CHAPTER I.
THE JOURNEY.
In the latter part of the month of August, A. D. 1278, two travelers journeyed on foot, not far from each other, along the road from Vienna towards the March. They were strangers in that country and with difficulty made themselves understood. But little opportunity existed, however, for the exercise of conversational powers, and the region seemed depopulated. In several miles not an inhabitant was encountered on the highway; and once or twice only a frightened peasant who came in sight in the cultivated portions showed himself for an instant and then hastily disappeared.
Toward evening the foremost traveler checked his steady pace occasionally and scanned the surrounding country for a symptom of possible shelter. These halts enabled the second stranger to diminish the distance between them, and, ashe approached, his general appearance was scrutinized very closely by the other. The investigation, conducted on both sides with obvious attention, appeared to be mutually assuring. Neither carried a weapon, except a straight staff evidently not fashioned for combat. The fore-
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