CONTENTS.
| CHAPTER | PAGE | |
| I. | THE EMPEROR ENTERS TREVES | [1] |
| II. | THE ARCHER INTRODUCES HIMSELF | [13] |
| III. | LISTENERS HEAR LITTLE GOOD OF THEMSELVES | [28] |
| IV. | THE EMPEROR DISAPPEARS | [42] |
| V. | LOVE LEADS THE WAY | [55] |
| VI. | AN UNWISHED-FOR MARRIAGE DAY | [62] |
| VII. | THE FLIGHT OF THE COUNTESS | [69] |
| VIII. | THE RAPIER AND THE BROADSWORD | [80] |
| IX. | A PALATIAL PRISON | [92] |
| X. | THE INTERCEPTED FUGITIVES | [99] |
| XI. | IN QUEST OF A WIFE WITH A TROOP OF HORSE | [112] |
| XII. | CUPID'S BOW GIVES PLACE TO THE ARCHER'S | [123] |
| XIII. | THE BLACK COUNT IS PERSUADED NOT TO HANG HIS EMPEROR | [134] |
| XIV. | A RELUCTANT WELCOME | [148] |
| XV. | CASTLE THURON MAKES A FULL MEAL | [158] |
| XVI. | THE COUNTESS TRIES TO TAME THE BEAR | [174] |
| XVII. | THE ENVOY'S DISASTROUS RETURN | [184] |
| XVIII. | A TWO-HANDED SWORD TEACHES DEPORTMENT | [198] |
| XIX. | A MAN AND A WOMAN MEET BY TORCHLIGHT | [209] |
| XX. | A BREAKFAST ON THE TOP OF THE SOUTH TOWER | [217] |
| XXI. | AN EXPERIMENT IN DIPLOMACY | [228] |
| XXII. | THE FIRST ATTACK ON CASTLE THURON | [234] |
| XXIII. | THE TWO ARCHBISHOPS FALL OUT | [245] |
| XXIV. | COUNT BERTRICH EXPLAINS HIS FAILURE | [256] |
| XXV. | THE SECOND ASSAULT ON THE CASTLE | [260] |
| XXVI. | AN ILLUMINATED NIGHT ATTACK ON THURON | [269] |
| XXVII. | THE TWO YEARS' SIEGE BEGINS | [277] |
| XXVIII. | THE SECOND ARCHER ANNOUNCES HIMSELF | [284] |
| XXIX. | CONRAD VENTURES HIS LIFE FOR HIS LOVE | [294] |
| XXX. | THE STRUGGLE IN THE DARK | [304] |
| XXXI. | BRAVE NEWS OF THE EMPEROR | [313] |
| XXXII. | "FOR YOUR LOVE I WOULD DEFY FATE." | [327] |
| XXXIII. | A GRIM INTERRUPTION TO A LOVERS' MEETING | [336] |
| XXXIV. | THE BLACK COUNT'S DEFIANCE | [351] |
| XXXV. | THE NIGHT ESCAPE OF THE EMPEROR | [363] |
| XXXVI. | THE FIVE BILLETLESS ARROWS | [371] |
| XXXVII. | THE TRAITOR AND HIS PRICE | [378] |
| XXXVIII. | THE INCOGNITO FALLS | [385] |
| XXXIX. | THE EMPEROR AT THE HEAD OF HIS ARMY | [396] |
| XL. | THE ARCHBISHOPS ENVIRONED WITH A RING OF IRON | [403] |
| XLI. | "WHY HAVE YOU DARED TO LEVY WAR?" | [413] |
| XLII. | TEKLA REPLENISHES HER WARDROBE | [423] |
| XLIII. | THE COUNTESS AND THE EMPEROR | [429] |
TEKLA.
CHAPTER I. THE EMPEROR ENTERS TREVES.
The Romans had long since departed, but their handiwork remained—a thin line laid like a whiplash across the broad country—a road. It extended northwestward from Frankfort and passed, as straight as might be, through the almost trackless forest that lay to the south of Moselle; for the great highway-builders had little patience with time-consuming curves; thus the road ranged over hill and down dale without shirking whatever came before it. Nearing the western terminus, it passed along high lands, through a level unbroken forest. A wayfarer, after travelling many monotonous leagues, came suddenly to an opening in the timber, and found himself on the brow of a hill, confronted with a scene amazing in extent, well calculated to arrest his progress and cause him to regard with admiration, the wide spread landscape beneath and beyond. The scene was the more startling that it burst unexpectedly on the view, after miles of trees that seemed innumerable, hemming in, with their unvarying cloak of green, the outlook of the traveller.