"Brother, will you sit by the fire and rest, till we finish this part of
our work?"
I signified my assent; and, resolved to await any disclosure they might
be inclined to make, seated myself in silence near the hearth.
The elder brother then laid the sword in the fire, covered it well over,
and when it had attained a sufficient degree of heat, drew it out and
laid it on the anvil, moving it carefully about, while the younger, with
a succession of quick smart blows, appeared either to be welding it,
or hammering one part of it to a consenting shape with the rest. Having
finished, they laid it carefully in the fire; and, when it was very
hot indeed, plunged it into a vessel full of some liquid, whence a blue
flame sprang upwards, as the glowing steel entered.
There they left it; and drawing two stools to the fire, sat down, one on
each side of me.
"We are very glad to see you, brother. We have been expecting you for
some days," said the dark-haired youth.
"I am proud to be called your brother," I rejoined; "and you will not
think I refuse the name, if I desire to know why you honour me with it?"
"Ah! then he does not know about it," said the younger. "We thought you
had known of the bond betwixt us, and the work we have to do together.
You must tell him, brother, from the first."
So the elder began: "Our father is king of this country. Before we were born, three giant
brothers had appeared in the land. No one knew exactly when, and no one
had the least idea whence they came. They took possession of a ruined
castle that had stood unchanged and unoccupied within the memory of any
of the country people. The vaults of this castle had remained uninjured
by time, and these, I presume, they made use of at first. They were
rarely seen, and never offered the least injury to any one; so that they
were regarded in the neighbourhood as at least perfectly harmless, if
not rather benevolent beings. But it began to be observed, that the old
castle had assumed somehow or other, no one knew when or how, a somewhat
different look from what it used to have. Not only were several breaches
in the lower part of the walls built up, but actually some of the
battlements which yet stood, had been repaired, apparently to prevent
them from falling into worse decay, while the more important parts were
being restored. Of course, every one supposed the giants must have a
hand in the work, but no one ever saw them engaged in it. The peasants
became yet more uneasy, after one, who had concealed himself, and
watched all night, in the neighbourhood of the castle, reported that he
had seen, in full moonlight, the three huge giants working with might
and main, all night long, restoring to their former position some
massive stones, formerly steps of a grand turnpike stair, a great
portion of which had long since fallen, along with part of the wall
of the round tower in which it had been built. This wall they were
completing, foot by foot, along with the stair. But the people said
they had no just pretext for interfering: although the real reason for
letting the giants alone was, that everybody was far too much afraid of
them to interrupt them.