barn, when we were all lads at the Kaiser's
first diet at Augsburg?"

Old Dessauer smiled, well pleased enough at the excellence of the
Prince's memory.

"I have seen worse cuts," he said; "Casimir has never rightly liked me
since. And had the Black Riders caught me, over to his dogs I should have
gone without so much as a belt upon me. He would have kept them without
food for a week on purpose to make a clean job of my poor scarecrow
pickings."

"And now this young spark," said the Prince, "for the sake of a lady's
eyes, desires to do your Augsburg deed over again with Duke Casimir's
nephew. So we must give him a man with quarterings on his shield to go
along with him."

"I am too old and stiff," said Dessauer, shaking his head mournfully, yet
with obvious desire in the itching fingers of his sword-hand; "let him
seek out one of the brisk young kerls that are drumming at the
blade-play all the time down there in the square by the guard-rooms."

"Nay, it is to be principals only; there is to be no fighting of seconds.
The Count has specially desired that there shall be none," said the
Prince; "therefore, go with the lad, Dessauer."

"No fighting of seconds!" cried the Councillor, in astonishment, holding
up his hands. And I think the old swordsman seemed a little disappointed.
"Well, I will go and see the lad well through, and warrant that he gets
fair-play among these wolves of the Mark."

"Faith, when it comes to that, he is as rough-pelted a wolf of the Mark
as any of them!" laughed the Prince.

CHAPTER XXXII

THE WOLVES OF THE MARK

The Hirschgasse is a little inn across the river, well known to the
wilder blades of Plassenburg. There they go to be outside the authority
of the city magistrates, to make rendezvous with maids more complaisant
than maidenly, to fight their duels, and generally to do those things
without remark which otherwise bring them under the eye of the Miller's
Son, as they one and all call (behind his back) the reigning Prince of
Plassenburg.

It was on the stroke of seven, and as fine an evening as ever failed to
touch the soul of sinful man with a sense of its beauty, that I set out
to fight the nephew of Duke Casimir. I had indeed ridden far and fast,
and withal kept my head since I left the Red Tower a poor homeless
wanderer, otherwise I had scarce found myself going out with High
Councillor Leopold von Dessauer as my second to fight my late master's
heir, the proximate