In the early morning Irmgard walked through the dewy grass to the forest; a white mist floated over the ground, and hung round the trees like the dress of the water spirits. Out of the mist of the meadows rose the bright figure of the noble maiden; she was singing and shouting, with rosy cheeks and long floating hair, and with a happy heart; thus she passed through the circling clouds like the goddess of the fields. For she had learned what was heroic, and what raised man from the fear of death into the company of the high gods; all her countrymen had bowed before the heroic power of one who was secretly pleasing to her, and in whom she had more confidence than in any other. She mounted the hill-path, up to a spot where her father's hall was hidden behind the foliage of the trees; there she stood alone between the forest and the rock. Under her roared the waterfall, over her soared the light clouds of the coming day. She stepped upon a stone, and sang to the rocks and to the rushing water the melody of the minstrel, and the words of the song which she had heard in the hall. She gave forth joyfully what had clung to her memory from the skill of Volkmar; and when she came to the leap into the Rhine, it delighted her so much that she sang with enthusiasm:

"Ye wise birds on the trees, messengers of the gods, and ye little fitchets under the fern bushes, hear it yet again." And she repeated the words; and as the Hero at last vanished into the stream, his disappearance was so sorrowful to her, that, being full of imagination, she poured out her emotions in words of her own, and sang yet again the lament of the minstrel. Her song echoed from the rocks, above the notes of the forest birds and the soft murmur of the mountain stream.

Then near her a pebble rolled into the brook. She looked to the side from whence it came, and perceived a figure which, veiled in the airy web of the Nixy, leaned against the stem of a tree beneath her; the Hero whose honor she had been proclaiming to the woods was standing in the flesh close to her, and as she stepped back frightened, she heard his supplicating voice:

"Sing on, Oh noble maiden, that I may hear from thy lips what makes me happy. Dearer to me are the tones from thy throat than all the skill of Volkmar. For as the minstrel sang, and the hall resounded with the acclamations of the men, I thought ever on thee, and my proudest pleasure was that thou heardest the news."

"In terror at sight of thee, words fail me," answered Irmgard, endeavoring to compose herself as he drew nearer to her. "I had more courage to speak to thee under the elder tree," she continued at last; "even then, oh Hero, thou hadst little need of my counsel; and when I think of it, I can not but wonder at my folly: do not thou, therefore, deride me. For just in that way we forest people speak out, and our thoughts are very simple. But it grieves me that thou shouldst twice have heard from my mouth what thou already knewest; had I known thee as thou art, I should have known better how to conceal my good opinion: and now shame oppresses me, because thou hast listened to me."

"Conceal nothing from me, Irmgard," implored the guest; "if thou art favorably disposed toward me, then, believe me, seldom has a banished man heard such cheering words from the lips of a kind woman. Even when the minstrel praised him, and the host drank to him, still he stood shut out from family and friendship. Seldom does a chief grant to an outcast his daughter as wife, and the fugitive leaves no son on the earth to extol his deeds."

Irmgard looked down seriously. "But do thou," continued Ingo, "suffer me to acknowledge the secret that I bear in my soul. Do not despise my confidence; sit here on the stone, that I may impart it to thee."

Irmgard seated herself obediently; the man stood before her, and began: "Hear from me what happened after the battle of the Allemanns:

"The stars were shining; I lay deadly weary on the gravely bank of the stream, the red banner of the Romans wound round my feeble arm. The night wind groaned the death lament, the waves roared, my body was cold, and my brain dizzy. Then a sorrowful face bent over me; it was the fortune-teller of the Allemanns, a wise woman, the confidant of the gods. 'I seek thee, Ingo, among the bodies of men, that I may preserve thy life, as thou hast done mine.' She conveyed me away from the bank, spread a warm covering over my limbs, and offered me a strengthening drink; after that she tore the long spear from the foreign banner, and with prayers threw the broken stick back into the stream. She concealed the weary man in the thicket of the forest, and sat by his bed like a mother night and day.

"On my departure she seized the purple token, and said: 'Here I show thee the threads which govern thy fate; the gods leave the choice to the Hero. If thou throw from thee the spell spun by the Romans, thou mayest grow old in peaceful quiet, concealed among the people, patient in life, and free from fate. Yet if thou keep the purple figure with malicious eyes and fiery tongue, then, though the minstrel may sing thy praise among the warriors, and thy memory may live long among others, I fear that the dragon will consume thy fortune and body. Choose now, Ingo; for the gods grant to man his fate according to his own thoughts, and from his own deeds his lot falls --- the heavy and the light; as he throws, so will be his fate.'

"Then I said, 'Long ago, dear mother, did the gods and the deeds of my ancestors cast for me my earthly lot. From the gods I came upon man's earth; inglorious repose on soft furs I may not choose; thou knowest it thyself: to tread with my comrades in the front of battle, to lead up the men of the earth to the cloud-hall of heroes --- that is my duty. If I am a stranger among foreign races, yet I fear not the directing finger of the Fates; with a firm heart will I tread among the heroes, I will joyfully trust to my man's courage. If the dragon bring me hatred, renown will procure me friends; never will I conceal my head from the light of the sun.'

"Then the mother took the purple in her hand; she divided the heads of the dragon from the spiral body; the heads she kept, the body she threw into the flames of the hearth. 'Perhaps I may thus redeem thy days from the threatening evil,' she said, standing by the hearth. The flames rose up high; discolored exhalations filled the room. She rushed out, and dragged me into the open air. Then she bound the heads with flexible willow, tied the knots, whispered a song, and offered me the bundle in a leathern pocket, that I might keep it secret from every one. 'It will protect from water, but not from fire; thy life I commend to the keeping of the gods.' Then she directed me northward, with a blessing on my journey.

"This, noble lady, is the secret of my life, which I tell you willingly. What the gods may ordain for me, I know not, but I have confided to thee what none other knows. For since I came into this land, and have beheld thee, my mind is altered, and it appears to me better to sit near thee, or to ride on horseback over the plain, than to go with the vulture to the tumult of battle. My thoughts are much changed, and my spirit is greatly depressed, because I am an unsettled man, who formerly cared little for his fate, and trusted in his arm and in a propitious God, who might, perhaps, some day recall the banished man to his old home. But now I see that I am driven about like this pine branch, with its clod in the running stream."

He pointed to a young pine tree, which was torn away with its moss and earth from the place where it stood by the mountain stream, and was driven erect through the whirling water. "The clod will become smaller," said Ingo, seriously; "the earth breaks away, and at last it disappears among the stones." Irmgard rose, and followed with eager look the path of the wild plant; it went down the valley, twisted itself in the eddy, and hastened forward, till what with mist and flood it became almost invisible.

"It stops," she exclaimed at last, joyfully, and sprang down to the brook, to the place where the tree had riveted itself into a projecting tongue of land. "See here!" she called out to her companion; "here it bears leaves, on our bank; it is very possible that it may grow firmly on our land."

"But do thou," cried Ingo, transported, "tell me whether that would be pleasant to thee."

Irmgard remained silent.

Then the sun broke out above the wall of clouds; its rays illuminated the noble figure of the maiden; her hair shone like gold around her head and shoulders, as she, with downcast eyes and blushing cheeks, stood before the man. His heart bounded with joy and love; he approached her respectfully; she remained as if spellbound, but moved her hand gently, as if to ward him off, and murmured beseechingly, "The dear sun looks down on us." But he kissed her heartily, and called out to the laughing sun:

"A greeting to thee, bright lord of the day! Be gracious to us, and guard confidentially what thou beholdest."

He kissed her again, and felt her warm lips against his; but when he wished to embrace her, Irmgard removed his arm. She looked at him with deep love, but her cheeks were pale, and she dismissed him with a movement of her hand toward the mountains. He obeyed and sprang from her, and as he turned to look back to her, he saw her, enveloped in light, throw herself down upon her knees before the tree, and hold up her arms imploringly to the shining heaven.

On the same morning the nobles and wise men, the leaders of the community, and trusty warriors, assembled in the house of Prince Answald, and sat down on the seats which were arranged for them on both sides of the hearth. The host took his seat in the middle, and behind his chair stood Theodulf. The herald closed the door, and the Prince spoke to the assembly.

"Ingo, the son of King Ingbert, has come to my house, bound to me by ties of friendly hospitality from the time of his father. Today I desire for him the right of guest of the people, that he may be safe from enemies, either foreign or among our people, not only in my house, but also in your land; that he may find justice against evil-doers, and protection by the weapons of the neighbors from every one that would injure you for the worthy man; with you it rests to grant or refuse."

After these words a deep silence ensued. At last Isanbart rose; his snow-white hair hung about his scarred face, his tall figure supported itself on a staff, but the voice of the old man sounded powerfully, and the men listened to him respectfully.

"It becomes thee, Prince, to speak as thou hast done. We are accustomed to thy gifts to the people; and when thou beggest something of them, our hearts are ready to grant it. Renowned is the man; and that it is himself, and not a lying traveler, we have the warrant of the minstrel's song, the hospitable token that he has exchanged with his host, and above all else, the dignity of his countenance and figure. But we are placed as guardians over the welfare of many, and the anxious times admonish us to be cautious; therefore it becomes us to take earnest counsel, and to balance the opinions of the heroes of the people, which are somewhat divided."

He seated himself, and the neighbors nodded to him respectfully. But Rothari rose up impetuously --- a nobleman of the old princely race, a stout man with red face and red hair, a renowned drinker, valiant also in the men's war exercises, and brisk in the dance; the boys called him, in banter, "King Puff-cheek."

"Counsel in the morning should be like an early draft, short and strong. Methinks that there is no need for long consideration here; we have all lately drank his health, we will not today pour water into his cup; he is a hero who has two good warranties --- the song of the minstrel, and our good pleasure; that is enough for me; I give him my voice for the rights of a guest."

The old men smiled at the zeal of the loyal man, and the younger ones expressed loudly their approbation. Then stood up Sintram, uncle to Theodulf, a man without eyebrows, with pale eyes and thin face, a hard host, and dangerous to his enemies, yet clever in counsel, and in great consideration at the court of the King.

"Thou, O Prince, art favorably disposed toward him, and he himself deserves it, so thou sayest; this gives a tendency to my wishes, and I would willingly greet him as a guest, as we at times do to foreign wanderers whose praise has not been proclaimed by the voice of the minstrel; yet a doubt restrains the wishes of my heart, and I ask, does he come as our friend from a foreign land? All the young warriors of our province do not stay by their hearths at home. I think also of those who go abroad after fame and fortune. Which of our race has fought with the Allemanns? I know of none. But in the army of the Romans there are bold swordsmen of our kindred; if these are enemies of the stranger, how can we call ourselves his friends? Have they fallen in fight? --- then the death-lament sounds in our villages. Who has caused their fall? Perhaps this man, so bold in battle, who himself boasted of it at the feast. How can we offer the rights of hospitality to an enemy, who as an enemy has spilled our blood? I know not whether he did it, but if he did not, it was an accident; he was fighting for King Athanarich. I hear it reported in the Roman army that Cæsar has to thank our fellow-countrymen, who speak our language, alone for his victory; like giants stood the red-cheeked sons of our lands above the black-eyed foreigners. Cæsar rewards them with armlets and honors and the highest offices. Ask concerning a powerful warrior and proud army in Rome: the Roman traders will answer, with an envious look, they are of German blood. Where shall our youths find war honors and the favors of the gods, if their weapons rust peacefully in the land? Where should the strong of our province go, enabling their brothers at home to enjoy the inheritance, if Cæsar did not open his treasure-house to wanderers? Therefore, I say, his kingdom is useful to us, and whoever fights against him is opposed to our advantage; look to it that the stranger does not bar the path which leads our high-minded heroes to gold, treasure, and honor."