“Is it your Lordship’s wish that I should mention names?”

Cologne showed signs of uneasiness; Treves looked in bewilderment from one to another of his colleagues; the Count Palatine sat deeply interested, his elbows on the table, massive chin supported by huge hands.

“Your Highness is the best judge whether names should be mentioned or not,” said Mayence, quite calmly, as if his withers were unwrung.  “But you must see that if you hint at conspiracy and bafflement, certain inferences are likely to be drawn.  Since the time you speak of there has been no opportunity for you to meet your fellow-men, therefore these inferences are apt to take the color that reference is made to one or the other of the three personages you did meet.  I therefore counsel you either to abstain from innuendo or explain explicitly what you mean.”

“I the more willingly bow to your Lordship’s decision because it is characterized by that wisdom which accompanies every word your Lordship utters.  I shall therefore designate good men and bad.”

Mayence gazed at the young man in amazement, but merely said: 

“Proceed, sir, on your perilous road.”

“I am the head of a gang of freebooters.  When this company left Frankfort under my command we appeared to be all of one mind.  My gang consisted entirely of ironworkers, well-set-up young fellows in splendid physical condition, yet before I was gone a day on our journey I found myself confronted by mutiny.  A man named Kurzbold was the leader of this rebellion; a treacherous hound, whom I sentenced to death.  The two who stood by me were Greusel and Ebearhard, therefore I told you that when I met one villain I encountered two trustworthy men.”

“When did this happen?” asked Mayence.  “And what was the object of your freebooting expedition?”

“High Heaven!” cried the Archbishop of Cologne, unable longer to restrain his impatience when he saw the fatal trend of the Prince’s confession, “what madness has overcome you?  Can you not see the effect of these disturbing disclosures?”

The Prince smiled, and answered first the last question.

“’Tis an honest confession, my Lord, of what may be considered a dishonest practice.  It is information that should be within your knowledge before you sit down to elect an Emperor.

“When did this happen, my Lord of Mayence?” he continued, turning to the chairman.  “It happened when you thought I was your prisoner in Ehrenfels.  Never for a day did you hold me there.  I roamed the country at my pleasure.  I examined leisurely and effectively the defenses of nearly every castle on the Rhine from the town of Bonn to your own city of Mayence.  The object of our expedition, you ask?  It was to loot the stolen treasure of the robber castles, and incidentally it resulted in the destruction by fire of Furstenberg.  The marauding excursion ended at Pfalz, where I lightened the Pfalzgraf of his wealth, and liberated the Countess von Sayn, unlawfully imprisoned within that fortress.”