"Thou seest," said the Marquis of Montserrat to the Grand Master
of the Templars, "that subtle courses are more effective than
violence. I have unloosed the bonds which held together this
bunch of sceptres and lances--thou wilt see them shortly fall
asunder."
"I would have called thy plan a good one," said the Templar, "had
there been but one man of courage among yonder cold-blooded
Austrians to sever the bonds of which you speak with his sword.
A knot that is unloosed may again be fastened, but not so the
cord which has been cut to pieces."
CHAPTER XII.
'Tis woman that seduces all mankind. GAY.
In the days of chivalry, a dangerous post or a perilous adventure
was a reward frequently assigned to military bravery as a
compensation for its former trials; just as, in ascending a
precipice, the surmounting one crag only lifts the climber to
points yet more dangerous.
It was midnight, and the moon rode clear and high in heaven, when
Kenneth of Scotland stood upon his watch on Saint George's Mount,
beside the banner of England, a solitary sentinel, to protect the
emblem of that nation against the insults which might be
meditated among the thousands whom Richard's pride had made his
enemies.
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