is own
besides the horse which he bestrode, and the ruined castle of his
ancestors. Upon this castle there was a popular joke, which ran thus:--

A house on three props you'll find:
Whoever enters in front,
Has no room to sit behind.

But although he was well aware of his poverty, and was awake to his
needy circumstances, still he knew that with a determined will a
hundred paths were open to him by which he might attain his object, and
that the old Roman saying, _Fortes fortuna juvat_, had never yet
deceived him. The present state of excitement in the country appeared
to afford him an opportunity by which, after some active employment, he
might hope soon to realise the object of his wishes.

The result of the contest which was about to commence, appeared at
that time very uncertain. The Swabian League, though it possessed
experienced commanders and disciplined soldiers, was nevertheless
weakened through disunion. Duke Ulerich, on his side, had enlisted
14,000 Swiss, brave and experienced warriors; he could bring into the
field, out of his own country, numerous and hardy troops, but not so
experienced as the others; and thus stood the state of affairs in
February 1519.

When every one around him was taking an active part, Albert also
determined not to remain an idle spectator: a war, he thought, might
open a path to lead him sooner towards the object of his desire than
any other, and by which he might hope to render himself worthy of
meriting the hand of his beloved.

Neither of the contending parties had, indeed, any claim upon his
heart. People of the country spoke ill of the duke, whilst the views of
the League did not appear to be influenced by the purest motives. But
when he heard that several knights and counts, whose properties
adjoined the duke's, urged by the loud, and, as he thought, just
complaints of the Huttens, against the tyrannical conduct of Ulerich,
had withdrawn their allegiance from him, he was induced to join the
League; being unaware that they had been corrupted by money, and the
seductive prospect of rich plunder, to overrun his country. But the
news of the count of Lichtenstein being in Ulm with his daughter
was, in truth, the mainspring which influenced and confirmed his
determination; for he thought he could not be far wrong if he took the
side on which Bertha's father acted, and therefore tendered his
services to the confederates.

The knights of Fra