Adeline Knapp

“ It was the middle of the afternoon when he reached the forge and found Karl, who stared at sight of him.
“I’d dreamed thou wast safe away, boy,” he said, shaking him lovingly by the broad shoulders. “What madness is this? The baron’s men have been here for thee, and thy life is naught worth if they find thee. Why art so foolhardy, son?”
“Count Rudolf is at St. Ursula’s, and sends for thee,” Wulf said, laughing at his fears.
Karl turned on the instant, and seized a great sword that lay on the anvil.
“Sayst so? And thou hast seen the count—I mean the emperor? How looked he? ”

“ Up, then, rose the noble creature, and stepped about the courtyard, tossing his head and gently champing the bit, as a horse will when he is pleased.
“Ride him to the stables, boy, and I will have word with thee there,” cried the older knight, who had come out last; and pressing the rein, though still wondering to himself how he knew what to do, Wulf turned the steed through the inner gate, to the bailey, and letting him have his head, was carried proudly to the stables, whence the throng of grooms and stable-boys had come rushing. ”

“ It grew close up about the shop, so that its small wild life constantly came in at the open door, or invited the youngster forth to play. Rabbits and squirrels peeped in at him; birds wandered in and built their nests in dark corners; and one winter a vixen fox took shelter with them, remaining until spring, and grew so tame that she would eat bread from Wulf’s hand.
The great trees were his constant companions and friends, but one mighty oak that grew close beside the door, and sent out its huge arms completely over the shop, became, next to Karl, his chosen comrade. ”

“ Reach by reach he raised himself higher, higher, until it was plain to all that he would find it no task to climb where the champion had done.
“He’ll win to it!” cried one and then another of the watchers, and Waldemar himself shouted out encouragement to the climber when once he seemed to falter. At last came a cry from Hansei: “He has it! Hurrah!” and a general shout went up. From the balcony, too, came the sound of applause as Wulf reached the top of the buttress.
“In truth, our tinker hath mounted in the world,” sneered Conradt from the terrace. ”

“ OF HOW WULF FIRST WENT TO THE CASTLE, AND WHAT BEFELL For a matter of nine or ten years Wulf dwelt with Karl at the forge, and knew no other manner of finding than if he had been indeed the armorer’s own grandson, as he was known to those who took the trouble to wonder, Karl himself never dissenting to the idea. He was now a well grown lad of perhaps fourteen years, not tall, but sturdy, strong of thigh and arm, good to look at, with a ruddy color, fair hair, and steady eyes that met the gaze fearlessly. ”

“ Elise came a step nearer, with a gesture of pleading.
“My lord,” she said, with earnest dignity, “ye cannot mean it! I am a poor, helpless maiden, with nor father nor brother to fend for me. Never can ye mean to do me this wrong.”
“’Tis needful, girl,” the baron said, keeping his eyes lowered; “this is no time for thee to be unwed. Thou must have a legal protector other than I. Only a husband can hold thy property from the emperor’s greed—and perhaps save thee from eviler straits.” ”

“ Mark ye, Gretel, Barbarossa will never wake from his sleep. He has forgotten the land. My father says God has forgotten it in his heaven, and how shall Barbarossa remember it, sleeping in his stone chamber? No; it is the truth: he will never come.”
“It is no long beard,” said Hansei, who had been watching eagerly. “’Tis something that he bears before him at his saddle-peak.”
This was indeed true. The shining stranger, as the children could now plainly see, held in front of him, on the saddle-peak, a good-sized burden, though what it was the young watchers could not, for the distance, make out. ”

“ Wulf persisted, with manly modesty that still further won Rudolf’s straightforward heart, “no messenger could go so quickly as I—by ways I know that are quite safe. I can fare back now, and be there by daylight.”
“By the rood, no!” cried the emperor. “Thou shalt rest some hours ere we think further of this. There’s none too much such timber as thou in the land, that we should be in haste to fell it. Get thee now to refreshment and rest, and if we need thee thou shalt know it.” ”

“ Deep within the heart of each one of us, no matter how old, there lives a child. All our strength, all that the years bring us of gain or good, help us not at all if these do not serve to fend this child from harm, and to keep it good. Big Karl at his forge knew naught of books, and to him, in those evil days, had come much knowledge of the cruelty and wickedness of evil men. ”

“ When we burn this wood in our stoves or our fireplaces, the warmth and blaze that are thrown out are just this sunshine which the tree has caught in its heart from the time it was a tiny seedling till the ax was laid at its root. So when we sit by the coal fire and enjoy its genial radiance, we are really warming ourselves by some of the same sunlight and warmth that sifted down through the leaves of great forest trees, perhaps thousands of years ago. ”

“ So Wulf was summoned before the great emperor, and came with swift-beating heart. Brought face to face with Rudolf, he fell upon one knee, cap in hand, and waited the monarch’s will.
When the latter spoke it was with great kindliness; for well was he pleased with the goodly-looking youth.
“Thou mayst rise,” he said, when he had glanced keenly over the kneeling figure. “And so thou’rt my old friend Karl’s grandson. If there’s aught in blood, thou shouldst be an honest man and a brave; for truer nor braver man ever lived, and well knows Rudolf of Hapsburg that.” ”

“ And it were foolishness, Hansei, if nothing more, to let the thought that he was a sinner hinder our helping a fellow in need.”
“Better foolishness than sin,” muttered Hansei, turning a bit sullen at the reproof.
“’Tis not so certain,” replied Wulf. “For between sin and foolishness there lies this difference: that God forgiveth our sins an we repent; but our foolishness is like to get i’ the grain of us at last, and naught kills it then but that we die ourselves.” ”

“ No foe is here, but only one weak man who comes to warn ye of danger. ’Tis poor Bell-Hutten, who means no harm to him who saved him in the forest. Open! Open!”
Softly, then, Wulf drew out the great forged bolt that held it, and keeping the steel weapon-wise in his right hand, threw open the door.
“What wouldst have? Art hungry?”
“Nay; speak not of my wants, but tell me—art named Wulf, and do men call thee the tinker?”
“Some men do; but they be no friends of mine.”
“That I warrant; but death is at thy heels; an thou get not from here he will be quickly at thy throat.” ”

“ In the recess where the young men were wont to climb the vines were torn down, but above the buttress, over both keep and castle, the great branches grew and clung, reaching clean to the top of the tower; and Wulf, unable to go farther between the walls, was now pulling himself up along the twisted ivy growth that covered the face of the tower. ”

“ What Baron Everhardt, at council with his knights, thought of the outlook, not even Conradt, among those on the terrace, rightly knew; but a few hours later, by orders sent out through the stewards and the masters of arms and horse, the routine of the castle was being put upon a war footing, to the joy of the eager young men. 105All were busy, each at his own line of duty, in the work of preparation for battle, and, to Wulf’s delight, it fell to his lot to fare down the valley to the forge on an errand for Herr Werner, whose man he was. ”

“ Karl, watching him, gathered rightly that he was worried as to his duty.
“An he be in truth the emperor by will of the people, and not alone of him at Rome,” Wulf added at last, “then are all true men who love Germany bound to come to his banner.”
“Ay.” Karl thrust the iron he was welding deep into the glowing coals of the forge.
“But I am of the Swartzburg’s men; 107and how may I be an honest one and fail at this moment when every blade is needed?” ”

“ Mind ye do that, for beyond the willows and the pool yonder is quicksand, and that means death, for no footing is there for any helper.”
Thus warned, the young men looked at one another uneasily; but none fell back; so, unseen by the foe, and noting well each step that Wulf made, they followed him until at last they won clear across that treacherous morass, and came safe aland again among the osiers, well up the pass toward the Swartzburg. Here they rested, getting their wind, and jesting in high glee, as hot-hearted young fellows do, over the sport that was to follow. ”

“ Take it, all of it, an ye will, and let me enter a convent—rather than this.”
But for this the baron had no mind. Already had he turned his ward’s property to his own use, and her marriage with Conradt was planned but that he might hide his theft from the knowledge of others. Well knew he how stern an accounting of his guardianship Mother Church would demand, did Elise enter her shelter; but he only said:
“Thou art not of age. Thou canst not take so grave a step. The law will not let thee consent.” ”

“ With old Karl for helper and adviser, Wulf, all doubt and mystery cleared, ruled his great domain. Later he brought home his fair bride from St. Ursula, given into his keeping by the emperor himself, and thereafter, the story tells, Baron Wulf and his lady lived long a life of usefulness and good deeds; whereby those hard times were made easier for many, and the sunshine, gathered through the years, made warmth and light for others, as must always be in this world, when any life is lived for the sake of usefulness and helpfulness. ”

“ As for Wulf, he lay upon the barn floor and watched Hansei care for Siegfried, who was quiet enough now that the armorer’s lad was with him. The lad Hansei was the same who had played with the others on the plateau on that day when the shining knight rode up the pass. Well was it for our boy that the honest young peasant took a liking to him, and was minded to stand his friend, for he had else scarce found comfort at the castle. ”

“ There was an oily smoothness in the 118baron’s tone that did not ease the fear in Elise’s heart. Never had she known him to speak of her father, whom she could not remember, and, indeed, never before had he spoken to her at such length; for the baron was more at home in the saddle, or at tilt and foray, than with the women of his household. ”

“ He looked, after that, to see them all rush toward him; but, instead, even the baron was smitten with fear, and deemed, as did his men, that the wrath of God had fallen upon them all for Conradt’s sin in raising blade against him whom Heaven had already marked with vengeance. Most of the soldiers fled upon the instant; but one of his own men helped the hunchback to saddle, and mounting behind to hold him up, they joined the company that raced, flockmeal, away from the place, so that soon not one remained, nor any sound from them came back upon the wind. ”

“ Just where the massive square bulk of the keep raised its grim stories, a great buttress thrust boldly out from the castle, running up beside the wall of the tower for a considerable distance. The two were just enough apart to be firmly touched, on either side, by a man who might stand between them, and it was a mighty test of courage and strength for a man to climb up between them, even a few yards, by hand and foot pressure only. It was a great feat to perform among the more ambitious knights and squires about the castle. ”

“ Yet none of these would hold fellowship with Conradt, albeit they dared not openly flout the baron’s nephew. Nevertheless, he had gathered to himself a manner of following from the villages and countryside about the Swartzburg: criminals and refugees, for the most part, men who had suffered for their misdeeds at the hands of such law as was in the land; fellows whom no other leader would own, but who gladly fell in under a headship as bad as they. These ranged the forest wide and far, and from their evil raids was no poor man free nor helpless woman safe. ”

“ The cries of men, the clashing of weapons and armor, the shrill screams of wounded horses, came up on every side, while so dark was it that for a little time the emperor’s soldiers scarce knew friend from foe as they pressed on, half dazed. ”

“ Whenever the armorer had to go to village or castle, Wulf used to take shelter in this tree; not so much from fear,—for even in those evil days the armorer’s grandson, as he grew to be regarded by those who came about the forge, was too insignificant to be molested,—but because 36of his love for the great tree. As he became older he was able to climb higher and higher among its black arms, until at last he made him a nest in the very crown of the wood giant.
Every tree, throughout its life, stores up within its heart light and heat from the sun. ”

“ Have off thy cap or thou’lt get this,” and he grasped the other half-rind of melon, which the second boy held.
“Nay, Conradt!” the little maid cried, staying his hand. “The lad is a stranger, and come upon an errand; do we treat such folk thus?”
Wulf’s cap was by now in his hand, and, with crimson cheeks, he made a shy salutation to the little girl, who returned it courteously, while the boys still laughed.
“What dost thou next, tinker?” the one whom she had called Conradt said, strutting forward. “Faith, thy manners sorely need mending. What dost to me?” ”

“ Hastily they ransacked the place, while the baron sat his horse and roared forth his orders, sending one man here, another yonder, to be at the thicket and 180scour all the places. One even came under the great tree and held up his torch, throwing the light high aloft, but seeing naught of Wulf.
Then the baron laughed savagely.
“This is thy chase, nephew Conradt,” he jeered. “Said I not he would never be here? The armorer’s whelp is a hanging rogue fast enough, but no fool to blunder hither, once he were safe away with the girl.” ”