r stay where I am," protested Hilda, "being anxious to hear
what your plans are. I confess I don't know how you can emerge from this
Castle in safety."

"Fraeulein Hilda, the first duty of a chief lieutenant is obedience."

"Refusing that, what will you do?"

"I shall call two of my men, cause you to be transported to your room,
and order them to see that you do not leave it again."

"Remaining here when you have departed?"

"That, of course."

"You will take the gold, however."

"Certainly; the gold obeys me; doing what I ask of it."

For a few moments the girl stood there, gazing defiance at him, but
although a slight smile hovered about his lips, she realized in some
subtle way--woman's intuition, perhaps--that he meant what he said. Her
eyes lowered, and an expression of pique came into her pretty face; then
she breathed a long sigh.

"I shall go to my room," she said very quietly.

"I will call upon you the moment I have given some instructions to my
third lieutenant."

"You need not trouble," she replied haughtily, speaking, however, as
mildly as himself. "I remain a prisoner of the Pfalzgraf von Stahleck,
who, though a distinguished pillager like yourself, nevertheless
possesses some instincts of a gentleman."

With that, the young woman retired slowly up the stairway, and
disappeared, followed by her two servants.

"Ebearhard," said Roland, when that official appeared, "Greusel has
discovered a window to the north through which yourself and a number of
your men can get down to the rocks with the aid of a cord, and he tells
me there is a loft full of ropes. A flotilla of boats is tied up at the
lower end of the Castle. He has visited the treasury, and finds it well
supplied with bags of coin. I intend to effect a junction between those
bags and that flotilla. Our position here is quite untenable, for there
is probably some secret entrance to this Castle that we know nothing of.
There are also a number of women within whom we cannot coerce, and must
not starve. Truth to tell, I fear them more than I do the ruffians
outside. Have any of the men-at-arms discovered that we pulled up the
ladder and closed the door?"

"I think not, for in such case they would return from their pillages as
quickly as did the Red Margrave when he found his house was ablaze. My
opinion is that they are making a clean job of looting the barge."

"If that is so, our barrels of gold are gone, rendering it the more
necessar