long, clear note he blew, and ere the sound had died
away the boy saw a sight which pleased him well. Here was good prey
indeed! A bear, a great big shaggy bear was peering at him out of a
bush, and as he gazed the beast opened its jaws and growled, a fierce
and angry growl.

Not a whit afraid was Siegfried. Quick as lightning he had caught the
great creature in his arms, and ere it could turn upon him, it was
muzzled, and was being led quietly along toward the smithy.

Mimer was busy at his forge sharpening a sword when Siegfried reached
the doorway.

At the sound of laughter the little dwarf raised his head. It was the
Prince who laughed. Then Mimer saw the bear,[1] and letting the sword
he held drop to the ground with a clang, he ran to hide himself in the
darkest corner of the smithy.

[Footnote 1: See frontispiece.]

Then Siegfried laughed again. He was no hero-boy to-day, for next he
made the big bear hunt the little Nibelung dwarf from corner to
corner, nor could the frightened little man escape or hide himself in
darkness. Again and again as he crouched in a shadowed corner,
Siegfried would stir up the embers of the forge until all the smithy
was lighted with a ruddy glow.

At length the Prince tired of his game, and unmuzzling the bear he
chased the bewildered beast back into the shelter of the woodlands.

Mimer, poor little dwarf, all a-tremble with his fear, cried angrily,
'Thou mayest go shoot if so it please thee, and bring home thy dead
prey. Dead bears thou mayest bring hither if thou wilt, but live bears
shalt thou leave to crouch in their lair or to roam through the
forest.' But Siegfried, the naughty Prince, only laughed at the little
Nibelung's frightened face and harsh, croaking voice.

Now as the days passed, Mimer the blacksmith began to wish that
Siegfried had never come to dwell with him in his smithy. The Prince
was growing too strong, too brave to please the little dwarf, moreover
many were the mischievous tricks his pupil played on him.

Prince though he was, Mimer would see if he could not get rid of his
tormentor. For indeed though, as I have told you, Siegfried had a
heart of gold, at this time the gold seemed to have grown dim and
tarnished. Perhaps that was because the Prince had learned to distrust
and to dislike, nay, more, to hate the little, cunning dwarf.

However that may be, it is certain that Siegfried played many pranks
upon the little Nibelung, and he, Mimer, determ