“No matter.  We mean to have it.”

“You propose to take it from me by force?”

“Yes.”

“Ah, well, such being the case, perhaps it would be better for me to yield willingly?”

“I think so.”

“I quite agree with you.  There are eighteen of you, all armed with swords, while I control but one blade.”

Saying this he unfastened his cloak, which he had put on in the gathering chill of the evening, and untying from his belt a well-filled wallet, held it up to their gaze.

“As this bag undisputedly belongs to me, I have a right to dispose of it as I choose.  I therefore give it to the brook, whose outcry is as insistent as yours, and much more musical.”

“Stop, Roland, stop!” shouted Ebearhard, but the warning came too late.  The young man flung the bag into the torrent, where it disappeared in a smother of foam.  He rose to his feet and drew his sword.

“If you wish a fight now, it will be for the love of it, no filthy lucre being at stake.”

“By Plutus, you are an accursed fool!” cried the spokesman, making no further show of aggression now that nothing but steel was to be gained by a contest.

“A fool; yes!” said Roland.  “And therefore the better qualified to lead all such.  Now go to Sonnenberg, or go to Hades!”

The men did neither.  They sat down under the trees, ate their supper, and drank their wine.

“Will you dine with me?” said Roland, approaching his two gloomy lieutenants, who stood silent at some distance from the circle formed by the others.

“Yes,” said Greusel sullenly, “but I would have dined with greater pleasure had you not proven the spokesman’s words true.”

“You mean about my being a fool?  Oh, you yourself practically called me that this morning.  Come, let us sit down farther along the stream, where they cannot overhear what we say.”

This being done, Roland continued cheerfully: 

“I may explain to you that a week ago I had only a wallet of my own, but before leaving on this journey I called upon my mother, and she presented me with another bag.  I foresaw during mittagessen that a demand would be made upon us for money, therefore I borrowed all that you two possessed.  Walking on ahead, I prepared for what I knew must come, filling the empty wallet with very small stones picked up along the road.  That wallet went into the stream.  It is surprising how prone human nature is to jump at conclusions.  Why should any of you think that I am simpleton enough to throw away good money?  Dear, dear, what a world this is, to be sure!”

Half an hour later all were lying down enveloped in their cloaks, sleeping soundly because of their fatigue, despite being out of doors.  Next morning there was consternation in the camp, real or pretended.  Roland was nowhere to be found, nor did further search reveal his whereabouts.

VIII