soners and take
them into the castle.

But Frederick treated them most kindly. He ordered a great banquet
to be prepared, and invited his prisoners to gather around the board,
where all sorts of good things were served.

One thing only was lacking. There was no bread. The guests thought
it was because the servants had forgotten it, and one of them dared
to ask for a piece. Count Frederick at once turned toward his
steward and ordered the bread to be brought. Now his master had
privately talked with the steward and had told him what words to use
at this time.

"I am very sorry," said the steward, "but there is no bread."

"You must bake some at once," ordered his master.

"But we have no flour," was the answer.

"You must grind some, then," was the command.

"We cannot do so, for we have no grain."

"Then see that some is threshed immediately."

"That is impossible, for the harvests have been burned down," replied
the steward.

"You can at least sow grain, that we may have new harvests as soon as
possible."

"We cannot even do that, for our enemies have burned down all the
buildings where the grain was stored for seed-time."

Frederick now turned to his visitors, and told them they must eat
their meat without bread. But that was not all. He told them they
must give him enough money to build new houses and barns to take the
places of those they had destroyed, and also to buy new seed for
grain.

"It is wrong," he said, sternly, "to carry on war against those who
are helpless, and to take away their seeds and tools from the poor
peasants."

It was a sensible speech. It made the knights ashamed of the way
they had been carrying on war in the country, and they left the
castle wiser and better men.

All this happened long, long ago, before Germany could be called one
country, for the different parts of the land were ruled over by
different people and in different ways.

This same Count Frederick, their father told them, had great love for
the poor. When he was still quite young, he made a vow. He said, "I
will never marry a woman of noble family."

Not long after this, he fell in love with a princess. But he could
not ask her to marry him on account of the vow he had made.

He was so unhappy that he went into the army. He did not wish to
live, and hoped he would soon meet death.

But the fair princess loved Frederick as deeply as he loved her, and
as soon as she learned of the vow he had