.

THE RED CHATEAU.
Two o'clock in the morning, on the king's highway, and a small body of horse making progress.

The moon was beginning to roll away toward the west, but the world was still frost-white, and the broad road stretched out like a silver ribbon before the horsemen, until it was lost in the blue mist of the forests.
The troop consisted of ten men, two of whom rode with their hands tied behind their backs and their feet fastened under the bellies of the horses.

The troop was not conspicuous for this alone.

Three others had their heads done up in handkerchiefs, and a fourth carried his arm in a sling.
Five miles to the rear lay the sleeping city of Bleiberg, twenty miles beyond rose the formidable heights of the Thalians.