flow of blood from the veins which had been shot through would have proved fatal before the wound could be dressed.  The Prince, after the first shock, had recovered full possession of his senses, and believing himself to be dying, he expressed the most unaffected sympathy for the condition in which the Duke of Anjou would be placed by his death.  “Alas, poor Prince!” he cried frequently; “alas, what troubles will now beset thee!” The surgeons enjoined and implored his silence, as speaking might cause the wound to prove immediately fatal.  He complied, but wrote incessantly.  As long as his heart could beat, it was impossible for him not to be occupied with his country.

Lion Petit, a trusty Captain of the city guard, forced his way to the chamber, it being, absolutely necessary, said the honest burgher, for him to see with his own eyes that the Prince was living, and report the fact to the townspeople otherwise, so great was the excitement, it was impossible to say what might be the result.  It was in fact believed that the Prince was already dead, and it was whispered that he had been assassinated by the order of Anjou.  This horrible suspicion was flying through the city, and producing a fierce exasperation, as men talked of the murder of Coligny, of Saint Bartholomew, of the murderous propensities of the Valois race.  Had the attempt taken place in the evening, at the birth-night banquet of Anjou, a horrible massacre would have been the inevitable issue.  As it happened, however, circumstances soon, occurred to remove, the suspicion from the French, and to indicate the origin of the crime.  Meantime, Captain Petit was urged by the Prince, in writing, to go forth instantly with the news that he yet survived, but to implore the people, in case God should call him to Himself, to hold him in kind remembrance, to make no tumult, and to serve the Duke obediently and faithfully.

Meantime, the youthful Maurice of Nassau was giving proof of that cool determination which already marked his character.  It was natural that a boy of fifteen should be somewhat agitated at seeing such a father shot through the head before his eyes.  His situation was rendered doubly grave by the suspicions which were instantly engendered as to the probable origin of the attempt.  It was already whispered in the hall that the gentlemen who had been so officious in slaying the assassin, were his accomplices, who—­upon the principle that dead men would tell no tales—­were disposed, now that the deed was done, to preclude inconvenient revelations as to their own share in the crime.  Maurice, notwithstanding these causes for perturbation, and despite his grief at his father’s probable death, remained steadily by the body of the murderer.  He was determined, if possible, to unravel the plot, and he waited to possess himself of all papers and other articles which might be found upon the person of the deceased.