“That, of course, is possible,” commented the merchant.

“Nay, it is absolutely certain.  Civil war means ruin, to innocent and guilty alike.”

“You are in the right.  Now, will you tell me how you escaped from Ehrenfels?”

“Yes; if you agree to my terms without further haggling.”

“I shall agree to your terms if I believe your story.”

“It seems impossible, sir, to pin you down to any definite bargain.  Is this the way you conduct your business?”

“Yes; unless I am well assured of the good faith of my customer.  I offered you ordinary business terms when I asked for security, or for the signature of three responsible merchants to your bond.  It is because I am a merchant, and not a speculator, that I haggle, as you term it.”

“Very well, then, I will tell you how I got away, but I begin my recital rather hopelessly, for you always leave yourself a loophole of escape.  If you believe my story, you say!  Yes:  could I weave a romance about tearing my sheets into ropes; of lowering myself in the dark from the battlements to the ground; of an alarm given; of torches flashing; of diving into the Rhine, and swimming under the water until I nearly strangled; of floating down over the rapids, with arrows whizzing round me in the night; of climbing dripping to the farther shore, far from sight of Ehrenfels, then, doubtless, you would believe.  But my escape was prosaically commonplace, depending on the cupidity of one man.  The material for it was placed in my hands by the Archbishops themselves.  Your account states that the Castle is well guarded.  So it is, but when the Archbishop needs an augmentation of his force, he withdraws his men from Ehrenfels to Mayence, as my prison is the nearest of his possessions to his capital city, and thus at times it happens that the Castle is bereft of all save the custodian and his family.  His eldest son happens to be of my own age, and not unlike me in appearance.  None of the guards saw me, except the custodian, and you must remember he was a very complacent jailer, for the reason that he knew well every rising sun might bring with it tidings that I was his Emperor, so he cultivated my acquaintance, to learn in his own thrifty, peasant way what manner of ruler I might become, and I, having no one else to talk to, made much of his company.

“Frequently he impressed upon me that his task of jailer was most irksome to him, but poverty compelling, what could he do?  He swore he would accomplish whatever was in his power to mitigate my captivity, and this indeed did; so at last when the Castle was empty I made him a proposal.  Now remember, Sir Merchant, that what I tell you is in confidence, and should you break faith with me, I will have you hanged if I become Emperor, or slit your throat with my own sword if I don’t.”

“Go on.  I shall tell no one.”