way from Constance, and every load that was overthrown in the river
was regarded as the lawful prey of the noble on whose banks the
catastrophe befell.

Any freight of goods was anxiously watched by both nobles, and it was
not their fault if no disaster befell the travellers. Hugh talked of
the Schlangenwald marauders with the bitterness of a deadly feud, but
manifestly did not breathe freely till his whole convoy were safe
across both the wet and the dry channel.

Christina supposed they should now ascend to the castle; but her
father laughed, saying that the castle was not such a step off as she
fancied, and that they must have daylight for the Eagle's Stairs. He
led the way through the trees, up ground that she thought mountain
already, and finally arrived at a miserable little hut, which served
the purpose of an inn.

He was received there with much obsequiousness, and was plainly a
great authority there. Christina, weary and frightened, descended
from her mule, and was put under the protection of a wild, rough-
looking peasant woman, who stared at her like something from another
world, but at length showed her a nook behind a mud partition, where
she could spread her mantle, and at least lie down, and tell her
beads unseen, if she could not sleep in the stifling, smoky
atmosphere, amid the sounds of carousal among her father and his
fellows.

The great hound came up and smelt to her. His outline was so-
wolfish, that she had nearly screamed: but, more in terror at the
men who might have helped her than even at the beast, she tried to