nothing untoward happens to you.  This will preserve your life should they go so far as to threaten it, and compel them to stay on with us.  After all, we are merely artisans, and not fighting men.  I am convinced that if ever we are really attacked, we shall make a very poor showing, even though we carry swords.  Remember how the men tumbled over one another in their haste to get out of reach when Ebearhard flourished his blade.”

“I think Greusel’s suggestion is an excellent one,” put in Ebearhard.

“Very well,” said Roland, “I shall adopt it, although I had made up my mind fully to enlighten them.”

“There is one more matter that I should like to speak to you about,” continued Ebearhard.  “Both at Assmannshausen, and at Lorch last night, we heard a good deal anent Furstenberg.  It is the most dangerous castle on the Rhine to meddle with.  The Laughing Baron, as they call him, although he is a Margrave, is the only man who dared to stop a king on his way down the Rhine, and hold him for ransom.”

“Yes,” said Roland; “Adolf of Nassau, on his way to be crowned at Aix-la-Chapelle.”

“Quite so.  Well, this huge ruffian—­I never can remember his name; can you, Greusel?”

“No, it beats me.”

“Margrave Hermann von Katznellenbogenstahleck,” said Roland, so solemnly that Ebearhard laughed and even Greusel smiled.

“That’s the individual,” agreed Ebearhard, “and you must admit the name itself is a formidable thing to attack, even without the giant it belongs to.”

“Banish all apprehension,” said Roland.  “I have already decided to remain here through the day, and drop quietly down the river to-night in the darkness past Furstenberg.”

“I think that is a wise decision,” said Ebearhard.

“’Tis against all military rules,” demurred Roland, “but nevertheless with such an army as I lead it seems the only way.  Do the men know that Furstenberg is our point of greatest danger?”

“Yes; but they do not know so much as I. Last night I left them in Greusel’s charge, being alarmed about what I heard of Furstenberg, and engaged a boatman to take me over there before the moon rose.  I discovered that the Laughing Baron has caused a chain to be buoyed up just below the surface of the water, running diagonally up the river more than half-way across it, so that any boat coming down is caught and drawn into the landing, for the main flood of the Rhine, as you know, runs to the westward of this island.  The boatman who ferried me knew about this chain, but thought it had been abandoned since traffic stopped.  He says it runs right up into the Castle, and the moment a barge strikes against it, a big bell is automatically rung inside the stronghold, causing the Baron to laugh so loudly that they sometimes hear him over in Lorch.”

“This is very interesting, Ebearhard, and an excellent feat of scouting must be set down to your credit.  Say nothing to the men, because, although we give Furstenberg the go-by on this occasion, I shall pay my respects to Herman von Katznellenbogenstahleck on my return, and the knowledge you bring me will prove useful.”