own son.

For the sword-making of Germany the Italian expressed the utmost
contempt. The coarse weapons produced by the ironworkers of Frankfort
needed strength rather than skill in their manipulation. Between the
Italian method and the German was all the contrast that exists between
the catching of salmon with a delicate line and a gossamer fly, or
clubbing the fish to death as did the boatmen at that fishery called the
Waag down the Rhine by St. Goar.

Roland listened intently and without defense to the diatribe against his
country's weapons and the clumsy method of using them, but although he
said nothing, he formed opinions of his own, believing there was some
merit in strength which the Italian ignored; so, studying the subject,
he himself invented a sword which, while lacking the stoutness of the
German weapon, retained some of its stability, and was almost as easily
handled as the Italian rapier, without the disadvantage of its extreme
frailty.

Thus it came about that young Roland stole away from the Palace and made
the acquaintance of the sword makers. The practice of fencing exercises
every muscle in the body, and Roland's constant bouts with Rinaldo did
more than make him a master of the weapon, with equal facility in his
right arm or his left; it produced an athlete of the first quality;
agile and strong, developing his physical powers universally, and not in
any one direction.

Meanwhile Roland remained deplorably ignorant regarding affairs of
State, this being a subject of which his mother knew nothing. The
Emperor, who should have been his son's natural teacher, gave his whole
attention to the wine-flagon, letting affairs drift towards disaster,
allowing the power that deserted his trembling fingers to be grasped by
stronger but unauthorized hands. Roland's surreptitious excursions into
the city to confer with the sword makers taught him little of politics,
for his conversations with these mechanics were devoted entirely to
metal-working. He was hustled now and again by the turbulent mob, in
going to and fro, but he did not know why it clamored, and, indeed, took
little interest in the matter, conscious only that he came more and more
to hate the city and loathe its inhabitants. When he could have his own
way, he said to himself, he would retire to some country castle which
his father owned, and there devote himself to such employment as fell in
with his wishes.

But he was to receive a sharp lesson