bles
would end with the night. I put my arm over his neck and begged him to
forgive me for bringing this evil upon him.

"You shall not blame yourself, Karl," he protested. "There is no fault
in you. No one is to blame save myself; I should not have gone to the
bridge. I wonder what poor Yolanda is doing. Perhaps she is suffering in
fear and is ignorant of our misfortune. Perhaps she thinks I have broken
my promise and left Peronne. I can see her stamp her little foot, and I
see her great eyes flashing in anger. Each new humor in her seems more
beautiful than the last, Karl. Knowing her, I seem to have known all
mankind--at least, all womankind. She has wakened me to life. Her touch
has unsealed my eyes, and the pain that I take from my love for her is
like a foretaste of heaven. I believe that a man comes to his full
strength, mental and moral, only through the elixir of pain."

"We surely have had our share of late," I said dolefully.

"All will soon be well with us, Karl; do not fear. We shall be free
to-morrow, and I will kill this Calli. Then I'll go back to Styria a
better, wiser, stronger man than I could ever have been had I remained
at home. This last terrible experience has been the keystone of my
regeneration. It has taught me to be merciful even to the guilty, and
gentle with the accused. No man shall ever suffer at my command until he
has been proved guilty. Doubtless thousands of innocent men as free from
crime and evil intent as we, are wasting their lives away in dungeons as
loathsome as those that imprisoned us."

"Calli will not fight you," I said.

"If he refuses, I will kill him at the steps of the throne of Burgundy,
let the result be what it may. God will protect me in my just vengeance.
I will then go home; and I'll not return to Burgundy till I do so at the
head of an army, to compel Duke Charles to behead Campo-Basso."

"What will you do about Yolanda, Max?" I asked.

The interference of the princess in our behalf had thrown more light on
my important riddle, and once again I was convinced that she
was Yolanda.

"I'll keep her in my heart till I die, Karl," he responded, "and I pray
God to give her a happier life than mine can be. That is all I can do."

"Will you see her before you go?" I asked, fully intending that there
should be no doubt on the question.

"Yes, and then--" He paused; and, after a little time, I asked:--

"And what then, Max?"

"God only knows what, Karl. I'm su