"I have now given them the signal," said he, "and this servile Russian
nobility will rush hither, like fawning hounds, to bow before a new idol
and pay it their venal homage."

The carriage now stopped before the palace of the Duke of Courland, and
with an humble and reverential mien Munnich ascended the stairs to the
brilliant apartments of Biron.

He found the duke alone; absorbed in thought, he was standing at the
window looking down into streets which were henceforth to be subjected
to his sway.

"Your highness is surveying your realm," said Munnich, with a smile.
"Wait but a little, and you will soon see all the great nobility
flocking here to pay you homage. My carriage stops before your door, and
these sharp-scenting hounds now know which way to turn with their abject
adoration."

"Ah," sadly responded Biron, "I dread the coming hour. I have a
misfortune-prophesying heart, and this night, in a dream, I saw myself
in a miserable hut, covered with beggarly rags, shivering with cold and
fainting with hunger!"

"That dream indicated prosperity and happiness, your highness,"
laughingly responded Munnich, "for dreams are always interpreted by
contraries. You saw yourself as a beggar because you were to become
our ruler--because a purple mantle will this day be placed upon your
shoulders."