Siegfried rode ahead of the party, with Gunther and Hagen beside him. His suit was of royal purple, embroidered richly by Kriemhild’s loving fingers, and his spear shone bright in the sunlight as he galloped along, light-hearted and unsuspicious of the black thoughts which were harboured in Hagen’s wicked heart. He looked so brave and joyous, so beautiful as a youth and so gallant as a knight, that all the warriors in Gunther’s train said among themselves that no one in Burgundy was fit to be compared to Siegfried.
These remarks soon came to Hagen’s ears, and hardened him in his determination to slay this foreign prince whom all his own countrymen would so gladly make their king in place of the weak and unwarlike Gunther. He hid this feeling, however, and kept close to Siegfried’s side, looking eagerly for the spot upon his shoulder where the loving but foolish Kriemhild had sewed the fatal mark.
The hunting party soon came to the edge of the forest, where they divided into three groups. Each leader took with him a party of followers, and they set out in different directions, with the agreement that when the sun was overhead they should meet at a well-known place where Gunther had arranged that their dinner was to be set out. Siegfried galloped away, and a greater part of the knights followed him. Hagen saw this and frowned darkly, but he said nothing, only waited for Siegfried to get out of sight. Then he whispered to the king:—
“To-day is the day for our deed. This must be the last time that your friend Siegfried flaunts his superiority over the king.”
Gunther trembled and answered weakly:—
“Must it be done, Hagen? Is there no other way to rid our kingdom of him?”
“No way but by his death,” replied Hagen, firmly; then he added: “and do not you give way to foolish fancies, or my plans may fail. I have no womanish scruples, and Siegfried must die to-day.”
Not wishing to have it appear that anything unusual was in preparation, Hagen ceased to confer with the king, but summoned his knights to the chase, and, putting spurs to their horses, they started through the forest. But something in the faces of the leaders made the men only half-hearted in their eagerness for the hunt, and a spirit of silence and gloom spread over the whole party.
They hunted all the morning, but their success was small, and when they finally drew up at the meeting-place, they found that they had very little game to boast of. The men had already come from the castle with great baskets of provisions, so the knights dismounted, and sat upon the grass to await the coming of Siegfried.
Soon they heard the loud blast of horns, and the joyous hallooing of men mingled with the barking and yelping of hounds; and in a moment Siegfried and his followers came in sight. They shouted merrily to their comrades, and galloped forward to join them, while those seated upon the ground looked with delight and surprise at the beasts which had been slain by Siegfried’s skilful hand. There was a large black bear of the kind which was known to be so fierce that it was well-nigh impossible to kill or capture him. There was also a huge wild boar and three shaggy wolves, besides a great number of smaller animals, such as the fox and deer. The knights were all loud in their praises of Siegfried’s wonderful skill, and he took their homage gladly, seeming wholly unconscious of Hagen’s cruel face or Gunther’s averted eyes.