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and tenantry to lend their aid to those of Sir Adelbert in putting the

castle of the latter into a state of defence and mending the breach which

existed. A sum of money, equal to the revenues of which he had possessed

himself, was to be paid at once, and the knight was to retain possession

of Rotherheim and of the baron's person until these conditions were all

faithfully carried out. The baron had no resource but to assent to these

terms, and upon the following day Cuthbert and Blondel departed upon

their way, overwhelmed with thanks by Sir Adelbert, and confident that he

would now be able to regain and hold the possession of his estate.

CHAPTER XXVI.

KING RICHARD'S RETURN TO ENGLAND.

Journeying onward, Blondel and his companion stopped at many castles, and

were everywhere hospitably entertained. Arriving at Vienna they lingered

for some time, hoping there to be able to obtain some information of the

whereabouts of King Richard. Blondel in his songs artfully introduced

allusions to the captive monarch and to the mourning of all Christendom

at the imprisonment of its champion. These allusions were always well

received, and he found that the great bulk of the nobles of the empire

were indignant and ashamed at the conduct of the emperor in imprisoning

his illustrious rival. The secret of his prison place, however, appeared

to have been so well kept that no information whatever was obtainable.

"We must carry out our original plan," he said at length, "and journey

into the Tyrol. In one of the fortresses there he is most likely to be

confined."

Leaving the capital they wandered up into the mountains for weeks,

visiting one castle after another. It was no easy matter in all cases to

get so near to these prisons as to give a hope that their voice might be

heard within, or an answer received without. More than once cross-bow

bolts were shot at them from the walls when they did not obey the

sentinel's challenge and move further away. Generally, however, it was in

the day time that they sang. Wandering carelessly up, they would sit down

within earshot of the castle, open their wallets, and take out

provisions from their store, and then, having eaten and drunk, Blondel

would produce his lute and sing, as if for his own pleasure. It needed,

however, four visits to each castle before they could be sure that the

captive was not there; for the song had to be sung on each side.

Sometimes they would cheat themselves with the thought that they heard an

answering voice; but it was not until the end of the fourth week, when

singing outside the castle of Diernstein, that a full rich voice, when

Blondel ceased, sang out the second stanza of the poem. With difficulty

Blondel and Cuthbert restrained themselves from an extravagant exhibition

of joy. They knew, however, that men on the prison wall were watching

them as they sat singing, and Blondel, with a final strain taken from a

ballad of a knight who, having discovered the hiding place of his

ladylove, prepared to free her from her oppressors, shouldered his lute,

and they started on their homeward journey.

There was no delay now. At times they sang indeed at castles; but only

when their store was exhausted, for upon these occasions Blondel would

be presented with a handsome goblet or other solid token of the owner's

approval, and the sale of this at the next city would take them far on

their way. They thought it better not to pass through France, as

Philip, they knew, was on the watch to prevent any news of King Richard

reaching England. They therefore again passed through Brabant, and so

by ship to England.

Hearing that Longchamp, Bishop of Ely, one of Richard's vicegerents, was

over in Normandy, and rightly deeming him the most earnest of his

adherents, they at once recrossed the sea, and found the warlike prelate

at Rouen. Greatly delighted was he at hearing that Richard's hiding-place

had been discovered. He at once sent across the news to England, and

ordered it to be published far and wide, and himself announced it to the

barons of Normandy. Then with a gorgeous retinue, including Cuthbert and

Blondel, he started for Vienna, and arriving there demanded an interview

with the emperor.

The news that it was now certain that Richard was imprisoned in a castle

of the emperor, had already spread through Europe, and the bishop had

been received everywhere with tokens of sympathy; and so great was the

feeling shown by the counts and barons of the empire, that the Emperor

Henry felt that he could no longer refuse to treat for the surrender of

his captive. Therefore he granted the interview which Longchamp

demanded. The English envoy was received by the emperor surrounded by his

nobles. The prelate advanced with great dignity.

"I come," he said, "in the name of the people of England to demand the

restoration of King Richard, most unjustly and unknightly detained a

prisoner in his passage through your dominions."

"King Richard was my foe," the emperor said, "open and secret, and I was

justified in detaining one who is alike my enemy and a scourge to Europe

as a prisoner, when fortune threw him in my hands. I am, however, willing

to put him to a ransom, and will upon the payment of 150,000 marks allow

him to go free."

"I deny your right to detain him or to put him to ransom," the bishop

said. "But as you have the power, so my denial is useless. England is

poor, impoverished with war and by the efforts which she made in the

service of our holy religion. Nevertheless, poor as she is, she will

raise the sum you demand. There is not an Englishman who will not furnish

all he can afford for the rescue of our king. But once again, in the

presence of your nobles, I denounce your conduct as base and unkingly."

The emperor could with difficulty restrain his passion; but the sight of

the sombre visages of his nobles showed that they shared in no slight

degree the feelings which the English envoy had so boldly announced.

"Before, however," the emperor said, "I surrender King Richard, he

must be tried by my peers of many and various crimes of which he is

accused. Should he be found guilty of these, no gold can purchase his

release. Should he, however, be acquitted, then as my word is given so

shall it be."

"Although," the prelate said, "I deny your right to try our king, and

believe that he himself will refuse to accept your jurisdiction, yet I

fear not the result if our lord be left in the hands of the nobles of

the empire and not in yours. I can trust their honour and courtesy."

And turning upon his heel, without another word he quitted the apartment.

An hour later the bishop and his following took horse and rode with all

speed to the north coast, and thence sailed for England. The news of the

amount of ransom filled the people with consternation; but preparations

were at once made for collecting the sum demanded. Queen Eleanor was

unceasing in her efforts to raise the money for the release of her

favourite son. The nobles contributed their jewels and silver; the people

gave contributions of goods, for money was so scarce in England that few

had the wherewithal to pay in coin. Prince John placed every obstacle in

the way of the collection; but the barons had since their successful

stand obtained the upper hand, and it was by intrigue only that he could

hinder the collection.

In the meantime, popular opinion throughout Europe was strong upon the

side of King Richard. The pope himself wrote to the emperor on his

behalf. The barons of the empire were indignant at the shame placed upon

their country; and the emperor, although he would fain have thrown

further delays in the way, was obliged at last to order the first step

to be taken.

A solemn diet was ordered to assemble at Worms. Here were collected all

the nobles of the empire, and before them King Richard was brought. It

was a grand assembly. Upon a raised throne on the dais sat the emperor

himself, and beside him and near him were the great feudatories of the

empire, and along the sides of the walls were ranged in long rows the

lesser barons. When the doors were opened and King Richard entered, the

whole assembly, save the emperor, rose in respect to the captive monarch.

Although pale from his long confinement, the proud air of Richard was in

no way abated, and the eyes that had flashed so fearlessly upon the

Saracens looked as sternly down the long lines of the barons of Germany.

Of splendid stature and physique, King Richard was unquestionably the

finest man of his time. He was handsome, with a frank face, but with a

fierce and passionate eye. He wore his moustache with a short beard and

closely-cut whisker. His short curly hair was cropped closely to his

head, upon which he wore a velvet cap with gold coronet, while a scarlet

robe lined with fur fell over his coat of mail, for the emperor had

deemed it imprudent to excite the feeling of the assembly in favour of

the prisoner by depriving him of the symbols of his rank.

King Richard strode to the place prepared for him, and then turning to

the assembly he said, in a voice which rang through the hall,--

"Counts and lords of the Empire of Germany, I, Richard, King of England,

do deny your right to try me. I am a king, and can only be tried by my

peers and by the pope, who is the head of Christendom. I might refuse to

plead, refuse to take any part in this assembly, and appeal to the pope,

who alone has power to punish kings. But I will waive my rights. I rely

upon the honour and probity of the barons of Germany. I have done no man

wrong, and would appear as fearlessly before an assembly of peasants as

before a gathering of barons. Such faults as I may have, and none are

without them, are not such as those with which I am charged. I have slain

many men in anger, but none by treachery. When Richard of England

strikes, he strikes in the light of day. He leaves poison and treachery

to his enemies, and I hurl back with indignation and scorn in the teeth

of him who makes them the charges brought against me."

So saying King Richard took his seat amidst a murmur of applause from the

crowded hall.

The trial then commenced. The accusations against Richard were of many

kinds. Chief among them was the murder of Conrad of Montferat; but there

were charges of having brought the crusade to naught by thwarting the

general plans, by his arrogance in refusing to be bound by the decision

of the other leaders, and by having made a peace contrary to the

interests of the crusaders. The list was a long one; but the evidence

adduced was pitiably weak. Beyond the breath of suspicion, no word of

real evidence connecting him with the murder of Conrad of Montferat was

adduced, and the other charges were supported by no better evidence. Many

of the German barons who had been at the crusades themselves came

forward to testify to the falsity of these charges, and the fact that

Richard had himself placed Conrad of Montferat upon the throne, and had

no possible interest in his death, was alone more than sufficient to

nullify the vague rumours brought against him. Richard himself in a few

scornful words disposed of this accusation. The accusation that he,

Richard of England, would stoop to poison a man whom he could have

crushed in an instant, was too absurd to be seriously treated.

"I am sure," the king said, "that not one person here believes this idle

tale. That I did not always agree with the other leaders is true; but I

call upon every one here to say whether, had they listened to me and

followed my advice, the crusade would not have had another ending. Even

after Phillip of France had withdrawn; even after I had been deserted by

John of Austria, I led the troops of the crusaders from every danger and

every difficulty to within sight of the walls of Jerusalem. Had I been

supported with zeal, the holy city would have been ours; but the apathy,

the folly, and the weakness of the leaders brought ruin upon the army.

They thought not of conquering Jerusalem, but of thwarting me; and I

retort upon them the charge of having sacrificed the success of the

crusade. As to the terms of peace, how were they made? I, with some fifty

knights and 1000 followers alone remained in the Holy Land. Who else, I

ask, so circumstanced, could have obtained any terms whatever from

Saladin? It was the weight of my arm alone which saved Jaffa and Acre,

and the line of seacoast, to the Cross. And had I followed the example

set me by him of Austria and the Frenchman, not one foot of the Holy Land

would now remain in Christian hands."

The trial was soon over, and without a single dissentient the King of

England was acquitted of all the charges brought against him. But the

money was not yet raised, and King Richard was taken back into the heart

of Germany. At length, by prodigious exertions, half the amount claimed

was collected, and upon the solicitations of the pope and of the counts

of his own empire, the emperor consented to release Richard upon, receipt

of this sum and his royal promise that the remainder should be made up.

Not as yet, however, were the intrigues at an end. Prince John and King

Phillip alike implored the emperor to retain his captive, and offered to

him a larger sum than the ransom if he would still hold him in his hands.

Popular opinion was, however, too strong. When the news of these

negotiations became bruited abroad, the counts of the empire, filled with

indignation, protested against this shame and dishonour being brought

upon the country. The pope threatened him with excommunication; and at

last the emperor, feeling that he would risk his throne did he further

insist, was forced to open the prison gates and let the king free.

Cuthbert, Blondel, and a few other trusty friends were at hand, and their

joy at receiving their long-lost sovereign was indeed intense. Horses had

been provided in readiness, and without a moment's delay the king

started, for even at the last moment it was feared that the emperor might