Part 20 (1/2)

?Nay,? replied the monarch, ?what would I with your life? Tell me who you are, for you have fought gallantly this night.?

The stranger drew himself up and replied with simple dignity, ?I am Elbegast.?

Charlemagne was delighted at thus having his wish fulfilled. He refused to divulge his name, but intimated that he, too, was a robber, and proposed that they should join forces for the night.

?I have it,? said he. ?We will rob the Emperor?s treasury. I think I could show you the way.?

The black knight paused. ?Never yet,? he said, ?have I wronged the Emperor, and I shall not do so now. But at no great distance stands the castle of Eggerich von Eggermond, brother-in-law to the Emperor. He has persecuted the poor and betrayed the innocent to death. If he could, he would take the life of the Emperor himself, to whom he owes all. Let us repair thither.?

Near their destination they tied their horses to a tree and strode across the fields. On the way Charlemagne wrenched off the iron share from a plough, remarking that it would be an excellent tool wherewith to bore a hole in the castle wall?a remark which his comrade received in silence, though not without surprise. When they arrived at the castle Elbegast seemed anxious to see the ploughshare at work, for he begged Charlemagne to begin operations.

?I know not how to find entrance,? said the latter.

?Let us make a hole in the wall,? the robber-knight suggested, producing a boring instrument of great strength. The Emperor gallantly set to work with his ploughshare, though, as the wall was ten feet thick, it is hardly surprising that he was not successful. The robber, laughing at his comrade?s inexperience, showed him a wide chasm which his boring instrument had made, and bade him remain there while he fetched the spoil. In a very short time he returned with as much plunder as he could carry.

?Let us get away,? said the Emperor. ?We can carry no more.?

?Nay,? said Elbegast, ?but I would return, with your permission. In the chamber occupied by Eggerich and his wife there is a wonderful caparison, made of gold and covered with little bells. I want to prove my skill by carrying it off.?

?As you will,? was Charlemagne?s laughing response.

Without a sound Elbegast reached the bedchamber of his victim, and was about to raise the caparison when he suddenly stumbled and all the bells rang out clearly.

?My sword, my sword!? cried Eggerich, springing up, while Elbegast sank back into the shadows.

?Nay,? said the lady, trying to calm her husband. ?You did but hear the wind, or perhaps it was an evil dream. Thou hast had many evil dreams of late, Eggerich; methinks there is something lies heavily on thy mind.

Wilt thou not tell thy wife??

Elbegast listened intently while with soft words and caresses the lady strove to win her husband?s secret.

?Well,? said Eggerich at last in sullen tones, ?we have laid a plot, my comrades and I. To-morrow we go to Ingelheim, and ere noon Charlemagne shall be slain and his lands divided among us.?

?What!? shrieked the lady. ?Murder my brother! That will you never while I have strength to warn him.? But the villain, with a brutal oath, struck her so fiercely in the face that the blood gushed out, and she sank back unconscious.

The robber was not in a position to avenge the cruel act, but he crawled nearer the couch and caught some of the blood in his gauntlet, for a sign to the Emperor. When he was once more outside the castle he told his companion all that had pa.s.sed and made as though to return.

?I will strike off his head,? said he. ?The Emperor is no friend of mine, but I love him still.?

?What is the Emperor to us?? cried Charlemagne. ?Are you mad that you risk our lives for the Emperor?? The black knight looked at him solemnly.

?An we had not sworn friends.h.i.+p,? said he, ?your life should pay for these words. Long live the Emperor!? Charlemagne, secretly delighted with the loyalty of the outlawed knight, recommended him to seek the Emperor on the morrow and warn him of his danger. But Elbegast, fearing the gallows, would not consent to this; so his companion promised to do it in his stead and meet him afterward in the forest. With that they parted, the Emperor returning to his palace, where he found all as he had left it.

In the morning he hastily summoned his council, told them of his dream and subsequent adventures, and of the plot against his life. The paladins were filled with horror and indignation, and Charlemagne?s secretary suggested that it was time preparations were being made for the reception of the a.s.sa.s.sins. Each band of traitors as they arrived was seized and cast into a dungeon. Though apparently clad as peaceful citizens, they were all found to be armed. The last band to arrive was led by Eggerich himself. Great was his dismay when he saw his followers led off in chains, and angrily he demanded to know the reason for such treatment.

Charlemagne thereupon charged him with treason, and Eggerich flung down the gauntlet in defiance. It was finally arranged that the Emperor should provide a champion to do battle with the traitor, the combat to take place at sunrise on the following morning.

A messenger rode to summon Elbegast, but he had much difficulty in convincing the black knight that it was not a plot to secure his undoing.

?And what would the Emperor with me?? he demanded of the messenger, as at length they rode toward Ingelheim.

?To do battle to the death with a deadly foe of our lord the Emperor?Eggerich von Eggermond.?