He had left the examination of the students, citizens' sons, and peasants
to his lieutenant; but there were also three noblemen, from whom large
ransoms could be obtained. The two older ones had granted what he asked
and been led away; the third, a tall man in knightly armor, was left
last.

Ulrich had personally encountered the latter. The prisoner, mounted upon
a tall steed, had pressed him very closely; nay, the Eletto's victory was
not decided, until a musket-shot had stretched the other's horse on the
ground.

The knight now carried his arm in a sling. In the centre of his coat of
mail and on the shoulder-pieces of his armor, the ensigns armorial of a
noble family were embossed.

"You were dragged out from under your horse," said the Eletto to the
knight. "You wield an excellent blade."

He had spoken in Spanish, but the other shrugged his shoulders, and
answered in the German language "I don't understand Spanish."

"Are you a German?" Ulrich now asked in his native tongue. "How do you
happen to be among the Netherland rebels?"

The nobleman looked at the Eletto in surprise. But the latter, giving
him no time for reflection, continued "I understand German; your answer?"

"I had business in Antwerp?"

"What business?"