ue has expelled from his country, on account of his faithful
adherence to the Duke, and that they are now endeavouring to apprehend
him. Is not yours a similar case?"

"I thank you for comparing me to such a man; but I would not advise you
to fall in his way in the night, upon the same terms as when we met;
for Stumpf, without further to do, would soon have cut you up into
slices fit for cooking. Schweinsberg being a little thick-set fellow,
and a head shorter than me, it was the comparison which made me laugh
so irresistibly. He is, however, an honourable man, and one of the few
to be depended upon who will not desert his master in misfortune."

"So you are not Schweinsberg?" replied Albert; "then I must leave you
without knowing who my friend is."

"Young man!" said the exile, with dignity, "you have found a friend in
me, by your gallant, honourable behaviour; which your open, frank
countenance has confirmed. Let it suffice for you, to have gained this
friend; ask no further questions, one word might perhaps interrupt this
confidential intimacy between us, which is so gratifying to me.
Farewell; think on the banished man without a name, and be assured
that, before two days are over, you shall both hear from me, and know
my name."

In spite of his unseemly dress, the whole demeanour of this man
appeared to Albert to be more that of a Prince dismissing a subject
from his presence, than an unfortunate exile, parting from a friend who
had participated in his afflictions.

During the last conversation, the fifer of Hardt had lighted the
torches, and stood waiting at the entrance of the grotto; the knight
pressed a salute on the lips of the young man, and waved him to go. He
departed, unable to account why a man so familiar and friendly in his
address, should, at the same time, inspire him with the idea of being
so much his superior in rank; he had never felt, until this moment, how
an individual, devoid of all the external marks of distinction,
exhibiting outward signs of poverty, rather than the contrary, could
possess a personal influence sufficiently great to subdue vanity and
self-love. Occupied with these thoughts, he retraced his steps through
the cavern. The beauties of nature, which had surprised him and fixed
his attention when he first entered it, had lost their charm to his
eye, and his wonder was no longer excited at the grandeur of the
surrounding objects. His mind was exclusively taken up with the
conte