es. I shall myself call at Pfalz four
days from now, that I may be satisfied the lady enjoys every comfort the
Castle affords."

"And also, perhaps, to be certain she is there immured."

Mayence's thin lips indulged in a wry smile.

"I need no such assurance," he said, "since my Lord of Cologne has
pledged his word to see that the order of the Court is carried out."

The conversation was here interrupted by the return of Treves. Already
the great barge was half-way across the river. The surging, swift
current swept it some distance below Stolzenfels, and the rowers, five a
side, were working strenuously to force it into slower waters. Lord,
lady, and monk crossed over to the mouth of the Lahn, and the barge
returned immediately to convey across horses and escort.

As the valley of the Lahn opened out it presented a picture of quiet
sylvan beauty, apparently uninhabited by any living thing. The
Archbishop of Cologne rose, and, shading his eyes from the still radiant
sun, gazed intently up the little river. No floating craft was anywhere
in sight. He turned to the captain.

"Where is the flotilla from Mayence?" he asked.

"Flotilla, my Lord?"

"Yes; a hundred barges sailed down from Mayence in the darkness either
last night or the night before, taking harbor here in the Lahn."

"My Lord, even one barge, manned as this is, could not have journeyed
such a distance in so short a time, and, indeed, for a flotilla to
attempt the voyage, except in daylight, would have been impossible. No
barges have come down the Rhine for months, and had they ventured the
little Lahn is too shallow to harbor them."

"Thank you, captain. I appear to be ignorant both of the history and the
geography of this district. If I were to ask you and your stout rowers
to take me down through the swiftest part of the river to Coblentz, how
soon would we reach that town?"

"Very speedily, my Lord, but I could undertake no such voyage except at
the command of my master. He is not one to be disobeyed."

"I quite credit that," said Cologne, sitting down again, the momentary
desire to recall his marching troops, that had arisen when he saw the
empty Lahn, dying down when he realized how effectually he had been
outwitted.

When the horses were brought across, Father Ambrose, at the request of
the Countess, rode back to Sayn, and sent forward the two waiting-women
whom she required, and so well did he accomplish his task that they
arrived at Schl