Then she led him to her treasure chamber, and from its silken coverings in the old oak chest she drew the pieces of the sword, glittering and bright as in the day that the Wanderer smote it into the Branstock, and she gave them to Siegfried with a kiss.

Blithely went the lad forth, but his mother looked after him, wistful, yet rejoicing because the prophecies of Sigmund were to be fulfilled, and her son, with the eyes like stars, should be the hero of all the ages.

5

At the smithy door Regin met him, frowning. "Will 10 naught serve thee but Gram?" he asked, in wrath.

"Naught but Gram!" Siegfried said, and laughed. "Gram shall slay the serpent; take it and do thy best."

Regin took it and shut himself for many days in the smithy with his men, and, after much labor, the sword 15 was wrought; but the smiths told how, as Regin bore it from the forge, fire ran adown its edge. To Siegfried, waiting at the smithy door, he gave the sword, saying sullenly, "If this be not good, then indeed is my craft gone."

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Then Siegfried took the sword and smote the anvil, to test its strength, and the anvil broke in pieces, but the sword held firm. Then ran he joyfully down to the stream and cast therein a lock of wool, and, as it floated down, it met the edge of Gram, and the lock became two, 26 and Siegfried laughed again.

Then said Regin, "Bethink thee, now thou hast a

sword to thy mind, of thy promise to go up against Fafnir!"

"That will I gladly do when I have avenged my father on the Hundings," said the lad.

5 Then the kings made ready many ships, and Siegfried was chief over them, and they sailed to the land of the Volsungs, and in a great battle he overthrew his father's enemies and won the kingdom. And ever in the thickest of the battle gleamed Gram.

– KATHARINE F. BOULT: Heroes of the Norselands.

wood'craft, wood skill, skill in the use of wood; lore, wisdom; fared, went; cov'et ous ly, in a miserly way; fain, willingly; blithe'ly, gladly.

1. Where was Siegfried's boyhood spent and how? Find the place on your map. 2. What "underground folk" were supposed to have the metals in their keeping? Compare with the account of the life of these same people in The Binding of Fenrir. 3. How did Siegfried fulfill the mission his father left for him? 4. Tell in your own words the story that Regin told Siegfried. 5. To what country does Regin refer by "Southern land"? Why does he call it Southern? Find the river Rhine on your maps and see through what countries it flows. 6. Tell how Siegfried got his sword. How did he test it? To what use did he first put it?

Who is spoken to in the first sentence? In the second? In the third?

O Ancient One, evil one, O dwarf, are used instead of the names of the persons spoken to. How are the names of the persons spoken to or addressed separated.from the rest of the sentence?

Rule. The name of the person addressed should be separated from the rest of the sentence by commas.

Written Exercise. — Copy the following sentences, being careful to place the commas where they belong. Write them from dictation. 1. Do not shoot me, Hiawatha !

2. Lady Moon, where are you roving?

3. Sail on, O mighty ship, sail on!

Why are there two commas used in the third sentence?

4. Ladybug, ladybug, fly away home.

Insert commas where needed in the following sentences:—

1. Be good sweet maid and let who will be clever. 2. Where did you come from baby dear? 3. Little brook sing to me. 4. Honeybee honeybee where are you going? 5. I could not love thee dear so much loved I not honor more. 6. Give me of your bark O birch tree. 7. Hush my dear lie still and slumber! 8. Roll on thou deep and dark blue ocean roll. 9. Sleep baby sleep. 10. Friends Romans countrymen lend me your ears. 11. Ring happy bells across the snow. 12. In Thee O Lord do I put my

trust.

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SIEGFRIED THE VOLSUNG (Continued)

Now, when he had been at home some time, Siegfried grew weary of quiet, and Gram rattled in its sheath, as it hung on the wall over his seat. So he went to Regin, who sat wearily by the smithy fire, and, drawing up a

N

stool, sat by him. After a while the lad spoke. "Tomorrow will I ride with thee to the Waste, Regin, if thou wilt; maybe I shall slay thy brother."

"Two shall go forth," said Regin, gloomily, “but 5 neither shall return."

"No matter," quoth Siegfried, "we will try our best for the hoard!"

Ere the dawn Siegfried arose, and, going silently, he went to his mother and kissed her gently, for he knew he 10 should see her no more; then, saddling Grane, he rode forth to the Lonesome Waste, with Regin at his side. Ever inland and upward they rode as the days went by, leaving meadows, trees, and all green things behind. At last they came out upon the Waste beside a mountain 15 torrent, where Fafnir was wont to drink, and Siegfried traced the broad band of slime that he made as he crawled back and forth. "Surely," said he, "this dragon brother of thine is greater than all other serpents, from the breadth of his track?"

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"Yea," said Regin. "But dig thou a pit in his path and sit therein; then canst thou stab him from beneath. As for me, since in naught can I help thee, I will get me to a place of safety," and he rode down the rocks.

Then Siegfried put Grane in shelter, and as he returned 25 there met him a graybeard with one eye, who asked him whither he went and what he was about to do, and Siegfried told him. "That counsel is evil," said the Ancient