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After this morning the spirit of Answald was troubled whenever he came across the stranger; gloomily did he ponder on the presumption, and suspiciously did he watch the words and bearing of the guest; and he himself thought sometimes that his dwelling by his hearth through the winter would be a burden. On one of these days of ill-humor, the Hero Sintram rode up to him, sent as a messenger of bad tidings from the King to the Chieftain and his district; for the King made decided complaints of the secret presence of the foreign troop, and demanded with threatenings that they should be delivered into his hands. The Prince perceived that danger threatened either the guest, or him and his countrymen. As he was not a mean-spirited man, he soon recovered his composure. He went to Ingo, and told him frankly that he would invite the Chiefs of the district to a secret council, under the pretense of a hunting expedition. Ingo bowed assentingly to what he said, and replied, "It is the right of the host to speak first, and then the guest."

Messengers rode in all directions; and three days after the nobles and wise men of the district were again assembled by the hearth of the Chieftain. But it was no longer summer air, when the minds of men are joyfully disposed, but hard winter-time, when anxieties and ill-will arise. This time the countenance of the Prince was sorrowful when he began:

"The King has sent a second message about the Hero Ingo and his followers, and this time to my countrymen and me, not by the minstrel, but by the Hero Sintram. The King of this nation demands to have the strangers delivered up to him: whether we shall withstand his command, or, thinking of our own safety, do according to his will, is what I ask you."

Then rose Sintram, and repeated the threats of the King:

"He will take the strangers by force, if we do not send them; his men bluster loud, and rejoice in the idea of an expedition against our properties. Once, foreseeing this, I warned you; now the danger threatens and approaches us. Though we have promised to defend hospitably the stranger, now it is not he alone who resides on the land; a foreign race rides through our valleys, and his wild followers become a burden to the people."

A long silence followed this speech, till Isanbart at last raised his voice:

"As I am old, I am not surprised to see how easily the minds of men alter; before now I have seen many a host who gladly greeted a guest, but gladly also dismissed him. Therefore shouldst thou, oh Prince, before the representatives of thy people, say whether the foreign Hero has violated the rights of thy house, and wounded thy honor; or have his followers practised evil deeds among the people?"

Prince Answald replied, with hesitation:

"I do not complain of any outrage which the guest has committed, but the nature of his men is unpliant and extraordinary, and they adapt themselves ill to the customs of our country."

Then Isanbart nodded his gray head, and spoke:

"I also experienced the same when I dwelt as a guest with thy father Irmfried in the land of the Vandals. We also, as far as I can remember, were unyielding and strange to the Vandals; yet our hosts laughed kindly about it, and accommodated the quarrels of the men whenever they broke out; they always begged us to stay longer, and dismissed us with rich presents. Therefore I think it becomes a host to be cautious before he receives foreign guests, and to exercise forbearance as long as they dwell under his protection."

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