Philibert laughed. "A soldier should not listen to such old wives' tales," said he. "It is not an old wives' tale, sir," said the man stoutly; "Hans and Ottocar and others who are as brave as the emperor himself, saw _Il Capitano_, and were frightened." "I went past him a few moments ago and I was not frightened," laughed Philibert. "But they saw him walking about in the moonlight, sir." "They were dreaming, or they had been drinking too much Italian wine," said young De Bresse as he walked away. That afternoon the emperor said to his secretary, "De Bresse, I am going to send you to Venice with a message for the doge." Philibert's heart beat high with exultation, for he knew that this was a mission of trust, and that he possessed the emperor's confidence, else his Majesty would have selected another messenger. The Venetians had promised their aid to Maximilian and the Pisans, but so far they had failed to keep their word. The message was not to be written, lest in case of accident to the bearer it should fall into the wrong hands. The emperor repeated it to his secretary word for word, and gave the latter his seal ring to show that the message was authentic. Repeating the words of his royal master over and over again in his mind and trying to remember his caution regarding the trip and the best route to take, Philibert hastily prepared for the journey, and mounting one of the best horses available he rode away shortly before nightfall. He was very happy; he was young, he had the confidence of the emperor, and he was starting out on a trip in which there was considerable risk, a fact which with him added greatly to the charm of the enterprise. It seems sometimes as if our memory takes a malicious delight in playing tricks with us. It will go to sleep at the very time that it ought to be busiest and then it will wake and mock us. What do you suppose that Philibert's memory said to him, when, after a two hours' ride, he stopped at a stream to allow his horse to refresh itself with a drink of water? It was this, "_You have forgotten the emperor's ring! You left it on the foot of your couch when you were dressing!_"