy
Were fed on milk and honey. After all,
Your Wallenstein, your Tilly and Gustavus,
Your Bannier, and your Torstenson and
Weimar,

Were but the same thing upon a grand scale; And now that they are gone, and peace proclaim'd,

They who would follow the same pastime

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stranger

In an as perilous but opposite element. You are made for the service: I have served; Have rank by birth and soldiership, and friends,

Who shall be yours. Tis true, this pause of peace

Favours such views at present scantily; But 'twill not last, men's spirits are too stirring;

And, after thirty years of conflict, peace Is but a petty war, as the times show us In every forest, or a mere arm'd truce. War will reclaim his own; and, in the meantime,

You might obtain a post, which would

ensure

A higher soon, and, by my influence, fail not To rise. I speak of Brandenburgh, wherein I stand well with the elector; in Bohemia, Like you, I am a stranger, and we are now Upon its frontier.

Ulric. You perceive my garb

Is Saxon, and of course my service due
To my own sovereign. If I must decline
Your offer, 'tis with the same feeling which
Induced it.

Stralenh. Why, this is mere usury!
I owe my life to you, and you refuse
The acquittance of the interest of the debt,
To heap more obligations on me, till
I bow beneath them.

Ulric. You shall say so when I claim the payment.

Stralenh. Well, Sir, since you will notYou are nobly born?

Ulric. I've heard my kinsmen say so. Stralenh. Your actions show it. Might I ask your name?

Ulric. Ulric.

Stralenh. Your house's?
Ulric. When I'm worthy of it,
I'll answer you.

Stralenh. (aside) Most probably an
Austrian,

Whom these unsettled times forbid to boast His lineage on these wild and dangerous frontiers,

Where the name of his country is abhorr'd. [Aloud to Fritz and Idenstein. So, Sirs! how have ye sped in your researches?

I

Idenst. Indifferent well, your Excellency.

Stralenh. Then

am to deem the plunderer is caught? Idenst. Humph!-not exactly.

Stralenh. Or at least suspected?

Idenst. Oh! for that matter, very much suspected.

Stralenh. Who may he be?

Idenst. Why, don't you know, my Lord? Stralenh. How should I? I was fast asleep.

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Exactly like the rest, or rather better:
Tis only at the bar and in the dungeon
That wise men know your felon by his
features;

But I'll engage, that if seen there but once,
Whether he be found criminal or no,
His face shall be so.

Stralenh. (to Fritz) Prithee, Fritz, in-
form me

What hath been done to trace the fellow? Fritz. Faith!

My Lord, not much as yet, except conjecture. Stralenh. Besides the loss (which, I must own, affects me

Just now materially), I needs would find
The villain out of public motives; for
So dexterous a spoiler, who could creep
Through my attendants, and so many
peopled

And lighted chambers, on my rest, and snatch

The gold before my scarce closed eyes, would soon

Leave bare your borough, Sir Intendant! Idenst. True;

If there were aught to carry off, my Lord. Ulric. What is all this?

Stralenh. You join'd us but this morning, And have not heard that I was robb'd last night.

Ulric. Some rumour of it reach'd me as
I pass'd

The outer chambers of the palace, but
I know no further.

Stralenh. It is a strange business:
The intendant can inform you of the facts.
Idenst. Most willingly. You see-
Stralenh. (impatiently). Defer your tale,
Till certain of the hearer's patience.
Idenst. That

Can only be approved by proofs. You see Stralenh. (again interrupting him, and addressing Ulric)

In short, I was asleep upon a chair,
My cabinet before me, with some gold
Upon it (more than I much like to lose,
Though in part only): some ingenious person
Contrived to glide through all my own
attendants,

Besides those of the place, and bore away
An hundred golden ducats, which to find
I would be fain, and there's an end; perhaps
You (as I still am rather faint) would add
To yesterday's great obligation this,

Though slighter, yet not slight, to aid these men

(Who seem but lukewarm) in recovering it? Ulric. Most willingly, and without loss of time

(To Idenstein). Come hither, Mynheer! Idenst. But so much haste bodes Right little speed, and—

Ulric. Standing motionless, None; so let's march, we'll talk as we go on, Idenst. But

Ulric. Show the spot, and then I'll answer you.

Fritz. I will, Sir, with his Excellency's leave.

Stralenh. Do so, and take yon old ase with you.

Fritz. Hence!

Ulric. Come on, old oracle, expound thy riddle!

[Exit with Idenstein and Fritz. Stralenh. solus) A stalwart, active, soldier-looking stripling,

Handsome as Hercules ere his first labour,
And with a brow of thought beyond his years
When in repose, till his eye kindles up
In answering yours. I wish I could engage
him;

I have need of some such spirits near me now,
For this inheritance is worth a struggle.
And though I am not the man to yield
without one,

Neither are they who now rise up between me And my desire. The boy, they say, 's a bold one;

But he hath play'd the truant in some hour
Of freakish folly, leaving fortune to
Champion his claims: that's well.
father, whom

The

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harm done,

His real estate and name; and there's no | His sixteen quarterings, for as much fresh air As would have filled a bladder, while he lay Gurgling and foaming half-way through the window

Should he prove other than I deem. This

robbery

(Save for the actual loss), is lucky also: He's poor, and that's suspicious he's unknown,

And that's defenceless,-true, we have no proofs

Of guilt, but what hath he of innocence? Were he a man indifferent to my prospects, In other bearings, I should rather lay The inculpation on the Hungarian, who Hath something which I like not ; and alone Of all around, except the intendant, and The Prince's household and my own, had ingress

Familiar to the chamber.

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In my return.

Stralenh. You!--Why?

Gabor. I went at day-break,

To watch for the abatement of the river, As being anxious to resume my journey. Your messengers were allcheck'd likemyself; And, seeing the case hopeless, I await The current's pleasure.

Stralenh. Would the dogs were in it! Why did they not, at least, attempt the passage?

I order'd this at all risks.

Gabor. Could you order

The Oder to divide, as Moses did

The Red Sea (scarcely redder than the flood Of the swoln stream), and be obey'd, perhaps They might have ventured.

Stralenh. I must see to it : The knaves! the slaves!- but they shall

smart for this. [Exit Stralenheim. Gabor. (solus) There goes my noble, feudal, self-will'd baron! Epitome of what brave chivalry The preux chevaliers of the good old times Have left us. Yesterday he would have given His lands (if he hath any), and, still dearer,

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Enter JOSEPHINE and ULRIO. Josephine. Stand back, and let me look on thee again!

My Ulric!- my beloved!-can it be-
After twelve years?

Ulric. My dearest mother!
Josephine. Yes!

My dream is realized-how beautiful How more than all I sigh'd for! Heaven receive

A mother's thanks!-a mother's tears of joy! This is indeed thy work!—At such an hour, too,

He comes not only as a son but saviour.

Ulric. If such joy await me,it must double
What I now feel, and lighten, from my heart,
A part of the long debt of duty, not
Of love (for that was ne'er withheld) —
forgive me!

This long delay was not my fault.
Josephine. I know it,

But cannot think of sorrow now, and doubt
If I e'er felt it, 'tis so dazzled from
My memory, by this oblivious transport!—
My son!

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Ulric (kneeling). For twelve long years,
my father!
Werner. Oh, God!
Josephine. He faints!

Werner. No-1 am better now-
Ulric! (Embraces him.)

Ulric. My father, Siegendorf!
Werner. (starting) Hush! boy--
The walls may hear that name!
Ulric. What then?
Werner. Why, then-

But we will talk of that anon. Remember,
I must be known here but as Werner. Come!
Come to my arms again!Why,thou lookst all
I should have been, and was not. Josephine!

Will wait for even the show of that authority Suspicion is a heavy armour, and
Which is to overshadow usurpation?

That he suspects me 's certain. I'm alone;
He with a numerous train; I weak; he
strong

In gold, in numbers, rank, authority;
I nameless, or involving in my name
Destruction, till I reach my own domain;
He full-blown with his titles, which impose
Still further on these obscure petty burghers
Than they could do elsewhere. Hark! nearer
still!

I'll to the secret passage, which communi

cates

With the No! all is silent-'twas my fancy!

Still as the breathless interval between
The flash and thunder:-I must hush my
soul

Amidst its perils. Yet I will retire,
To see if still be unexplored the passage
I wot of: it will serve me as a den
Of secrecy for some hours, at the worst.
[Werner draws a pannel and exit,
closing it after him.

Enter GABOR and JOSEPHINE.
Gabor. Where is your husband?
Josephine. Here, I thought: I left him
Not long since in his chamber. But these

rooms

Have many outlets, and he may be gone
To accompany the intendant.

Gabor. Baron Stralenheim
Put many questions to the intendant on
The subject of your lord, and, to be plain,
I have my doubts if he means well.
Josephine. Alas!

What can there be in common with the
proud

And wealthy Baron and the unknown
Werner?

Gabor. That you know best.
Josephine. Or, if it were so, how
Come you to stir yourself in his behalf,
Rather than that of him whose life you

saved?

Gabor. I help'd to save him, as in peril;
but

I did not pledge myself to serve him in
Oppression. I know well these nobles, and
Their thousand modes of trampling on the
poor.

I have proved them; and my spirit boils
up when

I find them practising against the weak :—
This is my only motive.

Josephine. It would be

Not easy to persuade my consort of
Your good intentions.

Gabor. Is he so suspicious?
Josephine. He was not once; but time
and troubles have
Made him what you beheld.
Gabor. I'm sorry for it.

With its own weight impedes more than
protects.

Good night. I trust to meet with him at
daybreak.
[Exit Gabor.
Re-enter IDENSTEIN and some peasants.
JOSEPHINE retires up the Hall.

First Peasant. But if I'm drown'd?
Idenst. Why, you'll be well paid for't,
And have risk'd more than drowning for as
much,

I doubt not.

Second Peasant. But our wives and families?

Idenst. Cannot be worse off than they are, and may

Be better.

Third Peasant. I have neither, and will venture.

Idenst. That's right. A gallant carle,
and fit to be

A soldier. I'll promote you to the ranks
In the Prince's body-guard-if you succeed;
And you shall have besides in sparkling coin
Two thalers.

Third Peasant. No more?

Idenst. Out upon your avarice!
Can that low vice alloy so much ambition?
I tell thee, fellow, that two thalers in
Small change will subdivide into a treasure.
Do not five hundred thousand heroes daily
Risk lives and souls for the tithe of one
thaler?

When had you half the sum?

Third Peasant. Never-but ne'er
The less I must have three.
Idenst. Have you forgot
Whose vassal you were born, knave?
Third Peasant. No-the Prince's,
And not the stranger's.

Idenst. Sirrah! in the Prince's
Absence, I'm sovereign; and the Baron is
My intimate connexion :-"Cousin Idenstein!
(Quoth he) you'll order out a dozen villains."
And so, you villains, troop—march—march,
I say:

And if a single dog's ear of this packet
Be sprinkled by the Oder-look to it!
For every page of paper, shall a hide
Of yours be stretch'd as parchment on a
drum,

Like Ziska's skin, to beat alarm to all
Refractory vassals, who can not effect
Impossibilities-Away, ye earth-worms!

[Exit, driving them out.
Josephine (coming forward). I fain would
shun these scenes, too oft repeated,
Of feudal tyranny o'er petty victims;
I cannot aid, and will not witness such.
Even here, in this remote, unnamed, dull

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