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If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: The Boy and the Baron - -Author: Adeline Knapp - -Release Date: October 9, 2021 [eBook #66498] - -Language: English - -Produced by: Richard Tonsing and the Online Distributed Proofreading - Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This book was produced from - images made available by the HathiTrust Digital Library.) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOY AND THE BARON *** - - - - - - THE BOY AND - THE BARON - - -[Illustration: “THE TWO KNIGHTS WHEELED THEIR HORSES AND DASHED AT EACH -OTHER AGAIN AND AGAIN.”] - - - - -[Illustration] - - S^T. NICHOLAS BOOKS - - THE BOY AND THE BARON - - - _BY_ ADELINE KNAPP - - - NEW YORK · THE CENTURY CO · MCMII - - - - - Copyright, 1901, 1902, by - THE CENTURY CO. - - _Published October, 1902_ - - - THE DEVINNE PRESS - - - - - TO - MERODINE KEELER - - - - - CONTENTS - - - CHAPTER PAGE - - I WHAT THE CHILDREN SAW FROM THE PLAYGROUND ON THE PLATEAU 3 - - II HOW KARL THE ARMORER TOOK THE SHINING KNIGHT’S TREASURE - FROM AMONG THE OSIERS 19 - - III HOW WULF FARED AT KARL THE ARMORER’S HUT 26 - - IV OF HOW WULF FIRST WENT TO THE CASTLE, AND WHAT BEFELL 39 - - V HOW WULF WENT TO THE SWARTZBURG, AND OF HIS BEGINNING - THERE 60 - - VI HOW CONRADT PLOTTED MISCHIEF, AND HOW WULF WON A FRIEND 73 - - VII HOW WULF CLIMBED THE IVY TOWER, AND WHAT HE SAW AT THE - BARRED WINDOW 86 - - VIII HOW BARON EVERHARDT WAS OUTLAWED, AND HOW WULF HEARD OF - THE BABY IN THE OSIERS 101 - - IX OF THE ILL NEWS THAT THE BARON BROKE TO HIS MAIDEN WARD, - AND OF HOW SHE TOOK THAT SAME 115 - - X HOW WULF TOOK ELISE FROM THE SWARTZBURG 132 - - XI WHAT THE FUGITIVES FURTHER SAW IN THE FOREST, AND HOW THEY - CAME TO ST. URSULA AND MET THE EMPEROR 145 - - XII HOW WULF TOOK THE EMPEROR’S MESSAGE TO KARL OF THE FORGE 161 - - XIII HOW WORD OF HIS DANGER CAME TO WULF AT THE FORGE 173 - - XIV OF THE GREAT BATTLE THAT WAS FOUGHT, AND OF HOW WULF SAVED - THE DAY 187 - - XV HOW THE SHINING KNIGHT’S TREASURE WAS BROUGHT TO LIGHT 198 - - - - - LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS - - - PAGE - - The two knights wheeled their horses and dashed at each - other again and again _Frontispiece_ - - The shining stranger held in front of him a good-sized - burden 9 - - Putting horn to lip, he blew four great blasts 15 - - The forest’s small wild life constantly came in at the - open door 33 - - The boy began patting the broad neck of the charger 53 - - Wulf could naught but fend and parry with his stick 77 - - Lowering himself farther, he came upon a narrow casement - nearly overgrown with ivy 97 - - Then the baron gripped her by the arm 125 - - With the head of his battle-ax he struck it a blow that - sent it inward 177 - - The emperor laid drawn sword across his bowed shoulders 207 - - - - - THE BOY AND - THE BARON - - - - - CHAPTER I - WHAT THE CHILDREN SAW FROM THE PLAYGROUND ON THE PLATEAU - - -One sunny forenoon in the month of May, something over six hundred years -ago, some children were playing under the oak-trees that grew in little -companies here and there in a pleasant meadow on a high plateau. This -meadow was part of a great table-land overlooking a wide stretch of -country. It was hedged along the west with white-thorn, setting it off -from the tillage on the other side, and on the east it dipped to the -bank of a little stream fringed with willows and low bushes. The south -side descended in a steep cliff, and up and down its slope the huts of a -little village seemed to climb along the stony path that led to the -plateau. Farther away lines of dark forest stretched off out of sight, -in solid walls that looked almost black over against the bright green of -meadow and field and the rich brown of the tilled land. On all sides -were mountains, covered with trees or crowned with snow, from which, -when the sun went down, the wind blew chill. Beyond the stream a highway -climbed the valley, and the children could see, from their playground, -the place where it issued from the edge of the wood. They could not -follow its windings very far beyond the plateau, however, for it soon -bent off to the left and wound up a narrow pass among the hills. - -Toward the north, and far overhead, rose the grim walls and towers of -the great castle that watched the pass and sheltered the little village -on the cliffside. Those were rude, stern times, and the people in the -village were often glad of the protection which the castle gave from -attacks by stranger invaders; but they paid for their security, from -time to time, when the defenders themselves sallied forth upon the -hamlet and took toll from its flocks and herds. - -It was “the evil time when there was no emperor” in Germany. Of real -rule there was none in the land, but every man held his life in his own -charge. Knights sworn to deeds of mercy and bravery, returning from the -holy war which waged to uphold Christ’s name at Jerusalem, were undone -by the lawlessness of the times, and, forgetful of all knightly vows, -turned robbers and foes where they should have been warders and helpers. -The lesser nobles and landholders were become freebooters and -plunderers, while the common people, pillaged and oppressed by these, -had few rights and less freedom, as must always be the case with peoples -or with single souls where there is no strong law, fended and loved by -those whom it is meant to help. - -The children under the oak-trees played at knights and robbers. -Neighboring the meadow was the common pasture, where tethered goats and -sheep, and large, slow cattle, stood them as great flocks and caravans -to sally out upon and harry. Now and again a party would break forth -from one clump of trees to raid their playmates in a pretended village -within another. Of storming castles, or of real knights’ play, they knew -naught; for they were of the common people, poor working-folk sunk to a -state but little above thraldom, and heard, in the guarded talk of their -elders, stories only of the robber knights’ dark acts, never of deeds -daring and true, such as belong to unspotted knighthood. - -As the whole company lay in make-believe ambush among the shrubbery near -the edge of the plateau, Ludovic, the oldest boy, suddenly called to -them to look where, from the forest, a figure on horseback was coming -out upon the highway. - -“See,” Ludovic cried. “Yonder comes a sightly knight. Look, Hansei, at -his shining armor and his glittering lance.” - -“He is none of hereabout,” nodded Hansei, flashing his wide blue eyes -upon the gleaming figure. “My lord’s men-at-arms are none so shining -fair. Whence may he be, Ludovic?” - -“How should I know?” asked Ludovic, testily, with the older boy’s -vexation when a youngster asks him that which he cannot answer. - -“Small chance he bringeth good,” added he, “wherever he be from; but, in -any case, let us lie here until he passes.” - -“He weareth a long, ruddy beard,” said keen-eyed Gretel, as a slight -bend in the road brought the knight full-facing the group. “Oh, -Ludovic,” she suddenly cried, “what if it should be Barbarossa, come to -help the land again?” - -“Barbarossa!” exclaimed Ludovic, scornfully. “Old woman’s yarn! Mark ye, -Gretel, Barbarossa will never wake from his sleep. He has forgotten the -land. My father says God has forgotten it in his heaven, and how shall -Barbarossa remember it, sleeping in his stone chamber? No; it is the -truth: he will never come.” - -“It is no long beard,” said Hansei, who had been watching eagerly. “’Tis -something that he bears before him at his saddle-peak.” - -This was indeed true. The shining stranger, as the children could now -plainly see, held in front of him, on the saddle-peak, a good-sized -burden, though what it was the young watchers could not, for the -distance, make out. Nevertheless they could see that it was no common -burden; nor, in truth, was it any common figure that rode along the -highway. He was still some distance off, but already the children began -to hear the ring of the great horse’s iron hoofs on the stones of the -road, and the jangle of metal about the rider when sword and armor -clashed out their music to the time of trotting hoofs. As they watched -and harkened, their delight and wonder ever growing, they suddenly -caught, when the knight had now drawn much closer, the tuneful winding -of a horn. - -[Illustration: “THE SHINING STRANGER HELD IN FRONT OF HIM A GOOD-SIZED -BURDEN.”] - - -The rider on the highway heard the sound as well; but, to the children’s -amaze, instead of pricking forward the faster, like a knight of hot -courage, he drew rein and turned half-way about, as minded to seek -shelter among the willows growing along-stream. There was no shelter -there, however, for man or horse, and on the other hand the narrowing -valley shut the road in, with no footing up the wooded bluff. When the -knight saw all this, he rode close into the thicket, and leaning from -his saddle, dropped, with wondrous gentleness, his burden among the -osiers. - -“’Tis some treasure,” murmured Ludovic. “He fears the robber knights may -get it.” - -By now there showed, coming down the pass, another knight. But the -second comer was no such goodly figure as the one below. His armor, -instead of gleaming in the sunlight, was tarnished and stained. His -helmet was black and unplumed, and upon his shield appeared the white -cross of a Crusader. Nevertheless, albeit of no glistening splendor, he -was of right knightly mien, and the horse he bestrode was a fine -creature, whose springy step seemed to scorn the road he trod. - -“’Tis a knight from the castle,” the children said, and Hansei added: -“Mighty Herr Banf, by his white cross. Now there will be fighting.” - -Down below, where the road widened a bit, winding with a bend of the -stream, the shining stranger sat his horse, waiting, lance at rest, to -see what the black knight would do. The moment the latter espied him he -left the matter in no doubt, but couched his lance and bore hard along -the road, as minded to make an end of the stranger; whereupon the latter -urged forward his own steed, and the two came together with a huge rush, -so that the crash of armor against armor rang out fierce and clear up -the pass, and both spears were shattered in the onset. - -Then the two knights fought with their swords, dealing such blows as -seemed to the children watching enough to fell forest trees. They -wheeled their horses and dashed at each other again and again, until the -air was filled with the din of fighting, and the young watchers were -spellbound at the sight. - -The shining stranger was a knight of valor, despite the unwillingness he -first showed. He laid on stoutly with his blade, so that more than once -his foe reeled in saddle; but the black knight came back each time with -greater fury, while the stranger and his horse were plainly weary. - -Especially was this true of the horse. Eagerly he wheeled and sprang -forward to each fresh charge; but each time he dashed on more heavily, -and more than once he stumbled, so that his rider missed a blow, and was -like to have come to the ground through the empty swing of his sword. - -At last the Crusader came on with mighty force, whereupon his foe -charged again to meet him; but the weary horse stumbled, caught himself, -staggered forward a pace or two, and came first to his knees, then -shoulder down, upon the rough stones of the road. The shining knight -pitched forward over his head, and lay quite still in the highway, while -the Crusader reined in beside him with threatening blade, and shouted to -him to cry “quits.” But the stranger neither moved nor spoke; so the -other lighted down from his horse and bent over him to see his face. - -[Illustration: “PUTTING HORN TO LIP, HE BLEW FOUR GREAT BLASTS.”] - -When he had done this he drew back, and putting horn to lip, blew four -great blasts, which he repeated again and again, waiting after each to -listen. - -Presently an answering horn sounded in the distance, and a little later -a party of mounted men came dashing down the road from the castle. These -clustered about the fallen knight, and when one who seemed to be their -leader, and whom the children knew for Baron Everhardt himself, saw the -stranger’s face, he turned to the victor and for very joy smote him -between the iron-clad shoulders—from which the children thought that the -newcomer could have been no friend of their baron. - -Then the men stooped and by main force lifted the limp figure, in its -jangling armor, and set it astride the great horse that stood stupidly -by, as wondering what had befallen his master. The latter made no move, -but lay forward on the good steed’s neck, and so they made him fast; -after doing which, the whole party turned their faces upward and rode -along toward the castle. - -Not until the last sound died away up the pass did the children come out -from their maze and great awe. They drew back from the edge of the cliff -and looked wonderingly at one another, for it seemed to them as if years -must have gone by since they had begun their play on the plateau. At -last Ludovic spoke. - -“The treasure is still among the osiers,” he said. “When night falls, -Hansei, thou and I will slip down across the stream and find it. There -may be great riches there. But no word about it, for if they knew it at -the castle we should lose our pains.” - -Solemnly little Hansei agreed to Ludovic’s plan, and the children left -the plateau, climbing down the rocky goat-paths to their homes along the -cliff. - - - - - CHAPTER II - HOW KARL THE ARMORER TOOK THE SHINING KNIGHT’S TREASURE FROM AMONG THE - OSIERS - - -The children had scarcely gone from the plateau when there came down the -defile from the castle a figure unlike, in manner and attire, any that -had but shortly before gone that road. - -This was a tall, broad-shouldered man, clad in leather that was worn and -creased, showing much hard wear. Over his left shoulder he carried two -great swords in their scabbards, and his right hand gripped a long, -stout staff, the iron point of which now and then rang out against the -stone of the road as he thrust his great arm forward in rhythm with the -huge stride of his long, leather-clad legs. The face beneath his hood -was brown and weather-beaten, of long and thoughtful mold, but turned -from overmuch sternness by the steady, kindly gleam of his gray eyes, -pent in under great brows that met midway of his forehead, almost hiding -the eyes from sight. - -Had the children still been upon the plateau they would have known the -figure for Karl of the forge in the forest below the village. He had -been, as was often his errand, to the castle, this time with a -breast-let that he had wrought for the baron, and was returning with the -very sword wherewith the Herr Banf had made end of the shining knight, -and with that blade also which had been the stranger’s own, to make good -all hurts to their tempered edges and fit them for further service in -battle. - -He swung along the descending road until he came over against the place -by the clump of osiers, where the children had seen the knight drop his -burden. There he suddenly stopped, and leaned to listen. He thought that -he heard a faint cry from the green tangle, so he waited a little space, -to learn if it would sound again. Sure enough, it came a second time—a -feeble, piteous moan, as of some young creature in distress and spent -with long wailing. - -“Now that is a pity,” thought Karl. “Some wee lamb has slipped off the -cliff and fallen into the stream.” - -He looked doubtfully at his burden, wondering what time it might take -him to go to the rescue; but the little cry came again, so piteously -that his soft heart would not let him wait longer. So, leaving the -swords behind a boulder, he plunged in among the osiers; but he had gone -but a step or two when he started back in dismay, for he had nearly -trodden upon a yellow-haired babe who sat among the willows, looking up -at him with great blue eyes in which the tears yet stood. Terror was in -every line of the small face, but the baby made no further sound. He -only looked earnestly up at the bearded, black-browed face bent over -him, until he met the armorer’s eyes. Then he reached up his arms, and -Karl stooped and raised him to his broad chest. - -“Now what foul work is here, do you suppose?” he muttered to himself. -“This is no chick from the village, nor from the castle either, I’ll be -bound, or there’d have been hue and cry ere this.” - -He pressed back the little face that had been buried against his neck, -and surveyed it sharply. “What is thy name, little one?” he demanded at -last. - -At sound of the armorer’s voice the child again looked at him, and -seemed not to understand the question until Karl had several times -repeated it, saying the words slowly and plainly, when at last the baby -said, with a touch of impatience: “Wulf! Wulf!” adding plaintively: -“Wulf hungry!” - -Then he broke down and sobbed tiredly on Karl’s big shoulder, so that -the armorer was fain to hush him softly, comforting him with wonderful -gentleness, while he drew from his own wallet a bit of coarse bread and -gave it to the little fellow. The latter ate it with a sharp appetite, -and afterward drank a deep draught from the leather cup which Karl -filled from the stream. As he was drinking, a sound was heard as of some -one passing on the road, whereupon the boy became suddenly still, -looking at Karl in a way that made the armorer understand that for some -reason it had been taught him that unknown sounds were a signal for -silence. - -“Ay?” thought Karl. “That’s naught like a baby. He’s been with hunted -men, to learn that trick!” - -When the child had eaten and drunk all he would, he settled down again -in Karl’s arms, asking no questions—if, indeed, he could talk enough to -do so, a matter of which the armorer doubted, for the little chap was -but three or four years old at most. He seemed, however, well wonted to -strangers, and to being carried from place to place; for he took it -kindly when Karl settled him against his shoulder, throwing over him a -sort of short cloak of travel-stained red stuff, in which he had been -wrapped as he lay among the osiers, and stepped out upon the road. He -first made sure that no one was in sight; then, regaining the swords, he -walked hurriedly forward, minded to leave the highway as soon as he -reached a little footpath he knew that led through the forest to his -forge. - -Good fortune favored him, and he gained the footpath without meeting any -one; so that ere long the two were passing through the deep, friendly -wood, the baby fast asleep in Karl’s arms, one small arm half encircling -the armorer’s big neck, the other little fist clenched in the meshes of -his grizzled beard. Karl stepped softly as any woman, lest his charge -awaken and take fresh fright at the gloomy way before them, and at the -tall, dark trees, whose branches met over the travelers’ heads. - -Thus they fared, until at last they reached the forge, and the hut where -the armorer dwelt alone. The way through the wood had been long, and the -afternoon was well-nigh spent when Karl laid little Wulf upon a heap of -skins just beyond the great chimney, and set himself to prepare food for -himself and his charge. - - - - - CHAPTER III - HOW WULF FARED AT KARL THE ARMORER’S HUT - - -Big Karl the armorer was busy at his forge, next morning, long before -his wee guest awakened from the deep sleep of childhood, which he slept -upon a pile of pelts in a corner of the smithy. Working with deft -lightness of hand at a small, long anvil close beside the forge, Karl -had tempered and hammered the broken point of Herr Banf’s sword until -the stout blade was again ready for yeoman service, and then he turned -to the stranger knight’s blade, which was broken somewhat about the hilt -and guard. - -It was a good weapon, and as Karl traced his finger thoughtfully down -its length he turned it toward the open door, that the early sunlight -might catch it. Then he suddenly gave a start, and hastily carried the -sword out into the full daylight, where he stared it over closely from -hilt to point, turning it this way and that, with knit brows and a look -of deep sorrow on his browned visage. After that he strode into the -smithy, and went over to where the boy lay, still fast asleep. - -Turning him over upon the pelts, he studied the little face as sharply -as he had done the sword, noting the broad white brow, the delicate -round of the cheek, and the set of the chin, firm despite its baby -curves; and as he did so a great sternness came over the face of the -armorer. - -“There’s some awful work here,” he said at last to himself. “Heaven be -praised I came upon the little one! Would that I might have had a look -at the face of that big knight.” - -Still musing, he turned and went to a cleverly hid cupboard in the wall -beside the great chimney. Opening this, he disclosed an array of blades -of many sorts and shapes, and from among these he took one that in -general appearance seemed the fellow of the stranger’s weapon, save that -it had, to all look, seen but scant service in warfare. - -Karl compared the two, and then set to a strange task. Hanging the -service-battered sword naked within the cupboard, he took the new blade -and began to ill-treat it upon his anvil—battering the hilt, taking a -bit of metal from the guard, and putting nicks into the edge, only to -beat and grind them very carefully out again. He took a bottle of acid -from a shelf and spilled a few drops where blade met hilt, wiping it off -again when it had somewhat stained and roughened the steel. This -roughness he afterward smoothed away, and worked at the sword until he -had it in fair semblance of a hardly used tool put in good order by a -skilful smith. - -This done he sheathed it in the scabbard which the stranger had worn, -and which was a fair sheath, wrought with gold ornaments cunningly -devised. Karl looked at it with longing. - -“I’d like well to save it for ye, youngster,” he said; “but ’tis a fair -risk as it stands. Let Herr Ritter Banf alone for having spied the gold -o’ this sheath; it must e’en go back to him.” He laid the sheathed -weapon away in a chest with Herr Banf’s own until such time as he should -make his next trip to the castle. - -He had hardly done when, turning, he beheld the child watching him from -the pile of skins, looking at the strange scene about him, but keeping -quiet, though the tender lips quivered and the look in the blue eyes -filled Karl with pity. - -“There’s naught to fear, little one,” he said with gruff kindness, -lifting the boy from the pile. “I make sure you’re hungry by now, and -here’s the remedy for that—and for fear, too, of your sort.” And from -out the coals of the forge he drew a pannikin, where it had been keeping -warm some porridge. - -Very gently he proceeded to give it to the child, with some rich goat’s -milk to help it along. In truth, however, it needed not that to give the -boy an appetite. He had eaten nothing the night before, seeming starved -for sleep, but now he ate in a half-famished way that touched Karl’s -heart. - -“In sooth, now,” the latter said, watching him, “thou’st roughed it, -little one, and much I marvel what it all may mean. But one thing sure, -this is no time to be asking about the farings of any of _thy_ breed, so -thou shalt e’en bide here with old Karl till these evil days lighten, or -Barbarossa comes to help the land—if it be not past helping. It’ll be -hard fare for thee, my sweet, but there’s no doing other. The castle -yonder were worse for thee than the forge, here, with Karl.” - -“Karl?” The child spoke with the fearless ease of one wonted, even thus -early, to question strangers, and to be answered by them. - -“Ay, Karl,” replied the armorer. “Karl, who will be father and mother to -thee till such time as God sends thee to thine own again.” - -“Good Karl,” said the baby, when the man ceased speaking, and he reached -out his hands to the armorer. The latter lifted him and carried him to -the forge door. - -“Thou’rt a sturdy rascal,” he said, nodding approval of the firm, -well-knit little figure. “Sit thou there and finish the porridge.” - -The little fellow sat in the wide door of the smithy and ate his coarse -food with a relish good to see. It was a rough place into which he had -tumbled—how rough he was too young to realize; but much worse, even of -outward things, might have fallen to his share, as, indeed, we shall see -ere we have finished with young Wulf. - -Deep within the heart of each one of us, no matter how old, there lives -a child. All our strength, all that the years bring us of gain or good, -help us not at all if these do not serve to fend this child from harm, -and to keep it good. Big Karl at his forge knew naught of books, and to -him, in those evil days, had come much knowledge of the cruelty and -wickedness of evil men. Nevertheless, safe within his strong nature -dwelt the child-soul, unhurt by all these. It looked from his honest -blue eyes, and put tenderness into the strength of his great hands when -he touched the other child, and this child-soul was to be the boy’s -playmate through the years of childhood. A wholesome playmate it was, -keeping Wulf company cleanly-wise, and no harm came to him, but rather -good. - -[Illustration: “THE FOREST’S SMALL WILD LIFE CONSTANTLY CAME IN AT THE -OPEN DOOR.”] - -Then, beside the ministering care of the gentle, manly big armorer, -little Wulf had through those years the teaching and companionship of -the great forest. It grew close up about the shop, so that its small -wild life constantly came in at the open door, or invited the youngster -forth to play. Rabbits and squirrels peeped in at him; birds wandered in -and built their nests in dark corners; and one winter a vixen fox took -shelter with them, remaining until spring, and grew so tame that she -would eat bread from Wulf’s hand. - -The great trees were his constant companions and friends, but one mighty -oak that grew close beside the door, and sent out its huge arms -completely over the shop, became, next to Karl, his chosen comrade. -Whenever the armorer had to go to village or castle, Wulf used to take -shelter in this tree; not so much from fear,—for even in those evil days -the armorer’s grandson, as he grew to be regarded by those who came -about the forge, was too insignificant to be molested,—but because of -his love for the great tree. As he became older he was able to climb -higher and higher among its black arms, until at last he made him a nest -in the very crown of the wood giant. - -Every tree, throughout its life, stores up within its heart light and -heat from the sun. It does this so well, because it is its appointed -task in nature, that the very life and love that the sun stands for to -us become a part of its being, knit up within its woody fiber. When we -burn this wood in our stoves or our fireplaces, the warmth and blaze -that are thrown out are just this sunshine which the tree has caught in -its heart from the time it was a tiny seedling till the ax was laid at -its root. So when we sit by the coal fire and enjoy its genial radiance, -we are really warming ourselves by some of the same sunlight and warmth -that sifted down through the leaves of great forest trees, perhaps -thousands of years ago. - -Of course little Wulf did not know all this as we know it, but doubtless -he knew much else that we do not know at all; at all events, he knew the -sunshine of his own time and his own forest, and into his sound young -heart there crept, as the years went by, somewhat of the strength and -the sunshine-storing quality of his forest comrade, until, long before -he became a man, those who knew him grew to feel that here was a strong, -warm heart of human sunshine, ready to be useful and comforting wherever -use and comfort were needed. - -At first faint memories haunted him; but as the years passed he learned -to think of them as a part of one of Karl’s stories—one that he always -meant to ask him to tell again, sometime. The years slipped away, -however, and his childish impressions grew fainter and fainter, until at -last they had quite faded into the far past. - -But all this came about years after, and could not possibly have been -foreseen by Karl the armorer as he stood at his forge and thought sadly -on his own inability to do all that needed doing for the little one so -suddenly and so strangely thrust upon his care. - - - - - CHAPTER IV - OF HOW WULF FIRST WENT TO THE CASTLE, AND WHAT BEFELL - - -For a matter of nine or ten years Wulf dwelt with Karl at the forge, and -knew no other manner of finding than if he had been indeed the armorer’s -own grandson, as he was known to those who took the trouble to wonder, -Karl himself never dissenting to the idea. He was now a well grown lad -of perhaps fourteen years, not tall, but sturdy, strong of thigh and -arm, good to look at, with a ruddy color, fair hair, and steady eyes -that met the gaze fearlessly. - -Karl had taught him to fence and thrust, and much of sword-play, in -which the armorer was skilled, and while his play at these was that of a -lad, the boy could fairly hold his own with cudgel and quarter-staff, -and more than once had surprised Karl by a clever feint or twist or a -stout blow, when, as was their wont on summer evenings, the two wrestled -or sparred together on the short green grass under the great oak-tree. -Also, Wulf was beginning to be of use at the forge, and great was his -joy when, after repeated attempts, he at last made for himself a knife -of excellent temper and an edge which even Karl found good. Thereafter -this knife was his belt companion in all his woodland journeys. - -He was happy, going about his work with the big armorer, or wandering up -and down the forest, or, of long winter evenings, sitting beside the -forge fire watching Karl, who used to sit, knife in hand, deftly carving -a long-handled wooden spoon, or a bowl. The women in the village were -always glad to trade for these with fresh eggs, or a pat of butter, or a -young fowl; for the armorer had as clever a knack with his knife as with -his hammer. On these evenings he used to fill the boy’s spirit with joy -by tales of knightly craft, and of the brave gentlemen who, in years -past, had ridden to the holy wars, and of deeds of gentleness and -courage done by brave knights for country and king and the truth. Then -it was that young Wulf felt his heart glow within him, and he longed for -the time when he too might fare out to fight for the good, and to free -the land from the evil that wasted field and meadow and ground down the -people until no man dared hold up his head or meet, level-eyed, the gaze -of his fellow. - -It happened, at last, on a day when Karl was making ready to go to the -castle with a corselet which he had mended for the baron himself, that -the armorer met with an accident that changed Wulf’s whole life. Karl -was doing a bit of tinkering on the smaller anvil by the forge, when one -support of the iron gave way, and it fell, crushing the great toe of one -foot so that the stout fellow fairly rocked with the pain, while Wulf -made haste to prepare a poultice of wormwood for the hurt member. - -Despite all their skill, however, the toe continued to swell and to -stiffen, until it was plain that all thought of Karl’s climbing the -mountain that day, or for many days to come, must be put aside. - -“There’s no help for it, lad,” he said at last, as he sat on the big -chest scowling blackly at his foot in its rough swathings. “It’s well on -toward noon now, and the baron will pay me my wage on my own head if his -corselet be not to hand to-day; for he rides to-morrow, with a company -from the castle, on an errand beyond. Thou’lt need to take the castle -road, boy, and speedily, if thou’rt to be back by night.” - -Nothing could have pleased Wulf more than such an errand; for although -he often went with Karl on other matters about the country, and had even -gone with him as far as the Convent of St. Ursula on the other side of -the forest, the armorer, despite his entreaties, had never allowed him -to go along when his way lay toward the Swartzburg. This had puzzled the -boy greatly, for Karl steadfastly refused him any reason why it should -be. In truth Karl could hardly have given reason even to himself for his -action. His unwillingness to take Wulf to the castle was, however, -really grounded upon a fear of what as yet unknown thing might happen. - -The boy made all haste, therefore, to get ready for the journey, lest -Karl should repent of his plan. It was but the shortest of -quarter-hours, in fact, before—his midday meal in a wallet at his belt, -the armorer’s iron-shot staff in his hand, and the corselet slung over -his shoulder—he was passing through the wood toward the road to the -Swartzburg. - -Walking with the easy swing of one well wonted to the exercise, it was -not so very long ere he had cleared the forest and was stepping up the -rough stone road that climbed the mountain pass to the castle. He -crossed the stream at a point very near the clump of willows below the -plateau where, years before, the children had watched the shining -knight’s encounter with Herr Banf. Other children played on the plateau, -as the little ones had done that fair morning, but Wulf hastened on, -mindful only of the new adventure that lay before him. - -Up and up the stony way he trudged stoutly, until it became at last the -merest bridle-path, descending to the open moat across which the bridge -was thrown. On a tower above he descried the sentry, and below, beyond -the bridge, the great gates into the castle garth stood open. - -Doubting somewhat as to what he ought to do, he crossed the bridge and -passed through the gloomy opening that pierced the thick wall. Once -inside, he stood looking about him curiously, forgetful, in his wonder -and delight at the scene, that Karl had told him to ask for Gotta Brent, -Baron Everhardt’s man-at-arms, and to deliver the corselet to him. This, -by now, he had slipped from his shoulder and held with his arm thrust -through its length, his fingers grasping its lower edge. - -He was still without the inner wall of the castle, in a sort of -courtyard of great size, the outer bailey of the stronghold. Beyond -where he stood he could see a second wall with big gates similar to the -one through which he had just passed. Before these gates in the outer -court two young men were fencing, while a third stood beside them, -acting as a sort of umpire or judge of fence. The contestants were very -equally matched, and Wulf watched them with keenest enjoyment. He had -fenced with Karl, and once or twice a knight, while waiting at the -forge, had deigned to pass the time in crossing blades with the boy, -always to the latter’s discomfiture; but he had never before stood by -while two skilled men were at sword-play, and the sight held him -spellbound. - -Thanks to Karl, he was familiar with the mysteries of quart and tierce -and all the rest, and followed with knowing delight each clever feint -and thrust, made with the grace and precision of good fence. He could -watch forever, it seemed to him; but as he stood thus, following the -beautiful play, out through the gate of the inner bailey came three -children—a girl a year or two younger than he, and two boys about his -own age. - -He gave them but the briefest glance, for just at that moment the -players began a new set-to, and claimed his attention. In a little bit, -however, he felt a sharp buffet at side of the head, and, turning, saw -that one of the boys had thrown the rind of a melon so as to strike him -on the cheek. As Wulf looked around, both the boys were laughing; but -the little girl stood somewhat off from them, her eyes flashing and her -cheeks aglow as with anger. She said no word, but looked with great -scorn upon her companions. - -“Well, tinker,” called the boy who had thrown the melon-rind, “mind thy -manners before the lady! Have off thy cap or thou’lt get this,” and he -grasped the other half-rind of melon, which the second boy held. - -“Nay, Conradt!” the little maid cried, staying his hand. “The lad is a -stranger, and come upon an errand; do we treat such folk thus?” - -Wulf’s cap was by now in his hand, and, with crimson cheeks, he made a -shy salutation to the little girl, who returned it courteously, while -the boys still laughed. - -“What dost thou next, tinker?” the one whom she had called Conradt said, -strutting forward. “Faith, thy manners sorely need mending. What dost to -me?” - -“Fight you,” said Wulf, quick as a flash, and then drew back, abashed; -for, as the boy came forward, he saw that he bore a great hump upon his -twisted back, while one of his shoulders was higher than the other. - -The deformed boy saw the motion, and his face grew dark with rage and -hate. - -“Thou’lt fight me?” he screamed, springing forward. “Ay, that thou -shalt, and rue it after, tinker’s varlet that thou art!” And with his -hand he smote Wulf upon the mouth, whereupon he dropped the corselet and -clenched his fists, but could lay no blow on the pitiful creature before -him. Seeing this, the other, half crazed with anger, drew a short sword -which he wore, and made at Wulf, who raised the armorer’s staff which he -still held and struck the little blade to the ground. - -By now the two fencers and their umpire were drawn near to see the -trouble, and one of them picked up the sword. - -“Come, cockerel,” he said, restoring it to him, “put up thy spur and let -be. Now, lad, what is the trouble?” and he turned sharp upon Wulf. - -“’Tis the armorer’s cub,” he said to his companions as he made him out. -“By the rood, lad, canst not come on a small errand for thy master -without brawling in this fashion in the castle yard? Go do thy message -and get about home, and bid thy master teach thee what is due thy -betters ere he sends thee hither again.” - -“Yon lad struck me,” Wulf said stoutly. “I’ve spoken no word till now.” - -“Truly, Herr Werner,” put in the little girl, earnestly, “it is as he -says. Conradt has e’en gone far out of his way to show the boy an ill -will, though he has done naught.” - -At this Herr Werner looked again upon Conradt. “So, cockerel,” he said. -“Didst not get wisdom from the last pickle I pulled thee out of?” - -“Why does the fellow hang about here, then?” demanded Conradt, sulkily. -“Let him go to the stables, as he should, and leave his matter there.” - -“I was to see Gotta Brent,” Wulf said, ignoring Conradt and speaking to -the young knight. - -“See him ye shall,” was the reply. But anything further that Herr Werner -might have said was cut short by the sound of a great hue and cry of -men, and a groom ran through the gate shouting: - -“Back! Back for your lives! The foul fiend himself is loose here!” - -At his heels came half a dozen men, with stable forks and poles, and two -others who were hanging with all their weight upon the bridle-reins of a -great horse that was doing his best to throw off their hold, rearing and -plunging furiously, and now and again lashing out with his iron-shod -hoofs. - -There was a hurrying to shelter of the group about Wulf, who stood alone -now, staring at the horse. The latter finally struck one of the grooms, -so that the fellow lay where he rolled, at one side of the court, and -then began a battle royal between horse and men. - -One after another, and all together, the men tried to lay hold upon the -dangling rein, only to be bitten, or struck, or tossed aside, as the -case might be, until at last the huge beast stood free, in the middle of -the court, while the grooms and stable-hangers made all haste to get out -of the way, some limping, others rubbing heads or shoulders, and one -nursing a badly bitten arm. - -“Tinker,” called the knight from behind an abutment of the wall, “art -clean daft? Get away, before he makes a meal off thee! Gad! ’twill take -an arrow to save him now; and for that any man’s life would be forfeit -to Herr Banf.” - -There was a scream from the little girl; for the horse had spied Wulf, -and came edging toward him, looking wild enough, with ears laid back and -teeth showing, as minded to make an end to the boy, as, doubtless, he -was. For the life of him Wulf could not have told why he was not afraid -as he stood there alone, and with no weapon save the armorer’s staff, -which he had not time to raise ere the beast was upon him. - -Then were all who looked on amazed at what they saw, for close beside -Wulf the horse stopped and began smelling the boy. Then he took to -trembling in all his legs, and arched his neck and thrust his big head -against Wulf’s breast, until, half dazed, the boy raised a hand and -began patting the broad neck and stroking the mane of the charger. - -“By the rood,” cried one of the grooms, “the tinker hath the horseman’s -word, and no mistake! The old imp knows it.” - -[Illustration: “THE BOY BEGAN PATTING THE BROAD NECK OF THE CHARGER.”] - -“See if thou canst take the halter, boy,” called Herr Werner; and laying -a hand upon the rein, Wulf stepped back a pace, whereupon the horse -pressed close to him and whinnied eagerly, as if fearful that Wulf would -leave him. He smelled him over again, thrusting his muzzle now into -Wulf’s hands, now against his face, and putting up his nose to take the -boy’s breath, as horses do with those they love. - -“By my forefathers!” cried Herr Werner. “Could Herr Banf see him -now—aha!” - -He paused; for, hurrying into the courtyard, followed by still another -frightened groom, came a knight who, seeing Wulf and the horse, stood as -if rooted in his tracks. Softly now the charger stepped about the boy, -nickering under his breath, so low that his nostrils hardly stirred; and -at last he brought his knees to the pave, stooping meekly, as one who -loved a service he would do, and thus waited. - -An instant Wulf stood dazed. Then he passed his hand across his -forehead; for a strange, troubled notion, as of some forgotten dream, -passed through his brain. At last, obeying some impelling instinct, that -yet seemed to him like a memory, he laid a hand upon the horse’s withers -and sprang to his back. - -Up, then, rose the noble creature, and stepped about the courtyard, -tossing his head and gently champing the bit, as a horse will when he is -pleased. - -“Ride him to the stables, boy, and I will have word with thee there,” -cried the older knight, who had come out last; and pressing the rein, -though still wondering to himself how he knew what to do, Wulf turned -the steed through the inner gate, to the bailey, and letting him have -his head, was carried proudly to the stables, whence the throng of -grooms and stable-boys had come rushing. They came to the group of -outbuildings and offices that made up the stables, followed by all the -men, Herr Banf in the lead, and the place, which had been quite -deserted, was immediately thronged, attendants from the castle itself -coming on a run, as news spread of the wonderful thing that was -happening. - -Once within the stable-yard, the horse stood quiet to let Wulf dismount; -but not even Herr Banf himself would he let lay a hand upon him, though -he stood meek as a sheep while the boy, instructed by the knight, did -off the bridle and fastened on the halter; then he led his charge into a -stall that one of the lads pointed out to him, and made him fast before -the manger. When this was done the horse gave a rub of his head against -Wulf, and then turned to eating his fodder, quietly, as though he never -had done otherwise. - -Then Herr Banf took to questioning Wulf sharply; but the boy could tell -him but little. Indeed, some instinct warned him against speaking even -of the faint thoughts stirring within him. He was full of anxiety to get -away to Karl and tell him of this wonderful new experience, and he could -say naught to the knight, save that he was Karl the armorer’s grandson, -that he had never had the care of horses, and in his life had backed but -few, chiefly those of the men-at-arms who rode with their masters to the -forge when Karl’s skill was needed. He was troubled, too, about Karl’s -hurt, of which he told Herr Banf, and begged to be let to hasten back to -the smithy. - -“Go, then,” said Herr Banf, at last, “and I will see thy grandsire -to-morrow; thou’rt too promising a varlet to be left to grow up an -armorer. We need thy kind elsewhere.” - -So, when he had given the nearly forgotten corselet to Gotta Brent, Wulf -fared down the rocky way to the forge, where he told Karl all that had -chanced to him that day. - -“Let that remain with thee alone, boy,” the armorer said, when the boy -had told him of the strange memories that teemed in his brain. “These -are no times to talk of such matters an thou ’dst keep a head on thy -shoulders. Thou’rt of my own raising, Wulf; but more than that I cannot -tell thee, for I do not know.” And there the lad was forced to let the -matter rest. - -“It is all one with my dreams,” he said to himself, as he sought his bed -of skins. “Mayhap other dreams will make it clearer.” - -But no dreams troubled his healthy boy’s sleep that night, nor woke he -until the morning sun streamed full in his upturned face. - - - - - CHAPTER V - HOW WULF WENT TO THE SWARTZBURG, AND OF HIS BEGINNING THERE - - -It was maybe a week after Wulf’s visit to the Swartzburg that Herr Banf -rode through the forest to the smithy. He was mounted upon the great -stallion that had been so wild that day, and as he drew rein before the -shop the horse gave a shrill neigh, for he smelled Wulf. Karl’s foot was -by so far recovered that he was able to limp about the forge, and he and -the boy were busy mending a wrought hauberk of fine chain mail which the -lady superior of St. Ursula had sent to them that morning. - -“A fair day, friend Karl,” the knight called out as he sat his horse -under the big oak-tree. “Here am I come for that youngster of thine. He -is too useful a scamp to be let spend his days tinkering here. Haply he -has told ye how this big Siegfried of mine took to him. I’ faith, not a -groom at the castle can handle the horse!” - -“Ay?” said Karl, and he said no more, but stood with hands folded upon -the top of his hammer and looked steadily at Herr Banf. Wulf, meanwhile, -had dropped the tongs that he held, and run out to the horse, who now -stood nuzzling his neck and face in great delight. - -“By th’ rood,” cried Herr Banf, “’tis plain love at first sight! Came -another so near Siegfried’s teeth, and I’d look to see him eaten. I must -have the boy, Karl!” - -Now, that great horse was none other than the one which the shining -knight had bestrode on the day of his meeting with Herr Banf. The -Crusader had taken the beast for his own charger, and a rare war-horse -he was, but getting on in years by now, and turning wild at times, after -the manner of his kind. Not a groom or stable-lad about the castle but -had reason to know his temper; so that, because of their fear of him, -the horse often lacked for care. - -When Herr Banf had said that Wulf must come with him, Karl stood silent -for a moment, watching the lad at Siegfried’s head; then, turning to the -knight, he said: - -“In truth, they seem fast friends. Well, it shall be as the boy shall -choose.” - -“For what he says I will undertake,” the knight said, laughing. “Wilt -come to the castle, lad?” - -Wulf looked from the horse to Karl and back again. ’Twere easy to see -where his desire lay. - -“Shall I be able to see Grandsire Karl now and then?” he asked. - -“As often as need be,” said Herr Banf. - -“What shall I say?” Wulf turned to Karl. - -“What thou wilt,” the armorer nodded. “We have talked o’ that.” - -So had they, and Wulf’s question was but the last wavering of the boy’s -heart, loath to leave all it had yet known. In another moment his will -regained its strength, and the matter ended in his taking again the -climbing road up the Swartzburg pass, this time with a hand clinging to -Herr Banf’s stirrup-leather, while the great horse stepped gently, -keeping pace with the boy’s stride. - -“Where didst learn to bewitch a horse, lad?” the knight asked as they -journeyed. “What is thy ‘horseman’s word’?” - -“I have none,” was the reply. “The horse seemed to know me, and I him. I -cannot tell how or other.” - -“By my forefathers, but beasts be hard to understand as men! What was’t -thou didst, by the way, to the little crooked cock at the castle?” - -“Him they call Conradt, Herr Knight? I did naught.” - -“Well, he means to fight thee for it.” - -“Nay,” replied Wulf, “that he’ll not.” - -“How is that?” - -“It would not be becoming for me to fight him.” - -“So,” Herr Banf said grimly. “Thou’st a good idea of what is due thy -betters.” - -“It is not that,” explained Wulf, simply. “I am the better of us two; a -whole man goes not against a weakling.” - -The knight looked keenly down at the lad, noting as he had not done -before the easy movement of his body as he stepped lightly along, more -like a soldier than like a peasant. He was alert and trim, with shapely -shoulders and the head carried well up. - -“A queer armorer’s lad, this,” thought Herr Banf, in some wonder. But by -now they were before the castle watch-tower, and in a moment more, still -with one hand at the knight’s stirrup, Wulf again entered at the castle -gate. There, in the outer bailey, Herr Banf lighted down, and bade Wulf -take Siegfried to the stables for the night. - -A crowd of grooms were about the gates of the stable-yard as the boy -came up, for the word had spread that the tinker had returned to take -charge of the big horse, and dark looks were bent upon the newcomer. - -“Shall I do with him as before?” Wulf asked of one of the loungers. - -“That thou ’lt find out for thyself,” was the surly answer, whereupon -the other fellows laughed jeeringly. - -Nothing daunted, Wulf proceeded to do off Siegfried’s harness, amid the -rude comments of the grooms, and by dint of using all his wit he managed -to get the horse haltered and in stall. - -Then he climbed to the loft and threw down some hay into the manger, as -Karl had been mindful to tell him how, after which he found a measure -and started in quest of the corn-house. The boys followed at his heels, -helping none, but getting great sport out of his hunt. - -He found the place at last, and climbed the steps, still pursued by the -jeering grooms. Heeding them naught, he walked along the corn-house -floor, peering into the different bins, wondering from which to take the -horse’s feed. At last he came to one about half full, and this he deemed -to be the one he sought; so he sprang upon the edge and leaned forward -to fill his measure. - -No sooner had he done so than he felt himself pushed from behind, and -over he shot, head foremost, into the grain. Turning about in the -yielding stuff, he rose to his feet just in time to be struck full in -the forehead by the heavy lid of the bin; for the cowardly varlets -slammed it down upon him and ran off to the horse-barn. - -Not one of them turned back, and for any effort of theirs it might have -gone hard with Wulf; for he lay stunned and helpless, slowly smothering -in the tight bin. Nor did he know when the lid was suddenly thrown back -and a stern, wrathful man leaned over the edge to lift him out into the -air. Then the man took him over his shoulder as if he had been a sack of -meal, and carried him down the corn-house steps. - -Into the horse-barn he bore him, and laid him upon the floor. The -stable-boys were still there, and then the newcomer proceeded to score -as one in authority, as indeed he was; for this was the master of the -horse himself who now bent over Wulf, chafing his hands and doing what -he could to bring him back to life; and so well did he work that ere -long the boy sat up and looked about him until he presently remembered -what was toward. - -“Siegfried has not had his corn,” he said faintly; but the master of -horse bade him be quiet. - -“Thou, Hansei,” he said to the youngest of the boys who stood about, -“get the measure and give the stallion his feed; and mind how thou goest -about him. As for ye others, get to work for a set of black imps as ye -are; and be thankful that ye hang not, every rapscallion of ye, for this -foul trick.” - -Picking up a billet of oak from where it lay on the floor, he hurled it -among the group, who scattered, dodging this way and that, as every boy -went to his own neglected task. - -As for Wulf, he lay upon the barn floor and watched Hansei care for -Siegfried, who was quiet enough now that the armorer’s lad was with him. -The lad Hansei was the same who had played with the others on the -plateau on that day when the shining knight rode up the pass. Well was -it for our boy that the honest young peasant took a liking to him, and -was minded to stand his friend, for he had else scarce found comfort at -the castle. - -It was Hansei who at supper-time took him into the great hall where the -household and its hangers-on gathered for meals, and got for him a -trencher and food; though little cared Wulf for eating on that first -night when all was new and strange to him. - -The hall was very large, and Wulf, looking up toward its lofty roof, -could not see its timbers for the deep shadows there. At either end was -a great fireplace, but the one at the upper end was the larger and -finer. Near it, on a platform raised above the earthen floor, Baron -Everhardt sat at board, with the knights of his train. Below them were -the men-at-arms and lower officers of the castle; and seated upon -benches about the walls were the fighting-men and general hangers-on of -the place. - -These sat not at board, but helped themselves to the food that was -passed about among them after the tables were served, and ate, some from -their hands, others from wooden trenchers which they had secured. Wulf -and Hansei were among the lowliest of the lot, and the stable-boys did -not sit down at all, but took their supper standing, leaning against the -wall just inside the door and farthest from the hearth, and they were -among the last served. - -But, as we have seen, Wulf cared little, that night, for food or drink, -though his new friend pressed him to eat. He was sore-hearted and weary, -what with the strangeness and the hardness of it all. Soon the great -tankards began to pass from hand to hand; and the men drank long and -deep, while jests and mighty laughter filled all the place, until only -Wulf’s sturdy boy’s pride kept him from stealing out, through the -darkness, back to Karl at the forge. - -Presently, however, he began to notice faces among the company at the -upper end of the hall. Two or three ladies were present, having come in -by another door when the meal was well over, and these were sitting with -the baron and Herr Banf. One of the ladies, Hansei told him, was the -baron’s lady, and with her, Wulf noticed, was the little girl whom he -had seen at the time of his first visit to the castle. - -“Who is she?” he asked. - -“A ward of our baron’s,” Hansei answered, “and she is the Fräulein Elise -von Hofenhoer. They say she is to be married, in good time, to young -Conradt; and that be a sorry weird for any maiden.” - -“Conradt?” - -“Yea; the crooked stick yonder, the baron’s precious nephew.” - -Following Hansei’s glance, Wulf descried the hunchback boy of his -adventure seated at board, drinking from a great mug of ale. With him -was the other boy, who, Hansei told him, was Waldemar Guelder, and some -kin to Herr Banf, in whose charge he was, to be trained as a knight. - -“He’s not such a bad one,” the stable-boy said, “an it were not for -Master Conradt, who would drag down the best that had to do with him.” - -Thus, one by one, Hansei pointed out knights and followers, squires and -men, until in Wulf’s tired brain all was a jumble of names and faces -that he knew not. Glad indeed was he when at last his companion nodded -to him, and slipping out from the hall, they made their way to the -horse-barn, where, up under the rafters of a great hay-filled loft, the -pair made their beds in the fragrant grasses, and slept soundly until -the stamping of horses below them, and the sunlight streaming into their -faces through an open loft door, awakened them. - - - - - CHAPTER VI - HOW CONRADT PLOTTED MISCHIEF, AND HOW WULF WON A FRIEND - - -It was perhaps a matter of six weeks after Wulf’s coming to the -Swartzburg that he sat, one day, in a wing of the stables, cleaning and -shining Herr Banf’s horse-gear. He was alone at the time, for all of the -younger boys and hangers-on of the place were gone about the matter of a -rat-catching trial between two rival dogs whose bragging owners had -matched them; and of the others, most had ridden with the baron on a -freebooting errand against a body of merchants known to be traveling -that way with rich loads of goods and much money. Only Herr Werner, of -all the knights, was at the castle. - -Save for Hansei, who stood by him stoutly, Wulf had as yet made no -friends among his fellow-workers, but full well had he shown himself -able to take his own part; so that his bravery and prowess, and his -heartiness to help whenever a lift or a hand was needed, had already won -him a place and fair treatment among them. Moreover, his quick wit and -craft with Siegfried, the terror of the stables, made the master of -horse his powerful friend. And, again, Wulf was already growing well -used to the ways of the place, so that it was with a right cheerful and -contented mind that he sat, that day, scouring away upon a rusty -stirrup-iron. - -Presently it seemed to him that he heard a little noise from over by the -stables, and peering along under the arch of the great saddle before -him, he saw a puzzling thing. Crossing the stable floor with wary tread -and watchful mien, as minded to do some deed privily, and fearful to be -seen, was Conradt. - -“Now what may he be bent upon?” Wulf asked of his own thought. “No good, -I’ll lay wager!” And he sat very still, watching every movement of the -little crooked fellow. - -Down the long row of stalls went the hunchback, until he reached the -large loose box where stood Siegfried. The stallion saw him, and laid -back his ears, but made no further sign of noting the newcomer. Indeed, -since Wulf had been his tender the old horse had grown much more -governable, and for a month or more had given no trouble. - -Conradt’s face, however, as he drew nigh the stall, was of aspect so -hateful and wicked that Wulf stilly, but with all speed, left his place -and crept nearer, keeping in shelter behind the great racks of harness, -to learn what might be toward. As he did so he was filled with amaze and -wrath to see the hunchback, sword in hand, reach over the low wall of -the stall and thrust at Siegfried. The horse shied over and avoided the -blade, though, from the plunge he made, Wulf deemed that he had felt the -point. - -While the watcher stood dumfounded, wondering what the thing might mean, -Conradt sneaked around to the other side, plainly minded to try that -wickedness again, whereupon Wulf sprang forward, snatching up, on his -way, a flail that lay to his hand, flung down by one of the men from the -threshing-floor. - -“Have done with yon!” he called as he ran; and forgetting, in his wrath, -both the rank and the weakness of the misdoer, he shrieked: “What is’t -wouldst do? Out with it, ere I husk thy soul from its shell with this!” -and he raised the flail. - -Taken unaware though he was, Conradt, who was rare skilful at fence, -guarded on the instant, and by a clever twist of his blade cut clean in -twain the leather hinge that held together the two halves of the flail. -’Twas a master stroke whereat, angry as he was, Wulf wondered, nor -could he withhold a swordsman’s delight in the blow, albeit the sword’s -wielder was plain proven a ruffian. - -[Illustration: “WULF COULD NAUGHT BUT FEND AND PARRY WITH HIS STICK.”] - -He had small time to think, however, for by now Conradt let at him full -drive, and he was sore put to it to fend himself from the onslaught, -having no other weapon than the handle of the flail. - -Evil was in the hunchback’s eyes as he pressed up against his foe, and -evil lay at his heart as well, as Wulf was not slow to be aware. The -latter could naught but fend and parry with his stick; but this he did -with coolness and skill, as he stood back to wall against the stall, -watching every move of that malignant wight with whom he fought. - -Up, down, in, out, thrust, parry, return! The sounds filled the barn. -Wulf was the taller and equally skilled, but Conradt’s weapon gave him -an advantage that, but for the blindness of his hatred, had soon won his -way for him. But soon he was fair weary with fury, and Wulf began to -think that he would soon make end of the trouble, when he felt a sharp -prick, and something warm and wet began to trickle down his right arm, -filling his hand. Conradt saw the stain and gave a joyful grunt. - -“One for thee, tinker,” he gasped, his breath nigh spent. “I’ll let a -little more of thy mongrel blood ere I quit.” - -“An thou dost,” cried Wulf, stung to a fury he seldom felt, “save a drop -for thyself. A little that’s honest would not come amiss i’ the black -stream in thy veins.” And he guarded again as Conradt came on. - -This the latter did with a rush, at which Wulf sprang aside, and ere his -foe could whirl he came at him askance, catching his sword-hand just -across the back of the wrist with the tip of his stick, so that for an -instant Conradt’s arm dropped, and the point of his blade touched the -floor. ’Twas a trick in which Wulf felt little pride, though fair -enough, and he did not follow up the advantage, knowing he had his enemy -beaten for the time. - -The hunchback stood glaring at Wulf, but ere he could move to attack -again a voice cried: “Well done, tinker. An ye had a blade our cockerel -had crowed smaller, and I had missed a rare bit of sport.” - -On this both boys turned, for they knew that voice; and Herr Werner came -forward, not laughing now, as mostly he was, but with a sterner look on -his youthful face than even Conradt had ever seen. - -“Now, then, how is this?” he demanded of Wulf. “What is this brawl -about?” - -The boy met Werner’s eyes frankly. “He had best tell,” he said, nodding -toward Conradt. - -“Suppose, then, thou dost”; and Herr Werner looked at the hunchback, -who, his eyes going down before the knight’s, lied, as was his wont. - -“He came at me with the flail, and,” he added, unable to withhold -bragging, “I clipped it for him.” - -“And what hadst done to make him come at thee?” - -“I did but look at the horses, and stood to play with old Siegfried, -here. ’Tis become so that my uncle the baron himself may yet look to be -called to account by this tinker’s upstart.” - -The stern lines about Herr Werner’s mouth grew deeper. - -“Heed thou this, Conradt,” he said, with great earnestness. “Yonder was -I, by the pillar, and saw this whole matter. What didst plan ill to the -stallion for?” - -“The truth is, not to have him hereabout,” muttered Conradt, his face -dark with fear and anger. “These be my uncle’s stables, and this great -beast hath had tooth or hoof toll from every one about the place.” - -“True, i’ the main,” Herr Werner said scornfully. “Is this why the baron -hath made thee master of the horse? Shall I tell him with what zeal thou -followest thy duties?” - -Conradt’s face was fair distorted now; fear of his uncle’s wrath was the -one thing that kept the wickedness of his evil nature in any sort of -check, and well he knew how bitter would be his taste of that wrath -should this thing come to the baron’s ears. So, too, knew Herr Werner, -and, in less manner, Wulf; for his keen wit had taught him much during -his six weeks’ service at the castle. - -“What shall I say to the baron of this?” demanded Herr Werner again, as -he towered above them. - -“I care not,” muttered Conradt, falsely; but Wulf said: - -“Need aught be said, Herr Werner? I hold naught against him, save for -Siegfried’s sake,”—with a loving glance over at the great horse,—“and -’tis not likely he’ll be at this mischief again.” - -“What say, thou fine fellow?” asked the young knight of Conradt; but the -latter said no word. - -“Bah!” cried Herr Werner, at last. “Why, the tinker lad is a truer man -than thou on every showing; get hence, that I waste on thee no more of -the time should go to his wound,” he added; for Wulf, in moving his arm, -had suddenly flinched and his face was pale. In another moment Herr -Werner had the hurt member in hand, and as he was, like most men of that -rude time, somewhat skilled in caring for wounds, he had soon bandaged -this one, which was of no great extent, but more painful than serious, -and was quickly eased. - -Meanwhile Conradt had moved off, leaving the two alone. Though it would -never be set to his credit, his malice had wrought a good work; for in -that hour our Wulf got himself a strong and true friend in the young -knight, who was fair won by the sterling stuff that showed in the lad. - -“He hath more of knightliness in him here in the stables,” thought he, -as he left Wulf, “than Conradt will ever know as lord of the castle; -and, by my forefathers, he shall have what chance may be mine to give -him!” - -And that vow Herr Werner never forgot. - - - - - CHAPTER VII - HOW WULF CLIMBED THE IVY TOWER, AND WHAT HE SAW AT THE BARRED WINDOW - - -Good as his word had Herr Werner been in finding Wulf the chance to show -that other stuff dwelt in him than might go to the making of a mere -stable-lad. For the next three years he was under the young knight’s -helping protection, and, thanks to the latter’s good offices in part, -but in the end, as must always be the case, with boy or man, thanks to -his own efforts, he made so good use of his chance that his tinker -origin was haply overlooked, if not forgotten, by those left behind him -as he mounted height by height of the castle’s life. - -Not that these forgave him his rise. Those small, mean souls had sought -the hurt of the boy, but, when all was said and done, ’twas hard to hold -hatred of such a nature as his. The training of old Karl and of the -forest had done its work well with him, and he was still the simple, -sunny-hearted Wulf of the forge, ever ready to help, forgiving even -where forgiveness was unsought, and keeping still, amid all the foulness -and wickedness of that dark time and in that evil place, the clean, -wholesome child nature that had dwelt in the baby among the osiers. - -He was by now a sturdy, broad-chested young fellow, getting well on to -manhood, noted for his strength, and for his skill in all the games and -feats of prowess and endurance that were a part of the training of boys -in those days. Already had he ridden with Herr Werner in battle, and -though no real armiger, by reason of his lowly birth, yet was he, in the -disorder of the times, unchallenged as the knight’s chosen attendant and -buckler-bearer on the lawless raids on which the baron led his train. -Indeed, the baron himself had more than once taken note of the youth, -and had on two occasions made him his messenger on errands both perilous -and nice, calling for wit as well as bravery. - -Only Conradt hated him still—Conradt, with the sorry, twisted soul that -held to hatred as surely as Wulf held to love. He was a year or two -older than Wulf, and was already a candidate for knighthood; for, -despite his crooked body, he was skilled, beyond many who rode in his -uncle’s following, in all play at arms. There was no better swordsman -even among the younger knights, and among the bowmen he had already a -name. - -Despite all this, however, the baron’s nephew was held in light esteem, -even among that train of robbers and bandits—for naught better were -they, in truth, despite their knighthood and their gentlehood. They -lived by foray and pillage, and petty warfare with other bands like -themselves, and in many a village were dark stories whispered of their -wild raids. - -Yet none of these would hold fellowship with Conradt, albeit they dared -not openly flout the baron’s nephew. Nevertheless, he had gathered to -himself a manner of following from the villages and countryside about -the Swartzburg: criminals and refugees, for the most part, men who had -suffered for their misdeeds at the hands of such law as was in the land; -fellows whom no other leader would own, but who gladly fell in under a -headship as bad as they. These ranged the forest wide and far, and from -their evil raids was no poor man free nor helpless woman safe. - -Well knew the baron, overlord of all that district, of the doings of his -doughty nephew; but for reasons of his own he saw fit to wink at them, -save when some worse infamy than common was brought to his notice in -such fashion that he could not pass it by. He were a brave man, however, -who could dare the baron’s wrath so far as to complain lightly to him of -Conradt, so the fellow went for the most part scot-free of his misdeeds, -save so far as he might feel the scorn and shunning of his equals. - -It was on a bright autumn afternoon that a company of the boys and -younger men of the Swartzburg were trying feats of strength, and of -athletic skill, before the castle, in the inner bailey. From a little -balcony overlooking the terrace the ladies of the household looked down -upon the sports, to which their presence gave more than ordinary zest. -Among the ladies was Elise, now grown a fair maiden of some fifteen -years. Well was she known to be meant by the baron for the bride of his -nephew; but this knowledge among the youths of the place did not hinder -many a quick glance from wandering her way, and already had more than -one young squire chosen her as the lady of his worship, for whose sake -he pledged himself, as the manner of the time was, to deeds of bravery -and high virtue. - -The contestants in the courtyard had been wrestling and racing; there -had been tilts with the spear, and bouts with the fists, and some -sword-play, when at last one of the number challenged his fellows to a -climbing trial of the hardest sort. - -Just where the massive square bulk of the keep raised its grim stories, -a great buttress thrust boldly out from the castle, running up beside -the wall of the tower for a considerable distance. The two were just -enough apart to be firmly touched, on either side, by a man who might -stand between them, and it was a mighty test of courage and strength for -a man to climb up between them, even a few yards, by hand and foot -pressure only. It was a great feat to perform among the more ambitious -knights and squires about the castle. - -The challenger on this afternoon was young Waldemar Guelder, Herr Banf’s -ward, now grown a stalwart squire; and he raised himself, by sheer -strength of grip and pressure of foot and open hand against the rough -stones, up and up, until he reached the point, some thirty feet above -ground, where the buttress bent in to the main wall again, and gave no -further support to the climber, who was fain to come down by the same -way as he went up. - -Shouts of “Well done! Well done!” greeted Waldemar’s deed when he -reached the ground, panting, but flushed with pride, and looked up -toward the balcony, whence came a clapping of fair hands and waving of -white kerchiefs in token that his prowess had been noted. - -Then one after another made trial of the feat; but none, not even -Conradt, who was accounted among the skilfulest climbers, was able to -reach the mark set by young Guelder, until, last of all, for he had -given place time after time to his eagerer fellows, Wulf’s turn came. - -He too glanced up at the balcony as he began the ascent, and Elise, -meeting his glance, smiled down upon him. These two were good friends, -in a frank fashion little common in that time, when the merest youths -deemed it their duty to throw a tinge of sentimentality into their -relation with all maids. - -Conradt noted their glances, and glowered at Wulf as the latter prepared -to climb. No sneer of his had ever moved Elise to treat “the tinker” -with scorn. Indeed, Conradt sometimes fancied that her friendship for -Wulf was in despite of him and of the mastership he often tried to -assert over her. That, however, was impossible to an honest nature like -Elise. She was Wulf’s friend because of her hearty trust in him and -liking for him, and so she leaned forward now, eager to see what he -might do toward meeting Waldemar’s feat. - -Steadily Wulf set hands and feet to the stones, and braced himself for -the work. Reach by reach he raised himself higher, higher, until it was -plain to all that he would find it no task to climb where the champion -had done. - -“He’ll win to it!” cried one and then another of the watchers, and -Waldemar himself shouted out encouragement to the climber when once he -seemed to falter. At last came a cry from Hansei: “He has it! Hurrah!” -and a general shout went up. From the balcony, too, came the sound of -applause as Wulf reached the top of the buttress. - -“In truth, our tinker hath mounted in the world,” sneered Conradt from -the terrace. “Well, there’s naught more certain than that he’ll come -down again.” - -Wulf heard the words, as Conradt meant he should, and caught, as well, -the laugh that rose from some of the lower fellows. Then a murmur of -surprise went through the company. - -The walls of the keep were overgrown with ivy, so that only here and -there a mere shadow showed where a staircase window pierced the stones. -In the recess where the young men were wont to climb the vines were torn -down, but above the buttress, over both keep and castle, the great -branches grew and clung, reaching clean to the top of the tower; and -Wulf, unable to go farther between the walls, was now pulling himself up -along the twisted ivy growth that covered the face of the tower. - -On he went, minded to reach the top and scale the battlement. It was no -such great feat, the lower wall once passed, but none of the watchers -below had ever thought to try it, so were they surprised into the more -admiration, while in the balcony was real fear for the adventurous -climber. - -He reached the top in safety, however, and passing along the parapet -just below the battlement, turned a corner and was lost to their sight. - -On the farther side of the keep he found, as he had deemed likely, that -the ivy gave him safe and easy support to the ground, so lowering -himself to the vines again, he began the descent. - -He had gone but a little way when, feeling with his feet for a lower -hold, he found none directly under him, but was forced to reach out -toward the side to get it, from which he judged that he must be opposite -a window, and lowering himself farther, he came upon two upright iron -bars set in a narrow casement nearly overgrown with ivy. Behind the bars -all seemed dark; but as Wulf’s eyes became wonted to the dimness, he -became aware, first of a shadowy something that seemed to move, then of -a face gaunt, white, and drawn, with great, unreasoning eyes that stared -blankly into his own. - -[Illustration: “LOWERING HIMSELF FARTHER, HE CAME UPON A NARROW CASEMENT -NEARLY OVERGROWN WITH IVY.”] - -He felt his heart hammering at his ribs as he stared back. The piteous, -vacant eyes seemed to draw his very soul, and a choking feeling came in -his throat. For a full moment the two pairs of eyes gazed at each other, -until Wulf felt as if his heart would break for sheer pity; then the -white face behind the bars faded back into the darkness, and Wulf was -ware once more of the world without, the yellow autumnal sunshine, and -the green ivy with its black ropes of twisted stems, that were all that -kept him from dashing to death on the stones of the courtyard below. - -So shaken was he by what he had seen that he could scarcely hold by his -hands while he reached for foothold. Little by little, however, he -gathered strength, and came to himself again, until by the time he -reached the ground he was once more able to face his fellows, who -gathered about, full of praise for his feat. - -But little cared our Wulf for their acclaim when, glancing up toward the -balcony, he caught the wave of a white hand. His heart nearly leaped -from his throat, a second later, as he saw a little gleam of color, and -was aware that the hand held a bit of bright ribband which presently -fluttered over the edge of the balcony and down toward the terrace. - -It never touched earth. There was a rush toward it by all the young men, -each eager to grasp the token; but Wulf, with a leap that carried his -outstretched hand high above the others, laid hold upon the prize and -bore it quickly from out the press. - -“’Tis mine! Yield it!” screamed Conradt, rushing after him. - -“Nay; that must thou prove,” laughed Wulf, and winning easily away from -the hunchback, he ran through the inner bailey to his own quarters, -whence, being busy about some matters of Herr Werner’s, he came forth -not until nightfall. At that time Conradt did not see him; for the baron -had summoned his nephew to him about a matter of which we shall hear -more. - - - - - CHAPTER VIII - HOW BARON EVERHARDT WAS OUTLAWED, AND HOW WULF HEARD OF THE BABY IN THE - OSIERS - - -One bright morning, not long after Wulf had climbed the ivy tower, there -came to the Swartzburg a herald bearing a message whereat Baron -Everhardt laughed long and loud. So also laughed the youngerlings of the -place, when the thing came to be noised among them; albeit two or three, -and in especial Wulf and Hansei, who was now head groom, laughed not, -but were sore troubled. - -The baron had been declared an outlaw. - -For an emperor now ruled in Germany, and good folk had begun to dare -hope that the evil days might be drawing to a close. The new emperor was -none other than Rudolf of Hapsburg, he who had been count of that name, -and since coming to the throne he had bent his whole mind and strength -to the task of bringing peace and good days to the land, and order and -law within reach of the unhappy common folk whose lives were now passed -in hardship and fear. - -To this end the Emperor Rudolf had early sent to summon all of the -barons and the lesser nobles of the land to come to his help against the -rebel counts Ulric and Eberhard of Würtemberg, who had joined with King -Ottakar of Bohemia to defy the new ruler. The head of the Swartzburg had -been summoned, with the others, but, filled with contempt for “the poor -Swiss count,” as he dubbed the emperor, had defied him, and tore up the -summons before the eyes of the herald who brought it. - -Nevertheless, in spite of the refusal of nearly all the nobles to aid -their emperor, the latter had, with his own men, gone against the two -rebel counts and their kingly ally, and had beaten their armies and -brought them to sue for peace. Now he was turning his attention to the -larger task of putting fear of the law and of rightful authority into -the hearts of the robber nobles. - -Of these a goodly number were already declared outlaws, and now the -baron’s turn had come. Moreover, one of the men of the Swartzburg, who -had ridden beyond the mountains on a matter for the Herr Banf, had -ridden back with word that the emperor, with a strong army, was already -out against the outlawed strongholds, and meant soon to call at the -Swartzburg. - -“And a warm welcome shall we give this new emperor of ours,” boasted -Conradt, on the castle terrace. “Emperor, forsooth! By the rood! Count -Rudolf will have need of all his Swiss rabble if he would bring the -Swartzburg’s men to knee before him!” - -A chorus of assent greeted this speech. For once his hearers listened -respectfully to the baron’s nephew. Right eager were all the young men -for the fray that was threatening; and so great was their contempt for -the emperor that they could see for it but one outcome. - -“But that his Austrians were in revolt and his army divided,” declared -one, “King Ottakar had never yielded to the Swiss. He of Hapsburg will -find it a harder matter to yoke the German barons.” And all his hearers -nodded assent to the bragging speech. - -What Baron Everhardt, at council with his knights, thought of the -outlook, not even Conradt, among those on the terrace, rightly knew; but -a few hours later, by orders sent out through the stewards and the -masters of arms and horse, the routine of the castle was being put upon -a war footing, to the joy of the eager young men. All were busy, each at -his own line of duty, in the work of preparation for battle, and, to -Wulf’s delight, it fell to his lot to fare down the valley to the forge -on an errand for Herr Werner, whose man he was. - -It was a matter of some weeks since Wulf had seen Karl, and glad was he -now to be going to him; for in his own mind he was sore perplexed in -this matter of the new emperor’s proclamation of the baron, and he -longed for the armorer’s wise and honest thought about it all. - -“Thou hast seen this emperor of ours?” he said, as he sat curled, after -his childish wont, in the doorway of the smithy, whence he could look, -at will, within at the forge, or without adown a long green aisle of the -forest. - -“Ay,” said Karl, proudly; “his own man-at-arms was I, as thou knowest, -and that was on the holy war. Served him have I, and gripped his -hand—the hand of an honest man and a sore needed one in this land -to-day.” - -“Dost think he can master the barons?” the boy asked, and Karl looked -troubled. - -“These be ill times for thought, boy,” he said, “and worse for speech; -but the emperor is ruler in the land, and if he bring not order into our -midst, then in truth are the scoffers wise, and God hath forgotten us up -in heaven.” - -“Would I were of his train!” Wulf said quickly, and silence fell between -them, during which the boy sat gazing, with troubled eyes, adown between -the black trunks of the great trees. Karl, watching him, gathered -rightly that he was worried as to his duty. - -“An he be in truth the emperor by will of the people, and not alone of -him at Rome,” Wulf added at last, “then are all true men who love -Germany bound to come to his banner.” - -“Ay.” Karl thrust the iron he was welding deep into the glowing coals of -the forge. - -“But I am of the Swartzburg’s men; and how may I be an honest one and -fail at this moment when every blade is needed?” - -“’Tis hard,” Karl said, “and that only thine own heart can teach thee.” -He brought his hammer down upon the glowing iron till it sent out a -shower of sparks. “No man may show another what honest action may be; -but perhaps thou’rt nearer being the emperor’s man than the baron’s, -were the truth known. An I guess rightly, ’twere ill faring if one of -thy line raised blade against Rudolf of Hapsburg.” - -The armorer muttered this half in his beard, nor looked at Wulf as he -spoke. - -“Nay, Karl,” the boy cried sharply; “make me no more riddles, but speak -out plainly, man to man. What is this that thou hast ever held from me? -What meanst thou by any line of mine?” - -“Alas!” said the armorer, sadly. “Naught know I, in truth, and there’s -the heartbreak. ’Tis a chain of which some links are missing, and ill -work is it to make that blade fitten again. Would to God I did know, -that I might speak of a surety that which my heart is settled upon. But -this that I do know shalt thou hear to-day.” And coming over by the -doorway, Karl took seat upon the great chest near by, and fell to -telling Wulf of that which we already know—of his trip to the Swartzburg -a dozen years before, and how he had taken him from the osiers. - -“Never saw I that knight, nor naught dared I ever ask of him; but slain -was he by Herr Banf, and was no noise ever made of who he was. Only this -I know: that the sword Herr Banf gave me to put in order had been that -stranger’s, and none other was it than one forged by these own hands for -Count Wulfstanger of Hartsburg when he rode with Count Rudolf to -Prussia, and he was our emperor’s heart’s friend. Three swords made I at -that time, alike in temper and fashion; and one was for Count -Wulfstanger, one was his who is now emperor, and one I kept and brought -with me to this place—” Karl halted just here, but Wulf was too taken -with the tale to note that. - -“But thou knowest not that aught had I to do with that stranger knight,” -he urged, longing for Karl’s answer. - -“That do I not. But, lad, thou’rt fair like my Lord Bernard, as his own -son might be; and tell me, how camest thou in the osiers just at that -time? Oh, I have worn thin my poor wits over this thing. But naught have -I been able to learn or guess. I did what I might, and if ever thou -comest to thine own, and thine own be what I think—ah, boy, thou’rt fit -for it!” And the old armorer’s face shone with loving pride as his eyes -took in the figure in the doorway. - -“I can bear arms and sit a horse and hold mine honor clean,” said Wulf, -simply. “But oh, Karl, fain would I know the rights of this matter.” - -He sighed, his thoughts going back to the castle, and to the memory of a -fair small hand fluttering a ribband down over the heads of a rabble of -scrambling youths. Truly the tinker’s lad, if such he was, was looking -high. - -“I wish that I might see that sword,” he said at last. - -“That thou mayest.” - -The armorer arose from his seat on the chest, and turned toward the -cupboard; but just then there showed, riding out from the forest and up -to the door of the forge, two or three riders whom Wulf knew to be from -Conradt’s mongrel band of thieves and cutthroats. - -They had with them a matter of work that, he quickly saw, would keep -Karl busy for an hour or two; so, mindful of his errand and of the need -to get back to the Swartzburg, where so great things were toward, he -arose from the doorway. - -What of loyalty and duty his mind might fix upon at last, he knew not -yet; but the thought of one who in the trouble to come might be in -danger drew him like a magnet. So, bidding Karl good-by, he went his -way. - -His mind was full of confused thoughts as he fared through the forest, -and how long he had been walking he knew not when suddenly he heard a -whistling twang, and an arrow speeding close past his head lodged in a -tree not a foot from him. - -Turning quick as flash, his eye caught sight of a fleeing figure beyond -the nearest trees, and without an instant’s halt Wulf sped after the -runner. - -He was fleet of foot, and not many moments was it ere he was up with his -cowardly foe, and catching him by the shoulder with one strong hand, he -whirled the fellow about and stood face to face with Conradt. - -The hunchback had thrown away his bow and arrows the better to run, and -now put hand to sword; but ere he could draw, Wulf put forth one long -leg and tripped him up, so that he lay upon his back on the turf, -glaring up at Wulf, whose face glowed with unwonted anger and whose -sword’s point was at the breast of the prostrate ill-doer. - -“Thou again?” he asked, when he had looked Conradt well over. “And what -wouldst have this time? What thou’rt likely to get is a quick shriving,” -he added. - -There was no reply. - -“What wast after?” Wulf persisted. - -“Thy life,” was the defiant answer. “To let thy tinker blood out—and to -get the ribband ye stole.” - -“Softly,” the other said. “That were an ugly word an any one heard it. -My life thou’rt not likely to get; as for the ribband, ’tis as much mine -as the other, and I am minded to keep both.” - -Conradt’s only reply was a muttered curse; but his eyes rolled shiftily, -glancing askance adown the woods, as seeking help. - -“If thou’rt looking for thy cutthroats,” Wulf said, “they’re back at the -forge, and likely to stay there an hour or so yet. Meantime, my pretty -fellow,” he asked wrathfully, “what shall I do to thee?” - -A look of sullen despair crept over the hunchback’s face. - -“Thou’lt do what is in thee,” he snarled at last—“as I did with thee.” - -Wulf raised his sword; but looking down upon the fellow who would have -slain him, he saw his ill-shapen body and distorted face, and noted the -lurking fear in his restless eyes, and because it was in him to be -pitiful and generous, his heart stirred with compassion, and he could -not smite the creature lying there. Slowly his hands fell until the -point of his sword rested upon the ground; then he spurned the figure -lightly with his toe. - -“Get thee up and be off,” he said. “An thou bidest long here, it may not -go so well with thee, after all.” - -Rolling over upon his face, Conradt sprang to his feet and slunk away, -curlike, into the forest. His life had been spared, but the beast that -dwelt within his bad heart was not tamed. He had been given another -chance, such as the strong may give the weak, whether the weakness be of -body or of soul, so the strong yet ward his own strength; but this he -was too base to know, but deemed that fear had held Wulf’s hand; so that -he was not helped at all by the mercy that had spared him. - -As for Wulf, he gave the meeting scant thought as he went on his way. -The weightier matters that pressed upon his brain kept mind and heart -engaged while he journeyed; but his duty seemed no clearer to him when -he had reached the castle than it had done at the forge with Karl. - - - - - CHAPTER IX - OF THE ILL NEWS THAT THE BARON BROKE TO HIS MAIDEN WARD, AND OF HOW SHE - TOOK THAT SAME - - -Baron Everhardt sat beside a table in the great hall of the castle, -scowling blackly at a pile of weighty-seeming papers that lay before -him. The baron could himself neither read nor write, but Father Franz, -his confessor and penman, had been with him all forenoon, and together -they had gone over the parchments, one by one, and the warrior noble -had, to all seeming, found enough to keep his mind busy with them since; -for he still sat as Father Franz had left him, fingering the huge sheets -and staring at the big black-letter text that told him naught. - -The parchments were none other than the deeds in the matters of the -estate of the baron’s ward, Fräulein Elise von Hofenhoer, regarding -which estate the emperor had sent word that he should demand accounting -after he had wrought order at the Swartzburg. The baron’s face was not -good to see when he recalled the words of the emperor’s message. - -“By the rood!” he muttered, bringing a clenched fist down on the table. -“The poor Swiss count were wiser to busy himself with setting his own -soul in order against coming to the Swartzburg.” - -He sprang from his chair and paced the floor wrathfully, when there -entered to him his ward, whom he had sent to summon. - -A stately slip of maidenhood was Elise: tall and fair, with fearless -eyes of dark blue. She seemed older than her few years, and as she stood -within the hall even the dark visage of the baron lightened at sight of -her, and the growl of his deep voice softened in answering her greeting. - -“Sit ye down yonder,” he said, nodding toward a great Flemish chair of -oak over beyond the table. - -Obediently Elise sank into its carven depths; but the baron paced the -floor yet a while longer, while she waited for him to speak. - -At last he came back to the table, and seated himself before it. - -“There be many gruesome things in these hard days, Fräulein,” he said, -“and things that may easily work ill for a maid.” - -A startled look came into Elise’s eyes, but naught said she, though the -dread in her heart warned her what the baron’s words might portend. - -“Thou knowest,” her guardian went on, “that thy father left thee in my -care. Our good Hofenhoer! May he be at greater peace than we are like to -know for many a long year!” - -There was an oily smoothness in the baron’s tone that did not ease the -fear in Elise’s heart. Never had she known him to speak of her father, -whom she could not remember, and, indeed, never before had he spoken to -her at such length; for the baron was more at home in the saddle, or at -tilt and foray, than with the women of his household. But he grew bland -as any lawyer as he went on, with a gesture toward the parchments: - -“These be all the matters of what property thy father left, though -little enough of it have I been able to save for thee, what with the -wickedness of the times; and now this greedy thief of a robber count who -calls himself Emperor of Germany, forsooth, seems minded to take even -that little—and thee into the bargain, belike—an we find not a way to -hinder him.” - -“Take me?” Elise said in some amaze, as the baron seemed waiting her -word. - -“Ay. The fellow hath proclaimed me outlaw, though, for that matter, do I -as easily proclaim him interloper. So, doubtless, ’tis even.” And the -baron smiled grimly. - -“But that is by the way,” he added, his bland air coming back. “I’ve -sent for thee on a weightier matter, Fräulein, for war and evil are all -around us. I am none so young as once I was, and no man knows what may -hap when this Swiss comes hunting the nobles of the land as he might -chase wild dogs. ’Tis plain thou must have a younger protector, -and”—here the baron gave a snicker as he looked at Elise—“all maids be -alike in this, I trow, that to none is a husband amiss. Is’t not so?” - -Elise was by now turned white as death, and her slim fingers gripped -hard on the chair-arms. - -“What meanst thou, sir?” she asked faintly. - -The baron’s uneasy blandness slipped away before his readier frown, yet -still he smiled in set fashion. - -“Said I not,” he cried, with clownish attempt at lightness, “that all -maids are alike? Well knowest thou my meaning; yet wouldst thou question -and hedge, like all the others. Canst be ready for thy marriage by the -day after to-morrow? We must needs have thee a sheltered wife ere the -Swiss hawk pounce upon thee and leave thee plucked. Moreover, thy groom -waxes impatient these days.” - -“And who is he?” Elise almost whispered, with lips made stiff by dread. - -“Who, indeed,” snarled the baron, losing his scant self-mastery, “but my -nephew, to whom, as well thou knowest, thou hast been betrothed since -thou wert a child?” - -The maiden sprang wildly to her feet, then cowered back in her chair and -hid her face in her hands. - -“Conradt? Oh, never, never!” she moaned. - -“Come, come,” her guardian said, not unkindly. “Conradt is no beauty, I -grant. God hath dealt hardly with him in a way that might well win him a -maiden’s pity,” he added, with a sham piousness that made Elise shiver. -“Thou must have a husband’s protection,” the baron went on. “Naught else -will avail in these times. And ’twas thy father’s will.” - -“Nay; I believe not that,” Elise cried, looking straight at him with -flashing eyes. “Ne’er knew I my father, but ’twere not in any father’s -heart, my lord, to will so dreadful a thing for his daughter. Not so -will I dishonor that brave nobleman’s memory as to believe that this was -his will for me!” - -The baron sprang up, dashing the parchments aside. - -“Heed thy words, girl!” he roared. “Thy father’s will or not thy -father’s will, thou’lt wed my nephew on to-morrow’s morrow!” - -“Nay; that will I not!” The fair face was lifted and the small hands -clasped each other in their slender strength. - -The baron laughed softly in his beard, a laugh not pleasant to hear. - -“In sooth,” he said, “’tis a tilt of precious web, the ‘will not’ of a -maid, but naught so good a wedding garment as that thou’lt need to find -’tween now and then.” - -Elise came a step nearer, with a gesture of pleading. - -“My lord,” she said, with earnest dignity, “ye cannot mean it! I am a -poor, helpless maiden, with nor father nor brother to fend for me. Never -can ye mean to do me this wrong.” - -“’Tis needful, girl,” the baron said, keeping his eyes lowered; “this is -no time for thee to be unwed. Thou must have a legal protector other -than I. Only a husband can hold thy property from the emperor’s -greed—and perhaps save thee from eviler straits.” - -“Nay; who cares for the wretched stuff?” cried she, impatiently. “Ah, my -lord, let it go! Take it, all of it, an ye will, and let me enter a -convent—rather than this.” - -But for this the baron had no mind. Already had he turned his ward’s -property to his own use, and her marriage with Conradt was planned but -that he might hide his theft from the knowledge of others. Well knew he -how stern an accounting of his guardianship Mother Church would demand, -did Elise enter her shelter; but he only said: - -“Thou art not of age. Thou canst not take so grave a step. The law will -not let thee consent.” - -“Then how may I consent to this other?” - -“To this I consent for thee, minx. Let that suffice, and go about thy -preparations.” - -“I cannot! I cannot! Oh, Herr Baron, dost thou not fear God? As he -lives, I will never do this thing!” - -Then the baron gripped her by the arm. - -“Now, miss,” he said, his face close to hers, “enough of folly. Yet am I -master at the Swartzburg, and two days of grace have I granted thee; but -a word more, and Father Franz shall make thee a bride this night an thy -thieving cur of a bridegroom show his face in the castle. See, now; -naught canst thou gain by thy stubborn unreason. I can have patience -with a maid’s whims, but an thou triest me too greatly, it will go hard -but that I shall find a way to break thy stubborn will. But what -thinkest thou to do to hinder my will?” - -She was weeping silently, the great tears welling up unchecked and -falling from her cheeks to the floor; but she answered proudly enough: - -“I can yet die, sir.” - -He released her arm and flung her from him. - -“That were not a bad notion,” he sneered, “once the priest hath mumbled -the words that make thee Conradt’s wife. But now get yonder and prepare -thy bridal robes”; and he strode away. - -[Illustration: “THEN THE BARON GRIPPED HER BY THE ARM.”] - -Elise turned and fled from that place, scarce noting whither she went. -Not back to the women’s chambers; she could not face the baroness and -her ladies until she had faced this monstrous trouble alone. - -Out she sped, then, to the castle garden, fleeing, poor hunted fawn that -she was, to the one spot of refuge she knew—the sheltering shade of a -drooping elm, at whose foot welled up a little stream that, husbanded -and led by careful gardening, wandered through the pleasance to water my -lady’s rose-garden beyond. There had ever been her favorite -dreaming-place, and thither brought she this great woe wherewith she -must wrestle. But ere she could cast herself down upon the welcoming -moss at the roots of the tree, a figure started up from within the -shadow of the great black trunk and came toward her. - -She started back with a startled cry, wondering, even then, that aught -could cause her trouble or dismay beyond what was already hers. In the -next instant, however, she recognized Wulf. He was passing through the -garden and had been minded to turn aside for a moment to sit beneath the -elm where he knew the fair lily of the castle had her favorite nook. -Sweet it seemed to him, in the stress of that troubled time, to linger -there and let softer thoughts than those of war and of perplexing duties -come in at will; but he was even then departing when he was aware of -Elise coming toward him. - -Then he saw her face, all distraught with pain and sorrow, and wrath -filled him. - -“What is it?” he cried. “Who hath harmed thee? ’Twere an ill faring for -him an I come nigh him!” - -“Wulf, Wulf!” moaned Elise, as soon as she knew him. “Surely Mary Mother -herself hath sent thee to help me!” And standing there under the -sheltering tree, she told him, as best she might for shame and woe and -the maidenly wrath that were hers, the terrible doom fallen upon her. - -And Wulf’s face grew stern and white as he listened, and there fell off -from it the boyish look of ease and light-heartedness that is the right -of youth, and the look of a man came there, to stay until his death. - -Now and again, as Elise spoke, his hand sought the dagger at his belt, -and his breath came thick from beneath his teeth; but no words wasted he -in wrath, for his wit was working fast on the matter before them, which -was the finding of a way of escape for the maiden. - -“There is but one way for it,” he said at last, “and that must be this -very night, for this business of the emperor’s coming makes every moment -beyond the present one a thing of doubt. It cannot be before midnight, -though, that I may help thee; for till then I guard the postern gate, -and I may not leave that which is intrusted me. But after that do thou -make shift to come to me here, and, God helping us, thou’lt be from here -ere daybreak.” - -“But whither can I go?” Elise cried, shrinking in terror from the bold -step. “How may a maiden wander forth into the night?” - -“That is a simple matter,” said Wulf. “Where, indeed, but to the Convent -of St. Ursula beyond the wood? Thou’lt be safe there, for the lady -superior is blood kin to the emperor, and already is the place under -protection of his men. An he think to seek thee there, even our wild -baron would pause before going against those walls.” - -“’Tis a fair chance,” said Elise, at last, “but an ’twere still worse, -’twere better worth trying, even to death, than to live to-morrow’s -morrow and what ’twill bring”; and a shudder shook her till she sobbed -with grief. - -The time was too short even for much planning, while many things -remained to be done; so Elise, ere long, sought her own little nest in -the castle wing, there to make ready for flight, while Wulf took pains -to show himself as usual about the tasks wherewith he was wont to fill -his hours. - - - - - CHAPTER X - HOW WULF TOOK ELISE FROM THE SWARTZBURG - - -It was a little past midnight, and the air was black and soft as velvet -when two figures crept across the inner bailey and gained the outer -court of the castle. Not easy was the journey for them, but feeling by -hand and foot along the pave and the walls, Wulf led, his fingers never -leaving the masonry, while Elise crept after him, holding fast by his -sleeve. - -One by one Wulf counted the buttresses of the wall, until one more -would, he knew, bring them to the postern gate. - -“Gotta Brent’s son followed me on watch here,” he whispered to Elise. -“He is a sleepy fellow, and will not have got well settled to the tramp -yet.” - -“Thou’lt not harm him, Wulf?” she breathed back anxiously. “Ne’er again -could I be happy if any hurt came to an innocent person through me.” - -“Nay; let thy heart be easy,” replied Wulf. “I will but fix him in easy -position for the good long sleep he loves. He were no fellow to be put -on watch in time of danger.” - -Just then the clank of metal came to their ears, and they knew that the -sentinel was drawing near on his beat. - -Close back they pressed into the deep shadow of the bastion, while Elise -put both hands over her heart in an instinct to muffle its wild beating. -It seemed to her straining ears to sound above the shuffle of coming -steps and the rattle of the watchman’s armor and weapons. - -Almost beside them, lantern in hand, the watch paused; but his body was -between them and his light, and its rays did not shine into the bastion. -After a moment he raised the staff which he carried and struck a sharp -blow against the stones. - -The sudden sound wrung from Elise a little outcry, which she checked on -her very lips, as it were; but the sentry must have caught somewhat of -it, for he bent toward them, and Wulf braced himself to spring upon him, -when of a sudden a call rang out from the sentinel on the watch-tower, -far adown the wall. - -“One hour past midnight, and all’s well,” it said; and the watchman -beside them took it up, bellowing forth the words until they sounded -fair awful coming out of the darkness. From elsewhere—Wulf judged it to -be the castle keep—the watch-cry sounded again, and ere it had clean -died away Wulf gave a forward spring, catching the sentinel just as he -was turning to walk adown his beat. - -In a flash the fellow had received a blow from his own staff that -quieted him. Then, dashing out the lantern, Wulf, as best he could in -the darkness, thrust a soft leathern gag into the man’s mouth, making it -fast by cords at the back of his head. Then he bound him, hand and foot, -and, taking from the fellow’s girdle the key of the postern, he grasped -Elise’s hand, and together they made out to open the gate and creep -forth. - -Between them and liberty there yet lay the ditch; but well Wulf knew -where, at the foot of the steps leading from the postern, the warden’s -boat was tied, and, with every sense sharpened by the dangers about -them, he managed to get Elise into the small craft. By now a few stars -shone through the darkness, lighting them, feebly enough, to the other -side, and presently the pair had clambered again ahead. - -“Now for it!” whispered Wulf. “Gird thy skirts well, for an we win away -now, ’twill be by foot-fleetness.” - -Bravely Elise obeyed him, and taking her hand again, Wulf led off at a -long, low run, none too hard for her prowess, yet getting well over the -ground. Thus they began descending the defile. It was cruel work for a -tender maid, but Elise was of such stuff as in years gone had made her -ancestors the warrior comrades of kings; she neither moaned nor -flinched, but kept steady pace at Wulf’s side. - -Thus they fared for a matter of two or three miles, and had gotten well -away down the pass when they caught, on the still night air, an alarum -of horns that would be from the castle. Plainly something was astir, and -that, most likely, the discovery that some one had come or gone by the -postern gate. - -“The boat will soon tell them which ’tis,” said Wulf, “and they’ll be -after us just now.” - -They quickened pace, and, reckless of danger on the rough foothold, sped -flockmeal down the stony road, Wulf with an arm about the maiden’s -waist, that he might lift her along over the roughest places, she with a -hand on his shoulder, hastening stoutly beside him. - -By now they were beyond the steepest of the way, and near to where the -stream that kept it company toward the valley widened over the plain for -a matter of some miles by length, but of no great width, in a sedgy, -grass-tufted morass, with here and there clumps of wild bog-willow and -tall reeds. - -The noise of pursuit sounded loud and terrible behind them, and they -could almost tell the different voices of the men. Then, without -warning, over the crest of the mountains towering up on one side rose -the late moon, full and lambent, flooding the whole scene with light. - -“Quick! quick!” cried Wulf; and fair lifting his companion, he swung -down the rocks that edged the cliff, sliding, slipping, scrambling, -still holding her safe, until with a spring they gained the shelter of -the willows. - -There they lay breathless for a moment, while above them a party of -horsemen swept by in full cry. - -“They will soon be back,” said Wulf, “for well will they guess that -naught human can have won very far ahead of them. We must e’en pick our -way over yonder, Elise.” - -“We can never!” gasped the girl, almost in despair. - -“That were a long day,” answered Wulf, easily. “I wot not if any other -man from the castle can do it, but well know I how it can be done, and -come aland in the thick of the wood.” - -Stooping, he lifted Elise in his strong arms, and resting her light -weight on shoulder and chest, went easily forward, now stepping upon a -reedy islet of green, just showing in the moonlight, now plunging almost -waist-deep in water below which, other trips had taught him, was -foothold, but never stopping until he drew near the other side. Then, -sore wearied, he raised Elise, that she might lay hold on some -overhanging boughs and swing herself up among them, after which Wulf -crawled ashore and lay panting, while Elise bent over him, calling him -softly by name, and taking blame to herself for all his weariness. - -He did but wait to get his breath, however; then, as they heard the hue -and cry of the returning horsemen, he started up again. By the noise -they could tell that another party had come down the pass and joined the -first, but they did not linger to listen to them, but, freshened by -their short rest, plunged into the forest. - -Well was it for them that Wulf knew, as some men to-day know their home -cities, the wayless depths of that wood. Open were they to him as a -tilled field to the plowman, and with the sureness of a hiving bee he -led Elise through the great tree-aisles. Here and there where boughs -were thinner the moon’s rays sifted in, and served now to lighten, now -merely to deepen the shadow; but for the most part it was fair dark, -until, after long travel, as they came to a little bit of open where -ancient forest fire had cleared the trees, they saw that the moonlight -had given place to the first gray tint of dawn. - -On they went for yet another hour, and now it was clear daylight when, -sounding through the woods, came again the noise of horsemen. Evidently -the baron’s men had skirted the stream and struck through the forest. -For all the fugitives knew, they might show before them any moment now. - -“Wulf,” cried Elise, “do thou leave me here. I can go no farther, but go -thou on. I will stay to meet them. They dare not kill me,—would they -might!—but if I stay and go back with them to the castle, thou canst -escape, and thy death will not be at my charge.” - -“Hush!” Wulf answered, almost roughly. “Dost think I will do thy bidding -in this? But here is no place to hide. We must get on, an we may, where -the bush is thicker. So hearten thyself for one more trial.” - -His arm once more on her waist, they ran on—she sobbing with weariness -and fear for him—through the forest. - -But nearer and nearer, louder and more clear, came the noise of their -pursuers, and still more feebly ran the tired pair, stumbling over -fallen boughs and matted tangles of dead leaves. - -“Wulf! I am like to die of weariness,” gasped Elise, at last. “Go on -alone, I beg thee.” - -“Hark!” Wulf interrupted, with a quick gesture. “What is that?” - -They were at the edge of another open, which they were minded to skirt, -fearful to cross it and risk discovery; but beyond it came the sound of -still another body of horsemen, crashing through the forest. - -“Belike the party have divided,” Wulf whispered, “the better to find -us.” But, even as he spoke, a squire rode from the brash into the open, -bearing a banner that Wulf had never before seen. He shrank back into -the thicket, keeping tight hold of Elise’s hand; but the newcomer had -evidently ridden out by mistake from the body of his fellows, and -retired again by the way he came. They could hear him going on through -the brush. - -“They are not Swartzburg riders,” Wulf said, and then a mighty din arose -among the trees. The woods rang on all sides with the cries of -fighting-men and the clashing of weapons, and in another moment Wulf -made out clearly the battle-cry of Baron Everhardt’s men. But above it -and all the din of fighting, there rose another cry: “For God and the -emperor!” so that he knew that a party of Rudolf’s men, if not his whole -army, had fallen in with the pursuers, and his hot young blood stirred -with longing to be in the fray. - -Then he bethought him of the matter at hand. - -“Now! now, Elise! this is our chance! We must be off! One more dash and -we shall be where any band of horsemen will have much ado to follow, and -well on our way to the convent.” - -He pressed to her lips an opened bottle filled with goat’s milk, urging -her to drink, and when she had done so she looked up at him with fresh -courage in her eyes. - -“I am ready,” she said, rising. He stopped the bottle and secured it at -his belt, and again they went on, dashing forward, unmindful of any -noise they might make when all the wood was so full of direful sound. -The new hope that had come to Elise gave her fresh strength, so that it -seemed to her as if she had but just begun to run. - -In this fashion they traveled on until at last Wulf halted in the -deepest depth of the great forest. - -“We shall be safe to rest here,” he said, still speaking softly, “while -we break our fast.” And there, beneath the dark old trees that seemed to -bend and gather over them to hide and to comfort, they sank down, scarce -able to move or speak. - - - - - CHAPTER XI - WHAT THE FUGITIVES FURTHER SAW IN THE FOREST, AND HOW THEY CAME TO ST. - URSULA AND MET THE EMPEROR - - -At last Wulf bestirred himself, turning to his companion. - -“Art resting?” he asked. “That were a sharp tug to do again, winded as -we are; but, please God, naught further will misadventure us. We may -abide here until we are minded to go on. Or, stay; I know the very -place!” - -He pressed forward stilly, leading the weary girl, until, bending aside -some hanging boughs, he suddenly started back, signing her to be quiet. - -Before them was a little open glade, set round with young beech-trees, -that showed lightly against the darker growths. Within the nearly round -inclosure grew a great walnut-tree, a little to one side; thorn and -brier pressed back against the beeches all around, and the glade was -thinly carpeted with sparse grass of delicate green, growing somewhat -feebly in the deep leaf-mold. - -There was no need for Wulf to enjoin silence upon Elise, once she had -peeped within the glade. Leaning against the trunk of the walnut-tree, -sword in hand, stood Conradt, while gathered about him were a number of -men who, by their dress and arms, might have been knights—though greatly -did their faces belie the knightly order. - -They had evidently been feasting, for the disorder of a hearty meal lay -about them on the leaves and grass, and the men were lounging as men are -wont to do after feeding. Beside two of them, as they lay at ease, were -bows, and Wulf marveled to note that these were ready strung. - -“What foolishness is here,” he thought as he watched, “to keep a resting -bow strung, such fashion?” - -The two watchers kept very still, for the gathering had an ill look, -while as for Wulf, he heartily wished that Elise were well gotten away -from the dangerous neighborhood. What the maiden’s own feelings were, he -could judge from the hard grip she kept upon his left hand—so hard that -he well-nigh flinched with the pain. Nevertheless, her face showed no -fear; only, as she looked upon Conradt, it wore a set resoluteness, -making Wulf feel sure that whatever came she would not faint nor fall to -crying, but what wit and might were hers would be to the fore. - -All at once most of the men sprang up and bent forward as listening, -each man by gesture silencing his fellows; then was Wulf mazed to note -the look of that gathering. - -The two bowmen stood staring straight before them, making no motion -toward their weapons until Conradt and another took them up and put them -in the fellows’ hands, when the boy saw that those archers were -stone-blind. More than that, the man who helped Conradt fix their bows -had but a short stump of a left forearm. - -This stump he thrust through the arm-strap of a shield which he snatched -from the ground, and drawing his sword, hurried across the glade, the -archers following, holding by his jerkin. - -While all this was going forward the two watchers became aware of the -sound of a bell through the trees. It was plain that this was the sound -which had roused the men. These still remained within the glade, but -pressed forward toward the opening, ready to sally out upon whoever -might pass. - -“This be far from the road for merchants,” Wulf thought. “Mayhap some -caravan has lost its way. That bell would be on the leading animal, -which looks, an I’m not a blunderer, as ’twere likely to be too large a -company for our Conradt’s sorry crew.” - -Then he and Elise exchanged looks, for the sound was plainly coming -toward the glade, as though the animal bearing the bell were traversing -some woodland path. - -The monstrous group before them also noted this, and Conradt, plucking -the blind archers by their sleeves, led them back a little space, nearer -to where Wulf and Elise were hidden. Here he stationed them, and setting -their bows at aim toward a slight opening among the bushes on the other -side, he went back to the walnut-tree. - -“He fancies the travelers, if there be any, will come in at yon place,” -said Wulf to himself; “but ’tis my belief that ’tis naught, after all, -but an estrayed bell-heifer wandering through the woods.” - -Then a man’s voice sounded above the noise of the bell. They could not -make out its utterance, but something in the hoarse, droning cry chilled -the listeners’ hearts. The men within the glade looked at one another in -awe. - -“Mother of heaven! What may it be?” Elise whispered with white lips to -Wulf. - -He shook his head, not knowing, when in the opening at the yonder side -of the glade a figure showed—a tall, gaunt figure of a man, indeed, but -looking rather like some wild thing of the forest. - -He was clad for the most part in the skins of beasts with the hair left -on, and about his loins was knotted a rope from which hung the iron bell -whose clangor had held their attention so long. - -“’Tis Bell-Hutten,” whispered Wulf to Elise. “I might have guessed as -much, but in truth ne’er saw I him before.” - -By now most of the group within the glade knew the man, for the whole -countryside knew his history. He was a harmless half-wit who, in years -agone, had been as bright and forward as any man until one evil day when -he had been hired by a company of merchants to set them through the -forest, for such was the business he followed. This he had undertaken, -riding the bell-horse at the head of the company; but the caravan had -been set upon by robber knights, who spoiled the merchants of their -goods. In the affair Hutten, the guide, had been wounded in the head, so -that his wits were hurt; and since that day he had wandered in the -forest, no man’s man, living such ways as he might, but ever thinking -himself estrayed from that company which he led, and seeking it, that he -might guide the merchants through the woods. - -It was talked among the forest folk and in the villages of the district -that the guide had really been faithless and had led his charge into the -ambush which those knights had made, and for this reason many feared and -shunned the man, even while they pitied him with the rough pity of the -time. As to the truth of this harsh belief, however, no man knew, but -many, when they heard his bell, which he had taken from the horse he had -ridden that day, turned aside and went their ways, crossing themselves -and praying to be delivered from the black sin of falseness to friends. - -The stranger was plainly taken aback at the sight of the -unfriendly-looking men in the open. He had been wailing forth a -_miserere_ as he walked, but the words were hushed upon his lips as he -stood in his tracks for an instant and then turned to flee. - -But the one-armed man did a woeful thing, whereat even Conradt cried out -in dismay. Plucking from his belt a short dagger, he hurled it, with a -curse upon him for giving them such a fright, after the retreating -figure. The dagger struck the half-wit in the back, whereupon he gave a -great cry and staggered forward out of sight, while the dastard stood -half appalled at his own wickedness. - -Then all the robbers turned away from the doer of that foul deed, even -the blind men refusing to be led away by him, as was evidently their -wont, choosing instead to follow Conradt and the others out into the -forest. Left thus to himself, the outcast struck into the woods alone, -and soon not a sound could be heard of any of that company. - -For a time Wulf and Elise dared not stir, but sat looking at each other -with blanched faces, and lips still parted in horror. Then Wulf found -tongue. - -“We must get from here,” he whispered hoarsely, wiping away the cold -sweat that stood in great drops on his forehead. “Ay, but ’twas a -fearsome sight. I wonder thou didst not faint nor scream, Elise. In -truth, thou’rt stern stuff for such a slip of a maiden.” - -But Elise could only shake her head. - -“Take me away,” she moaned at last. “I can bear no more!” - -First, however, Wulf drew from his wallet some bread and cheese, and -opened again the bottle of goat’s milk. - -“’Tis fair like to be butter,” he said, “what with all our running and -jouncing it, but do thou try to eat and drink now; ’twill hearten us -after this awful thing.” - -The milk was still sweet, and being young, wholesome creatures, the two -made out to take the food and drink they needed, and were afterward able -to go on their way, warily but steadily, through the woods. -Nevertheless, it was close upon nightfall when the convent walls showed -gray before them where the woods had been cleared away. - -All was bustle and confusion there. The close was full of armed men, and -about the stables and courtyards were many great war-horses, while -grooms and men-at-arms ran to and fro on divers errands, or busied -themselves about the horses and their gear. Altogether the scene was one -of such liveliness as Wulf had never dreamed the convent could take on. - -At the little barred window of the cloister gate where he knocked with -Elise, a lay sister was in waiting, who told them the reason of all this -business. The new emperor, with his train, was the convent’s guest. That -night he would bide there, awaiting the coming of the bulk of his army, -wherewith, later, he meant to attack the Swartzburg. The sister admitted -our travelers, and took Elise straight to the mother superior, leaving -Wulf to find the way, which well he knew, to the kitchen. - -The emperor and the mother superior were together in the latter’s little -reception-room when Elise was brought before them, trembling and shy, as -a maiden might well be in the presence of royalty and of churchly -dignity; but the mother superior, though she had never seen the little -maid, called her by name, the lay sister having made it known, and -turned with her to the emperor. - -“This, Sire,” she said, “is the child of your old friend Von Hofenhoer, -and sometime ward of our baron, who, I fear, is ill prepared to make -accounting of his stewardship. But why she is here I know not yet, save -that Sister Stanislaus tells me that she was brought here a refugee from -the castle by the grandson of old Karl of the forge—he of whom you were -asking but now.” - -The emperor was a tall, lean man, with eagle-like visage, clean-shaven -and stern. His long, straight hair fell down on either side of his gaunt -face, and his eyes were bright and keen. He was plainly, almost meanly -dressed. Nevertheless, he was of right kingly aspect, and, moreover, -despite his stern looks, he smiled kindly as he placed a hand on Elise’s -bowed head. - -“Thy father was my good comrade, child,” he said, “and sorry am I to see -his daughter in such a plight; but thou shalt tell us about it -presently, and we shall see what is to be done.” - -The lay sister returned, bearing some wine and a plate of biscuits; and -seating her in an arm-chair, the mother superior bade Elise partake of -these, which she did gladly. When she had finished, the two dignitaries, -who were own cousins and old friends, drew from her, little by little, -the story of her flight from the castle, and of her reasons therefor. - -As the emperor listened he paced up and down the little stone-floored -room, now frowning sternly, now softening a bit as he looked upon the -fair young maiden, so spent with fear and hardship. - -“This is bad work, Mother Ursula,” he said at last, “and well is it that -we have come to clean out the jackal’s nest. But this boy Wulf whom she -speaks of—he would be here yet. Him I would see—and our good old Karl; -would he were here now!” - -So Wulf was summoned before the great emperor, and came with -swift-beating heart. Brought face to face with Rudolf, he fell upon one -knee, cap in hand, and waited the monarch’s will. - -When the latter spoke it was with great kindliness; for well was he -pleased with the goodly-looking youth. - -“Thou mayst rise,” he said, when he had glanced keenly over the kneeling -figure. “And so thou’rt my old friend Karl’s grandson. If there’s aught -in blood, thou shouldst be an honest man and a brave; for truer nor -braver man ever lived, and well knows Rudolf of Hapsburg that.” - -A thousand thoughts and impulses surged through Wulf’s brain while the -emperor spoke, but the moment seemed none for speech other than that -with which he finally contented himself, saying simply: - -“He brought me up, Sire.” - -“And that is thy good fortune,” cried the emperor. “But tell me when I -may have speech of my friend, for there is a matter hath brought me -hither that needeth his help, though I knew not that he were even alive -until the mother superior here told me of his presence hereabout. Well -knew she how Rudolf loved his ancient man-at-arms.” - -“An he knew what was afoot,” Wulf said respectfully, “he were here now -to honor the emperor. Readily could I take him a message, your Majesty,” -he added. - -“That were well done,” began Rudolf; but Mother Ursula interrupted. - -“Nay,” she said, “the baron’s men belike are even now scouring the -country for the boy. ’Twere the price of his life to send him forth -again—at least, till the Swartzburg is taken.” - -“True enough,” said the emperor. “In faith, my longing in this matter -hath made me forgetful. Well, I must e’en seek another messenger.” - -“If I might go, Sire,” Wulf persisted, with manly modesty that still -further won Rudolf’s straightforward heart, “no messenger could go so -quickly as I—by ways I know that are quite safe. I can fare back now, -and be there by daylight.” - -“By the rood, no!” cried the emperor. “Thou shalt rest some hours ere we -think further of this. There’s none too much such timber as thou in the -land, that we should be in haste to fell it. Get thee now to refreshment -and rest, and if we need thee thou shalt know it.” - -Thus dismissed, Wulf was fain to be content with retiring, and despite -his anxiety to serve the emperor, who had won the boy’s whole loyal -heart, right glad was he, after a hearty supper, to go to bed. So, when -he was shown, at last, into the traveler’s dormitory, he threw himself -down upon the hard cot spread for him, and fell at once into a deep -sleep. - - - - - CHAPTER XII - HOW WULF TOOK THE EMPEROR’S MESSAGE TO KARL OF THE FORGE - - -It still wanted an hour of daybreak when the convent porter bent over -the pallet where Wulf lay and shook the boy into wakefulness. - -“Thou’rt to get up, lad,” he said, with gruff kindness. “Eat this and -make thyself ready to go an errand. When thou’rt ready, go to the lady -superior in her audience-room.” - -He put some bread and meat and a tankard of beer upon the floor, and -left Wulf to awaken more fully and make such preparation as he had need -of. - -Mother Ursula and the emperor were still talking when Wulf, having -knocked at the door of the little reception-room, answered the former’s -call to enter. To all appearance neither had taken any rest since Wulf -had last seen them, and so eagerly was the emperor talking that neither -paid any heed to the boy as he stood waiting their pleasure. - -“He was known to have ridden hither,” Rudolf was saying, “and to have -brought the boy. He was minded to leave him with you, my lady, against -his going again to Jerusalem; but no word ever came from either. But -gladly would I lay down the crown that is proving over-burdensome to my -poor head, to set eyes upon the face of either.” - -The emperor paced the floor sadly, his stern, homely face drawn by -emotion. - -“He would have sought out Karl, had he known,” Rudolf went on. “I must -see the man. Ah, here is the boy!” - -He turned, seeing the boy, who advanced and did knee-service. - -“So,” the emperor said, “we are going to use thy stout legs, boy. Make -thou their best speed to thy grandsire, and tell him that Count Rudolf -rides to the Swartzburg and would have him at hand. Canst do that?” - -“Ay, Sire.” - -“But stay,” said Rudolf; “haply he has grown too feeble for bearing -arms?” - -Wulf flushed with indignation for stalwart Karl. - -“Nay,” he said stoutly; “he will carry what weapon thou wilt, and enter -the castle close behind thee.” - -“Sh!” cried Mother Ursula, shocked at the boy’s speech. “Thou’rt -speaking to the emperor, lad!” - -Rudolf laughed. “Let the boy alone,” he said. “One may speak freely to -whom he will of a man like Karl.” Whereupon Mother Ursula hurried to -cross herself piously. - -“Now hasten,” the emperor said kindly, “and God be with thee!” And Wulf -went forth. - -As he passed through the refectory the porter handed him some food, -which he put into his wallet, and filling his leathern water-bottle at -the fountain in the convent yard, he fastened it to his belt, and swung -out on his journey. - -By now had come dawn, and the birds were beginning their earliest -twitter among the trees. Later, squirrels and other small deer began to -move about, and to chatter among the boughs and in the fallen leaves. -The forest was full of pleasant sights and sounds, and the early morning -breeze brought sweet, woodsy smells to his eager nostrils. - -By and by a red fox stole across an open with a plump hare flung back -over his shoulder, and Wulf gave challenge for sheer joy of life and of -the morning. Reynard paused long enough to give him a slant glance out -of one wise eye, then trotted on. Long pencils of early sunlight began -to write cheery greetings on the mossy earth and on the tree-trunks. The -witchery of the hour was upon everything, and Wulf felt boundlessly -happy as he stepped along. All his thoughts were vague and sweet—of -Elise safe at the convent, doubtless still sleeping; of the emperor’s -gracious kindness; of Karl’s joy at the message he was bringing. Even -the sorry medley of half-knowledge about his own name and state had no -power to make him unhappy this morning. - -Not but that he longed to know the truth. He had never been ashamed to -think of himself as Karl’s grandson; but the bare idea of something -other than that set his blood tingling, and caused such wild hopes to -leap within him that, but for the need to walk warily on this errand so -fraught with danger, he could have shouted and sung for joy. - -He went on steadily, stopping but once, in the middle of the forenoon, -to eat a bit of bread and to refill his water-bottle at a clear, pure -stream which he crossed. - -As he drew near to the neighborhood of the glade he was minded to turn -aside for a look at the scene of yesterday’s strange adventure, when he -thought he heard a low groan beyond him in the forest. He stood to -listen, and presently caught the sound again—the moaning of some -creature in mortal pain. - -He crept forward warily. As he came nearer to the moaning he became -certain that the hurt creature was a man, and he tried to hear whether -there might be others with him. No sound reached him, however, save that -faint groaning; so at last he parted the drooping branches of an -elm-tree, and saw a piteous sight. - -There upon the grass, face downward, lay Bell-Hutten, his body rocking -softly from side to side as in great agony. His garment of skins was -torn from his shoulders, and Wulf noted a torn wound, the blood now -dried about it, where the robber’s dagger had struck the day before. - -As the boy watched, filled with dole, he saw the poor creature reach -back a hand toward an empty water-bottle that lay on the grass. His left -hand was stretched forward, the fingers clutching vaguely among the -grass and leaves. Wulf’s whole nature, as he stood there, ached with -horror and pity—horror of the unhappy being upon whom the curse of God -and man seemed to have fallen so heavily. - -“’Tis a pitiful thing,” he thought, “and urgent as this business of our -emperor’s is, I cannot go on and leave the man thus.” - -“Brother,” he called softly, not to startle the sufferer, “what dost -want?” - -“Water! water! For mercy’s sake!” - -“Canst manage this?” and loosening his leathern bottle, Wulf handed it -to the half-wit. - -The poor fever-parched hands grasped it eagerly, drew the stopper, and -the man drank. - -There was a more human note in the voice that prayed blessing on the -boy. - -“Hast any food?” Wulf asked. - -The unkempt head was shaken, and hastily emptying his wallet, Wulf bent -over the man, with the bread and meat which the good sisters had put up -for him. - -“Bide here until morning,” he said, “and I will bring thee more. I must -hasten now. I am not on my own business.” - -He was turning away when he saw growing at his feet masses of the -pungent, healing wormwood, and a new thought struck him. Hastily -gathering a handful of the tenderest leaves, he filled his mouth and -began chewing them with his strong young teeth. It was bitter work, and, -in spite of himself, his face twisted grimly as he rolled the wry cud on -his tongue; but he stuck to the task till he had a big poultice of the -wholesome stuff spread on a broad dock-leaf. - -Then, first bathing away the hardened blood with a little water from the -flask, he clapped the poultice deftly upon the sore and angry wound. -After that he was forced to go on with all speed; but there was a note -of hearty good cheer in his voice as he bade his patient good-morrow. - -So he fared on his way, sore shaken in his healthy young nerves, but -gathering strength with every onward stride, his own aching arms and -legs fair eased as he thought of the comfort his poultice must be -bringing to the outcast’s hurt shoulder. - -Traveling thus, bent now only upon his errand, he never saw the stealthy -shadow that, mile after mile, kept pace with him beyond the thicket, -dodging when he paused, moving when he moved, until, satisfied as to -where he was going, the evil thing hurried back over the way to keep -tryst with a master as evil, and to carry the welcome news that the -tinker had gone alone back to the forge, where quick work might surprise -and catch him. - -It was the middle of the afternoon when he reached the forge and found -Karl, who stared at sight of him. - -“I’d dreamed thou wast safe away, boy,” he said, shaking him lovingly by -the broad shoulders. “What madness is this? The baron’s men have been -here for thee, and thy life is naught worth if they find thee. Why art -so foolhardy, son?” - -“Count Rudolf is at St. Ursula’s, and sends for thee,” Wulf said, -laughing at his fears. - -Karl turned on the instant, and seized a great sword that lay on the -anvil. - -“Sayst so? And thou hast seen the count—I mean the emperor? How looked -he? What said he? And he remembered old Karl? Ah! his was ever a true -heart.” The rough face was alight with loving, excited pride. - -“Give me a bite to eat, and we’ll fare back together,” Wulf said; but -Karl became anxious again. - -“Nay,” he said. “Thou’st escaped the baron’s wolves this time, but by -now they swarm the woods. Moreover, thou art tired out. Bide thee in -hiding here. They will never dream that thou art simple enough to come -aback to the forge after this time. Here is thy best refuge now. Rest, -then, and by to-morrow the emperor’s men will have harried them all back -to the castle to defend the place.” - -To Wulf this word seemed wise, and fain was he to rest, being footsore -and weary; so he busied himself with helping Karl make ready. No -armorer’s staff did the stout fellow take now, but a strong, shapely -bow, from off the smithy wall. He tried it over his knee as he fitted -cord to it, smiling grimly the while. Of arrows he took a goodly number, -and girt himself with a short two-edged sword. His fierce joy imparted -itself to Wulf, who watched him. - -At last Karl went to the cupboard beside the forge, and opening it, -lifted out the shining knight’s sword. - -“This be the blade I have told ye of, lad,” he said—“the very one; for I -gave Herr Banf mine own, that had never seen battle, and kept this one -for thee.” - -He ran his thumb along the keen edge. “Mayhap thou’st no claim on earth -to it,” he said, “yet no man hath showed a better, and thou’lt give it -play for the emperor, whose service owns it; so take it. But, lad, lad,” -he cried, “an ye love God and this poor lost land, remember ’twas a -brave and a true man first carried that sword ’gainst foe.” - -“Ay, ay, Karl, I will remember,” said Wulf, solemnly, taking the sword -in hand. Karl had fitted it with a plain, strong scabbard, and it was -ready for stout and worthy deeds. A thrill went through the boy as he -girt it to him, and there beside the forge, silently, within his own -mind, he vowed that blade to knightly and true service. - -Then Karl bade him good-by and stepped forth through the woods, to do -the emperor’s bidding. - - - - - CHAPTER XIII - HOW WORD OF HIS DANGER CAME TO WULF AT THE FORGE - - -Once Karl was gone, Wulf set to work to cook some food for himself over -the forge fire, and when he had eaten he barred the smithy door of heavy -bolted planks, and threw himself down upon the armorer’s pallet to seek -the rest he so much needed. - -Meantime, through the dim, leafy reaches of the forest a man dragged -himself painfully, now catching at the great tree-boles that he might -not fall, now staggering forward in a vain attempt to run, then dropping -on all fours to creep forward, never halting altogether, but ever, in -some way or other, pressing onward hour after hour, and so making -headway. He had muffled his telltale bell, and his face was set in -deadly determination to the gaining of some great end. So the half-wit -fared through the forest that night on an errand of human love, and no -beast crossed his path to hinder, nor bewraying twig or bough crackled -under his feet to warn any foe of his coming. - -How long Wulf had slept he knew not, but his slumber at last became -fitful and uneasy, and presently he was ware of some noise at the great -door of the smithy. From the rays of moonlight that stole in through the -chinks, he knew that the night must be well-nigh spent, but he was yet -heavy with sleep and could not rightly get awake on the moment. - -He sprang up at last, however, sword in hand, and waited to hear -further. If this were a foe it were none of any great strength to stand -thus, making no clamor, but calling softly. - -“Open! Open!” a voice outside cried in a hoarse, imploring whisper. “In -the name of Heaven, make haste to open! No foe is here, but only one -weak man who comes to warn ye of danger. ’Tis poor Bell-Hutten, who -means no harm to him who saved him in the forest. Open! Open!” - -Softly, then, Wulf drew out the great forged bolt that held it, and -keeping the steel weapon-wise in his right hand, threw open the door. - -“What wouldst have? Art hungry?” - -“Nay; speak not of my wants, but tell me—art named Wulf, and do men call -thee the tinker?” - -“Some men do; but they be no friends of mine.” - -“That I warrant; but death is at thy heels; an thou get not from here he -will be quickly at thy throat.” - -“What is toward?” asked Wulf, making ready to step forth. - -“Nay, that I know not, save that ’tis harm to thee. Yonder I lay where -ye left me, when there came two skulkers in the bushes, and one told the -other how he had followed one whom, from their talk, I deemed to be -thee, and how thou hadst come on to the smithy here. Yet, though they -were twain, durst they not come for thee, but went their way to get help -at the Swartzburg; whereupon I came away hither, by such snail’s pace as -I might; but sore I feared lest they might be here before me. Now get -thou away, and quickly!” - -“I thank thee, friend,” said Wulf, “and straight will I.” - -Bell-Hutten made a quick gesture. - -“Alas!” he groaned. “’Tis too late. They be upon thee now!” - -Sure enough; all too plainly, through the trees, could be heard the -sound of horsemen coming up rapidly, albeit with some caution. - -“Canst not hide?” gasped Bell-Hutten. - -[Illustration: “WITH THE HEAD OF HIS BATTLE-AX HE STRUCK IT A BLOW THAT -SENT IT INWARD.”] - -“Ay, and well. Get thee to the bush!” And closing the door behind him, -Wulf sprang to the great oak, his friend and shelter in childhood and -boyhood, now his haven in deadly peril. Easily he swung himself up, -higher and higher, until he was safe among the thick foliage of the -broad, spreading top. So huge were the branches, even here, that a man -might stand beneath and look up at the very one where Wulf lay, yet -never dream that aught were hidden there. - -The baron himself was of the party who rode up around the smithy just as -Wulf was settled in his place. Straight to the door he drove his horse, -and with the head of his battle-ax struck it a blow that sent it inward -on its hinges. - -One or two men bearing torches sprang into the house, and the single -room became suddenly alight, but no one showed there. Hastily they -ransacked the place, while the baron sat his horse and roared forth his -orders, sending one man here, another yonder, to be at the thicket and -scour all the places. One even came under the great tree and held up his -torch, throwing the light high aloft, but seeing naught of Wulf. - -Then the baron laughed savagely. - -“This is thy chase, nephew Conradt,” he jeered. “Said I not he would -never be here? The armorer’s whelp is a hanging rogue fast enough, but -no fool to blunder hither, once he were safe away with the girl.” - -“Peradventure,” began Conradt, but just then came in two spearmen, -driving the outcast before them, staggering as he walked. - -“This we found in the thicket and haled out,” they began; but Conradt -and some of the others shrank back hastily, for in the dim light the -poor half-wit was a terrible sight. But the baron showed no fear. - -“Hast seen any man hid hereabout?” he asked. “We seek a gallows escape, -by name Wulf.” - -The sorry creature only stared vacantly, and then sank to the ground. - -“Answer me!” roared the baron. “Dost know him we seek? What art doing -here thyself?” - -There was no reply. - -“Let me make him speak,” Conradt cried, bold now amid that company; and -with drawn sword he came forward. - -“So thou’lt not give tongue?” he screamed. “By the rood, I do believe -thou knowest where the tinker hath hidden. Out with it, then, ere I -split that devil’s head of thine!” - -His blade gleamed in the moonlight, and the wretched outcast on the -ground raised a beseeching hand. But that blow was never to fall. -Instead, as from heaven itself, came a flying shaft, deadly and sure, -that struck Conradt’s sword-arm, and snapped it as it had been a dead -twig. - -It was flung by Wulf, who, forgetting his own danger in wrath to see -that helpless man so beset, had hurled, from his hiding-place, the great -bolt of forged steel, which, in his haste, he had not cast aside ere -climbing the tree. He looked, after that, to see them all rush toward -him; but, instead, even the baron was smitten with fear, and deemed, as -did his men, that the wrath of God had fallen upon them all for -Conradt’s sin in raising blade against him whom Heaven had already -marked with vengeance. Most of the soldiers fled upon the instant; but -one of his own men helped the hunchback to saddle, and mounting behind -to hold him up, they joined the company that raced, flockmeal, away from -the place, so that soon not one remained, nor any sound from them came -back upon the wind. - -Nevertheless, Wulf deemed it best not to venture down, but lay along a -great bough of the oak-tree, and at last fell into a doze that lasted -until daylight. Even then, when he would have descended, his quick ears -caught the sound of passers no great distance off; so he kept his -hiding-place hour after hour, until at last, when the sun shining upon -the tree-tops told him that the noon was close at hand, all seemed so -still that he swung himself down—stiffly, for he was cramped and -sore—and gained the ground. - -Then was his heart sorrowful, to see, among the bushes that crept up to -the edge of the open, the outcast lying still and stark upon his face. - -Wulf ran forward, and bending over him, called him by name, but he never -stirred nor answered; nevertheless, as Wulf raised the man’s head the -closed eyes opened for an instant, though the lids at once fell again. - -Hastily gathering the worn figure in his arms, Wulf bore it into the -smithy and laid it on Karl’s bed. Then he busied himself with blowing up -the fire in the forge and warmed some goat’s milk which, little by -little, he succeeded in forcing between the white lips. He chafed the -limp hands and wrapped warmly the cold body, until by and by a stronger -flutter of life came in the faint heart-beats, and the man’s breathing -was more noticeable. - -Wulf worked desperately, for his sorrow was great at the thought of what -the outcast had gone through for him. - -“An I had dreamt he was there,” he said to himself in self-reproach, “I -had never bided there in the tree. A sinner he may have been, and a -black traitor, as men do say, but he had that in him of gratitude which -God will not forget!” - -Between times, as he worked over the sufferer, he began gathering up -certain weapons and other matters on which he knew that Karl set value, -and these he hid within the cupboard beside the chimney. Busied thus, it -was far in the afternoon when, as he was giving his patient another sip -of warm milk, the latter suddenly opened his eyes and gazed at Wulf with -a calm look of understanding and peace. This, however, quickly turned to -anxiety and alarm as he began to remember what had gone before. His -wandering reason was for the moment present and clear. - -“Thou here?” he gasped. “Go; leave me here! They are after thee—they -will find thee!” - -“An they do,” Wulf said quietly, “they will find me in that place where -is most claim upon me.” - -At that moment he caught the sound of approaching men. Indeed, even the -dulled ears of the sick man had long since been ware of it, and the -noise was what had roused him; but Wulf’s attention had been all on his -tasks, and he had no warning until from all the openings about the -clearing appeared horsemen and foot-soldiers, while from beyond came the -noise of horses and armor and of men’s voices. - -Springing to the door, Wulf stood at bay, sword in hand, meaning to sell -his life dearly rather than be taken or give up his charge, when a voice -that he knew was raised, and Karl the armorer shouted: - -“Nay, lad; an thou’rt a loyal German, give thine emperor better homage -than that!” And through all his weariness and daze Wulf made out to come -forward and kneel at the emperor’s stirrup. - -They were friends, not foes, who had come this time. - - - - - CHAPTER XIV - OF THE GREAT BATTLE THAT WAS FOUGHT, AND OF HOW WULF SAVED THE DAY - - -Now were Wulf’s anxieties well over; for this great company of riders -and foot-soldiers was none other than the main part of the Emperor -Rudolf’s army, that had ridden on that day from St. Ursula’s wood; for -the emperor’s will was that to-morrow should see the attack begun on the -Swartzburg. - -They were still an hour’s march from the place set for resting that -night, where would gather to them a smaller body that had come by -another way, minded to meet with a company of riders from the castle, -known to be hereabout. So, when he had spoken kindly to young Wulf, for -whose sake, indeed, the troop had made their way lie past the forge, -Rudolf of Hapsburg bade the boy fall in with the men, and the whole -company again went forward, the sick man borne upon a hastily made -litter by four of the foot-soldiers. - -Getting for himself a good bow and arrow from the smithy, Wulf fell in -with the ranks of footmen, and then was he amazed to find that his -right-hand neighbor was Hansei from the Swartzburg. - -Right pleased was he at the discovery, though well he wondered what it -might mean, and he made haste to ask Hansei about the matter. Then did -he hear how, two days before, a company of knights and others from the -castle, riding in chase of Elise and himself, had fallen in with an -outriding party of Rudolf’s men, and there had been fighting. - -“Ay,” said Wulf, remembering, “and there at hand were we when that -fighting began.” - -“Glad am I that we knew it not,” Hansei cried. “For the most part of the -emperor’s men were slain or taken prisoner, and few escaped to carry -word to the convent; but with them ran I: for I had small stomach to -fight ’gainst the lawful rulers of this land, and thou a hunted man -beside.” - -Then did Hansei ask Wulf of his faring in the woods, whereupon Wulf, as -they marched, told him all the story, and how the outcast had come to -warn him, and of how the poor fellow had been like to die there by the -smithy, and how he had cared for him. But Hansei was filled with dread -at that part of the tale, for he feared for Wulf that he had given -shelter to the traitor, as he believed Bell-Hutten to be. - -“Nay; but he is a fellow-man who risked his life for me,” Wulf said. - -“But a black sinner was he, curst of God and men,” Hansei answered. “And -what says the priest o’ Sundays? Is’t not that we should hate evil?” - -“To hate evil, surely,” said Wulf, soberly; “yet not to forget, as we -are men, where evil touches good; for this does it, at one point and -another, even as never a bane groweth, here in the forest, but its -unbane lives near neighbor to it. And it were foolishness, Hansei, if -nothing more, to let the thought that he was a sinner hinder our helping -a fellow in need.” - -“Better foolishness than sin,” muttered Hansei, turning a bit sullen at -the reproof. - -“’Tis not so certain,” replied Wulf. “For between sin and foolishness -there lies this difference: that God forgiveth our sins an we repent; -but our foolishness is like to get i’ the grain of us at last, and -naught kills it then but that we die ourselves.” - -So talking, the two kept pace with the marching company, until, by -nightfall, they came up with the other party, and camp was made, well on -the road toward the Swartzburg. - -No fires were built; for Rudolf of Hapsburg was minded, if possible, to -come close before the castle gates ere those within were aware; but -every man cared for his own needs as best he might, and before long the -whole host was sleeping, save for the watchers. - -It was nigh upon daybreak when a wild alarum went through the camp, so -that every man sprang to his feet and grasped his weapon as he ran -forward in the darkness to learn what the matter was. The cries of men, -the clashing of weapons and armor, the shrill screams of wounded horses, -came up on every side, while so dark was it that for a little time the -emperor’s soldiers scarce knew friend from foe as they pressed on, half -dazed. - -Soon, however, they made shift to form their array in some sort of -order, and there in the forest began a mighty battle. - -For the baron, filled with vanity and wrath, and made foolhardy by the -easy victory his men had won over Rudolf’s soldiers two days before, had -planned this night attack, knowing, through Conradt’s spies, where the -emperor’s army were lying, and deeming that it would be a light matter -to set upon that force in the darkness, and destroy it, man and horse. - -But Baron Everhardt had believed that that smaller body which the spies -had seen and brought him word of was the main army, and so the men of -the Swartzburg had all unthinkingly walked into a trap where they had -been minded to set one. - -Sharp and grim now the fighting went on, sword meeting sword, pike -striking spear, as knight met knight or common soldier alike in the -confusion. Above all the din rang out the battle-cries of the two -parties, the Swartzburg men ever meeting the royal war-cry, “God and the -emperor!” with their own ringing watchword, “The Swartzburg and -liberty!” until the whole wood seemed filled with the sound. - -In the midst of the fray went Rudolf of Hapsburg, with his great -two-handed sword, cleaning a way for those behind him. No armor wore he, -save a light shirt of chain mail, and no shield save his helmet; but -beside him fought Karl the armorer, with a huge battle-ax, so that Wulf, -catching glimpse of him in the press at day-dawn, felt a great joy fill -his heart at sight of that good soldier. - -Not long could he look, however, for he and Hansei were in the thick of -it, well to the fore, where Rudolf’s banner-bearer had his place. In the -close quarters there was no work for the bowmen, so Wulf fought with the -sword that Karl had given him the day before, and a goodly blade he -found it; while Hansei wielded a great pike that he had wrested from one -of the baron’s men, and laid about him lustily wherever a foe showed. - -So the hours passed, and many men were slain on either side, when it -began to be felt by the emperor’s soldiers that the Swartzburg men were -slowly falling back toward the defile to gain the castle. - -“An they do that,” Hansei gasped, as he met Wulf again, “a long and -weary siege will be ours; for thou well knowest the Swartzburg’s -strength, and well hath the baron made ready.” - -Then to Wulf came a right warcraftly notion, which he told to Hansei, -whereupon the two set to gather to them some score or more of the young -men, and these fell back toward the edge of the battle, until they were -out of the press and hastening through the wood, as Wulf knew how to -lead them. - -They came at last to the morass, not far from where he and Elise had -crossed that night when they fled from the castle. - -“There is never a crossing there!” Hansei cried, aghast, when he saw the -place; but Wulf laughed. - -“Crossing there is,” he said lightly, “so that ye all follow me softly, -stepping where I step. Mind ye do that, for beyond the willows and the -pool yonder is quicksand, and that means death, for no footing is there -for any helper.” - -Thus warned, the young men looked at one another uneasily; but none fell -back; so, unseen by the foe, and noting well each step that Wulf made, -they followed him until at last they won clear across that treacherous -morass, and came safe aland again among the osiers, well up the pass -toward the Swartzburg. Here they rested, getting their wind, and jesting -in high glee, as hot-hearted young fellows do, over the sport that was -to follow. - -More than an hour they waited there, and by and by the sound of battle -began swelling up the defile. The baron’s men were in retreat, but -fighting stoutly, as they fell back, pressed close by the foe. Already -had the baron wound his horn loud and long, and cheerily was it answered -from the watch-tower with a blast which told that the keepers there were -in readiness, and that open gates and safe shelter awaited the -retreating men—when out at their backs sprang Wulf and his fellows, and -fell upon them right and left. - -Then wild confusion was on all. Those attacked at the rear pressed -forward upon their comrades, who knew not what had happened, and drove -them back again to meet the swords and pikes of those lusty young men -who made the most of the foes’ surprise, and cut down many a seasoned -warrior ere he could well learn how he was attacked. - -Then the baron sounded his horn again, and out from the castle came all -of the Swartzburg’s reserve to the rescue, and Wulf and his little band -were in turn beset, and like to be destroyed, had not Rudolf himself, -riding his great war-horse, and followed close by Karl, cut a way -through the Swartzburg ranks to their aid. - -By now the fighting was man to man, pell-mell, all up the pass, and so -confused was that mass of battling soldiery that friend and foe of the -Swartzburg pressed together across the draw and in through the castle -gates, fighting as fight a pack of wolves when one is down. - -Then, above all the din, sounded Herr Banf’s voice, calling the men of -the Swartzburg to the baron, and there against the wall of the outer -bailey made they their last stand. Well had Baron Everhardt fought among -his men, but at last a well hurled spear thrown from one of the -emperor’s soldiers pierced his helm and entered his brain, as he was -rallying his friends, and there he fell. - -Quickly Herr Banf and Herr Werner took him up and bore him within the -inner bailey, while without the fighting went on. But the castle’s men -fought halfheartedly now; for their leader was gone, and well knew they -that they were battling against their lawful emperor. So ere long all -resistance fell away, and the emperor and his men poured, unhindered, -into the courtyard. - -The Swartzburg was taken. - - - - - CHAPTER XV - HOW THE SHINING KNIGHT’S TREASURE WAS BROUGHT TO LIGHT - - -It was high noon when the last of the knights of the Swartzburg laid -down his arms at the feet of the emperor and swore fealty to him. Of the -castle’s company Herr Banf was missing; for he had ridden forth, in the -confusion that followed the entrance of Rudolf’s men, to make his way -through the woods and thence out from that land, minded rather to live -an outlaw than to bend knee to the foe of his well loved friend. - -A wise ruler as well as a brave soldier was Rudolf of Hapsburg, and well -knew he how to win as well as to conquer. So, when all the knights had -taken oath, to each was returned his arms, and him the emperor greeted -as friend. - -Within the castle hall the dead master lay at rest, and beside him -watched the baroness, a pale, broken-spirited lady, whose life had been -one long season of fear of her liege lord, and who now felt as little -sorrow as hope. Her the emperor had already visited, to pay her respect -and to assure her of protection, and now, with the two or three women of -that stern and wild household of men-folk, she waited what might come. - -Meanwhile, through castle and stables and offices the emperor’s -appointed searchers went, taking note of all things; but Rudolf of -Hapsburg sat in the courtyard, in sight of his men, who were by now -making shift to prepare themselves a meal; for the greater number had -not tasted food that day. - -To Wulf the whole changed scene seemed like a dream, so familiar the -place, yet so strange—as one in sleep finds some place that he knows -well puzzle him by some unwonted aspect. He stood watching the soldiers -feeding here and there about the bailey, when there came two squires -from the keep, leading between them a bent and piteous figure. - -It was a man who cowered and blinked and sought to cover his dazzled -eyes from the unwonted light of day. Him the soldiers brought before the -emperor, and on the moment Wulf knew that face to be the one which he -had seen at the barred window of the keep on the day when he had climbed -the tower. - -“What is this?” demanded Rudolf, as he looked the woeful figure up and -down. Scarce bore it likeness to a man, so unkempt and terrible was its -aspect, so drawn and wan the face, wherein no light of reason showed. - -“We know not, your Majesty,” one of the squires replied; “but we found -him in a cell high up in the keep, chained by the ankle to a stone -bench, and I broke the fetter with a sledge.” - -By now the nobles and knights of Rudolf’s army were gathered about; but -none spoke, for pity. Then the emperor caused all the knights of the -Swartzburg to be summoned, and he questioned them close, but not one of -them knew who the man might be, or why he was a prisoner at the -Swartzburg. Indeed, of all the company, only one or two knew that such a -prisoner had been held in the keep. Of the two men who might have told -his name, one lay dead in the great hall, and one was riding from the -Swartzburg, an outlaw. - -But the emperor was troubled. A haunting something in that seemingly -empty face drew his very heartstrings, and fain would he have known the -man’s name. Then suddenly through the press of knights and nobles rushed -Karl the armorer, and clasped the woeful figure in his arms, while he -trembled and sobbed with wrath and sorrow. - -“Oh, my lord!” he cried, bringing the man closer before Rudolf. “Look -upon this! Knowest thou not who ’tis?” - -The emperor had grown very white, and he passed one hand over his eyes. - -“Nay,” he said; “it is never—it cannot be—” - -“Oh, my lord! my lord!” sobbed the armorer, his great chest heaving and -the tears streaming down from his unashamed eyes. “It _is_ the -count—Count Bernard himself, thine old comrade, whom thou and I didst -love. Look upon him!” - -So white now was the emperor that his face was like death; but it was -set in fierce wrath, too, as, little by little, he began to see that -Karl might be right. He bent forward and laid a hand on the man’s -shoulder. - -“Bernard, friend Bernard!” he called loudly, that the dulled senses -might take in his words. “Bernard, dost know me?” - -Slowly the other looked up; a dim light seemed to gather in his eyes. - -“Ay, Rudolf,” he whispered hoarsely; then the light went out, and he -shrank back again. - -“There is a tale I would have told your Majesty,” Karl said, recovering -himself, “an the herald had not come just as he did on the night before -last”; and then, seeing Wulf in the throng, he called him to come -forward. - -Wondering, the boy obeyed, while, with a hand on his arm, Karl told the -emperor all that he had been able to tell Wulf that day at the forge—of -the battle between the knights, of how he had thereafter found the -stranger child in the osiers, and how he had kept the blade which Herr -Banf had won. - -“Now know I of surety,” he said at last, “that that knight was Count -Bernard von Wulfstanger; but who this boy may be I can only guess.” - -Now a voice spoke from amid the throng. Hansei, who had been edging -nearer and nearer, could keep silence no longer. - -“That would be the ‘shining knight’s’ treasure! Well I remember it, your -Majesty!” he cried. - -“What meanest thou?” demanded Rudolf; and there before them all Hansei -told what the children saw from the playground on the plateau that day -so many years agone. - -The emperor’s face grew thoughtful as he looked at Wulf from under -lowered brows. - -“Ay,” he said at last; “’tis like to be true. Count Bernard rode this -way with the babe, meaning to leave him with our cousin at St. Ursula; -for his mother was dead, and he was off to the Holy Land. He must have -missed the convent road and got on the wrong way. Thou art strongly like -him in looks, lad.” - -His voice was shaking, but Wulf noted it not; for he had drawn near to -Karl, who was bending over the wan prisoner. The boy’s heart was nearly -broken with pity. - -Was this his father, this doleful figure now resting against Karl, -wholly unable to support itself? Gently Wulf pressed the armorer back -and took the slight weight in his strong young arms. “’Tis mine to do, -an ye all speak truth,” he said. - -Few were the dry eyes in that company as Wulf circled the frail body to -him and the weary head rested itself quietly against his breast. - -“See that he is cared for,” the emperor said at last, and from the -throng came the noblest of those knights to carry the count into the -castle. Wulf would have gone with them, but Rudolf called him back. - -“Stand forth,” he said, pointing to a spot just before him, and Wulf -obeyed. - -“Thou’st fought well to-day, boy,” Rudolf went on. “But for thy ready -wit, that led thy fellows by a way to fall upon the foe from behind, -this castle had been long in the winning, and our work by that much -hindered. Thou hast proven thy gentle blood by the knightly deed thou -didst by the young maid, now our own ward, and sure are we that thou’rt -the son of our loved comrade Count Bernard von Wulfstanger. Kneel down.” - -Then, as Wulf knelt, fair dazed by the surging of his own blood in his -ears, the emperor laid drawn sword across his bowed shoulders. - -“Rise, Herr Wulf von Wulfstanger,” he said. - -The young knight, trembling like any timid maid, got to his feet again, -though how he could not have told. - -“He’ll need thy nursing a bit, Karl,” Rudolf of Hapsburg said, an amused -smile playing about his grim mouth; and our Wulf never knew that the old -armorer more carried than led him away to quiet and rest. - - -[Illustration: “THE EMPEROR LAID DRAWN SWORD ACROSS HIS BOWED -SHOULDERS.”] - -Not all in a day was order restored at the Swartzburg; for many and -woeful had been the deeds of the high-handed robber who had so long -ruled within those grim walls. They came to light little by little under -the searching of the emperor’s wardens; and when the parchments relating -to the Swartzburg properties came to be examined, it was found that not -the baron, nor Conradt, his heir-at-law, had all along been owner of the -castle, but young Elise von Hofenhoer, whose guardian the treacherous -noble had been. There were other outlying lands, as well, from which the -baron had long collected the revenues, and it was to keep his hold on -that which he had so evilly gotten that he would have married Elise to -Conradt, his nephew and ready tool. - -The emperor himself now became guardian to the maiden, who, happy in the -safe shelter of St. Ursula, was to remain there until such time as a -husband might claim the right to fend for her and hers, if need should -come. - -And now our Wulf of the forge and the forest abode in the hall of his -fathers as Count Wulf von Wulfstanger, and made bright that wronged -one’s days. Rudolf of Hapsburg had long been in charge of the estates of -the lost nobleman, and a straight accounting made the honest -soldier-emperor to Wulf, as his heir, of all that he had held in trust. - -With old Karl for helper and adviser, Wulf, all doubt and mystery -cleared, ruled his great domain. Later he brought home his fair bride -from St. Ursula, given into his keeping by the emperor himself, and -thereafter, the story tells, Baron Wulf and his lady lived long a life -of usefulness and good deeds; whereby those hard times were made easier -for many, and the sunshine, gathered through the years, made warmth and -light for others, as must always be in this world, when any life is -lived for the sake of usefulness and helpfulness. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES - - - 1. Silently corrected obvious typographical errors and variations in - spelling. - 2. 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