l go alone into the houses on the right, and see what can
be done towards providing a meal for eighteen men. Ebearhard and I will
fast until we reach Assmannshausen. On the other hand, you should be
prepared for disappointment; loaves of bread are not to be picked up on
the point of a sword. If I return and order you to march on unfed, you
must do so as cheerfully as you can."

This ultimatum called forth not a word of opposition, and Ebearhard led
the van while Greusel deflected up the hill to his right, the sooner to
reach the village.

He learned that the name of the place was Anton-Kap; that the route he
had been following would take him to Ehrenfels, and that he must adopt a
reasonably rough mountain-road to the right in order to reach
Assmannshausen.

By somewhat straining the resources of the place, which proved to
possess no inn, he collected bread enough for the eighteen, and there
was no dearth of wine, although it proved a coarse drink that reflected
little credit on the reputation of the Rheingau. He paid for this meal
in advance, saying that they were all in a hurry to reach
Assmannshausen, and wished to leave as soon as the frugal breakfast was
consumed.

Mounting a small elevation to the west of the village, he signaled to
the patient men to come on, which they lost no time in doing. The bread
was eaten and the wine drunk without a word being said by any one. And
now they took their way down the hill again, crossed the little
Geisenheim stream, and up once more, traversing a high table-land giving
them a view of the Rhine, finally descending through another valley,
which led them into Assmannshausen, celebrated for its red wine, a color
they had not yet met with.

Assmannshausen proved to be a city as compared with the hamlets they had
passed, yet was small enough to make a thorough search of the place a
matter that consumed neither much effort nor time. Greusel led his men
to a _Weinstaube_ a short distance out of the village, and, to their
delight, succeeded in establishing a credit for them to the extent of
one liter of wine each, with a substantial meal of meat, eggs, and
what-not. Greusel and Ebearhard left them there in the height of great
enjoyment, all the more delightful after the hunger and fatigue they had
encountered, for the three and a half leagues had proved almost without
a single stretch of level land. The two officers inquired for Roland,
without success, at the various houses of e