n each
side of the cabin. While this was being done, Roland gave minute
instructions to the captain regarding the next item in the programme,
and once more entered the forest with his men.

The task before them was more difficult than the spoiling of Rheinstein,
because the huge bulk of Falkenberg stood on a summit of treeless rock;
the Castle itself, a gigantic, oblong gray mass, with a slender square
campanile some distance from it, rising high above its battlements on
the slope that went down towards the Rhine, forming thus an excellent
watch-tower. But although the conical hill of rock was bare of the large
trees that surrounded Rheinstein, there were plenty of bowlders and
shrubbery behind which cover could be sought. On this occasion the
marauding guild could not secure a position on a level with the
battlements of the Castle, as had been the case behind Rheinstein, and,
furthermore, they were compelled to make their dash for the gate up-hill.

But these disadvantages were counterbalanced by the fact that Falkenberg
was situated much higher than Rheinstein, and was farther away from the
river, so that when the garrison descended to the water's edge it could
not return as speedily as was the case with Hohenfels' men. Rheinstein
stood directly over the water, and only two hundred and sixty feet above
it, while, comparatively speaking, Falkenberg was back in the country.
Still all these castles had been so long unmolested, and considered
themselves so secure, that adequate watching had fallen into abeyance,
and at Falkenberg guard was kept by one lone man on the tall campanile.
The attacking party saw no one on the battlements of the Castle, so
worked their way round the hill until the man on the tower was hidden
from them by the bulk of the Castle itself, and thus they crawled like
lizards from bush to bush, from stone to stone, and from rock-ledge to
rock-ledge, taking their time, and not deserting one position of
obscurity until another was decided upon. The fact that the watchman was
upon the Rhine side of the Castle greatly favored a stealthy approach
from any landward point.

At last the alarm was given; the gate opened, and, as it proved, every
man in the Castle went headlong down the hill. The amateur cracksmen
therefore had everything their own way, and while this at first seemed
an advantage, they speedily found it the reverse, for although they
wandered from room to room, the treasure could not be discov