fifteenth century, acquiring a preponderance that rendered its
possession of the imperial throne almost a matter of inheritance, and
moreover rendered the supreme power far more effective than it had
ever previously been. Freidrich III. a man still in full vigour, and
with an able and enterprising son already elected to the succession,
was making his rule felt, and it was fast becoming apparent that the
days of the independent baronies were numbered, and that the only
choice that would soon be left them would be between making terms and
being forcibly reduced. Von Adlerstein was one of the oldest of
these free families. If the lords of the Eagle's Stone had ever
followed the great Konrads and Freidrichs of Swabia in their imperial
days, their descendants had taken care to forget the weakness, and
believed themselves absolutely free from all allegiance.

And the wildness of their territory was what might be expected from
their hostility to all outward influences. The hostel, if it
deserved the name, was little more than a charcoal-burner's hut,
hidden in the woods at the foot of the mountain, serving as a
halting-place for the Freiherren's retainers ere they attempted the
ascent. The inhabitants were allowed to ply their trade of charring
wood in the forest on condition of supplying the castle with
charcoal, and of affording a lodging to the followers on occasions
like the present.

Grimy, half-clad, and brawny, with the whites of his eyes gleaming
out of his black face, Jobst the Kohler startled Christina terribly
when she came into the outer room, and met him returning from his
night's work, with his long stoking-pole in his hand. Her father
shouted with laughter at her alarm.