Her dowry will suffice to settle twenty such bridge dues, and if it should come to a fray, the brave huntress will ride to the field at your side with helmet and spear.

Which of the four Fs did Countess Cordula von Montfort ever lack ?" "The four Fs ?" asked Heinz, listening intently.

"The Fs," explained the ex-pedagogue, "are the four letters which marriageable knights should consider.

They are: Family, figure, favour, and fortune.

But hold your cap on! What a hot blast this is, as if the storm were coming straight from the jaws of hell.