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“Oh,” exclaimed the watchman, “the maidens from the Chief's house are come; there is Frida's brown cow; do you hear the pretty bell which hangs round her neck? and there is the maiden herself.” The heightened color in his face betrayed that the meeting would be pleasant to him. “Behold the old huts; in them the herdsmen dwell. In summer the cattle of the village go to the forest pastures, and our maidens come and fetch the produce of the milk cellars to the Cheiftan's house. Over there in the beech wood the swineheard dwells with his herd; the sun does not shine in any country on finer hogs.”

They entered the clearing, the watcman removed the bars which impeded the entrance to the cattle pen, and the stranger rode into the enclosure, where the cows were trotting about bellowing, while the wife of the herdsman with her maidens carried the milk pails to the cool cellars, which were built of stone and moss, away from the sun, and held long rows of milk vessels.

“Good luck, stranger!” exclaimed the watcher. “Our Chieftain's daughter, Irmgard, is herself here looking after the cattle; if she is gracious to thee, thou mayest be sure of good care.”

“Whic of them dost thou name?” asked the stranger.

“There she is, giving orders to the maidens; thou mayest easily know her.”

The noble maiden stood by the cart which, with two oxen harnessed to it, was to convey the contents of the milk cellar to the Chieftain's house; also butter firmly beat down in casks made of the wood of the wild plum tree, and cheese well seasoned with caraway seeds, packed in green leaves.

“Go to her, comrade, and say that a stranger approaches her as a suppliant.”

“I fear to address the daughter of the Chieftain, so long as her father has not granted me a seat at his hearth. And as thou art disposed to be friendly, speak well of me as far as thou canst.”

The stranger sprang from the horse, and from the distance bowed low to the young lady.

Her golden tresses, which hung in ringlets about her stately figure, formed a framework to the marked features of the youthful face, and flowed down far below her waist. A girdle ornamented with silver confined her white linen vesture; over it she wore a short upper dress of fine wool elegantly embroidered; her arms were uncovered, and upon her wrists golden circlets. She looked with her large eyes at the stranger, and answered his respectful salutation with a slight inclination of the head. The watchman approached the Chieftain's daughter.

“The stranger seeks a place with our people, and a corner at our hearth for his weary head. I have conducted him to the homestead, that the Chief may decide upon his fate.”

“We grant rest to the wanderer whom the gods send us. He, whoever he may be, good or bad, that approaches our hearth begging for hospitality, has a room for three days; then my father will ask whether he is an honest man, and not unworthy of our roof. For thou thyself, Wolf, knowest that many deperate people wander in misery through the country, and carry the curse that cleaves to their footprints into the house of the honest man.”

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