Page:Libussa, Duchess of Bohemia; also, The Man Without a Name.djvu/79

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Libussa.
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remark that the person whom the gods have chosen for your prince will, at the time when you approach him, be taking his meat upon an iron table, in the open air, and in the shadow of a solitary tree. To him you must do homage, and invest him with the insignia of princely dignity.”

She thereupon dismissed the assembly with a serene countenance, though a little abashed, as brides generally are when they expect the bridegroom. Her speech astonished every one; and the prophetic spirit which appeared in it produced a sensation similar to that of an oracle, to which people give a blind belief, and only thinkers comment upon.

The deputies were chosen; the noble courser was ready, bridled and adorned with eastern splendour, as if it were destined to carry the sultan to the mosque. The cavalcade moved on, amid the loud acclamations of a great concourse of people, and the white horse trotted proudly ahead. But the train was soon lost sight of, and the spectators saw nothing but a cloud of dust in the distance; for the fiery horse, as soon as it came into the country, took a better speed, and began to run as if it were an English racer, so that the company of the deputies had