"Cunning beyond what usually falls to the lot of roguery," continued
Carlton, "Petard delighted in outwitting his enemies of the law, and
in leading those whom he desired to fleece into his net. Thus
practised in intrigue, he plumed himself in detecting any trick that
was attempted against him; and thus on the constant qui vive, he was
enabled to avoid detection and arrest. Every effort, however
ingenious, that the officers of the government made, was therefore
futile and of no advantage; and Petard was still regarded as master
of his mountain home, and leader of as brave a band as ever beset a
traveller's carriage, or broke the ranks of a treasury escort.

"Those were wild and lawless times when the feudal spirit and power
had not yet lost all its sway, and when each man's house was often
made to be his castle, and himself called upon to defend it with his
life. Might made right; the strong hand often carried it against the
law, and justice often, slept. It sounds like romance indeed to
depict those times."

"It does, indeed," said Florinda; "but go on, Carlton, do not
interrupt the story."

"On the left bank of the noble river, in whose valley this story is
laid," said Carlton, "rose the turrets and towers of Botztetz
castle, the remains only of one of the fine old strongholds of the
middle ages, which had by degrees descended through generations,
until it was now the home of a rich, retired merchant from Coblentz,
who was repairing it and removing the rubbish that age had collected
about it. Himself a man of distinguished family, Karl Etzwell had
retired from the bustle of his heavy business, purchased this place,
and proposed here to make himself home, and here to die. The old