fraid." She shrugged her shoulders and spread
out her hands.

And now the old monk came as near to laughing as he ever did.

"Clever, Hildegunde, but unnecessary. You cannot spur me to action by
slighting the well-known valor of our race. I will go where and when you
command me, and report to you faithfully what I see and hear. Should the
time seem favorable for you to visit Frankfort, and if your guardian
consents, I shall raise not even one objection."

"Oh, dear Father, I do not lay this as a command upon you."

"No; a request is quite sufficient. To-morrow morning I shall set out."

"Along the Rhine?" queried the girl, so eagerly that the old man's eyes
twinkled at the celerity with which she accepted his proposition.

"I think it safer," he said, "to journey inland over the hills. The
robbers on the Rhine have been so long bereft of the natural prey that
one or other of them may forget I am Father Ambrose, a poor monk,
remembering me only as Henry of the rich House of Sayn, and therefore
hold me for ransom. I would not willingly be a cause of strife, so I
shall go by way of Limburg on the Lahn, and there visit my old friend
the Bishop, and enjoy once more a sight of the ancient Cathedral on the
cliff by the river."

When the young Countess awoke next morning, and reviewed in her mind the
chief event of the preceding day, remembering the reluctance of Father
Ambrose to undertake the quest she had outlined without the consent of
his overlord the Archbishop, a feeling of compunction swept over her.
She berated her own selfishness, resolving to send her petition to her
guardian, the Archbishop, and abide by his decision.

When breakfast was finished, she asked her lady-in-waiting to request
the presence of Father Ambrose, but instead of the monk came disturbing
news.

"The seneschal says that Father Ambrose left the Castle at daybreak this
morning, taking with him frugal rations for a three days' journey."

"In which direction did he go?" asked the lady of Sayn.

"He went on horseback up the valley, after making inquiries about the
route to Limburg on the Lahn."

"Ah!" said the Countess. "He spoke yesterday of taking such a journey,
but I did not think he would leave so early."

This was the beginning of great anxiety for the young lady of the
Castle. She knew at once that pursuit was useless, for daybreak comes
early in summer, and already the good Father had been five hours on his
way--a way that he wa