"Well, listen to me, Mr. Wenzel. What would you do if I should set you at liberty?"
"At liberty?" asked the man, almost in terror. "At liberty!" he shouted then, loudly and jubilantly.
"Yes, sir, at liberty! But you must do something in order to deserve it. Will you do so?"
"I will do every thing, every thing I am ordered to do, if I am to be set at liberty, if I am allowed to see my wife and my little girls again!" shouted Wenzel, trembling with delight.
"Suppose I should order you again to become a popular orator and to stir up a nice little riot?"
The gleam of joy disappeared again from Wenzel's eyes, and he looked almost reproachfully at the minister. "You want to mock me," he said, mournfully.
"No, my man, I am in good earnest. You shall be a popular orator and leader all day to-morrow. Are you ready for it?"
"No, I have nothing to do with such matters now. I am a good and obedient subject, and only ask to be allowed to live peaceably and quietly."
Thugut burst into a loud laugh. "Ah, you take me for a tempter, Mr. Wenzel," he said; "but I am in earnest; and if you will get up for me a splendid riot to-morrow, I will set you at liberty and no one shall interfere with you as long as you render yourself worthy of my indulgence by obedience and an exemplary life. Tell me, therefore, do you want to be released and serve me?"
Wenzel looked inquiringly and with intense suspense at the cold, hard features of the minister, and then, when he had satisfied himself that he had really been in earnest, he rushed forward and kneeling down before Thugut, he shouted, "I will serve you like a slave, like a dog! only set me at liberty, only give me back to my children and my--"
A flood of tears burst from his eyes and choked his voice.
"All right, sir, I believe you," said Thugut, gravely. "Now rise and listen to what I have to say to you. You will be released tonight.
Then go and see your old friends and tell them you had made a journey, and the French had arrested you on the road and kept you imprisoned until you were released in consequence of the measures the Austrian government had taken in your favor. If you dare to utter a single word about your imprisonment here, you are lost, for I hear and learn every thing, and have my spies everywhere, whom I shall instruct to watch you closely."
"I shall assuredly do whatever you want," exclaimed Wenzel, trembling.
"You shall complain to your friends about the harsh and cruel treatment you had to suffer at the hands of the French. You shall speak as a good patriot ought to speak."
"Yes, I shall speak like a good patriot," said Wenzel, ardently.
"To-morrow you will be with all your friends on the street in order to attend the festival of the volunteers, and to look at the procession. Do you know where the French ambassador lives?"
"Yes, on the Kohlmarkt."
"You shall do your best to draw the people thither. The French ambassador will display the banner of the French Republic on his balcony to-morrow. Can the people of Vienna tolerate that?"
"No, the people of Vienna cannot tolerate that!" shouted Wenzel.
"You will repeat that to every one--you will exasperate the people against the banner and against the ambassador--you and the crowd will demand loudly and impetuously that the banner be removed."
"But suppose the ambassador should refuse to remove it?"
"Then you will forcibly enter the house and remove the banner yourselves."
"But if they shut the doors?"
"Then you will break them open, just as you did here a year ago. And besides, are there no windows--are there no stones, by means of which you may open the windows so nicely?"
"You give us permission to do all that?"
"I order you to do all that. Now listen to your special commission.
A few of my agents will always accompany you. As soon as you are in the ambassador's house, repair at once to his excellency's study.
Pick up all the papers you will find there, and bring them to me. As soon as I see you enter my room with these papers, you will be free forever!"
"I shall bring you the papers," exclaimed Wenzel, with a radiant face.
"But listen. Betray to a living soul but one single word of what I have said to you, and not only yourself, but your wife and your children will also be lost! My arm is strong enough to catch all of you, and my ear is large enough to hear every thing."
"I shall be as silent as the grave," protested Wenzel, eagerly, "I shall only raise my voice in order to speak to the people about our beloved and wise Minister Thugut, and about the miserable, over- bearing French, who dare to hang out publicly the banner of their bloody republic here in our imperial city, in our magnificent Vienna!"
"That is the right talk, my man! Now go and reflect about every thing I have told you, and to-morrow morning call on me again; I shall then give you further instructions. Now go--go to your wife, and keep the whole matter secret." "Hurrah! long live our noble prime minister!" shouted Wenzel, jubilantly. "Hurrah, hurrah, I am free!" And he reeled away like a drunken man.
Thugut looked after him with a smile of profound contempt.
"That is the best way to educate the people," he said. "Truly, if we could only send every Austrian for one year to the penitentiary, we would have none but good and obedient subjects!"