VIII
THE MISSING LEADER AND THE MISSING GOLD
Probably because of the new responsibility resting upon him, JosephGreusel was the first to awaken next morning. He let his long cloak fallfrom his shoulders as he sat up, and gazed about him with astonishment.It seemed as if some powerful wizard of the hills had spirited him awayduring the night. He had gone to sleep in a place of terror. The thunderrolled threateningly among the peaks of Taunus, and the reflection ofthe lightning flash, almost incessant in its recurrence, had lit up thegrove with an unholy yellow glare. The never-ceasing roar of the foamingtorrent, which in the darkness gleamed with ghostly pallor, had somehowgot on his nerves. Under the momentary illumination of the lightning,the waves appeared to leap up at him like a pack of hungry wolves,flecked with froth, and the noise strove to emulate the distant thunder.The grove itself was ominous in its gloom, and sinister shapes seemed tobe moving about among the trees.
How different was the aspect now! The sun was still beneath the easternhorizon. The cloudless sky gave promise of another warm day, and theair, of crystalline clearness, was inspiring to breathe. To Greusel'smind, tinged with religious feeling, the situation in which he foundhimself seemed like a section of the Garden of Eden. The stream, whichthe night before had been to his superstitious mind a thing of terror,was this morning a placid, smiling, rippling brook that a man mightwithout effort leap across.
He rubbed his eyes in amazement, thinking the mists of sleep must beresponsible for this magic transformation, until he remembered thedistant thunderstorm of the night before among the eastern mountains,and surmised that a heavy rainfall had deluged these speedily drainedpeaks and valleys.
"What a blessed thing," he said to himself fervently, "is theever-recurring morning. How it clears away the errors and the passionsof darkness! It is as if God desired to give man repeated opportunitiesof reform, and of encouragement. How sane everything seems now, ascompared with the turbulence of the sulphurous night."
As he rose he became aware of an unaccustomed weight by his side, andputting down his hand was astonished to encounter a bag evidently filledwith coin. It had been tied by its deerskin thong to his belt, just aswas his own empty wallet. He sat down again, drew it round to the frontof him, and unfastened it. Pouring out the gold, he found that thewallet contained a hundred and fifteen thalers, mostly in gold, with theaddition of a few silver coins. At once it occurred to him that thesewere Roland's sixty thalers, his own thirty, and Ebearhard'stwenty-five. For some reason, probably fearing the men would suspect theruse practiced on them the night before, Roland had made him treasurerof the company. But why should he have done it surreptitiously?
Readjusting the leathern sack, he again rose to his feet, but now casthis cloak about him, thus concealing the purse. Ebearhard lay soundasleep near him. Farther away the eighteen remaining members of thecompany were huddled closely together, as if they had gone to rest in aroom too small for them, although the whole country was theirs fromwhich to choose sleeping quarters.
Remembering how the brook had decreased in size, and was now runningclear and pellucid, he feared that the bag of stones Roland had sodramatically flung into it might be plainly visible. He determined torouse his commander, and seek the bag for some distance downstream; forhe knew that when the men awakened, all night-fear would have departedfrom them, and seeing the shrinkage of the brook they might themselvesinstitute a search.
On looking round for Roland he saw no sign of him, but this causedlittle disquietude, for he supposed that the leader had risen stillearlier than himself, wishing to stroll through the forest, or up anddown the rivulet.
Greusel, with the purpose of finding the bag, and in the hope, also, ofencountering his chief, walked down the valley by the margin of thewaterway. Peering constantly into the limpid waters, he discovered notrace of what he sought. Down and down the valley, which was wooded allthe way, he walked, and sometimes he was compelled to forsake his liquidguide, and clamber through thickets to reach its border again.
At last he arrived at a little waterfall, and here occurred a break inthe woods, causing him to stand entranced by the view which presenteditself. Down the declivity the forest lasted for some distance, then itgave place to ever-descending vineyards, with here and there a houseshowing among the vines. At the foot of this hill ran a broad blueribbon, which he knew to be the Rhine, although he had never seen itbefore. Over it floated a silvery gauze of rapidly disappearing mist.The western shore appeared to be flat, and farther along the horizon wasformed by hills, not so lofty as that on which he stood, but beautifulagainst the blue sky, made to seem nearer than they were by the firstrays of the rising sun, which tipped the summits with crimson.
Greusel drew a long breath of deep satisfaction. He had never beforerealized that the world was so enchanting and so peaceful. It seemedimpossible that men privileged to live in such a land could find nobetter occupation than cutting one another's throats.
The gentle plash of the waterfall at his right hand accentuated thestillness. From his height he glanced down into the broad, pellucidpool, into whose depths the water fell, and there, perfectly visible,lay the bag of bogus treasure. Cautiously he worked his way down to thegravelly border of the little lake, flung off his clothes, and plungedhead-first into this Diana's pool. It was a delicious experience, and heswam round and round the circular basin, clambered up on the gravel andallowed the stream to fall over his glistening shoulders, reveling inNature's shower-bath. Satisfied at length, he indulged in anotherrainbow plunge, grasped the bag, and rose again to the surface. Comingashore, he unloosened the swollen thongs, poured out the stones alongthe strand, then, after a moment's thought, he wrung the water out ofthe bag itself, and tied it to his belt, for there was no predictingwhere the men would wander when once they awoke, and if he threw it awayamong the bushes, it might be found, breeding first wonder how it camethere, and then suspicion of the trick.
Greusel walked back to camp by the other bank of the stream. Althoughthe early rays of the sun percolated through the upper branches of thetrees above them, the eighteen prone men slept as if they were butseven. He sprang over the brook, touched the recumbent Ebearhard withhis foot, and so awoke him. This excellent man yawned, and stretched outhis arms above his head.
"You're an early bird, Greusel," he said. "Have you got the worm?"
"Yes, I have," replied the latter. "I found it in the basin of awaterfall nearly a league from here," and with that he drew aside hiscloak, showing the still wet but empty bag.
For a few moments Ebearhard did not understand. He rose and shookhimself, glancing about him.
"Great Jove!" he cried, "this surely isn't the stream by which we laydown last night? Do you mean to tell me that thread of water struckterror into my heart only a few hours ago? I never slept out of doorsbefore in all my life, and could not have imagined it would produce suchan effect. I see what you mean now. You have found the bag which Rolandthrew into the foaming torrent."
"Yes; I was as much astonished at the transformation as you when Iawoke, and then it occurred to me that when our friends saw thereduction of the rivulet, they would forthwith begin a treasure-hunt, soI determined to obliterate the evidence."
"Was the bag really full of stones?"
"Oh, yes."
"Well, that is a lesson to me. I believe after all that Roland ishelplessly truthful, but last night I thought he befooled us. I wascertain it was the bag of coin he had thrown away, and becoming ashamedof himself, had lied to us."
"How could you imagine that? He showed us both the bag of money."
"He produced a bag full of something, but I, being the doubting Thomasof the group, was not convinced it contained money."
"Ah, that reminds me, Ebearhard; here is the bag we saw last night. Idiscovered it attached to my belt this morning."
"He attached it to the wrong belt, then, for you believed him. He shouldhave tied it to mine. What reason does he give for presenting it toyou?"
&
nbsp; "Ah, now you touch a point of anxiety in my own mind. I have seennothing of Roland this morning. I surmised that he had arisen before me,and expected to meet him somewhere down the stream, but have not doneso."
"He may have gone farther afield. As you found the bag, he of course,missed it, and probably continued his search."
"I doubt that, because I came upon a point of view reaching to the Rhineand the hills beyond. I could trace the stream for a considerabledistance, and watched it for a long time, but there appeared to benothing alive in the forest."
"You don't suppose he has gone back to Frankfort, do you?"
"I am at loss what to think."
"If he has abandoned this gang of malcontents, I should be the last toblame him. The way these pigs acted yesterday was disgraceful, ending uptheir day with rank mutiny and threats of violence. By the iron Cross,Greusel, he has forsaken this misbegotten lot, and it serves themperfectly right, prating about comradeship and carrying themselves likecut-throats. This is Roland's method of returning our money, for Isuppose that bag contains your thirty thalers and my twenty-five."
"Yes, and his own sixty as well. Poor disappointed devil, generous tothe last. It was he who obtained all the money at the beginning, thenthese drunken swine spend it on wine, and prove so generous and bravethat eighteen of them muster courage enough to face one man, and he theman who had bestowed the gold upon them."
"Greusel, the whole situation fills me with disgust. I propose we leavethe lot sleeping there, go to Wiesbaden for breakfast, and then trudgeback to Frankfort. It would serve the brutes right."
"No," said Greusel quietly; "I shall carry out Roland's instructions."
"I thought you hadn't seen him this morning?"
"Not a trace of him. You heard his orders at Breckenheim."
"I don't remember. What were they?"
"That if anything happened to him, I was to drive the herd toAssmannshausen. I quite agree with you, Ebearhard, that he is justifiedin deserting this menagerie, but, on the other hand, you and I havestood faithfully by him, and it doesn't seem to me right that he shouldleave us without a word. I don't believe he has done so, and I expectany moment to see him return."
"You're wrong, Greusel. He's gone. That purse is sufficient explanation,and as you recall to my mind his instructions, I believe something ofthis must have suggested itself to him even that early in the day. Hehas divested himself of every particle of money in his possession,turning it over to you, but instead of returning to Frankfort he hasmade his way over the hills to Assmannshausen, and will await us there."
"What would be the object of that?"
"One reason may be that he will learn whether or not you have enoughcontrol over these people to bring them to the Rhine. He will satisfyhimself that your discipline is such as to improve their manners. It maybe in his mind to resign, and make you leader, if you prove yourselfable to control them."
"Suppose I fail in that?"
"Well, then--this is all fancy, remember--I imagine he may look roundAssmannshausen to find another company who will at least obey him."
"What you say sounds very reasonable. Still, I do not see why he shouldhave left two friends like us without a word."
"A word, my dear Greusel, would have led to another, and another, andanother. One of the first questions asked him would be 'But what areEbearhard and I to do?' That's exactly what he doesn't wish to answer.He desires to know what you will do of your own accord. He is likelyrather hopeless about this mob, but is giving you an opportunity, andthen another chance. Why, his design is clear as that rivulet there, andas easily seen through. You will either bring those men across thehills, or you won't. If you and I are compelled to clamber over toAssmannshausen alone, Roland will probably be more pleased to see usthan if we brought this rogues' contingent straggling at our heels. Hewill appoint you chief officer of his new company, and me the second. Ifyou doubt my conclusions, I'll wager twenty-five thalers against yourthirty that I am in the right."
"I never gamble, Ebearhard, especially when certain to lose. You are ashrewder man than I, by a long bowshot."
In a work of fiction it would of course be concealed till the propertime came that all of these men were completely wrong in theirprognostications regarding the fate of Roland, but this being history itmay be stated that the young man had not the least desire to testGreusel's ability, nor would his lieutenants find him awaiting them whenthey reached Assmannshausen.
"Hello! Rouse up there! What have we for breakfast? Has all the winebeen drunk? I hope not. My mouth's like a brick furnace!"
It was the brave Kurzbold who spoke, as he playfully kicked, not toogently, those of his comrades who lay nearest him. He was answered bygroans and imprecations, as one by one the sleeping beauties arousedthemselves, and wondered where the deuce they were.
"Who has stolen the river?" cried Gensbein.
"Oh, stealing the river doesn't matter," said a third. "It's onlyrunning water. Who drank all the wine? That's a more serious question."
"Well, whoever's taken away the river, I can swear without searching mypouch has made no theft from me, for I spent my last stiver yesterday."
"Don't boast," growled Kurzbold. "You're not alone in your poverty.We're all in the same case. Curse that fool of a Roland for throwingaway good money just when it's most needed."
"Good money is always most needed," exclaimed the philosophic Gensbein.
He rose and shook himself, then looked down at the beautiful butunimportant rivulet.
"I say, lads, were we as drunk as all that last night? Was there animpassable torrent here or not?"
"How could we be drunk, you fool, on little more than a liter of wineeach," cried Kurzbold.
"Please be more civil in your talk," returned his friend. "You weredrunk all day. The liter and a half was a mere nightcap. If you arecertain there was a torrent, then I must have been in the same conditionas yourself."
The spokesman of the previous night, who had been chided for notspringing on Roland before he succeeded in doing away with the treasure,here uttered a shout.
"This water," he said, "is clear as air. You can see every pebble at thebottom. Get to work, you sleepyheads, and search down the stream. We'llrecover that bag yet, and then it's back to Sonnenberg for breakfast.Whoever finds it, finds it for the guild; a fair and equal divisionamongst us. That is, amongst the eighteen of us. I propose that Roland,Greusel, and Ebearhard do not share. They were all in the plot to robus."
"Agreed!" cried the others, and the treasure-hunt impetuously began.
Greusel and Ebearhard watched them disappear through the forest down thestream.
"Greusel," said Ebearhard, "what a deplorable passion is the franticquest for money in these days, especially money that we have not earned.Our excited treasure-hunters do not realize that at such a moment in theearly morning the only subject worth consideration is breakfast. Beingunsparing and prodigal last night, it would take a small miracle of thefishes to suffice them to-day. There is barely enough for two hungrymen, and as we are rid of these chaps for half an hour at least, Ipropose we sit down to our first meal."
Greusel made no comment upon this remark, but the advice commendeditself to him, for he followed it.
Some time after they had finished breakfast, the unsuccessful companyreturned by twos and threes. Apparently they had not wandered so far asthe waterfall, for no one said anything of the amazing view of theRhine. Indeed, it was plain that they considered themselves involved ina boundless wilderness, and were too perplexed to suggest a way out.After a storm of malediction over the breakfastless state of things, anda good deal of quarreling among themselves anent who had been mostgreedy the night before, they now turned their attention to the silentmen who were watching them.
"Where's Roland?" they demanded.
"I don't know," replied Greusel.
"Didn't he tell you where he was going?"
"We have not seen him this morning," explained Ebearhard gently. "Heseems to
have disappeared in the night. Perhaps he fell into the stream.Perhaps, on the other hand, he has deliberately deserted us. He gave usno hint of his intentions last night, and we are as ignorant asyourselves regarding his whereabouts."
"This is outrageous!" cried Kurzbold. "It is the duty of a leader toprovide for his following."
"Yes; if the following follows."
"We have followed," said Kurzbold indignantly, "and have been led intothis desert, not in the least knowing where in Heaven's name we are. Andnow to be left like this, breakfastless, thirsty--" Here Kurzbold'slanguage failed him, and he drew the back of his hand across parchedlips.
"When you remember, gentlemen," continued Ebearhard, in accents ofhoney, "that your last dealings with your leader took place witheighteen swords drawn; when you recollect that you expressed yourdetermination to rob him, and when you call to mind that you braveeighteen threatened him with personal violence if he resisted thisbrigandage on your part, I cannot understand why you should be surprisedat his withdrawal from your fellowship."
"Oh, you always were a glib talker, but the question now is what are weto do?"
"Yes, and that is a question for you to decide," said Ebearhard. "Whenyou mutinied last night, you practically deposed Roland from theleadership. To my mind, he had no further obligations towards you, so,having roughly taken the power into your own hands, it is for you todeal with it as you think best. I should never so far forget myself asto venture even a suggestion."
"As I hinted to you," said Kurzbold, "you are talking too much. You aremerely one of ourselves, although you have kept yourself separate fromus. Greusel has been appointed lieutenant by our unanimous vote, and ifhis chief proves a poltroon, he is the man to act. Therefore, JosephGreusel, I ask on behalf of the company what you intend to do?"
"Before I can answer that question," replied Greusel, "I must knowwhether or not you will act as you did yesterday?"
"What do you mean by that?" Several, speaking together, put thequestion.
"I wish to know whether you will follow cheerfully and without demurwhere I lead? I refuse to act as guide if I run the risk of findingeighteen sword-points at my throat when I have done my best."
"Oh, you talk like a fool," commented Kurzbold. "We followed Rolandfaithfully enough until he brought us into this impasse. You makeentirely too much of last night's episode. None of us intended to hurthim, as you are very well aware, and besides, we don't want a leader whois frightened, and runs away at the first sign of danger."
"Make up your minds what you propose to do," said Greusel stubbornly,"and give me your decision; then you will receive mine."
Greusel saw that although Kurzbold talked like the bully he was, theothers were rather subdued, and no voice but his was raised in defenseof their previous conduct.
"There is one thing you must tell us before we can come to a decision,"went on Kurzbold. "How much money have you and Ebearhard?"
"At midday yesterday I had thirty thalers, and Ebearhard hadtwenty-five. While you were all sleeping on the grass, after our meal atBreckenheim, Roland asked us for the money."
"You surely were not such idiots as to give it to him?"
"He was our commander, and we both considered it right to do what heasked of us."
"He said," put in Ebearhard, "that your suggestion about a financecommittee was a good one, and that he had determined to be thatcommittee. He asked us if any of you had money, but I told him I thoughtit was all spent, which probably accounts for his restricting theapplication to us two."
"Then we are here in an unknown wilderness, twenty men, hungry, andwithout a florin amongst us," wailed Kurzbold, and the comments of thosebehind him were painful to hear.
"I am glad that at last you thoroughly appreciate our situation, and Ihope that in addition you realize it has been brought about not throughany fault of Roland's, who gave in to your whims and childishness untilyou came to the point of murder and robbery. Therefore blame yourselvesand not him. You now know as much of our position as I do, so make upyour minds about the next step, and inform me what conclusion you cometo."
"You're a mighty courageous leader," cried Kurzbold scornfully, and withthis the hungry ones retired some distance into the grove, from whenceechoes of an angry debate came to the two men who sat by the margin ofthe stream. After a time they strode forward again. Once more Kurzboldwas the spokesman.
"We have determined to return to Frankfort."
"Very good."
"I suppose you remember enough of the way to lead us at least as far asWiesbaden. Beyond that point we can look to ourselves."
"I should be delighted," said Greusel, "to be your guide, butunfortunately I am traveling in the other direction with Ebearhard."
"Why, in the name of starvation?" roared Kurzbold. "You know no more ofthe country ahead of us than we do. By going back we can get somethingto eat, and a drink, at one of the farmhouses we passed this side ofSonnenberg."
"How?" inquired Greusel.
"Why, if they ask for payment we will give them iron instead of silver.No man need starve with a sword by his side."
"Granted that this is feasible, and that the farmers yield instead ofraising the country-side against you, when you reach Frankfort what areyou going to do? Eat and drink with the landlord of the Rheingold untilhe becomes bankrupt? You must remember that it was Roland who liquidatedour last debt there, without asking or receiving a word of thanks, andhe did that not a moment too soon, for the landlord was at the end ofhis resources and would have closed his tavern within another week."
Kurzbold stormed at this harping on the subject of Roland and hisgenerosity, but those with him were hungry, and they now remembered, toolate, that what Greusel said was strictly true. If Roland had put in anappearance then, he would have found a most docile company to lead. Theywere actually murmuring against Kurzbold, and blaming him and his clanfor the disaster that had overtaken them.
"Why will you not come back with us?" pleaded the penitents, withsurprising mildness.
"Because the future in Frankfort strikes me as hopeless. Not one amongstus has the brains of Roland, whom we have thrown out. Besides, it isnine and a half long leagues to Frankfort, and only three and a halfleagues to Assmannshausen. I expect to find Roland there, and although Iknow nothing of his intentions, I imagine he has gone to enlist acompany of a score or thereabouts that will obey his commands. There issome hope by going forward to Assmannshausen; there is absolutely nonein retreating to Frankfort. Then, as I said, Assmannshausen is littlemore than three leagues away; a fact worth consideration by hungry men.On the Rhine we are in the rich wine country, where there is plenty toeat and drink, probably for the asking, whereas if we turn our facestowards the east we are marching upon starvation."
The buzz of comment aroused by this speech proved to the two men thatKurzbold stood once more alone. Greusel, without seeming to care whichway the cat jumped, had induced that unreasoning animal to leap as heliked. His air of supreme indifference aroused Ebearhard's admiration,especially when he remembered that under his cloak there rested ahundred and fifteen thalers in gold and silver.
"But you know nothing of the way," protested Kurzbold. "None of us areacquainted with the country to the west."
"We don't need to be acquainted with it," said Greusel. "We steerwestward by glancing at the sun now and then, and cannot go astray,because we must come to the Rhine; then it's either up or down theriver, as the case may be, to reach Assmannshausen."
"To the Rhine! To the Rhine!" was now the universal cry.
"Before we begin our journey," said Greusel, as if he accepted theleadership with reluctance, "I must have your promise that you will obeyme without question. I am not so patient a man as Roland, but on my partI guarantee you an excellent meal and good wine as soon as we reachAssmannshausen."
"How can you promise that," growled Kurzbold, "when you have given awayyour money?"
"Because, as I told you, I expect to meet Roland there."
"But he threw away his bag."
"Yes; I told him it was a foolish thing to do, and perhaps that is whyhe left without saying a word, even to me. He is an ingenious man.Assmannshausen is familiar to him, and I dare say he would not havediscarded his money without knowing where to get more."
"To the Rhine! To the Rhine! To the Rhine!" cried the impatient host,gathering up their cloaks, and tightening their belts, as the savagedoes when he is hungry.
"To the Rhine, then," said Greusel, springing across the little streamin company with Ebearhard.
"You did that very well, Greusel," complimented the latter.
"I would rather have gone alone with you," replied the new leader, "forI have condemned myself to wear this heavy cloak, which is all very wellto sleep in, but burdensome under a hot sun."
"The sun won't be so oppressive," predicted his friend, "while we keepto the forest."
"That is very true, but remember we are somewhere in the Rheingau, andthat we must come out into the vineyards by and by."
"Don't grumble, Greusel, but hold up your head as a great diplomatist.Roland himself could not have managed these chaps so well, you flauntinghypocrite, the only capitalist amongst us, yet talking as if you were amonk sworn to eternal poverty."
Greusel changed the subject.
"Do you notice," he said, "that we are following some sort of path,which we must have trodden last evening, without seeing it in the dusk."
"I imagine," said Ebearhard, "that Roland knew very well where he wasgoing. He strode along ahead of us as if sure of his ground. I don'tdoubt but this will lead us to Assmannshausen."
Which, it may be remarked, it did not. The path was little more than atrail, which a sharp-eyed man might follow, and it led up-hill and downdale direct to the Archbishop's Castle of Ehrenfels.
The forest lasted for a distance that the men in front estimated to beabout two leagues, then they emerged into open country, and saw thewelcome vines growing. Climbing out of the valley, they observed to theright, near the top of a hill, a small hamlet, which had the effect ofinstantaneously raising the spirits of the woebegone company.
"Hooray for breakfast!" they shouted, and had it not been for their ownfatigue, and the steepness of the hill, they would have broken into arun.
"Halt!" cried Greusel sternly, standing before and above them. At oncethey obeyed the word of command, which caused Ebearhard to smile.
"You will climb to the top of this hill," said Greusel, "and there restunder command of my lieutenant, Ebearhard. As we now emerge intocivilization, I warn you that if we are to obtain breakfast it must beby persuasion, and not by force. Therefore, while you wait on thehilltop, I shall go alone into the houses on the right, and see what canbe done towards providing a meal for eighteen men. Ebearhard and I willfast until we reach Assmannshausen. On the other hand, you should beprepared for disappointment; loaves of bread are not to be picked up onthe point of a sword. If I return and order you to march on unfed, youmust do so as cheerfully as you can."
This ultimatum called forth not a word of opposition, and Ebearhard ledthe van while Greusel deflected up the hill to his right, the sooner toreach the village.
He learned that the name of the place was Anton-Kap; that the route hehad been following would take him to Ehrenfels, and that he must adopt areasonably rough mountain-road to the right in order to reachAssmannshausen.
By somewhat straining the resources of the place, which proved topossess no inn, he collected bread enough for the eighteen, and therewas no dearth of wine, although it proved a coarse drink that reflectedlittle credit on the reputation of the Rheingau. He paid for this mealin advance, saying that they were all in a hurry to reachAssmannshausen, and wished to leave as soon as the frugal breakfast wasconsumed.
Mounting a small elevation to the west of the village, he signaled tothe patient men to come on, which they lost no time in doing. The breadwas eaten and the wine drunk without a word being said by any one. Andnow they took their way down the hill again, crossed the littleGeisenheim stream, and up once more, traversing a high table-land givingthem a view of the Rhine, finally descending through another valley,which led them into Assmannshausen, celebrated for its red wine, a colorthey had not yet met with.
Assmannshausen proved to be a city as compared with the hamlets they hadpassed, yet was small enough to make a thorough search of the place amatter that consumed neither much effort nor time. Greusel led his mento a _Weinstaube_ a short distance out of the village, and, to theirdelight, succeeded in establishing a credit for them to the extent ofone liter of wine each, with a substantial meal of meat, eggs, andwhat-not. Greusel and Ebearhard left them there in the height of greatenjoyment, all the more delightful after the hunger and fatigue they hadencountered, for the three and a half leagues had proved almost withouta single stretch of level land. The two officers inquired for Roland,without success, at the various houses of entertainment whichAssmannshausen boasted, then canvassed every home in the village, but noone had seen anything of the man they described.
Coming out to the river front, deeply discouraged, the two gazed acrossthe empty water, from which all enlivening traffic had departed. It wasnow evident to both that Roland had not entered Assmannshausen, for inso small and gossipy a hamlet no stranger could even have passed throughwithout being observed.
"Well, Joseph," asked Ebearhard, "what do you intend to do?"
"There is nothing to do but to wait until our money is gone. It isabsolutely certain that Roland is not here. Can it be possible thatafter all he returned?"
"How could he have done so? We know him to have been without money;therefore why to Frankfort, even if such a trip were possible for apenniless man?"
"I am sorry now," said Greusel despondently, "that I did not follow asuggestion that occurred to me, which was to take the men direct downthe valley where we encamped, to the banks of the Rhine, and there makeinquiries."
"You think he went that way?"
"I did, until you persuaded me out of it."
"Again I ask what could be his object?"
"It seems to me that this mutiny made a greater impression on his mindthan I had supposed. After all, he is not one of us, and never has been.You yourself pointed that out when we were talking of him atBreckenheim. If you caught glances of contempt for us while we were allone jolly family in the Kaiser cellar, what must be his loathing for theguild after such a day as yesterday?"
"That's true. You must travel with a man before you learn his realcharacter."
"Meaning Roland?"
"Meaning this crew, guzzling up at the tavern. Meaning you, meaning me;yes, and meaning Roland also. I never knew until yesterday and to-daywhat a capable fellow you were, and when I remember that I nominatedKurzbold for our leader before Roland appeared on the scene, I am amazedat my lack of judgment of men. As for Roland himself, my opinion of himhas fallen. Nothing could have persuaded me that he would desert us allwithout a word of explanation, no matter what happened. My predictionsregarding his conduct are evidently wrong. What do you think hasactually occurred?"
"It's my opinion that the more he thought over the mutiny, the angrierhe became; a cold, stubborn anger, not vocal at all, as Kurzbold's wouldbe. I think that after fastening the money to my belt he went down thevalley to the Rhine. He knows the country, you must remember. He wouldthen either wait there until the barge appeared, or more likely wouldproceed up along the margin of the river, and hail the boat when it camein sight. The captain would recognize him, and turn in, and we know thecaptain is under his command. At this moment they are doubtless polingslowly up the Rhine to the Main again, and will thus reach Frankfort.Herr Goebel has confidence in Roland, otherwise he would never haverisked so much on his bare word. He will confess to his financier thathe has been mistaken in us, and doubtless tell him all that happened,and the merchant will appreciate that, even though he has lost his fivehundred thalers, Roland would not permit him to lose his goods as well."
"Do you suppose Roland wil
l enlist another company?"
"It is very likely, for Herr Goebel trusts him, and, goodness knows,there are enough unemployed men in Frankfort for Roland to select abetter score than we have proved to be."
It was quite certain that Roland was not in Assmannshausen, yet Greuselwas a prophet as false as Ebearhard.