Page:Magdalen by J S Machar.pdf/104

 past and present breathe majestically upon you.

Here the lords of Krajek once held sway over the Picards, and pious songs then hovered over the treetops in the park. From that tower pensive Rudolf, the emperor, used to watch the course of the stars with master Tycho. Banner sat here in judgment,—the people to this time remember those Swedish scourges and his minions. The duchess of Berry had had her gallant adventures in the park during moonlit nights,—and the patrician daughters up to this day like to visit those places, where they blush and sigh.

The park was thrown open to the town. The owner of the castle lived far away. His superintendent, a stolid German, dwelt