After some thought Siegfried replied, slowly and impressively: "There is one condition on which I will aid you. I will win Brunhild for you if in return you will give me the hand of your sister, Kriemhild." "There is no other to whom I would more gladly trust her than to you," replied Gunther; and then with clasped hands the two friends sealed their compact. After busy days of preparation, during which the most splendid raiment that ever clad brave knights was made by Kriemhild and her maidens, Gunther and Siegfried, with several companions, set sail upon the river Rhine, thence to cross the sea to Issland, in the far north. Slowly passed the days of the voyage, for it was a time of keen suspense. "Will good King Gunther ever sail back again into the Rhine country?" was the question that haunted his loyal friends. All but Siegfried were doubtful. At length, one day, they came into view of a great green castle towering above cliffs. "Behold the home of Brunhild!" cried Siegfried; and then as the eager watchers continued to gaze they could see people hurrying about the castle, evidently excited by the approach of a foreign vessel. After anchoring the boat the company were taken at once into the presence of Queen Brunhild, who, recognizing the young Netherlander, exclaimed: "Welcome, Prince Siegfried. What brings you to our court?" Then Siegfried, bowing low, made known their mission: "Gracious queen, in the name of my lord, the King of Burgundy, I ask for a favorable hearing for his suit. None knows better of his noble qualities than do I, his subject; and none can say with more assurance than I that a nobler husband for Queen Brunhild is nowhere to be found." "Ah, if that be his quest," cried Brunhild, "he can win his bride, not by gentle speeches and looks of love, but by a sterner test than any mortal suitor has ever yet endured." Notwithstanding the harsh warning, Gunther, assured by Siegfried, declared: "In the presence of your great beauty, Queen Brunhild, even the strange terms that you propose seem reasonable, and I must accept them, though they bring me and my followers death." [Illustration: A GREAT CASTLE TOWERED ABOVE THE CLIFFS] Thereupon Brunhild began to make ready for the contest, and Siegfried, unobserved, slipped down to the boat in the harbor. Soon three of the Queen's attendants came staggering under the weight of an immense javelin, and a little later twelve other men slowly and with great difficulty pushed an enormous stone into the field. Then the Queen herself appeared clad in massive armor. The King and his attendants looked on, and when it seemed that surely all must die, they would gladly have withdrawn; but from shame they strove to hide their fears as best they could. Meanwhile Siegfried had arrayed himself in his magic cloak, the tarnkappe, and thus made invisible to all he returned to the company and hastened to King Gunther's side.