“Ah, Greusel, forgive my attitude of doubt.  It is all as plain now as the Cathedral tower.  Still, there will be no civil war.  Treves and Cologne will gather up their troops and go home, once more defeated by a man cleverer and more unscrupulous than both of them put together.  They are but infants in his hands.”

“Have you any suggestion to make?” asked Greusel.

“No; there is nothing to be done.  You see, the young Prince has no following.  He is quite unknown in Frankfort.  His name can arouse no enthusiasm, and, all in all, that strikes me as a very good thing.  The Grand Duke Karl is popular, and I believe he will make a very good Emperor.”

“You mean, Roland, that the Archbishop of Mayence will make a very good ruler, for he will be the real king.”

“Well, after all, Joseph, there is much to be said in favor of Mayence.  He is a man who knows what he wants, and, what is more, gets it, and that, after all is the main thing in life.  If any one could sway the Archbishop so that he put his great talents to the benefit of his country, instead of thinking only of himself, what a triumph of influence that would be!  By the Three Kings, I’d like to do it!  I admire him.  If I found opportunity and could persuade him to join us in the relief of Frankfort, and in opening the Rhine to commerce, we would give these inane merchants a lesson in organization.”

Greusel rose from his chair, poured out another tankard full from the flagon, and drank it off.

“I must go down now and meet the guild,” he said.  “I have eaten nothing all day, and am as hungry as a wolf from the Taunus.”

“Oh, how did you escape, by the way?”

“I didn’t escape.  I was led blindfolded into a tent, where my bandage was removed, and here a man in ordinary dress questioned me concerning my object in entering the forest.  I told him exactly the truth, and explained what we were trying to do in Frankfort.  I dare say I looked honest and rather stupid.  He asked when I set out; in what direction I came; questioning me with a great affectation of indifference; wanted to know if I had met many persons, and I told him quite truthfully I met no one but the man I understood was a forester; a keeper, I supposed.”

“‘There are a number of us,’ he said, ’hunting the wild boar, and we do not wish the animal life of these woods to be disturbed.  We shall not be here longer than a week, but I advise you to seek another spot for what timber you require.’

“He asked me, finally, if any one in Frankfort knew I had come to the forest, and I answered that the guild of twenty knew, and that we were all to meet to-night at the Rheingold tavern to report.  He pondered for a while on this statement, and I suppose reached the conclusion that if I did not return to Frankfort, this score of men might set out in the morning to search for me, it being well known that the forest is dangerous on account of wild boars.  So, as if it were of no consequence, he blindfolded me again, apologizing privately for doing so, saying it was quite unnecessary in the first instance, but as the guard had done so, he did not wish to censure him by implication.