"
"I dare say," said the merchant, "that I can give the reason for this
apparently reckless visit of yours to Ehrenfels. You were in want of
money, the five hundred thalers being spent."
"Sir, you are exactly in the right, and I got it, too, without nearly so
much talk as I have been compelled to waste on the present occasion."
"What was your object in going down the river instead of turning to
Frankfort?"
"I had become interested in my prison, and had studied methods by which
it could be successfully attacked. I knew that my father allowed the
Barons of the Rhine to override him, and I wondered if his wisdom was
greater than I thought. Probably, said I to myself, he knew their
castles to be impregnable, but, with the curiosity of youth, I desired
to form an opinion of my own. I therefore lodged as a wayfarer at every
castle to I could gain admittance, making friends with some underling,
and getting a bed on occasion in the stables, although often I lodged
within the castle itself. Thus I came to the belief, which I bring to
you, that assisted by twenty fearless men I can capture any castle on
the Rhine with the exception of three.
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