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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Strong Arm, by Robert Barr
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Strong Arm
+
+Author: Robert Barr
+
+
+Release Date: August, 2005 [EBook #8716]
+This file was first posted on August 3, 2003
+Last Updated: May 31, 2013
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STRONG ARM ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Lee Dawei, David Moynihan, Michelle Shephard,
+Charles Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE STRONG ARM
+
+By Robert Barr
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+Chapter   I. THE BEAUTIFUL JAILER OF GUDENFELS
+         II. THE REVENGE OF THE OUTLAW
+        III. A CITY OF FEAR
+         IV. THE PERIL OF THE EMPEROR
+          V. THE NEEDLE DAGGER
+         VI. THE HOLY FEHM
+
+
+THE COUNT'S APOLOGY
+CONVERTED
+AN INVITATION
+THE ARCHBISHOP'S GIFT
+COUNT KONRAD'S COURTSHIP
+THE LONG LADDER
+"GENTLEMEN: THE KING!"
+THE HOUR-GLASS
+THE WARRIOR MAID OF SAN CARLOS
+THE AMBASSADOR'S PIGEONS
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+THE BEAUTIFUL JAILER OF GUDENFELS
+
+
+The aged Emir Soldan sat in his tent and smiled; the crafty Oriental
+smile of an experienced man, deeply grounded in the wisdom of this
+world. He knew that there was incipient rebellion in his camp; that the
+young commanders under him thought their leader was becoming too old
+for the fray; caution overmastering courage. Here were these dogs of
+unbelievers setting their unhallowed feet on the sacred soil of Syria,
+and the Emir, instead of dashing against them, counselled coolness and
+prudence. Therefore impatience disintegrated the camp and resentment
+threatened discipline. When at last the murmurs could be no longer
+ignored the Emir gathered his impetuous young men together in his tent,
+and thus addressed them.
+
+"It may well be that I am growing too old for the active field; it may
+be that, having met before this German boar who leads his herd of swine,
+I am fearful of risking my remnant of life against him, but I have ever
+been an indulgent general, and am now loath to let my inaction stand
+against your chance of distinction. Go you therefore forth against him,
+and the man who brings me this boar's head shall not lack his reward."
+
+The young men loudly cheered this decision and brandished their weapons
+aloft, while the old man smiled upon them and added:
+
+"When you are bringing confusion to the camp of the unbelievers, I shall
+remain in my tent and meditate on the sayings of the Prophet, praying
+him to keep you a good spear's length from the German's broad sword,
+which he is the habit of wielding with his two hands."
+
+The young Saracens went forth with much shouting, a gay prancing of
+the horses underneath them and a marvellous flourishing of spears above
+them, but they learned more wisdom in their half hour's communion with
+the German than the Emir, in a long life of counselling, had been able
+to bestow upon them. The two-handed sword they now met for the first
+time, and the acquaintance brought little joy to them. Count Herbert,
+the leader of the invaders, did no shouting, but reserved his breath for
+other purposes. He spurred his horse among them, and his foes went
+down around him as a thicket melts away before the well-swung axe of a
+stalwart woodman. The Saracens had little fear of death, but mutilation
+was another thing, for they knew that they would spend eternity in
+Paradise, shaped as they had left this earth, and while a spear's thrust
+or a wound from an arrow, or even the gash left by a short sword may
+be concealed by celestial robes, how is a man to comport himself in the
+Land of the Blest who is compelled to carry his head under his arm, or
+who is split from crown to midriff by an outlandish weapon that
+falls irresistible as the wrath of Allah! Again and again they threw
+themselves with disastrous bravery against the invading horde, and after
+each encounter they came back with lessened ranks and a more chastened
+spirit than when they had set forth. When at last, another counsel of
+war was held, the young men kept silence and waited for the smiling Emir
+to speak.
+
+"If you are satisfied that there are other things to think of in war
+than the giving and taking of blows I am prepared to meet this German,
+not on his own terms but on my own. Perhaps, however, you wish to try
+conclusions with him again?"
+
+The deep silence which followed this inquiry seemed to indicate that
+no such desire animated the Emir's listeners, and the old man smiled
+benignly upon his audience and went on.
+
+"There must be no more disputing of my authority, either expressed or
+by implication. I am now prepared to go forth against him taking with me
+forty lancers."
+
+Instantly there was a protest against this; the number was inadequate,
+they said.
+
+"In his fortieth year our Prophet came to a momentous decision,"
+continued the Emir, unheeding the interruption, "and I take a spear with
+me for every year of the Prophet's life, trusting that Allah will add to
+our number, at the prophet's intervention, should such an augmentation
+prove necessary. Get together then the forty _oldest_ men under my
+command. Let them cumber themselves with nothing in the way of offence
+except one tall spear each, and see that every man is provided with
+water and dates for twenty days' sustenance of horse and man in the
+desert."
+
+The Emir smiled as he placed special emphasis on the word "oldest," and
+the young men departed abashed to obey his orders.
+
+Next morning Count Herbert von Schonburg saw near his camp by the
+water-holes a small group of horsemen standing motionless in the desert,
+their lances erect, butt downward, resting on the sand, the little
+company looking like an oasis of leafless poplars. The Count was
+instantly astride his Arab charger, at the head of his men, ready to
+meet whatever came, but on this occasion the enemy made no effort to
+bring on a battle, but remained silent and stationary, differing greatly
+from the hordes that had preceded it.
+
+"Well," cried the impatient Count, "if Mahomet will not come to the
+mountain, the mountain for once will oblige him."
+
+He gave the word to charge, and put spurs to his horse, causing instant
+animation in the band of Saracens, who fled before him as rapidly as the
+Germans advanced. It is needless to dwell on the project of the Emir,
+who simply followed the example of the desert mirages he had so often
+witnessed in wonder. Never did the Germans come within touch of their
+foes, always visible, but not to be overtaken. When at last Count
+Herbert was convinced that his horses were no match for the fleet steeds
+of his opponents he discovered that he and his band were hopelessly lost
+in the arid and pathless desert, the spears of the seemingly phantom
+host ever quivering before him in the tremulous heated air against the
+cloudless horizon. Now all his energies were bent toward finding the way
+that led to the camp by the water-holes, but sense of locality seemed to
+have left him, and the ghostly company which hung so persistently on his
+flanks gave no indication of direction, but merely followed as before
+they had fled. One by one the Count's soldiers succumbed, and when at
+last the forty spears hedged him round the Emir approached a prisoner
+incapable of action. The useless sword which hung from his saddle was
+taken, and water was given to the exhausted man and his dying horse.
+
+When the Emir Soldan and his forty followers rode into camp with their
+prisoner there was a jubilant outcry, and the demand was made that the
+foreign dog be instantly decapitated, but the Emir smiled and, holding
+up his hand, said soothingly:
+
+"Softly, softly, true followers of the only Prophet. Those who neglected
+to remove his head while his good sword guarded it, shall not now
+possess themselves of it, when that sword is in my hands."
+
+And against this there could be no protest, for the prisoner belonged to
+the Emir alone, and was to be dealt with as the captor ordained.
+
+When the Count had recovered speech, and was able to hold himself as a
+man should, the Emir summoned him, and they had a conference together in
+Soldan's tent.
+
+"Western barbarian," said the Emir, speaking in that common tongue made
+up of languages Asiatic and European, a strange mixture by means of
+which invaders and invaded communicated with each other, "who are you
+and from what benighted land do you come?"
+
+"I am Count Herbert von Schonburg. My castle overlooks the Rhine in
+Germany."
+
+"What is the Rhine? A province of which you are the ruler?"
+
+"No, your Highness, it is a river; a lordly stream that never
+diminishes, but flows unceasingly between green vine-clad hills; would
+that I had some of the vintage therefore to cheer me in my captivity and
+remove the taste of this brackish water!"
+
+"In the name of the Prophet, then, why did you leave it?"
+
+"Indeed, your Highness, I have often asked myself that question of late
+and found but insufficient answer."
+
+"If I give you back your sword, which not I, but the demon Thirst
+captured from you, will you pledge me your word that you will draw it no
+more against those of my faith, but will return to your own land, safe
+escort being afforded you to the great sea where you can take ship?"
+
+"As I have fought for ten years, and have come no nearer Jerusalem than
+where I now stand, I am content to give you my word in exchange for my
+sword, and the escort you promise."
+
+And thus it came about that Count Herbert von Schonburg, although still
+a young man, relinquished all thought of conquering the Holy Land, and
+found himself one evening, after a long march, gazing on the placid
+bosom of the broad Rhine, which he had not seen since he bade good-bye
+to it, a boy of twenty-one, then as warlike and ambitious, as now, he
+was peace loving and tired of strife. The very air of the Rhine valley
+breathed rest and quiet, and Herbert, with a deep sigh, welcomed the
+thought of a life passed in comforting uneventfulness.
+
+"Conrad," he said to his one follower, "I will encamp here for the
+night. Ride on down the Rhine, I beg of you, and cross the river where
+you may, that you may announce my coming some time before I arrive. My
+father is an old man, and I am the last of the race, so I do not wish to
+come unexpectedly on him; therefore break to him with caution the fact
+that I am in the neighbourhood, for hearing nothing from me all these
+years it is like to happen he believes me dead."
+
+Conrad rode down the path by the river and disappeared while his master,
+after seeing to the welfare of his horse, threw himself down in a
+thicket and slept the untroubled sleep of the seasoned soldier. It was
+daylight when he was awakened by the tramp of horses. Starting to his
+feet, he was confronted by a grizzled warrior with half a dozen men at
+his back, and at first the Count thought himself again a prisoner, but
+the friendliness of the officer soon set all doubts at rest.
+
+"Are you Count Herbert von Schonburg?" asked the intruder.
+
+"Yes. Who are you?"
+
+"I am Richart, custodian of Castle Gudenfels, and commander of the small
+forces possessed by her Ladyship, Countess von Falkenstein. I have to
+acquaint you with the fact that your servant and messenger has been
+captured. Your castle of Schonburg is besieged, and Conrad, unaware,
+rode straight into custody. This coming to the ears of my lady the
+Countess, she directed me to intercept you if possible, so that
+you might not share the fate of your servant, and offer to you the
+hospitality of Gudenfels Castle until such time as you had determined
+what to do in relation to the siege of your own."
+
+"I give my warmest thanks to the Countess for her thoughtfulness. Is her
+husband the Count then dead?"
+
+"It is the young Countess von Falkenstein whose orders I carry. Her
+father and mother are both dead, and her Ladyship, their only child, now
+holds Gudenfels."
+
+"What, that little girl? She was but a child when I left the Rhine."
+
+"Her Ladyship is a woman of nineteen now."
+
+"And how long has my father been besieged?"
+
+"Alas! it grieves me to state that your father, Count von Schonburg, has
+also passed away. He has been dead these two years."
+
+The young man bowed his head and crossed himself. For a long time he
+rode in silence, meditating upon this unwelcome intelligence, grieved to
+think that such a desolate home-coming awaited him.
+
+"Who, then, holds my castle against the besiegers?"
+
+"The custodian Heinrich has stubbornly stood siege since the Count, your
+father, died, saying he carries out the orders of his lord until the
+return of the son."
+
+"Ah! if Heinrich is in command then is the castle safe," cried the young
+man, with enthusiasm. "He is a born warrior and first taught me the use
+of the broad-sword. Who besieges us? The Archbishop of Mayence? He was
+ever a turbulent prelate and held spite against our house."
+
+Richart shifted uneasily in his saddle, and for the moment did not
+answer. Then he said, with hesitation:
+
+"I think the Archbishop regards the siege with favour, but I know
+little of the matter. My Lady, the Countess, will possess you with full
+information."
+
+Count Herbert looked with astonishment upon the custodian of Castle
+Gudenfels. Here was a contest going on at his very doors, even if on
+the opposite side of the river, and yet a veteran knew nothing of the
+contest. But they were now at the frowning gates of Castle Gudenfels,
+with its lofty square pinnacled tower, and the curiosity of the young
+Count was dimmed by the admiration he felt for this great stronghold
+as he gazed upward at it. An instant later he with his escort passed
+through the gateway and stood in the courtyard of the castle. When he
+had dismounted the Count said to Richart:
+
+"I have travelled far, and am not in fit state to be presented to a
+lady. Indeed, now that I am here, I dread the meeting. I have seen
+nothing of women for ten years, and knew little of them before I left
+the Rhine. Take me, I beg of you, to a room where I may make some
+preparation other than the camp has heretofore afforded, and bring me,
+if you can, a few garments with which to replenish this faded, torn and
+dusty apparel."
+
+"My Lord, you will find everything you wish in the rooms allotted to
+you. Surmising your needs, I gave orders to that effect before I left
+the castle."
+
+"That was thoughtful of you, Richart, and I shall not forget it."
+
+The Custodian without replying led his guest up one stair and then
+another. The two traversed a long passage until they came to an open
+door. Richart standing aside, bowed low, and entreated his lordship to
+enter. Count Herbert passed into a large room from which a doorway
+led into a smaller apartment which the young man saw was fitted as a
+bedroom. The rooms hung high over the Rhine, but the view of the river
+was impeded by the numerous heavy iron bars which formed a formidable
+lattice-work before the windows. The Count was about to thank his
+conductor for providing so sumptuously for him, but, turning, he was
+amazed to see Richart outside with breathless eagerness draw shut the
+strong door that led to the passage from which he had entered, and a
+moment later, Herbert heard the ominous sound of stout bolts being shot
+into their sockets. He stood for a moment gazing blankly now at the
+bolted door, now at the barred window, and then slowly there came to him
+the knowledge which would have enlightened a more suspicious man long
+before--that he was a prisoner in the grim fortress of Gudenfels.
+Casting his mind backward over the events of the morning, he now saw a
+dozen sinister warnings that had heretofore escaped him. If a friendly
+invitation had been intended, what need of the numerous guard of armed
+men sent to escort him? Why had Richart hesitated when certain questions
+were asked him? Count Herbert paced up and down the long room, reviewing
+with clouded brow the events of the past few hours, beginning with the
+glorious freedom of the open hillside in the early dawn and ending with
+these impregnable stone walls that now environed him. He was a man slow
+to anger, but resentment once aroused, burned in his heart with a steady
+fervour that was unquenchable. He stopped at last in his aimless pacing,
+raised his clinched fist toward the timbered ceiling, and cursed the
+Countess von Falkenstein. In his striding to and fro the silence had
+been broken by the clank of his sword on the stone floor, and he now
+smiled grimly as he realised that they had not dared to deprive him of
+his formidable weapon; they had caged the lion from the distant desert
+without having had the courage to clip his claws. The Count drew his
+broadsword and swung it hissing through the air, measuring its reach
+with reference to the walls on either hand, then, satisfying himself
+that he had free play, he took up a position before the door and stood
+there motionless as the statue of a war-god. "Now, by the Cross I fought
+for," he muttered to himself, "the first man who sets foot across this
+threshold enters the chamber of death."
+
+He remained thus, leaning with folded arms on the hilt of his long
+sword, whose point rested on the flags of the floor, and at last his
+patience was rewarded. He heard the rattle of the bolts outside, and a
+tense eagerness thrilled his stalwart frame. The door came cautiously
+inward for a space of perhaps two feet and was then brought to a stand
+by the tightening links of a stout chain, fastened one end to the door,
+the other to the outer wall. Through the space that thus gave a view of
+the wide outer passage the Count saw Richart stand with pale face, well
+back at a safe distance in the centre of the hall. Two men-at-arms held
+a position behind their master.
+
+"My Lord," began Richart in trembling voice, "her Ladyship, the
+Countess, desires----"
+
+"Open the door, you cringing Judas!" interrupted the stern command of
+the count; "open the door and set me as free as your villainy found me.
+I hold no parley with a traitor."
+
+"My Lord, I implore you to listen. No harm is intended you, and my Lady,
+the Countess, asks of you a conference touching----"
+
+The heavy sword swung in the air and came down upon the chain with a
+force that made the stout oaken door shudder. Scattering sparks cast a
+momentary glow of red on the whitened cheeks of the startled onlookers.
+The edge of the sword clove the upper circumference of an iron link,
+leaving the severed ends gleaming like burnished silver, but the chain
+still held. Again and again the sword fell, but never twice in the same
+spot, anger adding strength to the blows, but subtracting skill.
+
+"My Lord! my Lord!" beseeched Richart, "restrain your fury. You cannot
+escape from this strong castle even though you sever the chain."
+
+"I'll trust my sword for that," muttered the prisoner between his set
+teeth.
+
+There now rang out on the conflict a new voice; the voice of a woman,
+clear and commanding, the tones instinct with that inborn quality of
+imperious authority which expects and usually obtains instant obedience.
+
+"Close the door, Richart," cried the unseen lady. The servitor made a
+motion to obey, but the swoop of the sword seemed to paralyse him where
+he stood. He cast a beseeching look at his mistress, which said as
+plainly as words: "You are ordering me to my death." The Count, his
+weapon high in mid-air, suddenly swerved it from its course, for there
+appeared across the opening a woman's hand and arm, white and shapely,
+fleecy lace falling away in dainty folds from the rounded contour of the
+arm. The small, firm hand grasped bravely the almost severed chain and
+the next instant the door was drawn shut, the bolts clanking into their
+places. Count Herbert, paused, leaning on his sword, gazing bewildered
+at the closed door.
+
+"Ye gods of war!" he cried; "never have I seen before such cool courage
+as that!"
+
+For a long time the Count walked up and down the spacious room, stopping
+now and then at the window to peer through the iron grille at the rapid
+current of the river far below, the noble stream as typical of freedom
+as were the bars that crossed his vision, of captivity. It seemed that
+the authorities of the castle had abandoned all thought of further
+communication with their truculent prisoner. Finally he entered the
+inner room and flung himself down, booted and spurred as he was, upon
+the couch, and, his sword for a bedmate, slept. The day was far spent
+when he awoke, and his first sensation was that of gnawing hunger,
+for he was a healthy man. His next, that he had heard in his sleep
+the cautious drawing of bolts, as if his enemies purposed to project
+themselves surreptitiously in upon him, taking him at a disadvantage.
+He sat upright, his sword ready for action, and listened intently. The
+silence was profound, and as the Count sat breathless, the stillness
+seemed to be emphasised rather than disturbed by a long-drawn sigh which
+sent a thrill of superstitious fear through the stalwart frame of the
+young man, for he well knew that the Rhine was infested with spirits
+animated by evil intentions toward human beings, and against such
+spirits his sword was but as a willow wand. He remembered with renewed
+awe that this castle stood only a few leagues above the Lurlei rocks
+where a nymph of unearthly beauty lured men to their destruction, and
+the knight crossed himself as a protection against all such. Gathering
+courage from this devout act, and abandoning his useless weapon, he
+tiptoed to the door that led to the larger apartment, and there found
+his worst anticipations realised. With her back against the closed outer
+door stood a Siren of the Rhine, and, as if to show how futile is the
+support of the Evil One in a crisis, her very lips were pallid with fear
+and her blue eyes were wide with apprehension, as they met those of the
+Count von Schonburg. Her hair, the colour of ripe yellow wheat, rose
+from her smooth white forehead and descended in a thick braid that
+almost reached to the floor. She was dressed in the humble garb of a
+serving maiden, the square bit of lace on her crown of fair hair and the
+apron she wore, as spotless as new fallen snow. In her hand she held
+a tray which supported a loaf of bread and a huge flagon brimming with
+wine. On seeing the Count, her quick breathing stopped for the moment
+and she dropped a low courtesy.
+
+"My Lord," she said, but there came a catch in her throat, and she could
+speak no further.
+
+Seeing that he had to deal with no spirit, but with an inhabitant of the
+world he knew and did not fear, there arose a strange exultation in the
+heart of the Count as he looked upon this fair representative of his own
+country. For ten years he had seen no woman, and now a sudden sense of
+what he had lost overwhelmed him, his own breath coming quicker as the
+realisation of this impressed itself upon him. He strode rapidly toward
+her, and she seemed to shrink into the wall at his approach, wild fear
+springing into her eyes, but he merely took the laden tray from her
+trembling hands and placed it upon a bench. Then raising the flagon to
+his lips, he drank a full half of its contents before withdrawing it. A
+deep sigh of satisfaction followed, and he said, somewhat shamefacedly:
+
+"Forgive my hurried greed, maiden, but the thirst of the desert seems to
+be in my throat, and the good wine reminds me that I am a German."
+
+"It was brought for your use," replied the girl, demurely, "and I am
+gratified that it meets your commendation, my Lord."
+
+"And so also do you, my girl. What is your name and who are you?"
+
+"I am called Beatrix, my Lord, a serving-maid of this castle, the
+daughter of the woodman Wilhelm, and, alas! that it should be so, for
+the present your jailer."
+
+"If I quarrelled as little with my detention, as I see I am like to do
+with my keeper, I fear captivity would hold me long in thrall. Are the
+men in the castle such cravens then that they bestow so unwelcome a task
+upon a woman?"
+
+"The men are no cravens, my Lord, but this castle is at war with yours,
+and for each man there is a post. A woman would be less missed if so
+brave a warrior as Count von Schonburg thought fit to war upon us."
+
+"But a woman makes war upon me, Beatrix. What am I to do? Surrender
+humbly?"
+
+"Brave men have done so before now and will again, my Lord, where women
+are concerned. At least," added Beatrix, blushing and casting down her
+eyes, "I have been so informed."
+
+"And small blame to them," cried the count, with enthusiasm. "I swear to
+you, my girl, that if women warriors were like the woodman's daughter, I
+would cast away all arms except these with which to enclasp her."
+
+And he stretched out his hands, taking a step nearer, while she shrank
+in alarm from him.
+
+"My Lord, I am but an humble messenger, and I beg of you to listen to
+what I am asked to say. My Lady, the Countess, has commissioned me to
+tell you that--"
+
+A startling malediction of the Countess that accorded ill with the
+scarlet cross emblazoned on the young man's breast, interrupted the
+girl.
+
+"I hold no traffic with the Countess," he cried. "She has treacherously
+laid me by the heels, coming as I did from battling for the Cross that
+she doubtless professes to regard as sacred."
+
+"It was because she feared you, my Lord. These years back tales of your
+valour in the Holy Land have come to the Rhine, and now you return to
+find your house at war with hers. What was she to do? The chances stood
+even with only your underling in command; judge then what her fate must
+be with your strong sword thrown in the balance against her. All's fair
+in war, said those who counselled her. What would you have done in such
+an extremity, my Lord?"
+
+"What would I have done? I would have met my enemy sword in hand and
+talked with him or fought with him as best suited his inclination."
+
+"But a lady cannot meet you, sword in hand, my Lord."
+
+The Count paused in the walk he had begun when the injustice of his
+usage impressed itself once more upon him. He looked admiringly at the
+girl.
+
+"That is most true, Beatrix. I had forgotten. Still, I should not have
+been met with cozenry. Here came I from starvation in the wilderness,
+thirst in the desert, and from the stress of the battle-field, back to
+mine own land with my heart full of yearning love for it and for all
+within its boundaries. I came even from prison, captured in fair fight,
+by an untaught heathen, whose men lay slain by my hand, yet with the
+nobility of a true warrior, he asked neither ransom nor hostage, but
+handed back my sword, saying, 'Go in peace.' That in a heathen land!
+but no sooner does my foot rest on this Christian soil than I am met by
+false smiles and lying tongues, and my welcome to a neighbour's house is
+the clank of the inthrust bolt."
+
+"Oh, it was a shameful act and not to be defended," cried the girl, with
+moist eyes and quivering lip, the sympathetic reverberation of her voice
+again arresting the impatient steps of the young man, causing him to
+pause and view her with a feeling that he could not understand, and
+which he found some difficulty in controlling. Suddenly all desire for
+restraint left him, he sprang forward, clasped the girl in his arms
+and drew her into the middle of the room, where she could not give the
+signal that might open the door.
+
+"My Lord! my Lord!" she cried in terror, struggling without avail to
+free herself.
+
+"You said all's fair in war and saying so, gave but half the proverb,
+which adds, all's fair in love as well, and maiden, nymph of the
+woodland, so rapidly does a man learn that which he has never been
+taught, I proclaim with confidence that I love thee."
+
+"A diffident and gentle lover you prove yourself!" she gasped with
+rising indignation, holding him from her.
+
+"Indeed, my girl, there was little of diffidence or gentleness in my
+warring, and my wooing is like to have a touch of the same quality. It
+is useless to struggle for I have thee firm, so take to yourself some of
+that gentleness you recommend to me."
+
+He strove to kiss her, but Beatrix held her head far from him, her open
+palm pressed against the red cross that glowed upon his breast, keeping
+him thus at arm's length.
+
+"Count von Schonburg, what is the treachery of any other compared with
+yours? You came heedlessly into this castle, suspecting as you say, no
+danger: I came within this room to do you service, knowing my peril, but
+trusting to the honour of a true soldier of the Cross, and this is
+my reward! First tear from your breast this sacred emblem, valorous
+assaulter of a defenceless woman, for it should be worn by none but
+stainless gentlemen."
+
+Count Herbert's arms relaxed, and his hands dropped listless to his
+sides.
+
+"By my sword," he said, "they taught you invective in the forest. You
+are free. Go."
+
+The girl made no motion to profit by her newly acquired liberty, but
+stood there, glancing sideways at him who scowled menacingly at her.
+
+When at last she spoke, she said, shyly: "I have not yet fulfilled my
+mission."
+
+"Fulfil it then in the fiend's name and begone."
+
+"Will you consent to see my Lady the Countess?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Will you promise not to make war upon her if you are released?"
+
+"No."
+
+"If, in spite of your boorishness, she sets you free, what will you do?"
+
+"I will rally my followers to my banner, scatter the forces that
+surround my castle, then demolish this prison trap."
+
+"Am I in truth to carry such answers to the Countess?"
+
+"You are to do as best pleases you, now and forever."
+
+"I am but a simple serving-maid, and know nothing of high questions
+of state, yet it seems to me such replies do not oil prison bolts, and
+believe me, I grieve to see you thus detained."
+
+"I am grateful for your consideration. Is your embassy completed?"
+
+The girl, her eyes on the stone floor, paused long before replying, then
+said, giving no warning of a change of subject, and still not raising
+her eyes to his:
+
+"You took me by surprise; I am not used to being handled roughly; you
+forget the distance between your station and mine, you being a noble
+of the Empire, and I but a serving-maid; if, in my anger, I spoke in a
+manner unbecoming one so humble, I do beseech that your Lordship pardon
+me."
+
+"Now by the Cross to which you appealed, how long will you stand
+chattering there? Think you I am made of adamant, and not of flesh and
+blood? My garments are tattered at best, I would in woman's company they
+were finer, and this cross of Genoa red hangs to my tunic, but by a few
+frail threads. Beware, therefore, that I tear it not from my breast as
+you advised, and cast it from me."
+
+Beatrix lifted one frightened glance to the young man's face and saw
+standing on his brow great drops of sweat. His right hand grasped the
+upper portion of the velvet cross, partly detached from his doublet, and
+he looked loweringly upon her. Swiftly she smote the door twice with her
+hand and instantly the portal opened as far as the chain would allow it.
+Count Herbert noticed that in the interval, three other chains had been
+added to the one that formerly had baffled his sword. The girl, like
+a woodland pigeon, darted underneath the lower chain, and although the
+prisoner took a rapid step forward, the door, with greater speed, closed
+and was bolted.
+
+The Count had requested the girl to be gone, and surely should have been
+contented now that she had withdrawn herself, yet so shifty a thing is
+human nature, that no sooner were his commands obeyed than he began
+to bewail their fulfilment. He accused himself of being a double fool,
+first, for not holding her when he had her; and secondly, having allowed
+her to depart, he bemoaned the fact that he had acted rudely to her,
+and thus had probably made her return impossible. His prison seemed
+inexpressibly dreary lacking her presence. Once or twice he called out
+her name, but the echoing empty walls alone replied.
+
+For the first time in his life the heavy sleep of the camp deserted him,
+and in his dreams he pursued a phantom woman, who continually dissolved
+in his grasp, now laughingly, now in anger.
+
+The morning found him deeply depressed, and he thought the unaccustomed
+restraints of a prison were having their effect on the spirits of a man
+heretofore free. He sat silently on the bench watching the door.
+
+At last, to his great joy, he heard the rattle of bolts being withdrawn.
+The door opened slowly to the small extent allowed by the chains, but no
+one entered and the Count sat still, concealed from the view of whoever
+stood without.
+
+"My Lord Count," came the sweet tones of the girl and the listener with
+joy, fancied he detected in it a suggestion of apprehension, doubtless
+caused by the fact that the room seemed deserted. "My Lord Count, I have
+brought your breakfast; will you not come and receive it?"
+
+Herbert rose slowly and came within range of his jailer's vision. The
+girl stood in the hall, a repast that would have tempted an epicure
+arrayed on the wooden trencher she held in her hands.
+
+"Beatrix, come in," he said.
+
+"I fear that in stooping, some portion of this burden may fall. Will you
+not take the trencher?"
+
+The young man stepped to the opening and, taking the tray from her,
+placed it on the bench as he had previously done; then repeated his
+invitation.
+
+"You were displeased with my company before, my Lord, and I am loath
+again to offend."
+
+"Beatrix, I beg you to enter. I have something to say to you."
+
+"Stout chains bar not words, my Lord. Speak and I shall listen."
+
+"What I have to say, is for your ear alone."
+
+"Then are the conditions perfect for such converse, my Lord. No guard
+stands within this hall."
+
+The Count sighed deeply, turned and sat again on the bench, burying his
+face in his hands. The maiden having given excellent reasons why she
+should not enter, thus satisfying her sense of logic, now set logic at
+defiance, slipped under the lowest chain and stood within the room,
+and, so that there might be no accusation that she did things by halves,
+closed the door leaning her back against it. The knight looked up at her
+and saw that she too had rested but indifferently. Her lovely eyes half
+veiled, showed traces of weeping, and there was a wistful expression
+in her face that touched him tenderly, and made him long for her;
+nevertheless he kept a rigid government upon himself, and sat there
+regarding her, she flushing, slightly under his scrutiny, not daring to
+return his ardent gaze.
+
+"Beatrix," he said slowly, "I have acted towards you like a boor and
+a ruffian, as indeed I am; but let this plead for me, that I have ever
+been used to the roughness of the camp, bereft of gentler influences. I
+ask your forgiveness."
+
+"There is nothing to forgive. You are a noble of the Empire, and I but a
+lowly serving-maid."
+
+"Nay, that cuts me to the heart, and is my bitterest condemnation.
+A true man were courteous to high and low alike. Now, indeed, you
+overwhelm me with shame, maiden of the woodlands."
+
+"Such was not my intention, my Lord. I hold you truly noble in nature as
+well as in rank, otherwise I stood not here."
+
+"Beatrix, does any woodlander come from the forest to the castle walls
+and there give signal intended for you alone?"
+
+"Oh, no, my Lord."
+
+"Perhaps you have kindly preference for some one within this
+stronghold?"
+
+"You forget, my Lord, that the castle is ruled by a lady, and that the
+preference you indicate would accord ill with her womanly government."
+
+"In truth I know little of woman's rule, but given such, I suppose
+the case would stand as you say. The Countess then frowns upon lovers'
+meetings."
+
+"How could it be otherwise?"
+
+"Have you told her of--of yesterday?"
+
+"You mean of your refusal to come to terms with her? Yes, my Lord."
+
+"I mean nothing of the kind, Beatrix."
+
+"No one outside this room has been told aught to your disadvantage, my
+Lord," said the girl blushing rose-red.
+
+"Then she suspects nothing?"
+
+"Suspects nothing of what, my Lord?"
+
+"That I love you, Beatrix."
+
+The girl caught her breath, and seemed about to fly, but gathering
+courage, remained, and said speaking hurriedly and in some confusion:
+"As I did not suspect it myself I see not how my Lady should have made
+any such surmise, but indeed it may be so, for she chided me bitterly
+for remaining so long with you, and made me weep with her keen censure;
+yet am I here now against her express wish and command, but that is
+because of my strong sympathy for you and my belief that the Countess
+has wrongfully treated you."
+
+"I care nothing for the opinion of that harridan, except that it may
+bring harsh usage to you; but Beatrix, I have told you bluntly of my
+love for you, answer me as honestly."
+
+"My Lord, you spoke just now of a woodlander--"
+
+"Ah, there is one then. Indeed, I feared as much, for there can be none
+on all the Rhine as beautiful or as good as you."
+
+"There are many woodlanders, my Lord, and many women more beautiful than
+I. What I was about to say was that I would rather be the wife of the
+poorest forester, and lived in the roughest hut on the hillside, than
+dwell otherwise in the grandest castle on the Rhine."
+
+"Surely, surely. But you shall dwell in my castle of Schonburg as my
+most honoured wife, if you but will it so."
+
+"Then, my Lord, I must bid you beware of what you propose. Your wife
+must be chosen from the highest in the land, and not from the lowliest.
+It is not fitting that you should endeavour to raise a serving-maid to
+the position of Countess von Schonburg. You would lose caste among your
+equals, and bring unhappiness upon us both."
+
+Count Herbert grasped his sword and lifting it, cried angrily: "By the
+Cross I serve, the man who refuses to greet my wife as he would greet
+the Empress, shall feel the weight of this blade."
+
+"You cannot kill a whisper with a sword, my Lord."
+
+"I can kill the whisperer."
+
+"That can you not, my Lord, for the whisperer will be a woman."
+
+"Then out upon them, we will have no traffic with them. I have lived too
+long away from the petty restrictions of civilisation to be bound down
+by them now, for I come from a region where a man's sword and not his
+rank preserved his life." As he spoke he again raised his huge weapon
+aloft, but now held it by the blade so that it stood out against the
+bright window like a black cross of iron, and his voice rang forth
+defiantly: "With that blade I won my honour; by the symbol of its hilt I
+hope to obtain my soul's salvation, on both united I swear to be to you
+a true lover and a loyal husband."
+
+With swift motion the girl covered her face with her hands and Herbert
+saw the crystal drops trickle between her fingers. For long she could
+not speak and then mastering her emotion, she said brokenly:
+
+"I cannot accept, I cannot now accept. I can take no advantage of a
+helpless prisoner. At midnight I shall come and set you free, thus my
+act may atone for the great wrong of your imprisonment; atone partially
+if not wholly. When you are at liberty, if you wish to forget your
+words, which I can never do, then am I amply repaid that my poor
+presence called them forth. If you remember them, and demand of the
+Countess that I stand as hostage for peace, she is scarce likely to deny
+you, for she loves not war. But know that nothing you have said is to be
+held against you, for I would have you leave this castle as free as when
+you entered it. And now, my Lord, farewell."
+
+Before the unready man could make motion to prevent her, she had opened
+the door and was gone, leaving it open, thus compelling the prisoner
+to be his own jailer and close it, for he had no wish now to leave the
+castle alone when he had been promised such guidance.
+
+The night seemed to Count Herbert the longest he had ever spent, as he
+sat on the bench, listening for the withdrawing of the bolts; if indeed
+they were in their sockets, which he doubted. At last the door was
+pushed softly open, and bending under the chain, he stood in the outside
+hall, peering through the darkness, to catch sight of his conductor. A
+great window of stained glass occupied the southern end of the hall,
+and against it fell the rays of the full moon now high in the heavens,
+filling the dim and lofty apartment with a coloured radiance resembling
+his visions of the half tones of fairyland. Like a shadow stood the
+cloaked figure of the girl, who timidly placed her small hand in his
+great palm, and that touch gave a thrill of reality to the mysticism
+of the time and the place. He grasped it closely, fearing it might
+fade away from him as it had done in his dream. She led him silently by
+another way from that by which he had entered, and together they passed
+through a small doorway that communicated with a narrow circular stair
+which wound round and round downwards until they came to another door at
+the bottom, which let them out in the moonlight at the foot of a turret.
+
+"Beatrix," whispered the young man, "I am not going to demand you of the
+Countess. I shall not be indebted to her for my wife. You must come with
+me now."
+
+"No, no," cried the girl shrinking from him, "I cannot go with you thus
+surreptitiously, and no one but you and me must ever learn that I led
+you from the castle. You shall come for me as a lord should for his
+lady, as if he thought her worthy of him."
+
+"Indeed, that do I. Worthy? It is I who am unworthy, but made more
+worthy I hope in that you care for me."
+
+From where they stood the knight saw the moonlight fall on his own
+castle of Schonburg, the rays seeming to transform the grey stone into
+the whitest of marble, the four towers standing outlined against the
+blue of the cloudless sky. The silver river of romance, flowed silently
+at its feet reflecting again the snowy purity of the reality in an
+inverted quivering watery vision. All the young man's affection for the
+home he had not seen for years seemed to blend with his love for the
+girl standing there in the moonlight. Gently he drew her to him, and
+kissed her unresisting lips.
+
+"Woodland maiden," he said tenderly, "here at the edge of the forest is
+your rightful home and not in this grim castle, and here will I woo thee
+again, being now a free man."
+
+"Indeed," said the girl with a laugh in which a sob and a sigh
+intermingled, "it is but scanty freedom I have brought to you; an
+exchange of silken fetters for iron chains."
+
+His arms still around her, he unloosed the ribbon that held in thrall
+the thick braid of golden hair, and parting the clustering strands
+speedily encompassed her in a cloak of misty fragrance that seemed as
+unsubstantial as the moonlight that glittered through its meshes. He
+stood back the better to admire the picture he seemed to have created.
+
+"My darling," he cried, "you are no woodland woman, but the very spirit
+of the forest herself. You are so beautiful, I dare not leave you here
+to the mercies of this demon, who, finding me gone, may revenge herself
+on you. If before she dared to censure you, what may she not do now that
+you have set me free? Curse her that she stands for a moment between my
+love and me."
+
+He raised his clenched fist and shook it at the tower above him, and
+seemed about to break forth in new maledictions against the lady, when
+Beatrix, clasping her hands cried in terror:
+
+"No, no, Herbert, you have said enough. How can you pretend to love me
+when implacable hatred lies so near to your affection. You must forgive
+the Countess. Oh, Herbert, Herbert, what more could I do to atone? I
+have withdrawn my forces from around your castle; I have set you free
+and your path to Schonburg lies unobstructed. Even now your underling,
+thinking himself victorious, is preparing an expedition against me, and
+nothing but your word stands, between me and instant attack. Ponder, I
+beseech of you, on my position. War, not of my seeking, was bequeathed
+to me, and a woman who cannot fight must trust to her advisers, and thus
+may do what her own heart revolts against. They told me that if I made
+you prisoner I could stop the war, and thus I consented to that act of
+treachery for which you so justly condemn me."
+
+"Beatrix," cried her amazed lover, "what madness has come over you?"
+
+"No madness touched me, Herbert, until I met you, and I sometimes think
+that you have brought back with you the eastern sorcery of which I
+have heard--at least such may perhaps make excuse for my unmaidenly
+behaviour. Herbert, I am Beatrix of Gudenfels, Countess von Falkenstein,
+who is and ever will be, if you refuse to pardon her, a most unhappy
+woman."
+
+"No woodland maiden, but the Countess! The Countess von Falkenstein!"
+murmured her lover more to himself than to, his eager listener, the
+lines on his perplexed brow showing that he was endeavouring to adjust
+the real and the ideal in his slow brain.
+
+"A Countess, Herbert, who will joyfully exchange the privileges of her
+station for the dear preference shown to the serving-maid."
+
+A smile came to the lips of Von Schonburg as he held out his hands, in
+which the Countess placed her own.
+
+"My Lady Beatrix," he said, "how can I refuse my pardon for the first
+encroachment on my liberty, now that you have made me your prisoner for
+life?"
+
+"Indeed, my captured lord," cried the girl, "you are but now coming to
+a true sense of your predicament. I marvelled that you felt so resentful
+about the first offence, when the second was so much more serious. Am I
+then forgiven for both?"
+
+It seemed that she was, and the Count insisted on returning to his
+captivity, and coming forth the next day, freed by her commands,
+whereupon, in the presence of all her vassals, he swore allegiance to
+her with such deference that her advisers said to her that she must now
+see they had been right in counselling his imprisonment. Prison, they
+said, had a wonderfully quieting effect upon even the most truculent,
+the Count being quickly subdued when he saw his sword-play had but
+little effect on the chain. The Countess graciously acknowledged that
+events had indeed proved the wisdom of their course, and said it was not
+to be wondered at that men should know the disposition of a turbulent
+man, better than an inexperienced woman could know it.
+
+And thus was the feud between Gudenfels and Schonburg happily ended, and
+Count Herbert came from the Crusades to find two castles waiting for
+him instead of one as he had expected, with what he had reason to prize
+above everything else, a wife as well.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+THE REVENGE OF THE OUTLAW
+
+
+The position of Count Herbert when, at the age of thirty-one he took
+up his residence in the ancient castle of his line, was a most enviable
+one. His marriage with Beatrix, Countess von Falkenstein, had added the
+lustre of a ruling family to the prestige of his own, and the renown of
+his valour in the East had lost nothing in transit from the shores of
+the Mediterranean to the banks of the Rhine. The Counts of Schonburg had
+ever been the most conservative in counsel and the most radical in the
+fray, and thus Herbert on returning, found himself, without seeking
+the honor, regarded by common consent as leader of the nobility whose
+castles bordered the renowned river. The Emperor, as was usually
+the case when these imperial figure-heads were elected by the three
+archbishops and their four colleagues, was a nonentity, who made no
+attempt to govern a turbulent land that so many were willing to govern
+for him. His majesty left sword and sceptre to those who cared for
+such baubles, and employed himself in banding together the most notable
+company of meistersingers that Germany had ever listened to. But
+although harmony reigned in Frankfort, the capital, there was much lack
+of it along the Rhine, and the man with the swiftest and heaviest
+sword, usually accumulated the greatest amount of property, movable and
+otherwise.
+
+Among the truculent nobles who terrorised the country side, none was
+held In greater awe than Baron von Wiethoff, whose Schloss occupied a
+promontory Some distance up the stream from Castle Schonburg, on the
+same side of the river. Public opinion condemned the Baron, not because
+he exacted tribute from the merchants who sailed down the Rhine, for
+such collections were universally regarded as a legitimate source of
+revenue, but because he was in the habit of killing the goose that laid
+the golden egg, which action was looked upon with disfavour by those who
+resided between Schloss Wiethoff and Cologne, as interfering with their
+right to exist, for a merchant, although well-plucked, is still of
+advantage to those in whose hands he falls, if life and some of his
+goods are left to him. Whereas, when cleft from scalp to midriff by
+the Baron's long sword, he became of no value either to himself or to
+others. While many nobles were satisfied with levying a scant five
+or ten per cent on a voyager's belongings, the Baron rarely rested
+contented until he had acquired the full hundred, and, the merchant
+objecting, von Wiethoff would usually order him hanged or decapitated,
+although at times when he was in good humour he was wont to confer
+honour upon the trading classes by despatching the grumbling seller
+of goods with his own weapon, which created less joy in the commercial
+community than the Baron seemed to expect. Thus navigation on the swift
+current of the Rhine began to languish, for there was little profit in
+the transit of goods from Mayence to Cologne if the whole consignment
+stood in jeopardy and the owner's life as well, so the merchants got
+into the habit of carrying their gear overland on the backs of mules,
+thus putting the nobility to great inconvenience in scouring the
+forests, endeavouring to intercept the caravans. The nobility, with that
+stern sense of justice which has ever characterised the higher classes,
+placed the blame of this diversion of traffic from its natural channel
+not upon the merchants but upon the Baron, where undoubtedly it rightly
+belonged, and although, when they came upon an overland company which
+was seeking to avoid them, they gathered in an extra percentage of the
+goods to repay in a measure the greater difficulty they had in
+their woodland search, they always informed the merchants with much
+politeness, that, when river traffic was resumed, they would be pleased
+to revert to the original exaction, which the traders, not without
+reason pointed out was of little avail to them as long as Baron von
+Wiethoff was permitted to confiscate the whole.
+
+In their endeavours to resuscitate the navigation interests of the
+Rhine, several expeditions had been formed against the Baron, but his
+castle was strong, and there were so many conflicting interests among
+those who attacked him that he had always come out victorious, and after
+each onslaught the merchants suffered more severely than before.
+
+Affairs were in this unsatisfactory condition when Count Herbert of
+Schonburg returned from the Holy Land, the fame of his deeds upon him,
+and married Beatrix of Gudenfels. Although the nobles of the Upper Rhine
+held aloof from all contest with the savage Baron of Schloss Wiethoff,
+his exactions not interfering with their incomes, many of those further
+down the river offered their services to Count Herbert, if he would
+consent to lead them against the Baron, but the Count pleaded that he
+was still a stranger in his own country, having so recently returned
+from his ten contentious years in Syria, therefore he begged time to
+study the novel conditions confronting him before giving an answer to
+their proposal.
+
+The Count learned that the previous attacks made upon Schloss Wiethoff
+had been conducted with but indifferent generalship, and that failure
+had been richly earned by desertions from the attacking force, each
+noble thinking himself justified in withdrawing himself and his men,
+when offended, or when the conduct of affairs displeased him, so von
+Schonburg informed the second deputation which waited on him, that he
+was more accustomed to depend on himself than on the aid of others, and
+that if any quarrel arose between Castle Schonburg and Schloss Wiethoff,
+the Count would endeavour to settle the dispute with his own sword,
+which reply greatly encouraged the Baron when he heard of it, for he
+wished to try conclusions with the newcomer, and made no secret of
+his disbelief in the latter's Saracenic exploits, saying the Count had
+returned when there was none left of the band he took with him, and had,
+therefore, with much wisdom, left himself free from contradiction.
+
+There was some disappointment up and down the Rhine when time passed and
+the Count made no warlike move. It was well known that the Countess was
+much averse to war, notwithstanding the fact that she was indebted to
+war for her stalwart husband, and her peaceful nature was held to excuse
+the non-combative life lived by the Count, although there were others
+who gave it as their opinion that the Count was really afraid of the
+Baron, who daily became more and more obnoxious as there seemed to be
+less and less to fear. Such boldness did the Baron achieve that he even
+organised a slight raid upon the estate of Gudenfels which belonged to
+the Count's wife, but still Herbert of Schonburg did not venture from
+the security of his castle, greatly to the disappointment and the
+disgust of his neighbours, for there are on earth no people who love a
+fight more dearly than do those who reside along the banks of the placid
+Rhine.
+
+At last an heir was born to Castle Schonburg, and the rejoicings
+throughout all the district governed by the Count were general and
+enthusiastic. Bonfires were lit on the heights and the noble river
+glowed red under the illumination at night. The boy who had arrived
+at the castle was said to give promise of having all the beauty of
+his mother and all the strength of his father, which was admitted by
+everybody to be a desirable combination, although some shook their heads
+and said they hoped that with strength there would come greater courage
+than the Count appeared to possess. Nevertheless, the Count had still
+some who believed in him, notwithstanding his long period of inaction,
+and these said that on the night the boy was born, and word was brought
+to him in the great hall that mother and child were well, the cloud
+that had its habitual resting-place on the Count's brow lifted and his
+lordship took down from its place his great broadsword, rubbed from its
+blade the dust and the rust that had collected, swung the huge weapon
+hissing through the air, and heaved a deep sigh, as one who had come to
+the end of a period of restraint.
+
+The boy was just one month old on the night that there was a thunderous
+knocking at the gate of Schloss Wiethoff. The Baron hastily buckled
+on his armour and was soon at the head of his men eager to repel the
+invader. In a marvellously short space of time there was a contest in
+progress at the gates which would have delighted the heart of the most
+quarrelsome noble from Mayence to Cologne. The attacking party which
+appeared in large force before the gate, attempted to batter in the
+oaken leaves of the portal, but the Baron was always prepared for such
+visitors, and the heavy timbers that were heaved against the oak made
+little impression, while von Wiethoff roared defiance from the top of
+the wall that surrounded the castle and what was more to the purpose,
+showered down stones and arrows on the besiegers, grievously thinning
+their ranks. The Baron, with creditable ingenuity, had constructed above
+the inside of the gate a scaffolding, on the top of which was piled a
+mountain of huge stones. This scaffold was arranged in such a way that
+a man pulling a lever caused it to collapse, thus piling the stones
+instantly against the inside of the gate, rendering it impregnable
+against assault by battering rams. The Baron was always jubilant when
+his neighbours attempted to force the gate, for he was afforded much
+amusement at small expense to himself, and he cared little for the
+damage the front door received, as he had built his castle not for
+ornament but for his own protection. He was a man with an amazing
+vocabulary, and as he stood on the wall shaking his mailed fist at
+the intruders he poured forth upon them invective more personal than
+complimentary.
+
+While thus engaged, rejoicing over the repulse of the besiegers, for the
+attack was evidently losing its vigour, he was amazed to note a sudden
+illumination of the forest-covered hill which he was facing. The
+attacking party rallied with a yell when the light struck them, and
+the Baron, looking hastily over his shoulder to learn the source of the
+ruddy glow on the trees, saw with dismay that his castle was on fire and
+that Count Herbert followed by his men had possession of the battlements
+to the rear, while the courtyard swarmed with soldiers, who had
+evidently scaled the low wall along the river front from rafts or boats.
+
+"Surrender!" cried Count Herbert, advancing along the wall. "Your castle
+is taken, and will be a heap of ruins within the hour."
+
+"Then may you be buried beneath them," roared the Baron, springing to
+the attack.
+
+Although the Baron was a younger man than his antagonist, it was soon
+proven that his sword play was not equal to that of the Count, and
+the broadsword fight on the battlements in the light of the flaming
+stronghold, was of short duration, watched breathlessly as it was by men
+of both parties above and below. Twice the Baron's guard was broken, and
+the third time, such was the terrific impact of iron on iron, that the
+Baron's weapon was struck from his benumbed hands and fell glittering
+through the air to the ground outside the walls. The Count paused in his
+onslaught, refraining from striking a disarmed man, but again demanding
+his submission. The Baron cast one glance at his burning house, saw that
+it was doomed, then, with a movement as reckless as it was unexpected,
+took the terrific leap from the wall top to the ground, alighting on his
+feet near his fallen sword which he speedily recovered. For an instant
+the Count hovered on the brink to follow him, but the swift thought of
+his wife and child restrained him, and he feared a broken limb in
+the fall, leaving him thus at the mercy of his enemy. The moment for
+decision was short enough, but the years of regret for this hesitation
+were many and long. There were a hundred men before the walls to
+intercept the Baron, and it seemed useless to jeopardise life or limb
+in taking the leap, so the Count contented himself by giving the loud
+command: "Seize that man and bind him."
+
+It was an order easy to give and easy to obey had there been a dozen men
+below as brave as their captain, or even one as brave, as stalwart and
+as skilful; but the Baron struck sturdily around him and mowed his way
+through the throng as effectually as a reaper with a sickle clears a
+path for himself in the standing corn. Before Herbert realised what was
+happening, the Baron was safe in the obscurity of the forest.
+
+The Count of Schonburg was not a man to do things by halves, even though
+upon the occasion of this attack he allowed the Baron to slip through
+his fingers. When the ruins of the Schloss cooled, he caused them to be
+removed and flung stone by stone into the river, leaving not a vestige
+of the castle that had so long been a terror to the district, holding
+that if the lair were destroyed the wolf would not return. In this the
+Count proved but partly right. Baron von Wiethoff renounced his
+order, and became an outlaw, gathering round him in the forest all the
+turbulent characters, not in regular service elsewhere, publishing along
+the Rhine by means of prisoners he took and then released that as the
+nobility seemed to object to his preying upon the merchants, he would
+endeavour to amend his ways and would harry instead such castles as fell
+into his hands. Thus Baron von Wiethoff became known as the Outlaw of
+the Hundsrueck, and being as intrepid as he was merciless, soon made
+the Rhenish nobility withdraw attention from other people's quarrels in
+order to bestow strict surveillance upon their own. It is possible
+that if the dwellers along the river had realised at first the kind of
+neighbour that had been produced by burning out the Baron, they might,
+by combination have hunted him down in the widespread forests of the
+Hundsrueck, but as the years went on, the Outlaw acquired such knowledge
+of the interminable mazes of this wilderness, that it is doubtful
+whether all the troops in the Empire could have brought his band to bay.
+The outlaws always fled before a superior force, and always massacred
+an inferior one, and like the lightning, no man could predict where the
+next stroke would fall. On one occasion he even threatened the walled
+town of Coblentz, and the citizens compounded with him, saying they had
+no quarrel with any but the surrounding nobles, which expression the
+thrifty burghers regretted when Count Herbert marched his men through
+their streets and for every coin they, had paid the Outlaw, exacted ten.
+
+The boy of Castle Schonburg was three years old, when he was allowed
+to play on the battlements, sporting with a wooden sword and imagining
+himself as great a warrior as his father had ever been. He was a brave
+little fellow whom nothing could frighten but the stories his nurse told
+him of the gnomes and goblins who infested the Rhine, and he longed
+for the time when he would be a man and wear a real sword. One day just
+before he had completed his fourth year, a man came slinking out of
+the forest to the foot of the wall, for the watch was now slack as the
+Outlaw had not been heard of for months, and then was far away in
+the direction of Mayence. The nurse was holding a most absorbing
+conversation with the man-at-arms, who should, instead, have been pacing
+up and down the terrace while she should have been watching her charge.
+The man outside gave a low whistle which attracted the attention of the
+child and then beckoned him to come further along the wall until he had
+passed the west tower.
+
+"Well, little coward," said the man, "I did not think you would have the
+courage to come so far away from the women."
+
+"I am not a coward," answered the lad, stoutly, "and I do not care about
+the women at all."
+
+"Your father was a coward."
+
+"He is not. He is the bravest man in the world."
+
+"He did not dare to jump off the wall after the Baron."
+
+"He will cut the Baron in pieces if he ever comes near our castle."
+
+"Yet he dared not jump as the Baron did."
+
+"The Baron was afraid of my father; that's why he jumped."
+
+"Not so. It was your father who feared to follow him, though he had a
+sword and the Baron had none. You are all cowards in Castle Schonburg.
+I don't believe you have the courage to jump even though I held out my
+arms to catch you, but if you do I will give you the sword I wear."
+
+The little boy had climbed on the parapet, and now stood hovering on the
+brink of the precipice, his childish heart palpitating through fear of
+the chasm before him, yet beneath its beatings was an insistent command
+to prove his impugned courage. For some moments there was deep silence,
+the man below gazing aloft and holding up his hands. At last he lowered
+his outstretched arms and said in a sneering tone:
+
+"Good-bye, craven son of a craven race. You dare not jump."
+
+The lad, with a cry of despair, precipitated himself into the empty air
+and came fluttering down like a wounded bird, to fall insensible into
+the arms that for the moment saved him from death or mutilation. An
+instant later there was a shriek from the negligent nurse, and the
+man-at-arms ran along the battlements, a bolt on his cross-bow which he
+feared to launch at the flying abductor, for in the speeding of it he
+might slay the heir of Schonburg. By the time the castle was aroused and
+the gates thrown open to pour forth searchers, the man had disappeared
+into the forest, and in its depths all trace of young Wilhelm was lost.
+Some days after, the Count von Schonburg came upon the deserted camp
+of the outlaws, and found there evidences, not necessary to be here set
+down, that his son had been murdered. Imposing secrecy on his followers,
+so that the Countess might still retain her unshaken belief that not
+even an outlaw would harm a little child, the Count returned to his
+castle to make preparations for a complete and final campaign of
+extinction against the scourge of the Hundsrueck, but the Outlaw had
+withdrawn his men far from the scene of his latest successful exploit
+and the Count never came up with him.
+
+Years passed on and the silver came quickly to Count Herbert's hair,
+he attributing the change to the hardships endured in the East, but all
+knowing well the cause sprang from his belief in his son's death. The
+rapid procession of years made little impression on the beauty of the
+Countess, who, although grieving for the absence of her boy, never
+regarded him as lost but always looked for his return. "If he were
+dead," she often said to her husband, "I should know it in my heart; I
+should know the day, the hour and the moment."
+
+This belief the Count strove to encourage, although none knew better
+than he how baseless it was. Beatrix, with a mother's fondness, kept
+little Wilhelm's room as it had been when he left it, his toys in their
+places, and his bed prepared for him, allowing no one else to share the
+task she had allotted to herself. She seemed to keep no count of the
+years, nor to realise that if her son returned he would return as a
+young man and not as a child. To the mind of Beatrix he seemed always
+her boy of four.
+
+When seventeen years had elapsed after the abduction of the heir of
+Schonburg, there came a rumour that the Outlaw of Hundsrueck was again at
+his depredations in the neighbourhood of Coblentz. He was at this time
+a man of forty-two, and if he imagined that the long interval had led to
+any forgetting on the part of the Count von Schonburg, a most unpleasant
+surprise awaited him. The Count divided his forces equally between his
+two castles of Schonburg and Gudenfels situated on the west bank and
+the east bank respectively. If either castle were attacked, arrangements
+were made for getting word to the other, when the men in that other
+would cross the Rhine and fall upon the rear of the invaders,
+hemming them thus between two fires. The Count therefore awaited with
+complacency whatever assault the Outlaw cared to deliver.
+
+It was expected that the attack would be made in the night, which was
+the usual time selected for these surprise parties that kept life
+from stagnating along the Rhine, but to the amazement of the Count the
+onslaught came in broad daylight, which seemed to indicate that the
+Outlaw had gathered boldness with years. The Count from the battlements
+scanned his opponents and saw that they were led, not by the Outlaw
+in person, but by a young man who evidently held his life lightly, so
+recklessly did he risk it. He was ever in the thick of the fray, dealing
+sword strokes with a lavish generosity which soon kindled a deep respect
+for him in the breasts of his adversaries. The Count had not waited for
+the battering in of his gates but had sent out his men to meet the enemy
+in the open, which was rash generalship, had he not known that the men
+of Gudenfels were hurrying round to the rear of the outlaws. Crossbowmen
+lined the battlements ready to cover the retreat of the defenders of
+the castle, should they meet a reverse, but now they stood in silence,
+holding their shafts, for in the meslee there was a danger of destroying
+friend as well as foe. But in spite of the superb leadership of the
+young captain, the outlaws, seemingly panic-stricken, when there was no
+particular reason, deserted their commander in a body and fled in
+spite of his frantic efforts to rally them. The young man found himself
+surrounded, and, after a brave defence, overpowered. When the Gudenfels
+men came up, there was none to oppose them, the leader of the enemy
+being within the gates of Schonburg, bound, bleeding and a prisoner. The
+attacking outlaws were nowhere to be seen.
+
+The youthful captive, unkempt as he was, appeared in the great hall
+of the castle before its grey-headed commander, seated in his chair of
+state.
+
+"You are the leader of this unwarranted incursion?" said the Count,
+sternly, as he looked upon the pinioned lad.
+
+"Warranted or unwarranted, I was the leader."
+
+"Who are you?"
+
+"I am Wilhelm, only son of the Outlaw of Hundsrueck."
+
+"The only son," murmured the Count, more to himself than to his
+auditors, the lines hardening round his firm mouth. For some moments
+there was a deep silence in the large room, then the Count spoke in a
+voice that had no touch of mercy in it:
+
+"You will be taken to a dungeon and your wounds cared for. Seven days
+from now, at this hour, you will appear again before me, at which time
+just sentence will be passed upon you, after I hear what you have to say
+in your own defence."
+
+"You may hear that now, my Lord. I besieged your castle and would
+perhaps have taken it, had I not a pack of cowardly dogs at my heels.
+I am now in your power, and although you talk glibly of justice, I know
+well what I may expect at your hands. Your delay of a week is the mere
+pretence of a hypocrite, who wishes to give colour of legality to an
+act already decided upon. I do not fear you now, and shall not fear you
+then, so spare your physicians unnecessary trouble, and give the word to
+your executioner."
+
+"Take him away, attend to his wounds, and guard him strictly. Seven days
+from now when I call for him; see to it that you can produce him."
+
+Elsa, niece of the Outlaw, watched anxiously for the return of her
+cousin from the long prepared for expedition. She had the utmost
+confidence in his bravery and the most earnest belief in his success,
+yet she watched for the home-coming of the warriors with an anxious
+heart. Perhaps a messenger would arrive telling of the capture of the
+castle; perhaps all would return with news of defeat, but for what
+actually happened the girl was entirely unprepared. That the whole
+company, practically unscathed, should march into camp with the
+astounding news that their leader had been captured and that they
+had retreated without striking a blow on his behalf, seemed to her so
+monstrous, that her first thought was fear of the retribution which
+would fall on the deserters when her uncle realised the full import of
+the tidings. She looked with apprehension at his forbidding face and was
+amazed to see something almost approaching a smile part his thin lips.
+
+"The attack has failed, then. I fear I sent out a leader incompetent
+and too young. We must make haste to remove our camp or the victorious
+Count, emboldened by success, may carry the war into the forest."
+With this amazing proclamation the Outlaw turned and walked to his hut
+followed by his niece, bewildered as one entangled in the mazes of a
+dream. When they were alone together, the girl spoke.
+
+"Uncle, has madness overcome you?"
+
+"I was never saner than now, nor happier, for years of waiting are
+approaching their culmination."
+
+"Has, then, all valour left your heart?"
+
+"Your question will be answered when next I lead my band."
+
+"When next you lead it? Where will you lead it?"
+
+"Probably in the vicinity of Mayence, toward which place we are about to
+journey."
+
+"Is it possible that you retreat from here without attempting the rescue
+of your son, now in the hands of your lifelong enemy?"
+
+"All things are possible in an existence like ours. The boy would
+assault the castle; he has failed and has allowed himself to be taken.
+It is the fortune of war and I shall not waste a man in attempting his
+rescue."
+
+Elsa stood for a moment gazing in dismay at her uncle, whose shifty eyes
+evaded all encounter with hers, then she strode to the wall, took down
+a sword and turned without a word to the door. The Outlaw sprang between
+her and the exit.
+
+"What are you about to do?" he cried.
+
+"I am about to rally all who are not cowards round me, then at their
+head, I shall attack Castle Schonburg and set Wilhelm free or share his
+fate."
+
+The Outlaw stood for a few moments, his back against the door of the
+hut, gazing in sullen anger at the girl, seemingly at a loss to know
+how she should be dealt with. At last his brow cleared and he spoke: "Is
+your interest in Wilhelm due entirely to the fact that you are cousins?"
+
+A quick flush overspread the girl's fair cheeks with colour and her eyes
+sought the floor of the hut. The point of the sword she held lowered
+until it rested on the stone flags, and she swayed slightly, leaning
+against its hilt, while the keen eyes of her uncle regarded her
+critically. She said in a voice little above a whisper, contrasting
+strongly with her determined tone of a moment before:
+
+"My interest is due to our relationship alone."
+
+"Has no word of love passed between you?"
+
+"Oh, no, no. Why do you ask me such a question?"
+
+"Because on the answer given depends whether or not I shall entrust you
+with knowledge regarding him. Swear to me by the Three Kings of Cologne
+that you will tell to none what I will now impart to you."
+
+"I swear," said Elsa, raising her right hand, and holding aloft the
+sword with it.
+
+"Wilhelm is not my son, nor is he kin to either of us, but is the heir
+of the greatest enemy of our house, Count Herbert of Schonburg. I lured
+him from his father's home as a child and now send him back as a man.
+Some time later I shall acquaint the Count with the fact that the young
+man he captured is his only son."
+
+The girl looked at her uncle, her eyes wide with horror.
+
+"It is your purpose then that the father shall execute his own son?"
+
+The Outlaw shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"The result lies not with me, but with the Count. He was once a crusader
+and the teaching of his master is to the effect that the measure he
+metes to others, the same shall be meted to him, if I remember aright
+the tenets of his faith. Count Herbert wreaking vengeance upon my
+supposed son, is really bringing destruction upon his own, which seems
+but justice. If he show mercy to me and mine, he is bestowing the
+blessed balm thereof on himself and his house. In this imperfect world,
+few events are ordered with such admirable equity as the capture of
+young Lord Wilhelm, by that haughty and bloodthirsty warrior, his
+father. Let us then await with patience the outcome, taking care not to
+interfere with the designs of Providence."
+
+"The design comes not from God but from the evil one himself."
+
+"It is within the power of the Deity to overturn even the best plans of
+the fiend, if it be His will. Let us see to it that we do not intervene
+between two such ghostly potentates, remembering that we are but puny
+creatures, liable to err."
+
+"The plot is of your making, secretly held, all these years, with
+unrelenting malignity. The devil himself is not wicked enough to send
+an innocent, loyal lad to his doom in his own mother's house, with his
+father as his executioner. Oh, uncle, uncle, repent and make reparation
+before it is too late."
+
+"Let the Count repent and make reparation. I have now nothing to do with
+the matter. As I have said, if the Count is merciful, he is like to be
+glad of it later in his life; if he is revengeful, visiting the sin
+of the father on the son, innocent, I think you called him, then he
+deserves what his own hand deals out to himself. But we have talked too
+much already. I ask you to remember your oath, for I have told you this
+so that you will not bring ridicule upon me by a womanish appeal to my
+own men, who would but laugh at you in any case and think me a dotard in
+allowing women overmuch to say in the camp. Get you back to your women,
+for we move camp instantly. Even if I were to relent, as you term it,
+the time is past, for Wilhelm is either dangling from the walls of
+Castle Schonburg or he is pardoned, and all that we could do would be of
+little avail. Prepare you then instantly for our journey."
+
+Elsa, with a sigh, went slowly to the women's quarters, her oath, the
+most terrible that may be taken on the Rhine, weighing heavily upon her.
+Resolving not to break it, yet determined in some way to save Wilhelm,
+the girl spent the first part of the journey in revolving plans of
+escape, for she found as the cavalcade progressed that her uncle did not
+trust entirely to the binding qualities of the oath she had taken, but
+had her closely watched as well. As the expedition progressed farther
+and farther south in the direction of Mayence, vigilance was relaxed,
+and on the evening of the second day, when a camp had been selected for
+the night, Elsa escaped and hurried eastward through the forest until
+she came to the Rhine, which was to be her guide to the castle of
+Schonburg. The windings of the river made the return longer than the
+direct journey through the wilderness had been, and in addition to this,
+Elsa was compelled to circumambulate the numerous castles, climbing the
+hills to avoid them, fearing capture and delay, so it was not until the
+sun was declining on the sixth day after the assault on the castle that
+she stood, weary and tattered and unkempt, before the closed gates of
+Schonburg, and beat feebly with her small hand against the oak, crying
+for admittance. The guard of the gate, seeing through the small lattice
+but a single dishevelled woman standing there, anticipating treachery,
+refused to open the little door in the large leaf until his captain
+was summoned, who, after some parley, allowed the girl to enter the
+courtyard.
+
+"What do you want?" asked the captain, curtly.
+
+She asked instead of answered:
+
+"Is your prisoner still alive?"
+
+"The son of the Outlaw? Yes, but he would be a confident prophet who
+would predict as much for him at this hour to-morrow."
+
+"Take me, I beg of you, to the Countess."
+
+"That is as it may be. Who are you and what is your business with her?"
+
+"I shall reveal myself to her Ladyship, and to her will state the object
+of my coming."
+
+"Your object is plain enough. You are some tatterdemalion of the forest
+come to beg the life of your lover, who hangs to-morrow, or I am a
+heathen Saracen."
+
+"I do beseech you, tell the Countess that a miserable woman craves
+permission to speak with her."
+
+What success might have attended her petition is uncertain, but the
+problem was solved by the appearance of the Countess herself on the
+terrace above them, which ran the length of the castle on its western
+side. The lady leaned over the parapet and watched with evident
+curiosity the strange scene in the courtyard below, the captain and his
+men in a ring around the maiden of the forest, who occupying the centre
+of the circle, peered now in one face, now in another, as if searching
+for some trace of sympathy in the stolid countenances of the warriors
+all about her. Before the captain could reply, his lady addressed him.
+
+"Whom have you there, Conrad?"
+
+It seemed as if the unready captain would get no word said, for again
+before he had made answer the girl spoke to the Countess.
+
+"I do implore your Ladyship to grant me speech with you."
+
+The Countess looked down doubtfully upon the supplicant, evidently
+prejudiced by her rags and wildly straying hair. The captain cleared his
+throat and opened his mouth, but the girl eagerly forestalled him.
+
+"Turn me not away, my Lady, because I come in unhandsome guise, for
+I have travelled far through forest and over rock, climbing hills and
+skirting the river's brink to be where I am. The reluctant wilderness,
+impeding me, has enviously torn my garments, leaving me thus ashamed
+before you, but, dear Lady, let not that work to my despite. Grant my
+petition and my prayer shall ever be that the dearest wish of your own
+heart go not unsatisfied."
+
+"Alas!" said the Countess, with a deep sigh, "my dearest wish gives
+little promise of fulfilment."
+
+Conrad, seeing that the lady thought of her lost son, frowned angrily,
+and in low growling tones bade the girl have a care what she said, but
+Elsa was not to be silenced and spoke impetuously.
+
+"Oh, Countess, the good we do often returns to us tenfold; mercy calls
+forth mercy. An acorn planted produces an oak; cruelty sown leaves us
+cruelty to reap. It is not beyond imagination that the soothing of my
+bruised heart may bring balm to your own."
+
+"Take the girl to the east room, Conrad, and let her await me there,"
+said the Countess.
+
+"With a guard, your Ladyship?"
+
+"Without a guard, Conrad."
+
+"Pardon me, my Lady, but I distrust her. She may have designs against
+you."
+
+The Countess had little acquaintance with fear. She smiled at the
+anxious captain and said:
+
+"Her only desire is to reach my heart, Conrad."
+
+"God grant it may not be with a dagger," grumbled the captain, as he
+made haste to obey the commands of the lady.
+
+When the Countess entered the room in which Elsa stood, her first
+question was an inquiry regarding her visitor's name and station, the
+telling of which seemed but an indifferent introduction for the girl,
+who could not help noting that the Countess shrank, involuntarily from
+her when she heard the Outlaw mentioned.
+
+"Our house has little cause to confer favour on any kin of the Outlaw of
+Hundsrueck," the lady said at last.
+
+"I do not ask for favour, my Lady. I have come to give your revenge
+completeness, if it is revenge you seek. The young man now imprisoned in
+Schonburg is so little esteemed by my uncle that not a single blow has
+been struck on his behalf. If the Count thinks to hurt the Outlaw by
+executing Wilhelm, he will be gravely in error, for my uncle and his men
+regard the captive so lightly that they have gone beyond Mayence without
+even making an effort toward his rescue. As for me, my uncle bestows
+upon me such affection as he is capable of, and would be more grieved
+should I die, than if any other of his kin were taken from him. Release
+Wilhelm and I will gladly take his place, content to receive such
+punishment as his Lordship, the Count, considers should be imposed on a
+relative of the Outlaw."
+
+"What you ask is impossible. The innocent should not suffer for the
+guilty."
+
+"My Lady, the innocent have suffered for others since the world began,
+and will continue to do so till it ends. Our only hope of entering
+Heaven comes through Him who was free from sin being condemned in our
+stead. I do beseech your Ladyship to let me take the place of Wilhelm."
+
+"You love this young man," said the Countess, seating herself, and
+regarding the girl with the intent interest which women, whose own love
+affair has prospered, feel when they are confronted with an incident
+that reminds them of their youth.
+
+"Not otherwise than as a friend and dear companion, my Lady," replied
+Elsa, blushing. "When he was a little boy and I a baby, he carried me
+about in his arms, and since that time we have been comrades together."
+
+"Comradeship stands for much, my girl," said the Countess, in kindly
+manner, "but it rarely leads one friend willingly to accept death
+for another. I have not seen this young man whom you would so gladly
+liberate; the dealing with prisoners is a matter concerning my husband
+alone; I never interfere, but if I should now break this rule because
+you have travelled so far, and are so anxious touching the prisoner's
+welfare, would you be willing to accept my conditions?"
+
+"Yes, my Lady, so that his life were saved."
+
+"He is a comely young man doubtless, and there are some beautiful women
+within this castle; would it content you if he were married to one of my
+women, and so escaped with life?"
+
+A sudden pallor overspread the girl's face, and she clasped her hands
+nervously together. Tears welled into her eyes, and she stood thus for a
+few moments unable to speak. At last she murmured, with some difficulty:
+
+"Wilhelm can care nothing for any here, not having beheld them, and it
+would be wrong to coerce a man in such extremity. I would rather die for
+him, that he might owe his life to me."
+
+"But he would live to marry some one else."
+
+"If I were happy in heaven, why should I begrudge Wilhelm's happiness on
+earth?"
+
+"Ah, why, indeed, Elsa? And yet you disclaim with a sigh. Be assured
+that I shall do everything in my power to save your lover, and that not
+at the expense of your own life or happiness. Now come with me, for I
+would have you arrayed in garments more suited to your youth and your
+beauty, that you may not be ashamed when you meet this most fascinating
+prisoner, for such he must be, when you willingly risk so much for his
+sake."
+
+The Countess, after conducting the girl to the women's apartments,
+sought her husband, but found to her dismay that he showed little sign
+of concurrence with her sympathetic views regarding the fate of the
+prisoner. It was soon evident to her that Count Herbert had determined
+upon the young man's destruction, and that there was some concealed
+reason for this obdurate conclusion which the Count did not care to
+disclose. Herbert von Schonburg was thoroughly convinced that his son
+was dead, mutilated beyond recognition by the Outlaw of Hundsrueck, yet
+this he would not tell to Beatrix, his wife, who cherished the unshaken
+belief that the boy still lived and would be restored to her before she
+died. The Count for years had waited for his revenge, and even though
+his wife now pleaded that he forego it, the Master of Schonburg was in
+no mind to comply, though he said little in answer to her persuading.
+The incoming of Elsa to the castle merely convinced him that some
+trick was meditated on the part of the Outlaw, and the sentimental
+consideration urged by the Countess had small weight with him. He gave
+a curt order to his captain to double his guards around the stronghold,
+and relax no vigilance until the case of the prisoner had been finally
+dealt with. He refused permission for Elsa to see her cousin, even in
+the presence of witnesses, as he was certain that her coming was for the
+purpose of communicating to him some message from the Outlaw, the news
+of whose alleged withdrawal he did not believe.
+
+"With the country at peace, the Outlaw has instigated, and his son has
+executed, an attack upon this castle. The penalty is death. To-morrow
+I shall hear what he has to say in his defence, and shall deliver
+judgment, I hope, justly. If his kinswoman wishes to see him, she may
+come to his trial, and then will be in a position to testify to her
+uncle that sentence has been pronounced in accordance with the law
+that rules the Rhine provinces. If she has communication to make to
+her cousin, let it be made in the Judgment Hall in the presence of all
+therein."
+
+The Countess, with sinking heart, left her husband, having the tact
+not to press upon him too strongly the claims of mercy as well as of
+justice. She knew that his kind nature would come to the assistance of
+her own suing, and deeply regretted that the time for milder influences
+to prevail was so short. In a brief conference with Elsa, she
+endeavoured to prepare the girl's mind for a disastrous ending of her
+hopes.
+
+Some minutes before the hour set for Wilhelm's trial, the Countess
+Beatrix, followed by Elsa, entered the Judgment Hall to find the Count
+seated moodily in the great chair at one end of the long room, in whose
+ample inclosure many an important state conference had been held,
+each of the forefathers of the present owner being seated in turn as
+president of the assemblage. Some thought of this seemed to oppress the
+Count's mind, for seated here with set purpose to extinguish his enemy's
+line, the remembrance that his own race died with him was not likely to
+be banished. The Countess brought Elsa forward and in a whisper urged
+her to plead for her kinsman before his judge. The girl's eloquence
+brought tears to the eyes of Beatrix, but the Count's impassive face
+was sphinx-like in its settled gloom. Only once during the appeal did
+he speak, and that was when Elsa offered herself as a sacrifice to his
+revenge, then he said, curtly:
+
+"We do not war against women. You are as free to go as you were to come,
+but you must not return."
+
+A dull fear began to chill the girl's heart and to check her earnest
+pleading: She felt that her words were making no impression on the
+silent man seated before her, and this knowledge brought weak hesitation
+to her tongue and faltering to her speech. In despair she wrung her
+hands and cried: "Oh, my Lord, my Lord, think of your own son held at
+the mercy of an enemy. Think of him as a young man just the age of your
+prisoner, at a time when life is sweetest to him! Think, think, I beg of
+you----"
+
+The Count roused himself like a lion who had been disturbed, and cried
+in a voice that resounded hoarsely from the rafters of the arched roof,
+startling the Countess with the unaccustomed fierceness of its tone:
+
+"Yes, I will think of him--of my only son in the clutch of his bitter
+foe, and I thank you for reminding me of him, little as I have for these
+long years needed spur to my remembrance. Bring in the prisoner."
+
+When Wilhelm was brought in, heavy manacles on his wrists, walking
+between the men who guarded him, Elsa looked from judge to culprit, and
+her heart leaped with joy. Surely such blindness could not strike this
+whole concourse that some one within that hall would not see that, here
+confronted, stood father and son, on the face of one a frown of anger,
+on the face of the other a frown of defiance, expressions almost
+identical, the only difference being the thirty years that divided their
+ages. For a few moments the young man did not distinguish Elsa in
+the throng, then a glad cry of recognition escaped him, and the cloud
+cleared from his face as if a burst of sunshine had penetrated the
+sombre-coloured windows and had thrown its illuminating halo around his
+head. He spoke impetuously, leaning forward:
+
+"Elsa, Elsa, how came you here?" then, a shadow of concern crossing his
+countenance, "you are not a prisoner, I trust?"
+
+"No, no, Wilhelm, I am here to beseech the clemency of the Count--"
+
+"Not for me!" exclaimed the prisoner, defiantly, drawing himself up
+proudly: "not for me, Elsa. You must never ask favour from a robber
+and a coward like, Count von Schonburg, brave only in his own Judgment
+Hall."
+
+"Oh, Wilhelm, Wilhelm, have a care what you say, or you will break my
+heart. And your proclamation is far from true. The Count is a brave man
+who has time and again proved himself so, and my only hope is that
+he will prove as merciful as he is undoubtedly courageous. Join your
+prayers with mine, Wilhelm, and beg for mercy rather than justice."
+
+"I beg from no man, either mercy or justice. I am here, my Lord Count,
+ready to receive whatever you care to bestow, and I ask you to make the
+waiting brief for the sake of the women present, for I am I sure the
+beautiful, white-haired lady there dislikes this traffic in men's lives
+as much as does my fair-haired cousin."
+
+"Oh, my lord Count, do not heed what he says; his words but show the
+recklessness of youth; hold them not against him."
+
+"Indeed I mean each word I say, and had I iron in my hand instead of
+round my wrists, his Lordship would not sit so calmly facing me."
+
+Elsa, seeing how little she had accomplished with either man began to
+weep helplessly, and the Count, who had not interrupted the colloquy,
+listening unmoved to the contumely heaped upon him by the prisoner, now
+said to the girl:
+
+"Have you finished your questioning?"
+
+Receiving no answer, he said to the prisoner after a pause:
+
+"Why did you move against this castle?"
+
+"Because I hoped to take it, burn it, and hang or behead its owner."
+
+"Oh, Wilhelm, Wilhelm!" wailed the girl.
+
+"And, having failed, what do you expect?"
+
+"To be hanged, or beheaded, depending on whether your Lordship is the
+more expert with a cord or with an axe."
+
+"You called me a coward, and I might have retorted that in doing so you
+took advantage of your position as prisoner, but setting that aside, and
+speaking as man to man, what ground have you for such an accusation?"
+
+"We cannot speak as man to man, for I am bound and you are free, but
+touching the question of your cowardice, I have heard it said by those
+who took part in the defence of my father's castle, when you attacked it
+and destroyed it, commanding a vastly superior force, my father leaped
+from the wall and dared you to follow him. For a moment, they told
+me, it seemed that you would accept the challenge, but you contented
+yourself with calling on others to do what you feared to do yourself,
+and thus my father, meeting no opposition from a man of his own rank,
+was compelled to destroy the unfortunate serfs who stood in his way and,
+so cut out a path to safety. In refusing to accept the plunge he took,
+you branded yourself a coward, and once a toward always a coward."
+
+"Oh, Wilhelm," cried Elsa, in deep distress at the young man's lack of
+diplomacy, while she could not but admire his ill-timed boldness, "speak
+not so to the Count, for I am sure what you say is not true."
+
+"Indeed," growled Captain Conrad, "the young villain is more crafty than
+we gave him credit for. Instead of a rope he will have a challenge from
+the Count, and so die honourably like a man, in place of being strangled
+like the dog he is."
+
+"Dear Wilhelm, for my sake, do not persist in this course, but throw
+yourself on the mercy of the Count. Why retail here the irresponsible
+gossip of a camp, which I am sure contains not a word of truth, so far
+as the Count is concerned."
+
+Herbert of Schonburg held up his hand for silence, and made confession
+with evident difficulty.
+
+"What the young man says with harshness is true in semblance, if not
+strictly so in action. For the moment, thinking of my wife and child,
+I hesitated, and when the hesitation was gone the opportunity was gone
+with it. My punishment has been severe; by that moment's cowardice, I
+am now a childless man, and therefore perhaps value my life less highly
+than I held it at the time we speak of. Hear then, your sentence: You
+will be taken to the top of the wall, the iron removed from your wrists,
+and your sword placed in your hand. You will then leap from that wall,
+and if you are unhurt, I will leap after you. Should your sword serve
+you as well as your father's served him, you will be free of the forest,
+and this girl is at liberty to accompany you. I ask her now to betake
+herself to the field outside the gate, there to await the result of our
+contest."
+
+At this there was an outcry on the part of Countess Beatrix, who
+protested against her husband placing himself in this unnecessary
+jeopardy, but the Count was firm and would permit no interference with
+his sentence. Elsa was in despair at the unaccountable blindness of all
+concerned, not knowing that the Count was convinced his son was dead,
+and that the Countess thought continually of her boy as a child of four,
+taking no account of the years that had passed, although her reason, had
+she applied reason to that which touched her affections only, would have
+told her, he must now be a stalwart young man and not the little lad she
+had last held in her arms. For a moment Elsa wavered in her allegiance
+to the oath she had taken, but she saw against the wall the great
+crucifix which had been placed there by the first crusader who had
+returned to the castle from the holy wars and she breathed a prayer as
+she passed it, that the heir of this stubborn house might not be cut off
+in his youth through the sightless rancour that seemed to pervade it.
+
+The Count tried to persuade his weeping wife not to accompany him to the
+walls, but she would not be left behind, and so, telling Conrad to keep
+close watch upon her, in case that in her despair she might attempt to
+harm herself, his lordship led the way to the battlements.
+
+Wilhelm, at first jubilant that he was allowed to take part in a sword
+contest rather than an execution, paused for a moment as he came to the
+courtyard, and looked about him in a dazed manner, once or twice drawing
+his hand across his eyes, as if to perfect his vision. Some seeing him
+thus stricken silent and thoughtful, surmised that the young man was
+like to prove more courageous in word than in action; others imagined
+that the sudden coming from the semi-gloom of the castle interior into
+the bright light dazzled him. The party climbed the flight of stone
+steps which led far upward to the platform edged by the parapet from
+which the spring was to be made. The young man walked up and down the
+promenade, unheeding those around him, seeming like one in a dream,
+groping for something he failed to find. The onlookers watched him
+curiously, wondering at his change of demeanour.
+
+Suddenly he dropped his sword on the stones at his feet, held up his
+hands and cried aloud:
+
+"I have jumped from here before--when I was a lad--a baby almost--I
+remember it all now--where am I--when was I here before--where is my
+wooden sword--and where is Conrad, who made it--Conrad, where are you?"
+
+The captain was the first to realise what had happened. He stepped
+hurriedly forward, scrutinising his late prisoner, the light of
+recognition, in his eyes.
+
+"It is the young master," he shouted. "My Lord Count, this is no kinsman
+of the Outlaw, but your own son, a man grown."
+
+The Count stood amazed, as incapable of motion as a statue of stone; the
+countess, gazing with dreamy eyes, seemed trying to adjust her inward
+vision of the lad of four with the outward reality of the man of
+twenty-one. In the silence rose the clear sweet voice of Elsa without
+the walls, her face upturned like a painting of the Madonna, her hands
+clasped in front of her.
+
+"Dear Virgin Mother in Heaven, I thank thee that my prayer was not
+unheard, and bear me witness that I have kept my oath--I have kept
+my oath, and may Thy intervention show a proud and sinful people the
+blackness of revenge."
+
+Count Herbert, rousing himself from his stupor, appealed loudly to the
+girl.
+
+"Woman, is this indeed my son, and, if so, why did you not speak before
+we came to such extremity?"
+
+"I cannot answer. I have sworn an oath. If you would learn who stands
+beside you, send a messenger to the Outlaw, saying you have killed him,
+as indeed you purposed doing," then stretching out her arms, she said,
+with faltering voice: "Wilhelm, farewell," and turning, fled toward the
+forest.
+
+"Elsa, Elsa, come back!" the young man cried, foot on the parapet, but
+the girl paid no heed to his commanding summons, merely waving her hand
+without looking over her shoulder.
+
+"Elsa!"
+
+The name rang out so thrillingly strange that its reverberation
+instantly arrested the flying footsteps of the girl. Instinctively she
+knew it was the voice of a man falling rapidly through the air.
+She turned in time to see Wilhelm strike the ground, the impetus
+precipitating him prone on his face, where he lay motionless. The cry
+of horror from the battlements was echoed by her own as she sped swiftly
+toward him. The young man sprang to his feet as she approached and
+caught her breathless in his arms.
+
+"Ah, Elsa," he said, tenderly, "forgive me the fright I gave you, but
+I knew of old your fleetness of foot, and if the forest once encircled
+you, how was I ever to find you?"
+
+The girl made no effort to escape from her imprisonment, and showed
+little desire to exchange the embrace she endured for that of the
+forest.
+
+"Though I should blush to say it, Wilhelm, I fear I am easily found,
+when you are the searcher."
+
+"Then let old Schloss Schonburg claim you, Elsa, that the walls which
+beheld a son go forth, may see a son and daughter return."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+A CITY OF FEAR
+
+
+The Countess Beatrix von Schonburg warmly welcomed her lost son and her
+newly-found daughter. The belief of Beatrix in Wilhelm's ultimate return
+had never wavered during all the long years of his absence, and although
+she had to translate her dream of the child of four into a reality
+that included a stalwart young man of twenty-one, the readjustment
+was speedily accomplished. Before a week had passed it seemed to her
+delighted heart that the boy had never left the castle. The Countess had
+liked Elsa from the first moment when she saw her, ragged, unkempt and
+forlorn, among the lowering, suspicious men-at-arms in the courtyard,
+and now that she knew the dangers and the privations the girl had braved
+for the sake of Wilhelm, the affectionate heart of Beatrix found ample
+room for the motherless Elsa.
+
+With the Count, the process of mental reconstruction was slower, not
+only on account of his former conviction that his son was dead, but
+also because of the deep distrust in which he held the Outlaw. He said
+little, as was his custom, but often sat with brooding brows, intently
+regarding his son, gloomy doubt casting a shadow over his stern
+countenance. Might not this be a well-laid plot on the part of the
+Outlaw to make revenge complete by placing a von Weithoff in the halls
+of Schonburg as master of that ancient stronghold? The circumstances in
+which identity was disclosed, although sufficient to convince every
+one else in the castle, appeared at times to the Count but the stronger
+evidence of the Outlaw's craft and subtlety. If the young man were
+actually the son of von Weithoff, then undoubtedly the Outlaw had run
+great risk of having him hanged forthwith, but on the other hand, the
+prize to be gained, comprising as it did two notable castles and two
+wide domains, was a stake worth playing high for, and a stake which
+appealed strongly to a houseless, landless man, with not even a
+name worth leaving to his son. Thus, while the Countess lavished
+her affection on young Wilhelm, noticing nothing of her husband's
+distraction in this excessive happiness, Count Herbert sat alone in the
+lofty Knight's Hall, his elbows resting on the table before him, his
+head buried in his hands, ruminating on the strange transformation that
+had taken place, endeavouring to weigh the evidence _pro_ and _con_
+with the impartial mind of an outsider, becoming the more bewildered the
+deeper he penetrated into the mystery.
+
+It was in this despondent attitude that Elsa found him a few days
+after the leap from the wall that had caused her return to Schonburg,
+a willing captive. The Count did not look up when she entered, and the
+girl stood for a few moments in silence near him. At last she spoke in
+a low voice, hesitating slightly, nevertheless going with incisive
+directness into the very heart of the problem that baffled Count
+Herbert.
+
+"My Lord, you do not believe that Wilhelm is indeed your son."
+
+The master of Schonburg raised his head slowly and looked searchingly
+into the frank face of the girl, gloomy distrust reflected from his own
+countenance.
+
+"Were you sent by your uncle to allay my suspicion?
+
+"No, my Lord. I thought that a hint of the truth being given, Nature
+would come to the assistance of mutual recognition. Such has been
+the case between my lady and her son, but I see that you are still
+unconvinced."
+
+"For my sins, I know something of the wickedness of this world, a
+knowledge from which her purity has protected the Countess. You believe
+that Wilhelm is my son?"
+
+"I have never said so, my Lord."
+
+"What you did say was that you had taken an oath. You are too young and
+doubtless too innocent to be a party to any plot, but you may have been
+the tool of an unscrupulous man, who knew the oath would be broken when
+the strain of a strong affection was brought to bear upon it."
+
+"Yet, my Lord, I kept my oath, although I saw my--my--"
+
+The girl hesitated and blushed, but finally spoke up bravely:
+
+"I saw my lover led to his destruction. If Wilhelm is my cousin, then
+did his father take a desperate chance in trusting first, to my escape
+from the camp, and second to my perjury. You endow him with more than
+human foresight, my Lord."
+
+"He builded on your love for Wilhelm, which he had seen growing under
+his eye before either you or the lad had suspicion of its existence. I
+know the man, and he is a match for Satan, his master."
+
+"But Satan has been discomfited ere now by the angels of light, and
+even by holy men, if legend tells truly. I have little knowledge of the
+world, as you have said, but the case appears to me one of the simplest.
+If my uncle wished the bitterest revenge on you, what could be more
+terrible than cause you to be the executioner of your own son? The
+vengeance, however, to be complete, depends on his being able to place
+before you incontrovertible proof that you were the father of the
+victim. Send, therefore, a messenger to him, one from Gudenfels, who
+knows nothing of what has happened in this castle of Schonburg, and who
+is therefore unable to disclose, even if forced to confess, that Wilhelm
+is alive. Let the messenger inform my uncle that his son is no more,
+which is true enough, and then await the Outlaw's reply. And meanwhile
+let me venture to warn you, my Lord, that it would be well to conceal
+your disbelief from Wilhelm, for he is high-spirited, and if he gets
+but an inkling that you distrust him, he will depart; for not all your
+possessions will hold your son if he once learns that you doubt him,
+so you are like to find yourself childless again, if your present mood
+masters you much longer."
+
+The Count drew a deep sigh, then roused himself and seemed to shake off
+the influence that enchained him.
+
+"Thank you, my girl," he cried, with something of the old ring in his
+voice, "I shall do as you advise, and if this embassy results as you
+say, you will ever find your staunchest friend in me."
+
+He held out his hand to Elsa, and departed to his other castle of
+Gudenfels on the opposite side of the Rhine. From thence he sent a
+messenger who had no knowledge of what was happening in Schonburg.
+
+When at last the messenger returned from the Outlaw's camp, he brought
+with him a wailing woman and grim tidings that he feared to deliver.
+Thrice his lordship demanded his account, the last time with such
+sternness that the messenger quailed before him.
+
+"My Lord," he stammered at last, "a frightful thing has taken
+place--would that I had died before it was told to me. The young man
+your lordship hanged was no other than----'
+
+"Well, why do you pause? You were going to say he was my own son. What
+proof does the Outlaw offer that such was indeed the case?"
+
+"Alas! my Lord, the proof seems clear enough. Here with me is young Lord
+Wilhelm's nurse, whose first neglect led to his abduction, and who fled
+to the forest after him, and was never found. She followed him to the
+Outlaw's camp, and was there kept prisoner by him until she was at last
+given charge of the lad, under oath that she would teach him to forget
+who he was, the fierce Outlaw threatening death to both woman and child
+were his orders disobeyed. She has come willingly with me hoping to
+suffer death now that one she loved more than son has died through her
+first fault."
+
+Then to the amazement of the pallid messenger the Count laughed aloud
+and called for Wilhelm, who, when he was brought, clasped the trembling
+old woman in his arms, overjoyed to see her again and eager to learn
+news of the camp. How was the stout Gottlieb? Had the messenger seen
+Captain Heinrich? and so on.
+
+"Indeed, my young Lord," answered the overjoyed woman "there was such
+turmoil in the camp that I was glad to be quit of it with unbroken
+bones. When the Outlaw proclaimed that you were hanged, there was
+instant rebellion among his followers, who thought that your capture was
+merely a trick to be speedily amended, being intended to form a laughing
+matter to your discomfiture when you returned. They swore they would
+have torn down Schonburg with their bare hands rather than have left you
+in jeopardy, had they known their retreat imperilled your life."
+
+"The brave lads!" cried the young man in a glow of enthusiasm, "and here
+have I been maligning them for cowards! What was the outcome?"
+
+"That I do not know, my Lord, being glad to escape from the ruffians
+with unfractured head."
+
+The result of the embassy was speedily apparent at Schonburg. Two days
+later, in the early morning, the custodians at the gate were startled
+by the shrill Outlaw yell, which had on so many occasions carried terror
+with it into the hearts of Rhine strongholds.
+
+"Come out, Hangman of Schonburg!" they shouted, "come out, murderer of
+a defenceless prisoner. Come out, before we drag you forth, for the rope
+is waiting for your neck and the gallows tree is waiting for the rope."
+
+Count Herbert was first on the battlements, and curtly he commanded his
+men not to launch bolt at the invaders, knowing the outlaws mistakenly
+supposed him to be the executioner of their former comrade. A moment
+later young Wilhelm himself appeared on the wall above the gate, and,
+lifting his arms above his head raised a great shout of joy at seeing
+there collected his old companions, calling this one or that by name
+as he recognised them among the seething, excited throng. There was an
+instant's cessation of the clamour, then the outlaws sent forth a cheer
+that echoed from all the hills around. They brandished their weapons
+aloft, and cheered again and again, the garrison of the castle, now
+bristling along the battlements, joining in the tumult with strident
+voices. Gottlieb advanced some distance toward the gate, and holding up
+his hand for silence addressed Wilhelm.
+
+"Young master," he cried, "we have deposed von Weithoff, and would have
+hanged him, but that he escaped during the night, fled to Mayence and
+besought protection of the Archbishop. If you will be our leader we will
+sack Mayence and hang the Archbishop from his own cathedral tower."
+
+"That can I hardly do, Gottlieb, as a messenger has been sent to the
+Archbishop asking him to come to Schonburg and marry Elsa to me. He
+might take our invasion as an unfriendly act and refuse to perform the
+ceremony."
+
+Gottlieb scratched his head as one in perplexity, seeing before him a
+question of etiquette that he found difficult to solve. At last he said:
+
+"What need of Archbishop? You and Elsa have been brought up among us,
+therefore confer honour on our free company by being married by our own
+Monk who has tied many a knot tight enough to hold the most wayward
+of our band. The aisles of the mighty oaks are more grand than the
+cathedral at Mayence or the great hall of Schonburg."
+
+"Indeed I am agreed, if Elsa is willing. We will be married first in the
+forest and then by the Archbishop in the great hall of Schonburg."
+
+"In such case there will be delay, for now that I bethink me, his
+Lordship of Mayence has taken himself to Frankfort, where he is to meet
+the Archbishops of Treves and Cologne who will presently journey to the
+capital We were thinking of falling upon his reverence of Cologne as he
+passed up the river, unless he comes with an escort too numerous for us,
+which, alas! is most likely, so suspicious has the world grown."
+
+"You will be wise not to meddle with the princes of the Church, be their
+escorts large or small."
+
+"Then, Master Wilhelm, be our leader, for we are likely to get into
+trouble unless a man of quality is at our head."
+
+Wilhelm breathed a deep sigh and glanced sideways at his father, who
+stood some distance off, leaning on his two-handed sword, a silent
+spectator of the meeting.
+
+"The free life of the forest is no more for me, Gottlieb. My duty is
+here in the castle of my forefathers, much though I grieve to part with
+you."
+
+This decision seemed to have a depressing effect on the outlaws within
+hearing. Gottlieb retired, and the band consulted together for a time,
+then their spokesman again advanced.
+
+"Some while since," he began in dolorous tone, "we appealed to the
+Emperor to pardon us, promising in such case to quit our life of
+outlawry and take honest service with those nobles who needed stout
+blades, but his Majesty sent reply that if we came unarmed to the
+capital and tendered submission, he would be graciously pleased to hang
+a round dozen of us to be selected by him, scourge the rest through the
+streets of Frankfort and so bestow his clemency on such as survived.
+This imperial tender we did not accept, as there was some uncertainty
+regarding whose neck should feel the rope and whose back the scourge.
+While all were willing to admit that more than a dozen of us sorely
+needed hanging, yet each man seemed loath to claim precedence over
+his neighbour in wickedness, and desired, in some sort, a voice in the
+selection of the victims. But if you will accept our following, Master
+Wilhelm, we will repair at once to Frankfort and make submission to his
+Majesty the Emperor. The remnant being well scourged, will then return
+to Schonburg to place themselves under your command."
+
+"Are you willing then to hang for me, Gottlieb?"
+
+"I hanker not after the hanging, but if hang we must, there is no man
+I would rather hang for than Wilhelm, formerly of the forest, but now,
+alas! of Schonburg. And so say they all without dissent, therefore the
+unanimity must needs include the eleven other danglers."
+
+"Then draw nigh, all of you, to the walls and hear my decision."
+
+Gottlieb waving his arms, hailed the outlaws trooping to the walls, and,
+his upraised hand bringing silence, Wilhelm spoke:
+
+"Such sacrifice as you propose, I cannot accept, yet I dearly wish to
+lead a band of men like you. Elsa and I shall be married by our ancient
+woodland father in the forest and then by the Abbot of St. Werner in the
+hall of Schonburg. We will make our wedding journey to Frankfort, and
+you shall be our escort and our protectors."
+
+There was for some moments such cheering at this that the young man was
+compelled to pause in his address, and then as the outcry was again and
+again renewed, he looked about for the cause and saw that Elsa and his
+mother had taken places on the balcony which overlooked the animated
+scene. The beautiful girl had been recognised by the rebels and she
+waved her hand in response to their shouting.
+
+"We will part company," resumed Wilhelm, "as near Frankfort as it is
+safe for you to go, and my wife and I, accompanied by a score of men
+from this castle, will enter the capital. I will beg your complete
+pardon from his Majesty and if at first it is refused, I think Elsa
+will have better success with the Empress, who may incline her imperial
+husband toward clemency. All this I promise, providing I receive the
+consent and support of my father, and I am not likely to be refused,
+for he already knows the persuasive power of my dear betrothed when she
+pleads for mercy."
+
+"My consent and support I most willingly bestow," said the Count, with a
+fervour that left no doubt of his sincerity.
+
+The double marriage was duly solemnised, and Wilhelm, with his
+newly-made wife, completed their journey to Frankfort, escorted until
+almost within sight of the capital by five hundred and twenty men, but
+they entered the gates of the city accompanied by only the score of
+Schonburg men, the remaining five hundred concealing themselves in the
+rough country, as they well knew how to do.
+
+Neither Wilhelm nor Elsa had ever seen a large city before, and silence
+fell upon them as they approached the western gate, for they were coming
+upon a world strange to them, and Wilhelm felt an unaccustomed elation
+stir within his breast, as if he were on the edge of some adventure
+that might have an important bearing on his future. Instead of passing
+peaceably through the gate as he had expected, the cavalcade was
+halted after the two had ridden under the gloomy stone archway, and
+the portcullis was dropped with a sudden clang, shutting out the twenty
+riders who followed. One of several officers who sat on a stone bench
+that fronted the guard-house within the walls, rose and came forward.
+
+"What is your name and quality?" he demanded, gruffly.
+
+"I am Wilhelm, son of Count von Schonberg."
+
+"What is your business here in Frankfort?"
+
+"My business relates to the emperor, and is not to be delivered to the
+first underling who has the impudence to make inquiry," replied
+Wilhelm in a haughty tone, which could scarcely be regarded, in the
+circumstances, as diplomatic.
+
+Nevertheless, the answer did not seem to be resented, but rather
+appeared to have a subduing effect on the questioner, who turned, as if
+for further instruction, to another officer, evidently his superior in
+rank. The latter now rose, came forward, doffing his cap, and said:
+
+"I understand your answer better than he to whom it was given, my Lord."
+
+"I am glad there is one man of sense at a gate of the capital," said
+Wilhelm, with no relaxation of his dignity, but nevertheless bewildered
+at the turn the talk had taken, seeing there was something underneath
+all this which he did not comprehend, yet resolved to carry matters with
+a high hand until greater clearness came to the situation.
+
+"Will you order the portcullis raised and permit my men to follow me?"
+
+"They are but temporarily detained until we decide where to quarter
+them, my Lord. You know," he added, lowering his voice, "the necessity
+for caution. Are you for the Archbishop of Treves, of Cologne, or of
+Mayence?"
+
+"I am from the district of Mayence, of course."
+
+"And are you for the archbishop?"
+
+"For the archbishop certainly. He would have honoured me by performing
+our marriage ceremony had he not been called by important affairs of
+state to the capital, as you may easily learn by asking him, now that he
+is within these walls."
+
+The officer bowed low with great obsequiousness and said:
+
+"Your reply is more than sufficient, my Lord, and I trust you will
+pardon the delay we have caused you. The men of Mayence are quartered in
+the Leinwandhaus, where room will doubtless be made for your followers.
+
+"It is not necessary for me to draw upon the hospitality of the good
+Archbishop, as I lodge in my father's town house near the palace, and
+there is room within for the small escort I bring."
+
+Again the officer bowed to the ground, and the portcullis being by this
+time raised, the twenty horsemen came clattering under the archway,
+and thus, without further molestation, they arrived at the house of the
+Count von Schonburg.
+
+"Elsa," said Wilhelm, when they were alone in their room, "there is
+something wrong in this city. Men look with fear one upon another, and
+pass on hurriedly, as if to avoid question. Others stand in groups at
+the street corners and speak in whispers, glancing furtively over their
+shoulders."
+
+"Perhaps that is the custom in cities," replied Elsa.
+
+"I doubt it. I have heard that townsmen are eager for traffic, inviting
+all comers to buy, but here most of the shops are barred, and no
+customers are solicited. They seem to me like people under a cloud of
+fear. What can it be?"
+
+"We are more used to the forest path than to city streets, Wilhelm. They
+will all become familiar to us in a day or two, yet I feel as if I could
+not get a full breath in these narrow streets and I long for the trees
+already, but perhaps content will come with waiting."
+
+"'Tis deeper than that. There is something ominous in the air. Noted
+you not the questioning at the gate and its purport? They asked me if
+I favoured Treves, or Cologne, or Mayence, but none inquired if I stood
+loyal to the Emperor, yet I was entering his capital city of Frankfort."
+
+"Perhaps you will learn all from the Emperor when you see him," ventured
+Elsa.
+
+"Perhaps," said Wilhelm.
+
+The chamberlain of the von Schonburg household, who had supervised the
+arrangements for the reception of the young couple, waited upon his
+master in the evening and informed him that the Emperor would not be
+visible for some days to come.
+
+"He has gone into retreat, in the cloisters attached to the cathedral,
+and it is the imperial will that none disturb him on worldly affairs.
+Each day at the hour when the court assembles at the palace, the Emperor
+hears exhortation from the pious fathers in the Wahlkapelle of the
+cathedral; the chapel in which emperors are elected; these exhortations
+pertaining to the ruling of the land, which his majesty desires to
+govern justly and well.
+
+"An excellent intention," commented the young man, with suspicion of
+impatience in his tone, "but meanwhile, how are the temporal affairs of
+the country conducted?"
+
+"The Empress Brunhilda is for the moment the actual head of the state.
+Whatever act of the ministers receives her approval, is sent by a monk
+to the Emperor, who signs any document so submitted to him."
+
+"Were her majesty an ambitious woman, such transference of power might
+prove dangerous."
+
+"She is an ambitious woman, but devoted to her husband, who, it perhaps
+may be whispered, is more monk than king," replied the chamberlain
+under his breath. "Her majesty has heard of your lordship's romantic
+adventures and has been graciously pleased to command that you and her
+ladyship, your wife, be presented to her to-morrow in presence of the
+court."
+
+"This is a command which it will be a delight to obey. But tell me, what
+is wrong in this great town? There is a sinister feeling in the air;
+uneasiness is abroad, or I am no judge of my fellow-creatures."
+
+"Indeed, my Lord, you have most accurately described the situation.
+No man knows what is about to happen. The gathering of the Electors is
+regarded with the gravest apprehension. The Archbishop of Mayence, who
+but a short time since crowned the Emperor at the great altar of the
+cathedral, is herewith a thousand men at his back. The Count Palatine
+of the Rhine is also within these walls with a lesser entourage. It is
+rumoured that his haughty lordship, the Archbishop of Treves, will reach
+Frankfort to-morrow, to be speedily followed by that eminent Prince of
+the Church, the Archbishop of Cologne. Thus there will be gathered in
+the capital four Electors, a majority of the college, a conjunction
+that has not occurred for centuries, except on the death of an emperor,
+necessitating the nomination and election of his successor."
+
+"But as the Emperor lives and there is no need of choosing another,
+wherein lies the danger?
+
+"The danger lies in the fact that the college has the power to depose as
+well as to elect."
+
+"Ah! And do the Electors threaten to depose?"
+
+"No. Treves is much too crafty for any straight-forward statement of
+policy. He is the brains of the combination, and has put forward Mayence
+and the Count Palatine as the moving spirits, although it is well known
+that the former is but his tool and the latter is moved by ambition to
+have his imbecile son selected emperor."
+
+"Even if the worst befall, it seems but the substitution of a
+weak-minded man for one who neglects the affairs of state, although I
+should think the princes of the Church would prefer a monarch who is so
+much under the influence of the monks."
+
+"The trouble is deeper than my imperfect sketch of the situation would
+lead you to suppose, my Lord. The Emperor periodically emerges from his
+retirement, promulgates some startling decree, unheeding the counsel of
+any adviser, then disappears again, no man knowing what is coming
+next. Of such a nature was his recent edict prohibiting the harrying of
+merchants going down the Rhine and the Moselle, which, however just in
+theory, is impracticable, for how are the nobles to reap revenue if such
+practices are made unlawful? This edict has offended all the magnates
+of both rivers, and the archbishops, with the Count Palatine, claim
+that their prerogatives have been infringed, so they come to Frankfort
+ostensibly to protest, while the Emperor in his cloister refuses to meet
+them. The other three Electors hold aloof, as the edict touches them
+not, but they form a minority which is powerless, even if friendly to
+the Emperor. Meanwhile his majesty cannot be aroused to an appreciation
+of the crisis, but says calmly that if it is the Lord's will he remain
+emperor, emperor he will remain."
+
+"Then at its limit, chamberlain, all we have to expect is a peaceful
+deposition and election?"
+
+"Not so, my lord. The merchants of Frankfort are fervently loyal, to the
+Emperor, who, they say, is the first monarch to give forth a just law
+for their protection. At present the subtlety of Treves has nullified
+all combined action on their part, for he has given out that he comes
+merely to petition his over-lord, which privilege is well within his
+right, and many citizens actually believe him, but others see that a
+majority of the college will be within these walls before many days are
+past, and that the present Emperor may be legally deposed and another
+legally chosen. Then if the citizens object, they are rebels, while at
+this moment if they fight for the Emperor they are patriots, so you see
+the position is not without its perplexities, for the citizens well know
+that if they were to man the walls and keep out Treves and Cologne, the
+Emperor himself would most likely disclaim their interference, trusting
+as he does so entirely in Providence that a short time since he actually
+disbanded the imperial troops, much to the delight of the archbishops,
+who warmly commended his action. And now, my Lord, if I may venture to
+tender advice unasked, I would strongly counsel you to quit Frankfort as
+soon as your business here is concluded, for I am certain that a
+change of government is intended. All will be done promptly, and the
+transaction will be consummated before the people are aware that such a
+step is about to be taken. The Electors will meet in the Wahlzimmer
+or election room of the Romer and depose the Emperor, then they will
+instantly select his successor, adjourn to the Wahlkapelle and elect
+him. The Palatine's son is here with his father, and will be crowned at
+the high altar by the Archbishop of Mayence. The new Emperor will dine
+with the Electors in the Kaisersaal and immediately after show
+himself on the balcony to the people assembled in the Romerberg below.
+Proclamation of his election will then be made, and all this need not
+occupy more than two hours. The Archbishop of Mayence already controls
+the city gates, which since the disbanding of the imperial troops have
+been unguarded, and none can get in or out of the city without that
+potentate's permission. The men of Mayence are quartered in the centre
+of the town, the Count Palatine's troops are near the gate. Treves and
+Cologne will doubtless command other positions, and thus between
+them they will control the city. Numerous as the merchants and their
+dependents are, they will have no chance against the disciplined force
+of the Electors, and the streets of Frankfort are like to run with
+blood, for the nobles are but too eager to see a sharp check given to
+the rising pretensions of the mercantile classes, who having heretofore
+led peaceful lives, will come out badly in combat, despite their
+numbers; therefore I beg of you, my Lord, to withdraw with her Ladyship
+before this hell's caldron is uncovered."
+
+"Your advice is good, chamberlain, in so far as it concerns my wife, and
+I will beg of her to retire to Schonburg, although I doubt if she
+will obey, but, by the bones of Saint Werner which floated against the
+current of the Rhine in this direction, if there must be a fray, I will
+be in the thick of it."
+
+"Remember, my Lord, that your house has always stood by the Archbishop
+of Mayence."
+
+"It has stood by the Emperor as well, chamberlain."
+
+The Lady Elsa was amazed by the magnificence of the Emperor's court,
+when, accompanied by her husband, she walked the length of the great
+room to make obeisance before the throne. At first entrance she shrank
+timidly, closer to the side of Wilhelm, trembling at the ordeal of
+passing, simply costumed as she now felt herself to be, between two
+assemblages of haughty knights and high-born dames, resplendent in
+dress, with the proud bearing that pertained to their position in
+the Empire. Her breath came and went quickly, and she feared that all
+courage would desert her before she traversed the seemingly endless
+lane, flanked by the nobility of Germany, which led to the royal
+presence. Wilhelm, unabashed, holding himself the equal of any there,
+was not to be cowed by patronising glance, or scornful gaze. The thought
+flashed through his mind:
+
+"How can the throne fall, surrounded as it is by so many supporters?"
+
+But when the approaching two saw the Empress, all remembrance of others
+faded from their minds. Brunhilda was a woman of superb stature. She
+stood alone upon the dais which supported the vacant throne, one hand
+resting upon its carven arm. A cloak of imperial ermine fell gracefully
+from her shapely shoulders and her slightly-elevated position on the
+platform added height to her goddess-like tallness, giving her the
+appearance of towering above every other person in the room, man or
+woman. The excessive pallor of her complexion was emphasised by the
+raven blackness of her wealth of hair, and the sombre midnight of her
+eyes; eyes with slumbering fire in them, qualified by a haunted look
+which veiled their burning intensity. Her brow was too broad and her
+chin too firm for a painter's ideal of beauty; her commanding presence
+giving the effect of majesty rather than of loveliness. Deep lines of
+care marred the marble of her forehead, and Wilhelm said to himself:
+
+"Here is a woman going to her doom; knowing it; yet determined to show
+no sign of fear and utter no cry for mercy."
+
+Every other woman there had eyes of varying shades of blue and gray, and
+hair ranging from brown to golden yellow; thus the Empress stood before
+them like a creature from another world.
+
+Elsa was about to sink in lowly courtesy before the queenly woman when
+the Empress came forward impetuously and kissed the girl on either
+cheek, taking her by the hand.
+
+"Oh, wild bird of the forest," she cried, "why have you left the pure
+air of the woods, to beat your innocent wings in this atmosphere of
+deceit! And you, my young Lord, what brings you to Frankfort in these
+troublous times? Have you an insufficiency of lands or of honours that
+you come to ask augmentation of either?"
+
+"I come to ask nothing for myself, your Majesty."
+
+"But to ask, nevertheless," said Brunhilda, with a frown.
+
+"Yes, your Majesty."
+
+"I hope I may live to see one man, like a knight of old, approach the
+foot of the throne without a request on his lips. I thought you might
+prove an exception, but as it is not so, propound your question?"
+
+"I came to ask if my sword, supplemented by the weapons of five hundred
+followers, can be of service to your Majesty."
+
+The Empress seemed taken aback by the young man's unexpected reply, and
+for some moments she gazed at him searchingly in silence.
+
+At last she said:
+
+"Your followers are the men of Schonburg and Gudenfels, doubtless?"
+
+"No, your Majesty. Those you mention, acknowledge my father as their
+leader. My men were known as the Outlaws of the Hundsrueck, who have
+deposed von Weithoff, chosen me as their chief, and now desire to lead
+honest lives."
+
+The dark eyes of the Empress blazed again.
+
+"I see, my Lord, that you have quickly learned the courtier's language.
+Under proffer of service you are really demanding pardon for a band of
+marauders."
+
+Wilhelm met unflinchingly the angry look of this imperious woman, and
+was so little a courtier that he allowed a frown to add sternness to his
+brow.
+
+"Your Majesty puts it harshly," he said, "I merely petition for a stroke
+of the pen which will add half a thousand loyal men to the ranks of the
+Emperor's supporters."
+
+Brunhilda pondered on this, then suddenly seemed to arrive at a
+decision. Calling one of the ministers of state to her side, she said,
+peremptorily:
+
+"Prepare a pardon for the Outlaws of the Hundsrueck. Send the document
+at once to the Emperor for signature, and then bring it to me in the Red
+Room."
+
+The minister replied with some hesitation:
+
+"I should have each man's name to inscribe on the roll, otherwise every
+scoundrel in the Empire will claim protection under the edict."
+
+"I can give you every man's name," put in Wilhelm, eagerly.
+
+"It is not necessary," said the Empress.
+
+"Your Majesty perhaps forgets," persisted the minister, "that pardon
+has already been proffered by the Emperor under certain conditions that
+commended themselves to his imperial wisdom, and that the clemency so
+graciously tendered was contemptuously refused."
+
+At this veiled opposition all the suspicion in Brunhilda's nature turned
+from Wilhelm to the high official, and she spoke to him in the tones of
+one accustomed to prompt obedience.
+
+"Prepare an unconditional pardon, and send it immediately to the Emperor
+without further comment, either to him or to me."
+
+The minister bowed low and retired. The Empress dismissed the court,
+detaining Elsa, and said to Wilhelm:
+
+"Seek us half an hour later in the Red Room. Your wife I shall take with
+me, that I may learn from her own lips the adventures which led to your
+recognition as the heir of Schonburg, something of which I have already
+heard. And as for your outlaws, send them word if you think they are
+impatient to lead virtuous lives, which I take leave to doubt, that
+before another day passes they need fear no penalty for past misdeed,
+providing their future conduct escapes censure."
+
+"They are one and all eager to retrieve themselves in your Majesty's
+eyes!"
+
+"Promise not too much, my young Lord, for they may be called upon to
+perform sooner than they expect," said Brunhilda, with a significant
+glance at Wilhelm.
+
+The young man left the imperial presence, overjoyed to know that his
+mission had been successful.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+THE PERIL OF THE EMPEROR
+
+
+Wilhelm awaited with impatience the passing of the half hour the Empress
+had fixed as the period of his probation, for he was anxious to have
+the signed pardon for the outlaws actually in his hand, fearing
+the intrigues of the court might at the last moment bring about its
+withdrawal.
+
+When the time had elapsed he presented himself at the door of the Red
+Room and was admitted by the guard. He found the Empress alone, and she
+advanced toward him with a smile on her face, which banished the former
+hardness of expression.
+
+"Forgive me," she said, "my seeming discourtesy in the Great Hall. I
+am surrounded by spies, and doubtless Mayence already knows that your
+outlaws have been pardoned, but that will merely make him more easy
+about the safety of his cathedral town, especially as he holds Baron
+von Weithoff their former leader. I was anxious that it should also be
+reported to him that I had received you somewhat ungraciously. Your wife
+is to take up her abode in the palace, as she refuses to leave Frankfort
+if you remain here. She tells me the outlaws are brave men."
+
+"The bravest in the world, your Majesty."
+
+"And that they will follow you unquestioningly."
+
+"They would follow me to the gates of--" He paused, and added as if in
+afterthought--"to the gates of Heaven."
+
+The lady smiled again.
+
+"From what I have heard of them," she said, "I feared their route lay in
+another direction, but I have need of reckless men, and although I hand
+you their pardon freely, it is not without a hope that they will see fit
+to earn it."
+
+"Strong bodies and loyal souls, we belong to your Majesty. Command and
+we will obey, while life is left us."
+
+"Do you know the present situation of the Imperial Crown, my Lord?"
+
+"I understand it is in jeopardy through the act of the Electors, who, it
+is thought, will depose the Emperor and elect a tool of their own. I am
+also aware that the Imperial troops have been disbanded, and that there
+will be four thousand armed and trained men belonging to the Electors
+within the walls of Frankfort before many days are past."
+
+"Yes. What can five hundred do against four thousand?"
+
+"We could capture the gates and prevent the entry of Treves and
+Cologne."
+
+"I doubt that, for there are already two thousand troops obeying Mayence
+and the Count Palatine now in Frankfort. I fear we must meet strength
+by craft. The first step is to get your five hundred secretly into this
+city. The empty barracks stand against the city wall; if you quartered
+your score of Schonburg men there, they could easily assist your five
+hundred to scale the wall at night, and thus your force would be at hand
+concealed in the barracks without knowledge of the archbishops. Treves
+and his men will be here to-morrow, before it would be possible for
+you to capture the gates, even if such a design were practicable. I am
+anxious above all things to avoid bloodshed, and any plan you have to
+propose must be drafted with that end in view."
+
+"I will ride to the place where my outlaws are encamped on the
+Rhine, having first quartered the Schonburg men in the barracks with
+instructions regarding our reception. If the tales which the spies tell
+the Archbishop of Mayence concerning my arrival and reception at court
+lead his lordship to distrust me, he will command the guards at the
+gate not to re-admit me. By to-morrow morning, or the morning after at
+latest, I expect to occupy the barracks with five hundred and twenty
+men, making arrangement meanwhile for the quiet provisioning of the
+place. When I have consulted Gottlieb, who is as crafty as Satan
+himself, I shall have a plan to lay before your Majesty."
+
+Wilhelm took leave of the Empress, gave the necessary directions to the
+men he left behind him, and rode through the western gate unmolested and
+unquestioned. The outlaws hailed him that evening with acclamations
+that re-echoed from the hills which surrounded them, and their cheers
+redoubled when Wilhelm presented them with the parchment which made them
+once more free citizens of the Empire. That night they marched in, five
+companies, each containing a hundred men, and the cat's task of climbing
+the walls of Frankfort in the darkness before the dawn, merely gave a
+pleasant fillip to the long tramp. Daylight, found them sound asleep,
+sprawling on the floors of the huge barracks.
+
+When Wilhelm explained the situation to Gottlieb the latter made light
+of the difficulty, as his master expected he would.
+
+"'Tis the easiest thing in the world," he said.
+
+"There are the Mayence men quartered in the Leinwandhaus. The men of
+Treves are here, let us say, and the men of Cologne there. Very well,
+we divide our company into four parties, as there is also the Count
+Palatine to reckon with. We tie ropes round the houses containing these
+sleeping men, set fire to the buildings all at the same time, and, pouf!
+burn the vermin where they lie. The hanging of the four Electors after,
+will be merely a job for a dozen of our men, and need not occupy longer
+than while one counts five score."
+
+Wilhelm laughed.
+
+"Your plan has the merit of simplicity, Gottlieb, but it does not fall
+in with the scheme of the Empress, who is anxious that everything be
+accomplished legally and without bloodshed. But if we can burn them, we
+can capture them, imprisonment being probably more to the taste of the
+vermin, as you call them, than cremation, and equally satisfactory to
+us. Frankfort prison is empty, the Emperor having recently liberated all
+within it. The place will amply accommodate four thousand men. Treves
+has arrived to-day with much pomp, and Cologne will be here to-morrow.
+To-morrow night the Electors hold their first meeting in the election
+chamber of the Romer. While they are deliberating, do you think you and
+your five hundred could lay four thousand men by the heels and leave
+each bound and gagged in the city prison with good strong bolts shot in
+on them?"
+
+"Look on it as already done, my Lord. It is a task that requires speed,
+stealth and silence, rather than strength. The main point is to see that
+no alarm is prematurely given, and that no fugitive from one company
+escape to give warning to the others. We fall upon sleeping men, and if
+some haste is used, all are tied and gagged before they are full awake."
+
+"Very well. Make what preparations are necessary, as this venture may be
+wrecked through lack of a cord or a gag, so see that you have everything
+at hand, for we cannot afford to lose a single trick. The stake, if we
+fail, is our heads."
+
+Wilhelm sought the Empress to let her know that he had got his men
+safely housed in Frankfort, and also to lay before her his plan for
+depositing the Electors' followers in prison.
+
+Brunhilda listened to his enthusiastic recital in silence, then shook
+her head slowly.
+
+"How can five hundred men hope to pinion four thousand?" she asked. "It
+needs but one to make an outcry from an upper window, and, such is the
+state of tension in Frankfort at the present moment that the whole city
+will be about your ears instantly, thus bringing forth with the rest the
+comrades of those you seek to imprison."
+
+"My outlaws are tigers, your Majesty. The Electors' men will welcome
+prison, once the Hundsrueckers are let loose on them."
+
+"Your outlaws may understand the ways of the forest, but not those of a
+city."
+
+"Well, your Majesty, they have sacked Coblentz, if that is any
+recommendation for them."
+
+The reply of the Empress seemed irrelevant.
+
+"Have you ever seen the hall in which the Emperors are nominated--or
+deposed?" she asked.
+
+"No, your Majesty."
+
+"Then follow me."
+
+The lady led him along a passage that seemed interminable, then down a
+narrow winding stair, through a vaulted tunnel, the dank air of
+which struck so cold and damp that the young man felt sure it was
+subterranean; lastly up a second winding stair, at the top of which,
+pushing aside some hanging tapestry, they stood within the noble
+chamber known as the Wahlzimmer. The red walls were concealed by hanging
+tapestry, the rich tunnel groining of the roof was dim in its lofty
+obscurity. A long table occupied the centre of the room, with three
+heavily-carved chairs on either side, and one, as ponderous as a throne,
+at the head.
+
+"There," said the Empress, waving her hand, "sit the seven Electors when
+a monarch of this realm is to be chosen. There, to-morrow night will sit
+a majority of the Electoral College. In honour of this assemblage I have
+caused these embroidered webs to be hung round the walls, so you see,
+I, too, have a plan. Through this secret door which the Electors know
+nothing of, I propose to admit a hundred of your men to be concealed
+behind the tapestry. My plan differs from yours in that I determine to
+imprison four men, while you would attempt to capture four thousand; I
+consider therefore that my chances of success, compared with yours, are
+as a thousand to one. I strike at the head; you strike at the body. If I
+paralyse the head, the body is powerless."
+
+Wilhelm knit his brows, looked around the room, but made no reply.
+
+"Well," cried the Empress, impatiently, "I have criticised your plan;
+criticise mine if you find a flaw in it."
+
+"Is it your Majesty's intention to have the men take their places behind
+the hangings before the archbishops assemble?"
+
+"Assuredly."
+
+"Then you will precipitate a conflict before all the Electors are here,
+for it is certain that the first prince to arrive will have the place
+thoroughly searched for spies. So momentous a meeting will never be held
+until all fear of eavesdroppers is allayed."
+
+"That is true, Wilhelm," said the Empress with a sigh, "then there is
+nothing left but your project; which I fear will result in a melee and
+frightful slaughter."
+
+"I propose, your Majesty, that we combine the two plans. We will
+imprison as many as may be of the archbishops' followers and then by
+means of the secret stairway surround their lordships."
+
+"But they will, in the silence of the room, instantly detect the
+incoming of your men."
+
+"Not so, if the panel which conceals the stair, work smoothly. My men
+are like cats, and their entrance and placement will not cause the most
+timid mouse to cease nibbling."
+
+"The panel is silent enough, and it may be that your men will reach
+their places without betraying their presence to the archbishops, but
+it would be well to instruct your leaders that in case of discovery they
+are to rush forward, without waiting for your arrival or mine, hold the
+door of the Wahlzimmer at all hazards, and see that no Elector escapes.
+I am firm in my belief that once the persons of the archbishops are
+secured, this veiled rebellion ends, whether you imprison your four
+thousand or not, for I swear by my faith that if their followers raise
+a hand against me, I will have the archbishops slain before their eyes,
+even though I go down in disaster the moment after."
+
+The stern determination of the Empress would have inspired a less
+devoted enthusiast than Wilhelm. He placed his hand on the hilt of his
+sword.
+
+"There will be no disaster to the Empress," he said, fervently.
+
+They retired into the palace by the way they came, carefully closing the
+concealed panel behind them.
+
+As Wilhelm passed through the front gates of the Palace to seek Gottlieb
+at the barracks, he pondered over the situation and could not conceal
+from himself the fact that the task he had undertaken was almost
+impossible of accomplishment. It was an unheard of thing that five
+hundred men should overcome eight times their number and that without
+raising a disturbance in so closely packed a city as Frankfort, where,
+as the Empress had said, the state of tension was already extreme.
+But although he found that the pessimism of the Empress regarding his
+project was affecting his own belief in it, he set his teeth resolutely
+and swore that if it failed it would not be through lack of taking any
+precaution that occurred to him.
+
+At the barracks he found Gottlieb in high feather. The sight of his
+cheerful, confident face revived the drooping spirits of the young man.
+
+"Well, master," he cried, the freedom of outlawry still in the
+abruptness of his speech, "I have returned from a close inspection of
+the city."
+
+"A dangerous excursion," said Wilhelm. "I trust no one else left the
+barracks."
+
+"Not another man, much as they dislike being housed, but it was
+necessary some one should know where our enemies are placed. The
+Archbishop of Treves, with an assurance that might have been expected of
+him, has stalled his men in the cathedral, no less, but a most excellent
+place for our purposes. A guard at each door, and there you are.
+
+"Ah, he has selected the cathedral not because of his assurance, but to
+intercept any communication with the Emperor, who is in the cloisters
+attached to it, and doubtless his lordship purposes to crown the new
+emperor before daybreak at the high altar. The design of the archbishop
+is deeper than appears on the surface, Gottlieb. His men in the
+cathedral gives him possession of the Wahlkapelle where emperors are
+elected, after having been nominated in the Wahlzimmer. His lordship has
+a taste for doing things legally. Where are the men of Cologne?"
+
+"In a church also; the church of St. Leonhard on the banks of the Main.
+That is as easily surrounded and is as conveniently situated as if I
+had selected it myself. The Count Palatine's men are in a house near the
+northern gate, a house which has no back exit, and therefore calls but
+for the closing of a street. Nothing could be better."
+
+"But the Drapers' Hall which holds the Mayence troops, almost adjoins
+the cathedral. Is there not a danger in this circumstance that a turmoil
+in the one may be heard in the other?"
+
+"No, because we have most able allies."
+
+"What? the townsmen? You have surely taken none into your confidence,
+Gottlieb?"
+
+"Oh, no, my Lord. Our good copartners are none other than the
+archbishops themselves. It is evident they expect trouble to-morrow, but
+none to-night. Orders have been given that all their followers are to
+get a good night's rest, each man to be housed and asleep by sunset.
+The men of both Treves and Cologne are tired with their long and hurried
+march and will sleep like the dead. We will first attack the men of
+Mayence surrounding the Leinwandhaus, and I warrant you that no matter
+what noise there is, the Treves people will not hear. Then being on the
+spot, we will, when the Mayence soldiers are well bound, tie up those
+in the cathedral. I purpose if your lordship agrees to leave our bound
+captives where they are, guarded by a sufficient number of outlaws, in
+case one attempts to help the other, until we have pinioned those
+of Cologne and the Count Palatine. When this is off our minds we can
+transport all our prisoners to the fortress at our leisure."
+
+Thus it was arranged, and when night fell on the meeting of the
+Electors, so well did Gottlieb and his men apply themselves to the task
+that before an hour had passed the minions of the Electors lay packed in
+heaps in the aisles and the rooms where they lodged, to be transported
+to the prison at the convenience of their captors.
+
+Many conditions favoured the success of the seemingly impossible feat.
+Since the arrival of the soldiery there had been so many night brawls
+in the streets that one more or less attracted little attention, either
+from the military or from the civilians. The very boldness and magnitude
+of the scheme was an assistance to it. Then the stern cry of "_In the
+name of the Emperor!_" with which the assaulters once inside cathedral,
+church or house, fell upon their victims, deadened opposition, for the
+common soldiers, whether enlisted by Treves, Cologne, or Mayence, knew
+that the Emperor was over all, and they had no inkling of the designs
+of their immediate masters. Then, as Gottlieb had surmised, the extreme
+fatigue of the followers of Treves and Cologne, after their toilsome
+march from their respective cities, so overcame them that many went to
+sleep when being conveyed from church and cathedral to prison. There
+was some resistance on the part of officers, speedily quelled by the
+victorious woodlanders, but aside from this there were few heads
+broken, and the wish of the Empress for a bloodless conquest was amply
+fulfilled.
+
+Two hours after darkness set in, Gottlieb, somewhat breathless, saluted
+his master at the steps of the palace and announced that the followers
+of the archbishops and the Count Palatine were behind bars in the
+Frankfort prison, with a strong guard over them to discourage any
+attempt at jailbreaking. When Wilhelm led his victorious soldiery
+silently up the narrow secret stair, pushed back, with much
+circumspection and caution, the sliding panel, listened for a moment to
+the low murmur of their lordships' voices, waited until each of his men
+had gone stealthily behind the tapestry, listened again and still heard
+the drone of speech, he returned as he came, and accompanied by a guard
+of two score, escorted the Empress to the broad public stairway that led
+up one flight to the door of the Wahlzimmer. The two sentinels at the
+foot of the stairs crossed their pikes to bar the entrance of Brunhilda,
+but they were overpowered and gagged so quickly and silently that their
+two comrades at the top had no suspicion of what was going forward until
+they had met a similar fate. The guards at the closed door, more alert,
+ran forward, only to be carried away with their fellow-sentinels.
+Wilhelm, his sword drawn, pushed open the door and cried, in a loud
+voice:
+
+"My Lords, I am commanded to announce to you that her Majesty the
+Empress honours you with her presence."
+
+It would have been difficult at that moment to find four men in all
+Germany more astonished than were the Electors. They saw the young man
+who held open the door, bow low, then the stately lady so sonorously
+announced come slowly up the hall and stand silently before them.
+Wilhelm closed the door and set his back against it, his naked sword
+still in his right hand. Three of the Electors were about to rise to
+their feet, but a motion of the hand by the old man of Treves, who sat
+the head of the table, checked them.
+
+"I have come," said the Empress in a low voice, but distinctly heard
+in the stillness of the room, "to learn why you are gathered here in
+Frankfort and in the Wahlzimmer, where no meeting has taken place for
+three hundred years, except on the death of an emperor."
+
+"Madame," said the Elector of Treves, leaning back in his chair and
+placing the tips of his fingers together before him, "all present have
+the right to assemble in this hall unquestioned, with the exception of
+yourself and the young man who erroneously styled you Empress, with such
+unnecessary flourish, as you entered. You are the wife of our present
+Emperor, but under the Salic law no woman can occupy the German throne.
+If flatterers have misled you by bestowing a title to which you have no
+claim, and if the awe inspired by that spurious appellation has won your
+admission past ignorant guards who should have prevented your approach,
+I ask that you will now withdraw, and permit us to resume deliberations
+that should not have been interrupted."
+
+"What is the nature of those deliberations, my Lord?"
+
+"The question is one improper for you to ask. To answer it would be to
+surrender our rights as Electors of the Empire. It is enough for you
+to be assured, madame, that we are lawfully assembled, and that our
+purposes are strictly legal."
+
+"You rest strongly on the law, my Lord, so strongly indeed that were I
+a suspicious person I might surmise that your acts deserved strict
+scrutiny. I will appeal to you, then, in the name of the law. Is it the
+law of this realm that he who directly or indirectly conspires against
+the peace and comfort of his emperor is adjudged a traitor, his act
+being punishable by death?"
+
+"The law stands substantially as you have cited it, madame, but its
+bearing upon your presence in this room is, I confess, hidden from me."
+
+"I shall endeavour to enlighten you, my Lord. Are you convened here to
+further the peace and comfort of his Majesty the Emperor?"
+
+"We devoutly trust so, madame. His Majesty is so eminently fitted for a
+cloister, rather than for domestic bliss or the cares of state, that
+we hope to pleasure him by removing all barriers in his way to a
+monastery."
+
+"Then until his Majesty is deposed you are, by your own confession,
+traitors."
+
+"Pardon me, madame, but the law regarding traitors which you quoted with
+quite womanly inaccuracy, and therefore pardonable, does not apply to
+eight persons within this Empire, namely, the seven Electors and the
+Emperor himself."
+
+"I have been unable to detect the omission you state, my Lord. There are
+no exceptions, as I read the law."
+
+"The exceptions are implied, madame, if not expressly set down, for it
+would be absurd to clothe Electors with a power in the exercise of which
+they would constitute themselves traitors. But this discussion is as
+painful as it is futile, and therefore it must cease. In the name of
+the Electoral College here in session assembled, I ask you to withdraw,
+madame."
+
+"Before obeying your command, my Lord Archbishop, there is another point
+which I wish to submit to your honourable body, so learned in the law.
+I see three vacant chairs before me, and I am advised that it is illegal
+to depose an emperor unless all the members of the college are present
+and unanimous."
+
+"Again you have been misinformed. A majority of the college elects; a
+majority can depose, and in retiring to private life, madame, you
+have the consolation of knowing that your intervention prolonged your
+husband's term of office by several minutes. For the third time I
+request you to leave this room, and if you again refuse I shall be
+reluctantly compelled to place you under arrest. Young man, open the
+door and allow this woman to pass through."
+
+"I would have you know, my Lord," said Wilhelm, "that I am appointed
+commander of the imperial forces, and that I obey none but his Majesty
+the Emperor."
+
+"I understood that the Emperor depended upon the Heavenly Hosts," said
+the Archbishop, with the suspicion of a smile on his grim lips.
+
+"It does not become a prince of the Church to sneer at Heaven or its
+power," said the Empress, severely.
+
+"Nothing was further from my intention, madame, but you must excuse me
+if I did not expect to see the Heavenly Hosts commanded by a young man
+so palpably German. Still all this is aside from the point. Will you
+retire, or must I reluctantly use force?"
+
+"I advise your lordship not to appeal to force."
+
+The old man of Treves rose slowly to his feet, an ominous glitter in his
+eyes. He stood for some minutes regarding angrily the woman before him,
+as if to give her time to reconsider her stubborn resolve to hold her
+ground. Then raising his voice the Elector cried:
+
+"Men of Treves! enter!"
+
+While one might count ten, dense silence followed this outcry, the
+seated Electors for the first time glancing at their leader with looks
+of apprehension.
+
+"Treves! Treves! Treves!"
+
+That potent name reverberated from the lips of its master, who had never
+known its magic to fail in calling round him stout defenders, and who
+could not yet believe that its power should desert him at this juncture.
+Again there was no response.
+
+"As did the prophet of old, ye call on false gods."
+
+The low vibrant voice of the Empress swelled like the tones of a rich
+organ as the firm command she had held over herself seemed about to
+depart.
+
+"Lord Wilhelm, give them a name, that carries authority in its sound."
+
+Wilhelm strode forward from the door, raised his glittering sword high
+above his head and shouted:
+
+"THE EMPEROR! Cheer, ye woodland wolves!"
+
+With a downward sweep of his sword, he cut the two silken cords which,
+tied to a ring near the door, held up the tapestry. The hangings fell
+instantly like the drop curtain of a theatre, its rustle overwhelmed in
+the vociferous yell that rang to the echoing roof.
+
+"Forward! Close up your ranks!"
+
+With simultaneous movement the men stepped over the folds on the floor
+and stood shoulder to shoulder, an endless oval line of living warriors,
+surrounding the startled group in the centre of the great hall.
+
+"Aloft, rope-men."
+
+Four men, with ropes wound round their bodies, detached themselves from
+the circle, and darting to the four corners of the room, climbed like
+squirrels until they reached the tunnelled roofing, where, making their
+way to the centre with a dexterity that was marvellous, they threw
+their ropes over the timbers and came spinning down to the floor, like
+gigantic spiders, each suspended on his own line. The four men, looped
+nooses in hand, took up positions behind the four Electors, all of whom
+were now on their feet. Wilhelm saluted the Empress, bringing the hilt
+of his sword to his forehead, and stepped back.
+
+The lady spoke:
+
+"My Lords, learned in the law, you will perhaps claim with truth that
+there is no precedent for hanging an Electoral College, but neither
+is there precedent for deposing an Emperor. It is an interesting legal
+point on which we shall have definite opinion pronounced in the inquiry
+which will follow the death of men so distinguished as yourselves, and
+if it should be held that I have exceeded my righteous authority in thus
+pronouncing sentence upon you as traitors, I shall be nothing loath to
+make ample apology to the state."
+
+"Such reparation will be small consolation to us, your Majesty," said
+the Archbishop of Cologne, speaking for the first time. "My preference
+is for an ante-mortem rather than a post-mortem adjustment of the law.
+My colleague of Treves, in the interests of a better understanding, I
+ask you to destroy the document of deposition, which you hold in your
+hand, and which I beg to assure her Majesty, is still unsigned."
+
+The trembling fingers of the Archbishop of Treves proved powerless
+to tear the tough parchment, so he held it for a moment until it was
+consumed in the flame of a taper which stood on the table.
+
+"And now, your Majesty, speaking entirely for myself, I give you my word
+as a prince of the Church and a gentlemen of the Empire, that my vote as
+an Elector will always be against the deposition of the Emperor, for I
+am convinced that imperial power is held in firm and capable hands."
+
+The great prelate of Cologne spoke as one making graceful concession
+to a lady, entirely uninfluenced by the situation in which he so
+unexpectedly found himself. A smile lit up the face of the Empress as
+she returned his deferential bow.
+
+"I accept your word with pleasure, my Lord, fully assured that, once
+given, it will never be tarnished by any mental reservation."
+
+"I most cordially associate myself with my brother of Cologne and take
+the same pledge," spoke up his Lordship of Mayence.
+
+The Count Palatine of the Rhine moistened his dry lips and said:
+
+"I was misled by ambition, your Majesty, and thus in addition to giving
+you my word, I crave your imperial pardon as well."
+
+The Archbishop of Treves sat in his chair like a man collapsed. He
+had made no movement since the burning of the parchment. All eyes
+were turned upon him in the painful stillness. With visible effort he
+enunciated in deep voice the two words: "And I."
+
+The face of the Empress took on a radiance that had long been absent
+from it.
+
+"It seems, my Lords, that there has been merely a slight
+misunderstanding, which a few quiet words and some legal instruction has
+entirely dissipated. To seal our compact, I ask you all to dine with me
+to-morrow night, when I am sure it will afford intense gratification
+to prelates so pious as yourselves to send a message to his Majesty
+the Emperor, informing him that his trust in Providence has not been
+misplaced."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+THE NEEDLE DAGGER
+
+
+Wilhelm Von Schonburg, Commander of the Imperial Forces at Frankfort,
+applied himself to the task of building up an army round his nucleus of
+five hundred with all the energy and enthusiasm of youth. He first
+put parties of trusty men at the various city gates so that he might
+control, at least in a measure, the human intake and output of the city.
+The power which possession of the gates gave him he knew to be more
+apparent than real, for Frankfort was a commercial city, owing its
+prosperity to traffic, and any material interference with the ebb or
+flow of travel had a depressing influence on trade. If the Archbishops
+meant to keep their words given to the Empress, all would be well,
+but of their good faith Wilhelm had the gravest doubts. It would be
+impossible to keep secret the defeat of their Lordships, when several
+thousands of their men lay immured in the city prison. The whole world
+would thus learn sooner or later that the great Princes of the Church
+had come to shear and had departed shorn; and this blow to their pride
+was one not easily forgiven by men so haughty and so powerful as the
+prelates of Treves, Mayence and Cologne. Young as he was, Wilhelm's free
+life in the forest, among those little accustomed to control the raw
+passions of humanity, had made him somewhat a judge of character, and he
+had formed the belief that the Archbishop of Cologne, was a gentleman,
+and would keep his word, that the Archbishop of Treves would have no
+scruple in breaking his, while the Archbishop of Mayence would follow
+the lead of Treves. This suspicion he imparted to the Empress Brunhilda,
+but she did not agree with him, believing that all three, with the Count
+Palatine, would hereafter save their heads by attending strictly to
+their ecclesiastical business, leaving the rule of the Empire in the
+hands which now held it.
+
+"Cologne will not break the pledge he has given me," she said; "of that
+I am sure. Mayence is too great an opportunist to follow an unsuccessful
+leader; and the Count Palatine is too great a coward to enter upon such
+a dangerous business as the deposing of an emperor who is _my_ husband.
+Besides, I have given the Count Palatine a post at Court which requires
+his constant presence in Frankfort, and so I have him in some measure
+a prisoner. The Electors are powerless if even one of their number is
+a defaulter, so what can Treves do, no matter how deeply his pride is
+injured, or how bitterly he thirsts for revenge? His only resource is
+boldly to raise the flag of rebellion and march his troops on Frankfort.
+He is too crafty a man to take such risk or to do anything so open. For
+this purpose he must set about the collection of an army secretly, while
+we may augment the Imperial troops in the light of day. So, unless he
+strikes speedily, we will have a force that will forever keep him in
+awe."
+
+This seemed a reasonable view, but it only partly allayed the
+apprehensions of Wilhelm. He had caught more than one fierce look
+of hatred directed toward him by the Archbishop of Treves, since the
+meeting in the Wahlzimmer, and the regard of his Lordship of Mayence
+had been anything but benign. These two dignitaries had left Frankfort
+together, their way lying for some distance in the same direction.
+Wilhelm liberated their officers, and thus the two potentates had scant
+escort to their respective cities. Their men he refused to release,
+which refusal both Treves and Mayence accepted with bad grace, saying
+the withholding cast an aspersion on their honour. This example was
+not followed by the suave Archbishop of Cologne, who departed some days
+after his colleagues. He laughed when Wilhelm informed him that his
+troops would remain in Frankfort, and said he would be at the less
+expense in his journey down the Rhine, as his men were gross feeders.
+
+Being thus quit of the three Archbishops, the question was what to do
+with their three thousand men. It was finally resolved to release them
+by detachments, drafting into the Imperial army such as were willing so
+to serve and take a special oath of allegiance to the Emperor, allowing
+those who declined to enlist to depart from the city in whatever
+direction pleased them, so that they went away in small parties. It
+was found, however, that the men cared little for whom they fought,
+providing the pay was good and reasonably well assured. Thus the
+Imperial army received many recruits and the country round Frankfort few
+vagrants.
+
+The departed Archbishops made no sign, the Count Palatine seemed
+engrossed with his duties about the Court, the army increased daily and
+life went on so smoothly that Wilhelm began to cease all questioning of
+the future, coming at last to believe that the Empress was right in her
+estimate of the situation. He was in this pleasing state of mind when
+an incident occurred which would have caused him greater anxiety than
+it did had he been better acquainted with the governing forces of his
+country. On arising one morning he found on the table of his room a
+parchment, held in place by a long thin dagger of peculiar construction.
+His first attention was given to the weapon and not to the scroll. The
+blade was extremely thin and sharp at the point, and seemed at first
+sight to be so exceedingly frail as to be of little service in actual
+combat, but a closer examination proved that it was practically
+unbreakable, and of a temper so fine that nothing made an impression
+on its keen edge. Held at certain angles, the thin blade seemed to
+disappear altogether and leave the empty hilt in the hand. The hilt had
+been treated as if it were a crucifix, and in slightly raised relief
+there was a figure of Christ, His outstretched arms extending along the
+transverse guard. On the opposite side of the handle were the sunken
+letters "S. S. G. G."
+
+Wilhelm fingered this dainty piece of mechanism curiously, wondering
+where it was made. He guessed Milan as the place of its origin, knowing
+enough of cutlery to admire the skill and knowledge of metallurgy that
+had gone to its construction, and convinced as he laid it down that it
+was foreign. He was well aware that no smith in Germany could fashion
+a lancet so exquisitely tempered. He then turned his attention to
+the document which had been fastened to the table by this needle-like
+stiletto. At the top of the parchment were the same letters that had
+been cut in the handle of the dagger.
+
+
+_S. S. G. G._
+
+_First warning. Wear this dagger thrust into your doublet over the
+heart, and allow him who accosts you, fearing nothing if your heart be
+true and loyal. In strict silence safety lies_.
+
+
+Wilhelm laughed.
+
+"It is some lover's nonsense of Elsa's," he said to himself. "'If your
+heart be true and loyal,' that is a woman's phrase and nothing else."
+
+Calling his wife, he held out the weapon to her and said:
+
+"Where did you get this, Elsa? I would be glad to know who your armourer
+is, for I should dearly love to provide my men with weapons of such
+temper."
+
+Elsa looked alternately at the dagger and at her husband, bewildered.
+
+"I never saw it before, nor anything like it," she replied. "Where did
+you find it? It is so frail it must be for ornament merely."
+
+"Its frailness is deceptive. It is a most wonderful instrument, and I
+should like to know where it comes from. I thought you had bought it
+from some armourer and intended me to wear it as a badge of my office.
+Perhaps it was sent by the Empress. The word 'loyalty' seems to indicate
+that, though how it got into this room and on this table unknown to me
+is a mystery."
+
+Elsa shook her head as she studied the weapon and the message
+critically.
+
+"Her Majesty is more direct than this would indicate. If she had aught
+to say to you she would say it without ambiguity. Do you intend to wear
+the dagger as the scroll commands?"
+
+"If I thought it came from the Empress I should, not otherwise."
+
+"You may be assured some one else has sent it. Perhaps it is intended
+for me," and saying this Elsa thrust the blade of the dagger through the
+thick coil of her hair and turned coquettishly so that her husband might
+judge of the effect.
+
+"Are you ambitious to set a new fashion to the Court, Elsa?" asked
+Wilhelm, smiling.
+
+"No; I shall not wear it in public, but I will keep the dagger if I
+may."
+
+Thus the incident passed, and Wilhelm gave no more thought to the
+mysterious warning. His duties left him little time for meditation
+during the day, but as he returned at night from the barracks his mind
+reverted once more to the dagger, and he wondered how it came without
+his knowledge into his private room. His latent suspicion of the
+Archbishops became aroused again, and he pondered on the possibility of
+an emissary of theirs placing the document on his table. He had given
+strict instructions that if any one supposed to be an agent of their
+lordships presented himself at the gates he was to be permitted to enter
+the city without hindrance, but instant knowledge of such advent was
+to be sent to the Commander, which reminded him that he had not seen
+Gottlieb that day, this able lieutenant having general charge of all
+the ports. So he resolved to return to the barracks and question his
+underling regarding the recent admittances. Acting instantly on this
+determination, he turned quickly and saw before him a man whom he
+thought he recognised by his outline in the darkness as von Brent, one
+of the officers of Treves whom he had released, and who had accompanied
+the Archbishop on his return to that city. The figure, however, gave
+him no time for a closer inspection, and, although evidently taken by
+surprise, reversed his direction, making off with speed down the street.
+Wilhelm, plucking sword from scabbard, pursued no less fleetly.
+The scanty lighting of the city thoroughfares gave advantage to the
+fugitive, but Wilhelm's knowledge of the town was now astonishingly
+intimate, considering the short time he had been a resident, and his
+woodlore, applied to the maze of tortuous narrow alleys made him a
+hunter not easily baffled. He saw the flutter of a cloak as its wearer
+turned down a narrow lane, and a rapid mental picture of the labyrinth
+illuminating his mind, Wilhelm took a dozen long strides to a corner
+and there stood waiting. A few moments later a panting man with cloak
+streaming behind him came near to transfixing himself on the point of
+the Commander's sword. The runner pulled himself up with a gasp and
+stood breathless and speechless.
+
+"I tender you good-evening, sir," said Wilhelm, civilly, "and were I
+not sure of your friendliness, I should take it that you were trying to
+avoid giving me salutation."
+
+"I did not recognise you, my Lord, in the darkness."
+
+The man breathed heavily, which might have been accounted for by his
+unaccustomed exertion.
+
+"'Tis strange, then, that I should have recognised you, turning
+unexpectedly as I did, while you seemingly had me in your eye for some
+time before."
+
+"Indeed, my Lord, and that I had not. I but just emerged from this
+crooked lane, and seeing you turn so suddenly, feared molestation, and
+so took to my heels, which a warrior should be shamed to confess, but I
+had no wish to be embroiled in a street brawl."
+
+"Your caution does you credit, and should commend you to so
+peacefully-minded a master as his Lordship of Treves, who, I sincerely
+trust, arrived safely in his ancient city."
+
+"He did, my Lord."
+
+"I am deeply gratified to hear it, and putting my knowledge of his
+lordship's methods in conjunction with your evident desire for secrecy,
+I should be loath to inquire into the nature of the mission that brings
+you to the capital so soon after your departure from it."
+
+"Well, my Lord," said von Brent, with an attempt at a laugh, "I must
+admit that it was my purpose to visit Frankfort with as little publicity
+as possible. You are mistaken, however, in surmising that I am entrusted
+with any commands from my lord, the Archbishop, who, at this moment, is
+devoting himself with energy to his ecclesiastical duties and therefore
+has small need for a soldier. This being the case, I sought and obtained
+leave of absence, and came to Frankfort on private affairs of my own.
+To speak truth, as between one young man and another, not to be further
+gossiped about, while, stationed here some days ago, I became acquainted
+with a girl whom I dearly wish to meet again, and this traffic, as you
+know, yearns not for either bray of trumpet or rattle of drum."
+
+"The gentle power of love," said Wilhelm in his most affable tone, "is
+a force few of us can resist. Indeed, I am myself not unacquainted with
+its strength, and I must further congratulate you on your celerity of
+conquest, for you came to Frankfort in the morning, and were my guest in
+the fortress in the evening, so you certainly made good use of the brief
+interval. By what gate did you enter Frankfort?"
+
+"By the western gate, my Lord."
+
+"This morning?"
+
+"No, my Lord. I entered but a short time since, just before the gates
+were closed for the night."
+
+"Ah! that accounts for my hearing no report of your arrival, for it is
+my wish, when distinguished visitors honour us with their presence, that
+I may be able to offer them every courtesy."
+
+Von Brent laughed, this time with a more genuine ring to his mirth.
+
+"Seeing that your previous hospitality included lodging in the city
+prison, my Lord, as you, a moment ago, reminded me, you can scarcely be
+surprised that I had no desire to invite a repetition of such courtesy,
+if you will pardon the frank speaking of a soldier."
+
+"Most assuredly. And to meet frankness with its like, I may add that the
+city prison still stands intact. But I must no longer delay an impatient
+lover, and so, as I began, I give you a very good evening, sir."
+
+Von Brent returned the salutation, bowing low, and Wilhelm watched
+him retrace his steps and disappear in the darkness. The Commander,
+returning his blade to its scabbard, sought Gottlieb at the barracks.
+
+"Do you remember von Brent, of Treves' staff?"
+
+"That hangdog-looking officer? Yes, master. I had the pleasure of
+knocking him down in the Cathedral before pinioning him."
+
+"He is in Frankfort to-night, and said he entered by the western gate
+just before it was closed."
+
+"Then he is a liar," commented Gottlieb, with his usual bluntness.
+
+"Such I strongly suspect him to be. Nevertheless, here he is, and the
+question I wish answered is, how did he get in?"
+
+"He must have come over the wall, which can hardly be prevented if an
+incomer has a friend who will throw him a rope."
+
+"It may be prevented if the walls are efficiently patrolled. See
+instantly to that, Gottlieb, and set none but our own woodlanders on
+watch."
+
+Several days passed, and Wilhelm kept a sharp lookout for von Brent, or
+any other of the Archbishop's men, but he saw none such, nor could he
+learn that the lieutenant had left the city. He came almost to believe
+that the officer had spoken the truth, when distrust again assailed him
+on finding in the barracks a second document almost identical with the
+first, except that it contained the words, "Second warning," and the
+dirk had been driven half its length into the lid of the desk. At first
+he thought it was the same parchment and dagger, but the different
+wording showed him that at least the former was not the same. He called
+Gottlieb, and demanded to know who had been allowed to pass the guards
+and enter that room. The honest warrior was dismayed to find such
+a thing could have happened, and although he was unable to read the
+lettering, he turned the missive over and over in his hand as if he
+expected close scrutiny to unravel the skein. He then departed and
+questioned the guards closely, but was assured that no one had entered
+except the Commander.
+
+"I cannot fathom it," he said on returning to his master, "and, to tell
+truth, I wish we were well back in the forest again, for I like not this
+mysterious city and its ways. We have kept this town as close sealed
+as a wine butt, yet I dare swear that I have caught glimpses of the
+Archbishop's men, flitting here and there like bats as soon as darkness
+gathers. I have tried to catch one or two of them to make sure, but I
+seem to have lost all speed of foot on these slippery stones, and those
+I follow disappear as if the earth swallowed them."
+
+"Have you seen von Brent since I spoke to you about him?"
+
+"I thought so, Master Wilhelm, but I am like a man dazed in the mazes of
+an evil dream, who can be certain of nothing. I am afraid of no man who
+will stand boldly up to me, sword in hand, with a fair light on both of
+us, but this chasing of shadows with nothing for a pike to pierce makes
+a coward of me."
+
+"Well, the next shadow that follows me will get my blade in its vitals,
+for I think my foot is lighter than yours, Gottlieb. There is no shadow
+in this town that is not cast by a substance, and that substance will
+feel a sword thrust if one can but get within striking distance. Keep
+strict watch and we will make a discovery before long, never fear. Do
+you think the men we have enlisted from the Archbishop's company are
+trying to play tricks with us? Are they to be trusted?"
+
+"Oh, they are stout rascals with not enough brains among them all
+to plan this dagger and parchment business, giving little thought to
+anything beyond eating and drinking, and having no skill of lettering."
+
+"Then we must look elsewhere for the explanation. It may be that your
+elusive shadows will furnish a clue."
+
+On reaching his own house Wilhelm said carelessly to his wife, whom he
+did not wish to alarm unnecessarily:
+
+"Have you still in your possession that dagger which I found on my
+table?"
+
+"Yes, it is here. Have you found an owner for it or learned how it came
+there?"
+
+"No. I merely wished to look at it again."
+
+She gave it to him, and he saw at once that it was a duplicate of
+the one he had hidden under his doublet. The mystery was as far from
+solution as ever, and the closest examination of the weapon gave no
+hint pertaining to the purport of the message. Yet it is probable that
+Wilhelm was the only noble in the German Empire who was ignorant of the
+significance of the four letters, and doubtless the senders were amazed
+at his temerity in nonchalantly ignoring the repeated warnings, which
+would have brought pallor to the cheeks of the highest in the land.
+Wilhelm had been always so dependent on the advice of Gottlieb that it
+never occurred to him to seek explanation from any one else, yet in
+this instance Gottlieb, from the same cause of woodland training, was as
+ignorant as his master.
+
+It is possible that the two warnings might have made a greater
+impression on the mind of the young man were it not that he was troubled
+about his own status in the Empire. There had been much envy in the
+Court at the elevation of a young man practically unknown, to the
+position of commander-in-chief of the German army, and high officials
+had gone so far as to protest against what they said was regarded as a
+piece of unaccountable favouritism. The Empress, however, was firm, and
+for a time comment seemed to cease, but it was well known that Wilhelm
+had no real standing, unless his appointment was confirmed by the
+Emperor, and his commission made legal by the royal signature. It became
+known, or, at least, was rumoured that twice the Empress had sent this
+document to her husband and twice it had been returned unsigned. The
+Emperor went so far as to refuse to see his wife, declining to have any
+discussion about the matter, and Wilhelm well knew that every step he
+took in the fulfilment of his office was an illegal step, and if a
+hint of this got to the ears of the Archbishops they would be more than
+justified in calling him to account, for every act he performed relating
+to the army after he knew that his monarch had refused to sanction his
+nomination was an act of rebellion and usurpation punishable by death.
+The Empress was well aware of the jeopardy in which her _attache_ stood,
+but she implored him not to give up the position, although helpless to
+make his appointment regular. She hoped her husband's religious fervour
+would abate and that he would deign to bestow some attention upon
+earthly things, allowing himself to be persuaded of the necessity of
+keeping up a standing army, commanded by one entirely faithful to him.
+Wilhelm himself often doubted the wisdom of his interference, which had
+allowed the throne to be held by a man who so neglected all its duties
+that intrigues and unrest were honeycombing the whole fabric of society,
+beginning at the top and working its way down until now even the
+merchants were in a state of uncertainty, losing faith in the stability
+of the government. The determined attitude of Wilhelm, the general
+knowledge that he came from a family of fighters, and the wholesome fear
+of the wild outlaws, under his command, did more than anything else
+to keep down open rebellion in Court and to make the position of
+the Empress possible. It was believed that Wilhelm would have little
+hesitation in obliterating half the nobility of the Court, or the whole
+of it for that matter, if but reasonable excuse were given him for doing
+so, and every one was certain that his cut-throats, as they were called,
+would obey any command he liked to give, and would delight in whatever
+slaughter ensued. The Commander held aloof from the Court, although,
+because of his position, he had a room in the palace which no one but
+the monarch and the chief officer of the army might enter, yet he rarely
+occupied this apartment, using, instead, the suite at the barracks.
+
+Some days after the second episode of the dagger he received a summons
+from the Empress commanding his instant presence at the palace. On
+arriving at the Court, he found Brunhilda attended by a group of nobles,
+who fell back as the young commander approached. The Empress smiled as
+he bent his knee and kissed her hand, but Wilhelm saw by the anxiety
+in her eye that something untoward had happened, guessing that his
+commission was returned for the third time unsigned from the Emperor,
+and being correct in his surmise.
+
+"Await me in the Administration Room of the Army," said the Empress. "I
+will see you presently. You have somewhat neglected that room of late,
+my Lord."
+
+"I found I could more adequately fulfil your Majesty's command and
+keep in closer touch with the army by occupying my apartments at the
+barracks."
+
+"I trust, then, that you will have a good report to present to me
+regarding the progress of my soldiers," replied the Empress, dismissing
+him with a slight inclination of her head.
+
+Wilhelm left the audience chamber and proceeded along the corridor with
+which his room was connected. The soldier at the entrance saluted him,
+and Wilhelm entered the Administration Chamber. It was a large room and
+in the centre of it stood a large table. After closing the door Wilhelm
+paused in his advance, for there in the centre of the table, buried to
+its very hilt through the planks, was a duplicate of the dagger he had
+concealed inside his doublet. It required some exertion of Wilhelm's
+great strength before he dislodged the weapon from the timber into which
+it had been so fiercely driven. The scroll it affixed differed from each
+of the other two. It began with the words, "Final warning," and ended
+with "To Wilhelm of Schonburg, so-called Commander of the Imperial
+forces," as if from a desire on the part of the writer that there should
+be no mistake regarding the destination of the missive. The young man
+placed the knife on the parchment and stood looking at them both until
+the Empress was announced. He strode forward to meet her and conducted
+her to a chair, where she seated herself, he remaining on his feet.
+
+"I am in deep trouble," she began, "the commission authorising you
+to command the Imperial troops has been returned for the third time
+unsigned; not only that, but the act authorising the reconstruction of
+the army, comes back also without the Emperor's signature."
+
+Wilhelm remained silent, for he well knew that the weakness of their
+position was the conduct of the Emperor, and this was an evil which he
+did not know how to remedy.
+
+"When he returned both documents the first time," continued the Empress,
+"I sent to him a request for an interview that I might explain the
+urgency and necessity of the matter. This request was refused, and
+although I know of course that my husband might perhaps be called
+eccentric, still he had never before forbade my presence. This aroused
+my suspicion."
+
+"Suspicion of what, your Majesty?" inquired Wilhelm.
+
+"My suspicion that the messages I sent him have been intercepted."
+
+"Who would dare do such a thing, your Majesty?" cried Wilhelm in
+amazement.
+
+"Where large stakes are played for, large risks must be taken," went on
+the lady. "I said nothing at the time, but yesterday I sent to him two
+acts which he himself had previously sanctioned, but never carried out;
+these were returned to me to-day unsigned, and now I fear one of three
+things. The Emperor is ill, is a prisoner, or is dead."
+
+"If it is your Majesty's wish," said Wilhelm, "I will put myself at the
+head of a body of men, surround the cathedral, search the cloisters, and
+speedily ascertain whether the Emperor is there or no."
+
+"I have thought of such action," declared the Empress, "but I dislike to
+take it. It would bring me in conflict with the Church, and then there
+is always the chance that the Emperor is indeed within the cloisters,
+and that, of his own free will, he refuses to sign the documents I
+have sent to him. In such case what excuse could we give for our
+interference? It might precipitate the very crisis we are so anxious to
+avoid."
+
+The Empress had been sitting by the table with her arm resting upon it,
+her fingers toying unconsciously with the knife while she spoke, and now
+as her remarks reached their conclusion her eyes fell upon its hilt
+and slender blade. With an exclamation almost resembling a scream the
+Empress sprang to her feet and allowed the dagger to fall clattering on
+the floor.
+
+"Where did that come from?" she cried. "Is it intended for me?" and she
+shook her trembling hands as if they had touched a poisonous scorpion.
+
+"Where it comes from I do not know, but it is not intended for your
+Majesty, as this scroll will inform you."
+
+Brunhilda took the parchment he offered and held it at arm's length from
+her, reading its few words with dilated eyes, and Wilhelm was amazed to
+see in them the fear which they failed to show when she faced the three
+powerful Archbishops. Finally the scroll fluttered from her nerveless
+fingers to the floor and the Empress sank back in her chair.
+
+"You have received two other warnings then?" she said in a low voice.
+
+"Yes, your Majesty. What is their meaning?"
+
+"They are the death warrants of the Fehmgerichte, a dread and secret
+tribunal before which even emperors quail. If you obey this mandate you
+will never be seen on earth again; if you disobey you will be secretly
+assassinated by one of these daggers, for after ignoring the third
+warning a hundred thousand such blades are lying in wait for your heart,
+and ultimately one of them will reach it, no matter in what quarter of
+Germany you hide yourself."
+
+"And who are the members of this mysterious association, your Majesty?
+
+"That, you can tell as well as I, better perhaps, for you may be a
+member while I cannot be. Perhaps the soldier outside this door belongs
+to the Fehmgerichte, or your own Chamberlain, or perhaps your most
+devoted lieutenant, the lusty Gottlieb."
+
+"That, your Majesty, I'll swear he is not, for he was as amazed as I
+when he saw the dagger at the barracks."
+
+Brunhilda shook her head.
+
+"You cannot judge from pretended ignorance," she said, "because a member
+is sworn to keep all secrets of the holy Fehm from wife and child,
+father and mother, sister and brother, fire and wind; from all that the
+sun shines on and the rain wets, and from every being between heaven and
+earth. Those are the words of the oath."
+
+Wilhelm found himself wondering how his informant knew so much about
+the secret court if all those rules were strictly kept, but he
+naturally shrank from any inquiry regarding the source of her knowledge.
+Nevertheless her next reply gave him an inkling of the truth.
+
+"Who is the head of this tribunal?" he asked.
+
+"The Emperor is the nominal head, but my husband never approved of the
+Fehmgerichte; originally organised to redress the wrongs of tyranny,
+it has become a gigantic instrument of oppression. The Archbishop of
+Cologne is the actual president of the order, not in his capacity as an
+elector, nor as archbishop, but because he is Duke of Westphalia, where
+this tragic court had its origin."
+
+"Your Majesty imagines then, that this summons comes from the Archbishop
+of Cologne?"
+
+"Oh, no. I doubt if he has any knowledge of it. Each district has
+a freigraf, or presiding judge, assisted by seven assessors, or
+freischoffen, who sit in so called judgment with him, but literally they
+merely record the sentence, for condemnation is a foregone conclusion."
+
+"Is the sentence always death?"
+
+"Always, at this secret tribunal; a sentence of death immediately
+carried out. In the open Fehmic court, banishment, prison, or other
+penalty may be inflicted, but you are summoned to appear before the
+secret tribunal."
+
+"Does your Majesty know the meaning of these cabalistic letters on the
+dagger's hilt and on the parchment?"
+
+"The letters 'S. S. G. G.' stand for Strick, Stein, Gras, Gruen: Strick
+meaning, it is said, the rope which hangs you; Stein, the stone at the
+head of your grave, and Gras, Gruen, the green grass covering it."
+
+"Well, your Majesty," said Wilhelm, picking up the parchment from the
+floor and tearing it in small pieces, "if I have to choose between the
+rope and the dagger, I freely give my preference to the latter. I shall
+not attend this secret conclave, and if any of its members think to
+strike a dagger through my heart, he will have to come within the radius
+of my sword to do so."
+
+"God watch over you," said the Empress fervently, "for this is a case
+in which the protection of an earthly throne is of little avail. And
+remember, Lord Wilhelm, trust not even your most intimate friend within
+arm's length of you. The only persons who may not become members of
+this dread order are a Jew, an outlaw, an infidel, a woman, a servant, a
+priest, or a person excommunicated."
+
+Wilhelm escorted the Empress to the door of the red room, and there took
+leave of her; he being unable to suggest anything that might assuage her
+anxiety regarding her husband, she being unable to protect him from the
+new danger that threatened. Wilhelm was as brave as any man need be, and
+in a fair fight was content to take whatever odds came, but now he was
+confronted by a subtle invisible peril, against which ordinary courage
+was futile. An unaccustomed shiver chilled him as the palace sentinel,
+in the gathering gloom of the corridor, raised his hand swiftly to his
+helmet in salute. He passed slowly down the steps of the palace into
+the almost deserted square in front of it, for the citizens of Frankfort
+found it expedient to get early indoors when darkness fell. The young
+man found himself glancing furtively from right to left, starting at
+every shadow and scrutinising every passerby who was innocently hurrying
+to his own home. The name "Fehmgerichte" kept repeating itself in
+his brain like an incantation. He took the middle of the square and
+hesitated when he came to the narrow street down which his way lay. At
+the street corner he paused, laid his hand on the hilt of his sword and
+drew a deep breath.
+
+"Is it possible," he muttered to himself, "that I am afraid? Am I at
+heart a coward? By the cross which is my protection," he cried, "if they
+wish to try their poniarding, they shall have an opportunity!"
+
+And drawing his sword he plunged into the dark and narrow street, his
+footsteps ringing defiantly in the silence on the stone beneath him as
+he strode resolutely along. He passed rapidly through the city until he
+came to the northern gate. Here accosting his warders and being assured
+that all was well, he took the street which, bending like a bow,
+followed the wall until it came to the river. Once or twice he stopped,
+thinking himself followed, but the darkness was now so impenetrable that
+even if a pursuer had been behind him he was safe from detection if he
+kept step with his victim and paused when he did. The street widened as
+it approached the river, and Wilhelm became convinced that some one was
+treading in his footsteps. Clasping his sword hilt more firmly in
+his hand he wheeled about with unexpectedness that evidently took his
+follower by surprise, for he dashed across the street and sped fleetly
+towards the river. The glimpse Wilhelm got of him in the open space
+between the houses made him sure that he was once more on the track
+of von Brent, the emissary of Treves. The tables were now turned, the
+pursuer being the pursued, and Wilhelm set his teeth, resolved to put a
+sudden end to this continued espionage. Von Brent evidently remembered
+his former interception, and now kept a straight course. Trusting to the
+swiftness of his heels, he uttered no cry, but directed all his energies
+toward flight, and Wilhelm, equally silent, followed as rapidly.
+
+Coming to the river, von Brent turned to the east, keeping in the middle
+of the thoroughfare. On the left hand side was a row of houses, on the
+right flowed the rapid Main. Some hundreds of yards further up there
+were houses on both sides of the street, and as the water of the river
+flowed against the walls of the houses to the right, Wilhelm knew there
+could be no escape that way. Surmising that his victim kept the middle
+of the street in order to baffle the man at his heels, puzzling him as
+to which direction the fugitive intended to bolt, Wilhelm, not to be
+deluded by such a device, ran close to the houses on the left, knowing
+that if von Brent turned to the right he would be speedily stopped by
+the Main. The race promised to reach a sudden conclusion, for Wilhelm
+was perceptibly gaining on his adversary, when coming to the first house
+by the river the latter swerved suddenly, jumped to a door, pushed it
+open and was inside in the twinkling of an eye, but only barely in time
+to miss the sword thrust that followed him. Quick as thought Wilhelm
+placed his foot in such a position that the door could not be closed.
+Then setting his shoulder to the panels, he forced it open in spite
+of the resistance behind it. Opposition thus overborne by superior
+strength, Wilhelm heard the clatter of von Brent's footsteps down the
+dark passage, and next instant the door was closed with a bang, and it
+seemed to the young man that the house had collapsed upon him. He heard
+his sword snap and felt it break beneath him, and he was gagged and
+bound before he could raise a hand to help himself. Then when it was too
+late, he realised that he had allowed the heat and fervour of pursuit to
+overwhelm his judgment, and had jumped straight into the trap prepared
+for him. Von Brent returned with a lantern in his hand and a smile on
+his face, breathing quickly after his exertions. Wilhelm, huddled in a
+corner, saw a dozen stalwart ruffians grouped around him, most of them
+masked, but two or three with faces bare, their coverings having come
+off in the struggle. These slipped quickly out of sight, behind the
+others, as if not wishing to give clue for future recognition.
+
+"Well, my Lord," said von Brent, smiling, "you see that gagging and
+binding is a game that two may play at."
+
+There was no reply to this, first, because Wilhelm was temporarily in a
+speechless condition, and, second, because the proposition was not one
+to be contradicted.
+
+"Take him to the Commitment Room," commanded von Brent.
+
+Four of the onlookers lifted Wilhelm and carried him down a long
+stairway, across a landing and to the foot of a second flight of steps,
+where he was thrown into a dark cell, the dimensions of which he could
+not estimate. When the door was closed the prisoner lay with his head
+leaning against it, and for a time the silence was intense. By and by
+he found that by turning his head so that his ear was placed against the
+panel of the door, he heard distinctly the footfalls outside, and even
+a shuffling sound near him, which seemed to indicate that a man was on
+guard at the other side of the oak. Presently some one approached, and
+in spite of the low tones used, Wilhelm not only heard what was being
+said, but recognised the voice of von Brent, who evidently was his
+jailer.
+
+"You have him safely then?"
+
+"Gagged and bound, my Lord."
+
+"Is he disarmed?"
+
+"His sword was broken under him, my Lord, when we fell upon him."
+
+"Very well. Remove the gag and place him with No. 13. Bar them in and
+listen to their conversation. I think they have never met, but I want to
+be sure of it."
+
+"Is there not a chance that No. 13 may make himself known, my Lord?"
+
+"No matter if he does. In fact, it is my object to have No. 13 and No.
+14 known to each other, and yet be not aware that we have suspicion of
+their knowledge."
+
+When the door of the cell was opened four guards came in. It was
+manifest they were not going to allow Wilhelm any chance to escape, and
+were prepared to overpower him should he attempt flight or resistance.
+The gag was taken from his mouth and the thongs which bound his legs
+were untied, and thus he was permitted to stand on his feet. Once
+outside his cell he saw that the subterranean region in which he found
+himself was of vast extent, resembling the crypt of a cathedral, the low
+roof being supported by pillars of tremendous circumference. From the
+direction in which he had been carried from the foot of the stairs he
+surmised, and quite accurately, that this cavern was under the bed of
+the river. Those who escorted him and those whom he met were masked.
+No torches illuminated the gloom of this sepulchral hall, but each
+individual carried, attached in some way to his belt, a small horn
+lantern, which gave for a little space around a dim uncertain light,
+casting weird shadows against the pillars of the cavern. Once or twice
+they met a man clothed in an apparently seamless cloak of black cloth,
+that covered the head and extended to the feet. Two holes in front of
+the face allowed a momentary glimpse of a pair of flashing eyes as
+the yellow light from the lanterns smote them. These grim figures were
+presumably persons of importance, for the guards stopped, and saluted,
+as each one approached, not going forward until he had silently passed
+them. When finally the door of the cell they sought was reached, the
+guards drew back the bolts, threw it open, and pushed Wilhelm into the
+apartment that had been designated for him. Before closing the door,
+however, one of the guards placed a lantern on the floor so that the
+fellow-prisoners might have a chance of seeing each other. Wilhelm
+beheld, seated on a pallet of straw, a man well past middle-age, his
+face smooth-shaven and of serious cast, yet having, nevertheless,
+a trace of irresolution in his weak chin. His costume was that of
+a mendicant monk, and his face seemed indicative of the severity of
+monastic rule. There was, however, a serenity of courage in his eye
+which seemed to betoken that he was a man ready to die for his opinions,
+if once his wavering chin allowed him to form them. Wilhelm remembering
+that priests were not allowed to join the order of the Fehmgerichte
+reflected that here was a man who probably, from his fearless
+denunciations of the order, had brought down upon himself the hatred of
+the secret tribunal, whose only penalty was that of death. The older man
+was the first to speak.
+
+"So you also are a victim of the Fehmgerichte?"
+
+"I have for some minutes suspected as much," replied von Schonburg.
+
+"Were you arrested and brought here, or did you come here willingly?"
+
+"Oh, I came here willingly enough. I ran half a league in my eagerness
+to reach this spot and fairly jumped into it," replied Wilhelm, with a
+bitter laugh.
+
+"You were in such haste to reach this spot?" said the old man, sombrely,
+"what is your crime?"
+
+"That I do not know, but I shall probably soon learn when I come before
+the court."
+
+"Are you a member of the order, then?"
+
+"No, I am not."
+
+"In that case, it will require the oaths of twenty-one members to clear
+you, therefore, if you have not that many friends in the order I look
+upon you as doomed."
+
+"Thank you. That is as God wills."
+
+"Assuredly, assuredly. We are all in His hands," and the good man
+devoutedly crossed himself.
+
+"I have answered your questions," said Wilhelm, "answer you some of
+mine. Who are you?"
+
+"I am a seeker after light."
+
+"Well, there it is," said Wilhelm, touching the lantern with his foot as
+he paced up and down the limits of the cell.
+
+"Earthly light is but dim at best, it is the light of Heaven I search
+after."
+
+"Well, I hope you may be successful in finding it. I know of no place
+where it is needed so much as here."
+
+"You speak like a scoffer. I thought from what you said of God's will,
+that you were a religious man."
+
+"I am a religious man, I hope, and I regret if my words seem lightly
+spoken.
+
+"What action of man, think you then, is most pleasing to God?"
+
+"That is a question which you, to judge by your garb, are more able to
+answer than I."
+
+"Nay, nay, I want your opinion."
+
+"Then in my opinion, the man most pleasing to God is he who does his
+duty here on earth."
+
+"Ah! right, quite right," cried the older man, eagerly. "But there lies
+the core of the whole problem. What _is_ duty; that is what I have spent
+my life trying to learn."
+
+"Then at a venture I should say your life has been a useless one. Duty
+is as plain as the lighted lantern there before us. If you are a priest,
+fulfil your priestly office well; comfort the sick, console the dying,
+bury the dead. Tell your flock not to speculate too much on duty, but to
+try and accomplish the work in hand."
+
+"But I am not a priest," faltered the other, rising slowly to his feet.
+
+"Then if you are a soldier, strike hard for your King. Kill the man
+immediately before you, and if, instead, he kills you, be assured that
+the Lord will look after your soul when it departs through the rent thus
+made in your body."
+
+"There is a ring of truth in that, but it sounds worldly. How can we
+tell that such action is pleasing to God? May it not be better to depend
+entirely on the Lord, and let Him strike your blows for you?"
+
+"Never! What does He give you arms for but to protect your own head, and
+what does He give you swift limbs for if not to take your body out of
+reach when you are threatened with being overmatched? God must despise
+such a man as you speak of, and rightly so. I am myself a commander of
+soldiers, and if I had a lieutenant who trusted all to me and refused to
+strike a sturdy blow on his own behalf I should tear his badge from him
+and have him scourged from out the ranks."
+
+"But may we not, by misdirected efforts, thwart the will of God?"
+
+"Oh! the depths of human vanity! Thwart the will of God? What, a puny
+worm like you? You amaze me, sir, with your conceit, and I lose the
+respect for you which at first your garb engendered in my mind. Do your
+work manfully, and flatter not yourself that your most strenuous efforts
+are able to cross the design of the Almighty. My own poor belief is that
+He has patience with any but a coward and a loiterer."
+
+The elder prisoner staggered into the centre of the room and raised his
+hands above his head.
+
+"Oh, Lord, have mercy upon me," he cried. "Thou who hast brought light
+to me in this foul dungeon which was refused to me in the radiance
+of Thy Cathedral. Have mercy on me, oh, Lord, the meanest of Thy
+servants--a craven Emperor."
+
+"The Emperor!" gasped Wilhelm, the more amazed because he had
+his Majesty in mind when he spoke so bitterly of neglected duty,
+unconsciously blaming his sovereign rather than his own rashness for the
+extreme predicament in which he found himself.
+
+Before either could again speak the door suddenly opened wide, and a
+deep voice solemnly enunciated the words:
+
+"Wilhelm of Schonburg, pretended Commander of his Majesty's forces, you
+are summoned to appear instantly before the court of the Holy Fehm, now
+in session and awaiting you."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+THE HOLY FEHM
+
+
+When the spokesman of the Fehmgerichte had finished his ominous summons,
+his attendants crowded round Wilhelm swiftly and silently as if to
+forestall any attempt at resistance either on his part or on the part of
+the Emperor. They hurried their victim immediately out of the cell and
+instantly barred the door on the remaining prisoner. First they crossed
+the low-roofed, thickly-pillared great hall, passing through a doorway
+at which two armed men stood guard, masked, as were all the others. The
+Judgment Hall of the dread Fehmgerichte was a room of about ten times
+the extent of the cell Wilhelm had just left, but still hardly of a size
+that would justify the term large. The walls and vaulted roof were of
+rough stone, and on the side opposite the entrance had been cut deeply
+the large letters S. S. G. G. A few feet distant from this lettered wall
+stood a long table, and between the wall and the table sat seven men.
+The Freigraf, as Wilhelm surmised him to be, occupied in the centre of
+this line a chair slightly more elevated than those of the three who sat
+on either hand. Seven staples had been driven into the interstices of
+the stones above the heads of the Court and from each staple hung a
+lighted lantern, which with those at the belts of the guard standing
+round, illuminated the dismal chamber fairly well. To the left of the
+Court was a block draped in black and beside it stood the executioner
+with his arms resting on the handle of his axe. In the ceiling above his
+head was an iron ring and from this ring depended a rope, the noose of
+which dangled at the shoulder of the headsman, for it was the benevolent
+custom of the Court to allow its victim a choice in the manner of his
+death. It was also a habit of the judges of this Court to sit until the
+sentence they had pronounced was carried out, and thus there could be no
+chance of mistake or rescue. No feature of any judge was visible except
+the eyes through the holes pierced for the purposes of vision in the
+long black cloaks which completely enveloped their persons.
+
+As Wilhelm was brought to a stand before this assemblage, the Freigraf
+nodded his head and the guards in silence undid the thongs which
+pinioned together wrists and elbows, leaving the prisoner absolutely
+unfettered.--This done, the guard retreated backwards to the opposite
+wall, and Wilhelm stood alone before the seven sinister doomsmen. He
+expected that his examination, if the Court indulged in any such, would
+be begun by the Freigraf, but this was not the case. The last man to the
+left in the row had a small bundle of documents on the table before him.
+He rose to his feet, bowed low to his brother judges, and then with
+less deference to the prisoner. He spoke in a voice lacking any trace
+of loudness, but distinctly heard in every corner of the room because of
+the intense stillness. There was a sweet persuasiveness in the accents
+he used, and his sentences resembled those of a lady anxious not to give
+offence to the person addressed.
+
+"Am I right in supposing you to be Wilhelm, lately of Schonburg, but now
+of Frankfort?"
+
+"You are right."
+
+"May I ask if you are a member of the Fehmgerichte?"
+
+"I am not. I never heard of it until this afternoon."
+
+"Who was then your informant regarding the order?"
+
+"I refuse to answer."
+
+The examiner inclined his head gracefully as if, while regretting the
+decision of the witness, he nevertheless bowed to it.
+
+"Do you acknowledge his lordship the Archbishop of Mayence as your over
+lord?"
+
+"Most assuredly."
+
+"Have you ever been guilty of an act of rebellion or insubordination
+against his lordship?"
+
+"My over-lord, the Archbishop of Mayence, has never preferred a request
+to me which I have refused."
+
+"Pardon me, I fear I have not stated my proposition with sufficient
+clearness, and so you may have misunderstood the question. I had in my
+mind a specific act, and so will enter into further detail. Is it true
+that in the Wahlzimmer you entered the presence of your over-lord with a
+drawn sword in your hand, commanding a body of armed men lately outlaws
+of the Empire, thus intimidating your over-lord in the just exercise of
+his privileges and rights as an Elector?"
+
+"My understanding of the Feudal law," said Wilhelm, "is that the
+commands of an over-lord are to be obeyed only in so far as they do not
+run counter to orders from a still higher authority."
+
+"Your exposition of the law is admirable, and its interpretation stands
+exactly as you have stated it. Are we to understand then that you were
+obeying the orders of some person in authority who is empowered to
+exercise a jurisdiction over his lordship the Archbishop, similar to
+that which the latter in his turn claims over you?"
+
+"That is precisely what I was about to state."
+
+"Whose wishes were you therefore carrying out?
+
+"Those of his Majesty the Emperor."
+
+The examiner bowed with the utmost deference when the august name was
+mentioned.
+
+"I have to thank you in the name of the Court," he went on, "for your
+prompt and comprehensive replies, which have thus so speedily enabled
+us to come to a just and honourable verdict, and it gives me pleasure
+to inform you that the defence you have made is one that cannot be
+gainsaid, and, therefore, with the exception of one slight formality,
+there is nothing more for us to do but to set you at liberty and ask
+pardon for the constraint we regret having put upon you, and further to
+request that you take oath that neither to wife nor child, father nor
+mother, sister nor brother, fire nor wind, will you reveal anything
+that has happened to you; that you will conceal it from all that the sun
+shines on and from all that the rain wets, and from every being between
+heaven and earth. And now before our doors are thus opened I have to
+beg that you will favour the Court with the privilege of examining the
+commission that his Majesty the Emperor has signed."
+
+"You cannot expect me to carry my commission about on my person,
+more especially as I had no idea I should be called upon to undergo
+examination upon it."
+
+"Such an expectation would certainly be doomed to disappointment, but
+you are doubtless able to tell us where the document lies, and I can
+assure you that, wherever it is placed, an emissary of this order will
+speedily fetch it, whether, it is concealed in palace or in hut. Allow
+me to ask you then, where this commission is?"
+
+"I cannot tell you."
+
+"Do you mean you cannot, or you will not?"
+
+"Take it whichever way you please, it is a matter of indifference to
+me."
+
+The examiner folded his arms under his black cloak and stood for some
+moments in silence, looking reproachfully at the prisoner. At last he
+spoke in a tone which seemed to indicate that he was pained at the young
+man's attitude:
+
+"I sincerely trust I am mistaken in supposing that you refuse absolutely
+to assist this Court in the securing of a document which not only stands
+between you and your liberty, but also between you and your death."
+
+"Oh, a truce to this childish and feigned regret," cried Wilhelm with
+rude impatience. "I pray you end the farce with less of verbiage and
+of pretended justice. You have his Majesty here a prisoner. You have,
+through my own folly, my neck at the mercy of your axe or your rope.
+There stands the executioner eager for his gruesome work. Finish that
+which you have already decided upon, and as sure as there is a God in
+heaven there will be quick retribution for the crimes committed in this
+loathsome dungeon."
+
+The examiner deplored the introduction of heat into a discussion that
+required the most temperate judgment.
+
+"But be assured," he said, "that the hurling of unfounded accusations
+against this honourable body will not in the least prejudice their
+members in dealing with your case."
+
+"I know it," said Wilhelm with a sneering laugh.
+
+"We have been informed that no such commission exists, that the document
+empowering you to take instant command of the Imperial troops rests in
+the hands of the wife of his Majesty the Emperor and is unsigned."
+
+"If you know that, then why do you ask me so many questions about it?"
+
+"In the sincere hope that by the production of the document itself, you
+may be able to repudiate so serious an accusation. You admit then that
+you have acted without the shelter of a commission from his Majesty?"
+
+"I admit nothing."
+
+The examiner looked up and down the row of silent figures as much as to
+say, "I have done my best; shall any further questions be put?" There
+being no response to this the examiner said, still without raising his
+voice:
+
+"There is a witness in this case, and I ask him to stand forward."
+
+A hooded and cloaked figure approached the table.
+
+"Are you a member of the Fehmgerichte?"
+
+"I am."
+
+"In good and honourable standing?"
+
+"In good and honourable standing."
+
+"You swear by the order to which you belong that the evidence you give
+shall be truth without equivocation and without mental reservation?"
+
+"I swear it."
+
+"Has the prisoner a commission signed by the Emperor empowering him to
+command the Imperial troops?"
+
+"He has not, and never has had such a commission. A document was made
+out and sent three times to his Majesty for signature; to-day it was
+returned for the third time unsigned."
+
+"Prisoner, do you deny that statement?"
+
+"I neither deny nor affirm."
+
+Wilhelm was well aware that his fate was decided upon. Even if he had
+appeared before a regularly constituted court of the Empire instead
+of at the bar of an underground secret association, the verdict must
+inevitably have gone against him, so long as the Emperor's signature was
+not appended to the document which would have legalised his position.
+
+"It would appear then," went on the examiner, "that in the action you
+took against your immediate over-lord, the Archbishop of Mayence,
+you were unprotected by the mandate of the Emperor. Freigraf and
+Freischoffen have heard question and answer. With extreme reluctance
+I am compelled to announce to this honourable body, that nothing now
+remains except to pronounce the verdict."
+
+With this the examiner sat down, and for a few moments there was
+silence, then the Freigraf enunciated in a low voice the single word:
+
+"Condemned."
+
+And beginning at the right hand, each member of the Court pronounced the
+word "Condemned."
+
+Wilhelm listened eagerly to the word, expecting each moment to hear
+the voice of one or other of the Archbishops, but in this he was
+disappointed. The low tone universally used by each speaker gave a
+certain monotony of sound which made it almost impossible to distinguish
+one voice from another. This evident desire for concealment raised a
+suspicion in the young man's mind that probably each member of the Court
+did not know who his neighbours were. When the examiner at the extreme
+left had uttered the word "Condemned" the Freigraf again spoke:
+
+"Is there any reason why the sentence just pronounced be not immediately
+carried out?"
+
+The examiner again rose to his feet and said quietly, but with great
+respect:
+
+"My Lord, I ask that this young man be not executed immediately, but on
+the contrary, be taken to his cell, there to be held during the pleasure
+of the Court."
+
+There seemed to be a murmured dissent to this, but a whispered
+explanation passed along the line and the few that had at first
+objected, nodded their heads in assent.
+
+"Our rule cannot be set aside," said the Freigraf, "unless with
+unanimous consent. Does any member demur?"
+
+No protests being made the Freigraf ordered Wilhelm to be taken to a
+cell, which was accordingly done.
+
+The young man left alone in the darkness felt a pleasure in being able
+to stretch his arms once more, and he paced up and down the narrow
+limits of his cell, wondering what the next move would be in this
+mysterious drama. In the Judgment Chamber he had abandoned all hope, and
+had determined that when the order was given to seize him he would pluck
+the dagger of the order from the inside of his doublet, and springing
+over the table, kill one or more of these illegal judges before he was
+overpowered. The sudden change in tactics persuaded him that something
+else was required of him rather than the death which seemed so imminent.
+It was palpable that several members of the Court at least were
+unacquainted with the designs of the master mind which was paramount
+in his prosecution. They had evinced surprise when the examiner had
+demanded postponement of the execution. There was something behind all
+this that betrayed the crafty hand of the Archbishop of Treves. He was
+not long left in doubt. The door of the cell opened slowly and the pale
+rays of a lantern illuminated the blackness which surrounded him. The
+young man stopped in his walk and awaited developments. There entered
+to him one of the cloak-enveloped figures, who might, or might not, be
+a member of the Holy Court. Wilhelm thought that perhaps his visitor
+was the examiner, but the moment the silence was broken, in spite of the
+fact that the speaker endeavoured to modulate his tones as the others
+had done, the young man knew the incomer was not the person who had
+questioned him.
+
+"We are somewhat loth," the intruder began, "to cut short the career of
+one so young as you are, and one who gives promise of becoming a notable
+captain."
+
+"What have you seen of me," inquired Wilhelm, "that leads you to suppose
+I have the qualities of a capable officer in me?"
+
+The other did not reply for a moment or two; then he said slowly:
+
+"I do not say that I have seen anything to justify such a conclusion,
+but I have heard of your action in the Wahlzimmer, and by the account
+given, I judge you to be a young man of resource."
+
+"I am indebted to you for the good opinion you express. It is quite in
+your power to set me free, and then the qualities you are kind enough to
+commend, may have an opportunity for development."
+
+"Alas!" said the visitor, "it is not in my power to release you; that
+lies entirely with yourself."
+
+"You bring comforting news. What is the price?"
+
+"You are asked to become a member of the Fehmgerichte."
+
+"I should suppose that to be easily accomplished, as I am now a partaker
+of its hospitality. What else?"
+
+"The remaining proviso is that you take service, with his lordship, the
+Archbishop of Treves, and swear entire allegiance to him."
+
+"I am already in the service of the Emperor."
+
+"It has just been proven that you are not."
+
+"How could the Archbishop expect faithful service from me, if I prove
+traitor to the one I deem my master?"
+
+"The Archbishop will probably be content to take the risk of that."
+
+"Are you commissioned to speak for the Archbishop?"
+
+"I am."
+
+"Are you one of the Archbishop's men?"
+
+"My disposition towards him is friendly; I cannot say that I am one of
+his men."
+
+"Granting, then, that I took service with the Archbishop to save my
+life, what would he expect me to do?"
+
+"To obey him in all things."
+
+"Ah, be more explicit, as the examiner said. I am not a man to enter
+into a bargain blindly. I must know exactly what is required of me."
+
+"It is probable that your first order would be to march your army from
+Frankfort to Treves. Would the men follow you, do you think?"
+
+"Undoubtedly. The men will follow wherever I choose to lead them.
+Another question. What becomes of the Emperor in case I make this
+bargain?"
+
+"That question it is impossible at the present moment, to answer. The
+Court of the Holy Fehm is now awaiting my return, and when I take my
+place on the bench the Emperor will be called upon to answer for his
+neglect of duty."
+
+"Nevertheless you may hazard a guess regarding his fate."
+
+"I hazard this guess then, that his fate will depend largely upon
+himself, just as your fate depends upon yourself."
+
+"I must see clearly where I am going, therefore I request you to be more
+explicit. What will the Court demand of the Emperor that he may save his
+life?"
+
+"You are questioning me touching the action of others; therefore, all
+I can do is merely to surmise. My supposition is that if the Emperor
+promises to abdicate he will be permitted to pass unscathed from the
+halls of the Fehmgerichte."
+
+"And should he refuse?"
+
+"Sir, I am already at the end of my patience through your numerous
+questions," and as the voice rose in something approaching anger,
+Wilhelm seemed to recognise its ring. "I came here, not to answer your
+questions, but to have you answer mine. What is your decision?"
+
+"My decision is that you are a confessed traitor; die the death of
+such!"
+
+Wilhelm sprang forward and buried the dagger of the Fehmgerichte into
+the heart of the man before him. His action was so unexpected that the
+victim could make no motion to defend himself. So truly was the fierce
+blow dealt that the doomed man, without a cry or even a groan, sank in
+his death collapse at the young man's feet in a heap on the floor.
+
+Wilhelm, who thought little of taking any man's life in a fair fight,
+shuddered as he gazed at the helpless bundle at his feet; a moment
+before, this uncouth heap stood erect, a man like himself, conversing
+with him, then the swift blow and the resulting huddle of clay.
+
+"Oh, God above me, Over-lord of all, I struck for my King, yet I feel
+myself an assassin. If I am, indeed, a murderer in Thy sight, wither me
+where I stand, and crush me to the ground, companion to this dead body."
+
+For a few moments Wilhelm stood rigid, his face uplifted, listening to
+the pulsations in his own throat and the strident beatings of his own
+heart. No bolt from heaven came to answer his supplication. Stooping,
+he, with some difficulty, drew the poniard from its resting-place. The
+malignant ingenuity of its construction had caused its needle point to
+penetrate the chain armour, while its keen double edge cut link after
+link of the hard steel as it sunk into the victim's breast. The severed
+ends of the links now clutched the blade as if to prevent its removal.
+Not a drop of blood followed its exit, although it had passed directly
+through the citadel of life itself. Again concealing the weapon within
+his doublet, a sudden realisation of the necessity for speed overcame
+the assaulter. He saw before him a means of escape. He had but to don
+the all-concealing cloak and walk out of this subterranean charnel
+house by the way he had entered it, if he could but find the foot of the
+stairs, down which they had carried him. Straightening out the body
+he pulled the cloak free from it, thus exposing the face to the yellow
+light of the lantern. His heart stood still as he saw that the man he
+had killed was no other than that exalted Prince of the Church, the
+venerable Archbishop of Treves. He drew the body to the pallet of straw
+in the corner of the cell, and there, lying on its face, he left it.
+A moment later he was costumed as a high priest of the order of the
+Fehmgerichte. Taking the lantern in his hand he paused before the closed
+door. He could not remember whether or not he had heard the bolts
+shot after the Archbishop had entered. Conning rapidly in his mind the
+startling change in the situation, he stood there until he had recovered
+command of himself, resolved that if possible no mistake on his part
+should now mar his chances of escape, and in this there was no thought
+of saving his own life, but merely a determination to get once more
+into the streets of Frankfort, rally his men, penetrate into these
+subterranean regions, and rescue the Emperor alive. He pushed with all
+his might against the door, and to his great relief the heavy barrier
+swung slowly round on its hinges. Once outside he pushed it shut again,
+and was startled by two guards springing to his assistance, one of them
+saying:
+
+"Shall we thrust in the bolts, my Lord?"
+
+"Yes," answered Wilhelm in the low tone which all, costumed as he
+was, had used. He turned away but was dismayed to find before him
+two brethren of the order arrayed in like manner to himself, who had
+evidently been waiting for him.
+
+"What is the result of the conference? Does he consent?"
+
+Rapidly Wilhelm had to readjust events in his own mind to meet this
+unexpected emergency.
+
+"No," he replied slowly, "he does not consent, at least, not just at the
+moment. He has some scruples regarding his loyalty to the Emperor."
+
+"Those scruples will be speedily removed then, when we remove his
+Majesty. The other members of the Court are but now awaiting us in the
+Judgment Chamber. Let us hasten there, and make a quick disposal of the
+Emperor."
+
+Wilhelm saw that there was no possibility of retreat. Any attempt at
+flight would cause instant alarm and the closing of the exits, then both
+the Emperor and himself would be caught like rats in a trap, yet there
+was almost equal danger in entering the Council Chamber. He had not the
+remotest idea which seat at the table he should occupy, and he knew that
+a mistake in placing himself would probably lead to discovery. He lagged
+behind, but the others persistently gave him precedence, which seemed to
+indicate that they knew the real quality of the man they supposed him to
+be. He surmised that his seat was probably that of the Freigraf in the
+centre, but on crossing the threshold past the saluting guards, he saw
+that the Freigraf occupied the elevated seat, having at his left three
+Freischoffen, while the remaining seats at his right were unoccupied. It
+was a space of extreme anxiety when his two companions stopped to allow
+him to go first. He dared not take the risk of placing himself wrongly
+at the board. There was scant time for consideration, and Wilhelm
+speedily came to a decision. It was merely one risk to take where
+several were presented, and he chose that which seemed to be the safest.
+Leaning towards his companions he said quietly:
+
+"I beg of you, be seated. I have a few words to address to the Holy
+Court."
+
+The two inclined their heads in return, and one of them in passing him
+murmured the scriptural words, "The first shall be last," which remark
+still further assisted in reversing Wilhelm's former opinion and
+convinced him that the identity of the Archbishop was known to them.
+When they were seated, the chair at the extreme right was the only one
+vacant, and Wilhelm breathed easier, having nothing further to fear from
+that source, if he could but come forth scatheless from his speech.
+
+"I have to acquaint the Court of the Holy Fehm," he said, speaking
+audibly, but no more, "that my mission to the cell of the prisoner who
+has just left us, resulted partly in failure and partly in success. The
+young man has some hesitation in placing himself in open opposition to
+the Emperor. I therefore suggest that we go on with our deliberations,
+leaving the final decision of his case until a later period."
+
+To this the Court unanimously murmured the word: "Agreed," and Wilhelm
+took his place at the table.
+
+"Bring in prisoner No. 13," said the Freigraf, and a few moments later
+the Emperor of Germany stood before the table.
+
+He regarded the dread tribunal with a glance of haughty scorn while
+countenance and demeanour exhibited a dignity which Wilhelm had fancied
+was lacking during their interview in the cell.
+
+The examiner rose to his feet and in the same suave tones he had used in
+questioning Wilhelm, propounded the usual formal interrogatory regarding
+name and quality. When he was asked:
+
+"Are you a member of the Holy Order of the Fehmgerichte?" the Emperor's
+reply seemed to cause some consternation among the judges.
+
+"I am not only a member of the Fehmgerichte, but by its constitution,
+I am the head of it, and I warn you that any action taken by this Court
+without my sanction, is, by the statutes of the order, illegal."
+
+The examiner paused in his questioning apparently taken aback by this
+assertion, and looked towards the Freigraf as if awaiting a decision
+before proceeding further.
+
+"We acknowledge freely," said the Freigraf, "that you are the
+figure-head of the order, and that in all matters pertaining to a change
+of constitution your consent would probably be necessary, but stretching
+your authority to its utmost limit, it does not reach to the Courts of
+the Holy Fehm, which have before now sat in judgment on the highest in
+the land. For more than a century the position of the Emperor as head
+of the Fehmgerichte has been purely nominal, and I know of no precedent
+where the ruler of the land has interfered with the proceedings of the
+secret Court. We avow allegiance to the actual head of the order, who is
+the Duke of Westphalia."
+
+"Is the Duke of Westphalia here present?"
+
+"That is a question improper for you to ask."
+
+"If the Duke of Westphalia is one of the members of this Court, I
+command him by the oath which he took at his installation, to descend
+from his place and render his seat to me, the head of this order."
+
+"The nominal head," corrected the Freigraf.
+
+"The actual head," persisted the prisoner. "The position remained
+nominal only because the various occupants did not choose to exercise
+the authority vested in them. It is my pleasure to resume the function
+which has too long remained in abeyance, thus allowing inferior
+officers to pretend to a power which is practical usurpation, and which,
+according to the constitution of our order, is not to be tolerated.
+Disobey at your peril. I ask the Archbishop of Cologne, Duke of
+Westphalia, as the one, high vassal of the Empire, as the other, my
+subordinate in the Fehmgerichte, to stand forth and salute his chief."
+
+Wilhelm's heart beat rapidly underneath his black cloak as he saw this
+spectacle of helpless prisoner defying a power, which, in its sphere
+of action, was almost omnipotent. It was manifest that the Emperor's
+trenchant sentences had disturbed more than one member of the
+convention, and even the Freigraf glanced in perplexity towards the
+supposed Archbishop of Treves as if for a hint anent the answer that
+should be given. As if in response to the silent appeal, Wilhelm rose
+slowly to his feet, while the examiner seated himself.
+
+"It is my privilege," he began, "on behalf of my fellow members, to
+inform the prisoner that the Court of the Holy Fehm has ever based its
+action on the broad principles of eternal justice."
+
+A sarcastic smile wreathed the lips of the Emperor at this. Wilhelm went
+on unheeding.
+
+"A point of law has been raised by the prisoner, which, I think, at
+least merits our earnest consideration, having regard for the future
+welfare of this organisation, and being anxious not to allow any
+precedent to creep in, which may work to the disadvantage of those
+who follow us. In order that our deliberations may have that calm
+impartiality which has ever distinguished them, I ask unanimous consent
+to my suggestion that the prisoner be taken back to his cell until we
+come to a decision regarding the matter in dispute."
+
+This proposition being agreed to without a dissenting voice, the
+prisoner was removed from the room and the eyes of all the judges were
+turned towards Wilhelm. The Freigraf was the first to break the silence.
+
+"Although I have agreed to the removal of the prisoner," he said, "yet
+I see not the use of wasting so many words on him. While there is
+undoubted wisdom in winning to our side the man who controls the army,
+there seems to me little to gain in prolonging discussion with the
+Emperor, who is a nonentity at best, and has no following. The path to
+the throne must be cleared, and there is but one way of doing it."
+
+"Two, I think," murmured Wilhelm.
+
+"What other than by this prisoner's death?"
+
+"His abdication would suffice."
+
+"But, as you know, he has already refused to abdicate."
+
+"Ah, that was before he saw the executioner standing here. I think he is
+now in a condition to reconsider his determination. Thus we will avoid
+discussion of the knotty points which he raised, and which I, for one,
+would prefer to see remain where they are. The moment he consents to
+abdicate, the commander of the forces is willing to swear allegiance to
+us. It must not be forgotten that even if we execute these two men we
+have still the troops who hold the city of Frankfort to reckon with,
+and although their leader may have disappeared, the young man has some
+sturdy lieutenants who will give us trouble."
+
+"What do you propose?" asked the Freigraf.
+
+"If the colleague at my left will accompany me, we will visit the
+prisoner and may have some proposals to submit to you on our return."
+
+This being acceded to, the two left the Judgment Chamber and proceeded
+slowly to the cell of No. 13. On the way thither Wilhelm said to his
+companion:
+
+"As the prisoner may be on his guard if we enter together, I prefer to
+sound him first alone, and at the proper moment, if you stay outside the
+door of the cell, I shall summon you to enter."
+
+This meeting the sanction of Wilhelm's companion, the young man entered
+the cell alone, carefully closing the door behind him.
+
+"Your Majesty," he whispered, "the situation is extremely critical, and
+I entreat you to maintain silence while I make explanation to you. I am
+Wilhelm, the loyal commander of the Imperial forces, your Majesty's most
+devoted servant."
+
+"Are you then," said the amazed monarch, "also a member of the
+Fehmgerichte? I thought you came here as a prisoner, and, like myself, a
+victim."
+
+Wilhelm drew off over his head the cloak which enveloped him, leaving
+his limbs free, standing thus in his own proper person before the
+Emperor.
+
+"I was, indeed, a prisoner, and was visited in my cell by the Archbishop
+of Treves. It was in his robe that I emerged from my cell undetected,
+hoping to escape and bring rescue to your Majesty, but other brethren
+were awaiting me outside, and I found myself compelled to sit in the
+Court before which you made such an able defence."
+
+"It was you, then, who proposed that I should be taken back to my cell?"
+
+"Yes, your Majesty. And now a colleague remains outside this door, who
+waits, expecting a summons to enter, but first I came to give warning to
+your Majesty that you may make no outcry, if you should see what appears
+to be two brothers of the order struggling together."
+
+"I shall keep strict silence. Is the Archbishop of Treves then a
+prisoner in your cell?"
+
+"He is, I assure you, a fast prisoner."
+
+"You propose that I should don the cloak of the incomer, and that thus
+we make our escape together. We must be in haste, then, for if the
+Archbishop releases himself from his bonds, he may produce such an
+uproar in his cell that suspicion will be aroused."
+
+"The bonds in which I left the Archbishop of Treves will hold him firm
+until we are outside this nest of vipers. And now, your Majesty, I beg
+you to put on this cloak which I have been wearing, which will leave me
+free speedily to overpower our visitor."
+
+The Emperor arrayed himself and stood, as he was fully entitled to do,
+a fully costumed member of the Fehmgerichte. Wilhelm opened the door and
+said softly:
+
+"Enter, brother, that I may learn if the arrangements just made are
+confirmed by your wisdom."
+
+The light within had been placed at the further end of the cell, and the
+visitor's own lantern gave but scant illumination. The moment the door
+was firmly closed Wilhelm sprang upon him and bore him to the ground.
+If the assaulted man attempted to make any sound, it was muffled by the
+folds of his own cloak. A moment later, however, Wilhelm got a firm grip
+on his bare throat, and holding him thus, pulled away his disguise from
+him, revealing the pallid face of the Archbishop of Mayence. The young
+man plucked the dagger from the inside of his doublet and placed it at
+the breast of the prostrate man.
+
+"If you make the slightest sound," he whispered, "I shall bury this
+dagger in your heart. It is the weapon of the Fehmgerichte and you know
+it will penetrate chain armour."
+
+It was evident that the stricken Archbishop was much too frightened
+to do anything to help himself, and Wilhelm unbuckling his own empty
+sword-belt, proceeded to tie his trembling limbs. The Emperor whispered:
+
+"The cords which bound me are still here, as well as the gag which
+silenced me."
+
+Wilhelm put those instruments of tyranny to immediate use, and shortly
+the Archbishop was a helpless silent heap in the further corner of
+the room. Wilhelm and the Emperor each with a lantern, and each
+indistinguishable from other members of the secret organisation, pushed
+open the door and emerged from the cell. Closing the door again, Wilhelm
+said to the guard:
+
+"Bolt this portal firmly and allow no one to enter who does not give you
+this password."
+
+The young man stooped and whispered into the ear of the guard the word
+"Elsa." The two fugitives then walked slowly along the great hall, the
+young man peering anxiously to his right for any sign of the stairway by
+which he had descended. They passed numerous doors, all closed, and at
+last Wilhelm began to wonder if one of these covered the exit which he
+sought. Finally they came to the end of the large hall without seeing
+trace of any outlet, and Wilhelm became conscious of the fact that
+getting free from this labyrinth was like to prove more difficult than
+the entering had been. Standing puzzled, not knowing where next to turn,
+aware that precious time was being wasted fruitlessly, Wilhelm saw a man
+masked and accoutred as a guard approach them.
+
+"Is there anything in which I can pleasure your Lordships?" he asked
+deferentially.
+
+"Yes," said Wilhelm, "we desire to have a breath of fresh air; where is
+the exit?"
+
+"If your Lordship has the password, you may go out by the entrance in
+the city. If you have not the word, then must you use the exit without
+the wall, which is a long walk from here."
+
+"That does not matter," replied Wilhelm, "it is the country air we wish
+to breathe."
+
+"I cannot leave my post, but I shall get one who will guide you."
+
+So saying, the man left them for several anxious minutes, going into a
+room that apparently was used as guard-house, and reappearing with a man
+who rubbed his eyes sleepily, as if newly awakened. Then the first guard
+drew bolts from a stout door and pulled it open, revealing a dark chasm
+like the entrance to a cell. Both Wilhelm and the Emperor viewed this
+black enigma with deep suspicion, but their guide with his lantern
+plunged into it and they followed, after which the door was closed and
+barred behind them.
+
+It was, indeed, as the first man had said, a long walk, as Wilhelm
+knew it must be if it extended under the western gate and out into the
+country. The passage was so narrow that two could not walk abreast, and
+frequently the arched ceiling was so low that the guide ahead warned
+them to stoop as they came on. At last he reached the foot of a
+stairway, and was about to mount when Wilhelm said to him:
+
+"Stand here till we return. Allow no one to pass who does not give you
+this word," and again he whispered the word "Elsa" in the man's ear.
+
+To the dismay of Wilhelm, the Emperor addressed the guard:
+
+"Are there many prisoners within?"
+
+"There are two only," replied the man, "numbers 13 and 14. I helped to
+carry No. 14 down the stair, and am glad his sword broke beneath him as
+he fell, for, indeed, we had trouble enough with him as it was."
+
+Here Wilhelm took the liberty of touching the Emperor on the arm as if
+to warn him that such discourse was untimely and dangerous. With beating
+heart the young man led the way up the stairs, and at the top of the
+second flight, came into what seemed to be the vestibule of a house, in
+which, on benches round the wall, there sat four men seemingly on
+guard, who immediately sprang to their feet when they saw the ghostly
+apparitions before them.
+
+"Unbar the door," said Wilhelm, quietly, in the tone of one whose
+authority is not to be disputed. "Close it after us and allow none to
+enter or emerge who does not give you the word 'Elsa.'"
+
+This command was so promptly obeyed that Wilhelm could scarcely believe
+they had won so easily to the outer air. The house stood alone on the
+bank of the river at the end of a long garden which extended to the
+road. Facing the thoroughfare and partly concealing the house from any
+chance straggler was a low building which Wilhelm remembered was used as
+a wayside drinking-place, in which wine, mostly of a poor quality, was
+served to thirsty travellers. The gate to the street appeared deserted,
+but as the two approached by the walk leading from the house, a guard
+stood out from the shadow of the wall, scrutinised for a moment their
+appearance, then saluting, held the gate open for them.
+
+Once on the road, the two turned towards the city, whose black wall
+barred their way some distance ahead, and whose towers and spires stood
+out dimly against the starlit sky. A great silence, broken only by
+the soothing murmur of the river, lay on the landscape. Wilhelm cast a
+glance aloft at the star-sprinkled dome of heaven, and said:
+
+"I judge it to be about an hour after midnight."
+
+"It may be so," answered the Emperor, "I have lost all count of time.
+
+"Has your Majesty been long in prison?"
+
+"That I do not know. I may have lain there two days or a dozen. I had no
+means of measuring the length of my imprisonment."
+
+"May I ask your Majesty in what manner you were lured into the halls of
+the Fehmgerichte?"
+
+"It was no lure. While I lay asleep at night in the cloisters by the
+Cathedral I was bound and gagged, carried through the dark streets
+helpless on a litter and finally flung into the cell in which you found
+me."
+
+"May I further inquire what your Majesty's intentions are regarding the
+fulfilment of the duties imposed upon you by your high office?"
+
+There was a long pause before the Emperor replied, then he said:
+
+"Why do you ask?"
+
+"Because, your Majesty, I have on several occasions imperilled my
+life for an Emperor who does not rule, who has refused even to sign my
+commission as officer of his troops."
+
+"Your commission was never sent to me."
+
+"I beg your Majesty's pardon, but it was sent three times to you in the
+cloisters of the Cathedral, and returned three times unsigned."
+
+"Then it is as I suspected," returned the Emperor, "the monks must have
+connived at my capture. I have pleasure in confirming your appointment.
+I am sure that the command could not be in more capable hands. And in
+further reply to your question, if God permits me to see the light of
+day, I shall be an emperor who rules."
+
+"It delights my heart to hear you say so. And now I ask, as a favour,
+that you allow me to deal untrammelled with the Fehmgerichte."
+
+"I grant that most willingly."
+
+By this time they were almost under the shadow of the great wall of the
+city, and Wilhelm, stopping, said to the Emperor:
+
+"I think it well that we now divest ourselves of these disguises."
+
+They had scarcely thrown their cloaks behind the bushes at the side of
+the road when they were accosted by the guard at the top of the wall.
+
+"Halt! Who approaches the gate?"
+
+Wilhelm strode forward.
+
+"Is Gottlieb at the guard-house or at the barracks?" he asked.
+
+"He is at the guard-house," replied the sentinel, recognising the
+questioner.
+
+"Then arouse him immediately, and open the gates."
+
+"Gottlieb," said Wilhelm, when once within the walls, "take a score of
+men with you and surround the first house on the margin of the river up
+this street. I shall accompany you so that there may be no mistake.
+Send another score under a trusty leader to the house which stands alone
+outside of the gates also on the margin of the stream. Give orders that
+the men are to seize any person who attempts to enter or to come out;
+kill if necessary, but let none escape you. Let a dozen men escort me to
+the Palace."
+
+Having seen the Emperor safely housed in the Palace, Wilhelm returned
+quickly to the place where Gottlieb and his score held guard over the
+town entrance of the cellars he had quitted.
+
+"Gottlieb, are you fully awake?" asked Wilhelm.
+
+"Oh, yes, master; awake and ready for any emergency."
+
+"Then send for some of your most stalwart sappers with tools to break
+through a stone wall, and tell them to bring a piece of timber to batter
+in this door."
+
+When the men arrived three blows from the oaken log sent the door
+shattering from its hinges. Wilhelm sprang at once over the prostrate
+portal, but not in time to prevent the flight of the guard down the
+stairway. Calling the sappers to the first landing, and pointing to the
+stone wall on the right:
+
+"Break through that for me," he cried.
+
+"Master," expostulated Gottlieb, "if you break through that wall I warn
+you that the river will flow in."
+
+"Such is my intention, Gottlieb, and a gold piece to each man who works
+as he has never wrought before."
+
+For a few moments there was nothing heard but the steady ring of iron on
+stone as one by one the squares were extracted, the water beginning to
+ooze in as the energetic sappers reached the outer course. At last the
+remaining stones gave way, carried in with a rush by the torrent.
+
+"Save yourselves!" cried Wilhelm, standing knee deep in the flood and
+not stepping out until each man had passed him. There was a straining
+crash of rending timber, and Gottlieb, dashing down, seized his master
+by the arm, crying:
+
+"My Lord, my Lord, the house is about to fall!"
+
+With slight loss of time commander and lieutenant stood together in the
+street and found that the latter's panic was unwarranted, for the house,
+although it trembled dangerously and leaned perceptibly toward the
+river, was stoutly built of hewn stone. Grey daylight now began to
+spread over the city, but still Wilhelm stood there listening to the
+inrush of the water.
+
+"By the great wine tub of Hundsrueck!" exclaimed Gottlieb in amazement,
+"that cellar is a large one. It seems to thirst for the whole flood of
+the Main."
+
+"Send a messenger," cried Wilhelm, "to the house you are guarding
+outside the gates and discover for me whether your men have captured any
+prisoners."
+
+It was broad daylight when the messenger returned, and the torrent down
+the stair had become a rippling surface of water at the level of the
+river, showing that all the cavern beneath was flooded.
+
+"Well, messenger, what is your report?" demanded his commander.
+
+"My Lord, the officer in charge says that a short time ago the door of
+the house was blown open as if by a strong wind; four men rushed out and
+another was captured in the garden; all were pinioned and gagged, as you
+commanded."
+
+"Are the prisoners men of quality or common soldiers?"
+
+"Common soldiers, my Lord."
+
+"Very well; let them be taken to the prison. I will visit them later in
+the day."
+
+As Wilhelm, thoroughly fatigued after a night so exciting, walked the
+streets of Frankfort toward his home the bells of the city suddenly
+began to ring a merry peal, and, as if Frankfort had become awakened
+by the musical clangor, windows were raised and doors opened, while
+citizens inquired of each other the meaning of the clangor, a question
+which no one seemed prepared to answer.
+
+Reaching his own house, Wilhelm found Elsa awaiting him with less of
+anxiety on her face than he had expected.
+
+"Oh, Wilhelm!" she cried, "what a fright you gave me, and not until I
+knew where you were, did any peace come to my heart."
+
+"You knew where I was?" said Wilhelm in amazement. "Where was I, then?"
+
+"You were with the Emperor, of course. That is why the bells are
+ringing; the Emperor has returned, as you know, and is resolved to take
+his proper place at the head of the state, much to the delight of the
+Empress, I can assure you. But what an anxious time we spent until
+shortly after midnight, when the Emperor arrived and told us you had
+been with him."
+
+"How came you to be at the Palace?"
+
+"It happened in this way. You had hardly left the court last night when
+his lordship the Archbishop of Cologne came and seemed anxious about the
+welfare of the Emperor."
+
+"The Archbishop of Cologne! Is he still there or did he go elsewhere?"
+
+"He is still there, and was there when the Emperor came in. Why do you
+ask so eagerly? Is there anything wrong?"
+
+"Not so far as the Archbishop is concerned, apparently. He has kept his
+word and so there is one less high office vacant. Well, what did the
+Archbishop say?"
+
+"He wished to see you, and so the Empress sent for you, but search as
+we would, you were nowhere to be found. On hearing this I became alarmed
+and went at once to the Palace. The Archbishop seemed in deep trouble,
+but he refused to tell the Empress the cause of it, and so increased our
+anxiety. However, all was right when the Emperor came, and now they are
+ringing the bells, for he is to appear before the people on the balcony
+of the Romer, as if he were newly crowned. We must make haste if we are
+to see him."
+
+Wilhelm escorted his wife to the square before the Romer, but so dense
+was the cheering crowd that it was impossible for him to force a way
+through. They were in time to see the Emperor appear on the balcony,
+and Wilhelm, raising his sword aloft, shouted louder than any in that
+throng, Elsa herself waving a scarf above her head in the enthusiasm of
+the moment.
+
+
+
+
+THE COUNT'S APOLOGY
+
+
+The fifteen nobles, who formed the Council of State for the Moselle
+Valley, stood in little groups in the Rittersaal of Winneburg's Castle,
+situated on a hill-top in the Ender Valley, a league or so from the
+waters of the Moselle. The nobles spoke in low tones together, for
+a greater than they were present, no other than their over-lord, the
+Archbishop of Treves, who, in his stately robes of office, paced up and
+down the long room, glancing now and then through the narrow windows
+which gave a view down the Ender Valley.
+
+There was a trace of impatience in his Lordship's bearing, and well
+there might be, for here was the Council of State in assemblage, yet
+their chairman was absent, and the nobles stood there helplessly, like a
+flock of sheep whose shepherd is missing. The chairman was the Count
+of Winneburg, in whose castle they were now collected, and his lack of
+punctuality was thus a double discourtesy, for he was host as well as
+president.
+
+Each in turn had tried to soothe the anger of the Archbishop, for all
+liked the Count of Winneburg, a bluff and generous-hearted giant, who
+would stand by his friends against all comers, was the quarrel his
+own or no. In truth little cared the stalwart Count of Winneburg whose
+quarrel it was so long as his arm got opportunity of wielding a blow in
+it. His Lordship of Treves had not taken this championship of the
+absent man with good grace, and now strode apart from the group, holding
+himself haughtily; muttering, perhaps prayers, perhaps something else.
+
+When one by one the nobles had arrived at Winneburg's Castle, they were
+informed that its master had gone hunting that morning, saying he would
+return in time for the mid-day meal, but nothing had been heard of him
+since, although mounted messengers had been sent forth, and the great
+bell in the southern tower had been set ringing when the Archbishop
+arrived. It was the general opinion that Count Winneburg, becoming
+interested in the chase, had forgotten all about the Council, for it was
+well known that the Count's body was better suited for athletic sports
+or warfare than was his mind for the consideration of questions of
+State, and the nobles, themselves of similar calibre, probably liked him
+none the less on that account.
+
+Presently the Archbishop stopped in his walk and faced the assemblage.
+"My Lords," he said, "we have already waited longer than the utmost
+stretch of courtesy demands. The esteem in which Count Winneburg holds
+our deliberations is indicated by his inexcusable neglect of a duty
+conferred upon him by you, and voluntarily accepted by him. I shall
+therefore take my place in his chair, and I call upon you to seat
+yourselves at the Council table."
+
+Saying which the Archbishop strode to the vacant chair, and seated
+himself in it at the head of the board. The nobles looked one at the
+other with some dismay, for it was never their intention that the
+Archbishop should preside over their meeting, the object of which was
+rather to curb that high prelate's ambition, than to confirm still
+further the power he already held over them.
+
+When, a year before, these Councils of State had been inaugurated, the
+Archbishop had opposed them, but, finding that the Emperor was inclined
+to defer to the wishes of his nobles, the Lord of Treves had insisted
+upon his right to be present during the deliberations, and this right
+the Emperor had conceded. He further proposed that the meeting should be
+held at his own castle of Cochem, as being conveniently situated midway
+between Coblentz and Treves, but to this the nobles had, with fervent
+unanimity, objected. Cochem Castle, they remembered, possessed strong
+walls and deep dungeons, and they had no desire to trust themselves
+within the lion's jaws, having little faith in his Lordship's benevolent
+intentions towards them.
+
+The Emperor seemed favourable to the selection of Cochem as a convenient
+place of meeting, and the nobles were nonplussed, because they could
+not give their real reason for wishing to avoid it, and the Archbishop
+continued to press the claims of Cochem as being of equal advantage to
+all.
+
+"It is not as though I asked them to come to Treves," said the
+Archbishop, "for that would entail a long journey upon those living
+near the Rhine, and in going to Cochem I shall myself be called upon to
+travel as far as those who come from Coblentz."
+
+The Emperor said:
+
+"It seems a most reasonable selection, and, unless some strong objection
+be urged, I shall confirm the choice of Cochem."
+
+The nobles were all struck with apprehension at these words, and knew
+not what to say, when suddenly, to their great delight, up spoke the
+stalwart Count of Winneburg.
+
+"Your Majesty," he said, "my Castle stands but a short league from
+Cochem, and has a Rittersaal as large as that in the pinnacled palace
+owned by the Archbishop. It is equally convenient for all concerned, and
+every gentleman is right welcome to its hospitality. My cellars are well
+filled with good wine, and my larders are stocked with an abundance of
+food. All that can be urged in favour of Cochem applies with equal truth
+to the Schloss Winneburg. If, therefore, the members of the Council will
+accept of my roof, it is theirs."
+
+The nobles with universal enthusiasm cried:
+
+"Yes, yes; Winneburg is the spot."
+
+The Emperor smiled, for he well knew that his Lordship of Treves was
+somewhat miserly in the dispensing of his hospitality. He preferred to
+see his guests drink the wine of a poor vintage rather than tap the cask
+which contained the yield of a good year. His Majesty smiled, because
+he imagined his nobles thought of the replenishing of their stomachs,
+whereas they were concerned for the safety of their necks; but seeing
+them unanimous in their choice, he nominated Schloss Winneburg as the
+place of meeting, and so it remained.
+
+When, therefore, the Archbishop of Treves set himself down in the ample
+chair, to which those present had, without a dissenting vote, elected
+Count Winneburg, distrust at once took hold of them, for they were ever
+jealous of the encroachments of their over-lord. The Archbishop glared
+angrily around him, but no man moved from where he stood.
+
+"I ask you to be seated. The Council is called to order."
+
+Baron Beilstein cleared his throat and spoke, seemingly with some
+hesitation, but nevertheless with a touch of obstinacy in his voice:
+
+"May we beg a little more time for Count Winneburg? He has doubtless
+gone farther afield than he intended when he set out. I myself know
+something of the fascination of the chase, and can easily understand
+that it wipes out all remembrance of lesser things."
+
+"Call you this Council a lesser thing?" demanded the Archbishop. "We
+have waited an hour already, and I shall not give the laggard a moment
+more."
+
+"Indeed, my Lord, then I am sorry to hear it. I would not willingly be
+the man who sits in Winneburg's chair, should he come suddenly upon us."
+
+"Is that a threat?" asked the Archbishop, frowning.
+
+"It is not a threat, but rather a warning. I am a neighbour of the
+Count, and know him well, and whatever his virtues may be, calm patience
+is not one of them. If time hangs heavily, may I venture to suggest that
+your Lordship remove the prohibition you proclaimed when the Count's
+servants offered us wine, and allow me to act temporarily as host,
+ordering the flagons to be filled, which I think will please Winneburg
+better when he comes, than finding another in his chair."
+
+"This is no drunken revel, but a Council of State," said the Archbishop
+sternly; "and I drink no wine when the host is not here to proffer it.
+
+"Indeed, my Lord," said Beilstein, with a shrug of the shoulders, "some
+of us are so thirsty that we care not who makes the offer, so long as
+the wine be sound."
+
+What reply the Archbishop would have made can only be conjectured, for
+at that moment the door burst open and in came Count Winneburg, a head
+and shoulders above any man in that room, and huge in proportion.
+
+"My Lords, my Lords," he cried, his loud voice booming to the rafters,
+"how can I ask you to excuse such a breach of hospitality. What! Not
+a single flagon of wine in the room? This makes my deep regret almost
+unbearable. Surely, Beilstein, you might have amended that, if only for
+the sake of an old and constant comrade. Truth, gentlemen, until I heard
+the bell of the castle toll, I had no thought that this was the day of
+our meeting, and then, to my despair, I found myself an hour away, and
+have ridden hard to be among you."
+
+Then, noticing there was something ominous in the air, and an
+unaccustomed silence to greet his words, he looked from one to the
+other, and his eye, travelling up the table, finally rested upon the
+Archbishop in his chair. Count Winneburg drew himself up, his ruddy face
+colouring like fire. Then, before any person could reach out hand to
+check him, or move lip in counsel, the Count, with a fierce oath, strode
+to the usurper, grasped him by the shoulders, whirled his heels high
+above his head, and flung him like a sack of corn to the smooth floor,
+where the unfortunate Archbishop, huddled in a helpless heap, slid along
+the polished surface as if he were on ice. The fifteen nobles stood
+stock-still, appalled at this unexpected outrage upon their over-lord.
+Winneburg seated himself in the chair with an emphasis that made even
+the solid table rattle, and bringing down his huge fist crashing on the
+board before him, shouted:
+
+"Let no man occupy my chair, unless he has weight enough to remain
+there."
+
+Baron Beilstein, and one or two others, hurried to the prostrate
+Archbishop and assisted him to his feet.
+
+"Count Winneburg," said Beilstein, "you can expect no sympathy from us
+for such an act of violence in your own hall."
+
+"I want none of your sympathy," roared the angry Count. "Bestow it on
+the man now in your hands who needs it. If you want the Archbishop of
+Treves to act as your chairman, elect him to that position and welcome.
+I shall have no usurpation in my Castle. While I am president I sit in
+the chair, and none other."
+
+There was a murmur of approval at this, for one and all were deeply
+suspicious of the Archbishop's continued encroachments.
+
+His Lordship of Treves once more on his feet, his lips pallid, and
+his face colourless, looked with undisguised hatred at his assailant.
+"Winneburg," he said slowly, "you shall apologise abjectly for this
+insult, and that in presence of the nobles of this Empire, or I will see
+to it that not one stone of this castle remains upon another."
+
+"Indeed," said the Count nonchalantly, "I shall apologise to you, my
+Lord, when you have apologised to me for taking my place. As to the
+castle, it is said that the devil assisted in the building of it, and it
+is quite likely that through friendship for you, he may preside over its
+destruction."
+
+The Archbishop made no reply, but, bowing haughtily to the rest of the
+company, who looked glum enough, well knowing that the episode they had
+witnessed meant, in all probability, red war let loose down the smiling
+valley of the Moselle, left the Rittersaal.
+
+"Now that the Council is duly convened in regular order," said Count
+Winneburg, when the others had seated themselves round his table, "what
+questions of state come up for discussion?"
+
+For a moment there was no answer to this query, the delegates looking
+at one another speechless. But at last Baron Beilstein shrugging his
+shoulder, said drily:
+
+"Indeed, my Lord Count, I think the time for talk is past, and I suggest
+that we all look closely to the strengthening of our walls, which are
+likely to be tested before long by the Lion of Treves. It was perhaps
+unwise, Winneburg, to have used the Archbishop so roughly, he being
+unaccustomed to athletic exercise; but, let the consequences be what
+they may, I, for one, will stand by you."
+
+"And I; and I; and I; and I," cried the others, with the exception
+of the Knight of Ehrenburg, who, living as he did near the town of
+Coblentz, was learned in the law, and not so ready as some of his
+comrades to speak first and think afterwards.
+
+"My good friends," cried their presiding officer, deeply moved by this
+token of their fealty, "what I have done I have done, be it wise or the
+reverse, and the results must fall on my head alone. No words of mine
+can remove the dust of the floor from the Archbishop's cloak, so if he
+comes, let him come. I will give him as hearty a welcome as it is in my
+power to render. All I ask is fair play, and those who stand aside
+shall see a good fight. It is not right that a hasty act of mine should
+embroil the peaceful country side, so if Treves comes on I shall meet
+him alone here in my castle. But, nevertheless, I thank you all for
+your offers of help; that is all, except the Knight of Ehrenburg, whose
+tender of assistance, if made, has escaped my ear."
+
+The Knight of Ehrenburg had, up to that moment, been studying the
+texture of the oaken table on which his flagon sat. Now he looked up and
+spoke slowly.
+
+"I made no proffer of help," he said, "because none will be needed, I
+believe, so far as the Archbishop of Treves is concerned. The Count a
+moment ago said that all he wanted was fair play, but that is just what
+he has no right to expect from his present antagonist. The Archbishop
+will make no attempt on this castle; he will act much more subtly
+than that. The Archbishop will lay the redress of his quarrel upon the
+shoulders of the Emperor, and it is the oncoming of the Imperial troops
+you have to fear, and not an invasion from Treves. Against the forces of
+the Emperor we are powerless, united or divided. Indeed, his Majesty
+may call upon us to invest this castle, whereupon, if we refuse, we are
+rebels who have broken our oaths."
+
+"What then is there left for me to do?" asked the Count, dismayed at the
+coil in which he had involved himself.
+
+"Nothing," advised the Knight of Ehrenburg, "except to apologise
+abjectly to the Archbishop, and that not too soon, for his Lordship may
+refuse to accept it. But when he formally demands it, I should render
+it to him on his own terms, and think myself well out of an awkward
+position."
+
+The Count of Winneburg rose from his seat, and lifting his clinched fist
+high above his head, shook it at the timbers of the roof.
+
+"That," he cried, "will I never do, while one stone of Winneburg stands
+upon another."
+
+At this, those present, always with the exception of the Knight of
+Ehrenburg, sprang to their feet, shouting:
+
+"Imperial troops or no, we stand by the Count of Winneburg!"
+
+Some one flashed forth a sword, and instantly a glitter of blades was
+in the air, while cheer after cheer rang to the rafters. When the uproar
+had somewhat subsided, the Knight of Ehrenburg said calmly:
+
+"My castle stands nearest to the capital, and will be the first to fall,
+but, nevertheless, hoping to do my shouting when the war is ended, I
+join my forces with those of the rest of you."
+
+And amidst this unanimity, and much emptying of flagons, the assemblage
+dissolved, each man with his escort taking his way to his own
+stronghold, perhaps to con more soberly, next day, the problem that
+confronted him. They were fighters all, and would not flinch when the
+pinch came, whatever the outcome.
+
+Day followed day with no sign from Treves. Winneburg employed the time
+in setting his house in order to be ready for whatever chanced, and just
+as the Count was beginning to congratulate himself that his deed was to
+be without consequences, there rode up to his castle gates a horseman,
+accompanied by two lancers, and on the newcomer's breast were emblazoned
+the Imperial arms. Giving voice to his horn, the gates were at once
+thrown open to him, and, entering, he demanded instant speech with the
+Count.
+
+"My Lord, Count Winneburg," he said, when that giant had presented
+himself, "His Majesty the Emperor commands me to summon you to the court
+at Frankfort."
+
+"Do you take me as prisoner, then?" asked the Count.
+
+"Nothing was said to me of arrest. I was merely commissioned to deliver
+to you the message of the Emperor."
+
+"What are your orders if I refuse to go?"
+
+A hundred armed men stood behind the Count, a thousand more were
+within call of the castle bell; two lances only were at the back of the
+messenger; but the strength of the broadcast empire was betokened by the
+symbol on his breast.
+
+"My orders are to take back your answer to his Imperial Majesty,"
+replied the messenger calmly.
+
+The Count, though hot-headed, was no fool, and he stood for a moment
+pondering on the words which the Knight of Ehrenburg had spoken on
+taking his leave:
+
+"Let not the crafty Archbishop embroil you with the Emperor."
+
+This warning had been the cautious warrior's parting advice to him.
+
+"If you will honour my humble roof," said the Count slowly, "by taking
+refreshment beneath it, I shall be glad of your company afterwards to
+Frankfort, in obedience to his Majesty's commands."
+
+The messenger bowed low, accepted the hospitality, and together they
+made way across the Moselle, and along the Roman road to the capital.
+
+Within the walls of Frankfort the Count was lodged in rooms near the
+palace, to which his conductor guided him, and, although it was still
+held that he was not a prisoner, an armed man paced to and fro before
+his door all night. The day following his arrival, Count Winneburg was
+summoned to the Court, and in a large ante-room found himself one of
+a numerous throng, conspicuous among them all by reason of his great
+height and bulk.
+
+The huge hall was hung with tapestry, and at the further end were heavy
+curtains, at each edge of which stood half-a-dozen armoured men,
+the detachments being under command of two gaily-uniformed officers.
+Occasionally the curtains were parted by menials who stood there to
+perform that duty, and high nobles entered, or came out, singly and in
+groups. Down the sides of the hall were packed some hundreds of people,
+chattering together for the most part, and gazing at those who passed up
+and down the open space in the centre.
+
+The Count surmised that the Emperor held his Court in whatever apartment
+was behind the crimson curtains. He felt the eyes of the multitude
+upon him, and shifted uneasily from one foot to another, cursing his
+ungainliness, ashamed of the tingling of the blood in his cheeks. He
+was out of plaice in this laughing, talking crowd, experiencing the
+sensations of an uncouth rustic suddenly thrust into the turmoil of a
+metropolis, resenting bitterly the supposed sneers that were flung at
+him. He suspected that the whispering and the giggling were directed
+towards himself, and burned to draw his sword and let these popinjays
+know for once what a man could do. As a matter of fact it was a buzz of
+admiration at his stature which went up when he entered, but the Count
+had so little of self-conceit in his soul that he never even guessed the
+truth.
+
+Two nobles passing near him, he heard one of them say distinctly:
+
+"That is the fellow who threw the Archbishop over his head," while the
+other, glancing at him, said:
+
+"By the Coat, he seems capable of upsetting the three of them, and I,
+for one, wish more power to his muscle should he attempt it."
+
+The Count shrank against the tapestried walls, hot with anger, wishing
+himself a dwarf that he might escape the gaze of so many inquiring eyes.
+Just as the scrutiny was becoming unbearable, his companion touched him
+on the elbow, and said in a low voice:
+
+"Count Winneburg, follow me."
+
+He held aside the tapestry at the back of the Count, and that noble,
+nothing loth, disappeared from view behind it.
+
+Entering a narrow passage-way, they traversed it until they came to a
+closed door, at each lintel of which stood a pikeman, fronted with a
+shining breastplate of metal. The Count's conductor knocked gently at
+the closed door, then opened it, holding it so that the Count could pass
+in, and when he had done so, the door closed softly behind him. To his
+amazement, Winneburg saw before him, standing at the further end of the
+small room, the Emperor Rudolph, entirely alone. The Count was about to
+kneel awkwardly, when his liege strode forward and prevented him.
+
+"Count Winneburg," he said, "from what I hear of you, your elbow-joints
+are more supple than those of your knees, therefore let us be thankful
+that on this occasion there is no need to use either. I see you are
+under the mistaken impression that the Emperor is present. Put that
+thought from your mind, and regard me simply as Lord Rudolph--one
+gentleman wishing to have some little conversation with another."
+
+"Your Majesty--" stammered the Count.
+
+"I have but this moment suggested that you forget that title, my Lord.
+But, leaving aside all question of salutation, let us get to the heart
+of the matter, for I think we are both direct men. You are summoned
+to Frankfort because that high and mighty Prince of the Church, the
+Archbishop of Treves, has made complaint to the Emperor against you
+alleging what seems to be an unpardonable indignity suffered by him at
+your hands."
+
+"Your Majesty--my Lord, I mean," faltered the Count. "The indignity was
+of his own seeking; he sat down in my chair, where he had no right to
+place himself, and I--I--persuaded him to relinquish his position."
+
+"So I am informed--that is to say, so his Majesty has been informed,"
+replied Rudolph, a slight smile hovering round his finely chiselled
+lips. "We are not here to comment upon any of the Archbishop's
+delinquencies, but, granting, for the sake of argument, that he had
+encroached upon your rights, nevertheless, he was under your roof, and
+honestly, I fail to see that you were justified in cracking his heels
+against the same."
+
+"Well, your Majesty--again I beg your Majesty's pardon--"
+
+"Oh, no matter," said the Emperor, "call me what you like; names signify
+little."
+
+"If then the Emperor," continued the Count, "found an intruder sitting
+on his throne, would he like it, think you?"
+
+"His feeling, perhaps, would be one of astonishment, my Lord Count, but
+speaking for the Emperor, I am certain that he would never lay hands on
+the usurper, or treat him like a sack of corn in a yeoman's barn."
+
+The Count laughed heartily at this, and was relieved to find that
+this quitted him of the tension which the great presence had at first
+inspired.
+
+"Truth to tell, your Majesty, I am sorry I touched him. I should have
+requested him to withdraw, but my arm has always been more prompt in
+action than my tongue, as you can readily see since I came into this
+room."
+
+"Indeed, Count, your tongue does you very good service," continued the
+Emperor, "and I am glad to have from you an expression of regret. I
+hope, therefore, that you will have no hesitation in repeating that
+declaration to the Archbishop of Treves."
+
+"Does your Majesty mean that I am to apologise to him?"
+
+"Yes," answered the Emperor.
+
+There was a moment's pause, then the Count said slowly:
+
+"I will surrender to your Majesty my person, my sword, my castle, and my
+lands. I will, at your word, prostrate myself at your feet, and humbly
+beg pardon for any offence I have committed against you, but to tell
+the Archbishop I am sorry when I am not, and to cringe before him and
+supplicate his grace, well, your Majesty, as between man and man, I'll
+see him damned first."
+
+Again the Emperor had some difficulty in preserving that rigidity of
+expression which he had evidently resolved to maintain.
+
+"Have you ever met a ghost, my Lord Count?" he asked.
+
+Winneburg crossed himself devoutly, a sudden pallor sweeping over his
+face.
+
+"Indeed, your Majesty, I have seen strange things, and things for which
+there was no accounting; but it has been usually after a contest with
+the wine flagon, and at the time my head was none of the clearest, so I
+could not venture to say whether they were ghosts or no."
+
+"Imagine, then, that in one of the corridors of your castle at midnight
+you met a white-robed transparent figure, through whose form your sword
+passed scathlessly. What would you do, my Lord?"
+
+"Indeed, your Majesty, I would take to my heels, and bestow myself
+elsewhere as speedily as possible."
+
+"Most wisely spoken and you, who are no coward, who fear not to face
+willingly in combat anything natural, would, in certain circumstances,
+trust to swift flight for your protection. Very well, my Lord, you
+are now confronted with something against which your stout arm is as
+unavailing as it would be if an apparition stood in your path. There is
+before you the spectre of subtlety. Use arm instead of brain, and you
+are a lost man.
+
+"The Archbishop expects no apology. He looks for a stalwart, stubborn
+man, defying himself and the Empire combined. You think, perhaps, that
+the Imperial troops will surround your castle, and that you may stand a
+siege. Now the Emperor would rather have you fight with him than against
+him, but in truth there will be no contest. Hold to your refusal, and
+you will be arrested before you leave the precincts of this palace. You
+will be thrown into a dungeon, your castle and your lands sequestered;
+and I call your attention to the fact that your estate adjoins the
+possessions of the Archbishop at Cochem, and Heaven fend me for
+hinting that his Lordship casts covetous eyes over his boundary; yet,
+nevertheless, he will probably not refuse to accept your possessions
+in reparation for the insult bestowed upon him. Put it this way if
+you like. Would you rather pleasure me or pleasure the Archbishop of
+Treves?"
+
+"There is no question as to that," answered the Count.
+
+"Then it will please me well if you promise to apologise to his Lordship
+the Archbishop of Treves. That his Lordship will be equally pleased, I
+very much doubt."
+
+"Will your Majesty command me in open Court to apologise?"
+
+"I shall request you to do so. I must uphold the Feudal law."
+
+"Then I beseech your Majesty to command me, for I am a loyal subject,
+and will obey."
+
+"God give me many such," said the Emperor fervently, "and bestow upon me
+the wisdom to deserve them!"
+
+He extended his hand to the Count, then touched a bell on the table
+beside him. The officer who had conducted Winneburg entered silently,
+and acted as his guide back to the thronged apartment they had left. The
+Count saw that the great crimson curtains were now looped up, giving
+a view of the noble interior of the room beyond, thronged with the
+notables of the Empire. The hall leading to it was almost deserted, and
+the Count, under convoy of two lancemen, himself nearly as tall as their
+weapons, passed in to the Throne Room, and found all eyes turned upon
+him.
+
+He was brought to a stand before an elevated dais, the centre of which
+was occupied by a lofty throne, which, at the moment, was empty. Near
+it, on the elevation, stood the three Archbishops of Treves, Cologne,
+and Mayence, on the other side the Count Palatine of the Rhine with
+the remaining three Electors. The nobles of the realm occupied places
+according to their degree.
+
+As the stalwart Count came in, a buzz of conversation swept over the
+hall like a breeze among the leaves of a forest. A malignant scowl
+darkened the countenance of the Archbishop of Treves, but the faces of
+Cologne and Mayence expressed a certain Christian resignation regarding
+the contumely which had been endured by their colleague. The Count stood
+stolidly where he was placed, and gazed at the vacant throne, turning
+his eyes neither to the right nor the left.
+
+Suddenly there was a fanfare of trumpets, and instant silence smote the
+assembly. First came officers of the Imperial Guard in shining armour,
+then the immediate advisers and councillors of his Majesty, and last
+of all, the Emperor himself, a robe of great richness clasped at his
+throat, and trailing behind him; the crown of the Empire upon his head.
+His face was pale and stern, and he looked what he was, a monarch, and a
+man. The Count rubbed his eyes, and could scarcely believe that he stood
+now in the presence of one who had chatted amiably with him but a few
+moments before.
+
+The Emperor sat on his throne and one of his councillors whispered for
+some moments to him; then the Emperor said, in a low, clear voice, that
+penetrated to the farthest corner of the vast apartment:
+
+"Is the Count of Winneburg here?"
+
+"Yes, your Majesty."
+
+"Let him stand forward."
+
+The Count strode two long steps to the front, and stood there, red-faced
+and abashed. The officer at his side whispered:
+
+"Kneel, you fool, kneel."
+
+And the Count got himself somewhat clumsily down upon his knees, like
+an elephant preparing to receive his burden. The face of the Emperor
+remained impassive, and he said harshly:
+
+"Stand up."
+
+The Count, once more upon his feet, breathed a deep sigh of satisfaction
+at finding himself again in an upright posture.
+
+"Count of Winneburg," said the Emperor slowly, "it is alleged that upon
+the occasion of the last meeting of the Council of State for the Moselle
+valley, you, in presence of the nobles there assembled, cast a slight
+upon your over-lord, the Archbishop of Treves. Do you question the
+statement?"
+
+The Count cleared his throat several times, which in the stillness of
+that vaulted room sounded like the distant booming of cannon.
+
+"If to cast the Archbishop half the distance of this room is to cast a
+slight upon him, I did so, your Majesty."
+
+There was a simultaneous ripple of laughter at this, instantly
+suppressed when the searching eye of the Emperor swept the room.
+
+"Sir Count," said the Emperor severely, "the particulars of your outrage
+are not required of you; only your admission thereof. Hear, then, my
+commands. Betake yourself to your castle of Winneburg, and hold yourself
+there in readiness to proceed to Treves on a day appointed by his
+Lordship the Archbishop, an Elector of this Empire, there to humble
+yourself before him, and crave his pardon for the offence you have
+committed. Disobey at your peril."
+
+Once or twice the Count moistened his dry lips, then he said:
+
+"Your Majesty, I will obey any command you place upon me."
+
+"In that case," continued the Emperor, his severity visibly relaxing, "I
+can promise that your over-lord will not hold this incident against
+you. Such, I understand, is your intention, my Lord Archbishop?" and the
+Emperor turned toward the Prince of Treves.
+
+The Archbishop bowed low, and thus veiled the malignant hatred in his
+eyes. "Yes, your Majesty," he replied, "providing the apology is given
+as publicly as was the insult, in presence of those who were witnesses
+of the Count's foolishness."
+
+"That is but a just condition," said the Emperor. "It is my pleasure
+that the Council be summoned to Treves to hear the Count's apology. And
+now, Count of Winneburg, you are at liberty to withdraw."
+
+The Count drew his mammoth hand across his brow, and scattered to the
+floor the moisture that had collected there. He tried to speak, but
+apparently could not, then turned and walked resolutely towards the
+door. There was instant outcry at this, the Chamberlain of the Court
+standing in stupefied amazement at a breach of etiquette which exhibited
+any man's back to the Emperor; but a smile relaxed the Emperor's lips,
+and he held up his hand.
+
+"Do not molest him," he said, as the Count disappeared. "He is unused
+to the artificial manners of a Court. In truth, I take it as a friendly
+act, for I am sure the valiant Count never turned his back upon a
+foe," which Imperial witticism was well received, for the sayings of an
+Emperor rarely lack applause.
+
+The Count, wending his long way home by the route he had come, spent the
+first half of the journey in cursing the Archbishop, and the latter half
+in thinking over the situation. By the time he had reached his castle he
+had formulated a plan, and this plan he proceeded to put into execution
+on receiving the summons of the Archbishop to come to Treves on the
+first day of the following month and make his apology, the Archbishop,
+with characteristic penuriousness, leaving the inviting of the fifteen
+nobles, who formed the Council, to Winneburg, and thus his Lordship of
+Treves was saved the expense of sending special messengers to each. In
+case Winneburg neglected to summon the whole Council, the Archbishop
+added to his message, the statement that he would refuse to receive the
+apology if any of the nobles were absent.
+
+Winneburg sent messengers, first to Beilstein, asking him to attend at
+Treves on the second day of the month, and bring with him an escort of
+at least a thousand men. Another he asked for the third, another for
+the fourth, another for the fifth, and so on, resolved that before a
+complete quorum was present, half of the month would be gone, and with
+it most of the Archbishop's provender, for his Lordship, according to
+the laws of hospitality, was bound to entertain free of all charge to
+themselves the various nobles and their followings.
+
+On the first day of the month Winneburg entered the northern gate of
+Treves, accompanied by two hundred horsemen and eight hundred foot
+soldiers. At first, the officers of the Archbishop thought that an
+invasion was contemplated, but Winneburg suavely explained that if a
+thing was worth doing at all, it was worth doing well, and he was
+not going to make any hole-and-corner affair of his apology. Next day
+Beilstein came along accompanied by five hundred cavalry, and five
+hundred foot soldiers.
+
+The Chamberlain of the Archbishop was in despair at having to find
+quarters for so many, but he did the best he could, while the Archbishop
+was enraged to observe that the nobles did not assemble in greater
+haste, but each as he came had a plausible excuse for his delay. Some
+had to build bridges, sickness had broken out in another camp, while a
+third expedition had lost its way and wandered in the forest.
+
+The streets of Treves each night resounded with songs of revelry, varied
+by the clash of swords, when a party of the newcomers fell foul of a
+squad of the town soldiers, and the officers on either side had much
+ado to keep the peace among their men. The Archbishop's wine cups
+were running dry, and the price of provisions had risen, the whole
+surrounding country being placed under contribution for provender and
+drink. When a week had elapsed the Archbishop relaxed his dignity and
+sent for Count Winneburg.
+
+"We will not wait for the others," he said. "I have no desire to
+humiliate you unnecessarily. Those who are here shall bear witness that
+you have apologised, and so I shall not insist on the presence of the
+laggards, but will receive your apology to-morrow at high noon in the
+great council chamber."
+
+"Ah, there speaks a noble heart, ever thinking generously of those who
+despitefully use you, my Lord Archbishop," said Count Winneburg. "But
+no, no, I cannot accept such a sacrifice. The Emperor showed me plainly
+the enormity of my offence. In the presence of all I insulted you,
+wretch that I am, and in the presence of all shall I abase myself."
+
+"But I do not seek your abasement," protested the Archbishop, frowning.
+
+"The more honour, then, to your benevolent nature," answered the Count,
+"and the more shameful would it be of me to take advantage of it. As
+I stood a short time since on the walls, I saw coming up the river the
+banners of the Knight of Ehrenburg. His castle is the furthest removed
+from Treves, and so the others cannot surely delay long. We will wait,
+my Lord Archbishop, until all are here. But I thank you just as much for
+your generosity as if I were craven enough to shield myself behind it."
+
+The Knight of Ehrenburg in due time arrived, and behind him his thousand
+men, many of whom were compelled to sleep in the public buildings, for
+all the rooms in Treves were occupied. Next day the Archbishop summoned
+the assembled nobles and said he would hear the apology in their
+presence. If the others missed it, it was their own fault--they should
+have been in time.
+
+"I cannot apologise;" said the Count, "until all are here. It was the
+Emperor's order, and who am I to disobey my Emperor? We must await their
+coming with patience, and, indeed, Treves is a goodly town, in which all
+of us find ourselves fully satisfied."
+
+"Then, my blessing on you all," said the Archbishop in a sour tone most
+unsuited to the benediction he was bestowing. "Return, I beg of you,
+instantly, to your castles. I forego the apology."
+
+"But I insist on tendering it," cried the Count, his mournful voice
+giving some indication of the sorrow he felt at his offence if it went
+unrequited. "It is my duty, not only to you, my Lord Archbishop, but
+also to his Majesty the Emperor."
+
+"Then, in Heaven's name get on with it and depart. I am willing to
+accept it on your own terms, as I have said before."
+
+"No, not on my own terms, but on yours. What matters the delay of a week
+or two? The hunting season does not begin for a fortnight, and we are
+all as well at Treves as at home. Besides, how could I ever face my
+Emperor again, knowing I had disobeyed his commands?"
+
+"I will make it right with the Emperor," said the Archbishop.
+
+The Knight of Ehrenburg now spoke up, calmly, as was his custom:
+
+"'Tis a serious matter," he said, "for a man to take another's word
+touching action of his Majesty the Emperor. You have clerks here with
+you; perhaps then you will bid them indite a document to be signed by
+yourself absolving my friend, the Count of Winneburg, from all
+necessity of apologising, so that should the Emperor take offence at his
+disobedience, the parchment may hold him scathless."
+
+"I will do anything to be quit of you," muttered the Archbishop more to
+himself than to the others.
+
+And so the document was written and signed. With this parchment in his
+saddle-bags the Count and his comrades quitted the town, drinking in
+half flagons the health of the Archbishop, because there was not left in
+Treves enough wine to fill the measures to the brim.
+
+
+
+
+CONVERTED
+
+
+In the ample stone-paved courtyard of the Schloss Grunewald, with its
+mysterious bubbling spring in the centre, stood the Black Baron beside
+his restive horse, both equally eager to be away. Round the Baron were
+grouped his sixteen knights and their saddled chargers, all waiting the
+word to mount. The warder was slowly opening the huge gates that hung
+between the two round entrance towers of the castle, for it was the
+Baron's custom never to ride out at the head of his men until the
+great leaves of the strong gate fell full apart, and showed the green
+landscape beyond. The Baron did not propose to ride unthinkingly out,
+and straightway fall into an ambush.
+
+He and his sixteen knights were the terror of the country-side, and many
+there were who would have been glad to venture a bow shot at him had
+they dared. There seemed to be some delay about the opening of the
+gates, and a great chattering of underlings at the entrance, as if
+something unusual had occurred, whereupon the rough voice of the Baron
+roared out to know the cause that kept him waiting, and every one
+scattered, each to his own affair, leaving only the warder, who
+approached his master with fear in his face.
+
+"My Lord," he began, when the Baron had shouted what the devil ailed
+him, "there has been nailed against the outer gate; sometime in the
+night, a parchment with characters written thereon."
+
+"Then tear it down and bring it to me," cried the Baron. "What's all
+this to-do about a bit of parchment?"
+
+The warder had been loath to meddle with it, in terror of that
+witchcraft which he knew pertained to all written characters; but
+he feared the Black Baron's frown even more than the fiends who had
+undoubtedly nailed the documents on the gate, for he knew no man in all
+that well-cowed district would have the daring to approach the castle
+even in the night, much less meddle with the gate or any other belonging
+of the Baron von Grunewald; so, breathing a request to his patron saint
+(his neglect of whom he now remembered with remorse) for protection, he
+tore the document from its fastening and brought it, trembling, to the
+Baron. The knights crowded round as von Grunewald held the parchment in
+his hand, bending his dark brows upon it, for it conveyed no meaning to
+him. Neither the Baron nor his knights could read.
+
+"What foolery, think you, is this?" he said, turning to the knight
+nearest him. "A Defiance?"
+
+The knight shook his head. "I am no clerk," he answered.
+
+For a moment the Baron was puzzled; then he quickly bethought himself of
+the one person in the castle who could read.
+
+"Bring hither old Father Gottlieb," he commanded, and two of those
+waiting ran in haste towards the scullery of the place, from which they
+presently emerged dragging after them an old man partly in the habit
+of a monk and partly in that of a scullion, who wiped his hands on the
+coarse apron, that was tied around his waist, as he was hurried forward.
+
+"Here, good father, excellent cook and humble servitor, I trust your
+residence with us has not led you to forget the learning you put to such
+poor advantage in the Monastery of Monnonstein. Canst thou construe this
+for us? Is it in good honest German or bastard Latin?"
+
+"It is in Latin," said the captive monk, on glancing at the document in
+the other's hand.
+
+"Then translate it for us, and quickly."
+
+Father Gottlieb took the parchment handed him by the Baron, and as his
+eyes scanned it more closely, he bowed his head and made the sign of the
+cross upon his breast.
+
+"Cease that mummery," roared the Baron, "and read without more waiting
+or the rod's upon thy back again. Who sends us this?"
+
+"It is from our Holy Father the Pope," said the monk, forgetting his
+menial position for the moment, and becoming once more the scholar of
+the monastery. The sense of his captivity faded from him as he realised
+that the long arm of the Church had extended within the impregnable
+walls of that tyrannical castle.
+
+"Good. And what has our Holy Father the Pope to say to us? Demands he
+the release of our excellent scullion, Father Gottlieb?"
+
+The bent shoulders of the old monk straightened, his dim eye brightened,
+and his voice rang clear within the echoing walls of the castle
+courtyard.
+
+"It is a ban of excommunication against thee, Lord Baron von Grunewald,
+and against all within these walls, excepting only those unlawfully
+withheld from freedom."
+
+"Which means thyself, worthy Father. Read on, good clerk, and let us
+hear it to the end."
+
+As the monk read out the awful words of the message, piling curse on
+curse with sonorous voice, the Baron saw his trembling servitors turn
+pale, and even his sixteen knights, companions in robbery and rapine,
+fall away from him. Dark red anger mounted to his temples; he raised his
+mailed hand and smote the reading monk flat across the mouth, felling
+the old man prone upon the stones of the court.
+
+"That is my answer to our Holy Father the Pope, and when thou swearest
+to deliver it to him as I have given it to thee, the gates are open and
+the way clear for thy pilgrimage to Rome."
+
+But the monk lay where he fell and made no reply.
+
+"Take him away," commanded the Baron impatiently, whereupon several
+of the menials laid hands on the fallen monk and dragged him into the
+scullery he had left.
+
+Turning to his men-at-arms, the Baron roared: "Well, my gentle wolves,
+have a few words in Latin on a bit of sheep-skin turned you all to
+sheep?"
+
+"I have always said," spoke up the knight Segfried, "that no good came
+of captured monks, or meddling with the Church. Besides, we are noble
+all, and do not hold with the raising of a mailed hand against an
+unarmed man."
+
+There was a low murmur of approval among the knights at Segfried's
+boldness.
+
+"Close the gates," shouted the maddened Baron. Every one flew at the
+word of command, and the great oaken hinges studded with iron, slowly
+came together, shutting out the bit of landscape their opening had
+discovered. The Baron flung the reins on his charger's neck, and smote
+the animal on the flank, causing it to trot at once to its stable.
+
+"There will be no riding to-day," he said, his voice ominously lowering.
+The stablemen of the castle came forward and led away the horses. The
+sixteen knights stood in a group together with Segfried at their head,
+waiting with some anxiety on their brows for the next move in the game.
+The Baron, his sword drawn in his hand, strode up and down before them,
+his brow bent on the ground, evidently struggling to get the master hand
+over his own anger. If it came to blows the odds were against him and he
+was too shrewd a man to engage himself single-handed in such a contest.
+
+At length the Baron stopped in his walk and looked at the group. He
+said, after a pause, in a quiet tone of voice: "Segfried, if you doubt
+my courage because I strike to the ground a rascally monk, step forth,
+draw thine own good sword, our comrades will see that all is fair
+betwixt us, and in this manner you may learn that I fear neither mailed
+nor unmailed hand."
+
+But the knight made no motion to lay his hand upon his sword, nor did
+he move from his place. "No one doubts your courage, my Lord," he said,
+"neither is it any reflection on mine that in answer to your challenge
+my sword remains in its scabbard. You are our overlord and it is not
+meet that our weapons should be raised against you."
+
+"I am glad that point is firmly fixed in your minds. I thought a moment
+since that I would be compelled to uphold the feudal law at the peril
+of my own body. But if that comes not in question, no more need be said.
+Touching the unarmed, Segfried, if I remember aright you showed no such
+squeamishness at our sacking of the Convent of St. Agnes."
+
+"A woman is a different matter, my Lord," said Segfried uneasily.
+
+The Baron laughed and so did some of the knights, openly relieved to
+find the tension of the situation relaxing.
+
+"Comrades!" cried the Baron, his face aglow with enthusiasm, all traces
+of his former temper vanishing from his brow. "You are excellent in a
+melee, but useless at the council board. You see no further ahead of
+you than your good right arms can strike. Look round you at these stout
+walls; no engine that man has yet devised can batter a breach in them.
+In our vaults are ten years' supply of stolen grain. Our cellars are
+full of rich red wine, not of our vintage, but for our drinking. Here in
+our court bubbles forever this good spring, excellent to drink when
+wine gives out, and medicinal in the morning when too much wine has been
+taken in." He waved his hand towards the overflowing well, charged with
+carbonic acid gas, one of the many that have since made this region of
+the Rhine famous. "Now I ask you, can this Castle of Grunewald ever be
+taken--excommunication or no excommunication?"
+
+A simultaneous shout of "No! Never!" arose from the knights.
+
+The Baron stood looking grimly at them for several moments. Then he said
+in a quiet voice, "Yes, the Castle of Grunewald _can_ be taken. Not from
+without but from within. If any crafty enemy sows dissension among us;
+turns the sword of comrade against comrade; then falls the Castle of
+Grunewald! To-day we have seen how nearly that has been done. We have
+against us in the monastery of Monnonstein no fat-headed Abbot, but one
+who was a warrior before he turned a monk. 'Tis but a few years since,
+that the Abbot Ambrose stood at the right hand of the Emperor as Baron
+von Stern, and it is known that the Abbot's robes are but a thin veneer
+over the iron knight within. His hand, grasping the cross, still
+itches for the sword. The fighting Archbishop of Treves has sent him to
+Monnonstein for no other purpose than to leave behind him the ruins of
+Grunewald, and his first bolt was shot straight into our courtyard, and
+for a moment I stood alone, without a single man-at-arms to second me."
+
+The knights looked at one another in silence, then cast their eyes to
+the stone-paved court, all too shamed-faced to attempt reply to what all
+knew was the truth. The Baron, a deep frown on his brow, gazed sternly
+at the chap-fallen group.... "Such was the effect of the first shaft
+shot by good Abbot Ambrose, what will be the result of the second?"
+
+"There will be no second," said Segfried stepping forward. "We must
+sack the Monastery, and hang the Abbot and his craven monks in their own
+cords."
+
+"Good," cried the Baron, nodding his head in approval, "the worthy
+Abbot, however, trusts not only in God, but in walls three cloth
+yards thick. The monastery stands by the river and partly over it. The
+besieged monks will therefore not suffer from thirst. Their larder is
+as amply provided as are the vaults of this castle. The militant Abbot
+understands both defence and sortie. He is a master of siege-craft
+inside or outside stone walls. How then do you propose to sack and hang,
+good Segfried?"
+
+The knights were silent. They knew the Monastery was as impregnable as
+the castle, in fact it was the only spot for miles round that had never
+owned the sway of Baron von Grunewald, and none of them were well enough
+provided with brains to venture a plan for its successful reduction. A
+cynical smile played round the lips of their over-lord, as he saw the
+problem had overmatched them. At last he spoke.
+
+"We must meet craft with craft. If the Pope's Ban cast such terror among
+my good knights, steeped to the gauntlets in blood, what effect, think
+you, will it have over the minds of devout believers in the Church and
+its power? The trustful monks know that it has been launched against us,
+therefore are they doubtless waiting for us to come to the monastery,
+and lay our necks under the feet of their Abbot, begging his clemency.
+They are ready to believe any story we care to tell touching the
+influence of such scribbling over us. You Segfried, owe me some
+reparation for this morning's temporary defection, and to you,
+therefore, do I trust the carrying out of my plans. There was always
+something of the monk about you, Segfried, and you will yet end your
+days sanctimoniously in a monastery, unless you are first hanged at
+Treves or knocked on the head during an assault.
+
+"Draw, then, your longest face, and think of the time when you will be
+a monk, as Ambrose is, who, in his day, shed as much blood as ever you
+have done. Go to the Monastery of Monnonstein in most dejected fashion,
+and unarmed. Ask in faltering tones, speech of the Abbot, and say to
+him, as if he knew nought of it, that the Pope's Ban is on us. Say that
+at first I defied it, and smote down the good father who was reading it,
+but add that as the pious man fell, a sickness like unto a pestilence
+came over me and over my men, from which you only are free, caused, you
+suspect, by your loudly protesting against the felling of the monk. Say
+that we lie at death's door, grieving for our sins, and groaning for
+absolution. Say that we are ready to deliver up the castle and all its
+contents to the care of the holy Church, so that the Abbot but sees our
+tortured souls safely directed towards the gates of Paradise. Insist
+that all the monks come, explaining that you fear we have but few
+moments to live, and that the Abbot alone would be as helpless as one
+surgeon on a battle-field. Taunt them with fear of the pestilence if
+they hesitate, and that will bring them."
+
+Segfried accepted the commission, and the knights warmly expressed their
+admiration of their master's genius. As the great red sun began to sink
+behind the westward hills that border the Rhine, Segfried departed on
+horseback through the castle gates, and journeyed toward the monastery
+with bowed head and dejected mien. The gates remained open, and as
+darkness fell, a lighted torch was thrust in a wrought iron receptacle
+near the entrance at the outside, throwing a fitful, flickering glare
+under the archway and into the deserted court. Within, all was silent as
+the ruined castle is to-day, save only the tinkling sound of the clear
+waters of the effervescing spring as it flowed over the stones and
+trickled down to disappear under the walls at one corner of the
+courtyard.
+
+The Baron and his sturdy knights sat in the darkness, with growing
+impatience, in the great Rittersaal listening for any audible token of
+the return of Segfried and his ghostly company. At last in the still
+night air there came faintly across the plain a monkish chant growing
+louder and louder, until finally the steel-shod hoofs of Segfried's
+charger rang on the stones of the causeway leading to the castle gates.
+Pressed behind the two heavy open leaves of the gates stood the warder
+and his assistants, scarcely breathing, ready to close the gates sharply
+the moment the last monk had entered.
+
+Still chanting, led by the Abbot in his robes of office, the monks
+slowly marched into the deserted courtyard, while Segfried reined his
+horse close inside the entrance. "Peace be upon this house and all
+within," said the deep voice of the Abbot, and in unison the monks
+murmured "Amen," the word echoing back to them in the stillness from the
+four grey walls.
+
+Then the silence was rudely broken by the ponderous clang of the closing
+gates and the ominous rattle of bolts being thrust into their places
+with the jingle of heavy chains. Down the wide stairs from the
+Rittersaal came the clank of armour and rude shouts of laughter. Newly
+lighted torches flared up here and there, illuminating the courtyard,
+and showing, dangling against the northern wall a score of ropes with
+nooses at the end of each. Into the courtyard clattered the Baron and
+his followers. The Abbot stood with arms folded, pressing a gilded cross
+across his breast. He was a head taller than any of his frightened,
+cowering brethren, and his noble emaciated face was thin with fasting
+caused by his never-ending conflict with the world that was within
+himself. His pale countenance betokened his office and the Church; but
+the angry eagle flash of his piercing eye spoke of the world alone and
+the field of conflict.
+
+The Baron bowed low to the Abbot, and said: "Welcome, my Lord Abbot, to
+my humble domicile! It has long been the wish of my enemies to stand
+within its walls, and this pleasure is now granted you. There is little
+to be made of it from without."
+
+"Baron Grunewald," said the Abbot, "I and my brethren are come hither on
+an errand of mercy, and under the protection of your knightly word."
+
+The Baron raised his eyebrows in surprise at this, and, turning to
+Segfried, he said in angry tones: "Is it so? Pledged you my word for the
+safety of these men?"
+
+"The reverend Abbot is mistaken," replied the knight, who had not yet
+descended from his horse. "There was no word of safe conduct between
+us."
+
+"Safe conduct is implied when an officer of the Church is summoned to
+administer its consolations to the dying," said the Abbot.
+
+"All trades," remarked the Baron suavely, "have their dangers--yours
+among the rest, as well as ours. If my follower had pledged my word
+regarding your safety, I would now open the gates and let you free.
+As he has not done so, I shall choose a manner for your exit more in
+keeping with your lofty aspirations."
+
+Saying this, he gave some rapid orders; his servitors fell upon the
+unresisting monks and bound them hand and foot. They were then conducted
+to the northern wall, and the nooses there adjusted round the neck of
+each. When this was done, the Baron stood back from the pinioned victims
+and addressed them:
+
+"It is not my intention that you should die without having time to
+repent of the many wicked deeds you have doubtless done during your
+lives. Your sentence is that ye be hanged at cockcrow to-morrow, which
+was the hour when, if your teachings cling to my memory, the first of
+your craft turned traitor to his master. If, however, you tire of your
+all-night vigil, you can at once obtain release by crying at the top of
+your voices 'So die all Christians.' Thus you will hang yourselves, and
+so remove some responsibility from my perhaps overladen conscience. The
+hanging is a device of my own, of which I am perhaps pardonably
+proud, and it pleases me that it is to be first tried on so worthy an
+assemblage. With much labour we have elevated to the battlements
+an oaken tree, lopped of its branches, which will not burn the less
+brightly next winter in that it has helped to commit some of you to
+hotter flames, if all ye say be true. The ropes are tied to this log,
+and at the cry 'So die all Christians,' I have some stout knaves in
+waiting up above with levers, who will straightway fling the log over
+the battlements on which it is now poised, and the instant after your
+broken necks will impinge against the inner coping of the northern wall.
+And now good-night, my Lord Abbot, and a happy release for you all in
+the morning."
+
+"Baron von Grunewald, I ask of you that you will release one of us who
+may thus administer the rites of the Church to his brethren and receive
+in turn the same from me."
+
+"Now, out upon me for a careless knave!" cried the Baron. "I had
+forgotten that; it is so long since I have been to mass and such like
+ceremonies myself. Your request is surely most reasonable, and I like
+you the better that you keep up the farce of your calling to the very
+end. But think not that I am so inhospitable, as to force one guest to
+wait upon another, even in matters spiritual. Not so. We keep with us a
+ghostly father for such occasions, and use him between times to wait
+on us with wine and other necessaries. As soon as he has filled our
+flagons, I will ask good Father Gottlieb to wait upon you, and I doubt
+not he will shrive with any in the land, although he has been this while
+back somewhat out of practice. His habit is rather tattered and stained
+with the drippings of his new vocation, but I warrant you, you will know
+the sheep, even though his fleece be torn. And now, again, good-night,
+my Lord."
+
+The Baron and his knights returned up the broad stairway that led to the
+Rittersaal. Most of the torches were carried with them. The defences of
+the castle were so strong that no particular pains were taken to make
+all secure, further than the stationing of an armed man at the gate. A
+solitary torch burnt under the archway, and here a guard paced back and
+forth. The courtyard was in darkness, but the top of the highest turrets
+were silvered by the rising moon. The doomed men stood with the halters
+about their necks, as silent as a row of spectres.
+
+The tall windows of the Rittersaal, being of coloured glass, threw
+little light into the square, although they glowed with a rainbow
+splendour from the torches within. Into the silence of the square broke
+the sound of song and the clash of flagons upon the oaken table.
+
+At last there came down the broad stair and out into the court a figure
+in the habit of a monk, who hurried shufflingly across the stones to the
+grim row of brown-robed men. He threw himself sobbing at the feet of the
+tall Abbot.
+
+"Rise, my son, and embrace me," said his superior. When Father Gottlieb
+did so, the other whispered in his ear: "There is a time to weep and a
+time for action. Now is the time for action. Unloosen quickly the bonds
+around me, and slip this noose from my neck."
+
+Father Gottlieb acquitted himself of his task as well as his agitation
+and trembling hands would let him.
+
+"Perform a like service for each of the others," whispered the Abbot
+curtly. "Tell each in a low voice to remain standing just as if he were
+still bound. Then return to me."
+
+When the monk had done what he was told, he returned to his superior.
+
+"Have you access to the wine cellar?" asked the Abbot.
+
+"Yes, Father."
+
+"What are the strongest wines?"
+
+"Those of the district are strong. Then there is a barrel or two of the
+red wine of Assmannshausen."
+
+"Decant a half of each in your flagons. Is there brandy?"
+
+"Yes, Father."
+
+"Then mix with the two wines as much brandy as you think their already
+drunken palates will not detect. Make the potation stronger with brandy
+as the night wears on. When they drop off into their sodden sleep, bring
+a flagon to the guard at the gate, and tell him the Baron sends it to
+him."
+
+"Will you absolve me, Father, for the--"
+
+"It is no falsehood, Gottlieb. I, the Baron, send it. I came hither the
+Abbot Ambrose: I am now Baron von Stern, and if I have any influence
+with our mother Church the Abbot's robe shall fall on thy shoulders, if
+you but do well what I ask of you to-night. It will be some compensation
+for what, I fear, thou hast already suffered."
+
+Gottlieb hurried away, as the knights were already clamouring for
+more wine. As the night wore on and the moon rose higher the sounds of
+revelry increased, and once there was a clash of arms and much uproar,
+which subsided under the over-mastering voice of the Black Baron. At
+last the Abbot, standing there with the rope dangling behind him, saw
+Gottlieb bring a huge beaker of liquor to the sentinel, who at once sat
+down on the stone bench under the arch to enjoy it.
+
+Finally, all riot died away in the hall except one thin voice singing,
+waveringly, a drinking song, and when that ceased silence reigned
+supreme, and the moon shone full upon the bubbling spring.
+
+Gottlieb stole stealthily out and told the Abbot that all the knights
+were stretched upon the floor, and the Baron had his head on the table,
+beside his overturned flagon. The sentinel snored upon the stone bench.
+
+"I can now unbar the gate," said Father Gottlieb, "and we may all
+escape."
+
+"Not so," replied the Abbot. "We came to convert these men to
+Christianity, and our task is still to do."
+
+The monks all seemed frightened at this, and wished themselves once
+more within the monastery, able to say all's well that ends so, but none
+ventured to offer counsel to the gaunt man who led them. He bade each
+bring with him the cords that had bound him, and without a word they
+followed him into the Rittersaal, and there tied up the knights and
+their master as they themselves had been tied.
+
+"Carry them out," commanded the Abbot, "and lay them in a row, their
+feet towards the spring and their heads under the ropes. And go you,
+Gottlieb, who know the ways of the castle, and fasten the doors of all
+the apartments where the servitors are sleeping."
+
+When this was done, and they gathered once more in the moonlit
+courtyard, the Abbot took off his robes of office and handed them
+to Father Gottlieb, saying significantly: "The lowest among you that
+suffers and is true shall be exalted." Turning to his own flock, he
+commanded them to go in and obtain some rest after such a disquieting
+night; then to Gottlieb, when the monks had obediently departed: "Bring
+me, an' ye know where to find such, the apparel of a fighting man and a
+sword."
+
+Thus arrayed, he dismissed the old man, and alone in the silence, with
+the row of figures like effigies on a tomb beside him, paced up and down
+through the night, as the moon dropped lower and lower, in the heavens.
+There was a period of dark before the dawn, and at last the upper walls
+began to whiten with the coming day, and the Black Baron moaned uneasily
+in his drunken sleep. The Abbot paused in his walk and looked down upon
+them, and Gottlieb stole out from the shadow of the door and asked if
+he could be of service. He had evidently not slept, but had watched his
+chief, until he paused in his march.
+
+"Tell our brothers to come out and see the justice of the Lord."
+
+When the monks trooped out, haggard and wan, in the pure light of the
+dawn, the Abbot asked Gottlieb to get a flagon and dash water from the
+spring in the faces of the sleepers.
+
+The Black Baron was the first to come to his senses and realise dimly,
+at first, but afterwards more acutely, the changed condition of affairs.
+His eye wandered apprehensively to the empty noose swaying slightly in
+the morning breeze above him. He then saw that the tall, ascetic man
+before him had doffed the Abbot's robes and wore a sword by his side,
+and from this he augured ill. At the command of the Abbot the monks
+raised each prostrate man and placed him against the north wall.
+
+"Gottlieb," said, the Abbot slowly, "the last office that will be
+required of you. You took from our necks the nooses last night. Place
+them, I pray you, on the necks of the Baron and his followers."
+
+The old man, trembling, adjusted the ropes.
+
+"My Lord Abbot----" began the Baron.
+
+"Baron von Grunewald," interrupted the person addressed, "the Abbot
+Ambrose is dead. He was foully assassinated last night. In his place
+stands Conrad von Stern, who answers for his deeds to the Emperor, and
+after him, to God."
+
+"Is it your purpose to hang me, Baron?"
+
+"Was it your purpose to have hanged us, my Lord?"
+
+"I swear to heaven, it was not. 'Twas but an ill-timed pleasantry. Had I
+wished to hang you I would have done so last night."
+
+"That seems plausible."
+
+The knights all swore, with many rounded oaths, that their over-lord
+spoke the truth, and nothing was further from their intention than an
+execution.
+
+"Well, then, whether you hang or no shall depend upon yourselves."
+
+"By God, then," cried the Baron, "an' I have aught to say on that point,
+I shall hang some other day."
+
+"Will you then, Baron, beg admittance to Mother Church, whose kindly
+tenets you have so long outraged?"
+
+"We will, we do," cried the Baron fervently, whispering through his
+clenched teeth to Segfried, who stood next him: "Wait till I have the
+upper hand again." Fortunately the Abbot did not hear the whisper. The
+knights all echoed aloud the Baron's pious first remark, and, perhaps,
+in their hearts said "Amen" to his second.
+
+The Abbot spoke a word or two to the monks, and they advanced to the
+pinioned men and there performed the rites sacred to their office and to
+the serious situation of the penitents. As the good brothers stood back,
+they begged the Abbot for mercy to be extended towards the new converts,
+but the sphinx-like face of their leader gave no indication as to their
+fate, and the good men began to fear that it was the Abbot's intention
+to hang the Baron and his knights.
+
+"Now--brothers," said the Abbot, with a long pause before he spoke the
+second word, whereupon each of the prisoners heaved a sigh of relief, "I
+said your fate would depend on yourselves and on your good intent."
+
+They all vociferously proclaimed that their intentions were and had been
+of the most honourable kind.
+
+"I trust that is true, and that you shall live long enough to show your
+faith by your works. It is written that a man digged a pit for his enemy
+and fell himself therein. It is also written that as a man sows, so
+shall he reap. If you meant us no harm then your signal shouted to the
+battlements will do you no harm."
+
+"For God's sake, my Lord...." screamed the Baron. The Abbot, unheeding,
+raised his face towards the northern wall and shouted at the top of his
+voice:
+
+"So die SUCH Christians!" varying the phrase by one word. A simultaneous
+scream rose from the doomed men, cut short as by a knife, as the huge
+log was hurled over the outer parapet, and the seventeen victims were
+jerked into the air and throttled at the coping around the inner wall.
+
+Thus did the Abbot Ambrose save the souls of Baron von Grunewald and his
+men, at some expense to their necks.
+
+
+
+
+AN INVITATION
+
+
+The proud and warlike Archbishop Baldwin of Treves was well mounted,
+and, although the road by the margin of the river was in places bad, the
+august horseman nevertheless made good progress along it, for he had
+a long distance to travel before the sun went down. The way had been
+rudely constructed by that great maker of roads--the army--and the
+troops who had built it did not know, when they laboured at it, that
+they were preparing a path for their own retreat should disaster
+overtake them. The grim and silent horseman had been the brains, where
+the troops were the limbs; this thoroughfare had been of his planning,
+and over it, back into Treves, had returned a victorious, not a
+defeated, army. The iron hand of the Archbishop had come down on every
+truculent noble in the land, and every castle gate that had not opened
+to him through fear, had been battered in by force. Peace now spread her
+white wings over all the country, and where opposition to his Lordship's
+stubborn will had been the strongest, there was silence as well, with,
+perhaps, a thin wreath of blue smoke hovering over the blackened walls.
+The provinces on each bank of the Moselle from Treves to the Rhine now
+acknowledged Baldwin their over-lord--a suzerainty technically claimed
+by his Lordship's predecessors--but the iron Archbishop had changed the
+nominal into the actual, and it had taken some hard knocks to do it. His
+present journey was well earned, for he was betaking himself from his
+more formal and exacting Court at Treves to his summer palace at Cochem,
+there to rest from the fatigues of a campaign in which he had used not
+only his brain, but his good right arm as well.
+
+The palace which was to be the end of his journey was in some respects
+admirably suited to its master, for, standing on an eminence high above
+Cochem, with its score of pinnacles glittering in the sun, it seemed, to
+one below, a light and airy structure; but it was in reality a fortress
+almost impregnable, and three hundred years later it sent into a less
+turbulent sphere the souls of one thousand six hundred Frenchmen before
+its flag was lowered to the enemy.
+
+The personal appearance of the Archbishop and the smallness of his
+escort were practical illustrations of the fact that the land was at
+peace, and that he was master of it. His attire was neither clerical
+nor warlike, but rather that of a nobleman riding abroad where no
+enemy could possibly lurk. He was to all appearance unarmed, and had
+no protection save a light chain mail jacket of bright steel, which was
+worn over his vesture, and not concealed as was the custom. This jacket
+sparkled in the sun as if it were woven of fine threads strung with
+small and innumerable diamonds. It might ward off a dagger thrust,
+or turn aside a half-spent arrow, but it was too light to be of much
+service against sword or pike. The Archbishop was well mounted on a
+powerful black charger that had carried him through many a hot contest,
+and it now made little of the difficulties of the ill-constructed road,
+putting the other horses on their mettle to equal the pace set to them.
+
+The escort consisted of twelve men, all lightly armed, for Gottlieb, the
+monk, who rode sometimes by the Archbishop's side, but more often
+behind him, could hardly be counted as a combatant should defence
+become necessary. When the Archbishop left Treves his oldest general had
+advised his taking an escort of a thousand men at least, putting it on
+the ground that such a number was necessary to uphold the dignity of
+his office; but Baldwin smiled darkly, and said that where _he_ rode the
+dignity of the Electorship would be safe, even though none rode beside
+or behind him. Few dared offer advice to the Elector, but the bluff
+general persisted, and spoke of danger in riding down the Moselle valley
+with so small a following.
+
+"Who is there left to molest me?" asked the Archbishop; and the general
+was forced to admit that there was none.
+
+An army builds a road along the line of the least resistance; and often,
+when a promontory thrust its rocky nose into the river, the way led up
+the hill through the forest, getting back into the valley again as best
+it could. During these inland excursions, the monk, evidently unused to
+equestrianism, fell behind, and sometimes the whole troop was halted
+by command of its chief, until Gottlieb, clinging to his horse's mane,
+emerged from the thicket, the Archbishop curbing the impatience of his
+charger and watching, with a cynical smile curling his stern lips, the
+reappearance of the good father.
+
+After one of the most laborious ascents and descents they had
+encountered that day, the Archbishop waited for the monk; and when he
+came up with his leader, panting and somewhat dishevelled, the latter
+said, "There appears to be a lesson in your tribulations which hereafter
+you may retail with profit to your flock, relating how a good man
+leaving the right and beaten path and following his own devices in the
+wilderness may bring discomfiture upon himself."
+
+"The lesson it conveys to me, my Lord," said the monk, drily, "is that
+a man is but a fool to leave the stability of good stout sandals with
+which he is accustomed, to venture his body on a horse that pays little
+heed to his wishes."
+
+"This is our last detour," replied the Elector; "there are now many
+miles of winding but level road before us, and you have thus a chance to
+retrieve your reputation as a horseman in the eyes of our troop."
+
+"In truth, my Lord, I never boasted of it," returned the monk, "but I
+am right glad to learn that the way will be less mountainous. To what
+district have we penetrated?"
+
+"Above us, but unseen from this bank of the river, is the castle of the
+Widow Starkenburg. Her days of widowhood, however, are nearly passed,
+for I intend to marry her to one of my victorious knights, who will hold
+the castle for me."
+
+"The Countess of Starkenburg," said the monk, "must surely now be at an
+age when the thoughts turn toward Heaven rather than toward matrimony."
+
+"I have yet to meet the woman," replied the Archbishop, gazing upward,
+"who pleads old age as an excuse for turning away from a suitable lover.
+It is thy misfortune, Gottlieb, that in choosing a woollen cowl rather
+than an iron head-piece, thou should'st thus have lost a chance of
+advancement. The castle, I am told, has well-filled wine vaults, and
+old age in wine is doubtless more to thy taste than the same quality in
+woman. 'Tis a pity thou art not a knight, Gottlieb."
+
+"The fault is not beyond the power of our Holy Father to remedy by
+special dispensation," replied the monk, with a chuckle.
+
+The Elector laughed silently, and looked down on his comrade in kindly
+fashion, shaking his head.
+
+"The wines of Castle Starkenburg are not for thy appreciative palate,
+ghostly father. I have already selected a mate for the widow."
+
+"And what if thy selection jumps not with her approval. They tell me the
+countess has a will of her own."
+
+"It matters little to me, and I give her the choice merely because I am
+loth to war with a woman. The castle commands the river and holds the
+district. The widow may give it up peaceably at the altar, or forcibly
+at the point of the sword, whichever method most commends itself to her
+ladyship. The castle must be in the command of one whom I can trust."
+
+The conversation here met a startling interruption. The Archbishop and
+his guard were trotting rapidly round a promontory and following a
+bend of the river, the nature of the country being such that it was
+impossible to see many hundred feet ahead of them. Suddenly, they came
+upon a troop of armed and mounted men, standing like statues before
+them. The troop numbered an even score, and completely filled the way
+between the precipice on their left and the stream on their right.
+Although armed, every sword was in its scabbard, with the exception
+of the long two-handed weapon of the leader, who stood a few paces in
+advance of his men, with the point of his sword resting on the ground.
+The black horse, old in campaigns, recognised danger ahead, and stopped
+instantly, without waiting for the drawing of the rein, planting his two
+forefeet firmly in front, with a suddenness of action that would have
+unhorsed a less alert rider. Before the archbishop could question the
+silent host that barred his way, their leader raised his long sword
+until it was poised perpendicularly in the air above his head, and, with
+a loud voice, in measured tones, as one repeats a lesson he has learned
+by rote, he cried, "My Lord Archbishop of Treves, the Countess Laurette
+von Starkenburg invites you to sup with her."
+
+In the silence that followed, the leader's sword still remained uplifted
+untrembling in the air. Across the narrow gorge, from the wooded sides
+of the opposite mountains, came, with mocking cadence, the echo of the
+last words of the invitation, clear and distinct, as if spoken again by
+some one concealed in the further forest. A deep frown darkened the brow
+of the fighting archbishop.
+
+"The Countess is most kind," he said, slowly. "Convey to her my
+respectful admiration, and express my deep regret that I am unable to
+accept her hospitality, as I ride to-night to my Castle at Cochem."
+
+The leader of the opposing host suddenly lowered his upraised sword,
+as if in salute, but the motion seemed to be a preconcerted signal, for
+every man behind him instantly whipped blade from scabbard, and stood
+there with naked weapon displayed. The leader, raising his sword once
+more to its former position, repeated in the same loud and monotonous
+voice, as if the archbishop had not spoken. "My Lord Archbishop of
+Treves, the Countess Laurette von Starkenburg invites you to sup with
+her."
+
+The intelligent war-horse, who had regarded the obstructing force with
+head held high, retreated slowly step by step, until now a considerable
+distance separated the two companies. The captain of the guard had seen
+from the first that attack or defence was equally useless, and, with
+his men, had also given way gradually as the strange colloquy went on.
+Whether any of the opposing force noticed this or not, they made no
+attempt to recover the ground thus almost imperceptibly stolen from
+them, but stood as if each horse were rooted to the spot.
+
+Baldwin the Fighter, whose compressed lips showed how loth he was to
+turn his back upon any foe, nevertheless saw the futility of resistance,
+and in a quick, clear whisper, he said, hastily, "Back! Back! If we
+cannot fight them, we can at least out-race them."
+
+The good monk had taken advantage of his privilege as a non-combatant
+to retreat well to the rear while the invitation was being given and
+declined, and in the succeeding flight found himself leading the van.
+The captain of the guard threw himself between the Starkenburg men and
+the prince of the Church, but the former made no effort at pursuit,
+standing motionless as they had done from the first until the rounding
+promontory hid them from view. Suddenly, the horse on which the monk
+rode stood stock still, and its worthy rider, with a cry of alarm,
+clinging to the animal's mane, shot over its head and came heavily to
+the ground. The whole flying troop came to a sudden halt, for there
+ahead of them was a band exactly similar in numbers and appearance to
+that from which they were galloping. It seemed as if the same company
+had been transported by magic over the promontory and placed across the
+way. The sun shone on the uplifted blade of the leader, reminding the
+archbishop of the flaming sword that barred the entrance of our first
+parents to Paradise.
+
+The leader, with ringing voice, that had a touch of menace in it, cried:
+
+"My Lord Archbishop of Treves, the Countess Laurette von Starkenburg
+invites you to sup with her."
+
+"Trapped, by God!" muttered the Elector between his clinched teeth. His
+eyes sparkled with anger, and the sinister light that shot from them
+had before now made the Emperor quail. He spurred his horse toward
+the leader, who lowered his sword and bowed to the great dignitary
+approaching him.
+
+"The Countess of Starkenburg is my vassal," cried the Archbishop. "You
+are her servant; and in much greater degree, therefore, are you mine. I
+command you to let us pass unmolested on our way; refuse at your peril."
+
+"A servant," said the man, slowly, "obeys the one directly above him,
+and leaves that one to account to any superior authority. My men obey
+me; I take my orders from my lady the countess. If you, my Lord, wish to
+direct the authority which commands me, my lady the countess awaits your
+pleasure at her castle of Starkenburg."
+
+"What are your orders, fellow?" asked the Archbishop, in a calmer tone.
+
+"To convey your Lordship without scathe to the gates of Starkenburg."
+
+"And if you meet resistance, what then?"
+
+"The orders stand, my Lord."
+
+"You will, I trust, allow this mendicant monk to pass peaceably on his
+way to Treves."
+
+"In no castle on the Moselle does even the humblest servant of the
+Church receive a warmer welcome than at Starkenburg. My lady would hold
+me to blame were she prevented from offering her hospitality to the
+mendicant."
+
+"Does the same generous impulse extend to each of my followers?"
+
+"It includes them all, my Lord."
+
+"Very well. We will do ourselves the honour of waiting upon this most
+bountiful hostess."
+
+By this time the troop which had first stopped the Archbishop's
+progress came slowly up, and the little body-guard of the Elector found
+themselves hemmed in with twenty men in the front and twenty at the
+rear, while the rocky precipice rose on one hand and the rapid river
+flowed on the other.
+
+The _cortege_ reformed and trotted gently down the road until it came
+to a by-way leading up the hill. Into this by-way the leaders turned,
+reducing their trot to a walk because of the steepness of the
+ascent. The Archbishop and his men followed, with the second troop of
+Starkenburg bringing up the rear. His Lordship rode at first in sullen
+silence, then with a quick glance of his eye he summoned the captain to
+his side. He slipped the ring of office from his finger and passed it
+unperceived into the officer's hand.
+
+"There will be some confusion at the gate," he said, in a low voice.
+"Escape then if you can. Ride for Treves as you never rode before. Stop
+not to fight with any; everything depends on outstripping pursuit.
+Take what horses you need wherever you find them, and kill them all if
+necessary, but stop for nothing. This ring will be warrant for whatever
+you do. Tell my general to invest this castle instantly with ten
+thousand men and press forward the siege regardless of my fate. Tell him
+to leave not one stone standing upon another, and to hang the widow of
+Starkenburg from her own blazing timbers. Succeed, and a knighthood and
+the command of a thousand men awaits you."
+
+"I will succeed or die, my Lord."
+
+"Succeed and live," said the Archbishop, shortly.
+
+As the horses slowly laboured up the zigzagging road, the view along the
+silvery Moselle widened and extended, and at last the strong grey walls
+of the castle came into sight, with the ample gates wide open. The
+horsemen in front drew up in two lines on each side of the gates without
+entering, and thus the Archbishop, at the head of his little band,
+slowly rode first under the archway into the courtyard of the castle.
+
+On the stone steps that led to the principal entrance of the castle
+stood a tall, graceful lady, with her women behind her. She was robed in
+black, and the headdress of her snow-white hair gave her the appearance
+of a dignified abbess at her convent door. Her serene and placid face
+had undoubtedly once been beautiful; and age, which had left her form as
+straight and slender as one of her own forest pines, forgetting to
+place its customary burden upon her graceful shoulders, had touched her
+countenance with a loving hand. With all her womanliness, there was,
+nevertheless, a certain firmness in the finely-moulded chin that gave
+evidence of a line of ancestry that had never been too deferential to
+those in authority.
+
+The stern Archbishop reined in his black charger when he reached the
+middle of the courtyard, but made no motion to dismount. The lady came
+slowly down the broad stone steps, followed by her feminine train, and,
+approaching the Elector, placed her white hand upon his stirrup, in mute
+acknowledgment of her vassalage.
+
+"Welcome, prince of the Church and protector of our Faith," she said.
+"It is a hundred years since my poor house has sheltered so august a
+guest."
+
+The tones were smooth and soothing as the scarcely audible plash of a
+distant fountain; but the incident she cited struck ominously on the
+Archbishop's recollection, rousing memory and causing him to dart a
+quick glance at the countess, in which was blended sharp enquiry and
+awakened foreboding; but the lady, unconscious of his scrutiny, stood
+with drooping head and downcast eyes, her shapely hand still on his
+stirrup-iron.
+
+"If I remember rightly, madame, my august predecessor slept well beneath
+this roof."
+
+"Alas, yes!" murmured the lady, sadly. "We have ever accounted it the
+greatest misfortune of our line, that he should have died mysteriously
+here. Peace be to his soul!"
+
+"Not so mysteriously, madame, but that there were some shrewd guesses
+concerning his malady."
+
+"That is true, my Lord," replied the countess, simply. "It was supposed
+that in his camp upon the lowlands by the river he contracted a fever
+from which he died."
+
+"My journey by the Moselle has been of the briefest. I trust, therefore,
+I have not within me the seeds of his fatal distemper."
+
+"I most devoutly echo that trust, my Lord, and pray that God, who
+watches over us all, may guard your health while sojourning here."
+
+"Forgive me, madame, if, within the shadow of these walls, I say 'Amen'
+to your prayer with some emphasis."
+
+The Countess Laurette contented herself with bowing low and humbly
+crossing herself, making no verbal reply to his Lordship's remark. She
+then beseeched the Archbishop to dismount, saying something of his need
+of rest and refreshment, begging him to allow her to be his guide to the
+Rittersaal.
+
+When the Archbishop reached the topmost step that led to the castle
+door, he cast an eye, not devoid of anxiety, over the court-yard, to see
+how his following had fared. The gates were now fast closed, and forty
+horses were ranged with their tails to the wall, the silent riders in
+their saddles. Rapid as was his glance, it showed him his guard huddled
+together in the centre of the court, his own black charger, with empty
+saddle, the only living thing among them that showed no sign of dismay.
+Between two of the hostile horsemen stood his captain, with doublet torn
+and headgear awry, evidently a discomfited prisoner.
+
+The Archbishop entered the gloomy castle with a sense of defeat tugging
+down his heart to a lower level than he had ever known it to reach
+before; for in days gone by, when fate had seemed to press against
+him, he had been in the thick of battle, and had felt an exultation in
+rallying his half-discouraged followers, who had never failed to respond
+to the call of a born leader of men. But here he had to encounter
+silence, with semi-darkness over his head, cold stone under foot, and
+round him the unaccustomed hiss of women's skirts.
+
+The Countess conducted her guest through the lofty Knight's Hall, in
+which his Lordship saw preparations for a banquet going forward. An
+arched passage led them to a small room that seemed to be within a
+turret hanging over a precipice, as if it were an eagle's nest. This
+room gave an admirable and extended view over the winding Moselle and
+much of the surrounding country. On a table were flagons of wine and
+empty cups, together with some light refection, upon all of which the
+Archbishop looked with suspicious eye. He did not forget the rumoured
+poisoning of his predecessor in office. The countess asked him, with
+deference, to seat himself; then pouring out a cup of wine, she bowed to
+him and drank it. Turning to rinse the cup in a basin of water which a
+serving-woman held, she was interrupted by her guest, who now, for the
+first time, showed a trace of gallantry.
+
+"I beg of you, madame," said the Archbishop, rising; and, taking the
+unwashed cup from her hand, he filled it with wine, drinking prosperity
+to herself and her home. Then, motioning her to a chair, he said seating
+himself: "Countess von Starkenburg, I am a man more used to the uncouth
+rigour of a camp than the dainty etiquette of a lady's boudoir. Forgive
+me, then, if I ask you plainly, as a plain man may, why you hold me
+prisoner in your castle."
+
+"Prisoner, my lord?" echoed the lady, with eyebrows raised in amazement.
+"How poorly are we served by our underlings, if such a thought has been
+conveyed to your lordship's mind. I asked them to invite you hither
+with such deference as a vassal should hold toward an over-lord. I
+am grievously distressed to learn that my commands have been so ill
+obeyed."
+
+"Your commands were faithfully followed, madame, and I have made no
+complaint regarding lack of deference, but when two-score armed men
+carry a respectful invitation to one having a bare dozen at his back,
+then all option vanishes, and compulsion takes its place."
+
+"My lord, a handful of men were fit enough escort for a neighbouring
+baron should he visit us, but, for a prince of the Church, all my
+retainers are but scanty acknowledgment of a vassal's regard. I would
+they had been twenty thousand, to do you seemly honour."
+
+"I am easily satisfied, madame, and had they been fewer I might have
+missed this charming outlook. I am to understand, then, that you have no
+demands to make of me; and that I am free to depart, accompanied by your
+good wishes."
+
+"With my good wishes now and always, surely, my Lord. I have no demands
+to make--the word ill befits the lips of a humble vassal; but, being
+here----"
+
+"Ah! But, being here----" interrupted the Archbishop, glancing keenly at
+her.
+
+"I have a favour to beg of you. I wish to ask permission to build a
+castle on the heights above Trarbach, for my son."
+
+"The Count Johann, third of the name?"
+
+"The same, my Lord, who is honoured by your Lordship's remembrance of
+him."
+
+"And you wish to place this stronghold between your castle of
+Starkenburg and my town of Treves? Were I a suspicious man, I might
+imagine you had some distrust of me."
+
+"Not so, my lord. The Count Johann will hold the castle in your
+defence."
+
+"I have ever been accustomed to look to my own defence," said the
+Archbishop, drily; adding, as if it were an afterthought, "with the
+blessing of God upon my poor efforts."
+
+The faintest suspicion of a smile hovered for an instant on the lips of
+the countess, that might have been likened to the momentary passing of a
+gleam of sunshine over the placid waters of the river far below; for
+she well knew, as did all others, that it was the habit of the fighting
+Archbishop to smite sturdily first, and ask whatever blessing might be
+needed on the blow afterwards.
+
+"The permission being given, what follows?"
+
+"That you will promise not to molest me during the building."
+
+"A natural corollary. 'Twould be little worth to give permission and
+then bring up ten thousand men to disturb the builders. That granted,
+remains there anything more?"
+
+"I fear I trespass on your Lordship's patience but this is now the
+end. A strong house is never built with a weak purse. I do entreat your
+lordship to cause to be sent to me from your treasury in Treves thousand
+pieces of gold, that the castle may be a worthy addition to your
+province."
+
+The Archbishop arose with a scowl on his face, and paced the narrow
+limits of the room like a caged lion. The hot anger mounted to his brow
+and reddened it, but he strode up and down until he regained control of
+himself, then spoke with a touch of hardness in his voice:
+
+"A good fighter, madame, holds his strongest reserves to the last. You
+have called me a prince of the Church, and such I am. But you flatter
+me, madame; you rate me too high. The founder of our Church, when
+betrayed, was sold for silver, and for a lesser number of pieces than
+you ask in gold."
+
+The lady, now standing, answered nothing to this taunt, but the colour
+flushed her pale cheeks.
+
+"I am, then, a prisoner, and you hold me for ransom, but it will avail
+you little. You may close your gates and prevent my poor dozen of
+followers from escaping, but news of this outrage will reach Treves, and
+then, by God, your walls shall smoke for it. There will be none of the
+Starkenburgs left, either to kidnap or to murder future archbishops."
+
+Still the lady stood silent and motionless as a marble statue. The
+Elector paced up and down for a time, muttering to himself, then smote
+his open palm against a pillar of the balcony, and stood gazing on the
+fair landscape of river and rounded hill spread below and around him.
+Suddenly he turned and looked at the Countess, meeting her clear,
+fearless grey eyes, noticing, for the first time, the resolute contour
+of her finely-moulded chin.
+
+"Madame," he said, with admiration in his tone, "you are a brave woman."
+
+"I am not so brave as you think me, my Lord," she answered, coldly.
+"There is one thing I dare not do. I am not brave enough to allow your
+Lordship to go free, if you refuse what I ask."
+
+"And should I not relent at first, there are dungeons in Starkenburg
+where this proud spirit, with which my enemies say I am cursed, will
+doubtless be humbled."
+
+"Not so, my Lord. You will be treated with that consideration which
+should be shown to one of your exalted station."
+
+"Indeed! And melted thus by kindness, how long, think you, will the
+process take?"
+
+"It will be of the shortest, my Lord, for if, as you surmise rumour
+should get abroad and falsely proclaim that the Archbishop lodges here
+against his will, there's not a flying baron or beggared knight in all
+the land but would turn in his tracks and cry to Starkenburg, 'In God's
+name, hold him, widow, till we get our own again!' Willingly would they
+make the sum I beg of you an annual tribute, so they might be certain
+your Lordship were well housed in this castle."
+
+"Widow, there is truth in what you say, even if a woman hath spoken it,"
+replied the Archbishop, with a grim smile on his lips and undisguised
+admiration gleaming from his dark eye. "This cowardly world is given
+to taking advantage of a man when opportunity offers. But there is
+one point you have not reckoned upon: What of my stout army lying at
+Treves?"
+
+"What of the arch when the keystone is withdrawn? What of the sheep
+when the shepherd disappears? My Lord, you do yourself and your great
+military gifts a wrong. Through my deep regard for you I gave strict
+command that not even the meanest of your train should be allowed to
+wander till all were safe within these gates, for I well knew that, did
+but a whisper of my humble invitation and your gracious acceptance
+of the same reach Treves, it might be misconstrued; and although some
+sturdy fellows would be true, and beat their stupid heads against these
+walls, the rest would scatter like a sheaf of arrows suddenly unloosed,
+and seek the strongest arm upraised in the melee sure to follow. Against
+your army, leaderless, I would myself march out at the head of my
+two-score men without a tremor at my heart; before that leader, alone
+and armyless, I bow my head with something more akin to fear than I have
+ever known before, and crave his generous pardon for my bold request."
+
+The Archbishop took her unresisting hand, and, bending, raised it to his
+lips with that dignified courtesy which, despite his disclaimer, he knew
+well how, upon occasion, to display.
+
+"Madame," he said, "I ask you to believe that your request was granted
+even before you marshalled such unanswerable arguments to stand, like
+armoured men, around it. There is a tern and stringent law of our great
+Church which forbids its servants suing for a lady's hand. Countess, I
+never felt the grasp of that iron fetter until now."
+
+Thus came the strong castle above Trarbach to be builded, and that not
+at the expense of its owners.
+
+
+
+
+THE ARCHBISHOP'S GIFT
+
+
+Arras, blacksmith and armourer, stood at the door of his hut in the
+valley of the Alf, a league or so from the Moselle, one summer evening.
+He was the most powerful man in all the Alf-thal, and few could lift the
+iron sledge-hammer he wielded as though it were a toy. Arras had twelve
+sons scarce less stalwart than himself, some of whom helped him in
+his occupation of blacksmith and armourer, while the others tilled the
+ground near by, earning from the rich soil of the valley such sustenance
+as the whole family required.
+
+The blacksmith thus standing at his door, heard, coming up the valley of
+the Alf, the hoof-beats of a horse, and his quick, experienced ear told
+him, though the animal was yet afar, that one of its shoes was loose.
+As the hurrying rider came within call, the blacksmith shouted to him in
+stentorian tones:
+
+"Friend, pause a moment, until I fasten again the shoe on your horse's
+foot."
+
+"I cannot stop," was the brief answer.
+
+"Then your animal will go lame," rejoined the blacksmith.
+
+"Better lose a horse than an empire," replied the rider, hurrying by.
+
+"Now what does that mean?" said the blacksmith to himself as he watched
+the disappearing rider, while the click-clack of the loosened shoe
+became fainter and fainter in the distance.
+
+Could the blacksmith have followed the rider into Castle Bertrich, a
+short distance further up the valley, he would speedily have learned the
+meaning of the hasty phrase the horseman had flung behind him as he rode
+past. Ascending the winding road that led to the gates of the castle as
+hurriedly as the jaded condition of his beast would permit, the horseman
+paused, unloosed the horn from his belt, and blew a blast that echoed
+from the wooded hills around. Presently an officer appeared above the
+gateway, accompanied by two or three armed men, and demanded who the
+stranger was and why he asked admission. The horseman, amazed at the
+officer's ignorance of heraldry that caused him to inquire as to his
+quality, answered with some haughtiness:
+
+"Messenger of the Archbishop of Treves, I demand instant audience with
+Count Bertrich."
+
+The officer, without reply, disappeared from the castle wall, and
+presently the great leaves of the gate were thrown open, whereupon the
+horseman rode his tired animal into the courtyard and flung himself off.
+
+"My horse's shoe is loose," he said to the Captain. "I ask you to have
+your armourer immediately attend to it."
+
+"In truth," replied the officer, shrugging his shoulders, "there is
+more drinking than fighting in Castle Bertrich; consequently we do not
+possess an armourer. If you want blacksmithing done you must betake
+yourself to armourer Arras in the valley, who will put either horse or
+armour right for you."
+
+With this the messenger was forced to be content; and, begging the
+attendants who took charge of his horse to remember that it had
+travelled far and had still, when rested, a long journey before it, he
+followed the Captain into the great Rittersaal of the castle, where, on
+entering, after having been announced, he found the Count of Bertrich
+sitting at the head of a long table, holding in his hand a gigantic wine
+flagon which he was industriously emptying. Extending down each side of
+the table were many nobles, knights, and warriors, who, to judge by the
+hasty glance bestowed upon them by the Archbishop's messenger, seemed
+to be energetically following the example set them by their over-lord
+at the head. Count Bertrich's hair was unkempt, his face a purplish
+red, his eye bloodshot; and his corselet, open at the throat, showed the
+great bull-neck of the man, on whose gigantic frame constant dissipation
+seemed to have merely temporary effect.
+
+"Well!" roared the nobleman, in a voice that made the rafters ring.
+"What would you with Count Bertrich?"
+
+"I bear an urgent despatch to you from my Lord the Archbishop of
+Treves," replied the messenger.
+
+"Then down on your knees and present it," cried the Count, beating the
+table with his flagon.
+
+"I am Envoy of his Lordship of Treves," said the messenger, sternly.
+
+"You told us that before," shouted the Count; "and now you stand in the
+hall of Bertrich. Kneel, therefore, to its master."
+
+"I represent the Archbishop," reiterated the messenger, "and I kneel to
+none but God and the Emperor."
+
+Count Bertrich rose somewhat uncertainly to his feet, his whole frame
+trembling with anger, and volleyed forth oaths upon threats. The tall
+nobleman at his right hand also rose, as did many of the others who sat
+at the table, and, placing his hand on the arm of his furious host, said
+warningly:
+
+"My Lord Count, the man is right. It is against the feudal law that he
+should kneel, or that you should demand it. The Archbishop of Treves is
+your overlord, as well as ours, and it is not fitting that his messenger
+should kneel before us."
+
+"That is truth--the feudal law," muttered others down each side of the
+table.
+
+The enraged Count glared upon them one after another, partially subdued
+by their breaking away from him.
+
+The Envoy stood calm and collected, awaiting the outcome of the tumult.
+The Count, cursing the absent Archbishop and his present guests with
+equal impartiality, sat slowly down again, and flinging his empty
+flagon at an attendant, demanded that it should be refilled. The others
+likewise resumed their seats; and the Count cried out, but with less of
+truculence in his tone:
+
+"What message sent the Archbishop to Castle Bertrich?"
+
+"My Lord, the Archbishop of Treves requires me to inform Count Bertrich
+and the assembled nobles that the Hungarians have forced passage across
+the Rhine, and are now about to make their way through the defiles
+of the Eifel into this valley, intending to march thence upon Treves,
+laying that ancient city in ruin and carrying havoc over the surrounding
+country. His Lordship commands you, Count Bertrich, to rally your men
+about you and to hold the infidels in check in the defiles of the Eifel
+until the Archbishop comes, at the bead of his army, to your relief from
+Treves."
+
+There was deep silence in the vast hall after this startling
+announcement. Then the Count replied:
+
+"Tell the Archbishop of Treves that if the Lords of the Rhine cannot
+keep back the Hungarians, it is hardly likely that we, less powerful,
+near the Moselle, can do it."
+
+"His Lordship urges instant compliance with his request, and I am to say
+that you refuse at your peril. A few hundred men can hold the Hungarians
+in check while they are passing through the narrow ravines of the Eifel,
+while as many thousands might not be successful against them should they
+once reach the open valleys of the Alf and the Moselle. His Lordship
+would also have you know that this campaign is as much in your own
+interest as in his, for the Hungarians, in their devastating march,
+spare neither high nor low."
+
+"Tell his Lordship," hiccoughed the Count, "that I sit safely in my
+Castle of Bertrich, and that I defy all the Hungarians who were ever let
+loose to disturb me therein. If the Archbishop keeps Treves as tightly
+as I shall hold Castle Bertrich, there is little to fear from the
+invaders."
+
+"Am I to return to Treves then with your refusal?" asked the Envoy.
+
+"You may return to Treves as best pleases you, so that you rid us of
+your presence here, where you mar good company."
+
+The Envoy, without further speech, bowed to Count Bertrich and also
+to the assembled nobles, passed silently out of the hall, once more
+reaching the courtyard of the castle, where he demanded that his horse
+be brought to him.
+
+"The animal has had but scant time for feeding and rest," said the
+Captain.
+
+"'Twill be sufficient to carry us to the blacksmith's hut," answered the
+Envoy, as he put his foot in stirrup.
+
+The blacksmith, still standing at the door of his smithy, heard, coming
+from the castle, the click of the broken shoe, but this time the rider
+drew up before him and said:
+
+"The offer of help which you tendered me a little ago I shall now be
+glad to accept. Do your work well, smith, and know that in performing
+it, you are obliging an envoy of the Archbishop of Treves."
+
+The armourer raised his cap at the mention of the august name, and
+invoked a blessing upon the head of that renowned and warlike prelate.
+
+"You said something," spoke up the smith, "of loss of empire, as you
+rode by. I trust there is no disquieting news from Treves?"
+
+"Disquieting enough," replied the messenger. "The Hungarians have
+crossed the Rhine, and are now making their way towards the defiles of
+the Eifel. There a hundred men could hold the infidels in check; but
+you breed a scurvy set of nobles in the Alf-thal, for Count Bertrich
+disdains the command of his over-lord to rise at the head of his men and
+stay the progress of the invader until the Archbishop can come to his
+assistance."
+
+"Now, out upon the drunken Count for a base coward!" cried the armourer
+in anger. "May his castle be sacked and himself hanged on the highest
+turret, for refusing aid to his over-lord in time of need. I and my
+twelve sons know every rock and cave in the Eifel. Would the Archbishop,
+think you, accept the aid of such underlings as we, whose only
+commendation is that our hearts are stout as our sinews?"
+
+"What better warranty could the Archbishop ask than that?" replied the
+Envoy. "If you can hold back the Hungarians for four or five days, then
+I doubt not that whatever you ask of the Archbishop will speedily be
+granted."
+
+"We shall ask nothing," cried the blacksmith, "but his blessing, and be
+deeply honoured in receiving it."
+
+Whereupon the blacksmith, seizing his hammer, went to the door of his
+hut, where hung part of a suit of armour, that served at the same time
+as a sign of his profession and as a tocsin. He smote the hanging iron
+with his sledge until the clangorous reverberation sounded through the
+valley, and presently there came hurrying to him eight of his stalwart
+sons, who had been occupied in tilling the fields.
+
+"Scatter ye," cried the blacksmith, "over the land. Rouse the people,
+and tell them the Hungarians are upon us. Urge all to collect here at
+midnight, with whatever of arms or weapons they may possess. Those who
+have no arms, let them bring poles, and meanwhile your brothers and
+myself will make pike-heads for them. Tell them they are called to,
+action by a Lord from the Archbishop of Treves himself, and that I shall
+lead them. Tell them they fight for their homes, their wives, and their
+children. And now away."
+
+The eight young men at once dispersed in various directions. The smith
+himself shod the Envoy's horse, and begged him to inform the Archbishop
+that they would defend the passes of the Eifel while a man of them
+remained alive.
+
+Long before midnight the peasants came straggling to the smithy from all
+quarters, and by daylight the blacksmith had led them over the volcanic
+hills to the lip of the tremendous pass through which the Hungarians
+must come. The sides of this chasm were precipitous and hundreds of feet
+in height. Even the peasants themselves, knowing the rocks as they did,
+could not have climbed from the bottom of the pass to the height they
+now occupied. They had, therefore, no fear that the Hungarians could
+scale the walls and decimate their scanty band.
+
+When the invaders appeared the blacksmith and his men rolled great
+stones and rocks down upon them, practically annihilating the advance
+guard and throwing the whole army into confusion. The week's struggle
+that followed forms one of the most exciting episodes in German history.
+Again and again the Hungarians attempted the pass, but nothing could
+withstand the avalanche of stones and rocks wherewith they were
+overwhelmed. Still, the devoted little band did not have everything
+its own way. They were so few--and they had to keep watch night and
+day--that ere the week was out many turned longing eyes towards the
+direction whence the Archbishop's army was expected to appear. It was
+not until the seventh day that help arrived, and then the Archbishop's
+forces speedily put to flight the now demoralised Hungarians, and chased
+them once more across the Rhine.
+
+"There is nothing now left for us to do," said the tired blacksmith to
+his little following; "so I will get back to my forge and you to your
+farms."
+
+And this without more ado they did, the cheering and inspiring ring of
+iron on anvil awakening the echoes of the Alf-thal once again.
+
+The blacksmith and his twelve sons were at their noon-day meal when an
+imposing cavalcade rode up to the smithy. At the head was no other
+than the Archbishop himself, and the blacksmith and his dozen sons
+were covered with confusion to think that they had such a distinguished
+visitor without the means of receiving him in accordance with his
+station. But the Archbishop said:
+
+"Blacksmith Arras, you and your sons would not wait for me to thank you;
+so I am now come to you that in presence of all these followers of mine
+I may pay fitting tribute to your loyalty and your bravery."
+
+Then, indeed, did the modest blacksmith consider he had received more
+than ample compensation for what he had done, which, after all, as he
+told his neighbours, was merely his duty. So why should a man be thanked
+for it?
+
+"Blacksmith," said the Archbishop, as he mounted his horse to return to
+Treves, "thanks cost little and are easily bestowed. I hope, however, to
+have a present for you that will show the whole country round how much I
+esteem true valour."
+
+At the mouth of the Alf-thal, somewhat back from the small village of
+Alf and overlooking the Moselle, stands a conical hill that completely
+commands the valley. The Archbishop of Treves, having had a lesson
+regarding the dangers of an incursion through the volcanic region of
+the Eifel, put some hundreds of men at work on this conical hill, and
+erected on the top a strong castle, which was the wonder of the country.
+The year was nearing its end when this great stronghold was completed,
+and it began to be known throughout the land that the Archbishop
+intended to hold high revel there, and had invited to the castle all
+the nobles in the country, while the chief guest was no other than the
+Emperor himself. Then the neighbours of the blacksmith learned that a
+gift was about to be bestowed upon that stalwart man. He and his twelve
+sons received notification to attend at the castle, and to enjoy the
+whole week's festivity. He was commanded to come in his leathern apron,
+and to bring with him his huge sledge-hammer, which, the Archbishop
+said, had now become a weapon as honourable as the two-handed sword
+itself.
+
+Never before had such an honour been bestowed upon a common man, and
+though the peasants were jubilant that one of their caste should be thus
+singled out to receive the favour of the famous Archbishop, and meet not
+only great nobles, but even the Emperor himself, still, it was gossiped
+that the Barons grumbled at this distinction being placed upon a serf
+like the blacksmith Arras, and none were so loud in their complaints
+as Count Bertrich, who had remained drinking in the castle while the
+blacksmith fought for the land. Nevertheless, all the nobility accepted
+the invitation of the powerful Archbishop of Treves, and assembled in
+the great room of the new castle, each equipped in all the gorgeous
+panoply of full armour. It had been rumoured among the nobles that the
+Emperor would not permit the Archbishop to sully the caste of knighthood
+by asking the Barons to recognise or hold converse with one in humble
+station of life. Indeed, had it been otherwise, Count Bertrich, with the
+Barons to back him, were resolved to speak out boldly to the Emperor,
+upholding the privileges of their class, and protesting against insult
+to it in presence of the blacksmith and his sons.
+
+When all assembled in the great hall they found at the centre of the
+long side wall a magnificent throne erected, with a dais in front of it,
+and on this throne sat, the Emperor in state, while at his right hand
+stood the lordly Archbishop of Treves. But what was more disquieting,
+they beheld also the blacksmith standing before the dais, some distance
+in front of the Emperor, clad in his leathern apron, with his big brawny
+hands folded over the top of the handle of his huge sledge-hammer.
+Behind him were ranged his twelve sons. There were deep frowns on
+the brows of the nobles when they saw this, and, after kneeling and
+protesting their loyalty to the Emperor, they stood aloof and apart,
+leaving a clear space between themselves and the plebeian blacksmith on
+whom they cast lowering looks. When the salutations of the Emperor had
+been given, the Archbishop took a step forward on the dais and spoke in
+a clear voice that could be heard to the furthermost corner of the room.
+
+"My Lords," he said, "I have invited you hither that you may have
+the privilege of doing honour to a brave man. I ask you to salute the
+blacksmith Arras, who, when his country was in danger, crushed the
+invaders as effectually as ever his right arm, wielding sledge, crushed
+hot iron."
+
+A red flush of confusion overspread the face of the blacksmith, but loud
+murmurs broke out among the nobility, and none stepped forward to salute
+him. One, indeed, stepped forward, but it was to appeal to the Emperor.
+
+"Your Majesty," exclaimed Count Bertrich, "this is an unwarranted breach
+of our privileges. It is not meet that we, holding noble names, should
+be asked to consort with an untitled blacksmith. I appeal to your
+Majesty against the Archbishop under the feudal law."
+
+All eyes turned upon the Emperor, who, after a pause, said:
+
+"Count Bertrich is right, and I sustain his appeal."
+
+An expression of triumph came into the red bibulous face of Count
+Bertrich, and the nobles shouted joyously:
+
+"The Emperor, the Emperor!"
+
+The Archbishop, however, seemed in no way non-plussed by his defeat,
+but, addressing the armourer, said:
+
+"Advance, blacksmith, and do homage to your Emperor and mine."
+
+When the blacksmith knelt before the throne, the Emperor, taking his
+jewelled sword from his side, smote the kneeling man lightly on his
+broad shoulders, saying:
+
+"Arise, Count Arras, noble of the German Empire, and first Lord of the
+Alf-thal."
+
+The blacksmith rose slowly to his feet, bowed lowly to the Emperor, and
+backed to the place where he had formerly stood, again resting his hands
+on the handle of his sledge-hammer. The look of exultation faded from
+the face of Count Bertrich, and was replaced by an expression of dismay,
+for he had been until that moment, himself first Lord of the Alf-thal,
+with none second.
+
+"My Lords," once more spoke up the Archbishop, "I ask you to salute
+Count Arras, first Lord of the Alf-thal."
+
+No noble moved, and again Count Bertrich appealed to the Emperor.
+
+"Are we to receive on terms of equality," he said, "a landless man; the
+count of a blacksmith's hut; a first lord of a forge? For the second
+time I appeal to your Majesty against such an outrage."
+
+The Emperor replied calmly:
+
+"Again I support the appeal of Count Bertrich."
+
+There was this time no applause from the surrounding nobles, for many
+of them had some smattering idea of what was next to happen, though the
+muddled brain of Count Bertrich gave him no intimation of it.
+
+"Count Arras," said the Archbishop, "I promised you a gift when last
+I left you at your smithy door. I now bestow upon you and your heirs
+forever this castle of Burg Arras, and the lands adjoining it. I ask
+you to hold it for me well and faithfully, as you held the pass of the
+Eifel. My Lords," continued the Archbishop, turning to the nobles, with
+a ring of menace in his voice, "I ask you to salute Count Arras, your
+equal in title, your equal in possessions, and the superior of any one
+of you in patriotism and bravery. If any noble question his courage, let
+him neglect to give Count of Burg Arras his title and salutation as he
+passes before him."
+
+"Indeed, and that will not I," said the tall noble who had sat at
+Bertrich's right hand in his castle, "for, my Lords, if we hesitate
+longer, this doughty blacksmith will be Emperor before we know it."
+Then, advancing towards the ex-armourer, he said: "My Lord, Count of
+Burg Arras, it gives me pleasure to salute you, and to hope that when
+Emperor or Archbishop are to be fought for, your arm will be no less
+powerful in a coat of mail than it was when you wore a leathern apron."
+
+One by one the nobles passed and saluted as their leader had done. Count
+Bertrich hung back until the last, and then, as he passed the new Count
+of Burg Arras, he hissed at him, with a look of rage, the single word,
+"_Blacksmith!_"
+
+The Count of Burg Arras, stirred to sudden anger, and forgetting in
+whose presence he stood, swung his huge sledge-hammer round his head,
+and brought it down on the armoured back of Count Bertrich, roaring the
+word "ANVIL!"
+
+The armour splintered like crushed ice, and Count Bertrich fell prone on
+his face and lay there. There was instant cry of "Treason! Treason!" and
+shouts of "No man may draw arms in the Emperor's presence."
+
+"My Lord Emperor," cried the Count of Burg Arras, "I crave pardon if
+I have done amiss. A man does not forget the tricks of his old calling
+when he takes on new honours. Your Majesty has said that I am a Count.
+This man, having heard your Majesty's word, proclaims me blacksmith, and
+so gave the lie to his Emperor. For this I struck him, and would again,
+even though he stood before the throne in a palace, or the altar in a
+cathedral. If that be treason, take from me your honours, and let me
+back to my forge, where this same hammer will mend the armour it has
+broken, or beat him out a new back-piece."
+
+"You have broken no tenet of the feudal law," said the Emperor. "You
+have broken nothing, I trust, but the Count's armour, for, as I see, he
+is arousing himself, doubtless no bones are broken as well. The feudal
+law does not regard a blacksmith's hammer as a weapon. And as for
+treason, Count of Burg Arras, may my throne always be surrounded by such
+treason as yours."
+
+And for centuries after, the descendants of the blacksmith were Counts
+of Burg Arras, and held the castle of that name, whose ruins to-day
+attest the excellence of the Archbishop's building.
+
+
+
+
+COUNT KONRAD'S COURTSHIP
+
+
+It was nearly midnight when Count Konrad von Hochstaden reached his
+castle on the Rhine, with a score of very tired and hungry men behind
+him. The warder at the gate of Schloss Hochstaden, after some
+cautious parley with the newcomers, joyously threw apart the two great
+iron-studded oaken leaves of the portal when he was convinced that it
+was indeed his young master who had arrived after some tumultuous years
+at the crusades, and Count Konrad with his followers rode clattering
+under the stone arch, into the ample courtyard. It is recorded that,
+in the great hall of the castle, the Count and his twenty bronzed
+and scarred knights ate such a meal as had never before been seen to
+disappear in Hochstaden, and that after drinking with great cheer to the
+downfall of the Saracene and the triumph of the true cross, they all lay
+on the floor of the Rittersaal and slept the remainder of the night,
+the whole of next day, and did not awaken until the dawn of the second
+morning. They had had years of hard fighting in the east, and on the way
+home they had been compelled to work their passage through the domains
+of turbulent nobles by good stout broadsword play, the only argument
+their opposers could understand, and thus they had come through to the
+Rhine without contributing aught to their opponents except fierce blows,
+which were not commodities as marketable as yellow gold, yet with this
+sole exchange did the twenty-one win their way from Palestine to the
+Palatinate, and thus were they so long on the road that those in Schloss
+Hochstaden had given up all expectation of their coming.
+
+Count Konrad found that his father, whose serious illness was the cause
+of his return, had been dead for months past, and the young man wandered
+about the castle which, during the past few years, he had beheld only
+in dreams by night and in the desert mirages by day, saddened because of
+his loss. He would return to the Holy Land, he said to himself, and
+let the castle be looked after by its custodian until the war with the
+heathen was ended.
+
+The young Count walked back and forth on the stone paved terrace which
+commanded from its height such a splendid view of the winding river, but
+he paid small attention to the landscape, striding along with his hands
+clasped behind him; his head bent, deep in thought. He was awakened from
+his reverie by the coming of the ancient custodian of the castle, who
+shuffled up to him and saluted him with reverential respect, for the
+Count was now the last of his race; a fighting line, whose members
+rarely came to die peaceably in their beds as Konrad's father had done.
+
+The Count, looking up, swept his eye around the horizon and then to
+his astonishment saw the red battle flag flying grimly from the high
+northern tower of Castle Bernstein perched on the summit of the next
+hill to the south. In the valley were the white tents of an encampment,
+and fluttering over it was a flag whose device, at that distance, the
+Count could not discern.
+
+"Why is the battle flag flying on Bernstein, Gottlieb, and what means
+those tents in the valley?" asked Konrad.
+
+The old man looked in the direction of the encampment, as if the sight
+were new to him, but Konrad speedily saw that the opposite was the case.
+The tents had been there so long that they now seemed a permanent part
+of the scenery.
+
+"The Archbishop of Cologne, my Lord, is engaged in the besiegement of
+Schloss Bernstein, and seems like to have a long job of it. He has been
+there for nearly a year now."
+
+"Then the stout Baron is making a brave defence; good luck to him!"
+
+"Alas, my Lord, I am grieved to state that the Baron went to his rest
+on the first day of the assault. He foolishly sallied out at the head of
+his men and fell hotly on the Archbishop's troops, who were surrounding
+the castle. There was some matter in dispute between the Baron and the
+Archbishop, and to aid the settlement thereof, his mighty Lordship of
+Cologne sent a thousand armed men up the river, and it is said that all
+he wished was to have parley with Baron Bernstein, and to overawe him in
+the discussion, but the Baron came out at the head of his men and
+fell upon the Cologne troops so mightily that he nearly put the whole
+battalion to flight, but the officers rallied their panic-stricken host,
+seeing how few were opposed to them, and the order was given that the
+Baron should be taken prisoner, but the old man would not have it so,
+and fought so sturdily with his long sword, that he nearly entrenched
+himself with a wall of dead. At last the old man was cut down and died
+gloriously, with scarcely a square inch unwounded on his whole body. The
+officers of the Archbishop then tried to carry the castle by assault,
+but the Lady of Bernstein closed and barred the gate, ran, up the battle
+flag on the northern tower and bid defiance to the Archbishop and all
+his men."
+
+"The Lady of Bernstein? I thought the Baron was a widower. Whom, then,
+did he again marry?"
+
+"'Twas not his wife, but his daughter."
+
+"His daughter? Not Brunhilda? She's but a child of ten."
+
+"She was when you went away, my Lord, but now she is a woman of
+eighteen, with all the beauty of her mother and all the bravery of her
+father."
+
+"Burning Cross of the East, Gottlieb! Do you mean to say that for a year
+a prince of the Church has been warring with a girl, and her brother,
+knowing nothing of this cowardly assault, fighting the battles for his
+faith on the sands of the desert? Let the bugle sound! Call up my men
+and arouse those who are still sleeping."
+
+"My Lord, my Lord, I beg of you to have caution in this matter."
+
+"Caution? God's patience! Has caution rotted the honour out of the bones
+of all Rhine men, that this outrage should pass unmolested before their
+eyes! The father murdered; the daughter beleaguered; while those who
+call themselves men sleep sound in their safe castles! Out of my way,
+old man! Throw open the gates!"
+
+But the ancient custodian stood firmly before his over-lord, whose red
+angry face seemed like that of the sun rising so ruddily behind him.
+
+"My Lord, if you insist on engaging in this enterprise it must be gone
+about sanely. You need the old head as well as the young arm. You have
+a score of well-seasoned warriors, and we can gather into the castle
+another hundred. But the Archbishop has a thousand men around Bernstein.
+Your score would but meet the fate of the old Baron and would not better
+the case of those within the castle. The Archbishop has not assaulted
+Bernstein since the Baron's death, but has drawn a tight line around
+it and so has cut off all supplies, daily summoning the maiden to
+surrender. What they now need in Bernstein is not iron, but food.
+Through long waiting they keep slack watch about the castle, and it
+is possible that, with care taken at midnight, you might reprovision
+Bernstein so that she could hold out until her brother comes, whom it is
+said she has summoned from the Holy Land."
+
+"Thou art wise, old Gottlieb," said the Count slowly, pausing in his
+wrath as the difficulties of the situation were thus placed in array
+before him; "wise and cautious, as all men seem to be who now keep ward
+on the Rhine. What said my father regarding this contest?"
+
+"My Lord, your honoured father was in his bed stricken with the long
+illness that came to be his undoing at the last, and we never let him
+know that the Baron was dead or the siege in progress."
+
+"Again wise and cautious, Gottlieb, for had he known it, he would have
+risen from his deathbed, taken down his two-handed sword from the wall,
+and struck his last blow in defence of the right against tyranny."
+
+"Indeed, my Lord, under danger of your censure, I venture to say that
+you do not yet know the cause of the quarrel into which you design to
+precipitate yourself. It may not be tyranny on the part of the overlord,
+but disobedience on the part of the vassal, which causes the environment
+of Bernstein. And the Archbishop is a prince of our holy Church."
+
+"I leave those nice distinctions to philosophers like thee, Gottlieb.
+It is enough for me to know that a thousand men are trying to starve one
+woman, and as for being a prince of the Church, I shall give his devout
+Lordship a taste of religion hot from its birthplace, and show him
+how we uphold the cause in the East, for in this matter the Archbishop
+grasps not the cross but the sword, and by the sword shall he be met.
+And now go, Gottlieb, set ablaze the fires on all our ovens and put the
+bakers at work. Call in your hundred men as speedily as possible, and
+bid each man bring with him a sack of wheat. Spend the day at the baking
+and fill the cellars with grain and wine. It will be reason enough, if
+any make inquiry, to say that the young Lord has returned and intends to
+hold feasts in his castle. Send hither my Captain to me."
+
+Old Gottlieb hobbled away, and there presently came upon the terrace
+a stalwart, grizzled man, somewhat past middle age, whose brown face
+showed more seams of scars than remnants of beauty. He saluted his chief
+and stood erect in silence.
+
+The Count waved his hand toward the broad valley and said grimly:
+
+"There sits the Archbishop of Cologne, besieging the Castle of
+Bernstein."
+
+The Captain bowed low and crossed himself.
+
+"God prosper his Lordship," he said piously.
+
+"You may think that scarcely the phrase to use, Captain, when I tell you
+that you will lead an assault on his Lordship to-night."
+
+"Then God prosper us, my Lord," replied the Captain cheerfully, for he
+was ever a man who delighted more in fighting than in inquiring keenly
+into the cause thereof.
+
+"You may see from here that a ridge runs round from this castle, bending
+back from the river, which it again approaches, touching thus Schloss
+Bernstein. There is a path along the summit of the ridge which I have
+often trodden as a boy, so I shall be your guide. It is scarce likely
+that this path is guarded, but if it is we will have to throw its
+keepers over the precipice; those that we do not slay outright, when we
+come upon them."
+
+"Excellent, my Lord, most excellent," replied the Captain, gleefully
+rubbing his huge hands one over the other.
+
+"But it is not entirely to fight that we go. You are to act as convoy
+to those who carry bread to Castle Bernstein. We shall leave here at the
+darkest hour after midnight and you must return before daybreak so that
+the Archbishop cannot estimate our numbers. Then get out all the old
+armour there is in the castle and masquerade the peasants in it. Arrange
+them along the battlements so that they will appear as numerous as
+possible while I stay in Castle Bernstein and make terms with the
+Archbishop, for it seems he out-mans us, so we must resort, in some
+measure, to strategy. On the night assault let each man yell as if he
+were ten and lay about him mightily. Are the knaves astir yet?"
+
+"Most of them, my Lord, and drinking steadily the better to endure the
+dryness of the desert when we go eastward again."
+
+"Well, see to it that they do not drink so much as to interfere with
+clean sword-play against to-night's business."
+
+"Indeed, my Lord, I have a doubt if there is Rhine wine enough in the
+castle's vaults to do that, and the men yell better when they have a few
+gallons within them."
+
+At the appointed hour Count Konrad and his company went silently forth,
+escorting a score more who carried sacks of the newly baked bread on
+their backs, or leathern receptacles filled with wine, as well as a
+stout cask of the same seductive fluid. Near the Schloss Bernstein the
+rescuing party came upon the Archbishop's outpost, who raised the alarm
+before the good sword of the Captain cut through the cry. There were
+bugle calls throughout the camp and the sound of men hurrying to their
+weapons, but all the noise of preparation among the besiegers was as
+nothing to the demoniac din sent up by the Crusaders, who rushed to the
+onslaught with a zest sharpened by their previous rest and inactivity.
+The wild barbaric nature of their yells, such as never before were
+heard on the borders of the placid Rhine, struck consternation into
+the opposition camp, because some of the Archbishop's troops had fought
+against the heathen in the East, and they now recognised the clamour
+which had before, on many an occasion, routed them, and they thought
+that the Saracenes had turned the tables and invaded Germany; indeed
+from the deafening clamour it seemed likely that all Asia was let loose
+upon them. The alarm spread quickly to Castle Bernstein itself, and
+torches began to glimmer on its battlements. With a roar the Crusaders
+rushed up to the foot of the wall, as a wave dashes against a rock,
+sweeping the frightened bread-carriers with them. By the light of the
+torches Konrad saw standing on the wall a fair young girl clad in chain
+armour whose sparkling links glistened like countless diamonds in the
+rays of the burning pitch. She leaned on the cross-bar of her father's
+sword and, with wide-open, eager eyes peered into the darkness beyond,
+questioning the gloom for reason of the terrifying tumult. When Konrad
+strode within the radius of the torches, the girl drew back slightly and
+cried:
+
+"So the Archbishop has at last summoned courage to attack, after all
+this patient waiting."
+
+"My Lady," shouted the Count, "these are my forces and not the
+Archbishop's. I am Konrad, Count of Hochstaden."
+
+"The more shame, then, that you, who have fought bravely with men,
+should now turn your weapons against a woman, and she your neighbour and
+the sister of your friend."
+
+"Indeed, Lady Brunhilda, you misjudge me. I am come to your rescue
+and not to your disadvantage.. The Archbishop's men were put to some
+inconvenience by our unexpected arrival, and to gather from the sounds
+far down the valley they have not ceased running yet. We come with
+bread, and use the sword but as a spit to deliver it."
+
+"Your words are welcome were I but sure of their truth," said the
+lady with deep distrust in her tone, for she had had experience of
+the Archbishop's craft on many occasions, and the untimely hour of the
+succour led her to fear a ruse. "I open my gates neither to friend nor
+to foe in the darkness," she added.
+
+"Tis a rule that may well be commended to others of your bewitching
+sex," replied the Count, "but we ask not the opening of the gates,
+although you might warn those within your courtyard to beware what comes
+upon them presently."
+
+So saying, he gave the word, and each two of his servitors seized a sack
+of bread by the ends and, heaving it, flung it over the wall. Some
+of the sacks fell short, but the second effort sent them into the
+courtyard, where many of them burst, scattering the round loaves along
+the cobble-stoned pavement, to be eagerly pounced upon by the starving
+servitors and such men-at-arms as had escaped from the encounter with
+the Archbishop's troops when the Baron was slain. The cries of joy
+that rang up from within the castle delighted the ear of the Count and
+softened the suspicion of the lady on the wall.
+
+"Now," cried Konrad to his Captain, "back to Schloss Hochstaden before
+the dawn approaches too closely, and let there be no mistake in the
+Archbishop's camp that you are on the way."
+
+They all departed in a series of earsplitting, heart-appalling whoops
+that shattered the still night air and made a vocal pandemonium of that
+portion of the fair Rhine valley. The colour left the cheeks of the Lady
+of Bernstein as she listened in palpable terror to the fiendish outcry
+which seemed to scream for blood and that instantly, looking down she
+saw the Knight of Hochstaden still there at the foot of her wall gazing
+up at her.
+
+"My Lord," she said with concern, "if you stay thus behind your noisy
+troop you will certainly be captured when it comes day."
+
+"My Lady of Bernstein, I am already a captive, and all the Archbishop's
+men could not hold me more in thrall did they surround me at this
+moment."
+
+"I do not understand you, sir," said Brunhilda coldly, drawing herself
+up with a dignity that well became her, "your language seems to partake
+of an exaggeration that doubtless you have learned in the tropical East,
+and which we have small patience with on the more temperate banks of the
+Rhine."
+
+"The language that I use, fair Brunhilda, knows neither east nor west;
+north nor south, but is common to every land, and if it be a stranger to
+the Rhine, the Saints be witness 'tis full time 'twere introduced here,
+and I hold myself as competent to be its spokesman, as those screeching
+scoundrels of mine hold themselves the equal in battle to all the
+archbishops who ever wore the robes of that high office."
+
+"My Lord," cried Brunhilda, a note of serious warning in her voice,
+"my gates are closed and they remain so. I hold myself your debtor for
+unasked aid, and would fain see you in a place of safety."
+
+"My reverenced Lady, that friendly wish shall presently be gratified,"
+and saying this, the Count unwound from his waist a thin rope woven of
+horse-hair, having a long loop at the end of it. This he whirled round
+his head and with an art learned in the scaling of eastern walls flung
+the loop so that it surrounded one of the machicolations of the bastion,
+and, with his feet travelling against the stone work, he walked up
+the wall by aid of this cord and was over the parapet before any could
+hinder his ascent. The Maid of the Schloss, her brows drawn down
+in anger, stood with sword ready to strike, but whether it was the
+unwieldiness of the clumsy weapon, or whether it was the great celerity
+with which the young man put his nimbleness to the test, or whether it
+was that she recognised him as perhaps her one friend on earth, who can
+tell; be that as it may, she did not strike in time, and a moment, later
+the Count dropped on one knee and before she knew it raised one of her
+hands to his bending lips.
+
+"Lovely Warder of Bernstein," cried Count Konrad, with a tremor of
+emotion in his voice that thrilled the girl in spite of herself, "I lay
+my devotion and my life at your feet, to use them as you will."
+
+"My Lord," she said quaveringly, with tears nearer the surface than she
+would have cared to admit, "I like not this scaling of the walls; my
+permission unasked."
+
+"God's truth, my Lady, and you are not the first to so object, but the
+others were men, and I may say, without boasting, that I bent not the
+knee to them when I reached their level, but I have been told that
+custom will enable a maid to look more forgivingly on such escapades if
+her feeling is friendly toward the invader, and I am bold enough to hope
+that the friendship with which your brother has ever regarded me in
+the distant wars, may be extended to my unworthy self by his sister at
+home."
+
+Count Konrad rose to his feet and the girl gazed at him in silence,
+seeing how bronzed and manly he looked in his light well-polished
+eastern armour, which had not the cumbrous massiveness of western mail,
+but, while amply protecting the body, bestowed upon it lithe freedom
+for quick action; and unconsciously she compared him, not to his
+disadvantage, with the cravens on the Rhine, who, while sympathising
+with her, dared not raise weapon on her behalf against so powerful an
+over-lord as the warlike Archbishop. The scarlet cross of the Crusader
+on his broad breast seemed to her swimming eyes to blaze with lambent
+flame in the yellow torchlight. She dared not trust her voice to answer
+him, fearing its faintness might disown the courage with which she had
+held her castle for so long, and he, seeing that she struggled to hold
+control of herself, standing there like a superb Goddess of the Rhine,
+pretended to notice nothing and spoke jauntily with a wave of his hand:
+"My villains have brought to the foot of the walls a cask of our best
+wine which we dared not adventure to cast into the courtyard with that
+freedom which forwarded the loaves; there is also a packet of dainties
+more suited to your Ladyship's consideration than the coarse bread from
+our ovens. Give command, I beg of you, that the gates be opened and that
+your men bring the wine and food to safety within the courtyard, and
+bestow on me the privilege of guarding the open gate while this is being
+done."
+
+Then gently, with insistent deference, the young man took from her the
+sword of her father which she yielded to him with visible reluctance,
+but nevertheless yielded, standing there disarmed before him. Together
+in silence they went down the stone steps that led from the battlements
+to the courtyard, followed by the torch-bearers, whom the lightening
+east threatened soon to render unnecessary. A cheer went up, the first
+heard for many days within those walls, and the feasters, flinging their
+caps in the air, cried "Hochstaden! Hochstaden!" The Count turned to his
+fair companion and said, with a smile:
+
+"The garrison is with me, my Lady."
+
+She smiled also, and sighed, but made no other reply, keeping her eyes
+steadfast on the stone steps beneath her. Once descended, she gave the
+order in a low voice, and quickly the gates were thrown wide, creaking
+grumblingly on their hinges, long unused. Konrad stood before the
+opening with the sword of Bernstein in his hands, swinging it this way
+and that to get the hang of it, and looking on it with the admiration
+which a warrior ever feels for a well hung, trusty blade, while the
+men-at-arms nodded to one another and said: "There stands a man who
+knows the use of a weapon. I would that he had the crafty Archbishop
+before him to practise on."
+
+When the barrel was trundled in, the Lady of Bernstein had it broached
+at once, and with her own hand served to each of her men a flagon of the
+golden wine. Each took his portion, bowing low to the lady, then doffing
+cap, drank first to the Emperor, and after with an enthusiasm absent
+from the Imperial toast, to the young war lord whom the night had flung
+thus unexpectedly among them. When the last man had refreshed himself,
+the Count stepped forward and begged a flagon full that he might drink
+in such good company, and it seemed that Brunhilda had anticipated such
+a request, for she turned to one of her women and held out her hand,
+receiving a huge silver goblet marvellously engraved that had belonged
+to her forefathers, and plenishing it, she gave it to the Count, who,
+holding it aloft, cried, "The Lady of Bernstein," whereupon there arose
+such a shout that the troubled Archbishop heard it in his distant tent.
+
+"And yet further of your hospitality must I crave," said Konrad, "for
+the morning air is keen, and gives me an appetite for food of which I am
+deeply ashamed, but which nevertheless clamours for an early breakfast."
+
+The lady, after giving instruction to the maids who waited upon her,
+led the way into the castle, where Konrad following, they arrived in the
+long Rittersaal, at the end of which, facing the brightening east, was
+placed a huge window of stained glass, whose great breadth was gradually
+lightening as if an unseen painter with magic brush was tinting the
+glass with transparent colour, from the lofty timbered ceiling to the
+smoothly polished floor. At the end of the table, with her back to the
+window, Brunhilda sat, while the Count took a place near her, by
+the side, turning so that he faced her, the ever-increasing radiance
+illumining his scintillating armour. The girl ate sparingly, saying
+little and glancing often at her guest. He fell to like the good
+trencherman he was, and talked unceasingly of the wars in the East, and
+the brave deeds done there, and as he talked the girl forgot all else,
+rested her elbows on the table and her chin in her hands, regarding him
+intently, for he spoke not of himself but of her brother, and of how,
+when grievously pressed, he had borne himself so nobly that more than
+once, seemingly certain defeat was changed into glorious victory. Now
+and then when Konrad gazed upon Brunhilda, his eloquent tongue faltered
+for a moment and he lost the thread of his narrative, for all trace of
+the warrior maid had departed, and there, outlined against the glowing
+window of dazzling colours, she seemed indeed a saint with her halo of
+golden hair, a fit companion to the angels that the marvellous skill of
+the artificer had placed in that gorgeous collection of pictured panes,
+lead-lined and cut in various shapes, answering the needs of their
+gifted designer, as a paint-brush follows the will of the artist. From
+where the young man sat, the girl against the window seemed a member
+of that radiant company, and thus he paused stricken speechless by her
+beauty.
+
+She spoke at last, the smile on her lips saddened by the down turning
+of their corners, her voice the voice of one hovering uncertain between
+laughter and tears.
+
+"And you," she said, "you seem to have had no part in all this stirring
+recital. It was my brother and my brother and my brother, and to hear
+you one would think you were all the while hunting peacefully in your
+Rhine forests. Yet still I do believe the Count of Hochstaden gave the
+heathen to know he was somewhat further to the east of Germany."
+
+"Oh, of me," stammered the Count. "Yes, I was there, it is true, and
+sometimes--well, I have a fool of a captain, headstrong and reckless,
+who swept me now and then into a melee, before I could bring cool
+investigation to bear upon his mad projects, and once in the fray of
+course I had to plead with my sword to protect my head, otherwise my
+bones would now be on the desert sands, so I selfishly lay about me and
+did what I could to get once more out of the turmoil."
+
+The rising sun now struck living colour into the great window of stained
+glass, splashing the floor and the further wall with crimson and blue
+and gold. Count Konrad sprang to his feet. "The day is here," he cried,
+standing in the glory of it, while the girl rose more slowly. "Let us
+have in your bugler and see if he has forgotten the battle call of the
+Bernsteins. Often have I heard it in the desert. 'Give us the battle
+call,' young Heinrich would cry and then to its music all his followers
+would shout 'Bernstein! Bernstein!' until it seemed the far-off horizon
+must have heard."
+
+The trumpeter came, and being now well fed, blew valiantly, giving to
+the echoing roof the war cry of the generations of fighting men it had
+sheltered.
+
+"That is it," cried the Count, "and it has a double significance. A
+challenge on the field, and a summons to parley when heard from the
+walls. We shall now learn whether or no the Archbishop has forgotten it,
+and I crave your permission to act as spokesman with his Lordship."
+
+"That I most gratefully grant," said the Lady of the Castle.
+
+Once more on the battlements, the Lord of Hochstaden commanded the
+trumpeter to sound the call The martial music rang out in the still
+morning air and was echoed mockingly by the hills on the other side of
+the river. After that, all was deep silence.
+
+"Once again," said Konrad.
+
+For a second time the battle blast filled the valley, and for a second
+time returned faintly back from the hills. Then from near the great tent
+of the Archbishop, by the margin of the stream, came the answering call,
+accepting the demand for a parley.
+
+When at last the Archbishop, mounted on a black charger, came slowly up
+the winding path which led to the castle, attended by only two of
+his officers, he found the Count of Hochstaden awaiting him on the
+battlements above the gate. The latter's hopes arose when he saw that
+Cologne himself had come, and had not entrusted the business to an
+envoy, and it was also encouraging to note that he came so poorly
+attended, for when a man has made up his mind to succumb he wishes as
+few witnesses as possible, while if he intends further hostilities, he
+comes in all the pomp of his station.
+
+"With whom am I to hold converse?" began the Archbishop, "I am here at
+the behest of the Bernstein call to parley, but I see none, of that name
+on the wall to greet me."
+
+"Heinrich, Baron Bernstein, is now on his way to his castle from the
+Holy Land, and were he here it were useless for me to summon a parley,
+for he would answer you with the sword and not with the tongue when he
+learned his father was dead at your hand."
+
+"That is no reply to my question. With whom do I hold converse?"
+
+"I am Konrad, Count of Hochstaden, and your Lordship's vassal."
+
+"I am glad to learn of your humility and pleased to know that I need not
+call your vassalage to your memory, but I fear that in the darkness you
+have less regard for either than you now pretend in the light of day."
+
+"In truth, my Lord, you grievously mistake me, for in the darkness I
+stood your friend. I assure you I had less than a thousand rascals at my
+back last night, and yet nothing would appease them but that they must
+fling themselves upon your whole force, had I not held them in check. I
+told them you probably outnumbered us ten to one, but they held that
+one man who had gone through an eastern campaign was worth ten honest
+burghers from Cologne, which indeed I verily believe, and for the fact
+that you were not swept into the Rhine early this morning you have me
+and my peaceful nature to thank, my Lord. Perhaps you heard the rogues
+discussing the matter with me before dawn, and going angrily home when I
+so ordered them."
+
+"A man had need to be dead and exceedingly deep in his grave not to have
+heard them," growled the Archbishop.
+
+"And there they stand at this moment, my Lord, doubtless grumbling among
+themselves that I am so long giving the signal they expect, which will
+permit them to finish this morning's work. The men I can generally
+control, but my captains are a set of impious cut-throats who would
+sooner sack an Archbishop's palace than listen to the niceties of the
+feudal law which protects over-lords from such pleasantries."
+
+The Archbishop turned on his horse and gazed on the huge bulk of Schloss
+Hochstaden, and there a wonderful sight met his eye. The walls bristled
+with armed men, the sun glistening on their polished breastplates like
+the shimmer of summer lightning. The Archbishop turned toward the gate
+again, as though the sight he beheld brought small comfort to him.
+
+"What is your desire?" he said with less of truculence in his tone than
+there had been at the beginning.
+
+"I hold it a scandal," said the Count gravely, "that a prince of the
+Church should assault Christian walls while their owner is absent in the
+East venturing his life in the uplifting of the true faith. You can
+now retreat without loss of prestige; six hours hence that may be
+impossible. I ask you then to give your assurance to the Lady of
+Bernstein, pledging your knightly word that she will be no longer
+threatened by you, and I ask you to withdraw your forces immediately
+to Cologne where it is likely they will find something to do if Baron
+Heinrich, as I strongly suspect, marches directly on that city."
+
+"I shall follow the advice of my humble vassal, for the strength of a
+prince is in the sage counsel of his war lords. Will you escort the lady
+to the battlements?"
+
+Then did Count Konrad von Hochstaden see that his cause was won, and
+descending he came up again, leading the Lady Brunhilda by the hand.
+
+"I have to acquaint you, madame," said the Archbishop, "that the
+siege is ended, and I give you my assurance that you will not again be
+beleaguered by my forces."
+
+The Lady of Bernstein bowed, but made no answer. She blushed deeply that
+the Count still held her hand, but she did not withdraw it.
+
+"And now, my Lord Archbishop, that this long-held contention is amicably
+adjusted," began Von Hochstaden, "I crave that you bestow on us two your
+gracious blessing, potentate of the Church, for this lady is to be my
+wife."
+
+"What!" cried Brunhilda in sudden anger, snatching her hand from his,
+"do you think you can carry me by storm as you did my castle, without
+even asking my consent?"
+
+"Lady of my heart," said Konrad tenderly, "I did ask your consent. My
+eyes questioned in the Rittersaal and yours gave kindly answer. Is there
+then no language but that which is spoken? I offer you here before the
+world my open hand; is it to remain empty?"
+
+He stood before her with outstretched palm, and she gazed steadfastly at
+him, breathing quickly. At length a smile dissolved the sternness of her
+charming lips, she glanced at his extended hand and said:
+
+"'Twere a pity so firm and generous a hand should remain tenantless,"
+and with that she placed her palm in his.
+
+The Archbishop smiled grimly at this lovers' by-play, then solemnly,
+with upraised hands, invoked God's blessing upon them.
+
+
+
+
+THE LONG LADDER
+
+
+Every fortress has one traitor within its walls; the Schloss Eltz had
+two. In this, curiously enough, lay its salvation; for as some Eastern
+poisons when mixed neutralise each other and form combined a harmless
+fluid, so did the two traitors unwittingly react, the one upon the
+other, to the lasting glory of Schloss Eltz, which has never been
+captured to this day.
+
+It would be difficult to picture the amazement of Heinrich von
+Richenbach when he sat mute upon his horse at the brow of the wooded
+heights and, for the first time, beheld the imposing pile which had been
+erected by the Count von Eltz. It is startling enough to come suddenly
+upon a castle where no castle should be; but to find across one's path
+an erection that could hardly have been the product of other agency than
+the lamp of Aladdin was stupefying, and Heinrich drew the sunburned back
+of his hand across his eyes, fearing that they were playing him a trick;
+then seeing the wondrous vision still before him, he hastily crossed
+himself, an action performed somewhat clumsily through lack of practice,
+so that he might ward off enchantment, if, as seemed likely, that
+mountain of pinnacles was the work of the devil, and not placed there,
+stone on stone, by the hand of man. But in spite of crossing and the
+clearing of his eyes, Eltz Castle remained firmly seated on its stool
+of rock, and, when his first astonishment had somewhat abated, Von
+Richenbach, who was a most practical man, began to realise that here,
+purely by a piece of unbelievable good luck, the very secret he had
+been sent to unravel had been stumbled upon, the solving of which he
+had given up in despair, returning empty-handed to his grim master, the
+redoubtable Archbishop Baldwin of Treves.
+
+It was now almost two months since the Archbishop had sent him on the
+mission to the Rhine from which he was returning as wise as he went,
+well knowing that a void budget would procure him scant welcome from his
+imperious ruler. Here, at least, was important matter for the warlike
+Elector's stern consideration--an apparently impregnable fortress
+secretly built in the very centre of the Archbishop's domain; and
+knowing that the Count von Eltz claimed at least partial jurisdiction
+over this district, more especially that portion known as the Eltz-thal,
+in the middle of which this mysterious citadel had been erected.
+Heinrich rightly surmised that its construction had been the work of
+this ancient enemy of the Archbishop.
+
+Two months before, or nearly so, Heinrich von Richenbach had been
+summoned into the presence of the Lion of Treves at his palace in that
+venerable city. When Baldwin had dismissed all within the room save only
+Von Richenbach, the august prelate said:
+
+"It is my pleasure that you take horse at once and proceed to my city of
+Mayence on the Rhine, where I am governor. You will inspect the garrison
+there and report to me."
+
+Heinrich bowed, but said nothing.
+
+"You will then go down the Rhine to Elfield, where my new castle is
+built, and I shall be pleased to have an opinion regarding it."
+
+The Archbishop paused, and again his vassal bowed and remained silent.
+
+"It is my wish that you go without escort, attracting as little
+attention as possible, and perhaps it may be advisable to return by the
+northern side of the Moselle, but some distance back from the river,
+as there are barons on the banks who might inquire your business, and
+regret their curiosity when they found they questioned a messenger of
+mine. We should strive, during our brief sojourn on this inquisitive
+earth, to put our fellow creatures to as little discomfort as possible."
+
+Von Richenbach saw that he was being sent on a secret and possibly
+dangerous mission, and he had been long enough in the service of the
+crafty Archbishop to know that the reasons ostensibly given for his
+journey were probably not those which were the cause of it, so he
+contented himself with inclining his head for the third time and holding
+his peace. The Archbishop regarded him keenly for a few moments, a
+derisive smile parting his firm lips; then said, as if his words were an
+afterthought:
+
+"Our faithful vassal, the Count von Eltz, is, if I mistake not, a
+neighbor of ours at Elfield?"
+
+The sentence took, through its inflection, the nature of a query, and
+for the first time Heinrich von Richenbach ventured reply.
+
+"He is, my Lord."
+
+The Archbishop raised his eyes to the vaulted ceiling, and seemed for a
+time lost in thought, saying, at last, apparently in soliloquy, rather
+than by direct address:
+
+"Count von Eltz has been suspiciously quiet of late for a man so
+impetuous by nature. It might be profitable to know what interests him
+during this unwonted seclusion. It behooves us to acquaint ourselves
+with the motives that actuate a neighbour, so that, opportunity arising,
+we may aid him with counsel or encouragement. If, therefore, it should
+so chance that, in the intervals of your inspection of governorship or
+castle, aught regarding the present occupation of the noble count comes
+to your ears, the information thus received may perhaps remain in your
+memory until you return to Treves."
+
+The Archbishop withdrew his eyes from the ceiling, the lids lowering
+over them, and flashed a keen, rapier-like glance at the man who stood
+before him.
+
+Heinrich von Richenbach made low obeisance and replied:
+
+"Whatever else fades from my memory, my Lord, news of Count von Eltz
+shall remain there."
+
+"See that you carry nothing upon you, save your commission as inspector,
+which my secretary will presently give to you. If you are captured
+it will be enough to proclaim yourself my emissary and exhibit your
+commission in proof of the peaceful nature of your embassy. And now to
+horse and away."
+
+Thus Von Richenbach, well mounted, with his commission legibly engrossed
+in clerkly hand on parchment, departed on the Roman road for Mayence,
+but neither there nor at Elfield could he learn more of Count von Eltz
+than was already known at Treves, which was to the effect that this
+nobleman, repenting him, it was said, of his stubborn opposition to
+the Archbishop, had betaken himself to the Crusades in expiation of
+his wrong in shouldering arms against one who was both his temporal and
+spiritual over-lord; and this rumour coming to the ears of Baldwin, had
+the immediate effect of causing that prince of the Church to despatch
+Von Richenbach with the purpose of learning accurately what his old
+enemy was actually about; for Baldwin, being an astute man, placed
+little faith in sudden conversion.
+
+When Heinrich von Richenbach returned to Treves he was immediately
+ushered into the presence of his master.
+
+"You have been long away," said the Archbishop, a frown on his brow.
+"I trust the tidings you bring offer some slight compensation for the
+delay." Then was Heinrich indeed glad that fate, rather than his own
+perspicacity, had led his horse to the heights above Schloss Eltz.
+
+"The tidings I bring, my Lord, are so astounding that I could not
+return to Treves without verifying them. This led me far afield, for my
+information was of the scantiest; but I am now enabled to vouch for the
+truth of my well-nigh incredible intelligence."
+
+"Have the good deeds of the Count then translated him bodily to heaven,
+as was the case with Elijah? Unloose your packet, man, and waste not so
+much time in the vaunting of your wares."
+
+"The Count von Eltz, my Lord, has built a castle that is part palace,
+part fortress, and in its latter office well-nigh impregnable."
+
+"Yes? And where?"
+
+"In the Eltz-thal, my Lord, a league and a quarter from the Moselle."
+
+"Impossible!" cried Baldwin, bringing his clenched fist down on the
+table before him. "Impossible! You have been misled, Von Richenbach."
+
+"Indeed, my Lord, I had every reason to believe so until I viewed the
+structure with my own eyes."
+
+"This, then, is the fruit of Von Eltz's contrition! To build a castle
+without permission within my jurisdiction, and defy me in my own domain.
+By the Coat, he shall repent his temerity and wish himself twice over a
+captive of the Saracen ere I have done with him. I will despatch at once
+an army to the Eltz-thal, and there shall not be left one stone upon
+another when it returns."
+
+"My Lord, I beseech you not to move with haste in this matter. If twenty
+thousand men marched up to the Eltz-thal they could not take the castle.
+No such schloss was ever built before, and none to equal it will ever be
+built again, unless, as I suspect to be the case in this instance, the
+devil lends his aid."
+
+"Oh, I doubt not that Satan built it, but he took the form and name
+of Count von Eltz while doing so," replied the Archbishop, his natural
+anger at this bold defiance of his power giving way to his habitual
+caution, which, united with his resources and intrepidity, had much to
+do with his success. "You hold the castle, then, to be unassailable. Is
+its garrison so powerful, or its position so strong?"
+
+"The strength of its garrison, my Lord, is in its weakness; I doubt if
+there are a score of men in the castle, but that is all the better, as
+there are fewer mouths to feed in case of siege, and the Count has some
+four years' supplies in his vaults. The schloss is situated on a lofty,
+unscalable rock that stands in the centre of a valley, as if it were
+a fortress itself. Then the walls of the building are of unbelievable
+height, with none of the round or square towers which castles usually
+possess, but having in plenty conical turrets, steep roofs, and
+the like, which give it the appearance of a fairy palace in a wide,
+enchanted amphitheatre of green wooded hills, making the Schloss Eltz,
+all in all, a most miraculous sight, such as a man may not behold in
+many years' travel."
+
+"In truth, Von Richenbach," said the Archbishop, with a twinkle in his
+eye, "we should have made you one of our scrivening monks rather than a
+warrior, so marvellously do you describe the entrancing handiwork of our
+beloved vassal, the Count von Eltz. Perhaps you think it pity to destroy
+so fascinating a creation."
+
+"Not so, my Lord. I have examined the castle well, and I think were I
+entrusted with the commission I could reduce it."
+
+"Ah, now we have modesty indeed! You can take the stronghold where I
+should fail."
+
+"I did not say that you would fail, my Lord. I said that twenty thousand
+men marching up the valley would fail, unless they were content to sit
+around the castle for four years or more."
+
+"Answered like a courtier, Heinrich. What, then, is your method of
+attack?"
+
+"On the height to the east, which is the nearest elevation to the
+castle, a strong fortress might be built, that would in a measure
+command the Schloss Eltz, although I fear the distance would be too
+great for any catapult to fling stones within its courtyard. Still, we
+might thus have complete power over the entrance to the schloss, and no
+more provender could be taken in."
+
+"You mean, then, to wear Von Eltz out? That would be as slow a method as
+besiegement."
+
+"To besiege would require an army, my Lord, and would have this
+disadvantage, that, besides withdrawing from other use so many of your
+men, rumour would spread abroad that the Count held you in check. The
+building of a fortress on the height would merely be doing what the
+Count has already done, and it could be well garrisoned by twoscore men
+at the most, vigilant night and day to take advantage of any movement of
+fancied security to force way into the castle. There need be no formal
+declaration of hostilities, but a fortress built in all amicableness, to
+which the Count could hardly object, as you would be but following his
+own example."
+
+"I understand. We build a house near his for neighbourliness. There is
+indeed much in your plan that commends itself to me, but I confess a
+liking for the underlying part of a scheme. Remains there anything else
+which you have not unfolded to me?"
+
+"Placing in command of the new fortress a stout warrior who was at the
+same time a subtle man----"
+
+"In other words, thyself, Heinrich--well, what then?"
+
+"There is every chance that such a general may learn much of the castle
+from one or other of its inmates. It might be possible that, through
+neglect or inadvertence, the drawbridge would be left down some night
+and the portcullis raised. In other words, the castle, impervious to
+direct assault, may fall by strategy."
+
+"Excellent, excellent, my worthy warrior! I should dearly love to have
+captain of mine pay such an informal visit to his estimable Countship.
+We shall build the fortress you suggest, and call it Baldwineltz. You
+shall be its commander, and I now bestow upon you Schloss Eltz, the only
+proviso being that you are to enter into possession of it by whatever
+means you choose to use."
+
+Thus the square, long castle of Baldwineltz came to be builded, and
+thus Heinrich von Richenbach, brave, ingenious, and unscrupulous, was
+installed captain of it, with twoscore men to keep him company, together
+with a plentiful supply of gold to bribe whomsoever he thought worth
+suborning.
+
+Time went on without much to show for its passing, and Heinrich began to
+grow impatient, for his attempt at corrupting the garrison showed that
+negotiations were not without their dangers. Stout Baumstein, captain
+of the gate, was the man whom Heinrich most desired to purchase, for
+Baumstein could lessen the discipline at the portal of Schloss Eltz
+without attracting undue attention. But he was an irascible German,
+whose strong right arm was readier than his tongue; and when Heinrich's
+emissary got speech with him, under a flag of truce, whispering that
+much gold might be had for a casual raising of the portcullis and
+lowering of the drawbridge, Baumstein at first could not understand his
+purport, for he was somewhat thick in the skull; but when the meaning of
+the message at last broke in upon him, he wasted no time in talk, but,
+raising his ever-ready battle-axe, clove the Envoy to the midriff. The
+Count von Eltz himself, coming on the scene at this moment, was amazed
+at the deed, and sternly demanded of his gate-captain why he had
+violated the terms of a parley. Baumstein's slowness of speech came
+near to being the undoing of him, for at first he merely said that such
+creatures as the messenger should not be allowed to live and that an
+honest soldier was insulted by holding converse with him; whereupon the
+Count, having nice notions, picked up in polite countries, regarding the
+sacredness of a flag of truce, was about to hang Baumstein, scant though
+the garrison was, and even then it was but by chance that the true state
+of affairs became known to the Count. He was on the point of sending
+back the body of the Envoy to Von Richenbach with suitable apology for
+his destruction and offer of recompense, stating that the assailant
+would be seen hanging outside the gate, when Baumstein said that while
+he had no objection to being hanged if it so pleased the Count, he
+begged to suggest that the gold which the Envoy brought with him to
+bribe the garrison should be taken from the body before it was returned,
+and divided equally among the guard at the gate. As Baumstein said this,
+he was taking off his helmet and unbuckling his corselet, thus freeing
+his neck for the greater convenience of the castle hangman. When the
+Count learned that the stout stroke of the battle-axe was caused by the
+proffer of a bribe for the betraying of the castle, he, to the amazement
+of all present, begged the pardon of Baumstein; for such a thing was
+never before known under the feudal law that a noble should apologise
+to a common man, and Baumstein himself muttered that he wot not what the
+world was coming to if a mighty Lord might not hang an underling if it
+so pleased him, cause or no cause.
+
+The Count commanded the body to be searched, and finding thereon
+some five bags of gold, distributed the coin among his men, as a good
+commander should, sending back the body to Von Richenbach, with a most
+polite message to the effect that as the Archbishop evidently intended
+the money to be given to the garrison, the Count had endeavoured to
+carry out his Lordship's wishes, as was the duty of an obedient vassal.
+But Heinrich, instead of being pleased with the courtesy of the message,
+broke into violent oaths, and spread abroad in the land the false saying
+that Count von Eltz had violated a flag of truce.
+
+But there was one man in the castle who did not enjoy a share of the
+gold, because he was not a warrior, but a servant of the Countess. This
+was a Spaniard named Rego, marvellously skilled in the concocting of
+various dishes of pastry and other niceties such as high-born ladies
+have a fondness for. Rego was disliked by the Count, and, in fact, by
+all the stout Germans who formed the garrison, not only because it is
+the fashion for men of one country justly to abhor those of another,
+foreigners being in all lands regarded as benighted creatures whom we
+marvel that the Lord allows to live when he might so easily have peopled
+the whole world with men like unto ourselves; but, aside from this, Rego
+had a cat-like tread, and a furtive eye that never met another honestly
+as an eye should. The count, however, endured the presence of this
+Spaniard, because the Countess admired his skill in confections, then
+unknown in Germany, and thus Rego remained under her orders.
+
+The Spaniard's eye glittered when he saw the yellow lustre of the gold,
+and his heart was bitter that he did not have a share of it. He soon
+learned where it came from, and rightly surmised that there was more
+in the same treasury, ready to be bestowed for similar service to that
+which the unready Baumstein had so emphatically rejected; so Rego,
+watching his opportunity, stole away secretly to Von Richenbach
+and offered his aid in the capture of the castle, should suitable
+compensation be tendered him. Heinrich questioned him closely regarding
+the interior arrangements of the castle, and asked him if he could find
+any means of letting down the drawbridge and raising the portcullis in
+the night. This, Rego said quite truly, was impossible, as the guard
+at the gate, vigilant enough before, had become much more so since the
+attempted bribery of the Captain. There was, however, one way by
+which the castle might be entered, and that entailed a most perilous
+adventure. There was a platform between two of the lofty, steep roofs,
+so elevated that it gave a view over all the valley. On this platform
+a sentinel was stationed night and day, whose duty was that of outlook,
+like a man on the cross-trees of a ship. From this platform a stair,
+narrow at the top, but widening as it descended to the lower stories,
+gave access to the whole castle. If, then, a besieger constructed a
+ladder of enormous length, it might be placed at night on the narrow
+ledge of rock far below this platform, standing almost perpendicular,
+and by this means man after man would be enabled to reach the roof of
+the castle, and, under the guidance of Rego, gain admittance to the
+lower rooms unsuspected.
+
+"But the sentinel?" objected Von Richenbach.
+
+"The sentinel I will myself slay. I will steal up behind him in the
+night when you make your assault, and running my knife into his neck,
+fling him over the castle wall; then I shall be ready to guide you down
+into the courtyard."
+
+Von Richenbach, remembering the sheer precipice of rock at the foot of
+the castle walls and the dizzy height of the castle roof above the rock,
+could scarcely forbear a shudder at the thought of climbing so high on a
+shaky ladder, even if such a ladder could be made, of which he had some
+doubts. The scheme did not seem so feasible as the Spaniard appeared to
+imagine.
+
+"Could you not let down a rope ladder from the platform when you had
+slain the sentinel, and thus allow us to climb by that?"
+
+"It would be impossible for me to construct and conceal a contrivance
+strong enough to carry more than one man at a time, even if I had the
+materials," said the wily Spaniard, whose thoughtfulness and ingenuity
+Heinrich could not but admire, while despising him as an oily foreigner.
+"If you made the rope ladder there would be no method of getting it into
+Schloss Eltz; besides, it would need to be double the length of a wooden
+ladder, for you can place your ladder at the foot of the ledge, then
+climb to the top of the rock, and, standing there, pull the ladder up,
+letting the higher end scrape against the castle wall until the lower
+end stands firm on the ledge of rock. Your whole troop could then climb,
+one following another, so that there would be no delay."
+
+Thus it was arranged, and then began and was completed the construction
+of the longest and most wonderful ladder ever made in Germany or
+anywhere else, so far as history records. It was composed of numerous
+small ladders, spliced and hooped with iron bands by the castle
+armourer. At a second visit, which Rego paid to Baldwineltz when the
+ladder was completed, all arrangements were made and the necessary
+signals agreed upon.
+
+It was the pious custom of those in the fortress of Baldwineltz to
+ring the great bell on Saints' days and other festivals that called
+for special observance, because Von Richenbach conducted war on the
+strictest principles, as a man knowing his duty both spiritual and
+temporal. It was agreed that on the night of the assault, when it was
+necessary that Rego should assassinate the sentinel, the great bell of
+the fortress should be rung, whereupon the Spaniard was to hie himself
+up the stair and send the watchman into another sphere of duty by means
+of his dagger. The bell-ringing seems a perfectly justifiable device,
+and one that will be approved by all conspirators, for the sounding of
+the bell, plainly heard in Schloss Eltz, would cause no alarm, as it was
+wont to sound at uncertain intervals, night and day, and was known
+to give tongue only during moments allotted by the Church to devout
+thoughts. But the good monk Ambrose, in setting down on parchment the
+chronicles of this time, gives it as his opinion that no prosperity
+could have been expected in thus suddenly changing the functions of the
+bell from sacred duty to the furtherance of a secular object. Still,
+Ambrose was known to be a sympathiser with the house of Eltz, and, aside
+from this, a monk in his cell cannot be expected to take the same
+view of military necessity that would commend itself to a warrior on a
+bastion; therefore, much as we may admire Ambrose as an historian, we
+are not compelled to accept his opinions on military ethics.
+
+On the important night, which was of great darkness, made the more
+intense by the black environment of densely-wooded hills which
+surrounded Schloss Eltz, the swarthy Spaniard became almost pale with
+anxiety as he listened for the solemn peal that was to be his signal.
+At last it tolled forth, and he, with knife to hand in his girdle, crept
+softly along the narrow halls to his fatal task. The interior of Schloss
+Eltz is full of intricate passages, unexpected turnings, here a few
+steps up, there a few steps down, for all the world like a maze, in
+which even one knowing the castle might well go astray. At one of the
+turnings Rego came suddenly upon the Countess, who screamed at sight of
+him, and then recognising him said, half laughing, half crying, being a
+nervous woman:
+
+"Ah, Rego, thank heaven it is you! I am so distraught with the doleful
+ringing of that bell that I am frightened at the sound of my own
+footsteps. Why rings it so, Rego?"
+
+"'Tis some Church festival, my Lady, which they, fighting for the
+Archbishop, are more familiar with than I," answered the trembling
+Spaniard, as frightened as the lady herself at the unexpected meeting.
+But the Countess was a most religious woman, well skilled in the
+observances of her Church, and she replied:
+
+"No, Rego. There is no cause for its dolorous music, and to-night there
+seems to me something ominous and menacing in its tone, as if disaster
+impended."
+
+"It may be the birthday of the Archbishop, my Lady, or of the Pope
+himself."
+
+"Our Holy Father was born in May, and the Archbishop in November. Ah,
+I would that this horrid strife were done with! But our safety lies in
+Heaven, and if our duty be accomplished here on earth, we should have
+naught to fear; yet I tremble as if great danger lay before me. Come,
+Rego, to the chapel, and light the candles at the altar."
+
+The Countess passed him, and for one fateful moment Rego's hand hovered
+over his dagger, thinking to strike the lady dead at his feet; but the
+risk was too great, for there might at any time pass along the corridor
+one of the servants, who would instantly raise the alarm and bring
+disaster upon him. He dare not disobey. So grinding his teeth in
+impotent rage and fear, he followed his mistress to the chapel, and,
+as quickly as he could, lit one candle after another, until the usual
+number burned before the sacred image. The Countess was upon her knees
+as he tried to steal softly from the room. "Nay, Rego," she said,
+raising her bended head, "light them all to-night. Hearken! That raven
+bell has ceased even as you lighted the last candle."
+
+The Countess, as has been said was a devout lady, and there stood an
+unusual number of candles before the altar, several of which burned
+constantly, but only on notable occasions were all the candles lighted.
+As Rego hesitated, not knowing what to do in this crisis, the lady
+repeated: "Light _all_ the candles to-night, Rego."
+
+"You said yourself, my Lady," murmured the agonised man, cold sweat
+breaking out on his forehead, "that this was not a Saint's day."
+
+"Nevertheless, Rego," persisted the Countess, surprised that even a
+favourite servant should thus attempt to thwart her will, "I ask you to
+light each candle. Do so at once."
+
+She bowed her head as one who had spoken the final word, and again her
+fate trembled in the balance; but Rego heard the footsteps of the Count
+entering the gallery above him, that ran across the end of the chapel,
+and he at once resumed the lighting of the candles, making less speed in
+his eagerness than if he had gone about his task with more care.
+
+The monk Ambrose draws a moral from this episode, which is sufficiently
+obvious when after-events have confirmed it, but which we need not here
+pause to consider, when an episode of the most thrilling nature is going
+forward on the lofty platform on the roof of Eltz Castle.
+
+The sentinel paced back and forward within his narrow limit, listening
+to the depressing and monotonous tolling of the bell and cursing it, for
+the platform was a lonely place and the night of inky darkness. At last
+the bell ceased, and he stood resting on his long pike, enjoying the
+stillness, and peering into the blackness surrounding him, when suddenly
+he became aware of a grating, rasping sound below, as if some one were
+attempting to climb the precipitous beetling cliff of castle wall and
+slipping against the stones. His heart stood still with fear, for he
+knew it could be nothing human. An instant later something appeared
+over the parapet that could be seen only because it was blacker than the
+distant dark sky against which it was outlined. It rose and rose until
+the sentinel saw it was the top of a ladder, which was even more amazing
+than if the fiend himself had scrambled over the stone coping, for we
+know the devil can go anywhere, while a ladder cannot. But the soldier
+was a common-sense man, and, dark as was the night, he knew that, tall
+as such a ladder must be, there seemed a likelihood that human power was
+pushing it upward. He touched it with his hands and convinced himself
+that there was nothing supernatural about it. The ladder rose inch by
+inch, slowly, for it must have been no easy task for even twoscore men
+to raise it thus with ropes or other devices, especially when the bottom
+of it neared the top of the ledge. The soldier knew he should at
+once give the alarm: but he was the second traitor in the stronghold,
+corrupted by the sight of the glittering gold he had shared, and only
+prevented from selling himself because the rigours of military rule did
+not give him opportunity of going to Baldwineltz as the less exacting
+civilian duties had allowed the Spaniard to do and thus market his ware.
+So the sentry made no outcry, but silently prepared a method by which he
+could negotiate with advantage to himself when the first head appeared
+above the parapet. He fixed the point of his lance against a round
+of the ladder, and when the leading warrior, who was none other than
+Heinrich von Richenbach, himself came slowly and cautiously to the top
+of the wall, the sentinel, exerting all his strength, pushed the lance
+outward, and the top of the ladder with it, until it stood nearly
+perpendicular some two yards back from the wall.
+
+"In God's name, what are you about? Is that you, Rego?"
+
+The soldier replied, calmly:
+
+"Order your men not to move, and do not move yourself, until I have some
+converse with you. Have no fear if you are prepared to accept my terms;
+otherwise you will have ample time to say your prayers before you reach
+the ground, for the distance is great."
+
+Von Richenbach, who now leaned over the top round, suspended thus
+between heaven and earth, grasped the lance with both hands, so that the
+ladder might not be thrust beyond the perpendicular. In quivering voice
+he passed down the word that no man was to shift foot or hand until he
+had made bargain with the sentinel who held them in such extreme peril.
+
+"What terms do you propose to me, soldier?" he asked, breathlessly.
+
+"I will conduct you down to the courtyard, and when you have surprised
+and taken the castle you will grant me safe conduct and give me five
+bags of gold equal in weight to those offered to our captain."
+
+"All that will I do and double the treasure. Faithfully and truly do I
+promise it."
+
+"You pledge me your knightly word, and swear also by the holy coat of
+Treves?"
+
+"I pledge and swear. And pray you be careful; incline the ladder yet a
+little more toward the wall."
+
+"I trust to your honour," said the traitor, for traitors love to prate
+of honour, "and will now admit you to the castle; but until we are in
+the courtyard there must be silence."
+
+"Incline the ladder gently, for it is so weighted that if it come
+suddenly against the wall, it may break in the middle."
+
+At this supreme moment, as the sentinel was preparing to bring them
+cautiously to the wall, when all was deep silence, there crept swiftly
+and noiselessly through the trap-door the belated Spaniard. His catlike
+eyes beheld the shadowy form of the sentinel bending apparently over
+the parapet, but they showed him nothing beyond. With the speed and
+precipitation of a springing panther, the Spaniard leaped forward and
+drove his dagger deep into the neck of his comrade, who, with a gurgling
+cry, plunged headlong forward, and down the precipice, thrusting his
+lance as he fell. The Spaniard's dagger went with the doomed sentinel,
+sticking fast in his throat, and its presence there passed a fatal
+noose around the neck of Rego later, for they wrongly thought the false
+sentinel had saved the castle and that the Spaniard had murdered a
+faithful watchman.
+
+Rego leaned panting over the stone coping, listening for the thud of the
+body. Then was he frozen with horror when the still night air was split
+with the most appalling shriek of combined human voice in an agony
+of fear that ever tortured the ear of man. The shriek ended in a
+terrorising crash far below, and silence again filled the valley.
+
+
+
+
+"GENTLEMEN: THE KING!"
+
+
+The room was large, but with a low ceiling, and at one end of the
+lengthy, broad apartment stood a gigantic fireplace, in which was
+heaped a pile of blazing logs, whose light, rather than that of several
+lanterns hanging from nails along the timbered walls, illuminated the
+faces of the twenty men who sat within. Heavy timbers, blackened with
+age and smoke, formed the ceiling. The long, low, diamond-paned window
+in the middle of the wall opposite the door, had been shuttered as
+completely as possible, but less care than usual was taken to prevent
+the light from penetrating into the darkness beyond, for the night was a
+stormy and tempestuous one, the rain lashing wildly against the hunting
+chalet, which, in its time, had seen many a merry hunting party gathered
+under its ample roof.
+
+Every now and then a blast of wind shook the wooden edifice from garret
+to foundation, causing a puff of smoke to come down the chimney, and
+the white ashes to scatter in little whirlwinds over the hearth. On the
+opposite side from the shuttered window was the door, heavily barred.
+A long, oaken table occupied the centre of the room, and round this in
+groups, seated and standing, were a score of men, all with swords at
+their sides; bearing, many of them, that air of careless hauteur which
+is supposed to be a characteristic of noble birth.
+
+Flagons were scattered upon the table, and a barrel of wine stood in a
+corner of the room farthest from the fireplace, but it was evident that
+this was no ordinary drinking party, and that the assemblage was brought
+about by some high purport, of a nature so serious that it stamped
+anxiety on every brow. No servants were present, and each man who wished
+a fresh flagon of wine had to take his measure to the barrel in the
+corner and fill for himself.
+
+The hunting chalet stood in a wilderness, near the confines of the
+kingdom of Alluria, twelve leagues from the capital, and was the
+property of Count Staumn, whose tall, gaunt form stood erect at the
+head of the table as he silently listened to the discussion which every
+moment was becoming more and more heated, the principal speaking parts
+being taken by the obstinate, rough-spoken Baron Brunfels, on the one
+hand, and the crafty, fox-like ex-Chancellor Steinmetz on the other.
+
+"I tell you," thundered Baron Brunfels, bringing his fist down on the
+table, "I will not have the King killed. Such a proposal goes beyond
+what was intended when we banded ourselves together. The King is a fool,
+so let him escape like a fool. I am a conspirator, but not an assassin."
+
+"It is justice rather than assassination," said the ex-Chancellor
+suavely, as if his tones were oil and the Baron's boisterous talk were
+troubled waters.
+
+"Justice!" cried the Baron, with great contempt. "You have learned that
+cant word in the Cabinet of the King himself, before he thrust you out.
+He eternally prates of justice, yet, much as I loathe him, I have
+no wish to compass his death, either directly or through gabbling of
+justice."
+
+"Will you permit me to point out the reason that induces me to believe
+his continued exemption, and State policy, will not run together?"
+replied the advocate of the King's death. "If Rudolph escape, he will
+take up his abode in a neighbouring territory, and there will inevitably
+follow plots and counter-plots for his restoration--thus Alluria will be
+kept in a state of constant turmoil. There will doubtless grow up within
+the kingdom itself a party sworn to his restoration. We shall thus be
+involved in difficulties at home and abroad, and all for what? Merely to
+save the life of a man who is an enemy to each of us. We place thousands
+of lives in jeopardy, render our own positions insecure, bring continual
+disquiet upon the State, when all might be avoided by the slitting of
+one throat, even though that throat belong to the King."
+
+It was evident that the lawyer's persuasive tone brought many to his
+side, and the conspirators seemed about evenly divided upon the question
+of life or death to the King. The Baron was about to break out again
+with some strenuousness in favour of his own view of the matter, when
+Count Staumn made a proposition that was eagerly accepted by all save
+Brunfels himself.
+
+"Argument," said Count Staumn, "is ever the enemy of good comradeship.
+Let us settle the point at once and finally, with the dice-box. Baron
+Brunfels, you are too seasoned a gambler to object to such a mode
+of terminating a discussion. Steinmetz, the law, of which you are so
+distinguished a representative, is often compared to a lottery, so you
+cannot look with disfavour upon a method that is conclusive, and as
+reasonably fair as the average decision of a judge. Let us throw,
+therefore, for the life of the King. I, as chairman of this meeting,
+will be umpire. Single throws, and the highest number wins. Baron
+Brunfels, you will act for the King, and, if you win, may bestow upon
+the monarch his life. Chancellor Steinmetz stands for the State. If he
+wins, then is the King's life forfeit. Gentlemen, are you agreed?"
+
+"Agreed, agreed," cried the conspirators, with practically unanimous
+voice.
+
+Baron Brunfels grumbled somewhat, but when the dice-horn was brought,
+and he heard the rattle of the bones within the leathern cylinder, the
+light of a gambler's love shone in his eyes, and he made no further
+protest.
+
+The ex-Chancellor took the dice-box in his hand, and was about to shake,
+when there came suddenly upon them three stout raps against the door,
+given apparently with the hilt of a sword. Many not already standing,
+started to their feet, and nearly all looked one upon another with deep
+dismay in their glances. The full company of conspirators was present;
+exactly a score of men knew of the rendezvous, and now the twenty-first
+man outside was beating the oaken panels. The knocking was repeated, but
+now accompanied by the words:
+
+"Open, I beg of you."
+
+Count Staumn left the table and, stealthily as a cat, approached the
+door.
+
+"Who is there?" he asked.
+
+"A wayfarer, weary and wet, who seeks shelter from the storm."
+
+"My house is already filled," spoke up the Count. "I have no room for
+another."
+
+"Open the door peacefully," cried the outlander, "and do not put me to
+the necessity of forcing it."
+
+There was a ring of decision in the voice which sent quick pallor to
+more than one cheek. Ex-Chancellor Steinmetz rose to his feet with
+chattering teeth, and terror in his eyes; he seemed to recognise the
+tones of the invisible speaker. Count Staumn looked over his shoulder at
+the assemblage with an expression that plainly said: "What am I to do?"
+
+"In the fiend's name," hissed Baron Brunfels, taking the precaution,
+however, to speak scarce above his breath, "if you are so frightened
+when it comes to a knock at the door, what will it be when the real
+knocks are upon you. Open, Count, and let the insistent stranger in.
+Whether he leave the place alive or no, there are twenty men here to
+answer."
+
+The Count undid the fastenings and threw back the door. There entered
+a tall man completely enveloped in a dark cloak that was dripping
+wet. Drawn over his eyes was a hunter's hat of felt, with a drooping
+bedraggled feather on it.
+
+The door was immediately closed and barred behind him, and the stranger,
+pausing a moment when confronted by so many inquiring eyes, flung off
+his cloak, throwing it over the back of a chair; then he removed his
+hat with a sweep, sending the raindrops flying. The intriguants gazed
+at him, speechless, with varying emotions. They saw before them His
+Majesty, Rudolph, King of Alluria.
+
+If the King had any suspicion of his danger, he gave no token of it. On
+his smooth, lofty forehead there was no trace of frown, and no sign
+of fear. His was a manly figure, rather over, than under, six feet in
+height; not slim and gaunt, like Count Staumn, nor yet stout to excess,
+like Baron Brunfels. The finger of Time had touched with frost the hair
+at his temples, and there were threads of white in his pointed beard,
+but his sweeping moustache was still as black as the night from which he
+came.
+
+His frank, clear, honest eyes swept the company, resting momentarily on
+each, then he said in a firm voice, without the suspicion of a tremor in
+it: "Gentlemen, I give you good evening, and although the hospitality of
+Count Staumn has needed spurring, I lay that not up against him, because
+I am well aware his apparent reluctance arose through the unexpectedness
+of my visit; and, if the Count will act as cup-bearer, we will drown all
+remembrance of a barred door in a flagon of wine, for, to tell truth,
+gentlemen, I have ridden hard in order to have the pleasure of drinking
+with you."
+
+As the King spoke these ominous words, he cast a glance of piercing
+intensity upon the company, and more than one quailed under it. He
+strode to the fireplace, spurs jingling as he went, and stood with his
+back to the fire, spreading out his hands to the blaze. Count Staumn
+left the bolted door, took an empty flagon from the shelf, filled it at
+the barrel in the corner, and, with a low bow, presented the brimming
+measure to the King.
+
+Rudolph held aloft his beaker of Burgundy, and, as he did so, spoke in a
+loud voice that rang to the beams of the ceiling:
+
+"Gentlemen, I give you a suitable toast. May none here gathered
+encounter a more pitiless storm than that which is raging without!"
+
+With this he drank off the wine, and, inclining his head slightly to the
+Count, returned the flagon. No one, save the King, had spoken since he
+entered. Every word he had uttered seemed charged with double meaning
+and brought to the suspicious minds of his hearers visions of a trysting
+place surrounded by troops, and the King standing there, playing with
+them, as a tiger plays with its victims. His easy confidence appalled
+them.
+
+When first he came in, several who were seated remained so, but one
+by one they rose to their feet, with the exception of Baron Brunfels,
+although he, when the King gave the toast, also stood. It was clear
+enough their glances of fear were not directed towards the King, but
+towards Baron Brunfels. Several pairs of eyes beseeched him in silent
+supplication, but the Baron met none of these glances, for his gaze was
+fixed upon the King.
+
+Every man present knew the Baron to be reckless of consequences; frankly
+outspoken, thoroughly a man of the sword, and a despiser of diplomacy.
+They feared that at any moment he might blurt out the purport of the
+meeting, and more than one was thankful for the crafty ex-Chancellor's
+planning, who throughout had insisted there should be no documentary
+evidence of their designs, either in their houses or on their persons.
+Some startling rumour must have reached the King's ear to bring him thus
+unexpectedly upon them.
+
+The anxiety of all was that some one should persuade the King they were
+merely a storm-besieged hunting party. They trembled in anticipation of
+Brunfels' open candor, and dreaded the revealing of the real cause of
+their conference. There was now no chance to warn the Baron; a man who
+spoke his mind; who never looked an inch beyond his nose, even though
+his head should roll off in consequence, and if a man does not value
+his own head, how can he be expected to care for the heads of his
+neighbours?
+
+"I ask you to be seated," said the King, with a wave of the hand.
+
+Now, what should that stubborn fool of a Baron do but remain standing,
+when all but Rudolph and himself had seated themselves, thus drawing His
+Majesty's attention directly towards him, and making a colloquy between
+them well-nigh inevitable. Those next the ex-Chancellor were nudging
+him, in God's name, to stand also, and open whatever discussion there
+must ensue between themselves and His Majesty, so that it might be
+smoothly carried on, but the Chancellor was ashen grey with fear, and
+his hand trembled on the table.
+
+"My Lord of Brunfels," said the King, a smile hovering about his lips,
+"I see that I have interrupted you at your old pleasure of dicing; while
+requesting you to continue your game as though I had not joined you, may
+I venture to hope the stakes you play for are not high?"
+
+Every one held his breath, awaiting with deepest concern the reply of
+the frowning Baron, and when it came growling forth, there was little in
+it to ease their disquiet.
+
+"Your Majesty," said Baron Brunfels, "the stakes are the highest that a
+gambler may play for."
+
+"You tempt me, Baron, to guess that the hazard is a man's soul, but
+I see that your adversary is my worthy ex-Chancellor, and as I should
+hesitate to impute to him the character of the devil, I am led,
+therefore, to the conclusion that you play for a human life. Whose life
+is in the cast, my Lord of Brunfels?"
+
+Before the Baron could reply, ex-Chancellor Steinmetz arose, with some
+indecision, to his feet. He began in a trembling voice:
+
+"I beg your gracious permission to explain the reason of our
+gathering--"
+
+"Herr Steinmetz," cried the King sternly, "when I desire your
+interference I shall call for it; and remember this, Herr Steinmetz; the
+man who begins a game must play it to the end, even though he finds luck
+running against him."
+
+The ex-Chancellor sat down again, and drew his hand across his damp
+forehead.
+
+"Your Majesty," spoke up the Baron, a ring of defiance in his voice, "I
+speak not for my comrades, but for myself. I begin no game that I fear
+to finish. We were about dice in order to discover whether Your Majesty
+should live or die."
+
+A simultaneous moan seemed to rise from the assembled traitors. The
+smile returned to the King's lips.
+
+"Baron," he said, "I have ever chided myself for loving you, for you
+were always a bad example to weak and impressionable natures. Even when
+your overbearing, obstinate intolerance compelled me to dismiss you from
+the command of my army, I could not but admire your sturdy honesty. Had
+I been able to graft your love of truth upon some of my councillors,
+what a valuable group of advisers might I have gathered round me. But
+we have had enough of comedy and now tragedy sets in. Those who are
+traitors to their ruler must not be surprised if a double traitor is one
+of their number. Why am I here? Why do two hundred mounted and armed men
+surround this doomed chalet? Miserable wretches, what have you to say
+that judgment be not instantly passed upon you?"
+
+"I have this to say," roared Baron Brunfels, drawing his sword, "that
+whatever may befall this assemblage, you, at least, shall not live to
+boast of it."
+
+The King stood unmoved as Baron Brunfels was about to rush upon him,
+but Count Staumn and others threw themselves between the Baron and his
+victim, seeing in the King's words some intimation of mercy to be held
+out to them, could but actual assault upon his person be prevented.
+
+"My Lord of Brunfels," said the King, calmly, "sheath your sword. Your
+ancestors have often drawn it, but always for, and never against the
+occupant of the Throne. Now, gentlemen, hear my decision, and abide
+faithfully by it. Seat yourselves at the table, ten on each side, the
+dice-box between you. You shall not be disappointed, but shall play out
+the game of life and death. Each dices with his opposite. He who throws
+the higher number escapes. He who throws the lower places his weapons on
+the empty chair, and stands against yonder wall to be executed for the
+traitor that he is. Thus half of your company shall live, and the other
+half seek death with such courage as may be granted them. Do you agree,
+or shall I give the signal?"
+
+With unanimous voice they agreed, all excepting Baron Brunfels, who
+spoke not.
+
+"Come, Baron, you and my devoted ex-Chancellor were about to play when I
+came in. Begin the game."
+
+"Very well," replied the Baron nonchalantly. "Steinmetz, the dice-box is
+near your hand: throw."
+
+Some one placed the cubes in the leathern cup and handed it to the
+ex-Chancellor, whose shivering fingers relieved him of the necessity of
+shaking the box. The dice rolled out on the table; a three, a four, and
+a one. Those nearest reported the total.
+
+"Eight!" cried the King. "Now, Baron."
+
+Baron Brunfels carelessly threw the dice into their receptacle, and a
+moment after the spotted bones clattered on the table.
+
+"Three sixes!" cried the Baron. "Lord, if I only had such luck when I
+played for money!"
+
+The ex-Chancellor's eyes were starting from his head, wild with fear.
+
+"We have three throws," he screamed.
+
+"Not so," said the King.
+
+"I swear I understood that we were to have three chances," shrieked
+Steinmetz, springing from his chair. "But it is all illegal, and not to
+be borne. I will not have my life diced away to please either King or
+commons."
+
+He drew his sword and placed himself in an attitude of defence.
+
+"Seize him; disarm him, and bind him," commanded the King. "There are
+enough gentlemen in this company to see that the rules of the game are
+adhered to."
+
+Steinmetz, struggling and pleading for mercy, was speedily overpowered
+and bound; then his captors placed him against the wall, and resumed
+their seats at the table. The next man to be doomed was Count Staumn.
+The Count arose from his chair, bowed first to the King and then to the
+assembled company; drew forth his sword, broke it over his knee, and
+walked to the wall of the condemned.
+
+The remainder of the fearful contest was carried on in silence, but with
+great celerity, and before a quarter of an hour was past, ten men had
+their backs to the wall, while the remaining ten were seated at the
+table, some on one side, and some on the other.
+
+The men ranged against the wall were downcast, for however bravely a
+soldier may meet death in hostile encounter, it is a different matter to
+face it bound and helpless at the hands of an executioner.
+
+A shade of sadness seemed to overspread the countenance of the King,
+who still occupied the position he had taken at the first, with his back
+towards the fire.
+
+Baron Brunfels shifted uneasily in his seat, and glanced now and then
+with compassion at his sentenced comrades. He was first to break the
+silence.
+
+"Your Majesty," he said, "I am always loath to see a coward die. The
+whimpering of your former Chancellor annoys me; therefore, will I gladly
+take his place, and give to him the life and liberty you perhaps design
+for me, if, in exchange, I have the privilege of speaking my mind
+regarding you and your precious Kingship."
+
+"Unbind the valiant Steinmetz," said the King. "Speak your mind freely,
+Baron Brunfels."
+
+The Baron rose, drew sword from scabbard, and placed it on the table.
+
+"Your Majesty, backed by brute force," he began, "has condemned to death
+ten of your subjects. You have branded us as traitors, and such we are,
+and so find no fault with your sentence; merely recognising that you
+represent, for the time being, the upper hand. You have reminded me that
+my ancestors fought for yours, and that they never turned their swords
+against their sovereign. Why, then, have our blades been pointed towards
+your breast? Because, King Rudolph, you are yourself a traitor. You
+belong to the ruling class and have turned your back upon your order.
+You, a King, have made yourself a brother to the demagogue at the street
+corner; yearning for the cheap applause of the serf. You have shorn
+nobility of its privileges, and for what?"
+
+"And for what?" echoed the King with rising voice. "For this; that the
+ploughman on the plain may reap what he has sown; that the shepherd
+on the hillside may enjoy the increase which comes to his flock; that
+taxation may be light; that my nobles shall deal honestly with the
+people, and not use their position for thievery and depredation; that
+those whom the State honours by appointing to positions of trust shall
+content themselves with the recompense lawfully given, and refrain from
+peculation; that peace and security shall rest on the land; and that
+bloodthirsty swashbucklers shall not go up and down inciting the people
+to carnage and rapine under the name of patriotism. This is the task I
+set myself when I came to the Throne. What fault have you to find with
+the programme, my Lord Baron?"
+
+"The simple fault that it is the programme of a fool," replied the Baron
+calmly. "In following it you have gained the resentment of your nobles,
+and have not even received the thanks of those pitiable hinds,
+the ploughman in the valley or the shepherd on the hills. You have
+impoverished us so that the clowns may have a few more coins with which
+to muddle in drink their already stupid brains. You are hated in cot and
+castle alike. You would not stand in your place for a moment, were
+not an army behind you. Being a fool, you think the common people love
+honesty, whereas, they only curse that they have not a share in the
+thieving."
+
+"The people," said the King soberly, "have been misled. Their ear
+has been abused by calumny and falsehood. Had it been possible for me
+personally to explain to them the good that must ultimately accrue to
+a land where honesty rules, I am confident I would have had their
+undivided support, even though my nobles deserted me."
+
+"Not so, Your Majesty; they would listen to you and cheer you, but when
+the next orator came among them, promising to divide the moon, and give
+a share to each, they would gather round his banner and hoot you from
+the kingdom. What care they for rectitude of government? They see no
+farther than the shining florin that glitters on their palm. When your
+nobles were rich, they came to their castles among the people, and
+scattered their gold with a lavish hand. Little recked the peasants how
+it was got, so long as they shared it. 'There,' they said, 'the coin
+comes to us that we have not worked for.'
+
+"But now, with castles deserted, and retainers dismissed, the people
+have to sweat to wring from traders the reluctant silver, and they cry:
+'Thus it was not in times of old, and this King is the cause of it,'
+and so they spit upon your name, and shrug their shoulders, when your
+honesty is mentioned. And now, Rudolph of Alluria, I have done, and I
+go the more jauntily to my death that I have had fair speech with you
+before the end."
+
+The King looked at the company, his eyes veiled with moisture. "I
+thought," he said slowly, "until to-night, that I had possessed some
+qualities at least of a ruler of men. I came here alone among you, and
+although there are brave men in this assembly, yet I had the ordering of
+events as I chose to order them, notwithstanding that odds stood a score
+to one against me. I still venture to think that whatever failures have
+attended my eight years' rule in Alluria arose from faults of my own,
+and not through imperfections in the plan, or want of appreciation in
+the people.
+
+"I have now to inform you that if it is disastrous for a King to act
+without the co-operation of his nobles, it is equally disastrous for
+them to plot against their leader. I beg to acquaint you with the fact
+that the insurrection so carefully prepared has broken out prematurely.
+My capital is in possession of the factions, who are industriously
+cutting each other's throats to settle which one of two smooth-tongued
+rascals shall be their President. While you were dicing to settle the
+fate of an already deposed King, and I was sentencing you to a mythical
+death, we were all alike being involved in common ruin.
+
+"I have seen to-night more property in flames than all my savings during
+the last eight years would pay for. I have no horsemen at my back, and
+have stumbled here blindly, a much bedraggled fugitive, having lost my
+way in every sense of the phrase. And so I beg of the hospitality of
+Count Staumn another flagon of wine, and either a place of shelter for
+my patient horse, who has been left too long in the storm without, or
+else direction towards the frontier, whereupon my horse and I will set
+out to find it."
+
+"Not towards the frontier!" cried Baron Brunfels, grasping again his
+sword and holding it aloft, "but towards the capital. We will surround
+you, and hew for you a way through that fickle mob back to the throne of
+your ancestors."
+
+Each man sprang to his weapon and brandished it above his head, while a
+ringing cheer echoed to the timbered ceiling.
+
+"The King! The King!" they cried.
+
+Rudolph smiled and shook his head.
+
+"Not so," he said. "I leave a thankless throne with a joy I find it
+impossible to express. As I sat on horseback, half-way up the hill
+above the burning city, and heard the clash of arms, I was filled with
+amazement to think that men would actually fight for the position of
+ruler of the people. Whether the insurrection has brought freedom
+to themselves or not, the future alone can tell, but it has at least
+brought freedom to me. I now belong to myself. No man may question
+either my motives or my acts. Gentlemen, drink with me to the new
+President of Alluria, whoever he may be."
+
+But the King drank alone, none other raising flagon to lip. Then Baron
+Brunfels cried aloud:
+
+"_Gentlemen: the King!_"
+
+And never in the history of Alluria was a toast so heartily honoured.
+
+
+
+
+THE HOUR-GLASS
+
+
+Bertram Eastford had intended to pass the shop of his old friend, the
+curiosity dealer, into whose pockets so much of his money had gone
+for trinkets gathered from all quarters of the globe. He knew it was
+weakness on his part, to select that street when he might have taken
+another, but he thought it would do no harm to treat himself to one
+glance at the seductive window of the old curiosity shop, where the
+dealer was in the habit of displaying his latest acquisitions. The
+window was never quite the same, and it had a continued fascination for
+Bertram Eastford; but this time, he said to himself resolutely, he would
+not enter, having, as he assured himself, the strength of mind to forego
+this temptation. However, he reckoned without his window, for in it
+there was an old object newly displayed which caught his attention as
+effectually as a half-driven nail arrests the hem of a cloak. On the
+central shelf of the window stood an hour-glass, its framework of some
+wood as black as ebony. He stood gazing at it for a moment, then turned
+to the door and went inside, greeting the ancient shopman, whom he knew
+so well.
+
+"I want to look at the hour-glass you have in the window," he said.
+
+"Ah, yes," replied the curiosity dealer; "the cheap watch has driven the
+hour-glass out of the commercial market, and we rarely pick up a thing
+like that nowadays." He took the hour-glass from the shelf in the
+window, reversed it, and placed it on a table. The ruddy sand began to
+pour through into the lower receptacle in a thin, constant stream, as
+if it were blood that had been dried and powdered. Eastford watched the
+ever-increasing heap at the bottom, rising conically, changing its
+shape every moment, as little avalanches of the sand fell away from its
+heightening sides.
+
+"There is no need for you to extol its antiquity," said Eastford, with a
+smile. "I knew the moment I looked at it that such glasses are rare, and
+you are not going to find me a cheapening customer."
+
+"So far from over-praising it," protested the shopman, "I was about to
+call your attention to a defect. It is useless as a measurer of time."
+
+"It doesn't record the exact hour, then?" asked Eastford.
+
+"Well, I suppose the truth is, they were not very particular in the old
+days, and time was not money, as it is now. It measures the hour with
+great accuracy," the curio dealer went on--"that is, if you watch
+it; but, strangely enough, after it has run for half an hour, or
+thereabouts, it stops, because of some defect in the neck of the glass,
+or in the pulverising of the sand, and will not go again until the glass
+is shaken."
+
+The hour-glass at that moment verified what the old man said. The tiny
+stream of sand suddenly ceased, but resumed its flow the moment
+its owner jarred the frame, and continued pouring without further
+interruption.
+
+"That is very singular," said Eastford. "How do you account for it?"
+
+"I imagine it is caused by some inequality in the grains of sand;
+probably a few atoms larger than the others come together at the neck,
+and so stop the percolation. It always does this, and, of course, I
+cannot remedy the matter because the glass is hermetically sealed."
+
+"Well, I don't want it as a timekeeper, so we will not allow that defect
+to interfere with the sale. How much do you ask for it?"
+
+The dealer named his price, and Eastford paid the amount.
+
+"I shall send it to you this afternoon."
+
+"Thank you," said the customer, taking his leave.
+
+That night in his room Bertram Eastford wrote busily until a late hour.
+When his work was concluded, he pushed away his manuscript with a sigh
+of that deep contentment which comes to a man who has not wasted his
+day. He replenished the open fire, drew his most comfortable arm-chair
+in front of it, took the green shade from his lamp, thus filling the
+luxurious apartment with a light that was reflected from armour and from
+ancient weapons standing in corners and hung along the walls. He lifted
+the paper-covered package, cut the string that bound it, and placed the
+ancient hour-glass on his table, watching the thin stream of sand which
+his action had set running. The constant, unceasing, steady downfall
+seemed to hypnotise him. Its descent was as silent as the footsteps of
+time itself. Suddenly it stopped, as it had done in the shop, and its
+abrupt ceasing jarred on his tingling nerves like an unexpected break in
+the stillness. He could almost imagine an unseen hand clasping the
+thin cylinder of the glass and throttling it. He shook the bygone
+time-measurer and breathed again more steadily when the sand resumed its
+motion. Presently he took the glass from the table and examined it with
+some attention.
+
+He thought at first its frame was ebony, but further inspection
+convinced him it was oak, blackened with age. On one round end was
+carved rudely two hearts overlapping, and twined about them a pair of
+serpents.
+
+"Now, I wonder what that's for?" murmured Eastford to himself. "An
+attempt at a coat of arms, perhaps."
+
+There was no clue to the meaning of the hieroglyphics, and Eastford,
+with the glass balanced on his knee, watched the sand still running, the
+crimson thread sparkling in the lamplight. He fancied he saw distorted
+reflections of faces in the convex glass, although his reason told him
+they were but caricatures of his own. The great bell in the tower near
+by, with slow solemnity, tolled twelve. He counted its measured strokes
+one by one, and then was startled by a decisive knock at his door. One
+section of his brain considered this visit untimely, another looked on
+it as perfectly usual, and while the two were arguing the matter out, he
+heard his own voice cry: "Come in."
+
+The door opened, and the discussion between the government and the
+opposition in his mind ceased to consider the untimeliness of the visit,
+for here, in the visitor himself, stood another problem. He was a young
+man in military costume, his uniform being that of an officer. Eastford
+remembered seeing something like it on the stage, and knowing little of
+military affairs, thought perhaps the costume of the visitor before him
+indicated an officer in the Napoleonic war.
+
+"Good evening!" said the incomer. "May I introduce myself? I am
+Lieutenant Sentore, of the regular army."
+
+"You are very welcome," returned his host. "Will you be seated?"
+
+"Thank you, no. I have but a few moments to stay. I have come for my
+hour-glass, if you will be good enough to let me have it."
+
+"_Your_ hour-glass?" ejaculated Eastford, in surprise. "I think you
+labour under a misapprehension. The glass belongs to me; I bought it
+to-day at the old curiosity shop in Finchmore Street."
+
+"Rightful possession of the glass would appear to rest with you,
+technically; but taking you to be a gentleman, I venture to believe that
+a mere statement of my priority of claim will appeal to you, even though
+it might have no effect on the minds of a jury of our countrymen."
+
+"You mean to say that the glass has been stolen from you and has been
+sold?"
+
+"It has been sold undoubtedly over and over again, but never stolen, so
+far as I have been able to trace its history."
+
+"If, then, the glass has been honestly purchased by its different
+owners, I fail to see how you can possibly establish any claim to it."
+
+"I have already admitted that my claim is moral rather than legal,"
+continued the visitor. "It is a long story; have I your permission to
+tell it?"
+
+"I shall be delighted to listen," replied Eastford, "but before doing
+so I beg to renew my invitation, and ask you to occupy this easy-chair
+before the fire."
+
+The officer bowed in silence, crossed the room behind Eastford, and sat
+down in the arm-chair, placing his sword across his knees. The stranger
+spread his hands before the fire, and seemed to enjoy the comforting
+warmth. He remained for a few moments buried in deep reflection, quite
+ignoring the presence of his host, who, glancing upon the hour-glass in
+dispute upon his knees, seeing that the sands had all run out silently
+reversed it and set them flowing again. This action caught the corner
+of the stranger's eye, and brought him to a realisation of why he was
+there. Drawing a heavy sigh, he began his story.
+
+      *      *      *      *      *
+
+"In the year 1706 I held the post of lieutenant in that part of the
+British Army commanded by General Trelawny, the supreme command, of
+course, being in the hands of the great Marlborough."
+
+Eastford listened to this announcement with a feeling that there was
+something wrong about the statement. The man sitting there was calmly
+talking of a time one hundred and ninety-two years past, and yet he
+himself could not be a day more than twenty-five years old. Somewhere
+entangled in this were the elements of absurdity. Eastford found himself
+unable to unravel them, but the more he thought of the matter, the more
+reasonable it began to appear, and so, hoping his visitor had not noted
+the look of surprise on his face, he said, quietly, casting his mind
+back over the history of England, and remembering what he had learned at
+school:--
+
+"That was during the war of the Spanish Succession?"
+
+"Yes: the war had then been in progress four years, and many brilliant
+victories had been won, the greatest of which was probably the Battle of
+Blenheim."
+
+"Quite so," murmured Eastford.
+
+
+
+                     "It was the English," Casper cried,
+                       "That put the French to rout;
+                     "But what they killed each other for,
+                       "I never could make out."
+
+
+The officer looked up in astonishment.
+
+"I never heard anything like that said about the war. The reason for
+it was perfectly plain. We had to fight or acknowledge France to be the
+dictator of Europe. Still, politics have nothing to do with my story.
+General Trelawny and his forces were in Brabant, and were under orders
+to join the Duke of Marlborough's army. We were to go through the
+country as speedily as possible, for a great battle was expected.
+Trelawny's instructions were to capture certain towns and cities
+that lay in our way, to dismantle the fortresses, and to parole their
+garrisons. We could not encumber ourselves with prisoners, and so
+marched the garrisons out, paroled them, destroyed their arms, and bade
+them disperse. But, great as was our hurry, strict orders had been given
+to leave no strongholds in our rear untaken.
+
+"Everything went well until we came to the town of Elsengore, which we
+captured without the loss of a man. The capture of the town, however,
+was of little avail, for in the centre of it stood a strong citadel,
+which we tried to take by assault, but could not. General Trelawny, a
+very irascible, hotheaded man, but, on the whole, a just and capable
+officer, impatient at this unexpected delay, offered the garrison almost
+any terms they desired to evacuate the castle. But, having had warning
+of our coming, they had provisioned the place, were well supplied with
+ammunition, and their commander refused to make terms with General
+Trelawny.
+
+"'If you want the place,' said the Frenchman, 'come and take it.'
+
+"General Trelawny, angered at this contemptuous treatment, flung his
+men again and again at the citadel, but without making the slightest
+impression on it.
+
+"We were in no wise prepared for a long siege, nor had we expected
+stubborn resistance. Marching quickly, as was our custom heretofore,
+we possessed no heavy artillery, and so were at a disadvantage when
+attacking a fortress as strong as that of Elsengore. Meanwhile, General
+Trelawny sent mounted messengers by different roads to his chief giving
+an account of what had happened, explaining his delay in joining the
+main army, and asking for definite instructions. He expected that one or
+two, at least, of the mounted messengers sent away would reach his chief
+and be enabled to return. And that is exactly what happened, for one day
+a dusty horseman came to General Trelawny's headquarters with a brief
+note from Marlborough. The Commander-in-Chief said:--
+
+"'I think the Frenchman's advice is good. We want the place; therefore,
+take it.'
+
+"But he sent no heavy artillery to aid us in this task, for he could not
+spare his big guns, expecting, as he did, an important battle.
+General Trelawny having his work thus cut out for him, settled down to
+accomplish it as best he might. He quartered officers and men in various
+parts of the town, the more thoroughly to keep watch on the citizens, of
+whose good intentions, if the siege were prolonged, we were by no means
+sure.
+
+"It fell to my lot to be lodged in the house of Burgomaster Seidelmier,
+of whose conduct I have no reason to complain, for he treated me well. I
+was given two rooms, one a large, low apartment on the first floor,
+and communicating directly with the outside, by means of a hall and a
+separate stairway. The room was lighted by a long, many-paned window,
+leaded and filled with diamond-shaped glass. Beyond this large
+drawing-room was my bedroom. I must say that I enjoyed my stay in
+Burgomaster Seidelmier's house none the less because he had an only
+daughter, a most charming girl. Our acquaintance ripened into deep
+friendship, and afterwards into----but that has nothing to do with
+what I have to tell you. My story is of war, and not of love. Gretlich
+Seidelmier presented me with the hour-glass you have in your hand, and
+on it I carved the joined hearts entwined with our similar initials."
+
+"So they are initials, are they?" said Eastford, glancing down at what
+he had mistaken for twining serpents.
+
+"Yes," said the officer; "I was more accustomed to a sword than to an
+etching tool, and the letters are but rudely drawn. One evening, after
+dark, Gretlich and I were whispering together in the hall, when we
+heard the heavy tread of the general coming up the stair. The girl fled
+precipitately, and I, holding open the door, waited the approach of my
+chief. He entered and curtly asked me to close the door.
+
+"'Lieutenant,' he said, 'it is my intention to capture the citadel
+to-night. Get together twenty-five of your men, and have them ready
+under the shadow of this house, but give no one a hint of what you
+intend to do with them. In one hour's time leave this place with your
+men as quietly as possible, and make an attack on the western entrance
+of the citadel. Your attack is to be but a feint and to draw off their
+forces to that point. Still, if any of your men succeed in gaining
+entrance to the fort they shall not lack reward and promotion. Have you
+a watch?'
+
+"'Not one that will go, general; but I have an hourglass here.'
+
+"'Very well, set it running. Collect your men, and exactly at the hour
+lead them to the west front; it is but five minutes' quick march from
+here. An hour and five minutes from this moment I expect you to begin
+the attack, and the instant you are before the western gate make as much
+noise as your twenty-five men are capable of, so as to lead the enemy to
+believe that the attack is a serious one.'
+
+"Saying this, the general turned and made his way, heavy-footed, through
+the hall and down the stairway.
+
+"I set the hour-glass running, and went at once to call my men,
+stationing them where I had been ordered to place them. I returned
+to have a word with Gretlich before I departed on what I knew was a
+dangerous mission. Glancing at the hour-glass, I saw that not more than
+a quarter of the sand had run down during my absence. I remained in the
+doorway, where I could keep an eye on the hour-glass, while the
+girl stood leaning her arm against the angle of the dark passageway,
+supporting her fair cheek on her open palm; and, standing thus in the
+darkness, she talked to me in whispers. We talked and talked, engaged in
+that sweet, endless conversation that murmurs in subdued tone round
+the world, being duplicated that moment at who knows how many
+places. Absorbed as I was in listening, at last there crept into
+my consciousness the fact that the sand in the upper bulb was not
+diminishing as fast as it should. This knowledge was fully in my mind
+for some time before I realised its fearful significance. Suddenly
+the dim knowledge took on actuality. I sprang from the door-lintel,
+saying:--
+
+"'Good heavens, the sand in the hour-glass has stopped running!'
+
+"I remained there motionless, all action struck from my rigid limbs,
+gazing at the hour-glass on the table.
+
+"Gretlich, peering in at the doorway, looking at the hour-glass and not
+at me, having no suspicion of the ruin involved in the stoppage of that
+miniature sandstorm, said, presently:--
+
+"'Oh, yes, I forgot to tell you it does that now and then, and so you
+must shake the glass.'
+
+"She bent forward as if to do this when the leaden windows shuddered,
+and the house itself trembled with the sharp crash of our light cannon,
+followed almost immediately by the deeper detonation of the heavier guns
+from the citadel. The red sand in the glass began to fall again, and its
+liberation seemed to unfetter my paralysed limbs. Bareheaded as I was,
+I rushed like one frantic along the passage and down the stairs. The
+air was resonant with the quick-following reports of the cannon, and
+the long, narrow street was fitfully lit up as if by sudden flashes of
+summer lightning. My men were still standing where I had placed them.
+Giving a sharp word of command, I marched them down the street and
+out into the square, where I met General Trelawny coming back from his
+futile assault. Like myself, he was bareheaded. His military countenance
+was begrimed with powder-smoke, but he spoke to me with no trace of
+anger in his voice.
+
+"'Lieutenant Sentore,' he said, 'disperse your men.'
+
+"I gave the word to disband my men, and then stood at attention before
+him.
+
+"'Lieutenant Sentore,' he said, in the same level voice, 'return to your
+quarters and consider yourself under arrest. Await my coming there.'
+
+"I turned and obeyed his orders. It seemed incredible that the sand
+should still be running in the hour-glass, for ages appeared to have
+passed over my head since last I was in that room. I paced up and down,
+awaiting the coming of my chief, feeling neither fear nor regret, but
+rather dumb despair. In a few minutes his heavy tread was on the stair,
+followed by the measured tramp of a file of men. He came into the room,
+and with him were a sergeant and four soldiers, fully armed. The general
+was trembling with rage, but held strong control over himself, as was
+his habit on serious occasions.
+
+"'Lieutenant Sentore,' he said, 'why were you not at your post?"
+
+"'The running sand in the hour-glass' (I hardly recognised my own voice
+on hearing it) 'stopped when but half exhausted. I did not notice its
+interruption until it was too late.'
+
+"The general glanced grimly at the hour-glass. The last sands were
+falling through to the lower bulb. I saw that he did not believe my
+explanation.
+
+"'It seems now to be in perfect working order,' he said, at last.
+
+"He strode up to it and reversed it, watching the sand pour for a few
+moments, then he spoke abruptly:--
+
+"'Lieutenant Sentore, your sword.'
+
+"I handed my weapon to him without a word. Turning to the sergeant,
+he said: 'Lieutenant Sentore is sentenced to death. He has an hour for
+whatever preparations he cares to make. Allow him to dispose of that
+hour as he chooses, so long as he remains within this room and holds
+converse with no one whatever. When the last sands of this hour-glass
+are run, Lieutenant Sentore will stand at the other end of this room
+and meet the death merited by traitors, laggards, or cowards. Do you
+understand your duty, sergeant?'
+
+"'Yes, general.'
+
+"General Trelawny abruptly left the room, and we heard his heavy steps
+echoing throughout the silent house, and later, more faintly on the
+cobble-stones of the street. When they had died away a deep stillness
+set in, I standing alone at one end of the room, my eyes fixed on the
+hour-glass, and the sergeant with his four men, like statues at the
+other, also gazing at the same sinister object. The sergeant was the
+first to break the silence.
+
+"'Lieutenant,' he said, 'do you wish to write anything----?'
+
+"He stopped short, being an unready man, rarely venturing far beyond
+'Yes' and 'No.'
+
+"'I should like to communicate with one in this household,' I said, 'but
+the general has forbidden it, so all I ask is that you shall have
+my body conveyed from this room as speedily as possible after the
+execution.'
+
+"'Very good, lieutenant,' answered the sergeant.
+
+"After that, for a long time no word was spoken. I watched my life run
+redly through the wasp waist of the transparent glass, then suddenly the
+sand ceased to flow, half in the upper bulb, half in the lower.
+
+"'It has stopped,' said the sergeant; 'I must shake the glass.'
+
+"'Stand where you are!' I commanded, sharply. 'Your orders do not run to
+that.'
+
+"The habit of obedience rooted the sergeant to the spot.
+
+"'Send one of your men to General Trelawny,' I said, as if I had
+still the right to be obeyed. 'Tell him what has happened, and ask for
+instructions. Let your man tread lightly as he leaves the room.'
+
+"The sergeant did not hesitate a moment, but gave the order I required
+of him. The soldier nearest the door tip-toed out of the house. As we
+all stood there the silence seeming the deeper because of the stopping
+of the sand, we heard the hour toll in the nearest steeple. The sergeant
+was visibly perturbed, and finally he said:--
+
+"'Lieutenant, I must obey the general's orders. An hour has passed since
+he left here, for that clock struck as he was going down the stair.
+Soldiers, make ready. _Present_.'
+
+"The men, like impassive machines levelled their muskets at my breast. I
+held up my hand.
+
+"'Sergeant,' I said as calmly as I could, 'you are now about to exceed
+your instructions. Give another command at your peril. The exact words
+of the general were, 'When the last sands of this hour-glass are run.'
+I call your attention to the fact that the conditions are not fulfilled.
+Half of the sand remains in the upper bulb.'
+
+"The sergeant scratched his head in perplexity, but he had no desire to
+kill me, and was only actuated by a soldier's wish to adhere strictly to
+the letter of his instructions, be the victim friend or foe. After a few
+moments he muttered, 'It is true,' then gave a command that put his men
+into their former position.
+
+"Probably more than half an hour passed, during which time no man moved;
+the sergeant and his three remaining soldiers seemed afraid to breathe;
+then we heard the step of the general himself on the stair. I feared
+that this would give the needed impetus to the sand in the glass, but,
+when Trelawny entered, the _status quo_ remained. The general stood
+looking at the suspended sand, without speaking.
+
+"' That is what happened before, general, and that is why I was not
+at my place. I have committed the crime of neglect, and have thus
+deservedly earned my death; but I shall die the happier if my general
+believes I am neither a traitor nor a coward.'
+
+"The general, still without a word, advanced to the table, slightly
+shook the hour-glass, and the sand began to pour again. Then he picked
+the glass up in his hand, examining it minutely, as if it were some
+strange kind of toy, turning it over and over. He glanced up at me and
+said, quite in his usual tone, as if nothing in particular had come
+between us:--
+
+"'Remarkable thing that, Sentore, isn't it?'
+
+"'Very,' I answered, grimly.
+
+"He put the glass down.
+
+"'Sergeant, take your men to quarters. Lieutenant Sentore, I return to
+you your sword; you can perhaps make better use of it alive than dead;
+I am not a man to be disobeyed, reason or no reason. Remember that, and
+now go to bed.'
+
+"He left me without further word, and buckling on my sword, I proceeded
+straightway to disobey again.
+
+"I had a great liking for General Trelawny. Knowing how he fumed and
+raged at being thus held helpless by an apparently impregnable fortress
+in the unimportant town of Elsengore, I had myself studied the citadel
+from all points, and had come to the conclusion that it might be
+successfully attempted, not by the great gates that opened on the
+square of the town, nor by the inferior west gates, but by scaling the
+seemingly unclimbable cliffs at the north side. The wall at the top of
+this precipice was low, and owing to the height of the beetling
+cliff, was inefficiently watched by one lone sentinel, who paced the
+battlements from corner tower to corner tower. I had made my plans,
+intending to ask the general's permission to risk this venture, but
+now I resolved to try it without his knowledge or consent, and thus
+retrieve, if I could, my failure of the foregoing part of the night.
+
+"Taking with me a long, thin rope which I had in my room, anticipating
+such a trial for it, I roused five of my picked men, and silently we
+made our way to the foot of the northern cliff. Here, with the rope
+around my waist, I worked my way diagonally up along a cleft in
+the rock, which, like others parallel to it, marked the face of the
+precipice. A slip would be fatal. The loosening of a stone would give
+warning to the sentinel, whose slow steps I heard on the wall above me,
+but at last I reached a narrow ledge without accident, and standing up
+in the darkness, my chin was level with the top of the wall on which the
+sentry paced. The shelf between the bottom of the wall and the top of
+the cliff was perhaps three feet in width, and gave ample room for a
+man careful of his footing. Aided by the rope, the others, less expert
+climbers than myself, made their way to my side one by one, and the
+six of us stood on the ledge under the low wall. We were all in our
+stockinged feet, some of the men, in fact, not even having stockings on.
+As the sentinel passed, we crouching in the darkness under the wall, the
+most agile of our party sprang up behind him. The soldier had taken off
+his jacket, and tip-toeing behind the sentinel, he threw the garment
+over his head, tightening it with a twist that almost strangled the man.
+Then seizing his gun so that it would not clatter on the stones, held
+him thus helpless while we five climbed up beside him. Feeling under the
+jacket, I put my right hand firmly on the sentinel's throat, and nearly
+choking the breath out of him, said:--
+
+"'Your life depends on your actions now. Will you utter a sound if I let
+go your throat?'
+
+"The man shook his head vehemently, and I released my clutch.
+
+"'Now,' I said to him, 'where is the powder stored? Answer in a whisper,
+and speak truly.'
+
+"'The bulk of the powder,' he answered, 'is in the vault below the
+citadel.'
+
+"'Where is the rest of it?' I whispered.
+
+"'In the lower room of the round tower by the gate.'
+
+"'Nonsense,' I said: 'they would never store it in a place so liable to
+attack.'
+
+"'There was nowhere else to put it,' replied the sentinel, 'unless they
+left it in the open courtyard, which would be quite as unsafe.'
+
+"'Is the door to the lower room in the tower bolted?'
+
+"'There is no door,' replied the sentry, 'but a low archway. This
+archway has not been closed, because no cannon-balls ever come from the
+northern side.'
+
+"'How much powder is there in this room?'
+
+"'I do not know; nine or ten barrels, I think.'
+
+"It was evident to me that the fellow, in his fear, spoke the truth.
+Now, the question was, how to get down from the wall into the courtyard
+and across that to the archway at the southern side? Cautioning the
+sentinel again, that if he made the slightest attempt to escape or give
+the alarm, instant death would be meted to him, I told him to guide us
+to the archway, which he did, down the stone steps that led from the
+northern wall into the courtyard. They seemed to keep loose watch
+inside, the only sentinels in the place being those on the upper walls.
+But the man we had captured not appearing at his corner in time, his
+comrade on the western side became alarmed, spoke to him, and obtaining
+no answer, shouted for him, then discharged his gun. Instantly the
+place was in an uproar. Lights flashed, and from different guard-rooms
+soldiers poured out. I saw across the courtyard the archway the sentinel
+had spoken of, and calling my men made a dash for it. The besieged
+garrison, not expecting an enemy within, had been rushing up the stone
+steps at each side to the outer wall to man the cannon they had so
+recently quitted, and it was some minutes before a knowledge of the real
+state of things came to them. These few minutes were all we needed, but
+I saw there was no chance for a slow match, while if we fired the mine
+we probably would die under the tottering tower.
+
+"By the time we reached the archway and discovered the powder barrels,
+the besieged, finding everything silent outside, came to a realisation
+of the true condition of affairs. We faced them with bayonets fixed,
+while Sept, the man who had captured the sentinel, took the hatchet he
+had brought with him at his girdle, flung over one of the barrels on its
+side, knocked in the head of it, allowing the dull black powder to pour
+on the cobblestones. Then filling his hat with the explosive, he came
+out towards us, leaving a thick trail behind him. By this time we were
+sorely beset, and one of our men had gone down under the fire of the
+enemy, who shot wildly, being baffled by the darkness, otherwise all of
+us had been slaughtered. I seized a musket from a comrade and shouted to
+the rest:--
+
+"'Save yourselves', and to the garrison, in French, I gave the same
+warning; then I fired the musket into the train of powder, and the next
+instant found myself half stunned and bleeding at the farther end of the
+courtyard. The roar of the explosion and the crash of the falling tower
+were deafening. All Elsengore was groused by the earthquake shock, I
+called to my men when I could find my voice, and Sept answered from
+one side, and two more from another. Together we tottered across the
+_debris_-strewn courtyard. Some woodwork inside the citadel had taken
+fire and was burning fiercely, and this lit up the ruins and made
+visible the great gap in the wall at the fallen gate. Into the square
+below we saw the whole town pouring, soldiers and civilians alike coming
+from the narrow streets into the open quadrangle. I made my way, leaning
+on Sept, over the broken gate and down the causeway into the square, and
+there, foremost of all, met my general, with a cloak thrown round him,
+to make up for his want of coat.
+
+"'There, general,' I gasped, 'there is your citadel, and through this
+gap can we march to meet Marlborough.'
+
+"'Pray, sir, who the deuce are you?' cried the general, for my face was
+like that of a blackamoor.
+
+"'I am the lieutenant who has once more disobeyed your orders, general,
+in the hope of retrieving a former mistake.'
+
+"'Sentore!' he cried, rapping out an oath. 'I shall have you
+court-martialled, sir.'
+
+"'I think, general,' I said, 'that I am court-martialled already,' for I
+thought then that the hand of death was upon me, which shows the
+effect of imagination, for my wounds were not serious, yet I sank down
+unconscious at the general's feet. He raised me in his arms as if I had
+been his own son, and thus carried me to my rooms. Seven years later,
+when the war ended, I got leave of absence and came back to Elsengore
+for Gretlich Seidelmier and the hour-glass."
+
+As the lieutenant ceased speaking, Eastford thought he heard again the
+explosion under the tower, and started to his feet in nervous alarm,
+then looked at the lieutenant and laughed, while he said:--
+
+"Lieutenant, I was startled by that noise just now, and imagined for
+the moment that I was in Brabant. You have made good your claim to the
+hour-glass, and you are welcome to it."
+
+But as Eastford spoke, he turned his eyes towards the chair in which the
+lieutenant had been seated, and found it vacant. Gazing round the room,
+in half somnolent dismay, he saw that he was indeed alone. At his
+feet was the shattered hour-glass, which had fallen from his knee, its
+blood-red sand mingling with the colours on the carpet. Eastford said,
+with an air of surprise:--
+
+"By Jove!"
+
+
+
+
+THE WARRIOR MAID OF SAN CARLOS
+
+The young naval officer came into this world with two eyes and two arms;
+he left it with but one of each--nevertheless the remaining eye was ever
+quick to see, and the remaining arm ever strong to seize. Even his blind
+eye became useful on one historic occasion. But the loss of eye or arm
+was as nothing to the continual loss of his heart, which often led
+him far afield in the finding of it. Vanquished when he met the women;
+invincible when he met the men; in truth, a most human hero, and so
+we all love Jack--the we, in this instant, as the old joke has it,
+embracing the women.
+
+In the year 1780 Britain ordered Colonel Polson to invade Nicaragua.
+The task imposed on the gallant Colonel was not an onerous one, for the
+Nicaraguans never cared to secure for themselves the military reputation
+of Sparta. In fact, some years after this, a single American, Walker,
+with a few Californian rifles under his command, conquered the whole
+nation and made himself President of it, and perhaps would have been
+Dictator of Nicaragua to-day if his own country had not laid him by the
+heels. It is no violation of history to state that the entire British
+fleet was not engaged in subduing Nicaragua, and that Colonel Polson
+felt himself amply provided for the necessities of the crisis by sailing
+into the harbour of San Juan del Norte with one small ship. There were
+numerous fortifications at the mouth of the river, and in about an hour
+after landing, the Colonel was in possession of them all.
+
+The flight of time, brief as it was, could not be compared in celerity
+with the flight of the Nicaraguans, who betook themselves to the
+backwoods with an impetuosity seldom seen outside of a race-course.
+There was no loss of life so far as the British were concerned, and the
+only casualties resulting to the Nicaraguans were colds caught through
+the overheating of themselves in their feverish desire to explore
+immediately the interior of their beloved country. "He who bolts
+and runs away will live to bolt another day," was the motto of the
+Nicaraguans. So far, so good, or so bad, as the case may be.
+
+The victorious Colonel now got together a flotilla of some half a score
+of boats, and the flotilla was placed under the command of the young
+naval officer, the hero of this story. The expedition proceeded
+cautiously up the river San Juan, which runs for eighty miles, or
+thereabouts, from Lake Nicaragua to the salt water. The voyage was
+a sort of marine picnic. Luxurious vegetation on either side, and no
+opposition to speak of, even from the current of the river; for Lake
+Nicaragua itself is but a hundred and twenty feet above the sea level,
+and a hundred and twenty feet gives little rapidity to a river eighty
+miles long.
+
+As the flotilla approached the entrance to the lake caution increased,
+for it was not known how strong Fort San Carlos might prove. This fort,
+perhaps the only one in the country strongly built, stood at once on
+the shore of the lake and bank of the stream. There was one chance in
+a thousand that the speedy retreat of the Nicaraguans had been merely
+a device to lure the British into the centre of the country, where
+the little expedition of two hundred sailors and marines might be
+annihilated. In these circumstances Colonel Poison thought it well,
+before coming in sight of the fort, to draw up his boats along the
+northern bank of the San Juan River, sending out scouts to bring in
+necessary information regarding the stronghold.
+
+The young naval officer all through his life was noted for his energetic
+and reckless courage, so it was not to be wondered at that the age of
+twenty-two found him impatient with the delay, loth to lie inactive in
+his boat until the scouts returned; so he resolved upon an action that
+would have justly brought a court-martial upon his head had a knowledge
+of it come to his superior officer. He plunged alone into the tropical
+thicket, armed only with two pistols and a cutlass, determined to force
+his way through the rank vegetation along the bank of the river, and
+reconnoitre Fort San Carlos for himself. If he had given any thought to
+the matter, which it is more than likely he did not, he must have known
+that he ran every risk of capture and death, for the native of South
+America, then as now, has rarely shown any hesitation about shooting
+prisoners of war. Our young friend, therefore, had slight chance for
+his life if cut off from his comrades, and, in the circumstances, even a
+civilised nation would have been perfectly within its right in executing
+him as a spy.
+
+After leaving the lake the river San Juan bends south, and then north
+again. The scouts had taken the direct route to the fort across the
+land, but the young officer's theory was that, if the Nicaraguans meant
+to fight, they would place an ambush in the dense jungle along the
+river, and from this place of concealment harass the flotilla before it
+got within gunshot of the fort. This ambuscade could easily fall back
+upon the fort if directly attacked and defeated. This, the young man
+argued was what he himself would have done had he been in command of the
+Nicaraguan forces, so it naturally occurred to him to discover whether
+the same idea had suggested itself to the commandant at San Carlos.
+
+Expecting every moment to come upon this ambuscade, the boy proceeded,
+pistol in hand, with the utmost care, crouching under the luxuriant
+tropical foliage, tunnelling his way, as one might say, along the dark
+alleys of vegetation, roofed in by the broad leaves overhead. Through
+cross-alleys he caught glimpses now and then of the broad river, of
+which he was desirous to keep within touch. Stealthily crossing one of
+these riverward alleys the young fellow came upon his ambuscade, and
+was struck motionless with amazement at the form it took. Silhouetted
+against the shining water beyond was a young girl. She knelt at the
+very verge of the low, crumbling cliff above the water; her left hand,
+outspread, was on the ground, her right rested against the rough trunk
+of a palm-tree, and counter-balanced the weight of her body, which
+leaned far forward over the brink. Her face was turned sideways towards
+him, and her lustrous eyes peered intently down the river at the British
+flotilla stranded along the river's bank. So intent was her gaze, so
+confident was she that she was alone, that the leopard-like approach of
+her enemy gave her no hint of attack. Her perfect profile being towards
+him, he saw her cherry-red lips move silently as if she were counting
+the boats and impressing their number upon her memory.
+
+A woman in appearance, she was at this date but sixteen years old, and
+the breathless young man who stood like a statue regarding her thought
+he had never seen a vision of such entrancing beauty, and, as I have
+before intimated, he was a judge of feminine loveliness. Pulling himself
+together, and drawing a deep but silent breath, he went forward with
+soft tread, and the next instant there was a grip of steel on the wrist
+of the young girl that rested on the earth. With a cry of dismay she
+sprang to her feet and confronted her assailant, nearly toppling over
+the brink as she did so; but he grasped her firmly, and drew her a step
+or two up the arcade. As he held her left wrist there was in the air the
+flash of a stiletto, and the naval officer's distinguished career would
+have ended on that spot had he not been a little quicker than his fair
+opponent. His disengaged hand gripped the descending wrist and held her
+powerless.
+
+"Ruffian!" she hissed, in Spanish.
+
+The young man had a workable knowledge of the language, and he thanked
+his stars now that it was so. He smiled at her futile struggles to free
+herself, then said:--
+
+"When they gave me my commission, I had no hope that I should meet so
+charming an enemy. Drop the knife, senorita, and I will release your
+hand."
+
+The girl did not comply at first. She tried to wrench herself free,
+pulling this way and that with more strength than might have been
+expected from one so slight. But finding herself helpless in those rigid
+bonds, she slowly relaxed the fingers of her right hand, and let the
+dagger drop point downward into the loose soil, where it stood and
+quivered.
+
+"Now let me go," she said, panting. "You promised."
+
+The young man relinquished his hold, and the girl, with the quick
+movement of a humming-bird, dived into the foliage, and would have
+disappeared, had he not with equal celerity intercepted her, again
+imprisoning her wrist.
+
+"You liar!" she cried, her magnificent eyes ablaze with anger.
+"Faithless minion of a faithless race, you promised to let me go."
+
+"And I kept my promise," said the young man, still with a smile. "I said
+I would release your hand, and I did so; but as for yourself, that is a
+different matter. You see, senorita, to speak plainly, you are a spy.
+I have caught you almost within our lines, counting our boats, and,
+perhaps, our men. There is war between our countries, and I arrest you
+as a spy."
+
+"A brave country, yours," she cried, "to war upon women!"
+
+"Well," said the young man, with a laugh, "what are we to do? The men
+won't stay and fight us."
+
+She gave him a dark, indignant glance at this, which but heightened her
+swarthy beauty.
+
+"And what are you," she said, "but a spy?"
+
+"Not yet," he replied. "If you had found me peering at the fort, then,
+perhaps, I should be compelled to plead guilty. But as it is, you are
+the only spy here at present, senorita. Do you know what the fate of a
+spy is?"
+
+The girl stood there for a few moments, her face downcast, the living
+gyves still encircling her wrists. When she looked up it was with a
+smile so radiant that the young man gasped for breath, and his heart
+beat faster than ever it had done in warfare.
+
+"But you will not give me up?" she murmured, softly.
+
+"Then would I be in truth a faithless minion," cried the young man,
+fervently; "not, indeed, to my country, but to your fascinating sex,
+which I never adored so much as now."
+
+"You mean that you would be faithless to your country, but not to me?"
+
+"Well," said the young man, with some natural hesitation, "I shouldn't
+care to have to choose between my allegiance to one or the other.
+England can survive without warring upon women, as you have said; so I
+hope that if we talk the matter amicably over, we may find that my duty
+need not clash with my inclination."
+
+"I am afraid that is impossible," she answered, quickly. "I hate your
+country."
+
+"But not the individual members of it, I hope."
+
+"I know nothing of its individual members, nor do I wish to, as you
+shall soon see, if you will but let go my wrist."
+
+"Ah, senorita," exclaimed the young man, "you are using an argument now
+that will make me hold you forever."
+
+"In that case," said the girl, "I shall change my argument, and give
+instead a promise. If you release me I shall not endeavour to escape--I
+may even be so bold as to expect your escort to the fort, where, if I
+understand you aright, you were but just now going."
+
+"I accept your promise, and shall be delighted if you will accept my
+escort. Meanwhile, in the interest of our better acquaintance, can I
+persuade you to sit down, and allow me to cast myself at your feet?"
+
+The girl, with a clear, mellow laugh, sat down, and the young man
+reclined in the position he had indicated, gazing up at her with intense
+admiration in his eyes.
+
+"If this be war," he said to himself, "long may I remain a soldier."
+Infatuated as he certainly was, his natural alertness could not but
+notice that her glance wandered to the stiletto, the perpendicular
+shining blade of which looked like the crest of a glittering, dangerous
+serpent, whose body was hidden in the leaves. She had seated herself
+as close to the weapon as possible, and now, on one pretext or another,
+edged nearer and nearer to it. At last the young man laughed aloud,
+and, sweeping his foot round, knocked down the weapon, then indolently
+stretching out his arm, he took it.
+
+"Senorita," he said, examining its keen edge, "will you give me this
+dagger as a memento of our meeting?"
+
+"It is unlucky," she murmured, "to make presents of stilettos."
+
+"I think," said the young man, glancing up at her with a smile on his
+lips, "it will be more lucky for me if I place it here in my belt than
+if I allow it to reach the possession of another."
+
+"Do you intend to steal it, senor?"
+
+"Oh, no. If you refuse to let me have it, I will give it back to you
+when our interview ends; but I should be glad to possess it, if you
+allow me to keep it."
+
+"It is unlucky, as I have said; to make a present of it, but I will
+exchange. If you will give me one of your loaded pistols, you may have
+the stiletto."
+
+"A fair exchange," he laughed, but he made no motion to fulfil his
+part to the barter. "May I have the happiness of knowing your name,
+senorita?" he asked.
+
+"I am called Donna Rafaela Mora," answered the girl, simply. "I am
+daughter of the Commandant of Fort San Carlos. I am no Nicaraguan, but a
+Spaniard And, senor, what is your name?"
+
+"Horatio Nelson, an humble captain in His Majesty's naval forces, to be
+heard from later, I hope, unless Donna Rafaela cuts short my thread of
+life with her stiletto."
+
+"And does a captain in His Majesty's forces condescend to play the part
+of a spy?" asked the girl, proudly.
+
+"He is delighted to do so when it brings him the acquaintance of another
+spy so charming as Donna Rafaela. My spying, and I imagine yours
+also, is but amateurish, and will probably be of little value to our
+respective forces. Our real spies are now gathered round your fort, and
+will bring to us all the information we need. Thus, I can recline at
+your feet, Donna Rafaela, with an easy conscience, well aware that my
+failure as a spy will in no way retard our expedition."
+
+"How many men do you command, Senor Captain?" asked the girl, with
+ill-concealed eagerness.
+
+"Oh, sometimes twenty-five, sometimes fifty, or a hundred or two
+hundred, or more, as the case may be," answered the young man,
+carelessly.
+
+"But how many are there in your expedition now?"
+
+"Didn't you count them, Donna? To answer truly, I must not, to answer
+falsely, I will not, Donna."
+
+"Why?" asked the girl, impetuously. "There is no such secrecy about our
+forces; we do not care who knows the number in our garrison."
+
+"No? Then how many are there, Donna?"
+
+"Three hundred and forty," answered the girl.
+
+"Men, or young ladies like yourself, Donna? Be careful how you answer,
+for if the latter, I warn you that nothing will keep the British out
+of Fort San Carlos. We shall be with you, even if we have to go as
+prisoners. In saying this, I feel that I am speaking for our entire
+company."
+
+The girl tossed her head scornfully.
+
+"There are three hundred and forty men," she said, "as you shall find to
+your cost, if you dare attack the fort."
+
+"In that case," replied Nelson, "you are nearly two to one, and I
+venture to think that we have not come up the river for nothing."
+
+"What braggarts you English are!"
+
+"Is it bragging to welcome a stirring fight? Are you well provided with
+cannon?"
+
+"You will learn that for yourself when you come within sight of the
+fort. Have you any more questions to ask, Senor Sailor?"
+
+"Yes; one. The number in the fort, which you give, corresponds with what
+I have already heard. I have heard also that you were well supplied with
+cannon, but I have been told that you have no cannonballs in Fort San
+Carlos."
+
+"That is not true; we have plenty.
+
+"Incredible as it may seem, I was told that the cannon-balls were made
+of clay. When I said you had none, I meant that you had none of iron."
+
+"That also is quite true," answered the girl. "Do you mean to say
+that you are going to shoot baked clay at us? It will be like heaving
+bricks," and the young man threw back his head and laughed.
+
+"Oh, you may laugh," cried the girl, "but I doubt if you will be so
+merry when you come to attack the fort. The clay cannon-balls were made
+under the superintendence of my father, and they are filled with links
+of chain, spikes, and other scraps of iron."
+
+"By Jove!" cried young Nelson, "that's an original idea. I wonder how it
+will work?"
+
+"You will have every opportunity of finding out, if you are foolish
+enough to attack the fort."
+
+"You advise us then to retreat?"
+
+"I most certainly do."
+
+"And why, Donna, if you hate our country, are you so anxious that we
+shall not be cut to pieces by your scrap-iron?"
+
+The girl shrugged her pretty shoulders.
+
+"It doesn't matter in the least to me what you do," she said, rising to
+her feet. "Am I your prisoner, Senor Nelson?"
+
+"No," cried the young man, also springing up; "I am yours, and have been
+ever since you looked at me."
+
+Again the girl shrugged her shoulders. She seemed to be in no humour for
+light compliments, and betrayed an eagerness to be gone.
+
+"I have your permission, then, to depart? Do you intend to keep your
+word?"
+
+"If you will keep yours, Donna."
+
+"I gave you no promise, except that I would not run away, and I have not
+done so. I now ask your permission to depart."
+
+"You said that I might accompany you to the fort."
+
+"Oh, if you have the courage, yes," replied the girl, carelessly.
+
+They walked on together through the dense alleys of vegetation, and
+finally came to an opening which showed them a sandy plain, and across
+it the strong white stone walls of the fort, facing the wide river, and
+behind it the blue background of Lake Nicaragua.
+
+Not a human form was visible either on the walls or on the plain. Fort
+San Carlos, in spite of the fact that it bristled with cannon, seemed
+like an abandoned castle. The two stood silent for a moment at the
+margin of the jungle, the young officer running his eye rapidly over
+the landscape, always bringing back his gaze to the seemingly deserted
+stronghold.
+
+"Your three hundred and forty men keep themselves well hidden," he said
+at last.
+
+"Yes," replied the girl, nonchalantly, "they fear that if they show
+themselves you may hesitate to attack a fortress that is impregnable."
+
+"Well, you may disabuse their minds of that error when you return."
+
+"Are you going to keep my stiletto?" asked the girl, suddenly changing
+the subject.
+
+"Yes, with your permission."
+
+"Then keep your word, and give me your pistol in return."
+
+"Did I actually promise it?"
+
+"You promised, Senor."
+
+"Then in that case, the pistol is yours."
+
+"Please hand it to me."
+
+Her eagerness to obtain the weapon was but partially hidden, and the
+young man laughed as he weighed the fire-arm in his hand, holding it by
+the muzzle.
+
+"It is too heavy for a slim girl like you to handle," he said, at last.
+"It can hardly be called a lady's toy."
+
+"You intend, then, to break your word," said the girl, with quick
+intuition, guessing with unerring instinct his vulnerable point.
+
+"Oh, no," he cried, "but I am going to send the pistol half-way home for
+you," and with that, holding it still by the barrel, he flung it far out
+on the sandy plain, where it fell, raising a little cloud of dust. The
+girl was about to speed to the fort, when, for the third time, the young
+man grasped her wrist. She looked at him with indignant surprise.
+
+"Pardon me," he said, "but in case you should wish to fire the weapon,
+you must have some priming. Let me pour a quantity of this gunpowder
+into your hand."
+
+"Thank you," she said, veiling her eyes, to hide their hatred.
+
+He raised the tiny hand to his lips, without opposition, and then into
+her satin palm, from his powderhorn, he poured a little heap of the
+black grains.
+
+"Good-bye, senor," she said, hurrying away. She went directly to where
+the pistol had fallen, stooped and picked it up. He saw her pour the
+powder from her hand on its broad, unshapely pan. She knelt on the sand,
+studied the clumsy implement, resting her elbow on her knee. The young
+man stood there motionless, bareheaded, his cap in his hand. There was
+a flash and a loud report; and the bullet cut the foliage behind him,
+a little nearer than he expected. He bowed low to her, and she, rising
+with an angry gesture, flung the weapon from her.
+
+"Donna Rafaela," he shouted, "thank you for firing the pistol. Its
+report brings no one to the walls of San Carlos. Your fortress is
+deserted, Donna. Tomorrow may I have the pleasure of showing you how to
+shoot?"
+
+The girl made no answer, but turning, ran as fast as she could towards
+the fort.
+
+The young man walked toward the fort, picked up his despised weapon,
+thrust it in his belt, and went back to the camp. The scouts were
+returning, and reported that, as far as they could learn, the three
+hundred and forty Nicaraguans had, in a body, abandoned Fort San Carlos.
+
+"It is some trick," said the Colonel. "We must approach the fortress
+cautiously, as if the three hundred and forty were there."
+
+The flotilla neared the fort in a long line. Each boat was filled with
+men, and in each prow was levelled a small cannon--a man with a lighted
+match beside it--ready to fire the moment word was given. Nelson himself
+stood up in his boat, and watched the silent fort. Suddenly the silence
+was broken by a crash of thunder, and Nelson's boat (and the one nearest
+to it) was wrecked, many of the men being killed, and himself severely
+wounded.
+
+"Back, back!" cried the commander. "Row out of range, for your lives!"
+The second cannon spoke, and the whole line of boats was thrown into
+inextricable confusion. Cannon after cannon rang out, and of the two
+hundred men who sailed up the river San Juan only ten reached the ship
+alive.
+
+The Commandant of the fort lay ill in his bed, unable to move, but his
+brave daughter fired the cannon that destroyed the flotilla. Here Nelson
+lost his eye, and so on a celebrated occasion was unable to see the
+signals that called upon him to retreat. Thus victory ultimately rose
+out of disaster.
+
+The King of Spain decorated Donna Rafaela Mora, made her a colonel, and
+gave her a pension for life. So recently as 1857, her grandson, General
+Martinez, was appointed President of Nicaragua solely because he was a
+descendant of the girl who defeated Horatio Nelson.
+
+
+
+
+THE AMBASSADOR'S PIGEONS
+
+
+Haziddin, the ambassador, stood at the door of his tent and gazed down
+upon the famous city of Baalbek, seeing it now for the first time. The
+night before, he had encamped on the heights to the south of Baalbek,
+and had sent forward to that city, messengers to the Prince, carrying
+greetings and acquainting him with the fact that an embassy from the
+Governor of Damascus awaited permission to enter the gates. The sun
+had not yet risen, but the splendour in the East, lighting the sky with
+wondrous colourings of gold and crimson and green, announced the speedy
+coming of that god which many of the inhabitants of Baalbek still
+worshipped. The temples and palaces of the city took their tints from
+the flaming sky, and Haziddin, the ambassador, thought he had never seen
+anything so beautiful, notwithstanding the eulogy Mahomet himself had
+pronounced upon his own metropolis of Damascus.
+
+The great city lay in silence, but the moment the rim of the sun
+appeared above the horizon the silence was broken by a faint sound of
+chanting from that ornate temple, seemingly of carven ivory, which had
+bestowed upon the city its Greek name of Heliopolis. The Temple of the
+Sun towered overall other buildings in the place, and, as if the day-god
+claimed his own, the rising sun shot his first rays upon this edifice,
+striking from it instantly all colour, leaving its rows of pillars a
+dazzling white as if they were fashioned from the pure snows of distant
+Lebanon. The sun seemed a mainspring of activity, as well as an object
+of adoration, for before it had been many minutes above the horizon the
+ambassador saw emerging from the newly opened gate the mounted convoy
+that was to act as his escort into the city; so, turning, he gave
+a quick command which speedily levelled the tents, and brought his
+retinue; into line to receive their hosts.
+
+The officer, sent by the Prince of Baalbek to welcome the ambassador
+and conduct him into the city, greeted the visitor with that deferential
+ceremony so beloved of the Eastern people, and together they journeyed
+down the hill to the gates, the followers of the one mingling
+fraternally with the followers of the other. As if the deities of the
+wonderful temples they were approaching wished to show the futility of
+man's foresight, a thoughtless remark made by one of the least in
+the ambassador's retinue to one of the least who followed the Baalbek
+general, wrought ruin to one empire, and saved another from disaster.
+
+A mule-driver from Baalbek said to one of his lowly a profession from
+Damascus that the animals of the northern city seemed of superior
+breed to those of the southern. Then the Damascus man, his civic pride
+disturbed by the slighting remark, replied haughtily that if the mules
+of Baalbek had endured such hardships as those of Damascus, journeying
+for a month without rest through a rugged mountain country, they would
+perhaps look in no better condition than those the speaker then drove.
+
+"Our mules were as sleek as yours a month ago, when we left Damascus."
+
+As Baalbek is but thirty-one miles north of Damascus, the muleteer of
+the former place marvelled that so long a time had been spent on
+the journey, and he asked his fellow why they had wandered among the
+mountains. The other could but answer that so it was, and he knew no
+reason for it, and with this the man of Baalbek had to content himself.
+And so the tale went from mouth to ear of the Baalbek men until it
+reached the general himself. He thought little of it for the moment,
+but, turning to the ambassador, said, having nothing else to say:
+
+"How long has it taken you from Damascus to Baalbek?"
+
+Then the ambassador answered:
+
+"We have done the journey in three days; it might have taken us but two,
+or perhaps it could have been accomplished in one, but there being no
+necessity for speed we travelled leisurely."
+
+Then the general, remaining silent, said to himself:
+
+"Which has lied, rumour or the ambassador?"
+
+He cast his eyes over the animals the ambassador had brought with
+him, and saw that they indeed showed signs of fatigue, and perhaps of
+irregular and improper food.
+
+Prince Ismael himself received Haziddin, ambassador of Omar, Governor
+of Damascus, at the gates of Baalbek, and the pomp and splendour of
+that reception was worthy of him who gave it, but the general found
+opportunity to whisper in the ear of the Prince:
+
+"The ambassador says he was but three days coming, while a follower of
+his told a follower of mine that they have been a month on the road,
+wandering among the mountains."
+
+Suspicion is ever latent in the Eastern mind, and the Prince was quick
+to see a possible meaning for this sojourn among the mountains. It might
+well be that the party were seeking a route at once easy and unknown by
+which warriors from Damascus might fall upon Baalbek; yet, if this were
+the case, why did not the explorers return directly to Damascus rather
+than venture within the walls of Baalbek? It seemed to Prince Ismael
+that this would have been the more crafty method to pursue, for, as it
+was, unless messengers had returned to Damascus to report the result of
+their mountain excursion, he had the whole party practically prisoners
+within the walls of his city, and he could easily waylay any envoy sent
+by the ambassador to his chief in Damascus. The Prince, however, showed
+nothing in his manner of what was passing through his mind, but at the
+last moment he changed the programme he had laid out for the reception
+of the ambassador. Preparation had been made for a great public
+breakfast, for Haziddin was famed throughout the East, not only as a
+diplomatist, but also as physician and a man of science. The Prince
+now gave orders that his officers were to entertain the retinue of
+the ambassador at the public breakfast, while he bestowed upon the
+ambassador the exceptional honour of asking him to his private table,
+thus giving Haziddin of Damascus no opportunity to confer with his
+followers after they had entered the gates of Baalbek.
+
+It was impossible for Haziddin to demur, so he could but bow low and
+accept the hospitality which might at that moment be most unwelcome, as
+indeed it was. The Prince's manner was so genial and friendly that, the
+physician, Haziddin, soon saw he had an easy man to deal with, and he
+suspected no sinister motive beneath the cordiality of the Prince.
+
+The red wine of Lebanon is strong, and his Highness, Ismael, pressed it
+upon his guest, urging that his three days' journey had been fatiguing.
+The ambassador had asked that his own servant might wait upon him, but
+the Prince would not hear of it, and said that none should serve him who
+were not themselves among the first nobles in Baalbek.
+
+"You represent Omar, Governor of Damascus, son of King Ayoub, and as
+such I receive you on terms of equality with myself."
+
+The ambassador, at first nonplussed with a lavishness that was most
+unusual, gradually overcame his diffidence, became warm with the wine,
+and so failed to notice that the Prince himself remained cool, and
+drank sparingly. At last the head of Haziddin sank on his breast, and he
+reclined at full length on the couch he occupied, falling into a drunken
+stupor, for indeed he was deeply fatigued, and had spent the night
+before sleepless. As his cloak fell away from him it left exposed a
+small wicker cage attached to his girdle containing four pigeons closely
+huddled, for the cage was barely large enough to hold them, and here the
+Prince saw the ambassador's swift messengers to Damascus. Let loose from
+the walls of Baalbek, and flying direct, the tidings would, in a few
+hours, be in the hands of the Governor of Damascus. Haziddin then was
+spy as well as ambassador. The Prince also possessed carrier pigeons,
+and used them as a means of communication between his armies at Tripoli
+and at Antioch, so he was not ignorant of their consequence. The fact
+that the ambassador himself carried this small cage under his cloak
+attached to his girdle showed the great importance that was attached to
+these winged messengers, otherwise Haziddin would have entrusted them to
+one of his subordinates.
+
+"Bring me," whispered the Prince to his general, "four of my own
+pigeons. Do not disturb the thongs attached to the girdle when you open
+the cage, but take the ambassador's pigeons out and substitute four of
+my own. Keep these pigeons of Damascus separate from ours; we may yet
+have use for them in communicating with the Governor."
+
+The general, quick to see the scheme which was in the Prince's mind,
+brought four Baalbek pigeons, identical with the others in size and
+colour. He brought with him also a cage into which the Damascus pigeons
+were put, and thus the transfer was made without the knowledge of the
+slumbering ambassador. His cloak was arranged about him so that it
+concealed the cage attached to the girdle, then the ambassador's own
+servants were sent for, and he was confided to their care.
+
+When Haziddin awoke he found himself in a sumptuous room of the palace.
+He had but a hazy remembrance of the latter part of the meal with the
+Prince, and his first thought went with a thrill of fear towards the
+cage under his cloak; finding, however, that this was intact, he was
+much relieved in his mind, and could but hope that in his cups he had
+not babbled anything of his mission which might arouse suspicion in the
+mind of the Prince. His first meeting with the ruler of Baalbek after
+the breakfast they had had together, set all doubts finally at
+rest, because the Prince received him with a friendship which was
+unmistakable. The physician apologised for being overcome by the potency
+of the wine, and pleaded that he had hitherto been unused to liquor
+of such strength. The Prince waved away all reference to the subject,
+saying that he himself had succumbed on the same occasion, and had but
+slight recollection of what had passed between them.
+
+Ismael assigned to the ambassador one of the palaces near the Pantheon,
+and Haziddin found himself free to come and go as he pleased without
+espionage or restriction. He speedily learned that one of the armies
+of Baalbek was at the north, near Antioch, the other to the west at
+Tripoli, leaving the great city practically unprotected, and this
+unprecedented state of affairs jumped so coincident with the designs of
+his master, that he hastened to communicate the intelligence. He wrote:
+
+"If Baalbek is immediately attacked, it cannot be protected. Half of the
+army is on the shore of the Mediterranean, near Tripoli, the other half
+is north, at Antioch. The Prince has no suspicion. If you conceal the
+main body of your army behind the hills to the south of Baalbek, and
+come on yourself with a small: retinue, sending notice to the Prince of
+your arrival, he will likely himself come out to the gates to meet you,
+and having secured his person, while I, with my followers, hold the open
+gates, you can march into Baalbek unmolested. Once with a force inside
+the walls of Baalbek, the city is as nearly as possible impregnable, and
+holding the Prince prisoner, you may make with him your own terms. The
+city is indescribably rich, and probably never before in the history of
+the world has there been opportunity of accumulating so much treasure
+with so little risk."
+
+This writing Haziddin attached to the leg of a pigeon, and throwing the
+bird aloft from the walls, it promptly disappeared over the housetops,
+and a few moments later was in the hands of its master, the Prince
+of Baalbek, who read the treacherous message with amazement. Then,
+imitating the ambassador's writing, he penned a note, saying that this
+was not the time to invade Baalbek, but as there were rumours that the
+armies were about to leave the city, one going to the north and the
+other to the west, the ambassador would send by another pigeon news of
+the proper moment to strike.
+
+This communication the Prince attached to the leg of one of the Damascus
+pigeons, and throwing it into the air, saw with satisfaction that the
+bird flew straight across the hills towards the south.
+
+Ismael that night sent messengers mounted on swift Arabian horses to
+Tripoli and to Antioch recalling his armies, directing his generals to
+avoid Baalbek and to join forces in the mountains to the south of that
+city and out of sight of it. This done, the Prince attended in state
+a banquet tendered to him by the ambassador from Damascus, where he
+charmed all present by his genial urbanity, speaking touchingly on the
+blessings of peace, and drinking to a thorough understanding between the
+two great cities of the East, Damascus and Baalbek, sentiments which,
+were cordially reciprocated by the ambassador.
+
+Next morning the second pigeon came to the palace of the Prince.
+
+"Ismael is still unsuspicious," the document ran. "He will fall an easy
+prey if action be prompt. In case of a failure to surprise, it would be
+well to impress upon your generals the necessity of surrounding the city
+instantly so that messengers cannot be sent to the two armies. It will
+then be advisable to cut off the water-supply by diverting the course
+of the small river which flows into Baalbek. The walls of the city are
+incredibly strong, and a few men can defend them successfully against a
+host, once the gates are shut. Thirst, however, will soon compel them,
+to surrender. Strike quickly, and Baalbek is yours."
+
+The Prince sent a note of another tenor to Damascus, and the calm
+days passed serenely on, the ambassador watching anxiously from his
+house-top, his eyes turned to the south, while the Prince watched as
+anxiously from the roof of his palace, his gaze turning now westward now
+northward.
+
+The third night after the second message had been sent, the ambassador
+paced the long level promenade of his roof, ever questioning the south.
+A full moon shone down on the silent city, and in that clear air the
+plain outside the walls and the nearer hills were as distinctly visible
+as if it were daylight. There was no sign of an approaching army.
+Baalbek lay like a city of the dead, the splendid architecture of its
+countless temples gleaming ghostlike, cold, white and unreal in the pure
+refulgence of the moon. Occasionally the ambassador paused in his walk
+and leaned on the parapet. He had become vaguely uneasy, wondering why
+Damascus delayed, and there crept over him that sensation of dumb fear
+which comes to a man in the middle of the night and leaves him with
+the breaking of day. He realised keenly the extreme peril of his own
+position--imprisoned and at the mercy of his enemy should his treachery
+be discovered. And now as he leaned over the parapet in the breathless
+stillness, his alert ear missed an accustomed murmur of the night.
+Baalbek was lulled to sleep by the ever-present tinkle of running water,
+the most delicious sound that can soothe an Eastern ear, accustomed as
+it is to the echoless silence of the arid rainless desert.
+
+The little river which entered Baalbek first flowed past the palace of
+the Prince, then to the homes of the nobles and the priests, meandering
+through every street and lane until it came to the baths left by the
+Romans, whence it flowed through the poorer quarters, and at last
+disappeared under the outer wall. It might be termed a liquid guide to
+Baalbek, for the stranger, leaving the palace and following its current,
+would be led past every temple and residence in the city. It was the
+limpid thread of life running through the veins of the town, and without
+it Baalbek could not have existed. As the ambassador leaned over the
+parapet wondering whether it was his imagination which made this night
+seem more still than all that had gone before since he came to the city,
+he suddenly became aware that what he missed was the purling trickle of
+the water. Peering over the wall of his house, and gazing downward on
+the moonlit street, he saw no reflecting glitter of the current, and
+realised, with a leap of the heart, that the stream had run dry.
+
+The ambassador was quick to understand the meaning of this sudden drying
+of the stream. Notwithstanding his vigilance, the soldiers of Damascus
+had stolen upon the city unperceived by him, and had already diverted
+the water-course. Instantly his thoughts turned toward his own escape.
+In the morning the fact of the invasion would be revealed, and his life
+would lie at the mercy of an exasperated ruler. To flee from Baalbek in
+the night he knew to be no easy task; all the gates were closed, and
+not one of them would be opened before daybreak, except through the
+intervention of the Prince himself. To spring from even the lowest part
+of the wall would mean instant death. In this extremity the natural
+ingenuity of the man came to his rescue. That which gave him warning
+would also provide an avenue of safety.
+
+The stream, conveyed to the city by a lofty aqueduct, penetrated the
+thick walls through a tunnel cut in the solid stone, just large enough
+to receive its volume. The tunnel being thus left dry, a man could crawl
+on his hands and knees through it, and once outside, walk upright on the
+top of the viaduct, along the empty bed of the river, until he reached
+the spot where the water had been diverted, and there find his
+comrades. Wasting not a thought on the jeopardy in which he left his own
+followers, thus helplessly imprisoned in Baalbek, but bent only on his
+own safety, he left his house silently, and hurried, deep in the shadow,
+along the obscure side of the street. He knew he must avoid the guards
+of the palace, and that done, his path to the invading army was clear.
+But before he reached the palace of the Prince there remained for him
+another stupefying surprise.
+
+Coming to a broad thoroughfare leading to the square in which stood the
+Temple of Life, he was amazed to see at his feet, flowing rapidly, the
+full tide of the stream, shattering into dancing discs of light the
+reflection of the full moon on its surface, gurgling swiftly towards the
+square. The fugitive stood motionless and panic-stricken at the margin
+of this transparent flood. He knew that his retreat had been cut
+off. What had happened? Perhaps the strong current had swept away the
+impediment placed against it by the invaders, and thus had resumed its
+course into the city. Perhaps--but there was little use in surmising,
+and the ambassador, recovering in a measure his self-possession,
+resolved to see whether or not it would lead him to his own palace.
+
+Crossing the wide thoroughfare into the shadow beyond, he followed it
+towards the square, keeping his eye on the stream that rippled in the
+moonlight. The rivulet flowed directly across the square to the Temple
+of Life; there, sweeping a semicircle half round the huge building, it
+resumed its straight course. The ambassador hesitated before crossing
+the moonlit square, but a moment's reflection showed him that no
+suspicion could possibly attach to his movements in this direction,
+for the Temple of Life was the only sacred edifice in the city for ever
+open.
+
+The Temple of Life consisted of a huge dome, which was supported by
+a double circle of pillars, and beneath this dome had been erected
+a gigantic marble statue, representing the God of Life, who stood
+motionless with outstretched arms, as if invoking a blessing upon the
+city. A circular opening at the top of the dome allowed the rays of the
+moon to penetrate and illuminate the head of the statue. Against the
+white polished surface of the broad marble slab, which lay at the foot
+of the statue, the ambassador saw the dark forms of several prostrate
+figures, and knew that each was there to beg of the sightless statue,
+life for some friend, lying at that moment somewhere on a bed of
+illness. For this reason the Temple of Life was always open, and
+supplicants prostrated themselves within it at any hour of the night or
+day. Remembering this, and knowing that it was the resort of high
+and low alike, for Death respects not rank, Haziddin, with gathering
+confidence, entered the moonlit square. At the edge of the great
+circular temple he paused, meeting there his third surprise. He saw that
+the stream was not deflected round the lower rim of the edifice, but
+that a stone had been swung at right angles with the lower step, cutting
+off the flow of the stream to the left, and allowing its waters to pour
+underneath the temple. Listening, the ambassador heard the low muffled
+roar of pouring water, and instantly his quick mind jumped at an
+accurate conclusion. Underneath the Temple was a gigantic tank for the
+storage of water, and it was being filled during the night. Did the
+authorities of Baalbek expect a siege, and were they thus preparing
+for it? Or was the filling of the tank an ordinary function performed
+periodically to keep the water sweet? The ambassador would have given
+much for an accurate answer to these questions, but he knew not whom to
+ask.
+
+Entering the Temple he prostrated himself on the marble slab, and
+remained there for a few moments, hoping that, if his presence had been
+observed, this action would provide excuse for his nocturnal wanderings.
+Rising, he crossed again the broad square, and hurried up the street
+by which he had entered it. This street led to the northern gate, whose
+dark arch he saw at the end of it, and just as he was about to turn
+down a lane which led to his palace, he found himself confronted with a
+fourth problem. One leaf of the ponderous gate swung inward, and through
+the opening he caught a glimpse of the moonlit country beyond. Knowing
+that the gates were never opened at night, except through the direct
+order of the Prince, he paused for a moment, and then saw a man on
+horseback enter, fling himself hurriedly from his steed, leaving it in
+care of those in charge of the gates, and disappear down the street that
+led directly to the Prince's palace. In a most perturbed state of mind
+the ambassador sought his own house, and there wrote his final despatch
+to Damascus. He told of his discovery of the water-tank, and said that
+his former advice regarding the diverting of the stream was no longer
+of practical value. He said he would investigate further the reservoir
+under the Temple of Life, and discover, if possible, how the water was
+discharged. If he succeeded in his quest he would endeavour, in case of
+a long siege, to set free Baalbek's store of water; but he reiterated
+his belief that it was better to attempt the capture of the city by
+surprise and fierce assault. The message that actually went to Damascus,
+carried by the third pigeon, was again different in tenor.
+
+"Come at once," it said. "Baalbek is unprotected, and the Prince has
+gone on a hunting expedition. March through the Pass of El-Zaid, which
+is unprotected, because it is the longer route. The armies of Baalbek
+are at Tripoli and at Antioch, and the city is without even a garrison.
+The southern gate will be open awaiting your coming."
+
+Days passed, and the ambassador paced the roof of his house, looking in
+vain towards the south. The streamed flowed as usual through the city.
+Anxiety at the lack of all tidings from Damascus began to plough furrows
+in his brow. He looked careworn and haggard. To the kindly inquiries
+of the Prince regarding his health, he replied that there was nothing
+amiss.
+
+One evening, an urgent message came from the palace requesting his
+attendance there. The Prince met him with concern on his brow.
+
+"Have you had word from your master, Omar, Governor of Damascus, since
+you parted with him?" asked Ismael.
+
+"I have had no tidings," replied the ambassador.
+
+"A messenger has just come in from Damascus, who says that Omar is in
+deadly peril. I thought you should know this speedily, and so I sent for
+you."
+
+"Of what nature is this peril?" asked the ambassador, turning pale.
+
+"The messenger said something of his falling a prisoner, sorely wounded,
+in the hands of his enemies."
+
+"Of his enemies," echoed the ambassador. "He has many. Which one has
+been victorious?"
+
+"I have had no particulars and perhaps the news may not be true,"
+answered the Prince, soothingly.
+
+"May I question your messenger?"
+
+"Assuredly. He has gone to the Temple of Life, to pray for some of his
+own kin, who are in danger. Let us go there together and find him."
+
+But the messenger had already left the Temple before the arrival of his
+master, and the two found the great place entirely empty. Standing near
+the edge of the slab before the mammoth statue, the Prince said:
+
+"Stand upon that slab facing the statue, and it will tell you more
+faithfully than any messenger whether your master shall live or die, and
+when."
+
+"I am a Moslem," answered Haziddin, "and pray to none but Allah."
+
+"In Baalbek," said the Prince, carelessly, "all religions are tolerated.
+Here we have temples for the worship of the Roman and the Greek gods and
+mosques for the Moslems. Here Christian, or Jew, Sun-worshipper or Pagan
+implore their several gods unmolested, and thus is Baalbek prosperous. I
+confess a liking for this Temple of Life, and come here often. I should,
+however, warn you that it is the general belief of those who frequent
+this place that he who steps upon the marble slab facing the god courts
+disaster, unless his heart is as free, from treachery and guile as this
+stone beneath him is free from flaw. Perhaps you have heard the rumour,
+and therefore hesitate."
+
+"I have not heard it heretofore, but having heard it, do not hesitate."
+Saying which, the ambassador stepped upon the stone. Instantly, the
+marble turned under him, and falling, he clutched its polished surface
+in vain, dropping helplessly into the reservoir beneath. The air under
+his cloak bore him up and kept him from sinking. The reservoir into
+which he had fallen proved to be as large as the Temple itself, circular
+in form, as was the edifice above it. Steps rose from the water in
+unbroken rings around it, but even if he could have reached the edge
+of the huge tank in which he found himself, ascent by the steps was
+impossible, for upon the first three burned vigorously some chemical
+substance, which luridly illuminated the surface of this subterranean
+lake. He was surrounded immediately by water, and beyond that by rising
+rings of flame, and he rightly surmised that this substance was Greek
+fire, for where it dripped into the water it still burned, floating
+on the surface. A moment later the Prince appeared on the upper steps,
+outside the flaming circumference.
+
+"Ambassador," he cried, "I told you that if you stepped on the marble
+slab, you would be informed truly of the fate of your master. I now
+announce to you that he dies to-night, being a prisoner in my hands. His
+army was annihilated in the Pass of El-Zaid, while he was on his way to
+capture this city through your treachery. In your last communication to
+him you said that you would investigate our water storage, and learn how
+it was discharged. This secret I shall proceed to put you in possession
+of, but before doing so, I beg to tell you that Damascus has fallen
+and is in my possession. The reservoir, you will observe, is emptied
+by pulling this lever, which releases a trap-door at the centre of the
+bottom of the tank."
+
+The Prince, with both hands on the lever, exerted his strength and
+depressed it. Instantly the ambassador felt the result. First, a small
+whirlpool became indented in the placid surface of the water, exactly in
+the centre of the disc: enlarging its influence, it grew and grew until
+it reached the outer edges of the reservoir, bringing lines of fire
+round with it. The ambassador found himself floating with increased
+rapidity, dizzily round and round. He cried out in a voice that rang
+against the stone ceiling:
+
+"An ambassador's life is sacred, Prince of Baalbek. It is contrary to
+the law of nations to do me injury, much less to encompass my death."
+
+"An ambassador is sacred," replied the Prince, "but not a spy. Aside
+from that, it is the duty of an ambassador to precede his master, and
+that you are about to do. Tell him, when you meet him, the secret of the
+reservoir of Baalbek."
+
+This reservoir, now a whirling maelstrom, hurled its shrieking victim
+into its vortex, and then drowned shriek and man together.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Strong Arm, by Robert Barr
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