The battle field's not far;
For vanquish'd is the foeman,
And he brings the spoils of war.
G. Schwab.
A knight in armour, his horse being led between two of the lansquenet from the outpost, now approached the place where Long Peter, their general, and the other men, were assembled. Though he had drawn the vizor of his shining helmet over his face, the fifer of Hardt thought he recognised him as the man he expected, by the plates and cuish of steel which encased his muscular limbs, the plumes which waved high in the breeze, and the well known scarf which crossed over his coat of mail. And he was not mistaken, for one of the men who led his horse advanced to the General, and acquainted him that the noble "Knight of Sturmfeder" wished to speak to the leaders of the lansquenet.
Long Peter answered in the name of the rest, "tell him he is welcome, and that Peter Hunzinger the General, Staberl of Vienna, Conrad the Magdeburger, Balthaser Löffler, and the brave Muckerle, all well appointed Captains, are ready to receive and hear him. May my soul be punished, but he has a beautiful suit of armour, and an helmet fit for King Francis; and as to his steed, I have never seen a finer--Morbleu, how well he stands on his four legs!"
The men kept at a respectful distance from the stranger, who now approached, but shewed no inclination to dismount. Raising his vizor, he spoke to one of the men, and discovered his handsome friendly countenance. "Is not that Hans, the musician?" said he, to the men. "I have a word to say to him first."
The general made a sign to the fifer to approach the young knight, who immediately dismounted from his horse. "Welcome in Würtemberg, noble sir," said the man of Hardt, and returned a hearty shake of Albert von Sturmfeder's hand: "what news do you bring? The Duke's cause prospers, if I can judge from the expression of your countenance."
"Come on one side," he replied, in anxious haste. "How fares it in Lichtenstein? Have you a letter or a couple of lines for me? O give it quickly!"
The fifer smiled at the impatience of the lovesick youth; "I have neither letter nor line. The lady is well, and the old knight also; that is all I know."