he south to the north. From one
particular spot, where the heights of the Vosges begin to level, it is
said that one may see the towers of Strasburg, of Speyer, of Worms, and
of Heidelberg. If so, it is a wonderful panorama, and it must have been
on a similar site that the Chateau of Trifels (three rocks) was
situated, in which Richard Coeur de Lion was imprisoned when delivered
up to Henry VI. by Leopold of Austria.

To distract himself he sang the songs taught him by his troubadour, to
the accompaniment of the harp, says both history and legend, until one
day the faithful Blondel, who was pursuing his way up and down the
length of Europe in search of his royal master, appeared before his
window.

Some faithful knights, entirely devoted to their prince, had followed in
the wake of the troubadour, and were able to rescue Richard by the aid
of a young girl, Mathilde by name, who had recognized the songs sung by
Blondel as being the same as those of the royal prisoner in the tower of
the chateau. When the troubadour was led to the door of the prince's
cell, he heard a voice call to him: "_Est-ce toi, mon cher Blondel?_"
"_Oui, c'est moi, mon seigneur_," replied the singer. "_Comptez sur
mon zele et sur celui de quelques amis fideles--nous vous deliverons._"

[Illustration: GENERAL VIEW _of DUeSSELDORF_]

The next day the escape was made through an overpowering of the guard;
and Richard, in the midst of his faithful chevaliers, ultimately arrived
in England.

Blondel had meanwhile led the willing Mathilde to the altar, and
received a rich recompense from the king.

As the Rhine enters the plain at Cologne, it comes into its fourth and
last phase.

Flowing past Duesseldorf and Wesel, it quits German soil just beyond
Emmerich, and enters the Low Countries in two branches. The Waal
continues its course toward the west by Nymegen, and through its vast
estuary, by Dordrecht, to the sea.

The Rhine proper takes a more northerly course, and, as the Neder Rijn,
passes Arnheim and Utrecht, and thence, taking the name of Oud Rijn,
fills the canals of Leyden and goes onward to the German Ocean.

Twelve kilometres from Leyden is Katwyck aan Zee, where, between
colossal dikes, the Rhine at last finds its way to the open sea. More
humble yet at its tomb than in the cradle of its birth, it enters the
tempestuous waters of the German Ocean through an uncompromising and
unbeautiful sluice built by the government of Louis Bonapar