"An ancestor of that Neroweg was called the Terrible Eagle in Germany—the meeting is odd," thought the hermit to himself. "It does seem that our two hostile families, the one Frank the other Gaul, having crossed each other's path in the past, must cross it again—and are to recross it, perhaps, again and again through the centuries to come—"
"Count, your terror proves to me that your soul is not at ease—I mistrust that your confession was not complete."
"Yes, yes; I confessed everything!"
"I hope to God it be so, for the salvation of your soul. But cheer up! Let us talk of the hunt. Oh! By the way of the hunt, I have a complaint against you and your forester slaves. The other day they pursued three stags into the very heart of the Church's forest—in that part of the wood that is separated from the rest of your domains by the river."
"If my forester slaves pursued any stag into your forest, I shall allow yours to pursue one into mine; our woods are separated only by a narrow road."
"A better boundary would be the river itself."
"In that case I would have to abandon to you fully a thousand acres of woodland, which lie on this side of the stream."
"Do you place much store by that little corner of your forest? The trees do not thrive very well at that spot."
"Not as poorly as you would make out. There are among them oak trees more than twenty feet around; besides, it is that portion of my domains that game seems to like best."
"You boast of the beauty of your trees; it is your right; but your domains would have a better and safer boundary if you took the river, and if you consented to yield to the Church that corner of a thousand acres."