t all the Baron
roared with laughter, and rode his horse along its living pavement,
turning now at this end and now at the other.

"Do not be impatient," he cried down to them, "'twill not take long to
strip the boat of every bale, then I shall hang you on these trees, and
send back your bodies in the barge, as a lesson to Frankfort. You must
return, captain," he cried, "for you cannot sell dead bodies to my liege
of Cologne."

As he spoke a ruddy flush spread over the Rhine, as if some one had
flashed a red lantern upon the waters. The glow died out upon the
instant.

"What!" thundered the Margrave, "is that the reflection of my beard, or
are Beelzebub and his fiends coming up from below for a portion of the
Frankfort cloth? I will share with good brother Satan, but with no one
else. Boil me if I ever saw a sight like that before! What was it,
captain?"

"I saw nothing unusual, my lord."

"There, there!" exclaimed the Margrave, and as he spoke it seemed that a
crimson film had fallen on the river, growing brighter and brighter.

"Oh, my lord," cried the captain, "the Castle is on fire!"

"Saints protect us!" shouted the Red Margrave, crossing himself, and
turning to the west, where now both hearing and sight indicated that a
furnace was roaring. The whole western sky was aglow, and although the
flames could not be seen for the intervening cliff, every one knew there
was no other dwelling that could cause such an illumination.

Spurring his horse, and calling his men to come on, the nobleman dashed
up the steep acclivity, and when the last man had departed, Roland,
followed by his two lieutenants, stepped from the forest to the right
down upon the rocky plateau.

XIII

"A SENTENCE; COME, PREPARE!"

"Captain," said Roland quietly, "bring your crew ashore, and fling these
bales on board again as quickly as you can."

An instant later the sailors were at work, undoing their former efforts.

"In mercy's name, Roland," wailed one of the stricken, "get a sword and
cut our bonds."

"All in good time," replied Roland. "The bales are more valuable to me
than you are, and we have two barrels of gold at the foot of the cliff
to bring in, if they haven't sunk in the Rhine. Greusel, do you and
Ebearhard take two of the crew, launch the small boat, and rescue the
barrels if you can find them."

"Mercy on us, Roland! Mercy!" moaned his former comrades.

"I have already wasted too much mercy upon you," he s