ven him when he received the
accolade. I owned a good plate armor and the most perfect chain coat I
have ever seen. I took it from a Saracen lord one day in battle, and
gave him his own life in payment. Max and I each bore a long sword, a
short sword, and a mace. We carried no lance. That weapon is burdensome,
and we could get one at any place along our journey.

I was proud of Max the morning we rode out of Vienna, true
knights-errant, with the greatest princess in Europe as our objective
prize. Truly, we were in no wise modest; but the God of heaven, the god
of Luck, and the god of Love all favor the man that is bold enough to
attempt the impossible.

My stock of gold might, with frugality, last us three months, but after
that we should surely have to make our own way or starve. We hoped that
Max would be successful in filling our purses with prize money and
ransoms, should we fall in with a tournament now and then; but, lacking
that good fortune, we expected to engage ourselves as escorts to
merchant caravans. By this kind of employment we hoped to be housed and
fed upon our travels and to receive at each journey's end a good round
sum of gold for our services. But we might find neither tournament nor
merchant caravan. Then there would be trouble and hardship for us, and
perhaps, at times, an aching void under our belts. I had often
suffered the like.

Ours, you see, was not to be a flower-strewn journey of tinselled prince
to embowered princess. Before our return to Styria, Max would probably
receive what he needed to make a man of him--hard knocks and rough
blows in the real battle of life. Above all, he would learn to know the
people of whom this great world is composed, and would return to
Hapsburg Castle full of all sorts of noxious heresies, to the
everlasting horror of the duke and the duchess. They probably would
never forgive me for making a real live man of their son, but I should
have my reward in Max.

To Max, of course, the future was rosy-hued. Caravans were waiting for
our protection, and princes were preparing tournaments for our special
behoof. _We_ want for food to eat or place to lay our heads? Absurd! Our
purses would soon be so heavy they would burden us; we should soon need
squires to carry them. If it were not for our desire to remain
incognito, we might presently collect a retinue and travel with herald
and banner. But at the end of all was sweet Mary of Burgundy waiting to
be carried off