aid the watchman from his place on the tower above. "I see
but one man, and he rides with the speed of the wind, and lightning
flashes from the mane of the horse which carries him."

The drawbridge was hastily hoisted. The heavy gates were quickly shut,
and fastened with bolts and bars. Every man in the castle was at his
post, ready to defend the fortress with his life. In a short time the
horse and his rider drew near. All who looked out upon them were dazzled
with the golden brightness of the hero's armor, as well as with
the lightning gleams that flashed from the horse's mane. And some
whispered,--

"This is no man who thus comes in such kingly splendor. More likely
it is Odin on one of his journeys, or the Shining Balder come again to
earth."

As the stranger paused on the outer edge of the moat, the sentinels
challenged him,--

"Who are you who come thus, uninvited and unheralded, to Santen?"

"One who has the right to come," answered the stranger. "I am Siegfried;
and I have come to see my father, the good Siegmund, and my mother, the
gentle Sigelind."

It was indeed Siegfried; and he had come from his kingdom in the
Nibelungen Land, with his great fleet, and the noblest of his warriors,
to see once more his boyhood's home, and to cheer for a time the hearts
of his loving parents. For he had done many noble deeds, and had ruled
wisely and well, and he felt that he was now not unworthy to be called
the son of Siegmund, and to claim kinship with the heroes of the earlier
days.

As soon as it was surely known that he who stood before the castle-walls
was the young prince who had been gone so many years, and about whom
they had heard so many wonderful stories, the drawbridge was hastily let
down, and the great gates were thrown wide open. And Siegfried, whose
return had been so long wished for, stood once again in his father's
halls. And the fear and confusion which had prevailed gave place to
gladness and gayety; and all the folk of Santen greeted the returned
hero with cheers, and joyfully welcomed him home. And in the whole world
there was no one more happy than Siegmund and Sigelind.

On the morrow the ten thousand Nibelungen warriors came to Santen; and
Siegmund made for them a great banquet, and entertained them in a right
kingly way, as the faithful liegemen of his son. And Siegfried, when he
had given them rich gifts, sent them with the fleet back to Nibelungen
Land; for he meant to stay for a time w