e him now, 'twill be but to hang him an hour later. I am no
hangman, while the Margrave is. I prefer that he should attend to my
executions."

Again Ebearhard laughed.

"'Tis no use, Roland, pretending abandonment, for you will not abandon.
I thoroughly favor choking the life out of Kurzbold, and one or two of
the others, and will myself volunteer for the office of headsman,
carrying, as I do, the ax, but let everything be done decently and in
order, that a dignified execution may follow on a fair trial."

"Commander," shouted the captain from the deck of the barge, "make
haste, I beg of you. The rope connecting with the Castle has been burnt,
and the chain is dragging free. The current is swift, and this barge
heavy. We shall be away within the minute."

"Get your crew ashore on the instant," cried Roland, "and fling me these
despicable burdens aboard. A man at the head, another at the heels, and
toss each into the barge. Is there time, captain, to take this heap of
cutlery with us as trophies of the fray?"

"Yes," replied the captain, "if we are quick about it."

The howling human packages were hurled from ledge to barge; the strong,
unerring sailors, accustomed to the task, heaved no man into the water.
Others as speedily fell upon the heap of weapons, and threw them,
clattering, on the deck. All then leaped aboard, and Roland, motioning
his lieutenants to precede him, was the last to climb over the prow.

The chain came down over the stones with a clattering run, and fell with
a great splash into the river. The barge, now clear, swung with the
current stern foremost; the sailors got to their oars, and gradually
drew their craft away from the shore. A little farther from the landing,
those on deck, looking upstream, enjoyed an uninterrupted view of the
magnificent conflagration. The huge stone Castle seemed to glow white
hot. The roof had fallen in, and a seething furnace reddened the
midnight sky. Like a flaming torch the great tower roared to the
heavens. The whole hilltop resembled the crater of an active volcano.
Timber floors and wooden partitions, long seasoned, proved excellent
material for the incendiaries, and even the stones were crumbling away,
falling into the gulf of fire, sending up a dazzling eruption of sparks,
as section after section tumbled into this earthly Hades.

The long barge floated placidly down a river resembling molten gold. The
boat was in disarray, covered with bales of cloth not