"-^-^^^ 
 
 
 1 
 
 ^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 ^'»^«aM«*w.'^' 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2008 with funding from 
 
 IVIicrosoft Corporation 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/doveineaglesnestOOyongrich 
 
Henceforth my own lady -mother is the mistress of this castle, and who- 
 ever speaks a rude word to her offends the Freiherr von Adlerstein.' " 
 Page 183. 
 
uauKf 
 
 DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST 
 
 By CHARLOTTE M. YONGE. 
 
 ILLUSTRATED. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 
 A. L. BURT, PUBLISHER. 
 
• •• • • • • ' 
 
9^^ 
 do 
 
 €DUC. 
 U8RA8V 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 In sending forth this little book, I am inclined to 
 add a few explanatory words as to the use I have 
 made of historical personages. The origin of the 
 whole story was probably Freytag's first series of 
 pictures of German life: probably, I say, for its 
 first commencement was a dream, dreamed some 
 weeks after reading that most interesting collection 
 of sketches. The return of the squire with the tid- 
 ings of the death of the two knights was vividly 
 depicted in sleep ; and, though without local habita- 
 tion or name, the scene was most likely to have 
 been a reflection from the wild scenes so lately 
 read of. 
 
 In fact, waking thoughts decided that such a catas- 
 trophe could hardly have happened anywhere but in 
 Germany, or in Scotland : and the contrast between 
 the cultivation in the free cities and the savagery of 
 the independent barons made the former the more 
 suitable region for the adventures. The time could 
 only be before the taming and bringing into order 
 of the empire, when the imperial cities were in their 
 greatest splendor, the last free nobles in course of 
 being reduced from their lawless liberty, and the 
 House of Austria beginning to acquire its prepon- 
 derance over the other princely families. 
 
 587440 
 
iv INTRODUCTION. 
 
 M. Freytag's books, and Hegewisch's " History of 
 Maximilian," will, I think, be found fully to bear out 
 the picture I have tried to give of the state of things 
 in the reign of the Emperor Friedrich III., vrhen, 
 for want of any other law, Faust recht, or fist right, 
 ruled ; ^. ^., an offended nobleman, having once sent 
 a Fehde-hrief to his adversary, was thenceforth at 
 liberty to revenge himself by a private war, in which, 
 for the wrong inflicted, no justice was exacted. 
 
 Hegewisch remarks that the only benefit of this 
 custom was, that the honor of subscribing a feud- 
 brief was so highly esteemed that it induced the 
 nobles to learn to write ! The League of St. George 
 and the Swabian League were the means of grad- 
 ually putting down this authorized condition of 
 deadly feud. 
 
 This was in the days of Maximilian's youth. He 
 is a prince who seems to have been almost as 
 inferior in his foreign, to what he was in his domestic 
 policy as was Queen Elizabeth. He is chiefly fa- 
 miliar to us as failing to keep up his authority in 
 Flanders after the death of Mary of Burgundy, as 
 lingering to fulfill his engagement with Anne of 
 Brittany till he lost her and her duchy, as incurring 
 ridicule by his ill-managed schemes in Italy, and the 
 vast projects that he was always forming without 
 either means or steadiness to carry them out, by his 
 perpetual impecuniosity and slippery dealing ; and 
 in his old age he has become rather the laughing- 
 stock of historians. 
 
 But there is much that is melancholy in the sight 
 
tNTRODVGTION. V 
 
 of a man endowed with genius, unbalanced by the 
 force of character that secures success, and with an 
 ardent nature T^hose intention overleaped obstacles 
 that in practice he found insuperable. At home 
 Maximilian raised the imperial power from a mere 
 cipher to considerable weight. We judge him as if 
 he had been born in the purple and succeeded to a 
 defined power Hke his descendants. We forget that 
 the head of the holy Eoman empire had been, ever 
 since the extinction of the Swabian line, a mere 
 mark for ambitious princes to shoot at, with every- 
 thing expected from him, and no means to do any- 
 thing. Maximilian's own father was an avaricious, 
 undignified old man, not until near his death arch- 
 duke of even all Austria, and with anarchy prevail- 
 ing everywhere under his nominal rule. It was in 
 the time of Maximilian that the empire became as 
 compact and united a body as could be hoped of 
 anything so unwieldy, that law was at least acknowl- 
 edged, Faust recht forever abolished, and the em- 
 peror became once more a real power. 
 
 The man under whom all this was effected could 
 have been no fool ; yet, as he said himself, he reigned 
 over a nation of kings, who each chose to rule for 
 himself ; and the uncertainty of supplies of men or 
 money to be gained from them made him so often 
 fail necessarily in his engagements, that he acquired 
 a shiftiness and callousness to breaches of promise, 
 which became the worst fiaw in his character. But 
 of the fascination of his manner there can be no 
 doubt. Even Henry YIII.'s English ambassadors, 
 
vi INTRODUCTION. 
 
 when forced to own how little they could depend on 
 him, and how dangerous it was to let subsidies pass 
 through his fingers, still show themselves under a 
 sort of enchantment of devotion to his person, and 
 this in his old age, and when his conduct was most 
 inexcusable and provoking. 
 
 His variety of powers was wonderful. He was 
 learned in many languages — in all those of his em- 
 pire of hereditary states, and in many besides ; and 
 he had an ardent love of books, both classical and 
 modern. He delighted in music, painting, architec- 
 ture, and many arts of a more mechanical descrip- 
 tion ; wrote treatises on all these, and on other sub- 
 jects, especially gardening and gunnery. He was 
 the inventor of an improved lock to the arquebus, 
 and first divined how to adapt the disposition of his 
 troops to the use of the newly-discovered fire-arms. 
 And in all these things his versatile head and ready 
 hand were personally employed, not by deputy ; 
 while coupled with so much artistic taste was a vio- 
 lent passion for hunting, which carried him through 
 many hair-breadth 'scapes. " It was plain," he used 
 to say, " that God Almighty ruled the world, or how 
 could things go on with a rogue like Alexander YI. 
 at the head of the church, and a mere huntsman like 
 himself at the head of the empire." His hon^mots 
 are numerous, all thoroughly characteristic, and 
 showing that brilliancy in conversation must have 
 been one of his greatest charms. It seems as if only 
 self-control and resolution were wanting to have 
 made him a Charles, or an Alfred the Great. 
 
INTRODUCTION. vii 
 
 The romance of his marriage with the heiress of 
 Burgundy is one of the best-knoAvn parts of his life. 
 He was scarcely two-and-twenty when he lost her, 
 who perhaps would have given him the stability he 
 wanted ; but his tender love for her endured through 
 life. It is not improbable that it was this still 
 abiding attachment that made him slack in overcom- 
 ing difficulties in the way of other contracts, and 
 that he may have hoped that his engagement to 
 Bianca Sforza would come to nothing, like so many 
 others. 
 
 The most curious record of him is, however, in 
 two books, the materials for which he furnished, and 
 whose composition and illustration he superintended, 
 '* Der Weise King," and " Theurdank," of both of 
 which he is well known to be the hero. The White, 
 or the Wise King, it is uncertain which, is a history 
 of his education and exploits in prose. Every alter- 
 nate page has its engraving, showing how the 
 Young White King obtains instruction in painting, 
 architecture, language, and all arts and sciences, 
 the latter including magic — ^^vhich he learns of an 
 old woman with a long-tailed demon sitting, like 
 Mother Hubbard's cat, on her shoulder — and astrol- 
 ogy. In the illustration of this study an extraor- 
 dinary figure of a cross within a circle appears in 
 the sky, which probably has some connection with 
 his scheme of nativity, for it appears also on the 
 breast of Ehrenhold, his constant companion in the 
 metrical history of his career, under the name of 
 Theurdank, 
 
viii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The poetry of " Theurdank " was composed by 
 Maximilian's old writing-master, Melchior Pfinznig ; 
 but the adventures were the kaiser's own, communi- 
 cated by himself, and he superintended the wood- 
 cuts. The name is explained to mean " craving 
 glory" — Gloriaememor. The Germans laugh to 
 scorn a French translator, who rendered it " Cher- 
 merci." It was annotated very soon after its publi- 
 cation, and each exploit explained and accounted 
 for. It is remarkable and touching in a man who 
 married at eighteen, and was a widower at twenty- 
 two, that in both books, the happy union with his 
 lady love is placed at the end — not at the beginning 
 of the book ; and in " Theurdank," at least, the eter- 
 nal reunion is clearly meant. 
 
 In this curious book, Konig Eomreich, by whom 
 every contemporary understood poor Charles of Bur- 
 gundy — thus posthumously made king of Eome by 
 Maximilian, as the only honor in his power, betroths 
 his daughter, Ehrenreich (rich in honor) to the Kit- 
 ter Theurdank. Soon after, by a most mild version 
 of Duke Charles' frightful end, Konig Eomreich is 
 seen on his back dying in a garden, and Ehrenreich 
 (as Mary really did) despatches a ring to summon 
 her betrothed. 
 
 But here Theurdank returns for answer that he 
 means first to win honor by his exploits, and sets 
 out with his comrade, Ehrenhold, in search thereof. 
 Ehrenhold never appears of the smallest use to him 
 hi any of the dire adventures mto which he falls, 
 but only stands complacently by, and in effect may 
 
INTRODUCTION. ix 
 
 represent Fame, or perhaps that literary sage whom 
 Don Quixote always supposed to be at hand to 
 record his deeds of prowess. 
 
 ISText we are presented with the German imper- 
 sonation of Satan as a wise old magician, only with 
 claws instead of feet, commissioning his three cap- 
 tains {hauptleutern)^ Fiirwitz, Umfallo, and Neidel- 
 hard, to beset and ruin Theurdank. They are inter- 
 preted as the dangers of youth, middle life, and old 
 age — ^Eashness, Disaster and Distress (or Envy). 
 One at a time they encounter him — not once, but 
 again and again ; and he has ranged under each 
 head, in entire contempt of real order of time, the 
 perils he thinks owing to each foe. Fiirwitz most 
 justly gets the credit of Maximilian's perils on the 
 steeple of Ulm, though, unfortunately, the artist 
 has represented the daring climber as standing not 
 much above the shoulders of Fiirwitz and Ehren- 
 hold ; and although the annotation tells us that his 
 " hinder half foot " overhung the scaffold, the 
 danger in the print is not appalling. Fiirwitz like- 
 wise inveigles him into putting the point {schnahel) 
 of his shoe into the wheel of a mill for turning 
 stone balls, where he certainly hardly deserved to 
 lose nothing but the beak of his shoe. This enemy 
 also brings him into numerous unpleasant predica- 
 ments on precipices, where he hangs by one hand ; 
 while the chamois stand delighted on every avail- 
 able peak, Fiirwitz grins malevolently, and Ehren- 
 hold stands pointing at him over his shoulder. Time 
 and place are given in the notes for all these escapes. 
 
3t tNTRODUGTiOl^. 
 
 After some twenty adventures Fiirwitz is beaten off, 
 and Umfallo tries his powers. Here the misadven- 
 tures do not involve so much folly on the hero's 
 part — though, to be sure, he ventures into a lion's 
 den unarmed, and has to beat off the inmates with 
 a shovel. But the other adventures are more 
 rational. He catches a jester — of admirably foolish 
 expression — putting a match to a powder-magazine ; 
 he is wonderfully preserved in mountain avalanches 
 and hurricanes ; reins up his horse on the verge of 
 an abyss ; falls through ice in Holland and shows 
 nothing but his head above it ; cures himself of a 
 fever by draughts of water, to the great disgust of 
 his physicians, and excapes a fire bursting out of a 
 tall stove. 
 
 Neidelhard brings his real battles and perils. 
 From this last he is in danger of shipwreck, of 
 assassination, of poison, in single combat, or in 
 battle ; tumults of the people beset him ; he is 
 imprisoned as a Ghent. But finally JSTeidelhard is 
 beaten back ; and the hero is presented to Ehren- 
 reich. Ehrenhold recounts his triumphs, and 
 accuses the three captains. One is hung, another 
 beheaded, the third thrown headlong from a tower, 
 and a guardian angel then summons Theurdank to 
 his union with his queen. No doubt this reunion 
 was the life-dream of the harassed, busy, inconsis- 
 tent man, who flashed through the turmoils of the 
 early sixteenth century. 
 
 The adventures of Maximilian which have been 
 adverted to in. the story are all to be found in Theur- 
 
INTRODUCTION. xi 
 
 dank, and in his early life he was probably the 
 brilliant eager person we have tried in some degree 
 to describe. In his latter years it is well known 
 that he was much struck by Luther's arguments ; 
 and, indeed, he had long been conscious of need of 
 church reform, though his plans took the grotesque 
 form of getting himself made pope, and taking all 
 into his own hands. 
 
 Perhaps it was unwise to have ever so faintly 
 sketched Ebbo's career through the ensuing troubles ; 
 but the history of the star and of the spark in the 
 stubble seemed to. need completion ; and the work- 
 ing out of the character of the survivor was unfin- 
 ished till his course had been thought over from the 
 dawn of the Wittenberg teaching, which must have 
 seemed no novelty to an heir of the doctrine of Tau- 
 ler, and of the veritably Catholic divines of old times. 
 The idea is of the supposed course of a thoughtful, 
 refined, conscientious man, through the earlier times 
 of the Eeformation, glad of the hope of cleansing 
 the church, but hoping to cleanse, not to break 
 away from her — a hope that Luther himself long 
 cherished, and which was not entirely frustrated till 
 the re-assembly at Trent in the next generation. 
 Justice has never been done to the men who feared 
 to loose their hold on the church CathoHc as the 
 one body to which the promises were made. Their 
 loyalty has been treated as blindness, timidity, or 
 superstition ; but that there were many such persons, 
 and those among the very highest minds of their 
 
 O 
 
xii INTRODUCTION. . • 
 
 time, no one can have any doubt after reading such 
 lives as those of Friedrich the Wise of Saxony, of 
 Erasmus, of Yittoria Colonna, or of Cardinal 
 Giustiniani. 
 
 April 9, 1866 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Paqk. 
 Master Gottfried's Workshop 1 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 The Eyrie 80 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 The Flotsam and Jetsam of the Debatable Ford 53 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Snow-wreaths When 'Tis Thaw 67 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 The Young Freiherr 81 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 The Blessed Friedmund's Wake , 90 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 The Schneiderlein's Return Ill 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Passing the Oubliette 125 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 The Eaglets. 1^ 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 The Eagle's Prey '. ... 156 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 The Choice in Life 171 
 
Xiv CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Page. 
 
 Back to the Dovecote. 188 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 The Eaglets in the City 204 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 The Double Headed Eagle 224 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 The Rival Eyrie 251 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 The Eagle and the Snake 270 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 Bridging the Ford 286 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 Friedmund in the Clouds 302 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 The Fight at the Ford 311 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 The Wounded Eagle 327 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 Ritter Theurdank 343 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 Peace 354 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 The Altar of Peace 370 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 Old Iron and New Steel 384 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 The Star and the Spark 416 
 
DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 CHAPTEK I. 
 
 The upper lattices of a tall, narrow window were 
 open, and admit the view, of first some richly -tinted 
 vine leaves and purpling grapes, then, in dazzling 
 freshness of new white stone, the lacework fabric of 
 a half -built minster spire, with a mason's crane on. 
 the summit, bending as though craving for a further 
 supply of materials ; and beyond, peeping through 
 every crevice of the exquisite open fretwork, was 
 the intensely blue sky of early autumn. 
 
 The lower longer panes of the window were 
 closed, and the glass, divided into circles and 
 quarrels, made the scene less distinct ; but still 
 the huge stone tower was traceable, and, farther off, 
 the slope of a gently-rising hill, clothed with vine- 
 yards blushing into autumn richness. Below, the 
 view was closed by the gray wall of a court-yard, 
 laden with fruit trees in full bearing, and inclosing 
 paved paths that radiated from a central fountain, 
 and left spaces between, where a few summer 
 flowers still lingered, and the remains of others 
 showed what their past glory had been. 
 
2 ' 'DOV!E IJT fEir '^EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 Tlie ' interior of the' room was wainscoted, the 
 floor paved with bright red and cream-colored tiles, 
 and the tall stove in one corner decorated with the 
 same. The eastern end of the apartment was 
 adorned with an exquisite small group carved in 
 oak, representing the carpenter's shop at Nazareth, 
 with the Holy Child instructed by Joseph in the 
 use of tools, and the mother sitting with her book, 
 " pondering these things in her heart." All around 
 were blocks of wood and carvings in varying states 
 of progress — some scarcely shaped out, and others 
 in perfect completion. And the subjects were 
 equally various. Here was an adoring angel with 
 folded wings, clasped hands, and rapt face ; here a 
 majestic head of an apostle or prophet ; here a 
 lovely virgin saint, seeming to play smilingly with 
 the instrument of her martyrdom ; here a grotesque 
 miserere group, illustrating a fairy tale, or caricatur- 
 ing a popular fable ; here a beauteous festoon of 
 flowers and fruit, emulating nature in all save color; 
 and on the work-table itself, growing under the 
 master's hand, was a long wreath, entirely composed 
 of leaves and seed-vessels in their quaint and 
 beauteous forms — the heart-shaped shepherd's 
 purse, the mask-like scull-cap, and the crowned urn 
 of the henbane. The starred cap of the poppy was 
 actually being shaped under the tool, copied from 
 a green capsule, surmounted with purple velvety 
 rays, which, together with its rough and wavy leaf, 
 was held in the hand of a young maiden who 
 knelt by the table, watching the work with eager 
 interest. 
 
DOVE IN THE EAOLE'8 NEST, 3 
 
 She was not a beautiful girl — not one of those 
 whose " bright eyes rain influence, and judge the 
 prize." She was too small, too slight, too retiring 
 for such a position. If there was something lily-like 
 in her drooping grace, it was not the queen-lily 
 of the garden that she resembled, but the retiring 
 lily of the valley — so purely, transparently white 
 was her skin, scarcely tinted by a roseate blush on 
 the cheek, so tender and modest the whole effect of 
 her slender figure, and the soft, downcast, pensive 
 brown eyes, utterly dissimilar in hue from those of 
 all her friends and kindred, except, perhaps, the 
 bright, quick ones of her uncle, the master- 
 carver. Otherwise, his portly form, open visage, 
 and good-natured stateliness, as well as his 
 furred cap, and gold chaia, were thoroughly those of 
 the German burgomaster of the fifteenth century ; 
 but those glittering black eyes had not ceased to 
 betray their French, or rather Walloon, origin, 
 though for several generations back the family had 
 been settled at Ulm. Perhaps, too, it was "Walloon 
 quickness and readiness of wit that had made them 
 so soon as they became affiliated, so prominent in all 
 the councils of the good free city, and so noted for 
 excellence in art and learning. Indeed the present 
 head of the family. Master Gottfried Sorel, was so 
 much esteemed for his learning that he had once had 
 serious thoughts of terming himself Magister 
 Gothofredus Oxalicus, and might have carried it out 
 but for the very decided objections of his wife, 
 Dame Johanna, and his little niece, Christina, to 
 being dubbed by any such surname. 
 
4 DOVE IN THE EA QLE *8 NEST. 
 
 Master Gottfried had had a scapegrace younger 
 brother named Hugh, who had scorned both books 
 and tools, had been the plague of the workshop, 
 and, instead of coming back from his wandering- 
 year of improvement, had joined a band of roving 
 Lanzknechts. IS'o more had been heard of him for 
 a dozen or fifteen years, when he suddenly arrived 
 at the paternal mansion at Ulm, half dead with in- 
 termittent fever, and with a young, broken-hearted, 
 and nearly expiring wife, his spoil in his Italian 
 campaigns. His rude affection had utterly failed to 
 console her for her desolated home and slaughtered 
 kindred, and it had so soon turned to brutality that, 
 when brought to comparative peace and rest in his 
 brother's home, there was nothing left for the poor 
 Italian but to lie down and die, commending her 
 babe in broken German to Hausfrau Johanna, and 
 blessing Master Gottfried for his flowing Latin 
 assurances that the child should be to them even as 
 the little maiden who was lying in the God's acre 
 upon the hillside. 
 
 And verily the little Christina had been a precious 
 gift to the bereaved couple. Her father had no 
 sooner recovered than he returned to his roving life, 
 and, except for a report that he had been seen 
 among the retainers of one of the robber barons of 
 the Swabian Alps, nothing had been heard of him ; 
 and Master Gottfried only hoped to be spared the 
 actual pain and scandal of knowing when his eyes 
 were blinded and his head swept off at a blow, or 
 when he was tumbled headlong into a moat, sus- 
 
DO VE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 5 
 
 pended from a tree, or broken on the wheel ; a 
 choice of fates that was sure sooner or later to be- 
 fall him. Meantime, both the burgomeister and 
 burgomeisterinn did their utmost to forget that the 
 gentle little girl was not their own ; they set all 
 their hopes and joys on her, and, making her supply 
 the place at once of son and daughter, they bred her 
 up in all the refinements and accomplishments in 
 which the free citizens of Germany took the lead in 
 the middle and latter part of the fifteenth century. 
 To aid her aunt in all housewifely arts, to prepare 
 dainty food and varied liquors, and to spin, weave, 
 and broider, was only a part of Christina's training ; 
 her uncle likewise set great store by her sweet Italian 
 voice, and caused her to be carefully taught to sing 
 and play on the lute, and he likewise delighted in 
 hearing her read aloud to him from the hereditary 
 store of MSS. and from the dark volumes that 
 began to proceed from the press. I^ay, Master 
 Gottfried had made experiments in printing and 
 wood-engraving on his own account, and had found 
 no head so intelligent, no hand so desirous to aid 
 him, as his Httle Christina's, who, in all that needed 
 taste and skill rather than strength, was worth all 
 his 'prentices and journeymen together. Some fine 
 bold wood cuts had been produced by their joint 
 efforts ; but these less important occupations had of 
 late been set aside by the engrossing interest of the 
 interior fittings of the great " Dome Kirk," which 
 for nearly a centur}^ had been rising by the united 
 exertions of the burghers, without any assistance 
 
6 DO VE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 from without. The foundation had been laid in 
 13Y7 ; and at length, in the year of grace 14Y2, the 
 crown of the apse had been closed in, and matters 
 were so forward that Master Gottfried's stall-work 
 was already in requisition for the choir. 
 
 " Three cubits more," he reckoned. " Child, hast 
 thou found me fruits enough for the completing of 
 this border ? " 
 
 " O yes, mine uncle. I have the wild rosehip, and 
 the flat shield of the moon wort, and a pea-pod, and 
 more whose names I know not. But should they 
 all be seed and fruit ? " 
 
 " Yea, truly, my Stina, for this wreath shall speak 
 of the goodly fruits of a completed life." 
 
 " Even as that which you carved in spring told of 
 the blossom and fair promise of youth," returned the 
 maiden. " Methinks the one is the most beautiful, 
 as it ought to be ; " then, after a little pause, and 
 some reckoning, " I have scarce seed-pods enough in 
 store, uncle; might we not seek some rarer shapes 
 in the herb-garden of Master Gerhard, the physi- 
 cian ? He, too, might tell me the names of some of 
 these." 
 
 " True, child ; or we might ride into the country 
 beyond the walls and seek them. "What, little one, 
 wouldst thou not?" 
 
 " So we go not far," faltered Christina, coloring. 
 
 " Ha, thou hast not forgotten the fright thy com- 
 panions had from the Schlangenwald reitern when 
 gathering Maydew ? Fear not, little coward ; if we 
 go beyond the suburbs we will take Hans and Peter 
 
t>0 VB IN TEE EAGLE' B NB8T. 7 
 
 with, their halberds. But I believe thy silly little 
 heart can scarce be free for enjoyment if it can fancy 
 a reiter within a dozen leagues of thee." 
 
 " At your side I would not fear. That is, I would 
 not vex thee by my folly, and I might forget it," re- 
 plied Christina, looking down. 
 
 " My gentle child ! " the old man said approvingly. 
 " Moreover, if our good kaiser has his way, we shall 
 soon be free of the reitern of Schlangenwald, and 
 Adlerstein, and all the rest of the mouse-trap 
 barons. He is hoping to form a league of us free 
 imperial cities with all the more reasonable and hon- 
 est nobles, to preserve the peace of the country. 
 Even now a letter from him was read in the town 
 hall to that effect ; and, when all are united against 
 them, my lords-mousers must needs become pledged 
 to the league or go down before it." 
 
 " Ah ! that will be weU," cried Christina. " Then 
 will our wagons be no longer set upon at the De- 
 batable Ford by Schlangenwald or Adlerstein ; and 
 our wares will come safely, and there will be wealth 
 enough to raise our spire ! O uncle, what a day of 
 joy will that be when Our Lady's great statute will 
 be set on the summit ! " 
 
 " A day that I shall scarce see, and it will be well 
 if thou dost," returned her uncle, " unless the hearts 
 of the burghers of Ulm return to the liberality of 
 their fathers, who devised that spire ! But what 
 trampling do I hear ? " 
 
 There was indeed a sudden confusion in the house, 
 and, before the uncle and niece could rise, the door 
 
8 DO VE IN THE EAGLE 'S NEST. 
 
 was opened by a prosperous apple-faced dame, ex- 
 claiming in a hasty whisper, " housefather, O house- 
 father, there are a troop of reitern at the door, 
 dismounting already ; " and, as the master came for- 
 ward, brushing from his furred vest the shavings 
 and dust of his work, she added in a more furtive, 
 startled accent, " and, if I mistake not, one is thy 
 brother ! " 
 
 " He is welcome," replied Master Gottfried, in his 
 cheery fearless voice ; " he brought us a choice gift 
 last time he came ; and it may be he is ready to seek 
 peace among us after his wanderings. Come hither, 
 Christina, my little one ; it is well to be abashed, 
 but thou art not a child who need fear to meet a 
 father." 
 
 Christina's extreme timidity, however, made her 
 pale and crimson by turns, perhaps by the infection 
 of anxiety from her aunt, who could not conceal a 
 certain dissatisfaction and alarm, as the maiden, led 
 on either side by her adopted parents, thus advanced 
 from the little studio into a handsomely-carved 
 wooden gallery, projecting into a great wainscoted 
 room, with a broad carved stair leading down into 
 it. Down this stair the three proceeded, and reached 
 the stone hall that lay beyond it, just as there 
 entered from the trellised porch that covered the 
 steps into the street, a thin wiry man, in a worn and 
 greasy buff suit, guarded on the breast and arms 
 with rusty steel, and a battered helmet with the 
 vizor up, disclosing a weather-beaten bronzed face, 
 with somewhat wild dark eyes and a huge grizzled 
 
DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST, 9 
 
 mustache forming a straight line over his lips. Al- 
 together he was a complete model of the lawless 
 reiter or lanzknecht, the terror of Swabia, and the 
 bugbear of Christina's imagination. The poor 
 child's heart died within her as she perceived the 
 mutual recognition between her uncle and the new- 
 comer; and, while Master Gottfried held out his 
 hands with a cordial greeting of " Welcome, home, 
 brother Hugh," she trembled from head to foot, as 
 she sank on her knees, and murmured, " Your bless- 
 ing, honored father." 
 
 " Ha ? What, this is my girl ? What says she ? 
 My blessing, eh ? There, then, thou hast it, child, 
 such as I have to give, though they'll tell thee at 
 Adlerstein that I am more wont to give the other 
 sort of blessing ! Now, give me a kiss, girl, and let 
 me see thee ! How now ! " as he folded her in his 
 rough arms ; " thou art a mere feather, as slight as 
 our sick jungfrau herself." And then, regarding 
 her as she stood drooping : " Thou art not half the 
 woman thy mother was — she was stately and 
 straight as a column, and tall withal." 
 
 " True ! " replied Hausfrau Johanna, in a marked 
 tone ; " but both she and her poor babe had been so 
 harassed and wasted with long journeys and hard- 
 ships, that with all our care of our Christina, she 
 has never been strong or well-grown. The marvel 
 is that she lived at all." 
 
 " Our Christina is not beautiful, we know," added 
 her uncle, reassuringly taking her hand ; " but she 
 is a good and meek maiden." 
 
10 DOVB W THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 " Well, well," returned the lanzknecht, " she will 
 answer the purpose w^ell enough, or better than if 
 she were fair enough to set all our fellows together 
 by the ears for her. Camilla, I say — no, what's her 
 name, Christina ? — put up thy gear and be ready to 
 start with me to-morrow morning for Adlerstein." 
 
 " For Adlerstein ? " re-echoed the housemother, in 
 a tone of horrified dismay ; and Christina would 
 have dropped on the floor but for her uncle's sus- 
 taining hand, and the cheering glance with which 
 he met her imploring look. 
 
 " Let us come up to the gallery and understand 
 what you desire, brother," said Master Gottfried, 
 gravely. " Fill the cup of greeting, Hans. Your 
 followers shall be entertained in the hall," he 
 added. 
 
 " Ay, ay," quoth Hugh, " I will show you reason 
 over a goblet of the old Rosenburg. Is it all gone 
 yet, brother Goetz? No? I reckon there would 
 not be the scouring of a glass left of it in a week if 
 it were at Adlerstein." 
 
 So saying, the trooper crossed the lower room, 
 which contained a huge tiled baking oven, various 
 brilliantly-burnished cooking utensils, and a great 
 carved cupboard like a wooden bedstead, and, pass- 
 ing the door of the bath-room, clanked up the oaken 
 stairs to the gallery, the reception-room of the 
 house. It had tapestry hangings to the wall, and 
 cushions both to the carved chairs and deep win- 
 dows, which looked out into the street, the whole 
 story projecting into close proximity with the cor- 
 
DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NE8T, 11 
 
 responding apartment of the Syndic Moritz, the 
 goldsmith on the opposite side. An oaken table 
 stood in the center, and the gallery was adorned 
 with a dresser, displaying not only bright pewter, 
 but goblets and drinking cups of beautifully-shaped 
 and colored glass, and saltcellars, tankards, etc., of 
 gold and silver. 
 
 " Just as it was in the old man's time," said the 
 soldier, throwing himself into the housefather's 
 chair. "A handful of lanzknechts would make 
 short work with your pots and pans, good sister 
 Johanna." 
 
 " Heaven forbid ! " said poor Johanna under her 
 breath. 
 
 "Much good they do you, up in a row there, 
 making you a slave to furbishing them. There's 
 more sense in a chair like this — that does rest a 
 man's bones. Here, Camilla, girl, unlace my hel- 
 met. What ! know'st not how ? What is a woman 
 made for but to let a soldier free of his trappings ? 
 Thou hast done it ! There ! N^ow my boots," 
 stretching out his legs. 
 
 " Hans shall draw off your boots, fair brother," 
 began the dame; but poor Christina, the more 
 anxious to propitiate him in little things, because of 
 the horror and dread with which his main purpose 
 inspired her, was already on her knees, pulling with 
 her small quivering hands at the long, steel-guarded 
 boot — a task to which she would have been utterly 
 inadequate, but for some lazy assistance from her 
 father's other foot. She further brought a pair of 
 
12 VE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 her uncle's furred slippers, while Keiter Hugh pro- 
 ceeded to dangle one of the boots in the air, expa- 
 tiating on its frail condition, and expressing his 
 intention of getting a ncAV pair from Master 
 Matthias, the sutor, ere he should leave Ulm on the 
 morrow. Then, again, came the dreaded subject: 
 his daughter must go with him. 
 
 "What would you with Christina, brother?" 
 gravely asked Master Gottfried, seating himself on 
 the opposite side of the stove, while out of sight the 
 frightened girl herself knelt on the floor, her head 
 on her aunt's knees, trying to derive comfort from 
 Dame Johanna's clasping hands, and vehement 
 murmurs that they would not let their child be 
 taken from them. Alas! these assurances were 
 little in accordance with Hugh's rough reply, " And 
 what is it to you what I do with mine own ? " 
 
 " Only this, that having bred her up as a child 
 and intended heiress, I might have some voice." 
 
 " Oh ! in choosing her mate ! Some mincing 
 artificer, I trow, fiddling away with wood and wire 
 to make gauds for the fair-day ! Hast got him 
 here ? If I like him, and she likes him, I'll bring 
 her back when her work is done." 
 
 " There is no such person as yet in the case," said 
 Gottfried. " Christina is not yet seventeen, and I 
 would take my time to find an honest, pious 
 burgher, who wiU value this precious jewel of 
 mine." 
 
 " And let her polish his flagons to the end of her 
 days," laughed Hugh grimly, but manifestly some- 
 
DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S If ESI 13 
 
 what influenced by the notion of his brother's 
 wealth. " What, hast no child of thine own ? " he 
 added. 
 
 " ISTone, save in paradise," answered Gottfried, 
 crossing himself. "And thus, if Christina should 
 remain with me, and be such as I would have her, 
 then, brother, my wealth, after myself and my good 
 housewife, shall be hers, with due provision for thee, 
 if thou shouldst weary of thy wild life. Other- 
 wise," he added, looking down, and speaking in an 
 undertone, " my poor savings should go to the 
 completion of the Dome Kirk." 
 
 "And who told thee, Goetz, that I would do 
 ought with the girl that should hinder her from 
 being the very same fat, sauerkraut-cooking, pewter- 
 scrubbing housewife of thy mind's eye ? " 
 
 "I have heard nothing of thy designs as yet. 
 Brother Hugh, save that thou wouldst take her to 
 Adlerstein, which men greatly belie if it be not a 
 nest of robbers." 
 
 " Aha ! thou hast heard of Adlerstein ! We have 
 made the backs of your jolly merchants tingle as 
 well as they could through their well lined doublets! 
 Ulm knows of Adlerstein, and the Debatable 
 Ford!" 
 
 "It knows little to its credit," said Gottfried, 
 gravely; "and it knows also that the emperor is 
 about to make a combination against all the 
 Swabian robber-holds, and that such as join not in 
 it will fare the worse." 
 
 " Let Kaiser Fritz catch his bear ere he sells its 
 
14 DO VE IN TEE EAGLE 'S NEST, 
 
 hide! He has never tried to mount the Eagle's 
 Ladder! Why, man, Adlerstein might be held 
 against five hundred men by Sister Johanna with 
 her rock and spindle ! 'Tis a free barony. Master 
 Gottfried, I tell thee — has never sworn allegiance to 
 kaiser or Duke of Swabia either ! IVeiherr Eberhard 
 is as much a king on his own rock as Kaiser Fritz ever 
 was of the Romans, and more too, for I never could 
 find out that they thought much of our king at 
 Rome ; and, as to gainsaying our old frieherr, one 
 might as well leap over the abyss at once." 
 
 " Yes, those old free barons are pitiless tyrants," 
 said Gottfried, " and I scarce think I can understand 
 thee aright when I hear thee say thou wouldst carry 
 thy daughter to such an abode." 
 
 " It is the freiherr's command," returned Hugh. 
 "Look you, they have had wondrous ill-luck with 
 their children ; the Freiherrinn Kunigunde has had 
 a dozen at least, and only two are alive, my young 
 freiherr and my young Lady Erraentrude ; and no 
 wonder, you would say, if you could see the 
 gracious freiherrinn, for surely Dame Holda made 
 a blunder when she fished her out of the fountain 
 woman instead of man. She is Adlerstein herself 
 by birth, married her cousin, and is prouder and 
 more dour than our old frieherr himself — fitter far 
 to handle shield than swaddled babe. And now our 
 jungfrau has fallen into a pining waste, that 'tis a 
 pity to see how her cheeks have fallen away, and 
 how she mopes and fades. JSTow, the old freiherr 
 and her brother, they both dote on her, and would 
 
BO VE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST- 15 
 
 do anything for her. They thought she was 
 bewitched, so we took old Mother Ilsebill and 
 tried her with the ordeal of water; but, look 
 you, she sank as innocent as a puppy dog, 
 and Ursel was at fault to fix on any one else. 
 Then one day, when I looked into the chamber, 
 I saw the poor maiden sitting, with her head hang- 
 ing down, as if 'twas too heavy for her, on a high- 
 backed chair, no rest for her feet, and the wind 
 blowing keen all round her, and nothing to taste 
 but scorched beef, or black bread and sour wine, and 
 her mother rating her for foolish fancies that gave 
 trouble. And, when my young freiherr was be- 
 moaning himself that we could not hear of a Jew 
 physician passing our way to catch and bring up to 
 cure her, I said to him at last that no doctor could 
 do for her what gentle tendance and nursing would, 
 for what the poor maiden needed was^ to be cosseted 
 and laid down softly, and fed with broths and possets, 
 and all that women know how to do with one 
 another. A proper scowl and hard words I got 
 from my gracious lady, for wanting to put burgher 
 softness into an Adlerstein ; but my old lord and 
 his son opened on the scent at once. ' Thou hast a 
 daughter V quoth the freiherr. ' So please your 
 gracious lordship,' quoth I ; ' that is, if she still 
 lives, for I left her a puny infant.' ' Well,' said my 
 lord, * if thou wilt bring her here, and her care 
 restores my daughter to health and strength, then 
 will I make thee my body squire, with a right to a 
 fourth part of all the spoil, and feed for two horses 
 
16 DO VE IN THE EA OL E '8 NEST. 
 
 in my stable.' And young Freiherr Eberhard gave 
 his word upon it." 
 
 Gottfried suggested that a sick nurse was the 
 person required rather than a child like Christina ; 
 but, as Hugh truly observed, no nurse would volun- 
 tarily go to Adlerstein, and it was no use to wait 
 for the hopes of capturing one by raid or foray. 
 His daughter was at his own disposal, and her 
 services would be repaid by personal advantages to 
 himself which he was not disposed to forego ; in 
 effect these were the only means that the baron had 
 of requiting any attendance upon his daughter. 
 
 The citizens of old Germany had the strongest and 
 most stringent ideas of parental authority, and re- 
 garded daughters as absolute chattels of their 
 father ; and Master Gottfried Sorel, though he alone 
 had done the part of a parent to his niece, felt 
 entirely unable to withstand the nearer claim, ex- 
 cept by representations ; and these fell utterly dis- 
 regarded, as in truth every counsel had hitherto 
 done, upon the ears of Reiter Hugh, ever since he 
 had emerged from his swaddling clothes. The 
 plentiful supper, full cup of wine, the confections, 
 the soft chair, together perhaps with his brother's 
 grave speech, soon, however, had the effect of send- 
 ing him into a doze, whence he started to accept 
 civilly the proposal of being installed in the stran- 
 ger's room, where he was speedily snoring between 
 two feather beds. 
 
 Then there could be freedom of speech in the 
 gallery, where the uncle and aunt held anxious 
 
DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NE8T. 17 
 
 counsel over the poor little dark-tressed head that 
 still lay upon good Johanna's knees. The dame was 
 indignant and resolute : " Take the child back with 
 him into a very nest of robbers ! — her OAvn innocent 
 dove whom they had shielded from all evil like a 
 very nun in a cloister ! She should as soon think 
 of yielding her up to be borne off by the great 
 Satan himself with his horns and hoofs." 
 
 " Hugh is her father, housewife," said the master- 
 carver. 
 
 " The right of parents is with those that have 
 done the duty of parents," returned Johanna. 
 " What said the kid in the fable to the goat that- 
 claimed her from the sheep that bred her up ? I 
 am ashamed of you, housefather, for not better lov- 
 ing your own niece." 
 
 " Heaven knows how I love her," said Gottfried, 
 as the sweet face was raised up to him with a look 
 acquitting of the charge, and he bent to smooth 
 back the silken hair, and kiss the ivory brow ; " but 
 Heaven also knows that I see no means of withhold- 
 ing her from one whose claim is closer than my 
 own — none save one ; and to that even thou, house- 
 mother, wouldst not have me resort." 
 
 " What is it ? " asked the dame, sharply, yet with 
 some fear. 
 
 " To denounce him to the burgomasters as one of 
 the Adlerstein retainers who robbed Philipp der 
 Schmidt, and have him fast laid by the heels." 
 
 Christina shuddered, and Dame Johanna herself 
 recoiled ; but presently exclaimed, " Nay, you could 
 
18 DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 not do that, good man, but wherefore not threaten 
 him therewith? Stand at his bedside in early dawn, 
 and tell him that, if he be not off ere daylight with 
 both his cut-throats, the halberdiers will be upon 
 him." 
 
 " Threaten what I neither could nor would per- 
 form, mother ? That were a shrewish resource." 
 
 " Yet would it save the child," muttered Johanna. 
 But, in the meantime, Christina was rising from the 
 floor, and stood before them with loose hair, tearful 
 eyes, and wet, flushed cheeks. " It must be thus," she 
 said in a low, but not unsteady voice. " I can bear it 
 better since I have heard of the poor young lady, 
 sick, and with none to care for her. I will go with 
 my father ; it is my duty. I will do my best ; but 
 oh ! uncle, so work with him that he may bring me 
 back again." 
 
 " This from thee, Stina ! " exclaimed her aunt ; 
 " from thee who art sick for fear of a lanzknecht ! " 
 
 " The saints will be with me, and you vrill pray 
 for me," said Christina, still trembling. 
 
 " I tell thee, child, thou knowst not what these 
 vile dens are. Heaven forfend thou shouldst ! " 
 exclaimed her aunt. " Go only to Father Balthazar, 
 housefather, and see if he doth not call it a sending 
 of a lamb among wolves." 
 
 " Mind'st thou the carving I did for Father Bal- 
 thazar's own oratory ? " replied Master Gottfried. 
 
 " I talk not of carving. I talk of our child ! " 
 said the dame petulantly. 
 
 " Ut agnvs inter lujpos^'' softly said Gottfried, 
 
DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 19 
 
 looking tenderly, though sadly, at his neice, who 
 not only understood the quotation, but well remem- 
 bered the carving of the cross-marked lamb going 
 forth from its fold among the howling wolves. 
 
 " Alas ! I am not an apostle," said she. 
 
 " ]^ay, but, in the path of duty, 'tis the same 
 hand that sends thee forth," answered her uncle, 
 "and the same will guard thee." 
 
 " Duty, indeed ! " exclaimd Johanna. " As if any 
 duty could lead that silly helpless child among that 
 herd of evil men, and women yet worse, with a 
 good-for-nothing father who would sell her for a 
 good horse to the first dissolute junker who fell in 
 his way." 
 
 " I will take care that he knows that it is worth 
 his while to restore her safe to us. Nor do I think 
 so ill of Hugh as thou dost, mother. And, for the 
 rest, Heaven and the saints and her own discretion 
 must be her guard till she shall return to us." 
 
 " How can Heaven be expected to protect her 
 when you are flying in its face by not taking coun- 
 sel with Father Balthazar ? " 
 
 " That shalt thou do," replied Gottfried, readily, 
 secure that Father Balthazar would see the matter 
 in the same light as himself, and tranquilize the 
 good woman. It was not yet so late but that a 
 servant could be despatched with a request that 
 Father Balthazar, who lived not many houses off in 
 the same street, would favor the Burgomeisterinn 
 Sorel b}^ coming to speak with her. In a few minutes 
 he appeared — an aged man, with a sensible face, 
 
20 I>0 VE IN THE EA OLE '8 NEST, 
 
 of the fresh, pure bloom preserved by a temperate 
 life. He was a secular-parish priest, and, as well as 
 his friend Master Gottfried, held greatly by the 
 views left by the famous Strasburg preacher. Mas- 
 ter John Tauler. After the good housemother had, 
 in strong terms, laid the case before him, she ex- 
 pected a trenchant decision on her own side, but, to 
 her surprise and disappointment, he declared that 
 Master Gottfried was right, and that, unless Hugh 
 Sorel demanded anything absolutely sinful of his 
 daughter, it was needful that she should submit. 
 He repeated, in stronger terms, the assurance that 
 she would be protected in the endeavor to do right, 
 and the divine promises which he quoted from the 
 Latin scriptures gave some comfort to the niece, 
 who understood them, while they impressed the 
 aunt, who did not. There was always the hope 
 that, whether the young lady died or recovered, the 
 conclusion of her illness would be the term of 
 Christina's stay at Adlerstein, and with this trust 
 Johanna must content herself. The priest took 
 leave, after appointing with Christina to meet her 
 in the confessional early in the morning before 
 mass ; and half the night was spent by the aunt 
 and niece in preparing Christina's wardrobe for her 
 sudden journey. 
 
 Many a tear was shed over the tokens of the lit- 
 tle services she was wont to render, her half-done 
 works, and pleasant studies so suddenly broken off,, 
 and all the time Hausfrau Johanna was running 
 on with a lecture on the diligent preservation of her 
 
DO VB IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 21 
 
 maiden discretion, with plentiful warnings against 
 swaggering men-at-arms, drunken lanzknechts, and, 
 above all, against young barons, who most assuredly 
 could mean no good by any burgher maiden. The 
 good annt blessed the saints that her Stina was 
 likely only to be lovely in affectionate home eyes ; 
 but, for that matter, idle men, shut up in a castle, 
 with nothing but mischief to think of, would be 
 dangerous to Little Three Eyes herself, and Chris- 
 tina had best never stir a yard from her lady's chair, 
 when forced to meet them. All this was inter- 
 spersed with motherly advice how to treat the sick 
 lady, and recipes for cordials and possets; for 
 Johanna began to regard the case as a sort of 
 second-hand one of her own. l^ay, she even turned 
 it over in her mind whether she should not offer 
 herself as the Lady Ermentrude's sick-nurse, as be- 
 ing a less dangerous commodity than her little 
 niece : but fears for the well-being of the master- 
 carver, and his Wirthschaft, and still more the 
 notion of gossip Gertrude Grundt hearing that she 
 had ridden off with a wild lanzknecht, made her at 
 once reject the plan, without even mentioning it to 
 her husband or her neice. 
 
 By the time Hugh Sorel rolled out from between 
 his feather beds, and was about to don his greasy 
 buff, a handsome new suit, finished point device, 
 and a pair of huge boots to correspond, had been 
 laid by his bedside. 
 
 " Ho, ho ! Master Goetz," said he, as he stumbled 
 into the Stube, " 1 see thy game. Thou wouldst 
 
22 I>0 VE IN THE EAGLE' 8 NEST, 
 
 make it worth my while to visit the father-house at 
 Ulm?" 
 
 " It shall be worth thy while, indeed, if thou bring- 
 est me back my white dove," was Gottfried's an- 
 swer. 
 
 " And how if I bring her back with a strapping 
 reiter son-in-law?" laughed Hugh. "What wel- 
 come should the fellow receive ? " 
 
 " That would depend on what he might be," re- 
 plied Gottfried ; and Hugh, his love of tormenting 
 a little allayed by satisfaction in his buff suit, and 
 by an eye to a heavy purse that lay by his brother's 
 hand on the table, added, " Little fear of that. Our 
 fellows would look for lustier brides than yon little 
 pale face. 'Tis whiter than ever this morning, — 
 but no tears. That is my brave girl." 
 
 " Yes, father, I am ready to do your bidding," re- 
 plied Christina, meekly. 
 
 " That is well, child. Mark me, no tears. Thy 
 mother wept day and night, and, when she had 
 wept out her tears, she was sullen, when I would 
 have been friendly toward her. It was the worse 
 for her. But, so long as thou art good daughter to 
 me, thou shalt find me good father to thee ; " and for 
 a moment there was a kindliness in her eye which 
 made it sufficiently like that of his brother to give 
 some consolation to the shrinking heart that he was 
 rending from all it loved ; and she steadied her voice 
 for another gentle profession of obedience, for which 
 she felt strengthened by the morning's orisons. 
 
 " Well said, child. Now canst sit on old Nibe- 
 
DO YE nr THE EAGLE '8 NEST. 23 
 
 lung's croup ? His back-bone is somewhat sharper 
 than if he had battened in a citizen's stall ; but, if 
 thine aunt can find thee some sort of pillion, I'll 
 promise thee the best ride thou hast had since we 
 came from Innspruck, ere thou canst remember." 
 
 " Christina has her own mule," replied her uncle, 
 " without troubling Kibelung to carry double." 
 
 " Ho ! her own ! An overfed burgomaster sort 
 of a beast, that will turn restive at the first sight of 
 the Eagle's Ladder ! However, he may carry her 
 so far, and, if we cannot get him up the moun- 
 tain, I shall know what to do with him," he muttered 
 to himself. 
 
 But Hugh, like many a gentleman after him, 
 was recusant at the sight of his daughter's luggage ; 
 and yet it only loaded one sumpter mule, besides 
 forming a few bundles which could be easily be- 
 stowed upon the saddles of his two knappen, while 
 her lute hung by a silken string on her arm. Both 
 she and her aunt thought she had been extremely 
 moderate ; but his cry was, what could she want 
 with so much ? Her mother had never been allowed 
 more than would go into a pair of saddle-bags ; and 
 his own jungfaru — she had never seen so much gear 
 together in her life ; he would be laughed to scorn 
 for his presumption in bringing such a fine lady into 
 the castle ; it would be well if Frieherr Eberhard's 
 bride brought half as much. 
 
 Still he had a certain pride in it — he was, after 
 all, by birth and breeding a burgher — and there had 
 been evidently a softening and civilizing influence 
 
24 I>0 VE m THE EAGLE 'S NEST, 
 
 in the night spent beneath his paternal roof, amid 
 old habits, and perhaps likewise in the submission 
 he had met with from his daughter. The attend- 
 ants, too, who had been pleased with their quarters, 
 readily undertook to carry their share of the burthen, 
 and, though he growled and muttered a little, he at 
 length was won over to consent, chiefly, as it seemed, 
 by Christina's obliging readiness to leave behind the 
 bundle that contained her holiday kirtle. 
 
 He had been spared all needless irritation. Be- 
 fore his waking, Christina had been at the priest's 
 cell, and had received his last blessings and counsels, 
 and she had, on the way back, exchanged her fare- 
 wells and tears with her two dearest friends, Bar- 
 bara Schmidt, and Kegina Grundt, confiding to the 
 former her cage of doves, and to the latter the 
 myrtle, which, like every German maiden, she cher- 
 ished in her window, to supply her future bridal 
 wreath. Now pale as death, but so resolutely com- 
 posed as to be almost disappointing to her demon- 
 strative aunt, she quietly went through her home 
 partings; while Hausfrau Johanna adjured her 
 father by all that was sacred to be a true guardian 
 and protector of the child, and he could not forbear 
 from a few tormenting auguries about the lanzknecht 
 son-in-law. Their effect was to make the good dame 
 more passionate in her embraces and admonitions to 
 Christina to take care of herself. She would have a 
 mass said every day that Heaven might have a care 
 of her ! 
 
 Master Gottfried was going to ride as far as the 
 
DO YE IN THE EAGLE 'S J^EST, ^5 
 
 confines of the free city's territory, and his round, 
 sleek, cream-colored palfry, used to ambling in civic 
 processions, was as great a contrast to raw-boned, 
 wild-eyed Kibelung, all dappled with misty gray, as 
 was the stately, substantial burgher to his lean, 
 hungry-looking brother, or Dame Johanna's dig- 
 nified, curled, white poodle, which was forcibly with- 
 held from following Christina, to the coarse-bristled, 
 wolfish-looking hound who glared at the household 
 pet with angry and contemptuous eyes, and made 
 poor Christina's heart throb with terror whenever it 
 bounded near her. 
 
 Close to her uncle she kept, as beneath the trel- 
 lised porches that came down from the projecting 
 gables of the burghers' houses many a well-known 
 face gazed and nodded, as they took their way 
 through the crooked streets, many a beggar or poor 
 widow waved her a blessing. Out into the market- 
 place, with its clear fountain adorned with arches 
 and statues, past the rising Dome Kirk, where the 
 swarms of workmen unbonneted to the master- 
 carver, and the reiter paused with an irreverent 
 sneer at the small progress made since he could first 
 remember the building. How poor little Christina's 
 soul clung to every cusp of the lace- work spire, every 
 arch of the window, each of which she had hailed as 
 an achievement ! The tears had well-nigh blinded 
 her in a gush of feeling that came on her unawares, 
 and her mule had his own way as he carried her un- 
 der the arch of the tall and beautifully-sculptured 
 bridge tower, and over the noble bridge across the 
 Danube. 
 
26 J)0 VE IN TBE EAGLETS NEST. 
 
 Her uncle spoke much, low and earnestly, to his 
 brother. She knew it was in commendation of her 
 to his care, and an endeavor to impress him with a 
 sense of the kind of protection she would require, 
 and she kept out of ear-shot. It was enough for her 
 to see her uncle still, and feel that his tenderness 
 was with her, and around her. But at last he drew 
 his rein. " And now, my little one, the daughter of 
 my heart, I must bid thee farewell," he said. 
 
 Christina could not be restrained from springing 
 from her mule, and kneeling on the grass to receive 
 his blessing, her face hidden in her hands, that her 
 father might not see her tears. 
 
 " The good God bless thee, my child," said Gott- 
 fried, who seldom invoked the saints ; " bless thee, 
 and bring thee back in His own good time. Thou 
 hast been a good child to^ us ; be so to thine own 
 father. Do thy work and come back to us again." 
 
 The tears rained down his cheeks, as Christina's 
 head lay on his bosom, and then with a last kiss he 
 lifted her again on her mule, mounted his horse, and 
 turned back to the city, with his servant. 
 
 Hugh was merciful enough to let his daughter gaze 
 long after the retreating figure ere he summoned 
 her on. All day they rode, at first through meadow 
 lands and then througn more broken, open ground, 
 where at midday they halted, and dined upon the 
 plentiful fare with which the housemother had pro- 
 vived them, over which Hugh smacked his lips, and 
 owned that they did live well in the old town ! 
 Could Christina make such sausages ? " 
 
DO VE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST, 27 
 
 " Kot as well as my aunt." 
 
 " Well, do thy best, and thou wilt win favor with 
 the baron." 
 
 The evening began to advance, and Christina was 
 \QYy weary, as the purple mountains that she had 
 long watched with a mixture of fear and hope began 
 to look more distinct, and the ground was often in 
 abrupt ascents. Her father, without giving space 
 for complaints, hurried her on. He must reach the 
 Debatable Ford ere dark. It was, however, twilight 
 when they came to an open space, where, at the foot 
 of thickly forest-clad rising ground, lay an expanse 
 of turf and rich grass, through which a stream made 
 its way, standing in a wide tranquil pool as if to 
 rest after its rough course from the mountains. 
 Above rose, like a dark wall, crag upon crag, peak 
 on peak, in purple masses, blending with the sky ; 
 and Hugh, pointing upward to a turreted point, ap- 
 parently close above their heads, where a star of 
 light was burning, told her that there was Adler- 
 stein, and this was the Debatable Ford. 
 
 In fact, as he explained, while splashing through 
 the shallow expanse, the stream had changed its 
 course. It was the boundary between the lands of 
 Schlangenwald and Adlerstein, but it had within the 
 last sixty years burst forth in a flood, and had then 
 declined to return to its own bed, but had flowed in 
 a fresh channel to the right of the former one. The 
 Freiherren von Adlerstein claimed the ground to 
 the old channel, the Graff en von Schlangenwald 
 held that the river was the landmark ; and the dis- 
 
28 DO VE m THE EAGLE'S NE8T, 
 
 pute had a greater importance than seemed explained 
 from the worth of the rushy space of ground in 
 question, for this was the passage of the Italian 
 merchants on their way from Constance, and every 
 load that was overthrown in the river was regarded 
 as the lawful prey of the noble on whose banks the 
 catastrophe befell. 
 
 Any freight of goods was anxiously watched by 
 both nobles, and it was not their fault if no disaster 
 befell the travelers. Hugh talked of the Schlangen- 
 wald marauders with the bitterness of a deadly 
 feud, but manifestly did not breathe freely till his 
 whole convoy were safe across both the wet and the 
 dry channel. 
 
 Christina supposed they should now ascend to the 
 castle ; but her father laughed, saying that the castle 
 was not such a step off as she fancied, and that they 
 must have daylight for the Eagle's Stairs. He led 
 the way through the trees, up ground that she 
 thought mountain already, and finally arrived at a 
 miserable little hut, which served the purpose of an 
 inn. 
 
 He was received there with much obsequiousness, 
 and was plainly a great authority there. Christina, 
 weary and frightened, descended from her mule, and 
 was put under the protection of a wild, rough-looking 
 peasant woman, who stared at her like something 
 from another world, but at length showed her a nook 
 behind a mud partition, where she could spread her 
 mantle, and at least lie down, and tell her beads un- 
 seen, if she could not sleep in the stifling, smoky at- 
 
DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 29 
 
 mosphere, amid the sounds of carousal among her 
 father and his fellows. 
 
 The great hound came up and smelt her. His out- 
 line was so wolfish, that she had nearly screamed ; 
 but, more in terror at the men who might have 
 helped her than even at the beast, she tried to 
 smooth him with her trembling hand, whispered his 
 name of " Festhold," and found him licking her 
 hand, and wagging his long rough tail. And he 
 finally lay down at her feet, as though to protect 
 her. 
 
 " Is it a sign that good angels will not let me be 
 hurt ? " she thought, and, wearied out, she slept. 
 
30 DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 CHAPTER 11. 
 
 THE EYEIE. 
 
 Cheistina Sorel awoke to a scene most unlike 
 that which had been wont to meet her eyes in her 
 own Httle wainscoted chamber high in the gabled 
 front of her uncle's house. It was a time when the 
 imperial free towns of Germany had advanced 
 nearly as far as those of Itah^ in civilization, and 
 had reached a point whence they retrograded griev- 
 ously during the Thirty Years' war, even to an ex- 
 tent that they have never entirely recovered. The 
 country immediately around them shared the benefits 
 of their civilization, and the free peasant-proprietors 
 lived in great ease and prosperity, in beautiful and 
 picturesque farmsteads, enjoying a careless abun- 
 dance, and keeping numerous rural or religious 
 feasts, where old Teutonic mythological observ- 
 ances had received a Christian coloring and adapta- 
 tion. 
 
 In the mountains, or around the castles, it was 
 usually very different. The elective constitution of 
 the empire, the frequent change of dynasty, the 
 vn'^ny disputed successions, had combined to render 
 the sovereign authority uncertain and feeble, and it 
 was seldom really felt save in the hereditary domin- 
 
DO VE IN THE EAQLW8 NEST. 31 
 
 ions of the kaiser for the time being. Thus, while 
 the cities advanced in the power of self-government, 
 and the education it conveyed, the nobles, especially 
 those whose abodes were not easily accessible, were 
 often practically under no government at all, and 
 felt themselves accountable to no man. The old 
 wild freedom of the Suevi, and other Teutonic 
 tribes, still technically and in many cases, practically 
 existed. The heretogen, heerzogen, or, as we call 
 them, dukes, had indeed accepted employment from 
 the kaiser as his generals, and had received rewards 
 from him ; the gerefen, or grafifen of all kinds were 
 his judges, the titles of both being proofs of their 
 holding commissions from, and being thus depend- 
 ent on, the court. But the freiherren, a word very 
 inadequately represented by our French term of 
 baron, were absolutely free, " never in bondage to 
 any man," holding their own, and owing no duty, 
 no office; poorer, because unendowed by the royal 
 authority, but holding themselves infinitely higher, 
 than the pensioners of the court. Left behind, how- 
 ever, by their neighbors, who did their part by soci- 
 ety, and advanced with it, the Freiherren had been 
 for the most part obliged to give up their independ- 
 ence and fall into the system, but so far in the rear, 
 that they ranked, like the barons of France and Eng- 
 land, as the last order of nobility. 
 
 Still, however, in the wilder and more mountain- 
 ous parts of the country some of the old families of 
 unreduced, truly free freiherren lingered, their 
 hand against every man, and every man's hand 
 
32 I>0 VE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 against them, and ever becoming more savage, both 
 positively and still more proportionately, as their 
 isolation and the general progress around them be- 
 came greater. The house of Austria, by gradually 
 absorbing hereditary states into its own possessions, 
 was, however, in the fifteenth century, acquiring a 
 preponderance that rendered its possession of the 
 imperial throne almost a matter of inheritance, and 
 moreover rendered the supreme power far more ef- 
 fective than it had ever previously been. Freidrich 
 III., a man still in full vigor, and with an able and 
 enterprising son already elected to the succession, 
 was making his rule felt, and it was fast becoming 
 apparent that the days of the independent baronies 
 were numbered, and that the only choice that would 
 soon be left them would be between making terms 
 and being forcibly reduced. Yon Adlerstein was 
 one of the oldest of these free families. If the lords 
 of the Eagle's Stone had ever followed the great 
 Konrads and Freidrichs of Swabia in their imperial 
 days, their descendants had taken care to forget the 
 weakness, and believed themselves absolutely free 
 from all allegiance. 
 
 And the wildness of their territory was what 
 might be expected from their hostility to all outward 
 influences. The hostel, if it deserved the name, was 
 little more than a charcoal-burner's hut, hidden in 
 the woods at the foot of the mountain, serving as a 
 halting-place for the frieherren's retainers ere they 
 attempted the ascent. The inhabitants were allowed 
 to ply their trade of charring wood in the forest on 
 
DOVB IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 33 
 
 condition of supplying the castle with charcoal, and 
 of affording a lodging to the followers on occasions 
 like the j)resent. 
 
 Grimy, half-clad, and brawny, with the whites of 
 his eyes gleamiag out of his black face, Jobst the 
 kohler startled Christina terribly when she came 
 into the outer room, and met him returning from 
 his night's work, with his long stoking-pole in 
 his hand. Her father shouted with laughter at her 
 alarm. 
 
 " Thou thinkest thyself in the land of the kobolds 
 and dwarfs, my girl! Never mind, thou wilt see 
 worse than honest Jobst before thou hast done. Now 
 eat a morsel and be ready — mountain air will make 
 thee hungry ere thou art at the castle. And, hark 
 thee, Jobst, thou must give stable-room to yon sump- 
 ter-mule for the present, and let some of my daugh- 
 ter's gear lie in the shed." 
 
 " Ob, father ! " exclaimed Christina in dismay. 
 
 " We'll bring it up, child, by piecemeal," he said 
 in a low voice, " as we can ; but if such a freight 
 came to the castle at once, my lady would have her 
 claws on it, and little more wouldst thou ever see 
 thereof. Moreover, I shall have enough to do to 
 look after thee up the ascent, without another of 
 these city-bred beasts." 
 
 " I hope the poor mule mil be well cared for. I 
 
 can pay for " began Christina ; but her father 
 
 squeezed her arm, and drowned her soft voice in his 
 loud tones. 
 
 " Jobst will take care of the beast, as belonging 
 
34 JDOVE IN TEE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 to me. Woe betide him^ if I find it the worse ! " 
 and his added imprecations seemed unneccessary, 
 so earnest were the asseverations of both the 
 man and his wife that the animal should be well 
 cared for. 
 
 " Look you, Christina," said Hugh Sorel, as soon 
 as he had placed her on her mule, and led her out of 
 hearing, " if thou hast any gold about thee, let it be 
 the last thing thou ownest to any living creature up 
 there." Then, as she was about to speak — " Do not 
 even tell me. I will not know." The caution did 
 not add much to Christina's comfort ; but she pres- 
 ently asked, " Where is thy steed, father ? " 
 
 " I sent him up to the castle with the Schneider- 
 lein and Yellow Lorentz," answered the father. " I 
 shall have ado enough on foot with thee before we 
 are up the Ladder." 
 
 The father and daughter were meantime proceed- 
 ing along a dark path through oak and birch woods 
 constantly ascending, until the oak grew stunted and 
 disappeared, and the opening glades showed steep, 
 stony, torrent-furrowed ramparts of hillside above 
 them, looking to Christina's eyes as if she were set 
 to climb up the cathedral side like a snail or a fly. 
 She quite gasped for breath at the very sight, and 
 was told in return to wait and see what she would 
 yet say to the Adlerstreppe, or Eagle's Ladder. 
 Poor child ! she had no raptures for romantic scen- 
 ery ; she knew that jagged peaks made very pretty 
 backgrounds in illuminations, but she had much 
 rather have been in the smooth meadows of the en- 
 
DOVE IN THE EAGLE' 8 NEST. 35 
 
 virons of Ulm. The Danube looked much more 
 agreeable to her, silver-winding between its green 
 banks, than did the same waters leaping down with 
 noisy voices in their stony, worn beds to feed the 
 river that she only knew in his grave breadth and 
 majesty. Yet, alarmed as she was, there was 
 something in the exhilaration and elasticity of the 
 mountain air that gave her an entirely new sen- 
 sation of enjoyment and life, and seemed to brace 
 her limbs and spirits for whatever might be before 
 her; and, willing to show herself ready to be 
 gratified, she observed on the freshness and sweet- 
 ness of the air. 
 
 " Thou find-st it out, child ? Ay, 'tis worth all 
 the feather-beds and pouncet-boxes in Ulm ; is it 
 not ? That accursed Italian fever never left me till 
 I came up here. A man can scarce draw breath in 
 your foggy meadows below there. Now, then, here 
 is the view open. What think you of the Eagle's 
 E'est ? " 
 
 For, having passed beyond the region of wood 
 they had come forth upon the mountain-side. A 
 not immoderately steep slope of boggy, mossy-look- 
 ing ground covered with bilberries, cranberries etc., 
 and with bare rocks here and there rising, went 
 away above out of her ken ; but the path she was 
 upon turned round the shoulder of the mountain, 
 and to the left, on a ledge of rock cut off appar- 
 ently on their side by a deep ravine, and with a 
 sheer precipice above and below it, stood a red stone 
 pile, with one turret far above the rest. 
 
36 DO VE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 " And this is Schloss Adlerstein ? " she exclaimed. 
 
 " That is Schloss Adlerstein ; and there shalt thou 
 be in two hours' time, unless the devil be more than 
 usually busy, or thou ma^k'st a fool of thyself. If 
 so, not Satan himself could save thee." 
 
 It was well that Christina had resolution to pre- 
 vent her making a fool of herself on the spot, for 
 the thought of the pathAvay turned her so dizzy that 
 she could only shut her eyes, trusting that her 
 father did not see her terror. Soon the turn round 
 to the side of the mountain was made, and the road 
 became a mere track worn out on the turf on the 
 hillside, with an abyss beneath, close to the edge of 
 which the mule, of course, walked. 
 
 When she ventured to look again, she perceived 
 that the ravine was like an enormous crack open on 
 the mountain-side, and that the stream that formed 
 the Debatable Ford flowed down the bottom of it. 
 The ravine itself went probably all the way up the 
 mountain, growing shallower as it ascended higher ; 
 but here, where Christina beheld it, it was extremely 
 deep, and savagely desolate and bare. She now 
 saw that the Eagle's Ladder was a succession of 
 bare gigantic terraces of rock, of which the opposite 
 .side of the ravine was composed, and on one of 
 which stood the castle. It was no small mystery to 
 her how it had ever been built, or how she was ever 
 to get there. She saw in the opening of the ravine 
 the green meadows and woods far below ; and, 
 when her father pointed out to her the Debatable 
 Ford, apparently much nearer to the castle than 
 
DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 37 
 
 they themselves were at present, she asked why 
 they had so far overpassed the castle, and come by 
 this circuitous course. 
 
 " Because," said Hugh, " we are not eagles out- 
 right. Seest thou not, just beyond the castle court, 
 this whole crag of ours breaks off short, falls like 
 the town wall straight down into the plain ? Even 
 this cleft that we are crossing by, the only road a 
 horse can pass, breaks off short and sudden too, so 
 that the river is obliged to take leaps which nought 
 else but a chamois could compass. A footpath there 
 is, and Freiherr Eberhard takes it at all times, being 
 born to it ; but even I am too stiff for the like. 
 Ha ! ha ! Thy uncle may talk of the kaiser and 
 his league, but he would change his note if we had 
 him here." 
 
 " Yet castles have been taken by hunger," said 
 Christina. 
 
 " What, knowest thou so much ? True ! But 
 look you," pointing to a white foamy thread that 
 descended the opposite steeps, " yonder beck dashes 
 through the castle court, and it never dries ; and 
 see you the ledge the castle stands on ? It winds on 
 out of your sight, and forms a path which leads to 
 the village of Adlerstein, out on the other slope of 
 the mountains ; and ill were it for the serfs if they 
 victualed not the castle well." 
 
 The fearful steepness of the ground absorbed all 
 Christina's attention. The road, or rather stairs, 
 came down to the stream at the bottom of the fis- 
 sure, and then went again on the other side up still 
 
38 I>0 VE IN THE EAGLE 'S NEST. 
 
 more tremendous steeps, which Hugh clunbed with 
 a staff, sometimes with his hand on the bridle, but 
 more often only keeping a watchful eye on the sure- 
 footed mule, and an arm to steady his daughter in 
 the saddle when she grew absolutely faint with 
 giddiness at the abyss around her. She was too 
 much in awe of him to utter cry or complaint, and, 
 when he saw her effort to subdue her mortal terror, 
 he was far from unkind, and let her feel his protect- 
 ing strength. 
 
 Presently a voice was heard above — "What, 
 Sorel, hast brought her ! Trudchen is wearying for 
 her." 
 
 The words were in the most boorish dialect and 
 pronunciation, the stranger to Christina's ears, 
 because intercourse with foreign merchants, and a 
 growing affectation of Latinism, had much refined 
 the city language to which she was accustomed; 
 and she was surprised to perceive by her father's 
 gesture and address that the speaker must be one of 
 the lords of the castle. She looked up, and saw on 
 the pathway above her a tall, large-framed young 
 man, his skin dyed red with sun and wind, in odd 
 contrast with his pale shaggy hair, mustache and 
 beard, as though the weather had tanned the one 
 and bleached the other. His dress was a still 
 shabbier buff suit than her father had worn, but 
 with a richly embroidered belt sustaining a hunting- 
 horn with finely-chased ornaments of tarnished 
 silver, and an eagle's plume was fastened into his cap 
 with a large gold Italian coin. He stared hard at 
 
DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 39 
 
 the maiden, but vouchsafed her no token of greet- 
 ing — only distressed her considerably by distracting 
 her father's attention from her mule by his questions 
 about the journey, all in the same rude, coarse tone 
 and phraseology. Some amount of illusion was dis- 
 pelled. Christina was quite prepared to find the 
 mountain lords dangerous ruffians, but she had ex- 
 pected the graces of courtesy and high birth ; but, 
 though there was certainly an air of command and 
 freedom of bearing about the present specimen, his 
 manners and speech were more uncouth than those 
 of any newly-caught apprentice of her uncle, and she 
 could not help thinking that her good aunt Johanna 
 need not have troubled herself about the danger of 
 her taking a liking to any such young freiherr as she 
 here beheld. 
 
 By this time a last effort of the mule had climbed 
 to the level of the castle. As her father had shown 
 her, there was a precipice on two sides of the build- 
 ing ; on the third, a sheer wall of rock going up to a 
 huge height before it reached another of the Eagle's 
 Steps ; and on the fourth, where the gateway was, 
 the little beck had been made to flow in a deep 
 channel that had been hollowed out to serve as a 
 moat, before it bounded doAvn to swell the larger 
 water-course in the ravine. A temporary bridge had 
 been laid across ; the drawbridge was out of order, 
 and part of Hugh's business had been to procure 
 materials for mending its apparatus. Christina was 
 told to dismount and cross on foot. The unrailed 
 board, so close to the abyss, and with the wild water 
 
40 DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 foaming above and below, was dreadful to her ; and, 
 though she durst not speak, she hung back with an 
 involuntary shudder, as her father, occupied with 
 the mule, did not think of giving her a hand. The 
 3^oung baron burst out into an unrestrained laugh — 
 a still greater shock to her feelings ; but at the same 
 time he roughly took her hand and almost dragged 
 her across, saying, " City bred — ho, ho ! " " Thanks, 
 sir," she strove to say, but she was very near weep- 
 ing with the terror and strangeness of all around. 
 
 The low-browed gateway, barely high enough to 
 admit a man on horseback, opened before her, al- 
 most to her feelings like the gate of the grave, and 
 she could not help crossing herself, with a silent 
 prayer for protection, as she stepped under it, and 
 came into the castle court — not such a court as gave 
 its name to fair courtesy, but, if truth must be told, 
 far more resembling an ill-kept, ill-savored stable- 
 yard, with the piggeries opening into it. In un- 
 pleasantly close quarters, the Schneiderlein, or little 
 tailor, i.e. the biggest and fiercest of all the knappen, 
 was grooming Mbelung ; three long-backed, long- 
 legged, frightful swine were grubbing in a heap of 
 refuse; four or five gaunt, ferocious-looking dogs 
 came bounding up to greet their comrade Festhold ; 
 and a great old long-bearded goat stood on the top 
 of the mixen, looking much disposed to butt at any 
 newcomer. The Sorel family had brought cleanli- 
 ness from Flanders, and Hausfrau Johanna was 
 scrupulously dainty in all her appointments. Chris- 
 tina scarcely knew how she conveyed herself and her 
 
DO VB IN THE EAGLE 'S NEST. 41 
 
 blue kirtle across the bemired stones to the next and 
 still darker portal, under which a wide but rough 
 ill-hewn stair ascended. The stables, in fact, occu- 
 pied the lower floor of the main building, and not 
 till these stairs had ascended above them did they 
 lead out into the castle hall. Here were voices — 
 voices rude and harsh, like those Christina had 
 shrunk from in passing drinking booths. There was 
 a long table, with rough men-at-arms lounging 
 about, and staring rudely at her ; and at the upper 
 end, by a great open chimney, sat, half -dozing, an 
 elderly man, more rugged in feature than his son ; 
 and yet, when he roused himself and spoke to Hugh, 
 there was a shade more of breeding, and less of 
 clownishness, in his voice and deportment, as if he 
 had been less entirely devoid of training. A tall 
 darkly-robed woman stood beside him — it was her 
 harsh tone of reproof and command that had so 
 startled Christina as she entered — and her huge 
 towering cap made her look gigantic in the dim light 
 of the smoky hall. Her features had been hand- 
 some, but had become hardened into a grim wooden 
 aspect ; and with sinking spirits Christina paused at 
 the step of the dais, and made her reverence, wish- 
 ing she could sink beneath the stones of the pave- 
 ment out of sight of these terrible personages. 
 
 "So that's the wench you hav€ taken all this 
 trouble for," was Freiherrinn Kunigunde's greeting. 
 '' She looks like another sick baby to nurse ; but I'll 
 have no trouble about her ; that is all. Take her 
 up to Ermentrude ; and thou, girl, have a care thou 
 
4^ DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 dost her will, and puttest none of thy city fancies 
 mto her head." 
 
 " And hark thee, girl," added the old freiherr, 
 sitting up. " So thou canst nurse her well, thou 
 shalt have a new gown and a stout husband." 
 
 " That way," pointed the lady toward one of the 
 four corner towers ; and Christina moved doubtfully 
 toward it, reluctant to quit her father, her only 
 protector, and afraid to introduce herself. The 
 younger freiherr^ however, stepped before her, 
 went striding two or three steps at a time up the 
 turret stair, and, before Christina had wound her 
 way up, she heard a thin, impatient voice say, 
 '* Thou saidst she was come, Ebbo." 
 
 " Yes, even so," she heard Freiherr Eberhard re- 
 turn ; " but she is slow and town-bred. She was 
 afraid of crossing the moat." And then both 
 laughed, so that Christina's cheek tingled as she 
 emerged from the turret into another vaulted room. 
 " Here she is," quoth the brother ; " now will she 
 make thee quite well." 
 
 It was a very bare and desolate room, with no 
 hangings on the rough stone walls, and scarcely any 
 furniture, except a great carved bedstead, one 
 wooden chair, a table and some stools. On the 
 bare floor, in front of the fire, her arm under her 
 head, and a profusion of long hair falling round her 
 like flax from a distaff, lay wearily a little figure, 
 beside whom Sir Eberhard was kneeling on one 
 knee. 
 
 " Here is my sisterling," said he, looking up to 
 
DOVE IN TEE EAGLE'S NB8T. 43 
 
 the new-comer. " They say you burgher women 
 have ways of healing the sick. Look at her. Think 
 you you can heal her ? " 
 
 In an excess of dumb shyness Erraentrude half 
 rose, and effectually hindered any observations on 
 her looks by hiding her' face away upon her 
 brother's knee. It was the gesture of a child of 
 five years old, but Ermentrude's length of limb for- 
 bade Christina to suppose her less than fourteen or 
 fifteen. '' What, wilt not look at her ? " he said, 
 trying to raise her head ; and then, holding out one 
 of her wasted, feverish hands to Christina, he again 
 asked, with a wistfulness that had a strange effect 
 from the large, tall man, almost ten years her elder, 
 " Canst thou cure her, maiden ? " 
 
 " I am no doctor, sir," replied Christina ; " but I 
 could, at least make her more comfortable. The 
 stone is too hard for her." 
 
 " I will not go away ; I want the fire," murmured 
 the sick girl, holding out her hands toward it, and 
 shivering. 
 
 Christina quickly took off her own thick cloth 
 mantle, well lined with dressed lambskins, laid it on 
 the floor, rolled the collar of it over a small log of 
 wood — the only substitute she could see for a pillow 
 — and showed an inviting couch in an instant. 
 Ermentrude let her brother lay her down, and then 
 was covered with the ample fold. She smiled as 
 she turned up her thin, wasted face, faded into the 
 same whitey-brown tint as her hair. "That is 
 good," she said, but without thanks ; and feeling 
 
44 DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 the soft lambs wool : " Is that what you burgher- 
 women wear ? Father is to give me a furred man- 
 tle, if only some court dame would pass the Debat- 
 able Ford. But the Schlangenwaldern got the last 
 before ever we could get down. Jobst was so 
 stupid. He did not give us warning in time ; but 
 he is to be hanged next time if he does not." 
 
 Christina's blood curdled as she heard this speech 
 in a weak little complaining tone, that otherwise 
 put her sadly in mind of Barbara Schmidt's little 
 sister, who had pined and wasted to death. " I^ever 
 mind, Trudchen," answered the brother kindly ; 
 " meanwhile I have kept all the wild catskins for 
 thee, and may be this — this — she could sew them up 
 into a mantle for thee." 
 
 " O let me see," cried the young lady eagerly ; 
 and Sir Eberhard, walking off, presently returned 
 with an armful of the beautiful brindled furs of the 
 mountain cat, reminding Christina of her aunt's gen- 
 tle domestic favorite. Ermentrude sat up, and re- 
 garded the placing out of them with interest; 
 and thus her brother left her employed, and so much 
 delighted that she had not flagged, when a great 
 bell proclaimed that it was the time for the noon- 
 tide meal, for which Christina, in spite of all her 
 fears of the company below stairs, had been con- 
 strained by mountain air to look forward with sat- 
 isfaction. 
 
 Ermentrude, she found, meant to go down, but 
 with no notion of the personal arrangements that 
 Christina had been wont to think a needful prelim- 
 
DOVE IN THE EAGLE' 8 NEST. 45 
 
 inary. With all her hair streaming, down she went, 
 and was so gladly welcomed by Iier father that it 
 was plain that her presence was regarded as an un- 
 usual advance toward recovery, and Christina feared 
 lest he might already be looking out for the stout 
 husband. She had much to tell him about the cat- 
 skin cloak, and then she was seized with eager curi- 
 osity at the sight of Christina's bundles, and 
 especially at her lute, which she must hear at once. 
 
 " IS'ot now," said her mother, " there will be jang- 
 ling and jingling enough by and by — ^meat now." 
 
 The whole establishment were taking their places 
 — or rather tumbling into them. A battered, shape- 
 less metal vessel seemed to represent the salt-cellar, 
 and next to it Hugh Sorel seated himself, and kept 
 a place for her beside him. Otherwise she would 
 hardly have had seat or food. She was now able 
 to survey the inmates of the castle. Besides the 
 family themselves, there were about a dozen men, 
 all ruffianly-looking, and of much lower grade than 
 her father, and three women. One, old Ursel, the 
 wife of Hatto the forester, was a bent, worn, but 
 not ill-looking woman, with a motherly face ; the 
 younger ones were hard, bold creatures, from whom 
 Christina felt a shrinking recoil. The meal was 
 dressed by Ursel and her kitchen boy. From a 
 great cauldron, goat's flesh and broth together were 
 ladled out into wooden bowls. That every one 
 provided their own spoon and knife — no fork — was 
 only what Christina was used to in the most refined 
 society, and she had the implements in a pouch 
 
46 DOVE IN THE EA OLE 'S NEST. 
 
 hanging to her girdle ; but she was not prepared for 
 the unwashed condition of the bowls, nor for being 
 obliged to share that of her father — far less for the 
 absence of all blessing on the meal, and the coarse 
 boisterousness of manners prevailing thereat. Hungry 
 as she was, she did not find it easy to take food 
 under these circumstances, and she was relieved 
 when Ermentrude, overcome by the turmoil, grew 
 giddy, and was carried upstairs by her father, who 
 laid her down upon her great bed, and left her to 
 the attendance of Christina. Ursel had followed, 
 but was petulantly repulsed by her young lady in 
 favor of the newcomer, and went away grumbling. 
 
 ]S"estled on her bed, Ermentrude insisted on hear- 
 ing the lute, and Christina had to creep down to 
 fetch it, with some other of her goods, in trembling 
 haste, and redoubled disgust at the aspect of the meal, 
 which looked even more repulsive in this later stage, 
 and to one who was no longer partaking of it. 
 
 Low and softly, with a voice whence she could 
 scarcely banish tears, and in dread of attracting at- 
 tention, Christina sung to the sick girl, who listened 
 with a sort of rude wonder, and finally was lulled to 
 sleep. Christina ventured to lay down her instru- 
 ment and move toward the window, heavily mulli- 
 oned with stone, barred with iron, and glazed with 
 thick glass ; being in fact the only glazed window 
 in the castle. To her great satisfaction it did not 
 look out over the loathsome court, but over the open- 
 ing of the ravine. The apartment occupied the whole 
 floor of the keep ; it was stone-paved, but the roof 
 
DOVE m THE EAGLE' 8 NEST. 47 
 
 was boarded, and there was a round turret at each 
 angle. One contained the staircase, and was that 
 which ran up above the keep, served as a watch- 
 tower, and supported the eagle banner. The other 
 three were empty, and one of these, which had a 
 strong door, and a long loophole window looking 
 out over the open country, Christina hoped that she 
 might appropriate. The turret was immediately 
 over the perpendicular cliff that descended into the 
 plain. A stone thrown from the window would 
 have gone straight down, she knew not where. 
 Close to her ears rushed the descending waterfall 
 in its leap over the rock side, and her eyes could 
 rest themselves on the green meadow land below, 
 and the smooth water of the Debatable Ford ; nay 
 — far, far away beyond retreating ridges of wood 
 and field — she thought she could track a silver 
 line and, guided by it, a something that might be a 
 city. Hor heart leaped toward it, but she was re- 
 called by Ermentrude's fretfully imperious voice. 
 
 "I was only looking forth from the window, 
 lady," she said, returning. 
 
 "Ah! thou saw'st no travelers at the Ford?" 
 cried Ermentrude, starting up with lively interest. 
 
 " 1^0, lady ; I was gazing at the far distance. 
 Know you if it be indeed Ulm that we see from 
 these windows ? " 
 
 " Ulm ? That is where thou comest from ? " said 
 Ermentrude, languidly. 
 
 " My happy home, with my dear uncle and aunt ! 
 O, if I can but see it hence, it will be joy ! " 
 
48 DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 " I do not know. Let me see," said Ermentrude, 
 rising ; but at the window her pale blue eyes gazed 
 vacantly as if she did not know what she was look- 
 ing at or for. 
 
 " Ah ! if the steeple of the Dome Kirk were but 
 finished, I could not mistake it," said Christina. 
 "How beauteous the white spire will look from 
 hence ! " 
 
 " Dome Kirk ? " repeated Ermentrude ; " what is 
 that ? " 
 
 Such an entire blank as the poor child's mind 
 seemed to be was inconceivable to the maiden, who 
 had been bred up in the busy hum of men, where 
 the constant resort of strange merchants, the daily 
 interests of a self-governing municipality, and the 
 numerous festivals, both secular and religious, were 
 an unconscious education, even without that which 
 had been bestowed upon her by teachers, as well as 
 by her companionship with her uncle, and partici- 
 pation in his studies, tastes and arts. 
 
 Ermentrude von Adlerstein had, on the contrary, 
 not only never gone beyond the kohler's hut on the 
 one side, and the mountain village on the other, but 
 she had never seen more of life than the festival at 
 the wake at the hermitage chapel there on midsum- 
 mer-day. The only strangers who ever came to the 
 castle were disbanded lanzknechts who took service 
 with her father, or now and then a captive whom he 
 put to ransom. She knew absolutely nothing of the 
 world, except for a general belief that freiherren 
 lived there to do what they chose with other people, 
 
DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 49 
 
 and that the house of Adlerstein was the freest and 
 noblest in existence. Also there was a very positive 
 hatred to the house of Schlangenwald, and no less to 
 that of Adlerstein Wildschloss, for no reason that 
 Christina could discover save that, being a younger 
 branch of the family, they had submitted to the em- 
 peror. To destroy either the Graf von Schlangen- 
 wald, or her Wildschloss cousin, was evidently the 
 highest gratification Ermentrude could conceive ; 
 and, for the rest, that her father and brother should 
 make successful captures at the Debatable Ford 
 was the more abiding, because more practicable 
 hope. She had no further ideas, except perhaps to 
 elude her mother's severity, and to desire her 
 brother's success in chamois-hunting. The only 
 mental culture she had ever received was that old 
 Ursel had taught her the Credo, Pater Foster, and 
 Ave, as correctly as might be expected from a long 
 course of traditionary repetitions of an incompre- 
 hensible language. And she knew besides a few 
 German rhymes and jingles, half Christian, half 
 heathen, with a legend or two which, if the names 
 were Christian, ran grossly wild from all Christian 
 meaning or morality. As to the amenities, nay, al- 
 most the proprieties, of life, they were less known in 
 that baronial castle than in any artisan's house at 
 Ulm. So little had the sick girl figured them to 
 herself, that she did not even desire any greater 
 means of ease than she possessed. She moaned and 
 fretted indeed, with aching limbs and blank weari- 
 ness, but without the slightest formed desire for 
 
50 DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 anything to remove her discomfort, except the few 
 ameliorations she knew, such as sitting on her 
 brother's knee, with her head on his shoulder, or 
 tasting the mountain berries that he gathered for 
 her. Any other desire she exerted herself to frame 
 was for fi:^nery to be gained from the spoils of 
 travelers. 
 
 And this was Christina's charge, whom she must 
 look upon of the least alien spirit in this dreadful 
 castle of banishment! The young and old lords 
 seemed to her savage bandits, who frightened her 
 only less than did the proud sinister expression of 
 the old lady, for she had not even the merit of 
 showing any tenderness toward the sickly girl, of 
 whom she was ashamed, and evidently regarded the 
 town-bred attendant as a contemptible interloper. 
 
 Long, long did the maiden weep and pray that 
 night after Ermentrude had sunk to sleep. She 
 strained her eyes with home-sick longings to detect 
 lights where she thought Ulm might be ; and, as she 
 thought of her uncle and aunt, the poodle and the 
 cat round the stove, the maids spinning and the 
 'prentices knitting as her uncle read aloud some 
 grave good book, most probably the legend of the 
 saint of the day, and contrasted it with the rude 
 gruff sounds of revelry that found their way up the 
 turret stairs, she could hardly restrain her sobs from 
 awakening the young lady whose bed she was to 
 share. She thought almost with envy of her own 
 patroness, who was cast into the lake of Bolsena 
 with a millstone around her neck — a better fate, 
 
BO VE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST 51 
 
 thought she, than to live on in such an abode of 
 loathsomeness and peril. 
 
 But then had not St. Christina floated up alive, 
 bearing up her millstone with her ? And had not 
 she been put into a dungeon full of venomous 
 reptiles who, when they approached her, had aU 
 been changed to harmless doves? Christina had 
 once asked Father Balthazer how this could be; 
 and had he not replied that the church did not 
 teach these miracles as matters of faith, but that 
 she might there discern in figure how meek 
 Christian holiness rose above all crushing burthens, 
 and transformed the rudest natures. This poor 
 maiden — dying, perhaps ; and oh ! how unfit to live 
 or die ! — might it be her part to do some good work 
 by her, and infuse some Christian hope, some godly 
 fear ? Could it be for this that the saints had led 
 her hither ? 
 
52 * I>0 VE IN THE EAGLE '3 NEST 
 
 CHAPTEE III. 
 
 THE FLOTSAM AND JETSAM OF THE DEBATABLE 
 
 FORD. 
 
 Life in Schloss Adlerstein was little less intolerble 
 than Christina's imagination had depicted it. It 
 was entirely devoid of all the graces of chivalry, and 
 its squalor and coarseness, magnified into absurdity 
 by haughtiness and violence, were almost inconceiv- 
 able. Fortunately for her, the inmates of the castle 
 resided almost wholly below stairs in the hall and 
 kitchen, and in some dismal dens in the thickness of 
 their walls. The height of the keep was intended 
 for dignity and defense, rather than for habitation ; 
 and the upper chamber, with its great state-bed, 
 where everybody of the house of Adlerstein was 
 born or died, was not otherwise used, except when 
 Ermentrude, unable to bear the oppressive confusion 
 below stairs, had escaped thither for quietness' sake. 
 No one else wished to inhabit it. The chamber 
 above was filled with the various appliances for the 
 defense of the castle; and no one would have ever gone 
 up the turret stairs had not a warder been usually 
 kept on the roof to watch the roads leading to the 
 Ford. Otherwise the Adlersteiners had all the 
 savage instinct of herding together in as small a 
 space as possible. 
 
DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 63 
 
 Freiherrin Kunigunde hardly ever mounted to her 
 daughter's chamber. All her affection was centered 
 on the strong and manly son, of whom she was 
 proud, while the sickly pining girl, who would 
 hardly find a mate of her own rank, and who had 
 not even dowry enough for a convent, was such a 
 shame and burthen to her as to be almost a dis- 
 tasteful object. But perversely, as it seemed to her, 
 the only daughter was the darling of both father 
 and brother, who were ready to do anything to 
 gratify the girl's sick fancies, and hailed with 
 delight her pleasure in her new attendant. Old 
 Ursel was at first rather envious and contemptuous 
 of the childish, fragile stranger, but her gentleness 
 disarmed the old woman ; and, when it was plain 
 that the young lady's sufferings were greatly 
 lessened by tender care, dislike gave way to 
 attachment, and there was little more murmuring at 
 the menial services that were needed by the two 
 maidens, even when Ermentrude's feeble fancies, or 
 Christinia's views of dainty propriety, rendered them 
 more onerous than before. She was even heard to 
 rejoice that some Christian care and tenderness had 
 at last reached her poor neglected child. 
 
 It was well for Christina that she had such an 
 ally. The poor child never crept downstairs to the 
 dinner or supper, to fetch food for Ermentrude, or 
 water for herself, without a trembling and shrinking 
 of heart and nerves. Her father's authority guarded 
 her from rude actions, but from rough tongues he 
 neither could nor would guard her, nor understand 
 
64 DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NE8T. 
 
 that what to some would have been a compliment 
 seemed to her an alarming insult ; and her chief 
 safeguard lay in her own insignificance and want of 
 attraction, and still more in the modesty that con- 
 cealed her terror at rude jests sufficiently to prevent 
 frightening her from becoming an entertainment. 
 Her father, whom she looked on as a cultivated 
 person in comparison with the rest of the world, did 
 his best for her after his own views, and gradually 
 brought her aU the properties she had left at the 
 kohler's hut. Therewith she made a great differ- 
 ence in the aspect of the chamber, under the full 
 sanction of the lords of the castle. Wolf, deer, and 
 sheep skins abounded ; and with these, assisted by 
 her father and old Hatto, she tapestried the lower 
 part of the bare, grim walls, a great bear's hide cov- 
 ered the neighborhood of the hearth, and cushions 
 were made of these skins, and stuffed from UrseFs 
 stores of feathers. All these embellishments were 
 watched with great delight by Ermentrude, who 
 had never been made of so much importance, and 
 was as much surprised as relieved by such atten- 
 tions. She was too young and too delicate to reject 
 civilization, and she let Christina braid her hair, 
 bathe her, and arrange her dress, with sensations of 
 comfort that were almost like health. To train her 
 into occupying herself was, however, as Christina soon 
 found, in her present state, impossible. She could 
 spin and sew a little, but hated both ; and her 
 clumsy, listless fingers only soiled and wasted Chris- 
 tina's needles, silk, and lute strings, and such damage 
 
" She was too young and too delicate to reject civilization, and she let 
 Christina braid her hair, bathe her, and arrange her dress, with sensations of 
 comfort that were almost like health."— Page 54. 
 
DOVE IN TEE EAGLE'S NEST. 55 
 
 was not so easily remedied as in the streets of Ulm. 
 She was best provided for when looking on at her 
 attendant's busy hands, and asking to be sung to, or 
 to hear tales of the active, busy scenes of the city 
 life — the dresses, fairs, festivals and guild proces- 
 sions. 
 
 The gentle nursing and the new interests made 
 her improve in health, so that her father was de- 
 lighted, and Christina began to hope for a return 
 home. Sometimes the two girls would take the air, 
 either, on still days upon the battlements, where 
 Ermentrude watched the Debatable Ford, and Chris- 
 tina gazed at the Danube and at Ulm ; or they 
 would find their way to a grassy nook on the moun- 
 tain side, where Christina gathered gentians and 
 saxifrage, trying to teach her young lady that they 
 were worth looking at, and sighing at the thought of 
 Master Gottfried's wreath when she met with the 
 asphodel seed-vessels. Once the quiet mule was 
 brought into requisition; and, with her brother 
 walking by her, and Sorel and his daughter in atten- 
 dance, Ermentrude rode toward the village of Adler- 
 stein. It Avas a collection of miserable huts, on a 
 sheltered slope toward the south, where there was 
 earth enough to grow some wretched rye and buck- 
 wheat, subject to severe toll from the lord of the 
 soil. Perched on a hollow rock above the slope was 
 a rude little church, over a cave where a hermit had 
 once lived and died in such odor of sanctity that, 
 his day happening to coincide with that of St. John 
 the Baptist, the Blessed Friedmund had acquired the 
 
56 DO VE IN THE EA OLE '8 NEST. 
 
 acquired the credit of the lion's share both of the 
 saint's honors and of the old solstitial feast of mid- 
 summer. This wake was the one gayety of the year, 
 and attracted a fair which was the sole occasion of 
 coming honestly by anything from the outer world ; 
 nor had his cell ever lacked a professional anchorite. 
 
 The freiherr of his day had been a devout man, 
 who had gone a pilgrimage with Kaiser Friedrich 
 of the Ked Beard, and had brought home a bit of 
 stone from the council chamber of Mcaea, which he 
 had presented to the little church that he had built 
 over the cavern. He had named his son Friedmund, 
 and there were dim memories of his days as of a 
 golden age, before the Wildschlossen had carried off 
 the best of the property, and when all went well. 
 
 This was Christina's first sight of a church since 
 her arrival, except that in the chapel, which was a 
 ^ dismal neglected vault, where a ruinous altar and 
 moldering crucifix testified to its sacred purpose. 
 The old baron had been excommunicated for twenty 
 years, ever since he had harried the wains of the 
 Bishop of Augsburg on his way to the Diet ; and, 
 though his household and family were not under 
 the same sentence, " Sunday didna come abune the 
 pass." Christina's entreaty obtained permission to 
 enter the little building, but she had knelt there only 
 a few moments before her father came to hurry her 
 away, and her supplications that he would some day 
 take her to mass there were whistled down the 
 wind ; and indeed the hermit was a layman, and 
 the church was only served on great festivals by a 
 
DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST, 5t 
 
 monk from the convent of St. Ruprecht, on the dis- 
 tant side of the mountain, which was further sup- 
 posed to be in the Schlangenwald interest. Her 
 best chance lay in infusing the desire into Ermen- 
 trude, who by watching her prayers and asking a 
 few questions had begun to acquire a few clearer 
 ideas. And what Ermentrude wished had always 
 hitherto been acquiesced in by the two lords. 
 
 The elder baron came little into Christina's way. 
 He meant to be kind to her, but she was dreadfully 
 afraid of him, and, when he came to visit his daugh- 
 ter, shrank out of his notice as much as possible, 
 shuddering most of all at his attempts at civilities. 
 His son she viewed as one of the thick witted giants 
 meant to be food for the heroism of good knights 
 of romance. Except that he was fairly conversant 
 with the use of weapons, and had occasionally rid- 
 den beyond the shadow of his own mountain, his 
 range was quite as limited as his sister's ; and he 
 had an equal scorn for all beyond it. His unfailing 
 kindness to his sister was however in his favor, and 
 he always eagerly followed up any suggestion Chris- 
 tina made for her pleasure. Much of his time was spent 
 on the child, whose chief nurse and playmate he 
 had been throughout her malady ; and when she 
 showed him the stranger's arrangements, or re- 
 peated to him, in a wondering, blundering way, 
 with constant' appeals to her attendant, the new 
 tales she had heard, he used to listen with a pleased 
 awkward amazement at his little Ermentrude's 
 astonishing cleverness, joined sometimes with real in- 
 
58 i)0 V£J W THS! EA&LE'8 NEST. 
 
 terest, which was evinced by his inquiries of Christina. 
 He certainly did not admire the little, slight, pale 
 bower-maiden, but he seemed to look upon her like 
 some strange, almost uncanny, wise spirit out of 
 some other sphere, and his manner toward her had 
 none of the offensive freedom apparent in even the 
 old man's patronage. It was, as Ermentrude once 
 said, laughing, alfhost as if he feared that she might 
 do something to him. 
 
 Christina had expected to see a ruffian, and had 
 found a boor ; but she was to be convinced that the 
 ruffian existed in him. JSTotice came up to the cas- 
 tle of a convoy of wagons, and all was excitement. 
 Men-at-arms were mustered, horses led down the 
 Eagle's Ladder, and an ambush prepared in the 
 woods. The autumn rains were already swelling 
 the floods, and the passage of the ford would be 
 difficult enough to afford the assailants an easy 
 prey. 
 
 The Freiherrinn Kunigunde herself, and all the 
 women of the castle, hurried into Ermentrude's 
 room to enjoy the view from her window. The 
 young lady herself was full of eager expectation, 
 but she knew enough of her maiden to expect no 
 sympathy from her, and loved her well enough not 
 to bring down on her her mother's attention ; so 
 Christina crept into her turret, unable to withdraw 
 her eyes from the sight, trembling. Weeping, pray- 
 ing, longing for power to give a warning signal. 
 Could they be her own townsmen stopped on the 
 way to dear Ulm? 
 
DOVE IN THE EAOLE'8 NEST. 59 
 
 She could see the wagons in mid stream, the war- 
 riors on the bank ; she heard the triumphant out- 
 cries of the mother and daughter in the outer room. 
 She saw the overthrow, the struggle, the flight of a 
 few scattered dark figures on the farther side, the 
 drawing out of the goods on the nearer. Oh ! were 
 those leaping waves bearing down any good men's 
 corpses to the Danube, slain, foully slain by her 
 own father and this gang of robbers ? 
 
 She was glad that Ermentrude went down with 
 her mother to watch the return of the victors. She 
 crouched on the floor, sobbing, shuddering with grief 
 and indignation, and telling her beads alike for mur- 
 dered and murderers, till, after the sounds of wel- 
 come and exultation, she heard Sir Eberhard's heavy 
 tread, as he carried his sister upstairs. Ermentrude 
 went up at once to Christina. 
 
 " After all there was little for us ! " she said. " It 
 was only a wain of wine barrels ; and now will the 
 drunkards downstairs make good cheer. But Ebbo 
 could only win for me this gold chain and medal 
 which was round the old merchant's neck." 
 
 " "Was he slain ? " Christina asked with pale lips. 
 
 " I only know I did not kill him," returned the 
 baron ; " I had him down and got the prize, and 
 that was enough for me. What the rest of the fel- 
 lows may have done, I cannot say." 
 
 " But he has brought thee something, Stina," con- 
 tinued Ermentrude. " Show it to her brother." 
 
 " My father sends you this for your care of my 
 sister," said Eberhard, holding out a brooch that had 
 
60 DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 doubtless fastened the band of the unfortunate 
 wine merchant's bonnet. 
 
 "Thanks, sir; but, indeed, I may not take it," 
 said Christina, turning crimson, and drawing back. 
 
 " So ! " he exclaimed, in amaze ; then bethinking 
 himself — " They are no townsfolk of yours, but Con- 
 stance cowards." 
 
 " Take it, take it, Stina, or you will anger my 
 father," added Ermentrude. 
 
 " l^o, lady, I thank the barons both, but it were 
 sin in me," said Christina, with trembling voice. 
 
 " Look you," said Eberhard ; " we have the full 
 right — 'tis a seignorial right — to all the goods of 
 every wayfarer that may be overthrown in our 
 river— as I am a true knight ! " he added earnestly. 
 
 " A true knight ! " repeated Christina, pushed 
 hard, and very indignant in all her terror. " The 
 true knight's part is to aid, not to rob, the weak." 
 And the dark eyes flashed a vivid light. 
 
 " Christina ! " exclaimed Ermentrude in the ex- 
 tremity of her amazement, " know you what you 
 have said ? — that Eberhard is no true knight ! " 
 
 He meanwhile stood silent, utterly taken by sur- 
 prise, and letting his little sister fight his battles. 
 
 " I cannot help it. Lady Ermentrude," said Chris- 
 tina, with trembling lips, and eyes filling Avith tears. 
 " You may drive me from the castle — I only long 
 to be away from it ; but I cannot stain my soul by 
 saying that spoil and rapine are the deeds of a true 
 knight." 
 
 " My mother will beat you," cried Ermentrude, 
 
BO YE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. fil 
 
 passionately, ready to fly to the head of the stairs ; 
 but her brother laid his hand upon her." 
 
 " Tush, Trudchen ; keep thy tongue still, child ! 
 What does it hurt me ? " 
 
 And he turned on his heels and went downstairs. 
 Christina crept into her turret, weeping bitterly and 
 with many a wild thought. Would they visit her 
 offense on her father ? Would they turn them both 
 out together ? If so, would not her father hurl her 
 down the rocks rather than return her to Ulm ? 
 Could she escape ? Climb down the dizzy rocks, it 
 might be, succor the merchant lying half dead on 
 the meadows, protect and be protected, be once 
 more among God-fearing Christians? And as she 
 felt her helplessness, the selfish thoughts passed into 
 a gush of tears for the murdered man, lying suffer- 
 ing there, and for his possible wife and children 
 watchiQg for him. Presently Ermentrude peeped 
 in. 
 
 " Stina, Stina, don't cry ; I will not tell my 
 mother 1 Come out, and finish my kerchief ! Come 
 out ! No one shall beat you." 
 
 " That is not what I wept for, lady," said Chris- 
 tina. " I do not think you would bring harm on 
 me. But oh ! I would I were at home ! I grieve 
 for the bloodshed that I must see and may not hin- 
 der, and for that poor merchant." 
 
 " Oh," said Ermentrude, " you need not fear for 
 him ! I saw his own folk return and lift him up. 
 But what is he to thee or to us ? " 
 
 " I am a burgher maid, lady," said Christina, re- 
 
62 DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 covering herself, and aware that it was of little use 
 to bear testimony to such an auditor as poor little 
 Ermentrude against the deeds of her own father and 
 brother, which had in reality the sort of sanction 
 Sir Eberhard had mentioned, much akin to those 
 coast rights that were the temptation of wreckers. 
 
 Still she could not but tremble at the thought of 
 her speech, and went down to supper in greater tre- 
 pidation than usual, dreading that she should be 
 expected to thank the freiberr for his gift. But, 
 fortunately, manners were too rare at Adlerstein 
 for any such omission to be remarkable, and the 
 whole establishment was in a state of noisy triumph 
 and merriment over the excellence of the French 
 wine they had captured, so that she slipped into her 
 seat unobserved. 
 
 Every available drinking-horn and cup was full. 
 Ermentrude was eagerly presented with draughts by 
 both father and brother, and presently Sir Eberhard 
 exclaimed, turning to^vard the shrinking Christina 
 with a rough laugh, " Maiden, I trow thou wilt not 
 taste?" 
 
 Christina shook her head, and framed a negative 
 with her lips. 
 
 " What's this ? " asked her father, close to whom 
 she sat. " Is't a fast day ? " 
 
 There was a pause. Many were present who 
 regarded a fast-day much more than the lives or 
 goods of their neighbors. Christina again shook 
 her head. 
 
 "JS'o matter," said good-natured Sir Eberhard, 
 
DO VE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 63 
 
 evidently wishing to avert any ill consequence, from 
 her. " 'Tis only her loss." 
 
 The mirth went on rough and loud, and Christina 
 felt this the worst of all the miserable meals she had 
 partaken of in fear and trembling at this place of 
 her captivity. Ermentrude, too, was soon in such a 
 state of excitement, that not only was Christina's 
 womanhood bitterly ashamed and grieved for her, 
 but there was serious danger that she might at any 
 moment break out with some allusion to her 
 maiden's recusancy in her reply to Sir Eberhard. 
 
 Presently however Ermentrude laid down her 
 head and began to cry — violent headache had come 
 on — and her brother took her in his arms to carry 
 her up the stairs ; but his potations had begun be- 
 fore hers, and his step was far from steady ; he 
 stumbled more than once on the steps, shook and 
 frightened his sister and set her down weeping petu- 
 lantly. And then came a more terrible moment ; 
 his awe of Christina.had passed away ; he swore that 
 she was a lovely maiden, with only too free a tongue, 
 and that a kiss must be the seal of her pardon. 
 
 A house full of intoxicated men, no living creature 
 who would care to protect her, scarce even her 
 father ! But extremity of terror gave her strength. 
 She spoke resolutely : 
 
 "Sir Eberhard, your sister is ill — ^you are in no 
 state to be here. Go down at once, nor insult a free 
 maiden." 
 
 Probably the low-toned softness of the voice, so 
 utterly different from the shrill wrangling notes of 
 
64 DOVE IN THE EAGLE' 8 NEST, 
 
 all the other women he had known, took him by 
 surprise. He was still sober enough to be subdued, 
 almost cowed, by resistance of a description unlike 
 all he had ever seen ; his alarm at Christina's superior 
 power returned in full force, he staggered to the 
 stairs, Christina rushed after him, closed the heavy 
 door with all her force, fastened it inside, and would 
 have sunk down to weep but for Ermentrude's peev- 
 ish wail of distress. 
 
 Happily Ermentrude was still a child, and, neg- 
 lected as she had been, she still had had no one to 
 make her precocious in matters of this kind. She 
 was quite willing to take Christina's view of the 
 case, and not resent the exclusion of her brother ; 
 indeed, she was unwell enough to dread the loudness 
 of his voice and rudeness of his revelry. 
 
 So the door remained shut, and Christina's resolve 
 was taken that she would so keep it while the wine 
 lasted. And, indeed, Ermentrude had so much 
 fever all that night and the next day that no going 
 down could be thought of. Nobody came near the 
 maidens but Ursel, and she described one continued 
 orgie that made Christina shudder again with fear 
 and disgust. Those below reveled without interval, 
 except for sleep ; and they took their sleep just 
 where they happened to sink down, then returned 
 again to the liquor. The old baroness repaired to 
 the kitchen when the revelry went beyond even her 
 bearing ; but all the time the wine held out, the 
 swine in the court were, as Ursel averred, better 
 company than the men in the hall. Yet there 
 
DO VE IN THE EAGLE 'S NEST, 66 
 
 might have been worse even than this ; for old Ursel 
 whispered that at the bottom of the stairs there was 
 a trap-door. Did the maiden know what it covered ? 
 It was an oubhette. There was once a Strasburg 
 armorer who had refused ransom, and talked of 
 appealing to the kaiser. He trod on that door 
 and — Ursel pointed downwards. "But since that 
 time," she said, " my young lord has never brought 
 home a prisoner." 
 
 JSTo wonder that all this time Christina cowered 
 at the discordant sounds below, trembled, and 
 prayed while she waited on her poor young charge, 
 who tossed and moaned in fever and suffering. 
 She was still far from recovered when the materials 
 of the debauch failed, and the household began to 
 return to its usual state. She was soon restlessly 
 pining for her brother ; and when her father came 
 up to see her, received him with scant welcome, and 
 entreaties for Ebbo. She knew she should be 
 better if she might olny sit on his knee, and lay 
 her head on his shoulder. The old freiherr offered 
 to accommodate her; but she rejected him petu- 
 lantly, and still called for Ebbo, till he went down, 
 promising that her brother should come. 
 
 With a fluttering heart Christina awaited the 
 noble whom she had perhaps insulted, and whose 
 advances had more certainly insulted her. Would 
 he visit her with his anger, or return to that more 
 offensive familiarity? She longed to flee out of 
 sight, when after a long interval, his heavy tread 
 was heard ; but she could not even take refuge in 
 
 !• J 
 
66 DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 her turret, for Ermentrude was leaning against her. 
 Somehow, the step was less assured than usual ; he 
 absolutely knocked at the door ; and, when he came 
 in, he acknowledged her by a slight inclination of 
 the head. If she only had known it, this was the 
 first time that head had ever been bent to any 
 being, human or divine ; but all she did perceive 
 was that Sir Eberhard was in neither of the moods 
 she dreaded, only desperately shy and sheepish, and 
 extremely ashamed, not indeed of his excess, which 
 would have been, even to a much tamer German 
 baron, only a happy accident, but of what had 
 passed between himself and her. 
 
 He was much grieved to perceive how much 
 ground Ermentrude had lost, and gave himself up 
 to fondling and comforting her ; and in a few days 
 more, in their common cares for the sister, Chris- 
 tina lost her newly-acquired horror of the brother, 
 and could not but be grateful for his forbearance ; 
 while she was almost entertained by the increased 
 awe of herself shown by this huge robber baron. 
 
DO VE IN THE EAGLE 'S NEST. 67 
 
 CHAPTEE TV. 
 
 SNOW-WREATHS WHEN 'tIS THAW. 
 
 Ermentrude had by no means recovered tlie 
 ground she had lost, before the winter set in ; and 
 blinding snow came drifting down day and night, 
 rendering the whole view, above and below, one 
 expanse of white, only broken by the peaks of rock 
 which were too steep to sustain the snow. The 
 waterfall lengthened its icicles daily, and the whole 
 court was heaped with snow, up even to the top of 
 the high steps to the hall ; and' thus, Christina was 
 told, would it continue all the winter. What had 
 previously seemed to her a strangely door-like win- 
 dow above the porch now became the only mode of 
 egress, when the barons went out bear or wolf- 
 hunting, or the younger took his crossbow and 
 hound to provide the wild-fowl which, under Chris- 
 tina's skillful hands, would tempt the feeble ap- 
 petite of Ermentrude when she was utterly unable 
 to touch the salted meats and sausages of the house- 
 hold. 
 
 In spite of all endeavors to guard the windows 
 and keep up the fire, the cold withered the poor 
 child like a fading leaf, and she needed more and 
 more of tenderness and amusement to distract her 
 
68 DO VE IN THE EAGLE 'S NEST. 
 
 attention from her ailments. Christina's resources 
 were unfailing. Out of the softer pine and birch 
 woods provided for the fire, she carved a set of 
 draughtsmen, and made a board by ruling squares 
 on the end of a settle, and painting the alternate 
 ones with a compound of oil and charcoal. Even 
 the old baron was delighted with this contrivance, 
 and the pleasure it gave his daughter. He remem- 
 bered playing at draughts in that portion of his 
 youth which had been a shade more polished, and 
 he felt as if the game were making Ermentrude 
 more like a lady. Christina was encouraged to 
 proceed with a set of chessmen, and the shaping of 
 their characteristic heads under her dexterous fin- 
 gers was watched by Ermentrude like something 
 magical. Indeed, the young lady entertained the 
 belief that there was no limit to her attendant's 
 knowledge or capacity. 
 
 Truly there was a greater brightness and clear- 
 ness beginning to dawn even upon poor little Er- 
 mentrude's own dull mind. She took more interest 
 in everything : songs were not solely lullabies, but 
 she cared to talk them over; tales to which she 
 would once have been incapable of paying attention 
 were eagerly sought after; and, above all, the 
 spiritual vacancy that her mind had hitherto pre- 
 sented was beginning to be filled up. Christina had 
 brought her own books — a library of extraordinary 
 extent for a maiden of the fifteenth century, but 
 which she owed to her uncle's connection with the 
 arts of wood-cutting and printing. A Yulgate from 
 
DO VE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 69 
 
 Dr. Faustus' own press, a mass book and breviary, 
 Thomas a Kempis' " Imitation " and the " I*^urem- 
 burg Chronicle " all in Latin, and the poetry of the 
 gentle minnesinger and bird lover, Walther von 
 Yogelweide, in the vernacular: these were her stock 
 which Hausf ran Johanna had viewed as a foolish en- 
 cmnbrance, and Hugh Sorel would never have 
 transported to the castle unless they had been so 
 well concealed in Christina's kirtles that he had 
 taken them for parts of her wardrobe. 
 
 Most precious were they now, when, out of the 
 reach of all teaching save her own, she had to infuse 
 into the sinking girl's mind the great mysteries of 
 life and death, that so she might not leave the world 
 without more hope or faith than her heathen fore- 
 fathers. For that Ermentrude would live Christina 
 had never hoped, since that fleeting improvement 
 had been cut short by the fever of the wine-cup ; 
 the look, voice, and tone had become so completely 
 the same as those of Regina Grundt's little sister 
 who had pined and died. She knew she could not 
 cure, but she could, she felt she could, comfort, 
 cheer, and soften, and she no longer repined at her 
 enforced sojourn at Adlerstein. She heartily loved 
 her charge, and could not bear to think how deso- 
 late Ermentrude would be without her. And now 
 the poor girl had become responsive to her care. 
 She was infinitely softened in manner, and treated 
 her parents with forms of respect new to them; 
 she had learned even to thank old LTrsel, dropped 
 her imperious tone, and struggled with her petu- 
 
70 DOVE IN THE EAQLE'8 NEST, 
 
 lance : and, toward her brother, the domineering, 
 uncouth adherence was becoming real, tender af- 
 fection ; while the dependent, reverent love she be- 
 stowed upon Christina was touching and endearing 
 in the extreme. 
 
 Freiherr von Adlerstein saw the change, and 
 congratulated himself on the effect of having a 
 town-bred bower woman ; nay, spoke of the advan- 
 tage it would be to his daughter, if he could per- 
 suade himself to make the submission to the kaiser 
 which the late improvements decided on at the Diet 
 were rendering more and more inevitable. Now how 
 happy would be the winner of his gentle Ermen- 
 trude. 
 
 Freiherrinn von Adlerstein thought the alter- 
 ation the mere change from child to woman, and 
 felt insulted by the supposition that any one might 
 not have been proud to match with a daughter of 
 Adlerstein, be she what she might. As to submis- 
 sion to the kaiser, that was mere folly and weakness 
 — kaisers, kings, dukes, and counts had broken their 
 teeth against the rock of Adlerstein before now ! 
 What had come over her husband and her son to 
 make them cravens ? 
 
 For Freiherr Eberbard was more strongly con- 
 vinced than was his father of the untenableness of 
 their present position. Hugh Sorel's reports of 
 what he heard at Ulm had shown that the league 
 that had been discussed at Eegensburg was far more 
 formidable than anything that had ever previously 
 threatened Schloss Adlerstein, and that if the Graf 
 
DO VE IN THE EAGLE *S NEST, 71 
 
 von Schlangenwald joined in the coalition, there 
 would be private malice to direct its efforts against 
 the Adlerstein family. Feud-letters or challenges 
 had been made unlawful for ten years, and was not 
 Adlerstein at feud with the world ? 
 
 Nor did Eberhard look on the submission with 
 the sullen rage and grief that his father felt in 
 bringing himself to such a declension from the 
 pride of his ancestors. What the young baron heard 
 upstairs was awakening in him a sense of the poor- 
 ness and narrowness of his present life. Ermentrude 
 never spared him what interested her ; and, partly 
 from her lips, partly through her appeals to her 
 attendant, he had learned that life had better things 
 to offer than independence on these bare rocks, 
 and that homage might open the way to higher 
 and worthier exploits than preying upon overturned 
 wagons. 
 
 Dietrich of Berne and his two ancestors, whose 
 lengthy legend Christina could sing in a low, soft 
 recitative, were revelations to him of what she 
 meant by a true knight — the lion in war, the lamb 
 in peace ; the quaint, oft-repeated portraits, and still 
 quainter cities, of the Chronicle, with her explan- 
 ations and translations, opened his mind to aspi- 
 rations for intercourse with his fellows, for an 
 honorable name, and for esteem in its degree such 
 as was paid to Sir Parzival, to Karl the Great, or to 
 Rodolf of Hapsburgh, once a mountain lord like 
 himself. Kay, as Ermentrude said, stroking his 
 cheek, and smoothing the flaxen beard, that some- 
 
72 * DOVJS m THE JSAGLE'8 NEST, 
 
 how had become much less rough and tangled than 
 it used to be, " Some day wilt thou be another good 
 Freiherr Eberhard, whom all the country-side loved, 
 and who gave bread at the castle gate to all that 
 hungered." 
 
 Her brother believed nothing of her slow declen- 
 sion in strength, ascribing all the change he saw to 
 the bitter cold, and seeing but little even of that 
 alteration, though he spent many hours in her room, 
 holding her in his arms, amusing her, or talking to 
 her and to Christina. All Christina's fear of him 
 was gone. As long as there was no liquor in the 
 house, and he was his true self, she felt him to be a 
 kind friend, bound to her by strong sympathy in the 
 love and care for his sister. She could talk almost 
 as freely before him as when alone with her young 
 lady ; and as Ermentrude's religious feelings grew 
 stronger, and were freely expressed to him, surely 
 his attention was not merely kindness and patience 
 with the sufferer. 
 
 The girl's soul ripened rapidly under the new 
 influences during her bodily decay ; and, as the 
 days lengthened, and the stern hold of Winter 
 relaxed upon the mountains, Christina looked with 
 strange admiration upon the expression that had 
 dawned upon the features once so vacant and dull, 
 and listened with the more depth of reverence to 
 the sweet words of faith, hope and love, because she 
 felt that a higher, deeper teaching than she could 
 give must have come to mold the spirit for the new 
 world to which it was hastening, 
 
DOVE IN TEE EAGLE'S NEST. 73 
 
 " Like an army defeated, 
 The snow had retreated," 
 
 out of the valley, whose rich green shone smiling 
 round the pool into which the Debatable Ford spread. 
 The waterfall had burst its icy bonds, and dashed 
 down with redoubled voice, roaring rather than bab- 
 bling. Blue and pink hepaticas — or, as Christina 
 called them, liver-krauts — had pushed up their starry 
 heads, and had even been gathered by Sir Eberhard, 
 and laid on his sister's pillow. The dark peaks of 
 rock came out all glistening with moisture, and the 
 snow only retained possession of the deep hollows 
 and crevices, into which, however, its retreat was far 
 more graceful than when, in the city, it was trodden 
 by horse and man, and soiled with smoke. 
 
 Christina dreaded indeed that the roads should be 
 open, but she could not love the snow ; it spoke to 
 her of dreariness, savagery and captivity, and she 
 watched the dwindling stripes with satisfaction, and 
 hailed the fall of the petty avalanches from one 
 Eagle's Step to another as her forefathers might 
 have rejoiced in the defeat of the frost giants. 
 
 But Ermentrude had a love for the white sheet 
 that lay covering a gorge running up from the 
 ravine. She watched its diminution day by day 
 with a fancy that she was melting away with it ; 
 and indeed it was on the very day that a succession 
 of drifting showers had left the sheet alone, and 
 separated it from the masses of white above, that it 
 first fully dawned upon the rest of the family that, 
 for the little daughter of the house, spring was 
 
74 I>0 VE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 only bringing langour and sinking instead of recov- 
 ery. 
 
 Then it was that Sir Eberhard first really listened 
 to her entreaty that she might not die without a 
 priest, and comforted her by passing his word to her 
 that, if — ^he would not say when — the time drew 
 near, he would bring her one of the priests who had 
 only come from St. Ruprecht's cloister on great 
 days by a sort of sufferance, to say mass at the 
 Blessed Friedmund's hermitage chapel. 
 
 The time was slow in coming. Easter had passed 
 with Ermentrude far too ill for Christina to make 
 the effort she had intended of going to the 
 church, even if she could get no escort but old Ursel 
 — the sheet of snow had dwindled to a mere wreath 
 — ^the ford looked blue in the sunshine — the cascade 
 tinkled merrily down its rock — mountain primroses 
 peeped out, when, as Father E'orbert came forth 
 from saying his ill-attended Pentecostal mass, and 
 was parting with the infirm peasant hermit, a tall 
 figure strode up the pass, and, as the villagers fell 
 back to make way, stood before the startled priest, 
 and said, in a voice choked with grief, " Come with 
 me." 
 
 '' Who needs me ? " began the astonished monk. 
 
 *' Follow him not, father ! " whispered the hermit. 
 " It is the young freiherr. Oh, have mercy on him, 
 gracious sir ; he has done your noble lordships no 
 wrong." 
 
 " I mean him no ill," replied Eberhard, clearing 
 his voice with difficulty ; " I would but have him do 
 his office. Art thou afraid, priest ? " 
 
DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 75 
 
 " Who needs my office ? " demanded Father 
 !N'orbert. " Show me fit cause, and what should I 
 dread ? Wherefore dost thou seek me ? " 
 
 " For my sister," replied Eberhard, his voice 
 thickening again. " My little sister lies at the point 
 of death, and I have sworn to her that a priest she 
 shall have. Wilt thou come, or shall I drag thee 
 down the pass ? " 
 
 " I come, I come with all my heart, sir knight," 
 was the ready response. " A few moments and I 
 am at your bidding." 
 
 He stepped back into the hermit's cave, whence a 
 stair led up to the chapel. The anchorite followed 
 him, whispering — " Good father, escape ! There 
 will be full time ere he misses you. The north door 
 leads to the Gemsbock's Pass ; it is open now." 
 
 " Why should I balk him ? Why should I deny 
 my office to the dying ? " said IN'orbert. 
 
 " Alas ! holy father, thou art new to this country, 
 and know'st not these men of blood ? It is a snare 
 to make the convent ransom thee, if not worse. The 
 freiherrinn is a fiend for malice, and the freiherr is 
 excommunicate. ' ' 
 
 " I know it, my son," said Norbert ; " but where- 
 fore should their child perish unassoilzied ? " 
 
 " Art coming, priest ? " shouted Eberhard, from 
 his stand at the mouth of the cave. 
 
 And, as Norbert at once appeared with the pyx 
 and other appliances that he had gone to fetch, the 
 freiherr held out his hand with an offer to " carry 
 his gear for him ; " and, when the monk refused, 
 
76 DOVE m THE EA QLE 'S NEST. 
 
 with an inward shudder at entrusting a sacred 
 charge to such unhallowed hands, replied : " You 
 will have work enow for both hands ere the castle is 
 reached." 
 
 But Father Norbert was by birth a sturdy Switzer, 
 and thought little of these Swabian Alps ; and he 
 climbed after his guide through the most rugged 
 passages of Eberhard's shortest and most perpen- 
 dicular cut without a moment's hesitation, and with 
 agility worthy of a chamois. The young baron 
 turned for a moment, when the level of the castle 
 had been gained, perhaps to see whether he were 
 following, but at the same time came to a sudden, 
 speechless pause. 
 
 On the white masses of vapor that floated on the 
 opposite side of the mountain was traced a gigantic 
 shadowy outline of the hermit, with head bent 
 eagerly forward, and arm outstretched. 
 
 The monk crossed himself. Eberhard stood still 
 for a moment, and then said, hoarsely : " The 
 Blessed Friedmund ! He is come for her ; " then 
 strode on toward the postern gate, followed by 
 Brother ]N"orbert, a good deal reassured both as to 
 the genuineness of the young baron's message and 
 the probable condition of the object of his journey, 
 since the patron saint of her race was evidently on 
 the watch to speed her departing spirit. 
 
 Sir Eberhard led the way up the turret stairs to 
 the open door, and the monk entered the death- 
 chamber. The elder baron sat near the fire in the 
 large wooden chair, half turned toward his daugh- 
 
DO VE IN THE EAGLE'S NE8T. 77 
 
 ter, as one who must needs be present, but with, his 
 face buried in his hands, unable to endure the spec- 
 tacle. l!^earer was the tall form of his wife, stand- 
 ing near the foot of the bed, her stern, harsh 
 features somewhat softened by the feelings of the 
 moment. Ursel waited at hand, with tears running 
 down her furrowed cheeks. 
 
 For such as these Father I^orbert was prepared ; 
 but he little expected to meet so pure and sweet a 
 gaze of reverential welcome as beamed on him from 
 the soft, dark eyes of the little white-cheeked maiden 
 who sat on the bed, holding the sufferer in her 
 arms. Still less had he anticipated the serene 
 blessedness that sat on the wasted features of the 
 dying girl, amid all the anguish of laboring breath. 
 
 She smiled a smile of joy, held up her hand, and 
 thanked her brother. Her father scarcely lifted his 
 head, her mother made a rigid courtesy, and with a 
 grim look of sorrow coming over her features, laid 
 her hand over the old baron's shoulder. " Come 
 away, Herr Yater," she said ; he is going to hear 
 her confession, and make her too holy for the like 
 of us to touch." 
 
 The old man rose up, and stepped toward his 
 child. Ermentrude held out her arms to him, and 
 murmured : 
 
 " Father, father, pardon me ; I would have been a 
 
 better daughter if I had only known " He 
 
 gathered her in his arms ; he was quite past speak- 
 ing ; and they only heard his heavy breathing, and 
 one more whisper from Ermentrude — " And oh ! 
 
78 lyo VE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 father, one day wilt thou seek to be absolved ? " 
 Whether he answered or not they knew not ; he only 
 gave her repeated kisses, and laid her down on her 
 pillows, then rushed to the door, and the passionate 
 sobs of the strong man's uncontrolled nature might 
 be heard upon the stair. The parting with the 
 others was not necessarily so complete, as they 
 were not, like him, under censure of the church; 
 but Kunigunde leaAed down to kiss her ; and, in re- 
 turn to her repetition of her entreaty for pardon, 
 replied : " Thou hast it, child, if it will ease thy 
 mind ; but it is all along of these new fancies that 
 ever an Adlerstein thought of pardon. There, there, 
 I blame thee not, poor maid ; if thou wert to die, it 
 may be even best as it is. IS'ow must I to thy 
 father ; he is troubled enough about this gear." 
 
 But w^ien Eberhard moved toAvard his sister, she 
 turned to the priest, and said, imploringly: " Not far, 
 not far ! Oh ! let them," pointing to Eberhard and 
 Christina, " let them not be quite out of sight ! " 
 
 " Out of hearing is all that is needed, daughter," 
 replied the priest ; and Ermentrude looked content 
 as Christina moved toward the empty north turret, 
 where, with the door open, she was in full \4ew, and 
 Eberhard followed her thither. It was indeed fully 
 out of earshot of the child's faint, gasping confession. 
 Gravely and sadly both stood there. Christina 
 looked up the hillside for the snow-wreath. The 
 May sunshine had dissolved it ; the green pass lay 
 sparkling without a vestige of its white coating. 
 Her eyes fuU of tears, she pointed the spot out to 
 
DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 79 
 
 Eberhard. He understood ; but, leaning toward 
 her, told, under his breath, of the phantom he had 
 seen. Her eyes expanded with awe of the super- 
 natural. "It was the Blessed Friedmund," said 
 Eberhard. " IS'ever hath he so greeted one of our 
 race since the pious Freiherrinn Hildegarde. Maiden, 
 hast thou brought us back a blessing ? " 
 
 "Ah! well may she be blessed — well may the 
 saints stoop to greet her," murmured Christina, with 
 strangled voice, scarcely able to control her sobs. 
 
 Father Norbert came toward them. The simple 
 confession had been heard, and he sought the aid of 
 Christina in performing the last rites of the church. 
 
 '^ Maiden," he said to her, " thou hast done a great 
 and blessed work, such as many a priest might envy 
 thee." 
 
 Eberhard was not excluded during the final serv- 
 ices by which the soul was to be dismissed from its 
 earthly dwelling-place. True, he comprehended lit- 
 tle of their import, and nothing of the words, but 
 he gazed meekly, with uncovered head, and a bewil- 
 dered look of sadness, while Christina made her 
 responses and took her part w4th full intelligence 
 and deep fervor, sorrowing indeed for the compan- 
 ion who had become so dear to her, but deeply 
 thankful for the spiritual consolation that had come 
 at last. Ermentrude lay calm, and, as it were, 
 already rapt into a higher world, lighting up at the 
 German portions of the service, and not wholly de- 
 void of comprehension of the spirit even of the 
 Latin, as indeed she had come to the border of the 
 
80 DOVE IN THE EAGLE' 8 NEST. 
 
 region where human tongues and languages are no 
 more. 
 
 She was all but gone when the right of extreme 
 unction was completed, and they could only stand 
 round her, Eberhard, Christina, Ursel, and the old 
 baroness, who had returned again, watching the last 
 flutterings of the breath, the window thrown wide 
 open that nothing might impede the passage of the 
 soul to the blue vault above. 
 
 The priest spoke the beautiful commendation, 
 "Depart, O Christian soul." There was a faint 
 gesture in the midst for Christina to lift her in her 
 arms — a sign to bend down and kiss her brow — ^but 
 her last look was for her brother, her last murmuer, 
 " Come after me ; be the good baron, Ebbo." 
 
dovje: ij^ tee eaqle's nest. %i 
 
 CHAPTEE Y. 
 
 THE YOUNG FKEIHEKR. 
 
 Ekmentrude von Adlerstein slept with her fore- 
 fathers in the vaults of the hermitage chapel, and 
 Christina Sorel's work was done. 
 
 Surely it was time for her to return home, though 
 she should be more sorry to leave the mountain cas- 
 tle than she could ever have believed possible. She 
 entreated her father to take her home, but she re- 
 ceived a sharp answer that she did not know what 
 she was talking of: the Schlangenwald reitern 
 were besetting all the roads ; and moreover the Ulm 
 burghers had taken the capture of the Constance 
 wine in such dudgeon that for a retainer of Adler- 
 stein to show himself in the streets would be an ab- 
 solute asking for the wheel. 
 
 But was there any hope for her ? Could he not 
 take her to some nunnery midway, and let her write 
 to her uncle to fetch her from thence ? 
 
 He swore at woman's pertinacity, but allowed at 
 last that if the plan, talked of by the barons, of 
 going to make their submission to the emperor at 
 Linz, with a view to which all violence at the ford 
 had ceased, should hold good, it might be possible 
 thus to drop her on their way. 
 
82 DO VE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 "With this Christina must needs content herself 
 Poor child, not only had Ermentrude's death 
 deprived her of the sole object of her residence at 
 Schloss Adlerstein, but it had infinitely increased 
 the difficulties of her position. ]^o one interfered 
 with her possession of the upper room and its tur- 
 rets ; and it was only at meal times that she was 
 obliged to mingle with the other inhabitants, who, 
 for the most part, absolutely overlooked the little, 
 shrinking, pale maiden : but with one exception, 
 and that the most perplexing of all. She had been 
 on terms with Freiherr Eberhard that were not so 
 easily broken off as if she had been an old woman 
 of Ursel's age. All through his sister's decline she 
 had been his comforter, assistant, director, hving in 
 intercourse and sympathy that ought surely to cease 
 when she was no longer his sister's attendant, yet 
 which must be more than ever missed in the full 
 freshness of the stroke. 
 
 Even on the earliest day of bereavement, a sud- 
 den thought of Hausfrau Johanna flashed upon 
 Christina, and reminded her of the guard she must 
 keep over herself if she would return to Ulm the 
 same modest girl whom her aunt could acquit of all 
 indiscretion. Her cheeks flamed, as she sat alone, 
 with the very thought, and the next time she heard 
 the well-known tread on the stair, she fled hastily 
 into her own turret chamber, and shut the door. 
 Her heart beat fast. She could hear Sir Eberhard 
 moving about the room, and hstened to his heavy 
 sigh as he threw himself into the large chair. Pres- 
 
BO VE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 83 
 
 ently he called her by name, and she felt it needful 
 to open her door and answer respectfully. 
 
 " What would you, my lord ? " 
 
 " What would I ? A little peace, and heed to her 
 who is gone. To see my father and mother one 
 would think that a partridge had but flown away. 
 I have seen my father more sorrowful when his dog 
 had fallen over the abyss." 
 
 " Mayhap there is more sorrow for a brute that 
 cannot live again," said Christina. " Our bird has 
 her nest by an altar that is lovelier and brighter than 
 even our Dome Kirk will ever be." 
 
 " Sit down, Christina," he said, dragging a chair 
 nearer the hearth. " My heart is sore, and I cannot 
 bear the din below. Tell me where my bird is 
 flown." 
 
 " Ah ! sir ; pardon me. I must to the kitchen," 
 said Christina, crossing her hands over her breast, 
 to still her trembhng heart, for she was very sorry 
 for his grief, but moving resolutely. 
 
 " Must ? And wherefore ? Thou hast nought to 
 do there ; speak truth ! Why not stay with me ? " 
 and his great light eyes opened wide. 
 
 " A burgher maid may not sit down with a noble 
 baron." 
 
 " The devil ! Has my mother been plaguing thee, 
 child?" 
 
 " N^o, my lord," said Christina, " she recks not of 
 me ; but " — steadying her voice with great difficulty 
 — " it behoves me the more to be discreet." 
 
 " And you would not have me come here ! " he 
 said, with a wistful tone of reproach. 
 
84 1^0 YE IN TEE EAGLE'8 NEST. 
 
 " I have no power to forbid you ; but if you do, I 
 must betake me to Ursel in the kitchen," said Chris- 
 tina, very low, trembling and half choked. 
 
 "Among the rude wenches there ! " he cried, start- 
 ing up. " ^ay, nay, that shall not be ! Kather will 
 I go. But this is very cruel of thee, maiden," he 
 added, lingering, " when I give thee my knightly 
 word that all shall be as when she whom we both 
 loved was here," and his voice shook. 
 
 " It could not so be, my lord," returned Christina, 
 with drooping, blushing face; "it would not be 
 maidenly in me. Oh, my lord, you are kind and 
 generous, make it not hard for me to do what other 
 maidens less lonely have friends to do for them ! " 
 
 "Kind and generous?" said Eberhard, leaning 
 over the back of the chair, as if trying to begin a 
 fresh score. " This from you, who told me once I 
 was no true knight ! " 
 
 " I shall call you a true knight with all my heart," 
 cried Christina, the tears rushing into her eyes, " if 
 yoa will respect my weakness and loneliness." 
 
 He stood up again, as if to move away ; then 
 paused, and, twisting his gold chain, said: "And how 
 am I ever to be what the happy one bade me, if you 
 will not show me how ? " 
 
 " My error would never show you the right," said 
 Christina, with a strong effort at firmness, and re- 
 treating at once through the door of the staircase, 
 whence she made her way to the kitchen, and with 
 great difficulty found an excuse for her presence 
 there. 
 
DO VE IN THE EAGLE '8 NE8T. 85 
 
 It had been a hard struggle with her compassion 
 and gratitude, and poor, little Christina felt with 
 dismay, with something more than these. Else why 
 was it that, even while principle and better sense 
 summoned her back to Ulm, she experienced a deadly 
 weariness of the city-pent air, of the grave, heavy 
 roll of the river, nay, even of the quiet, well-regu- 
 lated household ? Why did such a marriage as she 
 had thought her natural destiny, with some worthy, 
 kind-hearted brother of the guild, become so hateful 
 to her that she could only aspire to a convent life ? 
 This same burgomaster would be an estimable man, 
 no doubt, and those around her were ruffians, but 
 she felt utterly contemptuous and impatient of him. 
 And why was the interchange of greetings, the few 
 words at meals, worth all the rest of the day besides 
 to her ? Her own heart was the traitor, and to her 
 own sensations the poor little thing had, in spirit at 
 least, transgressed all Aunt Johanna's precepts 
 against young barons. She wept apart, and resolved, 
 and prayed, cruelly ashamed of every start of joy 
 or pain that the sight of Eberhard cost her From 
 almost the first he had sat next her at the single 
 table that accommodated the whole household at 
 meals, and the custom continued, though on some 
 days he treated her with sullen silence, which she 
 blamed herself for not rejoicing in, sometimes he 
 spoke a few friendly words ; but he observed, better 
 than she could have dared to expect, her test of his 
 true knighthood, and never again forced himself 
 into her apartment, though now and then he came 
 
86 DO VE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST, 
 
 to the door with flowers, with mountain straw- 
 berries, and once with two young doves. "Take 
 them, Christina," he said, "they are very like 
 yourself ; " and he always delayed so long that she 
 was forced to be resolute, and shut the door on him 
 at last. 
 
 Once, when there was to be a mass at the chapel, 
 Hugh Sorel, between a smile and a growl, informed 
 his daughter that he would take her thereto. She 
 gladly prepared, and, bent on making herself agree- 
 able to her father, did not once press on him the 
 necessity of her return to Ulm. To her amazement 
 and pleasure, the young baron was at church, and 
 when on the way home, he walked beside her mule, 
 she could see no need of sending him away. 
 
 He had been in no school of the conventionalities 
 of life, and, when he saw that Hugh Sorel's presence 
 had obtained him this favor, he wistfully asked: 
 
 " Christina, if I bring your father with me, will 
 you not let me in ? " 
 
 " Entreat me not, my lord," she answered, with 
 fluttering breath. 
 
 She felt the more that she was right in this 
 decision, when she encountered her father's broad 
 grin of surprise and diversion, at seeing the young 
 baron helping her to dismount. It was a look of 
 receiving an idea both new, comical, and flattering, 
 but by no means the look of a father who would 
 resent the indignity of attentions to his daughter 
 from a man whose rank formed an insuperable 
 barrier to marriage. 
 
DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NE8T. Hi 
 
 The effect was a new, urgent, and most piteous 
 entreaty, that he would find means of sending her 
 home. It brought upon her the hearing put into 
 words what her own feelings had long shrunk from 
 confessing to herself. 
 
 "Ah! Why, what now? What, is the young 
 baron after thee ? Ha ! ha ! petticoats are few 
 enough up here, but he must have been ill off ere he 
 took to a little ghost like thee ! I saw he was 
 moping and doleful, but I thought it was all for his 
 sister." 
 
 " And so it is, father." 
 
 " Tell me that, when he watches every turn of 
 that dark eye of thine — the only good thing thou 
 took'st of mine ! Thou art a witch, Stina." 
 
 " Hush, oh hush, for pity's sake, father, and let me 
 go home ! " 
 
 " What, thou likest him not ? Thy mind is all for 
 the mincing goldsmith opposite, as I ever told 
 thee." 
 
 " My mind is — is to return to my uncle and aunt 
 the true-hearted maiden they parted with," said 
 Christina, with clasped hands. " And oh, father, as 
 you were the son of a true and faithful mother, be a 
 father to me now ! Jeer not your motherless child, 
 but protect her and help her." 
 
 Hugh Sorel was touched by this appeal, and he 
 likewise recollected how much it was for his own 
 interest that his brother should be satisfied with the 
 care he took of his daughter. He became convinced 
 that the sooner she was out of the castle the better. 
 
S8 DOVE m THE EA GLE 'S NEST. 
 
 and at length bethought him that, among the mer- 
 chants who frequented the Midsummer Fair at the 
 Blessed Friedmund's Wake, a safe escort might be 
 found to convey her back to Ulm. 
 
 If the truth were known, Hugh Sorel was not 
 devoid of a certain feeling akin to contempt, both 
 for his young master's taste, and for his forbearance 
 in not having pushed matters further with a being 
 so helpless, meek, and timid as Christina, more 
 especially as such slackness had not been his wont 
 in other cases where his fancy had been caught. 
 
 But Sorel did not understand that it was not 
 physical beauty that here had been the attraction, 
 though to some persons, the sweet pensive eyes, the 
 delicate, pure skin, the slight, tender form, might 
 seem to exceed in loveliness the fully developed 
 animal comeliness chiefly esteemed at Adlerstein. 
 It was rather the strangeness of the power and 
 purity of this timid, fragile creature, that had struck 
 the young noble. With all their brutal manners 
 reverence for a lofty female nature had been in the 
 German character ever since their Yelleda proph- 
 esied to them, and this reverence in Eberhard 
 bowed at the feet of the pure gentle maiden, so 
 strong yet so weak, so wistful and entreating even 
 in her resolution, refined as a white flower on a heap 
 of refuse, wise and dextrous beyond his slow and 
 dull conception, and the first being in whom he had 
 ever seen piety or goodness ; and likewise with a 
 tender, loving spirit of consolation such as he had 
 both beheld and tasted by his sister's deathbed. 
 
DO YE IN THE EAGLE 'S NEST. 89 
 
 There was almost a fear mingled with his rever- 
 ence. If he had been more familiar with the saints, 
 he would thus have regarded the holy virgin mar- 
 tyrs, nay, even Our Lady herself ; and he durst not 
 push her so hard as to offend her, and excite the 
 anger or the grief that he alike dreaded. He was 
 wretched and forlorn without the resources he had 
 found in his sister's room ; the new and better crav- 
 ings of his higher nature had been excited only to 
 remain unsupplied and disappointed ; and the affec- 
 tionate heart in the freshness of its sorrow yearned 
 for the comfort that such conversation had supplied : 
 but the impression that had been made on him was 
 still such, that he knew that to use rough means of 
 pressing his wishes would no more lead to his real 
 gratification than it would to appropriate a snow- 
 bell by crushing it in his gauntlet. 
 
 And it was on feeble little Christina, yielding in 
 heart, though not in will, that it depended to pre- 
 serve this reverence, and return unscathed from this 
 castle, more perilous now than ever. 
 
90 I>0 YE IN THE EAGLE* JS NEBf. 
 
 CHAPTER YI. 
 
 MiDSUMMEK-DAY arrived, and the village of Adler- 
 stein presented a most unusual spectacle. The wake 
 was the occasion of a grand fair for all the moun- 
 tain-side, and it was an understood thing that the 
 barons, instead of molesting the peddlers, merchants, 
 and others who attended it, contented themselves 
 with demanding a toll from every one who passed 
 the kohler's hut on the one side, or the Gemsbock's 
 Pass on the other ; and this toll, being the only coin 
 by which they came honestly in the course of the 
 year, was regarded as a certainty and highly valued. 
 Moreover, it was the only time that any purchases 
 could be made, and the flotsam of the ford did not 
 always include all even of the few requirements of 
 the inmates of the castle ; it was the only holiday, 
 sacred or secular, that ever gladdened the Eagle's 
 Rock. 
 
 So all the inmates of the castle prepared to enjoy 
 themselves, except the heads of the house. The 
 freiherr had never been at one of these wakes since 
 the first after he was excommunicated, when he had 
 stalked round to show his indifference to the sen- 
 tence ; and the f reiherrinn snarled out such sentences 
 
DOVE m THE EAGLE'S NEST. 91 
 
 of disdain toward the concourse, that it might be 
 supposed that she hated the sight of her kind ; but 
 Ursel had all the household purchases to make, and 
 the kitchen underlings were to take turns to go and 
 come, as indeed were the men-at-arms, who were set 
 to watch the toll-bars. 
 
 Christina had packed up a small bundle, for the 
 chance of being unable to return to the castle with- 
 out missing her escort, though she hoped that the 
 fair might last two days, and that she should thus 
 be enabled to return and bring away the rest of her 
 property. She was more and more resolved on going, 
 but her heart was less and less inclined to departure. 
 And bitter had been her weeping through all the 
 early light hours of the long morning — weeping that 
 she tried to think was all for Ermentrude ; and all, 
 amid prayers she could scarce trust herself to offer, 
 that the generous, kindly nature might yet work 
 free of these evil surroundings, and fulfill the sister's 
 dying wish. She should never see it ; but, when 
 she should hear that the Debatable Ford was the 
 Friendly Ford, then would she know that it was 
 the doing of the good Baron Ebbo. Could she venture 
 on telling him so ? Or were it not better that there 
 were no farewell ? And she wept again that he 
 should think her ungrateful. She could not per- 
 suade herself to release the doves, but committed 
 the charge to Ursel to let them go in case she should 
 not return. 
 
 So tear-stained was her face, that, ashamed that 
 it should be seen, she wrapped it closely in her hood 
 
92 DO VE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 and veil when she came down and joined her father. 
 The whole scene swam in tears before her eyes 
 when she saw the whole green slope from the chapel 
 covered with tents and booths and swarming with 
 peddlers and mountaineers in their picturesque 
 dresses. Women and girls were exchanging the 
 yarn of their winter's spinning for bright handker- 
 chiefs ; men drove sheep, goats or pigs to barter for 
 knives, spades or weapons ; others were gazing at 
 simple shows — a dancing bear or ape — or clustering 
 round a minnesinger ; many even then congregating 
 in booths for the sale of beer. Further up, on the 
 flat space of sward above the chapel, were some lay 
 brothers, arranging for the representation of a 
 mystery — a kind of entertainment which Germany 
 owed to the English who came to the council of 
 Constance, and which the monks of St. Kuprecht's 
 hoped might infuse some religious notions into the 
 wild, ignorant mountaineers. 
 
 First however Christina gladly entered the 
 church. Crowded though it were, it was calmer 
 than the busy scene without. Faded old tapestry 
 was decking its w^alls, representing apparently some 
 subject entirely alien to St. John or the blessed her- 
 mit; Christina rather thought it was Mars and 
 Yenus, but that was all the same to every one else. 
 And there was a terrible figure of St. John, painted 
 life-like, with a • real hair-cloth round his loins, just 
 opposite to her, on the step of the altar ; also poor 
 Friedmund's bones, dressed up in a new serge amice 
 and hood ; the stone from Nicaea was in a gilded 
 
DO VE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 93 
 
 box, ready in due time to be kissed ; and a preaching 
 friar (not one of the monks of St. Ruprecht's) was 
 in the midst of a sermon, telling how St. John pre- 
 sided at the Council of Mcsea till the Emperor Maxi- 
 mus cut off his head at the instance of Herodius — 
 full justice being done to the dancing — and that the 
 blood was sprinkled on this very stone, whereupon 
 our holy father the pope decreed that whoever 
 would kiss the said stone, and repeat the Credo five 
 times afterward, should be capable of receiving an 
 indulgence for five hundred years: which indul- 
 gence must however be purchased at the rate of six 
 groschen, to be bestowed in alms at Eome. And 
 this inestimable benefit he, poor Friar Peter, had 
 come from his brotherhood of St. Francis at Offingen 
 solely to dispense to the poor mountaineers. 
 
 It was disappointing to find this profane mum- 
 mery going on instead of the holy services to which 
 Christina had looked forward for strength and com- 
 fort; she was far too well instructed not to be 
 scandalized at the profane deception which was 
 ripening fast for Luther, only thirty years later ; 
 and, when the stone was held up by the friar in one 
 hand, the printed briefs of indulgence in the other, 
 she shrunk back. Her father however said, '' Wilt 
 have one, child? Five hundred years is no bad 
 bargain." 
 
 " My uncle has small trust in indulgences," she 
 whispered. 
 
 " All lies, of course," quoth Hugh ; " yet they've 
 the pope's seal, and I have more than half a mind 
 
94 BO YE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 to get one. Five hundred years is no joke, and I am 
 sure of purgatory, since I bought this medal at the 
 Holy House of Loretto." 
 
 And he went forward and inve&ted six groschen 
 in one of the papers, the most religious action poor 
 Christina had ever seen him perform. Other pur- 
 chasers came forward — several of the castle hnwppen, 
 and a few peasant women who offered yarn or 
 cheeses as equivalents for money, but were told with 
 some insolence to go and sell their goods and bring 
 the coin. 
 
 After a time, the friar, finding his traffic slack, 
 thought fit to remove, with his two lay assistants, 
 outside the chapel and try the effects of an out-of- 
 door sermon. Hugh Sorel, who had been hitherto 
 rather diverted by the man's gestures and persua- 
 sions, now decided on going out into the fair in 
 quest of an escort for his daughter, but as she 
 saw Father l^orbert and another monk ascending 
 from the stairs leading to the hermit's cell, she 
 begged to be allowed to remain in the church, where 
 she was sure to be safe, instead of wandering about 
 with him in the fair. 
 
 He was glad to be unencumbered, though he 
 thought her taste unnatural ; and, promising to 
 return for her when he had found an escort, he left 
 her. 
 
 Father J^orbert had come for the very purpose of 
 hearing confessions, and Christina's next hour was 
 the most comfortable she had spent since Ermen- 
 trude's death. 
 
DO VE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 95 
 
 After this however, the priests were called away, 
 and long, long did Christina first kneel and then 
 sit in the little lonely church, hearing the various 
 sounds without, and imagining that her father had 
 forgotten her, and that he and all the rest were drink- 
 ing, and then what would become of her ? "Why had 
 she quitted old Ursel's protection ? 
 
 Hours of waiting and nameless alarm must have 
 passed, for the sun was waxing low, when at length 
 she heard steps coming up the hermit's cell, and a 
 head rose above the pavement which she recognized 
 with a wild throb of joy, but, repressing her sense 
 of gladness, she only exclaimed, " Oh, where is mj 
 father ! '" 
 
 " I have sent him to the toll at the Gemsbock's 
 Pass," replied Sir Eberhard, who had by this time 
 come up the stairs, followed by Brother Peter and 
 the two lay assistants. Then, as Christina turned 
 on him her startled, terrified eyes in dismay and 
 reproach for such thoughtlessness, he came toward 
 her, and, bending his head and opening his hand, 
 he showed on his palm two gold rings. " There, 
 little one," he said ; " now shalt thou never again 
 shut me out." 
 
 Her senses grew dizzy. " Sir," she faintly said, 
 " this is no place to delude a poor maiden." 
 
 " I delude thee not. The brother here waits to wed 
 us." 
 
 " Impossible ! A burgher maid is not for such as 
 you." 
 
 " None but a burgher maid will I wed," returned 
 
96 DOVE IN TEE EA GLE '8 NEST. 
 
 Sir Eberhard, with all the settled resolution of 
 habits of command. "See, Christina thou art 
 sweeter and better than any lady in the land ; thou 
 canst make me what she — the blessed one who lies 
 there — would have me. I love thee as never knight 
 loved lady. I love thee so that I have not spoken a 
 word to offend thee when my heart was bursting ; 
 and " — as he saw her irrepressible tears — " I think 
 thou lovest me a little." 
 
 " Ah," she gasped with a sob, " let me go." 
 
 " Thou canst not go home ; there is none here fit 
 to take charge of thee. Or if there were, I would 
 slay him rather than let thee go. No, not so," he 
 said, as he saw how little those words served his 
 cause ; " but without thee I were a mad and 
 desperate man. Christina, I will not answer for 
 myself if thou dost not leave this place my wedded 
 wife." 
 
 " Oh," implored Christina, " if you would only 
 betroth me, and woo me like an honorable maiden 
 from my home at Ulm ! " 
 
 " Betroth thee, ay, and wed thee at once," replied 
 Eberhard, who, all along, even while his words 
 were most pleading, had worn a look and manner of 
 determined authority and strength, good-natured in- 
 deed, but resolved. " I am not going to miss my 
 opportunity, or balk the friar." 
 
 The friar, who had meantime been making a 
 few needful arrangments for the ceremony, ad- 
 vanced toward them. He was a good-humored, 
 easy-going man, who came prepared to do any 
 
DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 97 
 
 office that came in his way on such festival days at 
 the villages round ; and peasant marriages at such 
 times were not uncommon. But something now 
 staggered him, and he said anxiously : 
 
 " This maiden looks convent-bred ! Herr Reiter 
 pardon me ; but if this be the breaking of a cloister, 
 I can have none of it." 
 
 " ]N"o such thing," said Eberhard ; "she is town- 
 bred, that is all." 
 
 " You would swear to it, on the holy mass yonder, 
 both of you ? " said the friar, still suspiciously. 
 
 "Yea," replied Eberhard, "and so dost thou, 
 Christina." 
 
 This was the time if ever to struggle against her 
 destiny. The friar would probably have listened to 
 her if she had made any vehement opposition to a 
 forced marriage, and if not, a few shrieks would have 
 brought perhaps Father ^N'orbert, and certainly the 
 whole population; but the horror and shame of 
 being found in such a situation, even more than the 
 probability that she might meet with vengeance 
 rather than protection, withheld her. Even the 
 friar could hardly have removed her, and this was 
 her only chance of safety from the baroness' fury. 
 Had she hated and loathed Sir Eberhard, perhaps she 
 had striven, harder, but his whole demeanor con- 
 strained and quelled her, and the chief eifort she 
 made against yielding was the reply, " I am no 
 cloister maid, holy father, but " 
 
 The " but " was lost in the friar's jovial speech. 
 " Oh, then, all is well ! Take thy place, pretty one, 
 
98 DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 there, by the door, thou know'st it should be in the 
 porch, but — ach, I understand ! " as Eberhard quietly 
 drew the bolt within. " No, no, little one, I have 
 no time for bride scruples and coyness ; I have to 
 train three dull-headed louts to be Shem, Ham, and 
 Japhet before dark. Hast confessed of late ? " 
 
 "This morning, but " said Christina, and 
 
 " This morning," to her great joy, said Eberhard, 
 
 and, in her satisfaction thereat, her second " but " 
 
 was not followed up. 
 
 The friar asked their names, and both gave the 
 Christian name alone ; then the brief and simple rite 
 was solemnized in its shortest form. Christina had, 
 by very force of surprise and dismay, gone through 
 all without signs of agitation, except the quivering 
 of her whole frame, and the icy coldness of the 
 hand, where Eberhard had to place the ring on each 
 finger in turn. 
 
 But each mutual vow was a strange relief to her 
 long-tossed and divided mind, and it was rest indeed 
 to let her affection have its will, and own him indeed 
 as a protector to be loved instead of shunned. 
 When all was over, and he gathered the two little 
 cold hands into his large one, his arm supporting 
 her trembling form, she felt for the moment, poor 
 little thing, as if she could never be frightened 
 again. 
 
 Parish registers were not, even had this been a 
 parish church, but Brother Peter asked, when he 
 had concluded, " Well, my son, which of his flock 
 am I to report to your pf arrer as linked together ? " 
 
DOVJ£ IN TEE EAGLE'S NEST, 99 
 
 " The less your tongue wags on that matter till I 
 call on you, the better," was the stern reply. " Look 
 you, no ill shall befall you if you are wise, but re- 
 member, against the day I call you to bear witness, 
 that you have this day wedded Baron Eberhard von 
 Adlerstein the younger, to Christina, the daughter 
 of Hugh Sorel, the Esquire of Ulm." 
 
 " Thou hast played me a trick. Sir Baron ! " said 
 the friar, somewhat dismayed, but more amused, 
 looking up at Eberhard, who, as Christina now saw, 
 had divested himself of his gilt spurs, gold chain, 
 silvered belt and horn, and eagle's plume, so as to 
 have passed for a simple lanzknecht. "I would 
 have had no such gear as this ! " 
 
 " So I supposed," said Eberhard coolly. 
 
 " Young folks ! young folks ! " laughed the friar, 
 changing his tone, and holding up his finger slyly ; 
 " the little bird so cunningly nestled in the church 
 to fly out my lady baroness ! Well, so thou hast a 
 pretty, timid lambkin there. Sir Baron. Take care 
 you use her mildly." 
 
 Eberhard looked into Christina's face with a smUe, 
 that to her, at least, was answer enough ; and he held 
 out half a dozen links of his gold chain to the friar, 
 and tossed a coin to each of the lay brethren. 
 
 " Not for the poor friar himself," explained 
 Brother Peter, on receiving this marriage fee ; " it 
 all goes to the weal of the brotherhood." 
 
 " As you please," said Eberhard. " Silence, that 
 is all ! And thy friary " 
 
 " The poor house of St. Francis at Offingen for the 
 
100 DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 present, noble sir," said the priest. " There will 
 you hear of me, if you find me not. And now, fare 
 thee well, my gracious lady. I hope one day thou 
 wilt have more words to thank the poor brother 
 who has made thee a noble baroness." 
 
 " Ah, good father, pardon my fright and confu- 
 sion," Christina tried to murmur, but at that 
 moment a sudden glow and glare of light broke out 
 on the eastern rock, illuminating the fast darkening 
 little church with a flickering glare that made her 
 start in terror as if the fires of heaven were threat- 
 ening this stolen marriage ; but the friar and 
 Eberhard both exclaimed, "The needfire alight 
 already ! " And she recollected how often she had 
 seen these bonfires on midsummer night shining red 
 on every hill around Ulm. Loud shouts were 
 greeting the uprising flame, and the people gather- 
 ing thicker and thicker on the slope. The friar un- 
 did the door to hasten out into the throng, and 
 Eberhard said he had left his spurs and belt in the 
 hermit's cell, and must return thither, after which 
 he would walk home with his bride, moving at the 
 same time toward the stair, and thereby causing a 
 sudden scuffle and fall. " So, master hermit," quoth 
 Eberhard, as the old man picked himself up, look- 
 ing horribly frightened ; " that's your hermit's ab- 
 straction, is it ? ISTo whining, old man, I am not 
 going to hurt thee, so thou canst hold thy tongue. 
 Othermse 1 will smote thee out of thy hole like a 
 wild cat ! What, thou aiding me with my belt, my 
 lovely one \ Thanks ; the snap goes too hard for 
 
LOVE IN THB''.WA0JbJt'8ilfmXr\ \ ' i \ Ml 
 
 thy little hands, l^ow, then, the fire will light us 
 gayly down the mountain side." 
 
 But it soon appeared that to -depart was impossi- 
 ble, unless by forcing a way through the busy throng 
 in the full red glare of the firehght, and they were 
 forced to pause at the opening of the hermit's cave, 
 Christina leaning on her husband's arm, and a fold 
 of his mantle drawn round her to guard her from 
 the night-breeze of the mountain, as they waited 
 for a quiet space in which to depart unnoticed. It 
 was a strange, wild scene ! The fire was on a bare, 
 flat rock, which probably had been yearly so em- 
 ployed ever since the Kelts had brought from the 
 east the rite that they had handed on to the Swab- 
 ians — the beltane fire, whose like was blazing every- 
 where in the Alps, in the Hartz, nay, even in Eng- 
 land, Scotland, and on the granite points of Ireland. 
 Heaped up for many previous days with faggots 
 from the forest, then apparently inexhaustible, the 
 fire roared and crackled, and rose high, red and 
 smoky, into the air, paling the moon, and obscuring 
 the stars. Round it, completely hiding the bonfire 
 itself, were hosts of dark figures swarming to ap- 
 proach it — all with a purpose. All held old shoes 
 or superannuated garments in their hands to feed 
 the flame ; for it was esteemed needful that every 
 villager should contribute something from his house 
 — once, no doubt, as an offering to Bel, but now as 
 a mere unmeaning observance. And shrieks of 
 merriment foUowed the contribution of each too 
 weU-known article of rubbish that had been in re- 
 
l^k: /' : y]S)pY0IJMTliE^ EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 serve for the needfire ! Girls and boys had nuts to 
 throw in, in pairs, to judge by their bounces of 
 future chances of matrimony. Then came a shout- 
 ing, tittering, and falling back, as an old boor came 
 forward like a priest with something, heavy and 
 ghastly in his arms, which was thrown on with a 
 tremendous shout, darkened the glow for a moment, 
 then hissed, cracked, and emitted a horrible 
 odor. 
 
 It was a horse's head, the right owner of which 
 had been carefully kept for the occasion, though 
 long past work. Christina shuddered, and felt as if 
 she had fallen upon a pagan ceremony ; as indeed 
 was true enough, only that the Adlersteiners 
 attached no meaning to the performance, except a 
 vague notion of securing good luck. 
 
 Witli the same idea the faggots were pulled down, 
 and arranged so as to form a sort of lane of fire. 
 Young men rushed along it, and then bounded over 
 the diminished pile, amid loud shouts of laughter 
 and either admiration or derision ; and, in the 
 meantime, a variety of odd, recusant noises, grunts, 
 squeaks, and lo wings proceeding from the darkness 
 were explained to the startled little bride by her 
 husband to come from all the cattle of the moun- 
 tain farms around, who were to have their weal 
 secured by being driven through the needfire. 
 
 It may weU be imagined that the animals were 
 less convinced of the necessity of this performance 
 than their masters. "Wonderful was the clatter and 
 confusion, horrible the uproar raised behind to make 
 
DOVE m THE EAGLE'S NEST. 103 
 
 the poor things proceed at all, desperate the shout 
 when some half -frantic creature kicked or attempted 
 a charge, wild the glee when a persecuted goat or 
 sheep took heart of grace, and flashed for one 
 moment between the crackling, flaring, smoking 
 walls. When one cow or sheep off a farm went, all 
 the others were pretty sure to follow it, and the 
 owner had then only to be on the watch at the 
 other end to turn them back, with their flame-daz- 
 zled eyes, from going unawares down the precipice, 
 a fate from which the passing through the fire was 
 evidently not supposed to ensure them. The swine, 
 those special German delights, were of course the 
 most refractory of all. Some, by dint of being 
 pulled away from the lane of fire, were induced to 
 rush through it ; but about half-way they generally 
 made a bolt, either side-long through the flaming 
 fence or backward among the legs of their persecu- 
 tors, who were upset amid loud imprecations. One 
 huge, old, lean, high-backed sow, with a large family, 
 truly feminine in her want of presence of mind, 
 actually charged into the midst of the bonfire itself, 
 scattering it to the right and left with her snout, 
 and emitting so horrible a smell of singed bacon, 
 that it might almost be feared that some of her 
 progeny were anticipating the Chinese invention 
 of roasting-pigs. However, their proprietor, Jobst, 
 counted them out all safe on the other side, and 
 there only resulted some sighs and lamentations 
 among the seniors, such as Hatto and Ursel, that it 
 boded ill to have the needfire trodden out by an old 
 sow. 
 
104 I>0 YE IN THE EAGLE'S NB8T. 
 
 All the castle live-stock were undergoing the 
 same ceremony. Eberhard concerned himself little 
 about the vagaries of the sheep and pigs, and only 
 laughed a little as the great black goat, who had 
 seen several midsummer nights, and stood on his 
 guard, made a sudden short run and butted doAvn 
 old Hatto, then skipped off like a chamois into the 
 darkness, unheeding, the old rogue, the whispers 
 that connected his unlucky hue with the doings of 
 the Walpurgisnacht. But when it came to the 
 horses, Eberhard could not well endure the sight of 
 the endeavors to force them, snorting, rearing and 
 struggling, through anything so abhorrent to them 
 as the hedge of fire. 
 
 The schneiderlein, with all the force of his power- 
 ful arm, had hold of Eberhard' s own young white 
 mare, who, with ears turned back, nostrils dilated, 
 and wild eyes, her fore-feet firmly planted wide 
 apart, was using her whole strength for resistance ; 
 and, when a heavy blow fell on her, only plunged 
 backward, and kicked without advancing. It was 
 more than Eberhard could endure, and Christina's 
 impulse was to murmur, " O do not let hun do it ; " 
 but this he scarcely heard, as he exclaimed, " Wait 
 for me here ! " and, as he stepped forward, sent his 
 voice before him, forbidding all blows to the mare. 
 
 The creature's extreme terror ceased at once upon 
 hearing his voice, and there was an instant relax- 
 ation of all violence of resistance as he came up to 
 her, took her halter from the schneiderlein, patted 
 her glossy neck, and spoke to her. But the tumult 
 
DO VE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 105 
 
 of warning voices around him assured him that it 
 would be a fatal thing to spare the steed the pas- 
 sage through the fire, and he strove by encourage- 
 ments and caresses with voice and hand to get her 
 forward, leading her himself ; but the poor beast 
 trembled so violently, and, though making a few 
 steps forward, stopped again in such exceeding 
 horror of the flame, that Eberhard had not the 
 heart to compel her, turned her head away, and 
 assured her that she should not be further tor- 
 mented. 
 
 " The gracious lordship is wrong," said public 
 opinion, by the voice of old Bauer TJlrich, the sacri- 
 ficer of the horse's head. " Heaven forfend that 
 evil befall him and that mare in the course of the 
 year." ^ 
 
 And the buzz of voices concurred in telling of the 
 recusant pigs who had never developed into sau- 
 sages, the sheep who had only escaped to be eaten 
 by wolves, the mule whose bones had been found at 
 the bottom of an abyss. 
 
 Old Ursel was seriously concerned, and would 
 have laid hold on her young master to remonstrate, 
 but a fresh notion had arisen — would the gracious 
 freiherr set a-rolling the wheel, which was already 
 being lighted in the fire, and was to conclude the 
 festivities by being propelled down the hill — figur- 
 ing, only that no one present knew it, the sun's 
 declension from his solstitial height. Eberhard 
 made no objection ; and Christina, in her shelter by 
 the cave, felt no little dismay at being left alone 
 
106 DO VE IN THE EAGLE' 8 NEST. 
 
 there, and moreover had a strange, weird feeling at 
 the wild, uncanny ceremony he was engaged in, not 
 knowing indeed that it was sun-worship, but afraid 
 that it could be no other than unholy sorcery. 
 
 The wheel, flaring or reddening in all its spokes, 
 was raised from the bonfire, and was driven down 
 the smoothest piece of greensward, which formed 
 an inclined plane toward the stream. If its course 
 was smooth, and it only became extinguished by 
 leaping into the water, the village would flourish ; 
 and prosperity above all was expected if it should 
 spring over the narrow channel, and attempt to run 
 up the other side. Such things had happened in the 
 days of the good Freiherren Ebbo and Friedel, 
 though the wheel had never gone right since the 
 present baron had been excommunicated ; but his 
 heir having been twice seen at mass in this last 
 month, great hopes were founded upon him. 
 
 There was a shout to clear the slope. Eberhard, 
 in great earnest and some anxiety, accepted the 
 gauntlet that- he was offered to protect his hand, 
 steadied the wheel therewith, and, with a vigorous 
 impulse from hand and foot, sent it bounding down 
 the slope, among loud cries and a general scattering 
 of the idlers who had crowded full into the very 
 path of the fiery circle, which flamed up brilliantly 
 for the moment as it met the current of air. But 
 either there was an obstacle in the way, or the 
 young baron's push had not been quite straight: 
 the wheel suddenly swerved aside, its course swerved 
 to the right, maugre all the objurgations addressed 
 
DOVE m THE EAGLETS NEST. 107 
 
 to it as if it had been a living thing, and the next 
 moment it had disappeared, all but a smoky, smoul- 
 dering spot of red, that told where it lay, charring 
 and smoking on its side, without having fulfilled a 
 quarter of its course. 
 
 People drew off gravely and silently, and Eber- 
 hard himself was strangely discomfited when he 
 came back to the hermitage, and, wrapping Chris- 
 tina in his cloak, prepared to return so soon as the 
 glare of the fire should have faded from his eye- 
 sight enough to make it safe to tread so precipitous 
 a path. He had indeed this day made a dangerous 
 venture, and both he and Christina could not but 
 feel disheartened by the issue of all the omens of 
 the year, the more because she had a vague sense of 
 wrong in consulting or trusting them. It seemed 
 to her all one frightened, uncomprehended dream 
 ever since her father had left her in the chapel; 
 and though conscious of her inability to have pre- 
 vented her marriage, yet she blamed herself, felt 
 despairing as she thought of the future, and, above 
 all, dreaded the baron and the baroness and their 
 anger. Eberhard, after his first few words, was 
 silent, and seemed solely absorbed in leading her 
 safely along the rocky path, sometimes lifting her 
 when he thought her in danger of stumbling. It 
 was one of the lightest, shortest nights of the year, 
 and a young moon added to the brightness in open 
 places, while in others it made the rocks and stones 
 cast strange, elvish shadows. The distance was not 
 entirely lost ; other Beltane fires could be seen, like 
 
108 DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST, 
 
 beacons, on every hill, and the few lights in the 
 castle shone out like red fiery eyes in its heavy dark 
 pile of building. 
 
 Before entering, Eberhard paused, pulled off his 
 own wedding-ring and put it into his bosom, and 
 taking his bride's hand in his, did the same for her, 
 and bade her keep the ring till they could wear 
 them openly. 
 
 "Alas! then," said Christina, "you would have 
 this secret ? " 
 
 "Unless I would have to seek thee down the 
 oubliette, my little one," said Eberhard ; " or, what 
 might even be worse, see thee burned on the hillside 
 for bewitching me with thine arts ! JS'o, indeed, my 
 darling. Were it only my father, I could make 
 him love thee ; but my mother — I could not trust 
 her where she thought the honor of -our house con- 
 cerned. It shall not be for long. Thou know'st 
 we are to make peace with the kaiser, and then 
 will I get me employment among Ktirfurst Al- 
 brecht's companies of troops, and then shalt thou 
 prank it as my lady freiherrinn, and teach me the 
 ways of cities." 
 
 "Alas ! I fear me it has been a great sin! " sighed 
 the poor little wife. 
 
 "For thee — thou couldst not help it," said Eber- 
 hard ; " for me — who knows how many deadly ones 
 it may hinder ? Cheer up, little one ; no one can 
 harm thee while the secret is kept." 
 
 Poor Christina had no choice but submission ; but 
 it was a sorry bridal evening, to enter her husband's 
 
DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 109 
 
 home in shrinking terror; with the threat of the 
 oubliette before her, and with a sense of shame and 
 deception hanging upon her, making the wonted 
 scowl of the old baroness cut her both with remorse 
 and dread. 
 
 She did indeed sit beside her bridegroom at the 
 supper, but how little like a bride ! even though he 
 pushed the salt-cellar, as if by accident, below her 
 place. She thought of her myrtle, tended in vain 
 at home by Barbara Schmidt ; she thought of Ulm 
 courtships, and how all ought to have been: the 
 solemn embassage to her uncle, the stately negotia- 
 tions ; the troth plight before the circle of ceremo- 
 nious kindred and merry maidens, of whom she had 
 often been one — the subsequent attentions of the 
 betrothed on all festival days, the piles of linen and 
 all plenishings accumulated since babyhood, and all 
 reviewed and laid out for general admiration (Ah ! 
 poor Aunt Johanna still spinning away to add to 
 the many webs in her walnut presses !) — then the 
 grand procession to fetch home the bride, the splen- 
 did festival with the musicians, dishes, and guest- 
 tables to the utmost limit that was allowed by the 
 city laws, and the bride's hair so joyously covered 
 by her matron's curch amid the merriment of her 
 companion maidens. 
 
 Poor child ! After she had crept away to her 
 own room, glad that her father was not yet re- 
 turned, she wept bitterly over the wrong that she 
 felt she had done to the kind uncle and aunt, who 
 must now look in vain for their little Christina, and 
 
110 DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NE81. 
 
 would think her lost to them, and to all else that 
 was good. At least she had had the church's bless- 
 ing — but that, strange to say, was regarded, in 
 burgher life before the Keformation, as rather the 
 ornament of a noble marriage than as essential to 
 the civil contract ; and a marriage by a priest was re- 
 garded by the citizens rather as a means of eluding 
 the need of obtaining the parent's consent, than as 
 a more regular and devout manner of wedding. 
 However, Christina felt this the one drop of peace. 
 The blessings and prayers were warm at her heart, 
 and gave her hope. And as to drops of joy, of them 
 there was no lack, for had not she now a right to 
 love Eberhard with all her heart and conscience, 
 and was not it a wonderful love on his part that had 
 made him stoop to the little white-faced burgher 
 maid, despised even by her own father ? O better 
 far to wear the maiden's uncovered head for him 
 than the myrtle wreath for any one else ! 
 
DOVE IN THE EAGLE' 8 NEST. HI 
 
 CHAPTEK 711. 
 
 THE SCHNEIDERLEIn's KETUEN. 
 
 The poor little unowned bride had more to un- 
 dergo than her imagination had conceived at the 
 first moment. 
 
 When she heard that the marriage was to be a 
 secret, she had not understood that Eberhard was 
 by no means disposed to observe much more caution 
 than mere silence. A rough, though kindly man, 
 he did not thoroughly comprehend the shame and 
 confusion that he was bringing upon her by depart- 
 ing from his former demeanor. He knew that, so 
 enormous was the distance then supposed to exist 
 between the noble and the burgher, there was no 
 chance of any one dreaming of the true state of the 
 case, and that as long as Christina was not taken for 
 his wife, there was no personal danger for her from 
 his mother, who — so lax were the morals of the 
 German nobility with regard to all of inferior rank 
 — would tolerate her with complacency as his fa- 
 vorite toy ; and he was taken by surprise at the 
 agony of grief and shame with which she slowly 
 comprehended his assurance that she had nothing to 
 fear. 
 
 There was no help for it. The oubliette would 
 
112 DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 probably be the portion of the low-born girl who 
 had interfered with the sixteen quarterings of the 
 Adlerstein shield, and poor Christina never stepped 
 across its trap-door without a shudder lest it should 
 open beneath her. And her father would probably 
 have been hung from the highest tower, in spite of 
 his shrewd care to be aware of nothing. Christina 
 consoled herself with the hope that he knew all the 
 time why he had bent sent out of the way, for, with 
 a broad grin that had made her blush painfully, he 
 had said he knew she would be well taken care of, 
 and that he hoped she was not breaking her heart 
 for want of an escort. She tried to extort Eber- 
 hard's permission to let him at least know how it 
 was ; but Eberhard laughed, saying he believed the 
 old fox knew just as much as he chose ; and, in 
 effect, Sorel, though now and then gratifying his 
 daughter's scruples, by serving as a shield to her 
 meetings with the young baron, never allowed him- 
 self to hear a hint of the true state of affairs. 
 
 Eberhard' s love and reverence were undiminished, 
 and the time spent with him would have been per- 
 fectly happy could she ever have divested herself of 
 anxiety and alarm ; but the periods of his absence 
 from the castle were very terrible to her, for the 
 other women of tha household, quick to perceive 
 that she no longer repelled him, -had lost that awe 
 that had hitherto kept them at a distance from her, 
 and treated her with a familiarity, sometimes coarse, 
 sometimes spiteful, always hateful and degrading. 
 Even old Ursel had become half -pitying, half -patron- 
 
DO VE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST, 113 
 
 izing ; and the old baroness, though not molesting 
 her, took not the slightest notice of her. 
 
 This state of things lasted much longer than there 
 had been reason to expect at the time of the marriage. 
 The two freiherren then intended to set out in a very 
 short time to make their long talked of submission to 
 the emperor at Katisbon; but, partly from their 
 German tardiness of movement, partly from the ob- 
 stinate delays interposed by the proud old freiherinn, 
 who was as averse as ever to the measure, partly 
 from reports that the court was not yet arrived at 
 Katisbon, the expedition was again and again de- 
 ferred, and did not actually take place till September 
 was far advanced. 
 
 Poor Christina would have given worlds to go 
 with them, and even entreated to be sent to Ulm 
 with an avowal of her marriage to her uncle and 
 aunt, but of this Eberhard would not hear. He 
 said the Ulmers would thus gain an hostage, and 
 hamper his movements ; and, if her wedding was not 
 to be confessed — poor child ! — she could better bear 
 to remain where she was than to face Hausfrau 
 Johnanna. Eberhard was fully determined to en- 
 roll himself in some troop, either imperial, or, if 
 not, among the Free Companies, among whom men 
 of rank were often found, and he would then fetch 
 or send for his wife and avow her openly, so soon as 
 she should be out of his mother's reach. He longed 
 to leave her father at home, to be some protection 
 to her, but Hugh Sorel was so much the most intel- 
 ligent and skillful of the retainers as to be absolutely 
 
114 DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 indispensable to the party — he was their only scribe; 
 and moreover his new suit of buff rendered him a 
 creditable member of a troop that had been very 
 hard to equip. It numbered about ten men-at-arms, 
 only three being left at home to garrison the castle 
 — ^namely, Hatto, who was too old to take ; Hans, 
 who had been hopelessly lame and deformed since 
 the old baron had knocked him off a cliff in a passion; 
 and Squinting Matz, a runaway servant, who had 
 murdered his master, the mayor of Strasburg, and 
 might be caught and put to death if any one recog- 
 nized him. If needful the villagers could always be 
 called in to defend the castle ; but of this there was 
 little or no danger — the Eagle's Steps were defense 
 enough in themselves, and the party were not likely 
 to be absent more than a week or ten days — a griev- 
 ous length of time, poor Christina thought, as she 
 stood straining her eyes on the top of the watch- 
 tower, to watch them as far as possible along the 
 plain. Her heart was very sad, and the omen of 
 the burning wheel so continually haunted her that 
 even in her sleep that night she saw its brief course 
 repeated, beheld its rapid fall and extinction, and 
 then tracked the course of the sparks that darted 
 from it, one rising and gleaming high in air till it 
 shone like a star, another pursuing a fitful and ir- 
 regular, but still bright course amid the dry grass 
 on the hillside, just as she had indeed watched some 
 of the sparks on that night, minding her of the 
 words of the Allhallow-tide legend: '^ Fulgebunt 
 justi et tanquam scintillce in arundinete discurrent " 
 
DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST, 115 
 
 — a sentence which remained with her when awake, 
 and led her to seek it out in her Latin Bible in the 
 morning. 
 
 Reluctlantly had she gone down to the noontide 
 meal, feeling, though her husband and father were 
 far less of guardians than they should have been, 
 yet that there was absolute rest, peace, and protec- 
 tion in their presence compared to what it was to be 
 alone with Freiherrin Kunigunde and her rude 
 women without them. A few sneers on her dainti- 
 ness and uselessness had led her to make an offer of 
 assisting in the grand chopping of sausage meat and 
 preparation of winter stores, and she had been an- 
 swered with contempt that my young lord would 
 not have her soil her delicate hands, when one of 
 the maids who had been sent to fetch beer from the 
 cellar came back with startled looks, and the ex- 
 clamation: " There is the schneiderlein riding up 
 the Eagle's Ladder upon Freiherr Ebbo's white 
 mare ! " 
 
 All the women sprang up together, and rushed to 
 the window, whence they could indeed recognize 
 both man and horse ; and presently it became plain 
 that both were stained with blood, weary, and 
 spent ; indeed, nothing but extreme exhaustion would 
 have induced the man-at-arms to trust the tired, 
 stumbling horse up such a perilous path. 
 
 Loud were the exclamations: " Ah ! nc ,od could 
 come of not leading that mare through the Johan- 
 nisfeuer." 
 
 " This shameful expedition : Only harm could 
 
116 DOVE IN THE EA OLE '8 NE8T, 
 
 befall. This is thy doing, thou mincing city- 
 girl." 
 
 " All was certain to go wrong when a pale mist 
 widow came into the place." 
 
 The angry and dismayed cries all blended them- 
 selves in confusion in the ears of the only silent 
 woman present ; the only one that sounded dis- 
 tinctly on her brain was that of the last speaker, 
 " a pale, mist widow," as holding herself a little in 
 the rear of the struggling, jostling little mob of 
 women, who hardly made way even for their 
 acknowledged lady, she followed with failing limbs 
 the universal rush to the entrance as soon as man 
 and horse had mounted the slope and were lost 
 sight of. 
 
 A few moments more, and the throng of expect- 
 ants was at the foot of the hall steps, just as the 
 lanzknecht reached the arched entrance. His com- 
 rade, Hans, took his bridle, and almost lifted bim 
 from his horse ; he reeled and stumbled, as pale, 
 battered, and bleeding, he tried to advance to Frei- 
 herinn Kunigunde, and in answer to her hasty in- 
 terrogation, faltered out: " 111 news, gracious lady. 
 We have been set upon by the accursed Schlangen- 
 waldern, and I am the only living man left." 
 
 Christina scarce heard even these last words; 
 senses and powers alike failed her, and she sank 
 back on the stone steps in a death-like swoon. 
 
 When she came to herself she was lying on her 
 bed, Ursel and Else, another of the woman, busy 
 over her^ and Ursel's voice was saying, " Ah, she is 
 
DOVB IN THE EAGLE'S NEST, 117 
 
 coming round. Look up, sweet lady, and fear not. 
 You are our gracious lady baroness." 
 
 *• Is he here ? Oh, has he said so ? Oh, let me see 
 him — Sir Eberhard," faintly cried Christina with 
 sobbing breath. 
 
 " Ah, no, no," said the old woman ; " but see 
 here," and she lifted up Christina's powerless, blood- 
 less hand, and showed her the ring on the finger. 
 Her bosom had been evidently searched when her 
 dress was loosened in her swoon, and her ring found 
 and put in its place. " There, you can hold up your 
 head with the best of them ; he took care of that — 
 my dear young freiherr, the boy that I nursed," 
 and the old woman's burst of tears brought back 
 the truth to Christina's reviving senses. 
 
 " Oh, tell me," she said, trying to raise herself, 
 *' was it indeed so ? Oh, say it was not as he said! " 
 
 " Oh, woe's me, woe's me, that it was even so," 
 lamented Ursel; "but oh, be still, look not so wild, 
 dear lady. The dear, true-hearted young lord, he 
 spent his last breath in owning you for his true lady, 
 and in bidding us cherish you and our young baron 
 that is to be. And the gracious lady below — 
 she owns you ; there is no fear of her now ; so 
 vex not yourself, dearest, most gracious lady." 
 
 Christina did not break out into the wailing and 
 weeping that the old nurse expected ; she was still 
 far too much stunned and overwhelmed, and she 
 entreated to be told all, lying still,, but gazing at 
 Ursel with piteous bewildered eyes. Ursel and Else 
 helping one another out, tried to tell her, but they 
 
118 DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 were much confused ; all they knew was that the 
 party had been surprised at night in a village hostel 
 by the Schlangenwaldern, and all slain, though the 
 young baron had lived long enough to charge the 
 schneiderlein with his commendation of his wife to 
 his mother ; but all particulars had been lost in the 
 general confusion. 
 
 "Oh, let me see the schneiderlein," implored 
 Christina, by this time able to rise and cross the 
 room to the large carved chair ; and Ursel immedi- 
 ately turned to her underling, saj^ing, " Tell the 
 schneiderlein that the gracious lady baroness de- 
 sires his presence." 
 
 Else's wooden shoes clattered downstairs, but the 
 next moment she returned. " He cannot come ; he 
 is quite spent, and he will let no one touch his arm 
 till Ursel can come, not even to get off his doublet. 
 
 " I will go to him," said Christina, and, revived 
 by the sense of being wanted, she moved at once to 
 the turret, where she kept some rag and some 
 ointment, which she had found needful in the latter 
 stages of Ermentrude's illness — indeed, household 
 surgery was a part of regular female education, and 
 Christina had had plenty of practice in helping her 
 charitable aunt, so that the superiority of her skill 
 to that of Ursel had long been avowed in the castle. 
 Ursel made no objection further than to look for 
 something that could be at once converted into a 
 widow's veil, being in the midst of her grief quite aHve 
 to the need that no matronly badge should be omitted 
 — but nothing came to hand in time, and Christina 
 
LOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 119 
 
 was descending the stairs, on her way to the kitchen, 
 where she found the fugitive man-at-arms seated on 
 a rough settle, his head and wounded arm resting on 
 the table, while groans of pain, weariness, and im- 
 patience were interspersed with imprecations on 
 the stupid awkward girls who surrounded him. 
 
 Pity and the instinct of affording relief must 
 needs take the precedence even of the desire to hear 
 of her husband's fate ; and, as the girls hastily 
 whispered, " Here she is," and the lanzknecht hastily 
 tried to gather himself up, and rise with tokens 
 of respect, she bade him remain still, and let her see 
 •what she could do for him. In fact, she at once per- 
 ceived that he was in no condition to give a coherent 
 account of anything, he was so completely worn 
 out, and in so much suffering. She bade at once 
 that some water should be heated, and some of the 
 broth of the dinner set on the fire ; then with the 
 shears at her girdle, and her soft, light fingers, she 
 removed the torn strip of cloth that had been wound 
 round the arm, and cut away the sleeve, shoAving 
 the arm not broken, but gashed at the shoulder, 
 and thence the whole length grazed and wounded 
 by the descent of the sword down to the wrist. 
 So tender was her touch, that he scarcely winced or 
 moaned under her hand ; and when she proceeded, 
 with Ursel's help, to bathe the wound with the warm 
 water, the relief was such that the wearied man 
 absolutely slumbered during the process, which 
 Christina protracted on that very account. She 
 then dressed and bandaged the arm, and proceeded 
 
120 DO VE IN THE EAGLE' 8 NEST, 
 
 to skim — as no one else in the castle would do— 
 the basin of soup, with which she then fed her 
 patient as he leaned back in the corner of the settle, 
 at first in the same somnolent, half-conscious state 
 in which he had been ever since the rehef from 
 the severe pain ; but after a few spoonfuls the light 
 and life came back to his eye, and he broke out, 
 " Thanks, thanks, gracious lady ! This is the lady 
 baroness for me ! My young lord was the only wise 
 man ! Thanks, lady ; now am I my own man again. 
 It had been long ere the old freiherrinn had done *so 
 much for me ! I am your man, lady, for life or 
 death ! " And, before she knew what he was about,, 
 the gigantic schneiderlein had slid down on his 
 knees, seized her hand, and kissed it — the first act 
 of homage to her rank, but most startHng and dis. 
 tressing to her. " Nay," she faltered, " prithee do 
 not ; thou must rest. Only if — if thou canst only 
 tell me if he, my own dear lord, sent me any 
 greeting, I would wait to hear the rest till thou 
 hast slept." 
 
 " Ah ! the dog of Schlangenwald ! " was the first 
 answer ; then, as he continued, " You see lady, we 
 had ridden merrily as far as Jacob Miiller's hostel, 
 the traitor," it became plain that he meant to begin 
 at the beginning. She allowed Ursel to seat her on 
 the bench opposite to his settle, and, leaning forward, 
 heard his narrative like one in a dream. There, the 
 schneiderlein proceeded to say, they put up for the 
 night, entirely unsuspicious of evil ; Jacob Miiller, 
 who was known to himself^ as well as to Sorel and 
 
DOVE IN THE EA GLE *S NEST, 121 
 
 to the others, assuring them that the way was clear 
 to Katisbon, and that he heard the emperor was 
 most favorably disposed to any noble who would 
 tender his allegiance. Jacob's liquors were brought 
 out, and were still in course of being enjoyed, when 
 the house was suddenly surrounded by an over- 
 powering number of the retainers of Schlangenwald, 
 with their count himself at their head. He had 
 been evidently resolved to prevent the timely sub- 
 mission of the enemies of his race, and suddenly 
 presenting himself before the elder baron, had 
 challenged him to instantaneous battle, claiming 
 credit to himself for not having surprised them 
 when asleep. The disadvantage had been scarcely 
 less than if this had been the case, for the Adler- 
 steinern were all half intoxicated, and far inferior in 
 numbers — at least, on the showing of the schneide- 
 lein — and a desperate fight had ended by his being 
 flung aside in a corner, bound fast by the ankles and 
 wrists, the only living prisoner, except his young 
 lord, who, having several terrible wounds, the worst 
 in his chest, was left unbound. 
 
 Both lay helpless, untended, and silent, while the 
 revel that had been so fatal to them was renewed by 
 their captors, who finally all sunk into a heavy 
 sleep. The torches were not all spent, and the 
 moonlight shone into the room, when the schneider- 
 lein, desperate from the agony caused by the 
 ligature round his w^ounded arm, sat up and looked 
 about him. A knife thrown aside by one of the 
 drunkards lay near enough to be grasped by his 
 
123 DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 bound hands, and he had just reached it when Sir 
 Eberhard made a sign to him to put it into his hand, 
 and therewith contrived to cut the rope round both 
 hands and feet — then pointed to the door. 
 
 There was nothing to hinder an escape ; the men 
 slept the sleep of the drunken ; but the schneider- 
 lein, with the rough fidelity of a retainer, would 
 have lingered with a hope of saving his master. But 
 Eberhard shook his head, and signed again to 
 escape ; then making him bend down close to him, 
 he used all his remaining power to whisper, as he 
 pressed his sword into the retainer's hand: 
 
 " Go home ; tell my mother — all the world — that 
 Christina Sorel is my wife, wedded on the Friedmund 
 Wake by Friar Peter of OflBngen, and if she should 
 bear a child, he is my true and lawful heir. My sword 
 for him — my love to her. And if my mother would 
 not be haunted by me, let her take care of her." 
 
 These words were spoken with extreme difficulty, 
 for the nature of the. wound made utterance nearly 
 impossible, and each broken sentence cost a terrible 
 effusion of blood. The final words brought on so 
 choking and fatal a gush that, said the schneider- 
 lein, " he fell back as I tried to hold him up, and I 
 saw that it was all at an end, and a kind and 
 friendly master and lord gone from me. I laid him 
 down, and put his cross on his breast that I had 
 seen him kissing many a time that evening ; and I 
 crossed his hands, and wiped the blood from them 
 and his face. And, lady, he had put on his ring ; I 
 trust the robber catiffs may have left it to him in 
 
DO VE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST 123 
 
 his grave. And so I came forth, walking soft, and 
 opening the door in no small dread, not of the snor- 
 ing swine, but of the dogs without. But happily 
 they were still, and even by the door I saw all our 
 poor fellows stark and stiff." 
 
 " My father ? " asked Christina. 
 
 " Ay ! with his head cleft open by the graf him- 
 self. He died like a true soldier, lady, and we have 
 lost the best head among us in him. "Well, .the 
 knave that should have watched the horses was as 
 drunken as the rest of them, and I make a shift to 
 put the bridle on the white mare and ride off." 
 
 Such was the narrative of the schneiderlein, and 
 all that was left to Christina was the picture of her 
 husband's dying effort to guard her, and the haunt- 
 ing fancy of those long hours of speechless agony on 
 the floor of the hostel, and how direful must have 
 been his fears for her. Sad and overcome, yet not 
 sinking entirely while any work of comfort re- 
 mained, her heart yearned over her companion in 
 misfortune, the mother who had lost both husband 
 and son ; and all her fears of the dread freiherrin 
 could not prevent her from bending her steps, trem- 
 bling and palpitating as she was, toward the hall, to 
 try whether the daughter-in-law's right might be 
 vouchsafed to her, of weeping with the elder sufferer. 
 
 The freiherrinn sat by the chimney, rocking her- 
 self to and fro, and holding consultation with Hatto. 
 She started as she saw Christina approaching, and 
 made a gesture of repulsion ; but, with the feeling 
 of being past all terror in this desolate moment, 
 
124 DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 Christina stepped nearer, knelt, and, clasping her 
 hands, said, " Your pardon, lady." 
 
 " Pardon ! " returned the harsh voice, even harsher 
 for very grief, " thou hast naught to fear, girL As 
 things stand, thou canst not have thy deserts. Dost 
 hear?" 
 
 " Ah, lady, it was not such pardon that I meant. 
 If you would let me be a daughter to you." 
 
 "A daughter? A wood-carver's girl to be a 
 daughter of Adlerstein!" half laughed the grim 
 baroness. "Come here, wench," and Christina 
 underwent a series of sharp searching questions on 
 the evidences of her marriage. 
 
 " So," ended the old lady, " since better may not 
 be, we must own thee for the nonce. Hark ye all, 
 this is the frau freiherrinn, Freiherr Eberhard's 
 widow, to be honored as such," she added, raising 
 her voice. " There, girl, thou hast what thou didst 
 strive for. Is not that enough ? " 
 
 " Alas ? lady," said Christina, her eyes swimming 
 in tears, " I would fain have striven to be a com- 
 forter, or to weep together." 
 
 " What ! to bewitch me as thou didst my poor son 
 and daughter, and well-nigh my lord himself ! Girl ! 
 Girl ! Thou know'st I cannot burn thee now ; but 
 away with thee ; try not my patience too far." 
 
 And, more desolate than ever, the crushed and 
 broken-hearted Christina, a widow before she had 
 been owned a wife, returned to the room that was 
 now so full of memories as to be even more home 
 than Master Gottfried's gallery at Ulm. 
 
DOVE IN THE EAGLE' 8 NEST. 125 
 
 CHAPTEE YIII. 
 
 PASSING THE OUBLIETTE. 
 
 Who can describe the dreariness of being sno wed- 
 up all the winter with such a mother-in-law as 
 Freiherinn Kunigunde ? 
 
 Yet it was well that the snow came early, for it 
 was the best defense of the lonely castle from any 
 attack on the part of the Schlangenwaldern, the 
 Swabian League, or the next heir, Freiherr Kasimir 
 von Adlerstein Wildschloss. The elder baroness 
 had, at least, the merit of a stout heart, and, even 
 with her sadly-reduced garrison, feared none of them. 
 She had been brought up in the faith that Adlerstein 
 was impregnable, and so she still believed ; and, if the 
 disaster that had cut off her husband and son was to 
 happen at all, she was glad that it had befallen be- 
 fore the homage had been paid. Probably the 
 Schlangenwald count knew how tough a morsel the 
 castle was like to prove, and Wildschloss was serv- 
 ing at a distance, for nothing was heard of either 
 during the short interval while the roads were still 
 open. During this time an attempt had been made 
 through Father l^orbert to ascertain what had be- 
 come of the corpses of the two barons and their 
 followers, and it had appeared that the count had 
 
126 DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 carried them all off from the inn, no doubt to adorn 
 his castle with their limbs, or to present them to the 
 emperor in evidence of his zeal for order. The old 
 baron could not indeed have been buried in conse- 
 crated ground, nor have masses said for him ; but 
 for the weal of her son's soul Dame Kunigunde gave 
 some of her few ornaments, and Christina added her 
 gold earrings and all her scanty purse, that both her 
 husband and father might be joined in the prayers 
 of the church — trying with all her might to put 
 confidence in Hugh Sorel's Loretto relic and the in- 
 dulgence he had bought, and trusting with more 
 consolatory thoughts to the ever stronger dawnings 
 of good she had watched in her own Eberhard. 
 
 She had some consoling intercourse with the 
 priest while all this was pending ; but throughout the 
 winter she was entirely cut off from every creature 
 save the inmates of the castle, where, as far as the 
 old lady was concerned, she only existed on suffrance 
 and all her meekness and gentleness could not win 
 for her more than the barest toleration. 
 
 That Eberhard had for a few hours survived his 
 father, and that thus the Freiherrinn Christina was 
 as much the dowager baroness as Kunigunde her- 
 self, was often insisted on in the kitchen by Ursel, 
 Hatto, and the schneiderlein, whom Christina had 
 unconsciously rendered her most devoted servant 
 not only by her daily care of his wound, but by her 
 iiind, courteous words, and by her giving him his 
 proper name of Heinz, dropping the absurd nom de 
 guerre of the schneiderlein, or little tailor, which 
 
DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 127 
 
 had been originally conferred on him in allusion to 
 the vaKant Tailorling who boasted of having killed 
 seven flies at a blow, and had been carried on 
 chiefly because of the contradiction between such a 
 title and his huge brawny strength and fierce cour- 
 age. Poor Eberhard, with his undaunted bravery 
 and free reckless good-nature, a ruffian far more by 
 education than by nature, had been much loved by 
 his followers. His widow would have reaped the 
 benefit of that affection even if her exceeding sweet- 
 ness had not gained it on her own account ; and this 
 giant was completely gained over to her, when, 
 amid all her sorrow and feebleness, she never failed 
 to minister to his sufferings to the utmost, while her 
 questions about his original home, and revival of 
 the name of his childhood, softened him, and awoke 
 in him better feelings. He would have died to 
 serve her, and she might have headed an opposition 
 party in the castle, had she not been quite indiffer- 
 ent to all save her grief ; and, except by sitting 
 above the salt at the empty table, she laid no claim 
 to any honors or authority, and was more seldom 
 than ever seen beyond what was now called her own 
 room. 
 
 At last, when for the second time she was seeing 
 the snow wreaths dwindle, and the drops shine forth 
 in moisture again, while the mountain paths were 
 set free by the might of the springtide sun, she 
 spoke almost for the first time with authority as she 
 desired Heinz to saddle her mule, and escort her to 
 join in the Easter mass at the Blessed Friedmund's 
 
128 DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 chapel. Ursel heaped up objections ; but so urgent 
 was Christina for confession and for mass, that the 
 old woman had not the heart to stop her by a 
 warning to the elder baroness, and took the alter- 
 native of accompanying her. It was a glorious 
 sparkling Easter Day, lovely blue sky above, herb- 
 age and flowers glistening below, snow dazzling in 
 the hollows, peasants assembling in holiday garb, 
 and all rejoicing. Even the lonely widow, in her 
 heavy veil and black mufflings, took hope back to 
 her heart, and smiled when at the church door a little 
 child came timidly up to her with a madder-tinted 
 Easter egg — a gift once again like the happy home 
 customs of Ulm. She gave the child a kiss — she 
 had nothing else to give, but the sweet face sent it 
 away strangely glad. 
 
 The festival mass in all its exultation was not 
 fully over, when anxious faces began to be seen at 
 the door, and whisperings went round and many 
 passed out. E"obody at Adlerstein was particular 
 about silence in church, and, when the service was 
 not in progress, voices were not even lowered, and, 
 after many attempts on the part of the schneiderlein 
 to attract the attention of his mistress, his voice 
 immediately succeeded the Ite missa eat: ^ Gracious 
 lady, we must begone. Your mule is ready. 
 There is a party at the Debatable Ford, whether 
 Schlangenwald or Wildschloss we know not yet, 
 but either way you must be the first thing placed in 
 safety." 
 
 Christina turned deadly pale. She had long been 
 
DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 129 
 
 ready to welcome death as a peaceful friend ; but, 
 sheltered as her girlhood had been in the quiet city, 
 she had never been brought in contact with war- 
 fare, and her nervous, timid temperament made the 
 thought most appalling and frightful to her, certain 
 as she was that the old baroness would resist to the 
 uttermost. Father Norbert saw her extreme terror 
 and, with the thought that he might comfort and 
 support her, perhaps mediate between the contend- 
 ing parties, plead that it was holy tide, and proclaim 
 the peace of the church, or at the worse protect the 
 lady herself, he offered his company ; but, though 
 she thanked him, it was as if she scarcely under- 
 stood his kindness, and a shudder passed over her 
 whenever the serfs, hastily summoned to augment 
 the garrison, came hurrying down the path, or 
 turned aside into the more rugged and shorter de- 
 scents. It was strange, the good father thought, 
 that so timorous and fragile a being should have her 
 lot cast amid these rugged places and scenes of 
 violence, with no one to give her the care and cher- 
 ishing she so much required. 
 
 Even when she crept up the castle stairs, she was 
 met with an angry rebuke, not so much for the 
 peril she had incurred as for having taken away the 
 schneiderlein, by far the most availing among the 
 scanty remnant of the retainers of Adlerstein. At- 
 tempting no answer, and not even daring to ask 
 from what quarter came the alarm, Christina made 
 her way out of the turmoil to that chamber of her 
 own, the scene of so much fear and sorrow, and yet 
 
130 DO VE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 of some share of peace and happiness. But from 
 the window, near the fast subsiding waters of the 
 Debatable Ford, could plainly be seen the small 
 troop of warriors, of whom Jobst the kohler had 
 brought immediate intelligence. The sun glistened 
 on their armor, and a banner floated gaily on the 
 wind ; but they were a fearful sight to the inmates 
 of the lonely castle. 
 
 A stout heart was however Kunigunde's best 
 endowment ; and, with the steadiness and precision 
 of a general, her commands rang out, as she 
 arranged and armed her garrison, perfectly resolved 
 against any submission, and confident in the strength 
 of her castle ; nay, not without a hope of revenge 
 either against Schlangenwald or Wildschloss, whom, 
 as a degenerate Adlerstein, she hated only less than 
 the slayer of her husband and son. 
 
 The afternoon of Easter Day however passed 
 away without any movement on the part of the 
 enemy, and it was not till the following day that 
 they could be seen struggling through the ford, and 
 preparing to ascend the mountain. Attacks had 
 sometimes been disconcerted by posting men in the 
 most dangerous passes ; but, in the lack of numbers, 
 and of trustworthy commanders, the freiherrinn had 
 judged it wiser to trust entirely to her walls, and 
 keep her whole force within them. 
 
 The newcomers could hardly have had any hos- 
 tile intentions, for, though well armed and accoutered, 
 their numbers did not exceed twenty-five. The 
 banner borne at their head was an azure one, with 
 
DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 131 
 
 a white eagle, and their leader could be observed 
 looking with amazement at the top of the watch- 
 tower, where the same eagle had that morning been 
 hoisted for the first time since the fall of the two 
 freiherren. 
 
 So soon as the ascent had been made, the leader 
 wound his horn, and, before the echoes had died 
 away among the hills, Hatto, acting as seneschal, 
 was demanding his purpose. 
 
 " I am Kasimir von Adlerstein Wildschloss," was 
 the reply. " I have hitherto been hindered by stress 
 of weather from coming to take possession of my 
 inheritance. Admit me, that I may arrange with 
 the widowed frau freiherrinn as to her dower and 
 residence." 
 
 " The widowed frau freiherrinn, born of Adler- 
 stein," returned Hatto, " thanks the Freiherr von 
 Adlerstein Wildschloss ; but she holds the castle as 
 guardian to the present head of the family, the 
 Freiherr von Adlerstein." 
 
 " It is false, old man," exclaimed the "Wildschloss ; 
 " the freiherr had no other son." 
 
 " ISTo," said Hatto, " but Freiherr Eberhard hath 
 left us twin heirs, our young lords, for whom we 
 hold this castle." 
 
 " This trifling will not serve ! " sternly spoke 
 the knight. "Eberhard von Adlerstein died 
 unmarried." 
 
 " Not so," returned Hatto, " our gracious frau 
 freiherrinn, the younger, was wedded to him at the 
 last Friedmund Wake, by the special blessing of 
 
132 I>0 VE IN THE EAGLE '8 NEST, 
 
 our good patron, who would not see our house ex- 
 tinct." 
 
 " I must see thy lady, old man," said Sir Kasimir, 
 impatiently, not in the least crediting the story, 
 and believing his cousin Kunigunde quite capable of 
 any measure that could preserve to her the rule in 
 Schloss Adlerstein, even to erecting some passing 
 love affair of her son's into a marriage. And he 
 hardly did her injustice, for she had never made 
 any inquiry beyond the castle into the validity of 
 Christina's espousals, nor sought after the friar who 
 had performed the ceremony. She consented to an 
 interview with the claimant of the inheritance, and 
 descended to the gateway for the purpose. The 
 court was at its cleanest, the thawing snow having 
 newly washed away its impurities, and her proud 
 figure under her black hood and veil made an im- 
 posing appearance as she stood taU and defiant in 
 the archway. 
 
 Sir Kasimir was a handsome man of about thirty, 
 of partly Polish descent, and endowed with Slavonic 
 grace and courtesy, and he had likewise been em- 
 ployed in negotiations with Burgundy, and had 
 acquired much polish and knowledge of the world. 
 
 "Lady," he said, "I regret to disturb and intrude 
 on a mourning family, but I am much amazed at 
 the tidings I have heard ; and I must pray of you 
 to confirm them." 
 
 "I thought they would confound you," compos- 
 edly replied Kunigunde. 
 
 " And pardon me, lady, but the Diet is very nice 
 
DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 133 
 
 in requiring full proofs. I would be glad to learn 
 what lady was chosen by my deceased cousin Eber- 
 hard." 
 
 " The lady is Christina, daughter of his esquire, 
 Hugh Sorel, of an honorable family at Ulm." 
 
 "Ha! I know who and what Sorel was!" ex- 
 claimed Wildschloss. " Lady cousin, thou would'st 
 not stain the shield of Adlerstein with owning 
 aught that cannot bear the examination of the 
 Diet!" 
 
 " Sir Kasimir," said Kunigunde, proudly, " had I 
 known the truth ere my son's death, I had stran- 
 gled the girl with mine own hands ! But I learned 
 it only by his dying confession ; and, had she been 
 a beggar's child, she was his wedded wife, and her 
 babes are his lawful heirs." 
 
 " Knowest thou time — place — ^witnesses ? " inquired 
 Sir Kasimir. 
 
 " The time, the Friedmund Wake ; the place, the 
 Friedmund Chapel," replied the baroness. " Come 
 hither, schneiderlein. Tell the knight thy young 
 lord's confession." 
 
 He bore emphatic testimony to poor Eberhard's 
 last words ; but as to the point of who had per- 
 formed the ceremony, he knew not — his mind had 
 not retained the name. 
 
 "I must see the frau herself," said "Wildschloss, 
 feeling certain that such a being as he expected in 
 a daughter of the dissolute Lanzknecht Sorel would 
 soon, by dexterous questioning, be made to expose 
 the futility of her pretensions so flagrantly that 
 
134 DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 even Kunigunde could not attempt to maintain 
 them. 
 
 For one moment Kunigunde hesitated, but sud- 
 denly a look of malignant satisfaction crossed her 
 face. She spoke a few words to Squinting Matz, 
 and then replied that Sir Kasimir should be allowed 
 to satisfy himself, but that she could admit no one 
 else into the castle ; hers was a widow's household, 
 the twins were only a few hours old, and she could 
 not open her gates to admit any person beside him- 
 self. 
 
 So resolved on judging for himself was Adlerstein 
 "Wildschloss that all this did not stagger him ; for, 
 even if he had believed more than he did of the old 
 lady's story, there would have been no sense of in- 
 trusion or impropriety in such a visit to the mother. 
 Indeed, had Christina been liviijg in the civilized 
 world, her chamber would have been hung with 
 black cloth, black velvet would have enveloped her 
 up to the eyes, and the blackest of cradles would 
 have stood ready for her fatherless babe. Two 
 steps, in honor of her baronial rank, would have led 
 to her bed, and a beaufet with the due baronial 
 amount of gold and silver plate would have held 
 the comfits and caudle to be dispensed to all visit- 
 ors. As it was, the two steps built into the floor 
 of the room, and the black hood that Ursel tied 
 over her young mistress' head, were the only traces 
 that such etiquette had ever been heard of. 
 
 But when Baron Kasimir had clanked up the tur- 
 ret stairs, each step bringing to her many a memory 
 
DOVB IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 135 
 
 of him who should have been there, and when he 
 had been led to the bedside, he was completely 
 taken by surprise. 
 
 Instead of the great, flat-faced, coarse comeliness 
 of a German wench, treated as a lady in order to 
 deceive him, he saw a delicate, lily-like face, white 
 as ivory, and the soft, sweet brown eyes under their 
 drooping lashes, so full of innocence and sad though 
 thankful content, that he felt as if the inquiries he 
 came to make were almost sacrilege. 
 
 He had seen enough of the world to know that no 
 agent in a clumsy imposition would look like this 
 pure white creature, with her arm encircling the two 
 little swaddled babes, whose red faces and bald 
 heads alone were allowed to appear above their 
 mummy-like wrappings ; and he could only make an 
 obeisance lower and infinitely more respectful than 
 that with which he had favored the Baroness nee 
 von Adlerstein, with a few words of inquiry and 
 apology. 
 
 But Christina had her sons' rights to defend now, 
 and she had far more spirit to do so than ever she 
 had had in securing her own position, and a delicate 
 rose tint came into her cheek as she said in her soft 
 voice, " The baroness tells me, that you, noble sir, 
 would learn who wedded me to my dear and blessed 
 lord. Sir Eberhard. It was Friar Peter of the Fran- 
 ciscan brotherhood of Offingen, an agent for selling 
 indulgences. Two of his lay brethren were present. 
 My dear lord gave his own name and mine in full 
 after the holy rite ; the friar promising his testimony 
 
136 DOVE m THE EAGLE'S NB8T. 
 
 if it were needed. He is to be found, or at least 
 heard of, at his own cloister ; and the Jiermit at the 
 chapel likewise beheld a part of the ceremony." 
 
 *' Enough, enough, lady," replied Sir Kasimir ; 
 "forgive me for having forced the question upon 
 you." 
 
 " Nay," replied Christina, with her blush deepen- 
 ing, " it is but just and due to us all ; " and her soft 
 eyes had a gleam of exultation, as she looked at the 
 two little mummies that made up the us — " I would 
 have all inquiries made in full." 
 
 " They shall be made, lady, as will be needful for 
 the establishment of your son's right as a free baron 
 of the empire, but not with any doubt on my part, 
 or desire to controvert that right. I am fully con- 
 vinced, and only wish to serve you and my little 
 cousins. Which of them is the head of our family ? " 
 he added, looking, at the two absolutely undistin- 
 guishable little chrysalises, so exactly aHke that 
 Christina herself was obliged to look for the black 
 ribbon, on which a medal had been hung, round the 
 neck of the elder. Sir Kasimir put one knee to the 
 ground as he kissed the red cheek of the infant and 
 the white hand of the mother. 
 
 " Lady cousin," he said to Kunigunde, who had 
 stood by all this time with an anxious, uneasy, 
 scowling expression on her face, " I am satisfied. I 
 own this babe as the true Freiherr von Adlerstein, 
 and far be it from me to trouble his heritage. Eather 
 point out the way in which I may serve you and 
 him. Shall I represent all to the emperor, and ob- 
 
DO VE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 13? 
 
 tain his wardship, so as to be able to protect you 
 from any attacks by the enemies of the house ? " 
 
 " Thanks, sir," returned the elder lady, severely, 
 seeing Christina's gratified, imploring face. " The 
 right line of Adlerstein can take care of itself with- 
 out greedy guardians appointed by usurpers. Our 
 submission has never been made, and the emperor 
 cannot dispose of our wardship." 
 
 And Kunigunde looked defiant, regarding herself 
 and her grandson as quite as good as the emperor, 
 and ready to blast her daughter-in-law with her 
 eyes for murmuring gratefully and wistfully, 
 " Thanks, noble sir, thanks ! " 
 
 " Let me at last win a friendly right in my young 
 cousins," said Sir Kasimir, the more drawn by pity- 
 ing admiration toward their mother, as he perceived 
 more of the grandmother's haughty repulsiveness 
 and want of comprehension of the dangers of her 
 position. " They are not baptized ? Let me become 
 their godfather. 
 
 Christina's face was all joy and gratitude, and 
 even the grandmother made no objection ; in fact, it 
 was the babes' only chance of a noble sponsor ; and 
 Father J^orbert, who had already been making 
 ready for the baptism was sent for from the hall. 
 Kunigunde, meantime, moved about restlessly, went 
 half-way down the stairs, and held council with some 
 one there ; Ursel likewise, bustled about, and Sir 
 Kasimir remained seated on the chair that had been 
 placed for him near Christina's bed. 
 
 She was able again to thank him, and add, " It 
 
138 DOVE IN THE EAGLE' 8 NEST. 
 
 may be that you will have more cause than the lady 
 grandmother thinks to remember your offer of pro- 
 tection to my poor orphans. Their father and 
 grandfather were, in very deed, on their way to 
 make submission." 
 
 " That is well known to me," said Sir Kasimir. 
 " Lady, I will do all in my power for you. The 
 emperor shall hear the state of things ; and, while 
 no violence is offered to travelers," he added, lower- 
 ing his tone, " I doubt not he will wait for full sub- 
 mission till this young baron be of age to tender it." 
 
 " We are scarce in force to offer violence," said 
 Christina sighing. " I have no power to withstand 
 the lady baroness. I am like a stranger here ; but, 
 oh ! sir, if the emperor aod Diet will be patient and 
 forbearing with this desolate house, my babes, if 
 they live, shall strive to requite their mercy by 
 loyalty. And the blessing of the widow and father- 
 less will fall on you, most generous knight," she 
 added, fervently, holding out her hand. 
 
 " I would I could do more for you," said the 
 knight. " Ask, and all I can do is at your service." 
 
 " Ah, sir," cried Christina, her eyes brightening, 
 " there is one most inestimable service you could 
 render me — to let my uncle. Master Gottfried, the 
 wood-carver of Ulm, know where I am, and of my 
 state, and of ray children." 
 
 Sir Kasimir repeated the name. 
 
 " Yes," she said. " There was my home, there 
 was I brought up by my dear uncle and aunt, till my 
 father bore me away to attend on the young lady 
 
DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 139 
 
 here. It is eighteen months since they had any tid- 
 ings from her who was as a daughter to them." 
 
 " I will see them myself," said Kasimir ; " I know 
 the name. Carved not Master Gottfried the stall- 
 work at Augsburg ? " 
 
 " Yes, indeed ! In chestnut leaves ! And the 
 Misereres all with fairy tales ! " exclaimed Christina. 
 ** Oh, sir, thanks indeed ! Bear to the dear, dear 
 uncle and aunt their child's duteous greetings, and 
 tell them she loves them with all her heart, and 
 prays them to forgive her, and to pray for her and 
 her little ones ! And," she added, " my uncle may 
 not have learned how his brother, my father, died 
 by his lord's side. Oh ! pray him, if ever he loved 
 his little Christina, to have masses sung for my 
 father and my own dear lord." 
 
 As she promised, Ursel came to make the babes 
 ready for their baptism, and Sir Kasimir moved 
 away toward the window. Ursel was looking 
 uneasy and dismayed, and, as she bent over her mis- 
 tress, she whispered, " Lady, the schneiderlein sends 
 you word that Matz has called him to help in remov- 
 ing the props of the door you wot of when he yonder 
 steps across it. He would know if it be your will ? " 
 
 " The oubliette ! " This was Frau Kunigunde's 
 usage of the relative who was doing his best for the 
 welfare of her grandsons ! Christina's whole coun- 
 tenance looked so frozen with horror, that Ursel felt 
 as if she had killed her on the spot ; but the next 
 moment a flash of relief came over the pale features, 
 and the trembling lip commanded itself to say, " My 
 
140 I>0 VE IN THE EAGLE '8 NEST. 
 
 best thanks to good Heinz ! Say to him that I for^ 
 bid it. If he loves the life of his master's children, 
 he will abstain ! Tell him so. My blessings on him 
 if this knight leave the castle safe, Ursel." And 
 her terrified earnest eyes impelled Ursel to hasten to 
 do her bidding ; but whether it had been executed, 
 there was no knowing, for almost immediately the 
 freiherrinn and Father Norbert entered, and Ursel 
 returned with them. IS'ay, the message given, who 
 could tell if Heinz would be able to act upon it ? In 
 the ordinary condition of the castle, he was indeed 
 its most eflScient inmate ; Matz did not approach him 
 in strength, Hans was a cripple, Hatto would be on 
 the right side ; but Jobst the kohler, and the other 
 serfs who had been called in for the defense, were 
 more likely to hold with the elder than the younger 
 lady. And Frau Kunigunde herself, knowing well 
 that the five-and-twenty men outside would be in- 
 competent to avenge their master, confident in her 
 narrow-minded, ignorant pride that no one could 
 take Schloss Adlerstein, and incapable of under- 
 standing the changes in society that were rendering 
 her isolated condition untenable, was certain to scout 
 any representation of the dire consequences that the 
 crime would entail. Kasirair had no near kindred, 
 and private revenge was the only justice the baroness 
 believed in ; she only saw in her crime the satisfac- 
 tion of an old feud, and the union of the Wildschloss 
 property with the parent stem. 
 
 Seldom could such a christening have taken place 
 as that of which Christina's bedroom was the scene 
 
DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 141 
 
 — the mother scarcely able even to think of the holy 
 sacrament for the horror of knowing that the one 
 sponsor was already exulting in the speedy destruc- 
 tion of the other ; and, poor little feeble thing, ral- 
 lying the last remnants of her severely-tried powers 
 to prevent the crime at the most terrible of risks. 
 
 The elder babe received from his grandmother the 
 hereditary name of Eberhard, but Sir Kasimir 
 looked at the mother inquiringly, ere he gave the 
 other to the priest. Christina had well-nigh said, 
 " Oubliette," but, recalling herself in time, she 
 feebly uttered the name she had longed after from 
 the moment she had known that two sons had 
 been her Easter gift, " Gottfried," after her beloved 
 uncle. But Kunigunde caught the sound, and 
 exclaimed, " No son of Adlerstein shall bear a base 
 craftsman's name. Call him Eacher (the avenger); " 
 and in the word there already rang a note of vic- 
 tory and revenge that made Christina's blood run 
 cold. Sir Kasimir marked her trouble. " The lady 
 mother loves not the sound," he said, kindly. " Lady, 
 have you any other wish? Then will I call him 
 Friedmund." 
 
 Christina had almost smiled. To her the omen 
 was of the best. Baron Friedmund had been the last 
 common ancestor of the tw^o branches of the family, 
 the patron saint was so called, his wake was her 
 wedding-day, the sound of the word imported peace, 
 and the good Barons Ebbo and Friedel had ever 
 been linked together lovingly by popular memory. 
 And so the second little baron received the name of 
 
142 DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 Friedraund, and then the knight of Wildschloss, 
 perceiving, with consideration rare in a warrior, that 
 the mother looked worn out and feverish, at once 
 prepared to kiss her hand and take leave. 
 
 " One more favor, sir knight," she said, lifting up 
 her head, while a burning spot rose on either cheek. 
 " I beg of you to take my two babes down — yes, 
 both, both, in your own arms, and show them to 
 your men, owning them as your kinsmen and god- 
 sons." 
 
 Sir Kasimir looked exceedingly amazed, as if he 
 thought the lady's senses taking leave of her, and 
 Dame Kunigunde broke out into declarations that 
 it was absurd, and she did not know what she was 
 talking of ; but she repeated almost with passion, 
 " Take them, take them, you know not how much de- 
 pends on it." Ursel, with unusual readiness of wit, 
 signed and whispered that the young mother must 
 be humored, for fear of consequences; till the 
 knight, in a good-natured, confused way, submitted 
 to receive the two little bundles in his arms, while 
 he gave place to Kunigunde, who hastily stepped 
 before him in a manner that made Christina trust 
 that her precaution would be effectual. 
 
 The room was reeling round with her. The 
 agony of those few minutes was beyond all things 
 unspeakable. What had seemed just before like a 
 certain way of saving the guest without real danger 
 to her children, now appeared instead the most cer- 
 tain destruction to all, and herself the unnatural 
 mother who had doomed her new-born babes for a 
 
BO VE IN THE EAGLE' 8 NEST. 143 
 
 stranger's sake. She could not even pray ; slie 
 would have shrieked to have them brought back, 
 but her voice was dead within her, her tongue clave 
 to the roof of her mouth, ringings in her ears hin- 
 dered her even from listening to the descending 
 Steps. She lay as one dead, when ten minutes 
 afterward the cry of one of her babes struck on 
 her ear, and the next moment Ursel stood beside 
 her, laying them down close to her, and saying 
 exultingly, " Safe ! safe out at the gate, and down 
 the hillside, and my old lady ready to gnaw off her 
 hands for spite ! " 
 
144 I>0 VE IN THE EAGLE'S NE8T. 
 
 CHAPTEE IX. 
 
 THE EAGLETS. 
 
 Christina's mental and bodily constitution had 
 much similarity — apparently most delicate, tender, 
 and timid, yet capable of a vigor, health, and en- 
 durance that withstood shocks that might have been 
 fatal to many apparently stronger persons. The 
 events of that frightful Easter Monday morning 
 did indeed almost kill her ; but the effects, though 
 severe, were not lasting ; and by the time the last 
 of Ermentrude's snow-wreath had vanished, she 
 was sunning her babes at the window, happier than 
 sbe had ever thought to be — above all, in the pos- 
 session of both the children. A nurse had been 
 captured for the little baron from the village on the 
 hillside ; but the woman had fretted, the child had 
 pined, and had been given back to his mother to 
 save his life ; and ever since both had thriven per- 
 fectly under her sole care, so that there was very 
 nearly joy in that room. 
 
 Outside it, there was more bitterness than ever. 
 The grandmother had softened for a few moments 
 at the birth of the children, with satisfaction at ob- 
 taining twice as much as she had hoped ; but the 
 frustration of her vengeance upon Kasimir of Adler- 
 
DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 145 
 
 stein Wildschloss had renewed all her hatred, and 
 she had no scruple in abusing " the burgher-woman " 
 to the whole household for her artful desire to cap- 
 tivate another nobleman. She, no doubt, expected 
 that degenerate fool of aWildschlosser to come woo- 
 ing after her ; " if he did he should meet his deserts." 
 It was the favorite reproach whenever she chose to 
 vent her fury on the mute, blushing, weeping young 
 widow, whose glance at her babies was her only ap- 
 peal against the cruel accusation. 
 
 On midsummer eve, Heinz the schneiderlein, who 
 had been all day taking toll from the various attend- 
 ants at the Friedmund Wake, came up and knocked 
 at the door. He had a bundle over his shoulder 
 and a bag in his hand, which last he offered to her. 
 
 " The toll ! It is for the lady baroness. You are 
 my lady baroness. I levy toll for this my young 
 lord." * 
 
 " Take it to her, good Heinz, she must have the 
 charge, and needless strife I will not breed." 
 
 The angry notes of Dame Kunigunde came up : 
 " How now, knave schneiderlein ! Come down 
 with the toll instantly. It shall not be tampered 
 with ! Down, I say, thou thief of a tailor." 
 
 " Go ; prithee go, vex her not," entreated Chris- 
 tina. 
 
 " Coming, lady ! " shouted Heinz, and, disregard- 
 ing all further objurgations from beneath, he pro- 
 ceeded to deposit his bundle, and explain that it had 
 been entrusted to him by a peddler from Ulm, who 
 would likewise take charge of anything she might 
 
146 DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 have to send in return, and he then ran down just 
 in time to prevent a domiciliary visit from the old 
 lady. 
 
 From Ulm ! The very sound was joy ; and Chris- 
 tina with trembling hands unfastened the cords and 
 stitches that secured the canvas covering, within 
 which lay folds upon folds of linen, and in the 
 midst a rich silver goblet, long ago brought by her 
 father from Italy, a few of her own possessions, 
 and a letter from her uncle secured with black floss 
 silk, with a black seal. 
 
 She kissed it with transport, but the contents were 
 somewhat chilling by their grave formality. The 
 opening address to the " honor- worthy lady baroness 
 and love-^vorthy niece," conveyed to her a doubt on 
 good Master Gottfried's part whether she were still 
 truly worthy of love or honor. The slaughter at 
 Jacob Miiller's had been already known to him, 
 and he expressed himself as relieved, but 
 greatly amazed, at the informatian he had received 
 from the baron of Adlerstein Wildschloss, who had 
 visited him at Ulm, after having verified what had 
 been alleged at Schloss Adlerstein by application to 
 the friar at Offingen. 
 
 Freiherr von Adlerstein Wildschloss had further 
 requested him to make known that, feud-briefs hav- 
 ing regularly p£.ssed between Schlangenwald and 
 Adlerstein, and the two barons not having been 
 within the peace of the empire, no justice could be 
 exacted for their deaths ; yet, in consideration of 
 the tender age of the present heirs, the question of 
 
DO VE IN THE EAQLE*8 NEST. 147 
 
 forfeiture or submission should be waived till they 
 could act for themselves, and Schlangenwald should 
 be withheld from injuring them so long as no moles- 
 tation was offered to travelers. It was plain that 
 Sir Kasimir had well and generously done his best 
 to protect the helpless twins, and he sent respectful 
 but cordial greetings to their mother. These, how- 
 ever, were far less heeded by her than the coldness 
 of her uncle's letter. She had drifted beyond the 
 reckoning of her kindred, and they were sending 
 her her property and bridal linen, as if they had 
 done with her, and had lost their child in the rob- 
 ber-baron's wife. Yet at the end there was a touch 
 of old times in offering a blessing, should she still 
 value it, and the hopes that heaven and the saints 
 would comfort her ; " for surely, thou poor child, 
 thou must have suffered much, and, if thou wiliest 
 still to write to thy city kin, thine aunt would re- 
 joice to hear that thou and thy babes were in good 
 health." 
 
 Precise grammarian and scribe as was Uncle Gott- 
 f reid, the lapse from the formal sie to the familiar du 
 went to his niece's heart. Whenever her little ones 
 left her any leisure, she spent this her first wedding- 
 day in writing so earnest and loving a letter as, in 
 spite of mediaeval formality, must assure the good 
 burgomaster that, except in having suffered much 
 and loved much, his little Christina was not changed 
 since she had left him. 
 
 ;N'o answer could be looked for till another wake- 
 day ; but, when it came, it was full and loving, and 
 
148 DO VE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST, 
 
 therewith were sent a few more of her favorite 
 books, a girdle, and a richly-scented pair of gloves, 
 together with two ivory boxes of comfits, and two 
 little purple silk, gold-edged, straight, narrow gar- 
 ments and tight round brimless lace caps, for the 
 two little barons. JSTor did henceforth a wake-day 
 pass by without bringing some such token, not only 
 delightful as gratifying Christina's affection by the 
 kindness that suggested them, but supplying abso- 
 lute wants in the dire stress of poverty at Schloss 
 Adlerstein. 
 
 Christina durst not tell her mother-in-law of the 
 terms on which they were unmolested, trusting to 
 the scantiness of the retinue and to her own influence 
 with the schneiderlein to hinder any serious violence. 
 Indeed, while the Count of Schlangenwald was in 
 the neighborhood, his followers took care to secure 
 all that could be captured at the Debatable Ford, 
 and the broken forces of Adlerstein would have 
 been insane had they attempted to contend with 
 such superior numbers. That the castle remained 
 unattacked was attributed by the elder baroness to 
 its own merits ; nor did Christina undeceive her. 
 They had no intercourse with the outer world, 
 except that once a pursuivant arrived with a formal 
 intimation from their kinsman, the Baron of Adler- 
 stein Wildschloss, of his marriage with the noble 
 fraulein. Countess Yaleska von Trautbach, and a 
 present of a gay dagger for each of his godsons. 
 Frau Kunigunde triumphed a good deal over the 
 notion of Christina's supposed disappointment ; but 
 
BO VE IN THE EAGLE '8 NEST. 149 
 
 the tidings were most welcome to the yomiger lady, 
 who trusted they would put an end to all future 
 taunts about Wildschloss. Alas ! the handle for 
 abuse was too valuable to be relinquished. 
 
 The last silver cup the castle had possessed had to 
 be given as a reward to the pursuivant, and mayhap 
 Frau Kunigunde reckoned this as another offense of 
 her daughter-in-law, since, had Sir Kasimir been 
 safe in the oubliette, the twins might have shared 
 his broad lands on the Danube, instead of contribut- 
 ing to the fees of his pursuivant. The cup could 
 indeed be ill spared. The cattle and swine, the dues 
 of the serfs, and the yearly toll at the wake were 
 the sole resources of the household ; and though 
 there was no lack of meat, milk, and black bread, 
 sufficient garments could scarce be come by, with 
 all the spinning of the household, woven by the 
 village Webster, of whose time the baronial house- 
 hold, by prescriptive right, owned the lion's share. 
 
 These matters little troubled the two beings in 
 whom Christina's heart was wrapped up. Though 
 running about barefooted and bareheaded, they 
 were healthy, handsome, straight-hmbed, noble- 
 looking creatures, so exactly alike, and so inseparable, 
 that no one except herself could tell one from 
 the other save by the medal of Our Lady worn by 
 the elder, and the little cross carved by the mother 
 for the younger ; indeed, at one time, the urchins 
 themselves would feel for cross or medal, ere naming 
 themselves " Ebbo," or " Friedel." They were tall 
 for their age, but with the slender make of their 
 
150 DOVB IN THE BA GLE 'S NEST. 
 
 foreign ancestry ; and, though their lair rosy com- 
 plexions were brightened by mountain mists and 
 winds, their rapidly darkening hair, and large liquid 
 brown eyes, told of their Italian blood. Their 
 grandmother looked on their coloring as a taint, and 
 Christina herself had hoped to see their father's 
 simple, kindly blue eyes revive in his boys ; but she 
 could hardly have desired anything different from 
 the dancing, kindling, or earnest glances that used 
 to flash from under their long black lashes when 
 they were nestling in her lap, or playing by her 
 knee, making music with their prattle, or listening 
 to her answers with faces alive with intelligence. 
 They scarcely left her time for sorrow or regret. 
 
 They were never quarrelsome. Either from the 
 influence of her gentleness, or from their absolute 
 union, they could do and enjoy nothing apart, and 
 would as soon have thought of their right and left 
 hands falling out as of Ebbo and Friedel disputing. 
 Ebbo however, was always the right hand. The 
 freiherr, as he had been called from the first, had, 
 from the time he could sit at the table at all, been 
 put into the baronial chair with the eagle carved at 
 the back ; every member of the household, from his 
 grandmother downward, placed him foremost, and 
 Friedel followed their example, at the less loss to 
 himself, as his hand was always in Ebbo's, and all 
 their doings were in common. Sometimes however 
 the mother doubted whether there would have been 
 this perfect absence of all contest had the medal of 
 the firstborn chanced to hang round Friedmund's 
 
DO VE IN TEU EAGLE'S NEST, 151 
 
 neck instead of Eberhard's. At first they were en- 
 tirely left to her. Their grandmother heeded them 
 little as long as they were healthy, and evidently 
 regarded them more as heirs of Adlerstein than as 
 grandchildren ; but, as they grew older, she showed 
 anxiety lest their mother should interfere with 
 the fierce, lawless spirit proper to their line. 
 
 One winter day, when they were nearly six years 
 old, Christina, spinning at her window, had been 
 watching them snowballing in the castle court, 
 smiling and applauding every large handful held up 
 to her, every laughing combat, every well-aimed 
 hit, as the hardy little fellows scattered the snow in 
 showers round them, raising their merry fur-capped 
 faces to the bright eyes that " rained influence and 
 judged the prize." 
 
 By and by they stood still ; Ebbo — she knew him 
 by the tossed head and commanding air — was propos- 
 ing what Friedel seemed to disapprove ; but after a 
 short discussion, Ebbo flung away from him, and went 
 toward a shed where was kept a wolf-cub, recently 
 presented to the young barons by old Ulrich's son. 
 The whelp was so young as to be quite harmless, but 
 it was far from amiable ; Friedel never willingly ap- 
 proached it, and the snarling and whining replies to 
 all advances had begun to weary and irritate Ebbo. 
 He dragged it out by its chain, and, tethering it to 
 a post, made it a mark for his snowballs, which, 
 kneaded hard, and delivered with hearty good-will 
 by his sturdy arms, made the poor Uttle beast yelp 
 with pain and terror, till the more tender-hearted 
 
152 I>0 VE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 Friedel threw himself on his brother to withhold 
 him, while Matz stood by laughing and applauding 
 the baron. Seeing Ebbo shake Friedel off with un- 
 usual petulance, and pitying the tormented animal, 
 Christina flung a cloak round her head and hastened 
 downstairs, entering the court just as the terrified 
 whelp had made a snap at the boy, which was re- 
 turned by angry, vindictive pelting, not merely 
 with snow, but with stones. Friedel sprang to her 
 cr^^ng, and her call to Ebbo made him turn, though 
 with fury in his face, shouting, " He would bite me ! 
 the evil beast ! " 
 
 " Come with me, Ebbo," she said. 
 
 "He shall suffer for it, the spiteful, ungrateful 
 brute ! Let me alone, mother ! " cried Ebbo, stamp- 
 ing on the snow, but still from habit yielding to her 
 hand on his shoulder. 
 
 "What now?" demanded the old baroness, ap- 
 pearing on the scene. "Who is thwarting the 
 baron ? " 
 
 "She; she will not let me deal with yonder 
 savage whelp," cried the boy. 
 
 " She ! Take thy way, child," said the old lady. 
 " Yisit him well for his malice. None shall with- 
 stand thee here. At thy peril ! " she added, turn- 
 ing on Christina. " What, art not content to have 
 brought base mechanical blood into a noble house ? 
 Wouldst make slaves and cowards of its sons ? " 
 
 " I would teach them true courage, not cruelty," 
 she tried to say. 
 
 " What should such as thou know of courage ? 
 
DO VE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 153 
 
 Look here, girl ; another word to daunt the spirit of 
 my grandsons, and I'll have thee scourged down 
 the mountain-side ! On ! At him, Ebbo ! That's 
 my gallant young knight ! Out of the way, girl, 
 with thy whining looks ! What, Friedel, be a man, 
 and aid thy brother ! Has she made thee a puling 
 woman already ? " And Kunigunde laid an ungen- 
 tle grasp upon Friedmund, who was clinging to his 
 mother, hiding his face in her gown. He struggled 
 against the clutch, and would not look up or be 
 detached. 
 
 " Fie, poor little coward ! " taunted the old lady ; 
 " never heed him, Ebbo, my brave baron ! " 
 
 Cut to the heart, Christina took refuge in her 
 room, and gathered her Friedel to her bosom, as he 
 sobbed out, " Oh, mother, the poor little wolf ! Oh, 
 mother, are you weeping too ? The grandmother 
 should not so speak to the sweetest, dearest mother- 
 ling," he added, throwing his arms round her 
 neck. 
 
 '^ Alas, Friedel, that Ebbo should learn that it is 
 brave to hurt the weak ! " 
 
 "It is not like Walther of Yogelwiede," said 
 Friedel, whose mind had been much impressed by 
 the minnesinger's bequest to the birds. 
 
 " Nor like any true Christian knight. Alas, my 
 poor boys, must you be taught foul cruelty and I 
 too weak and cowardly to save you ? " 
 
 " That never will be," said Friedel, lifting his 
 head from her shoulder. " Hark ! what a howl was 
 that!" 
 
154 I>0 VE IN THE EAGLE' 8 NEST, 
 
 " Listen not, dear child ; it does but pain thee." 
 
 "But Ebbo is not shouting. Oh, mother, he is 
 vexed — he is hurt ! " cried Friedel, springing from 
 her lap; but ere either could reach the window, 
 Ebbo had vanished from the scene. They only saw 
 the young wolf stretched dead on the snow, and the 
 same moment in burst Ebbo, and flung himself on 
 the floor in a passion of weeping. Stimulated by 
 the applause of his grandmother and of Matz, he 
 had furiously pelted the poor animal with all mis- 
 siles that came to hand, till a blow, either from him 
 or Matz, had produced such a howl and struggle of 
 agony, and then such terrible stillness, as had gone 
 to the young baton's very heart, a heart as soft as 
 that of his father had been by nature. Indeed, his 
 sobs were so piteous that his mother was relieved to 
 hear only, " The wolf ! the poor wolf ! " and to find 
 that he himself was unhurt ; and she was scarcely 
 satisfied of this when Dame Kunigunde came up 
 also alarmed, and thus turned his grief to wrath. 
 " As if I would cry in that way for a bite ! " he said. 
 " Go, grandame ; you made me do it, the poor 
 beast ! " with a fresh sob. 
 
 " Ulrich shall get thee another cub, my child." 
 
 " No, no ; I never will have another cub ! Why 
 did you let me kill it ? " 
 
 " For shame, Ebbo ! Weep for a spiteful brute ! 
 That's no better than thy mother or Friedel." 
 
 " I love my mother ! I love Friedel ! They would 
 have withheld me. Go, go ; I hate you ! " 
 
 "Peace, peace, Ebbo," exclaimed his mother; 
 
DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST, 155 
 
 "you know not what you say. Ask your grand- 
 mother's pardon." 
 
 " Peace, thou fool ! " screamed the old lady. 
 " The baron speaks as he will in his own castle. He 
 is not to be checked here, and thwarted there, and 
 taught to mince his words like a cap-in-hand peddler. 
 Pardon! When did an Adlerstein seek pardon? 
 Come with me, my baron ; I have still some honey- 
 cakes." 
 
 "Not I," replied Ebbo; "honey-cakes will not 
 cure the wolf whelp. Go : I want my mother and 
 Friedel." 
 
 Alone with them his pride and passion were gone ; 
 but alas ! what augury for the future of her boys 
 was left with the mother 1 
 
156 DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST, 
 
 CHAPTEE X. 
 
 *'It fell about the Lammas tide, 
 When moor men win their hay," 
 
 that all tlie serfs of Adlerstein were collected to col- 
 lect their lady's hay to be stored for the winter's 
 fodder of the goats, and of poor Sir Eberhard's old 
 white mare, the only steed as yet ridden by the 
 young barons. 
 
 The boys were fourteen years old. So monot- 
 onous was their mother's life that it was chiefly 
 their growth that marked the length of her residence 
 in the castle. Otherwise there had been no change, 
 except that the elder baroness was more feeble in 
 her limbs, and still more irritable and excitable in 
 temper. There were no events, save a few hunting 
 adventures of the boys, or the yearly correspondence 
 with Ulm ; aud the same life continued, of shrink- 
 ing in dread from the old lady's tyrannous dislike, 
 and of the constant endeavor to infuse better prin- 
 ciples into the boys, without the open opposition for 
 which there was neither power nor strength. 
 
 The boys' love was entirely given to their mother. 
 Far from diminishing with their dependence on her, 
 it increased with the sense of protection ; and, now 
 
DO VE IN THE EAGLE' 8 NEST. I57 
 
 that they were taller than herself, she seemed to be 
 cherished by them more than ever. Moreover, she 
 was their oracle. Quick-witted and active-minded, 
 loving books the more because their grandmother 
 thought signing a feud-letter the utmost literary 
 effort becoming to a noble, they never rested till 
 they had acquired all that their mother could 
 teach them ; or, rather, they then became more rest- 
 less than ever. Long ago had her whole store of 
 tales and ballads become so familiar, by repetition, 
 that the boys could correct her in the smallest varia- 
 tion; reading and writing were mastered as for 
 pleasure ; and the "Nuremberg Chronicle," with its 
 wonderful woodcuts, excited such a passion of curi- 
 osity that they must needs conquer its Latin and 
 read it for themselves. This "World History," with 
 "Alexander and the Nine Worthies," the cities and 
 landscapes, and the oft-repeated portraits, was 
 Eberhard's study; but Friedmund continued con- 
 stant to Walther of Yogelweide. Eberhard cared 
 for no character in the Yulgate so much as for Judas 
 the Maccabee ; but Friedmund's heart was all for 
 King David ; and to both lads, shut up from com- 
 panionship as they were, every acquaintance in 
 their books was a living being whose like they fan- 
 cied might be met beyond their mountain. And, 
 when they should go forth, like Dietrich of Berne, 
 in search of adventures, doughty deeds were chiefly 
 to fall to the lot of Ebbo's lance ; while Friedel was 
 to be their minnesinger ; and indeed certain verses, 
 that he had murmured in his brother's ear, had left 
 
168 DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NESl. 
 
 no doubt in Ebbo's mind that the exploits would be 
 worthily sung. 
 
 The soft dreamy eye was becoming Friedel's char- 
 acteristic, as fire and keenness distinguished his 
 brother's glance. When at rest, the twins could be 
 known apart by their expression, though in all other 
 respects they were as alike as ever ; and let Ebbo 
 look thoughtful or Friedel eager and they were again 
 undistinguishable ; and indeed they were constantly 
 changing looks. Had not Friedel been beside him, 
 Ebbo would have been deemed a wondrous student for 
 his years ; had not Ebbo been the standard of com- 
 parison, Friedel would have been in high repute 
 for spirit and enterprise and skiV. as a cragsman, 
 with the crossbow, and in all f :ats of arms that 
 the schneiderlein could impart. They shared all 
 occupations ; and it was by the merest shade that 
 Ebbo excelled with the weapon, and Friedel with 
 the book or tool. For the artist nature was in them, 
 not intentionally excited by their mother, but far 
 too strong to be easily discouraged. They had 
 long daily gazed at Ulm in the distance, hoping to 
 behold the spire completed ; and the illustrations 
 in their mother's books excited a strong desire to 
 imitate them. The floor had often been covered 
 with charcoal outlines even before Christina was per- 
 suaded to impart the rules she had learned from her 
 uncle ; and her carving-tools were soon seized upon. 
 At first they were used only upon knobs of sticks ; 
 but one day when the boys, roaming on the moun- 
 tain, had lost their way, and coming to the convent 
 
DOVE IN TEE EAGLE'S NEST 159 
 
 had been there hospitably welcomed by Father 
 Norbert, they came home wild to make carvings like 
 what they had seen in the chapel. Jobst the kohler 
 was continually importuned for soft wood ; the fair 
 was ransacked for knives ; and even the old baron- 
 ess could not find great fault with the occupation, 
 base and mechanical though it were, which disposed 
 of the two restless spirits during the many hours 
 when winter storms confined them to the castle. 
 Rude as was their work, the constant observation 
 and choice of subjects were an unsuspected training 
 and softening. It was not in vain that they lived 
 in the glorious mountain fastness, and saw the sun 
 descend in his majesty, dyeing the masses of rock 
 with purple and crimson ; not in vain that they be- 
 held peak and ravine clothed in purest snow, flushed 
 mth rosy light at morn and eve, or contrasted with 
 the purple blue of the sky ; or that they stood mar- 
 veling at ice caverns with gigantic crystal pendants 
 shining with the most magical pure depths of 
 sapphire and emerald, " as if," said Friedel, " winter 
 kept in his service all the jewel-forging dwarfs of the 
 motherling's tales." And, when the snow melted 
 and the buds returned, the ivy spray, the smiling 
 saxifrage, the purple gentian bell, the feathery 
 rowan leaf, the symmetrical lady's mantle, were 
 hailed and loved first as models, then for themselves. 
 One regret their mother had, almost amounting 
 to shame. Every virtuous person believed in the 
 eificacy of the rod, and, mauger her own docility, 
 she had been chastised with it almost as a religious 
 
160 DO VE IN THE EA GLE '8 NEST. 
 
 duty ; but her sons had never felt the weight of a 
 blow, except once when their grandmother caught 
 them carving a border of eagles and doves round 
 the hall table, and then Ebbo had returned the blow 
 with all his might. As to herself, if she ever 
 worked herself up to attempt chastisement, the 
 baroness was sure to fall upon her for insulting the 
 noble birth of her sons, and thus gave them a tri- 
 umph far worse for them than impunity. In truth, 
 the boys had their own way, or rather the baron 
 had his way, and his way was Baron Friedmund's. 
 Poor, bare, and scanty as were all the surround- 
 ings of their life, everything was done to feed their 
 arrogance, with only one influence to counteract 
 their education in pride and violence — a mother's 
 influence, indeed, but her authority was studiously 
 taken from her, and her position set at naught, with 
 no power save what she might derive from their 
 love and involuntary honor, and the sight of the 
 pain caused by their wrong-doings. 
 
 And so the summer's hay-harvest was come. 
 Peasants clambered into the green nooks between the 
 rocks to cut down with hook or knife the flowery 
 grass, for there was no space for the sweep of a 
 scythe. The best crop was on the bank of the 
 Braunwasser, by the Debatable Ford, but this was 
 cut and carried on the backs of the serfs much ear- 
 lier than the mountain grass, and never without much 
 vigilance against the Schlangenwaldern ; but this 
 year the count was absent at his Styrian castle, and 
 little had been seen or heard of his people. 
 
DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST, 1 61 
 
 The full muster of serfs appeared, for Fran Kuni- 
 gunde admitted of no excuses, and the sole absentee 
 was a widow who lived on the ledge of the moun- 
 tain next above that on which the castle stood. 
 Her son reported her to be very ill, and with tears 
 in his eyes entreated Baron Freidel to obtain leave 
 for him to return to her, since she was quite alone 
 in her solitary hut, with no one even to give her a 
 drink of water. Friedel rushed with the entreaty 
 to his grandmother, but she laughed it to scorn. 
 Lazy Koppel only wanted an excuse, or, if not, the 
 woman was old and useless, and men could not be 
 spared. 
 
 " Ah ! good grandame," said Friedel, " his father 
 died with ours." 
 
 " The more honor for him ! The more he is bound 
 to work for us. Off, junker, make no loiterers." 
 
 Grieved and discomfited, Friedel betook himself to 
 his mother and brother. 
 
 " Foolish lad, not to have come to me ! " said 
 the young baron. " Where is he ? I'll send him at 
 once." 
 
 But Christina interposed an offer to go and take 
 Koppel's place beside his mother, and her skill was 
 so much prized over aU the mountain side, that the 
 alternative was gratefully accepted, and she was 
 escorted up the steep path by her two boys to the 
 hovel, where she spent the day in attendance on the 
 sick woman. 
 
 Evening came on, the patient was better, but 
 Koppel did not return, nor did the young barons 
 
162 DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 come to fetch their mother home. The last sun- 
 beams were dying off the mountain-tops, and, be- 
 ginning to suspect something amiss, she at length 
 set off, and half way down met Koppel, who replied 
 to her question, " Ah, then, the gracious lady has 
 not heard of our luck. Excellent booty and two 
 prisoners ! The young baron has been a hero indeed 
 and has won himself a knightly steed." And, on 
 her further interrogation, he added, that an unusu- 
 ally rich but small company had been reported by 
 Jobst the kohler to be on the way to the ford, where 
 he had skillfully prepared a stumbling-block. The 
 gracious baroness had caused Hatto to jodel all the 
 haymakers together, and they had fallen on the 
 travelers by the straight path down the crag. 
 " Ach ! did not the young baron spring like a young 
 gemsbock? And in midstream down came their 
 pack-horses and their wares ! Some of them took 
 to flight, but, pfui, there were enough for my young 
 lord to show his mettle upon. Such a prize the 
 saints have not sent since the old baron's time." 
 
 Christina pursued her walk in dismay at this new 
 beginning of freebooting in its worst form, over- 
 throwing all her hopes. The best thing that could 
 happen would be the immediate interference of the 
 Swabian League, while her sons were too young to 
 be personally held guilty. Yet this might involve 
 ruin and confiscation ; and, apart from all conse- 
 quences, she bitterly grieved that the stain of rob- 
 bery should have fallen on her hitherto innocent 
 sons. 
 
DO VB IN THE EA OLE '8 NEST. 163 
 
 Every peasant she met greeted her with praises of 
 their young lord, and, when she mounted the hall 
 steps, she found the floor strewn with bales of 
 goods. 
 
 " Mother," cried Ebbo, flying up to her, " have 
 you heard? I have a horse! a spirited bay, a 
 knightly charger, and Friedel is to ride him by turns 
 with me. Where is Friedel ? And, mother, Heinz 
 said I struck as good a stroke as any of them, and I 
 have a sword for Friedel now. Why does he not 
 come ? And, motherling, this is for you, a gown of 
 velvet, a real black velvet, that will make you fairer 
 than our lady at the convent. Come to the window 
 and see it, mother dear." 
 
 The boy was so joyously excited that she could 
 hardly withstand his delight, but she did not move. 
 
 " Don't you like the velvet ? " he continued. " We 
 always said that, the first prize we won, the mother- 
 ling should wear velvet. Do but look at it." 
 
 " Woe is me, my Ebbo ! " she sighed, bending to 
 kiss his brow. 
 
 He understood her at once, colored and spoke 
 hastily and in defiance. "It was in the river, 
 mother, the horses fell ; it is our right." 
 
 " Fairly, Ebbo ? " she asked in a low voice. 
 
 " JS'ay, mother, if Jobst did hide a branch in mid- 
 stream, it was no doing of mine ; and the horses fell. 
 The Schlangenwaldern don't even wait to let them 
 fall. We cannot live, if we are to be so nice and 
 dainty." 
 
 " Ah ! my son, I thought not to hear you call 
 mercy and honesty mere niceness." 
 
164 DO VE IN TEE EAGLE '8 NEST. 
 
 " What do I hear ? " exclaimed Frau Kunigunde, 
 entering from the storeroom, where she had been, 
 disposing of some spices, a much esteemed commod- 
 ity. " Are you chiding and daunting this boy, as 
 you have done with the other ? " 
 
 "My mother may speak to me!" cried Ebbo, 
 hotly, turning round. 
 
 " And quench thy spirit with whining fooleries ! 
 Take the baron's bounty, woman, and vex him not 
 after his first knightly exploit." 
 
 " Heaven knows, and Ebbo knows," said the trem- 
 bling Christina, " that, were it a knightly exploit, I 
 were the first to exult." 
 
 " Thou ? thou craftsman's girl ! dost presume to 
 call in question the knightly deeds of a noble house ! 
 There ! " cried the furious baroness, striking her face. 
 " Now ! dare to be insolent again." Her hand was 
 uplifted for another blow, when it was grasped by 
 Eberhard, and, the next moment, he likewise held 
 the other hand, with youthful strength far exceeding 
 hers. She had often struck his mother before, but 
 not in his presence, and the greatness of the shock 
 seemed to make him cool and absolutely dignified. 
 
 " Be still grandame," he said. " ]S"o, mother, I 
 am not hurting her," and indeed the surprise seemed 
 to have taken away her rage and volubility, and 
 unresistingly she allowed him to seat her in a 
 chair. Still holding her arm, he made his clear 
 boyish voice resound through the hall, saying, " Ee- 
 tainers all, know that, as I am your lord and master 
 so is my honored mother lady of the castle, and she 
 
DOVE IN TRE EAGLE'S NEST. 165 
 
 is never to be gainsayed, let her say or do what she 
 will." 
 
 " You are right, Herr Freiherr," said Heinz. "The 
 Frau Christina is our gracious and beloved dame. 
 Long live the Freiherrinn Christina ! " And the 
 voices of almost all the serfs present mingled in the 
 cry. 
 
 "And hear you all," continued Eberhard, "she 
 shall rule all, and never be trampled on more. 
 Grandame, you understand ? " 
 
 The old woman seemed confounded, and cowered 
 in her chair without speaking. Christina, almost 
 dismayed by this silence, would have suggested to 
 Ebbo to say something kind or consoling ; but at 
 that moment she was struck with alarm by his re- 
 newed inquiry for his brother. 
 
 " Friedel ! Was not he with thee ? " 
 
 " ISTo ; I never saw him." 
 
 Ebbo flew up the stairs, and shouted for his 
 brother ; then, coming down, gave orders for the 
 men to go out on the mountain-side, and search 
 and jodel. He was hurrying with them, but his 
 mother caught his arm. " Oh Ebbo, how can I 
 let you go ? It is dark, and the crags are so 
 perilous." 
 
 " Mother, I cannot stay ! " and the boy flung his 
 arms round her neck, and whispered in her ear, 
 " Friedel said it would be a treacherous attack, and 
 I called him a craven. Oh, mother, we never parted 
 thus before ! He went up the hillside. Oh, where 
 is he?" 
 
166 DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 Infected by the boy's despairing voice, yet relieved 
 that Friedel at least had withstood the temptation, 
 Christina still held Ebbo's hand, and descended the 
 steps with him. The clear blue sky was fast show- 
 ing the stars, and into the evening stillness echoed 
 the loud wide jodeln, cast back from the other side 
 of the ravine. Ebbo tried to raise his voice, but 
 broke down in the shout, and, choked with agitation 
 said, " Let me go, mother. J^one know his haunts 
 as I do." 
 
 " Hark," she said, only grasping him tighter. 
 
 Thinner, shriller, clearer, came a far-away cry 
 from the heights, and Ebbo thrilled from head to 
 foot, then sent up another pealing mountain shout, 
 responded to by a jodel so pitched as to be 
 plainly not an echo. " Toward the Red Eyrie," 
 said Hans. 
 
 "He win have been to the Ptarmigan's Pool," 
 said Ebbo, sending up his voice again, in hopes that 
 the answer would sound less distant; but instead 
 of this, its intonations conveyed, to these adepts 
 in mountain language, that Friedel stood in need of 
 help. 
 
 " Depend upon it," said the startled Ebbo, " that he 
 has got up among those rocks where the dead cham- 
 ois rolled down last summer ; " then, as Christina 
 uttered a faint cry of terror, Heinz added, " Fear 
 not, lady, those are not the jodeln of one who has 
 met with a hurt. Baron Friedel has the sense to be 
 patient rather than risk his bones if he cannot move 
 safely in the dark." 
 
DOVE IN TUB EAGLE'S NEST, 167 
 
 " Up after him," said Ebbo, emitting a variety of 
 shouts intimating speedy aid, and receiving a halloo 
 in reply that reassured even his mother. Equipped 
 with a rope and sundry torches of pine wood, Heinz 
 and two of the serfs were speedily ready, and 
 Christina implored her son to let her come so far 
 as where she should not impede the others. He 
 gave her his arm, and Heinz held his torch so as to 
 guide her up a winding path, not in itself very steep 
 but which she could never have climbed had day- 
 light shown her what it overhung. Guided by the 
 constant exchange of jodeln, they reached a height 
 where the wind blew cold and wild, and Ebbo 
 pointed to an intensely black shadow overhung by 
 a peak rising like the gable of a house into the sky. 
 " Yonder lies the tarn," he said. " Don't stir. 
 This way lies the cliif Fried — mund ! " exchanging 
 the jodel for the name. 
 
 " Here ! — this way! Under the Ked Eyrie," called 
 back the wanderer ; and steering their course round 
 the rocks above the pool, the rescuers made their way 
 toward the base of the peak, which was in fact the 
 summit of the mountain, the top of the Eagle's Lad- 
 der, the highest step of which they had attained. 
 The peak towered over them, and beneath, the castle 
 lights seemed as if it would be easy to let a stone 
 fall straight down on them. 
 
 Friedel's cry seemed to come from under their feet. 
 " I am here ! I am safe ; only it grew so dark that 
 I durst not climb up or down." 
 
 The schneiderlein explained that he would lower 
 
168 DOVE IN THE SA QLE 'S NEBT. 
 
 down a rope, which, when fastened round Friedel's 
 waist, would enable him to climb safely up ; and, 
 after a breathless space, the torchlight shown upon 
 the longed-for face, and Friedel, springing on the 
 path, cried, " The mother ! — and here ! " 
 
 " Oh, Friedel, where have you been ? What is this 
 in your arms ? " 
 
 He showed them the innocent face of a little white 
 kid. 
 
 "Whence is it, Friedel?" 
 
 He pointed to the peak, saying, " I was lying on 
 my back by the tarn, when my lady eagle came 
 sailing overhead, so low that I could see this poor, 
 little thing, and hear it bleat." 
 
 ** Thou hast been to the eyrie — the inaccessible 
 eyrie ! " exclaimed Ebbo, in amazement. 
 
 " That's a mistake. It is not hard after the first," 
 said Friedel. " I only waited to watch the old birds 
 out again." 
 
 " Kobbed the eagles ! And the young ones ? " 
 
 " Well," said Friedmund, as if half ashamed," they 
 were twin eaglets, and their mother had left them, 
 and I felt as though I could not harm them ; so I only 
 bore off their provisions, and stuck some feathers in 
 my cap. But by that time the sun was down, and 
 soon I could not see my footing ; and, when I found 
 that I had missed the path, I thought I had best 
 nestle in the nook where I was, and wait for day. 
 I grieved for my mother's fear ; but oh, to see her 
 here ! " 
 
 "Ah, Friedel! didst do it to prove my words 
 false ? " interposed Ebbo, eagerly. 
 
DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NE3T. 169 
 
 "What words?" 
 
 " Thou knowest. Make me not speak them 
 again." 
 
 " Oh, those ! " said Friedel, only now recalling 
 them. " No, verily ; they were but a moment's 
 anger. I wanted to save the kid. I think it is old 
 mother Rika's white kid. But oh, motherhng ! I 
 grieve to have thus frightened you." 
 
 Not a single word passed between them upon 
 Ebbo's exploits. Whether Friedel had seen all from 
 the heights, or whether he intuitively perceived that 
 his brother preferred silence, he held his peace, and 
 both were solely occupied in assisting their mother 
 down the pass, the difficulties of which were far 
 more felt now than in the excitement of the ascent ; 
 only when they were near home, and the boys were 
 walking in the darkness with arms round one an- 
 other's necks, Christina heard Friedel say low and 
 rather sadly, " I think I shall be a priest, Ebbo." 
 
 To which Ebbo only answered, " Pf ui ! " 
 
 Christina understood that Friedel meant that rob- 
 bery must be a severance between the brothers. 
 Alas ! had the moment come when their paths must 
 diverge ? Could Ebbo's step not be redeemed ? 
 
 Ursel reported that Dame Kunigunde had scarcely 
 spoken again, bu*t had retired like one stunned, into 
 her bed. Friedel was half asleep after the exertions 
 of the day ; but Ebbo did not speak, and both soon 
 betook themselves to their little turret chamber 
 within their mother's. 
 
 Christina prayed long that night, her heart full of 
 
fro DO VB IN TEE EAGLE '8 NEST. 
 
 dread of the consequence of this transgression. Eii- 
 mors of freebooting castles destroyed by the Swa- 
 bian League had reached her every wake day, and, 
 if this outrage were once known, the sufferance that 
 left Adlerstein unmolested must be over. There 
 was hope indeed in the weakness and uncertainty of 
 the government ; but present safety would in reality 
 be the ruin of Ebbo, since he would be encouraged 
 to persist in the career of violence now unhappily 
 begun. She knew not what to ask, save that her 
 sons might be shielded from evil, and might fulfill 
 that promise of her dream, the star in heaven, the 
 light on earth. And for the present — the good 
 God guide her and her sons through the difficult 
 morrow, and turn the heart of the unhappy old 
 woman below ! 
 
 When, exhausted with weeping and watching, she 
 rose from her knees, she stole softly into her sons' 
 turret for a last look at them. Generally they 
 were so.much alike in their sleep that even she was 
 at fault between them : but that night there was 
 no doubt. Friedel, pale after the day's hunger and 
 fatigue, slept with relaxed features in the most 
 complete calm ; but though Ebbo's eyes were 
 closed, there was no repose in his face — ^his hair 
 was tossed, his color flushed, his brow contracted, 
 the arm flung across his brother had none of the 
 ease of sleep. She doubted whether he were not 
 awake ; but, knowing that he would not brook any 
 endeavor to force confidence he did not offer, she 
 merely hung over them both, murmured a prayer 
 and blessing, and left them. 
 
DOVE IN THE EAGLETS NEST. 171 
 
 CHAPTEK XI. 
 
 THE CHOICE IN LIFE. 
 
 " Feiedel, wake ! " 
 
 " Is it day ? " said Friedel, slowly wakening, and 
 crossing himself as he opened his eyes. " Surely the 
 sun is not up ? " 
 
 "We must be before the sun!" said Ebbo, who 
 was on his feet, beginning to dress himself. " Hush, 
 and come ! Do not wake the mother. It must be 
 ere she or aught else be astir! Thy prayers — I 
 tell thee this is a work as good as prayer." 
 
 Half awake, and entirely bewildered, Friedel dipped 
 his finger in the pearl mussel shell of holy water 
 over their bed, and crossed his own brow and his 
 brother's then, carrying their shoes, they crossed 
 their mother's ; chamber, and crept downstairs. 
 Ebbo muttered to his brother, " Stand thou still 
 there, and pray the saints to keep her asleep ; " and 
 then, with bare feet, moved noiselessly behind the 
 wooden partition that shut off his grandmother's 
 box-bedstead from the rest of the hall. She 
 lay asleep with open mouth, snoring loudly, and on 
 her pillow lay the bunch of castle keys, that was 
 always carried to her at night. It was a moment 
 of peril when Ebbo touched it ; but he had nerved 
 
172 -DO VE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 himself to be both steady and dexterous, and he 
 secured it without a jingle, and then, without en- 
 tering the hall, descended into a passage lit by a 
 rough opening cut in the rock. Friedel, who 
 began to comprehend, followed him close and joy- 
 fully, and at the first door he fitted in, and with 
 some diflBculty turned a key, and pushed open the 
 door of a vault, where morning light, streaming 
 through the grated window, showed two captives • 
 who had started to their feet, and now stood re- 
 garding the pair in the doorway as if they thought 
 their dreams were multiplying the young baron who 
 had led the attack. 
 
 " Signori " began the principal of the two ; 
 
 but Ebbo spoke. 
 
 " Sir, you have been brought here by a mistake in 
 the absence of my mother, the lady of the castle. 
 If you will follow me, I will restore all that is 
 within my reach, and put you on your way." 
 
 The merchant's knowledge of German was small, 
 but the purport of the words was pain, and he 
 gladly left the damp, chilly vault. Ebbo pointed to 
 the bales that strewed the hall. " Take all that 
 can be carried," he said. " Here is your sword, and 
 your purse," he said, for these had been given to him 
 in the moment of victory. " I will bring out your 
 horse and lead you to the pass." 
 
 " Give him food," whispered Friedel ; but the mer- 
 chant was too anxious to have any appetite. Only 
 he faltered in broken German a proposal to pay his 
 respect to the Signora Castellana^ to whom he owed 
 so much. 
 
DOm IN TEE EAQLE'8 NEST. I73 
 
 " lN"o ! Dormit in lecto^'* said Ebbo, with a sudden 
 inspiration caught from the Latinized sound of some 
 of the Italian words, but coloring desperately as he 
 spoke. 
 
 The Latin proved most serviceable, and the mer- 
 chant understood that his property was restored, 
 and made all speed to gather it together, and trans- 
 port it to the stable. One or two of his beasts of 
 burden had been lost in the fray, and there were 
 more packages than could well be carried by the 
 merchant, his servant, and his horse. Ebbo gave 
 the aid of the old white mare — now very white in- 
 deed — and in truth the boys pitied the merchant's 
 fine young bay for being put to base trading uses, 
 and were rather shocked to hear that it had been 
 taken in payment for a knight's branched velvet 
 gown, and would be sold again at Ulm. 
 
 " What a poor coxcomb of a knight ! " said they 
 to one another, as they patted the creature's neck 
 with such fervent admiration that the merchant 
 longed to present it to them, when he saw that the 
 old white mare was the sole steed they possessed, 
 and watched their tender guidance both of her and 
 of the bay up the rocky path so familiar to them. 
 
 " But ah, signorini miei, I am an infelice infelicis- 
 simo, ever persecuted by le FateP 
 
 " By whom ? A count like Schlangenwald ? " 
 asked Ebbo. 
 
 " Das Schicksal^^ whispered Friedel. 
 
 "Three long miserable years did I spend as a 
 captive among the Moors, having lost all, my ships 
 
174 DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 and all I had, and being forced to row their galleys, 
 gli scomunicatir 
 
 " Galleys ! " exclaimed Ebbo ; " there are some 
 pictured in onr ' World History before Carthage.' 
 Would that I could see one ! " 
 
 "The signorino would soon have seen his fill, 
 were he between the decks, chained to the bench for 
 weeks together, without ceasing to row for twenty- 
 four hours together, with a renegade standing over 
 to lash us, or to put a morsel into our mouths if we 
 were fainting." 
 
 " The dogs ! Do they thus use Christian men ? '' 
 cried Friedel. 
 
 " Si 81— job wohl. There were a good four-score 
 of us, and among them a Tedesco, a good man and 
 true, from whom I learned la lingua loro^ 
 
 " Our tongue ! — from whom ? " asked one twin of 
 the other. 
 
 " A Tedesco, a fellow-countryman of sue eccel- 
 lemeP 
 
 " Deutscher ! " cried both boys, turning in horror, 
 " our Germans, so treated by the pagan villains ? " 
 
 " Yea, truly, signorini miei. This fellow-captive 
 of mine was a cavaliere in his own land, but he had 
 been betrayed and sold by his enemies, and he 
 mourned piteously for la sjposa sua — his bride, as 
 they say here. A goodly man and a tall, piteoasly 
 cramped in the narrow deck, I grieved to leave him 
 there when the good confraternitd at Genoa paid my 
 ransom. Having learned to speak il Tedesco, and 
 being no longer able to fit out a vessel, I made ray 
 
BO VE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 175 
 
 venture beyond the Alps ; but, alas ! till this mo- 
 ment fortune has still been adverse. My mules died 
 of the toil of crossing the mountains ; and, when 
 with reduced baggage I came to the river beneath 
 there — when my horses fell and my servants fled, 
 and the peasants came down with their hay-forks — 
 I thought myself in hands no better than those of 
 the Moors themselves." 
 
 " It was wrongly done," said Ebbo, in an honest, 
 open tone, though blushing. " I have indeed a right 
 to what may be stranded on the bank, but never 
 more shall foul means be employed for the over- 
 throw." 
 
 The boys had by this time led the traveler through 
 the Gemsbock's Pass, within sight of the con- 
 vent. 
 
 " There," said Ebbo, " will they give you harbor- 
 age, food, a guide, and a beast to carry the rest of 
 your goods. We are now upon convent land, and 
 none will dare to touch your bales ; so I will unload 
 old Schimmel." 
 
 " Ah, signorino, if I might offer any token of 
 gratitude " 
 
 " Nay," said Ebbo, with boyish lordliness, " make 
 me not a spoiler." 
 
 " If the signorini should ever come to Genoa," 
 continued the trader, " and would honor Gian Bat- 
 tista dei Battiste with a caU, his whole house would 
 be at their feet." 
 
 " Thanks ; I would that we could see strange 
 lands ! " said Ebbo. " But come, Friedel, the sun is 
 
176 T)0 YE IN TEE EAGLE'S NEST, 
 
 high, and I locked them all into the castle to make 
 matters safe." 
 
 " May the liberated captive know the name of his 
 deliverers, that he may commend it to the saints ? " 
 asked the merchant. 
 
 " I am Eberhard, Freiherr von Adlerstein, and 
 this is Freiherr Friedmund, my brother. Farewell, 
 sir." 
 
 " Strange," muttered the merchant, as he watched 
 the two boys turn down the pass, " strange how 
 like one barbarous name is to another. Eberado ! 
 That was what we called il Tedeseo, and, when he 
 once told me his family name, it ended in stino ; 
 but all these foreign names sound alike. Let us 
 speed on, lest these accursed peasants should wake, 
 and be beyond the control of the signorinoP 
 
 " Ah ! " sighed Ebbo, as soon as he had hurried 
 out of reach of the temptation, " small use in being 
 a baron if one is to be no better mounted ! " 
 
 " Thou art glad to have let that fair creature go 
 free, though," said Friedel. 
 
 " Nay, my mother's eyes would let me have no 
 
 rest in keeping him. Otherwise Talk not to me 
 
 of gladness, Friedel ! Thou shouldst know better. 
 How is one to* be a knight with nothing to ride but 
 a beast old enough to be his grandmother ? " 
 
 " Knighthood of the heart may be content to go 
 afoot," said Friedel. "Oh, Ebbo, what a brother 
 thou art ! How happy the mother will be ! " 
 
 " Pfui, Friedel ; what boots heart without spur ? 
 I am sick of being mewed up here within these walls 
 
DOVU IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 177 
 
 of rock ! 'Eo sport, not even with falling on a 
 traveler. I am worse off than ever were my fore- 
 fathers ! " 
 
 " But how is it ? I cannot understand," asked 
 Friedel. " What has changed thy mind ? " 
 
 " Thou, and the mother^ and more than all, the 
 grandame. Listen, Friedel ; when thou earnest up, 
 in all the whirl of eagerness and glad preparation, 
 with thy grave face and murmur that Jobst had put 
 forked stakes in the stream, it was past man's 
 endurance to be balked of the fray. Thou hast 
 forgotton what I said to thee then, good Friedel ? " 
 
 " Long since. E'o doubt I thrust in vexatiously." 
 
 " IS'ot so," said Ebbo ; " and I saw thou hadst 
 reason, for the stakes were most maliciously planted, 
 with long branches hid by the current ; but the 
 fellows were showing fight, and I could not stay to 
 think then, or I should have seemed to fear them ! 
 I can tell you we made them run ! But I never 
 meant the grandmother to put yon poor fellow in 
 the dungeon, and use him worse than a dog. I wot 
 that he was my captive, and none of hers. And 
 then came the mother ; and oh, Friedel, she looked 
 as if I were slaying her when sh e saw the spoil ; 
 and, ere I had made her see right and reason, the 
 old lady came swooping down in full malice and 
 spite, and actually came to blows. She struck the 
 motherling — struck her on the face, Friedel ! " 
 
 " I fear me it has so been before," said Friedel, 
 sadly. 
 
 " I^ever will it be so again," said Ebbo, standing 
 
178 DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST, 
 
 still. " I took the old hag by the hands, and told 
 her she had ruled long enough ! My father's wife 
 is as good a lady of the castle as my grandfather's, 
 and I myself am lord thereof ; and, since my Lady 
 Kunigunde chooses to cross me and beat my mother 
 about this capture, why she has seen the last of it, 
 and may learn who is master, and who is mis- 
 tress 1 " 
 
 " Oh, Ebbo ! I would I had seen it ! But was 
 not she outrageous ? "Was not the mother shrink- 
 ing and ready to give back all her claims at once ? " 
 
 " Perhaps she would have been, but just then she 
 found thou wast not with me, and I found thou wast 
 not with her, and we thought of nought else. But 
 thou must stand by me, Friedel, and help to keep 
 the grandmother in her place, and the mother in 
 hers." 
 
 " If the mother will be kept," said Friedel. " I 
 fear me she will only plead to be left to the gran- 
 dame's treatment, as before." 
 
 " Never, Friedel ! I will never see her so used 
 again. I released this man solely to show that she 
 is to rule here. Yes, I know all about freebooting 
 being a deadly sin, and moreover that it will bring 
 the league about our ears ; and it was a cowardly 
 trick of Jobst to put those branches in the stream. 
 Did I not go over it last night till my brain was 
 dizzy ? But still, it is but living and dying like our 
 fathers, and I hate taraeness or dullness, and it is 
 like a fool to go back from what one has once 
 begun." * 
 
LOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST, 179 
 
 " No ; it is like a brave man, when one has begun 
 wrong," said Friedel. 
 
 "But then I thought of the grandame triumphing 
 over the gentle mother — and I know the mother 
 wept over her beads half the night. She shall find 
 she has had her own way for once this morning." 
 
 Freidel was silent for a few moments, then said : 
 " Let me tell thee what I saw yesterday, Ebbo." 
 
 " So," answered the other brother. 
 
 " I liked not to vex my mother by my tidings, so 
 I climbed up to the tarn. There is something al- 
 ways healing in that spot, is it not so, Ebbo ? When 
 the grandmother has been raving " (hitherto Frei- 
 del's worst grievance) " it is like getting up nearer 
 the quiet sky in the stillness there, when the sky 
 seems to have come down into the deep blue water, 
 and all is so still, so wondrous still and calm. I 
 wonder if, when we see the great Dome Kirk it- 
 self, it will give one's spirit wings, as does the gazing 
 up from the Ptarmigan's Pool." 
 
 " Thou minnesinger; was it the blue sky thou 
 hadst to tell me of?" 
 
 " JS'o, brother, it was ere I reached it that I saw 
 this sight. I had scaled the peak where grows the 
 stunted rowan, and I sat down to look down on the 
 other side of the gorge. It was clear where I sat, 
 but the ravine was filled with clouds, and upon 
 them " 
 
 "The shape of the blessed Friedmund, thy pa- 
 tron?" 
 
 " Our patron," said Friedel ; " I saw him, a giant 
 
180 I>0 VE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST, 
 
 form in gown and hood, traced in gray shadow 
 upon the dazzling white cloud ; and oh, Ebbo ! he 
 was struggling with a thinner, darker, wilder shape 
 bearing a club. He strove to withhold it ; his ges- 
 tures threatened and warned ! I watched like one 
 spellbound, for it was to me as the guardian spirit 
 of our race striving for thee with the enemy." 
 
 "How did it end?" 
 
 " The cloud darkened and swallowed them ; nor 
 should I have known the issue, if suddenly, on the 
 very cloud where the strife had been, there had not 
 beamed forth a rainbow — not a common rainbow, 
 Ebbo, but a perfect ring, a soft-glancing, many- 
 tinted crown of victory. Then I knew the saint 
 had won, and that thou wouldst win." 
 
 " I ! What, not thyself — his own namesake ? " 
 
 " I thought, pbbo, if the fight went very hard — 
 nay, if for a time the grandame led thee her way — 
 that belike I might serve thee best by giving up 
 all, and praying for thee in the hermit's cave, or as 
 a monk." 
 
 " Thou ! — thou, my other self ! Aid me by bur- 
 rowing in a hole like a rat ! What foolery wilt say 
 next ? No, no, Friedel, strike by my side, and I 
 will strike with thee ; pray by my side, and I will 
 pray with thee ; but if thou takest none of the 
 strokes, then will I none of the prayers ! " 
 
 " Ebbo, thou knowest not what thou sayest." 
 
 " E'o one knows better ! See, Friedel, wouldst 
 thou have me all that the old Adlersteinen were, 
 and worse too ? then wilt thou leave me and hide 
 
DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 181 
 
 thine head in some priestly cowl. Maybe thou 
 thinkest to pray my soul into safety at the last mo- 
 ment as a favor to thine own abundant sanctity; 
 but I tell thee, Friedel, that's no manly way to sal- 
 vation. If thou follow'st that track, I'll take care 
 to get past the border-line within which prayer can 
 help." 
 
 Friedel crossed himself, and uttered an imploring 
 exclamation of horror at these wild words. 
 
 " Stay," said Ebbo ; " I said not I meant any such 
 thing — so long as thou wilt be with me. My pur- 
 pose is to be a good man and true, a guard to the 
 weak, a defense against the Turk, a good lord to 
 my vassals, and, if it may not be otherwise, I will 
 take my oath to the kaiser and keep it. Is that 
 enough for thee, Friedel, or wouldst thou see me a 
 monk at once ? " 
 
 " Oh, Ebbo, this is what we ever planned. I only 
 dreamed of the other when — when thou didst seem 
 to be on the other track." 
 
 " WeU, what can I do more than turn back ? I'll 
 get absolution on Sunday, and tell Father ]N'orbert 
 that I will do any penance he pleases ; and vrarn 
 Jobst that, if he sets any more traps in the river, I 
 will drown him there next ! Only get this priestly 
 fancy away, Friedel, once and forever." 
 
 " Never, never could I think of what would sever 
 us," cried Friedel, "save — when " he added, hesi- 
 tating, unwilling to harp on the former string. 
 Ebbo broke in imperiously. 
 
 " Friedmund von Adlerstein, give me thy solemn 
 
182 DOVE m TEE EAGLE' 8 NEST. 
 
 word that I never again hear of this freak of turning 
 priest or hermit. What! art slow to speak? 
 Thinkest me too bad for thee ? " 
 
 " No, Ebbo. Heaven knows thou art stronger, 
 more resolute than I. I am more likely to be too 
 bad for thee. But so long as we can be true, faith- 
 ful. God-fearing junkern together, Heaven forbid 
 that we should part ! " 
 
 " It is our bond ! " said Ebbo ; " nought shall part 
 us." 
 
 " Nought but death," said Friedmund, solemnly. 
 
 " For my part," said Ebbo, with perfect serious- 
 ness, " I do not believe that one of us can live or die 
 without the other. But, hark ! there's an outcry at 
 the castle! They have found out that they are 
 locked in ! Ha ! ho ! hilloa, Hatto, how like you 
 playing prisoner ? " 
 
 Ebbo would have amused himself with the dismay 
 of his garrison a little longer, had not Friedel 
 reminded him that their mother might be suffering 
 for their delay, and this suggestion made him march 
 in hastily. He found her standing drooping under 
 the pitiless storm which Frau Kunigunde was pour- 
 ing out at the highest pitch of her cracked, trem- 
 bling voice, one hand uplifted and clinched, the 
 other grasping the back of a chair, while her whole 
 frame shook with rage too mighty for her strength. 
 
 " Grandame," said Ebbo, striding up to the scene 
 of action, " cease. Remember my words yestereve." 
 
 " She has stolen the keys ! She has tampered with 
 the servants ! She has released the prisoner — thy 
 
DO VE IN THE EAGLE 'S NEST. 188 
 
 prisoner, Ebbo ! She has cheated us as she did with 
 Wildschloss ! False burgherinn ! I trow she wanted 
 another suitor ! Bane — pest of Adlerstein ! " 
 
 Friedmund threw a supporting arm round his 
 mother; but Ebbo confronted the old lady. 
 " Grandmother," he said, *' I freed the captive. I 
 stole the keys — I and Friedel ! No one else knew 
 my purpose. He was my captive, and I released 
 him because he was foully taken. I have chosen 
 my lot in life," he added; and, standing in the 
 middle of the hall, he took off his cap, and spoke 
 gravely : " I will not be a treacherous robber-out- 
 law, but, so help me God, a faithful, loyal, godly 
 nobleman." 
 
 His mother and Friedel breathed an " Amen " 
 with all their hearts ; and he continued. 
 
 " And thou, grandame, peace ! Such reverence 
 shalt thou have as befits my father's mother ; but 
 henceforth mine own lady-mother is the mistress of 
 this castle, and whoever speaks a rude word to her 
 offends the Freiherr von Adlerstein." 
 
 That last day's work had made a great step in 
 Ebbo's life, and there he stood, grave and firm, 
 ready for the assault; for, in effect, he and all 
 beside expected that the old lady would fly at him 
 or at his mother like a wild cat, as she would as- 
 suredly have done in a like case a year earlier ; but 
 she took them all by surprise by collapsing into her 
 chair and sobbing piteously. Ebbo, much distressed, 
 tried to make her understand that she was to have 
 all care and honor; but she muttered something 
 
184 DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 about ingratitude, and continued to exhaust herself 
 with weeping, spurning away all who approached 
 her ; and thenceforth she lived in a gloomy, sullen 
 acquiescence in her deposition. 
 
 Christina inclined to the opinion that she must 
 have had some slight stroke in the night, for she 
 was never the same woman again ; her vigor had 
 passed away, and she would sit spinning, or rocking 
 herself in her chair, scarcely alive to what passed, 
 or scolding and fretting like a shadow of her old 
 violence. E'othing pleased her but the attentions of 
 her grandsons, and happily she soon ceased to know 
 them apart, and gave Ebbo credit for all that was 
 done for her by Friedel, whose separate existence 
 she seemed to have forgotten. 
 
 As long as her old spirit remained she would not 
 suffer the approach of her daughter-in-law, and 
 Christina could only make suggestions for her com- 
 fort to be acted on by IJrsel ; and though the reins 
 of government fast dropped from the aged hands, 
 they were but gradually and cautiously assumed by 
 the younger baroness. 
 
 Only Elsie remained of the rude, demoralized 
 girls whom she had found in the castle, and their 
 successors, though dull and uncouth, were meek and 
 manageable ; the men of the castle had all, except 
 Matz, been always devoted to the Frau Christina; 
 and Matz, to her great relief, ran away so soon as 
 he found that decency and honesty were to be the 
 rule. Old Hatto, humpbacked Hans, and Heinz the 
 schneiderlein, were the whole male establishment, 
 
DOVB m THM MA&LE'S NE8T. 185 
 
 and had at least the merit of attachment to herself 
 and her sons ; and in time there was a shade of 
 greater civilization about the castle, though impeded 
 both by dire poverty and the doggedness of the old 
 retainers. At least the court was cleared of the 
 swine, and, within doors, the table was spread with 
 dainty linen out of the parcels from Ulm, and the 
 meals served with orderliness that annoyed the boys 
 at first, but soon became a subject of pride and 
 pleasure. 
 
 Frau Kunigunde lingered long with increasing in- 
 firmities. After the winter day, when, running 
 down at a sudden noise, Friedel picked her up from 
 the hearthstone, scorched, bruised, almost senseless, 
 she accepted Christina's care with nothing worse 
 than a snarl, and gradually seemed to forget the 
 identity of her nurse with the interloping burgher 
 girl. Thanks or courtesy had been no part of her 
 nature, least of all toward her own sex, and she did 
 little but grumble, fret, and revile her attendant ; but 
 soon she depended so much on Christina's care, that 
 it was hardly possible to leave her. At her best and 
 strongest, her talk was maundering abuse of her 
 son's low-born wife ; but at times her wanderings 
 showed black gulfs of iniquity and coarseness of 
 soul that would make the gentle listener tremble, 
 and be thankful that her sons were out of hearing. 
 And thus did Christina von Adlerstein requite fifteen 
 years of persecution. 
 
 The old lady's first failure had been in the sum- 
 mer of 1488 ; it was the Advent season of 1489, when 
 
186 DO VE IN THE EAGLE' 8 NEST, 
 
 the snow was at the deepest, and the frost at the 
 hardest, that the two hardy mountameer grandsons 
 fetched over the pass Father JSTorbert, and a still 
 sturdier, stronger monk, to the dying woman. 
 
 " Are we in time, mother ? " asked Ebbo, from 
 the door of the upper chamber, where the Adler- 
 steins began and ended life, shaking the snow from 
 his muffings. Euddy with exertion in the sharp 
 wind, what a contrast he was to all within the room ! 
 
 " Who is that ? " said a thin, feeble voice. 
 
 "It is Ebbo. It is the baron," said Christina. 
 " Come in, Ebbo. She is somewhat revived." 
 
 " Will she be able to speak to the priest ? " asked 
 Ebbo. 
 
 " Priest ! " feebly screamed the old woman. " l^o 
 priest for me ! My lord died unshriven, unassoilzied. 
 Where he is, there will I be. Let a priest approach 
 me at his peril ! " 
 
 Stony insensibility ensued; nor did she speak 
 again, though Hfe lasted many hours longer. The 
 priests did their office ; for, impenitent as the life and 
 frantic as the words had been, the opinions of the 
 time deemed that their rites might yet give the de- 
 parting soul a chance, though the body was uncon- 
 scious. 
 
 When all was over, snow was again falling, shift- 
 ing and drifting, so that it was impossible to leave 
 the castle, and the two monks were kept there for a 
 full fortnight, during which Christmas solemnities 
 were observed in the chapel, for the first time 
 since the days of Friedmund the Good. The corpse 
 
DO VL IN THE EAGLE* 8 NEST 187 
 
 of Kunigunde, preserved — we must say the word — 
 salted, was placed in a coffin, and laid in that chapel 
 to await the melting of the snows, when the vault 
 at the Hermitage could be opened. And this could 
 not be effected till Easter had nearly come round 
 again, and it was within a week of their sixteenth 
 birthday that the two young barons stood together 
 at the coffin's head, serious indeed, but more with 
 the thought of life than of death. 
 
188 DOVS m THE EAGLE'S NE8T, 
 
 CHAPTEE XII. 
 
 BACK TO THE DOVECOTE. 
 
 For THE first time in her residence at Adlerstein, 
 now full half her life, the Freiherrin Christina 
 ventured to send a messenger to Ulm, namely, a lay 
 brother of the convent of St. Kuprecht, who under- 
 took to convey to Master Gottfried Sorel her letter, 
 informing him of the death of her mother-in-law, 
 and requesting him to send the same tidings to the 
 Freiherr von Adlerstein Wildschloss, the kinsman 
 and godfather of her sons. 
 
 She was used to wait fifty-two weeks for answers 
 to her letters, and was amazed when, at the end of 
 three, two stout serving-men were guided by Jobst 
 up the pass ; but her heart warmed to their flat caps 
 and round jerkins, they looked so like home. They 
 bore a letter of invitation to her and her sons to 
 come at once to her uncle's house. The king of the 
 Romans, and perhaps the emperor, were to come 
 to the city early in the summer, and there could be 
 no better opportunity of presenting the young barons 
 to their sovereign. Sir Kasimir of Adlerstein Wild- 
 schloss would meet them there for the purpose, and 
 would obtain their admission to the league, in which 
 all Swabian nobles had bound themselves to put 
 
DOVE IN THE EAGLE' 8 NEST. 189 
 
 down robbery and oppression, and outside which 
 there was nothing but outlawry and danger. 
 
 " So must it be ? " said Ebbo, between his teeth, 
 as he leaned moodily against the wall, while his 
 mother was gone to attend to the fare to be set be- 
 fore the messengers. 
 
 " What ! art not glad to take wing at last ? " ex- 
 claimed Friedel, cut short in an exclamation of de- 
 light. 
 
 " Take wing, forsooth ! To be guest of a greasy 
 burgher, and call cousin with him ! Fear not, Frie- 
 del ; I'll not vex the motherling ! Heaven knows 
 she has had pain, grief, and subjection enough in her 
 lifetime, and I would not hinder her visit to her 
 home ; but I would she could go alone, nor make us 
 show our poverty to the swollen city folk, and 
 listen to their endearments. I charge thee, Friedel, 
 do as I do ; be not too familiar with them. Could 
 we but sprain an ankle over the crag " 
 
 " ]^ay, she would stay to nurse us," said Friedel, 
 laughing ; " besides, thou art needed for the matter 
 of homage." 
 
 "Look, Friedel," said Ebbo, sinking his voice, " I 
 shall not lightly yield my freedom to king or kaiser. 
 Maybe, there's no help for it ; but it irks me to think 
 that I should be the last Lord of Adler stein to whom 
 the title of freiherr is not a mockery. Why dost 
 bend thy brow, brother ? What art thinking of ? " 
 
 " Only a saying in my mother's book, that well- 
 ordered service is true freedom," said Friedel. "And 
 methinks there will be freedom in rushing at last 
 
190 DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST, 
 
 into the great far-off ! " The boy*s eye expanded and 
 ghstened with eagerness. "Here are we prisoners 
 — ^to ourselves, if you like — but prisoners still, pent 
 up in the rocks, seeiQg no one, hearing scarce an 
 echo from the knightly or the poet world, nor from 
 all the wonders that pass. And the world has a his- 
 tory going on still, hke the " Chronicle." Oh, Ebbo, 
 think of being in the midst of life, with lance and 
 sword, and seeing the kaiser — the kaiser of the holy 
 Roman empire ! " 
 
 " With lance and sword, well and good ; but would 
 it were not at the cost of liberty ! " 
 
 However Ebbo forbore to damp his mother's joy, 
 save by the one warning — " Understand, mother, that 
 I win not be pledged to anything. I will not bend 
 to the yoke ere I have seen and judged for myself." 
 
 The manly sound of the words gave a sweet sense 
 of exultation to the mother, even while she dreaded 
 the proud spirit, and whispered, "God direct thee, 
 my son." 
 
 Certainly Ebbo, hitherto the most impetuous and 
 least thoughtful of the two lads, had a gravity and 
 seriousness about him, that, but for his naturally 
 sweet temper, would have seemed sullen. His aspi- 
 rations for adventure had hitherto been more ve- 
 hement than Friedel's ; but, when the time seemed 
 at hand, his regrets at what he might have to yield 
 overpowered his hopes of the future. The fierce 
 haughtiness of the old Adlersteins could not brook 
 the descent from the crag, even while the keen, 
 clear burgher wit that Ebbo inherited from the 
 
DOVE IN TEE EAGLE'S NEST. 191 
 
 other side of the house taught him that the position 
 was untenable, and that his isolated glory was but a 
 poor mean thing after all. And the struggle made 
 him sad and moody. 
 
 Friedel, less proud, and with nothing to yield, was 
 open to blithe anticipations of what his fancy 
 pictured as the home of all the beauty, sacred or 
 romantic, that he had glimpsed at through his 
 mother. ReKgion, poetry, learning, art, refinement, 
 had all come to him through her ; and though he 
 had a soul that dreamed and soared in the lonely 
 grandeur of the mountain heights, it craved further 
 ailment for its yearnings for completeness and per- 
 fection. Long ago had Friedel come to the verge of 
 such attainments as he could work out of his present 
 materials, and keen had been his ardor for the 
 means of progress, though only the m ountain tarn 
 had ever been witness to the fuU outpouring of the 
 longings with which he gazed upon the dim, distant 
 city like a land of enchantment. 
 
 The journey was to be at once, so as to profit by 
 the escort of Master SorePs men. Means of trans- 
 port were scanty, but Ebbo did not choose that the 
 messengers should report the need, and bring back 
 a bevy of animals at the burgher's expense ; so the 
 mother was mounted on the old white mare, and 
 her sons and Heinz trusted to their feet. By setting 
 out early on a May morning, the journey could be 
 performed ere night, and the twilight would find 
 them in the domains of the free city, where their 
 small numbers would be of no importance. As to 
 
192 DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 their appearance, the mother wore a black woolen 
 gown and mantle, and a black silk hood tied under 
 her chin, and sitting loosely round the stiff frame of 
 her white cap — a nun-like garb, save for the soft 
 brown hair, parted over her brow, and more visible 
 than she sometimes thought correct, but her sons 
 would not let her wear it out of sight. 
 
 The brothers had piece by piece surveyed the 
 solitar suit of armory remaining in the castle ; but 
 though it might serve for defense, it could not be 
 made fit for display, and they must needs be contented 
 with blue cloth, spun, woven, dyed, fashioned, and 
 sewn at home, chiefly by their mother, and by her 
 embroidered on the breast with the white eagle of 
 Adlerstein. Short blue cloaks and caps of the 
 same, with an eagle plume in each, and leggings 
 neatly fashioned of deerskin, completed their equip- 
 ments. Ebbo wore his father's sword, Friedel had 
 merely a dagger and a crossbow. There was not a 
 gold chain, not a brooch, not an approach to an 
 ornament among the three, except the medal that 
 had always distinguished Ebbo, and the coral ros- 
 ary at Christina's girdle. Her own trinkets had gone 
 in masses for the souls of her father and husband ; 
 and though a few costly jewels had been found in 
 Frau Kunigunde's hoards, the mode of their acqui- 
 sition was so doubtful, that it had seemed fittest to 
 bestow them in alms and masses for the good of 
 her soul. 
 
 " What ornament, what glory could any one de- 
 sire better than two such sons ? " thought Christina, 
 
DOVE IN THE EAGLE' 8 NEST. 193 
 
 as for the first time for eighteen years she crossed 
 the wild ravine where her father had led her, a 
 trembling little captive, longing for wings like a 
 dove's to flutter home again. Who would then 
 have predicted that she should descend after so 
 long and weary a time, and with a gallant boy on 
 either side of her, eager to aid her every step, and 
 reassure her at each giddy pass, all joy and hope be- 
 fore her and them ? Yet she was not without some 
 dread and misgiving, as she watched her elder son, 
 always attentive to her, but unwontedly silent, with 
 a stern gravity on his young brow, a proud sad- 
 ness on his lip. And when he had come to the 
 Debatable Ford, and was about to pass the bound- 
 aries of his own lands, he turned and gazed back 
 on the castle and mountain with a silent but pas- 
 sionate ardor, as though he felt himself doing them a 
 wrong by periling their independence. 
 
 The sun had lately set, and the moon was silvering 
 the Danube, when the travelers came full in view 
 of the imperial free city, girt in with mighty walls 
 and towers — the vine-clad hill dominated by its 
 crowning church ; the irregular outlines of the un- 
 finished spire of the cathedral traced in mysterious 
 dark lacework against the pearly sky ; the lofty 
 steeple-like gate-tower majestically guarding the 
 bridge. Christina clasped her hands in thankful- 
 ness, as at the familiar face of a friend ; Friedel glowed 
 like a minstrel introduced to his fair dame, long 
 wooed at a distance ; Ebbo could not but exclaim, 
 "Yea, truly, a great city is a solemn and a glorious 
 sight 1" 
 
194 DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 The gates were closed, and the serving-men had 
 to parley at the barbican ere the heavy door was 
 opened to admit the party to the bridge, between 
 deep battlemented stone walls, with here and there 
 loopholes, showing the shimmering of the river be- 
 neath. The slow, tired tread of the old mare 
 sounded hollow ; the river rushed below with the 
 full swell of evening loudness ; a deep-toned con- 
 vent-bell tolled gravely through the stillness, while, 
 between its reverberations, clear, distinct notes of 
 joyous music were borne on the summer wind, and 
 a nightingale sung in one of the gardens that bor- 
 dered the banks. 
 
 " Mother, it is all that I dreamed ! " breathlessly 
 murmured Friedel, as they halted under the dark 
 arch of the great gateway tower. 
 
 ISTot however in Friedel's dreams had been the 
 hearty voice that proceeded from the lighted guard- 
 room in the thickness of the gateway. " Freiher- 
 rin von Adlerstein ! Is it she ? Then must I greet 
 my old playmate ! " And the captain of the watch 
 appeared among upraised lanterns and torches that 
 showed a broad, smooth, plump face beneath a plain 
 steel helmet. 
 
 " Welcome, gracious lady, welcome to your old 
 city. What ! do you not remember Lippus Grundt, 
 your poor valentine ? " 
 
 "Master Phihp Grundt!" exclaimed Christina, 
 amazed at the breadth of visage and person ; " and 
 how fares it with my good Regma ? " 
 
 "Excellent well, good lady. She manages 
 
DOY^ IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 195 
 
 her trade and house as well as the good man Barto- 
 laus Fleischer himself. Blythe will she be to show 
 you her goodly ten, as I shall my eight," he contin- 
 ued, walking by her side ; "and Barbara — you re- 
 member Barbara Schmidt, lady " 
 
 " My dear Barbara ? That do I indeed ! Is she 
 your wife ? " 
 
 " Ay, truly, lady," he answered, in an odd sort of 
 apologetic tone ; " you see, you returned not, and 
 the housefathers, they would have it so — and Bar- 
 bara is a good housewife." 
 
 " Truly do I rejoice ! " said Christina, wishing she 
 could conve}^ to him how welcome he had been to 
 marry any one he liked, as far as she was concerned 
 — ^he, in whom her fears of mincing goldsmiths had 
 always taken form — then signing with her hand, " I 
 have my sons likewise to show her." 
 
 " Ah, on foot ? " muttered Grundt, as a not well- 
 conceived apology for not having saluted the young 
 gentlemen. " I greet you well, sirs," with a bow, 
 most haughtily returned by Ebbo, who was heartily 
 wishing himself on his mountain. " Two lusty, 
 well-grown junkern, indeed, to whom my Martin 
 will be proud to show the humors of Ulm. A fair 
 good night, lady ! You will find the old folks right 
 cheery." 
 
 Well did Christina know the turn down the street 
 darkened by the overhanging brows of tall " houses, 
 but each lower window laughing with the glow of 
 fight within that threw out the heavy mullions and 
 the circles and diamonds of the latticework, and 
 
196 DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 here and there the brilliant tints of stained glass 
 sparkled like jewels in the upper panes, pictured 
 with scripture scene, patron saint, or trade emblem. 
 The familiar porch was reached, the familiar knock 
 resounded on the iron-studded door. Friedel lifted 
 his mother from her horse, and felt that she was 
 quivering from head to foot, and at the same mo- 
 ment the light streamed from the open door on the 
 white horse, and the two young faces, one eager, 
 the other with knit brows and uneasy eyes. A kind 
 of echo pervaded the house, " She is come ! she is 
 come ! " and as one in a dream Christina entered, 
 crossed the well-known hall, looked up to her uncle 
 and aunt on the stairs, perceived little change on 
 their countenances, and sank upon her knees, with 
 bowed head and clasped hands. 
 
 " My child ! my dear child ! " exclaimed her uncle, 
 raising her with one hand, and crossing her brow in 
 benediction with the other. " Art thou indeed re- 
 turned ? " and he embraced her tenderly. 
 
 " Welcome, fair niece," said Hausfrau Johanna, 
 more formally. " I am right glad to greet you 
 here." 
 
 " Dear, dear mother ! " cried Christina, courting 
 her fond embrace by gestures of the most eager af- 
 fection, " how have I longed for this moment ! and, 
 above all, to show you my boys ! Herr uncle let 
 me present my sons — my Eberhard, my Friedmund. 
 Oh, housemother, are not my twins well grown 
 lads ? " And she stood with a hand on each, proud 
 that their heads were so far above her own, and 
 
DO VE IN THE EAGLE 'S NEST. l^^ 
 
 looking still so slight and girlish in figure that she 
 might better have been their sister than their 
 mother. The cloud that the sudden light had re- 
 vealed on Ebbo's brow had cleared away, and he 
 made an inclination neither awkward nor ungracious 
 in its free mountain dignity and grace, but not 
 devoid of mountain rusticity and shy pride, and far 
 less cordial than was Friedel's manner. Both were 
 infinitely reheved to detect nothing of the greasy 
 burgher, and were greatly struck with the fine ven- 
 erable head before them ; indeed, Friedel would, like 
 his mother, have knelt to ask a blessing, had he 
 not been under command not to outrun his brother's 
 advances toward her kindred. 
 
 " Welcome fair junkern ! " said Master Gottfried; 
 "welcome both for your mother's sake and your 
 own ! These thy sons, my little one ? " he added, 
 smiling. " Art sure I neither dream nor see 
 double ! Come to the gallery, and let me see thee 
 better." 
 
 And ceremoniously giving his hand, he proceeded 
 to lead his niece up the stairs, while Ebbo, laboring 
 under ignorance of city forms and uncertainty of 
 what befitted his dignity, presented his hand to his 
 aunt with an air that half amused, half offended the 
 shrewd dame. 
 
 " All is as if I had left you but yesterday ! " ex- 
 claimed Christina. " Uncle have you pardoned 
 me ? You bade me return when my work was 
 done." 
 
 "I should have known better, child. Such return 
 
198 DOVB IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 is not to be sought on this side the grave. Thy 
 work has been more than I then thought of." 
 
 " Ah, and now will you deem it begun — not done! " 
 softly said Christina, though with too much heart- 
 felt exultation greatly to doubt that all the world 
 must be satisfied with two such boys, if only Ebbo 
 would be his true self. 
 
 The luxury of the house, the wainscoted and 
 tapestried walls, the polished furniture, the lamps 
 and candles, the damask linen, the rich array of sil- 
 ver, pewter, and brightly-colored glass, were a great 
 contrast to the bare walls and scant necessaries of 
 Schloss Adlerstein ; but Ebbo was resolved not to 
 expose himself by admiration, and did his best to 
 stifle Friedel's exclamations of surprise and delight. 
 Were not these citizens to suppose that everything 
 was tenfold more costly at the baronial castle ? 
 And truly the boy deserved credit for the consider- 
 ation for his mother, which made him . merely re- 
 served, while he felt like a wild eagle in a poultry- 
 yard. It was no small proof of his affection to for- 
 bear more interference with his mother's happiness 
 than was the inevitable effect of that intuition which 
 made her aware that he was chafing and ill at ease. 
 For his sake, she allowed herself to be placed in the 
 seat of honor, though she longed, as of old to nestle 
 at her uncle's feet, and be again his child ; but, even 
 while she felt each acceptance of a token of respect 
 as almost an injury to them, every look and tone 
 was showing how much the same Christina she had 
 returned. 
 
DO VE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 199 
 
 In truth, though her life had been mournful and 
 oppressed, it had not been such as to age her early. 
 It had been all submission without wear and tear of 
 mind, and too simple in its trials for care and moil- 
 ing ; so the fresh, lily-like sweetness of her maiden 
 bioom was almost intact, and, much as she had 
 undergone, her once frail health had been so braced 
 by the mountain breezes, that, though delicacy re- 
 mained, sickliness was gone from her appearance. 
 There was still the exquisite purity and tender 
 modesty of expression, but with greater sweetness 
 in the pensive brown eyes. 
 
 " Ah, little one ! " said her uncle, after duly con- 
 templating her ; " the change is all for the better ! 
 Thou art grown a wondrously fair dame. There 
 will scarce be a lovelier in the kaiserly train." 
 
 Ebbo almost pardoned his great-uncle for being 
 his great-uncle. 
 
 " When she is arrayed as becomes the frau frei- 
 herrinn," said the housewife aunt, looking with con- 
 cern at the coarse texture of her black sleeve. " I 
 long to see our own lady ruffle it in her new gear. 
 I am glad that the lofty pointed cap has passed out; 
 the coif becomes my child far better, and I see our 
 tastes still accord as to fashion." 
 
 " Fashion scarce came above the Debatable Ford," 
 said Christina smiling. " I fear my boys look as if 
 they came out of the ' Weltgeschichte,' for I could 
 only shape their garments after my remembrance of 
 the gallants of eighteen years ago." 
 
 " Their garments are your own shaping ! " ex- 
 
200 ^0 YE IN THE EAGLE' 8 NEST, 
 
 claimed the aunt, now in an accent of real, not con- 
 ventional respect. 
 
 " Spinning and weaving, shaping and sewing," 
 said Fried el, coming near to let the housewife ex- 
 amine the texture. 
 
 " Close woven, even threaded, smooth tinted ! Ah, 
 Stina, thou didst learn something ! Thou wert not 
 quite spoiled by the housefather's books and carv- 
 ings." 
 
 " 1 cannot tell whose teachings have served me 
 best, or been the most precious to me," said Chris- 
 tina, with clasped hands, looking from one to an- 
 other with earnest love. 
 
 '' Thou art a good child. Ah ! little one, forgive 
 me ; you look so like our child that I cannot bear in 
 mind that you are the frau freiherrinn." 
 
 " JS'ay, I should deem myself in disgrace with you, 
 did you keep me at a distance, and not thou me, as 
 your little Stina," she fondly answered, half regret- 
 ing her fond eager movement, as Ebbo seemed to 
 shrink together with a gesture perceived by her 
 uncle. 
 
 " It is my young lord there who would not forgive 
 the freedom," he said good-humoredly, though 
 gravely. 
 
 " Not so," Ebbo forced himself to say ; " not so> if 
 it makes my mother happy." 
 
 He held up his head rather as if he thought it a 
 fool's paradise, but Master Gottfried answered : 
 " The noble freiherr is, from all I have heard, too 
 good a son to grudge his mother's duteous love even 
 to burgher kmdred." 
 
DO VE m THE EA GLE '8 NEST, 201 
 
 There was something in the old man's frank, 
 dignified tone of grave reproof that at once im- 
 pressed Ebbo with a sense of the true superiority of 
 that wise and venerable old age to his own petulant 
 baronial self-assertion. He had both head and heart 
 to feel the burgher's victory, and with a deep blush, 
 though not without dignity, he answered, " Truly, 
 sir, my mother has ever taught us to look up to you 
 as her kindest and best " 
 
 He was going to say " friend," but a look into the 
 grand benignity of the countenance completed the 
 conquest, and he turned it into " father." Friedel 
 at the same instant bent his knee, exclaiming, *' It is 
 true what Ebbo says ! "We have both longed for this 
 day. Bless us, honored uncle, as you have blessed 
 my mother." 
 
 For in tru th there was in the soul of the boy, 
 who had never had any but women to look up to a 
 strange yearning toward reverence, which was 
 called into action with inexpressible force by the 
 very aspect and tone of such a sage elder and coun- 
 sellor as Master Gottfried Sorel, and he took advan- 
 tage of the first opening permitted by his brother. 
 And the sympathy always so strong between the 
 two quickened the like feeling in Ebbo, so that the 
 same movement drew him on his knee beside Friedel 
 in oblivion or renunciation of all lordly pride toward 
 a kinsman such as he had here encountered. 
 
 " Truly and heartily, my fair youths," said Master 
 Gottfried, with the same kind dignity, " do I pray 
 the good God to bless you, and render you faithful 
 
202 DOVE IN THE EAGLE' 8 NEST. 
 
 and loving sons, not only to your mother, but to 
 your fatherland." 
 
 He was unable to distinguish between the two 
 exactly similar forms that knelt before him, yet 
 there was something in the quivering of Friedel's 
 head, which made him press it with a shade more of 
 tenderness than the other. And in truth tears were 
 welling into the eyes veiled by the fingers that 
 Friedel clasped over his face, for such a blessing was 
 strange and sweet to him. 
 
 Their mother was ready to weep for joy. There 
 was now no drawback to her bliss, since her son and 
 her uncle had accepted one another; and she 
 repaired to her own beloved old chamber a happier 
 being than she had been since she had left its wain- 
 scoted walls. ]N'ay, as she gazed out at the familiar 
 outlines of roof and tower, and felt herself truly at 
 home, then knelt by the little undisturbed altar of 
 her devotions, with the cross above and her own 
 patron saint below in carved wood, and the flowers 
 which the good aunt had ever kept as a freshly re- 
 newed offering, she felt that she was happier, more 
 full}^ thankful and blissful than even in the girlish 
 calm of her untroubled life. Her prayer that she 
 might come again in peace had been more than ful- 
 filled ; nay, when she had seen her boys kneel meekly 
 to receive her uncle's blessing, it was in some sort to 
 her as if the work was done, as if the millstone had 
 been borne up for her, and had borne her and her 
 dear ones with it. 
 
 But there was much to come. She knew full 
 
DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST, 203 
 
 well that, even though her sons' first step had been 
 in the right direction, it was in a path beset with 
 difficulties; and how would her proud Ebbo meet 
 them? 
 
204 -DO VB IN TEE EAGLE'S NEST, 
 
 CHAPTEK XIII. 
 
 THE EAGLETS IN THE CITY. 
 
 After having once accepted Master Gottfried, 
 Ebbo froze toward him and Dame Johanna no 
 more, save that a naturally imperious temper now 
 and then led to fitful stiffnesses and momentary 
 haughtiness, which were easily excused in one so 
 new to the world and afraid of compromising his 
 rank. In general he could afford to enjoy himself 
 with a zest as hearty as that of the simpler-minded 
 Friedel. 
 
 They were early afoot, but not before the heads 
 of the household were coming forth for the morning 
 devotions at the cathedral; and the streets were 
 stirring into activity, and becoming so peopled that 
 the boys supposed that it was a great fair day. 
 They had never seen so many people together even 
 at the Friedmund "Wake, and it was several days be- 
 fore they ceased to exclaim at every passenger as a 
 new curiosity. 
 
 The Dome Kirk awed and hushed them. They 
 had looked to it so long that perhaps no sublunary 
 thing could have realized their expectations, and 
 Friedel avowed that he did not know what he 
 thought of it. It was not such as he had dreamed, 
 
DOVE IN THE E'A OLE 'S NEST. ^ 205 
 
 and, like a German as he was, he added that he 
 could not think, he could only feel, that there was 
 something ineffable in it ; yet he was almost disap- 
 pointed to find his visions unfulfilled, and the hues 
 of the painted glass less pure and translucent than 
 those of the ice crystals on the mountains. How- 
 ever after his eye had become trained, the deep in- 
 fluence of its dim solemn majesty, and of the echoes 
 of its organ tones, and chants of high praise or 
 earnest prayer, began to enchain his spirit ; and, if 
 ever he were missing, he was sure to be found among 
 the mysteries of the cathedral aisles, generally with 
 Ebbo, who felt the spell of the same grave fas- 
 cination, since whatever was true of the one 
 brother was generally true of the other. They 
 were essentially alike, though some phases of char- 
 acter and taste were more developed in the one or 
 the other. 
 
 Master Gottfried was much edified by their per- 
 fect knowledge of the names and numbers of his 
 books. They instantly, almost resentfully, missed 
 the Cicero's " Offices " that he had parted with, and 
 joyfully hailed his new acquisitions, often sitting 
 with heads together over the same book, reading 
 like active-minded youths who were used to out-of- 
 door life and exercise in superabundant measure, 
 and to study as a valued recreation, with only 
 food enough for the intellect to awaken instead of 
 satisfying it. 
 
 They were delighted to obtain instruction from a 
 traveling student, then attending the schools of 
 
206 DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST, 
 
 Ulm — a meek, timid lad who, for love of learning 
 and desire of the priesthood, had endured frightful 
 tyranny from the Bacchanten or elder scholars, and 
 having at length attained that rank, had so little 
 heart to retaliate on the juniors that his contempo- 
 raries despised him, and led him a cruel life until he 
 obtained food and shelter from Master Gottfried at 
 the pleasant cost of lessons to the young barons. Poor 
 Bastien, this land of quiet, civility, and books was 
 a foretaste of paradise to him after the hard living, 
 barbarity, and coarse vices of his comrades, of whom 
 he now and then disclosed traits that made his pres- 
 ent pupils long to give battle to the big shaggy 
 youths who used to send out the lesser lads to beg 
 and steal for them, and cruelly maltreated such as 
 failed in the quest. 
 
 Lessons in music and singing were gladly accepted 
 by both lads, and from their uncle's carving they 
 could not keep their hands. Ebbo had begun by en- 
 joining Friedel to remember that the work that had 
 been sport in the mountains would be basely me- 
 chanical in the city, and Friedel as usual yielded his 
 private tastes ; but on the second day Ebbo himself 
 was discovered in the workshop, watching the magic 
 touch of the deft workman, and he was soon so en- 
 ticed by the perfect appliances as to take tool in hand 
 and prove himself not unadroit in the craft. Frie- 
 del however excelled in delicacy of touch and grace 
 and originality of conception, and produced such 
 workmanship that Master Gottfried could not help 
 stroking his hair and telling him it was a pity he 
 he was not born to belong to the guild. 
 
DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 207 
 
 " I cannot spare him, sir," cried Ebbo ; " priest, 
 scholar, minstrel, artist — all want him." 
 
 " What, Hans of all streets, Ebbo ? " interrupted 
 Friedel. 
 
 " And guildmaster of none," said Ebbo, " save as a 
 warrior ; the rest only enough for a gentleman ! For 
 what I am thou must be ! " 
 
 But Ebbo did not find fault with the skill Friedel 
 was bestowing on his work — a carving in wood of a 
 dove brooding over two young eagles — the device 
 that both were resolved to assume. When their 
 mother asked what their lady-loves would say to 
 this, Ebbo looked up, and with the fullest conviction 
 in his lustrous eyes declared that no love should 
 ever rival his motherling in his heart. For truly 
 her tender sweetness had given her sons' affection a 
 touch of romance, for which Master Gottfried liked 
 them the better, though his wife thought their 
 familiarity with her hardly accordant with the patri- 
 archal discipline of the citizens. 
 
 The youths held aloof from these burghers, for 
 Master Gottfried wisely desired to give them time 
 to be tamed before running risk of offense, either 
 to, or by, their wild shy pride ; and their mother 
 contrived to time her meetings with her old com- 
 panions when her sons were otherwise occupied. 
 Master Gottfried made it known that the marriage 
 portion he had designed for his niece had been in- 
 trusted to a merchant trading in peltry to Muscovy, 
 and the sum thus realized was larger than any bride 
 had yet brought to Adlerstein. Master Gottfried 
 
208 DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST, 
 
 would have liked to continue the same profitable 
 speculations with it ; but this would have been be- 
 yond the young baron's endurance, and his eyes 
 sparkled when his mother spoke of repairing the 
 castle, refitting the chapel, having a resident chap- 
 lain, cultivating more land, increasing the scanty 
 stock of cattle, and attempting the improvements 
 hitherto prevented by lack of means. He fervently 
 declared that the motherling was more than equal 
 to the wise spinning Queen Bertha of legend and 
 lay ; and the first pleasant sense of wealth came in 
 the acquisition of horses, weapons, and braveries. 
 In his original mood, Ebbo would rather have stood 
 before the Diet in his home-spun blue than have 
 figured in cloth of gold at a burgher's expense ; but 
 he had learned to love his uncle, he regarded the 
 marriage portion as family property, and moreover 
 he sorely longed to feel himself and his brother well 
 mounted, and scarcely less to see his mother in a 
 velvet gown. 
 
 Here was his chief point of sympathy with the 
 housemother, who, herself precluded from wearing 
 miniver, velvet, or pearls, longed to deck her niece 
 therewith in time to receive Sir Kasimir of Adler- 
 stein Wildschloss, as he had promised to meet his 
 godsons at Ulm. The knight's marriage had lasted 
 only a few years, and had left him no surviving 
 children except one little daughter, whom he had 
 placed in a nunnery at Ulm, under the care of her 
 mother's sister. His lands lay higher up the Danube, 
 and he was expected at Ulm shortly before the 
 
DO VE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST, 209 
 
 emperor's arrival. He had been chiefly in Flanders 
 with the king of the Eomans, and had only returned 
 to Germany when the Netherlanders had refused 
 the regency of Maximilian, and driven him out of 
 their country, depriving him of the custody of his 
 children. 
 
 Pfingsttag, or Pentecost-day, was the occasion 
 of Christina's first full toilet, and never was bride 
 more solicitously or exultingly arrayed than she, 
 while one boy held the mirror and the other criti- 
 cized and admired as the aunt adjusted the pearl- 
 bordered coif, and long white veil floating over the 
 long-desired black velvet dress. How the two lads 
 admired and gazed, caring far less for their own 
 new and noble attire ! Friedel was indeed some- 
 what concerned that the sword by his side was so 
 much handsomer than that which Ebbo wore, and 
 which, for all its dinted scabbard and battered hilt, 
 he was resolved never to discard. 
 
 It was a festival of brilliant joy. Wreaths of 
 flowers hung from the windows; rich tapestries 
 decked the Dome Kirk, and the relics were displayed 
 in shrines of wonderful costliness of material and 
 beauty of workmanship ; little birds, with thin cakes 
 fastened to their feet, were let loose to fly about the 
 church, in strange allusion to the event of the day ; 
 the clergy wore their most gorgeous robes ; and the 
 exulting music of the mass echoed from the vaults 
 of the long-drawn aisles, and brought a rapt look of 
 deep, calm ecstasy over Friedel's sensitive features. 
 The beggars evidently considered a festival as a 
 
210 DOVE IN TEE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 harvest day, and crowded round the doors of the 
 cathedral. As the lady of Adlerstein came out 
 leaning on Ebbo's arm, with Friedel on her other 
 side, they evidently attracted the notice of a woman 
 whose thin brown face looked the darker for the 
 striped red and yellow silk kerchief that bound the 
 dark locks round her brow, as, holding out a 
 beringed hand, she fastened her glittering jet black 
 eyes on them, and exclaimed, " Alms ! if the fair 
 dame and knightly junkern would hear what fate 
 has in store for them." 
 
 " We meddle not with the future, I thank thee," 
 said Christina, seeing that her sons, to whom gypsies 
 were an amazing novelty, were in extreme surprise 
 at the fortune-telling proposal. 
 
 " Yet could I tell much, lady," said the woman, 
 still standing in the way. " What would some here 
 present give to know that the locks that were 
 shrouded by the widow's veil ere ever they wore 
 the matron's coif shall yet return to the coif once 
 more ? " 
 
 Ebbo gave a sudden start of dismay and passion ; 
 his mother held him fast. " Push on, Ebbo, mine ; 
 heed her not ; she is a mere Bohemian." 
 
 " But how knew she your history, mother ? " 
 asked Friedel, eagerly. 
 
 " That might be easily learned at our wake," began 
 Christina ; but her steps were checked by a call 
 from Master Gottfried just behind. "Frau frei- 
 herrinn, junkern, not so fast. Here is your noble 
 kinsman," 
 
DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 211 
 
 A tall, fine-looking person, in the long rich robe 
 worn on peaceful occasions, stood forth, doffing his 
 eagle-plumed bonnet, and, as the lady turned and 
 courtesied low, he put his knee to the ground and 
 kissed her hand, saying, " Well met, noble dame ; I 
 felt certain that I knew you when I beheld you in 
 the dome." 
 
 " He was gazing at her all the time," whispered 
 Ebbo to his brother : while their mother, blushing, 
 replied, " You do me too much honor, Herr Frei- 
 herr." 
 
 " Once seen, never to be forgotten," was the 
 courteous answer : " and truly, but for the stately 
 height of these my godsons, I would not believe how 
 long since our meeting was." 
 
 Thereupon, in true German fashion. Sir Kasimir 
 embraced each youth in the open street, and then, 
 removing his long, embroidered Spanish glove, he 
 offered his hand, or rather the tips of his fingers, to 
 lead the Frau Christina home. 
 
 Master Sorel had invited him to become his guest 
 at a very elaborate ornamental festival meal in 
 honor of the great holiday, at which were to be 
 present several wealthy citizens with their wives and 
 families, old connections of the Sorel family. Ebbo 
 had resolved upon treating them with courteous 
 reserve and distance ; but he was surprised to find 
 his cousin of Wildschloss comporting himself among 
 the burgomasters and their dames as freely as 
 though they had been his equals, and to see that 
 they took such demeanor as perfectly natural. 
 
212 ^0 VE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 Quick to perceive, the boy gathered that the gulf 
 between noble and burgher was so great that no 
 intimacy could bridge it over, no reserve widen it, 
 and that his own bashful hauteur was almost a 
 sign that he knew that the gulf had been passed by 
 his own parents ; but shame and consciousness did 
 not enable him to alter his manner but rather added 
 to its stiffness. 
 
 "The junker is like an Englishman," said Sir 
 Kasimir, who had met many of the exiles of the 
 Roses at the court of Mary of Burgundy ; and then 
 he turned to discuss with the guildmasters the 
 interruption to trade caused by Flemish jealousies. 
 
 After the lengthy meal the tables were removed, 
 the long gallery was occupied by musicians, and 
 Master Gottfried crossed the hall to tell his eldest 
 grand-nephew that to him he should depute the 
 opening of the dance with the handsome bride of 
 the rathsherr, Ulrich Burger. Ebbo blushed up to 
 the eyes, and muttered that he prayed his uncle to 
 excuse him. 
 
 "So!" said the old citizen, really displeased; 
 " thy kinsman might have proved to thee that it is 
 no derogation of thy lordly dignity. I have been 
 patient with thee, but thy pride passes " 
 
 " Sir," interposed Friedel hastily, raising his sweet 
 candid face with a look between shame and merri- 
 ment, " it is not that ; but you forget what poor 
 mountaineers we are. Never did we tread a meas- 
 ure save now and then with our mother on a winter 
 evening, and we know no more than a chamois of 
 your intricate measures." 
 
noVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 213 
 
 Master Gottfried looked perplexed, for these 
 dances were matters of great punctilio. It was but 
 seven years since the lord of Praunstein had defied 
 the whole city of Frankfort because a damsel of 
 that place had refused to dance with one of his 
 cousins; and, though "Fistright" and letters of 
 challenge had been made illegal, yet the whole city 
 of TJlm would have resented the affront put on it by 
 the young lord of Adlerstein. Happily the freiherr 
 of Adlerstein Wildschloss was at hand. "Herr 
 Burgomaster," he said, "let me commence the 
 dance with your fair lady niece. By your testi- 
 mony," he added, smiling to the youths, " she can 
 tread a measure. And, after marking us, you may 
 try your success with the rathsherrinn." 
 
 Christina would gladly have transferred her noble 
 partner to the rathsherrinn, but she feared to mor- 
 tify her good uncle and aunt further, and con- 
 sented to figure alone with Sir Kasimir in one of 
 the majestic, graceful dances performed by a single 
 couple before a gaziflg assembly. So she let him 
 lead her to her place, and they bowed and bent, 
 swept past one another, and moved in interlacing 
 lines and curves, with a grand, slow movement that 
 displayed her quiet grace and his stately port and 
 courtly air. 
 
 " Is it not beautiful to see the motherhng ? " said 
 Friedel to his brother ; " she sails like a white cloud 
 in a soft wind. And he stands grand as a stag at 
 gaze." 
 
 " Like a malapert peacock, say I," returned Ebbo ; 
 
214 DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST, 
 
 " didst not see, Friedel, how he kept his eyes on her 
 in church? My uncle says the Bohemians are 
 mere deceivers. Depend on it the woman had 
 spied his insolent looks when she made her ribald 
 prediction." 
 
 " See," said Friedel, who had been watching the 
 steps rather than attending, "it will be easy to 
 dance it now. It is a figure my mother once tried 
 to teach us. I remember it now." 
 
 " Then go and do it, since better may not be." 
 
 " ]^ay, but it should be thou." 
 
 " Who will know which of us it is ? I hated his 
 presumption too much to mark his antics." 
 
 Friedel came forward, and the substitution was 
 undetected by all save their mother and uncle ; by 
 the latter only because, addressing Ebbo, he re- 
 ceived a reply in a tone such as Friedel never used. 
 
 Natural grace, quickness of ear and eye, and a 
 skillful partner, rendered Friedel's so fair a per- 
 formance that he ventured on sending his brother 
 to attend the counciloress with wine and comfits ; 
 while he in his own person performed another dance 
 with the city dame next in pretension, and their 
 mother was amused by Sir Kasimir's remark, that 
 her second son danced better than the elder, but 
 both must learn. 
 
 The remark displeased Ebbo. In his isolated 
 castle he kneAV no superior, and his nature might 
 yield willingly, but rebelled at being put down. 
 His brother was his perfect equal in all mental and 
 bodily attributes, but it was the absence of aU self- 
 
DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 215 
 
 assertion that made Ebbo so often give him the pre- 
 ference; it was his mother's tender meekness in 
 which lay her power with him ; and if he yielded to 
 Gottfried Sorel's wisdom and experience, it was with 
 the inward consciousness of voluntary deference to 
 one of lower rank. But here was Wildschloss, of 
 the same noble blood with himself, his elder, his 
 sponsor, his protector, with every right to direct him, 
 so that there was no choice between grateful docility 
 and headstrong folly. If the fellow had been old, 
 weak, or in any way inferior, it would have been 
 more bearable ; but he was a tried warrior, a sage 
 counsellor, in the prime vigor of manhood, and with 
 a kindly reasonable authority to which only a fool 
 could fail to attend, and which for that very reason 
 chafed Ebbo excessively. 
 
 Moreover there was the gypsy prophecy ever 
 rankling in the lad's heart and embittering to him 
 the sight of every civility from his kinsman to his 
 mother. Sir Kasimir lodged at a neighboring hos- 
 tel ; but he spent much time with his cousins, and 
 tried to make them friends with his squire. Count 
 Kudiger. A great offense to Ebbo was however the 
 criticisms of both knight and squire on the bearing 
 of the young barons in military exercises. Truly, 
 with no instructor but the rough lanzknecht Heinz, 
 they must, as Friedel said, have been born paladins 
 to have equaled youths whose life had been spent 
 in chivalrous training. 
 
 " See us in a downright fight," said Ebbo ; " we 
 could strike as hard as any courtly minion." 
 
216 J>0 VE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST, 
 
 " As hard, but scarce as dexterously," said Friedel, 
 " and be called for our pains the wild mountaineers. 
 I heard the men-at-arms saying I sat my horse as 
 though it were always going up or down a preci- 
 pice ; and Master Schmidt went into his shop the 
 other day shrugging his shoulders and saying we 
 hailed one another across the market-place as if we 
 thought Ulm was a mountain full of gemsbocks." 
 
 " Thou heardst ! and didst not cast his insolence 
 in his teeth ? " cried Ebbo. 
 
 " How could I," laughed Friedel, " when the echo 
 was casting back in my teeth my own shout to thee ? 
 I could only laugh with Kudiger." 
 
 " The chief delight I could have, next to getting 
 home, would be to lay that fellow Eudiger on his 
 back in the tilt-yard," said Ebbo. 
 
 But, as Kudiger was by four years his senior, and 
 very expert, the upshot of these encounters was 
 quite otherwise, and the young gentlemen were dis- 
 abused of the notion that fighting came by nature, 
 and found that, if they desired success in a serious 
 conflict, they must practice diligently in the city 
 tilt-yard, where young men were trained to arms. 
 The crossbow was the only weapon with which they 
 excelled ; and, as shooting was a favorite exercise of 
 the burghers, their proficiency was not as exclusive 
 as had seemed to Ebbo a baronial privilege. Har- 
 quebuses were novelties to them, and they despised 
 them as burgher weapons, in spite of Sir Kasimir's 
 assurance that firearms were a great subject of study 
 and interest to the king of the Komans. The name 
 
DO VE m THE EAGLE'S NEST. 217 
 
 of this personage was, it may be feared, highly dis- 
 tasteful to the Freiherr von Adlerstein, both as 
 Wildschloss' model of knightly perfection, and as 
 one who claimed submission from his haughty spirit. 
 When Sir Kasimir spoke to him on the subject of 
 giving his allegiance, he stiffly replied, " Sir, that is 
 a question for ripe consideration." 
 
 " It is the question," said Wildschloss, rather more 
 lightly than agreed with the baron's dignity, 
 " whether you like to have your castle pulled down 
 about your ears." 
 
 " That has never happened yet to Adlerstein ! " 
 said Ebbo, proudly. 
 
 " JSTo, because since the days of the Hohenstaufen 
 there has been neither rule nor union in the empire. 
 But times are changing fast, my junker, and within 
 the last ten years forty castles such as yours have 
 been consumed by the Swabian League, as though 
 they were so many walnuts." 
 
 " The shell of Adlerstein was too hard for them, 
 though. They never tried." 
 
 " And wherefore, friend Eberhard ? It was be- 
 cause I represented to the kaiser and ^the Graf von 
 Wurtemberg. that little profit and no glory would 
 accrue from attacking a crag full of Avomen and 
 babes, and that I, having the honor to be your next 
 heir, should prefer having the castle untouched, and 
 under the peace of the empire, so long as that peace 
 was kept. When you should come to years of dis- 
 cretion, then it would be for you to carry out the 
 intention wherewith your father and grandfather 
 left home." 
 
218 BO VE IN THE EAGLE'S NESl. 
 
 " Then we have been protected by the peace of 
 the empire all this time ? " said Friedel, while Ebbo 
 looked as if the notion were hard of digestion. 
 
 " Even so ; and, had you not freely and nobly re- 
 leased your Genoese merchant, it had gone hard 
 with Adlerstein." 
 
 " Could Adlerstein be taken ? " demanded Ebbo 
 triumphantly. 
 
 " Your grandmother thought not," said Sir Kasi- 
 mir, with a shade of irony in his tone. " It would 
 be a troublesome siege; but the League numbers 
 fifteen hundred horse, and nine thousand foot, and, 
 with Schlangenwald's concurrence, you would be 
 assuredly starved out." 
 
 Ebbo was so much the more stimulated to take 
 his chance, and do nothing on compulsion ; but 
 Friedel put in the question to what the oaths would 
 bind them. 
 
 "Only to aid the emperor with sword and 
 counsel in field and Diet, and thereby win fame 
 and honor such as can scarce be gained by carrying 
 prey to yon eagle roost." 
 
 " One may preserve one's independence without 
 robbery," said Ebbo, coldly. 
 
 " Nay, lad : did you ever hear of a wolf that could 
 live without marauding ? Or if he tried, would he 
 get credit for so doing ? " 
 
 " After all," said Friedel, " does not the present 
 agreement hold till we are of age ? I suppose the 
 Swabian League would attempt nothing against 
 minors, unless we break the peace ?" 
 
DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 219 
 
 " Probably not ; I will do my utmost to give the 
 freiherr there time to grow beyond his grand- 
 mother's maxims," said Wildschloss. "If Schlan- 
 genwald do not meddle in the matter, he may have 
 the next five years to decide whether Adlerstein 
 can hold out against all Germany." 
 
 " Freiherr Kasimir von Adlerstein "Wildschloss," 
 said Eberhard, turning solemnly on him, " I do you to 
 wit once for all that threats will not serve with me. 
 If I submit, it will be because I am convinced it is 
 right. Otherwise we had rather both be buried in 
 the ruins of our castle, as its last free lords." 
 
 " So !" said the provoking kinsman ; " such burials 
 look grim when the time comes, but happily it is 
 not coming yet !" 
 
 Meantime, as Ebbo said to Friedel, how much 
 might happen — a disruption of the empire, a crusade 
 against the Turks, a war in Italy, some grand means 
 of making the Diet value the sword of a free baron, 
 without chaining him down to gratify the greed 
 of hungry Austria. If only Wildschloss could be 
 shaken off ! But he only became constantly more 
 friendly and intrusive, almost paternal. IS'o wonder, 
 when the mother and her uncle made him so wel- 
 come, and were so intolerably grateful for his im- 
 pertinent interference, while even Friedel confessed 
 the reasonableness of his counsels, as if that were 
 not the very sting of them. 
 
 He even asked leave to bring his little daughter 
 Thekla from her convent to see the lady of Adler- 
 stein. She was a pretty, flaxen-haired maiden of 
 
220 I>0 YE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST, 
 
 five years old, in a round cap, and long narrow 
 frock, with a little cross at the neck. She had 
 never seen any one beyond the walls of the nunnery; 
 and, when her father took her from the lay sister's 
 arm's, and carried her to the gallery, where sat 
 Hausfrau Johanna, in dark green, slashed with 
 cherry color. Master Gottfried, in sober crimson, 
 with gold medal and chain, Freiherrinn Christina, 
 in silver-broidered black, and the two junkern stood 
 near in the shining mail in which they were going 
 to the tilt yard, she turned her head in terror, 
 struggled with her scarce-known father, and shrieked 
 for Sister Grethel. 
 
 " It was all too sheen," she sobbed, in the lay sis- 
 ter's arms ; " she did not want to be in paradise yet, 
 among the saints ! Oh ! take her back ! The two 
 bright, holy Michaels would let her go, for indeed 
 she had made but one mistake in her Ave." 
 
 Yain was the attempt to make her lift her face 
 from the black serge shoulder where she had hidden 
 it. Sister Grethel coaxed and scolded. Sir Kasimir 
 reproved, the housemother offered comfits, and 
 Christina's soft voice was worst of all, for the child, 
 probably taking her for Our Lady hei^elf, began to 
 gasp forth a general confession. " I will never do so 
 again ! Yes, it was a fib, but Mother Hildegard 
 
 gave me a bit of marchpane not to tell " Here 
 
 the lay sister took strong measures for closing the 
 little mouth, and Christina drew back, recommend- 
 ing that the child should be left gradually to dis- 
 cover their terrestrial nature. Ebbo had looked on 
 
DOVE IN TEE EAGLE'S NEST. 221 
 
 with extreme disgust, trying to hurry Friedel, who 
 had delayed to trace some lines for his mother on 
 her broidery pattern. In passing the step where 
 Grethel sat with Thekla on her lap, the clank of 
 their armor caused the uplifting of the little flaxen 
 head, and two wide, blue eyes looked over Grethel's 
 shoulder, and met Friedel's sunny glance. He 
 smiled ; she laughed back again. He held out his 
 arms, and, though his hands were gauntleted, she 
 let him lift her up, and curiously smoothed and 
 patted his cheek, as if he had been a strange ani- 
 mal. 
 
 " You have no wings," she said. " Are you St. 
 George, or St. Michael ? " 
 
 " JS'either the one nor the other, pretty one. Only 
 your poor cousin Friedel von Adlerstein, and here is 
 Ebbo, my brother." 
 
 It was not in Ebbo's nature not to ^mile encour- 
 agement at the fair little face, with its wistful look. 
 He drew off his glove to caress her silken hair, and 
 for a few minutes she was played with by the two 
 brothers like a newly-invented toy, receiving their 
 attentions with a pretty half-frightened gracious- 
 ness, until Count Rudiger hastened in to summon 
 them, and Friedel placed her on his mother's knee, 
 where she speedily became perfectly happy, and at 
 ease. 
 
 Her extreme delight, when toward evening the 
 junkern returned, was flattering even to Ebbo ; and, 
 when it was time for her to be taken home, she 
 made strong resistance, clinging fast to Christina, 
 
222 1)0 VE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 with screams and struggles. To the lady's promise 
 of coming to see her she replied, " Friedel and Ebbo, 
 too," and, receiving no response to this request, she 
 burst out, " Then I won't come ! I am the Freiher- 
 rin Thekla, the heiress of Adlerstein Wildschloss 
 and Felsenbach. I won't be a nun ! I'll be mar- 
 ried ! You shall be my husband," and she made a 
 dart at the nearest youth, who happened to be 
 Ebbo. 
 
 " Ay, ay, you shall have him. He will come for 
 you, sweetest fraulein," said the perplexed Grethel, 
 " so only you will come home ! Nobody will come 
 for you if you are naughty." 
 
 " Will you come if I am good ? " said the spoiled 
 cloister pet, clinging tight to Ebbo. 
 
 " Yes," said her father, as she still resisted, " come 
 back, my child, and one day shall you see Ebbo, and 
 have him for a brother." 
 
 Thereat Ebbo shook off the little grasping fingers, 
 almost as if they had belonged to a noxious insect. 
 
 " The matron's coif should succeed the widow's 
 veil." He might talk with scholarly contempt of 
 the new race of Bohemian imposters ; but there was 
 no forgetting that sentence. And in Hke manner, 
 though his grand-mother's allegation that his mother 
 had been bent on captivating Sir Kasimir in that 
 single interview at Adlerstein, had always seemed 
 to him the most preposterous of all Kunigunde's 
 forms of outrage, the recollection would recur to 
 him ; and he could have found it in his heart to 
 wish that his mother had never heard of the old 
 
DO VE IN THE EAGLE* 8 NEST. 223 
 
 lady's designs as to the oubliette. He did most 
 sincerely wish Master Gottfried had never let 
 Wildschloss know of the mode in which his life had 
 been saved. Yet, while it would have seemed to 
 him profane to breathe even to Friedel the true 
 secret of his repugnance to this meddlesome kins- 
 man, it was absolutely impossible to avoid his most 
 distasteful authority and patronage. 
 
 And the mother herself was gently, thankfully 
 happy and unsuspicious, basking in the tender home 
 affection of which she had so long been deprived, 
 proud of her sons, and, though anxious as to Ebbo's 
 decision, with a quiet trust in his foundation of 
 r>rincipal, and above all trusting to prayer. 
 
2U I>0 VE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 CHAPTER XIY. 
 
 THE DOtTDLE-HEADED EAGLE. 
 
 One summer evening, when shooting at a bird 
 on a pole was in full exercise in the tilt-yard, the 
 sports were interrupted by a message from the 
 provost that a harbinger had brought tidings that 
 the imperial court was within a day's journey. 
 
 All was preparation. Fresh sand had to be strewn 
 on the arena. New tapestry hangings were to deck 
 the galleries, the houses and balconies to be brave 
 with drapery, the fountain in the market-place was 
 to play Rhine wine, all Ulm was astir to do honor 
 to itself and to the kaiser, and Ebbo stood amid all 
 the bustle, drawing lines in the sand with the stock 
 of his arblast, subject to all that oppressive self- 
 magnification so frequent in early youth, and which 
 made it seem to him as if the kaiser and the king 
 of the Romans were coming to Ulm with the mere 
 purpose of destroying his independence, and as if 
 the eyes of all Germany were watching for his 
 humiliation. 
 
 " See ! see ! suddenly exclaimed Friedel ; " look ! 
 there is something among the tracery of the Dome 
 Kirk tower. Is it man or bird ? " 
 
 " Bird, folly ! Thou couldst see no bird less than 
 
DO VE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 225 
 
 an eagle from hence," said Ebbo. " J^o doubt they 
 are about to hoist a banner. 
 
 " That is not their wont," returned Sir Kasimir. 
 
 " I see him," interrupted Ebbo. " Nay, but he is 
 a bold climber ! We went up to that stage, 
 close to the balcony, but there's no footing beyond 
 but crockets and canopies." 
 
 " And a bit of rotten scaffold," added Friedel. 
 " Perhaps he is a builder going to examine it ! Up 
 higher, higher ! " 
 
 " A builder ! " said Ebbo ; " a man with a head 
 and foot like that should be a chamois hunter ! 
 Shouldst thou deem it worse than the Eed Eyrie, 
 Eriedel?" 
 
 "Yes, truly! The depth beneath is plainer! 
 There would be no climbing there without " 
 
 " Without what, cousin ! " asked Wildschloss. 
 
 " Without great cause," said Friedel. " It is fear- 
 ful ! He is like a fly against the sky." 
 
 " Beaten again ! " muttered Ebbo ; " I did think 
 that none of these town-bred fellows could surpass 
 us when it came to a giddy height ! Who can he 
 be?" 
 
 " Look ! look ! " burst out Friedel. " The saints 
 proter^t him ! He is on that narrowest topmost ledge 
 — measuring ; his heel is over the parapet — half his 
 foot!" 
 
 " Holding on by the rotten scaffold pole ! St. 
 Barbara be his speed ; but he is a brave man ! " 
 shouted Ebbo. " Oh ! the pole has broken." 
 
 " Heaven foref end ! " cried Wildschloss, with de- 
 
226 DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 spair on his face unseen by the boys, for Friedel had 
 hidden his eyes, and Ebbo was straining his with 
 the intense gaze of horror. He had carried his 
 glance downward, following the three hundred and 
 eighty feet fall that must be the lot of the adventurer 
 Then looking upagain he shouted, " I see him ! I see 
 him ! Praise to St. Barbara ! He is safe ! He has 
 caught by the upright stone work." 
 
 " Where ? where ? Show me ! " cried Wildschloss, 
 grasping Ebbo's arm. 
 
 " There ! clinging to that upright bit of tracery, 
 stretching his foot out to yonder crocket." 
 
 " I cannot see. Mine eyes swim and dazzle," said 
 "Wildschloss, "Merciful heavens! is this another 
 tempting of Providence ? How is it with him now, 
 Ebbo?" 
 
 " Swarming down another slender bit of the stone 
 network. It must be easy now to one who could 
 keep head and hand steady in such a shock." 
 
 " There ! " added Friedel, after a breathless space, 
 " he is on the lower parapet, whence begins the 
 stair. Do you know him, sir ? Who is he ? " 
 
 "Either a Venetian mountebank," said Wild- 
 schloss, "or else there is only one man I know of either 
 so foolhardy or so steady of head." 
 
 " Be he who he may," said Ebbo, " he is the 
 bravest man that ever I beheld. Who is he. Sir 
 Kasimir ? " 
 
 " An eagle of higher flight than ours, no doubt," 
 said Wildschloss. " But come ; we shall reach the 
 Dome Kirk by the time the climber has wound his 
 
DO VE m THE EA OLE '8 NEST. 227 
 
 way down the turret stairs, and we shall see what 
 like he is." 
 
 Their coming was well timed, for a small door 
 at the foot of the tower was just opening to give exit 
 to a very tall knight, in one of those short Spanish 
 cloaks the collar of which could be raised so as to 
 conceal the face. He looked to the right and left, 
 and had one hand raised to put up the collar when he 
 recognized Sir Kasimir, and holding out both hands 
 exclaimed, " Ha, Adlerstein ! well met ! I looked 
 to see thee here. No unbonneting ; I am not come 
 yet. I am at Strasburg, with the kaiser and the 
 archduke, and am not here till we.ride in, in purple 
 and in pall by the time the good folk have hung out 
 their arras, and donned their gold chains, and 
 conned their speeches, and mounted their mules." 
 
 " Well that their speeches are not over the lyke- 
 wake of his kingly kaiserly highness," gravely re- 
 turned Sir Kasimir. 
 
 " Ha ? Thou sawest ? I came out here to avoid 
 the gaping throng, who don't know what a hunter 
 can do. I have been in worse case in the Tyrol. 
 Snowdrifts are worse footing than stone vine 
 leaves." 
 
 " Where abides your highness ? " asked Wild- 
 schloss. 
 
 " I ride back again to the halting-place for the 
 night, and meet my father in time to do my part in 
 the pageant. I was sick of the addresses, and, 
 moreover, the purse-proud Flemings have made such 
 a stiff little fop of my poor boy that I am ashamed 
 
228 DOVB IN THE BAGLE'8 NEST. 
 
 to look at him, or hear his French accent. So I 
 rode off to get a view of this notable dom in peace, 
 ere it be bedizened in holiday garb ; and one can't 
 stir without all the chapter waddling after one." 
 
 " Your highness has found means of distancing 
 them." 
 
 " Why, truly, the prior would scarce delight in 
 the view from yonder parapet," laughed his high- 
 ness. "Ha! Adlerstein, where didst get such a 
 perfect pair of pages ? I would I could match my 
 hounds as well." 
 
 " They are no pages of mine, so please you," said 
 the knight ; rather this is the head of my name. 
 Let me present to your kingly highness the Frieherr 
 von Adlerstein." 
 
 "Thou dost not thyself distinguish between 
 them ! " said Maximilian, as Friedraund stepped back, 
 putting forward Eberhard, whose bright, lively smile 
 of interest and admiration had been the cause of his 
 cousin's mistake. They would have doffed their 
 caps and bent the knee, but were hastily checked by 
 Maximilian. " IS'o, no, junkern, I shall owe you no 
 thanks for bringing all the street on me ! — that's 
 enough. Reserve the rest for Kaiser Fritz." Then, 
 familiarly taking Sir Kasimir's arm, he walked on, 
 saying, " I remember now. Thou wentest after an 
 inheritance from the old Mouser of the Debatable 
 Ford, and wert ousted by a couple of lusty boys 
 sprung of a peasant wedlock." 
 
 " Nay, my lord, of a burgher lady, fair as she is 
 wise and virtuous; who, spite of all hindrances, 
 
DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 229 
 
 has bred up these youths in all good and noble 
 nurture." 
 
 " Is this so ? " said the king, turning sharp round 
 on the twins. " Are ye minded to quit freebooting, 
 and Gome a crusading against the Turks with me ? " 
 
 " Everywhere with such a leader ! " enthusiastic- 
 ally exclaimed Ebbo. 
 
 " What ? up there ? " said Maximilian, smiling. 
 " Thou hast the tread of a chamois-hunter." 
 
 " Friedel has been on the Ked Eyrie," exclaimed 
 Ebbo ; then, thinking he had spoken foolishly, he 
 colored. 
 
 "Which is the Ked Eyrie?" good-humoredly 
 asked the king. 
 
 " It is the crag above our castle," said Friedel, 
 modestly. 
 
 "ISTone other has been there," added Ebbo, per- 
 ceiving his auditor's interest ; " but he saw the eagle 
 flying away with a poor widow's kid, and the sight 
 must have given him wings, for we never could find 
 the same path ; but here is one of the feathers he 
 brought down " — taking off his cap so as to show a 
 feather rather the worse for wear, and sheltered be- 
 hind a fresher one. 
 
 "Nay," said Friedel, "thou shouldst say that I 
 came to a ledge where I had like to have stayed all 
 night, but that ye all came out with men and ropes." 
 
 " We know what such a case is ! " said the king. 
 " It has chanced to us to hang between heaven and 
 earth ; I've even had the Holy Sacrament held up 
 for my last pious gaze by those who gave me up for 
 
230 -DO V£} IN THE EAGLE'S If EST, 
 
 lost on the mountain-side. Adlerstein ? The peak 
 above the Braunwusser ? Some day shall ye show 
 me this eyrie of yours, and we will see whether we 
 can amaze our cousins the eagles. We see you at 
 our father's court to-morrow ? " he graciously added, 
 and Ebbo gave a ready bow of acquiescence. 
 
 " There," said the king, as after their dismissal he 
 walked on with Sir Kasimir, " never blame me for 
 rashness and imprudence. Here has this height of 
 the steeple proved the height of policy. It has made 
 a loyal subject of a Mouser on the spot." 
 
 "Pray heaven it may have won a heart, true 
 though proud ! " said Wildschloss; " but mousing was 
 cured before by the wise training of the mother. 
 Your highness will have taken out the sting of sub- 
 mission, and you will scarce find more faithful sub- 
 jects." 
 
 " How old are the junkern ? " 
 
 " Some sixteen years, your highness." 
 
 " That is what living among mountains does 
 for a lad. Why could not those thrice-accursed 
 Flemish towns let .me breed up my boy to be good 
 for something in the mountains, instead of getting 
 duck-footed and muddy-witted in the fens ? " 
 
 In the meantime Ebbo and Freidel were returning 
 home in that sort of passi'on of enthusiasm that in- 
 genuous boyhood feels when first brought into con- 
 tact with greatness or brilliant qualities. 
 
 And brilliance was the striking point in Maxi- 
 milian. The last of the knights, in spite of his 
 many defects, was, by personal qualities, and the 
 
DOVB IN THE EAGLE'S NEST, 231 
 
 hereditary influence of long descended rank, verily 
 a king of men in aspect and demeanor, even when 
 most careless and simple. He was at this time a 
 year or two past thirty, unusually tall, and with a 
 form at once majestic and full of vigor and activity; 
 a noble, fair, though sunburned countenance ; eyes 
 of dark gray, almost black ; long fair hair, a keen 
 aquiline nose, a hp only beginning to lengthen to the 
 characteristic Austrian feature, an expression always 
 lofty, sometimes dreamy, and yet at the same time 
 full of acuteness and humor. His abilities were of 
 the highest order, his purposes, especially at this 
 period of his life, most noble and becoming in the 
 first prince of Christendom ; and, if his life were a 
 failure, and his reputation unworthy of his endow- 
 ments, the cause seems to have been in great meas- 
 ure the bewilderment and confusion that unusual 
 gifts sometimes cause to their possessor, whose sight 
 their conflicting illumination dazzles so as to impair 
 his steadiness of aim, while their contending gleams 
 light him into various directions, so that one object 
 is deserted for another ere its completion. Thus 
 Maximilian cuts a figure in history far inferior to 
 that made by his grandson, Charles Y., whom he 
 nevertheless excelled in every personal quality, ex- 
 cept the most needful of all, force of character ; and, 
 in like manner, his remote descendant, the narrow- 
 minded Ferdinand of Styria gained his ends, though 
 the able and brilliant Joseph II. was to die broken- 
 hearted, calling his reign a failure and mistake. 
 However, such terms as these could not be applied 
 
232 DOVE IN TEE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 to Maximilian with regard to home affairs. He has 
 had hard measure from those who have only re- 
 garded his vacillating foreign policy, especially with 
 respect to Italy — ever the temptation and the bane 
 of Austria ; but even here much of his uncertain con- 
 duct was o\ving to the unfulfilled promises of what 
 he himself called his " realm of kings," and a sov- 
 ereign can only justly be estimated by his domestic 
 policy. The contrast of the empire before his time 
 with the subsequent Germany is that of chaos with 
 order. Since the death of Friedrich II., the imperial 
 title had been a mockery, making the prince who 
 chanced to bear it a mere mark for the spite of his 
 rivals ; there was no center of justice, no appeal ; 
 everybody might make war on everybody, with the 
 sole preliminary of exchanging a challenge ; " fist- 
 right " was the acknowledged law of the land ; and, 
 except in the free cities, and under such a happy 
 accident as a right-minded prince here and there, 
 the state of Germany seems to have been rather 
 worse than that of Scotland from Bruce to the union 
 of the crowns. Under Maximihan, the Diet became 
 an effective council, fist-right was abolished, inde- 
 pendent robber-lords put down, civilization began 
 to effect an entrance, the system of circles was ar- 
 ranged, and the empire again became a leading 
 power in Europe, instead of a mere vortex of disorder 
 and misrule. ISTever would Charles Y. have held 
 the position he occupied had he come after an ordi- 
 nary man, instead of after an able and sagacious re- 
 former like that Maximilian who is popularly re- 
 
DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NE8T. 233 
 
 garded as a fantastic caricature of a knight-errant, 
 marred by avarice and weakness of purpose. 
 
 At the juncture of which we are writing, none of 
 Maximilian's less worthy qualities had appeared ; he 
 had not been rendered shifty and unscrupulous by 
 difficulties and disappointments in money matters, 
 and had not found it impossible to keep many of the 
 promises he had given in all good faith. He stood 
 forth as the hope of Germany, in salient contrast to 
 the feeble and avaricious father, who was felt to be 
 the only obstacle in the way of his noble designs of 
 establishing peace and good discipline in the empire, 
 and conducting a general crusade against the Turks, 
 whose progress was the most threatening peril of 
 Christendom. His fame was, of course, frequently 
 discussed among the citizens, with whom he Avas 
 very popular, not only from his ease and freedom of 
 manner, but because his graceful tastes, his love of 
 painting, sculpture, architecture, and the mechanical 
 turn which made him an improver of firearms and 
 a patron of painting and engraving, rendered their 
 society more agreeable to him than that of his dull, 
 barbarous nobility. Ebbo had heard so much of 
 the perfections of the king of the Romans as to be 
 prepared to hate him ; but the boy, as we have 
 seen, was of a generous, sensitive nature, peculiarly 
 prone to enthusiastic impressions of veneration ; and 
 Maximilian's high-spirited manhood, personal fas- 
 cination, and individual kindness had so entirely 
 taken him by surprise, that he talked of him all 
 the evening in a more fervid manner than did even 
 
234 I>0 VE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST, 
 
 Friedel, though both could scarcely rest for their an- 
 ticipations of seeing him on the morrow in the full 
 state of his entry. 
 
 Richly clad, and mounted on cream-colored 
 steeds, nearly as much alike as themselves, the 
 twins were a pleasant sight for a proud mother's 
 eyes, as they rode out to take their place in the 
 procession that was to welcome the royal guests. 
 Master Sorel in ample gown, richly furred, with 
 medal and chain of office, likewise went forth as 
 guildmaster; and Christina, with smiling lips and 
 liquid eyes, recollected the days when to see him in 
 such array was her keenest pleasure, and the utmost 
 splendor her fancy could depict. 
 
 Arrayed, as her sons loved to see her, in black 
 velvet, and with •pearl-bordered cap, Christina sat by 
 her aunt in the tapestried balcony, and between 
 them stood or sat little Thekla von Adlerstein 
 Wildschloss, whose father had entrusted her to their 
 care, to see the procession pass by. A rich eastern 
 carpet of gorgeous coloring covered the upper bal- 
 ustrade, over which they leaned, in somewhat close 
 quarters with the scarlet-bodiced dames of the op- 
 posite house, but with ample space for sight up and 
 down the rows of smiling expectants at each bal- 
 cony, or window, equally gay with hangings, while 
 the bells of all the churches clashed forth their gay- 
 est chimes, and fitful bursts of music were borne 
 upon the breeze. Little Thekla danced in the nar- 
 row space for very glee, and wondered why any one 
 should live in a cloister when the world was so wide 
 
BOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 235 
 
 and so fair. And Dame Johanna tried to say some- 
 thing pious of worldly temptations, and the cloister 
 shelter ; but Thekla interrupted her, and, clinging to 
 Christina, exclaimed, " Nay, but I am always naughty 
 with Mother Ludmilla in the convent, and I know I 
 should never be naughty out here with you and the 
 barons ; I should be so happy." 
 
 " Hush ! hush ! little one ; here they come ! " 
 On they came — stout lanzknechts first, the city 
 guard with steel helmets unadorned, buff suits, and 
 bearing either harquebuses, halberds, or those hand- 
 some but terrible weapons, morning stars. Then 
 followed guild after guild, each preceded by the 
 banner bearing its homely emblem-^ the caldron 
 of the smiths, the hose of the clothiers, the helmet 
 of the armorers, the basin of the barbers, the boot 
 of the sutors ; even the sausage of the cooks, and 
 the shoe of the shoeblacks were represented, as by 
 men who gloried in the calling in which they did 
 life's duty and task. 
 
 First in each of these bands marched the pren- 
 tices, stout, broad, flat-faced lads, from twenty to 
 fourteen years of age, with hair like tow hanging 
 from under their blue caps, staves in their hands, 
 and knives at their girdles. Behind them came the 
 journeymen, in leathern jerkins and steel caps, and 
 armed with halberds or crossbows ; men of all ages, 
 from sixty to one or two and twenty, and many of 
 the younger ones with foreign countenances and 
 garb betokening that they were strangers spending 
 part of their wandering years in studying the Ulm 
 
236 BOYE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 fashions of their craft. Each trade showed a large 
 array of these juniors ; but the masters who came 
 behind were comparatively few, mostly elderly, 
 long-gowned, gold-chained personages, with a weight 
 of solid dignity on their wise brows — men who re- 
 spected themselves, made others respect them, and 
 kept their city a peaceful, well-ordered haven, while 
 storms raged in the realm beyond — men, too, who 
 had raised to the glory of their God a temple, not 
 indeed fulfilling the original design, but a noble 
 effort and grand monument of burgher devotion. 
 
 Then came the ragged regiment of scholars, wild 
 lads from every part of Germany and Switzerland, 
 some wan and pinched with hardship and privation, 
 others sturdy, selfish rogues, evidently well able to 
 take care of themselves. There were many rude, 
 tyrannical-looking lads among the older lads ; and, 
 though here and there a studious, earnest face 
 might be remarked, the prospect of Germany's 
 future priests and teachers was not encouraging. 
 And what a searching ordeal was awaiting those 
 careless lads when the voice of one, as yet still a 
 student, should ring through Germany ! 
 
 Contrasting with these ill-kempt pupils marched 
 the grave professors and teachers, in square ecclesi- 
 astical caps and long gowns, whose colors marked 
 their degrees and the universities that had con- 
 ferred them — some thin, some portly, some jocund, 
 others dreamy; some observing all the humors 
 around, others still intent on Aristotelian ethics ; all 
 men of high fame, with doctor at the beginning of 
 
BOVE m THE EAOLWB NEST. 237 
 
 their names, and " or " or " us " at the close of them. 
 After them rode the magistracy, a burgomaster 
 from each guild, and the Herr Provost himself — as 
 great a potentate within his own walls as the doge 
 of Venice or of Genoa, or perhaps greater, because 
 less jealously hampered. In this dignified group 
 was Uncle Gottfried, by complacent nod and smile 
 acknowledging his good wife and niece, who indeed 
 had received many a previous glance and bow from 
 friends passing beneath. But Master Sorel was no 
 new spectacle in a civic procession, and the sight of 
 him was only a pleasant fillip to the excitement of 
 his ladies. 
 
 Here was jingling of spurs and trampling of 
 horses; heraldic achievements showed upon the 
 banners, round which rode the mail-clad retainers 
 of country nobles who had mustered to meet their 
 lords. Then, with still more of clank and tramp, 
 rode a bright-faced troop of lads, with feathered 
 caps and gay mantles. Young Count Rudiger 
 looked up with courteous salutation ; and just be- 
 hind him, with smihng lips and upraised faces, were 
 the pair whose dark eyes, dark hair, and slender 
 forms rendered them conspicuous among the fair 
 Teutonic youth. Each cap was taken off and 
 waved, and each pair of lustrous eyes glanced up 
 pleasure and exultation at the sight of the lovely 
 " mutterlein." And she ? The pageant was well- 
 nigh over to her, save for heartily agreeing with 
 Aunt Johanna that there was not a young noble of 
 them all to compare with the twin barons of Ad- 
 
238 I>0 VE m THE EA OLE 'S NEST. 
 
 lerstein ! However, she knew she should be called 
 to account if she did not look weU at " the Eomish 
 king ; " besides, Thekla was shrieking with delight 
 at the sight of her father, tall and splendid on his 
 mighty black charger, with a smile for his child, 
 and for the lady a bow so low and deferential that 
 it was evidently remarked by those at whose ap- 
 proach every lady in the balconies was rising, every 
 head in the street was bared. 
 
 A tall, thin, shriveled, but exceedingly stately 
 old man on a gray horse was in the center. Clad 
 in a purple velvet mantle, and bowing as he went, 
 he looked truly the kaiser, to whom stately courtesy 
 was second nature. On one side, in black and gold, 
 with the jewel of the golden fleece on his breast, rode 
 Maximilian, responding gracefully to the salutations 
 of the people, but his keen gray eye roving in search 
 of the object of Sir Kasimir's salute, and lighting 
 on Christina with such a rapid, amused glance of 
 discovery that, in her confusion she missed what 
 excited Dame Johanna's rapturous admiration — the 
 handsome boy on the emperor's other side, a fair, 
 plump lad, the young sovereign of the low countries, 
 beautiful in feature and complexion, but lacking the 
 fire and the loftiness that characterized his father's 
 countenance. The train was closed by the reitern 
 of the emperor's guard — steel-clad mercenaries who 
 were looked on with no friendly eyes by the few 
 gazers in the street who had been left behind in the 
 general rush to keep up with the attractive part of 
 the show. 
 
DOVE m THE EAGLE'S NE81. 239 
 
 Pageants of elaborate mythological character im- 
 peded the imperial progress at every stage, and it 
 was full two hours ere the two youths returned, 
 heartily weary of the lengthened ceremonial, and 
 laughing at having actually 'seen the king of the 
 Komans enduring to be conducted from shrine to 
 shrine in the cathedral by a large proportion of its 
 dignitaries. Ebbo was sure he had caught an archly 
 disconsolate wink ! 
 
 Ebbo had to dress for the banquet spread in the 
 townhall. Space was wanting for the concourse of 
 guests, and Master Sorel had decided that the 
 younger baron should not be included in the invita- 
 tion. Friedel pardoned him more easily than did 
 Ebbo, who not only resented any slight to his 
 double, but in his fits of shy pride needed the aid of 
 his readier and brighter other self. But it might 
 not be, and Sir Kasimir and Master Gottfried alone 
 accompanied him, hoping that he would not look as 
 wild as a hawk, and would do nothing to diminish 
 the favorable impression he had made on the king 
 of the Romans. 
 
 Late, according to mediaeval hours, was the re- 
 turn, and Ebbo spoke in a tone of elation. " The 
 kaiser was most gracious, and the king knew me," 
 he said, " and asked for thee, Friedel, saying one 
 of us was naught without the other. But thou 
 wilt go to-morrow, for we are to receive knight- 
 hood." 
 
 " Already ! " exclaimed Friedel, a bright glow 
 rushing to his cheek. 
 
240 DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 "Yea," said Ebbo. "The Eomishking said some- 
 what about waiting to win our spurs ; but the kaiser 
 said I was in a position to take rank as a knight, 
 and I thanked him, so thou shouldst share the 
 honor." 
 
 " The kaiser," said Wildschloss, " is not the man 
 to let a knight's fee slip between his fingers. The 
 king would have kept off their grip, and reserved 
 you for knighthood from his own sword under the 
 banner of the empire ; but there is no help for it 
 now, and you must make your vassals send in their 
 dues." 
 
 "My vassals?" said Ebbo; "what could they 
 send?" 
 
 " The aid customary on the knighthood of the 
 heir." 
 
 " But there is — there is nothing ! " said Friedel. 
 " They can scarce pay meal and poultry enough for 
 our daily fare ; and if we were to flay them alive, 
 we should not get sixty groschen from the whole." 
 
 "True enough! Knighthood must wait till we 
 win it," said Ebbo, gloomily. 
 
 " N'ay, it is accepted," said Wildschloss. " The 
 kaiser loves his iron chest too well to let you go 
 back. You must be ready with your round sum to 
 the chancellor, and your spur-money and your fee 
 to the heralds, and largess to the crowd." 
 
 "Mother, the dowry," said Ebbo. 
 
 " At your service, my son," said Christina, anxious 
 to chase the cloud from his brow. 
 
 But it was a deep haul, for the avaricious Fried- 
 
DO VE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 241 
 
 rich lY. made exorbitant charges for the knight- 
 ing his young nobles ; and Ebbo soon saw that the im- 
 provements at home must suffer for the honors that 
 would have been so much better won than bought. 
 
 " If your vassals cannot aid, yet may not your 
 kinsman " began Wildschloss. 
 
 " JS'o ! " interrupted Ebbo, lashed up to hot indig- 
 nation. " No, sir ! Eather will my mother, brother, 
 and I ride back this very night to unfettered liberty 
 on our mountain, without obligation to any living 
 man." 
 
 " Less hotly, sir baron," said Master Gottfried, 
 gravely. " You broke in on your noble godfather, 
 and you had not heard me speak. You and your 
 brother are the old man's only heirs, nor do ye in- 
 cur any obligation that need fret you by forestalling 
 what would be your just right. I will see my 
 nephews as well equipped as any young baron of 
 of them." 
 
 The mother looked anxiously at Ebbo. He bent 
 his head with rising color, and said, " Thanks, kind 
 uncle. From you I have learned to look on good- 
 ness as fatherly." 
 
 " Only," added Friedel, " if the baron's station 
 renders knighthood fitting for him, surely I might 
 remain his esquire." 
 
 " JS'ever, Friedel ! " cried his brother. " Without 
 thee, nothing." 
 
 " Well said, freiherr," said Master Sorel ; " what 
 becomes the one becomes the other. I would not 
 have thee left out, my Friedel, since I cannot l^ave 
 thee the mysteries of my craft." 
 
242 DO VE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 "To-morrow!" said Friedel, gravely. "Then 
 must the vigil be kept to-night." 
 
 " The boy thinks these are the days of Eoland 
 and Karl the Great," said Wildschloss. " He vrould 
 fain watch his arms in the moonlight in the Dome 
 Kirk ! Alas ! no, my Friedel ! Knighthood in 
 these days smacks more of bezants than of deeds of 
 prowess." 
 
 " Unbearable fellow !" cried Ebbo, when he had 
 latched the door of the room he shared with his 
 brother. "First, holding up my inexperience to 
 scorn ! As though the kaiser knew not better than 
 he what befits me ! Then trying to buy my silence 
 and my mother's gratitude with his hateful advance 
 of gold. As if I did not loathe him enough without ! 
 If I pay my homage, and sign the League to-morrow, 
 it will be purely that he may not plume himself on 
 our holding our own by sufferance, in deference to 
 him." 
 
 " You will sign it — ^you will do homage ! " ex- 
 claimed Friedel. " How rejoiced the mother will 
 be." 
 
 " I had rather depend at once — if depend I must — 
 on yonder dignified kaiser and that noble king than 
 on our meddling kinsman," said Ebbo. " I shall be 
 his equal now ! Ay, and no more classed with the 
 court junkern I was with to-day. The dullards ! 
 No one reasonable thing know they but the chase. 
 One had been at Florence ; and when I asked him 
 of the baptistery and rare Giotto of whom my 
 uncle told us, he asked if he were a knight of the 
 
DO VE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 243 
 
 Medici. All he knew was that there were ortolans 
 at Ser Lorenzo's table ; and he and the rest of them 
 talked over wines as many and as hard to call as 
 the roll of Eneas' s comrades ; and when each one 
 must drink to her he loved best, and I said I loved 
 none like my sweet mother, they gibed me for a 
 simple dutiful mountaineer. Yea, and when the 
 servants brought a bowl, I thought it was a whole- 
 some draught of spring water after all their hot 
 wines and fripperies. Pah ! " 
 
 " The rose-water, Ebbo ! l^o wonder they laughed ! 
 Why, the bowls for our fingers came round at the 
 banquet here." 
 
 " Ah ! thou hast eyes for their finikin manners ! 
 Yet whstt know they of what we used to long for in 
 polished life! Kot one but vowed he abhorred 
 books, and cursed Dr. Faustus for multiplying them. 
 I may not know the taste of a stew, nor the fit of a 
 -glove, as they do, but I trust I bear a less empty 
 brain. And the young jN^etherlanders that came 
 with the archduke were worst of all. They got 
 together and gabbled French, and treated the Ger- 
 man junkern with the very same sauce with which 
 they had served me. The archduke laughed with 
 them, and when the Provost addressed him, made 
 as if he understood not, till his father heard, and 
 thundered out, ' How now, Philip ! Deaf on thy 
 German ear ? I tell thee, Herr Probst, he knows 
 his own tongue as well as thou or I, and thou shalt 
 hear him speak as becomes the son of an Austrian 
 hunter.' That Komish king is a knight of 
 
244 DOVE IN THE EAGLE' 8 NEST. 
 
 knights, Friedel. I could follow him to the world's 
 end. I wonder whether he will ever come to climb 
 the Eed Ejrie." 
 
 " It does not seem the world's end when one is 
 there," said Friedel, with strange yearnings in his 
 breast. " Even the dom steeple never rose to its 
 full height," he added, standing in the window, and 
 gazing pensively into the summer sky. " Oh, Ebbo, 
 this knighthood has come very suddenly after our 
 many dreams ; and, even though its outward tokens 
 be lowered, it is still a holy, awful thing." 
 
 l^urtured in mountain solitude, on romance trans- 
 mitted through the pure medium of his mother's 
 mind, and his spirit untainted by contact with the 
 world, Friedmund von Adlerstein looked on chivalry 
 with the temper of a Percival or Galahad, and 
 regarded it with a sacred awe. Eberhard, though 
 treating it more as a matter of business, was like 
 enough to his brother to enter into the force of the 
 vows they were about to make ; and if the young 
 barons of Adlerstein did not perform the night- 
 watch over their armor, yet they kept a vigil that 
 impressed their own minds as deeply, and in early 
 morn they went to confession and mass ere the gay 
 parts of the city were astir. 
 
 " Sweet niece," said Master Sorel, as he saw the 
 brothers' grave, earnest looks, " thou hast done well 
 by these youths ; yet I doubt me at times whether 
 they be not too much lifted out of this veritable 
 world of ours." 
 
 " Ah, fair uncle, were they not above it, how 
 could they face its temptations ? " 
 
DOVS IN" THE EAGLE'S NEST. 245 
 
 " True, my child ; but how will it be when they 
 find how lightly others treat what to them is so 
 solemn ? " 
 
 " There must be temptations for them, above all 
 for Ebbo," said Christina, " but still, when I remem- 
 ber how my heart sank when their grandmother 
 tried to bring them up to love crime as sport and 
 glory, I cannot but trust that the good work will be 
 wrought out, and my dream fulfilled, that they may 
 be lights on earth and stars in heaven. Even this 
 matter of homage, that seemed so hard to my Ebbo, 
 has now been made easy to him by his vener- 
 ation for the emperor." 
 
 It was even so. If the sense that he was the last 
 veritable yV'^^ lord of Adlerstein rushed over Ebbo, 
 he was, on the other hand, overmastered by the 
 kingliness of Friedrich and Maximilian, and was 
 aware that this submission, while depriving him of 
 little or no actual power, brought him into relations 
 with the civilized world, and opened to him paths 
 of true honor. So the ceremonies were gone 
 through, his oath of allegiance was made, investiture 
 was granted to him by the delivery of a sword, and 
 both he and Friedel were dubbed knights. Then 
 they shared another banquet, where, as away from 
 the junkern and among elder men, Ebbo was happier 
 than the day before. Some of the knights seemed 
 to him as rude and ignorant as the schneiderlein, 
 but no one talked to him nor observed his manners, 
 and he could listen to conversation on war and 
 policy such as interested him far more than the sub- 
 
246 nOVB m THE EAGLE' 8 NEST. 
 
 jects affected by youths a little older than himself. 
 Their lonely life and training had rendered the 
 minds of the brothers as much in advance of their 
 fellows as they were ^behind them in knowledge of 
 the world. 
 
 The crass obtuseness of the most of the nobility 
 made it a relief to return to the usual habits of the 
 Sorel household when the court had left Ulra. 
 Friedmund, anxious to prove that his new honors 
 were not to alter his home demeanor, was drawing 
 on a block of wood from a tinted pen-and-ink sketch ; 
 Ebbo was deeply engaged with a newly-acquired 
 copy of Yirgil ; and their mother was embroidering 
 some draperies for the long-neglected castle chapel, 
 — all sitting, as Master Gottfried loved to have 
 them, in his studio, whence he had a few moments 
 before been called away, when, as the door slowly 
 opened, a voice was heard that made both lads start 
 and rise. 
 
 " Yea, truly, Herr Guildmaster, I would see these 
 masterpieces. Ha! What have you here for 
 masterpieces? Our two new double-ganger 
 knights?" And Maximilian entered in a simple 
 riding-dress, attended by Master Gottfried, and by 
 Sir Kasimir of Adlerstein Wildschloss. 
 
 Christina would fain have slipped out unperceived, 
 but the king was already removing his cap from his 
 fair curling locks, and bending his head as he said, 
 " The Frau Freiherrinn von Adlerstein ? Fair lady, 
 I greet you well, and thank you in the kaiser's 
 name and mine for having bred up for us two true 
 and loyal subjects." 
 
. DO VB IN THE BAGLM'8 NEST. 247 
 
 " May they so prove themselves, my liege ! " said 
 Christina, bending low. 
 
 " And not only loyal-hearted," added Maximilian, 
 smiling, " but ready-brained, which is less frequent 
 among our youth. What is thy book, young knight ? 
 Yirgilius Maro ? Dost thou read the Latin ? " he 
 addled, in that tongue. 
 
 " Not as well as we wish, your kingly highness," 
 readily answered Ebbo, in Latin, " having learned 
 solely of our mother till we came hither." 
 
 " ^ever fear for that, my young blade," laughed 
 the king. " Knowst not that the wiseacres thought 
 me too dull for teaching till I was past ten years ? 
 And what is thy double about ? Drawing on wood ? 
 How now! An able draughtsman, my young 
 knight « " 
 
 " My nephew Sir Friedmund is good to the old 
 man," said Gottfried, himself almost regretting the 
 lad's avocation. " My eyes are failing me, and he is 
 aiding me with the graving of this border. He has 
 the knack that no teaching will impart to any of 
 my present journeymen." 
 
 " Born, not made," quoth Maximilian. " N"ay," 
 as Friedel colored deeper at the sense that Ebbo 
 was ashumed of him, " no blushes, my boy ; it is a 
 rare gift. I can make a hundred knights any day, 
 but the Almighty alone can make a genius. It was 
 this very matter of graving that led me hither." 
 
 For Maximilian had a passion for composition, 
 and chiefly for autobiography, and his head was 
 full of that curious performance, "Der Weisse Konig," 
 
us ^0 YE m THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 which occupied many of the leisure moments of his 
 life, being dictated to his former writing-master, 
 Marcus Sauerwein. He had already designed the 
 portrayal of his father as the old white king, and 
 himself as the young white king, in a series of wood- 
 cuts illustrating the narrative which culminated in 
 the one romance of his life, his brief, happy mar- 
 riage with Mary of Burgundy ; and he continued 
 eagerly to talk to Master Gottfried about the mys- 
 tery of graving, and the various scenes in which he 
 wished to depict himself learning languages from 
 native speakers — Czech from a peasant with a bas- 
 ket of eggs, English from the exiles at the Burgun- 
 dian court, Avho had also taught him the use of the 
 longbow, building from architects and masons, 
 painting from artists, and, more imaginatively, astrol- 
 ogy from a wonderful flaming sphere in the sky, and 
 the black art from a witch inspired by a long-tailed 
 demon perched on her shoulder. 
 
 ISIo doubt " the young white king" made an ex- 
 ceedingly prominent figure in the discourse, but it 
 w^as so quaint and so brilliant that it did not need 
 the charm of foyal condescension to entrance the 
 young knights, who stood silent auditors. Ebbo at 
 least was convinced that no species of knowledge 
 or skill was viewed by his kaiserly kingship as be- 
 neath his dignity ; but still he feared Friedel's being 
 seized upon to be as prime illustrator to the royal 
 autobiography — a lot to which, with all his devotion 
 to Maximilian, he could hardly have consigned 
 his brother, in the certainty that the jeers of the 
 ruder nobles would pursue the craftsman baron. 
 
DO VE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 249 
 
 However, for the present, Maximilian was keen 
 enough to see that the boy's mechanical skill was 
 not as yet equal to his genius ; so he only encouraged 
 him to practice, adding that he heard there was a 
 rare lad, one Diirer, at IS'uremburg, whose produc- 
 tions were already wonderful. " And what is this ? " 
 he asked ; " what is the daintily-carved group I see 
 yonder ? " 
 
 " Your highness means, ' The Dove in the Eagle's 
 Nest,' " said Kasimir. " It is the work of my young 
 kinsmen, and their appropriate device." 
 
 " As well chosen as carved," said Maximilian, ex- 
 amining it. " Well is it that a city dove should 
 now and then find her way to the eyrie. Some of 
 my nobles would cut my throat for the heresy, but 
 I am safe here, eh. Sir Kasimir ? Fare ye well, ye 
 dove-trained eaglets. We will know one another 
 better when we bear the cross against the infidel." 
 
 The brothers kissed his hand, and he descended 
 the steps from the hall door. Ere he had gone far, 
 he turned round upon Sir Kasimir with a merry 
 smile : " A very white and tender dove indeed, and 
 one who might easily nestle in another eyrie, me- 
 thinks." 
 
 " Deems your kingly highness that consent could 
 be won ? " asked Wildschloss. 
 
 " From the kaiser ? Pf ui, man, thou knowest as 
 weU as I do the golden key to his consent. So thou 
 wouldst risk thy luck again ! Thou hast no male 
 heir." 
 
 " And I would fain give my child a mother who 
 
250 DO VE m TBE EAQLE^B NEST. 
 
 would deal well with her. Nay, to say sooth, that 
 gentle, mnocent face has dwelt with me for many 
 years. But for my pre-contract, I had striven long 
 ago to win her, and had been a happier man, may- 
 hap. And, now I have seen what she has made of 
 her sons, I feel I could scarce find her match among 
 our nobility." 
 
 " Nor elsewhere," said the king ; " and I honor 
 thee for not being so besotted in our German haughti- 
 ness as not to see that it is our free cities that make 
 refined and discreet dames. I give you good speed, 
 Adlerstein ; but, if I read aright the brow of one at 
 least of these young fellows, thou wilt scarce have a 
 willing or obedient stepson.*" 
 
DO VE IN THE EAGLE '8 NEST. 25 1 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 THE RIVAL EYRIE. 
 
 Ebbo trusted that his kinsman of "Wildschloss was 
 safe gone with the court, and his temper smoothed 
 and his spirits rose in proportion while preparations 
 for a return to Adlerstein were being completed — 
 preparations by which the burgher lady might hope 
 to render the castle far more habitable, not to say 
 baronial, than it had ever been. 
 
 The lady herself felt thankful that her Stay at 
 Ulm had turned out well beyond all anticipations in 
 the excellent understanding between her uncle and 
 her sons, and still more in Ebbo's full submission 
 and personal loyalty toward the imperial family 
 The die was cast, and the first step had been taken 
 toward rendering the Adlerstein family the peace- 
 ful, honorable nobles she always longed to see 
 them. 
 
 She was one afternoon assisting her aunt in some 
 of the duties of her wirthsehqfi, when Master G ott- 
 fried entered the apartment with an air of such ex 
 treme complacency that both turned round amazed ; 
 the one exclaiming, " Surely funds have come in for 
 finishing the spire!" the other, "Have they ap- 
 pointed the provost for next year, house- father ? " 
 
j^52 DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 " !N'either the one nor the other," was the reply, 
 " But heard you not the horse's feet ? Here has the 
 Lord of Adlerstein Wildschloss been with me in full 
 state, to make formal proposals for the hand of our 
 child, Christina." 
 
 " For Christina ? " cried Hausf rau Johanna with 
 delight ; " truly that is well. Truly our maiden has 
 done honor to her breeding. A second nobleman 
 demanding her — and one who should be able richly 
 to endow her 1 " 
 
 *' And who will do so," said Master Gottfried. 
 " For morning gift he promises the farms and lands 
 of Griinau — rich both in forest and corn glebe. 
 Likewise, her dower shall be upon Wildschloss— 
 where the soil is of the richest pasture, and there 
 are no less than three mills, whence the lord obtains 
 large rights of multure. Moreover, the castle was 
 added to and furnished on his marriage with the 
 late baroness, and might serve a kurfiirst ; and 
 though the jewels of Freiherrinn Yaleska must be 
 inherited by her daughter, yet there are many of 
 higher price which have descended from his own 
 ancestresses, and which will all be hers." 
 
 " And what a wedding we will have ! " exclaimed 
 J ohanna ; " it shall be truly baronial. I will take 
 my hood and go at once to neighbor Sophie Lems- 
 berg, who was wife to the markgraf s under keller- 
 meister. She will tell me point device the cere- 
 monies befitting the espousals of a baron's widow." 
 
 Poor Christina had sat all this time with drooping 
 bead and clasped hands, a tear stealing down as the 
 
DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST, 253 
 
 formal terms of the treaty sent her spirit back to 
 the urgent, pleading, imperious voice that had said, 
 " Now, little one, thou wilt not shut me out ; " and 
 as she glanced at the ring that had lain on that 
 broad palm, she felt as if her sixteen cheerful years 
 had been an injury to her husband in his nameless 
 bloody grave. But protection was so needful in 
 those rude ages, and second marriages so frequent, 
 that reluctance was counted as weakness. She knew 
 her uncle and aunt would never believe that aught 
 but compulsion had bound her to the rude outlaw, 
 and her habit of submission was so strong that, only 
 when her aunt was actually rising to go and consult 
 her gossip, she found breath to falter : 
 
 "Hold, dear aunt — my sons " 
 
 " N^ay, child, it is the best thing thou couldst do 
 for them. Wonders hast thou wrought, yet are they 
 too old to be without fatherly authority. I speak 
 not of Friedel ; the lad is gentle and pious, though 
 spirited, but for the baron. The very eye and tem- 
 per of my poor brother Hugh — thy father, Stine — 
 are alive again in him. Yea, I love the lad the 
 better for it, while I fear. He minds me precisely 
 of Hugh ere he was 'prenticed to the weapon-smith, 
 and all became bitterness." 
 
 " Ah, truly," said Christina, raising her eyes : " all 
 would become bitterness with my Ebbo were I to 
 give a father's power to one whom he would not 
 love." 
 
 " Then were he sullen and unruly, indeed ! " said 
 the old burgomaster with displeasure ; " none have 
 
254 DO VE IN TEE EA QLE '8 NEST. 
 
 shown him more kindness, none could better aid him 
 in court and empire. The lad has never had re- 
 straint enough. I blame thee not, child, but he needs 
 it sorely, by thine own showing." 
 
 " Alas, uncle ! mine be the blame, but it is over late. 
 My boy will rule himself for the love of God and of 
 his mother, but he will brook no hand over him — 
 least of all now he is a knight and thinks himseK a 
 man. Uncle, I should be deprived of both my sons, 
 for Friedel's very soul is bound up with his broth- 
 er's. I pra}^ thee enjoin not this thing on me," she 
 implored. 
 
 " Child ! " exclaimed Master Gottfried, " thou 
 thinkst not that such a contract as this can be de- 
 clined for the sake of a wayward junker ! " 
 
 " Stay, house-father, the little one w^ill doubtless 
 hear reason and submit," put in the aunt. "Her 
 sons were goodly and delightsome to her in their 
 upgrowth, but they are well-nigh men. They will 
 be away to court and camp, to love and marriage ; 
 and how will it be with her then, young and fair as 
 she still is ? Well will it be for her to have a stately 
 lord of her own, and a new home of love and honor 
 springing round her." 
 
 " True," continued Sorel ; " and though she be too 
 pious and wise to reck greatly of such trifles, yet it 
 may please her dreamy brain to hear that Sir Kasi- 
 mir loves her even like a paladin, and the love of a 
 tried man of six-and-f orty is better worth than a mere 
 kindling of youthful fancy." 
 
 " Mine Eberhard loved me ! " murmured Christina, 
 almost to herself, but her aunt caught the word. 
 
DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 255 
 
 " And what was such love worth ? To force thee 
 into a stolen match, and leave thee alone and un- 
 owned to the consequences ! " 
 
 " Peace ! " exclaimed Christina, with crimson cheek 
 and uplifted head. " Peace ! My own dear lord 
 loved me with true and generous love ! None but 
 myself knows how much. Not a word will I hear 
 against that tender heart." 
 
 " Yes, peace," returned Gottfried in a conciliatory 
 tone — "peace to the brave Sir Eberhard. Thine 
 aunt meant no ill of him. He truly would rejoice 
 that the wisdom of his choice should receive such 
 testimony, and that his sons should be thus well 
 handled. ISTay, little as I heed such toys, it will 
 doubtless please the lads that the baron wiU obtain 
 of the emperor letters of nobility for this house, 
 which verily sprang of a good Walloon family, and 
 so their shield will have no blank. The Romish 
 king promises to give thee rank with any baroness, 
 and hath fully owned what a pearl thou art, mine 
 own sweet dove ! Nay, Sir Kasimir is coming to- 
 morrow in the trust to make the first betrothal with 
 Graf von Kaulwitz as a witness, and I thought of 
 asking the provost on the other hand." 
 
 " To-morrow ! " exclaimed Johanna ; " and how is 
 she to be meetly clad ? Look at this widow-garb ; 
 and how is time to be found for procuring other 
 raiment ? House-father, a substantial man like you 
 should better understand ! The meal too ! I must 
 to gossip Sophie ! " 
 
 " Yerily, dear mother and father," said Christina, 
 
256 T>0 YE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 who had rallied a little, " have patience with me. 
 I may not lightly or suddenly betroth myself ; I 
 know not that I can do so at all, assuredly not un- 
 less my sons were heartily willing. Have I your 
 leave to retire ? " 
 
 " Granted, my child, for meditation will show 
 thee that this is too fair a lot for any but thee. 
 Much had I longed to see thee wedded ere thy sons 
 outgrew thy care, but I shunned proposing even one 
 of our worthy guild-masters, lest my young frieherr 
 should take offense ; but this knight, of his own 
 blood, true and wise as a burgher, and faithful and 
 God-fearing withal, is a better match than I durst 
 hope, and is no doubt a special reward from thy 
 patron saint." 
 
 "Let me entreat one favor more," implored 
 Christina. " Speak of this to no one ere I have seen 
 my sons." 
 
 She made her way to her own chamber, there to 
 weep and flutter. Marriage was a matter of such 
 high contract between families that the parties 
 themselves had usually no voice in the matter, and 
 only the widowed had any chance of a personal 
 choice ; nor was this always accorded in the case of 
 females, who remained at the disposal of their rela- 
 tives. Good substantial wedded affection was not 
 lacking, but romantic love was thought an unneces- 
 sary preliminary, and found a . vent in extravagant 
 adoration, not always in reputable quarters. Obedi- 
 ence first to the father, then to the husband, was 
 the first requisite ; love might shift for itself ; and 
 
DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 257 
 
 the fair widow of Adlerstein, telling her beads in 
 sheer perplexity, knew not whether her strong re- 
 pugnance to this marriage and warm sympathy 
 with her son Ebbo were not an act of rebellion. 
 Yet each moment did her husband rise before her 
 mind more vividly, with his rugged looks, his warm, 
 tender heart, his dawnings of comprehension, his 
 generous forbearance and reverential love — the love 
 of her youth — to be equaled by no other. The ac- 
 complished courtier and polished man of the world 
 might be his superior, but she loathed the superior- 
 ity, since it was to her husband. Might not his 
 one chosen dove keep heart-whole for him to the 
 last? She recollected that coarsest, cruellest re- 
 proach of all that her mother-in-law had been wont 
 to fling at her — that she, the recent widow, the new- 
 made mother of Eberhard's babes, in her grief, 
 her terror, and her weakness had sought to capti- 
 vate this suitor by her blandishments. The taunt 
 seemed justified, and her cheeks burned with abso- 
 lute shame : " My husband ! my loving Eberhard ! 
 left with none but me to love thee, unknown to 
 thine own sons ! I cannot, I will not give my 
 heart away from thee ! Thy little bride shall be 
 faithful to thee, whatever betide. "When we meet 
 beyond the grave I will have been thine only, nor 
 have set any before thy sons. Heaven forgive me 
 if I be undutiful to my uncle ; but thou must be 
 preferred before even him ! Hark ! " and she 
 started as if at Eberhard's footstep ; then smiled, 
 recollecting that Ebbo had his father's tread. But 
 
 X 
 
258 I>0 VE IN THE EAGLE'S NE8T. 
 
 her husband had been too much in awe of her to 
 enter with that hasty, agitated step and exclama- 
 tion, " Mother, mother, what insolence is this ! " 
 
 '' Hush, Ebbo ? I prayed mine uncle to let me 
 speak to thee." 
 
 " It is true, then," said Ebbo, dashing his cap on 
 ground ; " I had soundly beaten that grinning 'pren- 
 tice for telling Heinz." 
 
 " Truly the house rings with the rumor, mother," 
 said Friedel, " but we had not believed it." 
 
 "I believed Wildschloss assured enough for 
 aught," said Ebbo, "but I thought he knew where 
 to begin. Does he not know who is head of the 
 house of Adlerstein, since he must tamper with a 
 mechanical craftsman, cap in hand to any sprig 
 of nobility ! I would have soon silenced his over- 
 tures ! " 
 
 "Is it in sooth as we heard?" asked Friedel, 
 blushing to the ears, for the boy was shy as a 
 maiden. " Mother, we know what you would say," 
 he added, throwing himself on his knees beside her, 
 his arm round her waist, his cheek on her lap, and 
 his eyes raised to hers. 
 
 She bent down to kiss him. "Thou knewst it, 
 Friedel, and now must thou aid me to remain thy 
 father's true widow, and to keep Ebbo from being 
 violent." 
 
 Ebbo checked his hasty march to put his hand 
 on her chair and kiss her brow. " Motherling, 1 
 will restrain myself, so you will give me your word 
 not to desert us." 
 
DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 259 
 
 " Kay, Ebbo," said Friedel, " the motherling is 
 too true and loving for us to bind her." 
 
 "Children," she answered, "hear me patiently. 
 I have been communing with myself, and deeply do 
 I feel that none other can I love save him who is to 
 you a mere name, but to me a living presence. IS^or 
 would I put any between you and me. Fear me 
 not, Ebbo. I think the mothers and sons of this 
 wider, fuller world do not prize one another as we 
 do. But, my son, this is no matter for rage or in- 
 gratitude. Remember it is no small condescension 
 in a noble to stoop to thy citizen mother." 
 
 " He knew what painted puppets noble ladies are," 
 growled Ebbo. 
 
 " Moreover," continued Christina, " thine uncle is 
 highly gratified, and cannot believe that i can re- 
 fuse. He understands not my love for thy father, 
 and sees many advantages for us all. I doubt me if 
 he believes I have power to resist his will, and for 
 thee, he would not count thine opposition valid. 
 And the more angry and vehement thou art, the 
 more will he deem himself doing thee a service by 
 overruling thee." 
 
 " Come home, mother. Let Heinz lead our horses 
 to the door in the dawn, and when we are back in 
 free Adlerstein it will be plain who is master." 
 
 " Such a flitting would scarce prove our wisdom," 
 said Christina, " to run away with thy mother like a 
 lover in a ballad. I^ay, let me first deal gently with 
 thine uncle, and speak myself with Sir Kasimir, so 
 that I may show him the vanity of his suit. Then 
 
oeo DOVE IN TEE EA QLE 8 NE8T. 
 
 will we back to Adlerstein without leaving wounds 
 to requite kindness." 
 
 Ebbo was wrought on to promise not to attack 
 the burgomaster on the subject, but he was moody 
 and silent, and Master Gottfried let him alone, 
 considering his gloom as another proof of his need 
 of fatherly authority, and as a peace-lover forbear- 
 ing to provoke his fiery spirit. 
 
 But when Sir Kasimir's visit was imminent, and 
 Christina had refused to make the change in her 
 dress by which a young widow was considered to 
 lay herself open to another courtship, Master Gott- 
 fried called the twins apart. 
 
 "' My young lords," he said, " I fear me ye are 
 vexing your gentle mother by needless strife at 
 what must take place." 
 
 " Pardon me, good uncle," said Ebbo, " I utterly 
 decline the honor of Sir Kasimir's suit to my 
 mother." 
 
 Master Gottfried smiled. " Sons are not wont to 
 be the judges in such cases. Sir Eberhard." 
 
 " Perhaps not," he answered ; " but my mother's 
 will is to the nayward, nor shall she be coerced." 
 
 "It is merely because of you and your pride," 
 said Master Gottfried. 
 
 " I think not so," rejoined the calmer Friedel; " my 
 mother's love for my father is still fresh." 
 
 "Young knights," said Master Gottfried, "it 
 would scarce become me to say, nor you to hear, 
 how much matter of fancy such love must have 
 been toward one whom she knew but a few 
 
dov:B! m the ba&lb's nest, 261 
 
 short months, though her pure sweet dreams, 
 through these long years, have molded him into a 
 hero. Boys, I verily believe ye love her truly. 
 Would it be well for her still to mourn and cherish 
 a dream while yet in her fresh age, capable of new 
 happiness, fuller than she has ever enjoyed ? " 
 
 " She is happy with us," rejoined Ebbo. 
 
 " And ye are good lads and loving sons, though 
 less duteous in manner than I could wish. But look 
 you, you may not ever be with her, and when ye are 
 absent in camp or court, or contracting a wedlock 
 of your own, would you leave her to her lonesome 
 life in your solitary castle ? " 
 
 Friedel's unselfishness might have been startled, 
 but Ebbo boldly answered, " All mine is hers. JSTo 
 joy to me but shall be a joy to her. We can make 
 her happier than could any stranger. Is it not so, 
 Friedel?" 
 
 " It is," said Friedel, thoughtfully. 
 
 " Ah, rash bloods, promising beyond what ye can 
 keep. Nature will be too strong for you. Love 
 your mother as ye may, what will she be to you 
 when a bride comes in your way ? Fling not away 
 in wrath, sir baron : it was so with your parents 
 both before you ; and what said the law of the good 
 God at the first marriage? How can you with- 
 stand the nature He has given ? " 
 
 "Belike I may wed," said Ebbo, bluntly; "but if 
 it be not for my mother's happiness, call me man- 
 sworn knight." 
 
 "Not so," good-humoredly answered Gottfried, 
 
262 I>0 VE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 " but boy sworn paladin, who talks of he knows not 
 what. Speak knightly truth, sir baron, and own 
 that this opposition is in verity from distaste to a 
 stepfather's rule." 
 
 " I own that I will not brook such rule," said 
 Ebbo; "nor do I know what we have done to 
 deserve that it should be thrust on us. You have 
 never blamed Friedel, at least ; and verily, uncle, 
 my mother's eye will lead me where a stranger's 
 hand shall never drive me. Did I even think she 
 had for this man a quarter of the love she bears to 
 my dead father, I would strive for endurance ; but 
 in good sooth we found her in tears, praying us to 
 guard her from him. I may be a boy, bat I am 
 man enough to prevent her from being coerced." 
 
 " "Was this so, Friedel ? " asked Master Gottfried, 
 moved more than by all that had gone before. 
 " Ach, I thought ye all wiser. And spake she not 
 of Sir Kasunir's offers ? Interest with the Romish 
 king ? Yea, and a grant of nobility and arms to 
 this house, so as to fill the blank in your scutch- 
 eon?" 
 
 " M3? father never asked if she were noble," said 
 Ebbo. " ]^or will I barter her for a cantle of a 
 shield." 
 
 "There spake a manly spirit," said his uncle, 
 delighted. " Her worth hath taught thee how little 
 to prize these gewgaws ! Yet if you look to ming- 
 ling with your own proud kind, ye may fall among 
 greater slights than ye can brook. It may matter 
 less to you, sir baron, but Friedel here, ay and 
 
DOVE IN THE EAGLE' 8 NE81. 263 
 
 your sons, will be ineligible to the choicest orders of 
 knighthood, and the canonries and chapters that are 
 honorable endowments." 
 
 Friedel looked as if he could bear it, and Eber- 
 hard said, " The order of the Dove of Adlerstein is 
 enough for us." 
 
 " Headstrong all, headstrong all," sighed Master 
 Gottfried. " One romantic marriage has turned all 
 your heads." 
 
 The Baron of Adlerstein Wildschloss, unprepared 
 for the opposition that awaited him, was riding 
 down the street equipped point device, and with a 
 goodly train of followers, in brilliant suits. Private 
 wooing did not enter into the honest ideas of the 
 burghers, and the suitor was ushered into the full 
 family assembly, where Christina rose and came 
 forward a few steps to meet him, courtesying as low 
 as he bowed, as he said : " Lady, I have preferred 
 my suit to you through your honor-worthy uncle, 
 who is good enough to stand my friend." 
 
 " You are over good, sir. I feel the honor, but a 
 second wedlock may not be mine." 
 
 " ]^ow," murmured Ebbo to his brother, as the 
 knight and lady seated themselves in full view, 
 " now will the smooth-tongued fellow talk her out 
 of her senses. Alack ! that gypsy prophecy ! " 
 
 Wildschloss did not talk like a young wooer ; such 
 days were over for both ; but he spoke as a grave 
 and honorable man, deeply penetrated with true 
 esteem and affection. He said that at their first 
 meeting he had been struck with her sweetness and 
 
^64 Dor Si IN THE EAGLE' 8 NEST. 
 
 discretion, and would soon after have endeavored 
 to release her from her durance, but that he was 
 bound by the contract already made with the Traut- 
 bachs, who were dangerous neighbors to Wild- 
 schloss. He had delayed his distasteful marriage 
 as long as possible, and it had caused him nothing 
 but trouble and strife ; his children would not live, 
 and Thekla, the only survivor, was, as his sole 
 heiress, a mark for the cupidity of her uncle, the 
 Count of Trautbach, and his almost savage son 
 Lassla ; while the right to the ,'Wildschloss barony 
 would become so doubtful between her and Ebbo, 
 as heir of the male line, that strife and bloodshed 
 would be well-nigh inevitable. These causes made 
 it almost imperative that he should re-marry, and 
 his own strong preference and regard for little 
 Thekla directed his wishes toward the Freiherrinn 
 von Adlerstein. He backed his suit with courtly 
 compliments, as well as with representations of his 
 child's need of a mother's training, and the twins' 
 equal want of fatherly guidance, dilating on the 
 benefits' he could confer on them. 
 
 Christina felt his kindness, and had full trust in 
 his intentions. " Ko " was a difficult syllable to her, 
 but she had that within her which could not accept 
 him ; and* she firmly told him that she was too much 
 bound to both her Eberhards. But there was no 
 daunting him, nor preventing her uncle and aunt 
 from encouraging him. He professed that he would 
 wait, and give her time to consider ; and though she 
 reiterated that consideration would not change her 
 
DO VE IN THE EAOLE'B NEST. $65 
 
 mind, Master Gottfried came forward to thank 
 him and express his confidence of bringing her to 
 reason. 
 
 " While I, sir," said Ebbo, with flashing eyes, and 
 low but resentful voice, " beg to decline the honor 
 in the name of the elder house of Adlerstein." 
 
 He held himself upright as a dart, but was infi- 
 nitely annoyed by the little mocking bow and smile 
 that he received in return, as Sir Kasimir, with his 
 long mantle, swept out of the apartment, attended 
 by Master Gottfried. 
 
 " Burgomaster Sorel," said the boy, standing in 
 the middle of the floor as his uncle returned, '' let 
 me hear whether I am a person of any consideration 
 in this family or not ? " 
 
 "Nephew baron," quietly replied Master Gott- 
 fried, " it is not the use of us Germans to be dictated 
 to by youths not yet arrived at years of discretion." 
 
 " Then, mother," said Ebbo, " we leave this place 
 to-morrow morn." And at her nod of assent the 
 house-father looked deeply grieved, the house- 
 mother began to clamor about ingratitude. " Not 
 so," answered Ebbo, fiercely. "We quit the house 
 as poor as we came, in homespun and with the old 
 mare." 
 
 " Peace Ebbo ! " said his mother, rising ; " peace, I 
 entreat, house-mother ! pardon, uncle, I pray thee. 
 O, why will not all who love me let me follow that 
 which I believe to be best ! " 
 
 " Child," said her uncle, " I cannot see thee domi- 
 neered over by a youth whose whole conduct shows 
 bis need of restraint." 
 
^66 DO VB IN THE EAGLE'S NEST, 
 
 " ]S'or am I," said Christina. " It is I who am 
 utterly averse to this offer. Mj sons and I are one 
 in that; and, uncle, if I pray of you to consent to 
 let us return to our castle, it is that I would not see 
 the visit that has made us so happy stained with 
 strife and dissension ! Sure, sure you cannot be 
 angered with my son for his love for me." 
 
 "For the self-seeking of his love," said Master 
 Gottfried. " It is to gratify his own pride that he 
 first would prevent thee from being enriched and 
 ennobled, and now would bear thee away to the 
 scant — — Nay, freiherr, I will not seem to insult 
 you, but resentment would make you cruel to your 
 mother." 
 
 " ]^ot cruel ! " said Friedel hastily. " My mother 
 is willing. And verily, good uncle, methinks that 
 we all were best at home. We have benefited much 
 and greatly by our stay ; we have learned to love 
 and reverence you ; but we are wild mountaineers 
 at the best ; and while our hearts are fretted by the 
 fear of losing our sweet mother, we can scarce be as 
 patient or submissive as if we had been bred up by 
 a stern father. We have ever judged and acted for 
 ourselves, and it is hard to us not to do so still, when 
 our minds are chafed." 
 
 "Friedel," said Ebbo, sternly, "I will have no 
 pardon asked for maintaining my mother's cause. 
 Do not thou learn to be smooth-tongued." 
 
 " O thou wrong-headed boy ! " half groaned Mas- 
 ter Gottfried. " Why did not all this fall out ten 
 years sooner, when thou wouldst have been amena- 
 
DOVE m THE EAGLE'S NEST. 267 
 
 ble ? Yet, after all, I do not know that any noble 
 training has produced a more high-minded, loving 
 youth," he added, half relenting as he looked at the 
 gallant, earnest face, full of defiance indeed, but with 
 a certain wistful appealing glance at " the mother- 
 ling," softening the liquid, lustrous dark eye. " Get 
 thee gone, boy, I would not quarrel with you ; and 
 it may be, as Friedel says, that we are best out of 
 one another's way. You are used to lord it, and I 
 can scarce make excuses for you." 
 
 " Then," said Ebbo, scarce appeased, " I take home 
 my mother, and you, sir, cease to favor Kasimir's 
 suit." 
 
 " N^o, sir baron. I cease not to think that noth- 
 ing would be so much for your good. It is because 
 I believe that a return to your own old castle will 
 best convince you all that I will not vex your 
 mother by further opposing your departure. When 
 you perceive your error may it only not be too late! 
 Such a protector is not to be found every day." 
 
 " My mother shall never need any protector save 
 myself," said Ebbo ; " but, sir, she loves you, and 
 owes all to you. Therefore I will not be at strife 
 with you, and there is my hand." 
 
 He said it as if he had been the emperor recon- 
 ciling himself to all the Hanse towns in one. Mas- 
 ter Gottfried could scarce refrain from shrugging 
 his shoulders, and Hausfrau Johanna was exceed- 
 ingly angry with the petulant pride and insolence 
 of the young noble ; but, in effect, all were too 
 much relieved to avoid an absolute quarrel with the 
 
268 I>0 VE IN THE EAQLE'8 NEST. 
 
 fiery lad to take exception at minor matters. The 
 old burgher was forbearing ; Christina, who knew 
 how much her son must have swallowed to bring 
 him to this concession for love of her, thought him 
 a hero worthy of all sacrifices ; and peace-making 
 Friedel, by his aunt's side, soon softened even her, 
 by some of the persuasive arguments that old dames 
 love from gracious, graceful, great-nephews. 
 
 And when, by-and-by. Master Gottfried went out 
 to call on Sir Kasimir, and explain how he had 
 thought it best to yield to the hot-tempered lad, and 
 let the family learn how to be thankful for the 
 goods they had rejected, he found affairs in a state 
 that made him doubly anxious that the young bar- 
 ons should be safe on their mountain without know- 
 ing of them. The Trautbach family had heard of 
 Wildschloss' designs, and they had set abroad such 
 injurious reports respecting the lady of Adlerstein, 
 that Sir Kasimir was in the act of inditing a cartel 
 to be sent by Count Kaulwitz, to demand an explan- 
 ation — not merely as the lady's suitor, but as the 
 only Adlerstein of full age. Now, if Ebbo had 
 heard of the rumor, he would certainly have given 
 the lie direct, and taken the whole defense on him- 
 self ; and it may be feared that, just as his cause 
 might have been. Master Gottfried's faith did 
 not stretch to believing that it would make his six- 
 teen-year-old arm equal to the brutal might of Lassla 
 of Trautbach. So he heartily thanked the Baron 
 of Wildschloss, agreed with him that the young 
 knights were not as yet equal to the maintenance of 
 
DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 the cause, and went home again to watch carefully 
 that no report reached either of his nephews. Nor 
 did he breathe freely till he had seen the little party 
 ride safe off in the early morning, in much more 
 lordly guise than when they had entered the city. 
 
 As to Wildschloss and his nephew of Trautbach, 
 in spite of their relationship they had a sharp com- 
 bat on the borders of their own estates, in which 
 both were severely wounded ; but Sir Kasimir, with 
 the misericorde in his grasp, forced Lassla to retract 
 whatever he had said in dispraise of the lady of 
 Adlerstein. Wily old Gottfried took care that the 
 tidings should be sent in a form that might at once 
 move Christina with pity and gratitude toward her 
 champion, and convince her sons that the adversary 
 was too much hurt for them to attempt a fresh chax> 
 lenge. 
 
270 J50 VE IN THE EAGLE 'S NEST. 
 
 CHAPTEE XYL 
 
 THE EAGLE AND THE SNAKE. 
 
 The RECONCILIATION made Ebbo retract his hasty 
 resolution of relinquishing all the beneJ&ts resulting 
 from his connection with the Sorel family, and his 
 mother's fortune made it possible to carry out many 
 changes that rendered the castle and its inmates far 
 more prosperous in appearance than had ever been 
 the case before. Christina had once again the appli- 
 ances of a wirthschqft, such as she felt to be the 
 suitable and becoming appurtenance of a right- 
 minded frau, gentle or simple, and she felt so much 
 the happier and more respectable. 
 
 A chaplain had also been secured. The youths 
 had insisted on his being capable of assisting their 
 studies, and a good man had been found who was 
 fearfully learned, having studied at all possible uni- 
 versities, but then failing as a teacher, because he 
 was so dreamy and absent as to be incapable of 
 keeping the unruly students in order. Jobst Schon 
 was his proper name, but he was translated into 
 Jodocus Pulcher. The chapel was duly adorned, 
 the hall and other chambers were fitted up with 
 some degree of comfort; the castle court was 
 cleansed, the cattle sheds removed to the rear, and 
 
DOVE IN TEE EAGLE'S NEST. 271 
 
 the serfs were presented with seed, and offered pay- 
 ment in coin if they would give their labor in fenc- 
 ing and clearing the cornfield and vineyard which 
 the barons were bent on forming on the sunny 
 slope of the ravine. Poverty was over, thanks to 
 the marriage portion, and yet Ebbo looked less 
 happy than in the days when there was but a bare 
 subsistence ; and he seemed to miss the full tide of 
 city life more than did his brother, who, though he 
 had enjoyed Ulm more heartily at the time, seemed 
 to have returned to all his mountain deUghts with 
 greater zest than ever. At his favorite tarn, he rev- 
 eled in the vast stillness with the greater awe for 
 having heard the hum of men, and his minstrel 
 dreams had derived fresh vigor from contact with 
 the active world. But, as usual, he was his brother's 
 chief stay in the vexations of a reformer. The serfs 
 had much rather their lord had turned out a free- 
 booter than an improver. Why should they sow 
 new seeds, when the old had sufficed their fathers ? 
 "Work, beyond the regulated days when they 
 scratched up the soil of his old enclosure, was ab- 
 horrent to them. As to his offered coin, they 
 needed nothing it would buy, and had rather bask 
 in the sun or sleep in the smoke. A vineyard had 
 never been heard of on Adlerstein mountain : it was 
 clean contrary to his forefathers' habits; and all 
 came of the bad drop of restless burgher blood, 
 that could not let honest folk rest. 
 
 Ebbo stormed, not merely with words, but blows, 
 became ashamed of his violence, tried to atone for 
 
272 J>0 VJEJ IN THE EAGLE'S NEST, 
 
 it by gifts and kind words, and in return was 
 sulkily told that he would bring more good to the 
 village by rolling the fiery wheel straight down hill 
 at the wake than by all his new-fangled ways. 
 Had not Koppel and a few younger men been 
 more open to influence, his agricultural schemes 
 could hardly have begun ; but Friedel's persuasions 
 were not absolutely without success, and every rood 
 that was dug was achieved by his patience and 
 perseverance. 
 
 Next came home the Graf von Schlangenwald. 
 He had of late inhabited his castle in Styria, but 
 in a fierce quarrel with some of his neighbors he 
 had lost his eldest son, and the pacification enforced 
 by the king of the Romans had so galled and in- 
 furiated him that he had deserted that part of the 
 country and returned to Swabia more fierce and 
 bitter than ever. Thenceforth began a petty bor- 
 der warfare such as had existed when Christina first 
 knew Adlerstein, but had of late died out. The 
 shepherd lad came home weeping with wrath. 
 Three mounted KSchlangenwaldern had driven off 
 his four best sheep, and beaten himself with their 
 halberds, though he was safe on Adlerstein ground. 
 Then a light thrown by a Schlangenwald reiter 
 consumed all Jobst's pile of wood. The swine did 
 not come home, and were found with spears stick- 
 ing in them ; the great broad-horned bull that Ebbo 
 had brought from the pastures of Ulm vanished 
 from the Alp below the Gemsbock's Pass, and was 
 known to be salted for winter use at Schlangen- 
 wald. 
 
DOVJS m THE EAGLE'S NEST. 273 
 
 Still Christina tried to persuade her sons that 
 this might be only the retainers' violence, and in- 
 duced Ebbo to write a letter complaining of the 
 outrages, but not blaming the count, only begging 
 that his followers might be better restrained. The 
 letter was conveyed by a lay brother — no other 
 messenger being safe. Ebbo had protested from 
 the first that it would be of no use, but he waited 
 anxiously for the answer. 
 
 Thus it stood when conveyed to him by a tenant 
 of the Euprecht cloister : 
 
 "Wot you, Eberhard, Freiherr von Adlerstein, 
 that your house have injured me by thought, word 
 and deed. Your great-grandfather usurped my 
 lands at the ford. Your grandfather stole my 
 cattle and burned my mills. Then, in the war he 
 slew my brother Johann and lamed for life my 
 cousin Matthias. Your father slew eight of my 
 retainers and spoiled my crops. You yourself claim 
 my land at the ford, and secure the spoil which is 
 justly mine. Therefore do I declare war and feud 
 against you. Therefore to you and all yours, to 
 your helpers and helpers' helpers, am I a foe. And 
 thereby shall I have maintained my honor against 
 you and yours. 
 
 Wolfgang, Graf von Schlangenwald, 
 HiEROM, Graf von Schlangenwald — 
 his cousin." 
 etc. etc. etc. 
 
 And a long list of names, all connected with Schlan- 
 
274 DOVE IN THE EAGLE' 8 NEST. 
 
 genwald, followed; and a large seal, bearing the 
 snake of Schlan genwald, was appended thereto. 
 
 " The old miscreant ! " burst out Ebbo ; " it is a 
 feud brief." 
 
 "A feud brief!" exclaimed Friedel; "they are 
 no longer according to the law." 
 
 " Law ? — what cares he for law or mercy either ? 
 Is this the way men act by the League ? Did we 
 not swear to send no more feud letters, nor have re- 
 course to fist-right ? " 
 
 "We must appeal to the Markgraf of Wurtem- 
 burg," said Friedel. 
 
 It was the only measure in their power, though 
 Ebbo winced at it ; but his oaths were recent, and 
 his conscience would not allow him to transgress 
 them by doing himself justice. Besides, neither 
 party could take the castle of the other, and the 
 only reprisals in his power would have been on the 
 defenseless peasants of Schlangenwald. He must 
 therefore lay the whole matter before the markgraf, 
 who was the head of the Swabian League, and 
 bound to redress his wrongs. He made his arrange- 
 ments without faltering, selecting the escort who 
 were to accompany him, and insisting on leaving 
 Friedel to guard his mother and the castle. He 
 would not for the world have admitted the sugges- 
 tion that the counsel and introduction of Adlerstein 
 Wildschloss would have been exceedingly useful to 
 him. 
 
 Poor Christina ! It was a great deal too like that 
 former departure, and her heart was heavy within 
 
DOVE IN THE EAGLE'8 NEST. 275 
 
 her ! Friedel was equally unhappy at letting his 
 brother go without him, but it was quite necessary 
 that he and the few armed men who remained 
 should show themselves at all points open to the 
 enemy in the course of the day, lest the freiherr's 
 absence should be remarked. He did his best to 
 cheer his mother, by reminding her that Ebbo was 
 not likely to be taken at unawares as their father 
 had been ; and he shared the prayers and chapel 
 services, in which she poured out her anxiety. 
 
 The blue banner came safe up the pass 
 again, but Ebbo was gloomy and indignant. The 
 Markgraf of Wurtemburg had been formerly civil to 
 the young freiherr ; but he had laughed at the feud 
 letter as a mere old-fashioned habit of Schlangen- 
 wald's that it was better not to notice, and he evi- 
 dently regarded the stealing of a bull or the misus- 
 ing of a serf as far too petty a matter for his atten- 
 tion. It was as if a judge had been called by a cry- 
 ing child to settle a nursery quarrel. He told Ebbo 
 that, being a free baron of the empire, he must keep 
 his bounds respected ; he was free to take and hang 
 any spoiler he could catch, but his bulls were his 
 own affair ; the League was not for such gear. 
 
 And a knight who had ridden out of Stuttgard 
 with Ebbo had told him that it was no wonder that 
 this had been his reception, for not only was Schlan- 
 ganwald an old intimate of the markgraf, but Swabia 
 was claimed as a fief of Wurtemburg, so that Ebbo's 
 direct homage to the emperor, without the interposi- 
 tion of the markgraf, had made him no object of 
 favor. 
 
276 DO VE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 " What could be done ? " asked Ebbo. 
 
 " Fire some Schlangenwald hamlet, and teach him 
 to respect yours," said the knight. 
 
 " The poor serfs are guiltless." 
 
 " Ha ! ha ! as if they would not rob any of yours. 
 Give and take, that's the way the empire wags, sir 
 baron. Send him a feud letter in return, with a 
 goodly file of names at its foot, and teach him to 
 respect you." 
 
 " But I have sworn to abstain from fist-right." 
 
 " Much you gain by so abstaining. If the League 
 will not take the trouble to right you, right your- 
 self." 
 
 " I shall appeal to the emperor, and tell him how 
 his League is administered." 
 
 " Young sir, if the emperor were to guard every 
 cow in his domains he would have enough to do. 
 You will never prosper with him without some one 
 to back your cause better than that free tongue of 
 yours. Hast no sister that thou couldst give in 
 marriage to a stout baron that could aid you with 
 strong arm and prudent head ? " 
 
 " I have only one twin brother." 
 
 " Ah ! the twins of Adlerstein ! I remember me. 
 Was not the other Adlerstein seeking an alliance 
 with your lady mother ? Sure no better aid could 
 be found. He is hand and glove with young King 
 Max." 
 
 "That may never be," said Ebbo, haughtily. 
 And, sure that he should receive the same advice, 
 he decided against turning aside to consult his uncle 
 
DO VE IN THE EAGLE 'S NEST. 277 
 
 at Ulm, and returned home in a mood that rejoiced 
 Heinz and Hatto with hopes of the old days, while 
 it filled his mother with dreary dismay and appre- 
 hension. 
 
 " Schlangenwald should suffer next time he trans- 
 gressed," said Ebbo. " It should not again be said 
 that he himself was a coward who appealed to the 
 law because his hand could not keep his head." 
 
 The " next time " was when the first winter cold 
 was setting in. A party of reitern came to harry 
 an out-lying field, where Ulrich had raised a scanty 
 crop of rye. Tidings reached the castle in such 
 good time that the two brothers, with Heinz, the 
 two Ulm grooms, Koppel, and a troop of serfs, fell 
 on the marauders before they had effected much 
 damage, and while some remained to trample out 
 the fire, the rest pursued the enemy even to the 
 village of Schlangenwald. 
 
 " Burn it, Herr Freiherr," cried Heinz, hot with 
 victory. " Let them learn how to make havoc of 
 our corn." 
 
 But a host of half -naked beings rushed out shriek- 
 ing about sick children, bed-ridden grandmothers, 
 and crippled fathers, and falling on their knees, with 
 their hands stretched out to the young barons. 
 Ebbo turned away his head with hot tears in his 
 eyes. " Friedel, what can we do ? " 
 
 " JS'ot barbarous murder," said Friedel. 
 
 " But they brand us for cowards ! " 
 
 "The cowardice were in striking here," and 
 Friedel sprang to withhold Koppel, who had lighted 
 
2'J'8 I>0 VE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST, 
 
 a bundle of dried fern ready to thrust into the 
 thatch. 
 
 " Peasants ! " said Ebbo, with the same impulse, 
 " I spare you. You did not this wrong. But bear 
 word to your lord, that if he will meet me with lance 
 and sword, he will learn the valor of Adlerstein." 
 
 The serfs flung themselves before him in trans- 
 ports of gratitude, but he turned hastily away and 
 strode up the mountain, his cheek glowing as he re- 
 membered, too late, that his defiance would be 
 scoffed at, as a boy's vaunt. By and by he arrived 
 at the hamlet, where he found a prisoner, a scowl- 
 ing, abject fellow, already well beaten, and now 
 held by the two serfs. 
 
 " The halter is ready, Herr Freiherr," said old 
 Ulrich, " and yon rowan stump is still as stout as 
 when your herr grandsire hung three lanzknechts on 
 it in one day. We only wait your bidding." 
 
 " Quick then, and let me hear no more," said 
 Ebbo, about to descend the pass, as if hastening from 
 the execution of a wolf taken in a gin. 
 
 " Has he seen the priest ? " asked Friedel. 
 
 The peasants looked as if this were one of Sir 
 Eriedel's unaccountable fancies. Ebbo paused, 
 frowned, and muttered, but seeing a move as if to 
 drag the wretch toward the stunted bush overhang- 
 ing an abyss, he shouted, " hold, Ulrich ! little Hans, 
 do thou run down to the castle, and bring Father 
 Jodocus to do his office ! " 
 
 The serfs were much disgusted. " It never was 
 so seen before, Herr Freiherr," remonstrated Heinz ; 
 " fang and hang was ever the word." 
 
DOVE m THE EAGLE'S NEST, ^79 
 
 " What shrift had my lord's father, or mine ? " 
 added Koppel. 
 
 " Look you ! " said Ebbo, turning sharply. " If 
 Schlangenwald be a godless ruffian, pitiless alike to 
 soul and body, is that a cause that I should stain 
 myself too ? " 
 
 " It were true vengeance," growled Koppel. 
 
 " And now," grumbled Ulrich, " will my lady 
 hear, and there will be feeble pleadings for the ver- 
 min's life." 
 
 Like mutterings ensued, the purport of which was 
 caught by Friedel, and made him say to Ebbo, w^ho 
 would again have escaped the disagreeableness of 
 the scene, '''We had better tarry at hand. Un- 
 less we hold the folk in some check there wiU be no 
 right execution. They will torture him to death ere 
 the priest comes." 
 
 Ebbo yielded, and began to pace the scanty area 
 of the flat rock where the needfire was wont to 
 blaze. After a time he exclaimed : " Friedel, how 
 couldst ask me? Knowst not that it sickens me to 
 see a mountain cat killed, save in full chase. And 
 thou — why, thou art white as the snow crags ! " 
 
 "Better conquer the folly than that he there 
 should be put to needless pain," said Friedel, but 
 with laboring breath that showed how terrible was 
 the prospect to his imaginative soul, not inured to 
 death-scenes like those of his fellows. 
 
 Just then a mocking laugh broke forth. " Ha ! " 
 cried Ebbo, looking keenly down, "what do ye 
 there ? Fang and hang may be fair ; fang and tor- 
 ment is base ! What was it, Lieschen ? " 
 
280 I>0 tE IN THE EAGLE' 8 NEST. 
 
 " Only, Herr Freiherr, the caitiff craved drink, 
 and the fleischerinn gave him a cup from the stream 
 behind the slaughter-house, where we killed the 
 swine. Fit for the like of him ! " 
 
 " By heavens, when I forbade torture ! " cried 
 Ebbo, leaping from the rock in time to see the dis- 
 gusting draught held to the lips of the captive, 
 whose hands were twisted back and bound with 
 cruel tightness ; for the German boor, once roused 
 from his lazy good-nature, was doubly savage from 
 stolidity. 
 
 " Wretches ! " cried Ebbo, striking right and left 
 with the back of his sword, among the serfs, and 
 then cutting the thong that was eating into the 
 prisoner's flesh, while Fried el caught up a wooden 
 bowl, filled it with pure water, and offered it to the 
 captive, who drank deeply. 
 
 " JS'ow," said Ebbo, " hast ought to say for thy- 
 self?" 
 
 A low curse against things in general was the 
 only answer. 
 
 " What brought thee here ? " continued Ebbo, in 
 hopes of extracting some excuse for pardon ; but the 
 prisoner only hung his head as one stupefied, brutally 
 indifferent, and hardened against the mere trouble 
 of answering, l^ot another word could be extracted, 
 and Ebbo's position was very uncomfortable, keep- 
 ing guard over his condemned felon, with the sulky 
 peasants herding round, in fear of being balked of 
 their prey ; and the reluctance growing on him every 
 moment to taking life in cold blood. Eight of life 
 
DO VE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST, 281 
 
 and death was a heavy burden to a youth under 
 seventeen, unless he had been thoughtless and reck- 
 less, and from this Ebbo had been prevented by his 
 peculiar life. The lion cub had never tasted blood. 
 
 The situation was prolonged beyond expectation. 
 
 Many a time had the brothers paced their plat- 
 form of rock, the criminal had fallen into a dose, 
 and women and boys were murmuring that they 
 must call home their kine and goats, and it was a 
 shame to debar them of the sight of the hanging, 
 long before Hans came back between crying and 
 stammering, to say that Father Jodocus had fallen 
 into so deep a study over his book, that he only 
 muttered " Coming," then went into another musing 
 j&t, whence no one could rouse him to do more than 
 say " Coming ! Let him wait." 
 
 " I must go and bring him, if the thing is to be 
 done," said Friedel. 
 
 " And let it last all night ! " was the answer. 
 " No, if the man were to die, it should be at once, 
 not by inches. Hark thee, rogue ! " stirring him 
 with his foot. 
 
 "Well, sir," said the man, "is the hanging ready 
 yet ? You've been long enough about it for us to 
 have twisted the necks of every Adlerstein of you 
 aU." 
 
 " Look thee, caitiff ! " said Ebbo ; " thou meritest 
 the rope as well as any wolf on the mountain, but 
 we have kept thee so long in suspense, that if thou 
 canst say a word for thy life, or pledge thyself to 
 meddle no more with my lands, I'll consider of thy 
 doom." 
 
^gpi DOVE m TEE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 " You have had plenty of time to consider it," 
 growled the fellow. 
 
 A murmur, followed by a wrathful shout, rose 
 among the villagers. " Letting off the villain ! No 1 
 ]S"o ! Out upon him ! He dares not ! " 
 
 " Dare ! " thundered Ebbo, with flashing eyes. 
 " Rascals as ye are, think ye to hinder me from dar- 
 ing ? Your will to be mine ? There, fellow ; away 
 with thee! Up to the Gemsbock's Pass! And 
 whoso would follow him, let him do so at his peril ! " 
 
 The prisoner was prompt to gather himself up 
 and rush like a hunted animal to the path, at the 
 entrance of which stood both twins, with drawn 
 swords, to defend the escape. Of course no one 
 ventured to follow ; and surly discontented murmurs 
 were the sole result as the peasants dispersed. 
 Ebbo, sheathing his sword, and putting his arm into 
 his brother's, said : " What, Friedel, turned stony- 
 hearted ? Hadst never a word for the poor caitiff ? " 
 
 " I knew thou wouldst never do the deed," said 
 Friedel, smiling. 
 
 " It was such wretched prey," said Ebbo. " Yet 
 shall I be despised for this! Would that thou 
 hadst let me string him up shriftless, as any other 
 man had done, and there would have been an end 
 of it ! " 
 
 And even his mother's satisfaction did not greatly 
 comfort Ebbo, for he was of the age to feel more 
 ashamed of a solecism than a crime. Christina per- 
 ceived that this was one of his most critical periods 
 of life, baited as he was by the enemy of his race^ 
 
DO VE IN THE EAGLE' 8 NEST. 283 
 
 and feeling all the disadvantages which heart and 
 conscience gave him in dealing with a man who had 
 neither, at a time when public opinion was always 
 with the most masterful. The necessity of arming 
 Ms retainers and having fighting men as a guard 
 were additional temptations to hereditary habits of 
 violence ; and that so proud and fiery a nature as 
 his should never become involved in them was 
 almost beyond hope. Even present danger seemed 
 more around than ever before. The estate was 
 almost in a state of siege, and Christina never saw 
 her sons quit the castle without thinking of theu' 
 father's fate, and passing into the chapel to entreat 
 for their return unscathed in body or soul. The 
 snow, which she had so often hailed as a friend, was 
 never more welcome than this winter ; not merely 
 as shutting the enemy out, and her sons in, but as 
 cutting off all danger of a visit from her suitor, who 
 would now come armed with his late sufferings in 
 her behalf ; and, moreover, with all the urgent need 
 of a wise and respected head and protector for her 
 sons. Yet the more evident the expediency be- 
 came, the greater grew her distaste. 
 
 Still the lonely life weighed heavily on Ebbo. 
 Light-hearted Friedel was ever busy and happy, 
 were he chasing the grim winter game — the bear 
 and wolf — with his brother, fencing in the hall, 
 learning Greek with the chaplain, reading or sing- 
 ing to his mother, or carving graceful angel forms 
 to adorn the chapel. Or he could at all times soar 
 into a minstrel dream of pure chivalrous semi-alle- 
 
284 DO VE IN TEE EAGLE' 8 NEST. 
 
 gorical romance, sometimes told over the glowing 
 embers to his mother and brother. All that came 
 to Friedel was joy, from battling with the bear on 
 a frozen rock, to persuading rude little Hans to 
 come to the frau freiherrinn to learn his Pater- 
 noster. But the elder twin might hunt, might 
 fence, might smile or kindle at his brother's lay, 
 but ever with a restless gloom on him, a doubt of 
 the future which made him impatient of the present, 
 and led to a sharpness and hastiness of manner that 
 broke forth in anger at slight offenses. 
 
 " The matron's coif, succeeding the widow's veil," 
 Friedel heard him muttering even in sleep, and more 
 than once listened to it as Ebbo leaned over the 
 hattlements — as he looked over the white world to 
 the gray mist above the city of Ulm. 
 
 " Thou, who mockest my forebodings and fancies, 
 to dwell on that gypsy augury ! " argued Friedel. 
 ''As thou saidst at the time, Wildschloss' looks 
 gave shrewd cause for it." 
 
 " The answer is in mine own heart," answered 
 Ebbo. " Since our stay at Ulm, I have ever felt as 
 though the sweet motherling were less my own ! 
 And the same with my house and lands. Eule as I 
 will, a mocking laugh cames back to me, saying : 
 * Thou art but a boy, sir baron, thou dost but play 
 at lords and knights.' If I had hung yon rogue of 
 a reiter, I wonder if I had felt my grasp more 
 real?" 
 
 " ^ay," said Friedel, glancing from the sparkling 
 white slopes to the pure blue above, " our whole life 
 
DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 285 
 
 is but a play at lords and knights, with the blessea 
 saints^as witnesses of our sport in the tilt-yard." 
 
 " Were it merely that," said Ebbo, impatiently, 
 " I were not so galled. Something hangs over us, 
 Friedel ! I long t^ia*; J^.hese snows would melt, that 
 I might at least know what it is 1 " 
 
286 DO YE IN THE EAGLE' 8 NEST. 
 
 CHAPTEE XYIL 
 
 BRIDaiNG THE FOKD. 
 
 The snow melted, the torrent became a flood, then 
 contracted itself, but was still a broad stream, when 
 one spring afternoon Ebbo showed his brother some 
 wains making for the ford, adding, " It cannot be 
 rightly passable. They will come to loss. I shall 
 get the men together to aid them." 
 
 He blew a blast on his horn, and added, " The 
 knaves will be alert enough if they hope to meddle 
 with honest men's luggage." 
 
 " See," and Friedel pointed to the thicket to the 
 westward of the meadow around the stream, where 
 the beech trees were budding, but not yet forming 
 a full mass of verdure, " is not the snake in the 
 wood ? Methinks I spy the glitter of his scales." 
 
 " By heavens, the villians are lying in wait for the 
 travelers at our landing-place," cried Ebbo, and 
 again raising the bugle to his lips, he sent forth 
 three notes well known as a call to arms. Their 
 echoes came back from the rocks, followed instantly 
 by lusty jodels, and the brothers rushed into the 
 hall to take down their light head-pieces and cors- 
 lets, answering in haste their mother's startled 
 questions, by telling of the endangered travelers, 
 
DOVE IN THE EAGLE' 8 NEST. 287 
 
 and the Schlangenwald ambush. She looked white 
 and trembled, but said no word to hinder them ; 
 only as she clasped Friedel's corslet, she entreated 
 them to take fuller armor. 
 
 " We must speed the short way down the rock," 
 said Ebbo, " and cannot be cumbered with heavy 
 harness. Sweet motherling, fear not ; but let a 
 meal be spread for our rescued captives. Ho, 
 Heinz, 'tis against the Schlangenwald rascals. Art 
 too stiff to go down the rock path ? " 
 
 "^N^o ; nor down the abyss, could I strike a good 
 stroke against Schlangenwald at the bottom of it," 
 quoth Heinz. 
 
 " Nor see vermin set free by the f reiherr," growled 
 Koppel; but the words were lost in Ebbo's loud 
 commands to the men, as Friedel and Hatto handed 
 down the weapons to them. 
 
 The convoy had by this time halted, evidently to 
 try the ford. A horseman crossed, and found it 
 practicable, for a wagon proceeded to make the 
 attempt. 
 
 " Now is our time," said Ebbo, who was standing 
 on the narrow ledge between the castle and the 
 precipitous path leading to the meadow. " One 
 wagon may get over, but the second or third will 
 stick in the ruts that it leaves. Now we will drop 
 from our crag, and if the snake falls on them, why, 
 then for a pounce of the eagle." 
 
 The two young knights, so goodly in their bright 
 steel, knelt for their mother's blessing, and then 
 sprang like chamois down the ivy-twined steep, 
 
288 DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 followed by their men, and were lost to sight among 
 the bushes and rocks. Yet even while her frame 
 quivered with fear, her heart swelled at the thought 
 what a gulf there was between these days and those 
 when she had hidden her face in despair, while 
 Ermentrude watched the Debatable Ford. 
 
 She watched now in suspense, indeed, but with 
 exultation instead of shame, as two wagons safely 
 crossed; but the third stuck fast, and presently 
 turned over in the stream, impelled sideways by the 
 eiforts of the struggling horses. Then, amid 
 endeavors to disentangle the animals and succor the 
 driver, the travelers were attacked by a party of 
 armed men, who dashed out of the beech wood, and 
 fell on the main body of the wagons, which were 
 waiting on the bit of bare shingly soil that lay 
 between the new and old channels. A wild melee 
 was all that Christina could see — weapons raised, 
 horses starting, men rushing from the river, while 
 the clang and the shout rose even to the castle. 
 
 Hark ! Out rings the clear call, " The Eagle to 
 the rescue ! " There they speed over the meadow, 
 the two slender forms with glancing helms ! Oh, 
 overrun not the followers, rush not into needless 
 danger! There is Koppel almost up with them 
 with his big axe — Heinz's broad shoulders near. 
 Heaven strike with them ! Yisit not their fore- 
 fathers' sin on those pure spirits. Some are flying. 
 Some one has fallen ! O heavens ! on which side ? 
 Ah! it is into the Schlangenwald woods that the 
 fugitives direct their flight. Three — ^four — the 
 
DO VE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 289 
 
 whole troop pursued ! Go not too far ! Kun not 
 into needless risk ! Your work is done, and gal- 
 lantly. Well done, young knights of Adlerstein! 
 Which of you is it that stands pointing out safe 
 standing-ground for the men that are raising the 
 wagon ? Which of you is it who stands in converse 
 with a burgher form ? Thanks and blessings ! the 
 lads are safe, and full knightly hath been their first 
 emprise. 
 
 A quarter of an hour later, a gay step mounted 
 the ascent, and Friedel's bright face laughed from 
 his helmet : " There, mother, will you crown your 
 knights ? Could you see Ebbo bear down the chief 
 squire? for the old snake was not there himself. 
 And whom do you think we rescued, besides a 
 whole band of Venetian traders to whom he had 
 joined himself ? Why, my uncle's friend, the archi- 
 tect, of whom he used to speak — Master Moritz 
 Schleiermacher." 
 
 " Moritz Schleiermacher ! I knew him as a 
 boy." 
 
 "He had been laying out a lustgarten for the 
 Komish king at Innspruck, and he is a stout man of 
 his hands, and attempted defense ; but he had such a 
 shrewd blow before we came up, that he lay like 
 one dead ; and when he was lifted up, he gazed at 
 us like one moon-struck, and said, ' Are my eyes 
 dazed, or are these the twins of Adlerstein, that are 
 as like as face to mirror? Lads, lads, your uncle 
 looked not to hear of you acting in this sort.' But 
 soon we and his people let him know how it was, 
 and that eagles do not have the manner of snakes." 
 
290 I>0 VE m TEE EAGLE'S NEST, 
 
 "Poor Master Moritz! Is he mucli hurt? Is 
 Ebbo bringing him up hither ? " 
 
 " No, mother, he is but giddied and stunned, and 
 now must you send down store of sausage, sauer- 
 kraut, meat, wine, and beer ; for the wains cannot 
 all cross tiU daylight, and we must keep ward all 
 night lest the Schlangenwalden should fall on them 
 again. Plenty of good cheer, mother, to make a 
 right merry watch." 
 
 " Take heed, Friedel mine ; a merry watch is 
 scarce a safe one." 
 
 " Even so, sweet motherling, and therefore must 
 Ebbo and I share it. You must mete out your liquor 
 wisely, you see, enough for the credit of Adlerstein, 
 and enough to keep out the marsh fog, yet not 
 enough to make us snore too soundly. I am going 
 to take my lute ; it would be using it ill not to let it 
 enjoy such a chance as a midnight watch." 
 
 So away went the light-hearted boy, and by-and- 
 by Christina saw the red watch-fire as she gazed 
 from her turret window. She would have been 
 pleased to see how, marshaled by a merchant who 
 had crossed the desert from Egypt to Palestine, the 
 wagons were ranged in a circle, and the watches 
 told off, while the food and drink were carefully 
 portioned out. 
 
 Freiherr Ebbo, on his own ground, as champion 
 and host, was far more at ease than in the city, and 
 became very friendly with the merchants and archi- 
 tect as they sat round the bright fire, conversing, 
 or at times challenging the mountain echoes by 
 
DOVE IN TBE EAGLE'S NE81. 291 
 
 songs to the sound of Friedel's lute. When the stars 
 grew bright, most lay down to sleep in the wagons, 
 while others watched, pacing up and down till Karl's 
 wagon should be over the mountain, and the vigil 
 was relieved. 
 
 No disturbance took place, and at sunrise a hasty 
 meal was partaken of, and the work of crossing the 
 river was set in hand. 
 
 " Pity," said Moritz, the architect, " that this ford 
 were not spanned by a bridge, to the avoiding of 
 danger and spoil." 
 
 " Who could build such a bridge ? " asked Ebbo. 
 
 " Yourself, Herr Freiherr, in union with us burgh- 
 ers of Ulm. It were well worth your while to give 
 land and stone, and ours to give labor and skill, pro- 
 vided we fixed a toll on the passage, which would 
 be willingly paid to save peril and delay." 
 
 The brothers caught at the idea, and the merchants 
 agreed that such a bridge would be an inestimable 
 boon to all traffickers between Constance, Ulm, and 
 Augsburg, and would attract many travelers who 
 were scared away by the evil fame of the Debatable 
 Ford. Master Moritz looked at the stone of the 
 mountain, pronounced it excellent material, and 
 already sketched the span of the arches with a view 
 to winter torrents. As to the site, the best was on 
 the firm ground above the ford ; but here only one 
 side was Adlerstein, while on the other Ebbo claimed^ 
 both banks, and it was probable that an equally 
 sound foundation could be obtained, only with more 
 cost and delay. 
 
292 DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST, 
 
 After this survey, the travelers took leave of the 
 barons, promising to write when their fellow-citizens 
 should have been sounded as to the bridge ; and 
 Ebbo remained in high spirits with such brilliant 
 purposes that he had quite forgotten his gloomy 
 forebodings. " Peace instead of war at home," he 
 said ; " with the revenue it will bring, I will build a 
 mill, and set our lads to work, so that they may be- 
 come less dull and doltish than their parents. Then 
 will we follow the emperor with a train that none 
 need despise ! E'o one will talk now of Adlerstein 
 not being able to take care of himself ! " 
 
 Letters came from Ulm, saying that the guilds of 
 mercers and wine-merchants were delighted with 
 the project, and invited the baron of Adlerstein to a 
 council at the Kathhaus. Master Sorel begged the 
 mother to come with her sons to be his guest ; but 
 fearing the neighborhood of Sir Kasimir, she re- 
 mained at home, with Heinz for her seneschal while 
 her sons rode to the city. There Ebbo found that 
 his late exploit and his future plan had made him a 
 person of much greater consideration than on his 
 last visit, and he demeaned himself with far more 
 ease and affability in consequence. He had affairs 
 on his hands too, and felt more than one year older. 
 
 The two guilds agreed to build the bridge, and 
 share the toll with the baron in return for the 
 ground and materials ; but they preferred the plan 
 that placed one pier on the Schlangenwald bank, and 
 proposed to write to the count an offer to include 
 him in the scheme, awarding him a share of the 
 
DO VE m THE EAGLE'S NEST. 293 
 
 profits in proportion to his contribution. However 
 vexed at the turn affairs had taken, Ebbo could 
 offer no valid objection, and was obliged to affix his 
 signature to the letter in company with the guild- 
 masters. 
 It was despatched by the city pursuivants : 
 
 The only men who safe might ride 
 Their errands on the border side; 
 
 and a meeting was appointed in the Kathhaus for 
 the day of their expected return. The higher 
 burghers sat on their carved chairs in the grand old 
 hall, the lesser magnates on benches, and Ebbo, in 
 an elbow seat far too spacious for his slender pro- 
 portions, met a glance from Friedel that told him 
 his merry brother was thinking of the frog and the 
 ox. The pursuivants entered — hardy, shrewd-look- 
 ing men, with the city arms decking them wherever 
 there was room for them. 
 
 " Honor-worthy sirs," they said, " no letter did 
 the Graf von Schlangenwald return." 
 
 " Sent he no message ? " demanded Moritz Schleier- 
 macher. 
 
 " Yea, worthy sir, but scarce befitting this rever- 
 end assembly." On being pressed, however, it was 
 repeated : " The lord count was pleased to swear at 
 what he termed the insolence of the city in sending 
 him heralds, ' as if,' said he, ' the dogs,' your wor- 
 ships, * were his equals.' Then having cursed your 
 worships, he reviled the crooked writing of Herr 
 
294 I>0 VJS IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 Clerk Diedrichson, and called his chaplain to read it 
 to him. Herr Priest could scarce read three lines 
 for his foul language about the ford. * E"ever,' said 
 he, ' would he consent to raising a bridge — a mean 
 trick/ so said he, ' for defrauding him of his rights 
 to what the flood sent him.' " 
 
 "But," asked Ebbo, "took he no note of our ex- 
 planation, that if he give not the upper bank, we 
 will build lower, where both sides are my own ? " 
 
 " He passed it not entirely over," replied the mes- 
 senger. 
 
 "What said he — the very words?" demanded 
 Ebbo, with the paling cheek and low voice that 
 made his passion often seem like patience. 
 
 " He said — the Herr Freiherr will pardon me for 
 repeating the words — he said, ' Tell the misproud 
 mongrel of Adlerstein that he had best sit firm in 
 his own saddle ere meddling with his betters, and if 
 he touch one pebble of the Braunwasser, he will 
 rue it. And before your city-folk take up with him 
 or his, they had best learn whether he have any 
 right at all in the case.' " 
 
 " His right is plain," said Master Gottfried ; " full 
 proofs were given in, and his investiture by the 
 kaiser forms a title in itself. It is. mere bravado, 
 and an endeavor to make mischief between the 
 baron and the city." 
 
 " Even so did I explain, Herr Guildmaster," said 
 the pursuivant ; " but, pardon me, the count laughed 
 me to scorn, and quoth he, 'asked the kaiser for 
 proof of his father's death ! ' " 
 
DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 295 
 
 " Mere mischief -making, as before," said Master 
 Gottfried, while his nephews started with amaze. 
 " His father's death was proved by an eye-witness, 
 whom you still have in your train, have you not, 
 Herr Freiherr ? " 
 
 " Yea," replied Ebbo, " he is at Adler stein now, 
 Heinrich Bauermann, called the schneiderlein, a 
 lanzknecht, who alone escaped the slaughter, and 
 from whom we have often heard how my father 
 died, choked in his own blood, from a deep breast- 
 wound, immediately after he had sent home his last 
 greetings to my lady mother." 
 
 " Was the corpse restored ? " asked the able 
 Kathsherr Ulrich. 
 
 " No," said Ebbo. " Almost all our retainers had 
 perished, and when a friar was sent to the hostel 
 to bring home the remains, it appeared that the 
 treacherous foe had borne them off — nay, my grand- 
 father's head was sent to the Diet." 
 
 The whole assembly agreed that the count could 
 only mean to make the absence of direct evidence 
 about a murder committed eighteen years ago tell 
 in sowing distrust between the allies. The sugges- 
 tion was not worth a thought, and it was plain that 
 no site would be available except the Debatable 
 Strand. To this, however, Ebbo' s title was assail- 
 able, both on account of his minority as well as his 
 father's unproved death, and of the disputed claim 
 to the ground. The rathsherr. Master Gottfried, 
 and others therefore recommended deferring the 
 work till the baron should be of age, when, on again 
 
^96 DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NBST, 
 
 tendering his allegiance, he might obtain a distinct 
 recognition of his marches. But this policy did not 
 consort with the quick spirit of Moritz Schleier- 
 macher, nor with the convenience of the mercers 
 and wine-merchants, who were constant sufferers 
 by the want of a bridge, and afraid of waiting four 
 years, in which a lad like the baron might return to 
 the normal instincts of his class, or the Braunwasser 
 might take back the land it had given ; while Ebbo 
 himself was urgent, with all the defiant fire of 
 youth, to begin building at once in spite of all gain- 
 sayers. 
 
 " Strife and blood will it cost," said Master Sorel, 
 gravely. 
 
 " What can be had worth the having save at cost 
 of strife and blood ? " said Ebbo, with a glance of 
 fire. 
 
 " Youth speaks of counting the cost. Little knows 
 it what it saith," sighed Master Gottfried. 
 
 " Nay," returned the rathsherr, " were it other- 
 wise, who would have the heart for enterprise ? " 
 
 So the young knights mounted, and had ridden 
 about half the way in silence when Ebbo exclaimed : 
 " Eriedel " — and as his brother started, " what art 
 musing on ? " 
 
 " What thou art thinking of," said Friedel, turn- 
 ing on him an eye that had not only something of 
 the brightness but of the penetration of a sunbeam. 
 
 " I do not think thereon at all," said Ebbo, 
 gloomily. " It is a figment of the old serpent to 
 hinder us from snatching his prey from him," 
 
DOVE in T3E EAGLE' 8 NEST. 29'}' 
 
 " ^Nevertheless," said Friedel, " I cannot but re- 
 member that the Genoese merchant of old told us 
 of a German noble sold by his foes to the Moors." 
 
 " Folly ! That tale was too recent to concern my 
 father." 
 
 " I did not think it did," said Friedel ; " but may- 
 hap that noble's family rest equally certain of his 
 death." 
 
 " Pfui ! " said Ebbo, hotly ; " hast not heard fifty 
 times how he died even in speaking, and how Heinz 
 crossed his hands on his breast? What wouldst 
 have more ? " 
 
 " Hardly even that," said Friedel, slightly smil- 
 ing. 
 
 " Tush ! " hastily returned his brother, " I meant 
 only by way of proof. Would an honest old fellow 
 like Heinz be a deceiver ? " 
 
 " Kot wittingly. Yet I would fain ride to that 
 hostel and make inquiries." 
 
 '' The traitor host met his deserts, and was broken 
 on the wheel for murdering a peddler a year ago," 
 said Ebbo. "I would I knew where my father 
 was buried, for then would I bring his corpse 
 honorably back ; but as to his being a living 
 man, I will not have it spoken of to trouble my 
 mother." 
 
 " To trouble her ? " exclaimed Friedel. 
 
 " To trouble her," repeated Ebbo. " Long since 
 hath passed the pang of his loss, and there is 
 reason in what old Sorel says, that he must have 
 been a rugged, untaught savage, with little in com- 
 
298 DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 mon with the gentle one, and that tender memory 
 hath decked him out as he never could have 
 been. Nay, Friedel, it is but sense. What 
 could a man have been under the grandame's breed- 
 ing?" 
 
 " It becomes not thee to say so," returned FriedeL 
 " Nay, he could learn to love our mother." 
 
 " One sign of grace, but doubtless she loved him 
 the better for their having been so little together. 
 Her heart is at peace, believing him in his grave ; 
 but let her imagine hira in Schlangenwald's dun- 
 geon or some Moorish galley, if thou likest it 
 better, and how will her mild spirit be rent ! " 
 
 " It might be so," said Friedel, thoughtfully. " It 
 may be best to keep this secret from her tiU we have 
 fuller certainty." 
 
 " Agreed then," said Ebbo, " unless the Wildschloss 
 fellow should again molest us, when his answer is 
 ready." 
 
 " Is this just toward my mother ? " said 
 Friedel. 
 
 " Just ! What mean'st thou ? Is it not our office 
 and our dearest right to shield our mother from care? 
 And is not her chief wish to be rid of the Wild- 
 schloss suit?" 
 
 Nevertheless Ebbo was moody all the way home 
 but when there he devoted himself in his most 
 eager and winning way to his mother, telling her of 
 Master Gottfried's woodcuts, and Hasf rau Johanna's 
 rheumatism, and of all the news of the country, in 
 especial that the kaiser was at Lintz, very iU ^th a 
 
DOVE IN THE EAOLE'8 NEST. 299 
 
 gangrene in his leg, said to have been caused by his 
 habit of always kicking doors open, and that his 
 doctors thought of amputation, a horrible idea in the 
 fifteenth century. The young baron was evidently 
 bent on proving that no one could make his mother 
 so happy as he could ; and he was not far wrong 
 there. 
 
 Friedel, however, could not rest till he had fol- 
 lowed Heinz to the stable, and speaking over the back 
 of the old white mare, the only other survivor of 
 the massacre, had asked him once more for the 
 particulars, a tale he was never loth to tell; but 
 when Friedel further demanded whether he was 
 certain of having seen the death of his younger 
 lord, he replied, as if hurt: "What, think you I 
 would have quitted him while life was yet in 
 him?" 
 
 "JS'o, certainly, good Heinz; yet I would fain 
 know by what tokens thou knewest his death." 
 
 " Ah, Sir Friedel ; when you have seen a stricken 
 field or two, you will not ask how I know death from 
 Hfe." 
 
 " Is a swoon so utterly unlike death ? " 
 
 " I say not but that an inexperienced youth might 
 be mistaken," said Heinz ; " but for one who had 
 learned the bloody trade, it were impossible. Why 
 ask, sir ? " 
 
 " Because," said Friedel, low and mysteriously — 
 " my brother would not have my mother know it, 
 but — Count Schlangenwald demanded whether we 
 could prove my father's death," 
 
300 DO VE IN THE EAGLE' 8 NEST. 
 
 " Prove ! He could not choose but die with three 
 such wounds, as the old ruffian knows. I shall bless 
 the day, Sir Friedmund, when I see you or your 
 brother give back those strokes ! A heavy reckon- 
 ing be his." 
 
 " We all deem that he only meant to cross our 
 designs," said Friedel. " Yet, Heinz, I would I 
 knew how to find out what passed when thou 
 wast gone. Is there no servant at the inn — no re- 
 tainer of Schlangenwald that aught could be learned 
 from \ " 
 
 "By St. Gertrude," roughly answered the 
 schneiderlein, " if you cannot be satisfied with the 
 oath of a man like me, who would have given his 
 life to save your father, I know not what will please 
 you." 
 
 Friedel, with his wonted good-nature, set himself 
 to pacify the warrior with assurances of his trust ; 
 yet while Ebbo plunged more eagerly into plans for 
 the bridge-building, Friedel drew more and more 
 into his old world of musings ; and many a summer 
 afternoon was spent by him at the Ptarmigans Mere 
 in deep communings with himself, as one revolving 
 a purpose. 
 
 Christina could not but observe, with a strange 
 sense of foreboding, that, while one son was more 
 than ever in the lonely mountain heights, the other 
 was far more at the base. Master Moritz Schleier- 
 macher was a constant guest at the castle, and Ebbo 
 was much taken up with his companionship. He 
 was a strong, shrewd man, stiU young, but with 
 
DOrS IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 301 
 
 much experience, and he knew how to adapt himself 
 to intercourse with the proud nobility, preserving 
 an independent bearing, while avoiding all that 
 haughtiness could take umbrage at ; and thus he was 
 acquiring a greater influence over Ebbo than was 
 perceived by any save the watchful mother, who 
 began to fear lest her son was acquiring an infusion 
 of wordly wisdom and eagerness for gain that would 
 indeed be a severance between him and his brother. 
 If she had known the real difference that uncon- 
 sciously kept her sons apart, her heart would have 
 ached yet more. 
 
302 I>0 VE IN THE EAGLE '8 NE8T. 
 
 CHAPTEK XYIIL 
 
 FEIEDMUND IN THE CLOUDS. 
 
 The stone was quarried high on the mountain, 
 and a direct road was made for bringing it down to 
 the waterside. The castle profited by the road in 
 accessibility, but its impregnability was so far less- 
 ened. However, as Ebbo said, it was to be a 
 friendly harbor, instead of a robber crag, and in case 
 of need the communication could easily be destroyed. 
 The blocks of stone were brought down, and wooden 
 sheds were erected for the workmen in the 
 meadow. 
 
 In August, however, came tidings, that, after two 
 amputations of his diseased limb, the Kaiser Fried- 
 rich III. had died — it was said from over free use of 
 melons in the fever consequent on the operation. 
 His death was not likely to make much change in 
 the government, which had of late been left to his 
 son. At this time the king of the Komans (for the 
 title of kaiser was conferred only by coronation 
 by the pope, and this Maximilian never received) 
 was at Innspruck collecting troops for the deliver- 
 ance of Styria and Carinthia from a horde of invad- 
 ing Turks. The Markgraf of Wurtemburg sent an 
 intimation to all the Swabian League that the new 
 
DOVE IN THE EAGLE' 8 NES2. 303 
 
 sovereign would be best pleased if their homage 
 were paid to him in his camp at the head of their 
 armed retainers. 
 
 Here was the way of enterprise and honor open 
 at last, and the young barons of Adlerstein eagerly 
 prepared for it, equipping their vassals and sending 
 to Ulm to take three or four men-at-arms into their 
 pay, so as to make up twenty lances as the contin- 
 gent of Adlerstein. It was decided that Christina 
 should spend the time of their absence at Ulm, 
 whither her sons would escort her on their way to 
 the camp. The last busy day was over, and in the 
 summer evening Christina was sitting on the castle 
 steps listening to Ebbo's eager talk of his plans of 
 interesting his hero, the king of the Eomans, in his 
 bridge, and obtaining full recognition of his claim to 
 the Debatable Strand, where the busy workmen 
 could be seen far below. 
 
 Presently Ebbo, as usual when left to himself, 
 grew restless for want of Friedel, and exclaiming, 
 " The musing fit is on him ! — he will stay all night 
 at the tarn if I fetch him not," he set off in quest of 
 him, passing through the hamlet t6 look for him in 
 the chapel on his way. 
 
 IsTot finding Friedel there, he was, however, some 
 way up toward the tarn, when he met his brother 
 wearing a beamy yet awestruck look that he often 
 brought from the mountain height, yet with a steads 
 fast expression of resolute purpose on his face. 
 
 " Ah, dreamer ! " said Ebbo, " I knew where to 
 seek thee ! Ever in the clouds ! " 
 
304 BO YE IN TEE EAOLE'8 NEST. 
 
 " Yes, I have been to the tarn," said Friedel, 
 throwing his arm round his brother's neck in their 
 boyish fashion. " It has been very dear to me, and 
 I longed to see its gray depths once more." 
 
 " Once ! Yea manifold times shalt thou see them," 
 said Ebbo. " Schleiermacher tells me that these are 
 no janiss£iries, but a mere miscreant horde, even 
 by whom glory can scarce be gained, and no peril 
 at all." 
 
 " I know not," said Friedel, " but it is to me as if 
 I were taking my leave of all these purple hollows 
 and heaven-lighted peaks cleaving the sky. All the 
 more, Ebbo, since I have made up my mind to a 
 resolution." 
 
 " Nay, none of the old monkish fancies," cried 
 Ebbo, " against them thou art sworn, so long as I 
 am true knight." 
 
 " No, it is not the monkish fancy, but I am con- 
 vinced that it is my duty to strive to ascertain my 
 father's fate. Hold, I say not that it is thine. Thou 
 hast thy charge here " 
 
 " Looking for a dead man," growled Ebbo ; " a 
 proper quest ! " 
 
 "Not so," returned Friedel. "At the camp it 
 will surely be possible to learn, through either 
 Schlangenwald or his men, how it went with my 
 father. Men say that his surviving son, the 
 Teutonic knight, is of very different mold. He 
 might bring something to light. Were it proved 
 to be as the schneiderlein avers, then would our 
 conscience be at rest ; but, if he were in Schlangen- 
 wald's dungeon " 
 
DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 305 
 
 " Folly ! Impossible ! " 
 
 " Yet men have pined eighteen years in dark 
 vaults," said Friedel ; " and, when I think that so 
 may he have wasted for the whole of our lives that 
 have been so free and joyous on his own moun- 
 tain, it irks me to bound on the heather or gaze at 
 the stars." 
 
 " If the serpent hath dared," cried Ebbo, " though 
 it is mere folly to think of it, we would summon the 
 League and have his castle about his ears ! Not that 
 I believe it." 
 
 " Scarce do I," said Friedel ; " but there haunts 
 me ever more the description of the kindly German 
 chained between the decks of the Corsair's galley. 
 Once and again have I dreamed thereof. And, 
 Ebbo, reccoUect the prediction that so fretted thee. 
 Might not yon dark-cheeked woman have had some 
 knowledge of the East and its captives ? " 
 
 Ebbo started, but resumed his former tone. " So 
 thou wouldst begin thine errantry like Sir Hildebert 
 and Sir Hildebrand in the * Eose garden ' ? Have 
 a care. Such quests end in mortal conflict between 
 the unknown father and son." 
 
 " I should know him," said Friedel, enthusiastic- 
 ally, " or, at least, he would know my mother's son 
 in me ; and, could I no otherwise ranson him, I 
 would ply the oar in his stead." 
 
 " A fine exchange for my mother and me." 
 gloomily laughed Ebbo, " to lose thee my sublimated 
 self, for a rude, savage lord, who would straightway 
 undo all our "work, and rate and misuse our sweet 
 mother for being more civilize^l than himself." 
 
306 DOVE IN THE EA OLE 'S NEST, 
 
 " Shame, Ebbo ! " cried Friedel, " or art thou but 
 in jest ? " 
 
 " So far in jest that thou wilt never go, puissant 
 Sir Hildebert," returned Ebbo, drawing him closer. 
 " Thou wilt learn — as I also trust to do — in what 
 nameless hole the serpent hid his remains. Then 
 shall they be duly coffined and blazoned. All the 
 monks in the cloisters for twenty miles round shall 
 sing requiems, and thou and I will walk bareheaded, 
 with candles in our hands, by the bier, till we rest 
 him in the Blessed Friedmund's chapel ; and there 
 Lucas Handlein shall carve his tomb, and thou shalt 
 sit for the likeness." 
 
 " So may it end," said Friedel, " but either I will 
 know him dead, or endeavor somewhat in his behalf. 
 And that the need is real, as well as the purpose 
 blessed, I have become the more certain, for, Ebbo, 
 as I rose to descend the hill, I saw on the cloud our 
 patron's very form — I saw myself kneel before him 
 and receive his blessing." 
 
 Ebbo burst out laughing. " Now know I that it 
 is indeed as saith Schleiermacher," he said, " and 
 that these phantoms of the blessed Friedmund are 
 but shadows cast by the sun on the vapors of the 
 ravine. See, Friedel, I had gone to seek thee 
 at the chapel, and meeting Father Norbert, I 
 bent my knee, that I might take his farewell bless- 
 ing. I had the substance, thou the shadow, thou 
 dreamer ! " 
 
 Friedel was as much mortified for the moment as 
 his gentle nature could be. Then he resumed his 
 
DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST, 307 
 
 sweet smile, saying, " Be it so ? I have oft read 
 that men are too prone to take visions and special 
 providences to themselves, and now I have proved 
 the truth of the saying." 
 
 " And," said Ebbo, " thou seest thy purpose is as 
 baseless as thy vision ? " 
 
 " ]^o, Ebbo. It grieves me to differ from thee, 
 but my resolve is older than the fancy, and may not 
 be shaken because I was vain enough to believe that 
 the Blessed Friedmund could stoop to bless me." 
 
 " Ha ! " shouted Ebbo, glad to see an object on 
 which to vent his secret annoyance. " Who goes 
 there, skulking round the rocks ? Here, rogue, what 
 art after here ? " 
 
 " ISTo harm," sullenly replied a half -clad boy. 
 
 " Whence art thou ? From Schlangenwald, to spy 
 what more we can be robbed of? The lash " 
 
 "Hold," interposed Friedel. "Perchance the 
 poor lad had no evil purposes. Didst lose thy 
 way ? " 
 
 " No, sir, my mother sent me." 
 
 "I thought so," cried Ebbo. "This comes of 
 sparing the nest of thankless adders ! " 
 
 " Nay," said Friedel, " mayhap it is because they 
 are not thankless that the poor fellow is here." 
 
 " Sir," said the boy, coming nearer, " I will tell 
 you — you I will tell — not him who threatens. 
 Mother said you spared our huts, and the lady gave 
 us bread when we came to the castle gate in winter, 
 and she would not see the reiters lay waste your 
 folk's doings down there without warning you." 
 
308 DO VE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 " My good lad ! What saidst thou ? " cried Ebbo, 
 but the boy seemed dumb before him, and Friedel 
 repeated the question ere he answered : " All the 
 lanzknechts and reiters are at the castle, and the 
 Herr Graf has taken all my father's young sheep for 
 them, a plague upon him. And our folk are warned 
 to be at the muster rock to-morrow morn, each with 
 a bundle of straw and a pine brand ; and Black Be- 
 rend heard the body squire say the Herr Graf had 
 sworn not to go to the wars till every stick at the 
 ford be burned, every stone drowned, every workman 
 hung." 
 
 Ebbo, in a transport of indignation and gratitude, 
 thrust his hand into his pouch, and threw the boy a 
 handful of groschen, while Friedel gave warm thanks, 
 in the utmost haste, ere both brothers sprang with 
 headlong speed down the wild path, to take advan- 
 tage of the timely intelligence. 
 
 The little council of war was speedily assembled, 
 consisting of the barons, their mother, Master 
 Moritz Schleiermacher, Heinz, and Hatto. To bring 
 up to the castle the workmen, their families, and the 
 more valuable implements, was at once decided ; and 
 Christina asked whether there would be anything 
 left worth defending, and whether the Schlangen- 
 walden might not expend their fury on the scaffold, 
 which could be newly supplied from the forest, the 
 huts, which could be quickly restored, and the stones, 
 which could hardly be damaged. The enemy must 
 proceed to the camp in a day or two, and the build- 
 ing would be less assailable by their return ; and, 
 
DOVE m THB EAGLE'S NEST. 309 
 
 besides, it was scarcely lawful to enter on a private 
 war when the imperial banner was in the field. 
 
 " Craving your pardon, gracious lady/' said the 
 architect, " that blame rests with him who provokes 
 the war. See, lord baron, there is time to send to 
 Ulm, where the two guilds, our allies, will at once 
 equip their trained bands and despatch them. "We 
 meanwhile will hold the knaves in check, and, by 
 the time our burghers come up, the snake brood 
 will have had such a lesson as they will not soon 
 forget. Said I well, Herr Freiherr ? " 
 
 " Eight bravely," said Ebbo. " It consorts not 
 with our honor or rights, with my pledges to Ulm, 
 or the fame of my house, to shut ourselves up and 
 see the rogues work their will scatheless. My own 
 score of men, besides the stouter masons, carpen- 
 ters, and serfs, will be fully enough to make the old 
 serpent of the wood rue the day, even without the 
 aid of the burghers. Not a word against it, dearest 
 mother. None is so wise as thou in matters of 
 peace, but honor is here concerned." 
 
 "My question is," persevered the mother, 
 " whether honor be not better served by obeying 
 the summons of the king against the infidel, with 
 the men thou hast called together at his behest ? 
 Let the count do his worst ; he gives thee legal 
 ground of complaint to lay before the king and the 
 League, and all may there be more firmly estab- 
 lished." 
 
 " That were admirable counsel, lady," said 
 Schleiermacher, " well suited to the honor-worthy 
 
31 I>0 VE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 guildmaster Sorel, and to our justice-loving city ; but 
 in matters of baronial rights and aggressions, king 
 and League are wont to help those that help them- 
 selves, and those that are over nice as to law and 
 justice come by the worst." 
 
 " Not the worst in the long run," said Friedel. 
 
 "Thine unearthly code will not serve us here, 
 Friedel mine," returned his brother. " Did I not 
 defend the work I have begun, I should be branded 
 as a weak fool. Nor will I see the foes of my house 
 insult me without striking a fair stroke. Hap what 
 hap, the Debatable Ford shall be debated ! Call in 
 the serfs, Hatto, and arm them. Mother, order a 
 good supper for them. Master Moritz, let us 
 summon thy masons and carpenters, and see who is 
 a good man with his hands among them." 
 
 Christina saw that remonstrance was vain. The 
 days of peril and violence were coming back again ; 
 and all she could take comfort in was, that, if not 
 wholly right, her son was far from wholly wrong, 
 and that with a free heart she could pray for a bless- 
 ing on him and on his arms. 
 
DOVE m TEE EAGLE'S NEST. 311 
 
 CHAPTEE XIX. 
 
 THE FIGHT AT THE FOKD. 
 
 By the early September sunrise the thicket be- 
 neath the pass was sheltering the twenty well ap- 
 pointed reiters of Adlerstein, each standing, holding 
 his horse by the bridle, ready to mount at the in- 
 stant. In their rear were the serfs and artisans, 
 some with axes, scythes, or plowshares, a few 
 with cross-bows, and Jobst and his sons with the 
 long blackened poles used for stirring their charcoal 
 fires. In advance were Master Moritz and the two 
 barons, the former in a stout plain steel helmet, 
 cuirass, and gauntlets, a sword, and those new-fash- 
 ioned weapons, pistols ; the latter in full knightly 
 armor, exactly alike, from the gilt-spurred heel to 
 the eagle-crested helm, and often moving restlessly 
 forward to watch for the enemy, though taking 
 care not to be betrayed by the glitter of their mail. 
 So long" did they wait that there was even a doubt 
 whether it might not have been a false alarm ; the 
 boy was vituperated, and it was proposed to dispatch 
 a spy to see whether anything were doing at Schlan- 
 genwald. 
 
 At length a rustling and rushing were heard ; then 
 a clank of armor. Ebbo vaulted into the saddle, and 
 
31^ DO tE tN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 gave the word to mount ; Schleiermacher, who al- 
 ways fought on foot, stepped up to him. " Keep 
 back your men, Herr Freiherr. Let his design be 
 manifest. We must not be said to have fallen on 
 him on his way to the muster." 
 
 " It would be but as he served my father," mut- 
 tered Ebbo, forced, however, to restrain himself, 
 though with boiling blood, as the tramp of horses 
 shook the ground, and bright armor became visible 
 on the further side of the stream. 
 
 For the first time, the brothers beheld the foe of 
 their line. He was seated on a clumsy black horse, 
 and sheathed in full armor, and was apparently a 
 large heavy man, whose powerful proportions were 
 becoming unwieldy as he advanced in life. The 
 dragon on his crest and shield would have made 
 him known to the twins, even without the deadly 
 curse that passed the Schneiderlein's lips at the 
 sight. As the armed troop, out-numbering the Ad- 
 lersteiners by about a dozen, and followed by a 
 rabble with straw and pine brands, came forth on 
 the meadow, the count halted and appeared to be 
 giving orders. 
 
 " The ruffian 1 He is calling them on ! Now " 
 
 began Ebbo. • 
 
 ^' Nay, there is no sign yet that he is not peace- 
 fully on his journey to the camp," responded Moritz; 
 and, chafing with impatient fury, the knight waited 
 while Schlangenwald rode toward the old channel 
 of the Braunwasser, and there drawing his rein, 
 and sitting like a statue in his stirrups, he could 
 
DO YE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 313 
 
 hear him shout : " The lazy dogs are not astir yet. 
 We will give them a reveille. Forward with yom* 
 brands ! " 
 
 " Now ! " and Ebbo's cream-colored horse leaped 
 forth as the whole band flashed into the sunshine 
 from the greenwood covert. 
 
 "Who troubles the workmen on my land?" 
 shouted Ebbo. 
 
 " Who you may be I care not," replied the count, 
 " but when I find strangers unlicensed on my lands, 
 I burn down their huts. On, fellows ! " 
 
 " Back, fellows ! " called Ebbo. " Whoso touches 
 a stick on Adlerstein ground shall suffer." 
 
 " So ! " said the count, " this is the burgher-bred, 
 burgher-fed varlet that calls himself of Adlerstein ! 
 Boy, thou had best be warned. Wert thou true- 
 blooded, it were worth my while to maintain my 
 rights against thee. Craven as thou art, not even 
 with spirit to accept my feud, I would fain not have 
 the trouble of sweeping thee from my path." 
 
 " Herr Graf, as true freiherr and belted knight, I 
 defy thee ! I proclaim my right to this ground, 
 and whoso damages those I place there must do 
 battle with me." 
 
 " Thou wilt have it then," said the count, taking 
 his heavy lance from his squire, closing his visor, 
 and wheeling back his horse, so as to give space for 
 his career. 
 
 Ebbo did the like, while Friedel on one side, and 
 Hierom von Schlangenwald on the other, kept their 
 men in array, awaiting the issue of the strife be- 
 
Sli DO VE IN THE EA QLE 'S NEST. 
 
 tween their leaders — the fire of seventeen against 
 the force of fifty-six. 
 
 They closed in full shock, with shivered lances 
 and rearing, pawing horses, but without damage 
 to either. Each drew his sword, and they were 
 pressing together when Heinz, seeing a Schlangen- 
 walder aiming with his cross-bow, rode at him 
 furiously, and the melee became general; shots 
 were fired, not only from cross-bows, but from arque- 
 buses, and in the throng Friedel lost sight of the 
 main combat between his brother and the count. 
 
 Suddenly, however, there was a crash, as of fall- 
 ing men and horses, with a shout of victory 
 strangely mingled with a cry of agony, and both 
 sides became aware that their leaders had fallen. 
 Each party rushed to its fallen head. Friedel be- 
 held Ebbo under his struggling horse, and an enemy 
 dashing at his throat, and, flying to the rescue, he 
 rode down the assailant, striking him with his 
 sword ; and, with the instinct of driving the foe as 
 far as possible from his brother, he struck with a 
 sort of frenzy, shouting fiercely to his men, and 
 leaping over the dry bed of the river, rushing on- 
 ward with an intoxication of ardor that would have 
 seemed foreign to his gentle nature but for the im- 
 petuous desire to protect his brother. Their leaders 
 down, the enemy had no one to rally them, and, in 
 spite of their superiority in number, gave way in 
 confusion before the furious onset of Adlerstein. 
 So soon, however, as Friedel perceived that he had 
 forced the enemy far back from the scene of con- 
 
DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST, 315 
 
 flict, his anxiety for his brother returned, and, leav- 
 ing the retainers to continue the pursuit, he turned 
 his horse. There, on the green meadow, lay on the 
 one hand Ebbo's cream -colored charger, with his 
 master under him, on the other the large figure of 
 the count ; and several other prostrate forms like- 
 wise struggled on the sand and pebbles of the 
 strand, or on the turf. 
 
 " Ay," said the architect, who had turned with 
 Friedel, " ' twas a gallant feat. Sir Friedel, and I 
 trust there is no great harm done. Were it the 
 mere dint of the count's sword, your brother will be 
 little the worse." 
 
 "Ebbo! Ebbo mine, look up!" cried Friedel, 
 leaping from his horse, and unclasping his brother's 
 helmet. 
 
 " Friedel ! " groaned a half-suffocated voice. " O, 
 take away the horse ! " 
 
 One or two of the artisans were at hand, and 
 with their help the dying steed was disengaged 
 from the rider, who could not restrain his moans, 
 though Friedel held him in his arms, and endeav- 
 ored to move him as gently as possible. It was 
 then seen that the deep gash from the count's 
 sword in the chest was not the most serious injury, 
 but that an arquebus ball had pierced his thigh be- 
 fore burying itself in the body of his horse; and 
 that the limb had been further crushed and 
 wrenched by the animal's struggles. He was 
 nearly unconscious, and gasped with anguish, but, 
 after Moritz had bathed his face and moistened his 
 
316 DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 lips, as he lay in his brother's arms he looked up 
 with clearer eyes, and said : " Have I slain him ? 
 It was the shot, not he, that sent me down. Lives 
 he ? See — thou, Friedel — thou. Make him yield." 
 
 Transferring Ebbo to the arms of Schleiermacher, 
 Friedel obeyed, and stepj)ed toward the fallen foe. 
 The wrongs of Adlerstein were indeed avenged, 
 for the blood was welHng fast from a deep thrust 
 above the collar-bone, and the failing, feeble hand 
 was wandering uncertainly among the clasps of the 
 gorget. 
 
 " Let me aid," said Friedel, kneeHng down, and in 
 his pity for the dying man omitting the summons to 
 yield, he threw back the helmet, and beheld a 
 grizzled head and stern hard features, so embrowned 
 by weather and inflamed by intemperance, that 
 even approaching death failed to blanch them. A 
 scowl of malignant hate was in the eyes, and there 
 was a thrill of angry wonder as they fell on the lad's 
 face. " Thou again — thou whelp ! I thought at 
 least I had made an end of thee," he muttered, un- 
 heard by Friedel, who, intent on the thought that 
 had recurred to him with greater vividness than 
 ever, was again filling Efcbo's helmet with water. 
 He refreshed the dying man's face with it, held it to 
 his lips, and said : " Herr Graf, v'^^^^"^^ ^^^ strife 
 are ended now. For heaven's s^^^^j say where I 
 may find my father ! " 
 
 "So! Wouldst find him?"r/Plied Schlangen- 
 wald, fixing his look on the eag-^ countenance of 
 the youth, while his hand, with a ^Ji^g vcmi^ nerv- 
 ous agitation, was fumbling at \\] ^ ^®1^- 
 
DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 31? 
 
 "I would bless you forever, could I but free 
 him." 
 
 "Know then," said the count, speaking very 
 slowly, and still holding the young knight's gaze 
 with a sort of intent fascination, by the stony glare 
 of his light gray eyes, " know that thy villain father 
 is a Turkish slave, unless he be — as I hope — wliere 
 his mongrel son may find him." 
 
 Therewith came a flash, a report ; Friedel leaped 
 back, staggered, fell; Ebbo started to a sitting 
 posture, with horrified eyes, and a loud shriek, call- 
 ing on his brother ; Moritz sprang to his feet, shout- 
 ing, " Shame ! treason ! " 
 
 "I call you to witness that I had not yielded," 
 said the count. " There's an end of the brood !" 
 and with a grim smile, he straightened his limbs, 
 and closed his eyes as a dead man, ere the indignant 
 artisans fell on him in savage vengeance. 
 
 All this had passed like a flash of lightning, and 
 Friedel had almost at the instant of his fall flung 
 himself toward his brother, and raising himself on 
 one hand, mth the other clasped Ebbo's, saying, 
 " Fear not ; it is nothing," and he was bending to 
 take Ebbo's head again on his knee, when a gush of 
 dark blood, from his left side, caused Moritz to ex- 
 claim, " Ah ! Sir Friedel, the traitor did his work ! 
 That is no slight h irt." 
 
 "Where? Ho\> ? TherulRan!" cried Ebbo, sup- 
 porting himself on his elbow, so as to see his brother 
 who rather dreamily put his hand to his side, and, 
 looking at the fresh blood that immediately dyed 
 
318 DOVE IN THE EAGLETS NEST, 
 
 it, said, " I do not feel it. This is more numb dull- 
 ness than pain." 
 
 . " A bad sign that," said Moritz, apart to one of 
 the workmen, with whom he held counsel how to 
 carry back to the castle the two young knights, who 
 remained on the bank, Ebbo partly extended on the 
 ground, partly supported on the knee and arm of 
 Friedel, who sat with his head drooping over him, 
 their looks fixed on one another, as if conscious of 
 nothing else on earth. 
 
 " Herr Freiherr," said Moritz, presently, " have 
 you breath to wind your bugle to call the men back 
 from the pursuit ? " 
 
 Ebbo essayed, but was too faint, and Friedel, rous- 
 ing himseK from the stupor, took the horn from 
 him, and made the mountain echoes ring again, but 
 at the expense of a great effusion of blood. 
 
 By this time, however, Heinz was riding back, 
 and in a moment his exultation changed to rage and 
 despair, when he saw the condition of his young 
 lords. Master Schleiermacher proposed to lay 
 them on some of the planks prepared for the build- 
 ing, and carry them up the new road. 
 
 " Methinks," said Friedel, " that I could ride if I 
 were lifted on horseback, and thus would our mother 
 be less shocked." 
 
 " Well thought," said Ebbo. " Go on and cheer 
 her. Show her thou canst keep the saddle, however 
 it may be with me," he added, with a groan of 
 anguish. 
 
 Friedel made the sign of the cross over him. 
 
DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 319 
 
 " The holy cross keep us and her Ebbo," he said, as 
 he bent to assist in laying his brother on the boards, 
 where a mantle had been spread ; then kissed his 
 brow, saying, " We shall be together again soon." 
 
 Ebbo was lifted on the shoulders of his bearers, 
 and Friedel strove to rise, with the aid of Heinz, 
 but sank back, unable to use his limbs ; and Schleier- 
 macher was the more concerned. " It goes so with 
 the backbone," he said. " Sir Friedmund, you had 
 best be carried." 
 
 " Nay, for my mother's sake ! And I would fain 
 be on my good steed's back once again ! " he 
 entreated. And when with much diflSculty he had 
 been lifted to the back of his cream-color, who 
 stood as gently and patiently as if he understood the 
 exigency of the moment, he sat upright, and waved 
 his hand as he passed the litter, while Ebbo, on his 
 side, signed to him to speed on and prepare their 
 mother. Long, however, before the castle .was 
 reached, dizzy confusion and leaden helplessness, 
 when no longer stimulated by his brother's presence, 
 so grew on him that it was with much ado that 
 Heinz could keep him in his saddle ; but, when he 
 saw his mother in the castle gateway, he again col- 
 lected his forces, bade Heinz withdraw his support- 
 ing arm, and, straightening himself, waved a greet- 
 ing to her, as he called cheerily : " Victory, dear 
 mother. Ebbo has overthrown the count, and 
 you must not be grieved if it be at some cost of 
 blood." 
 
 " Alas, my son ! " was all Christina could say, for 
 
320 DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 his effort at gayety formed a ghastly contrast with 
 the gray, livid hue that overspread his fair young 
 face, his bloody armor, and damp disordered hair, 
 and even his stiff unearthly smile. 
 
 " I^ay, motherling," he added, as she came so near 
 that he could put his arm round her neck, " sorrow 
 not, for Ebbo will need thee much. And, mother," 
 as his face lighted up, " there is joy coming to you. 
 Only I would that I could have brought him. 
 Mother, he died not under the Schlangenwald 
 swords." 
 
 "Who? ISTot Ebbo?" cried the bewildered 
 mother. 
 
 " Your own Ebqrhard, our father," said Friedel, 
 raising her face to him with his hand, and adding, 
 as he met a startled look, " The cruel count owned 
 it with his last breath. He is a Turkish slave, and 
 surely heaven will give him back to comfort you, 
 even though we may not work his freedom ! Oh, 
 mother, I had so longed for it, but God be thanked 
 that at least certainty was bought by my life." 
 The last words were uttered almost unconsciously, 
 and he had nearly fallen, as the excitement faded ; 
 but, as they were lifting him down, he bent once 
 more and kissed the glossy neck of his horse. 
 " Ah ! poor fellow, thou too wilt be lonely. May 
 Ebbo yet ride thee ! " 
 
 The mother had no time for grief. Alas ! She 
 might have full time for that by-and-by ! The one 
 wish of the twins was to be together, and presently 
 both were laid on the great bed in the upper chamber, 
 
DO VE IN THE EA OLE '8 NEST. 321 
 
 Ebbo in a swoon from the pain of the transport, and 
 Friedel lying so as to meet the first look of recovery. 
 And, after Ebbo's eyes had re-opened, they watched 
 one another in silence for a short space, till Ebbo 
 said : " Is that the hue of death on thy face, 
 brother?" 
 
 " I well believe so," said Friedel. 
 
 "Ever together," said Ebbo, holding his hand. 
 " But alas ! My mother ! Would I had never sent 
 thee to the traitor. 
 
 "Ah! So comes her comfort," said Friedel. 
 " Heard you not ? He owned that my father was 
 among the Turks." 
 
 " And I," cried Ebbo. " I have withheld thee ! 
 Oh, Friedel, had I listened to thee, thou hadst not 
 been in this fatal broil ! " 
 
 "I^ay. ever together," repeated Friedel. 
 " Through Ulm merchants will my mother be able 
 to ransom him. I know she will, so oft have I 
 dreamed of his return. Then, mother, you will 
 give him our duteous greetings;" and he smiled 
 again. 
 
 Like one in a dream Christina returned his smile, 
 because she saw he wished it, just as the moment 
 before she had been trying to stanch his wound. 
 
 It was plain that the injuries, except Ebbo's sword- 
 cut, were far beyond her skill, and she could only 
 endeavor to check the bleeding till better aid could 
 be obtained from Ulm. Thither Moritz Schleier- 
 macher had already sent, and he assured her that 
 he was far from despairing of the elder baron, but 
 
322 DO VE IN THS EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 she derived little hope from his words, for gun- 
 shot wounds were then so ill understood as gener- 
 ally to prove fatal. 
 
 Moreover, there was an undefined impression 
 that the two lives must end in the same hour, even 
 as they had begun. Indeed, Ebbo was suffering so 
 terribly, and was so much spent with pain and loss 
 of blood, that he seemed sinking much faster than 
 Friedel, whose wound bled less freely, and who 
 only seemed benumbed and torpid, except when he 
 roused himself to speak, or was distressed by the 
 writhings and moans which, however, for his sake, 
 Ebbo restrained as much as he could. 
 
 To be together seemed an all-sufficient consolation, 
 and, when the chaplain came sorrowfully to give 
 them the last rites of the church, Ebbo implored him 
 to pray that he might not be left behind long in 
 purgatory. 
 
 " Friedel," he said, clasping his brother's hand, 
 " is even like the holy Sebastian or Maurice ; but I 
 — I was never such as he. O father, will it be my 
 penance to be left alone when he is in paradise ? " 
 
 " What is that ? " said Friedel, partially roused by 
 the sound of his name, and the involuntary pressure 
 of his hand. " Nay, Ebbo ; one repentance, one 
 cross, one hope," and he relapsed into a dose, while 
 Ebbo murmured over a broken, brief confession — 
 exhausting by its vehemence of self -accusation for 
 his proud spirit, his willful neglect of his lost father, 
 his hot contempt of prudent counsel. 
 
 Then^ when the priest came round to Friedel's 
 
DO VE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 323 
 
 side, and the boy was wakened to make his shrift, 
 the words were contrite and humble, but calm and 
 full of trust. They were like tAVO of their own 
 mountain streams, the waters almost equally unde- 
 filed by external stain — yet one struggling, agi- 
 tated, whirling giddily round ; the other still, trans- 
 parent, and the light of heaven smiling in its 
 clearness. 
 
 The farewell greetings of the church on earth 
 breathed soft and sweet in their loftiness, and Friedel, 
 though lying motionless, and with closed eyes, 
 never failed in the murmured response, whether 
 fully conscious or not, while his brother only at- 
 tended by fits and starts, and was evidently often in 
 too much pain to know what was passing. 
 
 Help was nearer than had been hoped. The sum- 
 mons despatched the night before had been responded 
 to by the vintners and mercers ; their train bands 
 had set forth, and their captain, a cautious man, 
 never rode into the way of blows without his sur- 
 geon at hand. And so it came to pass that, before 
 the sun was low on that long and grievous day. Doctor 
 Johannes Butteman was led into the upper cham- 
 ber, where the mother looked up to him with a kind 
 of hopeless gratitude on her face, which was nearly 
 as white as those of her sons. The doctor soon saw 
 that Friedel was past human aid ; but when he de- 
 clared that there was fair hope for the other youth, 
 Friedel, whose torpor had been dispelled by the ex- 
 amination, looked up with his beaming smile, saying, 
 ^' There, motherling." 
 
324^ I>OVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 The doctor then declared that he could not deal 
 with the baron's wound unless he were the sole 
 occupant of the bed, and this sentence brought the 
 first cloud of grief or dread to Friedel's brow, but 
 only for a moment. He looked at his brother, who 
 had again fainted at the first touch of his wounded 
 limb, and said, " It is well. Tell the dear Ebbo 
 that I cannot help it if after all I go to the praying, 
 and leave him the fighting. Dear, dear Ebbo ! One 
 day together again and forever ! I leave thee for 
 thine own sake." With much effort he signed the 
 cross again on his brother's brow, and kissed it long 
 and fervently. Then, as. all stood round, reluctant 
 to effect this severance, or disturb one on whom 
 death was visibly fast approaching, he struggled up 
 on his elbow, and held out the other hand, saying, 
 " Take me now, Heinz, ere Ebbo revive to be grieved. 
 The last sacrifice," he further whispered, while 
 almost giving himself to Heinz and Moritz to be 
 carried to his own bed in the turret chamber. 
 
 There, even as they laid him down, began what 
 seemed to be the mortal agony, and, though he was 
 scarcely sensible, his mother felt that her prime call 
 was to him, while his brother was in other hands. 
 Perhaps it was well for her. Surgical practice was 
 rough, and wounds made by fire-arms were thought 
 to have imbibed a poison that made treatment be 
 supposed efficacious in proportion to the pain in- 
 flicted. When Ebbo was recalled by the torture to 
 see no white reflection of his own face on the pillow 
 beside him, and to feel in vain for the grasp of the 
 
DO VE m THE EAGLE' ^ NEST. 325 
 
 cold damp hand, a delirious frenzy seized him, and 
 the struggles were frustrating the doctor's attempts, 
 when a low soft sweet song stole through the open 
 door. 
 
 " Friedel ! " he murmured, and held his breath to 
 listen. All through the declining day did the gentle 
 sound continue ; now of grand chants or hymns 
 caught from the cathedral choir, now of songs of 
 chivalry or saintly legend so often sung over the 
 evening fire ; the one flowing into the other in the 
 wandering of ailing powers, but never failing in the 
 tender sweetness that had distinguished Friedel 
 through life. And, whenever that voice was heard, 
 let them do to him w^hat they would, Ebbo was still 
 absorbed in intense listening so as not to lose a note, 
 and lulled almost out of sense of suffering by that 
 SAvan-like music. If his attendants made such noise 
 as to break in on it, or if it ceased for a moment, the 
 anguish returned, but was charmed away by the 
 weakest, faintest resumption of the song. Probably 
 Friedel knew not, with any earthly sense, what he 
 was doing, but to the very last he was serving his 
 twin brother as none other could have aided him in 
 his need. 
 
 The September sun had set, twilight was coming 
 on, the doctor had worked his stern will, and Ebbo, 
 quivering in every fibre, lay spent on his pillow, 
 when his mother glided in, and took her seat near 
 him, though where she hoped he would not notice 
 her presence. But he raised his eyelids, and said, 
 " He is not singing now." 
 
326 DOVE IN THE EAGLETS NEST, 
 
 " Singing indeed, but where we cannot hear him,'* 
 she answered. 'Whiter than the snow, clearer 
 than the ice-cave, more solemn than the choir. They 
 will come at last.' That was what he said, even as 
 he entered there." And the low dove-like tone and 
 tender calm face continued upon Ebbo the spell 
 that the chant had left. He dozed as though still 
 lulled by its echo. 
 
DOVE m TBE EAGLE'S NEST. 3S7 
 
 CHAPTEE XX. 
 
 THE WOUNDED EAGLE. 
 
 The stab and the spark in the stubble ! Often 
 did the presage of her dream occur to Christina, and 
 assist in sustaining her hopes during the days that 
 Ebbo's life hung in the balance, and he himself had 
 hardly consciousness to realize either his brother's 
 death or his own state, save as much as was shown 
 by the words, " Let him not be taken away, mother ; 
 let him wait for me." 
 
 Friedmund did wait, in his coffin before the altar 
 in the castle chapel, covered with a pall of blue 
 velvet, and great white cross, mournfully sent by 
 Hausfrau Johanna ; his sword, shield, helmet, and 
 spurs laid on it, and wax tapers burning at the head 
 and feet. And, when Christina could leave the one 
 son on his couch of suffering, it was to kneel beside 
 the other son on his narrow bed of rest, and recall, 
 like a breath of solace, the heavenly loveliness and 
 peace that rested on his features when she had taken 
 her last long look at them. 
 
 Moritz Schleiermacher assisted at Sir Friedmund's 
 first solemn requiem, and then made a journey to 
 TJlm, whence he returned to find the baron's danger 
 so much abated that he ventured on begging for an 
 
3^8 DOVE IN THE JSAGLE'8 N^ST, 
 
 interview with the lady, in which he explained his 
 purpose of repairing at once to the imperial camp, 
 taking with him a letter from the guilds concerned 
 in the bridge, and using his personal influence with 
 Maximilian to obtain not only pardon for the com- 
 bat but authoritative sanction to the erection. 
 Dankwart of Schlangenwald, the Teutonic knight, 
 and only heir of old Wolfgang, was supposed to be 
 with the emperor, and it might be possible to come 
 to terms with him, since his breeding in the Prussian 
 commanderies had kept him aloof from the feuds of 
 his father and brother. This mournful fight had to 
 a certain extent equalized the injuries on either side, 
 since the man whom Friedel had cut down was 
 Hierom, one of the few remaining scions of Schlan- 
 genwald, and there was thus no dishonor in trying 
 to close the deadly feud, and coming to an amicable 
 arrangement about the Debatable Strand, the 
 cause of so much bloodshed. What was now wanted 
 was Freiherr Eberhard's signature to the letter to 
 the emperor, and his authority for making terms 
 with the new count ; and haste was needed, lest the 
 markgraf of Wurtemburg should represent the 
 affray in the light of an outrage against a member 
 of the League. 
 
 Christina saw the necessity, and undertook if pos- 
 sible to obtain her son's signature, but, at the first 
 mention of Master Moritz and the bridge, Ebbo 
 turned away his head, groaned, and begged to hear 
 no more of either. He thought of his bold declara- 
 tion that the bridge must be built, even at the cost 
 
DOVE tN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 329 
 
 of blood ! Little did he then guess of whose blood ! 
 And in his bitterness of spirit he felt a jealousy of 
 that influence of Schleiermacher, which had of late 
 come between him and his brother. He hated the 
 very name, he said, and hid his face with a shudder. 
 He hoped the torrent would sweep away every frag- 
 ment of the bridge. 
 
 " Kay, Ebbo mine, wherefore wish ill to a good 
 work that our blessed one loved ? Listen, and let 
 me tell you my dream for making yonder strand 
 a peaceful memorial of our peaceful boy." 
 
 " To honor Friedel ? " and he gazed on her with 
 something like interest in his eyes. 
 
 " Yes, Ebbo, and as he would best brook honor. 
 Let us seek forever to end the rival claims to yon 
 piece of meadow by praying this knight of a re- 
 ligious order, the new count, to unite with us in 
 building there — or as near as may be safe — a church 
 of holy peace, and a cell for a priest, who may 
 watch over the bridge ward, and offer the holy sac- 
 rifice for the departed of either house. There will 
 we place our gentle Friedel to be the first to guard 
 the peace of the ford, and there will we sleep our- 
 selves when our time shall gome, and so may the 
 cruel feud of many generations be slaked forever." 
 
 " In his blood ! " sighed Ebbo. " Ah ! would that 
 it had been mine, mother. It 'is well, as well as 
 anything can be again. So shall the spot where he 
 feU be made sacred, and fenced from rude feet, and 
 we shall see his fair effigy keeping his armed watch 
 there." 
 
S30 I>0 VE m THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 And Christina was thankful to see his look of 
 gratification, sad though it was. She sat down near 
 his bed, and began to write a letter in their joint 
 names to Graf Dankwart von Schlangenwald, pro- 
 posing that thus, after the even balance of the 
 wrongs of the two houses, their mutual hostility 
 might be laid to rest forever by the consecration of 
 the cause of their long contention. It was a stiff 
 and formal letter, full of the set pious formularies 
 of the age, scarcely revealing the deep heart-feel- 
 ing within ; but it was to the purpose, and Ebbo, 
 after hearing it read, heartily approved, and con- 
 sented to sign both it and those that Schleiermacher 
 had brought. Christina held the scroll, and placed 
 the pen in the fingers that had lately so easily 
 wielded the heavy sword, but now felt it a far 
 greater effort to guide the slender quill. 
 
 Moritz Schleiermacher went his way in search of 
 the king of the Romans, far off in Carinthia. A 
 full reply could not be expected till the campaign 
 was over, and all that was known for some time 
 was through a messenger sent back to Ulm by 
 Schleiermacher with the intelligence that Maximil- 
 ian would examine into the matter after his return, 
 and that Count Dankwart would reply when he 
 should come to perform his father's obsequies after 
 the army was dispersed. There was also a letter of 
 kind though courtly condolence from Kasimir of 
 Wildschloss, much grieving for gallant young Sir 
 Friedmund, proffering all the advocacy he could 
 give the cause of Adlerstein, and covertly proffer- 
 
DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. ^ 331 
 
 ing the protection that she and her remaining son 
 might now be more disposed to accept. Christina 
 suppressed this letter, knowing it would only pain 
 and irritate Ebbo, and that she had her answer 
 ready. Indeed, in her grief for one son, and her 
 anxiety for the other, perhaps it was this letter that 
 first made her fully realize the drift of those earnest 
 words of Friedel's respecting his father. 
 
 Meantime the mother and son were alone to- 
 gether, with much of suffering and of sorrow, yet 
 with a certain tender comfort in the being all in all 
 to one another, with none to intermeddle with their 
 mutual love and grief. It was to Christina as if 
 something of Friedel's sweetness had passed to his 
 brother in his patient helplessness, and that, while 
 thus fully engrossed with him, she had both her 
 sons in one. Nay, in spite of all the pain, grief, 
 and weariness, these were times when both dreaded 
 any change, and the full recovery, when not only 
 would the loss of Friedel be every moment freshly 
 brought home to his brother, but when Ebbo would 
 go in quest of his father. 
 
 For on this the young baron had fixed his mind 
 as a sacred duty, from the moment he had seen that 
 life was to be his lot. He looked on his neglect of 
 indications of the possibility of his father's life in 
 the light of a sin that had led to all his disasters, 
 and not only regarded the intended search as a 
 token of repentance, but as a charge bequeathed to 
 him by his less selfish brother. He seldom spoke of 
 his intention^ but his mother was perfectly aware 
 
332 • DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST, 
 
 of it, and never thought of it without such an 
 agony of foreboding dread as eclipsed all the hope 
 that lay beyond. She could only turn away her 
 mind from the thought, and be thankful for what 
 was still her own from day to day. 
 
 " Art weary, my son ? " asked Christina one 
 October afternoon, as Ebbo lay on his bed, languidly 
 turning the pages of a noble folio of the Legends 
 of the Saints that Master Gottfried had sent for 
 his amusement. It was such a book as fixed the 
 ardor a few years later of the wounded JSTavarrese 
 knight, Inigo de Loyola, but Ebbo handled it as 
 if each page were lead. 
 
 " Only thinking how Friedel would have glowed 
 toward these as his own kinsmen," said Ebbo. " Then 
 should I have cared to read of them ! " and he gave 
 a long sigh. 
 
 " Let me take away the book," she said. " Thou 
 hast read long, and it is dark." 
 
 " So dark that there must surely be a snow- 
 cloud." 
 
 " Snow is falling in the large flakes that our 
 Friedel used to call winter-butterflies." 
 
 " Butterflies that will swarm and shut us in from 
 the weary world," said Ebbo. " And alack ! when 
 they go, what a turmoil it will be ! Councils in the 
 Eathhaus, appeals to the League, wranglings with 
 the markgraf, wise saws, overweening speeches, all 
 alike dull and dead." 
 
 " It will scarce be so when strength and spirit 
 have returned, mine Ebbo." 
 
DOVE m THE EAGLE'S NEST. 333 
 
 " Kever can life be more to me than the way to 
 him," said the lonely boy ; " and I— never like him 
 — shall miss the road without him." 
 
 While he thus spoke in the listless dejection of 
 sorrow and weakness, Hatto's a ged step was on the 
 stair. " Gracious lady," he said, " here is a hunts- 
 man bewildered in the hills, who has been asking 
 shelter from the storm that is drifting up." 
 
 " See to his entertainment, then. Hat to," said the 
 lady. 
 
 "My lady — sir baron," added Hatto, "I had not 
 come up but that this guest seems scarce gear for us 
 below. He is none of the foresters of our tract. 
 His hair is perfumed, his shirt is fine hoUand, his 
 buff suit is of softest skin, his baldric has a jeweled 
 clasp, and his arblast ! It would do my lord baron's 
 heart good only to cast eyes on the perfect make 
 of that arblast ! He has a lordly tread, and a 
 stately presence, and, though he has a free tongue 
 and made friends with us as he dried his garments, 
 he asked after my lord like his equal." 
 
 " O mother, must you play the chatelaine ? " 
 asked Ebbo. "Who can the fellow be«" Why 
 did none ever so come when they would have been 
 more welcome ? " 
 
 " Welcomed must he be," said Christina, rising, 
 " and thy state shall be my excuse for not tarrying 
 longer with him than may be needful." 
 
 Yet, though shrinking from the stranger's face, she 
 was not without hope that the variety might whole- 
 somely rouse her son from his depression, and in 
 
334 DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST, 
 
 effect Ebbo when left with Hatto, minutely 
 questioned him on the appearance of the stranger, 
 and watched, with much curiosity, for his mother's 
 return. 
 
 "Ebbo mine," she said, entering, after a long 
 interval, " the knight asks to see thee either after 
 supper, or to-morrow morn." 
 
 "Then a knight he is?" 
 
 " Yea, truly, a knight truly in every look and 
 gesture, bearing his head like the leading stag of the 
 herd, and yet right gracious." 
 
 " Gracious to you, mother, in your own hall ? " 
 cried Ebbo, almost fiercely. 
 
 " Ah ! jealous champion, thou couldst not take 
 offense ! It was the manner of one free and cour- 
 teous to every one, and yet with an inherent lofti- 
 ness that pervades all." 
 
 " Gives he no name ? " said Ebbo. 
 
 " He calls himself Ritter Theurdank, of the suite 
 of the late kaiser, but I should deem him wont 
 rather to lead than to follow." 
 
 "Theurdank," repeated Eberhard, "I know no 
 such name ! So, motherling, are you going to sup ? 
 I shall not sleep till I have seen him ! " 
 
 " Hold, dear son." She leaned over him and 
 spoke low. " See him thou must, but let me first 
 station Heinz and Koppel at the door with halberds, 
 not within earshot, but thou are so entirely defense- 
 less." 
 
 She had the pleasure of seeing him laugh. " Less 
 defenseless than when the kinsman of Wildschloss 
 
DO VE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST, 335 
 
 here visited us, mother ? I see for whom thou tak- 
 est him, but let it be so ; a spiritual knight would 
 scarce wreak his vengeance on a wounded man in 
 his bed. I will not have him insulted with precau- 
 tions. If he has freely risked himself in my hands, 
 I will as freely risk myself in his. Moreover, I 
 thought he had won thy heart." 
 
 " Keigned over it, rather," said Christina. " It is 
 but the disguise that I suspect and mistrust. Bid 
 me not leave thee alone Avith him, ray son." 
 
 " I^ay, dear mother," said Ebbo, " the matters on 
 which he is like to speak will brook no presence 
 save our own, and even that will be hard enough to 
 bear. So prop me more upright ! So ! And comb 
 out these locks somewhat smoother. Thanks, 
 mother. Now can he see whether he will choose 
 Eberhard of Adlerstein for friend or foe." 
 
 By the time supper was ended, the only light in 
 the upper room came from the flickering flames of 
 the fire of pine knots on the hearth. It glanced on 
 the pale features and dark sad eyes of the young 
 baron, sad in spite of the eager look of scrutiny that 
 he turned on the figure that entered at the door, 
 and approached so quickly that the partial light 
 only served to show the gloss of long fair hair, the 
 glint of a jeweled belt, and the outline of a tall, 
 well-knit, agile frame. 
 
 " Welcome, Herr Eitter," he said ; " I am sorry 
 we have been unable to give you a fitter recep- 
 tion." 
 
 " No host could be more fully excused than you," 
 
336 DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST, 
 
 said the stranger, and Ebbo started at his voice. 
 " I fear you have suffered much, and still have much 
 to suffer." 
 
 "My sword wound is healing fast," said Ebbo; 
 " it is the shot in my broken thigh that is so tedious 
 and painful." 
 
 " And I dare be sworn the leeches made it worse. 
 I have hated all leeches ever since they kept me 
 three days a prisoner in a 'pothecary's shop stink- 
 ing with drugs. Why, I have cured myself with 
 one pitcher of water of a raging fever, in their very 
 despite ! How did they serve thee, my poor boy ? " 
 
 " They poured hot oil into the wound to remove 
 the venom of the lead," said Ebbo. 
 
 " Had it been my case the lead should have been 
 in their own brains first, though that were scarce 
 needed, the heavy-witted Hans Sausages. Why 
 should there be more poison in lead than in steel ? 
 I have asked all my surgeons that question, nor ever 
 had a reasonable answer. Greater havoc of war- 
 riors do they make than ever with the arquebus — 
 ay, even when every lanzknecht bears one." 
 
 " Alack ! " Ebbo could not help exclaiming, 
 " where will be room for chivalry ? " 
 
 "Talk not old world nonsense," said Theur- 
 dank ; " chivalry is in the heart, not in the weapon. 
 A youth beforehand enough with the world to be 
 building bridges should know that, when all our 
 troops are provided with such an arm, then will 
 their platoons in serried ranks be as a solid wall 
 breathing fire, and as impregnable as the lines of 
 
DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST, 337 
 
 English archers with long bows, or the phalanx of 
 Macedon. And, when each man bears a pistol 
 instead of the misericorde, his life will be far more 
 his own." 
 
 Ebbo's face was in full light, and his visitor 
 marked his contracted brow and trembling lip. "Ah," 
 he said, "thou has had foul experience of these 
 weapons." 
 
 " ]S"ot mine own hurt," said Ebbo ; " that was but 
 fair chance of war." 
 
 " I understand," said the knight ; " it was the shot 
 that severed the goodly bond that was so fair to see. 
 Young man, none has grieved more truly than King 
 Max." 
 
 " And well he may," said Ebbo. " He has not lost 
 merely one of his best servants, but all the better 
 half of another." 
 
 " There is still stuff enough left to make that one 
 well worth having," said Theurdank, kindly grasp- 
 ing his hand, " though I would it were more sub- 
 stantial ! How didst get old Wolfgang down, boy ? 
 He must have been a tough morsel for slight bones 
 like these, even when better covered than now. 
 Come, tell me all. I promised the markgraf of 
 Wurtemburg to look into the matter Avhen I came 
 to be guest at St. Ruprecht's cloister, and I have 
 some small interest too with King Max." 
 
 His kindliness and sympathy were more effect- 
 ual with Ebbo than the desire to represent his case 
 favorably, for he was still too wretched to care 
 for policy ; but he answered Theurdank's questions 
 
338 1^0 VE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 readily, and explained how the idea of the bridge 
 had originated in the vigil beside the broken 
 wagons. 
 
 " I hope," said Theurdank, " the merchants 
 made up thy share ? These overthrown goods are 
 a seignorial right of one or other of you lords of the 
 bank." 
 
 " True, Herr Kitter ; but we deemed it un- 
 knightly to snatch at what travelers lost by mis- 
 fortune." 
 
 " Freiherr Eberhard, take my word for it, while 
 thou thus boldest, all the arquebuses yet to be cut 
 out of the Black Forest will not mar thy chivalry. 
 Where didst get these ways of thinking ? " 
 
 "My brother was a very St. Sebastian! My 
 mother " 
 
 " Ah, her sweet wise face would have shown it, 
 even had not poor Kasimir of Adlerstein raved of 
 her. Ah, lad, thou hast crossed a case of true love 
 there ! Canst not brook even such a gallant step- 
 father?" 
 
 " I may not," said Ebbo, with spirit ; " for with his 
 last breath Schlangenwald owned that my own 
 father died not at the hostel, but may now be alive 
 as]a Turkish slave." 
 
 "The devil!" burst out Theurdank. "Well! 
 that might have been a pretty mess ! A Turk- 
 ish slave, saidst thou ! What year chanced all 
 this matter — thy grandfather's murder and all the 
 rest ? " 
 
 " The year before my birth," said Ebbo. " It was 
 in the September of 1475." 
 
DOVE m THE EAGLE'S NEST. 339 
 
 " Ha," muttered Theurdank, musing to himself ; 
 " that was the year the dotard Schenk got his over- 
 throw at the fight of Kain on Sare from the Moslem. 
 Some composition was made by them, and old 
 Wolfgang was not unlikely to have been the go-be- 
 tween. So ! Say on, young knight," he added, " let 
 us to the matter in hand. How rose the strife that 
 kept back two troops from our — ^from the banner of 
 the empire ? " 
 
 Ebbo proceeded with the narration, and concluded 
 it just as the bell now belonging to the chapel be- 
 gan to toll for compline, and Theurdank prepared 
 to obey its summons, first, however, asking if he 
 should send any one to the patient. Ebbo thanked 
 him, but said he needed no one till his mother should 
 come after prayers. 
 
 " Nay, I told thee I had some leechcraft. Thou 
 art weary, and must rest more entirely : " and giv- 
 ing him little choice, Theurdank supported him with 
 one arm while removing the pillows that propped 
 him, then laid him tenderly down, saying, " Good 
 night, and the saints bless thee, brave young knight. 
 Sleep well, and recover in spite of the leeches. I 
 cannot afford to lose both of you." 
 
 Ebbo strove to follow mentally the services that 
 were being performed in the chapel, and whose 
 " Amens " and louder notes pealed up to him, de- 
 void of the clear young tones that had sung their 
 last here below, but swelled by grand bass notes 
 that as much distracted Ebbo's attention as the 
 memory of his guest's conversation ; and he im- 
 patiently awaited his mother's arrival. 
 
340 DOVE m THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 At length, lamp in hand, she appeared with tears 
 shining in her eyes, and bending over him said : 
 
 " He hath done honor to our blessed one, my 
 Ebbo ; he knelt by him, and crossed him with holy 
 water, and when he led me from the chapel he told 
 me any mother in Germany might envy me my 
 two sons even now. Thou must love him now, 
 Ebbo." 
 
 " Love him as one loves one's loftiest model," said 
 Ebbo — " value the old castle the more for shelter- 
 ing him." 
 
 " Hath he made himself known to thee ? " 
 
 " Not openly, but there is only one that he can 
 be." 
 
 Christina smiled, thankful that the work of par- 
 don and reconciliation had been thus softened by 
 the personal qualities of the enemy, whose conduct 
 in the chapel had deeply moved her. 
 
 " Then all will be well, blessedly well," she said. 
 
 " So I trust," said Ebbo, " but the bell broke our 
 converse, and he laid me down as tenderly as — 
 O mother ! if a father's kindness be like his, I have 
 truly somewhat to regain." 
 
 "Knew he aught of the fell bargain?" whis- 
 pered Christina. 
 
 " Not he, of course, save that it was a year of 
 Turkish inroads. He will speak more perchance 
 to-morrow. Mother, not a word to any one, nor 
 let us betray our recognition unless it be his pleas- 
 ure to make himself known." 
 
 " Certainly not," said Christina, remembering the 
 
DO VB m TBB EAGLE 'S NE8T. 34I 
 
 danger that the household might revenge FriedeFs 
 death if they knew the foe to be in their power. 
 Knowing as she did that Ebbo's admiration was apt 
 to be enthusiastic, and might now be rendered the 
 more fervent by fever and solitude, she was still at 
 a loss to understand his dazzled, fascinated state. 
 
 When Heinz entered, bringing the castle key, 
 which was always laid under the baron's pillow, 
 Ebbo made a movement with his hand that sur- 
 prised them both, as if to send it elsewhere — then 
 muttered: "Xo, no, not till he reveals himself," 
 and asked : " Where sleeps the guest ? " 
 
 " In the grandmother's room, which we fitted for 
 a guest-chamber, little thinking who our first would 
 be," said his mother. 
 
 " Never fear, lady ; we will have a care to him," 
 said Heinz, somewhat grimly. 
 
 "Yes, have a care," said Ebbo, wearily; "and 
 take care all due honor is shown to him. Good- 
 night, Heinz." 
 
 " Gracious lady," said Heinz, when by a sign he 
 had intimated to her his desire of speaking with her 
 unobserved by the baron, " never fear ; I know who 
 the fellow is as well as you do. I shall be at the 
 foot of the stairs, and woe to whoever tries to step 
 up them past me." 
 
 " There is no reason to apprehend treason, Heinz, 
 yet to be on our guard can do no harm." 
 
 "Nay, lady, I could look to the gear for the 
 oubliette if you would speak the word." 
 
 "For heaven's sake, no, Heinz. This man has 
 
342 I>0 VE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST, 
 
 come hither trusting to our honor, and you could 
 not do your lord a greater wrong, nor one that he 
 could less pardon, than by any attempt on our 
 guest." 
 
 "Would that he had never eaten our bread!" 
 muttered Heinz. "Yipers be they all, and who 
 knows what may come next ? " 
 
 "Watch, watch, Heinz; that is all," implored 
 Christina, " and, above all, not a word to any one 
 else." 
 
 And Christina dismissed the man-at-arms gruff 
 and sullen, and herself retired ill at ease between 
 fears of, and for, the unwelcome guest whose strange 
 powers of fascination had rendered her, in his ab- 
 sence, doubly distrustful. 
 
DOVE IN TEE EAGLE'S NEST. 343 
 
 CHAPTEE XXI. 
 
 RITTEK THEUEDANK. 
 
 The snow fell all night without ceasing, and was 
 still falling on the morrow, when the guest ex- 
 plained his desire of paying a short visit to the 
 young baron, and then taking his departure. Chris- 
 tina would gladly have been quit of him, but she 
 felt bound to remonstrate, for their mountain 
 was absolutely impassable during a fall of snow, 
 above all when accompanied by wind, since the 
 drifts concealed fearful abysses, and the shifting 
 masses insured destruction to the unwary wayfarer; 
 nay, natives themselves had perished between the 
 hamlet and the castle. 
 
 " Not the hardiest cragsman, not my son himself," 
 she said, " could venture on such a morning to guide 
 you to " 
 
 "Whither, gracious dame?" asked Theurdank, 
 half smiling. 
 
 " Kay, sir, I would not utter what you would not 
 make known." 
 
 " You know me then ? " 
 
 " Surely, sir, for our noble foe, whose generous 
 trust in our honor must win my son's heart." 
 
 " So ! " he said, with a peculiar smile, " Theurdank 
 
344 DOVE IN THE HA OLE 'S NEST. 
 
 — Dankwart — I see ? May I ask if your son like- 
 wise smelled out the Schlangenwald ? " 
 
 " Yerily, sir count, my Ebbo is not easily de- 
 ceived. He said our guest could be but one man in 
 all the empire." 
 
 Theurdank smiled again, saying, " Then, lady, you 
 shudder not at a man whose kin and yours have 
 shed so much of one another's blood ? " 
 
 " Kay, ghostly knight, I regard you as no more 
 stained therewith than are my sons by the deeds of 
 their grandfather," 
 
 " If there were more like you, lady," returned 
 Theurdank, " deadly feuds would soon be starved 
 out. May I to your son ? I have more to say to 
 him, and I would fain hear his views of the 
 storm." 
 
 Christina could not be quite at ease with Theur- 
 dank in her son's room, but she had no choice, and 
 she knew that Heinz was watching on the turret 
 stair, out of hearing indeed, but as ready to spring 
 as a cat who sees her young ones in the hand of a 
 child that she only half trusts. 
 
 Ebbo lay eagerly watching for his visitor, who 
 greeted him with the same almost paternal kindness 
 he had evinced the night before, but consulted him 
 upon the way from the castle. Ebbo confirmed his 
 mother's opinion that the path was impracticable 
 so long as the snow fell, and the wind tossed it in 
 wild drifts. 
 
 " We have been caught in snow," he said, 
 " and hard work have we had to get home ! Once 
 
i)OVE IN THE EA GLE '8 NEST, 345 
 
 indeed, after a bear hunt, we fully thought the cas- 
 tle stood before us, and lo ! it was all a cruel snow 
 mist in that mocking shape. I was even about 
 to climb our last Eagle's Step, as I thought, 
 when behold, it proved to be the very brink of the 
 abyss." 
 
 " Ah ! these ravines are well-nigh as bad as those 
 of the Inn. I've known what it was to be caught 
 on the ledge of a precipice by a sharp wind, chang- 
 ing its course, mark'st thou, so swiftly that it verily 
 tore my hold from the rock, and had well-nigh 
 swept me into a chasm of mighty depth. There 
 was nothing for it but to make the best spring I 
 might toward the crag on the other side, and grip 
 for my life at my alpenstock, which by Our Lady's 
 grace was firmly planted, and I held on till I got 
 breath again, and felt for my footing on the ice- 
 glazed rock." 
 
 " Ah ! " said Eberhard with a long breath, after 
 having listened with a hunter's keen interest to this 
 hair's-breadth escape, " it sounds like a gust of my 
 mountain air thus let in on me." 
 
 " Truly it is dismal work for a lusty hunter to lie 
 here,'^ said Theurdank, ^'but soon shalt thou take 
 thy crags again in full vigor, I hope. How call'st 
 thou the deep gray lonely pool under a steep frown- 
 ing crag, sharpened well-nigh to a spear point, that 
 I passed yester afternoon ? " 
 
 " The Ptarmigan's Mere, the Eed Eyrie," mur- 
 mured Ebbo, scarcely able to utter the words as he 
 thought of Friedel's delight in the pool, his exploit 
 
346 ^0 VM W TEE iJAQLE 'S NSJST, 
 
 at the eyrie, and the gay bargain made in the 
 streets of Uhn, that he should show the scaler of 
 the dom steeple the way to the eagle's nest. 
 
 " I remember," said his guest gravely, coming to 
 his side. " Ah, boy ! thy brother's flight has been 
 higher yet. Weep freely ; fear me not. Do I not 
 know what it is, when those who were over-good 
 for earth have found their eagle's wings, and left us 
 here ? " 
 
 Ebbo gazed up through his tears into the noble, 
 mournful face that was bent kindly over him. " I 
 will not seek to comfort thee by counseling thee to 
 forget," said Theurdank. " I was scarce thine elder 
 when my life was thus rent asunder, and to hoar 
 hairs, nay, to the grave itself, will she be my glory 
 and my sorrow. Never owned I brother, but I trow 
 ye two were one in no common sort." 
 
 " Such brothers as we saw at Ulm were little like 
 us," returned Ebbo, from the bottom of his heart. 
 " We were knit together so that all will begin 
 with me as if it were the left hand remaining alone 
 to do it ! I am glad that my old life may not even 
 in shadow be renewed till after I have gone in quest 
 of my father." 
 
 " Be not over hasty in that quest," said the guest, 
 " or the infidels may chance to gain two f reiherren 
 instead of one. Hast any designs ? " 
 
 Ebbo explained that he thought of making his 
 way to Genoa to consult the merchant Gian Bat- 
 tista dei Battiste, whose description of the captive 
 German noble had so strongly impressed Friedel. 
 
BO VE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST 347 
 
 Ebbo knew the difference between Turks and Moors, 
 but Friedel's impulse guided him, and he further 
 thought that at Genoa he should learn theVay to deal 
 with either variety of infidel. Theurdank thought 
 this a prudent course, since the Genoese had deal- 
 ings both at Tripoli and Constantinople ; and, more- 
 over, the transfer was not impossible, since the two 
 different hordes of Moslems trafficked among them- 
 selves when either had made an unusually successful 
 razzia. 
 
 " Shame," he broke out, " that these eastern 
 locusts, these ravening hounds, should prey unmo- 
 lested on the fairest lands of the earth, and our 
 German nobles lie here like swine, grunting and 
 squealing over the plunder they grub up from one 
 another, deaf to any summons from heaven or earth ! 
 Did not Heaven's own voice speak in thunder this 
 last year, even in J^ovember, hurling the mighty 
 thunderbolt of Alsace, an ell long, weighing 
 two hundred and fifteen pounds ? Did I not cause 
 it to be hung up in the church of Encisheira, as a 
 witness and warning of the plagues that hang 
 over us ? But no, nothing will quicken them from 
 their sloth and drunkenness till the foe are at their 
 doors ; and, if a man arise of different mold, with 
 some heart for the knightly, the good, and the true, 
 then they kill him for me ! But thou, Adlerstein, 
 this pious quest over, thou wilt return to me. Thou 
 hast head to think and heart to feel for the shame 
 and woe of this misguided land." 
 
 " I trust so, my lord," said Ebbo. " Truly, I have 
 
34:8 DOVE IN THE EAGLE 'S NEST. 
 
 suffered bitterly for pursuing my own quarrel rather 
 than the crusade." 
 
 "1 meant not thee," said Theurdank, kindly. 
 " Thy bridge is a benefit to me, as much as, or more 
 than, ever it can be to thee. Dost know Italian ? 
 There is something of Italy in thine eye." 
 
 "My mother's mother was Italian, my lord; 
 but she died so early that her language has not 
 descended to my mother or myself." 
 
 " Thou shouldst learn it. It will be pastime while 
 thou art bed-fast, and serve thee well in dealing with 
 the Moslem. Morever, I may have work for thee 
 in Welschland. Books ? I will send thee books. 
 There is the whole chronicle of Karl the Great, and 
 all his Palsgrafen, by Pulci and Boiardo, a brave 
 ct)unt and gentleman himself, governor of Keggio 
 and worthy to sing of deeds of arms ; so choice, too, 
 as to the names of his heroes, that they say he 
 caused his church bells to be rung when he had 
 found one for Eodomonte, his infidel Hector. He 
 has shown up Eoland as a love-sick knight, though, 
 which is out of all accord with Archbishop Tur- 
 pin. Wilt have him ? " 
 
 " When we were together, we used to love tales 
 of chivalry." 
 
 " Ah I Or wilt have the stern old GhibeUine Floren- 
 tine, who explored the three realms . of the de- 
 parted ? Deep lore, and well-nigh unsearchable, is 
 his ; but I love him for the sake of his Beatrice, who 
 guided him. May we find such guides in our day ! " 
 
 " I have heard of him," said Ebbo. " If he will 
 
DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 349 
 
 tell me where my Friedel walks in light, then, my 
 lord, I would read him with all my heart." 
 
 " Or wouldst thou have rare Franciscus Petrarca ? 
 I wot thou art too young as yet for the yearnings of 
 his sonnets, but their voice is sweet to the bereft 
 heart." And he murmured over, in their melodious 
 Italian flow, the lines on Laura's death : 
 
 "Not pallid, but yet whiter than the snow 
 By wind unstirred that on a hillside lies 
 Rest seemed as on a weary frame to grow, 
 A gentle slumber pressed her lovely eyes. 
 
 " Ah ! " he added aloud to himself, " it is ever to 
 me as though the poet had watched in that chamber 
 at Ghent." 
 
 Such were the discourses of that morning, now on 
 poetry and book lore ; now admiration of the carv- 
 ings that decked the room ; now talk on grand archi- 
 tectural designs, or improvements in fire-arms, or the 
 discussion of hunting adventures. There seemed 
 nothing in art, life, or learning in which the ver- 
 satile mind of Theurdank was not at home, or that 
 did not end in some strange personal reminiscence 
 of his own. All was so kind, so gracious, and bril- 
 liant, that at first the interview Avas full of wondering 
 delight to Ebbo, but latterly it became very fatigu- 
 ing from the strain of attention, above all toward a 
 guest who evidently knew that he was known, while 
 not permitting such recognition to be avowed. 
 Ebbo began to long for an interruption, but, though 
 he could see by the Kghtened sky that the weather 
 
350 DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 had cleared up, it would have been impossible to 
 have suggested to any guest that the way might 
 now probably be open, and more especially to such 
 a guest as this. Considerate as his visitor had been 
 the night before, the pleasure of talk seemed to have 
 done away with the remembrance of his host's 
 weakness, till Ebbo so flagged that at last he was 
 scarcely alive to more than the continued sound of 
 the voice, and all the pain that for awhile had been 
 in abeyance seemed to have mastered him ; but his 
 guest, half reading his books, half discoursing, seemed 
 too much immersed in his own plans, theories, and 
 adventures to mark the condition of his auditor. 
 
 Interruption came at last, however. There was a 
 sudden knock at the door at noon, and with scant 
 ceremony Heinz entered, followed by three other of 
 the men-at-arms, fully equipped. 
 
 " Ha ! what means this ? " demanded Ebbo. 
 
 " Peace, sir baron," said Heinz, advancing so as to 
 place his large person between Ebbo's bed and the 
 strange hunter. " You know nothing of it. We are 
 not going to lose you as well as your brother, and 
 we mean to see how this knight likes to serve as a 
 hostage instead of opening the gates as a traitor 
 spy. On him, Koppel ! it is thy right." 
 
 " Hands off ! at your peril, villains ! " exclaimed 
 Ebbo, sitting up, and speaking in the steady, resolute 
 voice that had so early rendered him thoroughly 
 their master, but much perplexed and dismayed, and 
 entirely unassisted by Theurdank, who stood looking 
 on with almost a smile, as if diverted by his predica- 
 ment. 
 
DOVE m TEE EAGLE' 8 NE82. 351 
 
 " By your leave, Herr Freiherr," said Heinz, 
 putting his hand on his shoulder, " this is no concern 
 of yours. While you cannot guard yourself or my 
 lady, it is our part to do so. I tell you his minions 
 are on their way to surprise the castle." 
 
 Even as Heinz spoke, Christina came panting into 
 the room, and hurrying to her son's side, said, " sir 
 count, is this just, is this honorable, thus to return 
 my son's welcome, in his helpless condition ? " 
 
 " Mother, are you likewise distracted ? " exclaimed 
 Ebbo. " What is all this madness ? " 
 
 " Alas, my son, it is no frenzy ! There are armed 
 men coming up the Eagle's Stairs on the one hand 
 and by the Gemsbock's Pass on the other ! " 
 
 " But not a hair of your head shall they hurt, 
 lady," said Heinz. "This fellow's limbs shall be 
 throAvn to them over the battlements. On, Koppel ! " 
 
 " Off, Koppel ! " thundered Ebbo. " Would you 
 brand me with shame forever ? Were he all the 
 Schlangenwalds in one, he should go as freely as he 
 came ; but he is no more Schlangenwald than I 
 am." 
 
 " He has deceived 3^ou, my lord," said Heinz. 
 " My lady's own letter to Schlangenwald was in his 
 chamber. 'Tis a treacherous disguise." 
 
 " Fool that thou art ! " said Ebbo. " I know this 
 gentleman well. I knew him at Ulm. Those 
 who meet him here mean me no ill. Open the 
 gates and receive them honorably ! Mother, 
 mother, trust me, all is well. I know what I am 
 saying." 
 
352 I>0 VE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 The men looked one upon another. Christina 
 wrung her hands, uncertain whether her son were 
 not under some strange fatal deception. 
 
 " My lord has his fancies," growled Koppel. " I'll 
 not be balked of my right of vengeance for his 
 scruples. Will he swear that this fellow is what he 
 calls himself ? " 
 
 " I swear," said Ebbo, slowly, " that he is a true 
 loyal knight, well known to me." 
 
 "Swear it distinctly, sir baron," said Heinz. 
 " We have all too deep a debt of vengeance to let off 
 any one who comes here lurking in the interest of 
 our foe. Swear that this is Theurdank, or we send 
 his head to greet his friends." 
 
 Drops stood on Ebbo's brow, and his breath 
 labored as he felt his senses reeling, and his powers 
 of defense for his guest failing him. Even should 
 the stranger confess his name, the people of the 
 castle might not believe him ; and here he stood like 
 one indifferent, evidently measuring how far his 
 young host would go in his cause. 
 
 " I cannot swear that his real name is Theur- 
 dank," said Ebbo, rallying his forces, " but this I 
 swear, that he is neither friend nor fosterer of 
 Schlangenwald, that I know him, and I had rather 
 die than that the slightest indignity were offered 
 him." Here, and with a great effort that terribly 
 wrenched his wounded leg, he reached past Heinz, 
 and grasped his guest's hand, pulling him as near as 
 he could. 
 
 " Sir," he said, " if they try to lay hands on you 
 strike my death-blow." 
 
DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 353 
 
 A bugle-horn was wound outside. The men stood 
 daunted — Christina in extreme terror for her son, 
 who lay gasping, breathless, but still clutching the 
 stranger's hand, and with eyes of fire glaring on the 
 mutinous warriors. Another bugle-blast ! Heinz 
 was almost in the act of grappling with the silent 
 foe, and Koppel cried as he raised his halberd, " E'ow 
 or never ! " but paused. 
 
 " Never, so please you," said the strange guest. 
 " What if your young lord could not forswear him- 
 self that my name is Theurdank ! Are you foes to 
 all the world save Theurdank ? " 
 
 " JSTo masking," said Heinz, sternly. " Tell your 
 true name as an honest man, and we will judge 
 whether you be friend or foe." 
 
 " My name is a mouthful, as your master knows," 
 said the guest, slowly, looking with strangely 
 amused eyes on the confused lanzknechts, who 
 were trying to devour their rage. " I was baptized 
 Maximilianus ; Archduke of Austria, by birth ; 
 by choice of the Germans, king of the Komans." 
 
 "The kaiser!" 
 
 Christina dropped on her knee ; the men-at-arms 
 tumbled backward ; Ebbo pressed the hand he held 
 to his lips, and fainted away. The bugle sounded 
 for the third time. 
 
354 I>0 VE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 CHAPTEE XXII. 
 
 PEACE. 
 
 Slowly and painfully did Ebbo recover from his 
 sjwoon, feeling as if the means of reviving were 
 rending him away from his brother. He was so 
 completely spent that he was satisfied with a mere 
 a-ssurance that nothing was amiss, and presently 
 dropped into a profound slumber, whence he awoke 
 to find it still broad daylight, and his mother sit- 
 ting by the side of his bed, all looking so much as it 
 had done for the last six weeks, that his first inquiry 
 was if all that had happened had been but a strange 
 deam. His mother would scarcely answer till she 
 had satisfied herself that his eye was clear, his voice 
 steady, his hand cool, and that, as she said, " That 
 kaiser had done him no harm." 
 
 " Ah, then it was true ! "Where is he ? Gone ? " 
 cried Ebbo, eagerly. 
 
 " 1^0, in the hall below, busy with letters they 
 have brought him. Lie still, my boy ; he has done 
 thee quite enough damage for one day." 
 
 " But, mother, what are you saying ? Something 
 disloyal, was it not ? " 
 
 " Well, Ebbo, I was very angry that he should 
 have half killed you when he could so easily have 
 
DOVE IN THE EA GLE 'S NEST, 855 
 
 spoken one word. Heaven forgive me if I did 
 wrong, but I could not help it." 
 
 "Did he forgive you, mother?" said Ebbo, 
 anxiously. 
 
 " He — oh, yes. To do him justice he was greatly 
 concerned ; devised ways of restoring thee, and now 
 has promised not to come near thee again without 
 my leave," said the mother, quite as persuaded of 
 her own rightful sway in her son's sick chamber as 
 ever Kunigunde had been of her dominion over the 
 castle. 
 
 " And is he displeased with me ? Those cowardly 
 vindictive rascals, to fall on him, and set me at 
 nought ! Before him, too ! " exclaimed Ebbo, 
 bitterly. 
 
 " Kay, Ebbo, he thought thy part most gallant. 
 I heard him say so, not only to me, but below 
 stairs — both wise and true. Thou didst know him 
 then?" 
 
 " From the first glance of his princely eye — ^the 
 first of his keen smiles. I had seen him disguised 
 before. I thought you knew him too, mother ; I 
 never guessed that your mind was r\inning on 
 Schlangenwald when we talked at cross purposes 
 last night." 
 
 " Would that I had ; but though I breathed no 
 word openly, I encouraged Heinz's precautions. 
 My boy, I could not help it; my heart would 
 tremble for my only one, and I saw he could not be 
 what he seemed." 
 
 " And what doth he here ? Who were the men, 
 who were advancing ? " 
 
356 DOVE IN THE EAGLE'8 NEST, 
 
 "They were the followers he had left at St. 
 Euprecht's, and likewise Master Schleiermacher and 
 Sir Kasimir of Wildschloss." 
 
 "Ha!" 
 
 " What— he had not told thee ? " 
 
 " ISTo. He knew that I knew him, was at no pains 
 to disguise himself, yet evidently meant me to 
 treat him as a private knight. But what brought 
 Wildschloss here ? " 
 
 " It seems," said Christina, " that, on the return 
 from Carinthia, the kaiser expressed his intention 
 of slipping away from his army in his own strange 
 fashion, and himself inquiring into the matter of the 
 ford. So he took with him his own personal fol- 
 lowers, the new Graf von Schlangenwald, Herr 
 Kasimir, and Master Schleiermacher. The others 
 he sent to Schlangenwald ; he himself lodged at St. 
 Euprecht's, appointing that Sir Kasimir should 
 meet him there this morning. From the convent he 
 started on a chamois hunt, and made his way 
 hither ; but, when the snow came on, and he 
 returned not, his followers became uneasy, and 
 came in search of him." 
 
 " Ah ! " said Ebbo, " he meant to intercede for 
 Wildschloss — it might be he would have tried his 
 power. No, for that he is too generous. How 
 looked Wildschloss, mother ? " 
 
 " How could I tell how any one looked save thee, 
 my poor wan boy ? Thou art paler than ever ! I 
 cannot have any king or kaiser of them all come to 
 trouble thee." 
 
DO VE IN THE EAGLE 'S NEST. 357 
 
 " ^ay, motherling, there is much more trouble 
 and unrest to me in not knowing how my king will 
 treat us after such a requital ! Prithee let him know 
 that I am at his service." 
 
 And, after having fed and refreshed her patient, 
 the gentle potentate of his chamber consented to 
 intimate her consent to admit the invader. But not 
 till after delay enough to fret the impatient nerves 
 of illness did Maximilian appear, handing her in, 
 and saying, in the cheery voice that was one of his 
 chief fascinations : 
 
 "Yea, truly, fair dame, I know thou would 
 sooner trust Schlangenwald himseK than me alone 
 with thy charge. How goes it, my true knight ? " 
 
 " Well, right well, my liege," said Ebbo, " save 
 for my shame and grief." 
 
 " Thou art the last to be ashamed for that," said 
 the good- natured prince. " Have I never seen my 
 faithful vassals more bent* on their own feuds than 
 on my word ? I who reign over a set of kings, who 
 brook no will but their own." 
 
 " And may we ask your pardon," said Ebbo, " not 
 only for ourselves, but for the misguided men-at- 
 arms ? " 
 
 " What ! the grewsome giant that was prepared 
 with the axe, and the honest lad that wanted to do 
 his duty by his father ? I honor that lad, freiherr ; 
 I would enroll him in my guard, but that probably 
 he is better off here than with Massimiliano pochi 
 danari^ as the Italians call me. But what I came 
 hither to say was this," and he spoke gravely : thou 
 
358 DO VE IN THE EAGLE' 8 NEST. 
 
 art sincere in desiring reconciliation with the house 
 of Schlangenwald ? " 
 
 " With all my heart," said Ebbo, " do I loathe the 
 miserable debt of blood for blood ! " 
 
 " And," said Maximilian, " Graf Dankwart is of 
 like mind. Bred from pagedom in his Prussian 
 commandery, he has never been exposed to the 
 irritations that have fed the spirit of strife, and he 
 will be thankful to lay it aside. The question next 
 is how to solemnize this reconciliation, ere your re- 
 tainers on one side or the other do something to set 
 you by the ears together again, which, judging by 
 this morning's work, is not improbable." 
 
 " Alas ! no," said Ebbo, " while I am laid by." 
 
 " Had you both been in our camp, you should 
 have sworn friendship in my chapel. Now must 
 Dankwart come hither to thee, as I trow he had best 
 do, while I am here to keep the peace. See, friend 
 Ebbo, we will have him here to-morrow ; thy chap- 
 lain shall deck the altar here, the Father Abbot 
 shall say mass, and ye shall swear peace and broth- 
 erhood before me. And," he added, taking Ebbo's 
 hand, " I shall know how to trust thine oaths as of one 
 who sets the fear of God above that of his king." 
 
 This was truly the only chance of impressing on 
 the wild vassals of the two houses an obligation 
 that perhaps might override their ancient hatred; 
 and the baron and his mother gladly submitted to 
 the arrangement. Maximilian withdrew to give 
 directions for summoning the persons required and 
 Christina was soon obliged to leave her son, while 
 she provided for her influx of guests. 
 
DOVE m THE EAGLE' 8 NEST, 359 
 
 Ebbo was alone till nearly the end of the supper 
 below stairs. He had been dozing, when a cautions 
 tread came up the turret steps, and he started, and 
 called out, " Who goes there ? I am not asleep." 
 
 " It is your kinsman, freiherr," said a well-known 
 voice ; " 1 come by your mother's leave." 
 
 " Welcome, sir cousin," said Ebbo, holding out 
 his hand. " You come to find everything changed." 
 
 " I have knelt in the chapel," said Wildschloss, 
 gravely. 
 
 " And he loved you better than I !" said Ebbo. 
 
 " Your jealousy of me was a providential thing, 
 for which all may be thankful," said Wildschloss 
 gravely ; " yet it is no small thing to lose the hope 
 of so many years ? However, young baron, I have 
 grave matter for your consideration. Know you 
 the service on which I am to be sent ? The kaiser 
 deems that the Armenians or some of the Christian 
 nations on the skirts of the Ottoman empire might 
 be made our allies, and attack the Turk in his rear. 
 I am chosen as his envoy, and shall sail so soon as I 
 can make my way to Venice. I only knew of the 
 appointment since I came hither, he having been 
 led thereto by letters brought him this day ; and 
 mayhap by the downfall of my hopes. He was 
 peremptory, as his mood is, and seemed to think it 
 no small favor," added Wildschloss, with some 
 annoyance. "And meantime, what of my poor 
 child ? There she is in the cloister at Ulm, but an 
 inheritance is a very mill-stone round the neck of 
 an orphan maid. That insolent fellow, Lassla von 
 
360 I>0 VE IN TEE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 Trautbach, hath already demanded to espouse the 
 poor babe; he — a blood-stained, dicing, drunken 
 rover, with whom I would not trust a dog that I 
 loved ! Yet my death would place her at the dis- 
 posal of his father, who would give her at once to 
 him. Nay, even his aunt, the abbess, will believe 
 nothing against him, and hath even striven with 
 me to have her betrothed at once. On the barest 
 rumor of my death will they wed the poor little 
 thing, and then woe to her, and woe to my 
 vassals !" 
 
 " The king," suggested Ebbo. " Surely she might 
 be made his ward." 
 
 "Young man," said Sir Kasimir, bending over 
 him, and speaking in an undertone, " he may well 
 have won your heart. As friend, when one is at 
 his side, none can be so winning, or so sincere as he ; 
 but with all his brilliant gifts, he says truly of him- 
 self that he is a mere reckless huntsman. To-day, 
 while I am with him, he would give me half Austria, 
 or fight single-handed in my cause or Thekla's. 
 Next month, when I am out of sight, comes Traut- 
 bach, just when his head is full of keeping the 
 French out of Italy, or reforming the church, or 
 beating the Turk, or parceling the empire into 
 circles, or, maybe, of a new touch-hole for a cannon 
 — nay, of a flower-garden, or of walking into a lion's 
 den. He just says, ' Yea, well,' to be rid of the im- 
 portunity, and all is over with my poor little 
 maiden. Hare-brained and bewildered with schemes 
 has he been as Eomish king — how will it be with 
 
DOVE m TBE EA aiE '8 ITEST. 361 
 
 him as kaiser ? It is but of his wonted madness 
 that he is here at all, when his Austrian states 
 must be all astray for want of him. No, no; I 
 would rather make a weathercock guardian to my 
 daughter. You yourself are the only guard to 
 whom I can safely intrust her. 
 
 " My sword as knight and kinsman " began 
 
 Ebbo. 
 
 " No, no ; 'tis no matter of errant knight or dis- 
 tressed damsel. That is King Max's own line!" 
 said Wildschloss, with a little of the irony that used 
 to nettle Ebbo. " There is only one way in which 
 you can save her, and that is as her husband." 
 
 Ebbo started, as well he might, but Sir Kasimir 
 laid his hand on him with a gesture that bade him 
 listen ere he spoke. 
 
 " My first wish for my child," he said, " was to 
 see her brought up by that peerless lady below 
 stairs. The saints — in pity to one so like them- 
 selves — spared her the distress our union would 
 have brought her. Now, it would be vain to place 
 my little Thekla in her care, for Trautbach would 
 easily feign my death and claim his niece, nor are 
 you of age to be made her guardian as head of our 
 house. But, if this marriage rite were solemnized, 
 then would her person and lands alike be yours, and 
 I could leave her Avith an easy heart." 
 
 " But," said the confused, surprised Ebbo, " what 
 can I do? They say I shall not walk for many 
 weeks to come. And even if I could, I am so 
 young — I have so blundered in my dealings with 
 
362^ DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 my own mountaineers, and with this fatal bridge- 
 how should I manage such estates as yours ? Some 
 better " 
 
 " Look you, Ebbo," said "Wildschloss, " you have 
 erred — ^you have been hasty ; but tell me where to 
 find another youth, whose strongest purpose was as 
 wise as your errors, or who cared for others' good 
 more than for his own violence and vainglory? 
 Brief as your time has been, one knows when 
 one is on your bounds by the aspect of your serfs, 
 the soundness of their dwellings, the prosperity of 
 their crops and cattle ; above all, by their face and 
 tone if one asks for their lord." 
 
 " Ah ! it was Friedel they loved. They scarce 
 knew me from Friedel." 
 
 " Such as you are, with all the blunders you have 
 made and will make, you are the only youth I 
 know to whom I could intrust my child or my 
 lands. The old Wildschloss castle is a male fief, 
 and would return to you, but there are domains 
 since granted that will cause intolerable trouble 
 and strife, unless you and my poor little heiress are 
 united. As for age, you are " 
 
 " Eighteen next Easter." 
 
 " Then there are scarce eleven years between you. 
 You will find the Httle one a blooming bride when 
 your first deeds in arms have been fought out." 
 
 " And if my mother trains her up," said Ebbo, 
 thoughtfully, " she will be all the better daughter 
 to her. But, sir cousin, you know I, too, must be 
 going. So soon as I can brook the saddle, I must 
 seek out and ransom my father." 
 
DO VE m THE EAGLE'S NEST. 363 
 
 " That is like to be a far shorter and safer journey 
 than mine. The Genoese and Venetians under- 
 stand traffic with the infidels for their captives, and 
 only by your own fault could you get into danger. 
 Even at the worst, should mishap befall you, you 
 could so order matters as to leave your girl-widow 
 in your mother's charge." 
 
 " Then," added Ebbo, " she would still have one 
 left to love and cherish her. Sir Kasimir, it is 
 well ; though, if you knew me without my Friedel, 
 you would repent of your bargain." 
 
 " Thanks from my heart," said Wildschloss, " but 
 you need not be concerned. You have never been 
 over-friendly with me even with Friedel at your 
 side. But to business, my son. You will endure 
 that title from me now ? My time is short." 
 
 " What would you have me do ? Shall I send the 
 little one a betrothal ring, and ride to Ulm to wed 
 and fetch her home in spring ? " 
 
 " That may hardly serve. These kinsmen would 
 have seized on her and the castle long ere that time. 
 The only safety is the making wedlock as fast as 
 it can be made with a child of such tender years. 
 Mine is the only power that can make the abbess 
 give her up, and therefore will I ride this moonlight 
 night to Ulm, bring the little one back with me by 
 the time the reconciliation be concluded, and then 
 shall ye be wed by the Abbot of St. Ruprecht's, 
 with the kaiser for a witness, and thus will the knot 
 be too strong for the Trautbachs to untie." 
 
 Ebbo looked disconcerted, and gasped, as if this 
 
364 DO VE m TEE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 were over-quick work. — "To-morrow!" he said. 
 "Knows my mother? " 
 
 " I go to speak with her at once. The kaiser's 
 consent I have, as he says, * If we have one vassel 
 who has common sense and honesty, let us make 
 the most of him.' Ah ! my son, I shall return to 
 see you his counsellor and friend." 
 
 Those days had no delicacies as to the lady's side 
 taking the initiative : and, in effect, the wealth and 
 power of Wildschloss so much exceeded those of 
 the elder branch that it would have been presump- 
 tuous on Eberhard's part to have made the proposal. 
 >^ It was more a treaty than an affair of hearts, and 
 Sir Kasimir had not even gone through the form of 
 inquiring if Ebbo were fancy-free. It was true, in- 
 deed, that he was still a boy, with no passion for 
 any one but his mother ; but had he even formed a 
 dream of a lady love, it would scarcely have been 
 y deemed a rational objection. The days of romance 
 were no days of romance in marriage. 
 
 Yet Christina, wedded herself for pure love, felt 
 this obstacle strongly. The scheme was propounded 
 to her over the hall fire by no less a person than 
 Maximilian himself, and he, whose perceptions were 
 extremely keen when he was not too much en- 
 grossed to use them, observed her reluctance through 
 all her timid deference, and probed her reasons so 
 successfully that she owned at last that, though it 
 might sound like folly, she could scarce endure to 
 see her son so bind himself that the romance of his 
 Hfe could hardly be innocent. 
 
DO VE IN THE EAGLE 'S NEST. 365 
 
 " Nay, lady," was the answer, in a tone of deep 
 feeling. "Neither lands nor honors can weigh 
 down the upspringing of true love ; " and he bowed 
 his head between his hands. 
 
 Yerily, all the low countries had not impeded the 
 true-hearted affection of Maximilian and Mary ; and, 
 though since her death his want of seK-restraint 
 had marred his personal character and morals, and 
 though he was now on the point of concluding a 
 most loveless political marriage, yet still Mary Avas 
 — as he shows her as the Beatrice of both his strange 
 autobiographical allegories — the guiding star of his 
 fitful life; and in heart his fidelity was so un- 
 broken that, when after a long pause he again 
 looked up to Christina, he spoke as well understand- 
 ing her feelings. 
 
 "I know what you would say, lady; your son hardly 
 knows as yet how much is asked of him, and the 
 little maid, to whom he vows his heart, is over- 
 young to secure it. But, lady, I have often observed 
 that men, whose family affections are as deep and 
 fervent as your son's are for you and his brother, 
 seldom have wandering passions, but that their love 
 flows deep and steady in the channels prepared for 
 it. Let your young freiherr regard this damsel as 
 his own, and you will see he will love her as such." 
 
 " I trust so, my liege." 
 
 " Moreover, if she turn out like the spiteful Traut- 
 bach folk," said Maximilian, rather wickedly, 
 " plenty of holes can be picked in a baby- wedding. 
 No fear of its over-firmness. I never saw one come 
 
366 DOVE IN THE EAGLE' 8 NEST. 
 
 to good; only he must keep firm hold on the 
 lands." 
 
 This was not easy to answer, coming from a 
 prince who had no small experience in premature 
 bridals coming to nothing, and Christina felt that 
 the matter was taken out of her hands, and that she 
 had no more to do but to enjoy the warm-hearted 
 kaiser's praises of her son. 
 
 In fact, the general run of nobles were then so 
 boorish and violent compared with the citizens, 
 that a nobleman who possessed intellect, loyalty, 
 and conscience was so valuable to the sovereign that 
 Maximilian was rejoiced to do all that either could 
 bind him to his service or increase his power. The 
 true history of this expedition on the emperor's part 
 was this — that he had consulted Kasimir upon the 
 question of the Debatable Ford and the feud of Ad- 
 lerstein and Schlangenwald, asking further how his 
 friend had sped in the wooing of the fair widow, to 
 which he remembered having given his consent at 
 Uhn. 
 
 Wildschloss replied that, though backed up by her 
 kindred at Ulm, he had made no progress in conse- 
 quence of the determined opposition of her two 
 sons, and he had therefore resolved to wait awhile, 
 and let her and the young baron feel their inability 
 to extricate themselves from the difficulties that 
 were sure to beset them, without his authority, in- 
 fluence, and experience — fully believing that some 
 predicament might arise that would bring the mother 
 to terras, if not the sons. 
 
DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 367 
 
 This disaster did seem to have fallen out, and he 
 had meant at once to offer himself to the lady as 
 her supporter and advocate, able to bring about all 
 her son could desire ; though he owned that his 
 hopes would have been higher if the survivor had 
 been the gentle, friendly Friedmund, rather than the 
 hot and imperious Eberhard, who he knew must be 
 brought very low ere his objections would be with- 
 drawn. • 
 
 The touch of romance had quite fascinated Maxi- 
 milian. He would see the lady and her son. He 
 would make all things easy by the personal influ- 
 ence that he so well knew how to exert, backed by 
 his imperial authority ; and both should see cause 
 to be thankful to purchase consent to the bridge- 
 building, and pardon for the fray, by the marriage 
 between the widow and Sir Kasimir. 
 
 But the Last of the Knights was a gentleman, and 
 the meek dignity of his hostess had hindered him 
 from pressing on her any distasteful subject until 
 her son's explanation of the uncertainty of her hus- 
 band's death had precluded all mention of this in- 
 tention. Besides, Maximilian was himself greatly 
 charmed by Ebbo's own qualities — partly perhaps 
 as an intelligent auditor, but also by his good sense, 
 high spirit, and, above all, by the ready and delicate 
 tact that had both penetrated and respected the 
 disguise. Moreover, Maximilian, though a faulty, 
 was a devout man, and could appreciate the youth's 
 unswerving truth, under circumstances, that did, in 
 effect, imperil him more really than his guest. In 
 
368 • I>0 VE IN THE EAGLE '8 NEST. 
 
 this mood, Maximilian felt disposed to be rid to the 
 very utmost of poor Sir Kasimir's unlucky attach- 
 ment to a wedded lady ; and receiving letters sug- 
 gestive of the eastern mission, instantly decided 
 that it would only be doing as he would be done by 
 instantly to order the disappointed suitor off to the 
 utmost parts of the earth, where he would much 
 have liked to go himself, save for the unlucky clog 
 of all the realm of Germany. That Sir Kasimir 
 had any tie to home he had for the moment en- 
 tirely forgotten ; and, had he remembered it, the 
 knight was so eminently fitted to fulfill his purpose, 
 that it could hardly have been regarded. But, when 
 Wildschloss himself devised his little heiress' union 
 with the head of the direct line, it was a most ac- 
 ceptable proposal to the emperor, who set himself to 
 forward it at once, out of policy, and as compensa- 
 tion to all parties. 
 
 And so Christina's gentle remonstrance was 
 passed by. Yet, with all her sense of the venture, 
 it was thankworthy to look back on the trembling 
 anxiety with which she had watched her boy's 
 childhood, amid all his temptations and perils, and 
 compare her fears with his present position : his al- 
 liance courted, his wisdom honored, the child of the 
 proud, contemned outlaw received as the favorite of 
 the emperor, and the valued ally of her own honored 
 burgher world. Yet he was still a mere lad. How 
 would it be for the future ? Would he be unspoiled? 
 Yes, even as she already viewed one of her twins as 
 the star on high — nay, when kneeling in the chapel 
 
DO VE IN THE EAGLETS NEST. 369 
 
 her dazzling tears made stars of the glint of the light 
 reflected in his bright helmet — might she not trust 
 that the other would yet run his course to and fro, 
 as the spark in the stubble 1 
 
370 I>0 VE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST, 
 
 CHAPTEE XXm. 
 
 THE ALTAR OF PEACE. 
 
 1^0 ONE could bear to waken the young baron till 
 the sun had risen high enough to fall on his face and 
 unclose his eyes. 
 
 " Mother " (ever his first word), " you have let 
 me sleep too long." 
 
 " Thou didst wake too long, I fear me." 
 " I hoped you knew it not. Yes, my wound 
 throbbed sore, and the Avonders of the day whirled 
 round my brain like the wild huntsman's chase." 
 " And, cruel boy, thou didst not call to me." 
 " What, with such a yesterday, and such a morrow 
 for you ? while, chance what may, I can but lie 
 still. I thought I must call, if I were still so 
 wretched, when the last moonbeam faded ; but, be 
 hold, sleep came, and therewith my Friedel sat by 
 me, and has sung songs of peace ever since." 
 " And hath lulled thee to content, dear son ? ' 
 " Content as the echo of his voice and the fulfill- 
 ment of his hope can make me," said Ebbo. 
 
 And so Christina made her son ready for the 
 da3^'s solemnities, arraying him in a fine holland 
 shirt with exquisite broidery of her own on the 
 collar and sleeves, and carefully disposing his long 
 
DO VE m THE EAGLE '8 NEST. 371 
 
 glossy, dark brown hair so as to fall on his shoulders 
 as he lay propped up by cushions. She would have 
 thrown his crimson mantle round him, but he re- 
 pelled it indignantly. " Gay braveries for me, 
 while my Friedel is not yet in his resting-place ? 
 Here — the black velvet cloak." 
 
 "Alas, Ebbo ! it makes thee look more of a corpse 
 than a bridegroom. Thou wilt scare thy poor little 
 spouse. Ah ! it was not thus I had fancied myself 
 decking thee for thy wedding." 
 
 "Poor little one!" said Ebbo. "If, as yoar 
 uncle says, mourning is the seed of joy, this bridal 
 should prove a gladsome one ! But let her prov^ . a 
 loving child to you, and honor my Friedel's memory, 
 then shall I love her well. Do not fear, motherling ; 
 with the roots of hatred and jealousy taken out of 
 the heart, even sorrow is such peace that it is almost 
 
 joy-" 
 
 It was over early for pain and sorrow to have 
 taught that lesson, thought the mother, as with 
 tender tears she gave place to the priest, who was 
 to begin the solemnities of the day by shriving the 
 young baron. It was Father Norbert, who had in 
 this very chamber baptized the brothers, while their 
 grandmother was plotting the destruction of their 
 godfather, even while he gave Friedmund his name 
 of peace, — Father Norbert who had from the very 
 first encouraged the drooping, hearts tricken, solitary 
 Christina not to be overcome of evil, but to over- 
 come evil with good. 
 
 A temporary altar was erected between the win- 
 
372 BO VE IN THE EAGLE 'S NEST. 
 
 doTVS, and hung with the silk and embroidery be- 
 longing to that, in the chapel : a crucifix was placed 
 on it, with the shrine of the stone of Mcsea, one or 
 two other relics brought from St. Ruprecht's cloister, 
 and a beautiful mother-of-pearl and gold pyx also 
 from the abbey, containing the host. These were 
 arranged by the chaplain, Father Norbert, and three 
 of his brethren from the abbey. And then the 
 Father Abbot, a kindly, dignified old man, who had 
 long been on friendly terms with the young baron, 
 entered ; and after a few kind though serious words 
 to him, assumed a gorgeous cope stiff with gold 
 embroidery, and, standing by the altar, awaited the 
 arrival of the other assistants at the ceremony. 
 
 The slender, youthful-looking, pensive lady of the 
 castle, in her wonted mourning dress, was courte- 
 ously handed to her son's bedside by the emperor. 
 He was in his plain buff leathern hunting-garb, un- 
 ornamented, save by the rich clasp of his sword- 
 belt and his gold chain, and his head was only 
 covered by the long sUken locks of fair hair that 
 hung round his shoulders ; but, now that his large 
 keen dark blue eyes were gravely restrained, and 
 his eager face composed, his countenance was so 
 majestic, his bearing so lofty, that not all his crowns 
 could have better marked his dignity. 
 
 Behind him came a sunburned, hardy man, wear- 
 ing the white mantle and black fleur-de-lis-pointed 
 cross of the Teutonic Order. A thrill passed 
 through Ebbo's veins as he beheld the man who to 
 him represented the murderer of his brother and 
 
DO VE IN TEE EAGLETS NEST. 373 
 
 both his grandfathers, the cruel oppressor of his 
 father, and the perpetrator of many a more remote, 
 but equally unforgotten, injury. And in like manner 
 Sir Dankwart beheld the actual slayer of his father, 
 and the heir of a long score of deadly retribution. 
 No wonder then that, while the emperor spoke a few 
 words of salutation and inquiry, gracious though not 
 familiar, the two foes scanned one another with a 
 shiver of mutual repulsing, and a sense that they 
 would fain have fought it out as in the good old 
 times. 
 
 However, Ebbo only beheld a somewhat dull, 
 heavy, honest-looking visage of about thirty years 
 old, good-nature written in all its flat German fea- 
 tures, and a sort of puzzled wonder in the wide light 
 eyes that stared fixedly at him, no doubt in amaze- 
 ment that the mighty huge-limbed "Wolfgang could 
 have been actually slain by the delicately-framed 
 youth now more colorless than ever in consequence 
 of the morning's fast. Schleiermacher was also 
 present, and the chief followers on either hand had 
 come into the lower part of the room — Hatto, 
 Heinz and Koppel, looking far from contented ; 
 some of the emperor's suite ; and a few attendants 
 of Schlangenwald, like himself connected with the 
 Teutonic Order. 
 
 The emperor spoke : " We have brought you 
 together, Herr Graff von Schlangenwald, and Herr 
 Friedel von Adlerstein, because ye have given us 
 reason to beheve you willing to lay aside the 
 remembrance of the foul and deadly strifes of your 
 
374 DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 forefathers, and to live as good Christians in friend- 
 ship and brotherhood." 
 
 " Sire, it is true," said Schlangenwald ; and " It is 
 true," said Ebbo. 
 
 " That is well," replied Maximihan. " N'or can 
 our reign better begin than by the closing of a 
 breach that has cost the land some of its bravest 
 sons. Dankwart von Schlangenwald, art thou will- 
 ing to pardon the heir of Adlerstein for having 
 slain thy father in free and honorable combat, as 
 well as, doubtless, for other deeds of his ancestors, 
 more than I know or can specify ? " 
 
 " Yea, truly ; 1 pardon him, my liege, as befits 
 my vow." 
 
 " And thou, Eberhard von Adlerstein, dost thou 
 put from thee vengeance for thy twin brother's 
 death, and all the other wrongs that thine house 
 has suffered ? " 
 
 " I put revenge from me forever." 
 
 " Ye agree, further, then, instead of striving as to 
 your rights to the piece of meadow called the Debat- 
 able Strand, and to the wrecks of burthens there 
 cast up by the stream, ye will unite with the citizens 
 of Ulm in building a bridge over the Braunwasser, 
 where, your mutual portions thereof being decided 
 by the Swabian League, toll may be taken from all 
 vehicles and beasts passing thereover ? " 
 
 " We agree," said both knights. 
 
 " And I, also, on behalf of the two guilds of 
 Ulm," added Moritz Schleiermacher. 
 
 " Likewise," continued the emperor, " for avoid- 
 
DOVE /iV THE EAGLE'S NEST. ^% 
 
 ance of debate, and to consecrate the spot that has 
 caused so much contention, ye will jointly erect a 
 church, where may be buried both the relatives 
 who fell in the late unhappy skirmish, and where 
 ye will endow a perpetual mass for their souls, and 
 those of others of your two races." 
 
 "Thereto I willingly agree,'^ said the Teutonic 
 knight. 
 
 But to Ebbo it was a shock that the pure, gentle 
 Friedmund should thus be classed with his treacher- 
 ous assassin ; and he had almost declared that it 
 would be sacrilege, when he received from the 
 ei^iperor a look of stern, surprised command, which 
 reminded him that concession must not be all on one 
 side, and that he could not do Friedel a greater 
 wrong than to make him a cause of strife. So, 
 though they half choked him, he contrived to utter 
 the words, " I consent." 
 
 " And in token of amity I here tear up and burn 
 all the feuds of Adlerstein," said Schlangenwald, 
 producing from his pouch a collection of hostile 
 literature, beginning from a crumpled strip of 
 yellow parchment, and ending with a coarse paper 
 missive in the clerkly hand of burgher-bred Hugh 
 Sorel, and bearing the crooked signatures of the 
 last two Eberhards of Adlerstein — all with great 
 seals of the eagle shield appended to them. A 
 similar collection — which, with one or two other 
 family defiances, and the letters of investiture 
 recently obtained at Ulm, formed the whole archives 
 of Adlerstein — had been prepared within Ebbo's 
 
376 TtO VE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 reach ; and each of the two, taking up a dagger, 
 made extensive gashes in these documents, and then 
 — with no mercy to the future antiquaries, who 
 would have gloated over them — the whole w^ere 
 hurled into the flames on the hearth, where the 
 odor they emitted, if not grateful to the physical 
 sense, should have been highly agreeable to the 
 moral. 
 
 " Then, holy Father Abbot," said MaximiKan, 
 " let us ratify this happy and Christian reconcilia- 
 tion by the blessed sacrifice of peace, over which 
 these two faithful knights shall unite in swearing 
 good-will and brotherhood." , 
 
 Such solemn reconciliations were frequent, but, 
 alas ! were too often a mockery. Here, however, 
 both parties were men who felt the awe of the 
 promise made before the pardon-winner of all man- 
 kind. Ebbo, bred up by his mother in the true life 
 of the church, and comparatively apart from practi- 
 cal superstitions, felt the import to the depths of 
 his inmost soul, with a force heightened by his 
 bodily state of nervous impressibility ; and his wan 
 wasted features and dark shining eyes had a strange 
 spiritual beam, " half passion and half awe," as he 
 followed the words of universal forgiveness and 
 lofty praise that he had heard last in his anguished 
 trance, when his brother lay dying beside him, and 
 leaving him behind. He knew now that it was for 
 this. 
 
 His deep repressed ardor and excitement were no 
 small contrast to the sober, matter-of-fact demeanor 
 
DOVE IN TEE EAQLE'S NEST. 377 
 
 of the Teutonic knight, who comported himself with 
 the mechanical decorum of an ecclesiastic, but quite 
 as one who meant to keep his word. Maximilian 
 served the mass in his royal character as sub-deacon. 
 He was fond of so doing, either from humility, or 
 love of incongruity, or both. E^o one, however, 
 communicated except the clergy and the parties con- 
 cerned — Dankwart first, as being monk as well as 
 knight, then Eberhard and his mother : and then 
 followed, interposed into the rite, the oath of pardon, 
 friendship, and brotherhood, administered by the 
 abbot, and followed by the solemn kiss of peace. 
 There was now no recoil ; Eberhard raised himself to 
 meet the lips of his foe, and his heart went with 
 the embrace, l^ay, his inward ear dwelt on Fried- 
 mund's song mingling with the concluding chants of 
 praise. 
 
 The service ended, it was part of the pledge of 
 amity that the reconciled enemies should break 
 their fast together, and the collation of white bread 
 and wine was provided for the purpose. The 
 emperor tried to promote free and friendly talk 
 between the two adversaries, but not with great 
 success ; for Dankwart, though honest and sincere, 
 seemed extremely dull. He appeared to have few 
 ideas beyond his Prussian coramandery and its 
 routine discipline, and to be lost in a castle where all 
 was at his sole will and disposal, and he caught 
 eagerly at all proposals made to him as if they 
 were new lights. As, for instance, that some im- 
 partial arbitrator should be demanded from the 
 
a-J-S DOVE m THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 Swabian League to define the boundary ; and that 
 next Rogation-tide the two knights should ride or 
 climb it in company, while meantime the serfs 
 should be strictly charged not to trespass, and any 
 transgressor should be immediately escorted to his 
 own lord. 
 
 " But," quoth Sir Dankwart, in the most serious 
 tone, " I am told that a she-bear wons in a den on 
 yonder crag, between the pass you call the Gems- 
 bock's and the Schlangenwald valley. They told 
 me the right in it had never been decided, and I 
 have not been up myself. To say truth, I have 
 lived so long in the sand plains as to have lost my 
 mountain legs, and I hesitated to see if a hunter 
 could mount thither for fear of fresh offense ; but, if 
 she bide there till Rogation-tide, it will be ill for the 
 lambs." 
 
 " Is that all ? " cried Maximilian. " Then will I, a 
 neutral, kill your bear for you, gentlemen, so that 
 neither need transgress this new crag of debate. I'll 
 go down and look at your bear spears, friend Ebbo, 
 and be ready so soon as Kasimir has done with his 
 bridal." 
 
 "That crag!" cried Ebbo. "Little good will it 
 do either of us. Sire, it is a mere wall of sloping 
 rock, slippery as ice, and with only a stone or 
 matting of ivy here and there to serve as foot- 
 hold." 
 
 "Where bear can go, man can go," replied the 
 kaisar. 
 
 "Oh, yes! "We have been there, craving your 
 
DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST, 379 
 
 pardon, Herr Graf," said Ebbo, "after a dead 
 chamois that rolled into a cleft, but it is the worst 
 crag on all the hill, and the frost will make it slip- 
 pery. Sire, if you do venture it, I conjure you to 
 take Koppel, and climb by the rocks from the left, 
 not the right, which looks easiest. The yellow 
 rock, with a face like a man's, is the safer ; but ach, 
 it is fearful for one who knows not the rocks ! " 
 
 " If I know not the rocks, all true German rocks 
 know me," smiled Maximilian, to whom the danger 
 seemed to be such a stimulus that he began to pro- 
 pose the bear-hunt immediately, as an interlude 
 while waiting for the bride. 
 
 However, at that moment half-a-dozen horsemen 
 were seen coming up from the ford, by the nearer 
 path, and a forerunner arrived with the tidings that 
 the Baron of Adlerstein Wildschloss was close be- 
 hind with the little Baroness Thekla. 
 
 Half the moonlight night had Sir Kasimir and 
 his escort ridden ; and, after a brief sleep at the 
 nearest inn outside Ulm, he had entered in early 
 morning, demanded admittance at the convent, 
 made short work with the Abbess Ludmilla's argu- 
 ments, claimed his daughter, and placing her on a 
 cushion before him on his saddle, had borne her 
 away, telling her of freedom, of the kind lady, and 
 the young knight who had dazzled her childish 
 fancy. 
 
 Christina went down to receive her. There was 
 no time to lose, for the huntsman kaisar was bent 
 on the slaughter of his bear before dark, and, if he 
 
380 DOVE IN THE EAGLE' 8 NEST. 
 
 were to be a witness of the wedding, it must be im- 
 mediate. He was in a state of much impatience, 
 which he beguiled by teasing his friend Wildschloss 
 b}^ reminding him how often he himself had been 
 betrothed, and had managed to slip his neck out of 
 the noose. 
 
 "And if my Margot be not soon back on my 
 hands, I shall give the French credit," he said, toss- 
 ing his bear-spear in the air, and catching it again. 
 " Why, this bride is as long of busking her as if she 
 w^ere a beauty of seventeen ! I must be off to my 
 Lady Bearess." 
 
 Thus nothing could be done to prepare the little 
 maiden but to divest her of her mufflings, and comb 
 out her flaxen hair, crowning it with a wreath 
 which Christina had already woven from the myrtle 
 of her own girlhood, scarcely waiting to answer 
 the bewildered queries and entreaties save by ca- 
 resses and admonitions to her to be very good. 
 
 Poor little thing! She was tired, frightened, 
 and confused ; and when she had been brought up- 
 stairs, she answered the half-smiling, half-shy greet- 
 ing of her bridegroom with a shudder of alarm, and 
 the exclamation : " Where is the beautiful young 
 knight ? That's a lady going to take the veil Ipng 
 under the pall." 
 
 " You look rather Hke a little nun yourself," said 
 Ebbo, for she wore a little conventual dress, " but 
 we must take each other for such, as Tre are ; " and, 
 as she hid her face and clung to his mother, he 
 added, in a more cheerful, coaxing tone: "You 
 once said you would be my wife." 
 
DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 381 
 
 " Ah, but then there were two of you, and you 
 were all shining bright." 
 
 Before she could be answered, the impatient em- 
 peror returned, and brought with him the abbot, 
 who proceeded to find the place in his book, and to 
 ask the bridegroom for the rings. Ebbo looked at 
 Sir Kasimir, who owned that he should have 
 brought them from Ulm, but that he had forgotten. 
 
 " Jewels are not plenty with us," said Ebbo, with 
 a glow of amusement and confusion dawning on his 
 cheek, such as reassured the little maid that she 
 beheld one of the two beautiful young knights. 
 " Must we borrow ? " 
 
 Christina looked at the ring she had first seen 
 lying on her own Eberhard's palm, and felt as if to 
 let it be used would sever the renewed hope she 
 scarcely yet durst entertain ; and at the same mo- 
 ment Maximilian glanced at his own fingers and 
 muttered : " ]S"one but this ! Unlucky ! " For it 
 was the very diamond which Mary of Burgundy 
 had sent to assure him of her faith, and summon 
 him to her aid after her father's death. Sir Kasimir 
 had not retained the pledge of his own ill-omened 
 wedlock ; but in the midst of the dilemma, the em- 
 peror, producing his dagger, began to detach some 
 of the massive g(^d links of the chain that sup- 
 ported his hunting-horn. 
 
 " There," said he, " the little elf of a bride can 
 get her finger into this lesser one ; and you — verily, 
 this largest mil fit, and the goldsmith can beat it 
 out when needed. So on with you in St. Hubert's 
 name. Father Abbot ! " 
 
382 I>0 VE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 Slender-boned and thin as was Ebbo's hand, it 
 was a very tight fit, but the purpose was served. 
 The service commenced ; and fortunately, thanks to 
 Thekla's conventual education, she Avas awed into 
 silence and decorum by the sound of Latin and the 
 sight of an abbot. It was a strange marriage, if 
 only in the contrast between the pale, expressive 
 face and sad, dark eyes of the prostrate youth, and 
 the frightened, bewildered little girl, standing upon 
 a stool to reach up to him, with her blue eyes 
 stretched with wonder, and her cheeks flushed and 
 pouting with unshed tears, her rosy plump hand 
 enclosed in the long white wasted one that was thus 
 forever united to it by the broken fragments of 
 Kaisar Max's chain. 
 
 The rite over, two attestations of the marriage of 
 Eberhard, Freiherr von Adlerstein, and Thekla, 
 Frieherrinn von Adlerstein Wildschloss and Felsen- 
 bach, were drawn up and signed by the abbot, the 
 emperor. Count Dankwart, and the father and 
 mother of the two contracting parties ; one to be 
 committed to the care of the abbot, the other to be 
 preserved by the house of Adlerstein. 
 
 Then the emperor, as the concluding grace of the 
 ceremonial, bent to kiss the bride ; but, tired, terri 
 fied, and cross, Thekla, as if quitj relieved to have 
 some object for her resentment, returned his attempt 
 with a vehement buffet, struck with all the force of 
 her small arm, crying out, " Go away with you ! I 
 know I've never married you! " 
 
 " The better for my eyes I " said the good-natured 
 
DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 383 
 
 emperor, laughing heartily. " My Lady Bearess is 
 like to prove the more courteous bride ! Fare thee 
 well, sir bridegroom," he added, stooping over 
 Ebbo, and kissing his brow ; " Heaven give thee 
 joy of this day's work, and of thy faithful little 
 fury. I'll send her the bear skin as her meetest 
 wedding-gift." 
 
 And the next that was heard from the kaisar was 
 the arrival of a parcel of Italian books for the 
 Frieherr Eberhard, and for the little freiherrinn a 
 a large bundle, which proved to contain a softly 
 dressed bearskin, with the head on, the eyes being 
 made of rubies, a gold muzzle and chain on the nose, 
 and the claws tipped with gold. The emperor had 
 made a point that it should be conveyed to the 
 castle, snow or no snow, for a yule gift. 
 
384 DO VE IN THE EA GLE 'S NEST. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIY. 
 
 OLD IRON AND NEW STEEL. 
 
 The clear sunshine of early summer was becom- 
 ing low on the hillsides. Sparkling and dimpling, 
 the clear amber-colored stream of the Braunwasser 
 rippled along its stony bed, winding in and out 
 among the rocks so humbly that it seemed to be 
 mocked by the wide span of the arch that crossed it 
 in all the might of massive bulwarks, and dignified 
 masonry of huge stones. 
 
 Some way above, a clearing of the wood below 
 the mountain showed huts, and laborers apparently 
 constructing a mill so as to take advantage of the 
 leap of the water from the height above ; and, on 
 the left bank, an enclosure was traced out, within 
 which were rising the walls of a small church, while 
 the noise of the mallet and chisel echoed back from 
 the mountain side, and masons, white with stone-dust, 
 swarmed around. 
 
 Across the bridge came a pilgrim, marked out as 
 such by hat, wallet, and long staff, on which he 
 leaned heavily, stumbling along as if both halting 
 and footsore, and bending as one bowed down by 
 past toil and present fatigue. Pausing in the center 
 he gazed round with a strange disconcerted air — at 
 
DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 385 
 
 the castle on the terraced hillside, looking down 
 with bright eyes of glass glittering in the sunshine 
 and lighting up even that grim old pile ; at the 
 banner hanging so lazily that the tinctures and 
 bearings were hidden in the folds ; then at the 
 crags, rosy purple in evening glow, rising in broad 
 step above step up to the Eed Eyrie, bathed in sunset 
 majesty of dark crimson ; and above it the sweep of 
 the descending eagle, discernible for a moment in 
 the pearly light of the sky. The pilgrim's eye 
 lighted up as he watched it ; but then, looking down 
 at bridge, and church, and trodden wheel-tracked 
 path, he froAvned with perplexity, and each painful 
 step grew heavier and more uncertain. 
 
 Near the opposite side of the enclosure there waited 
 a tall, rugged-looking, elderly man with two horses 
 — one an aged mare, mane, tail, and all of the snow- 
 iest silvery white ; the other a little shaggy dark 
 mountain pony, with a pad-saddle. And close to 
 the bank of the stream might be seen its owner, a 
 little girl of some seven years, whose tight round 
 lace cap had slipped back, as well as her blue silk 
 hood, and exposed a profusion of loose flaxen hair, 
 and a plump, innocent face, intent upon some pri- 
 vate little bit of building of her own with some peb- 
 bles from the brook, and some mortar filched from 
 the operations above, to the great detriment of her 
 soft pinky fingers. 
 
 The pilgrim looked at her unperceived, and for a 
 moment was about to address her ; but then, with a 
 strange air of repulsion, dragged himseK on to the 
 
JDOVB IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 porch of the rising church, where, seated on a block 
 of stone, he could look into the interior. All was 
 unfinished, but the portion which had made the 
 most progress was a chantry-chapel opposite to the 
 porch, and containing what were evidently designed 
 to be two monuments. One was merely blocked 
 out, but it showed the outline of a warrior, bearing 
 a shield on which a coiled serpent was rudely 
 sketched in red chalk. The other, in a much more 
 forward state, was actually under the hands of the 
 sculptor, and represented a slender youth, almost a 
 boy, though in the full armor of a knight, his hands 
 clasped on his breast over a lute, an eagle on his 
 shield, an eagle-crest on his helmet, and, under the 
 arcade supporting the altar-tomb, shields alternately 
 of eagles and doves. 
 
 But the strangest thing was that this young 
 knight seemed to be sitting for his own Q^gj. The 
 very same face, under the very same helmet, only with 
 the varied, warm hues of life, instead of in cold white 
 marble, was to be seen on the shoulders of a young 
 man in a gray cloth dress, with a black scarf pass- 
 ing from shoulder to waist, crossed by a sword belt. 
 The hair was hidden by the helmet, whose raised 
 visor showed keen, finely-cut features, and a pair of 
 dark brown eyes, of somewhat grave and sad ex- 
 pression. 
 
 " Have a care, Lucas," he presently said ; " I fear 
 me you are chiseling away too much. It must be 
 a softer, more rounded face than mine has become ; 
 and, above all, let it not catch any saddened look 
 
DO VE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 387 
 
 Keep that air of solemn waiting in glad hope, as 
 though he saw the dawn through his closed eyelids, 
 and were about to take up his song again ! " 
 
 " Yerily, Herr Freiherr, now the likeness is so far 
 foward, the actual sight of you may lead me to mar 
 it rather than mend." 
 
 " So it is well that this should be the last sitting. 
 I am to set forth for Genoa in another week. If I 
 cannot get letters from the kaisar, I shall go in 
 search of him, that he may see that my lameness is 
 no more an impediment." 
 
 The pilgrim passed his hand over his face, as 
 though to dissipate a bewildering dream ; and just 
 then the little girl, all flushed and dabbled, flew 
 rushing up from the stream, but came to a sudden 
 standstill at sight of the stranger, who at length 
 addressed her. "Little lady," he said, "is this 
 the Debatable Ford ? " 
 
 " JS'o ; now it is the Friendly Bridge," said the 
 child. 
 
 The pilgrim started, as with a pang of recollec- 
 tion. " And what is yonder castle ? " he further 
 asked. 
 
 " Schloss Adlerstein," he said, proudly. 
 
 " And you are the Httle lady of Adlerstein Wild- 
 schloss ? " 
 
 " Yes," again she answered ; and then, gathering 
 courage — " You are a holy pilgrim ! Come up to 
 the castle for supper and rest." And then, spring- 
 ing past him, she flew up to the knight, crying, 
 *' Herr Freiherr, here is a holy pilgrim, weary and 
 hungry. Let us take him home to the mother." 
 
388 DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 " Did he take thee for a wild elf ? " said the young 
 man, with an elder-brotherly endeavor to right the 
 little cap that had slidden under the chin, and to 
 push back the unmanageable wealth of hair under 
 it, ere he rose; and he came forward and spoke with 
 kind courtesy, as he observed the wanderer's worn 
 air and feeble step. ^' Dost need a night's lodging, 
 holy palmer ? My mother will make thee welcome, 
 if thou canst climb as high as the castle yonder." 
 
 The pilgrim made an obeisance, but, instead of 
 answering, demanded hastily, " See I yonder the 
 bearing of Schlangenwald ? " 
 
 "Even so. Schloss Schlangenwald is about a 
 league further on, and thou wilt find a kind recep- 
 tion, there, if thither thou art bent." 
 
 " Is that Graf Wolfgang's tomb ? " stiU eagerly 
 pursued the pilgrim ; and receiving a sign in the 
 affirmative, " What was his end ? " 
 
 " He fell in a skirmish." 
 
 " By whose hand ? " 
 
 " By mine." 
 
 " Ha ! " and the pilgrim surveyed him with un- 
 disguised astonishment; then, without another 
 word, took up his staff and limped out of the build- 
 ing, but not on the road to Schlangenwald. It was 
 nearly a quarter of an hour afterward that he was 
 overtaken by the young knight and the little lady 
 on their horses, just where the new road to the 
 castle parted from the old way by the Eagle's Lad- 
 der. The knight reined up as he saw the poor 
 man's slow, painful steps, and said, " So thou art 
 not bound for Schlangenwald % " 
 
DO YE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 389 
 
 " I would to the village, so please you — to the 
 shrine of the Blessed Friedmund." 
 
 " IS ay, at this rate thou wilt not be there till mid- 
 night," said the young knight springing off his 
 horse ; " thou canst never brook our sharp stones ! 
 See, Thekla, do thou ride on with Heinz to tell the 
 mother I am bringing her a holy pilgrim to tend. 
 And thou, good man, mount my old gray. Fear 
 not ; she is steady and sure-footed, and hath of late 
 been used to a lame rider. Ah ! that is well. Thou 
 hast been in the saddle before." 
 
 To go afoot for the sake of giving a lift to a holy 
 wayfarer was one of the most esteemed acts of piety 
 of the Middle Age, so that no one durst object to it, 
 and the palmer did no more than utter a suppressed 
 murmur of acknowledgment as he seated himself 
 on horseback, the young knight walking by his rein. 
 " But what is this ? " he exclaimed, almost with dis- 
 may. " A road to the castle up here ! " 
 
 " Yes, we find it a great convenience. Thou art 
 surely from these parts ? " added the knight. 
 
 " I was a man-at-arms in the service of the baron," 
 was the answer, in an odd, muffled tone. 
 
 " What ! — of my grandfather ! " was the exclama- 
 tion. 
 
 " JSTo ! " gruffly. " Of old Freiherr Eberhard. Not 
 of any of the Wildschloss crew." 
 
 " But I am not a Wildschloss ! I am grandson to 
 Freiherr Eberhard ! Oh, wast thou with him and 
 my father when they were set upon in the hostel?" 
 he cried, looking eagerly up to the pilgrim ; but the 
 
390 I>0 VE IN THE EA&LE*8 NEST. 
 
 man kept his broad-leaved hat slouched over his 
 face, and only muttered, " The son of Christina ! " 
 the last word so low that Ebbo was not sure that he 
 caught it, and the next moment the old warrior ex- 
 claimed exultingly, " And you have had vengeance 
 on them ! When — how — where ? " 
 
 "Last harvest-tide — at the Debatable Strand," 
 said Ebbo, never able to speak of the encounter 
 without a weight at his heart, but drawn on by the 
 earnestness of the old foe of Schlangenwald. " It 
 was a meeting in full career — lances broken, sword- 
 stroke on either hand. I was sore wounded, but 
 my sword went through his collar-bone." 
 
 " Well struck ! good stroke ! " cried the pilgrim, 
 in rapture. " And with that sword ? " 
 
 " With this sword. Didst know it ? " said Ebbo, 
 drawing the weapon, and giving it to the old man, 
 who held it for a few moments, weighed it affec- 
 tionately, and with a long low sigh restored it, say- 
 ing, " It is well. You and that blade have paid off 
 the score. I should be content. Let me dismount. 
 I know my way to the hermitage." 
 
 " IS'ay, what is this ? " said Ebbo ; " thou must 
 have rest and food. The hermitage is empty, 
 scarce habitable. My mother will not be balked of 
 the care of thy bleeding feet." 
 
 " But let me go, ere I bring evil on you all. I 
 can pray up there, and save my soul, but I cannot 
 see it all." 
 
 " See what ? " said Ebbo, again trying to see his 
 guest's face. " There may be changes, but an old 
 
PO VE IN THE EAGLE'S NE8T 391 
 
 faithful follower of my father's must ever be wel- 
 come." 
 
 "N'ot when his wife has taken a new lord," 
 growled the stranger, bitterly, "and he a Wild- 
 schloss ! Young man, I could have pardoned aught 
 else ! " 
 
 " I know not who you may be who talk of pardon- 
 ing my lady-mother," said Ebbo, " but new lord she 
 has neither taken nor will take. She has refused 
 every offer ; and, now that Schlangenwald with his 
 last breath confessed that he slew not my father, 
 but sold him to the Turks, I have been only await- 
 ing recovery from my wound to go in search of 
 him." 
 
 " Who then is yonder child, who told me she was 
 Wildschloss?" 
 
 " That child," said Ebbo, with half a smile and 
 half a blush, " is my wife, the daughter of Wild- 
 schloss, w^ho prayed me to espouse her thus early, 
 that so my mother might bring her up." 
 
 By this time they had reached the castle court, 
 now a well-kept, lordly-looking enclosure, where the 
 pilgrim looked about him as one bewildered. He 
 was so infirm that Ebbo carefully helped him up the 
 stone stairs to the hall, where he already saw his 
 mother prepared for the hospitable reception of the 
 palmer. Leaving him at the entrance, Ebbo crossed 
 the hall to say to her in a low voice, " This pilgrim 
 is one of the old lanzknechts of my grandfather's 
 time. I wonder whether you or Heinz will know him. 
 One of the old sort — supremely discontented at 
 change." 
 
S9^ DOVE IN TSE EAGLE'8 ^E8T. 
 
 " And thou hast walked up, and wearied thyself ! " 
 exclaimed Christina, grieved to see her son's halting 
 step. 
 
 " A rest will soon cure that," said Ebbo, seating 
 himself as he spoke on a settle near the hall fire ; 
 but the next moment a strange wUd low shriek from 
 his mother made him start up and spring to her 
 side. She stood with hands clasped, and wondering 
 eyes. The pilgrim — his hat on the ground, his 
 white head and rugged face displayed — was gazing 
 as though devouring her with his eyes, murmuring, 
 " Unchanged ! unchanged ! " 
 
 "What is this!" thundered the young baron. 
 " What are you doing to the lady ? " 
 
 "Hush! hush, Ebbo!" exclaimed Christina. "It 
 is thy father ! On thy knees ! Thy father is come ! 
 It is our son, my own lord. Oh, embrace him ! 
 Kneel to him, Ebbo ! " she wildly cried. 
 
 " Hold mother," said Ebbo, keeping his arm round 
 her, though she struggled against him, for he felt 
 some doubts as he looked back at his walk with the 
 stranger, and remembered Heinz's want of recog- 
 nition. "Is it certain that this is indeed my 
 father?" 
 
 "Oh, Ebbo," was the cry of poor Christina, 
 almost beside herself, " how could I not be sure ? I 
 know him ! I feel it ! Oh, my lord, bear with him. 
 It is his wont to be so loving ! Ebbo, cannot you 
 see it is himself ? " 
 
 " The young fellow is right," said the stranger, 
 slowly. " I will answer all he may demand." 
 
DOVE m TBE EAGLE'S NE8T. 393 
 
 "Forgive me," said Ebbo, abashed, "forgive 
 me ; " and, as his mother broke from him, he fell 
 upon his knee ; but he only heard his father's cry, 
 " Ah ! Stine, Stine, thou alone art the same," and, 
 looking, up, saw her, with her face hidden in the 
 white beard, quivering with a rapture such as he had 
 had never seen in her before. It seemed long to 
 him ere she looked up again in her husband's face 
 to sob on: "My son! Oh! my beautiful twins! 
 Our son ! Oh, see him, dear lord ! " And the pil- 
 grim turned to hear Ebbo's "Pardon, honored 
 father, and your blessing." 
 
 Almost bashfully the pilgrim laid his hand on the 
 dark head, and murmured something; then said, 
 " Up, then ! The slayer of Schlangenwald kneel- 
 ing ! Ah ! Stine, I knew thy little head was won- 
 drous wise, but I little thought thou wouldst breed 
 him up to avenge us on old Wolfgang ! So slender 
 a lad too ? Ha ! Schneiderlein, old rogue, I knew 
 thee," holding out his hand. " So thou didst get 
 home safe ? " 
 
 " Ay, my lord ; though, if I left you alive, never 
 more will I call a man dead," said Heinz. 
 
 " Worse luck for me — till now," said Sir Eber- 
 hard, whose"" tones, rather than his looks, carried 
 perfect conviction of his identity. It was the old 
 homely accent, and gruff good-humored voice, but 
 with something subdued and broken in the tone. 
 His features had grown like his father's but he 
 looked much older than ever the hale old mountain- 
 eer had done, or than his real age ; so Avorn and 
 
394 DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 lined was his face, his skin tanned, his eyelids and 
 temples puckered by burning sun, his hair and beard 
 white as the mane of his old mare, the proud Adler- 
 stein port entirely gone. He stooped even more 
 without his staff than with it ; and, when he yielded 
 himself with a sigh of repose to his wife's tendance, 
 she found that he had not merely the ordinary 
 hurts of traveling, but that there were old festering 
 scars on his ankles. " The gyves," he said, as she 
 looked up at him with startled, pitying eyes. 
 " Little deemed I that they would ever come under 
 thy tender hands." As he almost timidly smoothed 
 the braid of dark hair on her brow : " So they never 
 burned thee for a witch after all, little one ? I 
 thought ray mother ayouM never keep her hands off 
 thee, and used to fancy I heard the crackling of the 
 flame." 
 
 "She spared me for my children's sake," said 
 Christina ; " and truly Heaven has been very good 
 to us, but never so much as now. My dear 
 lord, will it weary thee too much to come to 
 the castle chapel and give thanks ? " she said 
 timidly. 
 
 " With all my heart," he answered, earnestly. " I 
 would go even on my knees. We were not without 
 masses even in Tunis ; but, when Italian and Span- 
 iard would be ransomed, and there was no mind of 
 the German, I little thought I should ever sing 
 Brother Lambert's psalm about turning our captiv- 
 ity as rivers in the south." 
 
 Ebbo was hovering round, supplying all that was 
 
DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST, 395 
 
 needed for his father's comfort ; but his parents were 
 so completely absorbed in one another that he was 
 scarcely noticed, and, what perhaps pained him 
 more, there was no word about Friedel. He felt 
 this almost an injustice to the brother who had 
 been foremost in embracing the idea of the un- 
 known father, and scarcely understood how his 
 parents shrank from any sorrowful thought that 
 might break in on their new-found joy, nor that he 
 himself was so strange and new a being in his fath- 
 er's eyes, that to imagine him doubled was hardly 
 possible to the tardy, dulled capacity, which as yet 
 seemed unable to feel anything but that here was 
 home, and Christina. 
 
 When the chapel bell rang, and the pair rose to 
 offer their thanksgiving, Ebbo dutifully offered 
 his support, but was absolutely unseen, so fondly 
 was Sir Eberhard leaning on his wife ; and her 
 bright exulting smile and shake of the head gave an 
 absolute pang to the son who had hitherto been all 
 in all to her. 
 
 He followed, and as they passed Friedmund's 
 coffin, he thought his mother pointed to it, but even 
 of this he was uncertain. The pair knelt side by 
 side with hands locked together, while notes of 
 praise rose from all voices ; and meantime Ebbo, 
 close to that coffin, strove to share the joy, and to 
 lift up a heart that would sink in the midst of self- 
 reproach for undutifulness, and would dislike the 
 thought of the rude untaught man, holding aloof 
 from him, likely to view him with distrust and 
 
396 DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 jealousy, and to undo all he had achieved, and 
 further absorbing the mother, the mother who was 
 to him all the world, and for whose sake he had 
 given his best years to the child- wife, as yet nothing 
 to him. 
 
 It was reversing the natural order of things that 
 after reigning from infancy, he should have to give 
 up at eighteen to one of the last generation ; and 
 some such thought rankled in his mind when the 
 whole household trooped joyfully out of the chapel 
 to prepare a banquet for their old new lord, and 
 their young old lord was left alone. 
 
 Alone with the coffin where the armor lay upon 
 the white cross, Ebbo threw himself on his knees, 
 and laid his head upon it, murmuring " Ah, Friedel! 
 Friedel ! Would that we had changed places ! 
 Thou wouldst brook it better. At least thou didst 
 never know what it is to be lonely." 
 
 " Herr Baron ! " said a little voice. 
 
 His first movement was impatient. Thekla was 
 apt to pursue him wherever he did not want her ; 
 but here he had least expected her, for she had a 
 great fear of that coffin, and could hardly be 
 brought to the chapel at prayer times, when she 
 generally occupied herself with fancies that the 
 empty helmet glared at her. But now Ebbo saw 
 her standing as near as she durst, with a sweet 
 wistf ulness in her eyes, such as he had never seen 
 there before. 
 
 "What is it, Thekla ?" he > said. "Art sent to 
 call me ? " 
 
■ No ; only I saw that you stayed here all alone, ' she said, clasping her hands. 
 Page 397. 
 
DO YE IN THE EAGLE 'S NEST, 397 
 
 " ISTo ; only I saw that you stayed here all alone," 
 she said, clasping her hands. 
 
 " Must I not be alone, child ? " he said, bitterly. 
 " Here Kes my brother. My mother has her hus- 
 band again ! " 
 
 " But you have me ! " cried Thekla ; and, as he 
 looked up between amusement and melancholy, he 
 met such a loving eager little face, that he could not 
 help holding out his arms, and letting her cling to 
 to him. " Indeed," she said, " I'll never be afraid 
 of the helmet again, if only you will not lay down 
 your head there, and say you are alone." 
 
 " JSTever, Thekla ! while yoa are my little wife," 
 said he ; and, child as she was, there was strange 
 solace to his heart in the eyes that, once vacant and 
 wondering, had now gained a look of love and in- 
 telligence. 
 
 " What are you going to do ? " she said shudder- 
 ing a little, as he rose and laid his hand on Friedel's 
 sword. 
 
 "To make thee gird on thine own knight's 
 sword," said Ebbo, unbuckling that which he had so 
 long worn. " Friedel," he added, " thou wouldst 
 give me thine. Let me take up thy temper with it, 
 thine open-hearted love and humility." 
 
 He guided Thekla's happy little fingers to the 
 fastening of the belt, and then, laying his hand on 
 hers, said gravely, " Thekla, never speak, of what I 
 said just now — not even to the mother. Kemember, 
 it is thy husband's first secret." 
 
 And feeling no longer solitary when his hand was 
 
398 DOVE IN THE EA GLE '8 NEST, 
 
 in the clasp of hers, he returned to the hall, where 
 his father was installed in the baronial chair, in 
 which Ebbo had been at home from babyhood. 
 His mother's exclamation showed that her son had 
 been wanting to her ; and she looked fuller than 
 ever of bGss when Ebbo gravely stood before his 
 father, and presented him with the good old sword 
 that he had sent to his unborn son. 
 
 " You are like to use it more than I — nay, you 
 have used it to some purpose," said he. " Yet must 
 I keep mine old comrade at least a little while. 
 Wife, son, sword, should make one feel the same 
 man again, but it is all too wonderful ! " 
 
 All that evening, and long after, his hand from 
 time to time sought the hilt of his sword, as if that 
 touch above all proved to him that he was again a 
 free noble in his own castle. 
 
 The story he told was thus. The swoon in 
 which Heinz had left him had probably saved his 
 life by checking the gush of blood, and he had 
 known no more till he found himself in a rough cart 
 among the corpses. At Schlangenwald's castle he 
 had been found still breathing, and had been flung 
 into a dungeon, where he lay unattended, for how 
 long he never knew, since all the early part of the 
 time was lost in the clouds of fever. On coarse fare 
 and scanty drink, in that dark vault, he had struggled 
 by sheer obstinacy of vitality into recovery. In the 
 very height of midsummer alone did the sun peep 
 through the grating of his cell, and he had newly 
 hailed this cheerful visitor when he was roughly 
 
DO VE IN THE EAGLE 'S NEST. 399 
 
 summoned, placed on horseback with eyes and 
 hands bound, and only allowed sight again to find 
 himself among a herd of his fellow Germans in the 
 Turkish camp. They were the prisoners of the ter- 
 rible Turkish raid of 1475, when Georg von Schenk 
 and fourteen other noblemen of Austria and Styria 
 were all taken in one unhappy fight, and dragged 
 away into captivity, with hundreds of lower 
 rank. 
 
 To Sir Eberhard the change had been greatly for 
 the better. The Turk had treated him much better 
 than the Christian; and walking in the open air, 
 chained to a German comrade, was far pleasanter 
 than pining in his lonely dungeon. At Adrianople, 
 an offer had been made to each of the captives, if 
 they would become Moslems, of entering the Ottoman 
 service as spahis ; but with one voice they had re- 
 fused, and had been draughted into different divi- 
 sions. The fifteen nobles, who had been offered for 
 ransom, were taken to Constantinople, to await its 
 arrival, and they had promised Sir Eberhard to 
 publish his fate on their return to their homes; 
 and, though he knew the family resources too well 
 to have many hopes, he was rather hurt to find 
 that their promise had been unfulfilled. 
 
 " Alas ! they had no opportunity," said Ebbo. 
 " Gulden were scarce, or were all in Kaiser Fried- 
 rich's great chest ; the ransoms could not be raised, 
 and all died in captivity. I heard about it when I 
 was at Wurms last month." 
 
 " The boy at Wurms ? " almost gasped Sir Eber- 
 hard in amaze. 
 
400 DO YE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 " I had to be there about matters concerning the 
 Wildschloss lands and the bridge," said Ebbo ; " and 
 both Dankwart von Schlangenwald and I made 
 special inquiries about that company in case you 
 should have shared their fate. I hoped to have set 
 forth at that time, but the kaisar said I was 
 still too lame, and refused me license, or letters to the 
 sultan." 
 
 " You would not have found me," said his father, 
 narrating how he with a large troop of captives had 
 been driven down to the coast ; where they were 
 transferred to a Moorish slave-dealer, who shipped 
 them off for Tunis. Here, after their first taste of 
 the miseries of a sea life, the alternative of Islam or 
 slavery was again put before them. " And by the 
 holy stone of Nicaea," said Sir Eberhard, " I thought 
 by that time that the infidels had the advantage of 
 us in good- will and friendliness ; but when they 
 told me women had no souls at all, no more than a 
 horse or dog, I knew it was but an empty dream of 
 religion ; for did I not know that my little Ermen- 
 trude, and thou, Stine, had finer, clearer, wiser 
 souls than ever a man I had known ? ' ^ay, nay,' 
 quoth I, ' I'll cast in my lot where I may meet my 
 wife hereafter, should I never see her here.' " He 
 had then been allotted to a corsair, and had thence- 
 forth been chained to the bench of rowers, between 
 the two decks, Avhere in stifling heat and stench, in 
 storm or calm, healthy or diseased, the wretched 
 oarsmen were compelled to play the part of machin- 
 ery in propelling the vessel, in order to capture 
 
noVB IK TUB EAGLE'S NEST, 401 
 
 Christian ships — making exertions to which only 
 the perpetual lash of the galley- master could have 
 urged their exhausted frames ; often not desisting 
 for twenty or thirty hours, and rowing still while 
 sustenance was put into their mouths by their 
 drivers. Many a man drew his last breath with his 
 last stroke, and was at the first leisure moment 
 hurled into the waves. It was the description that 
 had so deeply moved Friedel long ago, and Christina 
 wept over it, as she looked at the bowed form once 
 so proud and free, and thought of the unhealed 
 scars. But there, her husband added, he had been 
 chained next to a holy friar of German blood, like 
 himself a captive of the great Styrian raid ; and, 
 while some blasphemed in their misery, or wildly 
 chid their patron saints, this good man strove to 
 show that all was to work out good ; he had a pious 
 saying for all that befell, and adored the will of 
 God in thus purifying him ; " And, if it were thus 
 with a saint like him, I thought, what must it be 
 with a rough f reebooting godless sinner such as I 
 had been? See" — and he took out a rosary of 
 strung bladders of seaweed : " that is what he left 
 me when he died, and what I meant to have been 
 telling forever up in the hermitage." 
 
 "He died, then?" 
 
 " Ay — he died on the shore of Corsica, while most 
 of the dogs were off harrying a village inland, and 
 we had a sort of respite, or I trow he would have 
 rowed till his last gasp. How he prayed for the 
 poor wretches they were gone to attack ! ay, and 
 
402 DOVE IN THE EA OLE 'S NEST. 
 
 for all of US — for me also. There's enough of it. 
 Such talk skills not now." 
 
 It was plain that Sir Eberhard had learned more 
 Christianity in the hold of his Moorish pirate ship 
 than ever in the Holy Eoman empire, and a weight 
 was hfted off his son's mind by finding that he had 
 vowed never to return to a life of violence, even 
 though fancying a life of penance in a hermitage the 
 only alternative. 
 
 Ebbo asked if the Genoese merchant. Sir Gian 
 Battista dei Battiste, had indeed been one of his 
 fellow-captives. " Ha ! what ? " and on the repeti- 
 tion, " Truly I knew him, merchant Gian as we 
 used to call him ; but you twang off his name as 
 they speak it in his own stately city." 
 
 Christina smiled. "Ebbo learned the Italian 
 tongue this winter from our chaplain, who had 
 studied at Bologna. He was told it would aid in 
 his quest of you." 
 
 " Tell me not ! " said the traveler, holding up his 
 hands in deprecation ; " the junker is worse than a 
 priest! And yet he killed old Wolfgang! But 
 what of Gian ? Hold — did not he, when I was with 
 him at Genoa, tell me a story of being put into a 
 dungeon in a mountain fortress in Germany, and 
 released by a pair of young lads with eyes beaming 
 in the sunrise, who vanished just as they brought 
 him to a cloister ? ]S'ay, he deemed it a miracle of 
 the saints, and hung up a votive picture thereof at 
 the shrine of the holy Cosmo and Damian. 
 
 " He was not so far wrong in deeming one of the 
 
DO YE m THE EAGLE '8 NE8T. 403 
 
 2ads near of kin to the holy ones," said Christina, 
 softly. 
 
 And Ebbo briefly narrated the adventure, when 
 it evidently appeared that his having led at least 
 one foray gave his father for the first time a fellow- 
 feeling for him, and a sense that he was one of the 
 true old stock ; but, when he heard of the release, 
 he growled : '* So ! How would a lad have fared 
 who so acted in my time ? My poor old mother ! 
 She must have been changed indeed not to have 
 scourged him till he had no strength to cry out ! " 
 
 " He was my prisoner," said Ebbo, in his old de- 
 fiant tone ; " I had the right." 
 
 " Ah, well ! the junker has always been master 
 here, and I never ! " said the older knight, looking 
 round rather piteously ; and Ebbo, with a sudden 
 movement, exclaimed : " N^ay, sir, you are the only 
 lord and master, and I stand ready to be the first to 
 obey you." 
 
 " You ! A fine young book-learned scholar, al- 
 ready knighted, and with all these Wildschloss 
 lands, too!" said Sir Eberhard, gazing with a 
 strange, puzzled look at the delicate but spirited 
 features of this strange, perplexing son. "Keach 
 hither your hand, boy." 
 
 And as he compared the slender, shapely hand of 
 such finely -textured skin with the breadth of his 
 own horny giant's paw, he tossed it from him, 
 shaking his head with a gesture as if he had no 
 commands for such feminine-looking fingers to ex- 
 ecute, and mortifying Ebbo not a little. 
 
404 I>0 VE IN THE EAGLE '8 NEST, 
 
 " Ah ! " said Christina, apologetically, " it always 
 grieved your mother that the boys would resemble 
 me and mine. But, when daylight comes, Ebbo 
 will show you that he has not lost the old German 
 strength." 
 
 "]^o doubt — no doubt," saicl Sir Eberhard, 
 hastily, "since he has slain Schlangenwald ; and, if 
 the former state of things be at an end, the less he 
 takes after the ancient stock the better. But I am 
 an old man now, Stine, though thou look'st fair and 
 fresh as ever, and I do not know what to make of 
 these things. White napery on the table; glass 
 drinking things ; nay, were it not for thee and the 
 Schneiderlein, I should not know I was at home." 
 
 He was led back to his narration, and it appeared 
 that, after some years spent at the oar, certain 
 bleedings from the lungs, the remains of his wound, 
 had become so much more severe as to render him 
 useless for naval purposes; and, as he escaped 
 actually dying during a voyage, he was allowed to 
 lie by on coming into port till he had in some de- 
 gree recovered, and then had been set to labor at 
 the fortifications, chained to another prisoner, and 
 toiling between the burning sand and burning sun, 
 but treated with less horrible severity than the 
 necessities of the sea had occasioned on board ship, 
 and experiencing the benefit of intercourse with the 
 better class of captives, whom their miserable fate 
 had thrown into the hands of the Moors. 
 
 It was a favorite almsdeed among the Proven9als, 
 Spaniards, and Italians to send money for the re- 
 
DOVE m TBE MAGfLE'S NE8T. 405 
 
 demption of prisoners to the Moors, and there was 
 a regular agency for ransoms through the Jews ; 
 but German captives were such an exception that 
 no one thought of them, and many a time had the 
 summons come for such and such a slave by name, 
 or for five poor Sicilians, twenty Genoese, a dozen 
 Marseillais, or the like, but still no word for the 
 Swabian ; till he had made up his mind that he 
 should either leave his bones in the hot mud of the 
 harbor, or be only set free by some gallant descent 
 either of the brave king of Portugal, or of the 
 knights of Khodes, of whom the captives were ever 
 dreaming and whispering. 
 
 At length his own slave name was shouted ; he 
 was called up ty the captain of his gang, and, while 
 expecting some fresh punishment, or maybe, to find 
 himself sold into some domestic form of slavery, he 
 was set before a Jewish agent, who, after examin- 
 ing him on his name, country, and station, and com- 
 paring his answers with a paper of instructions, in- 
 formed him that he was ransomed, caused his fet- 
 ters to be struck off, and shipped him off at once for 
 Genoa, with orders to the captain to consign him to 
 the merchant Signor dei Battiste. By him Sir Eber- 
 hard had been received with the warmest hospitality, 
 and treated as befitted his original station, but Bat- 
 tista disclaimed the merit of having ransomed him. 
 He had but acted, he said, as the agent of an Aus- 
 trian gentleman, from whom he had received orders 
 to inquire after the Swabian baron who had been 
 his fellow captive, and, if he were still living, to 
 pay his ransom, and bring him home. 
 
406 DO VB m THE EAQLE'8 NE8T. 
 
 " The name — the name ! " eagerly asked Ebbo 
 and his mother at once. 
 
 " The name ? Gian was wont to make bad work 
 of our honest German names, but I tried to learn 
 this — being so beholden to him. I even caused it to 
 be spelled over to me, but my letters long ago went 
 from me. It seems to me that the man is a knight- 
 errant, like those of thy ballads, Stine — one Kitter 
 Theur— Theur " 
 
 " Theurdank ! " cried Ebbo. 
 
 " Ay, Theurdank. "What, you know him ? There 
 is nothing you and your mother don't know, I 
 believe." 
 
 " Know him ? Father, he is our greatest and 
 noblest ! He has been kind to me beyond descrip- 
 tion. He is the kaiser ! IS'ow I see why he had 
 that strange arch look which so vexed me when 
 he forbade me on my allegiance to set forth till my 
 lameness should be gone ! Long ago had he asked 
 me all about Gian Battista. To him he must have 
 written." 
 
 "The kaiser!" said Sir Eberhard. "Nay, the 
 poor fellows I left in Turkey ever said he was 
 too close of fist for them to have hope from 
 him." 
 
 " Oh ! that was old Kaiser Friedrich. This is our 
 own gallant Maximilian — a knight as true and brave 
 as ever was paladin," said Christina ; " and most 
 truly loving and prizing our Ebbo." 
 
 " And yet I wish — I wish," said Ebbo, that he 
 had let me win my father's liberty for myself." 
 
DO VE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 40? 
 
 " Yea, well," said his father, " there spoke the 
 Adlerstein. We never were wont to be beholden 
 to king or kaiser." 
 
 " E'ay," said Ebbo, after a moment's recollection, 
 coloring as he spoke ; " it is true that I deserved it 
 not. Kay, Sir Father, it is well. You owe your 
 freedom in very truth to the son you have not 
 known. It was he who treasured up the thought 
 of the captive German described by the merchant, 
 and even dreamed of it, while never doubting of your 
 death ; it was he who caught up Schlangenwald's 
 first hint that you lived, while I, in my pride, passed 
 it by as merely meant to perplex me ; it was he 
 who had formed an absolute purpose of obtaining 
 some certainty ; and at last, when my impetuosity 
 had brought on the fatal battle, it was he who 
 bought with his own life the avowal of your cap- 
 tivity. I had hoped to have fulfilled Friedel's trust, 
 and to have redeemed my own backwardness ; but 
 it is not to be. While I was yet lying helpless on 
 my bed, the emperor has taken it out of my power. 
 Mother, you receive him from Friedel's hands, after 
 aU." 
 
 " And well am I thankful that so it should be," 
 said Christina. " Ah, Ebbo, sorely should I have 
 pined with anxiety when thou wast gone. And thy 
 father knows that thou hadst the full purpose." 
 
 " Yea, I know it," said the old man ; " and, after 
 all, small blame to him even if he had not. He 
 never saw me, and light grieves the heart for what 
 the eye hath not seen." 
 
408 DO VE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST 
 
 "But," added the wife, "since the Eomish king 
 freed you, dear lord, cared he not better for your 
 journey than to let you come in this forlorn plight ? " 
 
 This, it appeared, was far from being his deliver- 
 er's fault. Money had been supplied, and Sir Eber 
 hard had traveled as far as Aosta with a party of 
 Italian merchants ; but no sooner had he parted 
 with them than he was completely astray. His whole 
 experience of life had been as a robber baron or as 
 a slave, and he knew not how to take care of him- 
 self as a peaceful traveler ; he suffered fresh extor- 
 tions at every stage, and after a few days was plun- 
 dered by his guides, beaten, and left devoid of all 
 means of continuing the journey to which he could 
 hardly hope for a cheerful end. He did not expect 
 to find his mother living — far less that his unowned 
 wife could have survived the perils in which he had 
 involved her; and he believed that his ancestral 
 home would, if not a ruin, be held by his foes, or at 
 best by the rival branch of the family, whose wel- 
 come of the outlawed heir would probably be to a 
 dungeon, if not a halter. Yet the only magnet on 
 earth for the lonely wanderer was his native moun- 
 tain, where from some old peasant he might learn 
 how his fair young bride had perished, and perhaps 
 the sins of his youth might be expiated by continual 
 prayer in the hermitage chapel where his sister lay 
 buried, and whence he could see the crags for which 
 his eye and heart had craved so long with the home- 
 sickness of a mountaineer. 
 
 And now, when his own Christina had welcomed 
 
DOVE IN THE EA GLE 'S NEST, 409 
 
 him with all the overflow of her loving heart, un- 
 changed save that hers had become a tenderer yet 
 more dignified loveliness ; when his gallant son, in 
 all the bloom of young manhood, received him with 
 dutiful submission ; when the castle, in a state of 
 defense, prosperity, and comfort of which he had 
 never dreamed, was again his own — still the old 
 man was bewildered, and sometimes oppressed al- 
 most to distress. He had, as it were, fallen asleep 
 in one age of the world, and wakened in another, 
 and it seemed as if he really wished to defer 
 his wakening, or else that repose was an absolute 
 novelty to him ; for he sat doziQg in his chair 
 in the sun the whole of the next day, and scarcely 
 spoke. 
 
 Ebbo, who felt it a necessity to come to an under- 
 standing of the terms on which they were to stand, 
 tried to refer matters to him, and to explain the 
 past, but he was met sometimes by a shake of the 
 head, 'sometimes by a nod — not of assent, but of 
 sleep ; and his mother advised him not to harass the 
 wearied traveler, but to leave him to himself at 
 least for that day, and let him take his own time 
 for exertion, letting things meantime go on as usual. 
 Ebbo obeyed, but with a load at his heart, as he felt 
 that all he was doing was but provisional, and that 
 it would be his duty to resign all that he had planned 
 and partly executed, to this incompetent, ignorant 
 rule. He could certainly, when not serving the 
 emperor, go and act for himself at Thekla's dower 
 castle of Felsenbach, and his mother might save 
 
410 DO VE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 things from going to utter ruin at Adlerstein, but 
 no reflection or self-reproach could make it other- 
 wise than a bitter pill to any Telemachus to have to 
 resign to one so unhke Ulysses in all but the length 
 of his wanderings — one, also who seemed only 
 half to like, and not at all to comprehend, his Tele- 
 machus. 
 
 Meantime Ebbo attended to such matters as were 
 sure to come each day before the Herr Freiherr. 
 I»I'ow it was a question whether the stone for the 
 mill should be quarried where it would undermine 
 a bit of grass land, or further on, where the road 
 was rougher; now Berend's swine had got into 
 Barthel's rye, and Barthel had severely hurt one of 
 them — the Herr Freiherr's interference could alone 
 prevent a hopeless quarrel ; now a wagon with iron- 
 work for the mill claimed exemption from toll as 
 being for the baron : and he must send down the 
 toll, to obviate injustice toward Schlangenwald and 
 Ulm. Old Ulrich's grandson, who had run away 
 for a lanzknecht, had sent a letter home (written by 
 a comrade), the baron must read and answer it. 
 Steinra ark's son wanted to be a poor student : the 
 Herr Freiherr must write him a letter of recom- 
 mendation. Mother GretheFs ewe had fallen into 
 a cleft ; her son came to borrow a rope, and ask aid, 
 and the baron must superintend the hoisting the 
 poor beast up again. Hans had found the track of 
 a wolf, and knew the hole where a litter of cubs 
 abode ; the freiherr, his wolf-hound, and his spear 
 were wanted for their destruction. Dietrich could 
 
DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 411 
 
 not tell how to manage his new arquebus : the baron 
 must teach him to take aim. Then there was a let- 
 ter from UliA to invite the baron to consult on the 
 tax demanded by the emperor for his Italian war, 
 and how far it should concern the profits of the 
 bridge ; and another letter from the markgraf of 
 Wurtemburg, as chief of the Swabian League, re- 
 questing the lord of Adlerstein to be on the look-out 
 for a band of robbers, who were reported to be in 
 neighboring hiUs, after being hunted out of some of 
 their other lurking-places. 
 
 That very night, or rather nearly at the dawn of 
 a summer morning, there was a yelling below the 
 castle and a flashing of torches, and tidings rang 
 through it that a boor on the outskirts of the moun- 
 tain had had his ricks fired and his cattle driven by 
 the robbers, and his young daughters carried off. 
 Old Sir Eberhard hobbled down to the hall in time 
 to see weapons flashing as they were dealt out, to 
 hear a clear decided voice giving orders, to listen to 
 the tramp of horse, and watch more reitern pass 
 out under the gateway than ever the castle had 
 counted in his father's time. Then he went back to 
 his bed, and when he came down in the morning, 
 found all the womankind of the castle roasting and 
 boiling. And, at noon, little Thekla came rushing 
 down from the watch-tower with news that all were 
 coming home up the Eagle's Steps, and she was sure 
 her baron had seen her, and waved to her. Soon 
 after, her baron in his glittering steel rode his cream- 
 colored charger (once Frieda's) into the castle 
 
412 I>0 VE IN THE EAGLE'S NE8T. 
 
 court, followed by his exultant merrymen. They 
 had overtaken the thieves in good time, made them 
 captives, and recovered the spoil unhurt ; and Heinz 
 and Koppel made the castle ring with the deed of 
 their young lord, who had forced the huge leader 
 of the band to the earth, and kept him down by 
 main strength till they could come to bind him. 
 
 " By main strength? " slowly asked Sir Eberhard, 
 .who had been stirred into excitement. 
 
 " He was a loose-limbed, awkward fellow," said 
 Ebbo, " less strong than he looked." 
 
 " Not only that, sir," said Heinz, looking from 
 his old master to his young one ; " but old iron is 
 not a whit stronger than new steel, though the one 
 looks full of might, and you would think the other 
 but a toy." 
 
 "And what have you done with the rogues' 
 heads ? " asked the old knight. " I looked to see 
 them on your spears. Or have you hung them ? " 
 
 " Not so, sir," said Ebbo. " I sent the men off to 
 Stuttgard with an escort. I dislike doing execution 
 ourselves ; it makes the men so lawless. Besides, 
 this farmer was Schlangenwalder." 
 
 " And yet he came to you for redress ? " 
 
 " Yes, for Sir Dankwart is at his commandery, and 
 he and I agreed to look after each other's lands." 
 
 Sir Eberhard retired to his chair as if all had 
 gone past his understanding, and thence he looked 
 on while his son and wife hospitably regaled, and 
 then dismissed, their auxiliaries in the rescue. 
 
 Afterward Christina told her son that she thought 
 
DO VE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 413 
 
 his father was rested, and would be better able to 
 attend to him, and Ebbo, with a painful swelling in 
 his heart, approached him deferentially, with a 
 request that he would say what was his pleasure 
 with regard to the emperor, to whom acknowledg- 
 ments must in the first place be made for his release, 
 and next would arise the whole question of homage 
 and investiture. 
 
 " Look you here, fair son," said Sir Eberhard, 
 rousing himself, " these things are all past me. I'll 
 have none of them. You and your kaiser under- 
 stand one another, and your homage is paid. It 
 boots not changing all for an old fellow that is but 
 come home to die." 
 
 " ]S"ay, father, it is in the order of things that you 
 should be lord here." 
 
 " I never was lord here, and, what is more, I 
 would not, and could not be. Son, I marked you 
 yesterday. You are master as never was my poor 
 father, with all the bawling and blows that used to 
 rule the house, while these fellows mind you at a 
 word, in a voice as quiet as your mother's. Besides, 
 what should I do with all these mills and bridges of 
 yours, and Diets, and Leagues, and councils enough 
 to addle a man's brain ? I^o, no ; I could once slay 
 a bear, or strike a fair stroke at a Schlangenwalder, 
 but even they got the better of me, and I am good 
 for nothing now but to save my soul. I had thought 
 to do it as a hermit up there ; but my little Christina 
 thinks the saints will be just as well pleased if I tell 
 my beads here, with her to help me, and I know 
 
414 I>0 YE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST, 
 
 that way I shall not make so many mistakes. So, 
 young sir, if you can give the old man a corner of 
 the hearth while he lives, he will never interfere 
 with you. And, maybe, if the castle were in jeop- 
 ardy in your absence, with that new-fangled road up 
 to it, he could tell the fellows how to hold it out." 
 
 " Sir — dear father," cried the ardent Ebbo, " this 
 is not a fit state of things. I wiU spare you all 
 trouble and care ; only make me not undutiful ; take 
 your own place. Mother, convince him ! " 
 
 " No, my son," said Sir Eberhard ; " your mother 
 sees what is best for me. I only want to be left to 
 her to rest a little while, and repent of my sinful 
 life. As Heinz says, the rusty old iron must lie by 
 while the new steel does the work. It is quiet that 
 I need. It is joy enough for me to see what she 
 has made you, and all around. Ah! Stine, my 
 y white dove, I knew thine was a wise head ; but Avhen 
 I left thee, gentle little frightened, fluttering thing, 
 how little could I have thought that aU alone, un- 
 aided, thou wouldst have kept that little head above 
 water, and made thy son work out all these changes 
 — thy doing — and so I know they are good and 
 seemly. I see thou hast made him clerkly, quick- 
 witted, and yet a good knight. Ah ! thou didst tell 
 me oft that our lonely pride was not high nor wor- 
 thy fame. Stine, how didst do it ? " 
 
 " I did it not, dear husband ; God did it for me. 
 He gave the boys the loving, true tempers that 
 worked out the rest ! He shielded them and me in 
 our days of peril." 
 
DOVE m THE EAGLE'S NEST. 415 
 
 " Yes, father," added Ebbo, " Providence guarded 
 us ; but above all, our chief blessing has been the 
 mother who has made one of us a holy saint, and 
 taught the other to seek after him ! Father I am 
 glad you see how great has been the work of the 
 Dove you brought to the Eagle's Kest.** 
 
 \ 
 
416 DOVB in THE UAQLE'S NEST. 
 
 CHAPTER XXY. 
 
 THE STAB AND THE SPARK. 
 
 The yeab 1531 has begun, and Schloss Adlerstein 
 remains in its strength on the mountain side, but 
 with a look of cultivation on its environs such as 
 would have amazed Kunigunde. Yines run up 
 trellises against the rocks ; pot-herbs and flowers 
 nestle in the nooks ; out-buildings cluster around it ; 
 and even the grim old keep has a range of buildings 
 connected with it, as if the household had entirely 
 outgrown the capacities of the square tower. 
 
 Yet the old hall is still the chief place of assem- 
 bly, and now that it has been wainscoted, with a 
 screen of carved wood to shut off the draughty pas- 
 sages, and a stove of bright tiles to increase the 
 warmth, it is far more cheerful. Moreover, a win- 
 dow has been opened showing the rich green mea- 
 dow below, with the bridge over the Braunwasser, 
 and the little church, with a spire of pierced lace- 
 work, and white cottages peeping out of the retreat- 
 ing forest. 
 
 That is the window which the lady baroness 
 loves. See her there, the lovely old lady of seventy- 
 five — yes, lovelier than ever, for her sweet brown 
 eyes have the same pensive, clear beauty, enchanced 
 
DO VE IN THE EAGLE 'S NEST. 417 
 
 by tlie snowy whiteness of her hair, of which a 
 soft braid shows over the pure pale brow beneath 
 the white band, and sweeping black veil, that she 
 has worn by right for twenty years. But the slight 
 form is active and brisk, and there are ready smiles 
 and looks of interest for the pretty fair-haired maid- 
 ens, three in number, who run in and out from their 
 household avocations to appeal to the " dear grand- 
 mother," mischievously to tell of the direful yawns 
 proceeding from brothers Ebbo and Gottfried over 
 their studies with their tutor, or to gaze from the 
 window and wonder if the father, with the two 
 brothers, Friedel Max and Kasimir, will return from 
 XJlm in time for the " midday eating." 
 
 Ah! there they are. Quick-eyed Yittoria has 
 seen the cavalcade first, and dances off to tell Ermen- 
 trude and Stine time enough to prepare their last 
 batch of fritters for the newcomers; Ebbo and 
 Gotz rush headlong down the hillside ; and the 
 lady baroness lays down her distaff, and gazes with 
 eyes of satisfied content at the small party of 
 horsemen climbing up the footpath. Then, when 
 they have wound out of sight round a rock, she 
 moves out toward the hall-door, with a light, quick 
 step, for never yet has she resigned her great en- 
 joyment, that of greeting her son on the steps of 
 the porch — those steps where she once met such fear- 
 ful news, but where that memory has been effaced 
 by many a cheerful welcome. 
 
 There, then, she stands, amid the bright throng 
 of grandchildren, while the baron and his sons 
 
418 I>0 VE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 spring from their horses and come up to her. The 
 baron doffs his Spanish hat, bends the knee, kisses 
 her hand, and receives her kiss on his brow, with 
 the fervor of a Hfe-devotion, before he turns to 
 accept the salutation of his daughters, and then 
 takes her hand, with pretty affectionate ceremony, 
 to hand her back to her seat. A few words pass 
 between them. "No, motherling," he says, "I 
 signed it not ; I will tell you all by-and-by." 
 
 And then the midday meal is served for the 
 whole household, as of old, with the salt-cellar in 
 the middle, but with a far larger company above it 
 than when first we saw it. The seven young folks 
 preserve a decorous silence, save when Fraulein 
 Ermen trade's cookeries are good-naturedly compli- 
 mented by her father, or when Baron Friedmund 
 Maximilianus breaks out with some wonderful fact 
 about new armor seen at Ulm. He is a handsome, 
 fair, flaxen-haired young man — ^like the old Adler- 
 steins, say the elder people — and full of honest 
 gayety and good nature, the special pride of his 
 sisters ; and no sooner is the meal over, than, with a* 
 formal entreaty for dismissal, all the seven, and all 
 the dogs, move off together to that favorite gather- 
 ing-place round the stove, where all their merry 
 tongues are let loose together. 
 
 To them, the Herr Yater and the Frau Gross- 
 mutter seem nearly of the same age, and of the 
 same generation ; and verily the eighteen years 
 between the mother and son have dwindled into a 
 very small difference even in appearance, and a 
 
DO VE m THE EAGLE '8 NEST. 419 
 
 lesser one in feeling. She is a youthful, beautiful 
 old lady ; he a grave, spare, worn, elderly man, in 
 his full strength, but with many a trace of care and 
 thought, and far more of silver than of brown in his 
 thin hair and pointed beard, and with a melancholy 
 thoughtfulness in his clear brown eyes — all well 
 corresponding with the gravity of the dress in 
 which he has been meeting the burghers of Ulm ; a 
 black velvet suit — only relieved by his small white 
 lace ruff, and the ribbon and jewel of the Golden 
 Fleece, the only other approach to ornament that he 
 wears being that ring long ago twisted off the 
 Emperor Maximilian's chain. But now, as he has 
 bowed off the chaplain to his study, and excused 
 himself from aiding his two gentlemen-squires in 
 consuming their krug of beer, and hands his mother 
 to her favorite nook in the sunny window, taking 
 his seat by her side, his features assume an expres- 
 sion of repose and relaxation as if here indeed were 
 his true home. He has chosen his seat in full view 
 of a picture that hangs on the wainscoted wall, near 
 his mother — a picture whose pure ethereal tinting, of 
 color limpid as the rainbow, yet rich as the most 
 glowing flower-beds ; and its soft lovely jt?^^^, and 
 rounded outlines, prove it to be no produce even of 
 one of the great German artists of the time, but to 
 have been wrought, under an Italian sky, by such a 
 hand as left us the marvelous smile of Mona Lisa. 
 It represents two figures, one- unmistakably himself 
 whexv. in the prime of life, his brow and cheeks 
 ctnfurrowed, and his haiy still thick, shining brown. 
 
420 I>0 VE m TEE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 but with the same grave earnestness of the dark eye 
 that came with the early sense of responsibility, and 
 with the first sorrow of his youth. The other 
 figure, one on which the painter evidently loved to 
 d ivell, is of a lady, so young that she might almost 
 pass for his daughter, except for the peculiar, tender 
 sweetness that could only become the wife and 
 mother. Fair she is as snow, with scarce a deepen- 
 ing of the rose on cheek, or even lip, fragile and 
 (transparent as a spiritual form, and with a light in 
 ibhe blue eyes, and a grace in the soft fugitive smile, 
 /that scarce seems to belong to earth ; a beauty not 
 / exactly of feature, but rather the pathetic loveliness 
 / of calm fading away — as if she were already melt- 
 / ing into the clear blue sky with the horizon of 
 I golden light, that the wondrous power of art has 
 / made to harmonize with, but not efface, her blue 
 dress, golden hair, white coif, and fair skin. It is as 
 1 if she belonged to that sky, and only tarried as 
 \ unable to detach herself from the clasp of the strong 
 \ hand round and in which both her hands are 
 \ twined ; and though the light in her face may be 
 from heaven, yet the whole countenance is fixed in 
 one absorbed, almost worshiping gaze of her hus- 
 band, with a wistful simplicity and innocence on 
 devotion, like the absorption of a loving animal, to 
 whom its master's presence is bliss and sunshine. It 
 is a picture to make light in a dark place, and that 
 sweet face receives a loving glance, nay, an abso- 
 lutely reverent bend of the knightly head as the 
 baron seats himself. 
 
no VE IN TBS EAGLE '8 NEST, 421 
 
 " So it was as we feared, and this Schmalkaldic 
 League did not suit thy sense of loyalty, my son ? " 
 she asks, reading his features anxiously. 
 
 " 'No, mother. I ever feared that further pressure 
 would drive our friends beyond the line where begin 
 schism and rebellion ; and it seems to me that the 
 moment is come when I must hold me still, or trans- 
 gress mine own sense of duty. I must endure the 
 displeasure of many I love and respect." 
 
 " Surely, my son, they have known you too long 
 and too well not to respect your motives, and know 
 that conscience is first with you." 
 
 "Scarce may such confidence be looked for, 
 mother, from the most part, who esteem every man 
 a traitor to the cause if he defend it not precisely 
 in the fashion of their oWn party. But I hear that 
 the king of France has offered himself as an ally, 
 and that Dr. Luther, together with others of our 
 best divines, have thereby been startled into doubts 
 of the lawfulness of the League." 
 
 " And what think you of doing, my son ? " 
 
 " I shall endeavor to wait until such time as the 
 much-needed General Council may proclaim the 
 ancient truth, and enable us to avouch it without 
 disunion. Into schism I will not be drawn. I have 
 held truth all my life in the Church, nor will I part 
 from her now ! If intrigues again should prevail, 
 then, Heaven help us ! Meantime, mother, the best 
 we can, as has ever been your war-cry." 
 
 " And much has been won for us. Here are the 
 little maidens, who, save Yittoria, would never have 
 
422 J)0 VE IN TBB MAGLE'B NM8T, 
 
 been scholars, reading the Holy Word daily in their 
 own tongue." 
 
 " Ach, I had not told you, mother ! I have the 
 court secretary's answer this day about that com- 
 mand in the kaiser's guards that my dear old master 
 had promised to his godson." 
 
 " Another put-off with Flemish courtesy, I see by 
 thy face, Ebbo." 
 
 " IS'ot quite that, mother. The command is ready 
 for the Baron Friedmund Maximilianus von Adler- 
 stein Wildschloss, and all the rest of it, on the un- 
 derstanding that he has been bred up free from all 
 taint of the new doctrine." 
 
 " ]^ew ? ]^ay, it is the oldest of all doctrine." 
 
 " Even so. As I ever said. Dr. Luther hath been 
 setting forth in greater clearness and fullness what 
 our blessed Friedel and I learned at your knee, and 
 my young ones have learned from babyhood of the 
 true Catholic doctrine. Yet I may not call my 
 son's faith such as the kaiser's Spanish conscience- 
 keepers would have it, and so the boy must e'en 
 tarry at home till there be work for his stout arm to 
 do." 
 
 " He seems little disappointed. His laugh comes 
 ringing the loudest of all." 
 
 The junker is more of a boy at fcwo-and-twenty 
 than I ever recollect myself ! He lacks not sense 
 nor wit, but a fray or a feast, a chase or a dance, 
 seem to suffice him at an age when I had long been 
 dwelling on matters of moment." 
 
 " Thou wast left to be thine own pilot : he is but 
 
no VE m THE EAGLE'S NEST 423 
 
 one of thy gay crew, and thus even these stirring 
 times touch him. not so deeply as thou wert affected 
 by thine own choice in life between disorderly free- 
 dom and honorable restraint." 
 
 "I thought of that choice to-day, mother, as I 
 crossed the bridge, and looked at the church ; and 
 more than ever thankful did I feel that our blessed 
 Friedel, having aided me over that one decisive 
 pass, was laid to rest, his tender spirit unvexed by 
 the shocks and divisions that have wrenched me 
 hither and thither." 
 
 " E^ay ; not hither and thither. Ever hadst thou a 
 resolute purpose and aim." 
 
 " Ever failed in by my own error or that of 
 others — What, thou nestling here, my little Yittoria, 
 away from all yonder prattle ? " 
 
 " Dear father, if I may, I love far best to hear you 
 and the grandmother talk." 
 
 "Hear the child! She alone hath your face, 
 mother, or FriedePs eyes ! Is it that thou wouldst 
 be like thy noble Koman grandmother, the Marchesa 
 di Pescara, that makes thee seek our grave company, 
 little one ? " 
 
 " I always long to hear you talk of her, and of the 
 Italian days, dear father, and how you won this 
 noble jewel of yours." 
 
 " Ah, child, that was before those times ! It was 
 the gift of good Kaiser Max at his godson's christen- 
 ing, when he filled your sweet mother with pretty 
 spite by persuading her that it was a little golden 
 bear-skin." 
 
424 DO VE IN TBE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 " Tell her how you had gained it, my son." 
 " By vaporing, child ; and by the dull pride of my 
 neighbors. Heard' st thou never of the siege of 
 Padua, when we had Bayard, the best knight in 
 Europe, and five hundred Frenchmen for our allies? 
 Our artillery had made a breach, and the kaiser re- 
 quested the French knights to lead the storm, 
 whereto they answered, Well and good, but our 
 German nobles must share the assault, and not 
 leave them to fight with no better backers than the 
 hired lanzknechts. All in reason, quoth I, and 
 more shame for us not to have been foremost in our 
 kaiser's own cause ; but what said the rest of our 
 misproud chivalry ? They would never condescend 
 to climb a wall on foot in company with lanzknechts! 
 On horseback must their worships fight, or not all 
 and when to shame them I called myself a moun- 
 taineer, more used to climb than to ride, and 
 vowed that I should esteem it an honor to follow 
 such a knight as Bayard, were it on all fours, then 
 cast they my burgher blood in my teeth, l^ever 
 saw I the kaiser so enraged : he swore that all the 
 common sense in the empire was in the burgher 
 blood, and that he would make me a knight of the 
 noblest order in Europe to show how he esteemed it. 
 And next morning he was gone ! So ashamed was 
 he of his own army that he rode off in the night, 
 and sent orders to break up the siege. I could have 
 torn my hair, for I had just lashed up a few of our 
 nobles to a better sense of honor, and we would yet 
 have redeemed our name ! And after all, the 
 
DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 425 
 
 chapter of proud Flemings would never have ad- 
 mitted me had not the heralds hunted up that the 
 Sorels were gentlemen of blood and coat armor long 
 ago at Liege. I am glad my father lived to see 
 that proved, mother. He could not honor thee 
 more than he did, but he would have been sorely 
 grieved had I been rejected. He often thought me 
 a mechanical burgher, as it was." 
 
 " Not quite so, my son. He never failed to be 
 proud of thy deeds, even when he did not under- 
 stand them ; but this, and the grandson's birth, were 
 the crowning joys of his life." 
 
 " Yes, those were glad triumphant years, take 
 them all in all, ere the emperor sent me to act am- 
 bassador in Kome, and we left you the two elder 
 little girls and the boy to take care of. My dear 
 little Thekla ! She had a foreboding that she 
 might never see those children more, yet would she 
 have pined her heart away more surely had I left 
 her at home ! I never was absent a week but I 
 found her wasted with watching for me." 
 
 " It was those weary seven years of Italy that 
 changed thee most, my son." 
 
 " Apart from you, mother, and knowing you now 
 indeed to be widowed, and with on the one hand 
 ^ such contradictory commands from the emperor as 
 made me sorely ashamed of myself, of my nation, 
 and of the man whom I loved and esteemed person- 
 ally the most on earth, yet bound there by his ex- 
 press command, while I saw my tender wife's health 
 wasting in the climate day by day ! Yet still, 
 
426 DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 while most she gasped for a breath of Swabian hills, 
 she ever declared it would kiU her outright to send 
 her from me. And thus it went on till I laid her in 
 the stately church of her own patroness. Then how 
 it would have fared with me and the helpless little 
 ones I know not, but for thy noble god-mother, my 
 Yittoria, the wise and ready helper of all in trouble, 
 the only friend thy mother had made at Kome, and 
 who had been able, from all her heights of learning 
 and accomplishment, to value my Thekla's golden 
 soul in its simplicity. Even then, when too late, 
 came one of the kaiser's kindest letters, recalling 
 me — a letter whose every word I would have paid 
 for with a drop of my own blood six weeks before ! 
 and which he had only failed to send because his 
 head was running on the plan of that gorgeous 
 tomb where he is not buried ! "Well, at least it 
 brought us home to you again once more, mother, 
 and, where you are, comfort never has been utterly 
 absent from me. And then, coming from the will- 
 ful gloom of Pope Leo's court into our Germany, 
 streamed over by the rays of Luther's light, it was 
 as if a new world of hope were dawning, as if truth 
 would no longer be mufl&ed, and the young would 
 grow up to a world far better and purer than the 
 old had ever seen. What trumpet-calls those were 
 and how welcome was the voice of the true Catholic 
 faith no longer stifled ! And my dear old kaiser, 
 with his clear eyes, his unfettered mind — he felt the 
 power and truth of those theses. He bade the 
 elector of Saxony well to guard the monk Luther 
 
DO VE IN THE EA OLE 'S NEST. 427 
 
 as a treasure. Ah ! had he been a younger man, or 
 had he been more firm and resolute, able to 
 act as well as think for himself, things might have 
 gone otherwise with the church. He could think, 
 but could not act ; and now we have a man who 
 acts, but will not think. It may have been a good 
 day for our German reputation among foreign 
 princes when Charles Y. put on the crown ; but 
 only two days in my life have been as mournful to 
 me as that when I stood by Kaiser Max's death-bed 
 at Wells, and knew that generous, loving, fitful 
 spirit was passing away from the earth! I^ever 
 owned I friend I loved so well as Kaiser Max/ 
 JSTor has any emperor done so much for this our 
 dear land." 
 
 " The young emperor never loved thee." 
 " He might have treated me as one who could be 
 useful, but he never forgave me for shaking hands 
 with Luther at the Diet of Worms. I knew it was 
 all over with my court favor after I had joined in 
 escorting the doctor out of the city. And the next 
 thing was that Georg of Freundsberg and his 
 friends proclaimed me a bigoted papist because I 
 did my utmost to keep my troops out of the devil's 
 holiday at the sack of Eome. It has ever been my 
 lot to be in disgrace with one side or the other ! 
 Here is my daughter's marriage hindered on the 
 one hand, my son's promotion checked on the other, 
 because I have a conscience of my own, and not of 
 other people's ! Heaven knows the right is no easy 
 matter to find ; but, when one thinks one sees it, 
 
428 DOVE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 there is nothing to be done but to guide one's self by 
 it, even if the rest of the world will not view it, in 
 the same light." 
 
 " JS'othing else ! I doubt me whether it be ever 
 easy to see the veritably right course while still 
 struggling in the midst. That is for after ages, 
 which behold things afar off ; but each man must 
 needs follow his own principle in an honest and 
 good heart, and assuredly God will guide him 
 to work out some good end, or hinder some evil 
 one." 
 
 " Ay, mother. Each party may guard one side or 
 other of the truth in all honesty and faithfulness ; 
 he who cannot with his whole heart cast in his lot 
 with either — he is apt to serve no purpose, and to be 
 scorned." 
 
 "I^ay, Ebbo, may he not be a witness to the 
 higher and more perfect truth than either party 
 have conceived ? Nor is inaction always needful, 
 that which is right toward either side still reveals 
 itself at the due moment, whether it be to act or to 
 hold still. And verily, Ebbo, what thou didst say 
 even now has set me on a strange thought of mine 
 own dream, that which heralded the birth of thy- 
 self and thy brother. As thou knowest, it seemed 
 to me that I was watching two sparkles from the 
 extinguished needfire wheel. One rose aloft and 
 shone as a star." 
 
 "My guiding-star!" 
 
 " The other fulfilled those words of the Wise Man. 
 It shone and ran to and fro in the grass. And 
 
DO VE IN THE EA GLE *S NEST. 429 
 
 surely, my Ebbo, thy mother may feel that, in all 
 these dark days of perplexity and trial, the spark of 
 light hath ever shone and drawn its trail of bright- 
 ness in the gloom, even though the way was long, 
 and seemed uncertain." 
 
 " The mother who ever fondled me will think so, 
 it may be ! But, ah ! she had better pray that the 
 light be clearer, and that I may not fall utterly 
 short of the star ! " 
 
 Travelers in Wurtemburg may perhaps turn aside 
 from glorious old Ulm, and the memories of the 
 battlefields around it, to the romantic country round 
 the Swabian mountains, through which descend the 
 tributaries of the Danube. Here they may think 
 themselves fortunate if they come upon a green 
 valley, with a bright mountain torrent dashing 
 through it, fresh from the lofty mountain, with ter- 
 raced sides that rise sheer above. An old 
 bridge, a mill, and a neat German village lie clus- 
 tered in the valley ; a seignorial mansion peeps out 
 of the forest glades ; and a lovely church, of rather 
 late Gothic, but beautifully designed, attracts the 
 eye so soon as it can be persuaded to quit the ro- 
 mantic outline of the ruined baronial castle high up 
 on one of the mountain ledges. Reports declare 
 that there are tombs in the church well worth in- 
 spection. You seek out an old venerable blue- 
 coated peasant who has charge of the church. 
 
 " "What is yonder castle 'i " 
 
 " It is the castle of Adlerstein." 
 
430 -DO VE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 
 
 " Are the family still extant ? " 
 
 "Yea, yea; they built yonder house when the 
 schloss became ruinous. They have always been 
 here." 
 
 The church is very beautiful in its details, the 
 carved work of the east end and pulpit especially 
 so, but nothing is so attractive as the altar tomb in 
 the chantry chapel. It is a double one, holding 
 not, as usual, the recumbent eflBgies of a husband 
 and mfe, but of two knights in armor. 
 
 " Who are these, good friend ? " 
 
 " They are the good barons, Ebbo and Friedel." 
 
 Father and son they appear to be, killed at the 
 same time in some fatal battle, for the white marble 
 face of one is round with youth, no hair on lip or 
 chin, and with a lovely peaceful solemnity, almost 
 cheerfulness, in the expression. The other, a 
 bearded man, has the glory of old age in his worn 
 features, beautiful and restful, but it is as if one had 
 gone to sleep in the light of dawn, the other in the 
 last glow of sunset. Their armor and their crests 
 are alike, but the young one bears the eagle shield 
 alone, while the elder has the same bearing repeated 
 upon an escutcheon of pretense ; the young man's 
 hands are clasped over a harp, those of the other 
 over a Bible, and the elder wears the insignia of the 
 order of the Golden Fleece. They are surely father 
 and son, a maiden knight and tried warrior who fell 
 together ? 
 
 " No," the guide shakes his head ; " they are twin 
 brothers, the good barons, Ebbo and Friedel, who 
 
DO VE IN THE EAGLE'S NEST. 431 
 
 were born when their father had been taken captive 
 by the Saracens while on a crusade. Baron Friedel 
 was slain by the Turks at the bridge foot, and his 
 brother built the church in his memory, ^e first 
 planted vines upon the mountains, and freed the 
 peasants from the lord's dues on their flax. And it 
 is true that the two brothers may still be seen hov- 
 ering on the mountain-side in the mist at sunset, 
 sometimes one, sometimes both." 
 
 You turn with a smile to the inscription, sure 
 that those windows, those porches, that armor, 
 never were of crusading date, and ready to refute 
 the old peasant. You spell out the upright Gothic 
 letters around the cornice of the tomb, and you 
 read, in mediaeval Latin .• 
 
 " Orate pro Anima Friedmundis Equitis Baronis 
 Adlersteini. A. D. mccGCXciii.^^ 
 
 Then turn to the other side and read : 
 
 " Hie jacet Eherardus Eques Baro Adlersteini, 
 A. D. mdxliii. DemumP 
 
 Yes, the guide is right. They are brothers, with 
 well-nigh a lifetime between their deaths. Is that 
 the meaning of that strange Demum f 
 
 Few of the other tombs are worth attention, each 
 lapsing further into the bad taste of later ages ; yet 
 there is one still deserving admiration, placed close 
 to the head of that of the two barons. It is the 
 
433 DOVE m THE EAGLE'S NE8T. 
 
 Q^gy of a lady, aged and serene, with a delicately- 
 carved face beneath her stiff head-gear. Surely 
 this monument was erected somewhat later, for the 
 inscription is in German. Stiff, contracted, hard to 
 read, but this is the rendering of it : 
 
 ''Here lies Chi'istina Sorely wife of Eherhard^ XXth 
 Baron von Adlerstein, and mother of the Barons 
 Eherho.rd and Friedmund. She fell asleep two days 
 before her son, on the feast of St John, mdxliii. 
 
 '' Her children shall rise ujp and call her hlessed. 
 
 " Erected with full hearts hy her grandson, Baron 
 Friedmund Maximilianus, amd his hrothers am^d sis- 
 ters. Farewell^ 
 
 THE END. 
 
A. L. BURT'S PUBLICATIONS 
 
 For Young People 
 
 BY POPULAR WRITERS, 
 
 97-99-101 Reade Street, New York. 
 
 Bonnie Prince Charlie : A Tale of Fontenoy and Culloden. By 
 Q. A. Henty. Wit?i 12 full-page Illustrations by Gokdon 
 Browne. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00. 
 
 The adventures of the son of a Scotch oflBcer in French service. 
 The boy, brought up by a Glasgow bailie, is a; rested for aiding a 
 Jacobite agent, escapes, is wrecked on the French coast, reaches 
 Paris, and serves with the French army at Dettingen. He kills 
 his father's foe in a duel, and escaping to the coast, shares the 
 adventures of Prince Charlie, but finally settles happily in Scot- 
 land. 
 
 ' Ronald, the hero, is very like the hero of ' Quentin Durward.' The lad's 
 „ imey across France, and his hairbreadth escapes, make up as good a nar- 
 rative of the kind as we have ever read. For freshness of treatment and 
 
 journey across France, and his hairbreadth escapes, make up as good a nar^ 
 rati ve of the kind as we have ever read. For freshness of treat " 
 variety of incident Mr. Henty has surpassed himself."— -Spectof or. 
 
 With Clive in India ; or, the Beginnings of an Empire. By 
 
 G. A. Henty. With 12 full-page Illustrations by Gordon 
 
 Browne. 12uio, cloth, price $1.00. 
 
 The period between the landing of Clive as a young writer in 
 India and the close of his career was critical and eventful in the 
 extreme. At its commencement the English were traders existing 
 on sufferance of the native princes. At its close they were masters 
 of Bengal and -f the greater part of Southern India. The author 
 has given a full and accurate account of the events of that stirring 
 time, and battles and sieges follow each other in rapid succession, 
 while he combines with his narrative a tale of daring and adven- 
 ture, which gives a lifelike interest to the volume. 
 
 " He has taken a period of Indian history of the most vital importance, 
 and he has embroidered on the historical facts a story which of itself is deeply 
 interesting. Young people assuredly will be delighted with the volume."— 
 Scotsman. 
 
 The Lion of the North : A Tale of Gustavus Adolphus and the 
 Wars of Religion. By G. A. Henty. With full-page Illus- 
 trations by John Schonberg. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00. 
 In this story Mr. Henty gives the history of the first part of the 
 Thirty Years' War. Tlje issue had its importance, which has ex- 
 tended to the present day, as it established religious freedom 
 in Germany. The army of the chivalrous king of Sweden was 
 largely composed of Scotchmen, and among these was the hero of 
 the story. 
 
 " The tale is a eleven and instructive piece of history, and as boys may be 
 trusted to read it conscientiously, they can hardly fail to be profited."— Time*-. 
 
A. L. BTJRT'S PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 The Dragon and the Raven ; or, The Days of King Alfred. By 
 G. A. Henty. With full-page Illustrations by C. J. Stani- 
 LAND, R.I. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00. 
 
 In this story the author gives an account of the fierce struggle 
 between Saxon and Dane for supremacy in England, and presents 
 a vivid picture of the misery and ruin to which the country was 
 reduced by the ravages of the sea- wolves. The hero, a young 
 Saxon thane, takes part in all the battles fought by King Alfred. 
 He is driven from his home, takes to the sea and resists the Danes 
 on their own element, and being pursued by them up the Seine, 
 is present at the long and desperate siege of Paris. 
 
 " Treated in a manner most attractive to the boyish resider,''''— Athenaeum. 
 
 The Young Carthaginian : A Story of the Times of Hannibal. 
 By G. A. Henty. With full-page Illustrations by C. J. Stani- 
 LAND, R.I. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00. 
 
 Boys reading the history of the Punic Wars have seldom a keen 
 appreciation of the merits of the contest. That it was at first a 
 struggle for empire, and afterward for existence on the part of 
 Carthage, that Hannibal was a great and skillful general, that he 
 defeated the Romans at Trebia, Lake Trasimenus, and Cannae, 
 and all but took Rome, represents pretty nearly the sum total of 
 their knowledge. To let them know more about this momentous 
 struggle for the empire of the world Mr. Henty has written this 
 story, which not only gives in graphic style a brilliant descrip- 
 tion of a most interesting period of history, but is a tale of ex- 
 citing adventure sure to secure the interest of the reader. 
 
 " Well constructed and vividly told. From first to last nothing stays the 
 interest of the narrative. It bears us along as on a {stream whose current 
 varies in direction, but never loses its force.''''— Saturday Review. 
 
 In Freedom's Cause : A Story of Wallace and Bruce. ByG. A. 
 Henty. With full-page Illustrations by Gordon Browne. 
 12mo, cloth, price $1.00. 
 
 In this story the author relates the stirring tale of the Scottish 
 War of Independence, The extraordinary valor and personal 
 prowess of Wallace and Bruce rival the deeds of the mythical 
 heroes of chivalry, and indeed at one time Wallace was ranked 
 with these legendary personages. The researches of modern 
 historians have shown, however, that he was a living, breathing 
 man — and a valiant champion. The hero of the tale fought under 
 both Wallace and Bruce, and while the strictest historical accuracy 
 has been maintained with respect to public events, the work is 
 full of "hairbreadth 'scapes " and wild adventure. 
 
 " It is written in the author's best style. Full of the wildest and most re- 
 markable achievements, it is a tale of great interest, which a boy, once he has 
 begun it, will not wiUingly put on one side." — The Schoolmaster. 
 
A. L. BtTRT'S PUBLICATIONS. 8 
 
 With Lee in Virginia : A Story of tlie American Civil War. By 
 G. A. Henty. With full- page Dlustrations by Gordon 
 Browne. 13mo, cloth, price $1.00. 
 
 The story of a young Virginian planter, who, after bravely 
 proving his sympathy with the slaves of brutal masters, serves 
 with no less courage and enthusiasm under Lee and Jackson 
 through the most exciting events of the struggle. He has many 
 hairbreadth escapes, is several times wounded and twice taken 
 prisoner; but his courage and readiness and, in two cases, the 
 devotion of a black servant and of a runaway slave whom he had 
 assisted, bring him safely through all difficulties. 
 
 " One of the best stories for lads which Mr. Henty has yet written. The 
 picture is full of life and color, and the stirring and romantic incidents are 
 skillfully blended with the personal interest and charm of the story."— 
 Standard. 
 
 By England's Aid ; or, The Freeing of the Netherlands (1585- 
 1604). By G. A. Henty. With full-page Illustrations by 
 Alfred Pbarse, and Maps. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00. 
 The story of two English lads who go to Holland as pages in 
 the service of one of " the fighting Veres." After many adven- 
 tures by sea and land, one of the lads finds himself on board a 
 Spanish ship at the time of the defeat of the Armada, and escapes 
 only to fall into the hands of the Corsairs. He is successful in 
 getting back to Spain under the protection of a wealthy merchant, 
 and regains his native country after the capture of Cadiz. 
 
 " It is an admirable book for youngsters. It overflows with stirring inci- 
 dent and exciting adventure, and the color of the era and of the scene are 
 finely reproduced. The illustrations add to its attractiveness."— J?osion 
 Gazette. 
 
 By Right of Conquest ; or, With Cortez in Mexico. By G. A. 
 
 Henty. With full-page Illustrations by W. S. Stagey, and 
 
 Two Maps. 12mo, cloth, price $1.50. 
 
 The conquest of Mexico by a small band of resolute men under 
 the magnificent leadership of Cortez is always rightly ranked 
 among the most romantic and daring exploits in history. With 
 this as the ground work of his story Mr. Henty has interwoven the 
 adventures of an English youth, Roger Hawkshaw, the sole sur- 
 vivor of the good ship Swan, which had sailed from a Devon port 
 to challenge the mercantile supremacy of the Spaniards in the 
 New World. He is beset by many perils among the natives, but 
 is saved by his own judgment and strength, and by the devotion 
 of an Aztec princess. At last by a ruse he obtains the protection 
 of the Spaniards, and after the fall of Mexico he succeeds in re- 
 gaining his native shore, with a fortune and a charming Aztec 
 bride. 
 
 " ' By Right of Conquest ' is the nearest approach to a perfectly successful 
 historical tale that Mr. Henty has yet published."— -4codemy. . 
 
A. L. BURT'S PUBLICATIOXS. 
 
 In the Reign of Terror : The Adventures of a Westminster Boy. 
 
 By G. A. Henty. With full-page Illustrations by J. Schon 
 
 BERG. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00. 
 
 Harry Sandwith, a Westminster boy, becomes a resident at the 
 chateau of a French marquis, and aftt r various adventures accom- 
 panies the family to Paris at tlie crisis of the Revolution. Im- 
 prisonment and death reduce tlieir number, and the hero finds 
 himself beset by perils with the three young daughters of the 
 liouse in his charge. After hairbreadth escapes they reach Nan- 
 tes. There the girls are condemned to death in the coflSn-ships, 
 but are saved by the unfailing courage of their boy protector. 
 
 "Harry Sandwith, the Westminster boy, may fairly be said to beat Mr. 
 Henty's record. His adventures will delight boys by the audacity and peril 
 they depict. . . . The story is one of Mr. Henty 's best."— -ya^urdai/ 
 Review. 
 
 With Wolfe in Canada ; or, The Winning of a Continent. By 
 G. A. Henty. With full-page Illustrations by Gordon 
 Browne. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00. 
 
 In the present volume Mr. Henty gives an account of the strug- 
 gle between Britain and France for supremacy in the North 
 American continent. On the issue of this war depended not only 
 the destinies of North America, but to a large extent those of the 
 mother countries themselves. The fall of Quebec decided that 
 the Anglo-Saxon race should predominate in the New World; 
 that Britain, and not France, should take the lead among the 
 nations of Europe; and that English and American commerce, the 
 English language, and English literature, should spread right 
 round the globe. 
 
 " It is not only a lesson in history as instructively as it is graphically told, 
 but also a deeply interesting and often thrilling tale of adventure and peril by 
 flood and field." — Illustrated London News. 
 
 True to the Old Flag : A Tale of the American War of Inde- 
 pendence. By G. A. Henty. With full-page Illustrations by 
 Gordon Browne. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00. 
 In this story the author has gone to the accounts of oflBcers who 
 took part in the conflict, and lads will find that in no war in which 
 American and British soldiers have been engaged did they behave 
 with greater courage and good conduct. The historical portion of 
 the book being accompanied with numerous thrilling adventures 
 with the redskins on the shores of La e Huron, a story of exciting 
 interest is interwoven with the general narrative and carried 
 through the book. 
 
 " Does justice to the pluck and determination of the British soldiers during 
 the unfortunate struggle against American emancipation. The son of an 
 American loyalist, who remains true to our flag, falls among the hostile red- 
 skins in that very Huron country which has been endeared to us by the ex- 
 ploits of Hawkeye and Chingachgook."— TTie Times. 
 
A. L. BtJRT'g PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 The Lion of St. Mark : A Tale of Venice in the Fourteenth 
 Century. By G. A. Henty. With full-page Illustrations by 
 GoKDON Browne. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00. 
 A story of Venice at a period when her strength and splendor 
 were put to the severest tests. The hero displays a fine sense and 
 manliness which carry him safely through an atmosphere of in- 
 trigue, crime, and bloodshed. He contributes largely to the vic- 
 tories of the Venetians at Porto d'Anzo and Chioggia, and finally 
 wins the hand of the daughter of one of the chief men of Venice. 
 
 ' ' Every boy should read ' The Lion of St. Mark.' Mr. Henty has never pro- 
 duced a story more dehghtful, more wholesome, or more vivacious." — Satuv' 
 day Revieio. 
 
 A Final Reckoning^: A Tale of Bush Life in Australia. By G. A. 
 
 Henty. With full-page Illustrations by W. B. Wollen. 
 
 12mo, cloth, price $1.00, 
 
 The hero, a young English lad. after rather a stormy boyhood, 
 emigrates to Australia, and gets employment as an officer in the 
 mounted police. A few years of active work on the frontier, 
 where he has many a brush with both natives and bushrangers, 
 gain him promotion to a captaincy, and he eventually settles 
 down to the peaceful life of a squatter. 
 
 " Mr. Henty has never published a more readable, a more carefully con- 
 structed, or a better written story than this ''"'—Spectator. 
 
 Under Drake's Flag : A Tale of the Spanish Main. By G. A. 
 
 Henty. With full-page Illustrations by Gordon Browne. 
 
 12mo, cloth, price $1.00. 
 
 A story of the days when England and Spain struggled for the 
 supremacy of the sea. The heroes sail as lads with Drake in the 
 Pacific expedition, and in his great voyage of circumnavigation. 
 The histoiical portion of the story is absolutely to be relied upon, 
 but this will perhaps be less attractive than the great variety of 
 exciting adventure through which the young heroes pass in the 
 course of their voyages. 
 
 " A book of adventure, where the hero meets with experience enough, one 
 would think, to turn his hair gray."— flarper's Monthly Magazine. 
 
 By Sheer Pluck : A Tale of the Ashanti War. By G. A. Henty. 
 
 With full- page Illustrations by Gordon Browne. 12mo, 
 
 cloth, price $1.00. 
 
 The author has woven, in a tale of thrilling interest, all the de- 
 tails of the Ashanti campaign, of which he was himself a witness. 
 His hero, after many exciting adventures in the interior, is de- 
 tained a prisoner by the king just before the outbreak of the war, 
 but escapes, and accompanies the English expedition on their 
 march to Coomassie. 
 
 " Mr. Henty keeps up his reputation as a writer of boys' stories. * By Sheer 
 Pluck ' will be eagerly read."— ^t/iencewM. 
 
A. L. BtrHT'S PtTBLICAl^IOKS. 
 
 By Pike and Dyke : A Tale of the Rise of the Dutch Republic. 
 By G. A. Henty. With full-page Illustrations by Maynard 
 Brown, and 4 Maps. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00. 
 In this story Mr. Henty traces the adventures and brave deeds 
 of an English boy in the household of the ablest man of his age — 
 William the Silent. Edward Martin, the son of an English sea- 
 captain, enters the service of the Prince as a volunteer, and is em- 
 ployed by him in many dangerous and responsible missions, in the 
 discharge of which he passes through the great sieges of the time. 
 He ultimately settles down as Sir Edward Martin. 
 
 " Boys with a turn for historical research will be enchanted with the book, 
 while the rest who only care for adventure.will be students in spite of them- 
 selves." — St. James'' Gazette. 
 
 St. George for England : A Tale of Cressy and Poitiers. By 
 G. A. Henty. With full-page Illustrations by Gordon 
 Browne. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00. 
 
 No portion of English history is more crowded with great events 
 than that of the reign of Edward III. Cressy and Poitiers; tha 
 destruction of the Spanish fleet; the plague of the Black Death; 
 the Jacquerie rising; these are treated by the author in *' St. 
 George for England." The hero of the story, although of good 
 family, begins life as a London apprentice, but after countless ad; 
 ventures and perils becomes by valor and good conduct the squire, 
 and at last the trusted friend of the Black Prince. 
 
 "Mr. Henty has developed for himself a type of historical novel for boys 
 which bids fair to supplement, on their behalf, the historical labors of Sir 
 Walter Scott in the land of fiction."— TTte Standard. 
 
 Captain's Kidd's Gold : The True Story of an Adventurous Sailor 
 Boy. By Jambs Franklin FiTTS. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00. 
 There is something fascinating to the average youth in the very 
 idea of buried treasure. A vision arises before his eyes of swarthy 
 Portuguese and Spanish rascals, with black beards and gleaming 
 eyes — sinister-looking fellows who once on a time haunted the 
 Spanish Main, sneaking out from some hidden creek in their long, 
 low schooner, of picaroonish rake and sheer, to attack an unsus- 
 pecting trading craft. There were many famous sea rovers in 
 their day, but none more celebrated than Capt. Kidd. Perhaps 
 the most fascinating tale of all is Mr. Fitts' true story of an adven 
 turous American boy, who receives from his dying father an 
 ancient bit of vellum, which the latter obtained in a curious way. 
 The document bears obscure directions purporting to locate a cer- 
 tain island in the Bahama group, and a considerable treasure 
 buried there by two of Kidd's crew. The hero of this book, 
 Paul Jones Garry, is an ambitious, persevering lad, of salt-water 
 New England ancestry, and his efforts to reach the island and 
 secure the money form one of the most absorbing tales for our 
 youth that has come from the press*. 
 
A. L. BiTRt'S PtJBLICAf lOKS. 
 
 Captain Bayley's Heir : A Tale of the Gold Fields of California. 
 
 By Q. A. Henty. With full-page Illustrations by H. M. 
 
 Paget. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00. 
 
 A frank, manly lad and his cousin are rivals in the heirship'of a 
 considerable property. The former falls into a trap laid by the 
 latter, and while under a false accusation of theft foolishly leaves 
 England for America. He works his passage before the mast, 
 joins a small band of hunters, crosses a tract of country infested 
 with Indians to the Calif ornian gold diggings, and is successful 
 both as digger and trader. 
 
 "Mr. Henty is careful to mingle instruction with entertainment; and the 
 humorous touches, especially in the sketch of John HoU, the Westminster 
 dustman, Dickens himself could hardly have excelled."— C^riaiian Leader. 
 
 For Name and Fame ; or, Through Afghan Passes. By G. A. 
 
 Henty. With full-page Illustrations by Gordon Bbowne. 
 
 12mo, cloth, price $1.00. 
 
 An interesting story of the last war in Afghanistan. The hero, 
 after being wrecked and going through many stirring adventures 
 among the Malays, finds his way to Calcutta and enlists in a regi- 
 ment proceeding to join the army at the Afghan passes. He ac- 
 companies the force under General Roberts to the Peiwar Kotal, 
 is wounded, taken prisoner, carried to Cabul, whence he is trans- 
 ferred to Candahar, and takes part in the final defeat of the army 
 of Ayoub Khan. 
 
 "The best feature of the book— apart from the interest of its scenes of ad- 
 venture—is its honest effort to do justice to the patriotism of the Afghan 
 people."— Z)ai7|/ News.^ 
 
 Captured by Apes : The Wonderful Adventures of a Young 
 Animal Trainer. By Harry Prentice. 12mo, cloth, $1.00. 
 The scene of this tale is laid on an island in the Malay Archi- 
 pelago. Philip Garland, a young animal collector and trainer, of 
 New York, sets sail for Eastern seas in quest of a new stock of 
 living curiosities. The vessel is wrecked off the coast of Borneo 
 and young Garland, the sole survivor of the disaster, is cast ashore 
 on a small island, and captured by the apes that overrun the 
 place. The lad discovers that the ruling spirit of the monkey 
 tribe is a gigantic and vicious baboon, whom he identifies as 
 Goliah, an animal at one time in his possession and with whose 
 instruction he had been especially diligent. The brute recognizes 
 him, and with a kind of malignant satisfaction puts his former 
 master through the same course of training he had himself ex- 
 perienced with a faithfulness of detail which shows how astonish- 
 ing is monkey recollection. Very novel indeed is the way by 
 which the young man escapes death. Mr. Prentice has certainly 
 worked a new vein on juvenile fiction, and the ability with which 
 he handles a difficult subject stamps him as a writer of undoubted 
 skUl. 
 
A. L. BURT'S PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 The Bravest of the Brave ; or, With Peterborough in Spain. 
 
 By G. A. Henty. With full-page Illustrations by H. M. 
 
 Paget, 12mo, cloth, price $1.00. 
 
 There are few great leaders whose lives and actions have so 
 completely fallen into oblivion as those of the Earl of Peter- 
 borough. This is largely due to the fact that they were over- 
 shadowed by the glory and successes of Marlborough. His career 
 as general extended over little more than a year, and yet, in that 
 time, he showed a genius for warfare which has never been sur- 
 
 " Mr. Henty never loses sight of the moral purpose of his work— to enforce 
 the doctrine of courage and truth. Lads will read ' The Bravest of the Brave ' 
 with pleasure and profit; of that we are quite sure.'"— Daily Telegraph. 
 
 The Cat of Bubastes : A Story of Ancient Egypt. By G. A. 
 
 Henty. With full-page Illustrations. 12mo, cloth, price $1,00. 
 
 A story which will give young readers an unsurpassed insight 
 into the customs of the Egyptian people. Amuba, a prince of the 
 Rebu nation, is carried with his charioteer Jethro into slavery. 
 They become inmates of the house of Ameres, the Egyptian high- 
 priest, and are happy in his service until the priest's son acci- 
 dentally kills the sacred cat of Bubastes. In an outburst of popular 
 fury Ameres is killed, and it rests with Jethro and Amuba to 
 secure the escape of the high-priest's son and daughter. 
 
 " The story, from the critical moment of the killing of the sacred cat to the 
 perilous exodus into Asia with which it closes, is very skillfully constructed 
 and full of exciting adventures. It is admirably Ulustrated.''''— Saturday 
 Review. 
 
 With Washington at Monmouth : A Story of Three Phila- 
 delphia Boys. By James Otis. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00. 
 Three Philadelphia boys, Seth Graydon "whose mother con- 
 ducted a boarding-house which was patronized by the British 
 officers;" Enoch Ball, "son of that Mrs. Ball whose dancing 
 school was situated on Letitia Street," and little Jacob, son of 
 " Chris, the Baker," serve as the principal characters. The 
 story is laid during the winter when Lord Howe held possession 
 of the city, and the lads aid the cause by assisting the American 
 spies who make regular and frequent visits from Valley Forge. 
 One reads here of home-life in the captive city when bread was 
 scarce among the people of the lower classes, and a reckless prodi- 
 gality shown by the British officers, who passed the winter in 
 feasting and merry-making while the members of the patriot army 
 but a few miles away were suffering from both cold and hunger. 
 The story abounds with pictures of Colonial life skillfully 
 drawn, and the glimpses of Washington's soldiers which are given 
 show that the work has not been hastily done, or without con- 
 siderable study. 
 
A. L. BURT'S PUBLICATIONS. 9 
 
 For the Temple : A Tale of the Fall of Jerusalem. By G. A. 
 
 Henty. With full-page Illustrations by S. J. Solomon. 12mo, 
 
 cloth, price $1.00. 
 
 Mr. Henty here vA^eaves into the record of Josephus an admirable 
 and attractive story. The troubles in the district of Tiberias, the 
 march of the legions, the sieges of Jotapata, of Gamala, and of 
 Jerusalem, form the impressive and carefully studied historic 
 setting to the figure of the lad who passes from the vineyard to 
 the service of Josephus, becomes the leader of a guerrilla band of 
 patriots, fights bravely for the Temple, and after a brief term of 
 slavery at Alexandria, returns to his Galilean home with the favor 
 of Titus. 
 
 " Mr. Henty 's graphic prose pictures of the hopeless Jewish resistance to 
 Roman sway add another leaf to his record of the famous wars of the world." 
 — Graphic. 
 
 Facing Death ; or. The Hero of the Vaughan Pit. A Tale of 
 the Coal jMines. By G. A. Henty. With full-page Illustra- 
 tions by Gordon Browne. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00. 
 "Facing Death" is a story with a purpose. It is intended to 
 show that a lad who makes up his mind firmly and resolutely that 
 he will rise in life, and who is prepared to face toil and ridicule 
 and hardship to carry out his determination, is sure to succeed. 
 The hero of the story is a typical British boy, dogged, earnest, 
 generous, and though " shamefaced" to a degree, is ready to face 
 death in the discharge of duty. 
 
 " The tale is well written and well illustrated, and there is much reality in 
 the characters. If any father, clergyman, or schoolmaster is on the lookout 
 for a good book to give as a present to a boy who is ^orth his salt, this is the 
 book we would recommend."— Sfandard. 
 
 Tom Temple's Career. By Horatio Alger. 13mo, cloth, 
 
 price $1.00. 
 
 Tom Temple, a bright, self-reliant lad, by the death of his 
 father becomes a boarder at the home of Nathan Middleton, a 
 penurious insurance agent. Though well paid for keeping the 
 boy, Nathan and his wife endeavor to bring Master Tom in line 
 with their parsimonious habits. The lad ingeniously evades their 
 efforts and revolutionizes the household. As Tom is heir to 
 $40,000, he is regarded as a person of some importance until by 
 an unfortunate combination of circumstances his fortune shrinks 
 to a few hundreds. He leaves Plympton village to seek work in 
 New York, whence he undertakes an important mission to Cali- 
 fornia, around which center the most exciting incidents of his 
 young career. Some of his adventures in the far west are so 
 startling that the reader will scarcely close the book until the last 
 page shall have been reached. The tale is written in Mr. Alger's 
 most fascinating style, and is bound to please the very large class 
 of boys who regard this popular author as a prime favorite. 
 
10 A. L. BURT'S PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 Maori and Settler: A Story of the New Zealand War. By 
 G. A. Henty. Witli full-page Illustrations by Alfred Pearse. 
 12ino, cloth, price $1.00. 
 
 The Renshaws emigrate to New Zealand during the period of 
 the war with the natives. Wilfrid, a strong, self-reliant, coura- 
 geous lad, is the mainstay of the household. He has for his friend 
 Mr. Atherton, a botanist and naturalist of herculean strength and 
 unfailing nerve and humor. In the adventures among the Maoris, 
 there are many breathless moments in which the odds seem hope- 
 lessly against the party, but they succeed in establishing them- 
 selves happily in one of the pleasant New Zealand valleys. 
 
 "Brimful of adventure, of humorous and interesting conversation, and 
 vivid pictures of colonial Me^— Schoolmaster. 
 
 Julian MortimerJ: A Brave Boy's Struggle for Home and Fortune. 
 
 By Harry Castlemon. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00. 
 
 Here is a story that will warm every boy's heart. There is 
 mystery enough to keep any lad's imagination wound up to the 
 highest pitch. The scene of the story lies west of the Mississippi 
 River, in the days when emigrants made their perilous way across 
 the great plains to the land of gold. One of the startling features 
 of the book is the attack upon the wagon train by a large party of 
 Indians. Our hero is a lad of uncommon nerve and pluck, a brave 
 young American in every sense of the word. He enlists and holds 
 the reader's sympathy from the outset. Surrounded by an un- 
 known and constant peril, and assisted by the unswerving fidelity 
 of a stalwart trapper, a real rough diamond, our hero achieves the 
 most happy results. Harry Castlemon has written many enter- 
 taining stories for boys, and it would seem almost superfluous to 
 say anything in his praise, for the youth of America regard him 
 as a favorite author. 
 
 "Carrots:" Just a Little Boy. By Mrs. Molesworth. With 
 Illustrations by Walter Crane. 13mo, cloth, price 75 cents. 
 " One of the cleverest and most pleasing stories it has been our good for- 
 tune to meet with for some time. Carrots and his sister are delightful little 
 beings, whom to read about is at once to become very fond ot.'"''— Examiner. 
 "A genuine children's book; we've seen 'em seize it, and read it greedily. 
 Children are fii"st-rate critics, and thoroughly appreciate Walter Crane's 
 illustrations. "—PwncTi. 
 
 Mopsa the Fairy. By Jean Ingelow. With Eight page 
 
 Illustrations. 12mo, cloth, price 75 cents. 
 
 " Mrs. Ingelow is, to our mind, the most charming of all living writers for 
 children, and ' Mopsa' alone ought to give her a kind of pre-emptive right to 
 the love and gratitude of our young folks. It requires genius to conceive a 
 purely imaginary work which must of necessity deal with the supernatural, 
 without running into a mere riot of fantastic absurdity; but genius Miss In- 
 gelow has and the story of ' Jack ' is as careless and joyous, but as delicate, 
 as a picture of childhood."— .EcZecfic. 
 
A. L. BURT'S PUBLICATIONS. 11 
 
 A Jaunt Through Java : The Story of a Journey to the Sacred 
 Mountain. By Edwakd S. Ellis. 12mo, cloth, price |1.00. 
 The central interest of this story is found in the thrilling ad- 
 ventures of two cousins, Hermon and Eustace Hadley, on their 
 trip across the island of Java, from Samarang to the Sacred Moun- 
 tain. In a land where the Royal Bengal tiger runs at large; 
 where the rhinoceros and other fierce beasts are to be met with 
 at unexpected moments; it is but natural that the heroes of this 
 book should have a lively experience. Hermon not only dis- 
 tinguishes himself by killing a full-grown tiger at short range, 
 but meets with the most startling adventure of the journey. 
 There is much in this narrative to instruct as well as entertain the 
 reader, and so deftly has Mr. Ellis used his material that there is 
 not a dull page in the book. The two heroes are brave, manly 
 young fellows, bubbling over with boyish independence. They 
 cope with the many diflBculties that arise during the trip in a fear- 
 less way that is bound to win the admiration of every lad who is 
 so fortunate as to read their adventures. 
 
 Wrecked on Spider Island; or, How Ned Rogers Found the 
 Treasure. By James Otis. 13mo, cloth, price $1.00. 
 A " down-east" plucky lad who ships as cabin boy, not from 
 love of adventure, but because it is the only course remaining by 
 which he can gain a livelihood. While in his bunk, seasick, 
 Ned Rogers hears the captain and mate discussing their plans for 
 the willful wreck of the brig in order to gain the insurance. Once 
 it is known he is in posvsession of the secret the captain maroons 
 him on Spider Island, explaining to the crew that the boy is 
 afflicted with leprosy. While thus involuntarily playing the part 
 of a Crusoe, Ned discovers a wreck submerged in the sand, and 
 overhaul mg the timbers for the purpose of gathering material 
 with which to build a hut finds a considerable amount of treasure. 
 Raising the wreck; a voyage to Havana under sail; shipping there 
 a crew and running for Savannah; the attempt of the crew to 
 seize the little craft after learning of the treasure on board, and, 
 as a matter of course, the successful ending of the journey, all 
 serve to make as entertaining a story of sea-life as the most 
 captious boy could desire. 
 
 Geoff and Jim : A Story of School Life. By Ismay Thorn. Il- 
 lustrated by A. G. Walker. 12mo, cloth, price 75 cents. 
 
 " This is a prettily told story of the life spent by two motherless bairns at 
 a small preparatory school. Both Geoff and Jim are very lovable characters, 
 only Jim is the more so; and the scrapes he gets into and the trials he en- 
 dures will, no doubt, interest a large circle of young readers."— C/iwrc/i 
 Times. 
 
 " This is a capital children's story, the characters well portrayed, and the 
 book tastefully bound and well illustrated."— ScAooimasfer. 
 
 "The story can be heartily recommended as a present for boys."— 
 Standard. 
 
12 A. L. BURT'S PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 The Castaways ; or, On tlie Florida Reefs. By James Otis. 
 
 13mo, cloth, price $1.00. 
 
 This tale smacks of the salt sea. It is just tlie kind of story 
 that the majority of boys yearn for. From the moment that the 
 Sea Queen dispenses with the services of the tug in lower New 
 York bay till the breeze leaves her becalmed off the coast of 
 Florida, one can almost hear the whistle of the wind through her 
 rigging, the creak of her straining cordage as she heels to the 
 leeward, and feel her rise to the snow-capped waves which her 
 sharp bow cuts into twin streaks of foam. Off Marquesas Keys 
 she floats in a dead calm. Ben Clark, the hero of the story, and 
 Jake, the cook, spy a turtle asleep upon the glassy surface of the 
 water. They determine to capture him, and take a boat for that 
 purpose, and just as they succeed in catching him a thick fog 
 cuts them off from the vessel, and then their troubles het in. 
 They take refuge on board a drifting hulk, a storm arises and they 
 are cast ashore upon a low sandy key. Their adventures from 
 this point cannot fail to charm the reader. As a writer for young 
 people Mr. Otis is a prime favorite. His style is captivating, and 
 never for a moment does he allow the interest to flag. In " The 
 Castaways " he is at his best. 
 
 Tom Thatcher's Fortune. By Horatio Alger, Jr. 12mo, 
 
 cloth, price $1.00. 
 
 Like all of Mr. Alger's heroes, Tom Thatcher is a brave, am- 
 bitious, unselfish boy. He supports his mother and sister on 
 meager wages earned as a shoe-pegger in John Simpson's factory. 
 The story begins with Tom's discharge from the factory, because 
 Mr. Simpson felt annoyed with the lad for interrogating him too 
 closely about his missing father. A few days afterward Tom 
 learns that which induces him to start overland for California with 
 the view of probing the family mystery. He meets with many ad- 
 ventures. Ultimately he returns to his native vi llage, bringing con- 
 sternation to the soul of John Simpson, who only escapes the con- 
 sequences of his villainy by making full restitution to the man 
 whose friendship he had betrayed. The story is told in that en- 
 tertaining way which has made Mr. Alger's name a household 
 word in so many homes. 
 
 Birdie : A Tale of Child lafe. By H. L. Childe-Pemberton. 
 
 Illustrated by H. W. Rainey. 12mo, cloth, price 75 cents. 
 
 " The story is quaint and simple, but there is a freshness about it that 
 makes one hear again the ringing laugh and the cheery shout of children at 
 play which charmed his earlier years. ''''—New York Express. 
 
 Popular Fairy Tales. By the Brothers Grimm. Profusely 
 
 Illustrated, 12mo, cloth, price $1.00. 
 
 " From first to last, almost without exception, these stories are delightful." 
 —Athenoeum. 
 
14 DAY USE 
 
 RETURN TO DBSK FROM WHICH BORROWED 
 
 This book is due on the last date stamped below, or 
 
 on the date to which renewed. 
 
 Renewed books are subject to immediate recall. 
 
 7 DAY USE 
 
 
 *J U t \i i » * •: fc« i t 
 
 . .; ; i i .. i^ S 
 
 
 
 JUL 1 RECD 
 
 
 AUG 3 1SS7 
 
 
 AUG2qRECD-9AI 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Berkeley 
 
YB 7838 
 
 / 
 
 587449 
 
 LIBiiARY 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY