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At the close of the fifth day of the journey of the seven knights, they
came to a convent situated in the bosom of a delightful vale, and surrounded
with meadows, groves and broad fields waving in the evening sun rays,
like seas of golden waves. Attached to the convent was a spacious court,
overshadowed with olive trees, which was appropriated, like the caravanserai
of the east, to the accomodation of travellers. Hither the knights turned
in just as the sun set, and were hospitably received by the Lady Superior,
who, from a wicket above the gate, gave them welcome. Betweeen the outer
court and the court of the castle, was a very high wall, which prevented
all communication with the sacred retirement of the sisterhood. Provisions,
in hospitable profusion, were lowered down to the knights from the wicket,
and as the place was large and well roofed, the travellers fared well. After
their repast had been made, the Roman cavalier, Vitelli di Braganti, seeing
sundry bright eyes peeping down through the lattice, and willing to entertain
the fair nuns in their loneliness, as well, may be, as to display his rich
voice, sung a Romancero, which, however, was better fitting beneath a lady's
bower, than the lattice of a holy convent. This is one of the stanzas:



`All the stars are glowing
In the gorgeous sky;
In the stream scarce flowing,
Mimic stars do lie;
Blow, gentle, gentle breeze!
But bring no cloud to hide
Their dear resplendencies;
Nor chase from Zara's side
Dreams bright and pure as these.'

Such songs of love ili become a convent's walls,' said the Spanish Knight
Don Fernando de Valor. `If we must be in a merry mood, let us sing some
ballad recounting the doughty deeds of good Christian knights against the
Moors. I remember a ballad recounting the achievement of Garci Perez
de Vargas, that showeth how he got the name of Machuca, or `The Pounder;
' for, he having broken his sword in battle, pulled up by the roots a wild
olive tree, and with the trunk thereof performed such wondrous deeds that
the holy maidens will esteem themselves happy in having had the pleasure
to hear them.'

`Nay,' said the Scottish knight, `this were too warlike for a convent's ear.
If you will listen, I will, by your leave, fair cavaliers, sing you a famous
Scottish ballad, recounting a deed of charity of that good and gentle-hearted
knight, King Robert the Bruce, and for which the Spanish bards have
have given credit to Rodrigo de Bivar. It is a holy ballad and befitting this
place.'

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The ballad was sung and listened to by all present with great attention;
and when the Scottish knight had done, the usual evening's entertainment
was resumed.

It now being the turn, on this night, of Rother de Ernest to relate a tale
in proof of the superiority of German knighthood over that of the other
lands whose chivalry had been illustrated by the foregoing tales, he
placed himself in an attitude to command their attention, and the regard of
the listening nuns from the casement around, and thus, in a pleasant voice,
began his story:

“Next to deeds of great valor in a knight, are those noble acts which
have for their base the gentler feelings of the heart, and which are shown,
not so much by deeds of warlike character and high emprise of arms, as in
relieving the distressed and averting wrong. The story of Sieur de Linant,
in the history of Don Alarcos, has shown us that a knight may achieve the
greatest acts of valor and strength, and excel in skill of arms all his fellow
knights, yet stain the glory and excellence of his brilliant deeds by moral
actions that will degrade him as low as his bravery bath before elevated
him. My story, therefore, gentle cavaliers, will not touch so much upon
doughty deeds, though we can show our share of these in Germany, I wot,
but upon those higher attributes of chivalry which adorn a knight.

Olof St. Morin was the son of a woodman who dwelt in the black forest
of Baden. He was, when in his eighteenth year, a tall, manly, handsome
lad, with flowing brown hair, a brilliant eye and finely shaped features looking,
save his sun-browned cheek and coarse attire, rather like a prince's son
than a peasant's. He had already evinced great courage both to do and to
endure, which latter is the noble quality! In his disposition he was mild
and amiable to a fault, in his manner gentle, but in spirit firm and indomitable.
His mind was also above his birth, and his skill in books, which the
good monks in a neighboring convent loaned him, was by no means to be
despised even by the holy fathers themselves. It was a marvel how, amid
the gloom of the forest, the wildness of its cataracts and the savage character
of the scenes around him, he should have become what he was; but nature
sometimes goes out of her path to strike out her best achievements.

One morning Olof was roaming the forest in search of kine which had
strayed from his father's cot when the distant winding of a bugle fell upon his
ears, and in a few moments he caught a glimpse of a party of knights who
were passing along the imperial road which wound through the forest.—
Instigated by curiosity he turned back to take a place on the high way
whence he might behold the passage of the cavalcade. It came prancing
on with the sound of bugles, the ringing of steel, and clangor of shields,
swords and spurs. In advance, rode an imperial herald on his gorgeously
emblazoned tabard; then came two knights abreast, attended by their esquires
bearing their shields and spurs; then pranced a company of the gentlemen
of the court in gay and gallant costume, in high and merry converse
But what especially drew the eyes of the young forester as he stood leaning
upon a tree, was a beautiful palanquin with curtains of azure silk spangled
with silver and a canopy of cloth of gold, beneath which sat a lovely lady,
whom he was assured could be none less than a princess. It was followed
a few paces behind by a score of mounted men-at-arms. He saw that amid
all her splendor, her face was sad, and immediately his heart felt sympathy
for her. On either hand of the palanquin which was borne on the shoulders
of four strong serfs, rode in silence a lady on a white palfrey, one of
whom was elderly and stern' the other a dark eyed beauty whose dazzling
charms at once struck the peasant lad with a sort of bewildering fascination;
for he could not keep from her his eyes; and as she saw him she smiled upon
him with such dazzling power that, for a moment, in the wild rushing of

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blood to his brain he lost all consciousness. At this moment the chief of the
party riding up to the palanquin spoke to the occupant, and then ordered a
halt, and beckoned to the young forester, who alertly yet modestly advanced
towards him where he sat upon his horse beside the palanquin.

`Thou seemest as if thou should'st know these forests well,' said the old
knight, `canst thou tell us how far it is to the Convent of St. Mark?'

`It is half a league, turning to the left after you ford the wolf's glen, and
keeping the beaten path,' he answered embarrassed, for the large sweet eyes
of the lady in the palanquin were fixed upon him with an expression of interest.
His own fell beneath them, and he felt as if tears would come to
his eyes, he knew not wherefore. The other female whose dark glance had
flashed upon him so vividly was forgotten, and his thoughts were filled with
the pale and beautiful creature who appeared to him like some of the celestial
beings he had seen in dreams. He looked up an instant under the influence
of these feelings, and his eyes met hers fixed upon him so large, blue
and tearful, that for the first time in his life he felt unhappy.

The cavalcade was passing on again when a strange noise to the left in
the depths of the forest drew all eyes. It increased; and though at first
faint and far distant, advanced rapidly nearer and louder, till there fell upon
their appalled ears the prolonged and continuous yell of pursuing wolves,
mingled with loud crackling of the underbrush, and a wild indescribable cry
that at intervals rose above all.

`Knights to your defence! Men-at-arms rally before the Princess!' cried
the chief of the party. `Come they along the highway, or across the forest,
peasant?' he cried to Olof, who, on first hearing the well known sound, had
instantly run forward to a rising ground and was now intently looking in
the direction in which they seemed to be coming.

`They will cross this way!' he shouted. `They are in pursuit of a horse
who is flying this way! Let me advise you, my lord, to have open-spaces
between your men-at-arms that they may have clear path-way before them.
There are above three hundred in the pack, and nothing can resist them!'

`Let us defend the princess with our lives, knights!' said the knight, `and
throw ourselves in a body before her, with our spears in rest! Hear their
infernal yells! The ground shakes! Nay, lady, keep seated till this fierce
storm go by!'

The forests now fairly echoed with the yells of the approaching pack, and
the moment after he had spoken they beheld advancing along a glade that
intersected the road, a dark cloud of wolves in close pursuit of a flying steed
who, with his mane erect, his eyes starting from their sockets, and every
muscle strained, was making supernatural exertions to escape from them.—
Beneath his belly was a knight's saddle, and the bridle and stirrups were flying
in the wind. Upon his bleeding flanks hung a huge wolf, and ever and
anon the victim would give vent to a wild agonizing cry that seemed human
in its mortal terror.

In silence and horror the little band stood in the paths awaiting their fate.
The yells of the wolves were now so clear and deafening that no voice
could be heard. At this crisis, Olof, who had stood in advance awaiting
them, as if first to offer his body a sacrifice, bounded towards a man-at-arms
who held a scarlet banner aloft, and snatching it from him, placed himself
a few rods in advance of them and waved it.

The maddened steed came plunging on, and, startled by the flutter of the
streamer shaken in his path by the fearless youth, turned slightly aside
from his course which was directly for the palanquin, and was dashing past
in his furious career, when suddenly, at the sight of men and horses, he
checked his speed and threw himself bleeding and exhausted upon the ground
in front of them, and cast upon the party a glance of human supplication.

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There was no time, however, for regarding him, as the peril of all was
equal, though each good knight, as he gazed on him, felt as if he would
cheerfully do battle in his defence, had he none other to defend. The
wolves came up at headlong leaps, and the head of the pack were speared,
or fell beneath blows of sword, while many rushed through the spaces left,
and alarmed by the sudden encounter, by the shouts of the knights and men
and the shrill shriek of the alarum bugles, kept on in flight. About a score,
however, gave desperate battle around the fugitive steed, and many of the
horses were thrown down and their riders dragged to the earth.

Olof, immediately on seeing the horse turn aside, had placed a tree between
him and the fierce current, which, parting on either side, rushed on
leaving him unharmed. He now hastened to the assistance of the party,
when he saw a wolf of enormous size, who had fled beyond the spot, turn
back and make with fierce determination towards the palanquin, which was
in the rear. The next instant he was flying over the shoulders of the terrified
bearers and lighted upon its side.

With a cry of horror the young forester bounded to her rescue, for all
around were appalled and motionless, and the palanquin had been thrown
down! He was unarmed; but regardless of this he sprung upon the wolf
as he laid his huge paw upon the bosom of the insensible lady, and fastening
his hands upon his open jaws, broke the lower one; and then grappling
with the furious beast, who howled with pain, he fell with him to the ground.
For a few moments a terrific contest ensued, but the courageous youth,
grasping a knight's dagger from the earth, which had been dropped in the
fray, succeeded in thrusting the brute through the gorget and slaying him.
This act was witnessed by the princess, who had recovered from her swoon
on the fall of the wolf from the palanquin, and by all the knights who, having
beaten off the rest of the pack, were spectators of his achievement.—
The princess thanked him warmly for the preservation of her life; and after
the knights had got their party together again, and each had his wounds
bound up, and the march was resumed, she detained him by the palanquin,
and enquired his name and parentage.

When she found that he was as modest as he was brave, and had wit and
gentle manners, she was greatly pleased with him, more than she dared suffer
herself to express in that company.

`This forest life befits you not,' she said gazing upon his blushing cheek
and downcast eyes. `Will you not come to court and serve me?' she asked
with a gentle voice and winning smile.

`I will serve you, noble lady, in court or forest,' he answered warmly; `so
that my poor services may be accepted with one so high and lovely.'

`He is a courtier already, your Highness,' laughed and said the dark-eyed
horsewoman who had all the while been riding near. `He hath the court's
tongue!'

`Hush, Rachel,' said the princess; `be not pert!'

The Jewess, for such she was, and the confidential maid of the princess
Brynhilda, looked vexed and displeased at being rebuked so openly, let her
palfrey fall back a pace and rode moodily along.

The noble steed which had been rescued, though sorely wounded, was
led behind by a man-at-arms, and numerous were the conjectures as to the
fate of the unfortunate rider, for nothing of his rank could be told from his
soiled and torn accountrements, when a man was seen advancing through
the forest, hailing the party. As he came nearer, it was discovered that he
was a knight in a plain suit of russet mail and that he was bareheaded. On
his nearer approach the chief knight exclaimed with astonishment,

`It is the emperor!' and instantly spurring forward into the forest, he
threw himself to the ground and kneeled before him.

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At his exclamation there was a general murmur of surprise and recognition.
The effect of the announcement upon the princess was remarked
with marvel by the peasant. Her face became deadly pale, and she seemed
to him to be stricken with fear.

The emperor mounted the knight's horse, and came forward saluting the
company, and riding up and seeing the beautiful Jewess mourted on her
palfrey, which she had switched to bring him nearer the emperor, he bent
towards, and gallantly saluting her upon the cheek, said, while he gazed admiringly
upon her dark and voluptuous beauty:

`By my halidom, Sir Bertrand, but you have brought me a brave wife!'

`Your majesty,' said the knight, who with all the company had witnessed
with surprise the king's salutation, to which, be it said, the Jewess seemed
nothing loth, `Your majesty has fallen into a great error. The princess
Brynhilda is in the palanquin! She whom you have honored is but a jewess!
'

`Fore heaven, Bertrand, were the princess fairer than the Jewess, she
were an angel,' said Otho.

As he spoke he lifted the curtain and looked in, where, pale, injured in
feelings, and instinctively feeling repugnance towards the emperor, reclined
the princess. She had been married by proxy, at her father's court, three
weeks before, and was now on her way to her husband's court, who, having
taken a fancy to surprise her, whom he had never seen, rode alone into
the forest, three leagues from the capital, to meet them, clad in plain armor.

He gazed upon his lovely bride an instant, with a look of evident disappointment,
slightly pressed his cheek, not his lips, to hers, and dropped the
curtain, leaving her in tears of grief and indignation.

`Ha, here is my horse! How rescued you him?' he inquired, with surprise,
`I believed he had been, ere this, food for wolves. I was set upon, a
half league hence, by a hungry pack, and only saved myself by springing
from his back into the branch of a tree, when he took flight, with the whole
horde in full cry after him!'

The knight narrated their adventure, and the escape of the princess, by
the gallantry of the forester, whom the emperor, after casting a searching
look upon him as he stood aloof from the company, beckoned to advance.

`I am told thou art a forester, and hast shown bravery of no mean degree.
I need such youths about me! Go, take leave of thy father, and follow
me to court.'

Thus speaking, the emperor, remounting his own horse, rode forward;
and Olof saw as he followed with his eyes, that he talked and laughed with
the Jewess, as he rode, without taking notice of the palanquin, or its occupant.

The young peasant went to court the next day, in obedience to the command
of the emperor, and was made a page of his person, to attend him in
hunting. His courage, his manliness, and his superior excellence in all
things appertaining to his new station, as if born and educated to it, won
for him the emperor's regard, who did not fail to heap honors upon him.—
Nevertheless, Olof remained the same modest and unassuming person as
before. He had been but a few weeks in the palace when he discovered
that the emperor neglected the youthful empress, whom he kept almost a
prisoner in her own apartments; while he spent many of his leisure hours
in the company of the beautiful, artful and ambitious Jewess. Olof's heart
bled for her, and he was daily contriving ways to do her kindnesses, which
his position enabled him to do. At length, for some bold deed, in which he
saved the emperor's life from an assassin, he was ennobled, and made a
knight of the first order in the empire.

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Two years he had remained attached to the emperor's person—a bold soldier
and gallant warrior in the field, and a polished courtier in the palace,—
when it was discovered by some means, and with certain proof, that he was
a nephew of the emperor! being the son of his younger brother, who had
been taken from its nurse's arms in the forest, by a bear, and borne into
the wilderness, where he was supposed to have been devoured, or to have
perished. He was, however, found by the forester's wife, who nurtured him
as her own. This discovery produced a great change in the condition of
Olof, but none in his heart! He modestly assumed the honors of his high
rank, yet wore them as became his birth. During the two years he had
become loyally attached to the empress, whom the emperor had now deserted
for the beautiful Jewess, who became his concubine, and held great
influence over his mind. At length she succeeded in prevailing upon him
to imprison Brynhilda in a remote castle on the Rhine, on the accusation of
an attempt to poison him.

This act roused the indignation of the nobles, for the mild and gentle
character of the empress had won their attachment, and enlisted their sympathy;
and being also incensed that a Jewess should be elevated to her
place in the imperial palace, they drew up a formidable petition of remonstrance
at this injustice done to the empress. This bold procedure incensed
the haughty and reckless emperor; and, determined, under the smarting
rage of the insult, to be revenged on both her and the nobles, for their interference,
he sent for Olof, who was now nearest his throne and his confidential
adviser. The young prince appeared before him, tall, noble and commanding
in person, the first knight, already, in arms and gentle deeds, in
all Germany, though scarce twenty two.

`Olof,' said the emperor, `you are my next of blood, and heir of the empire!
If this wicked empress lives, she will seek your life as she has mine!
Go to her, and take with you a trusty slave, and see that she is put to the
death! It is the only course I have of ensuring my own life, or you the
imperial sceptre?'

The young prince started, and his eloquently-speaking countenance showed
his compassion and grief. The emperor observing this, said sternly,

`On your obedience hangs your own life, and thence your crown!'
The prince bowed low, and left the imperial presence. The same night he
took horse and attendants, and the third day reached the fortress, in which
the hapless empress was cruelly confined.

The lady beholding him approach, from her grated lattice, and recognising
him, began to hope her deliverance had come, for she could not believe
she could receive evil from his gentle hands. He alighted; the warder opened
the heavy barriers! the lock gave back at his onward course through
the passages! she heard his step upon the paved hall without, and the next
moment the young forester-prince stood in her presence. He closed the
door, and they were alone! She stood still, uncertain whether to, advance
or not, when he came forward, and, kneeling silently at her feet, took her
hand, and she felt hot tears drop upon it!

`What means this grief, Olof?' she said, as he rose to his feet and gazed
upon her with pity.

`It is the emperor's commands, lady, that you prepare to die! I am commissioned
to put them into execution!'

`And will you be so cruel? I am innocent, Olof, of all he could charge
against me. My guilt lies in his own dark heart! I am innocent!' and she
fell on her knees and looked up to heaven!

`I know it, lady!' he said, with deep grief; `it is the emperor's command
that I slay you presently.'

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`Then give me a moment, Olof, to make my peace with God,' said the
patient lady.

`Nay, I shall not harm thee! Your death or mine is my alternative! It
becomes not a knight to harm woman—a subject to lay his hand upon his
empress. Thus, lady, I show my loyalty and maintain my honor!'

Thus speaking the noble youth threw himself forward upon his naked
sword, and died at the feet of her whom he had been commanded to slay.

Here the German knight paused!

A murmur of surprise and admiration rose both from the knights and the
listening sisterhood in the casements above, and it was acknowledged, without
a dissenting voice, that Olof St. Morin had shown himself worthy the
appellation of a true knight; inasmuch as this deed of his was inspired by
the noblest sentiments that can inhabit the bosom of a man, or give glory
to chivalry.