"How soon?" said the Emperor, mockingly.
"In the space of three days," answered his brother-in-law.
"That could only be possible with the aid of the devil," said Barbarossa, "otherwise it could not be done."
"Wait and see for yourself," said the Landgraf.
On the third day of his visit, Ludwig said to the Emperor: "Would you care to see the walls? They are finished now."
Barbarossa crossed himself several times, and prepared for some fearful manifestation of black magic; but what was his surprise to see a living wall round the castle of stout peasants and burghers, ready armed, with weapons in their hands; the banners of well-known knights and lords waved their pennants in the wind where battlements should have been.
The Emperor was much astonished, and called out: "Many thanks, brother-in-law, for your lesson; stronger walls I have never seen, nor better fitted together."
"Rough stones they may some of them be," said the Landgraf, "yet I can rely on them, as you see."
Now as you may imagine, the children who grow up in this town, must have their heads full of these tales, and many poets and artists have been inspired by the beauties of Eisenach. The natural surroundings of the town are so wonderful, that they also provide rich material for the imagination.
Helmut was a boy who lived in Eisenach. He was eight years old, and went to a day school. He lived outside the town, not far from the entrance to the forest. He was a pale, fair-haired little boy, and did not look the tremendous hero he fancied himself in his dreams; not even when he buckled on helmet, breast-plate and sword, and marched out into the street to take his part in the warfare that went on constantly there, between the boys of this neighbourhood, and the boys who belonged to another part of the town.