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.