But nothing was done; the princes were too deeply interested
in their petty squabbles to entertain large views, and the Turks were
suffered to hold the empire of the East, and quietly to recruit their
forces for later assaults.
_LUTHER AND THE INDULGENCES._
Late in the month of April, in the year 1521, an open wagon containing
two persons was driven along one of the roads of Germany, the horse
being kept at his best pace, while now and then one of the occupants
looked back as if in apprehension. This was the man who held the reins.
The other, a short but presentable person, with pale, drawn face, lit by
keen eyes, seemed too deeply buried in thought to be heedful of
surrounding affairs. When he did lift his eyes they were directed ahead,
where the road was seen to enter the great Thuringian forest. Dressed in
clerical garb, the peasants who passed probably regarded him as a monk
on some errand of mercy. The truth was that he was a fugitive, fleeing
for his life, for he was a man condemned, who might at any moment be
waylaid and seized.
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