[Illustration:  Courtyard of Heidelberg Castle.]

“You know father told us it was not built all at once,” said Gretchen.  “Different parts were added during four hundred years.”

“Yes, and he said it had been stormed by the enemy, and burned and plundered,” added Bertha.  “It has been in the hands of those horrid Frenchmen several different times.  Did you see the blown-up tower, Hans?”

“Of course I did.  Half of it, you know, fell into the moat during one of the sieges, but linden-trees have grown about it, and it makes a shady nook in which to rest one’s self.”

“You did not go inside of the castle, did you, Hans?” asked Gretchen.

“No.  It looked so big and gloomy, I stayed outside in the pretty gardens.  I climbed over some of the moss-grown stairs, though, and I kept discovering something I hadn’t seen before.  Here and there were old fountains and marble statues, all gray with age.”

“They say that under the castle are great, dark dungeons,” said Bertha, shivering at the thought.

“What would a castle be without dungeons?” replied her brother.  “Of course there are dungeons.  And there are also hidden, underground passages through which the people inside could escape in times of war and siege.”

“Oh, Hans! did you see the Heidelberg Tun?” asked Gretchen.

Now, the Heidelberg Tun is the largest wine-cask in, the whole world.  People say that it holds forty-nine thousand gallons.  Just think of it!  But it has not been filled for more than a hundred years.

“No, I didn’t see it,” replied Hans.  “It is down in the cellar, and I didn’t want to go there without father.  I heard some of the visitors telling about the marks of the Frenchmen’s hatchets on its sides.  One of the times they captured the castle, they tried to break open the tun.  They thought it was full of wine.  But they did not succeed in hacking through its tough sides.”

“Good!  Good!” cried his sisters.  They had little love for France and her people.

That evening, after Hans had finished telling the girls about his visit, their father told them the legend of Count Frederick, a brave and daring man who once lived in Heidelberg Castle.

Count Frederick was so brave and successful that he was called “Frederick the Victorious.”

Once upon a time he was attacked by the knights and bishops of the Rhine, who had banded together against him.  When he found what great numbers of soldiers were attacking his castle, Count Frederick was not frightened in the least.  He armed his men with sharp daggers, and marched boldly out against his foes.

They attacked the horses first of all.  The daggers made short work, and the knights were soon brought to the ground.  Their armour was so heavy that it was an easy matter then to make them prisoners and take them into the castle.

But Frederick treated them most kindly.  He ordered a great banquet to be prepared, and invited his prisoners to gather around the board, where all sorts of good things were served.