pieces if she discovered not
where the chain of gold was hid."

"And she revealed it?" said Dessauer.

"Aye," said the man, "but none so willingly, as you might suppose. I had
Saint Peter's own trouble to get it from her. Indeed, I prayed to the
Holy Apostle to aid me."

"What had Saint Peter to do with it?" said the Councillor, pausing and
looking humorsomely at the man, like an ascetic sparrow with his head
at one side.

"Because our Holy Saint Peter is the only saint who understands the
trouble men have with the contrariness of women."

"Why so?" cried the Chancellor, rubbing his hand with a curious pleasure
at the colloquy.

"Because he only among the Apostles was a married man and had experience
of a mother-in-law."

"Art a wise forester. Where got you that wisdom?"

"Why," said the man, modestly, "partly by nature, partly because I also
have been married, and so have graduated in the wars."

"It is the same thing," said the Chancellor, "according to your
own telling."

"Aye, sir," quoth the man, "but yet the young fellows will take no
warning. 'It is better to marry than to burn,' said the other Apostle.
But methinks he knew nothing about it, being no better than a
bachelor, or he would have amended it, 'It is better to burn than to
marry _and_ burn.'"

"Ha! art also a theologe, Sir Woodman?" cried Dessauer. "But enough; this
touches on the Inquisition and the Holy Office. Let us despatch."

All this time the High Councillor had been gazing by fits and starts at
the links of the necklace, turning it about and viewing it from
every-angle. It was composed of short bars of gold laid horizontally
three and three together, and bound together with short chains of gold.
And on each of the bars there was engraven a crest. Letters also were on
the bars, cut in plain deep script.

"Now tell your tale and tell it briefly--that is, if brevity be in you,
which I doubt," said Dessauer.

"As I said before," quoth the forester, "I was in the wars; I mean not
only in the wars with womenkind, but also with mankind. And among other
things I remember the night of the Duke Casimir's famous ride, when he
took Plassenburg, because there was scarce a sober man within the walls."

"And his Highness the Prince Karl away on Baltic side with his men, else
had Casimir never set foot within the city!" cried the High Chancellor.

"Ah, like enow," said the woodman, "I ken naught of that. But this I do
know, Plassenburg was