rm bell rang through the beating of the
horses' hoofs, and as Hans looked over his shoulder, he saw the light
of torches flashing hither and thither along the outer walls in front of
the great barbican.

In Castle Trutz-Drachen all was confusion and uproar: flashing torches
lit up the dull gray walls; horses neighed and stamped, and men shouted
and called to one another in the bustle of making ready. Presently Baron
Henry came striding along the corridor clad in light armor, which he had
hastily donned when roused from his sleep by the news that his prisoner
had escaped. Below in the courtyard his horse was standing, and without
waiting for assistance, he swung himself into the saddle. Then away they
all rode and down the steep path, armor ringing, swords clanking, and
iron-shod hoofs striking sparks of fire from the hard stones. At their
head rode Baron Henry; his triangular shield hung over his shoulder, and
in his hand he bore a long, heavy, steel-pointed lance with a pennant
flickering darkly from the end.

At the high-road at the base of the slope they paused, for they were at
a loss to know which direction the fugitives had taken; a half a score
of the retainers leaped from their horses, and began hurrying about
hither and thither, and up and down, like hounds searching for the lost
scent, and all the time Baron Henry sat still as a rock in the midst of
the confusion.

Suddenly a shout was raised from the forest just beyond the road; they
had come upon the place where the horses had been tied. It was an easy
matter to trace the way that Baron Conrad and his followers had taken
thence back to the high-road, but there again they were at a loss. The
road ran straight as an arrow eastward and westward--had the fugitives
taken their way to the east or to the west?

Baron Henry called his head-man, Nicholas Stein, to him, and the
two spoke together for a while in an undertone. At last the Baron's
lieutenant reined his horse back, and choosing first one and then
another, divided the company into two parties. The baron placed himself
at the head of one band and Nicholas Stein at the head of the other.
"Forward!" he cried, and away clattered the two companies of horsemen in
opposite directions.

It was toward the westward that Baron Henry of Trutz-Drachen rode at the
head of his men.

The early springtide sun shot its rays of misty, yellow light across the
rolling tops of the forest trees where the little birds were