Roland now counseled his company to enjoy what sleep was possible, as
they would be roused at the first glint of daybreak; so, with great
good-nature, each man wrapped himself up in his cloak and lay down on
the cabin floor.
When the eastern sky became gray, the slumberers were awakened, and a
ration of bread and wine served to each. The captain already had
received his instructions, and the men discarding their cloaks, followed
their leader into the still gloomy forest. Here, with as little noise as
might be, they climbed the steep wooded hill, and arriving at something
almost like a path, a hundred yards up from the river, they turned to
the right, and so marched, no man speaking above a whisper.
The forest became lighter and lighter, and at last Roland, holding up
his hand to sign caution, turned to the left from the path, and farther
up into the unbroken forest. They had traversed perhaps a league when
another silent order brought them to a standstill, and peering through
the trees to the east, the men caught glimpses of the grand, gray
battlements of that famous stronghold, Rheinstein, seeing at the corner
nearest them a square tower, next a machicolated curtain of wall, and a
larger square tower almost as high as the first hanging over the
precipice that descended to the Rhine.
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