As the flame arose and the wood crackled, he chanted the Catholic
burial prayer, "Jesu, Son of David, have mercy upon me." From the
west a gentle breeze was blowing, and a gust dashed the smoke and
sparks in his face. At the words "Who was born of the Virgin Mary"
he ceased; his lips moved faintly in silent prayer; and a few
moments later the martyr breathed no more. At last the cruel fire
died down, and the soldiers wrenched his remains from the post,
hacked his skull in pieces, and ground his bones to powder. As they
prodded about among the glowing embers to see how much of Hus was
left, they found, to their surprise, that his heart was still
unburned. One fixed it on the point of his spear, thrust it back
into the fire, and watched it frizzle away; and finally, by the
Marshal's orders, they gathered all the ashes together, and tossed
them into the Rhine.

He had died, says a Catholic writer, for the noblest of all causes.
He had died for the faith which he believed to be true.




CHAPTER III.

THE WELTER, 1415-1434.

The excitement in Bohemia was intense. As the ashes of Hus floated
down the Rhine, the news of his death spread over the civilized
world, and in every Bohemian town and hamlet the people felt that
their greatest man had been unjustly murdered. He had become the
national hero and the national saint, and now the people swore to