mperor!" exclaimed Elbegast fervently, raising his
helmet. "My life is at his service." Charlemagne greeted the knight
affectionately and asked what he had to tell concerning the conspiracy,
whereupon Sir Elbegast fearlessly denounced the villainous Eggerich,
and said he, "I am ready to prove my assertions upon his body." The
challenge was accepted, and at daybreak the following morning a fierce
combat took place. The issue, however, was never in doubt: Sir Elbegast
was victorious, the false Eggerich was slain, and his body hanged on a
gibbet fifty feet high. The emperor now revealed himself to the black
knight both as his companion-robber and as the messenger who had brought
him the summons to attend his Emperor.

Charlemagne's sister, the widow of Eggerich, he gave to Sir Elbegast
in marriage, and with her the broad lands which had belonged to the
vanquished traitor. Thenceforward the erstwhile robber and his sovereign
were fast friends.

The place where these strange happenings befell was called Ingelheim, in
memory of the celestial visitor, and Ingelheim it remains to this day.

The Knight and the Yellow Dwarf

Elfeld is the principal town of the Rheingau, and in ancient times was a
Roman station called Alta Villa. In the fourteenth century it was
raised to the rank of a town by Ludwig of Bavaria, and placed under the
stewardship of the Counts of Elz.

These Counts of Elz dwelt in the castle by the river's edge, and of
one of them, Ferdinand, the following tale is told. This knight loved
pleasure and wild living, and would indulge his whims and passions
without regard to cost. Before long he found that as a result of his
extravagance his possessions had dwindled away almost to nothing.
He knew himself a poor man, yet his desire for pleasure was still
unsatisfied. Mortified and angry, he hid himself in the castle of Elz
and spent his time lamenting his poverty and cursing his fate. While in
this frame of mind the news reached him of a tournament that the Emperor
purposed holding in celebration of his wedding. To this were summoned
the chivalry and beauty of Germany from far and near, and soon knights
and ladies were journeying to take their part in the tourney, the
feasting and dancing.

Ferdinand realized that he was precluded from joining his brother nobles
and was inconsolable. He became the prey of rage and shame, and at last
resolved to end a life condemned to ignominy. So one day he sought
a height from