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diff --git a/old/ottos10.txt b/old/ottos10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2bc1e8e --- /dev/null +++ b/old/ottos10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3608 @@ +Project Gutenberg Etext Otto of the Silver Hand, by Howard Pyle +#4 in our series by Howard Pyle + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the laws for your country before redistributing these files!!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. Do not remove this. + +This should be the first thing seen when anyone opens the book. +Do not change or edit it without written permission. 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How the Baron Came Home Shorn, +IV. The White Cross on the Hill, +V. How Otto Dwelt at St. Michaelsburg, +VI. How Otto Lived in the Dragon's House, +VII. The Red Cock Crows on Drachenhausen, +VIII. In the House of the Dragon Scorner, +IX. How One-eyed Hans Came to Trutz-Drachen, +X. How Hans Brought Terror to the Kitchen, +XI. How Otto was Saved, +XII. A Ride for Life, +XIII. How Baron Conrad Held the Bridge, +XIV. How Otto Saw the Great Emperor, + + + + +FOREWORD. + +Between the far away past history of the world, and that which +lies near to us; in the time when the wisdom of the ancient +times was dead and had passed away, and our own days of light +had not yet come, there lay a great black gulf in human history, +a gulf of ignorance, of superstition, of cruelty, and of +wickedness. + +That time we call the dark or middle ages. + +Few records remain to us of that dreadful period in our world's +history, and we only know of it through broken and disjointed +fragments that have been handed down to us through the +generations. + +Yet, though the world's life then was so wicked and black, there +yet remained a few good men and women here and there (mostly in +peaceful and quiet monasteries, far from the thunder and the +glare of the worlds bloody battle), who knew the right and the +truth and lived according to what they knew; who preserved and +tenderly cared for the truths that the dear Christ taught, and +lived and died for in Palestine so long ago. + +This tale that I am about to tell is of a little boy who lived +and suffered in those dark middle ages; of how he saw both the +good and the bad of men, and of how, by gentleness and love and +not by strife and hatred, he came at last to stand above other +men and to be looked up to by all. And should you follow the +story to the end, I hope you may find it a pleasure, as I have +done, to ramble through those dark ancient castles, to lie with +little Otto and Brother John in the high belfry-tower, or to sit +with them in the peaceful quiet of the sunny old monastery +garden, for, of all the story, I love best those early peaceful +years that little Otto spent in the dear old White Cross on the +Hill. + +Poor little Otto's life was a stony and a thorny pathway, and it +is well for all of us nowadays that we walk it in fancy and not +in truth. + + +I. + +The Dragon's House. + +Up from the gray rocks, rising sheer and bold and bare, stood +the walls and towers of Castle Drachenhausen. A great gate-way, +with a heavy iron-pointed portcullis hanging suspended in the +dim arch above, yawned blackly upon the bascule or falling +drawbridge that spanned a chasm between the blank stone walls +and the roadway that winding down the steep rocky slope to the +little valley just beneath. There in the lap of the hills around +stood the wretched straw-thatched huts of the peasants belonging +to the castle - miserable serfs who, half timid, half fierce, +tilled their poor patches of ground, wrenching from the hard +soil barely enough to keep body and soul together. Among those +vile hovels played the little children like foxes about their +dens, their wild, fierce eyes peering out from under a mat of +tangled yellow hair. + +Beyond these squalid huts lay the rushing, foaming river, +spanned by a high, rude, stone bridge where the road from the +castle crossed it, and beyond the river stretched the great, +black forest, within whose gloomy depths the savage wild beasts +made their lair, and where in winter time the howling wolves +coursed their flying prey across the moonlit snow and under the +net-work of the black shadows from the naked boughs above. + +The watchman in the cold, windy bartizan or watch-tower that +clung to the gray walls above the castle gateway, looked from +his narrow window, where the wind piped and hummed, across the +tree-tops that rolled in endless billows of green, over hill and +over valley to the blue and distant slope of the Keiserberg, +where, on the mountain side, glimmered far away the walls of +Castle Trutz-Drachen. + +Within the massive stone walls through which the gaping gateway +led, three great cheerless brick buildings, so forbidding that +even the yellow sunlight could not light them into brightness, +looked down, with row upon row of windows, upon three sides of +the bleak, stone courtyard. Back of and above them clustered a +jumble of other buildings, tower and turret, one high-peaked +roof overtopping another. + +The great house in the centre was the Baron's Hall, the part to +the left was called the Roderhausen; between the two stood a +huge square pile, rising dizzily up into the clear air high +above the rest - the great Melchior Tower. + +At the top clustered a jumble of buildings hanging high aloft in +the windy space a crooked wooden belfry, a tall, narrow watch- +tower, and a rude wooden house that clung partly to the roof of +the great tower and partly to the walls. + +>From the chimney of this crazy hut a thin thread of smoke would +now and then rise into the air, for there were folk living far +up in that empty, airy desert, and oftentimes wild, uncouth +little children were seen playing on the edge of the dizzy +height, or sitting with their bare legs hanging down over the +sheer depths, as they gazed below at what was going on in the +court-yard. There they sat, just as little children in the town +might sit upon their father's door-step; and as the sparrows +might fly around the feet of the little town children, so the +circling flocks of rooks and daws flew around the feet of these +air-born creatures. + +It was Schwartz Carl and his wife and little ones who lived far +up there in the Melchior Tower, for it overlooked the top of the +hill behind the castle and so down into the valley upon the +further side. There, day after day, Schwartz Carl kept watch +upon the gray road that ran like a ribbon through the valley, +from the rich town of Gruenstaldt to the rich town of +Staffenburgen, where passed merchant caravans from the one to +the other - for the lord of Drachenhausen was a robber baron. + +Dong! Dong! The great alarm bell would suddenly ring out from +the belfry high up upon the Melchior Tower. Dong! Dong! Till the +rooks and daws whirled clamoring and screaming. Dong! Dong! Till +the fierce wolf-hounds in the rocky kennels behind the castle +stables howled dismally in answer. Dong! Dong! - Dong! Dong! + +Then would follow a great noise and uproar and hurry in the +castle court-yard below; men shouting and calling to one +another, the ringing of armor, and the clatter of horses' hoofs +upon the hard stone. With the creaking and groaning of the +windlass the iron-pointed portcullis would be slowly raised, and +with a clank and rattle and clash of iron chains the drawbridge +would fall crashing. Then over it would thunder horse and man, +clattering away down the winding, stony pathway, until the great +forest would swallow them, and they would be gone. + +Then for a while peace would fall upon the castle courtyard, the +cock would crow, the cook would scold a lazy maid, and Gretchen, +leaning out of a window, would sing a snatch of a song, just as +though it were a peaceful farm-house, instead of a den of +robbers. + +Maybe it would be evening before the men would return once more. +Perhaps one would have a bloody cloth bound about his head, +perhaps one would carry his arm in a sling; perhaps one - maybe +more than one - would be left behind, never to return again, and +soon forgotten by all excepting some poor woman who would weep +silently in the loneliness of her daily work. + +Nearly always the adventurers would bring back with them pack- +horses laden with bales of goods. Sometimes, besides these, they +would return with a poor soul, his hands tied behind his back +and his feet beneath the horse's body, his fur cloak and his +flat cap wofully awry. A while he would disappear in some gloomy +cell of the dungeon-keep, until an envoy would come from the +town with a fat purse, when his ransom would be paid, the +dungeon would disgorge him, and he would be allowed to go upon +his way again. + +One man always rode beside Baron Conrad in his expeditions and +adventures a short, deep-chested, broad-shouldered man, with +sinewy arms so long that when he stood his hands hung nearly to +his knees. + +His coarse, close-clipped hair came so low upon his brow that +only a strip of forehead showed between it and his bushy, black +eyebrows. One eye was blind; the other twinkled and gleamed like +a spark under the penthouse of his brows. Many folk said that +the one-eyed Hans had drunk beer with the Hill-man, who had +given him the strength of ten, for he could bend an iron spit +like a hazel twig, and could lift a barrel of wine from the +floor to his head as easily as though it were a basket of eggs. + +As for the one-eyed Hans he never said that he had not drunk +beer with the Hill-man, for he liked the credit that such +reports gave him with the other folk. And so, like a half savage +mastiff, faithful to death to his master, but to him alone, he +went his sullen way and lived his sullen life within the castle +walls, half respected, half feared by the other inmates, for it +was dangerous trifling with the one-eyed Hans. + + +II. + +How the Baron went Forth to Shear. + +Baron Conrad and Baroness Matilda sat together at their morning +meal below their raised seats stretched the long, heavy wooden +table, loaded with coarse food - black bread, boiled cabbage, +bacon, eggs, a great chine from a wild boar, sausages, such as +we eat nowadays, and flagons and jars of beer and wine, Along +the board sat ranged in the order of the household the followers +and retainers. Four or five slatternly women and girls served +the others as they fed noisily at the table, moving here and +there behind the men with wooden or pewter dishes of food, now +and then laughing at the jests that passed or joining in the +talk. A huge fire blazed and crackled and roared in the great +open fireplace, before which were stretched two fierce, shaggy, +wolfish-looking hounds. Outside, the rain beat upon the roof or +ran trickling from the eaves, and every now and then a chill +draught of wind would breathe through the open windows of the +great black dining-hall and set the fire roaring. + +Along the dull-gray wall of stone hung pieces of armor, and +swords and lances, and great branching antlers of the stag. +Overhead arched the rude, heavy, oaken beams, blackened with age +and smoke, and underfoot was a chill pavement of stone. + +Upon Baron Conrad's shoulder leaned the pale, slender, yellow- +haired Baroness, the only one in all the world with whom the +fierce lord of Drachenhausen softened to gentleness, the only +one upon whom his savage brows looked kindly, and to whom his +harsh voice softened with love. + +The Baroness was talking to her husband in a low voice, as he +looked down into her pale face, with its gentle blue eyes. + +"And wilt thou not, then," said she, "do that one thing for me?" + +"Nay," he growled, in his deep voice, "I cannot promise thee +never more to attack the towns-people in the valley over yonder. +How else could I live an' I did not take from the fat town hogs +to fill our own larder?" + +"Nay," said the Baroness, "thou couldst live as some others do, +for all do not rob the burgher folk as thou dost. Alas! mishap +will come upon thee some day, and if thou shouldst be slain, +what then would come of me?" + +"Prut," said the Baron, "thy foolish fears" But he laid his rough, +hairy hand softly upon the Baroness' head and stroked her +yellow hair. + +"For my sake, Conrad," whispered the Baroness. + +A pause followed. The Baron sat looking thoughtfully down into +the Baroness' face. A moment more, and he might have promised +what she besought; a moment more, and he might have been saved +all the bitter trouble that was to follow. But it was not to be. + +Suddenly a harsh sound broke the quietness of all into a +confusion of noises. Dong! Dong! - it was the great alarm-bell +from Melchior's Tower. + +The Baron started at the sound. He sat for a moment or two with +his hand clinched upon the arm of his seat as though about to +rise, then he sunk back into his chair again. + +All the others had risen tumultuously from the table, and now +stood looking at him, awaiting his orders. + +"For my sake, Conrad," said the Baroness again. + +Dong! Dong! rang the alarm-bell. The Baron sat with his eyes +bent upon the floor, scowling blackly. + +The Baroness took his hand in both of hers. "For my sake," she +pleaded, and the tears filled her blue eyes as she looked up at +him, "do not go this time." + +>From the courtyard without came the sound of horses' hoofs +clashing against the stone pavement, and those in the hall stood +watching and wondering at this strange delay of the Lord Baron. +Just then the door opened and one came pushing past the rest; it +was the one-eyed Hans. He came straight to where the Baron sat, +and, leaning over, whispered something into his master's ear. + +"For my sake," implored the Baroness again; but the scale was +turned. The Baron pushed back his chair heavily and rose to his +feet. "Forward!" he roared, in a voice of thunder, and a great +shout went up in answer as he strode clanking down the hall and +out of the open door. + +The Baroness covered her face with her hands and wept. + +"Never mind, little bird," said old Ursela, the nurse, +soothingly; "he will come back to thee again as he has come back +to thee before." + +But the poor young Baroness continued weeping with her face +buried in her hands, because he had not done that thing she had +asked. + +A white young face framed in yellow hair looked out into the +courtyard from a window above; but if Baron Conrad of +Drachenhausen saw it from beneath the bars of his shining +helmet, he made no sign. + +"Forward" he cried again. + +Down thundered the drawbridge, and away they rode with clashing +hoofs and ringing armor through the gray shroud of drilling +rain. + +The day had passed and the evening had come, and the Baroness +and her women sat beside a roaring fire. All were chattering and +talking and laughing but two - the fair young Baroness and old +Ursela; the one sat listening, listening, listening, the other +sat with her chin resting in the palm of her hand, silently +watching her young mistress. The night was falling gray and +chill, when suddenly the clear notes of a bugle rang from +without the castle walls. The young Baroness started, and the +rosy light flashed up into her pale cheeks. + +"Yes, good," said old Ursela; "the red fox has come back to his +den again, and I warrant he brings a fat town goose in his +mouth; now we'll have fine clothes to wear, and thou another +gold chain to hang about thy pretty neck." + +The young Baroness laughed merrily at the old woman's speech. +"This time," said she, "I will choose a string of pearls like +that one my aunt used to wear, and which I had about my neck +when Conrad first saw me." + +Minute after minute passed; the Baroness sat nervously playing +with a bracelet of golden beads about her wrist. "How long he +stays," said she. + +"Yes," said Ursela; "but it is not cousin wish that holds him by +the coat." + +As she spoke, a door banged in the passageway without, and the +ring of iron footsteps sounded upon the stone floor. Clank! +Clank! Clank! + +The Baroness rose to her feet, her face all alight. The door +opened; then the flush of joy faded away and the face grew +white, white, white. One hand clutched the back of the bench +whereon she had been sitting, the other hand pressed tightly +against her side. + +It was Hans the one-eyed who stood in the doorway, and black +trouble sat on his brow; all were looking at him waiting. + +"Conrad," whispered the Baroness, at last. "Where is Conrad? +Where is your master?" and even her lips were white as she +spoke. + +The one-eyed Hans said nothing. + +Just then came the noise of men s voices in the corridor and the +shuffle and scuffle of feet carrying a heavy load. Nearer and +nearer they came, and one-eyed Hans stood aside. Six men came +struggling through the doorway, carrying a litter, and on the +litter lay the great Baron Conrad. The flaming torch thrust into +the iron bracket against the wall flashed up with the draught of +air from the open door, and the light fell upon the white face +and the closed eyes, and showed upon his body armor a great red +stain that was not the stain of rust. + +Suddenly Ursela cried out in a sharp, shrill voice, "Catch her, +she falls!" + +It was the Baroness. + +Then the old crone turned fiercely upon the one-eyed Hans. "Thou +fool!" she cried, "why didst thou bring him here? Thou hast +killed thy lady!" + +"I did not know," said the one-eyed Hans, stupidly. + + +III. + +How the Baron came Home Shorn. + +But Baron Conrad was not dead. For days he lay upon his hard +bed, now muttering incoherent words beneath his red beard, now +raving fiercely with the fever of his wound. But one day he woke +again to the things about him. + +He turned his head first to the one side and then to the other; +there sat Schwartz Carl and the one-eyed Hans. Two or three +other retainers stood by a great window that looked out into the +courtyard beneath, jesting and laughing together in low tones, +and one lay upon the heavy oaken bench that stood along by the +wall snoring in his sleep. + +"Where is your lady?" said the Baron, presently; "and why is she +not with me at this time?" + +The man that lay upon the bench started up at the sound of his +voice, and those at the window came hurrying to his bedside. But +Schwartz Carl and the one-eyed Hans looked at one another, and +neither of them spoke. The Baron saw the look and in it read a +certain meaning that brought him to his elbow, though only to +sink back upon his pillow again with a groan. + +"Why do you not answer me?" said he at last, in a hollow voice; +then to the one-eyed Hans, "Hast no tongue, fool, that thou +standest gaping there like a fish? Answer me, where is thy +mistress?" + +"I - I do not know," stammered poor Hans. + +For a while the Baron lay silently looking from one face to the +other, then he spoke again. "How long have I been lying here?" +said he. + +"A sennight, my lord," said Master Rudolph, the steward, who had +come into the room and who now stood among the others at the +bedside. + +"A sennight," repeated the Baron, in a low voice, and then to +Master Rudolph, "And has the Baroness been often beside me in +that time?" Master Rudolph hesitated. "Answer me," said the +Baron, harshly. + +"Not - not often," said Master Rudolph, hesitatingly. + +The Baron lay silent for a long time. At last he passed his +hands over his face and held them there for a minute, then of a +sudden, before anyone knew what he was about to do, he rose upon +his elbow and then sat upright upon the bed. The green wound +broke out afresh and a dark red spot grew and spread upon the +linen wrappings; his face was drawn and haggard with the pain of +his moving, and his eyes wild and bloodshot. Great drops of +sweat gathered and stood upon his forehead as he sat there +swaying slightly from side to side. + +"My shoes," said he, hoarsely. + +Master Rudolph stepped forward. "But, my Lord Baron," he began +and then stopped short, for the Baron shot him such a look that +his tongue stood still in his head. + +Hans saw that look out of his one eye. Down he dropped upon his +knees and, fumbling under the bed, brought forth a pair of soft +leathern shoes, which he slipped upon the Baron's feet and then +laced the thongs above the instep. + +"Your shoulder," said the Baron. He rose slowly to his feet, +gripping Hans in the stress of his agony until the fellow winced +again. For a moment he stood as though gathering strength, then +doggedly started forth upon that quest which he had set upon +himself. + +At the door he stopped for a moment as though overcome by his +weakness, and there Master Nicholas, his cousin, met him; for +the steward had sent one of the retainers to tell the old man +what the Baron was about to do. + +"Thou must go back again, Conrad," said Master Nicholas; "thou +art not fit to be abroad." + +The Baron answered him never a word, but he glared at him from +out of his bloodshot eyes and ground his teeth together. Then he +started forth again upon his way. + +Down the long hall he went, slowly and laboriously, the others +following silently behind him, then up the steep winding stairs, +step by step, now and then stopping to lean against the wall. So +he reached a long and gloomy passageway lit only by the light of +a little window at the further end. + +He stopped at the door of one of the rooms that opened into this +passage-way, stood for a moment, then he pushed it open. + +No one was within but old Ursela, who sat crooning over a fire +with a bundle upon her knees. She did not see the Baron or know +that he was there. + +"Where is your lady?" said he, in a hollow voice. + +Then the old nurse looked up with a start. "Jesu bless us," +cried she, and crossed herself. + +"Where is your lady?" said the Baron again, in the same hoarse +voice; and then, not waiting for an answer, "Is she dead?" + +The old woman looked at him for a minute blinking her watery +eyes, and then suddenly broke into a shrill, long-drawn wail. +The Baron needed to hear no more. + +As though in answer to the old woman's cry, a thin piping +complaint came from the bundle in her lap. + +At the sound the red blood flashed up into the Baron's face. +"What is that you have there?" said he, pointing to the bundle +upon the old woman's knees. + +She drew back the coverings and there lay a poor, weak, little +baby, that once again raised its faint reedy pipe. + +"It is your son," said Ursela, "that the dear Baroness left +behind her when the holy angels took her to Paradise. She +blessed him and called him Otto before she left us." + + +IV. + + The White Cross on the Hill. + +Here the glassy waters of the River Rhine, holding upon its +bosom a mimic picture of the blue sky and white clouds floating +above, runs smoothly around a jutting point of land, St. +Michaelsburg, rising from the reedy banks of the stream, sweeps +up with a smooth swell until it cuts sharp and clear against the +sky. Stubby vineyards covered its earthy breast, and field and +garden and orchard crowned its brow, where lay the Monastery of +St. Michaelsburg - "The White Cross on the Hill." There within +the white walls, where the warm yellow sunlight slept, all was +peaceful quietness, broken only now and then by the crowing of +the cock or the clamorous cackle of a hen, the lowing of kine or +the bleating of goats, a solitary voice in prayer, the faint +accord of distant singing, or the resonant toll of the monastery +bell from the high-peaked belfry that overlooked the hill and +valley and the smooth, far-winding stream. No other sounds broke +the stillness, for in this peaceful haven was never heard the +clash of armor, the ring of iron-shod hoofs, or the hoarse call +to arms. + +All men were not wicked and cruel and fierce in that dark, far- +away age; all were not robbers and terror-spreading tyrants, +even in that time when men's hands were against their neighbors, +and war and rapine dwelt in place of peace and justice. + +Abbot Otto, of St. Michaelsburg, was a gentle, patient, pale. +faced old man; his white hands were soft and smooth, and no one +would have thought that they could have known the harsh touch of +sword-hilt and lance. And yet, in the days of the Emperor +Frederick - the grandson of the great Red-beard - no one stood +higher in the prowess of arms than he. But all at once - for why, +no man could tell - a change came over him, and in the flower of +his youth and fame and growing power he gave up everything in +life and entered the quiet sanctuary of that white monastery on +the hill-side, so far away from the tumult and the conflict of +the world in which he had lived. + +Some said that it was because the lady he had loved had loved +his brother, and that when they were married Otto of Wolbergen +had left the church with a broken heart. + +But such stories are old songs that have been sung before. + +Clatter! clatter! Jingle! jingle! It was a full-armed knight +that came riding up the steep hill road that wound from left to +right and right to left amid the vineyards on the slopes of St. +Michaelsburg. Polished helm and corselet blazed in the noon +sunlight, for no knight in those days dared to ride the roads +except in full armor. In front of him the solitary knight +carried a bundle wrapped in the folds of his coarse gray cloak. + +It was a sorely sick man that rode up the heights of St. +Michaelsburg. His head hung upon his breast through the +faintness of weariness and pain; for it was the Baron Conrad. + +He had left his bed of sickness that morning, had saddled his +horse in the gray dawn with his own hands, and had ridden away +into the misty twilight of the forest without the knowledge of +anyone excepting the porter, who, winking and blinking in the +bewilderment of his broken slumber, had opened the gates to the +sick man, hardly knowing what he was doing, until he beheld his +master far away, clattering down the steep bridle-path. + +Eight leagues had he ridden that day with neither a stop nor a +stay; but now at last the end of his journey had come, and he +drew rein under the shade of the great wooden gateway of St. +Michaelsburg. + +He reached up to the knotted rope and gave it a pull, and from +within sounded the answering ring of the porter's bell. By and +by a little wicket opened in the great wooden portals, and the +gentle, wrinkled face of old Brother Benedict, the porter, +peeped out at the strange iron-clad visitor and the great black +war-horse, streaked and wet with the sweat of the journey, +flecked and dappled with flakes of foam. A few words passed +between them, and then the little window was closed again; and +within, the shuffling pat of the sandalled feet sounded fainter +and fainter, as Brother Benedict bore the message from Baron +Conrad to Abbot Otto, and the mail-clad figure was left alone, +sitting there as silent as a statue. + +By and by the footsteps sounded again; there came a noise of +clattering chains and the rattle of the key in the lock, and the +rasping of the bolts dragged back. Then the gate swung slowly +open, and Baron Conrad rode into the shelter of the White Cross, +and as the hoofs of his war-horse clashed upon the stones of the +courtyard within, the wooden gate swung slowly to behind him. + +Abbot Otto stood by the table when Baron Conrad entered the +high-vaulted room from the farther end. The light from the oriel +window behind the old man shed broken rays of light upon him, +and seemed to frame his thin gray hairs with a golden glory. His +white, delicate hand rested upon the table beside him, and upon +some sheets of parchment covered with rows of ancient Greek +writing which he had been engaged in deciphering. + +Clank ! clank! clank ! Baron Conrad strode across the stone +floor, and then stopped short in front of the good old man. + +"What dost thou seek here, my son ?" said the Abbot. + +"I seek sanctuary for my son and thy brother's grandson," said +the Baron Conrad, and he flung back the folds of his cloak and +showed the face of the sleeping babe. + +For a while the Abbot said nothing, but stood gazing dreamily at +the baby. After a while he looked up. "And the child's mother," +said he - "what hath she to say at this?" + +"She hath naught to say," said Baron Conrad, hoarsely, and then +stopped short in his speech. "She is dead," said he, at last, in +a husky voice, "and is with God's angels in paradise." + +The Abbot looked intently in the Baron's face. "So!" said he, +under his breath, and then for the first time noticed how white +and drawn was the Baron's face. "Art sick thyself?" he asked. + +"Ay," said the Baron, "I have come from death's door. But that +is no matter. Wilt thou take this little babe into sanctuary? My +house is a vile, rough place, and not fit for such as he, and +his mother with the blessed saints in heaven." And once more +Conrad of Drachenhausen's face began twitching with the pain of +his thoughts. + +"Yes," said the old man, gently, "he shall live here," and he +stretched out his hands and took the babe. "Would," said he, +"that all the little children in these dark times might be thus +brought to the house of God, and there learn mercy and peace, +instead of rapine and war." + +For a while he stood looking down in silence at the baby in his +arms, but with his mind far away upon other things. At last he +roused himself with a start. "And thou," said he to the Baron +Conrad - "hath not thy heart been chastened and softened by +this? Surely thou wilt not go back to thy old life of rapine and +extortion?" + +"Nay," said Baron Conrad, gruffly, "I will rob the city swine no +longer, for that was the last thing that my dear one asked of +me." + +The old Abbot's face lit up with a smile. "I am right glad that +thy heart was softened, and that thou art willing at last to +cease from war and violence." + +"Nay," cried the Baron, roughly, "I said nothing of ceasing from +war. By heaven, no! I will have revenge!" And he clashed his +iron foot upon the floor and clinched his fists and ground his +teeth together. "Listen," said he, "and I will tell thee how my +troubles happened. A fortnight ago I rode out upon an expedition +against a caravan of fat burghers in the valley of Gruenhoffen. +They outnumbered us many to one, but city swine such as they are +not of the stuff to stand against our kind for a long time. +Nevertheless, while the men-at-arms who guarded the caravan were +staying us with pike and cross-bow from behind a tree which they +had felled in front of a high bridge the others had driven the +pack-horses off, so that by the time we had forced the bridge +they were a league or more away. We pushed after them as hard as +we were able, but when we came up with them we found that they +had been joined by Baron Frederick of Trutz-Drachen, to whom for +three years and more the burghers of Gruenstadt have been paying +a tribute for his protection against others. Then again they made a +stand, and this time the Baron Frederick himself was with them. +But though the dogs fought well, we were forcing them back, and +might have got the better of them, had not my horse stumbled upon +a sloping stone, and so fell and rolled over upon me. While I lay +there with my horse upon me, Baron Frederick ran me down with +his lance, and gave me that foul wound that came so near to +slaying me - and did slay my dear wife. Nevertheless, my men +were able to bring me out from that press and away, and we had +bitten the Trutz-Drachen dogs so deep that they were too sore to +follow us, and so let us go our way in peace. But when those +fools of mine brought me to my castle they bore me lying +upon a litter to my wife's chamber. There she beheld me, and, +thinking me dead, swooned a death-swoon, so that she only lived +long enough to bless her new-born babe and name it Otto, for +you, her father's brother. But, by heavens! I will have revenge, +root and branch, upon that vile tribe, the Roderburgs of Trutz- +Drachen. Their great-grandsire built that castle in scorn of +Baron Casper in the old days; their grandsire slew my father's +grandsire; Baron Nicholas slew two of our kindred; and now this +Baron Frederick gives me that foul wound and kills my dear wife +through my body." Here the Baron stopped short; then of a +sudden, shaking his fist above his head, he cried out in his +hoarse voice: "I swear by all the saints in heaven, either the +red cock shall crow over the roof of Trutz-Drachen or else it +shall crow over my house! The black dog shall sit on Baron +Frederick's shoulders or else he shall sit on mine!" Again he +stopped, and fixing his blazing eyes upon the old man, "Hearest +thou that, priest?" said he, and broke into a great boisterous +laugh. + +Abbot Otto sighed heavily, but he tried no further to persuade +the other into different thoughts. + +"Thou art wounded," said he, at last, in a gentle voice; "at +least stay here with us until thou art healed." + +"Nay," said the Baron, roughly, "I will tarry no longer than to +hear thee promise to care for my child." + +"I promise," said the Abbot; "but lay aside thy armor, and +rest." + +"Nay," said the Baron, "I go back again to-day." + +At this the Abbot cried out in amazement: "Sure thou, wounded +man, would not take that long journey without a due stay for +resting! Think! Night will be upon thee before thou canst reach +home again, and the forests are beset with wolves." + +The Baron laughed. "Those are not the wolves I fear," said he. +"Urge me no further, I must return to-night; yet if thou hast a +mind to do me a kindness thou canst give me some food to eat and +a flask of your golden Michaelsburg; beyond these, I ask no +further favor of any man, be he priest or layman." + +"What comfort I can give thee thou shalt have," said the Abbot, +in his patient voice, and so left the room to give the needful +orders, bearing the babe with him. + + +V. + +How Otto Dwelt at St. Michaelsburg. + +So the poor, little, motherless waif lived among the old monks +at the White Cross on the hill, thriving and growing apace until +he had reached eleven or twelve years of age; a slender, fair- +haired little fellow, with a strange, quiet serious manner. + +"Poor little child!" Old Brother Benedict would sometimes say to +the others, "poor little child! The troubles in which he was +born must have broken his wits like a glass cup. What think ye +he said to me to-day? 'Dear Brother Benedict,' said he, 'dost +thou shave the hair off of the top of thy head so that the dear +God may see thy thoughts the better?' Think of that now!" and +the good old man shook with silent laughter. + +When such talk came to the good Father Abbot's ears, he smiled +quietly to himself. "It may be," said he, "that the wisdom of +little children flies higher than our heavy wits can follow." + +At least Otto was not slow with his studies, and Brother +Emmanuel, who taught him his lessons, said more than once that, +if his wits were cracked in other ways, they were sound enough +in Latin. + +Otto, in a quaint, simple way which belonged to him, was gentle +and obedient to all. But there was one among the Brethren of St. +Michaelsburg whom he loved far above all the rest - Brother John, +a poor half-witted fellow, of some twenty-five or thirty years +of age. When a very little child, he had fallen from his nurse's +arms and hurt his head, and as he grew up into boyhood, and +showed that his wits had been addled by his fall, his family +knew not what else to do with him, and so sent him off to the +Monastery of St. Michaelsburg, where he lived his simple, +witless life upon a sort of sufferance, as though he were a +tame, harmless animal. + +While Otto was still a little baby, he had been given into +Brother John's care. Thereafter, and until Otto had grown old +enough to care for himself, poor Brother John never left his +little charge, night or day. Oftentimes the good Father Abbot, +coming into the garden, where he loved to walk alone in his +meditations, would find the poor, simple Brother sitting under +the shade of the pear-tree, close to the bee-hives, rocking the +little baby in his arms, singing strange, crazy songs to it, and +gazing far away into the blue, empty sky with his curious, pale +eyes. + +Although, as Otto grew up into boyhood, his lessons and his +tasks separated him from Brother John, the bond between them +seemed to grow stronger rather than weaker. During the hours +that Otto had for his own they were scarcely ever apart. Down in +the vineyard, where the monks were gathering the grapes for the +vintage, in the garden, or in the fields, the two were always +seen together, either wandering hand in hand, or seated in some +shady nook or corner. + +But most of all they loved to lie up in the airy wooden belfry; +the great gaping bell hanging darkly above them, the mouldering +cross-beams glimmering far up under the dim shadows of the roof, +where dwelt a great brown owl that, unfrightened at their +familiar presence, stared down at them with his round, solemn +eyes. Below them stretched the white walls of the garden, beyond +them the vineyard, and beyond that again the far shining river, +that seemed to Otto's mind to lead into wonder-land. There the +two would lie upon the belfry floor by the hour, talking +together of the strangest things. + +"I saw the dear Angel Gabriel again yester morn," said Brother +John. + +"So!" says Otto, seriously; "and where was that?" + +"It was out in the garden, in the old apple-tree," said Brother +John. "I was walking there, and my wits were running around in +the grass like a mouse. What heard I but a wonderful sound of +singing, and it was like the hum of a great bee, only sweeter +than honey. So I looked up into the tree, and there I saw two +sparks. I thought at first that they were two stars that had +fallen out of heaven; but what think you they were, little +child?" + +"I do not know," said Otto, breathlessly. + +"They were angel's eyes," said Brother John; and he smiled in +the strangest way, as he gazed up into the blue sky. "So I +looked at the two sparks and felt happy, as one does in spring +time when the cold weather is gone, and the warm sun shines, and +the cuckoo sings again. Then, by-and-by, I saw the face to which +the eyes belonged. First, it shone white and thin like the moon +in the daylight; but it grew brighter and brighter, until it +hurt one's eyes to look at it, as though it had been the blessed +sun itself. Angel Gabriel's hand was as white as silver, and in +it he held a green bough with blossoms, like those that grow on +the thorn bush. As for his robe, it was all of one piece, and +finer than the Father Abbot's linen, and shone beside like the +sunlight on pure snow. So I knew from all these things that it +was the blessed Angel Gabriel." + +"What do they say about this tree, Brother John?" said he to me. + +"They say it is dying, my Lord Angel," said I, "and that the +gardener will bring a sharp axe and cut it down." + +"'And what dost thou say about it, Brother John?' said he." + +"'I also say yes, and that it is dying,' said I." + +"At that he smiled until his face shone so bright that I had to +shut my eyes." + +"'Now I begin to believe, Brother John, that thou art as foolish +as men say,' said he. 'Look, till I show thee.' And thereat I +opened mine eyes again." + +"Then Angel Gabriel touched the dead branches with the flowery +twig that he held in his hand, and there was the dead wood all +covered with green leaves, and fair blossoms and beautiful +apples as yellow as gold. Each smelling more sweetly than a +garden of flowers, and better to the taste than white bread and +honey. + +"'They are souls of the apples,' said the good Angel,' and they +can never wither and die.' + +"'Then I'll tell the gardener that he shall not cut the tree +down,' said I." + +"'No, no,' said the dear Gabriel, 'that will never do, for if +the tree is not cut down here on the earth, it can never be +planted in paradise.' + +Here Brother John stopped short in his story, and began singing +one of his crazy songs, as he gazed with his pale eyes far away +into nothing at all. + +"But tell me, Brother John," said little Otto, in a hushed +voice, "what else did the good Angel say to thee?" + +Brother John stopped short in his song and began looking from +right to left, and up and down, as though to gather his wits. + +"So!" said he, "there was something else that he told me. Tschk! +If I could but think now. Yes, good! This is it - 'Nothing that +has lived,' said he, 'shall ever die, and nothing that has died +shall ever live.' + +Otto drew a deep breath. "I would that I might see the beautiful +Angel Gabriel sometime," said he; but Brother John was singing +again and did not seem to hear what he said. + +Next to Brother John, the nearest one to the little child was +the good Abbot Otto, for though he had never seen wonderful +things with the eyes of his soul, such as Brother John's had +beheld, and so could not tell of them, he was yet able to give +little Otto another pleasure that no one else could give. + +He was a great lover of books, the old Abbot, and had under lock +and key wonderful and beautiful volumes, bound in hog-skin and +metal, and with covers inlaid with carved ivory, or studded with +precious stones. But within these covers, beautiful as they +were, lay the real wonder of the books, like the soul in the +body; for there, beside the black letters and initials, gay with +red and blue and gold, were beautiful pictures painted upon the +creamy parchment. Saints and Angels, the Blessed Virgin with the +golden oriole about her head, good St. Joseph, the three Kings; +the simple Shepherds kneeling in the fields, while Angels with +glories about their brow called to the poor Peasants from the +blue sky above. But, most beautiful of all was the picture of +the Christ Child lying in the manger, with the mild-eyed Kine +gazing at him. + +Sometimes the old Abbot would unlock the iron-bound chest where +these treasures lay hidden, and carefully and lovingly brushing +the few grains of dust from them, would lay them upon the table +beside the oriel window in front of his little namesake, +allowing the little boy freedom to turn the leaves as he chose. + +Always it was one picture that little Otto sought; the Christ +Child in the manger, with the Virgin, St. Joseph, the Shepherds, +and the Kine. And as he would hang breathlessly gazing and +gazing upon it, the old Abbot would sit watching him with a +faint, half-sad smile flickering around his thin lips and his +pale, narrow face. + +It was a pleasant, peaceful life, but by-and-by the end came. +Otto was now nearly twelve years old. + +One bright, clear day, near the hour of noon, little Otto heard +the porter's bell sounding below in the court-yard - dong! dong! +Brother Emmanuel had been appointed as the boy's instructor, and +just then Otto was conning his lessons in the good monk's cell. +Nevertheless, at the sound of the bell he pricked up his ears +and listened, for a visitor was a strange matter in that out-of- +the-way place, and he wondered who it could be. So, while his +wits wandered his lessons lagged. + +"Postera Phoeba lustrabat lampade terras," continued Brother +Emmanuel, inexorably running his horny finger-nail beneath the +line, "humentemque Aurora polo dimoverat umbram -" the lesson +dragged along. + +Just then a sandaled footstep sounded without, in the stone +corridor, and a light tap fell upon Brother Emmanuel's door. It +was Brother Ignatius, and the Abbot wished little Otto to come +to the refectory. + +As they crossed the court-yard Otto stared to see a group of +mail-clad men-at-arms, some sitting upon their horses, some +standing by the saddle-bow. "Yonder is the young baron," he +heard one of them say in a gruff voice, and thereupon all turned +and stared at him. + +A stranger was in the refectory, standing beside the good old +Abbot, while food and wine were being brought and set upon the +table for his refreshment; a great, tall, broad-shouldered man, +beside whom the Abbot looked thinner and slighter than ever. + +The stranger was clad all in polished and gleaming armor, of +plate and chain, over which was drawn a loose robe of gray +woollen stuff, reaching to the knees and bound about the waist +by a broad leathern sword-belt. Upon his arm he carried a great +helmet which he had just removed from his head. His face was +weather-beaten and rugged, and on lip and chin was a wiry, +bristling beard; once red, now frosted with white. + +Brother Ignatius had bidden Otto to enter, and had then closed +the door behind him; and now, as the lad walked slowly up the +long room, he gazed with round, wondering blue eyes at the +stranger. + +"Dost know who I am, Otto ? said the mail-clad knight, in a +deep, growling voice. + +"Methinks you are my father, sir," said Otto. + +"Aye, thou art right," said Baron Conrad, "and I am glad to see +that these milk-churning monks have not allowed thee to forget +me, and who thou art thyself." + +"An' it please you," said Otto, "no one churneth milk here but +Brother Fritz; we be makers of wine and not makers of butter, at +St. Michaelsburg." + +Baron Conrad broke into a great, loud laugh, but Abbot Otto's +sad and thoughtful face lit up with no shadow of an answering +smile. + +"Conrad," said he, turning to the other, "again let me urge +thee; do not take the child hence, his life can never be your +life, for he is not fitted for it. I had thought," said he, +after a moment's pause, "I had thought that thou hadst meant to +consecrate him - this motherless one - to the care of the +Universal Mother Church." + +"So!" said the Baron, "thou hadst thought that, hadst thou? Thou +hadst thought that I had intended to deliver over this boy, the +last of the Vuelphs, to the arms of the Church? What then was to +become of our name and the glory of our race if it was to end +with him in a monastery? No, Drachenhausen is the home of the +Vuelphs, and there the last of the race shall live as his sires +have lived before him, holding to his rights by the power and +the might of his right hand." + +The Abbot turned and looked at the boy, who was gaping in simple +wide-eyed wonderment from one to the other as they spoke. + +"And dost thou think, Conrad," said the old man, in his gentle, +patient voice, "that that poor child can maintain his rights by +the strength of his right hand?" + +The Baron's look followed the Abbot's, and he said nothing. + +In the few seconds of silence that followed, little Otto, in his +simple mind, was wondering what all this talk portended. Why had +his father come hither to St. Michaelsburg, lighting up the dim +silence of the monastery with the flash and ring of his polished +armor? Why had he talked about churning butter but now, when all +the world knew that the monks of St. Michaelsburg made wine. + +It was Baron Conrad's deep voice that broke the little pause of +silence. + +"If you have made a milkmaid of the boy," he burst out at last, +"I thank the dear heaven that there is yet time to undo your +work and to make a man of him." + +The Abbot sighed. "The child is yours, Conrad," said he, "the +will of the blessed saints be done. Mayhap if he goes to dwell +at Drachenhausen he may make you the better instead of you +making him the worse." + +Then light came to the darkness of little Otto's wonderment; he +saw what all this talk meant and why his father had come hither. +He was to leave the happy, sunny silence of the dear White +Cross, and to go out into that great world that he had so often +looked down upon from the high windy belfry on the steep +hillside. + + +VI. + +How Otto Lived in the Dragon's House. + +The gates of the Monastery stood wide open, the world lay +beyond, and all was ready for departure. Baron Conrad and his +men-at-arms sat foot in stirrup, the milk-white horse that had +been brought for Otto stood waiting for him beside his father's +great charger. + +"Farewell, Otto," said the good old Abbot, as he stooped and +kissed the boy's cheek. + +"Farewell," answered Otto, in his simple, quiet way, and it +brought a pang to the old man's heart that the child should seem +to grieve so little at the leave-taking. + +"Farewell, Otto," said the brethren that stood about, "farewell, +farewell." + +Then poor brother John came forward and took the boy's hand, and +looked up into his face as he sat upon his horse. "We will meet +again," said he, with his strange, vacant smile, "but maybe it +will be in Paradise, and there perhaps they will let us lie in +the father's belfry, and look down upon the angels in the court- +yard below." + +"Aye," answered Otto, with an answering smile. + +"Forward," cried the Baron, in a deep voice, and with a clash of +hoofs and jingle of armor they were gone, and the great wooden +gates were shut to behind them. + +Down the steep winding pathway they rode, and out into the great +wide world beyond, upon which Otto and brother John had gazed so +often from the wooden belfry of the White Cross on the hill. + +"Hast been taught to ride a horse by the priests up yonder on +Michaelsburg?" asked the Baron, when they had reached the level +road. + +"Nay," said Otto; "we had no horse to ride, but only to bring in +the harvest or the grapes from the further vineyards to the +vintage." + +"Prut," said the Baron, "methought the abbot would have had +enough of the blood of old days in his veins to have taught thee +what is fitting for a knight to know; art not afeared?" + +"Nay," said Otto, with a smile, "I am not afeared." + +"There at least thou showest thyself a Vuelph," said the grim +Baron. But perhaps Otto's thought of fear and Baron Conrad's +thought of fear were two very different matters. + +The afternoon had passed by the time they had reached the end of +their journey. Up the steep, stony path they rode to the +drawbridge and the great gaping gateway of Drachenhausen, where +wall and tower and battlement looked darker and more forbidding +than ever in the gray twilight of the coming night. Little Otto +looked up with great, wondering, awe-struck eyes at this grim +new home of his. + +The next moment they clattered over the drawbridge that spanned +the narrow black gulph between the roadway and the wall, and the +next were past the echoing arch of the great gateway and in the +gray gloaming of the paved court-yard within. + +Otto looked around upon the many faces gathered there to catch +the first sight of the little baron; hard, rugged faces, seamed +and weather-beaten; very different from those of the gentle +brethren among whom he had lived, and it seemed strange to him +that there was none there whom he should know. + +As he climbed the steep, stony steps to the door of the Baron's +house, old Ursela came running down to meet him. She flung her +withered arms around him and hugged him close to her. "My little +child," she cried, and then fell to sobbing as though her heart +would break. + +"Here is someone knoweth me," thought the little boy. + +His new home was all very strange and wonderful to Otto; the +armors, the trophies, the flags, the long galleries with their +ranges of rooms, the great hall below with its vaulted roof and +its great fireplace of grotesquely carved stone, and all the +strange people with their lives and thoughts so different from +what he had been used to know. + +And it was a wonderful thing to explore all the strange places +in the dark old castle; places where it seemed to Otto no one +could have ever been before. + +Once he wandered down a long, dark passageway below the hall, +pushed open a narrow, iron-bound oaken door, and found himself +all at once in a strange new land; the gray light, coming in +through a range of tall, narrow windows, fell upon a row of +silent, motionless figures carven in stone, knights and ladies +in strange armor and dress; each lying upon his or her stony +couch with clasped hands, and gazing with fixed, motionless, +stony eyeballs up into the gloomy, vaulted arch above them. +There lay, in a cold, silent row, all of the Vuelphs who had +died since the ancient castle had been built. + +It was the chapel into which Otto had made his way, now long +since fallen out of use excepting as a burial place of the race. + +At another time he clambered up into the loft under the high +peaked roof, where lay numberless forgotten things covered with +the dim dust of years. There a flock of pigeons had made their +roost, and flapped noisily out into the sunlight when he pushed +open the door from below. Here he hunted among the mouldering +things of the past until, oh, joy of joys! in an ancient oaken +chest he found a great lot of worm-eaten books, that had +belonged to some old chaplain of the castle in days gone by. +They were not precious and beautiful volumes, such as the Father +Abbot had showed him, but all the same they had their quaint +painted pictures of the blessed saints and angels. + +Again, at another time, going into the court-yard, Otto had +found the door of Melchior's tower standing invitingly open, for +old Hilda, Schwartz Carl's wife, had come down below upon some +business or other. + +Then upon the shaky wooden steps Otto ran without waiting for a +second thought, for he had often gazed at those curious +buildings hanging so far up in the air, and had wondered what +they were like. Round and round and up and up Otto climbed, +until his head spun. At last he reached a landing-stage, and +gazing over the edge and down, beheld the stone pavement far, +far below, lit by a faint glimmer of light that entered through +the arched doorway. Otto clutched tight hold of the wooden rail, +he had no thought that he had climbed so far. + +Upon the other side of the landing was a window that pierced the +thick stone walls of the tower; out of the window he looked, and +then drew suddenly back again with a gasp, for it was through +the outer wall he peered, and down, down below in the dizzy +depths he saw the hard gray rocks, where the black swine, +looking no larger than ants in the distance, fed upon the refuse +thrown out over the walls of the castle. There lay the moving +tree-tops like a billowy green sea, and the coarse thatched +roofs of the peasant cottages, round which crawled the little +children like tiny human specks. + +Then Otto turned and crept down the stairs, frightened at the +height to which he had climbed. + +At the doorway he met Mother Hilda. "Bless us," she cried, +starting back and crossing herself, and then, seeing who it was, +ducked him a courtesy with as pleasant a smile as her forbidding +face, with its little deep-set eyes, was able to put upon +itself. + +Old Ursela seemed nearer to the boy than anyone else about the +castle, excepting it was his father, and it was a newfound +delight to Otto to sit beside her and listen to her quaint +stories, so different from the monkish tales that he had heard +and read at the monastery. + +But one day it was a tale of a different sort that she told him, +and one that opened his eyes to what he had never dreamed of +before. + +The mellow sunlight fell through the window upon old Ursela, as +she sat in the warmth with her distaff in her hands while Otto +lay close to her feet upon a bear skin, silently thinking over +the strange story of a brave knight and a fiery dragon that she +had just told him. Suddenly Ursela broke the silence. + +"Little one," said she, "thou art wondrously like thy own dear +mother; didst ever hear how she died?" + +Nay," said Otto, "but tell me, Ursela, how it was." + +"Tis strange," said the old woman, "that no one should have told +thee in all this time." And then, in her own fashion she related +to him the story of how his father had set forth upon that +expedition in spite of all that Otto's mother had said, +beseeching him to abide at home; how he had been foully wounded, +and how the poor lady had died from her fright and grief. + +Otto listened with eyes that grew wider and wider, though not +all with wonder; he no longer lay upon the bear skin, but sat up +with his hands clasped. For a moment or two after the old woman +had ended her story, he sat staring silently at her. Then he +cried out, in a sharp voice, "And is this truth that you tell +me, Ursela? and did my father seek to rob the towns people of +their goods?" + +Old Ursela laughed. "Aye," said she, "that he did and many +times. Ah! me, those day's are all gone now." And she fetched a +deep sigh. "Then we lived in plenty and had both silks and +linens and velvets besides in the store closets and were able to +buy good wines and live in plenty upon the best. Now we dress in +frieze and live upon what we can get and sometimes that is +little enough, with nothing better than sour beer to drink. But +there is one comfort in it all, and that is that our good Baron +paid back the score he owed the Trutz-Drachen people not only +for that, but for all that they had done from the very first." + +Thereupon she went on to tell Otto how Baron Conrad had +fulfilled the pledge of revenge that he had made Abbot Otto, how +he had watched day after day until one time he had caught the +Trutz-Drachen folk, with Baron Frederick at their head, in a +narrow defile back of the Kaiserburg; of the fierce fight that +was there fought; of how the Roderburgs at last fled, leaving +Baron Frederick behind them wounded; of how he had kneeled +before the Baron Conrad, asking for mercy, and of how Baron +Conrad had answered, "Aye, thou shalt have such mercy as thou +deservest," and had therewith raised his great two-handed sword +and laid his kneeling enemy dead at one blow. + +Poor little Otto had never dreamed that such cruelty and +wickedness could be. He listened to the old woman's story with +gaping horror, and when the last came and she told him, with a +smack of her lips, how his father had killed his enemy with his +own hand, he gave a gasping cry and sprang to his feet. Just +then the door at the other end of the chamber was noisily +opened, and Baron Conrad himself strode into the room. Otto +turned his head, and seeing who it was, gave another cry, loud +and quavering, and ran to his father and caught him by the hand. + +"Oh, father!" he cried, "oh, father! Is it true that thou hast +killed a man with thy own hand?" + +"Aye," said the Baron, grimly, "it is true enough, and I think +me I have killed many more than one. But what of that, Otto? +Thou must get out of those foolish notions that the old monks +have taught thee. Here in the world it is different from what it +is at St. Michaelsburg; here a man must either slay or be +slain." + +But poor little Otto, with his face hidden in his father's robe, +cried as though his heart would break. "Oh, father!" he said, +again and again, "it cannot be - it cannot be that thou who art +so kind to me should have killed a man with thine own hands." +Then: "I wish that I were back in the monastery again; I am +afraid out here in the great wide world; perhaps somebody may +kill me, for I am only a weak little boy and could not save my +own life if they chose to take it from me." + +Baron Conrad looked down upon Otto all this while, drawing his +bushy eyebrows together. Once he reached out his hand as though +to stroke the boy's hair, but drew it back again. + +Turning angrily upon the old woman, "Ursela," said he, "thou +must tell the child no more such stories as these; he knowest +not at all of such things as yet. Keep thy tongue busy with the +old woman's tales that he loves to hear thee tell, and leave it +with me to teach him what becometh a true knight and a Vuelph." + +That night the father and son sat together beside the roaring +fire in the great ball. "Tell me, Otto," said the Baron, "dost +thou hate me for having done what Ursela told thee today that I +did?" + +Otto looked for a while into his father's face. "I know not," +said he at last, in his quaint, quiet voice, "but methinks that +I do not hate thee for it." + +The Baron drew his bushy brows together until his eyes twinkled +out of the depths beneath them, then of a sudden he broke into a +great loud laugh, smiting his horny palm with a smack upon his +thigh. + + +VII. + +The Red Cock Crows on Drachenhausen. + +There was a new emperor in Germany who had come from a far away +Swiss castle; Count Rudolph of Hapsburg, a good, honest man with +a good, honest, homely face, but bringing with him a stern sense +of justice and of right, and a determination to put down the +lawlessness of the savage German barons among whom he had come +as Emperor. + +One day two strangers came galloping up the winding path to the +gates of the Dragon's house. A horn sounded thin and clear, a +parley was held across the chasm in the road between the two +strangers and the porter who appeared at the little wicket. Then +a messenger was sent running to the Baron, who presently came +striding across the open court-yard to the gateway to parley +with the strangers. + +The two bore with them a folded parchment with a great red seal +hanging from it like a clot of blood; it was a message from the +Emperor demanding that the Baron should come to the Imperial +Court to answer certain charges that had been brought against +him, and to give his bond to maintain the peace of the empire. + +One by one those barons who had been carrying on their private +wars, or had been despoiling the burgher folk in their traffic +from town to town, and against whom complaint had been lodged, +were summoned to the Imperial Court, where they were compelled +to promise peace and to swear allegiance to the new order of +things. All those who came willingly were allowed to return home +again after giving security for maintaining the peace; all those +who came not willingly were either brought in chains or rooted +out of their strongholds with fire and sword, and their roofs +burned over their heads. + +Now it was Baron Conrad's turn to be summoned to the Imperial +Court, for complaint had been lodged against him by his old +enemy of Trutz-Drachen - Baron Henry - the nephew of the old Baron +Frederick who had been slain while kneeling in the dust of the +road back of the Kaiserburg. + +No one at Drachenhausen could read but Master Rudolph, the +steward, who was sand blind, and little Otto. So the boy read +the summons to his father, while the grim Baron sat silent with +his chin resting upon his clenched fist and his eyebrows drawn +together into a thoughtful frown as he gazed into the pale face +of his son, who sat by the rude oaken table with the great +parchment spread out before him. + +Should he answer the summons, or scorn it as he would have done +under the old emperors? Baron Conrad knew not which to do; pride +said one thing and policy another. The Emperor was a man with an +iron hand, and Baron Conrad knew what had happened to those who +had refused to obey the imperial commands. So at last he decided +that he would go to the court, taking with him a suitable escort +to support his dignity. + +It was with nearly a hundred armed men clattering behind him +that Baron Conrad rode away to court to answer the imperial +summons. The castle was stripped of its fighting men, and only +eight remained behind to guard the great stone fortress and the +little simple-witted boy. + +It was a sad mistake. + +Three days had passed since the Baron had left the castle, and +now the third night had come. The moon was hanging midway in the +sky, white and full, for it was barely past midnight. + +The high precipitous banks of the rocky road threw a dense black +shadow into the gully below, and in that crooked inky line that +scarred the white face of the moonlit rocks a band of some +thirty men were creeping slowly and stealthily nearer and nearer +to Castle Drachenhausen. At the head of them was a tall, slender +knight clad in light chain armor, his head covered only by a +steel cap or bascinet. + +Along the shadow they crept, with only now and then a faint +clink or jingle of armor to break the stillness, for most of +those who followed the armed knight were clad in leathern +jerkins; only one or two wearing even so much as a steel breast- +plate by way of armor. + +So at last they reached the chasm that yawned beneath the +roadway, and there they stopped, for they had reached the spot +toward which they had been journeying. It was Baron Henry of +Trutz-Drachen who had thus come in the silence of the night time +to the Dragon's house, and his visit boded no good to those +within. + +The Baron and two or three of his men talked together in low +tones, now and then looking up at the sheer wall that towered +above them. + +"Yonder is the place, Lord Baron," said one of those who stood +with him. "I have scanned every foot of the wall at night for a +week past. An we get not in by that way, we get not in at all. A +keen eye, a true aim, and a bold man are all that we need, and +the business is done." Here again all looked upward at the gray +wall above them, rising up in the silent night air. + +High aloft hung the wooden bartizan or watch-tower, clinging to +the face of the outer wall and looming black against the pale +sky above. Three great beams pierced the wall, and upon them the +wooden tower rested. The middle beam jutted out beyond the rest +to the distance of five or six feet, and the end of it was +carved into the rude semblance of a dragon's head. + +"So, good," said the Baron at last; "then let us see if thy plan +holds, and if Hans Schmidt's aim is true enough to earn the +three marks that I have promised him. Where is the bag?" + +One of those who stood near handed the Baron a leathern pouch, +the Baron opened it and drew out a ball of fine thread, another +of twine, a coil of stout rope, and a great bundle that looked, +until it was unrolled, like a coarse fish-net. It was a rope +ladder. While these were being made ready, Hans Schmidt, a +thick-set, low-browed, broad-shouldered archer, strung his stout +bow, and carefully choosing three arrows from those in his +quiver, he stuck them point downward in the earth. Unwinding the +ball of thread, he laid it loosely in large loops upon the +ground so that it might run easily without hitching, then he +tied the end of the thread tightly around one of his arrows. He +fitted the arrow to the bow and drew the feather to his ear. +Twang! rang the bowstring, and the feathered messenger flew +whistling upon its errand to the watch-tower. The very first +shaft did the work. + +"Good," said Hans Schmidt, the archer, in his heavy voice, "the +three marks are mine, Lord Baron." + +The arrow had fallen over and across the jutting beam between +the carved dragon's head and the bartizan, carrying with it the +thread, which now hung from above, glimmering white in the +moonlight like a cobweb. + +The rest was an easy task enough. First the twine was drawn up +to and over the beam by the thread, then the rope was drawn up +by the twine, and last of all the rope ladder by the rope. There +it hung like a thin, slender black line against the silent gray +walls. + +"And now," said the Baron, "who will go first and win fifty +marks for his own, and climb the rope ladder to the tower +yonder?" Those around hesitated. "Is there none brave enough to +venture?" said the Baron, after a pause of silence. + +A stout, young fellow, of about eighteen years of age, stepped +forward and flung his flat leathern cap upon the ground. "I will +go, my Lord Baron," said he. + +"Good," said the Baron, "the fifty marks are thine. And now +listen, if thou findest no one in the watch-tower, whistle thus; +if the watchman be at his post, see that thou makest all safe +before thou givest the signal. When all is ready the others will +follow thee. And now go and good luck go with thee." + +The young fellow spat upon his hands and, seizing the ropes, +began slowly and carefully to mount the flimsy, shaking ladder. +Those below held it as tight as they were able, but nevertheless +he swung backward and forward and round and round as he climbed +steadily upward. Once he stopped upon the way, and those below +saw him clutch the ladder close to him as though dizzied by the +height and the motion but he soon began again, up, up, up like +some great black spider. Presently he came out from the black +shadow below and into the white moonlight, and then his shadow +followed him step by step up the gray wall upon his way. At +last he reached the jutting beam, and there again he stopped for +a moment clutching tightly to it. The next he was upon the beam, +dragging himself toward the window of the bartizan just above. +Slowly raising himself upon his narrow foothold he peeped +cautiously within. Those watching him from be low saw him slip +his hand softly to his side, and then place something between his +teeth. It was his dagger. Reaching up, he clutched the window +sill above him and, with a silent spring, seated himself upon +it. The next moment he disappeared within. A few seconds of +silence followed, then of sudden a sharp gurgling cry broke the +stillness. There was another pause of silence, then a faint +shrill whistle sounded from above. + +"Who will go next?" said the Baron. It was Hans Schmidt who +stepped forward. Another followed the arch up the ladder, and +another, and another. Last of all went the Baron Henry himself, +and nothing was left but the rope ladder hanging from above, and +swaying back and forth in the wind. + +That night Schwartz Carl had been bousing it over a pot of +yellow wine in the pantry with his old crony, Master Rudolph, +the steward; and the two, chatting and gossiping together, had +passed the time away until long after the rest of the castle had +been wrapped in sleep. Then, perhaps a little unsteady upon his +feet, Schwartz Carl betook himself homeward to the Melchior +tower. + +He stood for a while in the shadow of the doorway, gazing up +into the pale sky above him at the great, bright, round moon, +that hung like a bubble above the sharp peaks of the roofs +standing black as ink against the sky. But all of a sudden he +started up from the post against which he had been leaning, and +with head bent to one side, stood listening breathlessly, for he +too had heard that smothered cry from the watch-tower. So he +stood intently, motionlessly, listening, listening; but all was +silent except for the monotonous dripping of water in one of the +nooks of the court-yard, and the distant murmur of the river +borne upon the breath of the night air. "Mayhap I was mistaken," +muttered Schwartz Carl to himself. + +But the next moment the silence was broken again by a faint, +shrill whistle; what did it mean? + +Back of the heavy oaken door of the tower was Schwartz Carl's +cross-bow, the portable windlass with which the bowstring was +drawn back, and a pouch of bolts. Schwartz Carl reached back +into the darkness, fumbling in the gloom until his fingers met +the weapon. Setting his foot in the iron stirrup at the end of +the stock, he wound the stout bow-string into the notch of the +trigger, and carefully fitted the heavy, murderous-looking bolt +into the groove. + +Minute after minute passed, and Schwartz Carl, holding his +arbelast in his hand, stood silently waiting and watching in the +sharp-cut, black shadow of the doorway, motionless as a stone +statue. Minute after minute passed. Suddenly there was a +movement in the shadow of the arch of the great gateway across +the court-yard, and the next moment a leathern-clad figure crept +noiselessly out upon the moonlit pavement, and stood there +listening, his head bent to one side. Schwartz Carl knew very +well that it was no one belonging to the castle, and, from the +nature of his action, that he was upon no good errand. + +He did not stop to challenge the suspicious stranger. The taking +of another's life was thought too small a matter for much +thought or care in those days. Schwartz Carl would have shot a +man for a much smaller reason than the suspicious actions of +this fellow. The leather-clad figure stood a fine target in the +moonlight for a cross-bow bolt. Schwartz Carl slowly raised the +weapon to his shoulder and took a long and steady aim. Just then +the stranger put his fingers to his lips and gave a low, shrill +whistle. It was the last whistle that he was to give upon this +earth. There was a sharp, jarring twang of the bow-string, the +hiss of the flying bolt, and the dull thud as it struck its +mark. The man gave a shrill, quavering cry, and went staggering +back, and then fell all of a heap against the wall behind him. +As though in answer to the cry, half a dozen men rushed +tumultuously out from the shadow of the gateway whence the +stranger had just come, and then stood in the court-yard, +looking uncertainly this way and that, not knowing from what +quarter the stroke had come that had laid their comrade low. + +But Schwartz Carl did not give them time to discover that; there +was no chance to string his cumbersome weapon again; down he +flung it upon the ground. "To arms!" he roared in a voice of +thunder, and then clapped to the door of Melchior's tower and +shot the great iron bolts with a clang and rattle. + +The next instant the Trutz-Drachen men were thundering at the +door, but Schwartz Carl was already far up the winding steps. + +But now the others came pouring out from the gateway. "To the +house," roared Baron Henry. + +Then suddenly a clashing, clanging uproar crashed out upon the +night. Dong! Dong! It was the great alarm bell from Melchior's +tower - Schwartz Carl was at his post. + +Little Baron Otto lay sleeping upon the great rough bed in his +room, dreaming of the White Cross on the hill and of brother +John. By and by he heard the convent bell ringing, and knew that +there must be visitors at the gate, for loud voices sounded +through his dream. Presently he knew that he was coming awake, +but though the sunny monastery garden grew dimmer and dimmer to +his sleeping sight, the clanging of the bell and the sound of +shouts grew louder and louder. Then he opened his eyes. Flaming +red lights from torches, carried hither and thither by people in +the court-yard outside, flashed and ran along the wall of his +room. Hoarse shouts and cries filled the air, and suddenly the +shrill, piercing shriek of a woman rang from wall to wall; and +through the noises the great bell from far above upon Melchior's +tower clashed and clanged its harsh, resonant alarm. + +Otto sprang from his bed and looked out of the window and down +upon the court-yard below. "Dear God! what dreadful thing hath +happened?" he cried and clasped his hands together. + +A cloud of smoke was pouring out from the windows of the +building across the court-yard, whence a dull ruddy glow flashed +and flickered. Strange men were running here and there with +flaming torches, and the now continuous shrieking of women +pierced the air. + +Just beneath the window lay the figure of a man half naked and +face downward upon the stones. Then suddenly Otto cried out in +fear and horror, for, as he looked with dazed and bewildered +eyes down into the lurid court-yard beneath, a savage man, in a +shining breast-plate and steel cap, came dragging the dark, +silent figure of a woman across the stones; but whether she was +dead or in a swoon, Otto could not tell. + +And every moment the pulsing of that dull red glare from the +windows of the building across the court-yard shone more +brightly, and the glare from other flaming buildings, which Otto +could not see from his window, turned the black, starry night +into a lurid day. + +Just then the door of the room was burst open, and in rushed +poor old Ursela, crazy with her terror. She flung herself down +upon the floor and caught Otto around the knees. "Save me!" she +cried, "save me!" as though the poor, pale child could be of any +help to her at such a time. In the passageway without shone the +light of torches, and the sound of loud footsteps came nearer +and nearer. + +And still through all the din sounded continually the clash and +clang and clamor of the great alarm bell. + +The red light flashed into the room, and in the doorway stood a +tall, thin figure clad from head to foot in glittering chain +armor. From behind this fierce knight, with his dark, narrow, +cruel face, its deep-set eyes glistening in the light of the +torches, crowded six or eight savage, low-browed, brutal men, +who stared into the room and at the white-faced boy as he stood +by the window with the old woman clinging to his knees and +praying to him for help. + +"We have cracked the nut and here is the kernel," said one of +them who stood behind the rest, and thereupon a roar of brutal +laughter went up. But the cruel face of the armed knight never +relaxed into a smile; he strode into the room and laid his iron +hand heavily upon the boy's shoulder. "Art thou the young Baron +Otto?" said he, in a harsh voice. + +"Aye," said the lad; "but do not kill me." + +The knight did not answer him. "Fetch the cord hither," said he, +"and drag the old witch away." + +It took two of them to loosen poor old Ursela's crazy clutch +from about her young master. Then amid roars of laughter they +dragged her away, screaming and scratching and striking with her +fists. + +They drew back Otto's arms behind his back and wrapped them +round and round with a bowstring. Then they pushed and hustled +and thrust him forth from the room and along the passageway, now +bright with the flames that roared and crackled without. Down +the steep stairway they drove him, where thrice he stumbled and +fell amid roars of laughter. At last they were out into the open +air of the court-yard. Here was a terrible sight, but Otto saw +nothing of it; his blue eyes were gazing far away, and his lips +moved softly with the prayer that the good monks of St. +Michaelsburg had taught him, for he thought that they meant to +slay him. + +All around the court-yard the flames roared and snapped and +crackled. Four or five figures lay scattered here and there, +silent in all the glare and uproar. The heat was so intense that +they were soon forced back into the shelter of the great +gateway, where the women captives, under the guard of three or +four of the Trutz-Drachen men, were crowded together in dumb, +bewildered terror. Only one man was to be seen among the +captives, poor, old, half blind Master Rudolph, the steward, who +crouched tremblingly among the women. They had set the blaze to +Melchior's tower, and now, below, it was a seething furnace. +Above, the smoke rolled in black clouds from the windows, but +still the alarm bell sounded through all the blaze and smoke. +Higher and higher the flames rose; a trickle of fire ran along +the frame buildings hanging aloft in the air. A clear flame +burst out at the peak of the roof, but still the bell rang forth +its clamorous clangor. Presently those who watched below saw the +cluster of buildings bend and sink and sway; there was a crash +and roar, a cloud of sparks flew up as though to the very +heavens themselves, and the bell of Melchior's tower was stilled +forever. A great shout arose from the watching, upturned faces. + +"Forward!" cried Baron Henry, and out from the gateway they +swept and across the drawbridge, leaving Drachenhausen behind +them a flaming furnace blazing against the gray of the early +dawning. + + +VIII. + +In the House of the Dragon Scorner. + +Tall, narrow, gloomy room; no furniture but a rude bench a bare +stone floor, cold stone walls and a gloomy ceiling of arched +stone over head; a long, narrow slit of a window high above in +the wall, through the iron bars of which Otto could see a small +patch of blue sky and now and then a darting swallow, for an +instant seen, the next instant gone. Such was the little baron's +prison in Trutz-Drachen. Fastened to a bolt and hanging against +the walls, hung a pair of heavy chains with gaping fetters at +the ends. They were thick with rust, and the red stain of the +rust streaked the wall below where they hung like a smear of +blood. Little Otto shuddered as he looked at them; can those be +meant for me, he thought. + +Nothing was to be seen but that one patch of blue sky far up in +the wall. No sound from without was to be heard in that gloomy +cell of stone, for the window pierced the outer wall, and the +earth and its noises lay far below. + +Suddenly a door crashed without, and the footsteps of men were +heard coming along the corridor. They stopped in front of Otto's +cell; he heard the jingle of keys, and then a loud rattle of one +thrust into the lock of the heavy oaken door. The rusty bolt was +shot back with a screech, the door opened, and there stood Baron +Henry, no longer in his armor, but clad in a long black robe +that reached nearly to his feet, a broad leather belt was +girdled about his waist, and from it dangled a short, heavy +hunting sword. + +Another man was with the Baron, a heavy-faced fellow clad in a +leathern jerkin over which was drawn a short coat of linked +mail. + +The two stood for a moment looking into the room, and Otto, his +pale face glimmering in the gloom, sat upon the edge of the +heavy wooden bench or bed, looking back at them out of his great +blue eyes. Then the two entered and closed the door behind them. + +"Dost thou know why thou art here?" said the Baron, in his deep, +harsh voice. + +"Nay," said Otto, "I know not." + +"So?" said the Baron. "Then I will tell thee. Three years ago +the good Baron Frederick, my uncle, kneeled in the dust and +besought mercy at thy father's hands; the mercy he received was +the coward blow that slew him. Thou knowest the story?" + +"Aye," said Otto, tremblingly, "I know it." + +"Then dost thou not know why I am here?" said the Baron. + +"Nay, dear Lord Baron, I know not," said poor little Otto, and +began to weep. + +The Baron stood for a moment or two looking gloomily upon him, +as the little boy sat there with the tears running down his +white face. + +"I will tell thee," said he, at last; "I swore an oath that the +red cock should crow on Drachenhausen, and I have given it to +the dames. I swore an oath that no Vuelph that ever left my +hands should be able to strike such a blow as thy father gave to +Baron Frederick, and now I will fulfil that too. Catch the boy, +Casper, and hold him." + +As the man in the mail shirt stepped toward little Otto, the boy +leaped up from where he sat and caught the Baron about the +knees. "Oh! dear Lord Baron," he cried, "do not harm me; I am +only a little child, I have never done harm to thee; do not harm +me." + +"Take him away," said the Baron, harshly. + +The fellow stooped, and loosening Otto's hold, in spite of his +struggles and cries, carried him to the bench, against which he +held him, whilst the Baron stood above him. + +Baron Henry and the other came forth from the cell, carefully +closing the wooden door behind them. At the end of the corridor +the Baron turned, "Let the leech be sent to the boy," said he. +And then he turned and walked away. + +Otto lay upon the hard couch in his cell, covered with a shaggy +bear skin. His face was paler and thinner than ever, and dark +rings encircled his blue eyes. He was looking toward the door, +for there was a noise of someone fumbling with the lock without. + +Since that dreadful day when Baron Henry had come to his cell, +only two souls had visited Otto. One was the fellow who had come +with the Baron that time; his name, Otto found, was Casper. He +brought the boy his rude meals of bread and meat and water. The +other visitor was the leech or doctor, a thin, weasand little +man, with a kindly, wrinkled face and a gossiping tongue, who, +besides binding wounds, bleeding, and leeching, and +administering his simple remedies to those who were taken sick +in the castle, acted as the Baron's barber. + +The Baron had left the key in the lock of the door, so that +these two might enter when they chose, but Otto knew that it was +neither the one nor the other whom he now heard at the door, +working uncertainly with the key, striving to turn it in the +rusty, cumbersome lock. At last the bolts grated back, there was +a pause, and then the door opened a little way, and Otto thought +that he could see someone peeping in from without. By and by the +door opened further, there was another pause, and then a +slender, elfish-looking little girl, with straight black hair +and shining black eyes, crept noiselessly into the room. + +She stood close by the door with her finger in her mouth, +staring at the boy where he lay upon his couch, and Otto upon +his part lay, full of wonder, gazing back upon the little elfin +creature. + +She, seeing that he made no sign or motion, stepped a little +nearer, and then, after a moment's pause, a little nearer still, +until, at last, she stood within a few feet of where he lay. + +"Art thou the Baron Otto?" said she. + +"Yes," answered Otto. + +"Prut!" said she, "and is that so! Why, I thought that thou wert +a great tall fellow at least, and here thou art a little boy no +older than Carl Max, the gooseherd." Then, after a little pause +- "My name is Pauline, and my father is the Baron. I heard him +tell my mother all about thee, and so I wanted to come here and +see thee myself: Art thou sick?" + +"Yes," said Otto, "I am sick." + +"And did my father hurt thee?" + +"Aye," said Otto, and his eyes filled with tears, until one +sparkling drop trickled slowly down his white face. + +Little Pauline stood looking seriously at him for a while. "I am +sorry for thee, Otto," said she, at last. And then, at her +childish pity, he began crying in earnest. + +This was only the first visit of many from the little maid, for +after that she often came to Otto's prison, who began to look +for her coming from day to day as the one bright spot in the +darkness and the gloom. + +Sitting upon the edge of his bed and gazing into his face with +wide open eyes, she would listen to him by the hour, as he told +her of his life in that far away monastery home; of poor, simple +brother John's wonderful visions, of the good Abbot's books with +their beautiful pictures, and of all the monkish tales and +stories of knights and dragons and heroes and emperors of +ancient Rome, which brother Emmanuel had taught him to read in +the crabbed monkish Latin in which they were written. + +One day the little maid sat for a long while silent after he had +ended speaking. At last she drew a deep breath. "And are all +these things that thou tellest me about the priests in their +castle really true? " said she. + +"Yes," said Otto, "all are true." + +"And do they never go out to fight other priests?" + +"No," said Otto, "they know nothing of fighting." + +"So!" said she. And then fell silent in the thought of the +wonder of it all, and that there should be men in the world that +knew nothing of violence and bloodshed; for in all the eight +years of her life she had scarcely been outside of the walls of +Castle Trutz-Drachen + +At another time it was of Otto's mother that they were speaking. + +"And didst thou never see her, Otto?" said the little girl. + +"Aye," said Otto, "I see her sometimes in my dreams, and her +face always shines so bright that I know she is an angel; for +brother John has often seen the dear angels, and he tells me +that their faces always shine in that way. I saw her the night +thy father hurt me so, for I could not sleep and my head felt as +though it would break asunder. Then she came and leaned over me +and kissed my forehead, and after that I fell asleep." + +"But where did she come from, Otto?" said the little girl. + +"From paradise, I think," said Otto, with that patient +seriousness that he had caught from the monks, and that sat so +quaintly upon him. + +"So!" said little Pauline; and then, after a pause, "That is why +thy mother kissed thee when thy head ached - because she is an +angel. When I was sick my mother bade Gretchen carry me to a far +part of the house, because I cried and so troubled her. Did thy +mother ever strike thee, Otto?" + +"Nay," said Otto. + +"Mine hath often struck me," said Pauline. + +One day little Pauline came bustling into Otto's cell, her head +full of the news which she carried. "My father says that thy +father is out in the woods somewhere yonder, back of the castle, +for Fritz, the swineherd, told my father that last night he had +seen a fire in the woods, and that he had crept up to it without +anyone knowing. There he had seen the Baron Conrad and six of +his men, and that they were eating one of the swine that they +had killed and roasted. "Maybe," said she, seating herself upon +the edge of Otto's couch; "maybe my father will kill thy father, +and they will bring him here and let him lie upon a black bed +with bright candles burning around him, as they did my uncle +Frederick when he was killed." + +"God forbid!" said Otto, and then lay for a while with his hands +clasped. "Dost thou love me, Pauline?" said he, after a while. + +"Yes," said Pauline, "for thou art a good child, though my +father says that thy wits are cracked." + +"Mayhap they are," said Otto, simply, "for I have often been +told so before. But thou wouldst not see me die, Pauline; +wouldst thou?" + +"Nay," said Pauline, "I would not see thee die, for then thou +couldst tell me no more stories; for they told me that uncle +Frederick could not speak because he was dead." + +"Then listen, Pauline," said Otto; "if I go not away from here I +shall surely die. Every day I grow more sick and the leech +cannot cure me." Here he broke down and, turning his face upon +the couch, began crying, while little Pauline sat looking +seriously at him. + +"Why dost thou cry, Otto?" said she, after a while. + +"Because," said he, "I am so sick, and I want my father to come +and take me away from here." + +"But why dost thou want to go away?" said Pauline. "If thy +father takes thee away, thou canst not tell me any more +stories." + +"Yes, I can," said Otto, "for when I grow to be a man I will +come again and marry thee, and when thou art my wife I can tell +thee all the stories that I know. Dear Pauline, canst thou not +tell my father where I am, that he may come here and take me +away before I die?" + +"Mayhap I could do so," said Pauline, after a little while, "for +sometimes I go with Casper Max to see his mother, who nursed me +when I was a baby. She is the wife of Fritz, the swineherd, and +she will make him tell thy father; for she will do whatever I +ask of her, and Fritz will do whatever she bids him do." + +"And for my sake, wilt thou tell him, Pauline?" said Otto. + +"But see, Otto," said the little girl, "if I tell him, wilt thou +promise to come indeed and marry me when thou art grown a man?" + +Yes," said Otto, very seriously, " I will promise." + +"Then I will tell thy father where thou art," said she. + +"But thou wilt do it without the Baron Henry knowing, wilt thou +not, Pauline?" + +"Yes," said she, "for if my father and my mother knew that I did +such a thing, they would strike me, mayhap send me to my bed +alone in the dark." + + +IX. + +How One-eyed Hans came to Trutz-Drachen. + +Fritz, the swineherd, sat eating his late supper of porridge out +of a great, coarse, wooden bowl; wife Katherine sat at the other +end of the table, and the half-naked little children played upon +the earthen floor. A shaggy dog lay curled up in front of the +fire, and a grunting pig scratched against a leg of the rude +table close beside where the woman sat. + +"Yes, yes," said Katherine, speaking of the matter of which they +had already been talking. "It is all very true that the +Drachenhausens are a bad lot, and I for one am of no mind to say +no to that; all the same it is a sad thing that a simple-witted +little child like the young Baron should be so treated as the +boy has been; and now that our Lord Baron has served him so that +he, at least, will never be able to do us 'harm, I for one say +that he should not be left there to die alone in that black +cell." + +Fritz, the swineherd, gave a grunt at this without raising his +eyes from the bowl. + +"Yes, good," said Katherine, "I know what thou meanest, Fritz, +and that it is none of my business to be thrusting my finger +into the Baron's dish. But to hear the way that dear little +child spoke when she was here this morn - it would have moved a +heart of stone to hear her tell of all his pretty talk. Thou +wilt try to let the red-beard know that that poor boy, his son, +is sick to death in the black cell; wilt thou not, Fritz?" + +The swineherd dropped his wooden spoon into the bowl with a +clatter. "Potstausand!" he cried; "art thou gone out of thy head +to let thy wits run upon such things as this of which thou +talkest to me? If it should come to our Lord Baron's ears he +would cut the tongue from out thy head and my head from off my +shoulders for it. Dost thou think I am going to meddle in such a +matter as this ? Listen! these proud Baron folk, with their +masterful ways, drive our sort hither and thither; they beat us, +they drive us, they kill us as they choose. Our lives are not as +much to them as one of my black swine. Why should I trouble my +head if they choose to lop and trim one another? The fewer there +are of them the better for us, say I. We poor folk have a hard +enough life of it without thrusting our heads into the noose to +help them out of their troubles. What thinkest thou would happen +to us if Baron Henry should hear of our betraying his affairs to +the Red-beard?" + +"Nay," said Katherine, "thou hast naught to do in the matter but +to tell the Red-beard in what part of the castle the little +Baron lies." + +"And what good would that do?" said Fritz, the swineherd. + +"I know not," said Katherine, "but I have promised the little +one that thou wouldst find the Baron Conrad and tell him that +much." + +"Thou hast promised a mare's egg," said her husband, angrily. +"How shall I find the Baron Conrad to bear a message to him, +when our Baron has been looking for him in vain for two days +past?" + +"Thou has found him once and thou mayst find him again," said +Katherine, "for it is not likely that he will keep far away from +here whilst his boy is in such sore need of help." + +"I will have nothing to do with it!" said Fritz, and he got up +from the wooden block whereon he was sitting and stumped out of +the house. But, then, Katherine had heard him talk in that way +before, and knew, in spite of his saying "no," that, sooner or +later, he would do as she wished. + +Two days later a very stout little one-eyed man, clad in a +leathern jerkin and wearing a round leathern cap upon his head, +came toiling up the path to the postern door of Trutz-Drachen, +his back bowed under the burthen of a great peddler's pack. It +was our old friend the one-eyed Hans, though even his brother +would hardly have known him in his present guise, for, besides +having turned peddler, he had grown of a sudden surprisingly +fat. + +Rap-tap-tap! He knocked at the door with a knotted end of the +crooked thorned staff upon which he leaned. He waited for a +while and then knocked again - rap-tap-tap! + +Presently, with a click, a little square wicket that pierced the +door was opened, and a woman's face peered out through the iron +bars. + +The one-eyed Hans whipped off his leathern cap. + +"Good day, pretty one," said he, "and hast thou any need of +glass beads, ribbons, combs, or trinkets? Here I am come all the +way from Gruenstadt, with a pack full of such gay things as thou +never laid eyes on before. Here be rings and bracelets and +necklaces that might be of pure silver and set with diamonds and +rubies, for anything that thy dear one could tell if he saw thee +decked in them. And all are so cheap that thou hast only to say, +'I want them,' and they are thine." + +The frightened face at the window looked from right to left and +from left to right. "Hush," said the girl, and laid her finger +upon her lips. "There! thou hadst best get away from here, poor +soul, as fast as thy legs can carry thee, for if the Lord Baron +should find thee here talking secretly at the postern door, he +would loose the wolf-hounds upon thee." + +"Prut," said one-eyed Hans, with a grin, "the Baron is too big a +fly to see such a little gnat as I; but wolf-hounds or no wolf- +hounds, I can never go hence without showing thee the pretty +things that I have brought from the town, even though my stay be +at the danger of my own hide." + +He flung the pack from off his shoulders as he spoke and fell to +unstrapping it, while the round face of the lass (her eyes big +with curiosity) peered down at him through the grated iron bars. + +Hans held up a necklace of blue and white beads that glistened +like jewels in the sun, and from them hung a gorgeous filigree +cross. "Didst thou ever see a sweeter thing than this?" said he; +"and look, here is a comb that even the silversmith would swear +was pure silver all the way through." Then, in a soft, wheedling +voice, "Canst thou not let me in, my little bird? Sure there are +other lasses besides thyself who would like to trade with a poor +peddler who has travelled all the way from Gruenstadt just to +please the pretty ones of Trutz-Drachen." + +"Nay," said the lass, in a frightened voice, " I cannot let thee +in; I know not what the Baron would do to me, even now, if he +knew that I was here talking to a stranger at the postern;" and +she made as if she would clap to the little window in his face; +but the one-eyed Hans thrust his staff betwixt the bars and so +kept the shutter open. + +"Nay, nay," said he, eagerly, "do not go away from me too soon. +Look, dear one; seest thou this necklace?" + +"Aye," said she, looking hungrily at it. + +"Then listen; if thou wilt but let me into the castle, so that I +may strike a trade, I will give it to thee for thine own without +thy paying a barley corn for it." + +The girl looked and hesitated, and then looked again; the +temptation was too great. There was a noise of softly drawn +bolts and bars, the door was hesitatingly opened a little way, +and, in a twinkling, the one-eyed Hans had slipped inside the +castle, pack and all. + +"The necklace," said the girl, in a frightened whisper. + +Hans thrust it into her hand. "It's thine," said he, "and now +wilt thou not help me to a trade?" + +"I will tell my sister that thou art here," said she, and away +she ran from the little stone hallway, carefully bolting and +locking the further door behind her. + +The door that the girl had locked was the only one that +connected the postern hail with the castle. + +The one-eyed Hans stood looking after her. "Thou fool!" he muttered +to himself, "to lock the door behind thee. What shall I do next, +I should like to know? Here am I just as badly off as I was when +I stood outside the walls. Thou hussy! If thou hadst but let me +into the castle for only two little minutes, I would have found +somewhere to have hidden myself while thy back was turned. But +what shall I do now?" He rested his pack upon the floor and +stood looking about him. + +Built in the stone wall opposite to him, was a high, narrow +fireplace without carving of any sort. As Hans' one eye wandered +around the bare stone space, his glance fell at last upon it, +and there it rested. For a while he stood looking intently at +it, presently he began rubbing his hand over his bristling chin +in a thoughtful, meditative manner. Finally he drew a deep +breath, and giving himself a shake as though to arouse himself +from his thoughts, and after listening a moment or two to make +sure that no one was nigh, he walked softly to the fireplace, +and stooping, peered up the chimney. Above him yawned a black +cavernous depth, inky with the soot of years. Hans straightened +himself, and tilting his leathern cap to one side, began +scratching his bullet-head; at last he drew a long breath. "Yes, +good," he muttered to himself; "he who jumps into the river must +e'en swim the best he can. It is a vile, dirty place to thrust +one's self; but I am in for it now, and must make the best of a +lame horse." + +He settled the cap more firmly upon his head, spat upon his +hands, and once more stooping in the fireplace, gave a leap, and +up the chimney he went with a rattle of loose mortar and a black +trickle of soot. + +By and by footsteps sounded outside the door. There was a pause; +a hurried whispering of women's voices; the twitter of a nervous +laugh, and then the door was pushed softly opens and the girl to +whom the one-eyed Hans had given the necklace of blue and white +beads with the filigree cross hanging from it, peeped +uncertainly into the room. Behind her broad, heavy face were +three others, equally homely and stolid; for a while all four +stood there, looking blankly into the room and around it. +Nothing was there but the peddler's knapsack lying in the middle +of the floor-the man was gone. The light of expectancy slowly +faded Out of the girl's face, and in its place succeeded first +bewilderment and then dull alarm. "But, dear heaven," she said, +"where then has the peddler man gone?" + +A moment or two of silence followed her speech. "Perhaps," said +one of the others, in a voice hushed with awe, "perhaps it was +the evil one himself to whom thou didst open the door." + +Again there was a hushed and breathless pause; it was the lass +who had let Hans in at the postern, who next spoke. + +"Yes," said she, in a voice trembling with fright at what she +had done, "yes, it must have been the evil one, for now I +remember he had but one eye." The four girls crossed themselves, +and their eyes grew big and round with the fright. + +Suddenly a shower of mortar came rattling down the chimney. +"Ach!" cried the four, as with one voice. Bang! the door was +clapped to and away they scurried like a flock of frightened +rabbits. + +When Jacob, the watchman, came that way an hour later, upon his +evening round of the castle, he found a peddler's knapsack lying +in the middle of the floor. He turned it over with his pike- +staff and saw that it was full of beads and trinkets and +ribbons. + +"How came this here?" said he. And then, without waiting for +the answer which he did not expect, he flung it over his +shoulder and marched away with it. + + +X. + +How Hans Brought Terror to the Kitchen. + +Hans found himself in a pretty pickle in the chimney, for the +soot got into his one eye and set it to watering, and into his +nose and set him to sneezing, and into his mouth and his ears +and his hair. But still he struggled on, up and up; "for every +chimney has a top," said Hans to himself "and I am sure to climb +out somewhere or other." Suddenly he came to a place where +another chimney joined the one he was climbing, and here he +stopped to consider the matter at his leisure. "See now," he +muttered, "if I still go upward I may come out at the top of +some tall chimney-stack with no way of getting down outside. +Now, below here there must be a fire-place somewhere, for a +chimney does not start from nothing at all; yes, good! we will +go down a while and see what we make of that." + +It was a crooked, zigzag road that he had to travel, and rough +and hard into the bargain. His one eye tingled and smarted, and +his knees and elbows were rubbed to the quick; nevertheless One- +eyed Hans had been in worse trouble than this in his life. + +Down he went and down he went, further than he had climbed +upward before. "Sure, I must be near some place or other," he +thought. + +As though in instant answer to his thoughts, he heard the sudden +sound of a voice so close beneath him that he stopped short in +his downward climbing and stood as still as a mouse, with his +heart in his mouth. A few inches more and he would have been +discovered; - what would have happened then would have been no +hard matter to foretell. + +Hans braced his back against one side of the chimney, his feet +against the other and then, leaning forward, looked down between +his knees. The gray light of the coming evening glimmered in a +wide stone fireplace just below him. Within the fireplace two +people were moving about upon the broad hearth, a great, fat +woman and a shock-headed boy. The woman held a spit with two +newly trussed fowls upon it, so that One-eyed Hans knew that she +must be the cook. + +"Thou ugly toad," said the woman to the boy, "did I not bid thee +make a fire an hour ago? and now, here there is not so much as a +spark to roast the fowls withall, and they to be basted for the +lord Baron's supper. Where hast thou been for all this time?" + +No matter," said the boy, sullenly, as he laid the fagots ready +for the lighting; "no matter, I was not running after Long +Jacob, the bowman, to try to catch him for a sweetheart, as thou +hast been doing." + +The reply was instant and ready. The cook raised her hand; +"smack!" she struck and a roar from the scullion followed. + +"Yes, good," thought Hans, as he looked down upon them; "I am +glad that the boy's ear was not on my head." + +"Now give me no more of thy talk," said the woman, "but do the +work that thou hast been bidden." Then - "How came all this +black soot here, I should like to know?" + +"How should I know?" snuffled the scullion, "mayhap thou wouldst +blame that on me also?" + +"That is my doing," whispered Hans to himself; "but if they +light the fire, what then becomes of me?" + +"See now," said the cook; "I go to make the cakes ready; if I +come back and find that thou hast not built the fire, I will +warm thy other ear for thee." + +"So," thought Hans; "then will be my time to come down the +chimney, for there will be but one of them." + +The next moment he heard the door close and knew that the cook +had gone to make the cakes ready as she said. And as he looked +down he saw that the boy was bending over the bundle of fagots, +blowing the spark that he had brought in upon the punk into a +flame. The dry fagots began to crackle and blaze. "Now is my +time," said Hans to himself. Bracing his elbows against each +side of the chimney, he straightened his legs so that he might +fall clear His motions loosened little shower of soot that fell +rattling upon the fagots that were now beginning to blaze +brightly, whereupon the boy raised his face and looked up. Hans +loosened his hold upon the chimney; crash! he fell, lighting +upon his feet in the midst of the burning fagots. The scullion +boy tumbled backward upon the floor, where he lay upon the broad +of his back with a face as white as dough and eyes and mouth +agape, staring speechlessly at the frightful inky-black figure +standing in the midst of the flames and smoke. Then his +scattered wits came back to him. "It is the evil one," he +roared. And thereupon, turning upon his side, he half rolled, +half scrambled to the door. Then out he leaped and, banging it +to behind him, flew down the passageway, yelling with fright and +never daring once to look behind him. + +All the time One-eyed Hans was brushing away the sparks that +clung to his clothes. He was as black as ink from head to foot +with the soot from the chimney. + +"So far all is good," he muttered to himself, "but if I go +wandering about in my sooty shoes I will leave black tracks to +follow me, so there is nothing to do but e'en to go barefoot. + +He stooped and drawing the pointed soft leather shoes from his +feet, he threw them upon the now blazing fagots, where they +writhed and twisted and wrinkled, and at last burst into a +flame. Meanwhile Hans lost no time; he must find a hiding-place, +and quickly, if he would yet hope to escape. A great bread +trough stood in the corner of the kitchen - a hopper-shaped +chest with a flat lid. It was the best hiding place that the +room afforded. Without further thought Hans ran to it, snatching +up from the table as he passed a loaf of black bread and a +bottle half full of stale wine, for he had had nothing to eat +since that morning. Into the great bread trough he climbed, and +drawing the lid down upon him, curled himself up as snugly as a +mouse in its nest. + +For a while the kitchen lay in silence, but at last the sound of +voices was heard at the door, whispering together in low tones. +Suddenly the door was flung open and a tall, lean, lantern-jawed +fellow, clad in rough frieze, strode into the room and stood +there glaring with half frightened boldness around about him; +three or four women and the trembling scullion crowded together +in a frightened group behind him. + +The man was Long Jacob, the bowman; but, after all, his boldness +was all wasted, for not a thread or a hair was to be seen, but +only the crackling fire throwing its cheerful ruddy glow upon +the wall of the room, now rapidly darkening in the falling gray +of the twilight without. + +The fat cook's fright began rapidly to turn into anger. + +"Thou imp," she cried, "it is one of thy tricks," and she made a +dive for the scullion, who ducked around the skirts of one of +the other women and so escaped for the time; but Long Jacob +wrinkled up his nose and sniffed. "Nay," said he, "me thinks +that there lieth some truth in the tale that the boy hath told, +for here is a vile smell of burned horn that the black one bath +left behind him." + +It was the smell from the soft leather shoes that Hans had +burned. + +The silence of night had fallen over the Castle of Trutz- +Drachen; not a sound was heard but the squeaking of mice +scurring behind the wainscoting, the dull dripping of moisture +from the eaves, or the sighing of the night wind around the +gables and through the naked windows of the castle. + +The lid of the great dough trough was softly raised, and a face, +black with soot, peeped cautiously out from under it. Then +little by little arose a figure as black as the face; and One- +eyed Hans stepped out upon the floor, stretching and rubbing +himself. + +"Methinks I must have slept," he muttered. " Hui, I am as stiff +as a new leather doublet, and now, what next is to become of me? +I hope my luck may yet stick to me, in spite of this foul black +soot!" + +Along the middle of the front of the great hall of the castle, +ran a long stone gallery, opening at one end upon the court-yard +by a high flight of stone steps. A man-at-arms in breast-plate +and steel cap, and bearing a long pike, paced up and down the +length of this gallery, now and then stopping, leaning over the +edge, and gazing up into the starry sky above; then, with a long +drawn yawn, lazily turning back to the monotonous watch again. + +A dark figure crept out from an arched doorway at the lower part +of the long straight building, and some little distance below +the end gallery, but the sentry saw nothing of it, for his back +was turned. As silently and as stealthily as a cat the figure +crawled along by the dark shadowy wall, now and then stopping, +and then again creeping slowly forward toward the gallery where +the man-at-arms moved monotonously up and down. It was One-eyed +Hans in his bare feet. + +Inch by inch, foot by foot - the black figure crawled along in +the angle of the wall; inch by inch and foot by foot, but ever +nearer and nearer to the long straight row of stone steps that +led to the covered gallery. At last it crouched at the lowest +step of the flight. Just then the sentinel upon watch came to +the very end of the gallery and stood there leaning upon his +spear. Had he looked down below he could not have failed to have +seen One-eyed Hans lying there motionlessly; but he was gazing +far away over the steep black roofs beyond, and never saw the +unsuspected presence. Minute after minute passed, and the one +stood there looking out into the night and the other lay +crouching by the wall; then with a weary sigh the sentry turned +and began slowly pacing back again toward the farther end of the +gallery. + +Instantly the motionless figure below arose and glided +noiselessly and swiftly up the flight of steps. + +Two rude stone pillars flanked either side of the end of the +gallery. Like a shadow the black figure slipped behind one of +these, flattening itself up against the wall, where it stood +straight and motionless as the shadows around it. + +Down the long gallery came the watchman, his sword clinking +loudly in the silence as he walked, tramp, tramp, tramp! clink, +clank, jingle. + +Within three feet of the motionless figure behind the pillar he +turned, and began retracing his monotonous steps. Instantly the +other left the shadow of the post and crept rapidly and +stealthily after him. One step, two steps the sentinel took; for +a moment the black figure behind him seemed to crouch and draw +together, then like a flash it leaped forward upon its victim. + +A shadowy cloth fell upon the man's face, and in an instant he +was flung back and down with a muffled crash upon the stones. +Then followed a fierce and silent struggle in the darkness, but +strong and sturdy as the man was, he was no match for the almost +superhuman strength of One-eyed Hans. The cloth which he had +flung over his head was tied tightly and securely. Then the man +was forced upon his face and, in spite of his fierce struggles, +his arms were bound around and around with strong fine cord; +next his feet were bound in the same way, and the task was done. +Then Hans stood upon his feet, and wiped the sweat from his +swarthy forehead. "Listen, brother," he whispered, and as he +spoke he stooped and pressed something cold and hard against the +neck of the other. "Dost thou know the feel of this? It is a +broad dagger, and if thou dost contrive to loose that gag from +thy mouth and makest any outcry, it shall be sheathed in thy +weasand." + +So saying, he thrust the knife back again into its sheath, then +stooping and picking up the other, he flung him across his +shoulder like a sack, and running down the steps as lightly as +though his load was nothing at all, he carried his burden to the +arched doorway whence he had come a little while before. There, +having first stripped his prisoner of all his weapons, Hans sat +the man up in the angle of the wall. "So, brother;" said he, +"now we can talk with more ease than we could up yonder. I will +tell thee frankly why I am here; it is to find where the young +Baron Otto of Drachenhausen is kept. If thou canst tell me, well +and good; if not, I must e'en cut thy weasand and find me one +who knoweth more. Now, canst thou tell me what I would learn, +brother?" + +The other nodded dimly in the darkness. + +"That is good," said Hans, "then I will loose thy gag until thou +hast told me; only bear in mind what I said concerning my +dagger." + +Thereupon, he unbound his prisoner, and the fellow slowly rose +to his feet. He shook himself and looked all about him in a +heavy, bewildered fashion, as though he had just awakened from a +dream. + +His right hand slid furtively down to his side, but the dagger- +sheath was empty. + +"Come, brother!" said Hans, impatiently, "time is passing, and +once lost can never be found again. Show me the way to the young +Baron Otto or -." And he whetted the shining blade of his +dagger on his horny palm. + +The fellow needed no further bidding; turning, he led the way, +and together they were swallowed up in the yawning shadows, and +again the hush of night-time lay upon the Castle of Trutz- +Drachen. + + +XI. + +How Otto was Saved. + +Little Otto was lying upon the hard couch in his cell, tossing +in restless and feverish sleep; suddenly a heavy hand was laid +upon him and a voice whispered in his ear, "Baron, Baron Otto, +waken, rouse yourself; I am come to help you. I am One-eyed +Hans." + +Otto was awake in an instant and raised himself upon his elbow +in the darkness. "One-eyed Hans," he breathed, "One-eyed Hans; +who is One-eyed Hans?" + +"True," said the other, "thou dost not know me. I am thy +father's trusted servant, and am the only one excepting his own +blood and kin who has clung to him in this hour of trouble. Yes, +all are gone but me alone, and so I have come to help thee away +from this vile place." + +"Oh, dear, good Hans! if only thou canst!" cried Otto; "if only +thou canst take me away from this wicked place. Alas, dear Hans! +I am weary and sick to death." And poor little Otto began to +weep silently in the darkness. + +"Aye, aye," said Hans, gruffly, "it is no place for a little +child to be. Canst thou climb, my little master? canst thou +climb a knotted rope?" + +"Nay," said Otto, "I can never climb again! See, Hans;" and he +flung back the covers from off him. + +"I cannot see," said Hans, "it is too dark." + +"Then feel, dear Hans," said Otto. + +Hans bent over the poor little white figure glimmering palely in the darkness. Suddenly he drew back with a snarl like an angry wolf. "Oh! the black, bloody wretches!" he cried, hoarsely; "and have they done that to thee, a little child?" + +"Yes," said Otto, "the Baron Henry did it." And then again he began to cry. + +"There, there," said Hans, roughly, "weep no more. Thou shalt get away from here even if thou canst not climb; I myself will help thee. Thy father is already waiting below the window here, and thou shalt soon be with him. There, there, cry no more." + +While he was speaking Hans had stripped off his peddler's +leathern jacket, and there, around his body, was wrapped coil +after coil of stout hempen rope tied in knots at short +distances. He began unwinding the rope, and when he had done he +was as thin as ever he had been before. Next he drew from the +pouch that hung at his side a ball of fine cord and a leaden +weight pierced by a hole, both of which he had brought with him +for the use to which he now put them. He tied the lead to the +end of the cord, then whirling the weight above his head, he +flung it up toward the window high above. Twice the piece of +lead fell back again into the room; the third time it flew out +between the iron bars carrying the cord with it. Hans held the +ball in his hand and paid out the string as the weight carried +it downward toward the ground beneath. Suddenly the cord stopped +running. Hans jerked it and shook it, but it moved no farther. +"Pray heaven, little child," said he, "that it hath reached the +ground, for if it hath not we are certainly lost." + +"I do pray," said Otto, and he bowed his head. + +Then, as though in answer to his prayer, there came a twitch +upon the cord. + +"See," said Hans, "they have heard thee up above in heaven; it +was thy father who did that." Quickly and deftly he tied the +cord to the end of the knotted rope; then he gave an answering +jerk upon the string. The next moment the rope was drawn up to +the window and down the outside by those below. Otto lay +watching the rope as it crawled up to the window and out into +the night like a great snake, while One-eyed Hans held the other +end lest it should be drawn too far. At last it stopped. "Good," +muttered Hans, as though to himself. "The rope is long enough." + +He waited for a few minutes and then, drawing upon the rope and +finding that it was held from below, he spat upon his hands and +began slowly climbing up to the window above. Winding his arm +around the iron bars of the grating that guarded it, he thrust +his hand into the pouch that hung by his side, and drawing forth +a file, fell to work cutting through all that now lay between +Otto and liberty. + +It was slow, slow work, and it seemed to Otto as though Hans +would never finish his task, as lying upon his hard couch he +watched that figure, black against the sky, bending over its +work. Now and then the file screeched against the hard iron, and +then Hans would cease for a moment, but only to begin again as +industriously as ever. Three or four times he tried the effects +of his work, but still the iron held. At last he set his +shoulder against it, and as Otto looked he saw the iron bend. +Suddenly there was a sharp crack, and a piece of the grating +went flying out into the night. + +Hans tied the rope securely about the stump of the stout iron +bar that yet remained, and then slid down again into the room +below. + +"My little lord," said he, "dost thou think that if I carry +thee, thou wilt be able and strong enough to cling to my neck?" + +"Aye," said Otto, "methinks I will be able to do that." + +"Then come," said Hans. + +He stooped as he spoke, and gently lifting Otto from his rude +and rugged bed he drew his broad leathern belt around them both, +buckling it firmly and securely. "It does not hurt thee?" said +he. + +"Not much," whispered Otto faintly. + +Then Hans spat upon his hands, and began slowly climbing the +rope. + +They reached the edge of the window and there they rested for a +moment, and Otto renewed his hold around the neck of the +faithful Hans. + +"And now art thou ready?" said Hans + +"Aye," said Otto. + +"Then courage," said Hans, and he turned and swung his leg over +the abyss below. + +The next moment they were hanging in mid-air. + +Otto looked down and gave a gasp. "The mother of heaven bless +us," he whispered, and then closed his eyes, faint and dizzy at +the sight of that sheer depth beneath. Hans said nothing, but +shutting his teeth and wrapping his legs around the rope, he +began slowly descending, hand under hand. Down, down, down he +went, until to Otto, with his eyes shut and his head leaning +upon Hans' shoulder, it seemed as though it could never end. +Down, down, down. Suddenly he felt Hans draw a deep breath; +there was a slight jar, and Otto opened his eyes; Hans was +standing upon the ground. + +A figure wrapped in a dark cloak arose from the shadow of the +wall, and took Otto in its arms. It was Baron Conrad. + +"My son - my little child!" he cried, in a choked, trembling +voice, and that was all. And Otto pressed his cheek against his +father's and began crying. + +Suddenly the Baron gave a sharp, fierce cry. "Dear Heaven!" he +cried; "what have they done to thee?" But poor little Otto could +not answer. + +"Oh!" gasped the Baron, in a strangled voice, "my little child! +my little child!" And therewith he broke down, and his whole +body shook with fierce, dry sobs; for men in those days did not +seek to hide their grief as they do now, but were fierce and +strong in the expression of that as of all else. + +"Never mind, dear father," whispered Otto; "it did not hurt me +so very much," and he pressed his lips against his father's +cheek. + +Little Otto had but one hand. + + +XII. + +A Ride For Life. + +But not yet was Otto safe, and all danger past and gone by. +Suddenly, as they stood there, the harsh clangor of a bell broke +the silence of the starry night above their heads, and as they +raised their faces and looked up, they saw lights flashing from +window to window. Presently came the sound of a hoarse voice +shouting something that, from the distance, they could not +understand. + +One-eyed Hans smote his hand upon his thigh. Look said he, "here +is what comes of having a soft heart in one's bosom. I overcame +and bound a watchman up yonder, and forced him to tell me where +our young Baron lay. It was on my mind to run my knife into him +after he had told me every thing, but then, bethinking how the +young Baron hated the thought of bloodshed, I said to myself, +'No, Hans, I will spare the villain's life.' See now what comes +of being merciful; here, by hook or by crook, the fellow has +loosed himself from his bonds, and brings the whole castle about +our ears like a nest of wasps." + +"We must fly," said the Baron; "for nothing else in the world is +left me, now that all have deserted me in this black time of +trouble, excepting these six faithful ones." + +His voice was bitter, bitter, as he spoke; then stooping, he +raised Otto in his arms, and bearing him gently, began rapidly +descending the rocky slope to the level road that ran along the +edge of the hill beneath. Close behind him followed the rest; +Hans still grimed with soot and in his bare feet. A little +distance from the road and under the shade of the forest trees, +seven horses stood waiting. The Baron mounted upon his great +black charger, seating little Otto upon the saddle in front of +him. "Forward!" he cried, and away they clattered and out upon +the road. Then - "To St. Michaelsburg," said Baron Conrad, in +his deep voice, and the horses' heads were turned to the +westward, and away they galloped through the black shadows of +the forest, leaving Trutz-Drachen behind them. + +But still the sound of the alarm bell rang through the beating +of the horses' hoofs, and as Hans looked over his shoulder, he +saw the light of torches flashing hither and thither along the +outer walls in front of the great barbican. + +In Castle Trutz-Drachen all was confusion and uproar: flashing +torches lit up the dull gray walls; horses neighed and stamped, +and men shouted and called to one another in the bustle of +making ready. Presently Baron Henry came striding along the +corridor clad in light armor, which he had hastily donned when +roused from his sleep by the news that his prisoner had escaped. +Below in the courtyard his horse was standing, and without +waiting for assistance, he swung himself into the saddle. Then +away they all rode and down the steep path, armor ringing, +swords clanking, and iron-shod hoofs striking sparks of fire +from the hard stones. At their head rode Baron Henry; his +triangular shield hung over his shoulder, and in his hand he +bore a long, heavy, steel-pointed lance with a pennant +flickering darkly from the end. + +At the high-road at the base of the slope they paused, for they +were at a loss to know which direction the fugitives had taken; +a half a score of the retainers leaped from their horses, and +began hurrying about hither and thither, and up and down, like +hounds searching for the lost scent, and all the time Baron +Henry sat still as a rock in the midst of the confusion. + +Suddenly a shout was raised from the forest just beyond the +road; they had come upon the place where the horses had been +tied. It was an easy matter to trace the way that Baron Conrad +and his followers had taken thence back to the high-road, but +there again they were at a loss. The road ran straight as an +arrow eastward and westward - had the fugitives taken their way to +the east or to the west? + +Baron Henry called his head-man, Nicholas Stein, to him, and the +two spoke together for a while in an undertone. At last the +Baron's lieutenant reined his horse back, and choosing first one +and then another, divided the company into two parties. The +baron placed himself at the head of one band and Nicholas Stein +at the head of the other. "Forward!" he cried, and away +clattered the two companies of horsemen in opposite directions. + +It was toward the westward that Baron Henry of Trutz-Drachen +rode at the head of his men. + +The early springtide sun shot its rays of misty, yellow light +across the rolling tops of the forest trees where the little +birds were singing in the glory of the May morning. But Baron +Henry and his followers thought nothing of the beauty of the +peaceful day, and heard nothing of the multitudinous sound of +the singing birds as, with a confused sound of galloping hoofs, +they swept along the highway, leaving behind them a slow- +curling, low-trailing cloud of dust. + +As the sun rose more full and warm, the misty wreaths began to +dissolve, until at last they parted and rolled asunder like a +white curtain and there, before the pursuing horsemen, lay the +crest of the mountain toward which they were riding, and up +which the road wound steeply. + +"Yonder they are, cried a sudden voice behind Baron Henry of +Trutz-Drachen, and at the cry all looked upward. + +Far away upon the mountain-side curled a cloud of dust, from the +midst of which came the star-like flash of burnished armor +gleaming in the sun. + +Baron Henry said never a word, but his lips curled in a grim +smile. + +And as the mist wreaths parted One-eyed Hans looked behind and +down into the leafy valley beneath. "Yonder they come," said he. +"They have followed sharply to gain so much upon us, even though +our horses are wearied with all the travelling we have done +hither and yon these five days past. How far is it, Lord Baron, +from here to Michaelsburg?" + +"About ten leagues," said the Baron, in a gloomy voice. + +Hans puckered his mouth as though to whistle, but the Baron saw +nothing of it, for he was gazing straight before him with a set +and stony face. Those who followed him looked at one another, +and the same thought was in the mind of each - how long would it +be before those who pursued would close the distance between them? + +When that happened it meant death to one and all. + +They reached the crest of the hill, and down they dashed upon +the other side; for there the road was smooth and level as it +sloped away into the valley, but it was in dead silence that +they rode. Now and then those who followed the Baron looked back +over their shoulders. They had gained a mile upon their pursuers +when the helmeted heads rose above the crest of the mountain, +but what was the gain of a mile with a smooth road between them, +and fresh horses to weary ones? + +On they rode and on they rode. The sun rose higher and higher, +and hotter and hotter. There was no time to rest and water their +panting horses. Only once, when they crossed a shallow stretch +of water, the poor animals bent their heads and caught a few +gulps from the cool stream, and the One-eyed Hans washed a part +of the soot from his hands and face. On and on they rode; never +once did the Baron Conrad move his head or alter that steadfast +look as, gazing straight before him, he rode steadily forward +along the endless stretch of road, with poor little Otto's +yellow head and white face resting against his steel-clad +shoulder - and St. Michaelsburg still eight leagues away. + +A little rise of ground lay before them, and as they climbed it, +all, excepting the baron, turned their heads as with one accord +and looked behind them. Then more than one heart failed, for +through the leaves of the trees below, they caught the glint of +armor of those who followed - not more than a mile away. The +next moment they swept over the crest, and there, below them, +lay the broad shining river, and nearer a tributary stream +spanned by a rude, narrow, three-arched, stone bridge where the +road crossed the deep, slow-moving water. + +Down the slope plodded the weary horses, and so to the bridge- +head. + +"Halt," cried the baron suddenly, and drew rein. + +The others stood bewildered. What did he mean to do? He turned +to Hans and his blue eyes shone like steel. + +"Hans," said he, in his deep voice, "thou hast served me long +and truly; wilt thou for this one last time do my bidding?" + +"Aye," said Hans, briefly. + +"Swear it," said the Baron. + +"I swear it," said Hans, and he drew the sign of the cross upon +his heart. + +"That is good," said the Baron, grimly. "Then take thou this +child, and with the others ride with all the speed that thou +canst to St. Michaelsburg. Give the child into the charge of the +Abbot Otto. Tell him how that I have sworn fealty to the +Emperor, and what I have gained thereby - my castle burnt, my +people slain, and this poor, simple child, my only son, +mutilated by my enemy. + +"And thou, my Lord Baron?" said Hans. + +"I will stay here," said the Baron, quietly, "and keep back +those who follow as long as God will give me grace so to do." + +A murmur of remonstrance rose among the faithful few who were +with him, two of whom were near of kin. But Conrad of +Drachenhausen turned fiercely upon them. + +"How now," said he, "have I fallen so low in my troubles that +even ye dare to raise your voices against me? By the good +Heaven, I will begin my work here by slaying the first man who +dares to raise word against my bidding." Then he turned from +them. "Here, Hans," said he, "take the boy; and remember, knave, +what thou hast sworn." + +He pressed Otto close to his breast in one last embrace. "My +little child," he murmured, "try not to hate thy father when +thou thinkest of him hereafter, even though he be hard and +bloody as thou knowest." + +But with his suffering and weakness, little Otto knew nothing of +what was passing; it was only as in a faint flickering dream +that he lived in what was done around him. + +"Farewell, Otto," said the Baron, but Otto's lips only moved +faintly in answer. His father kissed him upon either cheek. +"Come, Hans," said he, hastily, "take him hence;" and he loosed +Otto's arms from about his neck. + +Hans took Otto upon the saddle in front of him. + +"Oh! my dear Lord Baron," said he, and then stopped with a gulp, +and turned his grotesquely twitching face aside. + +"Go," said the Baron, harshly, "there is no time to lose in +woman's tears." + +"Farewell, Conrad! farewell, Conrad!" said his two kinsmen, and +coming forward they kissed him upon the cheek then they turned +and rode away after Hans, and Baron Conrad was left alone to +face his mortal foe. + + +XIII. + +How Baron Conrad Held the Bridge. + +As the last of his followers swept around the curving road and +was lost to sight, Baron Conrad gave himself a shake, as though +to drive away the thoughts that lay upon him. Then he rode +slowly forward to the middle of the bridge, where he wheeled his +horse so as to face his coming enemies. He lowered the vizor of +his helmet and bolted it to its place, and then saw that sword +and dagger were loose in the scabbard and easy to draw when the +need for drawing should arise. + + +Down the steep path from the hill above swept the pursuing +horsemen. Down the steep path to the bridge-head and there drew +rein; for in the middle of the narrow way sat the motionless, +steel-clad figure upon the great war-horse, with wide, red, +panting nostrils, and body streaked with sweat and flecked with +patches of foam. + +One side of the roadway of the bridge was guarded by a low stone +wall; the other side was naked and open and bare to the deep, +slow-moving water beneath. It was a dangerous place to attack a +desperate man clad in armor of proof. + +"Forward!" cried Baron Henry, but not a soul stirred in answer, +and still the iron-clad figure sat motionless and erect upon the +panting horse. + +"How," cried the Baron Henry, "are ye afraid of one man? Then +follow me!" and he spurred forward to the bridge-head. But still +no one moved in answer, and the Lord of Trutz-Drachen reined +back his horse again. He wheeled his horse and glared round upon +the stolid faces of his followers, until his eyes seemed fairly +to blaze with passion beneath the bars of his vizor. + +Baron Conrad gave a roar of laughter. "How now," he cried; "are +ye all afraid of one man? Is there none among ye that dares come +forward and meet me? I know thee, Baron Henry thou art not +afraid to cut off the hand of a little child. Hast thou not now +the courage to face the father?" + +Baron Henry gnashed his teeth with rage as he glared around upon +the faces of his men-at-arms. Suddenly his eye lit upon one of +them. "Ha ! Carl Spigler," he cried, "thou hast thy cross-bow +with thee; - shoot me down yonder dog! Nay," he said, "thou +canst do him no harm under his armor; shoot the horse upon which +he sits." + +Baron Conrad heard the speech. "Oh! thou coward villain !" he +cried, "stay; do not shoot the good horse. I will dismount and +fight ye upon foot." Thereupon, armed as he was, he leaped +clashing from his horse and turning the animal's head, gave it a +slap upon the flank. The good horse first trotted and then +walked to the further end of the bridge, where it stopped and +began cropping at the grass that grew beside the road. + +"Now then !" cried Baron Henry, fiercely, "now then, ye cannot +fear him, villains! Down with him! forward!" + +Slowly the troopers spurred their horses forward upon the bridge +and toward that one figure that, grasping tightly the great two- +handed sword, stood there alone guarding the passage. + +Then Baron Conrad whirled the great blade above his head, until +it caught the sunlight and flashed again. He did not wait for +the attack, but when the first of the advancing horsemen had +come within a few feet of him, he leaped with a shout upon them. +The fellow thrust at him with his lance, and the Baron went +staggering a few feet back, but instantly he recovered himself +and again leaped forward. The great sword flashed in the air, +whistling; it fell, and the nearest man dropped his lance, +clattering, and with a loud, inarticulate cry, grasped the mane +of his horse with both hands. Again the blade whistled in the +air, and this time it was stained with red. Again it fell, and +with another shrill cry the man toppled headlong beneath the +horse's feet. The next instant they were upon him, each striving +to strike at the one figure, to ride him down, or to thrust him +down with their lances. There was no room now to swing the long +blade, but holding the hilt in both hands, Baron Conrad thrust +with it as though it were a lance, stabbing at horse or man, it +mattered not. Crowded upon the narrow roadway of the bridge, +those who attacked had not only to guard themselves against the +dreadful strokes of that terrible sword, but to keep their +wounded horses (rearing and mad with fright) from toppling +bodily over with them into the water beneath. + +Presently the cry was raised, "Back! back!" And those nearest +the Baron began reining in their horses. "Forward!" roared Baron +Henry, from the midst of the crowd; but in spite of his command, +and even the blows that he gave, those behind were borne back by +those in front, struggling and shouting, and the bridge was +cleared again excepting for three figures that lay motionless +upon the roadway, and that one who, with the brightness of his +armor dimmed and stained, leaned panting against the wall of the +bridge. + +The Baron Henry raged like a madman. Gnashing his teeth +together, he rode back a little way; then turning and couching +his lance, he suddenly clapped spurs to his horse, and the next +instant came thundering down upon his solitary enemy. + +Baron Conrad whirled his sword in the air, as he saw the other +coming like a thunderbolt upon him; he leaped aside, and the +lance passed close to him. As it passed he struck, and the iron +point flew from the shaft of the spear at the blow, and fell +clattering upon the stone roadway of the bridge. + +Baron Henry drew in his horse until it rested upon its haunches, +then slowly reined it backward down the bridge, still facing his +foe, and still holding the wooden stump of the lance in his +hand. At the bridge-head he flung it from him. + +"Another lance!" he cried, hoarsely. One was silently reached to +him and he took it, his hand trembling with rage. Again he rode +to a little distance and wheeled his horse; then, driving his +steel spurs into its quivering side, he came again thundering +down upon the other. Once more the terrible sword whirled in the +air and fell, but this time the lance was snatched to one side +and the blow fell harmlessly. The next instant, and with a +twitch of the bridle-rein, the horse struck full and fair +against the man. + +Conrad of Drachenhausen was whirled backward and downward, and +the cruel iron hoofs crashed over his prostrate body, as horse +and man passed with a rush beyond him and to the bridge-head +beyond. A shout went up from those who stood watching. The next +moment the prostrate figure rose and staggered blindly to the +side of the bridge, and stood leaning against the stone wall. + +At the further end of the bridge Baron Henry had wheeled his +horse. Once again he couched lance, and again he drove down upon +his bruised and wounded enemy. This time the lance struck full +and fair, and those who watched saw the steel point pierce the +iron breast-plate and then snap short, leaving the barbed point +within the wound. + +Baron Conrad sunk to his knees and the Roderburg, looming upon +his horse above him, unsheathed his sword to finish the work he +had begun. + +Then those who stood looking on saw a wondrous thing happen: the +wounded man rose suddenly to his feet, and before his enemy +could strike he leaped, with a great and bitter cry of agony and +despair, upon him as he sat in the saddle above. + +Henry of Trutz-Drachen grasped at his horse's mane, but the +attack was so fierce, so sudden, and so unexpected that before +he could save himself he was dragged to one side and fell +crashing in his armor upon the stone roadway of the bridge. + +"The dragon! the dragon!" roared Baron Conrad, in a voice of +thunder, and with the energy of despair he dragged his prostrate +foe toward the open side of the bridge. + +"Forward !" cried the chief of the Trutz-Drachen men, and down +they rode upon the struggling knights to the rescue of their +master in this new danger. But they were too late. + +There was a pause at the edge of the bridge, for Baron Henry had +gained his feet and, stunned and bewildered as he was by the +suddenness of his fall, he was now struggling fiercely, +desperately. For a moment they stood swaying backward and +forward, clasped in one another's arms, the blood from the +wounded man's breast staining the armor of both. The moment +passed and then, with a shower of stones and mortar from beneath +their iron-shod heels, they toppled and fell; there was a +thunderous splash in the water below, and as the men-at-arms +came hurrying up and peered with awe-struck faces over the +parapet of the bridge, they saw the whirling eddies sweep down +with the current of the stream, a few bubbles rise to the +surface of the water, and then - nothing; for the smooth river +flowed onward as silently as ever. + +Presently a loud voice burst through the awed hush that +followed. It came from William of Roderburg, Baron Henry's +kinsman. + +"Forward!" he cried. A murmur of voices from the others was all +the answer that he received. "Forward!" cried the young man +again, "the boy and those with him are not so far away but that +we might yet catch up with them." + +Then one of the men spoke up in answer - a man with a seamed, +weather-beaten face and crisp grizzled hair. "Nay," said he, +"our Lord Baron is gone, and this is no quarrel of ours; here be +four of us that are wounded and three I misdoubt that are dead; +why should we follow further only to suffer more blows for no +gain?" A growl of assent rose from those that stood around, and +William of Roderburg saw that nothing more was to be done by the +Trutz-Dragons that day. + + +XIV. + +How Otto Saw the Great Emperor. + +Through weakness and sickness and faintness, Otto had lain in a +half swoon through all that long journey under the hot May sun. +It was as in a dreadful nightmare that he had heard on and on +and on that monotonous throbbing of galloping hoofs upon the +ground; had felt that last kiss that his father had given him +upon his cheek. Then the onward ride again, until all faded away +into a dull mist and he knew no more. When next he woke it was +with the pungent smell of burned vinegar in his nostrils and +with the feeling of a cool napkin bathing his brow. He opened +his eyes and then closed them again, thinking he must have been +in a dream, for he lay in his old room at the peaceful monastery +of the White Cross on the hill; the good Father Abbot sat near +by, gazing upon his face with the old absent student look, +Brother John sat in the deep window seat also gazing at him, and +Brother Theodore, the leech of the monastery, sat beside him +bathing his head. Beside these old familiar faces were the faces +of those who had been with him in that long flight; the One-eyed +Hans, old Master Nicholas his kinsman, and the others. So he +closed his eyes, thinking that maybe it was all a dream. But the +sharp throbbing of the poor stump at his wrist soon taught him +that he was still awake. + +"Am I then really home in St. Michaelsburg again? he murmured, +without unclosing his eyes. + +Brother Theodore began snuffling through his nose; there was a +pause. "Yes," said the old Abbot at last, and his gentle voice +trembled as he spoke; "yes, my dear little child, thou art back +again in thine own home; thou hast not been long out in the +great world, but truly thou hast had a sharp and bitter trial of +it." + +"But they will not take me away again, will they?" said Otto +quickly, unclosing his blue eyes. + +"Nay," said the Abbot, gently; "not until thou art healed in +body and art ready and willing to go." + +Three months and more had passed, and Otto was well again; and +now, escorted by One-eyed Hans and those faithful few who had +clung to the Baron Conrad through his last few bitter days, he +was riding into the quaint old town of Nurnburg; for the Emperor +Rudolph was there at that time, waiting for King Ottocar of +Bohemia to come thither and answer the imperial summons before +the Council, and Otto was travelling to the court. + +As they rode in through the gates of the town, Otto looked up at +the high-peaked houses with their overhanging gables, the like +of which he had never seen before, and he stared with his round +blue eyes at seeing them so crowded together along the length of +the street. But most of all he wondered at the number of people +that passed hither and thither, jostling each other in their +hurry, and at the tradesmen's booths opening upon the street +with the wonderful wares hanging within; armor at the smiths, +glittering ornaments at the goldsmiths, and rich fabrics of +silks and satins at the mercers. He had never seen anything so +rich and grand in all of his life, for little Otto had never +been in a town before. + +"Oh! look," he cried, "at that wonderful lady; see, holy father! + sure the Emperor's wife can be no finer than that lady." + +The Abbot smiled. "Nay, Otto," said he, "that is but a burgher's +wife or daughter; the ladies at the Emperor's court are far +grander than such as she." + +"So!" said Otto, and then fell silent with wonder. + +And now, at last the great moment had come when little Otto with +his own eyes was to behold the mighty Emperor who ruled over all +the powerful kingdoms of Germany and Austria, and Italy and +Bohemia, and other kingdoms and principalities and states. His +heart beat so that he could hardly speak as, for a moment, the +good Abbot who held him by the hand stopped outside of the +arrased doorway to whisper some last instructions into his ear. +Then they entered the apartment. + +It was a long, stone-paved room. The floor was covered with rich +rugs and the walls were hung with woven tapestry wherein were +depicted knights and ladies in leafy gardens and kings and +warriors at battle. A long row of high glazed windows extended +along the length of the apartment, flooding it with the mellow +light of the autumn day. At the further end of the room, far +away, and standing by a great carved chimney place wherein +smouldered the remains of a fire, stood a group of nobles in +gorgeous dress of velvet and silks, and with glittering golden +chains hung about their necks. + +One figure stood alone in front of the great yawning fireplace. +His hands were clasped behind him, and his look bent +thoughtfully upon the floor. He was dressed only in a simple +gray robe without ornament or adornment, a plain leathern belt +girded his waist, and from it hung a sword with a bone hilt +encased in a brown leathern scabbard. A noble stag-hound lay +close behind him, curled up upon the floor, basking in the +grateful warmth of the fire. + +As the Father Abbot and Otto drew near he raised his head and +looked at them. It was a plain, homely face that Otto saw, with +a wrinkled forehead and a long mouth drawn down at the corners. +It was the face of a good, honest burgher burdened with the +cares of a prosperous trade. "Who can he be," thought Otto, +"and why does the poor man stand there among all the great +nobles?" + +But the Abbot walked straight up to him and kneeled upon the +floor, and little Otto, full of wonder, did the same. It was the +great Emperor Rudolph. + +"Who have we here " said the Emperor, and he bent his brow upon +the Abbot and the boy. + +"Sire," said Abbot Otto, "we have humbly besought you by +petition, in the name of your late vassal, Baron Conrad of +Vuelph of Drachenhausen, for justice to this his son, the Baron +Otto, whom, sire, as you may see, hath been cruelly mutilated at +the hands of Baron Henry of Roderburg of Trutz-Drachen. He hath +moreover been despoiled of his lands, his castle burnt, and his +household made prisoner." + +The Emperor frowned until the shaggy eyebrows nearly hid the +keen gray twinkle of the eyes beneath. "Yes," said he, "I do +remember me of that petition, and have given it consideration +both in private and in council." He turned to the group of +listening nobles. " Look," said he, "at this little child marred +by the inhumanity and the cruelty of those robber villains. By +heavens! I will put down their lawless rapine, if I have to give +every castle from the north to the south to the flames and to +the sword." Then turning to Otto again, "Poor little child," +said he, "thy wrongs shall be righted, and so far as they are +able, those cruel Roderburgs shall pay thee penny for penny, and +grain for grain, for what thou hast lost; and until such +indemnity hath been paid the family of the man who wrought this +deed shall be held as surety." + +Little Otto looked up in the kind, rugged face above him. "Nay, +Lord Emperor," said he, in his quaint, quiet way, "there are but +two in the family - the mother and the daughter - and I have +promised to marry the little girl when she and I are old enough; +so, if you please, I would not have harm happen to her." + +The Emperor continued to look down at the kneeling boy, and at +last he gave a short, dry laugh. "So be it," said he, "thy plan +is not without its wisdom. Mayhap it is all for the best that +the affair should be ended thus peacefully. The estates of the +Roderburgs shall be held in trust for thee until thou art come +of age; otherwise it shall be as thou hast proposed, the little +maiden shall be taken into ward under our own care. And as to +thee - art thou willing that I should take thee under my own +charge in the room of thy father, who is dead?" + +"Aye," said Otto, simply, "I am willing, for it seems to me that +thou art a good man." + +The nobles who stood near smiled at the boy's speech. As for the +Emperor, he laughed outright. "I give thee thanks, my Lord +Baron," said he; "there is no one in all my court who has paid +me greater courtesy than that." + +So comes the end of our tale. + +But perhaps you may like to know what happened afterward, for no +one cares to leave the thread of a story without tying a knot in +it. + +Eight years had passed, and Otto grew up to manhood in the +Emperor's court, and was with him through war and peace. + +But he himself never drew sword or struck a blow, for the right +hand that hung at his side was of pure silver, and the hard, +cold fingers never closed. Folks called him "Otto of the Silver +Hand," but perhaps there was another reason than that for the +name that had been given him, for the pure, simple wisdom that +the old monks of the White Cross on the hill had taught him, +clung to him through all the honors that the Emperor bestowed +upon his favorite, and as he grew older his words were listened +to and weighed by those who were high in Council, and even by +the Emperor himself. + +And now for the end of all. + +One day Otto stood uncertainly at the doorway of a room in the +imperial castle, hesitating before he entered; and yet there was +nothing so very dreadful within, only one poor girl whose heart +fluttered more than his. Poor little Pauline, whom he had not +seen since that last day in the black cell at Trutz-Drachen. + +At last he pushed aside the hangings and entered the room. + +She was sitting upon a rude bench beside the window, looking at +him out of her great, dark eyes. + +He stopped short and stood for a moment confused and silent; for +he had no thought in his mind but of the little girl whom he had +last seen, and for a moment he stood confused before the fair +maiden with her great, beautiful dark eyes. + +She on her part beheld a tall, slender youth with curling, +golden hair, one hand white and delicate, the other of pure and +shining silver. + +He came to her and took her hand and set it to his lips, and all +that she could do was to gaze with her great, dark eyes upon the +hero of whom she had heard so many talk; the favorite of the +Emperor; the wise young Otto of the Silver Hand. + + +Afterword + +The ruins of Drachenhausen were rebuilt, for the walls were as +sound as ever, though empty and gaping to the sky; but it was no +longer the den of a robber baron for beneath the scutcheon over +the great gate was carved a new motto of the Vuelphs; a motto +which the Emperor Rudolph himself had given: + +"Manus argentea quam manus ferrea melior est" + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg Etext Otto of the Silver Hand, by Howard Pyle + |