Roland, advancing through the trees, but motioning his men to remain where they were, peered across to the battlements and down at the entrance gate.

Baron von Hohenfels sat so secure in his elevated robber’s nest, which he deemed invincible—­and, indeed, the cliff on which it stood, nearly a hundred yards high, made it so if approached from the Rhine—­that he kept only one man on watch, and this sentinel was stationed on the elevated platform of the round tower.  Roland saw him yawn wearily as he leaned against his tall lance, and was glad to learn that even one man kept guard, for at first he feared that all within the Castle were asleep, the round tower, until Roland had shifted his position to the north, being blotted out by the nearer square donjon keep.  Now satisfied, he signaled his men to sit down, which they did.  He himself took up a position behind a tree, where, unseen, he could watch the man with the lance.

So indolent was the sentry that Roland began to fear the barge would pass by unnoticed.  Not for months had any sailing craft appeared on the river, and doubtless the warden regarded his office as both useless and wearisome.  Brighter and brighter became the eastern sky, and at last a tinge of red appeared above the hills across the silent Rhine.  Suddenly the guardian straightened up, then, shading his eyes with his right hand, he leaned over the battlements, peering to the south.  A moment later the stillness was rent by a lusty shout, and the man disappeared as if he had fallen through a trap-door.  Presently the notes of a bugle echoed within the walls, followed by clashes of armor and the buzzing sound of men, as though a wasp’s nest had been disturbed.  Half a dozen came into sight on top of the various towers and battlements, glanced at the river, and vanished as hastily as the sentinel had done.

At last the gates came ponderously open, and the first three men to emerge were on horseback, one of them hastily getting into an outer garment, but the well-trained horses, who knew their business quite as thoroughly as their riders, for they were accustomed to plunge into the river if any barge disobeyed the order commanding it to halt, turned from the gate, and dashed down the steep road that descended through the forest.  The men-at-arms poured forth with sword or pike, and in turn went out of sight.  They appeared to be leaderless, dashing forward in no particular formation, yet, like the horses, they knew their business.  All this turmoil was not without its effect on Roland’s following, who edged forward on hands and knees to discover what was going on, everyone breathless with excitement; but they saw their leader cool and motionless, counting on his fingers the number of men who passed out, for he knew exactly how many fighters the Castle contained.

“Not yet, not yet!” he whispered.

Finally three lordly individuals strode out; officers their more resplendent clothing indicated them to be, and the trio followed the others.