led a Heimburg in a quarrel, and since that time a bitter feud had
divided the two houses. The brave knight felt this bitterly, but in
spite of it he did not leave off his wooing. The young countess was
much touched by his constancy, and one day she spoke thus to her
impetuous suitor:

"My lord, if you will dare to go to the Holy Land there to expiate the
sins of your fathers, and bring me back a relic from the sepulchre of
our Redeemer, in that same hour your suit will be heard."

The knight in great joy kissed the maiden's slender hand and departed,
carrying the memory of her sweet smile away in his heart.

Just at this time the call of the Emperor Barbarossa, now an old man,
sounded throughout the land, and the Knight of Ravensberg did not
neglect the opportunity, but hastened forth to join the imperial army.

The expedition was a long and terrible one, and the troops wearily
made their way across the desert plains of Palestine.

The knight, though a brave man, had no special love for warlike
adventures, and during these exhausting marches he thought sorrowfully
of his quiet castle on the Nahe; of how he used to lie down there in
peace and safety at night without being in fear of the Saracens who,
under cover of darkness would break in waving their scimitars in air,
an event which was a nightly occurrence on this expedition.

Ravensberg however fought bravely in many a battle, and after the
deaths of Barbarossa and his son, he joined the army of Richard the
Lion-hearted.

Through all this anxious time he never forgot his dear one at home,
and his longing for her became stronger every day, till it seemed to
get beyond endurance.

King Richard was called back to England on some urgent state-affairs,
and the Knight of Ravensberg was among the few companions-in-arms who
embarked with him. The brave knight was very happy, and while the
king's ship was sailing along the coast of Greece and up the blue
Adriatic Sea, he would often stand on deck and weave bright dreams of
the future; sometimes when no one was near, he would pull out a little
black ebony box set with precious stones, on which a woman's name was
written in golden letters; the interior was beautifully lined with
costly silk; and a small splinter of wood lay within which the knight
would kiss most reverently. He had paid a large sum of money for it
in the Holy Land, where he had bought it from a Jewish merchant. This
man had sworn to him that this fragm