LEGENDS OF THE RHINE.

Otago Witness, Issue 1866, 26 August 1887, Page 32

LEGENDS OF THE RHINE.

No. IT -WALTER OF THE VOSGES.

By Dr W. Clarice Robinson.

Attila, king of the Huns, established his camp in the forests by the Danube. With the horsemen collected round his wooden building, this " Scourge of God " harried Western Europe for plunder and destruction. From Worms, on the Rhine, he carried off untold treasures, and the chief Burgundian noble, Hagen, as a hostage. From the kingdom on the Rhone he took the only princess, the beautiful Hildegund ; and from the Court of Acquitaine by the Pyrenees, he led away the heir, Prince Walter. Thus, with the flower of three kingdoms in his train, he retired to his wicker palace on the Danube. He treated his hostages with kindness at his court ; in exile, they were free. They joined in every sport, and became distinguished in war and in the chase. Walter and Hagen spent morths together, hunting and fishing by the Danube. Their associations bound them together ; they swore eternal brotherhood ; and sealed their vow by pricking their arms and mixing their blood. And Hildegund won the favour of Attila and his queen, Helchee. Indeed, the queen had such confidence in Hildegund that she told her all the secrets of the court, and made her guardian of tbe jewels, and often had her sing at the banquets. Then Hildegund often, chose a song of " Gay Provence," or her own dear Rhone, which she had left for ever. The glories ,of the house of Acquitaine sometimes also formed the subject of song. And Walter then would stand spell-bound and see his youthful dreams again, and feel unspeakably drawn to her who struck the secret cord, and thrilled his inmost soul. Hagen was cold and blunt ; there was no echo in his soul to any charm of music or song. Meantime the king at Worms had died;

his son, Gunther, succeeded; and Hagen resolved to flee. , But Walter will not flee without taking Hildegund with him. And he overheard her in a song which showed him she was was pining for her sunny home in the flowery valleys of Provence :— In my father's garden, an orange tree of gold Blossoms, iruit-heladden, as it bloomed of old. Tra la la, tra la la, tra -la— la ! Tell me, pretty maiden, will you be my own ? Yes. In the sweet, sweet Maytime, a friendly nightingale Sings among its branches, its music fills the vale. Tra la la. tra la la, tra— la— la ! Tell me, pretty maiden, will you be my own ? Yes. Hyacinths and roseß shall deck my yellow hair, And when daylight closhs, I'll meet my lover there. Tra la la, tra la la, tra— la -Ia ! Tell me, pretty maiden, will you be my own ? Yes.

After Hagen's escape, Attila and his queen strive to bind Walter closer to their interests by marrying him to a Hunnish 'princess. But Walter warily evades their arts, and they think he is their zealous servant. It is the early spring, when the Hun- | nish hordes are wont to sally forth on their wild expeditions. A troop, with Walter and Attila at its head, start against the Goths. The evening before Walter finds Hildegund alone, tells her it was she who had inspired him to all his victories, talks of their early homes, and learns her early wish for freedom. The ruddy sunset breaks in through the budding trees : the autumn leaves are lying scented with spring's blossoms ; the rippling river flows on curling to the sea. She talks of horne — its hills of vine and the kind hearts who are there. He must kiss those prattling lips, and tell the brave heart, if he return from the war, he'll take her to her home, or make her queen of his own. He tells her then to be ready for flight and to have gold and jewels hid in the wood to take with them. And away he goes to the warl Walter wins in every battle. At the court a feast is given in his honour. King and nobles drink deep to his health. When all are overcome with wine, Walter and Hildegund escape on horseback, with jewels and treasure. On the fourteenth day they reach the Khine, near Worms. They have no coin to pay the boatman, but give him some rare fish they had taken in the Danube. The boatman sells the fish in Worms to Gunther's cook, and they are set on the royal table. Gunther asks, " Whence these fish— they are not of Rhine ? " The boatman tells how he got them, and speaks of the hero and the lovely bride, whom he had ferried over the Rhine, and adds, " They had with them immense treasures." Gunther thinks to seize the treasure and to win the Princess Hildegund. Walter must be slain. Hagen intercedes for Walter, and tells Gunther it will be no easy conquest. A picked company of warriors is chosen to pursue ; and, with reluctance, Hagen follows his king. They overtake Walter in a mountain valley in the Vosges. As he sees them come he secures Hildegund and the treasure in a sylvan grotto in those grand old mountains, clad with vine and fruit trees, and crested with the sombre sighing pine —meet witnesses of tragedy and woe ! Walter stands ready, sword in hand, by the cave. Twelve of the boldest warriors advance against him, going one by one along the dizzy ledge ; but one by one they fall beneath his blows. The last is Hagen's nephew. Hagen is then at last induced to defend his king. It was a hard struggle to give up his old friend Walter ; but when it was over he used all his power for that friend's destruction. Seeing Walter's vantage ground on the rock, he proposes to give the matter up, and retires with Guntlier. Walter remains all night in the cave, and Hildegund watches, singing her sweet low songs to keep herself awake as Walter sleeps, his head in her lap. In the morning he sets out for home. Scarcely had he left the cave when Gunther and Hagen rush upon him. In vain he offers ransom, and pleads for peace and for Hildegund's sake. Then sending her back to the hill, he nerves his arm for the unequal fight. Gunther is soon disabled. From morn till noon the combat continues. Hagen's eye is destroyed, and Walter's hand is shattered, till maimed and bruised and overcome all three at last lie dying on the ground. Hildegund now descends like an angel of light from the hill; effects their reconcilement, and pours the labial wine. She binds their wounds, and arrests the tide of ebbing life. Naturally strong, they gradually recover, and Walter resumes his journey home to Acquitaine, where he is publicly betrothed to Hildegund a second time — for it now appears that these two had been betrothed when infants, by their parents, though the exiled children were unconscious that such a ceremony had taken place.-