huntsman and his own fleet-footed hound, sought at once the wildest and
thickest part of the wood. And great was the slaughter he made among the
fierce beasts of the forest; for nothing that was worthy of notice could
hide from his sight, or escape him. From his lair in a thorny thicket, a
huge wild boar sprang up; and with glaring red eyes, and mouth foaming,
and tusks gnashing with rage, he charged fiercely upon the hero. But,
with one skilful stroke from his great spear, Siegfried laid the beast
dead on the heather. Next he met a tawny lion, couched ready to spring
upon him; but, drawing quickly his heavy bow, he sent a quivering arrow
through the animal's heart. Then, one after another, he slew a buffalo,
four bisons, a mighty elk with branching horns, and many deers and stags
and savage beasts.

At one time the hound drove from its hiding-place another wild boar,
much greater than the first, and far more fierce. Quickly Siegfried
dismounted from his horse, and met the grizzly creature as it rushed
with raving fury towards him. The sword of the hero cleft the beast in
twain, and its bloody parts lay lifeless on the ground. Then Siegfried's
huntsman, in gay mood, said, "My lord, would it not be better to rest a
while! If you keep on slaughtering at this rate, there will soon be no
game left in Odenwald."

Siegfried laughed heartily at the merry words, and at once called in
his hound, saying, "You are right! We will hunt no more until our good
friends have joined us."

Soon afterward the call of a bugle was heard; and Gunther and Hagen and
Dankwart and Ortwin, with their huntsmen and hounds, came riding up.

"What luck have you had, my friends?" asked Siegfried.

Then Hagen told what game they had taken,--a deer, a young bear, and two
small wild boars. But, when they learned what Siegfried had done, the
old chief's face grew dark, and he knit his eyebrows, and bit his lips
in jealous hate: for four knights, ten huntsmen, and four and twenty
hounds, had beaten every bush, and followed every trail; and yet the
Nibelungen king, with but one follower and one hound, had slain ten
times as much game as they.

While they stood talking over the successes of the day, the sound of a
horn was heard, calling the sportsmen together for the mid-day meal; and
knights and huntsmen turned their steeds, and rode slowly towards the
trysting-place. Suddenly a huge bear, roused by the noise of baying
hounds and tramping feet, crosse