ances gave offense which was not intended by me, I have
no hesitation in apologizing for them, and withdrawing the ill-advised
sentences. No one here feels a greater appreciation of what our
president has done than I, and I hope he will accept my apology in the
same spirit in which it is tendered."

"Now, Master of the Guild," said Greusel, and Roland took the floor once
more.

"I have nothing to say but 'Thank you.' The antagonists whom we hope to
meet are men brave, determined, and ruthless. If any one in this company
holds rancor against me, I ask him to turn it towards the Barons, and
punish me after the expedition is accomplished. Let us tolerate no
disagreements in face of the foe."

The young man took his cloak and sword from the peg on which they hung,
passed down along the table, and thrust across his hand to Kurzbold, who
shook it warmly. Arriving at the door, Roland turned round.

"I wish to see Captain Blumenfels, and give him final instructions
regarding our rendezvous on the Rhine, so good-night. I hope to meet you
all under the shadow of the Elector's tower in Hochst to-morrow morning
at nine," and with that the president departed, being too inexperienced
to know that soft words do not always turn away wrath, and that mutiny
is seldom quelled with a handshake.

IV

THE DISTURBING JOURNEY OF FATHER AMBROSE

The setting summer sun shone full on the western side of Sayn Castle,
sending the shadow of that tenth-century edifice far along the
greensward of the upper valley. Upon a balcony, perched like a swallow's
nest against the eastern end of Sayn Castle, a lovely girl of eighteen
leaned, meditating, with arms resting on the balustrade, the harshness
of whose stone surface was nullified by the soft texture of a
gaudily-covered robe flung over it. This ample cloth, brought from the
East by a Crusading ancestor of the girl, made a gay patch of scarlet
and gold against the somber side of the Castle.

The youthful Countess Hildegunde von Sayn watched the slow oncoming of a
monk, evidently tired, who toiled along the hillside deep in the shadow
of the Castle, as if its cool shade was grateful to him. Belonging, as
he did, to the very practical Order of the Benedictines, whose belief
was in work sanctioned by prayer, the Reverend Father did not deny
himself this temporary refuge from the hot rays of the sun, which had
poured down upon him all day.

Looking up as he approached the stronghold, and