'From Nanci direct.'
'You are alone?'
'As you see, quite alone. Come, come, my friend, do not keep me long at parley in such a storm of wind and rain.'
'But what seek you here?'
'Shelter; what the devil would one seek else in such a night as this?'
'Enter,' was the gruff reply.
I rode in, and found myself in an archway, off which opened two vaulted guardhouses, full of armed men. The bridge was wound up; the barriers were closed; I gave my horse to a groom, and found myself housed in the castle of—I knew not whom.
'How name you this fortress?' I inquired of one who seemed to bear some authority, if I might judge by his polished cuirass and triple-barred helmet.
'The tower of Phalsbourg, monsieur.'
'And who commands here?'