The
verdict of posterity has certainly been favourable to him, and the
dastardly murder which requited a lifetime of brilliant services has
been held to more than counterbalance the faults which he committed.
CHAPTER XXIV MALCOLM'S ESCAPE
After the fall of Wallenstein's colonels Malcolm was led away
a prisoner, and was conducted to a dungeon in the castle. It was
not until the door closed behind him that he could fairly realize
what had taken place, so sudden and unexpected had been the scene
in the banqueting hall. Five minutes before he had been feasting
and drinking the health of Wallenstein, now he was a prisoner of
the Imperialists. Wallenstein's adherents had been murdered, and
it was but too probable that a like fate would befall the general
himself. The alliance from which so much had been hoped, which
seemed to offer a prospect of a termination of the long and bloody
struggle, was cut short at a blow.
As to his own fate it seemed dark enough, and his captivity might
last for years, for the Imperialists' treatment of their prisoners
was harsh in the extreme. The system of exchange, which was usual
then as now, was in abeyance during the religious war in Germany.
There was an almost personal hatred between the combatants, and,
as Malcolm knew, many of his compatriots who had fallen into the
hands of the Imperialists had been treated with such harshness
in prison that they had died there.
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