you, that assisted by twenty fearless men I can capture any castle on
the Rhine with the exception of three. And now, Herr Goebel, I have said
all I intend to say. Do you discredit my story?"

The merchant gazed across at him quizzically for some time without
making any reply, then he said:

"Do you think I believe you?"

"Frankly, I do not."

"If I am unable to give you the gold, I can at least furnish some good
advice. Set up as a poet, good Master Roland, and weave for our
delectation stories of the Rhine. I think your imagination, if
cultivated, would give you a very high place among the romancers of our
time."

With a patience that Herr Goebel had not expected, Roland replied:

"It grieves me to return empty-handed to my twenty friends, who last
night bade me a very confident adieu."

"Yes, they will be disappointed, and I shrewdly suspect that my thousand
thalers would not go towards the prosecuting of the expedition you have
outlined, but rather in feasting and in wine."

"Again, sir, you are right. It is unfortunate that I am so often
compelled to corroborate your statements, when all the acumen with which
you credit my mind is turned towards the task of proving you a
purse-proud fool, puffed up in your own conceit, and as short-sighted as