This, however, was no great fortune, for the large estates of the
Schorlin family were burdened by heavy debts.

The dead lord, as countryman, boon companion, and brother in arms of the
Emperor Rudolph, had been always ready to place his sword at his service,
and whenever a great tournament was held he never failed to be present.
So the property had been consumed, and the Lady Wendula and her son and
three daughters were left in moderate circumstances. The two older girls
had taken the veil, while the youngest, a merry little maiden, lived with
her mother.

But the Emperor Rudolph had by no means forgotten the Lady Wendula and
her dead husband, and with the utmost kindness requested her to send him
her only son as soon as he was able to wield a sword and lance. He
intended to repay Heinz for the love and loyalty his father had shown him
through his whole life.

"And the Hapsburg," Biberli added, "had kept his word."

In a few years his young lord was ready for a position at court.

Gotthard von Ramsweg, the Lady Wendula's older brother, a valiant knight,
went to his sister's home after her husband's death to manage the estate
and instruct his nephew in all the exercises of knighthood. Soon the
strong, agile, fearless son of a brave father, under the guidance of such
a teacher, excelled many an older youth. He was barely eighteen when the
Lady Wendula sent him to his imperial master. She had given him, with her
blessing, fiery horses, the finest pieces of his father's suits of mail,
an armour bearer, and a groom to take with him on his journey; and his
uncle had agreed to accompany him to Lausanne, where the Emperor Rudolph
was then holding his court to discuss with Pope Gregory--the tenth of the
name--arrangements for a new crusade. But nothing had yet been said about
Biberli. On the evening before the young noble's departure, however, a
travelling minstrel came to the castle, who sang of the deeds of former
crusaders, and alluded very touchingly to the loneliness of the wounded
knight, Herr Weisenthau, on his couch of pain. Then the Lady Wendula
remembered her eldest son, and the fraternal tendance which Biberli had
given him.

"And so," the servant went on, "in the anxiety of a mother's heart she
urged me to accompany Heinz, her darling, as esquire; and watch over his
welfare."

"Since I could use a pen, I was to write now and then what a mother
desires to hear of a son. She felt great confidence in me, becaus