d with drink, and whose conduct was saturated with
conspiracy against him? They had wine enough on board to continue their
orgy, and he was quite unable to prevent their carouse. With a deep sigh
he realized that he would be compelled to forego Furstenberg, and thus
leave behind him a virgin citadel, which he knew was bad tactics from a
military point of view.

During his meditations his men were coming up from the fuming cabin into
the fresh air and the sunlight. They appeared by twos and threes,
yawning and rubbing their eyes, but no one ventured to interrupt the
leader as, with bent head, he paced back and forth on the deck. The men,
indeed, seemed exceedingly subdued. They passed with almost overdone
nonchalance from the boat to the island, and sauntered towards its lower
end, from which, in the clear morning air, the grim fortress of
Furstenberg could be plainly discerned diagonally across the river. It
was Ebearhard who broke in upon Roland's reverie.

"Our friends appear very quiet this morning, but I observe they have all
happened to coincide upon the northern part of the island as a
rendezvous for their before-breakfast walk. I surmise they are holding a
formal meeting of the guild, but neither Greusel nor I have been
invited, so I suppose that after last night's display we two are no
longer considered their brethren. This meekness on their part seems to
me more dangerous than last night's flurry. I think they will demand
from you a knowledge of what has been done with the gold. Have you
decided upon your answer?"

"Yes; it is their right to know, so I shall tell them the truth. By this
time Kruger is on his way somewhere between Ehrenfels and Wiesbaden. He
will reach Frankfort to-night, and cannot be overtaken."

"Is there not danger that they will desert in a body, return to
Frankfort, and demand from Herr Goebel their share of the spoil?"

"No matter for that," returned Roland. "Goebel will not part with a
florin except under security of such letters as I purpose giving you and
Greusel, and even then only when you have proven to him that I am dead."

"That is all very well," demurred Ebearhard, "but don't you see what a
dangerous power you put into the hands of the rebels? Goebel is merely a
merchant, and, though rich, politically powerless. He has already come
into conflict with the authorities, and spent a term in prison. Do not
forget that the Archbishops have refused to take action against these
ro