to me of the imprudence,--let it not be called folly,--
of sharing the misfortunes of the persecuted! May others partake of the
division of the Duke's fine country, and carouse in the spoils of the
unhappy man's property,--I feel courage enough to suffer with him in
his sufferings; and, when he draws his sword to re-conquer his lost
possessions, I will be the first by his side. Take my hand, sir knight,
as my pledge: let what may happen, I am the Duke's friend from
henceforth, for ever."

A tear of gratitude started in the eye of the exile as he returned the
shake of his hand. "You risk much, but you lose nothing by becoming
Ulerich's friend. The country, beyond these inhospitable regions, is
now in the possession of tyrants and robbers; but here below faithful
hearts still beat true to Wuertemberg. Forget for a moment that I am a
poor knight and an exiled man, and figure me to yourself the Prince of
the country, as I am lord of this cavern, with his knight and citizen
standing before him. Ah! as long as these three estates hold firm
together, be they concealed ever so deep in the lap of the earth,
Wuertemberg still exists. Fill the cup, Hans, and join your rough hand
to ours; we'll seal the alliance in a bumper!"

Hans replenished the jug and filled the cup, "Drink, noble sirs,
drink," said he; "you cannot pledge yourselves in a more noble wine
than in this Uhlbacher."

The knight having emptied the cup by a long draught, ordered it to be
filled again, and presented it to Albert. "Does not this wine," asked
Albert, "grow about the castle whence Wuertemberg's royal blood sprang?
I think the heights about it are called Uhlbacher?"

"You are right," answered the exile; "the hill is generally called the
Rothenberg, at the foot of which the vine grows; the castle stands upon
its summit, built by Wuertemberg's ancestors. Oh! the beautiful vallies
of the Neckar, the luxuriant hills of fruit and wine! Gone, gone for
ever!" He uttered these words with a voice which bespoke a heart almost
broken by suffering and grief; he could scarcely conceal the anguish of
his soul, which his inflexible mind had hitherto veiled under the mask
of a forced hilarity.

The countryman knelt beside him, took his hand, and to rouse him from a
state of painful wandering, in which he was lost for some moments,
said, "Be of good cheer, sir; you will return to your country again
happier than you left it."

"You will behold the vallies of your ho