tween spending the night on a wooden bench without supper, and a few stripes in the morning after a good supper and bed. “Perhaps,” said he, “the castigation may drive away the fever which I am sure to catch, and which will torment me sadly, if I remain in this condition. He spurred his horse on, and reached, in a few minutes, the gates of a gothic castle, at which he knocked pretty audibly, and was answered by as loud a “Who is there?” from within. He replied, and asked impatiently for admission, but was obliged to wait till the porter went to inquire whether Sir Egbert was disposed to barter a night’s lodging, for the privilege of thumping his guest on the morrow.
Sir Egbert, a brave knight, had entered in very early youth the army of the emperor, and had served under the celebrated George of Frondsberg, and, at a later period, commanded a company against the Venetians. He then retired from service, and settled on his estate, there to repent of the sins of his youth; he opened his castle-gates to the hungry, the thirsty, or the houseless traveller; and, after
