me again," said Albert. "When
the Duke regains his lost rights, and reoccupies the castles of his
ancestors, the vallies of the Neckar, and its richly clothed hills of
vineyards, will echo with the rejoicings of his people, and you also
will be able to join in the jubilee. Banish gloomy thoughts from your
mind, _nunc vino pellite curas_; drink, and let us hope for better
times. I pledge you in this Wuertemberg wine,--'to the Duke's happy
return with his faithful followers!'"

These words seemed to reanimate the sunken spirits of the knight, and
like a ray of sunshine shed a smile over his features. "Yes!" he cried,
"sweet is the word which sends comfort to the broken-hearted; it is
like a drop of cold water to refresh the weary wanderer in the desert.
Forget my weakness, my friend; pardon it in a man who otherwise never
gives place to grief.

"But if you had ever looked down from the summit of the Rothenberg,
shaded by its green woods, into the heart of Wuertemberg, and beheld the
gentle stream of the Neckar winding its course along its richly
cultivated banks; with its fields of high standing corn waving in the
breeze; the red roofs of its villages peeping out from a forest of
fruit trees, with their industrious inhabitants, consisting of strong
men and beautiful women, busily employed in their gardens or dressing
their vines on the heights; had you surveyed all this, and with my
eyes, and then been compelled to take refuge from the bloodthirsty
hands of ruffians in these inhospitable regions, surrounded by the
benumbing chill of these walls, outlawed, condemned, banished.--Oh! the
thought is terrible! too overwhelming for man's heart to bear!"

Albert, fearful lest the recollection of his past days, and the keen
sense of his present situation, might a second time have too powerful
an effect upon the mind of the exile, sought by changing the subject of
conversation, to divert his mind and calm his thoughts.

"As I suppose you have been often with the Duke," he said, "pray tell
me, now that I am his declared friend, what is his disposition? what is
his appearance? is it true, as is reported, that he is of a very
changeable and capricious temper?"

"No more upon that subject at present, if you please," answered the
exile; "you will soon have an opportunity to judge for yourself when
you see him. We have already spoken enough upon these matters, but you
have said nothing about your own affairs; not a word about the o