he was deeply interested in Lady Feodora, though no thought
of anything beyond friendship occurred to either of them. They might or
might not continue in company for another week, and then part, in all
human probability, forever in this world. Still, the situation was
novel enough to be exciting, and he lay awake, thinking of it, for
several hours that night. But in the morning Sir William appeared as
usual, and probably, on reflection, had decided not to do any desperate
deed.

At seven o'clock the excursionists returned by train to Frankfurt. It
was decided then that, as Wiesbaden, one of the celebrated German
watering-places, was only a repetition of Baden-Baden and Homburg, the
company should proceed direct to Mayence, where they arrived by nine
o'clock.

CHAPTER XVIII.

CASTLES, VINEYARDS, AND MOUNTAINS.

As the students were crossing the bridge to Mayence, they obtained a
full view of one of the great rafts of timber which float down the
Rhine, and of which Professor Mapps had spoken to them at Dort, in
Holland. However, it was much smaller than those of which they had
heard, and they hoped to see another. The students were not disposed to
"do" Mayence, being too impatient to witness the glories of the Rhine.
But most of them, from a sense of duty rather than from an interest in
the place, visited the principal attractions of the city.

"Mayence is the French name of the town," said the professor of
geography and history, as the students collected in the railroad
station, previous to the tramp. "The German name is Mainz, which is
pronounced Mynts--y like long i. If you pronounce it in any other way,
a German will not know what you mean. It was an old Roman town. A
fortress was established here to keep back the barbarians. It was
formerly a larger and more important city than at present, having now a
population of only forty thousand.

"This place has done two grand things for civilization and for Europe.
It was the cradle of the art of printing, and furnished the man who
suppressed the robber knights. As you go down the Rhine, you will see
the ruins of many old castles on the hills by the banks of the river.
The nobles, who occupied them as strongholds, carried on a system of
robbery, levying duties upon all who travelled on its waters or passed
through their territory. Arnold von Walpoden suggested the plan which
led to a confederation of the cities for the driving out of the
knightly highwaymen,