befitting. None failed of appetite and thirst after the ride in the
sharp morning air, and how glad was my soul to have my Ann again safe and
unharmed.

We were seated at table by the time our horses were tied up in the
stables, and from the first minute there was a mirthful and lively
exchange of talk. For my part I forthwith fell out with the Knight von
Heideck, inasmuch as he was fain to sit betwixt Ann and me, and would
have it that a gallant knight must ever be a more welcome neighbor to a
damsel than her dearest woman-friend. And the loud cheer and merrymaking
were ere long overmuch for me; and I would gladly have withdrawn with Ann
to some lonely spot, there to think of our dear one.

At last we were released; Jorg Starch, the captain of the Lichtenau
horsemen, a tall, lean soldier, with shrewd eyes, a little turned-up
cock-nose, and thick full beard, now came in and, lifting his hand to his
helmet, said as sharply as though he were cutting each word short off
with his white teeth: "Caught; trapped; all the rabble!"

In a few minutes we were all standing on the rampart between the pools
and the Convent, and there were the miserable knaves whom Jorg Starch and
his men-at-arms had surrounded and carried off while they were making
good cheer over their morning broth and sodden flesh. They had declared
that they had been of Wichsenstein's fellowship, but had deserted Eber by
reason of his over-hard rule, and betaken themselves to robbery on their
own account. Howbeit Starch was of opinion that matters were otherwise.
When he had been sent forth to seek them he had as yet no knowledge of
the attack on Eppelein; now, so soon as he heard that they had stripped
him of his clothes, he bid them stand in a row and examined each one; in
truth they were a pitiable crew, and had they not so truly deserved our