The men sat with gloomy looks; it was a sorrow to them that he spoke the truth. But Bero, the father of Frida, broke the silence --- a raw-boned peasant, who knitted his bushy eyebrows with displeasure.

"Thou didst send thy brother into the Roman army" --- he spoke with a rough voice, and slowly -- "thou sittest comfortably on his inheritance; I am not surprised that thou praisest the foreign brood. But the peasant does not delight in the insolent fellows who return home from their war travels out of the Roman land, for they become bad companions, despisers of our customs, boasters, and loiterers. Therefore I say that Roman travels are a misfortune to our people. If our young warriors serve in the camp of foreign generals, they do it at their own risk; the people have not chosen nor dedicated them to it. I can boast of a home of my own, where I can wield my ax freely; also I am at peace with my neighbors, who honor my gods and my language. Now we have peace with every one. If an Allemann comes to our hearth, a valiant fellow, we give him a bed by our fire; if on the morrow a Roman warrior comes, who appears to us honorable, we perhaps do the same. Both must live discreetly, according to our laws; and shold one grudge the other the air and the hearth-fire, let them take their swords and fight out their quarrel outside the village fence; the blows are their affair, not ours. Therefore, I say, here is a heroic man; whether Roman or Vandal, let him be welcome to our hearths; we will be the hosts, and restrain him if he should disturb the peace of the land."

He spoke, and seated himself defiantly on his stool; the old men murmured assent. Then rose Albwin, a man of noble nature. It is said that the house-spirit dwells in the rafter-roof of his house, from the times of his fathers, and rocks the children of the family in the night, and taht on this account they do not grow up like other men; for all his family are delicate and small, yet pleasant in disposition, and powerful in good words. And he spoke thus:

"Perhaps thou thyself, oh Prince, mayest be able to reconcile the opinions of the chiefs and neighbors. They all would grant the best to the Hero who came to thy hearth from the war; they are only fearful lest, perhaps, at some time their countrymen should be troubled by his fate. For it is characteristic of an illustrious man not to lie idle under the roof of his host; he collects followers around him, and creates himself opponents: the greater a man's repute, the more powerfully will he draw his companions in his path. We are not so niggardly as to count the days during which we should keep a wanderer in the hall, yet we do not know the views of the Hero; and therefore may it be permitted to me to warn the host. If it is only a question of giving the stranger a short rest and a chamber, then there is no need of consultation. But if he wishes to pass his future days among our people, to fix his abode on our ground, then we must think cautiously, not only of the advantage of the stranger, but also of our own."

"Thy admonition is well founded," answered the Prince, seriously, "and yet I must refuse an answer to thy speech; thou thyself knowest that it does not become a host to watch the hour of departure of a guest; and even if I might, in this case I would never do it, for the noble man came to us from misfortune; he himself knows not whether his return will be granted to him soon, or perhaps ever."

Again Rothari rose, the unyielding man, and spoke in anger:

"What! shall we market about time, we Thuringians? When we open our hearts, we do not make a question of time. Give him the rights of hospitality among the people, and make an end of it!"

Loud cries of applause rose from the men, who sprang from their seats. Then jumped up Sintram in the middle of the circle, and cried out with sharp voice to the excited assembly:

"Look to it, Prince, that the leaders of our province do not, like a boy following a bright bird, spring down into an unexplored chasm. I demand silence; little has yet been considered which tends to our welfare."

The Prince made a sign with his staff; the men seated themselves unwillingly, and a threatening murmur rose against Sintram; but he continued, unmoved:

"Powerful art thou, oh Prince, and sharp is the iron of thy people, but we are Thuringians, and a king rules over us; it is fitting that the King should give hospitality to the foreign King's son, not we."

"King Bisino? King Bilberry!" cried angry voices. "Will Sintram have us send a messenger to the King to prescribe the promises that we are to make by our hearth-fires?" exclaimed an indignant Thuringian.

"The King is our liege lord," said Answald, cautiously. "In the council of the people his name should be mentioned with respect."

"I know well," the persistent Sintram called out to the threatening assembly, "that we do not ask the King when a way-weary man, of whose name no one has heard, sits down on our bench; but he who has now come is a noted warrior --- an enemy of the Romans. We know not the King's mind, whether the stranger might be useful or mischievous to him; and whether he who considers the peace of the people would praise or blame our hospitality."

Then rose Turibert, the priest of the sacrifices, who sat on the right hand of the Prince, and began with a loud voice, which sounded powerfully under the raftered roof:

"Thou askest whether the King would graciously approve, or turn his face angrily away. I do not blame thine anxiety; many a one asks how the hare runs, and what the owl cries. But I tell you what is known to men without any prognostics. The gods of mankind have consecrated a law for us, that we should grant air and light, earth and water, to the innocent stranger. If the King is angry because we behave honorably to a suppliant, we must bear it; for heavier is the anger of the gods than the displeasure of a king. If this man is an enemy to you because he has fought the Romans, then extinguish forthwith the hearth-fire at which he sits down, and lead him away beyond the boundary forest. But to consider whether he may perhaps become dangerous, or perhaps not, is not the custom of the country, nor the command of the gods."

"Listen to his words," began Isanbart again. "I saw my sons fall in the thick of battle; my grandsons also have vanished from man's earth; I know not why I have remained behind in the struggle between night and day, between summer and winter, and between love and anger in the souls of men. But perhaps the powers have perserved me here, that I might give to the younger men an account of the fate of their fathers. In the former times, so the old men told me, all Thuringians built upon their own fields as free men, in a confederacy of the provinces. But discord came among the people; those in the northern province struggled unsuccessfully against the knives of the Saxons. Then those in the northern province chose a king; they placed him on a high seat, and put a diadem round the head of a hero whose fame as a warrior was renowned; and the race of princes became powerful. From the quarries of the plain they built a castle of stone, and collected warriors of the people within the walls. But our ancestors, forest men, sat independent on the inheritance of their fathers, impatient of the king's sway.

"Long did the strife last between our province and the king's men. When the king's hosts invaded our boundary fence we drove our herds into the woods, and saw indignantly how these valley people set our houses in flames; we sat behind the barricade, and counted the days, till we could exercise reprisals on the herds and warriors of the king. At last the king offered an amicable compromise. I was a boy when the people of our province first bowed their necks before the king's red diadem. Since then we have sent our young men to his wars, and in return the king's men come into our ranks when our province is at war with the community of the Catts.

"Impatiently does the king bear our lukewarm homage; often have his messengers endeavored to set a price on our herds, and to count the sheaves on our acres. More than once in our lifetime has the quarrel with the king's people blazed up; the common advantage has compelled them again to peace, but the counselors of the king spy jealously from the battlements of the castle on our free forests. Now we still live unscathed; rings and garments come from the king's castle for the persons of our nobles, and our fellow-countrymen are received with loud greetings in the king's halls.

"Yet I warn you that we are not pliant, nor accustomed to the princely service; we ask for nothing, therefore King Bisino sends us no answers; we do not supplicate him as a master, therefore he grants us no favors. Every pretext to show power is welcome at the king's court. Whether the king's people like or dislike the stranger, if we ask them, it does us a mischief; if today we inquire about our rights of hospitality, and beg for permission, on the morrow we shall have a king's messenger with commands. Therefore it seems to me better that we should remain as we have done. To give content to our guest is our right, not the right of the king. Thus be it ended.

"When I was a man in my full strength, I was traveling companion to the father of our host. I stood in the battle by the sword-hand of that Hero whose son now tarries at our hearth. A mild man, but proud and strong, was the father, and I see the son is of the same stump. When lately I found the young Hero at the games, then did my dream of the olden time revive; I saw a friend's eye, not that of a stranger; the hand of the king, which I once touched in a foreign country, I touched anew now; and therefore I desire to gain for him the goodwill of the people, the seat at our bench."

The old man sat down again slowly, but round the hearth sounded a loud acclamation, and swords rattled in their sheaths. "All hail to Isanbart! hail to Ingo! We give him the rights of hospitality!"

The Prince arose, and closed the council. "I thank our friends and countrymen; let what has been transacted here be told and done, and let no one bear rancor for past words; for it becomes the chiefs of the people to make a unanimous decision, that in the community of the province there may be no doubt or discord to disturb the peace."

Prince Answald went from man to man, and shook hands with each one; Sintram also shook hands, and smiled confidingly, when the Prince looked at him; but Rothari gave a shake of the hand that resounded, and exclaimed at the same time, "It rejoices me;" and with these words of the excitable man a smile passed over the serious faces. The herald opened the door, and the heroes stepped with dignity out of the house on to the meadow, where the circle of their fellow-countrymen were assembled. Then the people's hospitality was accorded to the stranger amid the acclamations of the multitude; they invited him into their circle, and led him afterward, according to holy custom, to the great hearth-kettle of the Prince. Over the kettle the chiefs of the people and Ingo exchanged vows.

Then the Prince addressed the guest:

"The alliance is sworn, and a place shall be prepared for thee in my court, Hero Ingo, that thou mayest have an apartment therein so long as pleaseth thee. But thou thyself must appoint a chamberlain; choose among my retainers any one whom thou likest, only I should be unwilling to give up Hildebrand, the herald, or Theodulf, who is himself of noble race. The others will every one esteem it an honor to give thee an oath of fidelity, and to follow thy footsteps so long as thou tarriest among us, especially when they learn it is agreeable to me."

Then Ingo approached Wolf, and said:

"Thou wast the first to offer the stranger bread and salt at the boundary of the country, and thou hast shown thyself friendly to me ever since. Wilt thou venture to be the companion of a banished man? I have no other treasury but the forest and the heath, if your Prince permits me to seek booty there, and the battlefield with the armlets of slain enemies; thou wilt have to follow a poor lord, and no other reward can I offer thee than kind feeling and help with spear and shield."

Wolf answered:

"Teach me, oh, my lord, to attain thy skill in the battlefield, then am I sure to gain golden treasure, if the gods will permit that I should endure in the fight; yet if they invite thee to their halls, I know that the path along which I follow thee will be full of fame for me also."

He spoke, and made his vow to the guest upon his hand.