"Have a care!" shouted he at the close in a pealing voice, as he
pulled the strings so mightily that they all broke with a clanging
wail, and a cloud of dust rose from the old lute, which spread round
him like a mist.

Sintram had been watching him narrowly whilst he was singing, and
more and more did he feel convinced that it was impossible that this
man and his fellow-traveller of the morning could be one and the
same. Nay, the doubt rose to certainty, when the stranger again
looked round at him with the same timid, anxious air, and with many
excuses and low reverences hung the lute in its old place, and then
ran out of the hall as if bewildered with terror, in strange contrast
with the proud and stately bearing which he had shown to Biorn.

The eyes of the boy were now directed to his father, and he saw that
he had sunk back senseless in his seat, as if struck by a blow.
Sintram's cries called Rolf and other attendants into the hall; and
only by great labour did their united efforts awake the lord of the
castle. His looks were still wild and disordered; but he allowed
himself to be taken to rest, quiet and yielding.




CHAPTER 5