Part 16 (1/2)
Alas that the n.o.blest of men-folk should gave stooped to such deed of base deception! The punishment, although long delayed, came surely at last; for not even the highest are exempt from obedience to Heaven's behests and the laws of right.
When the contest was ended, the unseen Siegfried ran quickly back to the little s.h.i.+p, and hastily doffed the magic Tarnkappe. Then, in his own form, he returned to the castle, and leisurely entered the castle-yard.
When he met his pleased comrades and the vanquished maiden-queen, he asked in careless tones when the games would begin. All who heard his question laughed; and Brunhild said,--
”Surely, Sir Siegfried, the old sleep-thorn of Isenstein must have caught you, and held you in your s.h.i.+p. The games are over, and Gunther, your liege lord, is the winner.”
At this news Siegfried seemed much delighted, as indeed he was. And all went together to the great banquet-hall, where a rich feast was served to our heroes and to the worthy earl-folk and warriors of Isenland.
Adventure XV. In Nibelungen Land Again.
When the folk of Isenland learned that their queen had been outwitted and won by a strange chief from a far-off and unknown land, great was their sorrow and dismay; for they loved the fair maiden-queen, and they feared to exchange her mild reign for that of an untried foreigner. Nor was the queen herself at all pleased with the issue of the late contest.
She felt no wish to leave her loved people, and her pleasant home, and the fair island which was her kingdom, to take up her abode in a strange land, as the queen of one for whom she could feel no respect. And every one wondered how it was that a man like Gunther, so commonplace, and so feeble in his every look and act, could have done such deeds, and won the wary warrior-maiden.
”If it had only been Siegfried!” whispered the maidens among themselves.
”If it had only been Siegfried!” murmured the knights and the fighting-men.
”If it had only been Siegfried!” thought the queen, away down in the most secret corner of her heart. And she shut herself up in her room, and gave wild vent to her feelings of grief and disappointment.
Then heralds mounted the swiftest horses, and hurried to every village and farm, and to every high-towered castle, in the land. And they carried word to all of Brunhild's kinsmen and liegemen, bidding them to come without delay to Isenstein. And every man arose as with one accord, and hastened to obey the call of their queen. And the whole land was filled with the notes of busy preparation for war. And day by day to the castle the warriors came and went, and the sound of echoing horse-hoofs, and the rattling of ready swords, and the ringing of the war-s.h.i.+elds, were heard on every hand.
”What means this treason?” cried Gunther in dismay. ”The coy warrior-maiden would fain break her plighted word; and we, here in our weakness, shall perish from her wrath.”
And even old Hagen, who had never felt a fear when meeting a host in open battle, was troubled at the thought of the mischief which was brewing.
”'Tis true, too true,” he said, and the dark frown deepened on his face, ”that we have done a foolish thing. For we four men have come to this cheerless land upon a hopeless errand; and, if we await the gathering of the storm, our ruin will be wrought.” And he grasped his sword-hilt with such force, that his knuckles grew white as he paced fiercely up and down the hall.
Dankwart, too, bewailed the fate that had driven them into this net, from which he saw no way of escape. And both the warriors besought King Gunther to take s.h.i.+p at once, and to sail for Rhineland before it was too late. But Siegfried said,--
”What account will you give to the folk at home, if you thus go back beaten, outwitted, and ashamed? Brave warriors, indeed! we should be called. Wait a few days, and trust all to me. When Brunhild's warriors shall be outnumbered by our own, she will no longer hesitate, and our return to Rhineland shall be a triumphant one; for we shall carry the glorious warrior-queen home with us.”
”Yes,” answered Hagen, mocking, ”we will wait until her warriors are outnumbered by our own. But how long shall that be? Will the lightning carry the word to Burgundy? and will the storm-clouds bring our brave men from across the sea? Had you allowed King Gunther's plans to be followed, they would have been here with us now, and we might have quelled this treason at the first.”
And Dankwart said, ”By this time the fields of the South-land are green with young corn, and the meadows are full of sweet-smelling flowers, and the summer comes on apace. Why should we stay longer in this chilly and fog-ridden land, waiting upon the whims of a fickle maiden,--as fickle as the winds themselves? Better face the smiles and the jeers of the folk at home than suffer shameful s.h.i.+pwreck in this cold Isenland.”
But Siegfried would not be moved by the weak and wavering words of his once valiant comrades.
”Trust me,” he said, ”and all will yet be well. Wait here but a few days longer in quietness, while I go aboard s.h.i.+p, and fare away. Within three days I will bring to Isenstein a host of warriors such as you have never seen. And then the fickle fancies of Brunhild will flee, and she will no longer refuse to sail with us to the now sunny South-land.”
Hagen frowned still more deeply; and as he strode away he muttered, ”He only wants to betray us, and leave us to die in this trap which he himself has doubtless set for us.”
But Gunther anxiously grasped the hand of Siegfried, and said, ”Go! I trust you, and believe in you. But be sure not to linger, for no one knows what a day may bring forth in this uncertain and variable clime.”
Without saying a word in reply, Siegfried turned, and hastened down to the sh.o.r.e. Without any loss of time he unmoored the little s.h.i.+p, and stepped aboard. Then he donned his Tarnkappe, spread the sails, and seized the helm; and the vessel, like a bird with woven wings, sped swiftly out of the bay, and Isenstein, with its wide halls and gla.s.s-green towers, was soon lost to the sight of the invisible helmsman. For four and twenty hours did Siegfried guide the flying vessel as it leaped from wave to wave, and sent the white foam das.h.i.+ng to left and right like flakes of snow. And late on the morrow he came to a rock-bound coast, where steep cliffs and white mountain-peaks rose up, as it were, straight out of the blue sea. Having found a safe and narrow inlet, he moored his little bark; and, keeping the Tarnkappe well wrapped around him, he stepped ash.o.r.e. Briskly he walked along the rough sh.o.r.e, and through a dark mountain-pa.s.s, until he came to a place well known to him,--a place where, years before, he had seen a cavern's yawning mouth, and a great heap of s.h.i.+ning treasures, and two princes dying of hunger. But now, upon the selfsame spot there stood a frowning fortress, dark and gloomy and strong, which Siegfried himself had built in after-years; and the iron gates were barred and bolted fast, and no living being was anywhere to be seen.