and never did they disavow their own individualism in presence of the best leader in the best cause. Only two men have succeeded in combining the enthusiasm and the self-forgetfulness of the Bohemians; and those two had not arisen when the fate of the Lord Zawis’ castles depended on unanimity.
Cohesiveness as a nation had not yet been established among them. They were still subjects of a dynasty, and their habits of thought corresponded to that condition.
Much discussion, some dissension, left the chief garrisons undecided. The bolder spirits under Witek, Wok, Drda, resolved to defy their foes; and for this purpose they selected Witek’s fortress of Hluboka, where his personal authority commanded absolute discipline, as the scene of their final challenge.
At this juncture Solomon arrived and learned the condition of affairs. He at once volunteered his services as mediator before the court at Prague.
Through some mysterious channel Duke Nicolas acquired intimate information of the internal status at Fürstenberg. He learned its provisions, its garrisons, its divided sentiment, the names of the visitors, and their expressed abhorrence of his treachery. The king and queen evoked little but a sentiment of contempt, as being merely the ignorant dupes of crafty councilors. But Nicolas had been brought up a Bohemian in Bohemia. He had not, however, received intimation of the arrival there of Solomon, and of Lord Boppo and Prokop.
