"Yes," replied the lady, adding, "again good-night."
Her white form was swallowed up by the dark hangings and the young man climbed the stairs of the tall south tower.
CHAPTER XX. A BREAKFAST ON THE TOP OF THE SOUTH TOWER.
The Emperor was awakened by the ringing martial sound of bugles, calling the various camps from slumber. The sun had not yet risen when he reached the platform that formed the roof of his chamber, and there he found John Surrey scanning the military preparations around and below him with undisguised satisfaction. Soldiers in the valley were already falling into line, and the clear stillness of the air made the sharp commands of the officers audible even at the distance where Rodolph and the archer stood. The tall powerful figure of the Black Count could be seen pacing up and down the broad promenade on the west front, which seemed hardly less remote than the valley itself, so lofty was the tower. The whole design of the castle lay beneath them like a raised map.
"I think he has been there all night," said the archer, nodding towards the Count. "I sat here late making arrows in the moonlight, and he was on the battlements when I went down. I was here at daybreak, and there he was still. What a lovely scene it is, my Lord, viewed from this perch," he cried, enthusiastically, waving his hand in a semi-circle about him.
"It is indeed," concurred the Emperor. "The placid river, the hill tops touched with the growing light, the green of the dense forest and the yellow of the ripening grain, with the dark cliffs of rock above the polished surface of the deep waters, are well worth getting up early to see."
The archer scratched his head, and an expression of perplexity clouded his brow.