"
"How is that possible?" asked the astonished Count.
"I cared for Prince Roland nearly a month, receiving generous wages,
and, what I valued more, your own commendation, for you saw I was as
fond of horses as you were."
"Good heavens! Were you that youth who came so mysteriously, and
disappeared without warning?"
"Yes," laughed the Prince. "I know Gutenfels nearly as well as you do. I
was a spy, studying the art of war and methods of fortification. I
stopped in various capacities at nearly all the famous Castles of the
Rhine, and this knowledge recently came in--"
"Your Highness, your Highness!" pleaded the Archbishop. "I implore you
to remember that the Count Palatine is an Elector of the Empire, and, as
I told last night, we are facing a crisis. Until that crisis is passed
you will add to my already great anxiety by any lack of reticence on
your part."
"By the Three Kings!" cried the Count, "this youth, if I may venture to
call him so, has bound me to him with bands stronger than chain armor.
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