ashen gray.

"Would you choose a horse, Sir Siegfried?" asked the stranger.

"Indeed I would," answered he. "But it is hard to make a choice among so
many."

"There is one in the meadow," said the man, "far better than all
the rest. They say that he came from Odin's pastures on the green
hill-slopes of Asgard, and that none but the noblest shall ride him."

"Which is he?" asked Siegfried.

"Drive the herd into the river," was the answer, "and then see if you
can pick him out."

And Siegfried and the stranger drove the horses down the sloping bank,
and into the rolling stream; but the flood was too strong for them.
Some soon turned back to the shore; while others, struggling madly, were
swept away, and carried out to the sea. Only one swam safely over. He
shook the dripping water from his mane, tossed his head in the air, and
then plunged again into the stream. Right bravely he stemmed the
torrent the second time. He clambered up the shelving bank, and stood by
Siegfried's side.

"What need to tell you that this is the horse?" said the stranger. "Take
him: he is yours. He is Greyfell, the shining hope that Odin sends to
his chosen heroes."

And then Siegfried noticed that the horse's mane glimmered and flashed
like a thousand rays from the sun, and that his coat was as white and
clear as the fresh-fallen snow on the mountains. He turner to speak to
the stranger, but he was nowhere to be seen and Siegfried bethought him
how he had talked with Odin unawares. Then he mounted the noble Greyfell
and rode with a light heart across the flowery meadows.

"Whither ridest thou?" cried Gripir the ancient, from his doorway among
the crags.

"I ride into the wide world," said Siegfried; "but I know not whither. I
would right the wrong, and help the weak, and make myself a name on the
earth, as did my kinsmen of yore. Tell me, I pray you, where I shall
go; for you are wise, and you know the things which have been, and those
which shall befall."

"Ride back to Regin, the master of masters," answered Gripir. "He will
tell thee of a wrong to be righted."

And the ancient son of the giants withdrew into his lonely abode; and
Siegfried, on the shining Greyfell, rode swiftly away towards the south.

Adventure III. The Curse of Gold.

Forth then rode Siegfried, upon the beaming Greyfell, out into the broad
mid-world. And the sun shone bright above him, and the air was soft and
pure, and the earth seemed very lov