Chapter Page I Knight Schrutan and the Pilatus 11 II The Battle of Morgarten 31 III The Mystery Play at Engelberg 50 IV The Black Death 58 V The Robber Knights 72 VI The Tournament at Little Basle 94 VII Storming of a Lithuanian Castle 108 VIII The Beggar Monk 119 IX Winkelried’s Heroic Death 131 Appendix 140 Illustrations The Winkelried statue _Frontispiece_ Monument commemorating the Battle of Sempach 54 Winkelried’s heroic death at the Battle of Sempach 122 Arnold of Winkelried Chapter I Knight Schrutan and the Pilatus The Lake of the Four Forest Cantons, lying amidst the four cantons, Uri, Unterwalden, Schwyz, and Lucerne, from which it derives its name, surpasses all other Swiss lakes in the grandeur of its natural beauty and in the wealth of its historical associations. In the year 1315, which is about the period in which the events of this story occurred, there was upon this lake a little flotilla, which seems insignificant enough when compared with the powerful fleets of the present day. At that time the cantons of Uri, Schwyz, and Unterwalden were frequently engaged in hostilities with their neighbor Lucerne, which still adhered to Austria. Their encounters took place on skiffs and boats and clumsy vessels along the shores of the lake. One big, sharp-pointed, oaken craft, called the “Goose,” was the flagship of the Lucerne fleet. The “Fox” was the flagship of Uri. One day the Lucerne flagship ventured too near the shore and was struck by a millstone which the Unterwaldeners hurled down upon it from a watch-tower, and which so disabled it that Lucerne’s naval power was virtually destroyed.