d back there."

"You think of everything. Now start with the men and hounds and follow
the road that we usually take; we alone are enough for the road I have
in mind, we will go straight through the forest."

At once a murmur of astonishment and incredulity arose among the
hunters.

"Beg pardon, gracious lord," said the old man, with his cap again in
his hand, "I know the way, and no God-fearing man should make trial of
it; the impenetrable undergrowth, the deep water and slimy ground
threaten with a thousand perils; and besides, straight through the
forest goes the wide devil's gorge that no human being with horse has
yet crossed."

"We shall get over, my good fellow. We have already been through more
difficult places. No bad luck befalls the man who follows me; you know
yourself that fate favors me."

The hunter obediently made ready to march forward with the rest. At
this moment the bald head rode to the noble's side.

"Gracious lord," he said, quietly, not to say sarcastically, "I
consider it a great calamity for a human being to imperil his life for
a mere brute, especially when he has urgent need of that life, but
your grace has made the decision and I know it will be carried out.
Still, have the goodness to look about you for a moment and remember
that we are not all men here; there is a delicate lady in our midst,
and to expose her to death for the sake of our adventure is surely
want of tenderness."

During this speech the knight did not look at the older man but gazed
fixedly at the young Amazon, and the glow of pride on his cheeks was
brighter as he saw how calmly the stately lady measured with her eye
her unbidden protector, and with what proud self-reliance she took her
lances from her page, chose one, and sharpening the point on her
pommel, assumed the position of a true matadore.

"Look at her," cried the knight, "do you feel any anxiety for this
girl, my niece?"

These words of the knight echoed loudly; there was no voice like his,
deep as thunder and carrying far.

The young Amazon allowed the knight who had called her his niece to
put his arm about her and kiss her blushing cheek, for in those days
the Hungarian woman still blushed even if the kiss came from a
kinsman's lips.

"Is it to no purpose that she sprang from my blood? shall she not
match the best man in fearlessness? Have no anxiety for her, she will
face greater dangers than these and bring her husband to them too."

With th