The river was blank, so they all sat down under the
trees out of sight, leaving one man on watch. Here Roland spent a very
anxious half-hour, mitigated by the knowledge that the men of Rheinstein
were little versed in woodcraft, and so might not be able to trace the
fugitives. It was likely they would make a dash in quite the opposite
direction, towards the Hunsruck, because Hohenfels believed they were
outlaws from that district, and did not in any way associate them with
the plundered barge.
But if the robbers of Rheinstein took a fancy to sink the barge, an act
only too frequently committed, then were Roland and his company in a
quandary, without food, or means of crossing the river. However, he was
sure that Captain Blumenfels would follow his instructions, which were
to offer no resistance, but rather to assist the looters in their
exactions.
"Within a league," said Roland to his men, "stand three pirate castles:
Rheinstein, which we have just left; Falkenberg, but a short distance
below, and then Sonneck.
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