archway of stone, from the black mouth of which was given a view of a narrow moonlit street.
"You have a guide here for me?" said Rodolph.
"Yes, my Lord. He is to take you to the Golden Flagon."
"That is right. Let him lead on at once, for we have had a long journey."
A soldier stepped out into the light and the three followed him. He led them through the narrow winding streets of the city, flanked by tall houses whose overhanging gables caused the thoroughfares to seem more cramped than they actually were. At last he came to a street so much wider than the others that it might have been termed a square, and on one side of it stood the hostelry, from whose front the golden flagon swung in token of the good wine to be had within. Here all was silent, and the three horsemen sat where they were, while the soldier hammered with the end of his pike against a door. When it was opened there was a whispered colloquy, and then some sleepy stable boys were roused to take charge of the horses of the belated guests, while the landlord himself invited them to enter.
Rodolph swung himself from his exhausted steed, the others following his example; the archer, who had ridden from the summit of the Taurus, descending with painful slowness and extreme care.
"Take supper here," said Rodolph to his men, "and then to rest. I am sure you need it. Do not leave this house until I come or send for you. And now good-night."
"Are you not coming in also, my Lord?" asked Conrad, in surprise.
"No. My night's work is just beginning."
"Then I shall go with you, my Lord."
"No. Rest now, for I may need you early in the morning. Soldier, you are to be my guide for a short distance farther."
The soldier bowed and apparently needed no further instruction, for he led Rodolph through his capital until at length they came to a small portal at the rear of the Emperor's palace.
"This is the place, my Lord," he said, resting pike on butt and standing in attitude of attention.
Rodolph knocked thrice against the door, which signal was answered as it had been at the gate. Again he announced himself as the silk merchant from Treves, and so was admitted. Dismissing the soldier, Rodolph proceeded along a narrow passage and then up a stair into a wider hall. He was now on familiar ground, and walked briskly without hesitation until he approached a wide entrance, outside which two soldiers stood on guard.
The Emperor drew his enveloping cloak more closely about him, for his worn costume was not in such condition as befitted a monarch, but the ample cloak covered it's defects. The soldiers saluted and Rodolph passed between them into a large ante-chamber, in which, late as it was, a number of officers and messengers sat on benches round the walls, while a group of the higher ranks stood talking together in low tones. The room of Baron von Brunfels was beyond, and at the communication between the two apartments heavy crimson curtains of great thickness hung, their tasseled fringes spreading over the floor. Here two soldiers also stood, fully armed. On the entrance of the Emperor all who were seated sprang instantly to their feet, making low obeisance, which his Majesty acknowledged with an inclination of the head.
"Is Baron von Brunfels within?" asked Rodolph, addressing the senior General.
"Yes, your Majesty."
"Alone?"
"Yes, your Majesty."
"I will enter unannounced."
The heavy curtain was held back for him, and the Emperor passed through. So thick were the walls that the recess between the outer and inner curtains might almost itself be termed a small apartment. Motioning away the attendant, who would have drawn back the inner curtains also, the Emperor himself drew them aside and entered.
At a large table, littered with documents and lit by a small Roman lamp, sat a haggard, careworn man, at whom Rodolph had to look twice or thrice before he recognised his faithful servitor and firm and loyal friend, Baron von Brunfels. His dark hair had become sprinkled with grey since Rodolph last saw him, and as the Emperor stood motionless with his back against the crimson hangings the great love he felt for the man lit up his eyes, while remembrance of the anxiety he must have caused the Baron by an abrupt and long unexplained disappearance gave Rodolph a thrill of pain. He had never before realised what that disappearance had meant for Baron von Brunfels. Although there was no sound in the room, the Baron looked suddenly up, craned forward and peered across the table, gazing with startled anxiety into the comparative darkness at the other end of the room. The Emperor, with clanking spurs, took a rapid step or two forward.
"Rodolph!" cried Brunfels, in a husky undertone, springing to his feet. He seemed about to advance, but something failed within him, and he leaned heavily against the table, crying, with a sob in his voice:
"I thank God! I thank God!"
The young Emperor strode quickly to his friend, his hands upraised, and brought them down on the shoulders of the Baron, whom he drew towards him in a cordial embrace.
"My old friend," he said, repressing with difficulty the emotion that threatened to overmaster him. "My dear old friend, you are not more glad to see me than I am to see you. But I have brought an insistent personage with me other than Rodolph, and he clamours for attention."
"He! Whom?" replied the Baron, looking about him with apprehension, fearing that his friendly greeting might have had a witness, and that thus unwittingly he had embarrassed his sovereign.
"The Emperor is here, Brunfels, with weighty matters on his mind that will permit of no delay. The Emperor has at last arrived; I doubt if you have ever met him before."
"He will have most cordial welcome and support from me."
"He counts upon you, as on no other in the world. How many men have you encamped on the Rhine?"
"Forty thousand, your Majesty."
"Above or below Mayence?"
"Above. I thought it well not to pass Mayence until I received your Majesty's definite order."
"You were right. They are in divisions of ten thousand men, competently commanded, if I accurately understood your message. Detach ten thousand at once under the commander in whom you have most confidence, and send them along the Roman road to Treves. My officer will announce to whomsoever he finds in command there that I am about to pay a visit of state to his Lordship of Treves, and that my men are to enter and occupy the town until my arrival."
"If they meet opposition are they to attack Treves and capture it?"
"They will not be opposed. They go in the name of the Emperor, the overlord of the Archbishop. If the Archbishop himself is there he will not be so foolish as to oppose the entrance of my troops; if he is not there I doubt if any subordinate will have the courage to embroil him with his sovereign in his absence. However, if the unexpected happens and my troops are refused admittance, let them encamp quietly on the plain between Treves and Zurlauben until I arrive, not giving battle unless they are themselves attacked. In that case they are to take Treves if they can. Send a horseman at once with these orders, and see that this detachment is away before daybreak if possible. The other three battalions are to proceed immediately down the Rhine to Coblentz. No one on the road will dispute the passage of thirty thousand men, but if opposition takes shape they are to go through to Coblentz at all cost. Reaching Coblentz ten thousand men are to march to Cologne on exactly the same terms as the division that has gone to Treves. The remaining twenty thousand are to halt at Coblentz until we come up with them, although it is likely we shall overtake them before they reach there. Have you a thousand well-mounted men?"
"Five thousand, your Majesty, and more if you need them."
"In the morning, draw up across the square opposite the Palace a thousand picked men. They are to be my bodyguard, and with them I shall ride to Coblentz. I shall ride my best white charger, and I trust my silver armour has not been allowed to rust. I confess, Brunfels, that I am resolved to undertake this initial state journey through my empire with something more of pomp than has been my custom, for although I care as little for the trappings of imperial