e
Amelungs? Because they were the noblest and most ancient race,
descended from the gods. The first star is extinguished; remember the
second, remember the Balthes!"

"Now there lived only one male descendant of that family, a not yet
adult grandchild of Duke Pitza--for Alaric, the brother of the Dukes
Thulun and Ibba, had not been heard of for years. Arahad was confident
that this boy would not be chosen, and that then the people would think
of the third star of nobility. But he erred. Old Haduswinth came
forward angrily and exclaimed:

"Nobility and race! Are we serfs or freemen? By the Thunderer! shall we
count ancestors when Belidarius is in the land? I will tell thee, boy,
what a king needs. A brave arm, it is true, but not that alone. The
King shall be a rock of justice, a bulwark of peace, not only a leader
in the battle. The King shall have an ever-quiet and ever-clear mind,
as clear as the blue sky; and, like stars, just thoughts shall rise and
set therein. The King shall have an ever-equal power, but still more an
ever-equal measure; he shall never lose and forget himself in love or
hate, as we may, who stand below in the crowd. He shall not only be
mild to friends, but just to enemies. He, in whose heart serenity is
paired with bold courage, and true moderation with true strength--that
man, Arahad, is kingly, even though the humblest peasant had begotten
him."

Loud applause followed the words of the old man, and Arahad fell back
abashed. But Haduswinth continued:

"Good Goths, I think we have such a man! I will not name him: you shall
name him to me. I came here from the distant Alps of our boundary,
towards the Karathans, where the wild Turbidus rushes foaming down the
rocks. There I have lived for more than the usual days of man, free,
proud and lonely. I heard little of the acts of men, even of the great
deeds of my own nation, unless a pack-horse laden with salt happened to
stray my way. And yet the warlike frame of _one_ of our heroes
penetrated even to that desolate height. One who never drew his sword
in an unjust cause, and who never sheathed it without victory. His name
I heard again and again when I asked: Who will protect our kingdom when
Theodoric dies? His name I heard in every victory that we gained, and
in every work of peace that was accomplished. I had never seen him. I
longed to see him. To-day I have both seen and heard him. I have looked
into his eyes, that are clear and mild as the