he
himself has doubtless set for us."

But Gunther anxiously grasped the hand of Siegfried, and said, "Go! I
trust you, and believe in you. But be sure not to linger, for no one
knows what a day may bring forth in this uncertain and variable clime."

Without saying a word in reply, Siegfried turned, and hastened down to
the shore. Without any loss of time he unmoored the little ship, and
stepped aboard. Then he donned his Tarnkappe, spread the sails, and
seized the helm; and the vessel, like a bird with woven wings,
sped swiftly out of the bay, and Isenstein, with its wide halls
and glass-green towers, was soon lost to the sight of the invisible
helmsman. For four and twenty hours did Siegfried guide the flying
vessel as it leaped from wave to wave, and sent the white foam dashing
to left and right like flakes of snow. And late on the morrow he came to
a rock-bound coast, where steep cliffs and white mountain-peaks rose up,
as it were, straight out of the blue sea. Having found a safe and
narrow inlet, he moored his little bark; and, keeping the Tarnkappe well
wrapped around him, he stepped ashore. Briskly he walked along the rough
shore, and through a dark mountain-pass, until he came to a place well
known to him,--a place where, years before, he had seen a cavern's
yawning mouth, and a great heap of shining treasures, and two princes
dying of hunger. But now, upon the selfsame spot there stood a frowning
fortress, dark and gloomy and strong, which Siegfried himself had built
in after-years; and the iron gates were barred and bolted fast, and no
living being was anywhere to be seen.

Loud and long did Siegfried, wrapped in his cloak of darkness, knock and
call outside. At last a grim old giant, who sat within, and kept watch
and ward of the gate, cried out,--

"Who knocks there?"

Siegfried, angrily and in threatening tones, answered,--

"Open the gate at once, lazy laggard, and ask no questions. A stranger,
who has lost his way among the mountains, seeks shelter from the storm
which is coming. Open the gate without delay, or I will break it down
upon your dull head."

Then the giant in hot anger seized a heavy iron beam, and flung the gate
wide open, and leaped quickly out to throttle the insolent stranger.
Warily he glanced around on every side; but Siegfried was clad in the
magic Tarnkappe, and the giant could see no one. Amazed and ashamed, he
turned to shut the gate, and to go again to his place; for he b