"Don't be deceived on that point, Gaston; it is the place of honor. Whenever the Count's particular friends come to visit him, they are put in here. Hugh's Tower is the most honorable accommodation of all."
"By the way, who was this Hugh?"
"Why, Hugh the Wolf!"
"What!" I exclaimed in astonishment.
"Certainly; the founder of the family of Nideck; a rough customer, they say. He came and settled down here with a score of horsemen and archers. They scaled the highest rock on the mountain,—you will see it to-morrow,—and built this tower. 'We are the masters,' they declared, 'and woe be to those who try to pass without paying toll. We will fall on them like wolves, tear the clothes from their backs, and the hides, too, if they are obstinate. From here we can command the landscape, the passes of the Rhethal, the Steinbach, and the Roche Plate, and the entire line of the Black Forest. Let the merchants beware.' And the bold fellows carried out their threats under the leadership of Hugh the Wolf. Knapwurst told me all about it when we were sitting up the other night."
"Knapwurst?"
"You know; the little dwarf who opened the gate to us; a droll chap, Gaston, who is always to be found in the library bent over a book."
"So you have a scholar at Nideck."
"Yes, the rascal! Instead of staying in his lodge, where he belongs, he spends the whole blessed day shaking the dust from old family parchments. He moves about among the shelves like a cat, and he knows our history better than we do ourselves. He would like nothing better than to tell you his stories; he calls them chronicles. Ha, ha, ha!"
Hereupon, Sperver, exalted by the old wine, laughed for some moments, without knowing exactly why.