ed at the baby he heard a strange voice saying:--

"Siegfried is his name, and only he who knows no fear can mend the
sword."

"The sword? The sword?" questioned Mimi. "What does the voice mean?"

Going nearer to the child, he saw close beside it the broken pieces of
Siegmund's sword.

Mimi picked up the pieces and looked at them.

"The finest piece of steel I ever saw," he chuckled, as he ran his
fingers carefully along the keen edges.

Then he cried aloud in joy.

"At last I have found the hero! This little baby is the son of some
valiant warrior. These are the broken pieces of the warrior's sword.
Such luck for Mimi!

"The boy will be a warrior like his father. I shall take him to my cave
and take good care of him.

"When he is grown up I will make him pay me for my care and pains. He
shall slay the dragon. Then I will take the ring."

He lifted the little baby as gently as he knew how, and started toward
his cave.

Again he heard the same strange voice:--

"Siegfried is his name, and only he who knows no fear can mend the
sword."

"Ha! ha!" chuckled Mimi. "That voice does not know what a skillful
smith Mimi is.

"I will mend the sword and Siegfried shall use it to slay the dragon."

He folded the baby close in his rough, black little arms.

"A few more years, a few more years," he gurgled in glee, "and Mimi's
hands shall clutch the precious gold."

SIEGFRIED AND HIS FRIENDS

Mimi took good care of Siegfried.

When the boy had grown large enough to play about in the woods, Mimi
made for him a little silver horn.

Siegfried loved all the birds and the wild animals.

He knew they were his best friends, for something in Mimi's face always
showed him that the dwarf was false.

Siegfried would wander out into the forest with his silver horn swinging
from his shoulder.

He would blow his little horn song, and his forest friends would hear
the call and come to play with him.

He watched the birds as they built their nests.

He listened to the father bird as he warbled his pretty little love
songs.

How sweetly he sang to the mother bird while she sat upon the nest!

And when the little eggs had told their secret, both the father and the
mother birds carried food to the babies.

Siegfried saw how tenderly the mother foxes, wolves, and bears cared for
their babies.

From these friends in the forest he learned what love is.

Never for all the world would he have stolen one baby from i