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diff --git a/8716-8.txt b/8716-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..93c5520 --- /dev/null +++ b/8716-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10954 @@ +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: ISO-8859-1 + +*** 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 Hundsrück, 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 +Hundsrück, 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 Hundsrück, 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 Hundsrück 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 mêslée 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 Hundsrück." + +"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 +Hundsrück," 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 Hundsrück, 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 Hundsrück, 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 Hundsrück. 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 Hundsrückers 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 mêlée 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 _attaché_ 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, Grün: Strick +meaning, it is said, the rope which hangs you; Stein, the stone at the +head of your grave, and Gras, Grün, 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 Hundsrück!" 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 +mêlée, 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 _cortège_ 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 mêlée 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 daïs 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 daïs, 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 daïs 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 +châlet, 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 châlet 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 châlet? 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 +_débris_-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, señorita, 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, señorita, 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, señorita. 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, señorita," 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. + +"Señorita," 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, señor?" + +"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, +señorita?" 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, señor, 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, Señor 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, Señor 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, Señor 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, Señor." + +"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, señor," 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 + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STRONG ARM *** + +***** This file should be named 8716-8.txt or 8716-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/8/7/1/8716/ + +Produced by Lee Dawei, David Moynihan, Michelle Shephard, +Charles Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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