brother is neither strong nor brave as is my lord,' she
cried. 'Dost thou not know that Siegfried it was, not Gunther, who
vanquished thee in the contests held at thy castle in Isenland? Dost
thou not know that it was Siegfried, clad in his Coat of Darkness, who
wrested from thee both thy girdle and thy ring?' And Kriemhild pointed
to the girdle which she was wearing round her waist, to the ring which
she was wearing on her finger.

Brunhild, when she saw her girdle and her ring, wept, and her tears
were tears of anger. Never would she forgive Siegfried for treating
her thus; never would she forgive Kriemhild for telling her the truth.

'Alas! alas!' cried the angry Queen, 'no hero have I wed, but a
feeble-hearted knave.'

Meanwhile, Kriemhild, already grieved that she had spoken thus
foolishly, had left the angry Queen and gone down to the Minster to
vespers.

That evening Brunhild had no smiles, no gentle words, for her lord.

'It was Siegfried, not thou, my lord, who vanquished me in the
contests at Isenland,' she said in a cold voice to the startled King.

Had Siegfried then dared to boast to the Queen of the wonderful feats
he had done in the land across the sea? Nay, King Gunther could not
quite believe that the hero would thus boast of his great strength.

But the Queen was still scolding him, so Gunther, in his dismay,
stammered, 'We will summon the King to our presence, and he shall tell
us why he has dared to boast of his might as though he were stronger
than I.'

When Siegfried stood before the angry Brunhild, the crestfallen King
said as sternly as he dared, 'Hast thou boasted that it was thou who
conquered the maiden Brunhild?'

But even as he spoke all Gunther's suspicions fled away. Siegfried
with the steadfast eyes and the happy laugh had never betrayed him.
Of that he felt quite sure. It was true that he might have told his
wife Kriemhild----

Ah, now King Gunther knew what had happened! Not Siegfried, but his
lady sister had told Brunhild the secret. Truly it was no fault of the
gallant hero that Queen Brunhild had that day learned the secret which
he would fain have kept from her for ever.

So King Gunther stretched out his hand to Siegfried, who had stood in
silence before him, and said, 'Not thou, but my sister Kriemhild hath
boasted of thy prowess in Isenland,' and the two Kings walked away
together leaving Brunhild in her anger.

But not long was she left to weep alone, for Hagen, t