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ISTUDY
Corbin’s Concepts of
Fitness and Wellness
A Comprehensive Lifestyle Approach

THIRTEENTH EDITION

Gregory J. Welk
Iowa State University

Charles B. Corbin
Arizona State University

William R. Corbin
Arizona State University

Karen A. Welk
Mary Greeley Medical Center, Ames, Iowa

ISTUDY
CORBIN’S CONCEPTS OF FITNESS AND WELLNESS

Published by McGraw Hill LLC, 1325 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10019. Copyright © 2023 by
McGraw Hill LLC. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this publication may
be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the
prior written consent of McGraw Hill LLC, including, but not limited to, in any network or other electronic
storage or transmission, or broadcast for distance learning.

Some ancillaries, including electronic and print components, may not be available to customers outside the
United States.

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 LWI/LWI 27 26 25 24 23 22

ISBN 978-1-265-18771-2
MHID 1-265-18771-1

Cover Image: Michael DeYoung/Getty Images

All credits appearing on page or at the end of the book are considered to be an extension of the copyright page.

The Internet addresses listed in the text were accurate at the time of publication. The inclusion of a website does
not indicate an endorsement by the authors or McGraw Hill LLC, and McGraw Hill LLC does not guarantee the
accuracy of the information presented at these sites.

mheducation.com/highered

ISTUDY
Brief Contents
Section I Section V

Lifestyles for Health, Wellness, and Managing Stress 315


Fitness 1 16 Stress and Health 315
1 H
 ealth, Wellness, Fitness, and Healthy Lifestyles: 17 Stress-Management Strategies 331
An Introduction 1
2 D
 eterminants of Lifelong Health, Wellness, Section VI
and Fitness 17
3 S
 elf-Management Skills for Health Behavior
Avoiding Destructive Behaviors 351
Change 29 18 T
 he Use and Abuse of Tobacco and Other
Nicotine Products 351
Section II 19 The Use and Abuse of Alcohol 363

Foundations of Physical Activity 47 20 The Use and Abuse of Other Drugs 379

4 Preparing for Physical Activity 47 Section VII


5 The Health Benefits of Physical Activity 67
6 How Much Physical Activity Is Enough? 85 Adopting Preventive Habits 393
21 P
 reventing Sexually Transmitted
Section III Infections 393
22 C
 ancer, Diabetes, and Other Health
Engaging in Regular Physical Activity 99 Threats 407
7 Adopting an Active Lifestyle 99 23 Body Mechanics and Care of the Back 427
8 Cardiorespiratory Endurance 115 24 Making Informed Consumer Choices 463
9 V
 igorous Aerobic, Anaerobic, Sport, and 25 T
 oward Optimal Health and Wellness: Planning
Recreational Activities 137 for Healthy Lifestyle Change 479
10 Muscle Fitness and Resistance Exercise 155
11 Flexibility and Stretching Activities 195 Appendixes
12 Advanced Fitness Training 221 A Metric Conversion Charts 503
Section IV B Calories of Protein, Carbohydrates,
and Fats in Foods 504
Establishing Healthy Eating Habits 243 References 506
13 Body Composition and Health 243 Index 511
14 Nutrition and Principles of Healthy Eating 277
15 Principles of Effective Weight Control 301

ISTUDY
Contents
Preface xvi 3 Self-Management Skills for Health
Behavior Change 29
Understanding Behavior Change 30
Section I
Importance of Self-Management Skills 32
Lifestyles for Health, Wellness, Making Lifestyle Changes 34
and Fitness 1 Using Self-Management Skills 37
Suggested Resources and Readings 42
1 Health, Wellness, Fitness, and Healthy
Lab 3A: Stages of Change and Self-Management
Lifestyles: An Introduction 1 Skills 43
The HELP Philosophy 2
National Health Goals 3
Section II
Health and Wellness 6
Physical Fitness 9 Foundations of Physical Activity 47
Using Self-Management Skills 12
4 Preparing for Physical Activity 47
Suggested Resources and Readings 14
Safety Considerations for Physical Activity 48
Lab 1A: Wellness Self-Perceptions 15 General Considerations for Physical Activity 49

2 Determinants of Lifelong Health, Recommendations for Typical Bouts of Physical


Activity 50
Wellness, and Fitness 17
Physical Activity in the Heat and Cold 52
Determinants of Health, Wellness, and Fitness 18
Physical Activity in Other Environments 55
Biological Determinants 18
Preparing for Emergencies and Handling Injuries 56
Social Determinants 19
Using Self-Management Skills 58
Lifestyle Determinants 21
Suggested Resources and Readings 60
Determinant Interactions 24
Using Self-Management Skills 24 Lab 4A: Readiness for Physical Activity 61
Suggested Resources and Readings 26 Lab 4B: The Warm-Up 63
Lab 2A: Healthy Habit Questionnaire 27 Lab 4C: Physical Activity Attitude Questionnaire 65

5 The Health Benefits of Physical


Activity 67
Physical Activity Promotes Health, Wellness, and
Fitness 68
Physical Activity Reduces Risks for Hypokinetic
Diseases 70
Physical Activity Promotes Cardiovascular Health 71
Physical Activity Promotes Metabolic Health 75
Physical Activity Promotes Musculoskeletal Health 76
Physical Activity Promotes Good Mental Health 77
Physical Activity Provides Many Other Health Benefits 78
Michael Reusse/Westend61/Getty Images Physical Activity as Lifestyle Medicine 79

iv

ISTUDY
Contents v

Using Self-Management Skills 81 Suggested Resources and Readings 128


Suggested Resources and Readings 82 Lab Resource Materials: Evaluating Cardiorespiratory
Endurance 129
Lab 5A: Assessing Heart Disease Risk Factors 83
Lab 8A: Counting Target Heart Rate and Ratings
6 How Much Physical Activity Is Enough? 85 of Perceived Exertion 133
The Principles of Physical Activity 86 Lab 8B: Evaluating Cardiorespiratory Endurance 135
Application of the FIT/FITT Formula 87
The Physical Activity Pyramid 89 9 Vigorous Aerobic, Anaerobic, Sport, and
Physical Activity Patterns 92
Recreational Activities 137
Fundamentals of Vigorous Physical Activity 138
Physical Fitness Standards 93
Vigorous Aerobic Activities 139
Using Self-Management Skills 94
Vigorous Anaerobic Activities 142
Suggested Resources and Readings 94
Vigorous Sport Activities 142
Lab 6A: Self-Assessment of Physical Activity 95
Vigorous Recreational Activities 143
Lab 6B: Estimating Your Fitness 97 Patterns and Trends in Physical Activity
Participation 144
Guidelines for Vigorous Physical Activity 146
Section III Using Self-Management Skills 147
Engaging in Regular Physical Suggested Resources and Readings 148

Activity 99 Lab 9A: The Physical Activity Adherence


Questionnaire 149
7 Adopting an Active Lifestyle 99 Lab 9B: Planning and Logging Participation in
Fundamentals of Active Living 100 Vigorous Physical Activity 151
Minimizing Sedentary Behavior Is Part of an Active
Lab 9C: Combining Moderate and Vigorous
Lifestyle 102
Physical Activity 153
The Health and Wellness Benefits of Moderate Physical
Activity 104 10 Muscle Fitness and
Accumulating Moderate Physical Activity 104 Resistance Exercise 155
Monitoring Physical Activity and Sedentary Factors Influencing Muscle Fitness 156
Behavior 107 Health Benefits of Muscle Fitness Activities 158
Adopting and Sustaining an Active Identity 108 Progressive Resistance Exercise 159
Using Self-Management Skills 110 Progressive Resistance Exercise: How Much Is
Suggested Resources and Readings 110 Enough? 162

Lab 7A: Setting Goals for Moderate Physical Muscle Fitness Activities and Equipment 165
Activity and Self-Monitoring (Logging) Program 111 Principles of Muscle Fitness Training 167
Lab 7B: Estimating Sedentary Behavior 113 Risks with Muscle Supplements 169
Guidelines for Safe and Effective PRE 170
8 Cardiorespiratory Endurance 115 Using Self-Management Skills 171
Elements of Cardiorespiratory Endurance 116 Suggested Resources and Readings 172
Cardiovascular Adaptations to Physical Activity 117 Lab Resource Materials: Muscles of the Body
Cardiorespiratory Endurance and Health Benefits 120 (anterior view) 173
The FIT Formula for Cardiorespiratory Endurance 121 Lab Resource Materials: Muscles of the Body
Threshold and Target Zones for Intensity of Activity to (posterior view) 174
Build Cardiorespiratory Endurance 123 Lab Resource Materials: Muscle Fitness Tests 175
Guidelines for Heart Rate and Exercise Monitoring 126 Lab 10A: Evaluating Muscle Strength: 1RM and
Using Self-Management Skills 127 Grip Strength 187

ISTUDY
vi Contents

Lab 10B: Evaluating Muscular Endurance and Performance Trends and Ergogenic Aids 232
Power 189 Using Self-Management Skills 233
Lab 10C: Planning and Logging Muscle Fitness Suggested Resources and Readings 234
Exercises: Free Weights or Resistance Lab Resource Materials: Skill-Related Physical
Machines 191 Fitness 235
Lab 10D: Planning and Logging Muscle Fitness Lab 12A: Evaluating Skill-Related Physical
Exercises: Calisthenics, Core Exercises, or Fitness 239
Plyometrics 193
Lab 12B: Identifying Symptoms of Overtraining 241
11 Flexibility and Stretching Activities 195
Factors Influencing Flexibility 196
Section IV
Flexibility, Injuries, and Rehabilitation 198
Flexibility: How Much Is Enough? 200 Establishing Healthy Eating
Stretching Methods 201 Habits 243
Popular Flexibility Activities 205
13 Body Composition and Health 243
Guidelines for Improving Flexibility 206
Understanding Obesity 244
Using Self-Management Skills 207
Body Composition Indicators and Standards 245
Suggested Resources and Readings 208
Methods Used to Assess Body Composition 246
Lab Resource Materials: Flexibility Tests 215
Health Risks Associated with Obesity 248
Lab 11A: Evaluating Flexibility 217
The Causes of Obesity 250
Lab 11B: Planning and Logging Stretching Treatment and Prevention of Overweight and
Exercises 219 Obesity 252
Body Image and Eating Disorders 254
12 Advanced Fitness Training 221
Using Self-Management Skills 255
High-Level Performance and Training
Characteristics 222 Suggested Resources and Readings 256
Training for Cardiorespiratory Endurance 224 Lab Resource Materials: Evaluating Body Fat 257
Training for Strength, Muscular Endurance, and Lab 13A: Evaluating Body Composition: Skinfold
Power 226 Measures 267
Training for Speed and Power 228 Lab 13B: Evaluating Body Composition: Height,
Training for Functional Fitness and Flexibility 229 Weight, and Circumference Measures 271
Training for High-Level Performance: Skill-Related Lab 13C: Determining Your Daily Energy
Fitness and Skill 230 Expenditure 273
High-Level Performance Training 231
14 Nutrition and Principles of Healthy
Eating 277
Guidelines and Recommendations for Healthy
Eating 278
Dietary Recommendations for Carbohydrates 280
Dietary Recommendations for Fat 282
Dietary Recommendations for Proteins 283
Dietary Recommendations for Vitamins 285
Dietary Recommendations for Minerals 287
Dietary Recommendations for Water and Other
Fluids 288
Understanding Contemporary Nutrition Terms, Issues,
US Air Force photo by Staff Sergeant Desiree N. Palacios and Trends 288

ISTUDY
Contents vii

Section V
Managing Stress 315
16 Stress and Health 315
Sources of Stress 316
Stress in Contemporary Society 317
Reactions to Stress 318
Stress Effects on Health and Wellness 320
Individual Differences in the Stress Response 321
Using Self-Management Skills 324
Suggested Resources and Readings 326

Lab 16A: Evaluating Your Stress Level 327


Lab 16B: Evaluating Your Hardiness and Locus
of Control 329

17 Stress-Management Strategies 331


Physical Activity and Stress Management 332
Stress, Sleep, and Recreation 333
Principles of Stress Management 334
Effective Coping Strategies 336
Effective Time-Management Skills 340
Effective Social Support 342
Using Self-Management Skills 343
Jack Hollingsworth/Blend Images LLC Suggested Resources and Readings 344

Lab 17A: Time Management 345


Sound Eating Practices 291
Nutrition and Physical Performance 292 Lab 17B: Relaxation Exercises 347
Using Self-Management Skills 293 Lab 17C: Evaluating Levels of Social
Suggested Resources and Readings 294 Support 349

Lab 14A: Nutrition Analysis 295


Lab 14B: Selecting Nutritious Foods 299

15 Principles of Effective Weight


Control 301
Factors Influencing Weight and Fat Control 302
Confronting an Obesogenic Environment 304
Guidelines for Losing Body Fat 305
Facts about Fad Diets and Clinical Approaches to
Weight Loss 308
Using Self-Management Skills 309
Suggested Resources and Readings 310

Lab 15A: Selecting Strategies for Managing


Eating 311
Lab 15B: Evaluating Fast Food Options 313 Caiaimage/Robert Daly/Getty Images

ISTUDY
viii Contents

HIV/AIDS 394
Section VI Common Sexually Transmitted Infections 398
Avoiding Destructive Behaviors 351 Factors That Contribute to Sexual Risks 401
Prevention and Early Intervention of STIs 403
18 The Use and Abuse of Tobacco and Other Using Self-Management Skills 403
Nicotine Products 351 Suggested Resources and Readings 404
Tobacco: Components and Implications of Use 352
Lab 21A: Sexually Transmitted Infection Risk
Smoked Tobacco: Health and Economic Costs 352
Questionnaire 405
Other Nicotine Products: Health and Economic Costs 355
Marketing and Use of Tobacco and Other Nicotine 22 Cancer, Diabetes, and Other Health
Products 356 Threats 407
Using Self-Management Skills 359 Cancer 408
Suggested Resources and Readings 360 Cancer Prevention 415

Lab 18A: Use and Abuse of Tobacco and Other Diabetes 416
Nicotine Products 361 Alzheimer Disease and Dementia 418
Mental Health 419
19 The Use and Abuse of Alcohol 363 Injury Prevention 419
Alcohol and Alcoholic Beverages 364
Infectious Diseases and Other Health Threats 420
Alcohol Consumption and Alcohol Abuse 365
Using Self-Management Skills 421
Health and Behavioral Consequences of Alcohol Use 366
Suggested Resources and Readings 422
Risk Factors for Alcohol-Related Problems 369
Lab 22A: Determining Your Cancer Risk 423
Alcohol Use in Young Adults 370
Effective Approaches for Alcohol Prevention and Lab 22B: Breast and Testicular Self-Exams 425
Treatment 372
23 Body Mechanics and Care of the
Using Self-Management Skills 373
Back 427
Suggested Resources and Readings 374
Anatomy and Function of the Spine 428
Lab 19A: Blood Alcohol Level 375 Anatomy and Function of the Core Musculature 428
Lab 19B: Perceptions about Alcohol Use 377 Causes and Consequences of Back and Neck
Pain 430
20 The Use and Abuse of Other Drugs 379 Prevention and Rehabilitation of Back and Neck
Classification of Illicit and Prescription Drugs 380 Problems 433
Prevalence and Consequences of Illicit Drug Abuse 382 Good Posture Is Important for Back and Neck
Drug-Specific Prevalence and Consequences 385 Health 434

Causes of Illicit Drug Abuse 388 Good Body Mechanics Are Important for Back and
Neck Health 438
Using Self-Management Skills 389
Exercise Guidelines for Back and Neck Health 438
Suggested Resources and Readings 390
Using Self-Management Skills 442
Lab 20A: Risk for Problem Drug Use 391
Suggested Resources and Readings 442

Lab Resource Materials: Healthy Back


Section VII Tests 455
Lab 23A: The Back/Neck Questionnaire and
Adopting Preventive Habits 393 Healthy Back Tests 457

21 Preventing Sexually Lab 23B: Evaluating Posture 459


Transmitted Infections 393 Lab 23C: Planning and Logging Core and Back
General Facts 394 Exercises 461

ISTUDY
Contents ix

24 Making Informed Consumer Choices 463 Consider Environmental Influences on Your


Health 482
Quacks and Quackery 464
Adopt and Maintain Healthy Lifestyles 484
Physical Activity Quackery 465
Importance of Personal Actions and Interactions 485
Considerations with Exercise Equipment and Fitness
Programs 466 Using Self-Management Skills 487
Considerations with Health Clubs and Spas 467 Suggested Resources and Readings 489
Body Composition Quackery 468 Lab 25A: Assessing Factors That Influence Health,
Nutrition Quackery 469 Wellness, and Fitness 490
Consumer Protections Against Fraud and Quackery 470 Lab 25B: Planning for Improved Health, Wellness,
Health Literacy and the Internet 472 and Fitness 492
Using Self-Management Skills 473 Lab 25C: Planning Your Personal Physical Activity
Suggested Resources and Readings 474 Program 494
Lab 24A: Practicing Consumer Skills: Evaluating
Products 475 Appendixes
Lab 24B: Evaluating a Health, Wellness, or Fitness
Club 477 A Metric Conversion Charts 503
B Calories of Protein, Carbohydrates, and Fats
25 Toward Optimal Health and Wellness: in Foods 504
Planning for Healthy Lifestyle Change 479
Understand Inherited Risks and Strengths 480 References 506
Make Effective Use of Health Care 481 Index 511

gpointstudio/Shutterstock

ISTUDY
Features
Corbin’s Concepts of Fitness and Wellness includes magazine-like features that help students integrate and apply information
they may see in the news or read about on the Internet. These features have follow-up activities available in McGraw Hill
Connect® and can be assigned online.
• A Closer Look provides information about new and sometimes controversial topics related to health, wellness, and fitness
and encourages critical thinking.
• T echnology Update describes emerging health and fitness technology, innovations, and research.
• In the News highlights late-breaking health, wellness, and fitness events, trends, and information.
• HELP personalizes fitness and health issues through brief narratives that relate to the defining elements of the HELP
Philosophy (H: Health, E: Everyone, L: Lifetime, P: Personal).

A CLOSER LOOK Technology Update


1. Health Websites and Podcasts 13
1. Mental Health During a Pandemic 8 2. Genetic Testing 18
2. Lifestyles and COVID-19 22 3. Health and Fitness Apps 39
3. Social Justice and the DEI Movement 32 4. Monitoring Environmental Conditions 55
4. AEDs 56 5. My Life Check: A Tool to Evaluate Your Heart Health 72
5. Long-Term Effects of COVID-19 on Heart Health 80 6. Wearable Technology in Health Care 92
6. Exercise in a Pill? 89 7. Standing Desks and Treadmill Desks 108
7. Sedentary Behavior: How Much Is Too Much? 103 8. Pulse Oximetry Sensors 125
8. High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) 123 9. Exergaming and Virtual Racing 141
9. 23 and 1/2 Hours 146 10. Online Resistance Training Options 167
10. CrossFit Controversy 166 11. Take-a-Break Reminders 198
11. Massage Rollers 207 12. Shoe Technology and the 2-Hour Marathon 233
12. “Heads Up” Concussion Awareness 223 13. Is Technology the Problem or the Solution? 251
13. What Happened to Body Positivity? 254 14. Start Simple with MyPlate 292
14. Benefits of Regenerative Farming 290 15. Can Smartphone Apps Help with Weight Control? 310
15. Food Insecurity and Obesity 305 16. Challenges with Interpreting Online Information 324
16. Systemic Racism and Stress 319 17. Online Stress-Management Resources 339
17. Weathering the Storm 334 18. Are There “Safer” Cigarettes? 354
18. E-Cigarettes: Smoking Cessation Method or a New Path 19. Apps to Treat Addiction? 372
to Addiction? 358 20. Vaping Technology and Cannabis 389
19. Controversies over Alcohol Plus Cannabis 369 21. “Hook-Up” Apps May Contribute to Risky Sex and
20. Cannabis/Marijuana Decriminalization 385 STIs 402
21. Sexual Misconduct on Campus 402 22. Drivers of COVID-19 Vaccine Development 421
22. FDA Proposes Safety Measures for Indoor Tanning 23. Breaking Bad Posture Habits 440
Devices 415 24. DNA Testing Services 474
23. Functional Movement Tests 430 25. Is the Star Trek Tricorder a Reality? 482
24. College Students: Victims of Misinformation 473
25. Getting Enough Sleep? Turn Off Your Phone 485

ISTUDY
Features xi

In the News
1. Healthiest Places to Live 5 14. Boom in Plant-Based Foods 284
2. International Health 15. Strategies for Avoiding Emotional Eating 303
Rankings 21 16. The News Is Stressful! 320
3. Myths and Medical Conspiracy Theories 30 17. The Misinformation Superhighway 342
4. Sunscreens Are Not All Equally Effective 55 18. Tobacco-Use Controversies 359
5. Lifestyle Medicine 80 19. Has COVID-19 Increased or Decreased
6. Move Your Way! 93 Drinking? 366
7. Sedentary Behavior and Mental Health 101 20. The Opioid Crisis: Who Is at Fault? 387
8. Heritability and Fitness Adaptations 118 21. Condom Use Resistance and STIs 403
9. Youth Sports Matter 143 22. Cancer Screening Guidelines 412
10. Warnings about Muscle-Building Supplements 171 23. Digital Eye Strain and Zoom Fatigue 441
11. Yoga as a Complementary Health Approach 206 24. Operation Quack Hack: Targeting False COVID-19
12. Youth Sports: When Is It Too Much? 231 Information 465
13. Quarantine 15 244 25. Healthy Lifestyles During the Pandemic 486

HELP Health is available to Everyone for a Lifetime, and it’s Personal

1. COVID-19 3 12. Extreme Exercise 224


2. Social Determinants and Social Justice 20 13. Weight Discrimination 245
3. Do Your Friends Support or Hinder Your Efforts to Adopt 14. What Do Healthy and Natural Really Mean? 290
Healthy Lifestyles? 38 15. What Is the Secret for Long-Term Weight
4. Forming Physical Activity Habits 60 Control? 306
5. This Is Your Brain on Exercise 78 16. Telehealth Care for Stress 324
6. Physical Activity Guidelines Emphasize Personal 17. Dealing with College Stress 336
Choice 87 18. Outdoor Smoking Bans 357
7. Is Walking a Means to an End or an End in Itself? 105 19. Alcohol Treatment Navigator 372
8. Does College Make You More or Less Active? 127 20. Preventing Drug-Impaired Driving 388
9. Vigorous Exercise Boosts Metabolism Long after the 21. CDC Campaigns to Prevent STIs 396
Workout 139 22. Personal Health Versus Public Health 420
10. Resistance Exercise Boosts Confidence and Mental 23. Is Back Pain in Your Future? 432
Health 160 24. Can You Help Stop Fraud? 471
11. Functional Fitness 201 25. A Planetary Health Pledge 484

ISTUDY
Lab Activities
All end-of-chapter Lab Activities are available in McGraw Hill Connect® and can be assigned,
completed, submitted, and graded online. Lab Resource Materials (extra materials for use in
completing Lab Activities) are available for all fitness self-assessments.

ACTIVITY

Lab 10A Evaluating Muscle Strength: 1RM and Grip Strength Seated Press (Arm Press)
This test can be performed using a seated press (see
Leg Press
To perform this test, use a leg press machine. Typically,
image) or using a bench press machine. When using the the beginning position is with the knees bent at right

Lab 10A
Lab 10A
seated press, position the seat height so that arm handles angles with the feet placed on the press machine pedals or
Name Section Date are directly in front of the chest. Position backrest so that a foot platform. Extend the legs and return to beginning
hands are at comfortable position. Do not
Purpose: To evaluate your muscle strength using 1RM and to determine the best amount of resistance to use for various distance away from the lock the knees
strength exercises. chest. Push handles when the legs
forward to full extension are straightened.
Procedures: 1RM is the maximum amount of resistance you can lift for a specific exercise. Testing yourself to determine and return to starting Typically, handles
how much you can lift only one time using traditional methods can be fatiguing and even dangerous. The procedure you position in a slow and are provided.
will perform here allows you to estimate 1RM based on the number of times you can lift a weight that is less than 1RM. controlled manner. Grasp the
Evaluating Muscle Strength: 1RM and Grip Strength

Evaluating Muscle Strength: 1RM and Grip Strength


Repeat. Note: Machine handles with the
Evaluating Strength Using Estimated 1RM may have a foot lever to hands when
1. Use a resistance machine for the leg press and arm or bench press for the evaluation part of this lab. help position, raise, and performing this
2. Estimate how much weight you can lift 2 or 3 times. Be conservative; it is better to start with too little weight than too lower the weight. test.
much. If you lift a weight more than 10 times, the procedure should be done again on another day when you are rested.
3. Using correct form, perform a leg press with the weight you have chosen. Perform as many times as you can up to 10.
4. Use Chart 1 in Lab Resource Materials to determine your 1RM for the leg press. Find the weight used in the left-hand
column and then find the number of repetitions you performed across the top of the chart.
5. Your 1RM score is the value where the weight row and the repetitions column intersect.
6. Repeat this procedure for the arm or bench press using the same technique.
7. Record your 1RM scores for the leg press and bench press in the Results section. Conclusions and Implications: In several sentences, discuss your current strength, whether you believe it is adequate
8. Next divide your 1RM scores by your body weight in pounds to get a “strength per pound of body weight” (1RM/body for good health, and whether you think that your “strength per pound of body weight” scores are representative of your
weight) score for each of the two exercises. true strength.
9. Determine your strength rating for your upper body strength (arm press) and lower body (leg press) using Chart 2 in Lab
Resource Materials. Record in the Results section. If time allows, assess 1RM for other exercises you choose to perform
(see Lab 10C).
10. If a grip dynamometer is available, determine your right-hand and left-hand grip strength using the procedures in Lab
Resource Materials. Use Chart 3 in Lab Resource Materials to rate your grip (isometric).

Results
Arm press: Wt. selected Reps Estimated 1RM
(or bench press) (Chart 1, Lab Resource Materials, page 175)

Strength per lb body weight Rating


(1RM ÷ body weight) (Chart 2, Lab Resource Materials, page 176)

Leg press: Wt. selected Reps Estimated 1RM


(Chart 1, Lab Resource Materials, page 175)

Strength per lb body weight Rating


(1RM ÷ body weight) (Chart 2, Lab Resource Materials, page 176)

Grip strength: Right grip score Right grip rating

Left grip score Left grip rating

Total score Total rating

(Chart 3, Lab Resource Materials, page 178)

187 188

Lab 1A Wellness Self-Perceptions 15 Lab 9B Planning and Logging Participation in Vigorous


Lab 2A Healthy Habit Questionnaire 27 Physical Activity 151
Lab 3A Stages of Change and Self-Management Skills 43 Lab 9C Combining Moderate and Vigorous Physical
Lab 4A Readiness for Physical Activity 61 Activity 153

Lab 4B The Warm-Up 63 Lab 10A Evaluating Muscle Strength: 1RM and Grip
Strength 187
Lab 4C Physical Activity Attitude Questionnaire 65
Lab 10B Evaluating Muscular Endurance and Power 189
Lab 5A Assessing Heart Disease Risk Factors 83
Lab 10C Planning and Logging Muscle Fitness Exercises:
Lab 6A Self-Assessment of Physical Activity 95
Free Weights or Resistance Machines 191
Lab 6B Estimating Your Fitness 97
Lab 10D Planning and Logging Muscle Fitness Exercises:
Lab 7A Setting Goals for Moderate Physical Activity and Self- Calisthenics, Core Exercises, or Plyometrics 193
Monitoring (Logging) Program 111
Lab 11A Evaluating Flexibility 217
Lab 7B Estimating Sedentary Behavior 113
Lab 11B Planning and Logging Stretching Exercises 219
Lab 8A Counting Target Heart Rate and Ratings of Perceived
Lab 12A Evaluating Skill-Related Physical Fitness 239
Exertion 133
Lab 12B Identifying Symptoms of Overtraining 241
Lab 8B Evaluating Cardiorespiratory Endurance 135
Lab 9A The Physical Activity Adherence Questionnaire 149

xii

ISTUDY
Lab Activities xiii

Lab 13A Evaluating Body Composition: Skinfold Lab 20A Risk for Problem Drug Use 391
Measures 267 Lab 21A Sexually Transmitted Infection Risk
Lab 13B Evaluating Body Composition: Height, Weight, and Questionnaire 405
Circumference Measures 271 Lab 22A Determining Your Cancer Risk 423
Lab 13C Determining Your Daily Energy Expenditure 273 Lab 22B Breast and Testicular Self-Exams 425
Lab 14A Nutrition Analysis 295 Lab 23A The Back/Neck Questionnaire and Healthy Back
Lab 14B Selecting Nutritious Foods 299 Tests 457
Lab 15A Selecting Strategies for Managing Eating 311 Lab 23B Evaluating Posture 459
Lab 15B Evaluating Fast Food Options 313 Lab 23C Planning and Logging Core and Back Exercises 461
Lab 16A Evaluating Your Stress Level 327 Lab 24A Practicing Consumer Skills: Evaluating
Lab 16B Evaluating Your Hardiness and Locus of Control 329 Products 475
Lab 17A Time Management 345 Lab 24B Evaluating a Health, Wellness, or Fitness Club 477
Lab 17B Relaxation Exercises 347 Lab 25A Assessing Factors That Influence Health, Wellness,
Lab 17C Evaluating Levels of Social Support 349 and Fitness 490

Lab 18A Use and Abuse of Tobacco and Other Nicotine Lab 25B Planning for Improved Health, Wellness, and
Products 361 Fitness 492

Lab 19A Blood Alcohol Level 375 Lab 25C Planning Your Personal Physical Activity
Program 494
Lab 19B Perceptions about Alcohol Use 377

ISTUDY
Building on 50 Years
of Success!
The thirteenth edition ushers in a new era with a new title—
Corbin’s Concepts of Fitness and Wellness—that honors the
vision and legacy of Dr. Charles (Chuck) Corbin in develop-
ing the Concepts approach over 50 years ago. Our established
tradition of innovation in the fitness and wellness field con-
tinues with completely updated content, features, and online
materials that are designed to support education on healthy
lifestyles.  

Moving into the Future


The new title also marks strategic authorship changes as
Dr. Greg Welk, Professor of Kinesiology and Fellow in the
Greg Welk Charles Corbin
National Academy of Kinesiology, takes over leadership with
this new edition and its development. Dr. Welk actively
teaches and conducts research in areas of fitness/wellness and
health promotion and will ensure that Corbin’s Concepts of Fit-
ness and Wellness continues to provide instructors and students
with the most current, accurate, and useful information.
Dr. Chuck Corbin, lead author of all the previous Concepts
books, continues to actively participate in all facets of author-
ship as a retired Emeritus Professor. Dr. Will Corbin, a professor
of clinical psychology with expertise in health psychology, leads
the content related to stress management, alcohol, tobacco,
drugs, and sexually transmitted infections. Dr. Karen Welk, an
established physical therapist, provides expertise in flexibility,
strength and conditioning, back care, and contraindicated
exercises. The diverse backgrounds and skills of the authors
contribute to the comprehensive coverage of health, fitness, and
wellness issues covered in the book. The authors work to reduce Will Corbin Karen Welk
the technical jargon and focus on self-management skills and
strategies to help students learn to adopt and sustain healthy
lifestyles throughout life.

xiv

ISTUDY
Another random document with
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"You have killed two of my men, Englishman," went on the ex-priest.

"I think not," returned Saunders calmly. "The second man was only
wounded in the thigh."

"I should be justified in taking your life for this," continued Father
Bernhardt.

"Perfectly," agreed Saunders with composure, "but you will find the
proceeding difficult and rather dangerous."

A low laugh followed Saunders' words.

"That's the spirit I admire!" cried the outlaw. "There's a dash of the devil
about that—and the devil, you know, is a particular friend of mine."

"So I have been led to understand," said Saunders drily.

Again the outlaw laughed.

"Come," he said, "will you make a truce with us? We could probably
kill you and your friend there, but we should lose a man or two in the
killing. Make truce, and we give you a free return to Weidenbruck, or
wherever you choose to go. Your friend Karl has got away safely now,—
thanks to your infernal coolness,—so you can make peace with honour."

Saunders shrugged his shoulders.

"If my friend, Captain von Hügelweiler, agrees," he said, "I consent.


Only there must be no further pursuit of us or the royal party."

"I give my word," said Bernhardt.

"Can we trust it?" whispered Von Hügelweiler. But the ex-priest


overheard, and for answer clambered down the cliff beside them.

Von Hügelweiler was no coward, but something made him give ground
before the strange individual who confronted him. A man of medium height
and compact build, there was a suggestion of great muscularity about the
outlaw's person. But it was the face rather than the body which compelled
attention. The clean-carved, aquiline features, the black, bushy eyebrows,
the piercing eyes, and the strange, restless light that played in them, made
up a personality that set the turbulent rebel as a man apart from his fellows.

"Now, then," he said, thrusting his face into Von Hügelweiler's, "shoot
me, and earn the eternal gratitude of your sovereign."

Again the Captain gave ground, though his timidity shamed and irritated
him.

"I am not a murderer," he said, flushing. "You come to parley, I


imagine."

"I come to shake Saunders by the hand," said the outlaw, turning and
stretching out a sudden hand to the Englishman. "He is a man, a stubborn
fellow, with a brain of ice and nerves of tested steel. I would sooner have
him on my side than a pack of artillery and the whole brigade of Guards."

"You flatter me," said Saunders, taking the proffered hand. "I am a man
of peace."

"How lovely are the feet of them that bring us good tidings of peace,"
said the outlaw with a scornful laugh. "Behold Satan also can quote the
Scriptures! When I sold my soul three years ago to the Father of Lies I
drove a fine bargain. I took a Queen to wife—such a Queen, such a wife!
And my good friends Ahriman, the Prince of Darkness, and Archmedai, the
Demon of Lust, have given me strength and health and cunning beyond my
fellows, so that no man can bind me or prevail against me. They never leave
me long, these good fiends. It was one of them who warned me not to lead
the pursuit of Karl over this bit of cliff."

Von Hügelweller shuddered, but Saunders looked the outlaw steadily in


the face.

"Your nerves are out of gear, Bernhardt," he said. "Did you ever try
bromide?"
"I've tried asceticism and I've tried debauchery," was the leering answer,
"and they both vouchsafe visions of the evil one. When I was a priest I lived
as a priest: I scourged myself and fasted; but the Prince of Power of the Air
was never far from me. And now that I am of the world, worldly, a sinner of
strange sins, a blasphemer, and a wine-bibber, Diabolus and his satellites
are in even more constant attendance on me. Perhaps I am mad, or perhaps
they are there for such as me to see."

"I'd chance the former alternative and see a brain specialist," suggested
Saunders. "It might save a deal of wasted blood and treasure to Grimland."

"There is no healing for a damned soul," said Bernhardt fiercely. "I saw
strange things before I drank the libidinous cup of Tobit. I see them now.
Saint or sinner, my eyes have been opened to the unclean hosts of
Beelzebub."

Saunders offered the unhappy man a cigarette.

"Saints and sinners generally do see things," he said dispassionately. "I


am neither, and my vision is normal. If you would live a reasonable life for
six months you might become a useful member of society instead of a
devil-ridden firebrand. Fasting is bad and excess is bad. One starves the
brain, the other gluts it. Both lead to hallucinations. Take hold of life with
both hands and be a man with normal appetites and reasonable relaxations,
and you will have men and women for friends, not the unclean spawn of
over-stimulated brain-cells."

A puzzled look crept into Father Bernhardt's eyes. Then he shook his
head firmly.

"I won't talk to you any more," he cried angrily. "I hate talking to you. I
hate your cursed English common sense. If I saw much of you I'd lose all
the savour of life. I'd be a decent, law-abiding citizen, and miss all the
thrills and torments of a man fire-doomed."

"A good conscience is not a bad thing," said Saunders, "and a man at
peace with himself is king of a fine country. You're a youngish man,
Bernhardt, and the world's before you. Give up listening to devils, and the
devils will give up talking to you. Go on listening to them and the fine
balances of sanity will be overthrown for ever."

"Silence!" cried the ex-priest, thrusting his fingers in his ears. "Would
you rob me even of my remaining joys? For such as me there is no peace. I
have my mission, and by the devil's aid I must perform it!"

"We all have missions," retorted Saunders. "Mine apparently is to


preserve Karl from assassination. I don't boast a body-guard of demons, but
I'll back my luck against yours, Father Bernhardt."

The outlaw smiled again at these words.

"Good-bye, Englishman," he said, "I love you for your courage. Go in


peace," he went on, shaking him by the hand, but ignoring Von Hügelweiler
altogether. "But take heed to yourself, for you are pitting yourself against a
man who is neither wholly sane nor wholly mad, and therefore entirely to
be feared. Good-bye, and tell the Jew Meyer that to-night I am dwelling in
the Goose-market, at the house of Fritz Birnbaum, the cobbler. Let him send
to take me and see whether he is stronger than my dear allies, Archmedai
and Ahriman."

"I will make a point of doing so," said Saunders, preparing to depart,
"and I will lay a shade of odds on the Jew."

CHAPTER ELEVEN

THE IRON MAIDEN

While the Englishman was ski-running and saving the King's life, the
American had spent an uneventful morning seeing the sights of the capital.
Acting on his friend's advice he had visited the Reichs Museum, wherein
were housed some extremely old Masters, some indifferent modern
sculpture, and a wholly admirable collection of engravings by Albrecht
Dürer. But Trafford's mind had wandered from pre-Raphaelite anatomy and
marble modernities to a pair of dark eyes, a finely chiselled little nose, and
a diminutive mouth, that were utterly unlike anything depicted by Botticelli,
Fra Angelo, or the great Bavarian engraver.

Art had never held an important place in his mind, and on this fine
January morning it competed feebly with a certain restless longing that had
stolen over his ill-balanced nervous system, to the domination of his
thoughts and the destruction of his critical faculties. He desired to be out in
the open air, and he desired to see, and touch, and speak with a certain
young woman who had passed herself off as his sister at his hotel, but who
had disappeared into thin air long before he had tasted his petit déjeuner of
coffee and rolls. It was not, he told himself, that he was in love. Love,—as
he conceived it,—was something akin to worship, a regard pure as the
snows, passionless almost in its humility and reverence. For one woman he
had felt that marvellous adoration; he would never feel it again for any
woman in the world. But beauty appeals even to those who have suffered at
beauty's hands, and the Princess Gloria was a maiden of such bewildering
moods, so compounded of laughter and fierceness, of such human pathos
and relentless purpose, that she was bound to have a disturbing effect on so
responsive and sensitive a soul as his. He acknowledged the obsession, for
it was patent and paramount. But he told himself that in his regard there
were no deeps, certainly no worship; merely a desire to cultivate an
attractive young woman whose habitual behaviour was as heedless of the
conventions as his own.

But this desire took him out of the long galleries of the Reichs Museum
into the slums of Weidenbruck, into the purlieus of the Goose-market and
the Grassmarket, and into the network of narrow alleys round about the
Schugasse. But the face and figure that were in his mind's eye refused to
grace his bodily sight, and so,—having lost himself half a dozen times and
gained a magnificent appetite,—he took a sleigh and drove back to the
Hôtel Concordia.

In the middle of his meal Saunders arrived, and told him at full length of
his morning's adventures. And, as Saunders had expected, Trafford's
disappointment at having missed the exhilarating rencontre with Father
Bernhardt was palpable and forcibly expressed.

"Confound your beastly luck!" he said. "And, I suppose,—thanks to


your brilliant shooting, and tactful diplomacy,—the King got away."

"He got home safely with my wife and General Meyer three-quarters of
an hour before I did," replied Saunders, ignoring the sarcasm. "They held
up a train on the big stone viaduct, and I and Von Hügelweiler tapped one at
a small station called Henduck. It is a pity you were not with us, Nervy."

Trafford ground his teeth. His companion was very irritating.

"What about this afternoon?" he asked despairingly.

"I'm afraid there won't be any excitements this afternoon," replied


Saunders blandly. "I've got to accompany Karl to a bazaar in aid of
distressed gentle-women. As you are dining to-night at the palace, we shall,
of course, meet. Au revoir till then. You might well have another look at
those Dürers."

"D—— the Dürers!" said Trafford angrily, as his friend left the dining-
room. "And hang Saunders for a selfish brute!" he added to himself. "He
lures me out to this infernal country, and then sends me to picture galleries
and museums while he shoots people ski-jumping over his head." And with
the air of an aggrieved man Trafford kindled an enormous cigar and
sauntered forth into the hall.

As he did so, he was approached by the concierge.

"A letter, mein Herr," said the official: "a messenger left it a moment
ago."

Trafford took it, and as he read his eyes opened in astonishment, and his
mouth in satisfaction.

"Dear Herr Trafford," it ran. "This is to thank you for what you did for
me last night. You fight as well as you skate—and that is saying much. If
you will meet me at the Collection of Instruments of Torture in the
Strafeburg at three o'clock this afternoon, I shall try to be as fascinating as
you could wish me—and take back any unkind word I may have spoken."

G.V.S."

Trafford chuckled to himself. After all, he reflected, Saunders was not


having all the fun. He had not mentioned his adventures of the previous
evening to his friend, because he knew that Saunders would disapprove of
his action in abetting Karl's enemies. He, however, was a free lance, and if
he was not permitted to save the King's life, he might as well devote his
energies to the equally romantic task of protecting the rebel Princess. And
in his rapture at the unfolding prospect of unlimited fracas, he chuckled
audibly.

Then, turning somewhat abruptly, he bumped into a gentleman, who


must have been standing extremely close behind him. Instinctively he thrust
his letter into his pocket, realising that the missive was not merely a private
but a secret one. He half-feared that the person into whom he had cannoned,
—and whose approach he ought to have heard on the marble-paved hall,—
might have been covertly reading his letter over his shoulder; nor was he
particularly reassured at finding that the individual in question was none
other than General Meyer.

"I beg your pardon," began the Commander-in-Chief, "but I was not
quite sure that it was you, as I could not see your face while you were
reading your letter."

"My fault entirely," said Trafford genially. "Were you looking for me?"

"I was. I came to say that the command which his Majesty graciously
issued to you to dine with him to-night is also extended to your sister."

"My sister!" repeated Trafford, in dazed accents.

Meyer smiled at the other's mystification. "I was informed at the bureau
that your sister was staying at the hotel with you," he said blandly.
Instantly the fraud of the previous evening returned to Trafford's
memory.

"She spent last night at the hotel," he said, "but she left early this
morning."

"A brief visit!" was the General's comment.

"Extremely! She is on her way to Vienna. She—she took the


opportunity of paying me a flying visit to see me compete for the King's
Cup on the Rundsee. She went on by the 8:35 this morning."

Meyer nodded, as if appreciating the other's glibness.

"Would you think me very inquisitive," he went on, "if I asked at what
hotel she will be staying in Vienna?"

"She is not going to a hotel," replied Trafford. "She is going to stay with
my aunt,—my dear Aunt Martha,—whose address I cannot for a moment
recall. I shall doubtless hear from her in a day or so, when I will
communicate her whereabouts to you—if you particularly desire it."

"Please do not trouble," said the General, scrutinising his companion


closely through his eye-glass. "But there is one further question I would put
to you. How is it that Saunders does not even know that you have a sister?"
Meyer's tones were of the blandest, but there was something in his look and
bearing that bespoke suspicions that had become certainties. Trafford read
danger in the mocking voice and smiling lips, and he grew wonderfully
cool.

"That's dead easy!—she's only my half-sister," he replied. "We see little


of each other. Saunders may well have never chanced to meet her or even
hear of her. My half-sister, you know, detests men. In fact, my only fear of
her going to Vienna is lest she should at once enter a nunnery and never be
seen again."

Meyer dropped his eye-glass in a facial convulsion of admiration.


"Au revoir, Herr Trafford!" he said, with a gracious bow. "We meet at
eight o'clock at the Palace to-night. But I am desolated at the idea of not
seeing—your half-sister."

Shortly after the Commander-in-Chief's departure, Trafford donned his


overcoat and sallied forth on foot to the Strafeburg. The beauty of the day
was gone. The mist that had been dispelled by the noonday sun had settled
down again on the city. The penetrating cold, born of a low temperature and
a moisture-laden atmosphere, nipped and pinched the extremities, and ate
its way behind muscles and joints till Trafford,—despite his warm coat,—
was glad enough to reach the friendly shelter of the ancient prison-house. A
half-krone procured him admission to the show-rooms of the famous
building, and a young woman, angular of build and exceptionally tall, took
him under her bony wing, and commenced to show him the objects of
interest. Trafford had come to see something less forbidding than racks and
thumb-screws, but for the moment the object of his visit being nowhere to
be seen, he devoted a temporary interest to the quaint and sinister-looking
objects displayed on all sides of him. These,—as has already been made
clear,—were mainly the ingenious contrivements of filthy minds for the
infliction of the utmost possible suffering on human beings. A judiciously-
displayed assortment of racks, wheels, water-funnels, and other
abominations, soon had the effect of making Trafford feel physically sick.
Nor was his horror lessened by the custodian's monotonous and
unemotional recital of the various uses to which the different pieces of
mechanism could be put. And as his thoughts travelled back across the
centuries to the time when men did devil's work of maiming and mutilating
what was made in God's own image, a fearful fascination absorbed the
American's mind, so that he quite forgot the Princess in a sort of frenzy of
horror and wrathful mystification.

In the third room they visited,—a gaunt department of deeply-recessed


windows and heavy cross-beams,—was an assortment of especially
ferocious contrivements.

"This was used for those who made bad money," went on the long-
limbed maiden, in her droning monotone, indicating a gigantic press which
was capable of converting the human frame into the semblance of a
pancake. "The coiner lay down here, and the weights were put on his chest
——"

"Stop! for heaven's sake," ejaculated Trafford, white with emotion. "If I
could get hold of one of those mediæval torturers I'd give him a good
Yankee kick to help him realise what pain meant."

"I'm sure your kick would be a most enthusiastic one," said a voice at
his elbow. A lady in handsome furs and a blue veil—a common protection,
in Grimland, against snow-glare—was addressing him. Despite this
concealment, however, Trafford did not need to look twice before
recognising the Princess Gloria.

"You can leave us, Martha," commanded the Princess to the angular
attendant. "I am quite capable of describing these horrors to this gentleman.
I am sufficiently familiar with the Strafeburg, and shall quite possibly
become more so." Then, as the obedient Martha withdrew her many inches
from the room:

"I want to thank you for last night's work," she said to Trafford; "and if I
may, to ask——"

"Charmed to have been of service," interrupted the American, and


taking the Princess's hand, he bent low and kissed it. As he raised his head
again there was a flush in his cheek and a fire in his eye that seemed
portents of something warmer than the Platonism of a dead soul. "But don't
resume the hospitality of the Concordia," he added. "Meyer suspects, and
my lying capacities have been well-nigh exhausted."

"He has been cross-questioning you?"

"Most pertinaciously; but I lied with fluency and fervour."

The Princess laughed gaily.

"You are splendid!" she cried, clapping her hands with girlish
excitement. "Do you know," she went on presently, "that the authorities,
acting under Herr Saunders' advice, are going to adopt strenuous measures
against us?"

"Is that anything new?"

"Not exactly. But they have decided to leave off trying to murder us,
and are going to try and take us openly. The ex-Queen,—whose nerves are
not very good,—has already crossed the frontier into Austria. Father
Bernhardt has found several new hiding-places, and a brace of new
revolvers."

"And you?" asked Trafford.

"Have found you," she answered with a frank smile.

"Admirable!" laughed the American. "But tell me, pray, how I can serve
you."

"You will be dining at the Palace to-night. Find out all you can and
report to me."

Trafford was silent. He was about to dine with the King, and he had
certain scruples about the sacredness of hospitality. Quick as a flash the
Princess read his silence, and bit her lip.

"Now then," she said, as if to change the subject, "let me play the part of
showman. Here we have the famous 'Iron Maiden.'"

Trafford beheld a weird sarcophagus set upright against the wall, and
rudely shaped like a human form. On the head were painted the lineaments
of a woman's face, and the mediæval craftsman had contrived to portray a
countenance of abominable cruelty, not devoid of a certain sullen, archaic
beauty. A vertical joint ran from the crown of the head to the base, and the
thing opened in the middle with twin doors. The Princess inserted a heavy
key,—which was hanging from a convenient nail,—and displayed the
interior.
"Now you see the charm of the thing," she went on, as the inside of the
iron doors revealed a number of ferocious spikes. "The poor wretch was put
inside, and the doors were slowly shut on him. See, there is a spike for each
eye, one for each breast, and several for the legs. The embrace of the Iron
Maiden was not a thing to be lightly undertaken."

"Of all the fiendish, hellish——"

"It was made by one Otto the Hunchback," pursued the Princess, "and it
was so admired in its day, that the reigning monarch of Bavaria had a
duplicate made, and it stands in the castle of Nuremberg to this day."

"When was this thing last used?" inquired Trafford in hoarse tones.

"It is said that the late Archbishop of Weidenbruck was killed in this
way, three years ago," replied the Princess calmly.

Trafford was white with indignation.

"Who says so?" he demanded fiercely.

"Everybody. The King hated him, and he died of cancer—officially. I


was told—and I honestly believe—that he was killed by torture, because
when the troubles of 1904 were at an end, he openly incited the people to
revolt."

"If that's true," said Trafford, "I shan't make much bones about siding
with you against Karl XXII. And it won't worry my conscience reporting to
you anything I may accidentally overhear at the dinner to-night."

"We can't fight in kid gloves," said the Princess with a sigh.

A sudden noise in the street without attracted his attention. Light as a


bird, the Princess leaped into the embrasure of the window. Trafford
followed suit. A company of soldiers was drawn up outside the building,
and facing them was a fair-sized mob jeering and cheering ironically. A
number of units were detached under an officer to either side of the
building, and it was plain that the Strafeburg was being surrounded by the
military. A second later there was the dull sound of hoofs on snow, and a
squadron of cavalry entered the platz from another direction. Lined up at
right angles to the Strafeburg, carbine on knee, they held the threatening
mob in hand with the silent menace of ball and gunpowder.

Trafford and the Princess looked at each other in blank and silent
amazement.

"This means business," said the latter, pale but composed. "The Guides
and the King's Dragoons are not being paraded for nothing. Royalty is
going to be arrested with the pomp and circumstance due to the occasion."

"They have discovered your presence here?"

"Obviously. I am caught like a rat in a trap."

Trafford scanned the bloodless but firm countenance, and admired


intensely. Here was no hysterical school-girl playing at high treason for
sheer love of excitement, but a young woman who was very much in
earnest, very much distressed, and at the same time splendidly self-
controlled. He stood a moment thinking furiously with knitted brows,
hoping that his racing thoughts might devise some scheme for averting the
impending tragedy. The room they were in was the last of a series, and
possessed of but one door. To return that way was to come back inevitably
to the entrance hall,—a proceeding which would merely expedite the
intentions of their enemies. He looked hopelessly round the chamber, and
he dashed across to the great stone fireplace. It would have formed an
admirable place of concealment had not its smoke aperture been barred with
a substantial iron grille.

"It's no use," sighed the Princess wearily. "I must face my fate. Perhaps
the good burghers will effect a rescue."

"Not if the King's Dragoons do their duty," retorted Trafford grimly.


"Mob-heroism is not much use against ball-cartridges."

"Then I must yield to the inevitable."


Trafford shook his head fiercely.

"That is just what you must not do!" he cried. For a moment he stood
irresolute, running his hand through his stiff, up-standing hair.

"I've got some sort of an idea," he said at length.

Approaching a table whereon were displayed a number of torture


implements, he selected a pair of gigantic pinchers that had been specially
designed for tampering with human anatomy, and applied them vigorusly to
the nuts which fixed the spikes of the Iron Maiden.

"Otto the Hunchback little knew that his chef d'œuvre would be put to
such a benevolent purpose as a refuge," he said, as he loosened and
withdrew the spikes one by one from their rusty environment. "Given ten
minutes' respite, and I'll guarantee a hiding-place no one in his senses will
dream of searching."

"Quick, quick, quick!" cried the Princess in a crescendo of excitement,


transformed again from a pale, hunted creature to a gleeful schoolgirl
playing a particularly exciting game of hide-and-seek. "I hear them
searching the other rooms. Quick!"

Trafford deposited the last spike in the pocket of his overcoat, and
motioned to his companion to enter. When she had done so, he closed the
doors, locked them, and put the key into his pocket with the spikes.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

"Quite comfy, thanks," answered a muffled voice.

Trafford contemplated the exterior of the Iron Maiden, and was pleased
to note air-holes in the Maiden's ears. It had not been the intention of the
mediæval tormentor that his victims should die of suffocation.

A few moments later there was the tread of martial steps along the
passage, and the door was thrown open. Trafford buried himself in the
contemplation of a water-funnel that had served to inconvenience human
stomachs with an intolerable amount of fluid.

"Herr Trafford once again!"

The gentleman addressed looked up and beheld the grey-coated figure


of General Meyer. Behind him with drawn swords were two officers of the
Guides.

"Fancy meeting you again," went on the Commander-in-Chief, putting


his eye-glass to his eye, and smiling his most innocent smile.

"Your presence is really more remarkable than mine," returned Trafford.


"I am a stranger seeing the sights of Weidenbruck. You apparently are here
on sterner business."

"I am here to effect an important arrest," drawled the General. "But


perhaps you can aid us in our purpose," he went on in his blandest tones.
"Have you by any possible chance seen a young woman hereabouts?"

"I saw one here only a few minutes back."

The General produced a note-book—the same in which he had jotted


down the marks of the skating competition.

"This is most interesting," he said. "I need hardly ask you to be precise
in your information, as your remarks will be taken down verbatim."

"I will be accuracy itself," said Trafford with mock seriousness.

"Good! When did you see this woman?"

"About a quarter of an hour ago."

"Her name?"

"I am ignorant of it."

"Her age?"
"I am bad at guessing ladies' ages; but I should say between twenty and
thirty."

"Dark or fair?"

"Dark."

"I thought so. Her height—approximately?"

"Six foot two."

Meyer stiffened himself indignantly, and the eye-glass dropped from his
eye.

"You are trifling, sir," he said angrily.

"Perhaps I have exaggerated," said Trafford calmly, "put down six foot
one-and-a-half."

Meyer darted a sidelong glance at the American, and scribbled


something in his book.

"Remember," he said, "that you may be called upon to substantiate that


statement, and that false information——"

"He must be referring to Martha," broke in one of the attendant officers.

"Martha!" cried Trafford delightedly. "Yes, I believe that was her name.
In return for half a krone she told me more in five minutes about
instruments of torture than my wildest imagination had conceived possible."

"You have seen no one else?" rapped out the General.

"Till you arrived I have not seen a soul."

Meyer glanced round the room carefully. He looked under the several
tables whereon the exhibits were displayed; he put his head up the great
stone fireplace; his glance swept past the Iron Maiden, but it rested on it for
a fraction of a second only.
"She is not here," he announced decisively, "this gentleman has been
speaking the truth."

"A foolish habit of mine, but ineradicable," murmured Trafford


ironically.

Meyer readjusted his eye-glass and turned, smiling, to the American.

"You behold in me," he said, "a disappointed man. For the second time
in two days I have blundered. It is a coincidence, a strange coincidence.
Also it is regrettable, for I am rapidly dissipating a hard-earned reputation
for astuteness. Once again, au revoir, my dear Herr Trafford! We shall meet
at dinner to-night, and I hope often. Gentlemen of the Guides, vorwarts!"

CHAPTER TWELVE

THE SIMPLE POLICY

The royal palace of Weidenbruck—the Neptunburg, as it is called, after


a leaden statue of the sea god which stands in its central courtyard—is a
Renaissance structure of considerable size and dignity. Its main façade,—a
pompous, Palladian affair of superimposed pilasters, stone vases and floral
swags,—fronts the Königstrasse, a wide thoroughfare joining the northern
suburbs with the Cathedral Square. Internally, there is a fine set of state-
rooms, a florid chapel, and the famous muschel-saal, an apartment
decorated with shells, coral, pieces of amber, marble, and porphyry, and
other semi-precious material. It was into this apartment, scintillating with
light and colour, that Trafford found himself ushered on his arrival at the
royal domain.

General Meyer, resplendent in a pale blue and silver uniform and sundry
brilliant orders, received him and presented him to his wife, a handsome
lady of South-American origin and an ultra-Republican love of finery.
Saunders was there, also with his wife, the latter beautiful and stately as a
statue, in an empire gown of creamy green with red roses at her breast.
There was an old gentleman with a billowy white moustache, and a young
officer of the Guides. There were the diplomatic representatives of France
and England, and a bevy of court ladies with the expensive paraphernalia of
plumes, egrets, and voluminous trains. The company was a decorative one,
and the setting sumptuous, only needing the sun of the royal presence to
gild the refined gold of the exhilarating scene.

Saunders took an early opportunity of drawing Trafford apart.

"Nervy, my boy," the former began, "the King, Meyer, and myself have
been having a little private conversation about you."

"A most interesting topic, to be sure."

"Most. The conclusion we arrived at was that you had been making an
idiotic ass of yourself."

"Details, dear flatterer?" demanded Trafford.

"This sister business!" expostulated Saunders. "Why, everybody knows


you arrived at the Hôtel Concordia by yourself, and without expectation of
a visit from any relative."

"Everybody knows it?" queried Trafford blandly.

"By everybody, I mean the police, who study most things, and
particularly the visitors' list at the 'Concordia.' The hall-porter of that
excellent hotel is one of Meyer's most trusted agents, and there is not the
slightest doubt that it was the Princess Gloria who enjoyed the privilege of
claiming you as a brother."

"A half-brother," corrected Trafford.

"A half-brother, then," growled Saunders. "Anyhow, it is established


beyond a doubt that you have helped the Princess by every means in your
power."

"Then we will admit what is universally known," said Trafford coolly.


"Only, I don't agree with your description of me as an idiotic ass. I came out
here for excitement, and as you don't seem willing to provide me with it, I
am finding it for myself. Besides, the Princess is a splendid little person,
and to cultivate her society is the act not of an ass, but of a philosopher."

"That sort of philosophy leads to the Strafeburg," retorted Saunders. "Be


warned, old friend. I know more about this charming country than you do.
You have won the King's Prize. Wrap it in tissue paper and take it by the
midnight express to Vienna. There is excellent skating to be had there—and
you may come across your half-sister."

"My dear humourist," said Trafford, smiling and twirling his moustache.
"I have no further use for—half-sisters."

Saunders started in amazement, not at the words themselves, but at their


tone, and the twinkle that accompanied them.

"Nervy, Nervy Trafford," he said solemnly. "Do you suppose a


Schattenberg sets her cap at an American! If she wins a throne,—as she may
for all I know,—you will be put in a row with other gallant dupes of her
witchery, and you will be allowed to kiss her hand every first and second
Thursdays. Give it up, man," went on Saunders more heartily. "Give up
playing poodle-dog to beauty in distress. You will get plenty of scars and
very few lumps of sugar. Moreover, you may take it from me that a sterner
policy of suppression is being pursued. There are important arrests
impending."

"Important arrests!" echoed Trafford, laughing softly. "Why, I was the


means of spoiling one this afternoon. I was in the Strafeburg with the
Princess when Meyer turned up with foot and horse to arrest the poor child.
Not wishing to witness a pathetic scene, I unscrewed the spikes of the Iron
Maiden, and popped Gloria von Schattenberg inside the barbarous
contrivance. Needless to say, no one, not even Meyer, thought of looking in
such an impossible hiding-place. So you see, my British friend, important
arrests sometimes fail to come off."
"Sometimes, but not invariably," said a voice close by the American's
ear. Trafford shuddered rather than started, for he recognised the acid tones
of General Meyer, and he was getting used to finding that gentleman near
him when he believed him far away. But the words depressed him,
nevertheless, for they held a note of ruthless certainty that smelled of damp
walls and barred windows. He realised that he had made an enemy, a
personal enemy, who was not likely to respect the liberty of a young
foreigner who baulked his choicest schemes.

"I stepped across the room to warn you of the King's entrance," went on
the General suavely. "His Majesty is on the point of entering the chamber."

A door was flung open by liveried and powdered menials. The company
drew itself into two lines, and between them, smiling, portly, debonnair,
walked the big, half-pathetic, half-humorous figure of the King. He bowed
to right and left, murmuring conventional terms of greeting to all and
sundry.

To the American he said:

"I congratulate you heartily, Herr Trafford, on winning my skating prize.


I am a great admirer of the nation to which you have the privilege to
belong."

Trafford bowed, and took the King's hand, which was extended to him.

"To-morrow," went on the monarch, "I am going to Weissheim, land of


clean snow, bright suns, and crisp, invigorating air! Farewell, then, to
Weidenbruck, with its penetrating chilliness, its vile, rheumatic fogs, and its
viler and more deadly intrigues! Then hurrah for ski and skate and
toboggan, and the good granite curling-stone that sings its way from
crampit to tee over the faultless ice! What say you, Saunders?"

"I say hurrah for winter sport, your Majesty, and a curse on fogs,
meteorological and political!"

Dinner was a meal of splendid dulness. Excellent viands, faultless


champagne, and a gorgeous display of plate were not in themselves
sufficient to counteract the atmosphere of well-bred boredom that sat heavy
on the company. The King made desperate efforts to sustain his role of
exuberant geniality, but his wonted spirits flagged visibly as the evening
wore on, and it was clear that the events of the morning had left him
depressed and heart-weary. Saunders, indeed, chatted volubly to Meyer's
better-half, a lady who talked politics with a reckless freedom that was
palliated by occasional flashes of common sense. Meyer himself,—glass in
eye, tasting each dish and sipping each wine with the slow gusto of the
connoisseur,—maintained an epigrammatic conversation with Mrs.
Saunders, whose ready tongue had nearly as keen an edge as his own. But
poor Trafford,—despite a healthy appetite and an appreciation of his high
honour,—was enjoying himself but little. The lady whom he was privileged
to sit next to,—the Frau Generalin von Bilderbaum, née Fräulein von
Helder, formerly maid of honour to the ex-Queen,—was a wife of the
General with the snowy moustache, and her sole topic of conversation was
her husband. She was a lady of immense proportions and a more than
corresponding appetite, and her devotion to her spouse would have been
more romantic, had she possessed features as well as contours. During the
meal Trafford was much enlightened as to the loyal and devoted career of
General von Bilderbaum and the digestive capacities of an ex-maid of
honour.

"The General fought with distinction in the trenches at Offen in '84, and
he took part also with great distinction in the hill fighting round about
Kurdeburg in '86. In '87——" Fortunately for Trafford the flow of the
worthy lady's recital was checked. A menial, pompous, in plush and yellow
braid, put his powdered head between him and his persecutrix, whispering
in his ear: "His Majesty will take wine with you, sir."

Trafford looked up to the end of the table where the King sat. King
Karl, with raised glass and a resumption of his genial smile, was
endeavouring to catch his eye.

Trafford raised his glass and flushed. It is not given to every man to be
toasted by a reigning sovereign, and Trafford felt a sense of pride that
surged up in his bosom with no little strength. Then the incongruity of his
position struck him. There was he, eating the King's food, and drinking the
King's wine, and at the same time pledged to help and abet his most
relentless enemy. Nay, more, he had sworn to abuse his hospitality that
evening by gleaning any facts which might help the rebellious Princess to
continue free to work out her ambitious and subversive propaganda. And
now he was signalled out for especial honour, and he blushed, not because
the eyes of the ladies regarded him with frank admiration, not because
Meyer looked sideways at him with sneering inscrutability, but because his
host, the King, regarded him with a glance that was all welcome and good
fellowship. And in the emotion and excitement of the moment Trafford
recalled Saunders' favourable opinion of King Karl, rather than the Princess
Gloria's sinister suggestion of the torture-chamber. But just as, with mixed
feelings and mantled cheek, he threw back his head to empty his glass, a
noise from outside attracted his attention. It was a low, humming noise at
first, with sharp notes rising from its depths. But it grew louder, and
something in its swelling vibrations checked the glass untasted in his hand.
Men and women looked at each other, and the conversation ceased
automatically. Louder the noise grew—louder, till it was like the roaring of
a great wind or the snarling of innumerable wild beasts. And yet, besides its
note of wrath and menace, it held a sub-tone of deep, insistent purpose. Fair
cheeks began to blanch, and an air of pained expectancy hung heavy on the
throng. For there was no longer any possibility of mistaking its import. It
was the hoarse murmur of a mob, wherein the mad fury of beast and
element were blended with human hatred, and dominated by human
intelligence.

Meyer sipped his wine composedly, but his face was a sickly green.
General von Bilderbaum flushed peony, and Trafford felt big pulses beating
in different parts of his body. The situation was intolerable in its frozen
anxiety. With an oath the King rose to his feet, threw back the great purple
curtains that masked the windows, and flung open the tall casements. A
redoubled roar of voices flowed in with a stream of icy air. The ladies
shuddered in their décolleté gowns, but Trafford,—heedless alike of frost
and etiquette,—was on the balcony in an instant by the King's side, looking
down on the great street. The other men followed suit immediately, and the
sight that met their gaze was a stirring one. The broad Königstrasse, which
ran past the palace, was packed with a dense and swaying throng.
In the midst of a bevy of dark-coated police walked a tall figure,
handcuffed, bareheaded, his clothes torn as if he had been taken with
violence, yet retaining withal an air of fierce scorn and tameless pride. On
each side of the police tramped companies of infantry with fixed bayonets.
At the head and at the rear of the little procession rode formidable
detachments of the King's Dragoons. And surging behind, menacing,
furious, determined,—yet held in check by the cold logic of steel and bullet,
—pressed and swayed and shouted a great mass of turbulent humanity.

"They are arresting Father Bernhardt," drawled General Meyer, who


surveyed the scene through his eye-glass and with a slight smile. "This is an
illuminating example of the straightforward policy of repression."

"At any rate, he is being arrested," said the King. "Under your system
he was always on the point of being arrested. Once inside the Strafeburg,
Father Bernhardt will not derive much assistance from his noisy friends out
here."

"Once inside the Strafeburg—yes!" sneered Meyer. "But there is still a


quarter of a mile to be traversed; and unless I mis-read the temper of the
good Weidenbruckers, there will be some sort of attempt at a rescue in a
minute or two."

"Why don't they fire on the mob?" spluttered out General von
Bilderbaum, stifling a fine military oath in his billowy moustache.

"Because I ordered the Colonel commanding the Dragoons not to fire


unless a rescue was actually being attempted," answered Meyer.
"Revolutions are stupid things, and are best avoided when possible."

"I'd fire on the brutes if I were in command," murmured the old General
with suppressed fierceness, as the crowd pressed close at the heels of the
last file of Dragoons.

Hardly had he spoken when a harsh order rang out above the growling
of the mob, the rear rank swung their horses round, and with a click of
carbines a volley rang out into the icy air. A bullet struck the stonework of
the palace, not far from the King's head, for the soldiers had fired purposely
in the air. Karl never even winced. His features wore a look of pained
distress that no personal danger could accentuate. General Meyer quietly
took cover behind a friendly pilaster, but Trafford,—wildly excited by the
novel scene,—watched eagerly the quick panic of the mob. Helter-skelter
they ran, tumbling over each other in a frenzied effort to avoid the stern
reprisal they had so ruthlessly invited.

"A whiff of grape shot!" said Saunders. "A little firmness, a little
sternness even, and a deal of trouble is saved. Another volley in the air, half
a dozen executions, and a few sharp sentences of imprisonment, and a
desperate situation will give way to normal tranquillity."

"I believe you are right," sighed the King.

"I don't," said Meyer; and as he spoke the crowd came back again,
surging and rebellious, shouting with rage and shame and furious
determination.

"See! a woman is leading them on!" cried the young officer of the
Guides.

"So I perceive," said Meyer, turning to Trafford, who stood next him. "It
is the young lady whose arrest I strove to bring about this afternoon in the
Strafeburg. It would perhaps have been better for her if my purpose had
been fulfilled."

Trafford drew in his breath and grasped the hand-rail of the iron balcony
with a vise-like grip.

"They won't fire on her!" he said in a choked voice.

"I think so," said Meyer smoothly. "A rescue is certainly being
attempted."

For a moment it seemed that the torrent of frenzied humanity would


bear down and engulf the thin ranks of soldiery; but once again the rear
rank swung their horses round, once again there was a precise ripple of
small arms, and once again there was the spluttering crack of levelled
carbines.

Trafford, white as a sheet, trembling with suppressed emotion, shut his


eyes. When he opened them the compact mass of the crowd had melted into
scattered groups fleeing for dear life in every direction. Only, on the
trampled snow of the Königstrasse, lay a number of dark and prostrate
objects, some feebly moving, some stark still. Trafford turned violently
from the balcony and entered the dining-room with the intention of making
an instant departure. Wild-eyed, heedless of good manners, court
conventions, or everything indeed but a dominating desire to break out into
the stricken thoroughfare, he dashed madly through the great room. In the
doorway a hand, a cool feminine hand, checked him, and he found himself
looking into the unemotional grey eyes of Mrs. Robert Saunders.

"Where are you going?" she asked firmly.

"Into the street."

"Why?"

"Murder has been done. Someone may need succour."

"The wounded will be looked after," said Mrs. Saunders calmly, "and by
more capable hands than yours. Your departure now without a formal leave-
taking of his Majesty would produce the worst impression. As my husband's
friend, your conduct would reflect on him. I must ask you to be prudent."

Trafford's eyes flamed furiously at the maddening check. His whole


system was quivering with the excitement of the situation and the intense
desire to find relief for tortured nerves in vigorous action. There was a
strange pain, too, in his heart, a queer, stabbing sensation that he neither
analysed nor understood. All he knew was that the Palace walls cramped
him like a narrow cell, that he needed air,—the air of the Königstrasse. And
yet nothing short of rude violence could have brushed aside the well-
developed young lady who blocked his exit with such exasperating vis
inertiæ. With a really fine effort of self-control he mastered himself.
"I will be prudent," he said bitterly.

"Thank you."

"It would never do," went on Trafford ironically, "for your husband to
fall out of favour with the humane King Karl. He might wake to find
himself in the dungeons of the Strafeburg;" and with a polite bow he
returned through the dining-room to the balcony.
"Well," he asked of Saunders, "does peace reign at Weidenbruck?"

"There seems to be trouble in the direction of the Grass-market," replied


Saunders, pointing to a quarter from which distant sounds of shouting were
faintly audible. Almost as he spoke, a red glare lit up the heavens with a
rosy flickering glow.

"Incendiarism!" muttered old General Bilderbaum, feeling instinctively


for his sword.

The King whispered something in General Meyer's ear.

The Commander-in-Chief nodded.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

ON THE WARPATH

While Trafford was devouring the enticing viands of the Neptunburg,


and listening to the inspiriting conversation of the Frau Generalin von
Bilderbaum, a certain captain in the third regiment of Guides was the prey
to a whole host of mixed sentiments, divergent ideals, and other troubles of
a conscientious egotist. Ulrich von Hügelweiler was sitting in his barrack
quarters, smoking hard and thinking harder, and occasionally kicking the
legs of the table in an excess of mental indecision.

"I am a loyalist by instinct," he murmured to himself, lighting his


fourteenth cigarette. "But to whom? Loyalty is a virtue,—a grand virtue as a
rule,—but loyalty to the wrong person is as immoral as worship paid to a
false god." And having delivered himself of this platitudinous monologue
he kicked another flake of varnish from the leg of his long-suffering table.
He recalled the post of honour that had been assigned him that morning
on the slopes of Nussheim, and he longed to prove his worth by the solid
arguments of a soldier's sword. And yet ... and yet ... it ought to have been
he, not the American, who was the honoured guest at the Neptunburg, that
night.

For the memory of his disappointment on the Rundsee rankled


intolerably in his retentive brain. Meyer had offered him a dirty task and
had cheated him of fame and glory because he had refused to undertake it.
He hated Meyer—hated him far more than he loved the King. He hated
Trafford, too, for winning the King's Prize. He threw away his last cigarette-
end with a gesture of annoyance, and rose impatiently to his feet. He would
have liked at that moment to have faced Meyer on even terms with
measured swords and stripped body; and having pinked the Jew's bosom, he
would like to do the same service to the cursed American, who had come
between him and his honourable ambition. But Karl had played no part, so
far as he knew, in the dishonourable intrigue which had prevented him
being placed first in the skating competition. Karl was a man who had
proved his personal courage in the rising of 1904, and who,—despite the
ugly rumours which flooded the city,—had an undoubted charm of
personality. He repented of having tendered his resignation, for the manner
in which that resignation had been deferred touched all that was most
soldierly and honourable in his heart. And then into the troubled whirlpool
of his thoughts came a vision, so calmly dominating, so unconquerably
insistent, so sweetly imperious, that the dictates alike of hate and loyalty
grew faint and indecisive before the splendid allure seen of his inward eye.
A Princess stood before him, bright eyes looked pleadingly into his own,
soft hands caressed the lappet of his coat. A breath sweeter than the spices
of Araby was in his nostrils. Conscience, maybe, called one way, but
something stronger than conscience called the other. The call of the one was
clear and loud; but the call of the other stirred every fibre in his sensuous
being.

He sat down again in his arm-chair, and buried his face in his hands, and
because his eyes were blinded by the action, the vision of Gloria's youthful
beauty and smiling lips grew clearer, more tangible, more seductive. His
mind harked back to the dismal moment when he was leaving the Rundsee,
a defeated, discredited candidate for the blue ribbon of the skating world.
The Princess had appeared to him at a moment when her bright presence
had seemed especially dazzling by contrast with the black thoughts that
filled his brain. She had appealed to him for assistance, had promised, or at
least hinted at, the great reward that would bear him rose-crowned to the
stars. That was worth much—everything perhaps—even a soldier's honour.
But would his honour inevitably be sacrificed by placing his sword at the
Princess's disposal? He had reasons for being dissatisfied with his present
service, he argued. Karl—well, he could not bring himself to dislike Karl,
but he was certainly a man of whom much ill was spoken. His Commander-
in-Chief, Meyer, he knew for a scheming and unscrupulous politician rather
than an honest soldier. And so, little by little, desire suborned conscience,
till he persuaded himself,—as self-centred men habitually do,—that the
path of pleasure was the path of duty.

The blare of a bugle broke rudely on his meditations. Rising and


looking out of the window, he saw his men hurriedly mustering in the
barrack-yard. A second later his door burst open and his Colonel entered.

"Captain Hügelweiler, proceed instantly with a full company and fifty


rounds of ball-cartridges to the Domkircheplatz," came the sharp command.
"There is trouble outside the Strafeburg, and your orders are to restore
tranquillity at all costs."

* * * * *

When the party at the Neptunburg broke up abruptly, as it did soon after
the glare of incendiarism had flushed the sky to a threatening crimson,
Trafford paid a hasty leave-taking of his Majesty, and hastened down the
great staircase to the entrance hall. Here stood Saunders in close
consultation with General Meyer.

"Nervy," said the former, "if I were you I should stay here. There is no
necessity to go, and if you come up to my room we can watch things
comfortably from my window."

"Thanks," said Trafford curtly, "I am not fond of watching things from
the window."
"You really must not leave us," said the Commander-in-Chief, with
exaggerated politeness.

"I'm afraid I must, though," said the American decisively, buttoning up


his coat and putting on his snow boots over his evening shoes.

"We really cannot allow you to depart," persisted Meyer, walking to the
hall-door and ostentatiously shooting a massive bolt.

A gleam lighted in Trafford's eye, but his response was politeness itself.

I must insist on tearing myself away," he retorted.

Saunders and Meyer exchanged glances.

"Herr Trafford," said the latter, "when I said you must not go, I meant to
couch a command in terms of courtesy. The streets of Weidenbruck are in a
dangerous state to-night, and as the person responsible for the public safety
I really cannot sanction your departure from the Neptunburg."

Trafford glanced round him. On either side were flunkeys in powdered


wigs, knee breeches, and yellow coats. Between him and the street he
desired to gain was—an elderly Jew.

"Is your command based solely on a concern for my personal safety?"


he asked.

"Solely," was Meyer's sarcastic reply.

"Then I shall disregard it," said Trafford, producing his gun and
flourishing it about in reckless fashion, "for I am quite capable of protecting
myself, dear General, I assure you."

Meyer flinched violently as the muzzle of the deadly weapon was


pointed in all directions, and most frequently at his own person. For a half-
moment he hesitated; he had been playing a game of bluff, but he had not
appreciated the bluffing capabilities of his opponent. He might call the
guard, but he had a nerve-destroying idea that if he did so the mad
American would have an accident with the revolver and shoot him through

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