eat
ransom--nor was this the worst that might befall. If Abersfeld the
wildest freebooter of all the plundering nobles far or near were to seize
her? My blood ran cold as I conceived of this chance. Ann was so fair;
what lord who might carry her off could she fail to inflame? And then I
minded me of what I had read of the Roman Lucretia, and if I had been
possessed of any magic art, I would have given the first raven by the way
a sharp bodkin that he should carry it to her.

In my soul's anguish, while I held my bridle and whip together in my left
hand, with the right I lifted the gold cross on my breast to my lips and
in a silent heartfelt prayer I besought the Blessed Virgin, and my own
dear mother in Heaven to have her in keeping.

And so we rode on and on till we came to the pools by Pillenreuth. Hard
by the larger of these, known as the King's pool, was a sign-post, and
not far away was the spot where they had found Eppelein, stripped and
plundered; and in truth it was the very place for highwaymen and
freebooters, lying within the wood and aside from the highway; albeit, if
it came to their taking flight, they might find it again by Reichelstorf.
Nor was there any castle nor stronghold anywhere nigh; the great building
with walls and moats which stood on the south side of the King's pool was
but the peaceful cloister of the Augustine Sisters of Pillenreuth. All
about the water lay marsh-ground overgrown with leafless bushes, rushes,
tall grasses, and reeds. It was verily a right dismal and ill-boding
spot.

The boggy tract across which our path lay was white with fresh
hoar-frost, and the thicket away to the south was a haunt for crows such
as I never have seen again since; the black birds flew round and about it
in dark clouds with loud shrieks, as though in its midst stood a charnel
and gallows, and from the brushwood likewise, by the pool's edge, came
other cries of birds, all as full of complaining as though they were
bewailing the griefs of the whole world.

Here we stayed our horses, and called and shouted; but none made answer,
save only toads and crows. "This is the place, for certain," said Young
Kubbeling, and Grubner the head forester, sprang to his feet to help him
down from his tall mare. The gentlemen likewise dismounted, and were
about to follow the Trunswicker across the mead to the place where
Eppelein had been found; but he bid them not, inasmuch as they would mar
the track he would fain disc