"Conrad," cried the Emperor, "take the Countess down the hill till you lose sight of our assailants, then, as speedily as possible, bend through the forest to the north, circling this spot so that you come upon the Moselle opposite Thuron. Cross the river and make for the castle gates."
"But you, my Lord, unarmed, cannot oppose three armoured men," objected Conrad.
"I stand by his Lordship," said the archer, with an unruffled confidence, that in spite of the strait they were in brought the suggestion of a smile to the lips of the Emperor.
"We will hold our ground, with what success may befall us," replied Rodolph, "but lose no time in your circuit, and keep strict watch for ambush."
The Countess, Conrad, and Hilda departed, leaving Rodolph and the bowman alone on the top of the hill, in serious jeopardy, for neither man wore armour, and the Emperor had no weapon except his slight rapier.
The archer, seeing from the first that trouble was ahead, but having too little curiosity regarding its origin to cause him to venture inquiry, so long as no attempt was made to smooth away difficulty and bring about a peaceful understanding, caring not a jot whether the side of the quarrel he expected to champion was just, or the reverse, had unslung his bow, giving a hitch to the full quiver so that the ends of the arrows were convenient to his right hand, and now stood with left foot slightly forward as a bowman should, measuring critically with his half shut eye the distance between himself and the three horsemen.
"Is it your Lordship's pleasure," he asked, "that I kill all three, or do you purpose to try conclusion yourself with one or other of them? If so, which shall I spare?"
"These men are cased in iron, and proof against your shafts. I will parley with them and offer single combat to their leader; we cannot hope to prosper in a general onset."
"Their faces are bare, which is all the kindness I ask of any man who sets himself up as target."