nostrils of both; and sad would have been their
fate if the friendly Tarnkappe had not hidden Siegfried from sight, and
given him the strength of twelve giants. Quickly they rose. And Gunther
seemed to pick up the heavy shaft, but it was really Siegfried who
raised it from the ground. For one moment he poised the great beam in
the air, and then, turning the blunt end foremost, he sent it flying
back more swiftly than it had come. It struck the huge shield which
Brunhild held before her, with a sound that echoed to the farthest
cliffs of Isenland. The warrior-maiden was dashed to the earth; but,
rising at once, she cried,--

"That was a noble blow, Sir Gunther. I confess myself fairly outdone.
But there are two chances yet, and you will do well if you equal me in
those. We will now try hurling the stone, and jumping."

Twelve men came forward, carrying a huge rough stone in weight a ton or
more. And Brunhild raised this mass of rock in her white arms, and held
it high above her head; then she swung it backwards once, and threw it a
dozen fathoms across the castle-yard. Scarcely had it reached the ground
when the mighty maiden leaped after, and landed just beside it. And the
thousand lookers-on shouted in admiration. But old Hagen bit his unshorn
lip, and cursed the day that had brought them to Isenland.

Gunther and the unseen Siegfried, not at all disheartened, picked up the
heavy stone, which was half buried in the ground, and, lifting it with
seeming ease, threw it swiftly forward. Not twelve, but twenty, fathoms
it flew; and Siegfried, snatching up Gunther in his arms, leaped after,
and landed close to the castle-wall. And Brunhild believed that Gunther
alone had done these great feats through his own strength and skill;
and she at once acknowledged herself beaten in the games, and bade her
vassals do homage to Gunther as their rightful liege lord.

Alas that the noblest of men-folk should gave stooped to such deed of
base deception! The punishment, although long delayed, came surely at
last; for not even the highest are exempt from obedience to Heaven's
behests and the laws of right.

When the contest was ended, the unseen Siegfried ran quickly back to the
little ship, and hastily doffed the magic Tarnkappe. Then, in his own
form, he returned to the castle, and leisurely entered the castle-yard.
When he met his pleased comrades and the vanquished maiden-queen, he
asked in careless tones when the games would begi