Then rose Isanbart, and said:

"Though thou art in hostility to our Chieftain, by a necessary deed which we honor, yet thou art not in hostility with the people who through our mouth have promised thee peace. If thou wilt tarry till the community decide upon thy quarrel with Prince Answald, thou art welcome, with thy followers, to the house and hearth of an old man who once stood in battle by the side of thy father."

Ingo stepped up to the old man, and bent low before him. "Lay thy blessing on my head, oh father, before I depart. It would be inglorious for me any longer to linger in the district, and excite discord in the villages. But I shall think of thy faithfulness so long as I breathe."

The old man laid his hand silently on his head, and then Ingo passed on to the threshold. The Prince saw with anger and anxiety that a portion of his country associates rose to accompany him on his departure. Isanbart offered him his hand, and led him, with the others, through the host of armed retainers who thronged about the door with threatening demeanor; opposite to these were the Vandals, on their horses, ready for departure, and if necessary, for a fight; but the dignity of the chiefs of the people restrained the wrath of the younger men. Ingo leaped upon his horse, which Berthar brought to him, cast one lingering look back at the house, then put his horse into a gallop through the gate of the court, and was followed by his men. When the retainers called after him threatening words, the angry voice of Isanbart commanded silence. But the Prince sat mute, with heavy thoughts, by his cold hearth.

Behind the travelers a horse's hoofs clattered on the frozen ground. Bero drew his horse up to Ingo's side and, after he had ridden by him for a while, began: "It was I who brought thy comrades to thee; today I would like to show thee good-will: the village in which I dwell lies on thy road; may it please thee, Hero, to turn in with me, and try peasant fare?"

"I advise thee, my lord," said Berthar, "to accept the invitation of the freeman; for I have found him well-disposed, and a prudent counselor."

"Thou art not the only one of thy race who has been well-disposed toward us since we were in the Prince's territory," replied Ingo, with a sorrowful smile. The Hero agreed to the visit, whereupon Bero, pleased, turned his nag along a side path.

Rothari followed them with a loud call. "Your first resting-place must be my house," exclaimed the burly man, stretching out his hand from his horse, and shaking many by the hand. "Cast thy cares behind thee, Hero, and do not be angry with all because thou hast parted with one in displeasure;" and riding by Ingo, he continued, confidentially, "In our district also many are astonished that thy sword did not give the last honors to a wrangler; for the man and his family have enemies among the people, because they are unjust; and I am one of those enemies." Thus he trotted on among the guests, with comforting words, sometimes whirling his spear in the air, and relating jovial accounts of travels, till the strangers listening to him laughed.

When on the following morning the first dawn of day shone in the dark room, Irmgard rose gently from her bed, that she might not awake her sleeping guardian, and she said to herself, "I dreamt that one was standing by the torrent above, expecting me. The bank of the running flood has been traveled over; loosened is the pine tree which clung to our ground; down the valley it drives with the water, betwixt ice and stones, and never shall I see it again. I know not what I care for in life, since he has gone from us." She threw a dark covering round her dress, opened softly the door, and stepped into the empty court. "Who will unlock the gate for me?" she said, standing before it; but when she touched it, she found the wooden bolt of the barrier drawn out. She went through the gate, and hastened over the snow up the mountain to the place where she had formerly found her loved one. But when she came near, she perceived by the torrent, in the twilight, a tall figure; she was frightened, and stopped. Then Ingo hastened toward her. "I thought I should find you in this place, and that feeling brought me on my speedy horse through the night."

"The King rides among enemies," answered Irmgard, "because my family have broken faith with him. Bitter is the thought, and hateful is life to me; for thou wilt be angry with us when thou thinkest in the hour of danger, on the hall of my father."

"I think of thee wheresoever I tarry," exclaimed Ingo; "from thee I hope for all the welfare of my days. Thou art most dear to me, and strong is thy courage; therefore I place today in thy hand the threads on which, as the Priestess said, my fate hangs." He presented to her a little pouch of otter skin, with strong straps upon it. Irmgard looked timidly at the gift. "It contains the magic dragon," continued Ingo, softly, "the victorious talisman of the Romans, as our warriors imagine, and also my fate. In the King's castle the Romans have been distributing gold; it is possible that the King's men may work me evil. If they kill me and my followers, the Romans shall not gain again what, as they say, ensures them the victory. Therefore keep the purple for me till I ask for it; but if my enemies accomplish their work, then carry the talisman to the death-mound they raise over me, and bury it there deep in the earth."

Irmgard took the pouch, held it with both hands, and her tears rolled down on it. "A stranger wilt thou be to the hearth of my father, but thou remainest my guest-friend, Ingo, and thou shalt dwell near my heart. Hear I keep what thou givest me, and I pray to the gods of fate that this pledge may win me a share in thy lot. Had I been born a boy, as my parents wished, I could follow thee on thy path; but lonely shall I sit, with closed lips, in a joyless house, and I will think of thee whom only the hawks behold, the wild birds, when they fly betwixt heaven and man's earth. For restlessly dost thou wander, noble man, to hostile walls, under wailing winds and falling rime."

"Do not sorrow, friend," said Ingo, imploringly, "for I do not fear that the enemy will succeed in killing me; if the cold snow whirls about me, my heart is glad, for I have confidence in thee whom I care for. By night and by day it will be my thought how I can win thee."

"He whom the father is angry with, and whom the mother hates, loves the child: can there be greater sorrow on earth?" said Irmgard, sadly.

He embraced her, and said tenderly, "Conceal thy love before others, as the tree conceals its strength in the earth when the summer passes away. Now the wild power of the winter-giant rages around us; the riches of the fields are covered with a white hearse-cloth. Do thou, friend, also bear quietly the icy burden. When the buds burst, and the young green sprouts from the earth, then look out at the spring sun, and listen for the song of the wild swans as they pass through the air."

"I will keep my secret and wait," answered Irmgard, solemnly; "but do thou remember, when the storm rages about thy head, that I am lamenting and calling to thee; and when the soft sun laughs upon thee, that I weep for thee."

She tore a ribbon from her dress, and tied it round his arm. "Thus I bind thee to me, that thou mayest know that thou belongest to me, as I do to thee;" and she threw her arms round his neck, and held him in a firm embrace.

Near them sounded the discordant cry of a bird of prey. "The watchman warns us that thou must depart from me," exclaimed Ingo. "Bless me, Irmgard, that my journey may be prosperous for thee and me." He bent his head under her hands, but she held her arms around him, moved her fingers, and whispered the blessing. Then he embraced her once more, with the deep sorrow of parting, and sprang upward into the pine forest. Irmgard stood again alone betwixt rock and forest, and around her blew the winter snow.

Late in the morning the Vandals rode from Rothari's house; among them was Ingo, in an exalted state of mind, although silent, for his thoughts flew back to the lady in the Prince's house. About midday they came to the village that is called in the country "the free moor," where stood Bero's residence. The sun shone brightly on the white covering of the earth, and the rime glittered on the heads of the willows. The bridge over the village ditch was adorned with green pine branches, and near the watchman's house stood the country people, in festive attire, and in front of them Bero and his six sons, strong young men, with powerful limbs and large hands. Bero exclaimed, "We are the last of the district comrades who dwell along your road, and we hope to keep you warm under our thatched roofs till you ride into a foreign country!" The horsemen dismounted joyfully, and walked among the country people in the village. "We divide hospitality among us," continued Bero, "that every one of the neighbors may have the honor of a guest-friend; and if it please the young fellows, we will, after the repast, have a dance with our boys and maidens in a spacious room, or on a well-swept barn floor, as is our custom." Then he himself took the bridle of Ingo's horse, and led his noble guest through the open gate of the courtyard. While his sons unsaddled the horses, and provided them with corn, the heroes stepped in front of the house, on whose threshold Frida's mother, with her maidens, awaited the stranger, and offered her sunburned hand. Upon the firm clay floor of the broad hall stood a table, ready laid, with wooden chairs round it; from the raised gallery in the background, blue-eyed, flaxen-headed children peeped out, and when the guests smiled at them, concealed their heads shyly behind the balustrade. "Call the guests to the repast," said the peasant to his wife, "and bring the best that you can, for they are accustomed to princely fare." Ingo invited the hostess to sit by him, but she declined, and carried the dishes up and down herself. "That appears to me a good custom," declared Bero, "for the eyes of the hostess see quickest what is wanting to the guests, and besides, it would sometimes be troublesome to the host for the servants to hear the conversation."

The hostess offered many dishes; she carried them about incessantly, and urged every one to take of them. At last the host took the King and Berthar to his room; there the three sat down by a small table, and he gave them mugs of strong mead, black with age, and thick as honey just dropped from the comb. "This drink was brewed by my mother when she came to this house," he said, in commendation of it. He raised his mug, drank the health of his guests, and began solemnly:

"Our ancients tell us that once upon a time a god created the nobles, the free peasants, and the serfs, when he was wandering over the garden of the earth. To each he gave special gifts: to you nobles to lead the people in battle, where we follow you; to us, on the other hand, to manage the fields in summer and winter; to the serfs to work carefully with bent backs. Neither the noble nor the free peasant can do without the other. You heroes could not gain fame if we did not follow you on the battle-ground, and we could not cultivate the soil in safety if you did not preserve us, by counsel and arms, from hostile neighbors. You have the most honor in battle --- for seldom does the minstrel celebrate the warlike dees of the peasant; but your life is without repose, and restlessly do the families of the nobles move about, while we dwell lastingly on our acres; and if the host is slain, and his house burned, yet his sons walk in the shoes of their fathers, and build and establish themselves again upon the land."

The guests were pleased with this excellent speech, and nodded their approbation.

Bero continued cautiously:

"Now, ye heroes, I have watched you for many weeks, and have perceived and learned that you think rightly, and live with good discipline; therefore I think we might well be useful to one another. Hope nothing from our nobles; many among them know not how to help themselves; and expect nothing from the King, for he suspects and envies every one who does not serve him. Seek therefore your safety with the peasants. When I led thee, Hero Berthar, from the South, I spoke to thee a little of my secret, as one speaks to a stranger; but today I will fully confide in thee. I have been guest friend, as were my ancestors, with the freemen at Idisbach. They belong to an honest people called the Marvingians. They are blood-relations to us Thuringians, but for a long time they have dwelt by themselves in the valleys by the stream of Idis --- one of the mighty Weird Sisters. They have for years lost their race of Princes and their best warriors, because these became hostile to them, and went westward, among the Franks, for game and booty.

"Since then, those that remained behind have been oppressed by our settlers on the other side of the mountains, and southward, toward the Main, by the Burgundians. The double oppression has become insupportable to them, and a portion are preparing secretly, when the trees become green again, also to travel away, and follow the Prince. Therefore in the autumn I rode over the mountains, in order to exchange horses and draft-oxen for their swine, which they could not slaughter themselves. There I saw delightful meadow-land to be bought cheap, and I thought of the boys on my manor. But my guest-friends complained to me -- such of them as wished to remain in the land of their fathers --- that their small swarm of bees were in want of a queen bee; for they are without a race of Princes who could maintain friendship for them with the neighbors, or lead them in glorious struggles against the rapacious nobles on the boundary. But the peasants of Idisthal will not become Thuringians nor Burgundians, but keep their own customs; and would rather ally themselves to a foreign race than to our nobles; but least of all with our King. Therefore I think of thee, Hero Ingo; for there are few of you, and more of them; and you could not oppress them. There I advise you to go in the spring. Whether it will be for your welfare you must judge yourself; but to those who would cultivate the land it would be an advantage, and therefore I counsel it to you."