Castleman then departed, and we immediately arranged for the journey. Max and I, with our squires, were waiting at the Deutsches Thor Gate when Castleman arrived with Twonette, Yolanda, and a guide. I knocked at the door of the lodge to rouse the warder, who, of course, was asleep, and that alert guardian of a drowsy city came grumbling to the wicket. "What in the devil's name do you want at this time of night?" he growled. "The gates won't open till dawn." "Yes, they will," replied Castleman. "I have the burgomaster's order." "I open the gates only on an order from the governor of the citadel," said the warder. "I have not that, my good friend," responded Castleman, "but I have a hundred silver marks in my purse." "Let me see the burgomaster's order," said the worthy gatekeeper. "I am always glad to be accommodating." Castleman handed over the order and the purse, and the warder pretended to read the paper in the dark. "I'll open the gate to accommodate you and to please the burgomaster," he said. The gates screeched upon their hinges, and every link in the portcullis chain groaned as if it wished to alarm the city. When the portcullis was a-block, Max, myself, and the squires mounted our horses. Yolanda leaned down from her saddle and, placing her arms about Castleman's neck, kissed him. Twonette followed her example; then our small cavalcade passed out through the gate, and we entered on our long, hard race with the Duke of Burgundy. At dawn Yolanda called me to her side. "Our guide will conduct us to Cinq Voies on the Somme, eight leagues this side of Peronne," she said. "There we shall dismiss him. From Cinq Voies the road is straight to Peronne down the river. Shall we put our horses to the gallop?" To her last suggestion I objected:-- "We have no relays. These horses must carry us to Peronne. In Styria we have an adage, 'If you would gallop on a long journey, walk your horse.'" "In Styria!" exclaimed Yolanda, laughing. "You told me you were from Italy." "So I am," I replied. "Now you say _we_ have an adage in Styria," she returned, amused at my discomfiture. "I hope you have not been wandering from the path of truth in your long journey, Sir Karl." "No farther than yourself, Fräulein," I answered. A frown came instantly to her face and, after a moment's hesitation, she retorted:-- "Ah, but I am a woman; I am privileged to wander a little way from the narrow road. A man may protect himself with his sword and battle-axe, and need never stray. A woman's defence lies in her wit and her tongue." The frown deepened, and she turned sharply upon me: "But in what respect, pray, have I wandered? I have not spoken a word to you which has not been the exact truth. If I have left anything untold, it is because I do not wish to tell it, in which case, of course, you would not wish to pry." Her audacity amused me, and though I knew I ought to hold my tongue, I could not resist saying:-- "I have asked no questions, Fräulein."