The men of the Schlangenhof looked at each other dumfounded, until one of them turned round to go away, and the others following his example, the convent-farmer was soon left standing there all alone.
"You are taking the part of the land-destroyer!" he cried angrily, but on Ekkehard not giving an answer, he likewise dropped the stone from his hand, and went away grumbling.
Poor Cappan found himself in a most pitiable condition; for on a back which has been under the treatment of Allemannian peasants' fists, "no grass will grow again so easily," as the expression is in those parts.
The stone had caused a wound on the head which was bleeding profusely. Ekkehard, first washed his head with some rain-water, made the sign of the cross over it, to stop the bleeding, and then dressed the wound as well as he could. He thought of the parable of the Good Samaritan. The wounded man looked gratefully up at him. Slowly Ekkehard led him up to the castle, and he had to persuade him, before he would take his arm. The foot that had been wounded in the late battle, also began hurting him again, so that he limped on, with suppressed groans.
On the Hohentwiel, their arrival was the cause of great and general excitement, for everybody liked the Hun. The Duchess descended into the courtyard, bestowing a friendly nod on Ekkehard, on account of his kindliness and compassion. The trespass of the monastery's vassal against her subject, raised her just resentment.
"That shall not be forgotten," said she. "Be comforted my poor mouse-catcher, for they shall pay thee damages for thy wounded pate, that will equal a dowry. And for the broken peace of the realm, we shall decree the highest possible fine. A few pounds of silver, shall not be sufficient. These convent-people, grow to be as insolent as their masters!"
But the most indignant of all was Master Spazzo the chamberlain.
"Did I for this reason withhold my sword from his head, when he lay wounded before me, that those clodhoppers of the Schlangenhof, should pave it with their field-stones? And what, if he was our enemy before? Now he is baptized and I am his god-father, and bound to take care of the welfare of his soul as well as of his body. Be content, godchild!" cried he, rattling his sword on the stone flags, "for as soon as thy scratch has been mended, I shall accompany thee on thy first walk, and then we will settle accounts with the convent-farmer. Hail and thunder, that we will! So, as to make the chips fly off his head! With those farmers, things cannot go on any longer in that way. These fellows carry shields and arms like noblemen, and instead of hunting like peasants, they keep dogs, broken in to fly at boars and bears; and blow on their bugles, as if they were the lords of the creation. Whenever a man carries his head higher than the rest, one may be sure that he is a farmer!"
"Where was the trespass committed?" asked the Duchess.
"They dragged him from the boundary stone with the raised half-moon, to the Hunnic mound," said Ekkehard.