"In which is concealed a sharp poniard--a very effective weapon at close
quarters," supplemented the count. "But don't stop here talking, Henry.
Fetch the stick, and my driving-coat, into the pocket of which put my
bloodletting instruments. Some one might faint over yonder, and I should
need them."

Henry brought the stick and coat. Only after he had gone some distance
from the castle did Count Vavel notice that some heavy object kept
thumping against his side. The faithful Henry had smuggled a
double-barreled pistol into the pocket of his coat, in addition to the
bloodletting instruments. The count did not take the road which ran
around the cove to the manor, but hurried to the shore, where he sprang
into his canoe, and with a few powerful strokes of the oars reached the
opposite shore. A few steps took him to the manor. His heart beat
rapidly. He had a certain dread of the coming meeting--not the meeting
with the robbers, but with the baroness.

The gates of the manor were open, as was usual in Hungarian manors day
and night. The count crossed the court, and as he turned the corner of
the house there happened what he had predicted: the masked man who was
on watch at the door gave a shrill whistle, then dashed into the
shrubbery. Count Vavel did not give chase to the fleeing thief, but,
swinging his cudgel around his head, ran through the open door into the
hall. Here a lamp was burning. He hurried into the salon, and saw, as he
entered, two more of the robbers jump from the window into the garden.

Count Ludwig hurried on toward the adjoining room, whence came the faint
light of a lamp. The light came from another room still farther on. It
was the sleeping-chamber of the lady of the house. There were no robbers
here, but on the table lay jewelry and articles of silver which had been
emptied from the cases lying about the floor. In an arm-chair which
stood near the bed-alcove reclined a female form, the arms and hands
firmly bound with cords to the chair.

What a beautiful creature! The clinging folds of her dressing-robe
revealed the perfect proportions of her figure. Her hair fell like a
golden cataract to the floor. Modest blushes and joy at her deliverance
made the lovely face even more enchanting when the knightly deliverer
entered the room--a hero who came with a cudgel to do battle against a
band of robbers, and conquered!

"I am Count Vavel," he hastened to explain, cudgel in hand, that the
lady might no