Conrad, on his arrival, called them all together. "So far the work has been well begun," he said; "your tyrant is dead. Now for the next blow. Herr Grun tells me that he has, as I requested him, chosen fifty of the most active for special work. Let these form in a body." When the young men had obeyed his order he continued: "Now, Johann, you and Henrick and the four men I have already told off will go with this party, Johann in command, and do the work with which I charged you. You will proceed along the foot of the castle wall till you get to the spot where I descended. There you will remain quiet until you hear the attack at the gate; then you will climb the rope, and, as soon as you are all assembled on the wall, will rush down and seize the inner gate, cut down all who are guarding it, and then, leaving Henrick and ten of the men there, will run into the outer court and take the baron's men in rear. Henrick, as soon as the others have gone, will close the gate behind them. There is little fear that you will be disturbed, for all the defenders of the castle will rush down when they hear the fighting in the outer court." "I understand, my lord," Johann said; "never fear but that we will do our part in the business." "Remember," Conrad went on, "everything depends on your carrying this out silently. Do not go in a solid body; steal along as quietly as possible. There is little fear of their seeing you, but beware of striking a foot or weapon against a stone." As soon as Johann and his party had moved off, he continued: "Now, strip the armour and steel caps from the dead troopers. How many are there of them?" "Thirty-four, count," Grun said, "and there are twenty-five of their horses uninjured, and the five of Johann and his party." "Then choose thirty-nine men," Conrad said, "and let them divide the armour among them, and let each take a horse and mount at once. We shall, with my fifteen, be a stronger party than rode out, but in the darkness they will not notice that. All the rest will follow us on foot, keeping a hundred yards in rear. When we enter the courtyard, ride, in the first place, and cut down any of the troopers who may be there; it is probable that the greater part of them will be gathered on the wall to await the baron's return. When you have cleared the courtyard you will, at the sound of my bugle, dismount. By that time we shall be joined by those on foot, and we shall then see what steps we had best take against the men on the walls."