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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/36203-8.txt b/36203-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..fa95b26 --- /dev/null +++ b/36203-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8841 @@ +Project Gutenberg's 'Neath the Hoof of the Tartar, by Miklós Jósika + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: 'Neath the Hoof of the Tartar + The Scourge of God + +Author: Miklós Jósika + +Commentator: R. Nisbet Bain + +Translator: Selina Gaye + +Release Date: May 24, 2011 [EBook #36203] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 'NEATH THE HOOF OF THE TARTAR *** + + + + +Produced by Steven desJardins and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +'NEATH THE HOOF OF THE TARTAR + + +[Illustration: Portrait of Jósika] + + + + +'Neath the Hoof of the Tartar + +OR + +_THE SCOURGE OF GOD_ + +BY BARON NICOLAS JÓSIKA + +ABRIDGED FROM THE HUNGARIAN BY SELINA GAYE + +_WITH PREFACE BY R. NISBET BAIN_ + +SANS PEUR ET SANS REPROCHE +[Illustration] +SECOND EDITION + +_And Photogravure Portrait of the Author_ + +LONDON +JARROLD & SONS, 10 & 11, WARWICK LANE, E.C. + +[_All Rights Reserved_] + +1904 + + + + + CONTENTS. + + CHAPTER PAGE + INTRODUCTION 7 + I. RUMOURS 15 + II. GOOD NEWS OR BAD? 35 + III. MASTER STEPHEN'S PAGE 50 + IV. MISTAKE THE FIRST 69 + V. AS THE KING WILLS 89 + VI. MISTAKE THE SECOND 104 + VII. AT THE VERY DOORS 120 + VIII. THE BETTER PART OF VALOUR 133 + IX. "I WASH MY HANDS" 146 + X. LIBOR CLIMBS THE CUCUMBER-TREE 167 + XI. "NEXT TIME WE MEET" 181 + XII. DEFENDING THE CASTLE 199 + XIII. CAMP FIRES 216 + XIV. A FATAL DAY 228 + XV. DORA'S RESOLVE 240 + XVI. THROUGH THE SNOW 253 + XVII. A STAMPEDE 274 + XVIII. AUNT ORSOLYA'S CAVERN 288 + XIX. FATHER ROGER'S STORY 297 + XX. LIKE THE PHOENIX 312 + + + + +INTRODUCTION. + + +Baron Miklós Jósika, the Walter Scott of Hungary, was born at Torda, in +Transylvania, on April 28th, 1796. While quite a child, he lost both his +parents, and was brought up at the house and under the care of his +grandmother, Anna Bornemissza, a descendant of Jókai's heroine of the +same name in "'Midst the Wild Carpathians." Of the young nobleman's many +instructors, the most remarkable seems to have been an _emigré_ French +Colonel, who gave him a liking for the literature of France, which was +not without influence on his future development. After studying law for +a time at Klausenberg to please his friends, he became a soldier to +please himself, and in his seventeenth year accompanied the Savoy +dragoon regiment to Italy. During the campaign of the Mincio in 1814, he +so distinguished himself by his valour that he was created a first +lieutenant on the field of battle, and was already a captain when he +entered Paris with the allies in the following year. In 1818, at the +very beginning of his career, he ruined his happiness by his +unfortunate marriage with Elizabeth Kalláy. According to Jósika's +biographer, Luiza Szaák,[1] young Jósika was inveigled into this union +by a designing mother-in-law, and any chance of happiness the young +couple might have had, if left to themselves, was speedily dashed by the +interference of the father of the bride, who defended all his daughter's +caprices against the much-suffering husband. Even the coming of children +could not cement this woeful wedding, which terminated in the practical +separation of spouses who were never meant to be consorts. + + [Footnote 1: Baró Jósika Miklós élete és munkai.] + +Jósika further offended his noble kinsmen by devoting himself to +literature. It may seem a paradox to say so, yet it is perfectly true, +that in the early part of the present century, with some very few +honourable exceptions, the upper classes in Hungary addressed only their +_servants_ in Hungarian. Latin was the official language of the Diet, +while polite circles conversed in barbarous French. These were the days +when, as Jókai has reminded us, the greatest insult you could offer to +an Hungarian lady was to address her in her native tongue. It required +some courage, therefore, in the young Baron to break away from the +feudal traditions of his privileged caste and use the plebeian Magyar +dialect as a literary vehicle. His first published book, "Abafi" +(1836), an historical romance written under the direct influence of Sir +Walter Scott, whom Jósika notoriously took for his model, made a great +stir in the literary world of Hungary. "Hats off, gentlemen," was how +Szontagh, the editor of the _Figyelmezö_, the leading Hungarian +newspaper of the day, began his review of this noble romance. Jósika was +over forty when he first seriously began to write, but the grace and +elegance of his style, the maturity of his judgment, the skilfulness of +his characterization--all pointed to a long apprenticeship in letters. +Absolute originality cannot indeed be claimed for him. Unlike Jókai, he +owed very much to his contemporaries. He began as an imitator of Scott, +as we have seen, and he was to end as an imitator of Dickens, as we +shall see presently. But he was no slavish copyist. He gave nearly as +much as he took. Moreover, he was the first to naturalize the historical +romance in Hungary, and if, as a novelist, he is inferior to Walter +Scott, he is inferior to him alone. + +In Hungary, at any rate, his rare merits were instantly recognised and +rewarded. + +Two years after the publication of "Abafi," he was elected a member of +the Hungarian Academy, four years later he became the President of the +Kisfaludy Társaság, the leading Magyar literary society. All classes, +without exception, were attracted and delighted by the books of this +new novelist, which followed one another with bewildering rapidity. +"Zolyomi," written two years before "Abafi," was published a few months +later, together with "Könnyelmüek." Shortly afterwards came the two +great books which are generally regarded as his masterpieces, "Az utolsó +Bátory" and "Csehek Magyarországon," and a delightful volume of fairy +tales, "Élet és tündérhón," in three volumes. In 1843 was published +"Zrinyi a Költö," in which some critics saw a declension, but which +Jókai regards as by far the greatest of Jósika's historical romances. +Finally may be mentioned as also belonging to the pre-revolutionary +period, "Jósika István," an historical romance in five volumes, largely +based upon the family archives; "Egy kétemeletes ház," a social romance +in six volumes; and "Ifju Békesi Ferencz kalandjai," a very close and +most clever imitation of the "Pickwick Papers," both in style and +matter, written under the pseudonym of Moric Alt. It is a clever skit of +the peccadilloes and absurdities of the good folks of Budapest of all +classes, full of genuine humour, and was welcomed with enthusiasm. + +On the outbreak of the War of Independence in 1848, Baron Jósika +magnanimously took the popular side, though he was now an elderly man, +and had much to lose and little to gain from the Revolution. He was +elected a member of the Honvéd Government; countenanced all its acts; +followed it from place to place till the final collapse, and then fled +to Poland. Ultimately he settled at Brussels, where for the next twelve +years he lived entirely by his pen, for his estates were confiscated, +and he himself was condemned to death by the triumphant and vindictive +Austrian Government, which had to be satisfied, however, with burning +him in effigy. + +Jósika was to die an exile from his beloved country, but the bitterness +of banishment was somewhat tempered by the touching devotion of his +second wife, the Baroness Julia Podmaniczky, who also became his +amanuensis and translator. The first novel of the exilic period was +"Eszter," written anonymously for fear his works might be prohibited in +Hungary, in which case the unhappy author would have run the risk of +actual want. For the same reason all the novels written between 1850 and +1860 (when he resumed his own name on his title-pages) are "by the +author of 'Eszter.'" In 1864, by the doctor's advice, Jósika moved to +Dresden, and there, on February 27th, 1865, he died, worn out by labour +and sorrow. He seems, at times, to have had a hard struggle for an +honourable subsistence, and critics, latterly, seem to have been +neglectful or unkind. Ultimately his ashes were brought home to his +native land and deposited reverently in the family vault at Klausenberg; +statues were raised in his honour at the Hungarian capital, and the +greatest of Hungarian novelists, Maurus Jókai, delivered an impassioned +funeral oration over the remains of the man who did yeoman's service for +the Magyar literature, and created and popularized the historical novel +in Hungary. + +For it is as the Hungarian historical romancer _par excellence_ that +Jósika will always be remembered, and inasmuch as the history of no +other European country is so stirring and so dramatic as that of +Hungary, and Jósika was always at infinite pains to go direct to +original documents for his facts and local colouring, he will always be +sure of an audience in an age, like our own, when the historical novel +generally (witness the immense success of Sienkiewicz) is once more the +favourite form of fiction. Among the numerous romances "by the author of +'Eszter,'" the work, entitled "Jö a Tatár" ("The Tartar is coming"), now +presented to the English public under the title of "'Neath the Hoof of +the Tartar," has long been recognised by Hungarian critics as "the most +pathetic" of Jósika's historical romances. The groundwork of the tale is +the terrible Tartar invasion of Hungary during the reign of Béla IV. +(1235-1270), when the Mongol hordes devastated Magyarland from end to +end. Two love episodes, however, relieve the gloom of this terrific +picture, "and the historical imagination" of the great Hungarian +romancer has painted the heroism and the horrors of those far distant +times every whit as vividly as Sienkiewicz has painted the secular +struggle between the Red Cross Knights and the semi-barbarous heroes of +old Lithuania. + +R. NISBET BAIN. + + + + +'Neath the Hoof of the Tartar. + +CHAPTER I. + +RUMOURS. + + +"Well, Talabor, my boy, what is it? Anything amiss?" asked Master Peter, +as the page entered the hall, where he and his daughter were at +breakfast. + +It was a bare, barn-like apartment, but the plates and dishes were of +silver. + +"Nothing amiss, sir," was the answer, "only a guest has just arrived, +who would like to pay his respects, but--he is on foot!" + +It was this last circumstance, evidently, which was perplexing Talabor. + +"A guest?--on foot?" repeated Master Peter, as if he too were puzzled. + +"Yes, sir; Abbot Roger, he calls himself, and says you know him!" + +"What! good Father Roger! Know him? Of course I do!" cried Peter, +springing from his chair. "Where is he? Why didn't you bring him in at +once? I am not his Grace of Esztergom to keep a good man like him +waiting in the entry!" + +"The servants are just brushing the dust off him, sir," replied the +page, "and he wants to wash his feet, but he will be ready to wait upon +you directly, sir, if you please!" + +"By all means! but he is no 'Abbot,' Talabor; he is private chaplain to +Master Stephen, my brother!" + +Talabor had not long been in Master Peter's service, and knew no more of +Master Stephen than he did of Father Roger, so he said nothing and left +the room with a bow. + +"Blessed be the name of the Lord Jesus, Father Roger!" cried Master +Peter, hurrying forward to meet his guest, as he entered the +dining-hall. + +"For ever and ever!" responded the Father, while Dora raised his hand to +her lips, delighted to see her old friend again. + +"But how is this, Father Roger?" Peter asked in high good humour, after +some inquiry as to his brother's welfare; "how is this? Talabor, _deák_ +announced you as 'Abbot.' What is the meaning of it?" + +"Quite true, sir! Thanks to his Holiness and the King, I have been +'Abbot' the last month or two; but just now I am on my way to Pest by +command of his Majesty." + +"What! an abbot travel in this fashion, on foot! Why, our abbots make +as much show as the magnates, some of them. Too modest, too modest, +Father! Besides, you'll never get there! Is the King's business urgent?" + +"Hardly that, I think; though--but, after all, why prophesy evil before +one must!" + +"Prophesy evil?" repeated Dora. + +"Prophecies are in the hands of the Lord!" interposed her father +quickly. "Good or bad, it rests with Him whether they shall be +fulfilled. So, Father Roger, let us have it, whatever it is." + +"The King's commands were that I should be at Pest by the end of the +month," answered Roger, "so I shall be in time, even if I do travel +somewhat slowly. As for the prophesying--without any gift of prophecy I +can tell you so much as this, that _something_ is coming! True, it is +far off as yet, but to be forewarned is to be forearmed, and I fancy the +King is one who likes to look well ahead." + +"But what is it, Father Roger? do tell us!" cried Dora anxiously. + +"Nothing but rumours so far, dear child, but they are serious, and it +behoves us to be on our guard." + +"Oktai and his brethren, eh?" said Master Peter, with some scorn. "Oh, +those Tartars! The Tartars are coming! the Tartars are coming! Why, they +have been coming for years! When did we first hear that cry? I declare I +can't remember," and he laughed. + +"I am afraid it is no laughing matter, though," said Father Roger. "I +daresay you have not forgotten Brother Julian, who returned home only +two or three years ago." + +But here Dora interposed. She remembered Father Roger telling her a +story of the Dominican brothers, who had gone to try and find the "old +home" of the Magyars and convert to Christianity those who had stayed +behind, and she wanted to hear it again, if her father did not mind. + +Father Roger accordingly told how, of the first four brothers, only one +had returned home, and he had died soon after, but not before he had +described how, while travelling as a merchant, he had fallen in with men +who spoke Hungarian and told him where their home, "Ugria," was to be +found.[2] Four more brothers had been despatched on the same quest by +King Béla, who was desirous of increasing the population of his country, +and particularly wished to secure "kinsmen" if he could. Two only of the +brothers persevered through the many perils and privations which beset +their way. One of these died, and Julian, the survivor, entering the +service of a wealthy Mohammedan, travelled with him to a land of many +rich towns, densely populated.[3] Here he met a woman who had actually +come from the "old home," and still farther north he had found the +"brothers of the Magyars," who could understand him and whom he could +understand. + + [Footnote 2: Ugria extended from the North Sea to the + rivers Kama, Irtisch, and Tobol, west and east of the + Ural Mountains. The Ugrians had come in more ancient + times from the high lands of the Altai Mountains. + Hungarian was still spoken in Ugria, then called + Juharia, as late as the beginning of the sixteenth + century.] + + [Footnote 3: Great Bulgaria, lying on both sides of the + Volga, at its junction with the Kama.] + +They were, of course, heathen, but not idolaters; they were nomads, +wandering from place to place, living on flesh and mare's milk, and +knowing nothing of agriculture. They were greatly interested in all that +Julian told them, for they knew from old traditions that some of their +race had migrated westwards. + +But at the time of his visit they were much perturbed by news brought to +them by their neighbours on the east. These were Tartar, or Turkish, +tribes, who, having several times attacked them and been repulsed, had +finally entered into an alliance with them. A messenger from the Tartar +Khan had just arrived to announce, not only that the Tartar tribes were +themselves on the move and but five days' journey away, but that they +were moving to escape from a "thick-headed" race, numerous as the sands +of the sea which was behind them, on their very heels, and threatening +to overwhelm all the kingdoms of the world, as it had already +overwhelmed great part of Asia. + +Brother Julian hastened home to report his discoveries and warn his +country, which he had reached between two and three years before our +story begins; but nothing more had come of his pilgrimage, no more had +been heard of the "Magyar[4] brothers." + + [Footnote 4: Europeans called them Ugrians-Hungarians, + but they called themselves "Magyars"--"children of the + land," as some think to be the meaning of the word.] + +"But why, Father Roger?" asked Dora, with wide eyes. + +"Because the 'thick-headed people' have not only overrun nearly the +whole of Central Asia as far as Pekin, covering it with ruins and +reducing it to a desert, but have streamed westward like a flood, a +torrent, and have submerged nearly the whole of Eastern Europe." + +"Then they are not Tartars?" + +"No, Mongolians[5]; but they have swallowed up many Tartar tribes and +have forced them to join their host. Tartars we have known before, but +Mongols are new to us, so most people keep to the name familiar to them, +which seems appropriate too--Tátars, Tartari, you know, denizens of +Tartarus, the Inferno, as we Italians call it; and their deeds are +'infernal' enough, Heaven knows!" + + [Footnote 5: Temudschin was but thirteen when he became + chief (in A. D. 1175) of one horde, consisting of + thirty to forty thousand families. After some + vicissitudes, he entered upon a career of conquest, + and, between 1204 and 1206, he summoned the chiefs of + all the hordes and tribes who owned his sway to an + assembly, at which he caused it to be proclaimed that + "Heaven had decreed to him the title of 'Dschingiz' + (Highest), for he was to be ruler of the whole world." + From this time he was known as Dschingiz, or Zenghiz + Khan.] + +"And are they coming, really?" + +"As to whether they will come here, God alone knows; but Oktai, son of +Dschingiz, who is now chief Khan, has sent a vast host westward, and, as +I said, they have overrun great part of Russia; it is reported that they +have burnt Moscow." + +"Come, come, Father," interrupted Peter, who had been growing more and +more restless, "you are not going to compare us Magyars with the +Russians, I hope, or with the Chinese and Indians either. If they show +their ugly dog's-heads here, they will find us more than a match for +such a rabble." + +"I hope so!" said Father Roger. But he spoke gravely, and added, "You +have heard, of course, of the Cumani, Kunok, you call them, I think." + +"To be sure! Peaceable enough when they are let alone, but brave, +splendid fellows when they are attacked, as Oktai has found, for I know +they have twice defeated him," said Master Peter triumphantly. + +"Yes, there was no want of valour on their part; but you know the +proverb: 'Geese may be the death of swine, if only there be enough of +them!' And so, according to the last accounts, the brave King has been +entirely overwhelmed by Oktai's myriads, and he, with 40,000 families of +Kunok, are now in the Moldavian mountains on the very borders of Erdély" +(Transylvania). + +"Ah, indeed," said Master Peter, a little more gravely, "that I had not +heard! but if it is true, I must tell you that my chief object would be +to prevent the report from spreading and being exaggerated. If it does, +the whole country will be in a state of commotion, and all for nothing! +There is hardly any nation which needs peace more than ours does, and we +have quite enough to do with sweeping before our own door, without going +and mixing ourselves up in other people's quarrels." + +But Father Roger went on to say that the rumour had spread already, and +that was why the King was wishing to call his nobles, and, in fact, the +whole nation, together to take measures of defence in good time. + +"Defence!" cried Peter; "defence against whom? Why, we have no enemies +on any of our borders, unless you mean the Kunok, and they are far +enough off at present; besides, we don't look on them as foes. It is +always the way, Father Roger! always the way! We go conjuring up +spectres! and though I am his Majesty's loyal and devoted subject, I may +say here, just between ourselves, that I do think him too quick to take +alarm." + +"You think so, sir?" returned the Abbot; "well, of course, it is a mere +opinion, but to my mind the King is not far wrong." + +And then the good Father reminded his host that Oktai had already +overthrown the Russians, great numbers of whom had been forced to join +his army; and now that he had driven out the Kunok was it to be +supposed that he would stop short? Dschingiz Khan, his father, had been +a conqueror; conquest was his sole object in life, and he would have +conquered the whole world if he had lived. His sons, especially Oktai, +took after him; they, too, considered themselves destined to conquer the +world, and now that Kuthen had shown him the way into Transylvania he +would be forcing a passage across the frontier before they knew where +they were. His rapidity was something marvellous, unheard of! + +Again Master Peter only laughed. Where was the use of alarming the +country? and would not a call to arms look as if they were afraid, and +actually tempt the Mongols to come and attack them? + +Father Roger shook his head, as he replied in Latin: + +"If you wish for peace, prepare for war, as the old Romans used to say, +and it is wise not to despise your foe." + +The two went on arguing. Master Peter, like many another noble in those +days, would not see danger. Though valiant enough, he was always an +easy-going man, and, again like many another, he was quite confident +that Hungary would be able to beat any enemy who might come against her, +without worrying herself beforehand. Father Roger did not know the +Hungarians, though he had lived so long among them! + +"Well, well," he concluded, "you go to Pest, Mr. Abbot; but think it +well over by the way, and when you see the King, you tell him plainly +that Peter Szirmay advises his Majesty not to give the alarm before it +is necessary." + +Roger shook his head but said nothing. Italian though he was, he +understood the Hungarian nobility very well. He knew how they disliked +being turned out of their ordinary course; but he knew too that once +roused, they would not hesitate to confront any enemy who threatened +them, and that though they might be hot-headed, foolhardy, +over-confident, they were certainly not cowards! + +"Well," thought the Abbot, "you are no wiser, I am afraid, than others; +but when the King does succeed in routing you out of your old fastness +and getting you down into the plain, you will give as good an account of +yourself as the rest!" + +Master Peter was glad to drop the subject, and to feel that there was at +all events no immediate prospect of his being disturbed; yet he was so +far an exception to the majority of his fellow-nobles that he determined +to ascertain the truth about these rumours, and, if necessary, not to +delay placing himself and his daughter beyond the reach of danger. + +Father Roger's gravity had impressed Dora much, but she was young, and +she had such entire confidence in her father, that she could not feel +any actual anxiety. + +"What do you think, Father Roger?" she said presently, "if Oktai Khan +really should want to fight us, about how long would it take him to get +here?" + +"That no one can say, dear child," answered the Italian. "He might reach +the frontier in three years, or it might be in two, or--it might be in +one!" + +"In one year!" Dora repeated in a startled tone. + +"It is impossible to say for certain, my dear. It all depends upon how +long our neighbours can keep back the flood. One thing is certain, that, +as they retreat in our direction, they will draw the enemy after them, +and what is more, unless we are wise and prudent we may make enemies of +the fugitives themselves; that is if we give them reason to suppose us +not strong enough, or not trustworthy enough, to be their friends. Well, +God is good, and we must hope that the danger will be averted." + +"Come, come, Father Roger," said Master Peter, "that is enough, that's +enough! Let us eat, drink, and sleep upon it, and time will show! There +is not the least reason for worrying at present at all events, and if +this disorderly crew does pour across our frontiers at last, well, we +shall be there to meet them! And it won't be the first time that we have +done such a thing." + +And then, by way of entertaining his guest, he proposed to take him all +over the house, stables, and courtyard. + +Master Peter was not wealthy as his brother Stephen was, but for all +that he was sufficiently well off. Stephen, the younger brother, had had +a large fortune with his wife; Peter, a much smaller one with his. The +family mansion, or castle,[6] belonged equally to both; and, being both +widowers, and much devoted to one another, they had agreed to share it, +and had done so most amicably for several years. + + [Footnote 6: Any country house was a castle, or + château, as the French would say.] + +Without being covetous, Stephen had a warm appreciation of this world's +goods; and of all the forty male members of the Szirmay family living at +this time, he was certainly the most wealthy. He was devoted to his +children, and gave them the best education possible at the time of which +we are speaking, the first half of the thirteenth century. His son, +Akos, now one of the King's pages, had learnt to read and write; he had, +too, a certain knowledge of Latin, and sometimes in conversation he +would use a Latin word or two, with Hungarian terminations. In fact, he +knew somewhat more than most of his class, and, needless to say, he was +a good horseman and a good marksman, and well-skilled in the use of arms +and in all manly exercises. + +Stephen's daughter and niece, Jolánta and Dora, were as good scholars as +his son; and all three owed their secular as well as religious knowledge +to Father Roger, in later years the famous author of the "Carmen +Miserabile," and already known as one of the most cultivated men of the +day. He was making his home with the Szirmays, and acting as chaplain, +merely for the time being; and Stephen was glad to secure his services +for the children, who loved the gentle Father, as all did who came in +contact with him. + +Learning was held in such high honour in Hungary in these days, that +many a man coveted, and had accorded to him, the title of +"Magister"--Master--(borne by the King's Notary and Chancellor) if he +had but a little more scholarship than his neighbours, though that often +of the slenderest description, and sometimes but few degrees removed +from ignorance itself. A man such as Roger was not likely therefore to +be overlooked by a King such as Béla; and his advancement was certain to +come in time, notwithstanding the fact that he was an Italian. + +It was when Dora was about eighteen that her father had resolved to go +and live on his own property, in one of the northernmost counties of +Hungary. + +Now Peter had never been a good landlord; from his youth up his pursuits +and interests had not been such as to make him take pleasure in +agriculture. Accounts and calculations were not at all in his way +either, and accordingly, no one was more imposed upon and plundered by +his stewards than himself. He was generous in everything, open-handed, a +true gentleman, delighted to help or oblige anyone, and much more +thoughtlessly profuse than many who were far richer than himself. + +The dwelling-house on that one of his estates to which he had decided to +go, was, it is hardly needful to say, very much out of repair, almost a +ruin in fact. It had never been handsome, being, in truth, but a great +shapeless barn, or store-house, which consisted merely of a ground floor +nearly as broad as it was long. The original building had been of stone, +built in the shape of a tent, and, of course, open to the roof; for +ceilings, except in churches, were long looked upon as luxuries. + +The first inhabitants had slept and cooked, lived and died, all in this +one great hall, or barn; and their successors, as they found more space +needed, had made many additions, each with its own separate roof of +split fir-poles, straw, or reeds. By degrees the original building had +been surrounded by a whole colony of such roofs, with broad wooden +troughs between them to carry off the rain water. Most of these +additions had open roofs, and were as much like barns as the first; but +some were covered in with great shapeless beams; and in a few there were +even fireplaces, built up of logs thickly coated with plaster. + +Various alterations and improvements had been made before Master Peter's +arrival, the most important of which was that the openings in the walls +which had hitherto done duty as windows, had been filled in with +bladder-skin, and provided with wooden lattices. The floors were not +boarded, but the earth had been carefully levelled, and was concealed by +coarse reed-mats, while the walls had been plastered and whitened. + +Altogether, the place was not uncomfortable, according to the ideas of +the time, and Dora was not at all disgusted with its appearance, even +coming from her uncle's house, where she was accustomed to a good deal +of splendour of a certain kind. + +Hungarians, even in those days, could make a splendid appearance upon +occasion, as they did at the King's wedding, when all the guests wore +scarlet, richly embroidered with gold. But their chief luxuries at home +took the form of such articles as could be easily converted into money +in case of need. + +They had, for instance, plates and dishes of gold and silver, precious +stones, court-dresses, not embroidered and braided in the present +fashion, but adorned with pearls and stones of great value, as well as +with plates of beaten gold and silver. Master Peter's great dining-hall +contained many valuables of this description. Huge, much-carved oak +chests were ranged along the bare walls, some open, some closed, these +latter being laden with silver plates and dishes, gold and silver cups, +tankards and numberless other articles required at table. Here and +there, the statue of a saint, a piece of Grecian or Roman armour, and +various antique curiosities were to be seen. + +Seats had not been forgotten, and the high-backed chairs and broad +benches were supplied with comfortable cushions of bright colours. +Similar gay cushions were in use throughout that part of the house +inhabited by Peter and his daughter; and whatever deficiencies there +were, everything at least was now in good order and scrupulously clean. + +As for Dora's own room, her father had done all that he could think of +to make it pleasant and comfortable; and though many a village maiden in +these days would look on it with disdain, Dora was well satisfied. There +were even a few pictures on the bare white walls, though of course they +were not in oil; but the special luxury of her little apartment was that +the window was filled with horn, which was almost as transparent as +glass, and was, moreover, decorated with flowers and designs, painted in +bright colours. + +Window glass was not unknown at this date, but it was too precious to be +commonly used, and was reserved for churches and the palaces of kings +and magnates. Bladders and thin skins were in ordinary use, or, where +people were very wealthy, plates of horn; but there were plenty of +gentlemen's houses in which the inhabitants had no light at all in +winter but such as came from the great open hearths and fireplaces, for +the windows were entirely closed up with reeds or rush mats. + +One of the additions made to the original building had been what was +called a "far-view" or "pigeon tower," much higher than the house +itself, and the top of which could not be reached without the help of a +ladder. This tower, which was more like a misshapen obelisk in shape, +was roofed in with rough boards. In the lower storey there was a +good-sized room, with a door opening from it into the large hall. It +contained a wooden, four-post bedstead, clean and warm, and a small +table; and all along the walls were clothes-pegs and shelves, such +necessaries as we call "furniture" being very uncommon in the days we +are speaking of. Dora's chests had been placed here, and served the +purpose of seats, and there were also a few chairs, a praying-desk, and +a few other little things. The walls were covered with thick stuff +hangings, and the lower part of them was also protected by coarse grey +frieze to keep out the cold and damp. This was Dora's own room. + +Like all gentlemen of the time, even if they were reduced in means, +Peter had a considerable train of servants, and these were lodged in the +very airy, barn-like buildings already mentioned. + +The courtyard was enclosed by a wall, high and massive, provided with +loopholes, parapet, bastions, and breastwork; and the great gate, which +had not yet been many weeks in its place, was so heavy that it was as +much as four men could do to open and close it. + +Master Peter had been anxious to have his horses as well lodged as they +had been at his brother's; but, after all, the stables, which were just +opposite the house, were not such as horses in these days would consider +stables at all. They were, in fact, mere sheds with open sides, such as +are now put up to shelter the wild horses of the plains. + +When all this was done there still remained the digging of a broad, deep +ditch or moat, in which the master himself and all his servants took +part, assisted by some of the neighbouring peasants; and in about three +months' time all was finished, and the curious assemblage of irregular +buildings was more or less fortified, and capable of being defended if +attacked by any wandering band of brigands. + +It merely remains to add that Master Peter's castle stood in a +contracted highland valley, and was surrounded by pine-woods and +mountains. Behind it was the village, of which some few straggling +cottages, or rather huts, had wandered away beyond it into the woods. +The inhabitants were not Hungarians, except in so far as that they lived +in Hungary; they were not Magyars, that is, but Slovacks, remnants of +the great Moravian kingdom, who had retired, or been driven, into the +mountains, when the Magyars occupied the land. The Magyars loved the +green plains, the lakes--full of fish, and frequented by innumerable +wild fowl--to which they had been accustomed in Asia; the Slovacks, +whether from choice or necessity, loved the mountains. + +These latter were an industrious, honest people, no trouble to anyone, +and able to make a living in spite of the hard climate. They had +suffered in more ways than one by the absence of the family; for the +gentry at the great house had as a rule been good to them; and when they +were away, or coming but seldom, and then only for sport with the bears, +boars, and wolves which abounded, the poor people were treated with +contempt and tyranny by those in charge of the property. They no doubt +were glad when Master Peter came to live among them, and as for their +landlord, time had passed pleasantly enough with him in spite of his +being so far out of the world. + +What with looking after the estate, in his own fashion, hunting, riding, +sometimes going on a visit or having friends to stay, he had found +enough to occupy him; but being a hospitable soul, he was always +delighted to welcome the rare guests whom chance brought into the +neighbourhood, and considered that he had a right to keep them three +days--if they could be induced to stay longer, so much the better for +him! + +As for companionship, besides Dora, who could ride and shoot too, as +well as any of her contemporaries, he had Talabor the page, who had come +to him a pale, delicate-looking youth, but had gained so much in health +and strength since he had been in service that his master often pitied +him for not having parents better able to advance his prospects in life. +They were gentry, originally "noble," as every free-born Magyar was, but +they were poor gentry, and had been glad to place their son with Master +Peter to complete his education, as was the custom of the time. The +great nobles sent their sons to the King's court to be instructed in all +manly and courtly accomplishments; the lower nobility and poor +gentlefolk sent theirs to the great nobles, who often had in their +households several pages. These occupied a position as much above that +of the servants as beneath that of the "family," though they themselves +were addressed as "servant," until they were thought worthy the title of +"_deák_," which, though meaning literally "Latinist," answered pretty +much to "clerk" or "scholar," and implied the possession of some little +education. + +Master Peter was so well satisfied with Talabor that he now always +addressed him as "clerk" in the presence of strangers. He was growing +indeed quite fond of him, and was pleased to see how much he had gained +in strength and good looks, and how well able he was to take part in all +the various forms of exercise, the long hunting excursions, the feats of +arms, to which he was himself devoted. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +GOOD NEWS OR BAD? + + +Father Roger had been shown all over the house, had seen all the +additions and improvements, inside and out, and now felt as much at home +in Master Peter's castle as he had done in Master Stephen's. + +It had been finally settled that he should start for Pest the next +morning, and Master Peter insisted on supplying him with a horse and an +armed escort. + +"And then," said he, unconsciously betraying the curiosity which was +devouring him, in spite of his assumed indifference, "then, when you +send the horses back, you know, you can just write a few lines and tell +me what the King wants to see you about." + +Peter was quite anxious for him to be off that he might hear the sooner; +but it struck him that, as Father Roger would be in Pest long before the +end of the month if he made the journey on horse-back, and yet could not +present himself at Court until the time appointed, he might perhaps be +glad of a lodging of his own, though, of course, there were monasteries +which would have received him. He offered him, therefore, the use of an +old house of his own (in much the same condition, he confessed, as his +present dwelling had been in), but in which he knew there were two +habitable rooms, for he had lived in them himself on the occasion of his +last visit to the capital. + +All was settled before supper-time, and Master Peter was just beginning +to wonder when that meal would make its appearance, when the sharp, +shrill sound of a horn gave him something else to think of. + +"Someone is coming! They are letting down the drawbridge," he exclaimed, +with much satisfaction at the prospect of another guest; and shortly +after, ushered in by Talabor, there entered the hall a young man, +somewhat dusty, but daintily apparelled. His black hair had been curled +and was shining from a recent application of oil, and in his whole +appearance and demeanour there was the indescribable something which +tells of the "rising man." + +"Ah, Clerk, it is you, is it?" said Peter, without rising from his seat. +"My brother is well, I hope?" + +"Master Stephen was quite well, sir, when I left him three days ago," +returned the youth, as he made an elaborate bow to the master, another +less low, but delivered with an amiable smile to Dora, and bestowed a +careless third upon Father Roger. + +"Well, and what is the news?" + +"Both good and bad, Mr. Szirmay," was the answer, with another bow. + +"Out with the bad first then, boy," said Master Peter quickly, knitting +his brows as he spoke. "Let us have the good last, and keep the taste of +it longest! Now then!" + +"You have heard, no doubt, sir, what rumours the land is ringing with?" +began the clerk with an air of much importance. + +"We have!" said Peter, shrugging his shoulders; "let them ring till they +are tired! If that is all you have jogged here about, gossip, you might +as well have stayed quietly at home." + +"Matters are more serious than you are perhaps aware, sir," said the +clerk; and with that he drew from his breast a packet done up in cloth, +out of which he produced a piece of parchment about the size of his +first finger. This he handed proudly to Master Peter, who snatched it +from his hand and passed it on to Father Roger, saying: + +"Here, Father, do you take it and read it! I declare if it does not look +like a summons to the Diet! There, there! blowing the trumpet, beating +the drum in Pest already, I suppose!" + +"Quite true, sir, it is a summons to the Diet," said Libor. "His +Majesty, or his Excellency the Palatine, I am not certain which of the +two, was under the impression that you were still with us, and so sent +both summonses to Master Stephen." + +"With _you_!" laughed Master Peter. "All right, _kinsman_, we shall obey +his Majesty's commands, and I hope it may not all prove to be much ado +about nothing." + +With kindly consideration for his host's imperfect Latin, Father Roger +proceeded to translate the summons into Hungarian. + +The King never made many words about things, and his order was plain and +direct. The Diet was to be held on such a date, at such a place, and it +was Master Peter's bounden duty to be present; that was all! + +"Ah, didn't I tell you so, Father?" said he gravely; "we shall be +lighting our fires before the cold sets in, and pitching our tents +before there is any camp! People are mad! and they are hurrying on that +good King of ours too fast. Well, _kinsman_," he went on sarcastically, +"tell us all you know, and if there is any more bad news let us have it +at once." + +"Bad news? it depends upon how you take it, sir; many call it good, and +more call it bad," returned Libor, a trifle abashed by Master Peter's +mode of address. + +"And pray what is it that is neither good nor bad? I don't like riddles, +let me tell you, and if you can't speak plainly you had better not speak +at all!" + +"Sir," said Libor, "I am only telling you what other people say----" and +then, as Master Peter made a gesture of impatience, he went on, "Kuthen, +King of the Kunok, has sent an embassy to his Majesty asking for a +settlement for his people----" + +"Ah! that's something," interrupted Peter, "and I hope his Majesty sent +them to the right-about at once?" + +"His Majesty received the ambassadors with particular favour, and in +view of the danger which threatens us, declared himself ready to welcome +such an heroic people." + +"Danger! don't let me hear that word again, clerk!" + +"It is not my word," protested Libor, with an appealing glance at Dora, +intended to call attention to Master Peter's injustice. + +"It's a bad word, whosesoever it is," insisted Peter. "Well, what more? +are we to be saddled with this horde of pagans then?" + +"Pagans no longer! at least they won't be when they come to settle. They +are all going to be baptized, the King and his family and all his +people. The ambassadors promised and were baptized themselves before +they went back." + +"What!" cried Father Roger, his face lighting up, "forty thousand +families converted to the faith! Why, it is divine, and the King is +almost an Apostle!" + +The good Father quite forgot all further fear of danger from the Kunok, +and from this moment took their part. He could see nothing but good in +this large accession of numbers to the Church. + +"New Christians!" said Peter, shaking his head doubtfully, as he saw the +impression made upon Roger. "Are such people Christians just because +the holy water has been poured upon their faces? They are far enough +from Christianity to my mind. Who can trust such folk? And then, to +admit them without consulting the nation, by a word of command--I don't +like the whole thing, and so far as the country is concerned, I see no +manner of use in it." + +"You see, Mr. Szirmay," said Libor, with a little accession of boldness, +"I was quite right. There are two of you here, and while one thinks the +news bad, the other calls it 'divine.'" + +"Silence, gossip!" said Peter haughtily, "you are not in your own house, +remember. Be so good as to wait till your opinion is asked before you +give it." Then, turning to Roger, he went on: "Well, if it is so, it is, +and we can't alter it; but there will be a fine piece of work when the +Diet does meet. It must be as his Majesty wills, but I for one shall not +give my consent, not though the Danube and Tisza both were poured upon +them. One thing is clear, we are called to the Diet and we must go, and +as for the rest it is in God's hands." + +So saying, Master Peter began to pace up and down the room, and no one +ventured to interrupt him. But presently he came to a standstill in +front of the clerk, and said gloomily, "You have told us ill news enough +to last a good many years; so, unless there is more to come, you may go +on to the next part, and tell us any good news you have." + +"I can oblige you with that, too," said the clerk, who evidently felt +injured by Peter's contemptuous way of speaking; "at least," he added, +"I hope I shall not have to pay for it as I have done for my other news, +though I am sure I am not responsible, for I neither invited the Kunok +nor summoned your Honour to the Diet." + +"Stop there!" said Peter, with some little irritation. "It seems to me, +young man, that you have opened your eyes considerably since you left my +brother; you talk a great deal and very mysteriously. Now then, let us +have any good news you can tell us!" + +"His Majesty has appointed Father Roger to be one of the Canons of +Nagyvárad (Grosswardein), and Master Peter's long suit has terminated in +a favourable judgment. The land in dispute is given back, with the +proceeds for the last nine years." + +"That is good news, if you will," cried Peter, both surprised and +pleased; and without heeding a remark from Libor that he was glad he had +been able to say something which was to his mind at last, he went on: +"Now, Dora, my dear, we shall be able to be a little more comfortable, +and we will spend part of the winter in Pest. Young ladies want a little +amusement, and you, my poor girl, have had to live buried in the woods, +where there is nothing going on." + +"The Hédervárys are in Pest too," the clerk chimed in, "and you will +have a delightful visit, my dear young mistress. His Majesty's Court was +never more brilliant than it is now; the Queen likes to see noble young +dames about her." + +Dora and Peter both looked at the clerk in amazement. He had been four +years in Master Stephen's house, without ever once venturing to make +Dora such a long speech as this. + +"What has come to this man?" and "How very odd!" were the thoughts which +passed through the minds of Peter and his daughter. + +But, forward as she thought him, Dora would not quite ignore the young +man's remark, so she turned to Father Roger, saying, "I know it is a +very gay life in Pest, and no doubt there is plenty of amusement at the +Court, but I am not at all anxious to leave this place. It is not like a +convent after all, and we have several nice people not far off who are +glad to see us." + +But having made a beginning, Libor had a great desire to prolong the +conversation. + +Roger and Peter were now both walking up and down the room, while Dora +was standing at one of the windows, so the opportunity seemed to be a +favourable one, and he proceeded to say gallantly that Dora was wronging +the world as well as herself by shutting herself out from +amusement--that there was more than one person who was only waiting for +a little encouragement--that her many admirers were frightened away--and +so on, and so on, until Dora cut him short, saying that she was sorry he +should oblige her to remind him of what Master Peter had just said +about not giving his opinion until it was asked for; and with that she +left him and joined her father. + +"What a haughty little thing it is for a forest flower, to be sure," +said Libor to himself; but he felt just a little ashamed nevertheless, +as he was well aware that he had taken an unheard-of liberty. +Conversation of any sort between the pages and the daughters of the +house was not "the thing" in those old days; and, quite apart from the +turn which Libor had been so little respectful as to give to his +remarks, Dora had felt uncomfortable at being forced into what she +considered unbecoming behaviour. + +"Ah! well," Libor reflected, "if she never moves from here she will find +herself left on the shelf, and then--why then she won't be likely to get +a better castle offered her than _mine_!" + +And thereupon Libor (whose eyes had certainly been "opened," as Master +Peter said) walked up to the two gentlemen, as if he were quite one of +the company, and joined in their conversation at the first pause. + +"Thunder and lightning! something has certainly come to this fellow. Let +us find out what it is," was Master Peter's inward comment. He was +beginning to be as much amused as irritated by the young gentleman's +newly acquired audacity; but it annoyed him to have him walking beside +him, so he came to a standstill and said, "Well, Libor, you have talked +a good deal about one thing and another, according to your lights; now +tell us something about your worthy self. Are you still in my brother's +service and intending to remain permanently? or have you other and more +brilliant prospects? A youth such as you, clerk, may do and be anything +if he sets about it in the right way. Let us hear something about +yourself." + +"Sir," replied Libor, "it is true that I have been so fortunate as to +share with many noble youths the privilege of living in Mr. Stephen's +household, and of winning his confidence; also I have enjoyed your own +favour in times past, Master Peter. 'Service' you call it, and rightly +too; but to-day I have discharged the last of Mr. Stephen's commissions. +He has treated me with a fatherly kindness and marked consideration +beyond my deserts, but I am now on my way to Pest to see Mr. Paul +Héderváry, who has offered me the post of governor of one of his +castles." + +"Governor! at four or five and twenty! That is remarkable, Mr. Libor," +said Peter, with evident surprise. "A governor in the service of the +Hédervárys is a very important person! I can only offer my best +congratulations--to yourself, I mean." + +Libor was no fool, and he perfectly understood; but he made answer, with +his nose well in the air, "I can only thank you, sir, but I hope the +time may come when Mr. Héderváry also will be able to congratulate +himself on the choice which does me so much honour." + +"Ah! I hope so, I hope so," laughed Master Peter cheerily. He was +pleased with himself for finding out how the clerk had been promoted, +and he reflected that true, indeed, was the old Latin proverb: _Honores +mutant mores._ + +As for Libor, though he felt injured, as much by Master Peter's manner +as by his words, he lost nothing of his self-complacency. +Self-confidence, self-esteem, his new title, and his brilliant prospects +were enough to prevent his being put out of countenance for more than a +moment by the snubs he had received both from father and daughter. As +for Canon Roger, he, good man, was just as humble now as before his +advancement, and either did not, or would not, see the young man's +bumptiousness; he continued to treat him, therefore, in the same +friendly way as when they were house-mates. + +"And so you are on your way to Pest," said Peter; "Father Roger is also +on his way thither. It is always safer to travel in company when there +are so many ruffians about, so I hope you will attend him." + +"I shall be very willing if Father Roger has no objection; we can travel +together." + +"The Canon of Grosswardein, remember," said Peter a little sharply. + +"And Mr. Héderváry's governor," concluded Libor boldly and without +blinking. + +"Well, Mr. Governor, in the meantime you may like to look round the +place a little before it is too dark; I may perhaps ask you to do a +commission or two for myself by-and-by, but for the present will you +leave us to ourselves?" + +This was such an unmistakable dismissal that Libor actually lost his +self-possession. Hesitatingly, and with a bad grace enough, he advanced +towards the door, but there he stopped, recovered himself, and +exclaimed: + +"Dear me! how forgetful I am! But perhaps the reception I have met with +may account for it." + +"Reception!" burst forth Peter, whose gathering wrath now boiled over at +this last piece of insolence. "I don't know, gossip, or rather Mr. +Governor, I don't know what sort of reception you expected other than +that which you have always found here! Hold your greyhounds in, clerk. +If Mr. Stephen and Mr. Héderváry are pleased to make much of you, that +is their affair. For my own part I value people according to their +worth, and the only worth I have as yet discovered in you, let me tell +you, is that at which you rate yourself." + +Master Peter was not the man to be trifled with, and for a moment Libor +felt something of the old awe and deference usual with him in the +presence of his superiors. But a deep sense of injury speedily overcame +his fear, and after a short pause he made answer: + +"As you will, sir. Since you assign Héderváry's governor a place among +the dogs, I have nothing further to do save to take my leave." + +With that he again turned to the door. + +"If there is any message which you have forgotten, boy, you don't stir +from here until you have given it. That done, you may go when you like, +and where you like, and no one will detain you." + +Master Peter spoke as one who intended to be obeyed, and Libor was +impressed, not to say cowed. He was very well aware that, as they would +say in these days, it was "not well to eat cherries from the same dish" +as the Szirmay nobles. (At the time of which we are writing a dish of +cherries was a sight rarely to be seen.) He held it, therefore, wiser to +yield, and mastering himself as well as he could, he said: + +"Mr. Stephen wished me to inform you that Bishop Wáncsa has been +inquiring whether you would be disposed to let your house in Pest to his +Majesty." + +"The King? Let it? Is Mr. Wáncsa out of his mind? Do their Majesties +want to hire a great heap of stone like that, where even I have never +been comfortable!" + +"That is my message, but I can explain it. His Majesty wants the house +prepared for the King of the Kunok and his family. You are at liberty to +agree or not, but in any case Mr. Stephen will expect your answer by +messenger, unless you are pleased to send it direct to the Bishop by +myself, or the Canon, as we shall find him in Pest and it will reach him +the sooner." + +"What! Matters have gone so far that they are getting quarters ready for +Kuthen, and the nation is still left in ignorance." + +Libor merely shrugged his shoulders and said nothing, as the question +was not particularly addressed to himself. + +"Hem!" said Peter thoughtfully. "I should have liked to spend part of +the winter in my own house in Pest, but it is in a bad state, very bad, +and if the King is willing to repair and put it in order, he shall have +it free for three years. It will be time enough to talk about rent after +that." + +"May I take the answer to Mr. Wáncsa?" inquired Libor, who was still +standing at the open door. + +"Yes, Governor, you may!" answered Peter, really at heart one of the +best-natured men, who was always and almost instantly sorry when he had +lost his temper and "pulled anyone's nose." + +"You may, Libor, and we will not let the sun go down upon our wrath, so +you will remain here, if you please, sup well and sleep well. Talabor +will see that you have all you want, and then you will travel on with +the good Father and some of my men-at-arms." + +Then turning, and giving his hand to Roger, he added: + +"I am sorry, Father, that as things are you see I can't give you +quarters in my house; but the King comes before all." + +As for Libor, he chose to consider that Peter had made him some sort of +amends by his last speech; it pleased him much to play the part of an +injured person who has accepted an apology, and he therefore at once +resumed his polite manners, and bowing and smiling he replied with all +due deference: + +"As far as I am concerned, sir, nothing can give me greater pleasure, +and since you permit me to do so, I will remain." + +With another bow he left the room, not the house, which indeed he had +never intended to leave, if he could help himself. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +MASTER STEPHEN'S PAGE. + + +Libor, as already remarked, had never had the least intention of leaving +Master Peter's house so soon after his arrival as he had threatened to +do, if he could by any possibility avoid doing so. + +The fact was he had a little business of his own on hand, as anyone +observant might have found out from his air of mystery, and the fact +that, if he was on his way to Pest, he had had to come so far out of it, +that Master Stephen would certainly have employed another messenger had +Libor not particularly desired to come. + +Master Peter was not very observant, but even he wondered in himself +once or twice what the fellow wanted, and came to the conclusion that +his new dignity had turned his head. + +Dora wondered a little also, and felt that the young man had been +impertinent, not only in his remarks, but in the way in which he had +followed her about with his eyes throughout the interview. + +He was not a person of much consequence, however, and both father and +daughter quickly dismissed him from their thoughts. + +And here, by way of explaining matters, we must mention that many years +ago, when Dora was quite a tiny child, it had been settled between her +father and Héderváry the Palatine, that she should marry the latter's +son Paul. Héderváry was Master Peter's oldest and closest friend, one to +whom he was much attached; and Dora, though no heiress, was a daughter +of one of the proudest and noblest houses in Hungary. The match was +considered perfectly suitable, therefore, and the Hédervárys were much +attached to their "little daughter," as they constantly called her. Paul +himself admired and liked the bride chosen for him quite as much as was +necessary, and it is needless to say that Dora's father thought him +extremely fortunate in having a girl so sweet, so clever, so +well-educated, so good-looking, so altogether charming, for his wife. + +Dora herself no one thought of consulting. As a good, dutiful daughter, +she would, of course, accept without question the husband approved by +her father; and there was no denying that Paul was calculated to win any +girl's admiration, for he was an imposing, gallant-looking personage, +and accomplished withal. They would certainly make a handsome, even a +striking pair. + +Every time Paul came to stay he found Dora more attractive; and though +he had never in any way alluded to his hopes, of which she was quite +ignorant, he could not help feeling that she was the very bride he would +choose, or rather, would have chosen for himself, but for one +unfortunate defect--her small dowry! It was a very serious defect in his +eyes, though his parents thought little of it, for he was ambitious. His +great desire was to make a fine figure in the eyes of the world, to be +admired, courted, looked up to; and though the Hédervárys were wealthy, +more wealth never comes amiss to those who wish to shine in society. + +Was it any wonder therefore that Paul should presently begin to reflect +that Dora's cousin Jolánta would suit him better than herself? Not that +he liked her as well, for, though a pretty, gentle girl, she had not +much character, and she was not nearly so clever and amusing; but she +was an heiress, a considerable heiress, and Paul was convinced that he +liked her quite well enough to make her his wife. + +Dora was now nearly eighteen, and very soon he would be expected to ask +her father's consent to their marriage. To Dora herself he would of +course not say a word until he had her father's leave. + +He was in a most difficult position, poor fellow! He was fond of Dora; +and he was fond of his parents, who would be greatly vexed if he +disappointed them in this matter. It was a serious thing to vex one's +parents, especially when they had it in their power to disinherit one! +His father was a generous, hot-tempered soldier; he would warmly resent +any insult put upon his old friend's daughter; Master Peter might resent +it too, though no word had yet passed between himself and his intended +son-in-law. Truly a difficult position! But for all that, he meant to +please himself, if he could safely do so. + +Paul was turning these things over in his mind, and was pitying himself +and racking his brains to discover some way by which his parents might +be induced to take a reasonable view of things, when it occurred to him +that two heads were better than one. + +He was staying just now with the Szirmays at their castle, where he was +always made much of, and Master Stephen was constantly arranging hunting +parties and other country amusements in his honour. + +Somehow, he never quite knew how it was, he found himself, during a +moment of leisure, near the room occupied by one of the pages; and just +for the sake of talking to somebody he went in, and was received with +obsequious delight by Libor, who murmured his thanks for the great +honour done him by the visit of so high and mighty a gentleman. + +The little room was of the plainest description, and not too light, but +the unglazed windows were at least filled in with bladder-skin, and the +bare walls were painted white; the furniture consisted of a small open +stove of earthenware, a roughly-made, unpainted bedstead, a primitive +wooden table, and two or three stools. It was bare enough for a monk's +cell, and it was unceiled, open to the roof, which appeared to consist +of old boards and lattice-work of a rough description. + +Libor was attired in a pair of red trousers, rather the worse for wear, +and fastened round his waist by a leather strap, a waistcoat of the same +colour, and a coarse shirt with wide, hanging sleeves. He was wearing +neither coat nor jacket, and he had a slender reed pen stuck behind his +ear. There were writing materials and a book or two on the table, and +the page was busy with his pen, when, to his immense surprise, there +entered the haughty young noble, a tall handsome personage clad in a +"dolmány" of bright blue woollen stuff which reached down to his ankles, +and was not unlike a close-fitting dressing-gown. + +Libor started to his feet, and bowed almost to the ground as he +expressed his sense of the great man's condescension, while he wondered +in his own mind to what it was due, and what was wanted of +him--something, he felt pretty confident, and he was quite ready to +serve such an one as Paul, who would be sure to make it worth his while. +But what could it be? + +After a little beating about the bush, and a little judicious flattery, +which drew forth many humble thanks for his good opinion from Libor, +coupled with an expression of his hope that Mr. Héderváry would find +that opinion justified if ever he should need his services, Paul at once +proceeded to business. + +Some men would have been disgusted to see a fellow-man, bowing, bending, +and cringeing before them, as Libor was doing, but to Paul it was merely +natural, and it pleased him, as showing that the clerk had a proper +respect for his "betters." + +"I am going to tell you something, clerk, which I have not told to +another soul," began Paul, and Libor bowed again and felt as if he were +on hot coals. + +"You have guessed, I daresay, that I don't come here merely to pay an +ordinary visit?" + +Libor said nothing, judging it more prudent not to mention any surmises +if he had them. + +"Well, the fact is that I am here this time by desire of my parents to +ask the hand of Master Peter's daughter." + +Libor smiled. + +"Yes, Libor, _deák_, but--well, I have the deepest respect for my +parents, and I would not willingly cross their wishes, but for all that, +I am of age, I am four-and-twenty, and such matters as this I should +prefer to manage in my own way." + +"Most natural, sir, I am sure," said Libor, with another deep bow; +"marriage is an affair which--which----" + +"Which needs careful deliberation, you mean; just so! And the more I +consider and weigh matters, the more I feel that it is Master Stephen's +daughter Jolánta who is the one for me." + +"A most charming young lady! and I quite understand Mr. Héderváry's +choice; and, if I might hazard the remark, I would suggest, with all +possible deference, that the fair Mistress Dora is not nearly as well +provided for as Mr. Stephen's daughter; though her father has a quantity +of gold and silver plate, his property is not large, and he cannot give +her much." + +"Say 'nothing,' Libor, and you will be nearer the mark! I know it, and I +am glad to see you don't try to hide anything from me. Well, of course, +property never comes amiss even to the wealthiest, and 'if the master +provides dinner, it is well for the mistress to provide supper,' as they +say. But I had rather take Jolánta empty-handed than Dora with all the +wealth of the world. I like property, I don't deny it, who does not? But +I don't care a straw for Dora, and I do for Jolánta." + +"Ah, then of course that settles it! But suppose Master Peter should +have suspected your intentions?" + +"There is just the rub! He is an old friend of my father's, and I should +be sorry to hurt him; but I have made up my mind to ask for Jolánta." + +"H-m, h-m," murmured the page thoughtfully. "Rather an awkward state of +things, sir." + +"Of course it is! but look you here, Libor, if you can help me out of +it, I will make it worth your while. I know how modest and unselfish you +are, but I shall be able to find you something, something which will set +you up for life." + +Libor's eyes sparkled. This was even more than he had looked for. + +But Paul was growing rather impatient; this long interview with a person +so far beneath him was distasteful to him, and he cut short the page's +servile protestations of devotion and gratitude. What was to be done? +that was the question. + +"First make sure of Mistress Jolánta herself, before anything was said +to her father," suggested Libor, "and then finish his visit and take his +leave without proposing for either. Visits were not always bound to end +with a proposal, and Master Peter could not possibly be hurt therefore. +As for Mr. Stephen, when the time should come to ask his consent, he +would certainly not refuse such a son-in-law as the son of the Palatine. +Mr. Héderváry's parents"--Libor hesitated a little--"they could not +blame him if--suppose--disappointed they might be, but they could not +blame him--if he were able to say that Dora had another suitor, and one +whom she preferred to himself, though Master Peter was not aware of the +fact." + +"H-m!" said Paul, "that would settle it, of course; but--there is none." + +"No, there is not," said the clerk thoughtfully, with one of his +deferential laughs, "but--we might find or invent someone." + +"Find someone! Who is there?" + +"Well, let us see--if--if we can invent no one else, there is myself!" + +"You!" cried Paul, with evident and intense disgust, "you! But how? in +what way?" and he broke into a laugh. + +"That is my affair, sir; and if you have confidence in me----" + +"Hush! I hear footsteps. Not another word now, I will contrive to see +you again privately before I go from here. Just one thing more. I wonder +whether you would undertake to do me a small service without telling the +Mr. Szirmays, and without leaving this house." + +"What am I to understand, sir?" asked the page, with marked attention. + +And Paul explained that if he succeeded in arranging matters with +Mistress Jolánta, he should want someone on whom he could depend, to +keep him informed of all that went on in the house, in case, for +instance, Master Stephen should be thinking of another match for his +daughter, and--in fact, there might be many things which he ought to +know; and then if he came again himself during the winter, he should +want someone to see that he had comfortable quarters prepared for him on +the road, and so on. + +Libor was only too delighted to serve such a magnificent gentleman, a +gentleman who was so open-handed and so condescending moreover, and the +bargain was struck. Paul handed the page a well filled purse, telling +him to keep a fourth part of the contents for himself, and to use the +remainder to cover any expenses to which he might be put in sending +messengers, etc. + +"And look you here, Libor, from to-day you are in my service, +remember--one of my honourable pages; and if ever you should wish to try +your fortune elsewhere, there will be a place ready for you in my +establishment." + +Libor bowed himself to the ground as he answered, "With heart and soul, +sir." + +Meantime the footsteps had drawn nearer, and a tap at the door put a +stop to the conversation. + +"The gentlemen are waiting, sir," said the governor, or seneschal, of +the castle, a dignified-looking man clad in a black gown, and wearing at +his girdle a huge bunch of keys; for the governor of such a castle as +that of the Szirmays, was keeper, steward, seneschal, as well as captain +of the men-at-arms. + +"In a moment," replied Paul, and as soon as the old man's back was +turned, he whispered hurriedly, "If anyone should happen to ask what I +came to your room for, you can say that I wanted a letter written." + +Paul stayed yet a few days longer, and was so well entertained with +hunting, horse-races, foot-races, feats of arms, and banquets that he +could hardly tear himself away from the cordial hospitality of his +hosts. He and Libor met but once again in private; but when he was gone +Libor held his head higher than he had ever done before. Up to this time +he had been the least well off of the pages, and had been deferential to +his companions, but now all this was changed. To the Szirmays, on the +other hand, and especially to Master Peter, he was more deferential, +more attentive, than ever before. + +Weeks, months passed, and if Master Peter was somewhat surprised that +his old friend's son had not yet declared himself, he was much too proud +to show it. And he was far too proud also to show how much hurt he was +when he presently learnt that Paul was a suitor for the hand of his +niece, and had been accepted by her father and herself. + +Master Peter was deeply hurt indeed, and he felt too that his brother +had not behaved well to him, knowing, as he did, the arrangement between +himself and his friend. + +Stephen also felt guilty; and the end of it was, that, though the +brothers were sincerely attached to one another, and though no word on +the subject passed between them, both felt a sort of constraint. The old +happy intercourse was impossible; and for this reason Master Peter came +reluctantly to the conclusion that he should be wiser to set up a home +of his own again, and leave his brother in possession of the +family-dwelling. + +Paul had had considerable trouble with his parents, however. They would +not hear a word in depreciation of Dora, and at the first insinuation of +anything to her actual discredit, Héderváry had flown into a rage, +denounced it as idle, shameless gossip, and declared hotly that Paul +ought to be ashamed of himself for giving a moment's heed to such lying +rumours. + +When Paul went a step further and obstinately asserted his belief that +Dora was carrying on a secret flirtation with Libor the page, the old +warrior's fury was great, and he vowed that he would ride off instantly +and tell his friend everything. + +Yet, after all, he did nothing of the sort! (Paul and Libor perhaps +could have told why.) So far from taking any step of the kind, he held +his peace altogether, and finally acquiesced in his son's choice. He +gave his consent, very unwillingly, it is true, but he gave it! + +Master Peter came to him on a visit not long after, and was so far from +betraying any annoyance that he joked and congratulated his friend on +having a rich daughter-in-law instead of a poor one, and was full of +praise of Jolánta, whom he declared to be a dear girl whom no one could +help loving. If Dora's father did not care, why should Paul's? + +All difficulties in Paul's way seemed to have been removed; but it would +be necessary, as he reminded Libor, to keep up the fiction of Dora's +attachment for some little time to come, or he would be found out, and +his father's anger in that case would be something not easily appeased. +It hurt his pride to employ the clerk in such a matter, and to have it +supposed that a girl who might have married his honourable self could +possibly look with favour upon such a young man as Libor, but there +seemed to be no help for it. He was already in Libor's power. + +And Libor was more than willing to play the part assigned to him. He had +as keen an eye to the main chance as Paul, and Paul had not only been +liberal in money for the present, but had held out brilliant hopes for +the future. + +If he stayed on with Master Stephen, argued Libor with himself, he would +be called "clerk" all the days of his life, and end by marrying some +little village girl. If, on the other hand, he obliged young Héderváry, +made himself necessary to him, and, above all, entered into a +partnership with him of such a nature as Héderváry would not on any +account wish to have betrayed--why then he might kill two birds with one +stone! He had already had a few acres of land promised him; if, in +addition to this, he could obtain some gentlemanly situation such as +that of keeper, or governor, or perhaps even marry a distant connection +of the family, an active, sensible man such as himself might rise to +almost anything! Young Héderváry might be to him a mine of wealth. + +This settled the matter, and no sooner had Master Peter left his +brother's house than Libor found reasons without end for going to see +him. There were various articles to be sent after him in the first +place; then there were settlements, arrangements to be made, letters or +messages from Jolánta to be carried; and Libor was always ready and +eager to be the messenger. The other pages had not a chance now, for he +was always beforehand with them; so much so indeed that both they, the +servants, and at last even Master Stephen, could not help noticing that, +whereas formerly Libor had been a stay-at-home, now he seemed never to +be so well pleased as when he was on the move. + +Master Stephen wondered what he could want with his brother Peter, and +the young pages, and sometimes the servants, joked him and tried to find +out what made him so ready to undertake these more or less adventurous +journeys. Libor said nothing, but looked volumes; and they noticed, too, +that the old red trousers and waistcoat had quite disappeared, and that +the page now thought much of his appearance and came out quite a dandy +whenever he was going on his travels. + +Master Stephen held it beneath his dignity to joke with his inferiors, +but Jolánta had been more condescending to Libor of late than she had +ever been before; and naturally so, as he was in Paul's confidence, and +every now and then had news of him, or even a message from him to give +her. It brought them nearer together, and, innocently enough, Jolánta +once asked him merrily what it was that made him like to go on such +long-expeditions, when it would have been just as easy to send someone +else. Whereupon Libor assumed such an expression of shamefaced modesty +that Jolánta, who had spoken in the merest jest, began to fancy that +perhaps the page really had a reason, and might be courting one of +Dora's maids. That it could possibly be Dora herself, never crossed her +mind for a moment. + +But others saw matters in a different light. The servants had their +gossip and their suspicions; the young pages jested, and looked on Libor +with eyes of envy; and Libor, though careful not to commit himself, +managed somehow to encourage the idea that he and Dora were deeply +attached to one another. + +Of course, neither servants nor pages held their tongues, and soon +people were whispering about Dora Szirmay in a way that would have +horrified herself and all her family had they known it. But those +chiefly concerned are the last to be reached by such rumours. Whether in +any shape they had reached Paul's parents it is impossible to say; but, +at all events, he had married Jolánta with their consent, and Libor had +continued his visits to Master Peter whenever he could find or devise a +pretext. + +On the occasion of his present visit, when he had been the bearer of the +summons to the Diet, "on his way to Pest," he availed himself of Master +Peter's suggestion that he should take a look round the place, to make +himself thoroughly acquainted with the ins and outs of the court-yard, +stables, and other out-buildings; for, as he reflected, such knowledge +never came amiss, and one could never tell when it might be useful. He +even noticed absently that one part of the outer wall had not been +repaired. More than this, while prowling about in the dusk, he had +accidentally fallen in, not for the first time, with Dora's maid, Borka, +whose favour he had won long ago by a few pretty speeches, not +unaccompanied by some more solid token of his goodwill. + +It was always well to have a friend at Court. + +But just as he turned away from Borka, he came face to face with +Talabor; and Talabor actually had the impudence to cross-question him as +to what he was about. He was not to be shaken off, moreover, and at +last, apparently making a virtue of necessity, Libor confessed that he +had given the maid a note for Mistress Dora; but he begged and implored +Talabor not to betray him, for it would be the utter ruin of him if he +did. + +Of course he knew that it was most presumptuous that a poor young man +like himself could ever aspire to the hand of a daughter of the +Szirmays; they both knew that their attachment was hopeless, but--well, +they had spent several years under the same roof, and had had +opportunities of meeting, and--could not Mr. Talabor understand? + +Mr. Talabor understood perfectly, inasmuch as his own admiration of +Miss Dora had been growing ever since the first day he saw her. He had +worshipped her as something far above him, as all that was good, +upright, and honourable, and it was a shock to have it even suggested +that she could condescend to underhand dealings with anyone. It was odd, +too, if she really cared for Libor, that she should have received and +behaved to him as she had done, and though Libor might protest that +Master Peter had always shown him marked favour, Talabor was of opinion +that he shared his own dislike to the young man, and had shown it pretty +plainly. + +"Master Peter ought to know what is going on," he said sturdily; but +Libor thereupon became frantic in his entreaties. He implored, he +positively writhed in his anguish, not for himself, oh no! what did it +matter about a poor, insignificant fellow like him? it might ruin all +his prospects with the Hédervárys, probably would, and he should not +even be able to return to Master Stephen; he should be a vagabond, and +beggar--but that was no matter of course compared with Mistress Dora! +She would be ruined in the eyes of the world if it came abroad that she +had stooped to care for such as he, and it was certain to get about if +Talabor betrayed them. Whereas now no one but themselves and Borka knew +anything about it; and she was faithful, she would not open her lips, +for he had made it worth her while to keep silence. + +"An odd sort of fidelity," it seemed to Talabor; but he was not quite +clear as to whether it were his business to interfere; and, if it were, +to injure Mistress Dora---- + +Libor saw his advantage and pressed it. He reminded Talabor that Master +Peter was hasty, and so incautious when his wrath was aroused that some +one would be sure to hear of it; he would certainly tell his brother, +Master Stephen would dismiss himself, and--well, the whole thing would +come out. Dora would be scorned by the world, and--besides, this was +probably his last visit; he was going to a distance, and what was more, +they had both realised that their attachment must be given up--it was +hopeless. + +"If it can't be, it can't!" said Libor, with a deep-drawn sigh. + +He threw himself upon Talabor's mercy, and Talabor promised. + +"But remember," said he, "it is only because speaking might do more harm +than good, as you are not coming again, but if ever you do, and I catch +you tampering with Borka, I go straight to Master Peter." + +"If I come, and if you catch me, so you may!" said Libor, with a sneer. + +"I understand all about it," he added to himself, as he turned away with +the announcement that he was going to see Moses _deák_, the governor. +"I understand! You would give your eyes to be in my shoes, Mr. Talabor, +or what you suppose to be mine! And why shouldn't they be? The ball has +been set rolling, and the farther it rolls the bigger it will grow. +Borka will do her part with the servants, and they won't keep their +mouths shut! So! my scornful little beauty, you are not likely to get +many suitors whom Master Peter will favour, and who knows? Next time we +meet--next time we meet--we may both sing a different song." + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +MISTAKE THE FIRST. + + +Father Roger was gone, and Libor the clerk was gone, but Dora and her +father were not long left alone. More acquaintances than usual found it +convenient to take the mountain castle "on the way to Pest," or +elsewhere. + +But what was more remarkable than this sudden influx of guests was the +fact that so many of them made polite inquiry after Libor the clerk, +"keeper," or "governor," as they began to call him. + +"What on earth is the matter with the folk!" said Master Peter more than +once. "What makes them so interested all at once in that raw, +long-eared, ink-stained youth! They ask questions and seem to expect me +to know as much about him as if he and I were twin-brethren!" + +"I can't think!" returned Dora with a merry laugh, which might have +re-assured Talabor had he heard it. "It is very odd, but they ask me +too, and really I quite forgot the good man's existence from one time to +another." + +"Well," said Master Peter, "I suppose one ought not to dislike a man +without cause, and I have nothing positively against the jackanapes, but +I don't trust him, for all his deferential ways, and I fancy that when +once he "gets hold of the cucumber-tree" we shall see a change in him. +Your uncle has been kind to him, but not because he liked him, I know! +I'll tell you what it must be! he has been boasting, and exaggerating +what we have done for him," Master Peter went on in his simplicity, +"making himself out a favourite, and counting up the number of visits he +has paid us here, until he has made people think we have adopted him, +and they will be taking him for my son and heir next, faugh! Ha! ha! A +pushing young man! I never could think why he wanted to be coming here, +but no doubt it gave him importance, and very likely Paul thought we had +special confidence in him, otherwise I don't see what made him give such +an appointment to a youth of his age. That must be it!" + +And yet, while he said the words, Peter had a vague feeling that there +was something behind which he could neither define nor fathom. + +Delighted as he was to welcome guests, he had not enjoyed their society +of late so much as was usual with him. Sometimes he told himself that it +was all fancy, and then at another he would be annoyed by a something +not quite to his taste in their manner to Dora, while the frequent +reference to Libor was so irritating that he had more than once almost +lost his temper, and he had actually told some inquiries with haughty +dignity that if they wanted to know what the young man was doing they +had better ask the servants. + +This had had the desired effect; so far, at least, that Master Peter was +not troubled again; but people talked all the same, and even more than +before, for his evident annoyance and the proud way in which he had +repelled them made the busy-bodies put two and two together and conclude +that he really had some secret trouble which he wanted to hide from the +world. And so, by way of helping him, they naturally confided their +suspicions one to the other, and to their friends. + +Gossip about people of such importance as the Szirmays naturally had a +peculiar zest, and the fact that Dora was first cousin to Jolánta, one +of the Queen's favourite attendants and wife of Paul Héderváry, of +course gave it additional flavour. + +Maids who came with their mistresses questioned Borka, who answered them +as she had been instructed to do, with earnest injunctions as to +secrecy. Talabor, being sent out with a message to Master Stephen, heard +similar gossip from the pages of his household, gossip which distressed +him greatly, though he vowed that he did not believe a word of it. + +He could not get it out of his head during his lonely ride home, but as +he thought over all that he had heard, it suddenly struck him that, +supposing it to be true, Borka was not as "faithful" as Libor fancied. +The story must have come abroad through her, unless--an idea suddenly +flashed across his mind--Libor might have trumped the whole thing up by +way of increasing his own importance. But then he had actually caught +him with Borka! Talabor resolved to have a word with Miss Borka at the +first opportunity. + +In due time Master Peter set out for Pest, and thither we must now +follow him. + +Oktai, the Great Khan, found himself on the death of Dschingis at the +head of a million and a half of fighting men, and at once determined to +carry out his father's plans of conquest by sending his nephew Batu +westward to attack the peaceful Kunok, the "Black Kunok," as the +chronicles call them, who dwelt between the Volga and Dnieper in Great +or Black Cumania. + +Twice the Mongols had been beaten back, but in the end numbers had +prevailed, and to save what remained of this people, their King had led +them into Moldavia, then occupied in part by the Little, or White Kunok. + +Meanwhile, alarming rumours of what had occurred had reached Hungary, +but were credited by few, and as to being themselves in any real, still +less immediate danger, that the Hungarians would not bring themselves +to believe. Their King, Béla (Albert) took a very different view of the +situation. One of the most energetic kings Hungary had ever had, and +brave in meeting every difficulty, though he did not fear danger, he did +not despise it, and while the great nobles spent their time in amusing +themselves, he was following with the most careful attention all that +was going on among his neighbours. He was kept well informed, and +nothing of that which Oktai was doing escaped him. He knew how Russia +had been conquered, how the Kunok had been hunted, and how the countless +Mongol hordes were gaining ground day by day. + +He knew, but he could not make others see with his eyes. More than once +he appealed to the great nobles, urging them to make ready, while he +himself strove gradually to raise troops and take measures for the +defence of the kingdom. But it was all in vain; they heard, but they +heeded not. And then one day they were quite surprised, when, after many +perils and dangers, Kuthen's messengers appeared in Buda, having come, +as they said, from the forests of Moldavia. + +They were no brilliant train, but men who had fought and suffered, and +endured many hardships; and they had come, as Libor told Master Peter, +to ask for an asylum. Hungary was but thinly populated at this time, and +the King was always glad to welcome useful immigrants. Knowing which, +they asked him confidently, in their own king's name, to say where they +might settle, promising on his part that he and his people would be ever +faithful subjects, and more than this, that they would all become +Christians. + +Béla felt that he must make up his mind at once. He could not send the +messengers away without a decided answer; he thought the Kuns would be +valuable, especially just now, as they were men who knew what war was, +and could fight well. + +But in bidding them welcome to Hungary without consulting the Diet, Béla +made a mistake--a pardonable mistake, perhaps, for he knew as well as +anybody that Diets were sometimes stormy affairs, and not without +dangerous consequences; and he knew too that the majority of those who +would assemble either did not know of the peril which was so close at +hand, or were so obstinate in their apathy that they did not wish to +know of it; nevertheless it was a mistake. + +As for Kuthen, he had two alternatives before him. Either he might +submit to Oktai and join him in his career of conquest; or, he might +offer his services and faithful devotion to a king who was well known to +be both wise, chivalrous, and honourable. + +Kuthen made the better choice; but if his offer were refused, or if Béla +did not make speed to help him, why, then, it was plain that the country +would be inundated by 40,000 fighting men. + +The King could not wait, and Kuthen's messengers were at once sent back +to Moldavia, laden with presents, and bearing the welcome news that +King Béla was willing to receive the Black Kunok on the terms offered. +The White Kunok of Moldavia already acknowledged the Hungarian king as +their sovereign. + +Kuthen lost no time in setting out with his people, and Béla, in the +warmth of his heart, determined to give him a magnificent reception. He +would receive him as a king should be received, whose power and +dominions had been till lately at least equal to his own; he would +receive him as if he were one of his most powerful neighbours; he would +receive him as a brother. + +Béla cared little for pomp and show on his own account, and the +splendour of his train on this occasion was all the more striking. Never +had such a sight been seen in Hungary before as when, one morning in +early summer, the King rode out to the wide plain where he was to +receive his guests. + +Before him went sixty men on horseback, clad in scarlet, all ablaze with +gold and silver, wearing caps of bearskin or wolfskin, and producing +wild and wonderful music from trumpets, pipes, and copper drums. After +them came the King in a purple mantle over a long white "dolmány," which +sparkled with precious stones and was covered in front by a silver +breast-plate. Right and left of him rode a bishop in full canonicals and +bearing each his crozier. + +These were followed by some two hundred of the more prominent nobles, +among whom were Paul Héderváry, Master Peter, and his brother Stephen, +and the latter's son Akos, who, as already mentioned, was attached to +the King's household. The rear was brought up by soldiers armed with +bows, all mounted like the rest. + +Truly it was an imposing spectacle, as Master Peter admitted when he +afterwards described it to Dora; but it afforded him little +satisfaction. + +No sooner was the army of bowmen drawn up in order than the war-song of +the advancing Kunok was to be heard. + +On they came, Kuthen and all his family on horseback, his retinue, and +his army which followed him at a respectful distance, part mounted, part +on foot, and behind these again a long thick cloud of dust. + +The pilgrims did not present a grand appearance. They looked as those +look who have come through many toils and dangers; but the King was not +without a certain pathetic dignity of his own, in spite of his somewhat +Mongolian features, slanting eyes, low, retreating forehead, and long +beard, already slightly touched with grey. He looked like a man who had +suffered, was suffering rather, and who could not forget his old home, +with its boundless plains, its vast flocks and herds, and its free +open-air life; but he looked also like a man who knew what it was to be +strong and powerful. + +Kuthen's followers came to a halt, while he and his family rode +forward, preceded by a horseman, not far short of a hundred years old, +who carried a double cross in token of the submission of his people both +to Christianity and to the sovereignty of the Hungarian king. + +The King and Queen, their two sons, and two daughters, all wore loose +garments of white woollen, fastened round the waist by unpolished belts +of some sort of metal; and on their heads were pointed fur caps, such as +are still worn by the Persians. The King and his sons had heavy swords +of a peculiar shape, while the Queen and Princesses carried feather fans +decorated with countless rows of red beads and bits of metal. + +What trust Kuthen felt in King Béla was shown by the fact that his +bodyguard numbered no more than two or three hundred men armed for the +most part with spears. + +Master Peter had much to tell when he returned home of the beautiful +horses covered with the skins of wild beasts, on which Kuthen and his +family were mounted, and which naturally excited the admiration of such +horse-lovers as the Hungarians; also he told of the band of singers who +preceded the chiefs, and marked the pauses between their songs by wild +cries and the beating of long narrow drums; of the servants, women, and +children, who journeyed in the rear of the army, those of the latter too +small to walk being carried in fur skins slung on their mothers' backs; +and of the immense flocks and herds reaching far away into the distance, +whose herdmen, mounted on small, rough horses, drove their charges +forward with long whips and the wildest of shouts. + +He told her, too, how King Béla had galloped forward to welcome his +guest with outstretched hand, and had made the most gracious and +friendly of speeches. + +"Much too gracious!" grunted Peter with a shrug of his shoulders. "All +very fine, but the country will have to pay for it!" + +"Oh, yes, and when all sorts of compliments had been exchanged (through +the interpreters of course, for they can't speak decent Hungarian) then +up came the baggage-horses, and the tents were pitched in a twinkling +side by side. They sprang up like mushrooms, and before long there was a +regular camp, such a camp as you never saw!" + +Béla's tent was of bright colours without, and sparkled with silver and +gold within; but Kuthen's, which was larger (for it accommodated his +whole family), was meant not for show, but for use, and to be a defence +against wind and rain, and was composed of wild-beast skins. + +There was a banquet in the royal tent in the evening, and the haughty +Hungarian nobles saw, to their astonishment and relief, that, though +their dress was simple, not very different in fact from that in which +they had travelled, the King and Queen and their family actually knew +how to behave with the dignity befitting their exalted rank. + +The Kunok performed one of their war dances in front of the tent while +dinner was going on; and at the close of the entertainment, Béla +presented Kuthen, his family, and the principal chiefs, with such gifts +as betokened the generous hospitality of the Hungarian and the lavish +munificence of the King. + +But Master Peter, though at other times he could be as lavish and +generous as anyone, was not over well pleased to see this +"extravagance," as he considered it; and his feelings were shared not +only by his brother and nephew, but by many another in the King's +retinue. + +"No good will come of it," muttered they to themselves. + +And the Kun chiefs, "barbarians" though they were in the eyes of the +Hungarian nobles, were, some of them at least, shrewd enough to notice +their want of cordiality, and sensitive enough to be hurt by their proud +bearing and the brilliant display they made. + + * * * * * + +The whole camp was early afoot, and the two bishops in their vestments, +attended by many of the lower clergy in white robes, appeared before the +royal tents, in one of which stood Béla and his courtiers all fully +accoutred, with helmets on their heads and richly ornamented swords at +their sides, while in the other were assembled Kuthen and his family, +bare-headed and unarmed. + +Béla's own body-guard, mounted and carrying their lances, battle-axes, +clubs, and swords, were stationed on each side of the royal tents, while +their officers rode up and down, or stopped now and again to exchange a +few words with one another in a low tone. A number of Kunok, bare-headed +and unarmed like their sovereign, stood round in a semicircle. Far away +in the distance might be heard every now and then the deep-mouthed bay +of the great sheep-dogs, and the shrill neigh of the horses, but +otherwise there seemed to be a hush over all. + +Presently, a camp-table was brought forward covered with a white cloth +and having a silver crucifix in the midst, with golden vessels on each +side, and then, all being ready, a solemn mass was said by one of the +bishops, interspersed with singing and chanting, by the choir, all of +which evidently impressed the Kunok, who had never seen the like, or +anything at all resembling it, before. By the expression of their wild +faces it was plain to see that while utterly surprised, and, in spite of +themselves, awed and subdued, some were doubtful, some more or less +rebellious, and many full of wonder as to what it all meant and whether +it portended good or evil. + +But there was yet more to follow. The service over, two of the younger +white-robed clergy took up a large silver basin, another pair carried +silver ewers, while the remainder, with lighted torches, formed up in +two lines and all followed the bishops to Kuthen's tent, in front of +which he, his family and retinue, were now standing with King Béla +beside them. + +If the Kunok had looked doubtful and uneasy before, they looked yet more +disturbed now by the mysterious ceremony which followed. It was all +utterly unintelligible to them; they heard words in a strange tongue +uttered over their King and Queen, over the Princes and Princesses, and +they saw water poured upon the faces of each in turn, and no doubt +concluded that they were witnessing some magic rite, which might have +the effect of bringing their sovereign completely under the influence of +the Hungarians. + +And not only the royal family, but their attendants, the chiefs, and +last of all themselves had to submit to the same ceremony, without +having the least conception of what the faith was into which they had +been thus hastily baptized. + +The main body of the Kunok arrived a few weeks later, and they, too, +were baptized in batches, with an equal absence of all instruction and +preparation, and in equal ignorance of what was being done for them. + +That was the way in which the heathen were "converted" in too many +instances in bygone times. Is it wonderful that they remained pagans at +heart, or that traces of pagan superstition are to be found in Christian +lands even to the present day? + +Well, the Kunok were now "Christians," and within a few months +settlements were allotted to them in those thinly populated districts +which the King was desirous of seeing occupied by inhabitants of kin to +his own people. + +Meanwhile, Kuthen and his train had reached Pest, and he had made his +entry with much pomp and state, Béla being determined that his guest +should be received with all respect. The two Kings therefore rode side +by side, wearing their crowns and long flowing mantles, and the narrow, +crooked streets were thronged with people, all curious to see, if not +animated by any very friendly feeling towards the new arrivals. + +Some of the more prominent chiefs Béla determined to keep about himself +that he might win their confidence and attachment by kindness. + +But Kuthen and his family were conducted at once to Master Peter's old +mansion near the Danube, Béla promising that he would have a proper +residence built for them as soon as he could find a site. + +Peter's house was of an original description, and consisted, in fact, of +six moderate-sized houses, connected one with the other by doors and +passages added by his father; but it had at least been made habitable +and provided with present necessaries, and afforded better shelter, as +well as more peace, than their tents, and the caves and woods of +Moldavia, where they had dwelt in perpetual fear of their enemies. + +All this Master Peter duly reported to Dora, with comments of his own, +and many a shake of the head, and still her curiosity was not satisfied. + +"What more did she want? He had emptied his wallet so far as he knew." + +"You have hardly said a word about the Queen and the Princesses," +returned Dora. + +Whereupon Master Peter gave a short laugh. + +"H-m! You had better ask your cousin Akos what he thinks of them the +next time you see him," said he. + +"Why, does he see much of them? I thought he was as much against their +coming as you were." + +"So he was! So he was! as strongly as any one! but--well, you know a +page must go where he is sent, and his Majesty seems to want a good many +messages taken. At all events, Akos is often with the Kun folk, and what +is more, one never hears a word against them from him now! Bright eyes, +Dora, bright eyes! and a deal of mischief they do." + +"But can Akos understand them?" + +"It seems so; he has picked the language up pretty quickly, hasn't he? +It is all jargon to me, but then I have not had his practice! Father +Roger says their tongue is something like our Magyar, a sort of uncouth +relation, but I don't see the likeness myself." + +"And the Princesses are really pretty?" Dora asked again. + +"Prettier than their parents by a good deal! Yes, they are pretty girls +enough, I suppose," said Peter grudgingly, "some people admire them +much, particularly the younger one, Mária, as she is now. She used to be +Marána, but that's the name they gave her at her baptism, and the other +they called Erzsébet (Elizabeth). The King and Queen and their sons all +have Magyar names now. But they will bring no good to the country," +Master Peter added, after a pause, "no good, that I am sure of! Why, +there have been quarrels already where they have settled them. Everybody +hates the sight of them and their felt tents, and the King has had to +divide them. What have they been doing? Why, plundering their neighbours +to be sure, as anyone might have known they would. Mere barbarians, +that's what they are, and we shall have a pretty piece of work with them +before we have done." + +"And Jolánta, you saw her?" Dora interposed, by way of diverting her +father's attention from a topic which invariably excited him. + +"Yes, I saw Jolánta," was the answer, given with such a grave shake of +the head that Dora asked whether there were anything amiss with her. + +"Amiss? h-m! Dora, my girl," said Master Peter, laying his hand +affectionately on her shoulder, "I am glad that _you_ did not marry +him!" + +"I?" laughed Dora, "why should I?" + +"Ah, you have forgotten how they used to call you 'Paul's little wife,' +when you were only a baby, and you did not know, of course, that your +old father was fool enough to be disappointed when he chose your cousin +instead." + +"But isn't he kind to her? Isn't she happy?" inquired Dora. + +"That is a question I did not ask, child, so I can't say. But she is +just a shadow of what she was." + +"Selfish scoundrel!" burst forth Master Peter the next moment, unable to +keep down his indignation, which was not solely on Jolánta's account. + +He had heard a good deal in Pest. Honest friends had not been wanting to +tell him of the reports about his daughter, and his pride had been +deeply wounded by the half pitying tone in which some of his +acquaintances had inquired for her, as also by the fact that the Queen +had _not_ asked for her, though she was on quite intimate terms with +Jolánta, and in the natural course of things would have wished to see +Dora also at Court. + +Peter had longed to "have it out" with somebody, and make all who had +repeated gossip about his Dora eat their own words. + +But for once he was prudent, and bethought himself in time that some +matters are not bettered by being talked about. If he blurted out his +wrath there would be those who would say that "there must be something +in it, or he would not fly into such a rage," as he knew he should do, +if once he let himself go. Besides, although he had convinced himself +that Paul was at the bottom of all the gossip, and was burning to go and +take him by the throat and make him own it on his knees, yet, after all, +where was the use of making a charge which he could not actually prove? + +Accordingly, Master Peter held his tongue, but he determined that +nothing should induce him to take Dora to Pest while there was any risk +of her being slighted and made uncomfortable. If he could have looked +forward only a few months perhaps he would have recognised that slights +were not the worst evils to be encountered in the world. + +"Selfish scoundrel!" he repeated vehemently, "from what I hear, he has +been driving the poor girl about from morning till night, and from night +till morning! Paul Héderváry's wife must be seen everywhere, at all the +Court functions, all the entertainments in Pest, and even in the country +there is no rest for her, but she must be dragged to hunting parties, +which you know she never cared for. She never had much spirit you know, +poor Jolánta! and now she is like a shadow, all the flesh worn off her +bones! Could you fancy Jolánta killing a bear?" + +"A bear! why, she was terrified whenever there were bears about!" + +"Ay, but of course Paul's wife must be something to be proud of, +something unlike the rest of the world, an Amazon! Well, he made her go +out bear-hunting, for I'll never believe she went of her own free will; +she killed a bear, they say, with her own hand, looked on more likely, +while he did it! But any way, there's the skin, and it's called +'Jolánta's bear,' and she had a swoon or a fit or something after, and +has never been herself since, so I was told. She sent you a number of +messages, poor girl, and wished you were coming back with me to Pest." + +"Poor Jolánta," murmured Dora, "I should like to see her, but not in +Pest." + +"Ah! and you remember that young jackanapes, Libor?" said Master Peter. + +"Paul Héderváry's governor? Oh, yes, isn't he gone to his castle yet?" + +"Not he! He is 'climbing the cucumber-tree' as fast as he can! I can't +think what made Paul take him up; can't do without him now it seems, +looks to him for everything, and has him constantly at his elbow; and +yet there is not a prouder man 'on the back of this earth' than Paul." + +"But the Mongols, father?" asked Dora, who cared little for Paul and +less for his governor, but who could not shake off the impression made +upon her by Father Roger. + +"My dear child, they have been coming for years! And if they come at +last it will be thanks to the Kunok. But they will go back quicker than +they came, you may be sure, so don't you trouble your little head about +them!" + +Master Peter spoke with the confidence he felt; and when he returned to +Pest, where his presence was required by the King, he returned alone, a +circumstance which set the gossips' tongues wagging anew, for surely he +must have some strong reason for not bringing Dora with him. His stay +was likely to be a long one this time, and he had never been away from +her hitherto for more than a few days together. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +AS THE KING WILLS. + + +Kuthen had no idea that he should occupy Master Peter's town-house for +long, nor indeed had he any wish to do so; but still he had done his +best to make it home-like. It was he who, as father of the family, had +apportioned to each of the household his place and duties. + +To the serving men was assigned a large hall, with the greater part of +the roof taken off that they might not miss the airiness of their tents, +and with the wooden flooring replaced by stone slabs, that they might +keep a fire burning without danger. Here they lived, and cooked, and +slept, sharing their beds--rough skins spread upon the floor--with their +faithful companions, the large dogs brought with them from the steppes. + +The King's own apartments, with their reed mats, coarse, gaudy carpets, +bladder-skin windows, and rough furniture, were not altogether +comfortless or tasteless, for King Béla had presented the royal family +with sundry articles of a better description, and some of the bishops +had followed his example. + +As for the exterior of the house, Kuthen had introduced a few changes +there also. Leaving a good space all round, he had had the whole block +of buildings enclosed by strong, thick walls; and as he had employed a +large number of workmen and paid well, the fortifications were ready in +a few weeks. They were further strengthened by the digging of a broad +moat, whose drawbridge led to the gateway which formed the sole +entrance. + +Kuthen had many visitors, among whom Akos Szirmay was certainly the most +frequent; but King Béla also came from time to time, besides often +inviting the whole family to the palace. Some of the nobles also +came--because the King did. + +Akos was a sympathetic listener, and Kuthen, who had taken a great +liking to him, enjoyed telling him his adventures and experiences. But +it was quite evident to all that Akos was drawn to the house by someone +more attractive than Kuthen, and also that Marána, or, as she must now +be called Mária, was well aware of the impression she had made, and was +by no means displeased. + +The whole family were out riding one day, a few months after their +arrival. This was the recreation which they loved best, and Akos, as +usual, was in attendance upon Mária. The two were somewhat in advance of +the rest of the party, sufficiently so to be out of hearing, when Akos +presently asked his companion whether she were beginning to be +accustomed to her new home, and whether she thought she could ever learn +to forget the steppes and magic woods of her native land. + +"Could anyone in the world forget his own home, do you think?" she +answered simply, and then added, "Oh, it is all so different! You live +in stone houses, which you can't move about. One might almost as well be +in prison. And the walls are so thick that one can't hear anything of +what is going on outside, or even in the next room; but when we lived in +our open tents, far away from here, I knew in a moment who was in +trouble, and who was laughing for joy. And then our family is one; what +pains one, grieves the rest, and all share one another's joys and +sorrows, fears and wishes." + +"And isn't it so here?" said Akos; "and if we have towns and castles, +don't we live much in the open air too? Have we no family-life, and are +we not all united in our love for our country?" + +"I don't know; maybe it is so, but I am a stranger here, and one thing +strikes me--there is no unity among you! Your proud, overbearing nobles +despise the people, and the people look on them with fear and envy. You +are of one race, one family--at least you Magyars are, and yet there are +hardly any true friends among you, or any who are ready to make great +sacrifices for their country." + +"You don't know us," returned Akos quickly, though he knew how much +truth there was in what the girl said. "You judge from what you see +around you; here in the capital there is so much gaiety, and everyone +wants to be first; but it is not so in our mountains and valleys, and on +the great plains. There we know what it is to love and sympathise with +one another, and to be of one mind; and we are not bad neighbours. There +are several different races dwelling in our beautiful land, and they all +live at peace one with the other." + +"Well, I don't know, but--I am afraid! I don't understand books, but I +do understand faces, and there is no need for people to open their +lips--I might not understand them if they did--but they speak plainly +enough to me without uttering a word. _You don't love us!_ Oh! that we +had stayed among the mountains, in the cool caves, or in our tents, not +knowing what the morning might bring us, but with our own people all +about us, ready at a word for anything! There was a sort of pleasure +even in living in a state of fear, always on our guard, listening to the +very rustling of the leaves. Ah! how can I make you understand?" + +Mária's thoughts went back to the old times, and she saw herself once +again living the old tent life in the forest shades. Perhaps her +companion's thought for a moment followed hers, and he tried to picture +himself as also living in those far-off regions, sharing a tent with +the sweet-looking girl at his side. + +Something he said to her in a low tone, to which she answered with a +smile, + +"Oh, you, Akos, that is different! If they were all like you, one might +perhaps forget all but the things which are never to be forgotten, and +the graves of our ancestors. But you, don't you know that it annoys your +friends and relations to see you liking to spend so much time with us?" + +"Why should my friends and relations mind? My rivals, perhaps yes!" + +"There are no rivals!" + +"None? not a single one?" + +"Not one, Akos, for you are good; you honour my poor father in his +misfortune, you honour my mother; and my brothers and Erzsébet are fond +of you. How should you have any rival?" + +"Marána!" said Akos gently; and when the girl turned to look at him, he +saw that, though she was smiling, her eyes had filled with tears at the +sound of her old name, coming from his lips. + + + +It was an evening in autumn, and King Kuthen and all his family were +gathered together in their largest apartment, where a fire was burning +on the hearth, and the table was spread for their evening meal. + +All looked grave; and indeed, since the time of his first arrival in +Pest, in spite of all the festivities, and in spite of Béla's unfeigned +kindness, Kuthen had always looked like a man who had something on his +mind, something which oppressed him, and which refused to be shaken off. + +As chief of an untamed, lawless people, far surpassing his followers in +sense and understanding, he was the first to see that the polite +attentions shown him by others than the King and his family, were all +more or less forced. All was not gold that glittered, and his pride was +wounded by the sort of condescension he met with from the Magyar nobles, +when he remembered that not so long ago he had ruled a kingdom larger +than the whole of Hungary. + +Something, perhaps, was due to the change in his mode of life, something +to the fact that he did not feel at ease when he took part in the court +ceremonials and festivities, that he felt as if he were caged, and +sighed for the freedom of the mountains and steppes. However it was, +Kuthen had become quite grey during the comparatively short time he had +spent in Hungary, and was already showing signs of age. + +His family did not fully share his anxieties, for they were not as +far-sighted as he; but the Queen and her sons and daughters were shrewd +enough to see that their visitors were not all as sincere as they +seemed, or wished to seem; though they ascribed this chiefly to the fact +that they themselves were foreigners; and, as both sons and daughters +were well-looking, and the latter something more, they had little reason +to complain of any want of attention or courtesy. + +Just now the King was seated at table, with the Queen and his daughters +on his right hand, and his sons on his left. They were all at supper; +but it was evident that Kuthen ate rather from habit than because he had +any appetite. + +As we have said, the dwelling was surrounded by a wide moat, and the +only entrance was by the drawbridge. Whenever anyone wanted to come in, +the Kunok sentinel posted at the bridge-head always blew a short blast +on his horn, and this evening, just as supper was coming to an end, the +horn was heard. + +Whereupon the King made a sign to one of the many servants to go and see +who was there, for he kept strict order in his household, and never +allowed the drawbridge to be lowered, or anyone to be admitted without +his permission. + +On this occasion, however, it seemed that his permission was not waited +for, as only a few moments passed before Akos Szirmay walked into the +room, and was received with evident pleasure by the King and all his +family. + +It was clear enough that Marána's parents quite understood the state of +affairs, and already looked on the young man as one of the family; for, +with the exception of King Béla, he was the only person ever admitted +without question, on his merely giving the password. + +Akos came in hurriedly, his face flushed, and with something in his +manner which showed plainly that he had not come on a mere ordinary +visit. + +Kuthen welcomed the young man with a smile, but quickly relapsed into +gravity, and Akos himself, when he had taken the seat placed for him, +next to Mária, glanced at the servants and held his peace. + +"What is it, Akos?" Kuthen asked after a short pause, during which his +visitor's manifest embarrassment had not escaped him. + +"I would rather speak when there are fewer to hear me, your Highness," +answered Akos. + +All eyes were at once turned upon him, for the rising feeling against +the Kunok was well known; and as the people of Pest had noticed, Kuthen +had lately doubled the guards round his house. Whatever the news Akos +had brought, they at once concluded that it must be something +unpleasant. + +"If there is any hurry," said Kuthen, who had regained his composure as +soon as he scented danger, "let us go into the next room." + +"No need for that, your Highness," returned Akos, also recovering +himself. "In fact, if you will allow me, I will share your supper. There +is no need for immediate action, but we must be prepared," he added in a +low tone. + +"Ah," sighed the Queen, "our soothsayers had good reason to warn us +against coming here! We are in a state of constant unrest, and I am +weary of it. For my part, I can't think why we did not leave this gilded +prison long ago, and join our people in their new settlements, where we +should at least be among those who love and honour us." + +"You are right there, wife, and you all know it is what I have long +wished," said Kuthen. "Where is the good of being called 'King,' when +one has no kingdom? My people are being ruled by foreigners, and, though +I sit at the King's Council, nothing that I say has any weight. No, what +I want is to be the father of my large family again, as I used to be, +until I go and join my ancestors. No, I will stay here no longer! The +King has always been kind to us, and I will open his eyes to what is +going on unknown to him." + +But here a sign from Akos made the King hold his peace, and the subject +was dropped for the present. + +It was not Kuthen's way to betray anything like fear; and now when, to +his imagination at least, the storm was already beginning to blow about +his ears, he would not on any account that the servants should have so +much as an inkling of that which filled his own mind. + +He remained at table exactly as long as usual, and, when they all rose, +he repeated as usual the Lord's Prayer, the only one he had learnt. He +recited it in Latin, in an uncouth accent, and with sundry mistakes, +but he said it calmly and collectedly as usual, and the rest followed +his example. + +Then, passing between a double row of servants, he led the way through +an adjoining room to the spacious hall in which he and his family +usually passed their evenings and received their guests. + +The Queen and her daughters took up some sort of needle-work, and Kuthen +signed to his sons to bring him one of the many dog-wood bows which hung +on the wall. This he proceeded with their help to fit with a string +stout enough to deserve the name of rope, for it was as big round as an +ordinary finger. + +The making of these unusually long and powerful bows, the chief weapon +of the Kunok, and the sharpening and feathering of the arrows, was the +King's favourite occupation, and one in which he displayed no little +skill. The string also was of home manufacture, and, as the work went +on, the young men moistened it from time to time with water. + +Many a time Akos had joined them in their evening work, but to-night, as +they sat round the blazing fire, his hands were idle. + +"Akos, my son, we are alone now," began Kuthen composedly, "speak out, +and keep back nothing. You need not be afraid, for this grey head of +mine has weathered many a storm before now." + +"Your Highness--father! if I may call you so"--said Akos, giving his +hand to Mária, "there is a storm coming without doubt, for the wind is +blowing from two quarters at once, and we are caught between the two." + +"I don't understand," said Kuthen, twanging the bowstring, while one son +took a second bow down from the wall, and the other got a fresh string +ready. + +"You will directly, sir; the Mongols are coming nearer and nearer, +burning and destroying everything before them--that's the last news!" + +"Haven't I told the King a hundred times how it would be?" + +"You have, and he knows! But there are certain persons who seem to be +expecting miracles; and meantime, to excuse themselves for sitting +still, they have been whispering suspicions of other people. A few hours +ago they went to the King and told him plainly what was in their minds." + +"Suspicions! whom do they suspect?" + +"_You_, your Highness! you and your people." + +"Shame!" cried Kuthen, starting from his seat, and looking Akos straight +in the face. At that moment Kuthen was every inch a king, and it was +easy to understand how, though he had lost his kingdom, lost his crown, +nevertheless his word had been enough to induce 40,000 families to +follow him to a new home. + +"And why do they suspect me?" he asked with angry resentment. + +"Why?" repeated Akos, who had also risen to his feet, and now stood +erect facing the King, "because there is not a creature in this world +so strong as to be able to stand up against panic!" + +"Is that the way you speak of your nation? and you a Magyar!" said +Kuthen. + +"My nation!" shouted Akos, all aflame in a moment. "I should like to +hear anyone dare to speak ill of my nation! No! but father, you who own +such vast flocks and herds, you know that in every fold there are sure +to be a few sickly sheep; and if they are scared, no matter by what, and +make a rush, you know what happens, the rest of the flock follow them; +not that they are frightened themselves, but because they see the others +running. A dog, or the crack of a whip is enough." + +"And pray, what are these sick sheep bleating about to the King?" + +"Well, to be plain, they say that the Kunok are nothing but Oktai's +vanguard. That you have come in the guise of guests to spy out the land +for those who sent you--for the Tartars!" + +"What! I prepare the way for the robbers, who have driven us from the +graves of our ancestors! who have slain our people by the thousand and +made miserable slaves of others! We in league with the Tartars, our +hateful foes! It is a cowardly lie! The King is too noble-hearted ever +to believe such a thing! It is the talk of madmen!" + +"And the King does not believe it; quite the contrary, for he spoke +warmly in defence of you and----" + +"Ah! that is like himself," interposed Kuthen. + +"Yes; but, my good King, you have many enemies, and they have taken it +into their stupid heads that, as I said before, the Kunok are the +forerunners of the Tartars. They are saying, shouting, that half the +danger would be done away if we had not enemies in our midst, who would +turn upon us at the first signal from the Mongols." + +"That is what is said by Magyars? That those whom they have received as +guests, with whom they have shared their bread and their wine, will +betray them! Have I spent my days among lions and tigers, that anyone +dares to say such a thing of Kuthen? Oh! the cowards! Let Batu Khan +come, and the King shall soon see what our arrows will do." + +"I believe you!" said Akos warmly, "and so does the King, but he cannot +do all that he would, and so it is for your own safety's sake, in your +own interest, as he said, and to prevent greater danger--he is going to +station a guard outside." + +"Put me and my family under guard! imprison me! in return for my trust, +and because I have brought hither through countless dangers, 40,000 +families to do and die for the king, and the nation who have received +me----" + +Kuthen broke off suddenly here to bid his sons go and see to the horses. +Late as it was, he and they would go at once to the King, unarmed, and +unprotected, to learn how much a sovereign's word was worth. + +In a few moments they were all three on horseback, and in court dress, +for Kuthen had already adopted the Hungarian usage in this respect, as +he had also learnt the language, and done all else he could to +accommodate himself to the manners and customs of his new home, by way +of making himself more acceptable to his hosts. + +But no sooner was the drawbridge lowered than Kuthen saw himself face to +face with a party of Hungarian soldiers on horseback, under the command +of one of his most bitter enemies, Jonas Agha, who told the King, in +curt and not the most respectful terms, that he could not be allowed to +leave his dwelling. + +"Then I am a prisoner! and without so much as a hearing!" exclaimed +Kuthen. "Be it so then. I am the King's guest, and my friend will +explain things to me. Back now, my sons! Let us set an example of +submission!" + +As he uttered the words, he found Akos at his side, Akos, who, though he +had heard from one of the courtiers that such an order was in +contemplation, had never suspected that it was already an accomplished +fact. And indeed, knowing that both the King and Queen, as well as Duke +Kálmán, the King's brother, were doing all in their power to defeat the +intentions of the hostile party, he suspected that the present action +had been taken by some over-zealous official in a subordinate position, +and he now hastened forward to set right any misunderstanding. + +"What is the meaning of this?" he asked, standing erect in his stirrups +and looking like a statue. + +"The King's orders," replied Agha haughtily. + +Akos was about to make some fiery reply, but Kuthen interrupted him, +saying quietly, "Let it be as the King wills!" and with that he turned +his horse's head from the gate. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +MISTAKE THE SECOND. + + +The day had closed gloomily, ominously, for the refugees; and to +understand how it was that a king so chivalrous as Béla could consent to +make a prisoner of his guest, we must go back and see what had taken +place a few hours earlier. + +Béla, as already said, was fully alive to the danger which threatened +his land and people, and at the first news of the advance of the +Mongols, he had sent Héderváry the Palatine to block all the roads and +passes between Transylvania and Wallachia, and make full arrangements +for their defence. But even this prudent step was not approved by every +one. The wiseacres, and the sort of people who always see farther than +their fellows, attributed the King's orders to fear, and said so too, +openly and unreservedly. + +There were others who simply refused to believe any alarming reports, +alleging that they were all got up by the bishops and chief clergy, that +they might have an excuse for staying at home at ease, instead of +attending the Pope's Council in Rome. + +Others accused the King, the Kunok, and other foreign guests who had +lately arrived at the Court of Pest. + +Some of these, the most timorous, actually wanted to force the King to +send an embassy to the Great Khan, offering him an annual tribute and +other shameful conditions. + +Béla was a courageous man, and a true Magyar and king in the best sense +of the words. He was calm, brave, and energetic. He saw through the +cowards and despised their accusations; for it is the poltroon who is +ever the first to accuse others of cowardice, and there is, moreover, +one thing which he can never pardon--the being discovered trembling by +men braver than himself. + +King Béla paid no heed to the wagging of these many tongues, and himself +went all round the eastern frontiers of the kingdom, to see personally +to the defences. His plans were well considered and well adapted to the +object in view. They failed in one point only, but that a fatal +one--they were never carried out! + +On the King's return to Pest, he found the capital given up to +festivity. Nearly every noble in the place must be giving +entertainments. If there was a banquet at one house to-day, there was +one at another to-morrow. There was no trace of any preparations for war +or defence, though there was plenty of nervous alarm. + +Shortly after his arrival, the King called a Council, and the heads of +Church and State met in a spacious hall often used for Court balls and +assemblies, now presenting a very different appearance, and with its +walls draped in sober green cloth. + +The King was seated in a canopied armchair raised above the rest, and he +wore a white silk mantle, with a clasp something like the ancient Roman +fibula, but set with precious stones. On his head was a crown, simple +but brilliant, in his hand he held a golden war-club, and from the plain +leather belt which confined his white dolmány at the waist, there hung a +long, straight sword, with a hilt in the form of a large cross. + +The Council consisted of about sixty members, some wearing their +ecclesiastical vestments, and others the long Hungarian dolmány. Of all +those present no one looked so entirely calm as the King, and those who +knew him best could read firm resolve in his face. + +Béla knew Hungary and the strength of its various races, and he was +never afraid of dangers from without. What he did fear was the spirit of +obstinacy and envy, and at last of blindness, which has so often shown +itself, just when clear sight and absolute unity were especially needed +to enable the country to confront the most serious difficulties. + +He knew that he must prove the existence of danger by facts, if he +wanted to silence the contentious tongues of those who did not wish to +believe; and he had determined to lay convincing proofs before them on +this particular day. + +When all were assembled and in their places, the King made a sign to +Paul Héderváry, who at once left the hall, the door of which was shortly +after again thrown open for the entrance of two gloomy-looking men, with +swords and daggers at their belts, whom Paul ushered up to the King's +throne. Their robes, trimmed with costly furs, showed that they were +persons of importance; and what with the richness of their attire, and +their manly deportment, they did not fail to make an impression upon the +assembly, though one of the younger members muttered to his neighbour, +"Hem! Flat noses and glittering eyes! Who may these be?" + +The two bowed low before the king, and then one of them, Románovics by +name, said: "Your Majesty, we are both Russian dukes, and have been +driven from the broad lands of our ancestors, by Batu Khan, one of +Oktai's chiefs. We have now come to your footstool, to entreat your +hospitality, and to offer you our services." + +"More guests!" whispered the same young man who had spoken before. +"Kunok, Russians, and next, of course, the Tartars, not a doubt of it!" +The broad smile on his face showed that he was highly pleased with his +own wit. + +"Honourable guests will always find the door open in Hungary," said the +King, when the short speech had been interpreted to him; "and all who +are oppressed shall have whatever protection we are able to afford +them." + +"More too! Oh, what generous fellows we are!" muttered another still +younger man at the table. + +The King went on to say that he had heard of the Russian disasters, but +that as the news which had reached him might have lost or gained +something on the way, he should be glad if they would tell him and the +Council just what had really happened. + +Whereupon, the Duke who had spoken before gave a short account of all +that had taken place since the death of Dschingis, and the partition of +his vast dominions. And then the younger Duke, Wsewolodovics, took up +the tale. + +"Lord King!" he began, "these Mongols don't carry on warfare in an +honourable, chivalrous way. They fight only to destroy, they are +bloodthirsty, merciless; their only object is to plunder, slay, murder, +and burn, not even to make any use of what lands they conquer. They are +like a swarm of locusts. They stay till everything is eaten up, till all +are plundered, and what they can't carry off, that they kill, or reduce +to ashes. They are utterly faithless; their words and promises are not +in the least to be trusted, and those who do make friends with them are +the first upon whom they wreak their vengeance if anything goes wrong. +We are telling you no fairy tales! We know to our own cost what they +are, we tell you what we have seen with our own eyes. And let me tell +you this, my lord king, their lust of conquest and devastation knows _no +bounds_! If it is our turn to-day, it will be yours to-morrow! And, +therefore, while we seek a refuge in your land, we at the same time warn +you to be prepared! for the storm is coming, and may sweep across your +frontiers sooner than you think for." + +"We will meet it, if it comes," said the King coolly. "But I bid you +both heartily welcome as our guests for the present, and as our +companions in arms, if the enemy ventures to come hither." + +The Dukes found nothing to complain of in the King's reception of them. +He had been cordial and encouraging, and he had heard them out; though, +what with their own long speeches, and the interpreting of them, the +interview had lasted a considerable time. + +But if the King had listened attentively and courteously, so had not the +Council; and the contrast was marked. Some listened coldly and without +interest, some even wore a contemptuous smile, and there was a restless +shrugging of shoulders, a making of signs one to the other, and at times +an interchange of whispers among the members, which showed plainly +enough that they thought the greater part of what the Russians said +ridiculously exaggerated. + +Councils, even those held in the King's presence, were by no means +orderly in those days. Everyone present wanted to put in his word, and +that, too, just as and when he pleased, so the Duke had hardly finished +speaking, when up rose one of the elder and more important-looking +nobles, exclaiming impatiently, "Your Majesty! These foreign lords have +told us very fully to what we owe their present kind visit; and they +have told us, too, that our country is threatened by ruffianly, +contemptible brigands and incendiaries. There is but one thing they have +forgotten. I should like to know whether this horde of would-be +conquerors have any courage, discipline, or knowledge of war among them. +It seems to me important that they should tell us this in their own +interests, for it needs no great preparation to scatter a disorderly +rabble, but valiant warriors are, of course, another thing." + +"Very true, Master Tibörcs," said the King calmly, patiently. + +But when the matter was explained to the Russian Duke, he exclaimed, +with an expression of the utmost horror and contempt, "Valiant! +disciplined! military knowledge! Why, my lord king, who could expect +anything of the sort from such thieves and robbers! But, despicable as +they are as soldiers, they are dangerous for all that! They are cowards! +They are as wild as cattle, as senseless as stones, but--they have +numbers, countless numbers, on their side. They fall in thousands, and +they use the dead and wounded to bridge the rivers! And they are swift +as the very wind." + +Several at the table here exclaimed that the Duke must be magnifying, or +at least that he had heard exaggerated reports; and one of the most +timorous added that to a man who was terrified danger always looked +greater than it did to anyone else in the world. That man, at all +events, knew what he was talking about! + +"We are not afraid, gentlemen," said Románovics, turning at once towards +those seated at the table. "We are exhausted with fighting ourselves, +and their blood, too, has flowed in torrents; ten of them have fallen to +every one of our men, but then their numbers are ten times ours." + +"Afraid of them?" continued the other, "No! who would be afraid of such +cowardly robbers? Why, ten will run before one man, if he meets them +face to face! We don't say they are invincible, quite the contrary. We +come here in the belief that the heroic nation from whom we seek +assistance is quite strong enough to be a match even for such a torrent +as this! Nevertheless, there is one thing which must not be forgotten. +Though there is no military knowledge among them, though they are not +trained soldiers, they are extremely clever with their war-machines. +Nothing can stand against them! And there is another thing. Those who +are conquered are forced into their army; what is more, they are put in +the forefront of the battle, in the place of greatest danger, and they +are driven forward, or murdered if they attempt to escape! So, with +danger before and behind, the miserable wretches fight with all the +strength of despair; the victors share the spoil, and those who are +defeated have nothing to expect but death any way, and sometimes a death +of fearful torture too. This, together with their extraordinary rapidity +of movement, their cunning, and powers of endurance, is the secret of +their strength." + +So spoke the Russian Dukes, and their words made a certain impression, +though even now some of the Council were hardly convinced of the +importance of the danger. Many were scornful of the new-comers, and +various contrary opinions were being expressed, when all at once there +was a roar outside as if a battle were already going on in the streets, +and some of the palace guards rushed into the Council chamber. + +All leapt to their feet. Swords all flashed simultaneously from their +scabbards, and in a moment, Béla was surrounded, and over his head there +was a canopy of iron blades. To do them justice, their first thought was +for the safety of the King. + +"What has happened?" he asked of the guards, when the hubbub around him +had subsided. + +"The people have risen! They are asking for the head of Kuthen," was the +answer. + +There was a shout of "Treachery, treachery, treachery!" without, and the +next instant the mob burst into the hall. + +"Gentlemen! to your places! put up your swords," said the King, in such +a peremptory tone that his command was at once obeyed. Then rising from +his chair and turning to the intruders with perfect calm and dignity, he +bade them come forward. + +"The King is always ready to hear the complaints of his people! What is +it you want, children? But let one speak at a time, that will be the +wiser way, for if you all clamour together, my sons, I shall not be able +to understand any one of you. Ah! you are there, I see Barkó _deák_; +come here, you are a sensible man, I know; you tell me what is the +matter." + +Barkó was a notable man in his own set, and his sobriquet of _deák_ +showed that he possessed some learning, at least to the extent of being +able to write, and having some knowledge of the Scriptures, as well as +of the laws, called "customs." + +He was a man whose judgment was respected, and when first suspicion fell +upon the Kunok, he was besieged by those who wanted his advice as to how +they ought to act in these dangerous circumstances. + +Now, on the days when Barkó got out of bed right foot foremost, he would +calm his inquirers by saying wisely enough that until Kuthen himself was +detected in some suspicious act, the time had not come for accusing him. +But, unfortunately, Barkó was not without his domestic troubles in the +shape of a wife, who would always have the last word, and so sometimes +it happened that he got up left foot foremost. + +It was on one of these unlucky days that the people of Pest and the +neighbourhood, having somehow heard, as people always do hear, that the +King was holding a Council for the purpose of taking measures of defence +against the Mongols, "Tartars," as they called them, came with one +consent to Barkó's house, and swarmed into it in such numbers that he +leapt out of the window to escape them. But no sooner had his feet +touched the ground than they were at once taken off it again, and he was +caught up and raised on high, amid loud shouts from the crowd that he +must be their leader and spokesman. + +"What am I to do? What do you want?" he cried. + +"Let's go to the King! Treachery! The Kunok are bringing the Tartars +upon us! We want the head of Kuthen!" + +Such were the cries which assailed him on all sides, and Barkó let them +shout till they were tired. + +"Very well, children," he said, as soon as there was a chance of making +himself heard. "Very well, we will go to his Majesty. He will listen to +his faithful people and find some way of putting an end to the +mischief." + +"We will go now!" they shouted. + +"No! let's wait!" roared a grey-beard, with a shake of his shaggy head, +using his broad shoulders and sharp elbows to force a way through the +crowd. + +"We won't go to the King! We'll go straight to the other King, the +vagabond and traitor Kuthen. We will take his treacherous head to our +own good King!" + +"Good! good!" cried the mob. + +"It is not good!" shouted Barkó. "It is for the King to command, it is +for us to ask. If I am to be your leader, trust the matter to me." + +"Let us trust it to Mr. Barkó," cried some voices again. + +"So then, I am the leader, and if we want to go before the King's +Majesty, let us do it respectfully, not as if we were a rabble going to +a tavern. Here! make room for me! put me down!" + +And Barkó puffed and panted, and shook himself, as if he had swum across +the Danube. + +Then he called three or four of the crowd to him to help in forming up +some sort of procession. + +"There! I go in the middle, as the leader, and you, the army, will march +in two files after me." + +"But we are here, too, Mr. Barkó!" cried some shriller voices. + +"The petticoats will bring up the rear!" said Mr. Barkó authoritatively. + +And in this order the crowd proceeded on its way; but, notwithstanding +all Barkó's precautions, it was a very tumultuous crowd which burst into +the King's presence. + +Barkó had made the journey bare-headed; and now, being called upon to +speak, he bowed low before the King, saying: "Your Majesty! Grace be +upon my head. Since the devil is bringing the Tartars upon us, the +people humbly beg the head of the traitor Kuthen! And we will bring it +to you, if you will only give us the command, your Majesty!" + +"It shall be here directly, and the heads of all his brood, too!" cried +Barkó's followers. + +Barkó, seeing that the King did not speak, turned to them, saying in a +tone of command, "Silence! I will speak, asking the King's grace upon my +head." + +And turning again to the King he added, "If we don't root them out, my +lord King, the Tartars will find the banquet all made ready for them +when they come. The vagabonds in the country-districts are already +laying hands on property not their own, and behaving just as if they +were at home." + +One or two voices from among the crowd echoed these complaints, and +added others as to the disrespect shown to the Magyar women. + +"Silence," interrupted Barkó. "Let us hear his Majesty, our lord the +King. What he commands that we will do, and we must not do anything +else," he added, by way of showing that he could read writing, and was +acquainted with the style in which the royal commands were expressed. + +The King heard all without appearing in the least disturbed, while those +at the table kept their hands all the time on their swords, and it was +by no means without emotion that the two Russian Dukes looked on at +this, to them, very novel kind of Council, and at this unconventional +way of approaching the King's presence. + +At last there was silence. Barkó had said his say, and the cries and +exclamations of his followers having subsided, the King addressed them +and him. + +First he praised him for his discretion in coming to seek counsel of the +King, and then he reminded him that a good king was also a just judge. +But a just judge always heard both sides of a question before he gave +judgment. If, therefore, he were now to give his consent to what his +faithful children wished, and were to deliver King Kuthen, who was both +his guest and theirs, into their hands, and that without hearing him as +he had heard them, why, then he would be a bad judge, and therefore not +a good king. Moreover, if he were unjust in one case he might be so in +another. + +"If, for instance," said he, "Paul came to me with a complaint against +Peter, we might have Mr. Peter's head cut off; and if Peter accused +Paul, we might have Paul beheaded. For, my children, others have as much +right to justice as ourselves; therefore, hear our commands, and as my +faithful servant, the honourable Mr. Barkó has said, observe them and do +nothing else." + +All eyes were fixed upon the King, and they listened with wrapt +attention and in perfect silence as he proceeded: + +"Strict inquiry shall be made as to whether there be any real ground of +suspicion against King Kuthen; and if there is, he and his people shall +be punished! But we must let the law take its course, and my dear +citizens of Pest may wait quietly and confidently while it does. From +this day forth the Kun King will not leave his residence, a guard shall +be placed at his gate, and we will have the matter regularly +investigated without delay." + +There was a burst of "Eljens" (vivas) as the King concluded. The people +appeared to be thoroughly satisfied, and when Barkó, after a low +reverence, turned to leave the hall, his followers made a way for him +through their midst, and cleared out after him, quickly at all events, +if not with much dignity. + +History tells us that the King's Council was satisfied also, no less +than the people, who had, indeed, been purposely excited by some of the +nobles, and used more or less as a cat's paw. The order that Kuthen +should be guarded was, as we have seen, given and executed forthwith. +Béla had given it most unwillingly, only, in fact, to appease the +excitement, and in the hope of avoiding still worse evils; and though +some were still dissatisfied, this was the case with but few of the +cooler heads. + +And the Russian Dukes, when they were able to speak to the King in +private, admitted that numbers of Kunok had indeed been forced by Batu +Khan to serve in his army; but they added that these recruits were only +waiting the first favourable opportunity to desert and join with their +kinsmen, and with the Hungarians, in exterminating the common enemy. And +what they feared was that, if the Kunok heard that their King, whom they +worshipped, was being kept under restraint, they would actually do what +the majority and so many of the chief nobles now without reason +suspected them of. + +Béla understood human nature, and to him it seemed that to throw some +sort of sop to Cerberus was wiser than to risk the exciting of greater +discontent. + +But again the King made a mistake! + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +AT THE VERY DOORS. + + +The time of which we are writing was a critical one in Hungary's +history. "She was sick, very sick, and the remedy for her disease was +bitter in proportion to the gravity of her condition." (Jókai Mór.) + +The power and prestige of the sovereign had lost much under Béla's +predecessors, first his uncle and then his father; for the latter had +rebelled against his brother, and the civil war had increased the +importance of the magnates, while it diminished that of the sovereign. +Béla's father András had succeeded his brother, and had shown himself as +weak, as vain, and as untrustworthy, as king, as he had done as subject. + +Béla had inherited many difficulties, and in his eagerness to set +matters right, had been over-hasty, over-arbitrary, and had made enemies +of many of the great nobles by curtailing their extorted privileges. + +András, always in need of money, had given and pawned Crown property, +until there was little left. Béla, succeeding to an almost empty +treasury, had recalled some of those donations which never ought to +have been made; and also, by way of instilling respect for the King's +majesty, had withdrawn from the great nobles certain privileges, which +they bitterly resented, for some of them had attained such a pitch of +might and wealth as rendered them independent of the King and the law. +There were two classes of nobles, the magnates and the lesser nobility, +the latter being more and more oppressed by the former. All who owned a +piece of land were "noble," but as their possessions differed greatly in +amount, so some were rich and others very much the reverse. + +The nobles of both classes, and the clergy attended the Diets; but the +mass of the people were as yet unrepresented. + +Standing army there was hardly any, and when the King wanted troops he +had to raise them, and pay them as he could. Those who held crown-fiefs +were bound to obey the King's call to arms, but at his cost, and not +their own, and all nobles of whatever degree were bound to join his +standard if the country was attacked, not otherwise. If the King wanted +them to cross the frontier, he must bear the expense; and if they did +not choose to go, he was helpless and could not punish them. + +But, to be first in the field is often half the battle. To wait until +the enemy is actually in the country may spell disaster and even ruin. + +Béla was well aware of the danger which threatened. He had heard much +from Kuthen, and he had other sources of information as well, men who +kept him well posted in all that was going on. Troops he must have if +the country was to be saved; and as the Kunok were always ready for war +he felt obliged to favour them; and, to raise money for the pay of +others, he was obliged to pledge the Crown revenues and to debase the +coinage. + +If Hungary had been of one mind in those days, if all had been ready to +rise in her defence as once they would have done, she would have had +little difficulty in driving back the Mongols; but some of the magnates +secretly hoped for a reverse, if so be the King might be thereby +humbled. They little knew! + +Rumours as to the advance of the Mongols were rife throughout the +winter; but the month of March, 1241, had arrived, and still there was +nothing to be called an army, in spite of the sending round of the +bloody sword, and in spite of the King's most urgent commands, +entreaties, and personal exertions. + +On the 11th of the month came the first note of actual alarm in a +despatch from Héderváry the Palatine, who was guarding the north-eastern +frontier. He announced that the Mongols had reached the pass of Verecz +(almost in a straight line with Kaschau), and that it was impossible for +him to hold them back unless large reinforcements were sent to him at +once. + +The King, meanwhile, had despatched ambassadors to his old enemy +Friedrich, of Austria, urging him in his own interest to come to the +help of Hungary. To the Kunok in their new settlements he had also sent +orders to mount at once, and they required no second bidding, but set +out immediately for the camp. + +The Queen and Court had left Pest for Pressburg, whither all who took +the coming danger in the least seriously, and many even who professed to +think little of it, had sent their womankind. The few who dared run the +risk of leaving them in country houses, with moats and walls as their +sole defence, were nobles whose castles were believed to be +inaccessible, or so far from the frontier and so buried in the woods, +that they had every reason to hope that they would remain undiscovered. +The Hédervárys and the Szirmays were not of this number, always +excepting Master Peter; for, such was their reputation for wealth, that +it seemed only too likely that, to save their own skins and perhaps +share the spoil, some of their servants and dependants might turn +traitors and betray them to the Mongols. They, therefore, were among the +first to send their wives and children to Pressburg, lavishly provided +with all that they might need, and accompanied by brilliant trains of +men-at-arms. + +Pressburg was full to overflowing, and to every man there were at least +ten women. Jolánta, of course, was there, and was daily looking forward +to the pleasure of seeing Dora; not doubting for a moment that her +uncle would send her with all speed as soon as he himself left home to +join the army. + +But the days had passed, and not only had Dora not come, but no one knew +where she was, or anything about her. There was no little wonderment at +this among those whose minds were sufficiently at leisure to wonder +about anything not immediately concerning themselves or their families. +It was odd that Master Peter should have stayed so long in Pest without +her, a thing he had never done before; it was odder still that he should +not have sent her to Pressburg, out of harm's way. Surely he must have +placed her somewhere to be taken care of! He could never think of +leaving her at home, and alone, when the time of his absence was likely +to be so uncertain. They knew, indeed, that his ancient hall was so +buried in dense woods, and so surrounded by ravine-like valleys, that no +one would be likely to find it unless they knew of its existence and +went there for the purpose; yet at the same time, as he and Stephen had +been busy collecting their troops, and seemed to consider preparations +of some sort necessary, he would surely never be satisfied to leave Dora +alone in a place which, though strong enough to resist any ordinary foe, +would certainly not be safe from the thieving, burning Tartars, if they +should discover it. + +And yet, in spite of all these conjectures, that was precisely what +Master Peter had done. We have already mentioned his reasons for not +taking his daughter to Pest. The same reasons prevented his sending her +to Pressburg. He would not have her exposed to sneers, perhaps insults, +when he was not at hand to protect her. + +Dora herself was quite against going to swell the Queen's train; and her +father was more than a little hurt that, whereas her Majesty (so Paul's +mother told him with satisfaction) had especially summoned Jolánta to +join her with all speed, she had not said a word to show that she even +remembered Dora. + +What Dora wished was to follow her father and share all his dangers, +labours, and hardships--no such very uncommon thing in those days, when +women were often safer with their fathers, husbands, and brothers, than +they could be anywhere else. Her father was Dora's first thought, as she +was his; but at first he would not give her any decided answer. The +Mongols were not yet in the country; and he and his brother, though they +loyally obeyed the King's orders, were among those who thought him far +too anxious, and his preparations more than were necessary. + +At all events, he would not take her with him when he set out with his +troop for the camp at Pest, but he promised, if he could not find any +better way of ensuring her safety, that he would come later on, put her +in a coat of armour, and take her with him. The only question was where +she had better stay meantime, and he decided that on the whole home +would be best. + +The seneschal, or governor, was a gloomy and rather lazy man, but +thoroughly honourable. Peter knew what a bold, brave man he was when it +was a question of bears, wolves, and wild boars, and in his simplicity +he argued with himself that courage was courage and that a man +courageous in one way must needs be courageous in all! + +Peter would have liked much to take with him Talabor, of whom he had +lately grown quite fond, but it suddenly flashed across him that in any +case of unexpected danger, the younger man, full of life and energy, +would not be less courageous than the portly seneschal, while he would +certainly be more active and resourceful. Talabor, who was burning to +accompany his good master, was therefore told that for the present he +was to remain at home. Master Peter had a long conversation with him +before his own departure, and gave him full instructions, so far as that +was possible, as to what he was to do in case of accidents, which Peter +himself never in the least expected to occur. + +And then he rode away at the head of a very respectable troop, or +"banderium," consisting of the lesser nobility of the neighbourhood, and +of such recruits as he had been able to enlist; and on reaching Pest he +found that the Szirmay contingent, furnished by himself and his brother, +was first in the field. Soon after arrived the King with the troops +which he had been raising himself in the two home-counties. + +Pest was becoming daily more like a camp. The streets, the open spaces, +were turned into bivouacs, the officers slept in tents; and, as most of +the men were mounted, on all sides was to be heard the neighing of +horses, tethered by long ropes in the open air. Earthworks were being +hastily thrown up at a considerable distance beyond the walls of the +town, these walls themselves being low and hardly capable of defence, as +they were not everywhere provided even with moats. + +Impossible to describe the state of bustle and excitement in which +everyone in Pest was living just then, and at first sight no one would +have discovered anything like fear in the animated and hilarious crowd +which filled the thoroughfares. The Mongols were spoken of in terms of +the utmost contempt as a wild, undisciplined, unorganized rabble, who +would fly at the mere sight of "real troops," properly armed! + +Everywhere was to be heard the sound of music and boisterous mirth on +the part of the younger nobles, who made great display of gaudy apparel, +fashionable armour from Germany, huge plumes, and high-spirited horses. + +Like peacocks in their pride, they loved in those days to make a show of +magnificence. And if this was true more or less of all the higher and +wealthier nobility, particularly of the younger members, it cannot be +said that the lower classes, or the less wealthy, were at all +behind-hand in following the example of their betters. + +The King himself hated display, though he did not despise a becoming +state and magnificence when occasion required; but those who were +attached to his Court, or to the retinue of the great lords, spiritual +and temporal, delighted to imitate the young magnates as far as they +could. Foremost among these was now Libor the clerk, Héderváry's +well-known governor, whom his young master found so prompt and ready, so +helpful in carrying out, and so quick to approve all his whims, that it +became more and more impossible to him to dispense with his services, +and he kept him constantly about him. + +Libor sported a gigantic plume in his cap, and his sword made such a +clanking as he walked, that people knew him by it afar off. Whenever he +had the chance, he might be heard declaiming in praise of the heroic +King, and affirming that everyone who did not support him was a +scoundrel. All who were in favour of active measures highly approved of +Libor; even the King knew him, at least by name, for there was not such +another fire-eating Magyar in the whole of Pest, and all were agreed +that the King had no more devoted subject than this exemplary young +clerk. + +Bishops, abbots, magnates, and the King's brother, Duke Kálmán, were +arriving now with their expected troops; but on March 14th arrived one +who was not expected, and at whom people looked in terror and amazement. + +He rode up slowly, wearily, at the head of a few hundred men, as worn +and weary as himself; and as he came nearer, people whispered under +their breath, "Héderváry the Palatine!" Héderváry, who was supposed to +be defending the passes of the Carpathians! + +His armour was battered, his helmet crushed, and a sabre cut across the +face had made him hardly recognisable. He rode straight up to the King's +tent, before which the Diet was assembled, no one, not even his old +friend Peter, daring to speak to him, though he gazed on him hardly able +to believe his eyes, and with a sudden chill of alarm as he thought of +Dora. + +For a few moments no one spoke, but after more than one attempt, the +Palatine got out the broken words, "God and the Holy Virgin protect your +Majesty!" + +Then, turning to the assembled Diet, he added, "Comrades! the enemy is +in our land! Our small force held the pass seven days; on the eighth the +flood burst through and flowed over dead bodies. You see before you all +who escaped! God and the Holy Virgin protect our country!" + +Héderváry bowed his head upon his horse's neck to hide his face. + +The sensation was immense, the news flew quickly from mouth to mouth, +and before long all Pest knew of the disaster, and knew, too, that in +the Palatine's opinion the enemy might reach Pest itself within a day or +two--a day or two! with such awful speed did the torrent rush forward. + +If Peter had been incredulous before, he was anxious enough now, when he +heard of the lightning-like rapidity with which the Mongols were +advancing, of the 40,000 pioneers who went before them, cutting a +straight road through the thickest forests, of the catapults for +throwing stones and masses of rock, against which nothing, not even the +strongest walls, could stand. He could not leave his post, it was even +questionable whether he could reach Dora now if he made the attempt; +for, when the scouts came in they more than confirmed all that the +Palatine had said, with the additional information that five counties +had been already devastated, and that Batu's army was within half a +day's journey of Pest itself. + +That same night the red glare in the sky told of burning towns and +villages only a few miles off; and the day after Héderváry's return +small bodies of Mongols actually appeared on the very confines of Pest, +laying hands on all that they could find, and then vanishing again like +the lightning, as suddenly as they had come. + +The fortifications of the city were pushed on with redoubled energy, and +all were wildly eager to go out at once and challenge the enemy. But +the King's orders were strict; no one was to go out and attempt to give +battle until the whole army was assembled, when he himself would take +the command. Not a third part had come in yet, and the men chafed +impatiently at the delay. Even now, however, with danger facing them, +there was little unity in the camp, little order, little discipline; +everyone who had any pretension to be "somebody," wanted to give orders, +not obey them, and, in fact, do everything that he was not asked to do. + +But as the troops continued to come in, as the earthworks rose higher, +and the ditches and trenches grew broader; as, above all, the King +seemed to have no fears, confidence revived, and those who had been +timorous ran to the opposite extreme, and began to believe that the King +had but to give the signal for battle, and the enemy's hosts would at +once be scattered like chaff. They not only believed it, but loudly +proclaimed it. Libor was especially loud and emphatic in his expressions +of confidence, and went about from one commander to another, trying his +utmost to obtain a post of some sort in the army. + +He succeeded at last, for Héderváry the Palatine had lost his best +officers, and knowing how highly his son thought of Libor, he gave him a +command in his own diminished army. Whereupon Paul presented the young +governor with a complete suit of armour, and from that day forward Libor +did not know how to contain himself. He was a great man indeed now, and +he might rise still higher. In fact, so he told himself, the very +highest posts were open to him! + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +THE BETTER PART OF VALOUR. + + +On the 17th March, six days after Héderváry's imploring cry for help, +three after his return, one enormous division of Mongols was in the +neighbourhood of Pest, while another was in front of Vácz (Waitzen), a +town twenty miles to the north. + +That morning very early, Paul Héderváry and Ugrin, the Archbishop of +Kalócsa, had sallied forth unknown to anyone, to satisfy themselves as +to whether the scattered parties of Mongols who had been seen several +times beneath the very walls of Pest, were mere bands of brigands, or +whether they were part of Batu Khan's army. Paul was a daring, not to +say foolhardy man, and it was not the first time he had been out to +reconnoitre, taking only Libor and a few horsemen with him. Of course, +he wanted Libor this morning, but the governor, being with all his +valour a discreet person, was not forthcoming, was indeed not to be +found anywhere, much to Paul's vexation. + +Paul and the Archbishop therefore rode quietly out together, +accompanied by no more than half a dozen men-at-arms, and they had not +been riding a quarter of an hour before they caught sight of a party of +horsemen coming towards them through the grey dawn. There seemed to be +some three or four score of them, and they might be some of the expected +troops arriving; it was impossible to tell in the dim half-light, and +Paul and his companion drew behind some rising ground to make sure. They +had not long to wait before they saw that these were no friends, +however, but an advance body of Mongols cautiously and quietly moving +forward. To engage them was out of the question, and the two at once +agreed to turn back without attracting attention, if possible. But they +had no sooner left their shelter than a perfect hurricane of wild cries +showed that they had been observed. + +Fortunately for them, their horses were fresh and in good condition, +while those of the Mongols were sorry jades at the best, and worn out +besides. The Hungarians, therefore, reached the city in safety, though +hotly pursued, and they at once presented themselves before the King, +who had risen very early that morning, and was already at work in his +cabinet. + +"Why, Ugrin, how is this?" said Béla, rising to meet the Archbishop, +"armed from head to foot so early? and you, too, Héderváry? Where do you +come from? I see you are dusty!" + +"Your Majesty," began Ugrin, one of the most daring of men, in spite of +his office, "Héderváry and I have been riding in the neighbourhood, and +we chanced upon the Tartars!" + +"Did you see many?" + +"The advance guard, with a whole division behind." + +"We have only our horses to thank for it that we are here now," added +Héderváry. + +"Have not I forbidden all provoking of encounters until we have all our +troops assembled?" said the King. + +"And there was no provocation--on our part," replied Ugrin, in anything +but an amiable tone; "but if we don't get information for ourselves as +to the enemy's movements----" + +The King cut him short. "I know all about them!" said he, "more than you +gentlemen do." + +Ugrin and Héderváry shrugged their shoulders, and both put the King's +coolness down to irresolution, or even fear. + +"I know," said the King, "that they have not only approached our towns, +but that at this moment they are before Vácz, if they have not stormed +it." + +"Before Vácz!" exclaimed Ugrin, "and your Majesty is still waiting! +waiting now! when one bold stroke might annihilate them before the Khan +himself comes up." + +"Batu is close at hand," said the King, "and if we don't wish to risk +all, we must be prudent, and act only on the defensive until the rest of +the troops arrive." + +"Ah!" cried Ugrin, forgetting for a moment the respect due to the King, +"I suppose your Majesty means to wait until Vácz is in flames! By +Heaven! I won't wait--not if I perish for it!" + +As he spoke, Ugrin turned on his heel and abruptly left the room. +Possibly the rattle of his armour and the clank of his sword prevented +the King's hearing clearly his last words; but he called to him in a +tone of command, and ordered him not to leave the city. + +"Make haste and stop him, Paul," said Béla, as the door closed behind +the Archbishop, and Héderváry hurried to obey; but his own horse had +been taken to the stables with a Mongol arrow in its back, while Ugrin's +was on the spot, being walked up and down in front of the palace. The +Archbishop had the start of him therefore, for he had rushed down the +steps, mounted, and dashed off like a whirlwind, before Héderváry could +catch him up. + +"Let him go!" said the King, "let him go!" he repeated, walking up and +down the room. He had left his private cabinet now for a larger room, in +which, notwithstanding the early hour, many of the nobles were already +assembled; for the news of Ugrin's and Héderváry's encounter had spread +like wildfire, and all were impatient to be doing something. + +"We must double the guards and keep the troops ready; but no one is to +venture out of the city," said the King, and his words fell like +scalding water upon the ears of those who heard them. + +For it was always the Hungarian way to face danger at once, without +stopping to realise fully its gravity, or to give courage and energy +time to evaporate. + +"My orders do not please you, I know, gentlemen," the King said, with +dignity, "but when danger is near, blood should be cool. If we waste our +strength in small engagements, the enemy's numbers, the one advantage he +has over us, will make our efforts entirely useless. No! let him exhaust +his strength, while we are gathering ours, and as soon as we have a +respectable army, myself will lead it in person!" + +No one was satisfied; but Héderváry the Palatine was alone in venturing +to say a word, and he spoke firmly though respectfully. + +He had had more actual experience of the Mongols than anyone else, and +submitted that, though their strength lay chiefly in their numbers, yet +that this was not the whole of it, for they were exceedingly cunning, +and he believed their object just now was to cut off the reinforcements +before they could reach the place of rendezvous. If so, then an attack +quickly delivered would be of the greatest service. + +"Besides," he concluded, "I suspect that the Archbishop of Kalócsa has +led his 'banderium' out against them, and we can't leave him +unsupported." + +"The brave bishop will soon settle the filthy wretches!" cried a young +Forgács who was standing near. + +With a reproving look at the young man, the King turned to the Palatine +and said gravely, "I expressly forbade the Archbishop to leave Pest, and +I cannot therefore believe that he has done so! If he has--well, he must +reap as he has sown! I am not going to risk all for the madness of one. +But you are right, Palatine, there is no more cunning people on the face +of this earth! Isn't it more likely that they want to deceive us and +entice us away from our defences, by sending forward these comparatively +small bodies of men?" + +The Palatine shook his head, urging that a great part of the country was +already laid waste, that fear was paralysing everyone, and that it was +no time to wait when danger was actually in their midst and threatening +the very capital. + +And so the discussion went on, a few holding with the King, but the more +part with the Palatine. + +But the King had heard the same arguments so often before that they had +ceased to make any impression upon him. His resolution was taken to +await the arrival of Duke Friedrich of Austria, whom he knew to be on +the way, and whom he confidently believed to be at the head of a +considerable body of troops, from whom Béla expected great things. They +would at least set his own army a good example in the matter of +discipline, and this was much needed; and that army, too, was growing +day by day, surely if slowly, though the greater part was ill-armed. + +The discussion ended with the King's reiterated orders that no one +should go outside the city, and the nobles went their several ways, +giving free vent to their disapproval and impatience, and helping thus +to spread mistrust of the King's judgment. For all that, most of them +were confident of victory as soon as the army should be put in motion, +and some went so far as to expect no less than the immediate +annihilation of the Mongol bands in the vicinity, at the hands of Ugrin. + + + +Crowds filled the streets, and reports of all sorts were flying about +the city. + +The Archbishop had met the enemy and defeated him! + +Some watchman on one of the towers had seen the Archbishop cut down a +Mongol leader, and great part of the Mongols were lying dead on the +ground! + +More important still, he had felled Batu Khan himself with one blow of +his battle-axe! + +So it went on all day till late in the evening, when suddenly the news +spread that the Archbishop was coming back, but--with only three or four +of his men with him! And while the people in the streets were talking +together with bated breath, a man rushed into their midst, covered with +blood and dust. + +"What has happened? Where are you from?" they asked, not at first +recognising the furrier, a man belonging to Pest, and well known there. + +"Water!" whispered the new-comer, bowing his head on his breast. "Water! +I don't know how I got here! Water, quick!" + +Several of the crowd hurried off for water, and when he had quenched his +thirst, some of them began to wash the blood from his face and to bind +up his wounds. + +"Ah! they are no matter!" he gasped, "one may get such cuts as these any +day in a tavern brawl, but--I'm--done for!" + +By the help of a wooden flask of wine the man presently revived enough +to satisfy the curiosity of the bystanders, though he still looked +terrified. + +"I have come straight from Vácz--my horse fell down under me. I was +pursued by Tartars--a score of arrows hit the poor beast--three went +through my cap and tore the skin off my head!" + +"But what is going on in Vácz? they have beaten off the Tartars, eh?" + +"There _is_ no Vácz!" said the man, with an involuntary shudder through +all his limbs. + +All were too dumfounded to utter even an exclamation. They had believed +that their troops had but to show themselves, and the Mongols would be +scattered. + +"The walls of Vácz stand staring up to heaven, as black as soot," the +man went on. "The people defended themselves to the last, ay, to the +last, for hardly a hundred out of them all have escaped!" + +"But the church--there are moats to it, and new walls----" began one of +the bystanders. + +"There _were_!" said the furrier, "there were! there is nothing left +now! The clergy, and the old men, with the women and children, took +refuge there, and all the valuables were taken there; even the women +fought--but it was no good!" + +"Did the Tartars take it?" inquired several at once, beneath their +breath. + +"They stormed it, took it, plundered it, murdered every soul and then +set fire to it; it may be burning still! Their horrible yells! they are +ringing in my ears now!" and the furrier shuddered again. + +But at that moment the attention of the crowd was diverted from him by a +commotion going on at a little distance, and they pressed forward to see +what it meant, but soon came back, making all the haste they could to +get out of the way of some heavy cavalry, armed from head to foot, and +preceded by six trumpeters, who were advancing down the street. + +"The Austrians!" said some of the more knowing, as Duke Friedrich and +his brilliant train passed on straight to the King's palace, where his +arrival was so unexpected that no one was in readiness to receive him. + +Events and rumours had followed one another so quickly that day, that +the whole population was in a state of excitement; but there was more to +come, and the Duke was hardly out of sight, when a Magyar horseman +galloped up, the foam dropping from his horse, which was covered with +blood. Its rider seemed to be so beside himself with terror as not to +know what he was doing, and as the crowd flocked round him, he shouted, +"Treachery! the King has left us in the lurch! Ugrin and his +troops--overwhelmed by the Tartars!" + +With that he galloped on till he reached the bank of the Danube, where +his horse fell under him, and when they hastened to the rider's +assistance, they found only a dead body. + +In spite of the King's commands, Ugrin had led his troops out, and had +daringly attacked the bands of Mongols who had approached Pest to +reconnoitre. Many of them he had cut down with his own hand, and the +rest he had put to flight and was pursuing, when, just as he came up +with them, the Mongols reached a morass. This did not stop them, +however, with their small, light horses. On they went at breakneck +speed, and he followed, without guessing that he was already on the edge +of the marshy ground until the treacherous green surface gave way +beneath the heavy Hungarian horses, which floundered, lost their +footing, and sank helplessly up to their knees, up to their ears, unable +to extricate themselves. + +And then the Mongols turned upon them, as was their wont, and poured a +perfect storm of arrows upon the defenceless troopers. Ugrin and four +others managed to dismount and cast away their heavy armour; and, with +only their battle-axes in their hands, they succeeded at last by +superhuman efforts in wading through the marsh, and so reached Pest, +pursued by the Mongols, and leaving corpses to mark their track all the +way, almost to the gate. + +The people were aghast at the intelligence, and they set to work to +blame the King! + +He was blamed by Ugrin in the first place--Ugrin, who had nothing but +his own madness to thank for the disaster! He was blamed by the mob, who +were ready to see treachery everywhere; and above all, he was blamed by +Duke Friedrich, surnamed the "Streitbare," for his valour! + +The King bore all, and worked on. All night he was on horseback, seeing +to the fortifications, urging the workmen to redoubled vigour. + +And while he was thus engaged, what was going on in the army? + +It is hardly credible, but is nevertheless a fact, that blind +self-confidence, whether real or feigned, held possession of the camp. +The troops and their leaders spent the night for the most part in +revelry, while the sentries on the walls mocked at such of the Mongols +as came near enough and let fly their arrows at them. + +Early in the morning Duke Friedrich was on horseback, after a previous +argument with the King, in which he had made light of the invasion, and +called it mere child's play, easily dealt with, and then he led the +small body of men he had brought with him out of the city. A small body +it was, to Béla's bitter disappointment. He had expected something like +an army, and the Duke had brought about as many men in his train as he +would have done if he had come to a hunting party! + +Such as they were, he led them forth on this eventful morning to have a +brush with the Mongols, whose advance guard retired, according to +custom, as soon as they caught sight of the well-armed, well-mounted, +well-trained band. The Duke was cautious. He meant to do something, if +only to show Pest how easy it was; and when he presently returned with a +couple of horses and one prisoner, he had his reward in the acclamations +with which the populace received him. The success of the valorous Duke +was belauded on all sides, and some compared the daring warrior with the +prudent King, not to the advantage of the latter. + +The prisoner was taken before the King, and, as ill-luck would have it, +he proved to be a Kun; worse still, he said among other things, that +there were many Kunok in Batu's camp. + +They had been forced to join him; but the news spread through the town, +exciting the people more than ever, and it was openly asserted by many +that the Kunok were in league with the Mongols, and that Kuthen was a +traitor, who had managed to ingratiate himself with King Béla only that +he might prepare the way for the enemy. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +"I WASH MY HANDS!" + + +The Diet, summoned a few weeks before, was still holding its meetings in +the open air, with no better shelter than that afforded by a large open +tent. Akos Szirmay would be going thither presently, but it was still +early, and he was now on his way to his uncle's old mansion near the +Danube. + +Though Kuthen was rather prisoner now than guest, he was still visited +by some of the Hungarian lords, and Bishop Wáncsa was often there with +messages from the King, saying how greatly he deplored the necessity for +still keeping him prisoner, and explaining that it was from no want of +confidence on his part, but rather for the ensurance of Kuthen's own +safety, adding that he was hoping and waiting for the time when he might +come in person and restore the King and his family to liberty. + +Kuthen had loved and honoured Béla from the first, and though in this +matter he thought him weak, no one would have been able to persuade him +that Béla would consent to anything which would imperil his guest. + +Akos had been a daily visitor at the house all along, and he made no +secret, either there or at his father's, of his attachment to Kuthen's +younger daughter, whose sweet face and winning ways had attracted him +from the first. + +Stephen Szirmay did not like his son's choice, which was not to be +wondered at. Kuthen, it was true, possessed much treasure, and Marána +was his favourite child. But Jolánta's marriage had taught him that +wealth did not make happiness. Her marriage had had his eager, delighted +approval, as he was obliged to admit to himself; and as his judgment had +been at fault in the one case, he would not interfere in the other. It +would be wiser to remain neutral, lest ill-timed opposition should make +his son more determined. + +Kuthen was up very early this morning; for news had reached him that +many of the Kunok who had remained behind in Moldavia were hastening to +Hungary, and being aware also that those already in the country were now +on their way to Pest, he was hourly expecting a summons from the King +for himself and his sons, and then they would fight, they would fight! +and for ever silence the jealous suspicions of their enemies. + +Kuthen knew all that was going on about him, for he was well served by +his faithful followers, who were more devoted to him than ever since he +had been a sort of state prisoner; he knew that the Diet was sitting +that day, and that his best friends, the King and Duke Kálmán, would for +their own sakes do all they could to bring to an end the present +disgraceful state of affairs, which was only likely to increase the +slanders and suspicions of which he was the victim. + +Kuthen knew also of the Duke of Austria's arrival, of his encounter with +the Mongols, and of the prisoner, said to be a Kun, whom he had so +unfortunately captured. Kun or not, the populace believed, and were +encouraged by the Duke to believe, that he was one. During the last few +hours the Duke had done his utmost to foment the growing irritation +against the King and his people. + +Kuthen knew all, and though he hoped in King Béla, he neglected no +precautions to ensure the safety of his family, if the worst should come +to the worst. There were already more than a hundred Kunok in the +castle, chiefs and simple armed men, who had found means to join him, by +degrees, without attracting notice, all of whom were most resolute and +most trustworthy. Watch was kept day and night without intermission, and +of one thing Kuthen might be entirely confident, that if danger should +come, it would not take him by surprise, and that, if the mob should +rise against them--as he knew was not impossible--though they might +perish, they would at least not perish like cowards. + +When Akos arrived on this particular morning, he was closeted alone +with the King for a time, and could not deny that things looked +threatening, or that the populace and most of the nobles were in a state +of irritation, thanks in great measure to the Duke of Austria and his +unlucky prisoner. All that he could do was to urge the need of prudence +and vigilance. + +But before the young noble took his leave, something seemed to strike +Kuthen. Whether a new idea flashed into his mind, whether he had a +premonition of any kind, or whether he was merely filled with vague +forebodings, not unnatural under the circumstances, it is impossible to +say, but as Akos was about to make his farewells, Kuthen laid a +detaining hand upon his shoulder, and drew him into the adjoining room. +There he took his daughter Marána by the hand, and leading her up to +Akos, he said solemnly, "Children, man's life and future are in the +hands of God! We are living in serious times. See, Akos, I give you my +beloved daughter! Happen what may, you will answer to me for this, one +of my children." + +"You have given me a treasure, you have made me rich indeed! God bless +you for it; and, father, have no fears on her account, for we will live +and die together," said Akos, with much emotion, his hand in that of his +bride. + +The Queen's eyes filled with tears as she looked at the handsome young +pair, and drawing close to Akos, she whispered in his ear, "Mind, +whatever happens to the rest of us, my Marána must be saved." + +Just then in came the two young Princes, who were always pleased to see +Akos, and were delighted, though not surprised, to hear of their +sister's betrothal. + +"Oh, but brother Akos," they exclaimed together, as if they thought that +the new relationship must at once make a difference, "we should so like +to go with you to the Diet, but we are captives, and we have not wings +like the eagles." + +"And, my dear brothers, even if you had," returned Akos, "I should +advise you not to leave your dear father for a moment just now." + +"Oh, but why? why?" they both asked. + +"Because I think that this is a critical time," he answered. "Let us +only get through the next day or two quietly, and I quite believe that +you will all be able to go in and out as you please." + +"You are right, Akos," interposed the King. "Time may bring us good. Let +us wait and be watchful! And don't forget that I have given this dear +child into your care. Trust the rest of us to God, in whose hands is our +fate; we shall defend ourselves, if need be, but you think only of her. +Do you promise me?" + +"I swear I will," said Akos, with uplifted hand. + +Then he embraced his bride, who accompanied him to the covered entrance, +then followed him with her eyes all along the drawbridge, and after +that watched him from a window until he was quite out of sight. + +Kuthen had already doubled the guards about his dwelling, and had taken +other precautions and measures of defence; but the walls were high, and +all had been done so quietly that it had not attracted the attention of +the sentries posted on the other side of the drawbridge. When Akos was +gone, he and his sons armed themselves as if for battle. + +Sheaves of arrows were brought out and placed in readiness, the guards +were armed, and the Kun chiefs, who took it in turn to be on duty near +the King, made all needful preparation for an obstinate defence. + +Akos had not been gone more than an hour or two, when little groups and +knots of people began to gather round Kuthen's house. There were three +or four here, and three or four there, and presently they might be +counted by the score. Later on a large crowd had collected. They were +talking quietly to one another, and seemed so far to be quite peaceable, +however. + +The Kun royal family took no alarm, for they knew the Pest populace and +its insatiable curiosity well by this time, and they fancied that there +was perhaps some idea abroad that Kuthen and his sons would be going to +the Diet; or perhaps Marána's betrothal was known. + +Another hour passed and the people began to shout and howl. Two persons +were declaiming to them; but within the walls it was impossible to +distinguish what they were saying. The crowd pressed nearer and nearer +to the drawbridge, so near indeed, that the guards on duty there had the +greatest difficulty in keeping them back, and a sudden rush of those in +the rear sent two or three of the foremost splashing into the moat, to +the huge diversion of the rest. + +Presently, however, the mob appeared to be seized by a new idea, for +they all set off running in one direction; and in a few moments, only a +few small knots of people remained. + +But these few lay down on the patches of grass round about, as if they +meant to stay indefinitely, and the Kun chiefs, who had been keeping +close watch behind the loop-holed walls, noticed that they were all +armed, some with knotty sticks and wooden clubs bristling with nails, +and a few here and there with bows and quivers. It looked as if they +meant mischief, and the Kunok were all on the alert for what might +happen. + +Akos meantime had been for the last hour or two at the Diet. From where +he was he had a full view of the Danube, and after a time he noticed a +large crowd of people crossing the river by the ferry-boats and making +straight for the place where the Diet was being held. Both banks of the +Danube were thronged, and soon the crowd became a vast, compact mass; +but the first intimation of anything unusual that many of the members +had, was the finding the table at which they sat suddenly surrounded by +their own gaily caparisoned horses, which the crowd had found blocking +their way, and had driven before them into the tent. + +It was a terrible moment! No one could imagine what had happened, and +some of the more nervous thought that the Tartars, whom they had taken +so lightly before, had actually stormed the town. All started to their +feet, seized the horses by their bridles, and drew their swords. + +And now the howls of the furious mob were plainly to be heard. + +"Kuthen! the Kunok! the traitors! Death to the Kunok!" + +It was impossible to misunderstand what the mob were bent upon. + +This was no peaceable, if clamorous deputation like the former one! +these were no faithful subjects rallying round the King in a moment of +danger, and seeking his counsel and help! + +No! the flood had burst its bounds, carrying all before it, and had come +not to petition, but to claim, and to threaten. + +The King motioned for silence. He was the calmest and most collected of +all present, and such was the magic influence of his presence, such the +respect felt for him, that even now, in spite of all the excitement, for +a moment the clamour seemed to cease. + +Just then one of the nobles, a young man in brilliant armour, with +flashing eyes, seized the bridle of the horse nearest him, flung himself +on its back, dashed away, and looking neither behind nor before him, +forced his way recklessly through the mob. All who noticed him supposed +that he had received some command from the King, but the confusion was +so great that his departure was unobserved, except by those whose legs +were endangered by his horse's hoofs. + +"The Kun King is a prisoner," said Béla in a trumpet-like voice, which +commanded attention at least for the moment. "No one in my dominions +will be condemned unheard. I forbid all violence, and I shall hold the +leaders of this insurgent multitude responsible." + +So far the King was allowed to speak without interruption, or at least +without having his voice drowned. But after this, if he spoke, he could +not make himself heard. For no sooner did the magnates and others +assembled understand what all the uproar was about, than the King's +words lost their effect. + +Members from the counties where the Kunok were settled, recalled the +many irregularities of which the latter had been guilty on their first +arrival, envied them their rich pastures, and joined the mob in crying +for vengeance upon them, and in shrieking "Treachery!" + +There were but few on the King's side, save the two Archbishops, the +two Szirmays, one Foyács, and Héderváry the Palatine. + +The mob surged into the tent, howling and threatening. + +"If the King won't consent, let us settle it ourselves! The country +stands first! The King himself will thank us when his eyes are opened! +Let's go! what are we waiting for? There are enough of us!" + +Duke Friedrich, who, as being the most powerful and most distinguished +guest present, was sitting next the King, turned to him and said in a +half whisper: "Your Majesty, this is a case in which you must give in! +Nothing is more dangerous than for the people to think they can act +against the King's will and go unpunished. No one will defend Kuthen, +and who knows what has been going on yonder, or even whether Kuthen is +still alive?" + +The King maintained a determined silence, but his eyes flashed, and his +hand grasped the hilt of his sword. + +The tumult increased, and some even of those who believed in the Kunok's +innocence, were so alarmed by the rage of the insurgents that they +hurried up to the King and implored him to yield. The pressure around +him waxed greater and greater. + +Duke Kálmán, who was standing not far off, cried out, "Your Majesty +won't give in! The honour of the nation is at stake!" + +But the noise and confusion were so great that the King could not hear +a word his brother said. The Duke shouted for his horse, but it was all +in vain, for he could not move. + +King Béla, pressed on all sides by those who were beseeching, imploring, +urging, forgot himself for a moment. He put his hands over his eyes, +then stretching them out, he said, "Lavabo manus meas! (I will wash my +hands). You will answer to God for this wickedness. I have done what I +could do!" + +"The King has consented!" roared those nearest him. + +The mob began to sway about, the horses neighed, the people all poured +forth, roaring, "Eljen a király! Long live the King! Death to the false +traitors! Forward! To Kuthen! to Kuthen!" + +No sooner was he free than Duke Kálmán mounted the first horse he could +seize, while the mob rushed off like a whirlwind in the direction of the +house by the Danube. + +When the King looked round none were left but some of the magnates. + +"A horse!" he shouted furiously; and he galloped away after the mob, +accompanied by the Austrian Duke and the rest. + +If Béla had mounted his horse before he addressed the mob, if he had +faced the insurgents as a king, and had at once punished the +ringleaders, the country might have been spared great part of the +disasters which were now on the very threshold. But once again the King +was weak at a critical moment. There is much to be said in his excuse +and defence; but weakness, however brilliantly defended, remains +weakness still. + + + +A few moments after the mob had burst into the King's tent, Akos was +again at the drawbridge which led to Kuthen's dwelling. + +"What do you want, sir?" asked the captain of the guard hotly, as he +sprang forward to meet him. "No one is admitted." + +"Since when?" asked Akos haughtily. + +"The King sent orders an hour ago." + +"Maybe! but I have come straight from the Diet by the King's command, +and I am to take Kuthen and all his family before him and the States at +once, while you can remain here to guard the place till our return." + +The captain turned back submissively, and blew the horn which hung at +his side. Possibly the drawbridge which formed the outer gate of the +castle would not even now have been lowered, but that Kuthen had +recognised Akos, and that they were so well armed as to be quite a match +for the guard, and for those of the mob who had remained behind. + +The drawbridge was lowered therefore, but raised again the moment Akos +had passed. He rode across the covered space between the drawbridge and +the inner gate, and there he had to wait again a few moments while the +bolts and bars were withdrawn. He leapt from his horse as soon as he was +within, and Kuthen and his sons hurried from the entrance-hall to meet +him, doubting whether he brought good news or bad. + +"Quick!" said Akos, "to horse! your Majesty, to horse! all of you," and +without waiting Kuthen's answer, he shouted, "Horses! bring the horses! +and mount, all who can!" + +The Princes flew at once to the stables, and bridled the horses--which +were always kept ready saddled--while Kuthen asked in some surprise, +"What has happened? Where are we to go?" for he had not been able to +read anything in young Szirmay's face, whether of good or of evil. + +"Where?" said Akos bitterly, "where we can be farthest from the mob--the +mob has risen and may be here any moment." + +In those times, sudden dangers, sudden alarms, sudden flights were +things of every-day occurrence, and Kuthen and his followers had long +been accustomed not to know in the morning where they should lay their +heads at night. No people were quicker or more resolute in case of +extremity than the Kunok, who were one family, one army, one colony, and +moved like a machine. + +The Queen and Princesses, as well as the chiefs, had all come together +in the hall, but now the former and many of the servants rushed back +into the house, from which they again emerged in a few moments, all cool +and collected, all ready to start, and with their most valued +possessions packed in bundles. + +The riding horses were bridled, some of the pack-horses loaded, and all +had been done so quickly and quietly, that the guard without had heard +no more than the sort of hum made by a swarm of bees before they take +flight. + +Meantime Akos had rapidly explained matters to Kuthen, pointing out to +him that King Béla and his brother and others were standing up for him, +but that there was a rising of the populace, and that the mob might +arrive before the King, when, even if they were successfully beaten +back, there would certainly be bloodshed, which would only exasperate +the people more than ever, and make it impossible for the King, good as +he was, to ensure the safety of his guests. Whereas, if they could +succeed in avoiding the first paroxysms of fury, King Béla would be the +first to rejoice at their escape. + +Akos spoke confidently, and his words carried conviction. + +Kuthen, his family, and the chiefs were already mounted, while those of +the guard who were on foot formed themselves into a close, wedge-shaped +mass, and were all ready to set out. + +"Lower the drawbridge!" cried Kuthen. The chains rattled, and the gate, +which had been closed behind Akos, was reopened. He and Kuthen headed +the procession which issued forth. + +At that moment a long, yellow cloud of dust made its appearance in the +distance, coming towards them. A horseman was galloping in front of it, +and he was closely followed by two more, shouting aloud what no one in +the castle understood, but something which made the captain of the guard +without give orders for the bolts of the drawbridge to be pulled back; +and the bridge, left without its supports, dropped with a great plash +into the moat. + +The Kunok were cut off! + +With the sangfroid and fearlessness learnt in the course of his +adventurous life, Kuthen at once ordered the drawbridge to be raised; +the inner gate was closed again and barred with all speed. + +Akos was as pale as death, for he saw in a moment that he had come too +late, and that all was lost; but he was resolved to share the fate of +the man, whom for Marána's sake he looked upon as his father. + +As for Kuthen, he was suddenly the wild chief again. His face was +aflame, his eyes flashed fire, he was eager for the fray, and his one +thought was to defend himself proudly. He ordered the guards to their +places, the horses having been already led back to their stables; and +then, turning to his family, he said coolly and calmly, "We will defend +ourselves until the King comes, and then his commands shall be obeyed, +whatever they are." + +The women at once retired to their own quarters, without uttering word +or groan. There were no tears, no sobs, no sign of terror on their +countenances. They looked angry and defiant. + +When the women had withdrawn, the Princes went to their posts, and +Kuthen, turning to Akos, said, "Remember your oath." + +Akos raised his hands to heaven without a word. + +His own position was a more dangerous one than it might seem at first +sight. His manifest intention of shielding Kuthen from their vengeance +would bring down upon him the hatred of his own countrymen; while on the +other hand the furious glances of the Kunok confined in the castle, and +their ill-concealed hostility, showed him clearly that his life was now +in danger from within as well as from without. + +The mob which had rushed away from the Diet had pressed on with the +speed of the whirlwind, its numbers growing as it went. A few minutes +only had passed since the cloud heralding its approach had been seen, +and already the crowd was swarming round the banks of the moat, making +an indescribable uproar and uttering the wildest, fiercest shouts. + +Within, all was silent as the grave. But the mob outside were not idle +for a moment. They were athirst for vengeance, and from the moment of +their arrival they had been busy trying to make a passage across the +moat by throwing in earth, straw, pieces of wood, even furniture, +brought on all sides from the neighbouring houses, and, in fact, all and +everything that came to hand. + +All at once there was a cry raised of "The King! The King is coming!" + +It was not the King, however, but Duke Kálmán, with his servants and +some of the nobles in his train. + +That part of the moat faced by the gate was by this time almost full, +and some of the more daring spirits were trying to clamber up to the +drawbridge, when suddenly the scene changed. The wild figures of the +Kunok appeared as if by magic upon the walls, the thrilling war-cry was +raised, and a cloud of well-aimed arrows hailed down upon the +assailants. + +Kuthen and his sons, who confidently expected King Béla, had done their +utmost to restrain their people, but in vain, for when they saw the moat +filled and their enemies preparing to rush the gate, they became +infuriated and uncontrollable. + +In the first moment of surprise all fell back, knocking over those +behind them; but some few began to retaliate and shoot up at the +garrison. Not to much purpose, however, for neither arrows nor spears +hit the intended marks, while the long arrows shot from the powerful +bows of the Kunok never failed. + +It was during this fierce overture of the contest that Duke Kálmán rode +up. + +"Stand aside!" he shouted, "stop fighting! The King is coming, he will +see justice done----" + +The words were not out of his mouth when two arrows flew forth from +loopholes in the walls. One struck the Duke's horse, and the second +felled to the earth a young nobleman riding close beside him. + +"They have shot the Duke!" was shouted on all sides; for so dense was +the cloud of arrows that it was impossible to see at first which of the +two had fallen. + +The Duke himself, however, was standing coolly defiant amidst the +whistling storm. + +But the shouts were the signals for a general rush, and from that moment +no one, not even the King, could have restrained the people. + +The moat was filled, the drawbridge wrecked, the inner gate, in spite of +its bars, wrenched from its hinges and thrown down upon the dead bodies +of the Kun guards. + +The mob rushed in and stormed the castle, and an awful scene of +bloodshed followed. Kuthen, his sons, and the Kun chiefs fought +desperately; and side by side with them fought Akos, so completely +disguised as a Kun as to be quite unrecognisable. He was too downright +to have thought of a disguise for himself, but had acquiesced in it at +Kuthen's entreaty. + +The first of the mob who rushed into the courtyard fell victims to their +own rashness, and many more were despatched by the arrows poured from +the walls. + +But suddenly the younger of the two Princes fighting beside their +father, fell to the ground with a short cry. + +"My son!" exclaimed Kuthen, turning to Akos, "Go! now's the time! keep +your word! I--I'm dying!" + +With that, Kuthen, who had been mortally wounded by a couple of pikes, +rushed upon his foes, felled several of them by the mere strength of his +arm, and then himself sank down. Akos rushed from the entrance-hall into +the house. + +"You are our King now!" roared the Kunok, pressing round the remaining +Prince, and covering him with their shields, as he fought like a young +lion. + +All at once there were loud outcries and yells. The Kunok outside the +house, finding themselves unable to defend the castle against the swarms +which poured into the courtyard, had rushed in, closing the doors and +barring the windows. + +All in vain! The young Prince, just proclaimed King amid a shower of +arrows, retreated from one room to another, some of his defenders +falling around him at every moment. By the time the last door was burst +open, less than a dozen of his guard remained, all wounded, all fighting +a life-and-death battle with desperation. + +A few moments more and every Kun in the place had ceased to breathe. + +Where were the women? What had become of Akos and his bride? + +Presently the mob outside received with howls of joy the heads of Kuthen +and his family, flung to them from the windows, and at once hoisted them +on pikes in token of victory. If the head of Akos was among them no one +noticed it, for he had stained his face. + +Maddened by their success, the rabble now made with one consent for +"King Béla's palace," foremost and most active among them being the +Austrian Duke's men-at-arms. + +They poured into it like a deluge, and the air was filled with shouts of +"Eljen a király! Long live the King! The traitors are dead!" + +When they had shouted long enough, they set fire to Master Peter's old +mansion, as if it had been the property of King Kuthen, and in less than +a quarter of an hour sparks and burning embers were flying from it into +the air, while the gaping multitudes ran round and round the dwelling, +in all the bloodthirsty delight of satisfied revenge. + + + +A day or two later, the Kun army, which had promptly obeyed +orders--more promptly indeed than most even of the more energetic +Hungarians--reached the gate of Pest, well mounted and well armed. +There first they learnt what had befallen their King and his family. + +They came to a halt. + +The chiefs took counsel together as to what was to be done, and they +were not slow in coming to a decision. For the news had spread into the +country that all the Kunok in Pest had been put to death for treachery, +and the country, following the example of the city, had also begun to +take matters into their own hands by making in some places regular +attacks upon the Kun women, children, and old men. The Kunok had not +understood the reason of this before. + +Now they knew! and with one consent they turned back, gathering all +their own people together as they went, and turning against the +Hungarians the arms which at Béla's appeal they had been so quick to +take up in their defence. + +Duke Friedrich stayed no longer, but, content with his little victory +over the Mongol chief, content with having helped to capture Kuthen's +castle and to murder its inhabitants, he made off home, giving a promise +which he did not keep, that he would send an army to Béla's assistance. +He had done mischief enough, and left an evil legacy behind him. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +LIBOR CLIMBS THE CUCUMBER-TREE. + + +Duke Friedrich had left him in the lurch; the Kunok were on their way to +Bulgaria, wasting and burning as they went; and now King Béla saw the +mistake he had made in not exerting his utmost power to defend Kuthen. + +The banderia (troops) expected from both sides of the Tisza (Theiss) did +not arrive, eagerly as they were expected. The Bishop of Csanád, and +nobles from Arád, and other places, had indeed been hastening to Pest +with their followers, but on the way they had encountered the outraged +and enraged Kunok. Knowing nothing of what had been taking place in the +capital, they were unprepared for hostilities, and when the Kunok fell +upon them, some were cut off from the rest of the force, and some were +cut down. + +All things seemed to be in a conspiracy against the King and the +country, and one blow followed another. + +It was not until the Kunok had crossed into Bulgaria, leaving a trail +of desolation behind them that the Bishop of Nagyvárad (Grosswardein) +could venture to lead his banderium towards Pest; and the banderium of +the county of Bihar was in the same case. Now, however, they were +hurrying forward, when the Mongols, who knew of their coming, put +themselves in their way. The Bishop attacked what appeared to be but a +small force of them; the Mongols retreated, fighting. The Hungarians, +who did not as yet understand their enemy's tactics, pursued. Suddenly +the Mongols turned and fell upon them, and but few escaped to tell the +story of the disaster. + +By this time some 60,000 or 70,000 men were assembled in Pest, against +the 300,000 or more under the command of Batu Khan; but of those who had +put in an appearance, few were likely to be very serviceable as +commanders. + +The nation had to a great extent lost the military qualities which had +distinguished it before, and which distinguished it again afterwards. +The masses were no longer called upon for service, and the nobles, not +being bound to serve beyond the frontier, had become unused to war. +There was plenty of blind self-confidence, little knowledge or +experience. + +The King was no general; and although Duke Kálmán and Bishop Ugrin were +distinguished for their personal valour and courage, neither they nor +any of the other leaders had an idea of what war on a large scale really +was. + +However, such as it was, the army was there, and it was not likely to +receive any large accessions; it believed itself invincible, which might +count for something in its favour; and the general distress and misery +were so great that at last the King yielded his own wish to remain on +the defensive, and led his army out into the plain. Batu Khan at once +began to retreat, and to call in his scattered forces, which were busy +marauding in various directions. He drew off northwards, his numbers +swelling as he went, and the Hungarians followed, exulting in the +conviction that the Mongols were being driven before them, and meant to +avoid a battle! It did not for a moment strike them that they were +following Batu's lead, and that he was drawing them to the very place +which he had chosen to suit himself. + +When they were not many miles from Tokay the Mongols crossed the Sajó by +a bridge which they fortified, and they then took up a position which +extended from this point to the right bank of the Tisza (Theiss), having +in front of them the vast plain of Mohi, bounded on the east by the +hills of Tokay, on the west by woods, which at that time were dense +forests, while behind them to the north they had more plains and hills +and, beyond these again, a snow-capped peak which shone like a diamond +in a field of azure. + +Master Peter's old country-house lay about a hundred miles to the +north-west of Mohi, almost under the shadow of the loftiest part of the +Carpathians. A hundred miles was no distance for such swift riders as +the Mongols, but thus far the county of Saros had escaped them, they +having entered Hungary by passes which lay not only east and west, but +also south of it. + +Batu Khan's forces occupied the horse-shoe formed by the junction of the +three great rivers, Sajó, Hernád, and Tisza. + +The Hungarians encamped on the great plain opposite. But though they had +so vast a space at their disposal, their tents were pitched close +together, and their horses--a large number, as nearly all were mounted +men--stood tethered side by side in rows. Freedom of motion within the +camp was impossible; and to make matters even worse, the whole was +enclosed within an ill-constructed rampart of wooden waggons, which +quite prevented freedom of egress. + +A thousand mounted men were on guard at night outside the camp, but +scouting and outposts were apparently unthought of. + +A few days had passed in merry-making and self-congratulation on the +easy victory before them, when one morning King Béla appeared mounted on +a magnificent charger, to make his customary inspection of the camp. He +wore a complete suit of German armour, a white, gold-embroidered cloak +over his shoulders, and an aigrette in his helmet. + +Many of the Knights Templar had joined the army, and some of them, in +their white, red-crossed mantles, were now standing about him. Close +behind him was his brother Kálmán, in armour of steel, inlaid with gold; +and near at hand was the fiery Archbishop Ugrin, the most +splendid-looking man in the army, so say the chroniclers, his gold chain +and cross being the only mark which distinguished him from the laymen. + +The Bishop was a devoted patriot, and though he had not forgiven the +King for "leaving him in the lurch," he was sincerely attached to him. +He was the leading spirit of the campaign. + +It was Ugrin who had urged the King to take the field without further +delay; Ugrin, who, with much valour and enthusiasm, but with little +military experience, had advised Duke Kálmán where to pitch the camp; +and again it was Ugrin, who, convinced that the Mongols were in retreat, +had pressed the King to give hurried chase, whereby the army had been +fatigued to no purpose, and had finally been brought precisely to the +spot where Batu wished to see it. The Bishop, however, happy in his +ignorance, was under the delusion that it was he who had forced the Khan +into his present position. + +Just now the King was giving patient hearing to the opinions, frequently +conflicting, of those about him. Black care was at his heart, but he +looked serene, even cheerful, as usual, as he asked his brother in an +undertone whether he had managed to reduce his men to anything like +order. + +The Duke, for all reply, shrugged his shoulders and looked decidedly +grave. + +"Ah!" said the King, stifling something like a sigh, "just as I +expected!" + +Then he heard what the leader of the Knights Templar had to say, and +then he turned to Ugrin, well knowing that the Bishop's one idea was to +attack, and of course beat, the enemy, and that he had no room in his +head for any other. + +"You don't think Batu Khan will attack?" + +"Attack! not he!" said the Bishop, scornfully. "They are all paralysed +with fear, or they would never have pitched their tents between three +rivers. They have three fronts, and they have put those wretches the +Kunok and Russians foremost! Here have we been face to face for days and +nothing has come of it! And yet," continued the Archbishop eagerly, +"nothing would be easier than to annihilate the whole army. All we have +to do is to deliver one attack across the Sajó, while we send another +large force to the left through the woods at night, and across the +Hernád, and we shall have the Mongols caught in their own net!" + +The Archbishop may have been right, but whether he were so or not, the +King saw one insuperable objection to what he proposed. The movement +depended for its success upon its being executed in absolute silence; +and there was no power on earth capable of making any part of the +Hungarian squadrons move forward without shouts, cries, and tumult! +Unless Heaven should strike them dumb they would noise enough to betray +themselves for miles around, as soon as they caught the sound of the +word "battle." + +Still, the King was obliged to admit that there did not seem to be +anything to be gained by waiting. + +He was just about to start on his tour of inspection, when there was a +sudden sound of great commotion within the camp. Men were rushing to and +fro, tumbling over one another in their eagerness, and the air was rent +with their shouts. But sudden hubbubs, all about nothing, and tumults +which were merely the outcome of exuberant spirits, were so frequent +that Béla and the more staid officers expected the mountain to bring +forth no more than the customary mouse on the present occasion. + +"A prisoner, apparently," observed the Duke, as an officer emerged from +the crowd. Spies and fugitives were frequently crossing the river and +stealing into the camp, where there were already Russians, Kunok, +Tartars, and men of many tongues. + +This man had been caught just as, having crept between the waggons, he +was starting off at a run down the main thoroughfare, and making +straight for the King's tent. + +"Keep back!" cried the officer, "Keep back! and hold your tongues, while +I take him to the Duke and let him tell his story!" + +But he might as well have addressed the winds and waves. + +There was a storm of "Eljens," mingled with cries in various tongues +unintelligible to the rest. They threatened, they swore, they yelled; +and in this disorderly fashion approached the group of which the King +was the centre. + +"Not to me! There is the King!" said the Duke, as the rather bewildered +officer pushed his prisoner up to the Commander-in-Chief. + +"Well, what news do you bring? Who are you? Where are you from?" the +King asked good-humouredly, but with an involuntary smile of contempt. + +"I am a Magyar, your Majesty," said the man in a doleful voice. "The +Tartars carried me off just outside Pest." + +"Why!" exclaimed Paul Héderváry suddenly, as he stood facing the +fugitive, "why, if it isn't Mr. Libor's groom, Matykó!" + +Libor, as we have said, was not to be found on the morning of Paul's +expedition with Bishop Ugrin; and not having seen or heard of him since, +Paul had been growing daily more anxious on his account. He missed him, +too, at every turn, for Libor had made himself indispensable to his +comfort. + +Stephen Szirmay and Master Peter, who were as usual in close attendance +upon the King, looked with curiosity at the unfortunate lad, who, as +they now saw, had lost both ears. + +"What have you done with your master?" inquired Master Stephen, +forgetting the King for a moment in his eagerness. + +"The Tartars are going to attack the Hungarian camp this very night!" +blurted out the fugitive, with a loud snort; after which, and having +relieved his news-bag of this weighty portion of its contents, he seemed +to feel easier. + +"Do you know it for a fact?" asked the King gravely. "Take care what you +are saying, for your head will have to answer for it." + +"It is the pure truth, your Majesty. I heard the whole thing, and when I +knew everything I took my life in my hand and crept through the bushes, +swam across the Sajó, and then stole hither by the edge of the ditches! +Well, your Majesty will see for yourself by to-night whether I have been +telling lies or no." + +"What more do you know? Are the Mongols in great force? Have they many +prisoners?" the King asked, by way of getting at the lad's budget of +news and forming some idea of its value. + +"They are as thick together as a swarm of locusts, sir; and as for the +prisoners, they are like the chaff of a threshing floor. There are +gentlefolk there too. My old master is one of them--blast him with hot +thunderbolts!" + +"And who is your master?" + +"My faithful governor--Libor!" exclaimed Paul Héderváry, stepping +forward and answering for the groom in a tone of great displeasure. + +"And have they treated the rest as they have treated you?" asked the +Duke, pointing to the lad's bleeding ears. + +"The Tartar women cut off the ears and noses of every pretty woman and +girl, and the best looking of all they kill! They have killed most of +the gentlemen too, and thrown them into the Hernád." + +"And your master?" asked Paul quickly. + +"My master? No master of mine! he's better fit to be master to the +devil," said the prisoner, quite forgetting the King in his rage. + +"What--whom are you talking about?" asked Paul, indignantly. + +"I'm talking about Mr. Governor Libor, and I say that he has turned +Tartar!" + +"Turned Tartar!" exclaimed several in amazement. + +"It's fact," said the lad. "He has cast off his 'menti' and 'suba,' and +doffed his great plume, and now he is going about like a reverend friar, +with a cowl large enough to hold myself." + +"Turned priest then, has he?" asked Master Peter. + +"Priest to the devil, if he has any of that sort down below," said +Matykó. "Priest, not a bit of it! He has turned Knéz! that's what he has +done! The Tartars wear all sorts of church vestments, even the Khans do, +blight them!" + +"Knéz! what sort of creature is that, Matykó?" asked Ugrin. + +"A sort of governor, something like an 'Ispán' (_i.e._, Count, or +head-man of a county)--I don't know, but he has some sort of office, and +our poor gentlemen prisoners must doff their hats to the wretch!" + +"Well, nephew!" said Master Peter, with a laugh, for this was water to +his own mill, "so you have chosen a pretty sort of fellow indeed to +entrust your castle to!" + +The King meantime had turned away to speak to the Knight Commander of +the Templars, and Paul was able to go on questioning Matykó. He was +beside himself with astonishment. + +"How long has he been in such favour with the Tartars?" he asked. + +"Ah, sir! who can say?" answered the lad, hotly. "He was Knéz before +they took me! I found him among them, and hardly knew him. It was he who +had my ears cut off, the brute! and only just saved my nose!" + +"Well, that is something anyhow," said Master Peter. + +"And then," continued Matykó, "I heard that Mr. Governor had been having +dealings with the Tartars, like those rascally Kunok, and what's more, +if it is true--and true it must be, for Tartars don't give anything for +nothing--they say he has shown them the way to two or three castles, +where they have got a lot of plunder!" + +"Shown them! the scoundrel!" exclaimed Peter and Héderváry together. + +"It's so," said Matykó emphatically. "He did ought to have his own long +ears and snout cut off, he ought!" + +Young Héderváry did not perhaps believe all that had been said about his +favourite, but still his anger waxed hot within him. + +He had to leave Matykó now, however, and follow the King, who rode +through the whole camp, and finally gave orders to the Duke to +anticipate the Tartars by advancing at once to the Sajó with a +considerable force. + +"Ugrin!" cried the Duke, well pleased with the command, "you will come +with me! Quick! Mount your men, and we will be on the way to the Sajó in +half an hour and stop the Tartars from crossing." + + + +By the time the Duke and Ugrin reached the river, they found that a +number of Mongols had already got across. These, after some hard +fighting they successfully beat back, and that with considerable loss; +and as the survivors disappeared into the woods on the opposite side of +the river, the Duke and Ugrin led their victorious troops back to the +camp, where they were received with acclamations and triumph. They had +lost hardly any of their men and were highly elated by their victory. + +The night following this success was one of the quietest in the camp. +The rapid and easy victory they had won had redoubled everyone's hopes +that, upon the advance of the entire army the Mongols would perish +utterly and completely, as if they had never been. + +Most of the men in camp lay down, with the exception of the King, the +sentries, and some of the generals. + +The King allowed himself but a very short rest; for, from his many +conversations with the unfortunate King Kuthen, he was well aware of the +overwhelming numbers and strength of the Mongols, and he was determined +that the enemy should never find him anything but prepared and on the +alert. + +Kálmán and Bishop Ugrin also approved these prudent measures; but the +army as a whole was so worn out by long watches and merry-making that +rest it must have. + +It was a dark night, and the wind blew the tents about; the camp fires +had been purposely extinguished, though it was spring-time and chilly. + +Twice in the course of the night the King left his tent, made the round +of the camp, and satisfied himself as to the strength of the wooden +bulwarks. The Duke, the Commander of the Templars, Héderváry the +Palatine, and his son Paul, as well as Ugrin, all lay in the King's +tent, on carpets, dozing, but not sleeping, while the King merely put +off his armour, and stretched himself on the camp bedstead for an hour +or two. + +All was still save for the wind, and in the intervals between the gusts +nothing was to be heard but some terrific snores, and the stamping of +the horses. + +Now and again those who were fully awake thought they heard shouts of +merriment, showing that there were still some not too tired to be +amusing themselves; then the wind roared again, and all other sounds +were lost. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +"NEXT TIME WE MEET!" + + +Since her father's departure, Dora had held the reins of government, and +held them, too, with a firmer hand than Master Peter had done. + +In a couple of weeks she had made the sleepy governor, if not active, at +least less dilatory; the men-at-arms had been well drilled by himself +and Talabor, and the serving men and women had been bewitched into some +degree of orderliness. + +News of her father she neither had nor expected. Probably she would hear +nothing until he came or sent for her. She knew nothing positively as to +what was taking place outside, though the servants from time to time +picked up fragments of news in the villages, so contradictory as to +convey little real information. But the air, even in this out-of-the-way +region, was full of rumour and presentiment, which affected different +characters in different ways, but had the general result of making all +more careful than usual. + +Without being in the least alarmed, Talabor was one who showed himself +particularly circumspect at this time; and, as if he had some sort of +instinct that trouble might be at hand, he gradually got into the way of +helping the seneschal in all that he had to do. And his assistance, +though uncalled for, was most welcome to the poor man, who felt a good +deal burthened, now that he had to bestir himself to greater speed than +was his wont. + +Some of the servants liked Talabor for his unpresuming ways, resolution, +and courage, while the rest sought to curry favour with him because the +young clerk was evidently in the master's good graces, and they believed +him to be a power in consequence. + +By degrees, and without even noticing it, Talabor quite took the +governor's place. The servants, being accustomed to receive their orders +from him, and to go to him in all difficulties, finding moreover that +Talabor was always ready with an answer and never at a loss what to do, +while the old seneschal forgot more than he remembered, soon almost +overlooked the latter and put him on one side. + +Even Dora, who was perhaps more distant with Talabor now than she had +ever been before, came at last to giving her orders to him, instead of +to the governor. And the governor, finding himself thus in the shade, +would now and then suddenly awake and become jealous for the +preservation of his authority, and at such times would seize the reins +with ludicrous haste, while Talabor would as quickly take up again the +part of a subordinate. + +Such was the state of affairs when the governor and Talabor were sitting +together one evening in a tolerably large room occupied by the former. + +On the table before them were a good sized pewter pot and drinking cups +to match. The two had been talking for some time. The governor was +looking as if he had been annoyed about something, and Talabor could not +be said to look cheerful either, in fact, he had rarely been seen to +smile since Master Peter's departure. He missed him greatly, for +latterly, as long as he was at home, Peter had often had the young man +with him in the evenings, when the candles were lighted, or when a +blazing fire supplied the place of tallow and wax, these latter being +still considered luxuries. + +Master Peter possessed a few books which he greatly valued--a copy of +his favourite Ovid, and a Bible, for which he had given a village and a +half, besides one or two others. He made Talabor read to him from all in +turn; and often by way of variety, he had long conversations with him, +and told him stories of his hunting adventures. + +Talabor was a good listener, and he not only enjoyed but learnt a good +deal from the narratives of his younger days, in which Master Peter +delighted. Dora, too, was more often present than not, and sometimes +joined in the conversation, which made it more interesting still, and +then Talabor felt as if he were almost one of the family. Of course, +there could be nothing of this sort now. Dora gave her orders, sometimes +made suggestions, but he never saw her except in the presence of others +and on matters of business. He had quite satisfied himself, however, +that there had never been anything between her and Libor, and that was a +satisfaction. She had not deceived her father, she had never either sent +or received a single letter unknown to him, and in fact she was just as +upright and honourable as he had always thought her. + +As to why Libor had spread the reports which Talabor had traced to him, +and why he had enlisted Borka's aid, unless it were to magnify his own +importance, that, of course, he could not guess; but he had so +frightened the maid that he was satisfied not only that she had told him +the truth so far as she knew it, but that for the future she would keep +it to herself, on pain of being denounced as a traitor to her master, of +whom she stood in great awe. + +"This won't do!" cried the governor, as he brought his hand down on the +table with a mighty bang. "This won't do, I say! Here are the woods +swarming with wolves, and one good hunt would drive the whole pack off, +and yet you, Talabor, would have us look idly on while the brutes are +carrying off the master's sheep and lambs regularly day after day." + +"Not idly, sir, I did not say idly; but they have the shepherd and his +boys to look after them, and they are good shots, especially the +shepherd, and then he has four dogs, each as big as a buffalo," Talabor +rejoined, rather absently. + +"Buffalo!" + +"Calf, I mean, of course; but it would certainly not be wise to take the +garrison out hunting just now." + +"And why not? You are afraid of the Tartars, I suppose, like the rest!" + +"No, sir! but if they do come, I should prefer their being afraid of us! +Besides, there is no good in denying it--the wind never blows without +cause, and there has been more than one report that the Tartars have +actually invaded us." + +"Always the Tartars! How in the world should they find their way through +such woods as these unless you or I led them here?" + +"If once the filthy creatures flood the country, it seems to me from all +that ever I have heard, that not a corner will be safe from them. +They'll go even where they have no intention of going, just because of +their numbers, because those behind will press them forward in any and +every direction." + +"Well, it's true, certainly, that the last time I was with the master in +Pest, I heard they had done I don't know what not in Russia and +Wallachia. People said that wherever they forced their way they were +like--excuse me--like bugs, and not to be so easily got rid of, even +with boiling water! And they are foul, disgusting folk, too! they poison +the very air; and they eat up everything, to the very hog-wash!" + +"So, Governor, you agree with me then! It's the man who keeps his eyes +open who controls the market! Who knows whether we mayn't have a +struggle with them ourselves to-day or to-morrow!" + +"Ha, ha, ha!" laughed the governor. "Our walls are strong, and, if only +there are not very many of them----" + +"Eh, sir, but numbers will make no difference! We are so enclosed here +that the closer they are packed the more of them our arrows will hit." + +"True! true!" said the governor, with more animation now that there was +a question of fighting, "but they shoot too, blast them!" + +"Let them!" said Talabor confidently, "we are behind our walls, and can +see every man of them without being seen ourselves." + +"Clerk!" cried the governor, quite annoyed, "I declare you talk as if +the Tartars were at the very gate!" + +"Heaven forbid! but----" + +At that instant the door flew open, and the gate-keeper, one of the most +vigilant fellows of the castle, rushed in. + +"Get on with you, you ass!" shouted the governor, "what's the news? What +do you mean by leaving the gate and bolting in here as if the wolves +were at your heels?" + +The governor might perhaps have gone on scolding, but the gate-keeper +interrupted him. + +"Talabor--Mr. Governor, I mean, there are some suspicious-looking men on +the edge of the wood, if my eyes don't deceive me." + +"On the edge of the wood? But it is rather dark to see so far," said +Talabor, standing up as he spoke. + +"If it were not so dark, I could tell better who the rascals are; but so +much I can say, there they are, and a good lot of them." + +"Very well," said Talabor, making a sign to the governor, "you are a +faithful fellow to have noticed them; but we mustn't make any fuss, or +our young mistress may be frightened." + +"I am not usually given to fearing danger, Mr. Talabor," said Dora, +entering the room at that moment, and speaking with cool dignity. "I +have just been to the top of the look out myself, and what this honest +fellow says is perfectly true. There are some men just inside the wood, +and they do look suspicious, because they keep creeping about among the +underwood, and only now and then putting their heads out." + +While his mistress spoke, the gate-keeper had stood there motionless. + +"Come, go back to the gate," said Dora, turning to him, "and make haste! +you heard what Mr. Talabor said; let him know at once if you notice any +movement among these people." + +"And, Governor," she continued, "you had better place the guard and all +the men who can shoot at the loopholes, quietly, you know, not as if we +were expecting to be attacked; and then, the stones for the walls----" + +"Pardon me, mistress," interposed Talabor, "I had stones, and everything +else we might need, carried up a week ago." + +"I know it, Mr. Talabor, I was not doubting it," Dora said in an +unruffled tone, "but for all that, it will be as well to have more +stones, I think. I believe myself that they are just brigands, not +Tartars, but even so, if they attack us at night, and in large numbers, +all will depend upon the reception they get, so it seems to me." + +Talabor said no more, but in his own mind he was fully persuaded that +the suspicious-looking folk were the Mongols, and that they were +concocting some plan for getting into the castle without attacking it. + +"Your orders shall be obeyed, my young mistress," answered the governor. + +"Talabor," Dora went on, as if to make up for her previous coldness, "I +trust to you to do everything necessary for our defence." + +A few moments later Talabor was in the spacious courtyard, collecting +the men who formed the watch or guard, while the old governor hurried +with some difficulty up the stairs which led to the porter's room, over +the gate. + +All preparations were complete within a quarter of an hour. + +Dora wrapped herself in a cloak and stationed herself in a wide balcony +facing the woods. + +She had been very desirous of following her father and sharing all his +perils and dangers; but it must be confessed that at this moment she was +filled with fear; so, too, she probably would have been if at her +father's side in battle, but she would have suppressed her fear then as +she was doing now, and would have shown herself as brave and resolute as +any. + +The doubtful-looking figures had vanished now from the wood, and, aided +by the moon which just then shone out through the clouds, Talabor's +sharp eyes detected three horsemen coming towards the gate. They were +riding confidently, though the path was steep and narrow, with a wall of +rock on one side and a sheer precipice on the other. They seemed to know +the way. + +"Talabor!" cried Dora, as she caught sight of him standing on the wall +just opposite her, between the low but massive battlements. + +"Directly!" answered Talabor, and with a whisper to Jakó the dog-keeper, +who was beside him, he hurried down and came and stood below the +balcony, while Dora bent over it, saying in a pleased tone, "Do you see, +there are guests arriving? I think they must be friends, or at least +acquaintances, by the way they ride." + +"Yes, I do, mistress!" answered Talabor. "They have the appearance of +visitors certainly, but they have come from those other +questionable-looking folk, so we will be careful. Trust me, I have my +wits about me." + +"There are three," said Dora, after a short pause, and as if the answer +did not quite satisfy her. "How can we tell whether they have any evil +intentions or not?" + +"We shall see; but I must go back to my place." + +"Go to the gate tower." + +"I am going!" said Talabor, and without waiting for further orders, he +ran back, first to his former post on the wall, where he spoke to the +wild-looking dog-keeper and the two armed men who had joined him, and +then to the tower flanking the gate, from a slit-like opening in which +he could see the moat, and the space opposite formed by a clearing in +the wood. + +The gate-keeper had not noticed the approach of the "guests," as Dora +called them, for the window was too narrow to give any view of the +breakneck path, along which the riders were advancing, now hidden in the +hollows, now reappearing among the juniper bushes and wild roses. They +were within a short distance of the moat now, and were making straight +for the gate. + +"Quick!" said Talabor to the porter, "go and fetch the governor! I'll +take your place meantime; and tell him to be on his guard, but not to +raise any alarm. It would be as well if he could get our young mistress +to leave that open balcony, for some impudent arrow, if not a spear, +might find its way there." + +The gate-keeper stared for a moment, and then went off without a word. + +The governor, finding day after day pass in peace, had cast care to the +winds for his own part, and had fallen into the way of constantly +testing the contents of Master Peter's well-filled cellar, in the +privacy of his own room. He was rather a dainty than greedy drinker, and +the wine, being pure, never affected his head, though it did not make +him more inclined to exert himself. Just now, however, he was carrying +out Dora's orders, as he sat on a projection of the wall with his feet +dangling down into the court. He would have had his pipe in his mouth, +not a doubt of it, if tobacco had been known in those days. + +While the gate-keeper was gone the three horsemen arrived. + +"Hi! porter!" cried the foremost, whose figure, though not his features, +was plainly discernible. He was mounted on a dark, undersized horse, and +was enveloped in a sort of cloak of primitive shape, much like the +coarse garment worn by swine-herds. His head was covered by a small +round helmet, like a half melon. + +"Here I am, what do you want?" answered Talabor. + +"I come by order of Master Peter Szirmay," answered the man. "The +Tartars have broken into the country, and his Honour has sent a +garrison, as he does not consider the present one sufficient." + +"You are Libor the clerk!" said Talabor, at once recognising the forward +governor by his peculiar voice, which reminded him irresistibly of a +cock's crow. + +"And who may you be?" + +"Talabor, if his Honour the governor still remembers my poor name." + +"Ah! all right, Clerk! just let them be quick with the drawbridge, for +it is going to rain, and I have no fancy for getting wet." + +"No fear, Mr. Libor. It is not blowing up for rain yet! But in these +perilous times, caution is the order of the day, and so, Mr. Libor, your +Honour will perhaps explain how it happens that Mr. Paul Héderváry's +gallant governor has been sent to our assistance by our master. That we +are in much need of help I don't deny." + +"Why such a heap of questions? Mr. Héderváry and some twenty or more +Szirmays are in the King's camp, and Master Peter has sent me with Mr. +Héderváry's consent, as being a man to be trusted." + +"A man to be trusted? And since when have you been a man to be trusted, +Governor? Since when have people come to trust a scamp? You take care +that I don't tell Master Peter something about you!" + +"Mr. Talabor!" cried Libor haughtily, "have the drawbridge lowered at +once! I have orders to garrison the castle. And pray where is the +governor? and since when have such pettifoggers as you been allowed to +meddle in Master Peter's affairs?" + +"Here is the governor," said old Moses at this moment. Curiosity, and +just a little spice of uneasiness had brought him quickly to the tower, +and he had heard Libor's last angry words. + +Talabor at once gave up his place to him, but neither he nor the porter +left the room. + +"Oh, Mr. Governor," said Libor in a tone of flattery, "I am glad indeed +to be able to speak to the real governor at last, instead of to that +wind-bag of a fellow. I know Mr. Moses _deák_, and how long he has been +in Master Peter's confidence as his right hand." + +Then, slightly raising his voice, he went on: "The promised garrison has +arrived. It is here close at hand by Master Peter's orders, and is only +waiting for the drawbridge to place itself under Mr. Moses' command." + +Before making any answer to this, the governor turned to Talabor with a +look of inquiry, which seemed to say, "It is all quite correct. Master +Peter himself has sent Governor Libor here, and there is no reason why +we should not admit the reinforcements." + +"Mr. Governor," whispered Talabor, with his hand on his sword, "say you +will let Mr. Libor himself in and that you will settle matters with him +over a cup of wine." + +"Good," said the governor, who liked this suggestion very well. Then he +shouted down through the opening, "Mr. Libor, before I admit the +garrison, I should be pleased to see you in the castle by yourself! I am +sure you must be tired after your long journey, and it will do you good +to wet your whistle with a cup or two of wine; and then, as soon as we +have had a look at things all round, I will receive your good fellows +with open arms." + +"Who is in command of this guard?" inquired Talabor, coming to the +window again. + +"Myself! until I hand my men over to the governor. But I don't answer +you again, Clerk Talabor! What need is there of anyone else while good +Mr. Moses is alive? But I can't come and feast inside while my men are +left hungry and thirsty without. I will summon them at once! and even +then they can come only single file up this abominable road where one +risks one's life at every step." + +"Indeed so, Mr. Libor? Well, if you have all your wits about you, we +have not quite taken leave of ours. You would like to come in with your +troop, but we should like first to have the pleasure of being made +personally acquainted with your two wooden figures there! I understand +you, sir! but you should have come when times were better. These are +evil days! Who knows whether Master Peter is even alive, and whether Mr. +Héderváry's governor has not come to take possession and turn this time +of confusion to his own advantage?" + +So spoke Talabor, and Governor Moses was a little shaken out of his +confidence. Indeed, the whole affair seemed strange. Surely, thought he, +if Master Peter had wished to strengthen the garrison he would have +found someone to send besides the clerk, Libor; for he, of course, knew +nothing of the latter's recent military advancement; and then again, +Talabor was so prudent that during the past weeks the governor had come +to look on him as a sort of oracle. + +"Then you won't admit the guard?" said Libor wrathfully. + +"We have not said that," answered Moses; "but if you have come on an +honest errand, come in first by yourself; show me a line of writing, or +some other token, and we shall know at once what we are about." + +"Writing? token? Isn't the living word more than any writing? And isn't +it token enough that I, the Hédervárys' governor, am here myself?" + +"The garrison are not coming into the castle!" cried Talabor. "There are +enough of us here, and we don't want any more mouths to feed! But if you +yourself wish to come in, you may, and then we shall soon see how things +are." + +"Mr. Governor!" shouted Libor in a fury, "I hold you responsible for +anything that may happen! who knows whether some stray band of Tartars +may not find their way up here to-day or to-morrow, and who is going to +stand against them?" + +"We! I!" said Talabor. "Make your choice, if you please! Come in alone, +or--nobody will be let in, and we will take the responsibility." + +So saying Talabor went forward, and looking down through the loophole, +exclaimed, "Why, Mr. Libor, who are those behind you?" + +"Tótok (Slovacks), they don't understand Hungarian," answered Libor; and +in a louder voice he added, "Let the drawbridge down at once, I will +come in alone." + +"Talabor!" said Dora, coming hastily into the room, "I see a whole +number of men coming up the road. What does it mean?" + +"It means treachery, mistress! Mr. Héderváry's governor, Libor, _deák_, +is here asking for admittance, and I suspect mischief. I believe the +rascal means to take the castle," said Talabor. + +"No one must be admitted," answered Dora. + +As Dora spoke, Governor Moses turned round. The old man was not yet +clear in his own mind what they ought to do. + +If the reinforcements had really come from Master Peter, why then there +was no reason why they should not be admitted; and, left to himself, he +would certainly have let both Libor and all his followers in without +delay. But Talabor had "driven a nail into his head" which caused him to +hesitate, and Dora's commands were peremptory. + +"Excuse me, Mr. Governor," said Dora, "and allow me to come to the +window." + +"Mr. Libor," she went on, in a voice which trembled a little, "please to +withdraw yourself and your men, and go back wherever you have come from. +If we are attacked we will defend ourselves, and you must all be wanted +elsewhere, if it is true, as I hear, that the Tartars have invaded the +country." + +"Dearest young lady! Your father will be greatly vexed by this +obstinacy." + +"That's enough, Libor!" said Talabor, with a sign to Dora, who drew +back. "We shall let no one into the castle, not even Master Peter's own +brother, unless he can show us Master Peter's ring, for those were his +private instructions to me." + +"Why didn't you say so before?" muttered Moses to himself; and then, as +if annoyed that his master should have thought it necessary to give +private instructions to any but himself, in the event of such an +unforeseen emergency as the present, he called down to Libor, "It is +quite true! I asked you for a token myself just now, for I have had my +instructions too." + +"I'll show it as soon as we are in the castle," returned Libor. + +"Treachery!" said Talabor, addressing Dora. "The castle is strong, and +it will be difficult to attack it. We will answer for that! Don't have +any anxiety about anything, dear young lady; but hasten back to your own +rooms and don't risk your precious life, for I expect the dance will +begin directly." + +Talabor's manly self-possession had reassured her, and she looked at +him with animation equal to his own; then, not wishing to wound the +feelings of the governor, she shook him by the hand for the first time +in her life, saying, "Moses, _deák_! if they should really attack us, I +trust entirely to you and Mr. Talabor. And, now, everyone to his post! I +am not a Szirmay for nothing! and I know how to behave, if the home of +my ancestors is attacked!" + +And having hurriedly uttered these words, Dora withdrew. + +"Very well then, as you please!" shouted Libor furiously. "Hungarian +dogs! you shall get what you have earned!" + +With that he turned his horse's head, and not long after the whole body +of mounted men had reached the open space fronting the gate. + +"Hungarian dogs!" thundered the governor, "then the rascally whelp can +actually slander his own race!" + +A few moments more, and not only the horsemen who wore the Hungarian +costume, but also a hundred or so of filthy, monkey-faced Mongols on +foot, were all assembled before the castle, these latter having climbed +the rocks as if they had been so many wild cats. It was easy to see at +once that they were not Hungarians. + +"Yes! Hungarian dogs, that's what you are!" shouted Libor, "and I am a +Knéz of his Highness, the Grand Khan Oktai, and I shall spit every man +of you!" + +So saying, he hurried away, and was lost in the throng. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +DEFENDING THE CASTLE. + + +A few moments later the small garrison of brave men were all on the +walls, and so placed behind the breastwork as to be almost invisible +from below. + +All stood motionless; not an arrow was discharged, not a stone hurled. +The castle was to all appearance dead. + +All at once there was a terrific roar from the enemy, which awoke +countless echoes among the rocks. But it was no battle-cry of the +Tartars or Mongols, for they rush to the fray in silence, without +uttering a sound. This was like the wild yell of all sorts of people, a +mixture of howls and cries, almost more like those of wild animals than +of human beings. + +Dora, who at that moment had stepped out into the balcony, shuddered at +the sound. The howls and screams of fury were positive torture to her +ears, and thrilled her through and through. + +"O God!" she said within herself, "I am afraid! and I must not be +afraid!" and as she spoke, her maids all came rushing into the balcony, +wringing their hands above their heads, uttering loud lamentations, +which were half strangled by sobs. + +"The Tartars! the Tartars!" they cried, hardly able to get the words +out. "It's all over with us! What shall we do! What shall we do!" + +"Go about your own business, every one of you!" said Dora sternly, +"fighting is the men's work, yours is to be at the washing-tub, and the +fireside. Don't let me hear another sound, and don't come here again +till I call you!" + +Her speech had the desired effect; the women were all silent, as if they +had been taken by the throat and had had their wails suddenly choked; +and away they went in haste, either to do as they were told, or to hide +themselves in the lowest depths of the cellar. At all events they +vanished. + +They had no sooner all tumbled out of the balcony than Talabor stepped +in, and just as he did so, an arrow, the first from outside, flew in and +struck his cap. + +"Come in! come inside! for Heaven's sake!" cried Talabor, seizing Dora +by the hand. + +"Mr. Talabor! What do you mean?" she began indignantly, both startled +and angered by his audacity. Then, catching sight of the arrow in his +cap, she went on in a frightened voice, "Are you wounded, Talabor?" + +The young man did not let go his hold until he had drawn Dora into the +adjoining hall, where she was quite reassured as to the arrow, which he +then drew from his cap, without a word, and fitted to the long bow he +had in his hand. Then he stepped back into the balcony, and sent the +arrow flying with the remark, "There's one who won't swallow any more +Magyar bread at all events!" + +The next instant a cloud of arrows poured into the balcony, but already +Talabor was down in the court and rushing to the walls, whence Master +Peter's famous dog-keeper and some of the garrison had already +discharged their arrows with deadly effect. + +Dora had quite recovered herself. + +As for Libor, he had vanished as completely as if he had never been +there. + +"If I could only clap eyes on that scoundrel!" cried Talabor furiously. +"Ah! there! that's he! with his head buried in a cowl! cowardly dog!" + +He fitted an arrow and drew his bow, but hit only a Tartar. + +"Missed!" he muttered, with vexation, "and it's the last! Here, Jakó," +he said, turning to the dog-keeper, "just go and fetch me the great +Székely bow from the dining hall! you know, the one which takes three of +us to string it." + +While Jakó was gone, Talabor observed that one body of Tartars was +stealing along under the trees close beside the moat, towards the south +side of the castle, and that Libor had dismounted, and was creeping +along with them. + +"What can those rascals mean to do?" whispered the governor. + +"I know!" said Talabor, "the traitor! I know well enough what he's +after! but he's out! The wretch! he thinks he shall find the wall on +that side in the same tumble-down state in which it was the last time he +was here!" + +"True!" returned the governor, "they are making straight for it." + +"You there at the bastion, quick! follow me," he went on, hurrying along +the parapet to where the Mongols seemed to intend a mighty assault. + +The dog-keeper, who had come back with the bow, climbed the wall by the +narrow steps, and he, too, followed Talabor. + +Libor was creeping along on foot among his men, wearing a coat of mail, +and so managing as to be out of range of the arrows of the defenders. +Libor thoroughly understood how to avail himself of shelter, and here, +close to the wood, had no difficulty in finding it. + +To his great chagrin, however, he found that he had miscalculated. The +wall had been so well repaired that if anything it was even stronger +here than elsewhere. + +Talabor and his party had no sooner made their appearance than they were +observed, in spite of the gathering twilight, and were the targets for a +cloud of arrows. They withdrew behind the breastwork, and after some +difficulty succeeded in stringing the great Székely bow. Whereupon, +Talabor chose the longest arrow from Jakó's quiver, fitted it to the +string, straightened himself, and, as he did so, he caught sight of +Libor. Libor also recognised his worst enemy at the self-same moment, +and turning suddenly away made for the wood. + +But Talabor's arrow flew faster than he, and with so sure an aim that it +hit him in the back, below his iron corselet, and there stuck. + +"Ha! ha! ha!" roared Jakó, himself a passionate bowman, and one of the +few who could manage the Székely bow, "ha! ha! ha! that's right! if not +in front, then behind! all's one to us!" + +But Talabor was not satisfied with his shot, for Libor kept his feet, at +least as long as he was within sight. + +The Mongols were meantime showing how determined they could be when the +hope of valuable booty was dangled before their eyes. Their numbers had +been mysteriously increased tenfold, and from all sides they were +bringing stones, branches from the trees, whole trees, in a word, all +and everything upon which they could lay hands. The attack on the south +side of the castle was abandoned, though not before some score or so of +the enemy had been laid low by the arrows of Talabor and his men, and +the Mongols all now turned their attention to the moat, and to that part +of it immediately fronting the drawbridge. Arrows poured down upon them +incessantly, and there was seldom one which missed its mark. But in +spite of this, the work proceeded at such a rate as threatened to be +successful in no long time, for as one fell another took his place, and +the wood seemed to be swarming. + +Talabor had had no experience of the Mongols, and was not aware that +their chief strength lay in their enormous numbers. He did not so much +as dream how many of them there might be. However, Master Peter had made +no bad choice in the garrison he had left behind him, and they did not +for a moment lose courage. They shot down arrow after arrow, not one of +which was left without its response by the bowmen stationed behind those +at work on the moat; but while many of the besiegers were stretched upon +the ground, not more than three or four of the besieged were wounded, +and of them not one so seriously as to be incapable of further fighting. + +Dora had been coming out into the courtyard from time to time, ever +since the siege had begun in earnest. Talabor and the governor were too +busy probably to notice her, and though not altogether safe, she found +herself comparatively out of danger, so long as she kept under the wall, +as the arrows described a curve in falling. She could handle a bow at +least as well as many of the women of her time; but though she had a +strong sense of her responsibilities as the "mistress of the castle" in +her father's absence, she was content to leave the fighting to the men, +and to do no more than speak an encouraging word to them from time to +time and keep everything in readiness for attending to their wounds. + +As she stood there, in the shelter of the wall, she suddenly heard the +governor's voice uttering maledictions and imprecations, and the next +moment he came blundering down the stone steps from the parapet. + +"Oh! Moses, _deák_! what is the matter?" cried Dora, rushing towards +him. + +The governor could be a very careful man when occasion required, and if +he descended now with something of a roll, he trod gingerly all the +same; and he had besides the advantage of such well-covered bones, that +they were in little danger. + +"The matter?" he cried, as he reached the grass in safety, "the matter, +young mistress, is that they have shot me--through the arm, hang them! +just as my spear had caught one of them behind the ear too!" + +"Here," cried Dora to the man nearest her, "Vid, fetch me some water and +rag, quick! we must stop the bleeding. Borka has them all ready!" + +Vid, who was on the wall, had seen the governor totter and almost lose +his balance as he stumbled down the steps, and was hurrying after him +when Dora called. + +But Mr. Moses no sooner found himself safely at the bottom, and sound in +all his limbs except just where he was hit, than he at once regained his +wonted composure. + +"Off with you, Vid," said he, "but fetch a good handful of cobwebs; that +will stop the bleeding in a trice." + +Meantime Dora herself ran into the house and soon came back with Borka +her maid, bringing water, heaps of old rag, and all that could possibly +be wanted. The girl's knees were shaking under her with terror as she +slipped along, close after her mistress. + +Dora herself bound up the injured arm, Moses offering no opposition, as +they were in a fairly safe place, and when the operation was over, he +even kissed the hands of this "fairest of surgeons," as he called her. +Then he rose to his feet, gave himself a shake and roared, "Hand me my +spears! I shall hardly be able to draw another bow to-day!" + +No sooner was the governor standing up once more than Borka made a hasty +dash for the house. + +"Keep along by the wall, Borka!" Dora called after her. But the girl was +so consumed with fear that she neither heard nor saw. Just as she was +hurrying up the steps of the principal entrance, instead of going round +to the back, where the danger was nil, she fell down, head foremost, and +as she did so, a long Tartar arrow caught her in the back. + +Dora flew after her, and just as she had reached the steps Talabor was +beside her, with his shield held over her head. Two or three arrows +rattled down upon it, even in the few moments that they stood there. + +"Get up at once!" said Talabor, sternly. But the girl did not move, and +Moses began to tremble. + +Borka was dead! killed, not by the arrow, as they found later on, but by +her own terror. + +"Oh, poor girl!" cried Dora, her eyes filling with tears. + +"She has got her deserts!" said Talabor, in a hard tone. "There is one +traitor less in the castle! and I believe she was the only one." + +And without giving time for question or answer, he hurried Dora indoors, +and rushed back to his post on the wall, followed at a more leisurely +pace by Moses with his four spears. + +While all this was going on, the Mongols had succeeded more or less in +filling up the moat, and though up to their knees in water, and impeded +by the logs, branches, stones, and other material with which they had +filled it, some had already crossed, and were beginning to climb the +wall, by means of long poles, when Talabor gave the signal, and a volley +of huge stones and pieces of rock came suddenly crashing down upon them. +These were swiftly followed by a flight of arrows, and the two together +worked such terrible havoc among the assailants that the survivors beat +a hasty retreat. + +They seemed to be entirely disheartened by this last repulse, and +convinced that nothing would be gained by continuing their present +tactics; for, to the great surprise of Moses and Talabor, they did not +return. When next the moon shone out it was seen that a large number of +men were lying dead both in and about the moat. All, whether whole or +wounded, who could do so, had drawn off into the depths of the wood, the +more severely wounded borne on the shoulders of the rest. + +Libor was not again seen by anyone. + + + +The usual guard was doubled, and Talabor was going to pass the night on +the battlements, with the great dog-wood bow beside him and his quiver +full of fresh arrows. + +The wounded, only four of whom were seriously injured, had been +bandaged, and it now appeared that, of the entire garrison there were +but two or three who had not at least a scratch to show. + +Talabor had been hit he did not know how many times, but he had escaped +without any serious wound, though he had lost a good deal of blood. +Before going to his post on the wall, he paid a visit to the porter's +room to have his hurts seen to, and when at last the porter's wife let +him go, he was so bound up and bandaged as to be not unlike an Egyptian +mummy. + +By the time Moses came in to see Dora, she was utterly worn out. + +"Where is Talabor?" she asked. + +"On the castle wall," said the governor. + +"Not wounded, is he?" + +"I don't think so," was the answer. "At least, he said nothing about +it." + +"We must all watch to-night, Mr. Moses; I am afraid they may come back +and bring more with them." + +"My dear young lady," said Moses, "whether they do or not, this castle +is no place for you now. It is only the mercy of God which has preserved +you this time." + +"But I must not stir from here until I hear from my father! Besides, +where can I go? If the Tartars have discovered such an out-of-the-way +place as this, the country must be swarming with them!" + +"It was easy enough for them to find their way here," growled Moses, +with sundry not too respectful expletives. "It was that good-for-nothing +clerk, Libor, who brought them down on us." + +"That's true indeed; but now that they have found us out, others may +come. So, Mr. Moses, we must have our eyes open, and as soon as we can, +we must have the moat cleared, and make the castle more secure if +possible." + +Moses said "good-night," though he well knew that Dora would not go to +rest, and then he, too, went to the porter's room. + + + +It was a most unusual thing for the Mongols to abandon any attack, but +just as Talabor had begun to pelt the assailants with the heavy missiles +already mentioned, one of the chiefs sent with Libor (possibly to act as +spy upon him), hastily quitted the post of danger and hurried after the +governor-clerk, whom he found in the wood, trying as best he might to +bind up the wound from which he had now drawn the arrow. The wound, +though deep enough, was not serious. + +"Why, Knéz! sitting here under the trees, are you?" cried the Mongol +roughly, in his own uncouth tongue. "Sitting here, when those Magyar +dogs have done for more than a hundred of our men!" + +"Directly, Bajdár!" said Libor sharply, "you see I have been shot in the +head and can't move!" + +"Directly? and can't move? shot in the head? Perhaps you don't keep your +head where we Mongols keep ours! but what will the Khan say, if we take +back only five or six out of 300 men?" + +"Five or six?" repeated Libor in alarm; "are so many lost?" + +"Well, and if it's not so many! and if you, who ought to be first in the +fight have managed to save your own skin! quite enough have fallen for +all that, and we shall all perish if this mad business goes on any +longer. Take care, Knéz! Look after yourself! for Batu Khan is not used +to being played with by new men such as you!" + +Libor staggered to his feet, and though badly frightened by his +ill-success, as well as by what Bajdár had said, his natural cunning did +not altogether desert him. + +"Be off, Bajdár! and don't blame me! Of course, I meant it for the best! +The castle is crammed with gold and silver, and there are some good +horses, as well as a pretty girl or two. Who could have supposed the +rascals would defend themselves in such a fashion! Be off, I tell you, +Bajdár, and stop this senseless fighting, and we'll draw off into the +woods." + +"What! with empty hands?" + +"Who is to help it? But we won't go quite empty-handed either." + +The Mongol glanced up from under his cap as Libor said this, and his +small eyes glittered like fire-flies in the darkness. + +"Master Peter has a large sheep-fold in a valley not far from here, and +the few men who guard it are nothing to reckon with; if we drive off the +sheep, there will be a good feast for a thousand or two of hungry +fellows in the camp." + +"What's that?" said the Tartar hotly. "Why, we shall eat those up +ourselves! All the cattle have been driven off out of our way, and we +are as hungry as wolves!" + +"Only go, Bajdár, and call the men off, and then I'll tell you something +which will make up for our ill-luck here." + +Bajdár shook his head. He was in no good humour, but he had gained his +object, and he went off, cursing and threatening, to stop the assault. + +As for the amends which Libor promised, we can say only so much as this, +that they were ample. He believed the country to be wholly at the +Mongols' mercy, he was well acquainted with the neighbourhood, and he +led his men, who had now dwindled to thirty or so, to the most +defenceless places, where they found cattle enough to satisfy them. + +So great was the prevailing terror, that many had fled from their homes +leaving everything behind them, or had been so harassed by perpetual +alarms that they had at last concealed their property in such senseless +ways that it was found without difficulty. + +However it may have been in this case, it was a fact that when Knéz +Libor returned from his campaign, he received high praise from Batu +Khan, who cared nothing at all that the force had melted away till +little more than a fourth part was left to return to the Sajó. Batu had +further uses for Libor. + +When the Mongols had at last made off, and Moses and Talabor found that +the shepherds had been killed, and the sheep, either eaten on the spot, +carried off, or scattered in the woods, they first cautiously searched +the neighbourhood, and then proceeded with no little labour, to bury the +dead. + +This done, Talabor made it his business to ride out every day, and was +sometimes absent for hours, scouring the country while those at home +were busy with the governor, strengthening the defences of the castle. + +One morning, some days after the attack, Talabor asked to speak to Dora. +It had been a trying time for all in the castle, but Dora had gone back +to her usual habits, and was looking after her household affairs as +strictly and regularly as if nothing had happened. In one thing she was +somewhat changed: her confidence in and dependence upon Talabor had much +increased. + +"Well, Talabor, is there any good news?" she asked gently. + +"May I speak plainly, dear young mistress?" he asked, by way of answer. + +"I never wish you to speak otherwise, Clerk Talabor." + +"Then I will tell you at once, that you must not stay here any longer, +mistress. The place is too unsafe now that the Mongols know it." + +"Must not? and where could I go?" + +"We have to do with dangerous enemies, and they are enraged, and will be +certain to revenge themselves as soon as they can," he urged. + +Dora sighed. "I know, Talabor, but I am not going to move till I hear +from my father." + +"Dear lady," said Talabor again, after a pause. "Dear mistress--perhaps +you may have noticed that I have been out riding every day. I have +scoured the whole neighbourhood for miles round, and I have learnt a +good deal more than the mere rumours which are all that reach us here." + +"And you have dared to keep it to yourself?" + +"Yes, dear mistress, I have dared! I did not wish to trouble you for +nothing, and one hears many things. If I have done wrong, God knows, I +could not do anything else until I was sure." + +"Talabor!" said Dora, quite disarmed, "and why do you speak now?" + +"Because the time has come when I must either tell you the worst, or let +you risk your precious life." + +Dora shuddered but did not speak, and Talabor went on to tell her, what +we already know, of the invasion, and of the successes already gained by +Batu Khan. There were naturally many gaps in his narrative, and much +that was already sorrowful fact, he knew only as rumour and surmise. But +still, with all deficiencies it was abundantly evident that her present +home was no longer safe, and that the very next week, day, even hour, +she might be exposed to fresh and graver peril. + +And still, what was she to do? + +"Is that all?" she asked presently, "you have not heard anything of my +father?" + +"I have heard that he is alive at least," responded Talabor cheerfully, +"though twice I heard the contrary----" + +"And you kept it from me?" + +"Why should I tell you what I did not believe myself, and what those +who told me were not at all sure of? It was only a report, and now I +know for certain that Master Peter is alive." + +"Certain? how?" + +"Truly," and he told how the news had reached him, adding, "so now we +know where to find him, when we have the opportunity." + +"Ah! that settles it then, Talabor. The proper place for a good daughter +is with her father. I'll go to him!" + +But while Dora was thus making up her mind to ride to the camp, events +had taken place which, when they came to her ears, made her hesitate +again as to what she ought to do. + +Meantime, until they could decide, Talabor went on strengthening the +walls in every way he could think of, and rendering the steep approach +more difficult. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +CAMP FIRES. + + +Dschingiz Khan had died in 1227, and by the year 1234 his son and +successor, Oktai, had completed the subjugation of Northern China. Two +years later he sent his nephew Batu westwards at the head of 500,000 +men, and in less than six years the latter had overrun nearly one +quarter of the circumference of the earth. + +The boundless steppes of Asia, and the lands lying between the River +Ural and the Dnieper, with all their various peoples, were speedily +brought under his sway. In the autumn of 1237 the Mongolian catapults +had reduced Riazan to a heap of ruins; Moscow perished in the flames; +and with the capture of Kieff, then the handsomest and best fortified +city of Northern Europe, all Russia sank under the yoke of the Mongols, +who ruled her for centuries. Kieff had fallen towards the end of 1240, +and Batu had then divided his forces, sending 50,000 men to Poland, +where they burnt Cracow and Breslau, and then proceeded to Silesia, +where, on April 9th, they defeated an army of Germans, Poles, and +Bohemians near Liegnitz; they then devastated Moravia, and entering +Hungary on the north-west, presently rejoined Batu, who himself had made +a straight line from Kieff for Hungary, entering it, as already said, by +the pass of Verecz, on the north-east. + +The third division of Mongols had gone south, skirting the eastern +Carpathians and entering Transylvania at two different points. + +One portion of this division had rejoined Batu at the river Sajó, in +time for the pitched battle now imminent. + +When first the Hungarian camp was pitched Batu had surveyed it from an +eminence with a grim smile of satisfaction. + +"There are a good many of them!" he exclaimed, "but they can't get away! +They have penned themselves up as if they were so many sheep in a fold!" + +With the return of Duke Kálmán after his victory at the bridge, all +danger was believed to be over for the night, and save for a few +merry-makers, the exultant army slept profoundly. There were few +watchers but the King, the Duke, the Archbishop, and the few others +gathered in the royal tent. + +On the other side of the Sajó a different and wilder scene was being +enacted. + +The night was dark, but the Mongol camp was brilliantly illuminated by +the blaze of a bonfire so huge, that its light shone far and wide. + +It was never the Khan's way to extinguish his camp fires; quite the +contrary. He wished his enemy to see them, and to suppose that his army +was stationary. + +Thanks to his innumerable spies, he was well aware of all that had taken +place early in the night, and had not been in the least surprised by the +recent sortie. It was, in fact, just what he had wished to provoke, by +way of diverting the attention of the Hungarians from that which was +taking place farther up the river. + +If a few hundred scape-goats had perished, what matter? there were +plenty more to take their place. And they were not even Mongols, but +slaves, Russians, Kuns, etc., who had been forced into his service. + +While these wretches, with the trembling Libor perforce among them, were +bearing the brunt of the Hungarian onset, and being thoroughly beaten, +Batu had sent a large force across the Sajó farther up and this, under +cover of the darkness, was now stealthily drawing nearer and nearer to +the Hungarian camp. It moved forward in absolute silence, and without +attracting any notice. + +Batu and several of his chief leaders were just now standing on a low +hill, all mounted, armed, and ready for battle. Below was the Mongol +host, mounted also and armed with bows, spears, and short, curved +swords. A wild, terrible-looking host they were, short of stature, broad +in the chest, flat in the face; with small, far-apart eyes, and flat +noses. They were clad in ox-hide so thick as to be proof against most +weapons, and consisting of small pieces, like scales, sewn together. So +they are described by Thomas, Archdeacon of Spalatro, who had but too +good opportunity of seeing what they were like. He adds that their +helmets were either of leather or iron, and that their black and white +flags were surmounted by a bunch of wool; that their horses, ridden +bare-backed and unshod, were small but sturdy, well inured to fatigue +and fasting, and as nimble and sure-footed in climbing rocks as the +chamois. Scanty food and short rest sufficed these hardy animals even +after three days of fatigue. + +Their masters were not accustomed to much in the way of +creature-comforts for themselves. They carried nothing in the way of +stores or supplies, which gave them great advantage in the matter of +speed; they ate no bread, and lived on flesh, blood, and mare's milk. +Wherever they went, they dragged along with them a large number of armed +captives, especially Kuns, whom they forced into battle, and killed +whenever they did not fight as desperately as they desired. They did not +themselves care to rush into danger, but were quite content to let their +captives do the worst of the fighting while they reaped the victory. In +spite of their enormous numbers they made no noise whether they were in +camp, on the march, or on the field of battle. + +Thus far Archdeacon Thomas. + +When to this description we add the fact that they had had continuous +practice in warfare for years past, that a career of well-nigh unbroken +victory had given them perfect self-confidence, while it spread such +terror among those whom they attacked as paralysed the courage even of +the stoutest hearts, it is not difficult to understand how it was that +everything fell before them, and they were able to found an empire +vaster than any which had before, or has since, existed. + +But to return to the Khan and his train of chiefs, among whom was to be +seen Libor the Knéz--not the Libor of old days, but a much less +comfortable-looking individual. Mongol fare did not seem to have agreed +with him too well, for he looked worn and wasted, and his every movement +betrayed his nervousness. Yet he was at the Khan's side, perfectly safe, +and surely a hundred-fold more fortunate than the miserable captives +whom the Mongols held so cheap that they cared not a jot whether they +lived or died. + +Libor was a Mongol now; he wore a round helmet of leather, carried a +scimitar, rode one of the tough little Mongol horses, and was in high +favour with his terrible master. + +Batu was an undersized man, and the reverse of stout. His eyes, set far +apart and slant-wise, were small, but they burnt like live coals, and +were as restless as those of a lynx. His low forehead, flat nose, +fearfully large mouth, and projecting ears, made him altogether +strikingly like the figures, in gold on a black ground, to be seen on +antique Chinese furniture. + +He was marked out from those about him, however, by his dignified +bearing, and by the pure white of his leathern garments. + +It is true that his dignity was of the lion-like order, animal, that is +to say, rather than human; but it was very pronounced. And there was a +sort of rude splendour and glitter in his costume, too; for the white +leather, the fur of which was turned inwards, was covered all over with +strange designs, looking like so many dragons or other imaginary +monsters. + +He was mounted on a slim, dapple-brown horse, of purest breed, and all +his arms, even his bow, were profusely decorated with precious stones. + +Of all the ape-faced circle, there is no denying that he was the best +looking ape of them all, even if we include Libor, who was dainty enough +in appearance, though fear just now was making him not indeed like an +ape, but like a large hare, with quivering nostrils! + +The camp was far from deserted, in spite of the large force detached, +for there could not have been altogether fewer than 300,000 Mongols on +the Sajó, and in addition, there were nearly half as many more of the +miserable beings who had been first conquered and then forced to join +the great host. Round about the hill where stood the Khan were +multitudes of felt or leather tents, and thousands of temporary +mud-huts, for the trees afforded but little shelter as yet, it being +now about the middle of April. Tents and huts were full of armed men, +also of women, who wore the scantiest of clothing, and of children, who +wore no clothing at all. + +Besides these, there were many women captives, who lay about in groups +under the trees, with ears and noses cut off, the picture of exhaustion +and misery, and so brutalised by slavery and suffering that they looked +more like a herd of mutilated animals than human beings. + +Any good-looking women captured by the Mongols were given up to their +own women, who fell upon them like furies, tortured without mercy, and +then murdered all but those wanted as slaves. + +The camp extended far into the depths of the wood, where the chiefs kept +order such as it was, with their whips. + +As Batu reached the top of the hill, his harsh voice was to be heard +giving some peremptory order, at which those about him bent their heads +low in respectful submission, and a dozen women, his wives, appeared +upon the scene, muffled up in white woollen garments, and mounted upon +beautiful horses, which were smothered in fringes, straps, etc., of +leather. They were followed by an armed guard, and preceded, oriental +fashion, by a band of singers chanting a melancholy dirge. + +They had come to take their leave of the Khan, who was sending them to +his home, and on reaching the foot of the hill they were helped to +dismount. Whereupon they threw back their snow-white veils, which were +of wool like their other wraps, and Batu Khan looked at them in dead +silence. There was no trace either of pain, or pleasure, or of any other +emotion, unless it were vanity and ambition, upon his wild features. + +The women burst into a furious fit of weeping; but it was evidently the +result of great effort, not of any irrepressible distress. Men are much +like overgrown children, and have always liked to deceive themselves and +be deceived; and this weeping and lamentation were the proper thing, the +conventional way of saying "farewell!" + +And yet, if they but looked on themselves, the sight was surely enough +to move anyone to tears; for these women were all strikingly beautiful, +and their beauty was enhanced by an expression--and this not forced--of +profound sorrow and dejection. + +Who they were, and whence they came--whether they were Russian girls +from the Volga and Don, Caucasians from the Caspian, fair Slavonians, or +white-faced Wallachians, who could say? But all were beautiful, all had +an air of distinction about them, and all looked overwhelmed with woe +unutterable. + +They gathered round the Khan, and his horse pricked its ears and +whinnied as if it would take part in the proceedings; for, though Batu's +horses were all his friends and tent-mates, far more beloved than his +people, this one was an especial favourite, its sire, so the story went, +having lived to the age of a hundred. + +When he had had enough of the ceremonial weeping, Batu raised his hand, +as who should say, "That will do! You have done your duty, now you can +go!" + +And instantly the sobs were checked, and smiles were forced to take +their place, while the poor goods and chattels raised their hands +towards their master, but whether as a mere token of farewell, whether +in blessing, or perchance in secret cursing, who could tell! + +Another signal and away they hurried down the hill; and a few moments +after the white figures had disappeared out of the glare and were lost +to sight in the recesses of the wood. + +The women gone, Batu put spurs to his horse and raced down the slope, +his chiefs following as best they might. With the light flashing +blood-red about him, with his spear quivering uplifted above his head, +himself and his horse absolutely one, he dashed on with the rush of a +whirlwind, and wherever he went he seemed to say, "Look and admire!" And +indeed, the Khan looked his best, when he was thus exhibiting his +horsemanship, and in spite of his ape-like features, might almost have +passed for some gallant, if wild cavalier. + +He and his train galloped away into the darkness, followed by a select +body of mounted men; and as soon as they were out of sight, the +remaining squadrons were drawn up in regular order. Tents were taken +down, and they and their belongings were packed on horses or in waggons, +and in a short time, though the bonfire still blazed, it cast its light +upon a deserted camp. + +Followed by a herd of women, the entire force moved in dead silence +towards the Sajó, where Batu had his first line of battle. + + + +Day was beginning to break when the Hungarian camp was roused by +startling cries, and those who rushed from the King's tent to learn the +meaning of them were met by terror-stricken shouts of "The Tartars! The +Tartars are upon us!" "They are yonder, close at hand!" "The guard at +the bridge has been overpowered, massacred, put to flight," etc. + +Looking out between the wooden walls, Master Peter descried at the +distance of about a quarter of an hour's march, a dark mass of something +which appeared to be in the form of a crescent, but of a size too vast +to be measured by the eye. It was like a wall of stone, as solid, as +silent, and as motionless; and for a moment he was in doubt as to what +it might be, until the neighing of a horse, and the briefer, rarer sound +of a signal-horn brought the truth home to him. + +The Mongols had come up in the night; the camp was surrounded on three +sides; and nothing but the most desperate determination could save them! +So much was evident even to his inexperienced eyes, and the silence of +these savage folk, who could howl like the very wolves at other times, +had something so weird and terrible about it that Master Peter was not +the only brave man to feel his heart quake and his blood run cold. + +The victory of the Duke and Ugrin but a few hours before had been +delusive indeed, for they had hardly returned in triumph to the camp +when Batu sent down to the bridge seven of the gigantic engines of war +which played so large a part in the Mongol invasion. + +Suddenly, without the least warning, the detachment left on guard found +itself assailed by a fierce and heavy storm of stones and pieces of +rock; and what added to their terror was the fact that they could not +see their enemy, and that there were no stones or rocks anywhere near +the river. Seized by superstitious panic, those who escaped being +crushed or wounded fled back to the camp, where instantly all was uproar +and confusion. + +Master Peter rushed back to the King as fast as he could for the +turmoil, the narrow ways, and the tent-ropes; and indignation filled his +soul at some of the sights he saw: luxurious young nobles, for instance, +making their leisurely toilets, combing and arranging their hair, having +their armour put on with the greatest care, and finally drawing on new +gloves! What he heard during his hurried passage was not much more +reassuring. There was plenty of courage and confidence expressed; plenty +of contempt for the despicable foe; plenty of assurance that Mongol +spears and arrows would prove ineffectual against iron armour; but also +there was among some contempt, openly expressed, for their own leaders, +though they looked upon the victory as already won. + +"It will be a hard day's work!" muttered Peter Szirmay to himself, while +his thoughts flew to Dora in her lonely castle. He had little doubt that +the Hungarians must conquer in the end, in spite of the huge odds +against them, but still--! and even if they did, he himself might fall! +What would become of her? + +"God and the Holy Virgin protect her!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +A FATAL DAY. + + +Peter Szirmay and Paul Héderváry were arming the King with all speed, +while his charger, magnificently caparisoned, was brought round, +neighing with excitement. + +Béla had never appeared more cool and collected than on that eventful +morning. As already remarked, he was without military experience, and +though his expectations were not extravagant, and he did not make the +mistake of underrating the enemy, he had much confidence in the valour +of his army. + +"We must get the troops outside, without an instant's delay!" shouted +Bishop Ugrin, galloping up his face aglow with pleasurable excitement, +for he was never happier than when astride his war-horse and amid the +blare of trumpets. + +"Sequere!" (follow) cried the King, who usually spoke Latin to the +ecclesiastical dignitaries. + +They rode through the camp, finding the ways everywhere crowded with +men, whom some of the officers were trying to reduce to order, while +others, still busy attiring themselves, were of opinion that they would +be in plenty of time if they made their appearance when the whole army +was mounted. + +The Templars were first on horseback. + +Their white mantles, with the large red cross upon them, were blowing +about in the keen wind, and displaying the steel breastplates beneath, +their martial appearance being enhanced by their heavy helmets, which +covered the whole head and face, with the exception of narrow slits +through which they breathed and saw. As the King rode up to them, the +wind blew out the folds of their white banner, and showed its +double-armed cross of blood-red. + +All this time the Mongols had been drawing nearer and nearer, like an +advancing wall, so close were their ranks. And now like a storm of hail +the arrows began to fall upon the half-asleep, half-tipsy, and wholly +bewildered men in camp. Most were mounted now, but the confusion was +indescribable. There were grooms with led horses looking for their +masters, masters looking for chargers and servants, and generals looking +for their banderia. + +There was shouting, running to and fro, and such confusion and +hurly-burly that the King had great difficulty in making his orders +understood. + +He galloped from one squadron to another, amid a cloud of falling arrows +and spears, doing all that in him lay to organise the troops. Men were +falling on all sides around him, more than one arrow had struck his own +armour; the battle had begun, and blood was flowing in streams before +the army had been able so much as to get out of camp. + +At last a dash was made down the narrow ways between the tents and the +hastily uncoupled waggons; and then with the rage, not the courage, of +despair, every leader wanted to rush upon the enemy straight away +without waiting for orders, or heeding any but his own followers. + +"Stop!" cried Béla, hurrying up to them with the Palatine, and a few men +who were hardly able to force their way after him. "Stop! Wait for the +word of command!" + +But no one even saw, no one heard him. + +Leaders and men had most of them lost their heads, and the few +disorderly squadrons which succeeded in reaching the Mongols were +immediately surrounded and overwhelmed. + +The great black crescent was growing more and more dense and solid; +there was no way of eluding it, no hope of escape. + +Bishop Ugrin was well-nigh beside himself; and he poured forth now +blessings, now execrations, as the distracted troops rushed aimlessly +hither and thither, between the tents and their ropes, and down the +narrow passages. + +They were completely entangled as in a net; to form them up in order was +an impossibility; and a deadly cloud of spears and arrows was +continuously poured upon them by the Mongols. + +To add to the general horror and terror, the waggons took fire, and soon +the tents nearest them were in flames. The tumult and confusion waxed +greater and greater. + +Batu's main object was to capture the King, and already Béla had had at +least one narrow escape, which he owed to the devotion of one of his +guard; but now both he and they were all wounded. + + + +Fighting had been going on since early morning; it was now noon, when +the Duke made a last bold effort to retrieve the day. + +"I'll break through the enemy's lines with the right wing," he shouted +in stentorian tones. "Will your Majesty give the left wing orders to do +the same, and then yourself lead the centre!" + +The heroic Duke spoke of left and right wing, and centre; but alas! +where was any one of them? + +Without waiting for the King's answer he galloped off again, succeeded +in infusing some of his own spirit into his men, and, joined by Ugrin +and his followers, and the remaining Templars, he made a dashing attack +upon the Mongols, who were drawn up in such close order that individuals +had no room to turn. + +Numbers of them fell before the furious onslaught of the Hungarians, and +great was the devastation wrought in their ranks, when suddenly, like a +whirlwind, up came Batu Khan himself with a fresh cloud of savage +warriors, and arrows and spears flew thicker and faster than ever. + +The Archbishop was smitten on the head by a spear, just as he had cut +down a Mongol, and he fell, as a ship's mast falls struck by lightning. + +Next fell the leader of the Templars, fighting helmetless by his side. +The riderless horses dashed neighing into the ranks of the enemy, among +whom they quickly found new masters. + +Kálmán had seen the bravest fall around him, but he was still pressing +forward, still fighting, when he also received a severe wound. Just then +the sun went down. + +His sword-arm was useless, and his brave warriors, placing him in their +midst, made their way back to the camp. But the camp was deserted now by +all but the dead and the dying. The troops whom they had left there had +forced their way out at last, but it was to fly, not to fight. + +The Mongols had made no attempt to stop them; on the contrary, they had +opened their ranks to let them pass through, and the faster and thicker +they came, the more room they gave them. + +That the fugitives would not escape in the long run well they knew, and +their object just now was the King. + +The flower of the Hungarian nobility, several bishops, and high +dignitaries, both of Church and State, had fallen in the battle, or fell +afterwards in the flight. Most of them took the way to Pest, which was +strewn for two days' journey with the dead and dying, with arms and +accoutrements. + +Many were slain by the Mongols who pursued and attacked them when they +were too weak to defend themselves; and many others perished in the +attempt to cross rivers and swamps. + +Seeing that all was lost, Béla himself thought it time to fly, and while +the Mongols were plundering the camp, he succeeded in reaching the open, +and made for the mountains, recognised by few in the on-coming darkness. + +Immediately surrounding him were Paul Héderváry, in spite of his five +wounds, Peter and Stephen Szirmay, Akos, Detrö, Adam the Pole, the two +Forgács, and several others--a devoted band, while behind came a long +train of the bravest warriors, the last to think of flying, who followed +in any order or none. + +Few, as we have said, had recognised the King, but there were some who +had, and these pressed hard after him. + +"My horse is done for!" cried the King, as his famous charger began to +tremble beneath him. "Let us stand and die fighting like men!" + +"No! for Heaven's sake, no!" cried Adam the Pole, leaping from his +horse as he spoke. "Mine is sound! take him! I hear the howl of the +Mongols." + +One had indeed actually overtaken them, but, though on foot, Adam felled +him to the ground, leapt upon the Mongol's horse, and galloped on after +the King. + +The handful of brave, true men guarded Béla as the very apple of their +eye. Not one thought of himself; their one anxiety was for the King. + +For an hour they galloped on, always pursued by the Mongols. The foam +was dropping from the horses; the moon had risen and was shining +brightly down upon them, when the irregular force which had followed +them was overtaken, and engaged in a fierce battle with the relentless +and unwearied enemy. + +Just at that moment down sank the horse which Adam had given to the +King; but one of the two Forgács, András (Andrew), who was known in the +army as Ivánka (Little John, _i.e._, John Baptist) gave up his. The King +was so worn out by this time that two of the nobles had to lift him upon +the horse; Ivánka himself followed on foot. A younger brother of his, +whose name has not come down to us, lost his life at the hands of the +Mongols, who were again approaching perilously near the fugitives. + +Ivánka was threatened by the like danger, when Paul Héderváry and a few +of the others who were on in front chanced to see his peril, and turning +back, routed the Mongols. Ivánka mounted his brother's horse, which had +remained standing quietly by its master's body, and rode after the +little band. + +Daybreak was once more at hand, and they were far, far away from the +field of blood, when again the King's horse failed him, and the Mongols +were hardly so much as a hundred paces behind. + +They had recognised the King, and one of Batu Khan's sub-officers had +promised a large reward to anyone who could get Béla into his hands, +alive or dead. + +Then a young hero, Rugács by name, who had already distinguished himself +in battle, offered the King his charger, and it was thanks to this good +horse of Transylvanian breed that the King finally escaped his pursuers. +For, tough though they were, even the Mongolian horses were beginning to +fail, while nothing apparently could tire out the Transylvanian. + +As they helped him to mount, Béla noticed that there was blood on the +arm of the faithful Rugács, and asked kindly whether it gave him much +pain. + +"Ay, indeed, sir!" was the answer, "but there is worse pain than this!" + +"Ah! your name shall be Fáj from to-day," said the King. "Remind us of +it if we live to see better times." + +And accordingly, there is to this day a family which bears the +honourable name of Fáj or Fáy, the meaning of which is: "It pains." + +At last the fugitives reached the forest, the Mongols were left behind, +and the King then happily gained a castle in the mountains, where for a +while he remained. + +But when he looked upon his devoted followers, how many were missing! +how many had laid down their lives to save his! + +Among the dozen or more who had fallen by the way was Jolánta's father, +Stephen Szirmay; his brother Peter, though he had not come off +scathless, had escaped without any mortal wound. + +Having no army, the King was for the present helpless, and as soon as he +could do so, he made his way to Pressburg, where he sent for the Queen +and his children to join him, they having taken refuge in Haimburg, on +the other side of the Austrian frontier. + +But instead of the Queen, appeared Duke Friedrich, who persuaded the +King that it would be much wiser for him too to come to Austria, and had +no sooner got him in his clutches than he made a prisoner of him, and +refused to let him go until he had refunded the large sum of money with +which Friedrich had purchased peace from him four or five years +previously. + +Béla gave up all the valuables which he and the Queen had with them, but +as the Duke was still not satisfied, he had to pawn three Hungarian +counties in order to regain his liberty. + +Once more free, he sent the Queen to Dalmatia for safety, and +despatched ambassadors to Pope and Emperor, and the King of France, +praying for their help against the terrible foe who threatened all +Europe with destruction. But the Emperor was fighting Rome, and the Pope +was bent upon reducing him to obedience. Poland was fighting the Mongols +on her own account; Bohemia was in momentary danger of being herself +attacked; and the shameless Duke Friedrich availed himself of Hungary's +defenceless condition to invade and plunder the counties nearest him, +and even to rob such fugitives as had fled to Austria for refuge from +the Mongols. + +Béla meantime had borrowed a little money where he could, and had gone +south to await the answers to his appeal, and to raise what troops he +could for a campaign. But he waited in vain. No help came! and without +an army or the means of raising one, he was helpless. + +His brother Kálmán had reached Pest, and after urging the terrified +inhabitants to abandon the city, cross the Danube, and hide wherever +they could, he continued his journey to Slavonia (then Dalmatia and +Croatia), his dukedom, where he soon after died of his wounds. + +Before the people of Pest could remove their goods to a place of safety, +they were hemmed in by the Mongols. Thousands from the surrounding +country had taken refuge here with their families and treasures, and the +numbers had been further increased by the arrival of fugitives from the +army. They resolved to defend themselves to the last man; but they +little knew the enemy with whom they had to deal. Three days' battering +with catapults was enough to make breaches in the walls; the Mongols +stormed and burnt the town, and murdered all who fell into their hands. + +The Mongols flooded all the land east of the Danube, but for the present +the broad river formed a barrier which they could not easily pass, and +they were further deterred from making the attempt by the idea, +unfortunately erroneous, that if they crossed it they would find all the +armies of Europe massed upon the other side waiting to receive and beat +them back. + +But if they were checked to the west, there was nothing to prevent their +chasing the King, who was lingering near the Drave. Here they were in no +fear of the armies of Europe, and they crossed the Danube by means of +bladders and boats. + +Béla fled to Spalatro, but feeling unsafe even there, retired with his +family to the island of Issa. Furious at finding that his prey had +escaped him, the Mongol leader, Kajdán, revenged himself upon his +prisoners, whom he set up in rows and cut down; then he hurried on to +the sea coast, and appeared before Spalatro early in May. Foiled again, +he hurried to Issa, which was connected with the mainland by a bridge; +and here he had the mortification of seeing the King and his followers +take ship for the island of Bua under his very eyes. + +Pursuit, without a fleet, was hopeless, and Kajdán had to content +himself with ravaging Dalmatia, Croatia, and Bosnia. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +DORA'S RESOLVE. + + +For days, weeks, months, Talabor had been expecting Libor and his +Mongols to return and renew their attack upon the castle, whose defences +he had strengthened in every way possible to him. + +But spring had given way to summer, and summer to autumn, and still they +had not come. When a winter of unusual severity set in, he felt the +position safer, for the steep paths were blocked with snow or slippery +with ice. + +Rumours of the fatal battle had not been long in reaching the castle, +and fugitives had been seen by one or another of the villagers, whose +accounts, though they differed in many respects, all agreed in this, +that the country was in the hands of the Mongols, and that the King had +fled for his life--whether he had saved it was doubtful. One reported +the death of both the Szirmays, another declared that Master Peter had +escaped with the King. + +The general uncertainty began to tell upon the inhabitants of the +castle. + +Gradually, one by one, the men of the garrison disappeared. If a man +were sent out hunting, or to gather what news he could in the +neighbourhood, he not seldom vanished. Whether he had deserted, or +whether he had been captured, who could say? In either case he might +bring the Mongols down upon them. + +At last, when the number of fighting men was so diminished that it would +have been out of the question for them to offer any serious resistance, +disquieting events began to occur among the house-servants. One day two +of them were nowhere to be found! One was a turnkey of Master Peter's, +the other a maid-servant, a simple, country girl, whom no one would have +supposed capable of counting up to three! + +These two had evidently not gone empty-handed, moreover, a few silver +plates and other light articles having vanished at the same time! +Neither of them had been sent out to reconnoitre; neither, least of all +the peasant girl, could have gone a-hunting. They had deserted, and they +had stolen anything they could lay hands on! + +After this discovery Dora became every day more uneasy, feeling that the +danger from within might be as great as that from without. + +Talabor kept his eye with redoubled vigilance upon those who were left, +but confidence was destroyed in all but one or two. + +Early one morning it was found that the whole of the plate had +disappeared from the great dining hall. Every chest was empty, and no +one of the servants knew where the contents were. Talabor had spent an +entire night in carrying them away to a hiding place shown him by Master +Peter, a sort of well-like cavity in a cellar, of which he kept the key +always about him. He had been busy for days digging out the earth and +rubbish, without letting anyone, even the faithful Moses, know what he +was about; for, like many another sorrowful Magyar in those days, the +old man had of late been trying to drown his grief in wine, and Talabor +feared that his tongue might betray what his fidelity would have kept +secret. + +All being ready, he carried down the silver from the chests in which it +had been locked, and finally removed from the shelves in the dining hall +even what had been in daily use. This done, he filled the pit with earth +again, and left no traces to indicate the hiding place of Master Peter's +treasure. + +Libor, of course, was well aware of its existence, and Talabor sometimes +wondered whether he were intending to keep the knowledge of it to +himself, to be made use of later on, when the winter was over, and the +castle more easily reached. Be this as it might, neither he nor the +Mongols appeared again; and only once had Talabor encountered any in his +rides. So far as he could see and learn, the neighbourhood seemed to be +free of them; and still anxiety rather increased than diminished, as day +followed day without bringing any news to be relied on. + +Early one morning Dora sent for Talabor, who went expecting merely some +fresh suggestion or order; but he had no sooner entered the room than +she met him, and without any sort of preliminary, exclaimed, in a +somewhat agitated voice, "Talabor! you are loyal to us, and to me, I +know you are! aren't you? You would do anything for me? I am sure you +would!" + +Talabor fell upon one knee, and with glowing countenance raised his hand +to heaven, by way of answer. His heart swelled within him, and just then +he felt strong enough for anything. + +"Good Talabor, I believe you," said Dora; "but get up and listen to what +I want to say. I am only a woman, and perhaps I give myself credit for +more courage than I really have; but one thing I know, I have a strong +will, and I have made up my mind. I mean to go and find the King and my +father!" + +"What!" exclaimed Talabor, almost petrified by the mere idea of so +daring a step. "Master Peter--we don't even know whether----" + +"He is alive!" interrupted Dora very decidedly. + +"But the King! whether it is true or not, who can say? But so far as I +can gather he seems to be in Dalmatia, and the Tartars are pursuing him. +The country may still be full of them, for anything I know; and you mean +to run such a frightful risk as this would be? Dear mistress----" + +"I do mean, Talabor!" said Dora, "I do mean; for it seems to me that I +may have worse to face if I stay here; and what is more, I can't do any +good by staying. I can't in the least help those who would, I know, lay +down their lives for me. Did not you yourself say, months ago, that this +place was not safe?" + +"True, but then things were not as they are now, and I was thinking of +some safer refuge, not of a perilous winter journey. We will defend +ourselves to the last, and now that we are free of traitors, we shall be +stronger than before." + +"To the last, you say? Then the last person would be myself, and I +should be left to die by torture or to become the slave of some Mongol +scoundrel! No, Talabor! if I could protect those who have been faithful +and devoted to me, if I could even protect those who have deceived me, +robbed me and deserted me so disgracefully, I would stay, but my +presence here does no one any good." + +"And," Dora continued, after a moment's pause, "the fact is we are +living over a volcano, for who can answer for it that none of those who +have stayed behind are traitors, and what of those who are gone? Why +then, should you wish to stay?" + +Dora had taken to "theeing and thouing" Talabor, ever since the time of +danger and anxiety which they had passed through together. It showed him +that she had confidence in him; but he, of course, continued to address +her in the third person. + +"Because," replied the young man in a firm voice, "I can put down any +mischief that may raise its head here; and because, dear lady, if there +is any danger of your being attacked here in the castle, the dangers +outside in the open are a thousand times more serious." + +"You are mistaken in one thing, Talabor. It may all be, perhaps it is, +as you say, but something tells me to go! I can't explain it, but it is +as if I were continually hearing a voice within saying, 'Go, go;' but if +I made a mistake in expecting you to follow me blindly----" + +"Oh, dear lady, how could you be mistaken in trusting the most devoted +of your servants! Let it be as you say! Command me, and I will neither +gainsay, nor delay to do what you wish." + +"You really mean it?" + +"I do! before Heaven I do." + +"Well now, Talabor, can you deny that there is a sort of nightmare +oppression about this place? The garrison has dwindled to three, and +there are but four servants. We can't reckon upon Mr. Moses, for he +grows harder to stir every day." + +It was all so perfectly true that Talabor could say nothing; but they +talked on for a time, and then Dora began to think and consult with him +as to the first steps to be taken. She wished to discharge all her +duties as mistress of the castle to the end, as far as was possible; and +the first question was, what was to become of Moses and the rest of the +household? This settled, they thought it time to take the old governor +into their confidence. + +Mr. Moses had long been of opinion that the castle was no safe place to +stay in, and he readily undertook to conduct the remaining members of +the garrison and household to a place of greater safety. + +In the depths of the neighbouring forest lived an old charcoal-burner, +who supplied the castle blacksmith with charcoal, and had managed to +steal up with it now and then all through these perilous times. The hut, +or rather cave, in which the poor man and his family lived, was far away +from any road, it was closed in by rocks, and was altogether so +difficult, if not impossible, for any stranger to discover, that Moses +and Talabor thought it the safest place of any to be found. But Dora +begged them both to keep their own counsel until the time for action +should come; and as to when that time should be, no one knew but +herself. + +Latterly, as troubles had multiplied, it had become a sort of fixed idea +with her that she must go and find her father at all costs, or at least +make sure whether he were still alive or dead, and in the latter event +she had resolved to take refuge in a convent. + + + +Two or three days after the consultation mentioned above, Dora sent for +her two devoted followers. + +It was quite early in the morning, but she was already dressed for going +out--for a journey it seemed, though, in spite of the bitter cold, she +wore none of her rich furs. Except that she was cleaner and neater, +there was nothing to distinguish her from the poorest peasant-girl +tramping from one village to another, or perhaps going on a distant +pilgrimage. + +In the narrow belt, which she wore in the ancient Magyar fashion, round +her waist, she had hidden a few pieces of gold; on her feet she had +thick, heavy boots, and over her shoulders hung a rough cloak of +antiquated cut, which might be put over her head like a hood if +necessary. + +Somehow Talabor had never admired her so much before as he did now. +Moses stared at her wide-eyed, for of late he had seen her always in +black. + +The old huntsman looked as if he were wondering what new madness this +might mean, and one can hardly be surprised at him. But he was always +respectful to Dora, and next to the old castle, and the woods, and +Master Peter, he loved her better than anything else in the world! +Talabor came next to her in his affections, but a good way behind. + +"Mr. Moses," began Dora gravely, addressing him first as she always did, +because he was governor, in name at least, if not in fact, "I think the +time has come for us to follow your advice; we have not men enough to +defend the castle, and if it is true that the whole country is laid +waste, it is very likely that one of the horrible Tartars who came +before will take it into his head to come again. Besides, the thieves +who have deserted us know how few we are, and how much plate there is +in the chests; and what is to hinder their coming back? Well, at any +rate, I have made up my mind to leave the castle, but I mean to be the +last. I shall not go until I know that every one is as safe as he can +be." + +"I don't stir a step without you, mistress," exclaimed Moses. + +"I am Dora Szirmay, Master Peter's daughter, and my faithful governor +will obey my orders!" returned Dora, in tones so decided that it was +plain she had not forgotten how to command. + +Mr. Moses was silenced, and Dora went on, still in the same grave way, +"I know that you are faithful, that no one is truer to my father and me +than yourself, and so I can give you my orders with trust and +confidence. You, Mr. Moses, and everyone that is left in the castle, +except Talabor and Gábor, will go to-day as soon as it is dusk, to old +Gödri, the charcoal-burner. You can take Jakó's pony with you in case +anyone should be tired, and be sure you take all the arms you can carry. +The food, too, you must take all that, though I am afraid there is not +much left, for we have all been hungry for some time past, if we have +not been actually famished. When that is gone, there are the woods; and +no hunter ever died of starvation." + +"But yourself, my dear young mistress?" asked Moses. + +"I stay here in the meantime with Talabor and Gábor. You know all I wish +done besides, good Mr. Moses," said Dora gently, with a smile, rather +sad than cheerful. + +"I need not tell you all to be prudent," she continued. "That we must +every one of us be. Take all the care you can of yourselves!" + +"And what about the horses?" + +"They must be turned out. They will find masters: we need not be +troubled about them; and if they don't, they can roam where they will, +and there will be grass under the snow, down in the valleys. Jakó might +take Fecske (Swallow), if he thinks he could feed her; it would be a +pity for her to fall into the hands of the Tartars." + +"Fecske" was Dora's own favourite horse. + +"You understand me, don't you, Mr. Moses?" + +"Yes, young mistress; but--" he added uneasily, "what of the castle and +everything?" + +"Well, Mr. Moses, you were the first to call attention to the unsafe +state of the castle, weren't you? So what more can we do? We can't +defend it, we can't live in it, we can't carry it with us! Now you will +start to-day, all of you, except Talabor, Gábor, and myself; and you +must trust everything else to us!" + +Moses would dearly have liked to raise a multitude of further +objections, but he could not, perhaps did not dare. Just as he was about +to leave the room, Dora stopped him, saying, "One thing more, Governor; +when all is ready, let them all come to this room." + +Mr. Moses departed, and turning to Talabor, Dora asked him what he +thought of her arrangements. She spoke more brightly now, and Talabor +answered calmly and respectfully, "I will obey you, mistress! But, I +should like to make one little remark--it is not anything concerning +myself----" + +"No preamble, Talabor!" said Dora, who looked more cheerful every +moment. "Make any remarks you wish, and I will hear you out, because I +know you don't speak from fear." + +"Well, lady, wouldn't it be better to keep Jakó with you, instead of +Gábor? Gábor is a good, trusty fellow and active, but he is not equal to +Jakó." + +"I am not going to keep more than one with me, and that is yourself, +Talabor! For safety's sake I must travel on foot, like a pilgrim, and +with as few followers as possible. Why I am keeping Gábor is that I want +to send him to seek my father by one route, while we take another. Jakó +is the only one of the others who is capable of thinking and acting for +them. If I take him they have no one. Don't you think, now, that I am +right?" + +Talabor assented, and no more was said, but when he realised that he was +to be Dora's sole guardian and travelling companion, he felt as if he +had the strength of a young lion. + + + +That same evening, Moses the governor, and all the rest, with the +above-mentioned exceptions, quitted the castle; and by dawn of the +following day, Master Peter's ancient dwelling-house was like a silent +sepulchre. All the doors and windows were open, but the drawbridge was +up, and the moat full of water. + +The most valuable articles of furniture of a size to be moved, Talabor +had helped Gábor to carry down to a vault opening out of the cellar, in +the course of the night, and together they had walled them up. + +As to what had become of Dora and the two men, no one knew but Moses. +Some thought that she was still there, and others that she had "left the +country," as they said in those days, though how she could have crossed +the moat, except by the drawbridge, and how, if she had done so, the +drawbridge could have been pulled up again, was a mystery which none +could fathom. + +Not even Talabor had ever known of the subterranean passage, which +Master Peter had shown to his daughter and to no one else; and even now +Dora did not disclose its whereabouts. Blindfold, her companions were +led through it, she herself guiding Talabor, and he Gábor; and when she +allowed them to take the bandages off their eyes, they were out of sight +of the castle, and could see not the slightest sign of any secret +entrance. They were in a diminutive valley, with rocks and cliffs all +about them; and here Dora gave Gábor, the horseman, a small purse, +which, had she but known it, was likely to be of small assistance in a +wilderness where no one had anything to sell, but where there were +plenty of people ready to take any money they could get hold of. + +Dora told the man to travel only by night, to avoid all the high roads, +and to make for Dalmatia, where he had been once before in charge of a +horse which Master Peter was sending to a friend. He remembered the way +well enough, which was one reason why Dora had chosen him for this +dangerous and almost impossible mission. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +THROUGH THE SNOW. + + +Hungary was a very garden for fertility; her crops of every kind were +abundant, her flocks and herds were enormous; and while the grain-pits +and barns were full, and while there were sheep and oxen to steal, the +Mongols lived well. But at last the country was stripped, provisions +began to grow scarce, and the year's crops were still in the fields. +Whether or no the Mongols themselves ever condescended to eat anything +but flesh, the mixed multitudes with them were no doubt glad of whatever +they could get, and Batu foresaw that if the harvest were not gathered, +and if something were not done to keep such of the population as yet +remained in their homes, and bring back the fugitives, there must needs +be a famine. + +Among his prisoners he had many monks and priests whom he had spared, +from a sort of superstitious awe, and these he now called together, and +tried to tempt with brilliant promises, to devise some plan for luring +the people back to the deserted farms and homesteads. Many and many a +brave man rejected his offers at the risk, and with the loss, of his +life; but there were some who were ready to do what the Khan wanted, if +only they could hit upon any scheme. All their proclamations issued in +the Khan's name failed to inspire confidence, however. The people did +not return; those hitherto left in peace fled at the approach of the +Mongols, the general need increased day by day, and the captives were +put to death by hundreds to save food. + +The massacres were looked upon as a pleasant diversion and entertainment +in which the Mongol boys ought to have their share; to them, therefore, +were handed over the Hungarian children; and those who showed most skill +in shooting them down were praised and rewarded by their elders. + +Yet how to feed half a million men in a country which had been +thoroughly pillaged was still a problem. + +And then, all over the country there appeared copies of a proclamation +written in the King's name, and sealed with the King's seal. + +There was no Mongol ring about this, as there had been about similar +previous proclamations, and it was given in the King's name, it was +signed with the King's own seal! Of that there could be no question. + +The news spread rapidly, further flight was stopped, and in a few days +the people dutifully began to venture forth from their hiding places, +and that in such numbers that a great part of the country was +re-populated. Moreover, the Mongols, though still in possession, +actually welcomed them as friends, which showed that the King knew what +he was about! They were allowed, moreover, to choose magistrates for +themselves from among the Mongol chiefs, to the number of a hundred, who +met once a week to administer strict and impartial justice. + +Magyar, Kun, Mongol, Tartar, Russian, and the rest all lived as amicably +together as if they were one family. Farming operations were resumed, +markets were held, and peace of a sort seemed to have returned to the +land. + +At last harvest and vintage were over. Corn and fruit of all +descriptions had been garnered, and there was wine in the cellars. And +then? Why, then, late in the autumn, the too confiding people were +massacred wholesale; and those of them who managed to escape fled back +to their hiding-places. + +Then followed winter, such a winter as had not often been matched in +severity. The Danube, frozen hard, offered an easy passage; there was no +European army to oppose them, for the heads of Christendom were fighting +among themselves, and the Mongols crossed over to do on the right bank +of the river what they had already done on the left. + +Always rather savage than courageous, the Mongols obliged their +prisoners to storm the towns, looked on laughing as they fell; cut them +down themselves from behind if they were not sufficiently energetic, +and drove them forward with threats and blows. When the besieged were +thoroughly exhausted, and the trenches filled with corpses, then, and +not till then, the Mongols made the final assault, or enticed the +inhabitants to surrender, and then, with utter disregard of the fair +promises they had made, put them to death with inhuman tortures. The +Mongols were exceeding "slim," as people have learnt to say in these +days. One example of their savagery will suffice. + +The most important place on the right side of the Danube was the +cathedral city of Gran, which had been strongly fortified with trenches, +walls, and wooden towers by its wealthy inhabitants, many of whom were +foreigners, money changers, and merchants. As the city was thought to be +impregnable, a large number of persons of all ranks had flocked into it. + +Batu made his prisoners dig trenches all round, and behind these he set +up thirty war-machines, which speedily battered down the fortifications. +Next the town-trenches were filled up, while stones, spears, and arrows +fell continuously upon the inhabitants, who, seeing it impossible to +save the wooden suburbs, set fire to them, burnt their costly wares, +buried their gold, silver, and precious stones, and withdrew into the +inner town. Infuriated by the destruction of so much valuable property, +the Mongols stormed the city and cruelly tortured to death those who did +not fall in battle. Not above fifteen persons, it is said, escaped. + +Three hundred noble ladies entreated in their anguish that they might +be taken before Batu, for whose slaves they offered themselves, if he +would spare their lives. They were merely stripped of the valuables they +wore, and then all beheaded without mercy. + + + +For weeks Dora and Talabor had journeyed on, avoiding all the main +roads, travelling by the roughest, most secluded ways, and seldom +falling in with any human beings, or even seeing a living creature save +the wild animals, which had increased and become daring to an +extraordinary degree. + +Wolves scampered about in packs of a hundred or more, and over and over +again Talabor had been obliged to light a fire to keep them off. He had +done it with trembling, except when they were in the depths of the +woods, lest what scared the wolves should attract the Mongols. + +Bears, too, had come down from the mountains, and had taken up their +quarters in the deserted castles and homesteads, and many a wanderer +turning into them for a night's shelter found himself confronted by one +of these shaggy monsters. + +Traces of the Mongols were to be seen on all sides: dead bodies of human +beings and animals, smouldering towns, villages, and forests; here and +there, perched upon some rocky height, would be a defiant castle, whose +garrison, if they had not deserted it, were dead or dying of hunger; in +some parts, look which way they might, there was a dead body dangling +from every tree; poisonous exhalations defiled the air; and over woods, +meadows, fields, ruined villages, lay a heavy pall of smoke. + +Such was the condition to which the Mongols had reduced the once smiling +land. Truly it might be said, in the words of the prophet: "A fire +devoureth before them, and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as +the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness." + +But, though they saw their works plainly enough, the wanderers saw +hardly anything of the Mongols themselves, which surprised them. Once or +twice they had narrow escapes, and had to take sudden refuge from small +parties, travelling two or three together; but they encountered nothing +like a body of men, and those whom Talabor did chance to see appeared to +be too intent on covering the ground to look much about them. + +From one or two wanderers like themselves he presently learnt that the +Mongols were everywhere on the move, and were all going in the same +direction, southwards. But what it meant no one could guess. They were +moving with their usual extraordinary rapidity, and but few stragglers +on foot were believed to be left behind. + +But it might be only some fresh treachery, some trap, and the people +dared not leave the caves, caverns, thick woods, where they had hidden +themselves, and lived, or existed, in a way hardly credible, on roots, +herbs, grass, the bark of trees, some of them even eking out their +scanty provisions by a diet of small pebbles! + +Needless to say that many died of hunger, while the remainder were +reduced to skeletons, shadows, ghosts of their former selves. + +From some of these bands of refugees Talabor heard fragmentary accounts +of the horrors that had been enacted, and the events that had followed +after the battle of Mohi. + +Dora had felt more and more confidence in her travelling companion as +day had followed day during their terrible journey. He had spared no +pains in his efforts to lighten the privations and difficulties of the +way; he had thought for her, cared for her, in a hundred ways; and yet +with it all, he was just as deferential as if they had been in the +castle at home. + +Miserable were the best resting places he could find for her for the +night, either in the depths of the forest or in some cavern or deep +cleft of the rocks. Sometimes he was able to make her a little hut of +dry branches, roofed over with snow; and when he could do so without +risk of discovery, he would light a fire and cook any game that he had +been able to shoot in the course of the day. + +But whatever the shelter he found or contrived for her, he himself +always kept watch outside, and got what little sleep he could when the +night was past. + + + +They had almost lost count of time, and they hardly knew where they +were, when, late one night, Dora came to a standstill. + +The moon was shining, the cold intense, and the snow, which crackled +beneath their feet, lay thick and glittering all around them. It was the +sort of night that sends fear into the hearts of all who are compelled +to be abroad, and yet are anxious to escape the notice of their fellow +men, for it was as light almost as by day, and the travellers showed up +like a couple of black spots against the white background. + +Talabor, muffled in his cloak, was leading Dora by the hand; she had her +large hood drawn over her head, and the two looked as very a pair of +tramps as one could meet with anywhere. + +The cold cut through them like a knife, though the night was still--too +still, for there was not wind enough to cover up the track they had left +behind them. It would be easy to trace them, for the snow was powdery, +and in many places they had sunk in it up to their knees. + +"I must stop, I am tired out! and I am so deadly sleepy," said Dora, in +a broken voice, "I feel numb all over, as if I were paralysed." + +She looked ghastly pale, worn, thin, a mere shadow of what she had been; +and she had been travelling all day, dragging herself along with the +greatest difficulty. + +"Dear lady," said Talabor gently, supporting her trembling figure as +well as he could, "do you see that dark patch under the trees yonder?" + +"I can't see so far, Talabor," she stammered. + +"I see it plainly," he went on, "and it is a building of some sort, a +dwelling-house, I think. If you could just manage to get so far, we +should be better sheltered than we are here." + +"Let us try," said Dora, summoning all her remaining strength. + +"Lean on me," Talabor urged in a tone of encouragement; "we shall be +there in a quarter of an hour; but if you can't walk, you must let me +carry you as I have done before, it is such a little way." + +"You are very good, Talabor," said the girl gratefully, and off they set +again. + +The building which Talabor had noticed stood on rising ground, on one +side of the valley, and, the snow not being quite so deep on the slope, +they were able to get on a little faster. Neither spoke, for what was +there to talk about? The cold was benumbing, and both were suffering. + +Presently Dora felt her knees give way under her, and everything seemed +to turn black before her eyes. + +"Talabor!" she whispered, holding his arm with both hands, "I--I am +dying--you go on yourself and leave me!" + +"Leave you!" exclaimed Talabor; and before Dora could say another word, +he had thrown back his cloak and picked her up in his arms. She was +almost fainting, and overpowered by the deadly sleep induced by the +cold. + +Light as his burthen was, it was a struggle for Talabor to make his way +through the snow, for he, too, had lost much of his accustomed strength +during the past weeks of hardship and anxiety. Still, he managed to go +straight on without stumbling or faltering. All about them, for some +distance and in every direction, there were strange prints in the snow, +and these he scanned carefully until he had quite assured himself that +they were not made by human feet. + +"No Tartars have been here lately, at all events!" he said, by way of +cheering his companion, as they drew near the gloomy, deserted building, +which was not a ruin, but one of the many dwellings plundered by the +Mongols, and for some reason abandoned without being completely +destroyed. + +It was a small, dark place, and its only defences were its outer walls. +There was no moat; and it had probably belonged to some noble family of +little wealth or importance, who had either fled or been murdered. The +gate was lying on the ground, and the snow in the courtyard was almost +waist-deep. Talabor needed all his strength to wade through it and to +carry Dora up the stone steps, which he could only guess at, and had to +clear with his foot as he went on. + +In the tolerably large room which he first entered all the furniture was +half consumed by fire, and the door burnt off its hinges; the +moonlight, which streamed through the open windows, showed bare, +blackened walls, and a scene of general desolation. + +Spreading his cloak on the bench, which owed its escape from destruction +to the fact that it was covered with plaster, he laid Dora down upon it, +gathered up some of the broken furniture already half reduced to +charcoal, and soon had a small fire burning. The smoke from it filled +the whole room, but still the warmth revived his companion, who had +known what it was to spend even worse nights than this one promised to +be; for, when Talabor presently took a piece of burning wood from the +fire, that he might explore the building, he found an old sack full of +straw. The room in which he discovered it opened out of the larger one, +and was not quite so desolate looking, for the fire did not seem to have +penetrated so far, and, moreover, it had a large fireplace still +containing the remains of charcoal and bones. + +Talabor lighted another fire here, drew the sack into one corner, and +hurried back to Dora, who was now dozing a little, with the light from +the crackling fire shining on her face. How deadly pale, how wasted it +was! + +Talabor stood looking at her for a moment, wondering whether after all +he should be able to save a life which every day was making more +precious to him. + +He piled more wood on the fire, and tried to rub a little warmth into +his own numb hands. It was the most bitter night of all their +wanderings, and the cold pierced his very bones. Tired out as he was, +heavy with drowsiness, he kept going from one fire to the other, as he +wanted to take Dora into the smaller room when she awoke, for it was not +only a degree warmer, but also free from smoke, and had a door which +would shut. + +She opened her eyes about midnight, and seemed to be all the better for +her two hours' sleep. Talabor had kept her so carefully covered, and had +replenished the fire so diligently that her healthy young blood had +begun to flow again, and, not for the first time, he had saved her from +the more serious consequences of her exposure and fatigue. + +"Talabor!" she said, raising herself a little, "I have been asleep! +thank you so much! Now you must rest; you must, indeed, for if your +strength fails, it will be all over with us both." + +"Oh, I am accustomed to sleeping with one eye open, as the Tartars do +when they are on horseback. It does just as well for me; but you, dear +lady, must rest for at least a few hours longer, and after that I will +have a real sleep too." + +"A few hours!" + +"Yes, here in the next room, where I have found a royal bed of straw, +and there is a good fire and no smoke." + +By this time the smaller room really had some warmth in it, in spite of +the empty window frames; and the sack of straw was a most luxurious +couch in Dora's eyes. + +"What a splendid bed, Talabor!" said she, gratefully; "but before I lie +down, one question--it sounds a very earthly one, though you have been +an angel to me but--have we anything to eat? I am shamefully hungry!" + +"To be sure we have!" said Talabor, opening his knapsack, and producing +a piece of venison baked on the bare coals. "All we want is salt and +bread, and something to drink, but there is plenty of snow!" + +"Let us be thankful for what God gives us! Our good home-made bread! +what a long time it is since we tasted it!" + +"We shall again in time!" said Talabor confidently, as he handed Dora +the one knife and the cold meat. + +"Talabor," said Dora presently, "I am afraid we have come far out of our +way." + +"I am afraid so too," he answered, "but I don't think we could help it. +There has been little to guide us but burnt villages and ruined +church-towers. And then, when we have come upon recent traces of the +Tartars, we have had to take any way we could, and sometimes to turn +back and hide in the forest for safety. How far south we have come I can +hardly guess, but we are too much to the east, I fancy." + +"You have saved me at all events, over and over again: from wild beasts +by night, from horrible men by day, from fire, smoke, everything! I +shall tell my father what a good, faithful Talabor you have been! And +now I am really not very sleepy, and I should so like to see you +rest--you know you are my only protector now in all the wide world, and +you must take care of yourself for me!" + +"You must have just a little more rest yourself first, dear mistress, +and then I will have a sleep." + +"You promise faithfully? Then shake hands upon it, for you have deceived +me before now, you bad fellow!" + +But when next Dora opened her eyes, the moon had set; it was quite dark; +the fire had gone out, and the cold was more biting than ever. + +"Talabor!" she cried, alarmed and bewildered, for she could not see a +step before her. + +"I'm here!" he exclaimed, starting up from the bare floor, on which he +had been lying near the hearth, and rubbing his eyes as he did so. + +"I have been asleep," he said, greatly displeased with himself. "I was +overpowered somehow, and our fire is out! Never mind, we will soon have +another!" and he set to work again with flint and steel. But when the +fire was once more blazing, and both were a little thawed, Talabor would +not hear of any more sleep. + +"I _have_ slept!" he said, still indignant with himself. "For the first +time in my life I have slept at my post, slept on duty--I deserve the +stocks!" + +"And you are not sleepy still?" + +"No!" and then he suddenly jumped up from the floor, on which he had but +just thrown himself. + +"What is it?" asked Dora nervously, and she, too, started up. + +"Nothing! nothing--I think," he answered, taking up his bow and quiver +as he spoke. + +"I hear some noise, I'm sure I do," said Dora, listening intently. "What +can it be? Quick! we must put out the fire!" + +At that moment, just in front of the house, and, as it seemed to both, +close by, there was a long-drawn howl. + +"It's wolves, not Tartars," said Talabor, much relieved. + +"Oh! then make haste and fasten the door!" + +"They won't come in here," said Talabor, as he put the door to. It had +been left uninjured by the fire, but its locks and bolts were all too +rusty to be of the smallest use. There was a heavy little oak table +which had survived the rest of the furniture, however, and this Talabor +pushed up against it, saying, "The fire is our best protection against +such visitors as these; but dawn is not far off now, and perhaps it +would be better not to wait for it before we move on. I should not care +to have them taking up their quarters in the yard." + +"What are you going to do?" exclaimed Dora, in alarm, "surely you are +not going to provoke them?" + +"No! and if I should annoy one of them, he will not be able to do much +harm after it!" + +"I forbid you to do anything rash! You are not to risk your life, +Talabor. You are to sit still here, if you don't want to make me angry." + +Dora's vehemence was charming, but Talabor never did anything without +reflection; and he was not going to have her life imperilled by any +ill-timed submission on his own part. + +"You may be quite easy," he said, "I am not going to stir from here, and +they are not going to come in either!" + +The wolves meantime had been drawing nearer and nearer, to judge by +their howls. Perhaps they had scented the smoke, and expected to find +the dead bodies of men or cattle, as they commonly did in every burning +village in those days. + +Talabor was standing at the window, bow in hand, when he presently drew +back with a hasty movement. + +"Quick!" he said in an undertone. "We must put out the fire!" + +Dora rushed to it and began scattering and beating it out with a piece +of wood. + +"What is it?" she whispered; and Talabor whispered back, "I saw someone +that I don't like the look of!" Then, holding up his forefinger, he +added, "Perhaps there are only one or two; don't be afraid." + +These few words, intended to be re-assuring, did not do much to allay +Dora's fears, and she went up to Talabor, who was back at the window +again, now that the fire was put out. Trembling, she stood beside him, +while her cold hand fumbled in her pouch for the dagger which she +carried with her. + +It cannot be denied that at that moment, in spite of all her high +spirit, Dora was terrified. + +Thanks to the snow and the stars, Talabor could see clearly enough what +was going on outside; and this is what he saw: two muffled figures +hurrying towards the house, by the very same path which he himself had +trodden only a short time before; tracking him by his deep footprints in +all probability. + +But a few moments after he had told Dora to put out the fire, one of the +two figures, an unmistakable Tartar, was overtaken by the wolves, and +there began one of those desperate conflicts between man and beast, +which more often than not ended in the defeat of the former, firearms +not being as yet in existence. + +"Here! Help! Father!" shouted the one attacked. He had beaten down one +wolf, with a sort of club, and was trying his utmost to defend himself +against two others. At this appeal, made, by-the-bye, in the purest +Magyar, the man in front hurried back to the help of his son. + +"Surely he spoke Magyar!" whispered Dora. + +"There are only two of them, at all events," was Talabor's answer, that +fact being much the more reassuring of the two in his eyes, for he had +heard, during their wanderings, that there were more "Tartar-Magyars" +in the world than Libor the clerk. + +He fitted an arrow to his bow, as he spoke, and added, in an undertone, +"They are coming, and the wolves after them! but there are only two, +nothing to be afraid of; trust me to manage them!" + +In fact the two men were already floundering in the courtyard, and close +at their heels rushed the whole pack, disappearing now and again in the +deep snow, then lifting up their shaggy heads out of it, while they kept +up an incessant chorus of howls. + +Tartar-Magyars might be enemies, but wolves certainly were, thought +Talabor, as he let fly his arrow and stretched the foremost wolf upon +the ground, just as it was in the act of seizing one of the Tartars. + +Apparently the fugitives had not heard the twang of the bow-string, for +as soon as they caught sight of the open door, they hurried towards it +with the one idea of escaping their pursuers, so it seemed. + +But when Talabor again took aim, and a second wolf tumbled over, one of +the men looked up, saw the arrow sticking in the wolf's back, and cried +out, as if thunderstruck, "Tartars! per amorem Dei patris!" (Tartars! +for the love of God!) And having so said, he stopped short, irresolute, +as not knowing which of the two dangers threatening him it were better +to grapple with. + +Talabor heard the exclamation, and, whether or no he understood more +than the first word, at least he knew that it was uttered in Latin. The +fugitives must surely be ecclesiastics, who had adopted the Tartar dress +merely for safety's sake. + +"Hungari, non Tartari--We are Hungarians, not Tartars!" he replied in +the same language, leaning from the window as he shouted the words. +Whereupon that one of the "Tartars" who had spoken before called out +again, as if in answer, "Amici! Friends," and turned upon the wolves, +two of which had been so daring as to follow him and his companion even +up the steps. The nearer of the two he attacked with his short club; but +his comrade, who had been hurrying after him, slipped and fell down, and +the other wolf at once rushed upon him and began tearing away at his +cowl. + +Talabor meanwhile, being completely reassured by the word "Amici," +turned to Dora saying, "Glory to God, we are saved! They are good men, +monks, as much wanderers as ourselves!" + +He pulled the table away from the door, snatched a brand from the still +smouldering fire, waved it to and fro till it burst into flame, and then +rushed out with it through the hall into the entry, where the learnčd +one of the two supposed Tartars was hammering away at the head of the +huge wolf which had got hold of his friend, whose rough outer garment it +was worrying in a most determined manner. The rest of the pack, about +twenty, seemed not at all concerned at the loss of their four companions +lying outstretched in the snow, for they were drawing nearer and nearer +to the entry, and were lifting up their heads as if desirous of joining +in the fray going on within, while they howled up and down the scale +with all their might. + +But the moment Talabor appeared with his flaming torch they were cowed, +turned tail, and tumbled, rather than ran, down the steps in a panic. +Head over heels they rushed towards the gate, some of the hindmost +getting their tails singed as they fled. + +Meantime the two strangers seeing the enemy thus put to flight, took +courage, and thought apparently to complete the rout, for they rushed +off after the retreating wolves and were for pursuing them even beyond +the gate, when they were checked by a shout from Talabor, who called to +them to stop. + +They stood still, up to their waists in snow, and looked at him, +wondering and half doubting who and what he might be. + +"Who are you?" he asked. + +"Magyars! infelices captivi--Unfortunate captives," answered the learnčd +one. + +"We are Magyars!" said the other in Hungarian. + +"If you are Magyars, follow me," said Talabor, and the strangers obeyed. + +It was dark no longer, but still it was difficult to judge of the men by +their looks, for they wore the rough Tartar hoods over their heads, and +the one who had been mauled by the wolf had his hanging about his face +in lappets and ribbons. + +Talabor could see just so much as this, that neither was very young, +that both were wasted to the last degree, and that they were as begrimed +as if they had been hung up to dry in the smoke for some weeks. + +"Come along, come along!" he said, for he was anxious to get back to +Dora, and to make up the fire again. Should he take them into, the +warmer inner room, or keep them in the other until he knew more about +them? He was still undecided what to do when a sudden exclamation from +one of the wanderers, followed by the fervent words, "Glory be to +Jesus!" startled him. + +More startled still was he to hear from Dora the response, "For ever and +ever!" and to see her clinging to the begrimed "Tartar." + +"Father Roger! Father Roger!" she exclaimed tremulously, and for the +moment could say no more. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +A STAMPEDE. + + +As soon as he was sufficiently warmed to be able in some degree to +control his trembling lips, Father Roger explained that he had been +captured by the Mongols, from whom he had but recently escaped; that his +life had been spared, at first on account of his clerical costume, and +afterwards because he had been taken into the service of a +Tartar-Magyar, who had saved both himself and his servant. + +But when Dora would have questioned him further, and inquired who the +Tartar-Magyar was, he shook his head, saying gently, "Another time, dear +child, another time--perhaps. But it is a nightmare I would willingly +forget, except that I may give praise to God, who has preserved us +through so many grievous perils." + +It was evidently such a painful subject that she could not press him +further; and she began to speak of their own plans. + +"Dalmatia!" said the Canon, shaking his head, "Dalmatia! but we are in +Transylvania! and who knows for certain where his Majesty may be? I +have heard rumours, but that is all, and they are ancient by this time. +It would be wiser to try and find some safe retreat here, where there +are more hiding-places than in the great plains." + +He spoke dreamily; but he had noticed Dora's hollow cheeks, and had +marked how greatly she was altered from the bright, beautiful girl whom +he had last seen less than a year ago. Her strength would never hold out +for so long a journey, even if it were otherwise desirable, which he did +not himself think it; for he was able to throw some light upon the +mysterious movement among the Mongols, and told his hearers that Oktai +the Great Khan had died suddenly in Asia; and that Batu Khan, the famous +conqueror, was far too important a person in his own eyes to be ignored +when it came to the choice of a successor. He must make his voice heard, +his influence felt; and the tidings had no sooner reached him than he +despatched orders to all his scattered forces, appointing a place of +rendezvous, and bidding them rejoin him at once. + +This done, off he hurried, in his usual headlong way; and, with his +captives, his many waggons laden with booty, and his yellow hosts, he +had rushed like a tornado through Transylvania into Moldavia, +plundering, burning, ravaging, according to custom, as he went. + +That was the last Father Roger knew of him; for, finding that the +farther they went the worse became the treatment of the captives, until +at last the only food thrown to them was offal and the bones the +Mongols had done with, he had felt convinced that a massacre of the old +and feeble was impending. + +"Then the Tartar-Magyar is not gone with them to Asia, and he could not +protect you any longer?" asked Dora. + +"He could not protect us any longer," echoed Father Roger. "We, my +faithful servant here and I, watched our opportunity and made our escape +one night into the forest." + +And here we may mention that they had fled none too soon, as the +massacre of those not worth keeping as slaves actually took place, as +Father Roger had foreseen, and that within a very short time after his +flight. + +The more Talabor thought of it, the more he felt that Father Roger was +probably right as to Dalmatia, and Dora finally acquiesced in giving up +her cherished plan. It was a comfort to be with Father Roger, broken +down though he was; and for the rest, if she could not join her father, +what did it matter where she went? She left it to him and Talabor to +decide, without troubling her head as to their reasons, or even so much +as asking what they had agreed; but the disappointment was grievous. + +The little party therefore journeyed on together, slowly and painfully, +often hungering, often nearly frozen, until at last they reached the +town now known as Carlsburg. But here again they found only ruins and +streets filled with dead bodies, and they toiled on again till they came +to the smaller town of Frata, where there were actually a good number of +people, recently emerged from their hiding-places, and all busily +engaged in strengthening and fortifying the walls to the best of their +power. + +They had but little news to give, for all were in doubt and uncertainty +both as to the King and the Mongols. The latter they did not in the +least trust; and though Frata had hitherto escaped, no one felt any +security that it might not be besieged any day, almost any hour. + +"Better the caves and woods than that," said Father Roger with a +shudder. But if there were no safety for them in Frata itself, Talabor +heard there of what seemed at least a likely refuge for Dora, and that +with a member of her own family, a certain Orsolya Szirmay, who was said +to have taken refuge among the mountains, and to have many of the +Transylvanian nobility with her, and would certainly receive them. + +"Only a little further!" said Talabor, as he had said before; but this +time it was "only a few miles," not a quarter of an hour's walk; and +when one can walk but slowly, when one's strength is ebbing fast, and +one's feet are swollen and painful from the many weary miles they have +trodden, when one is chilled to the bone, weak from long want of proper +food, and in constant terror of savage beasts and still more savage men, +the prospect of more rough travelling, though only for "a few miles," +is enough to make the bravest heart sink. + + + +Before we see how it fared with the four travellers, we must glance at +what had been taking place in Transylvania, whose warlike inhabitants +had been far less apathetic and incredulous than those of Hungary, and +at the first note of alarm had raised troops for the Palatine. Héderváry +had been despatched, as already mentioned, to close all the passes on +the east, and this done, and his presence being required elsewhere, he +had departed, leaving merely a few squadrons behind as a guard. He and +they both considered it impossible for the Mongols to force a passage on +this side, so well had they blocked the roads. + +Like most of the fighting men of those days, the Hungarian army received +very little in the way of regular pay, and nothing in the way of +rations. It lived upon what it could get! and what would have been theft +and robbery at any other time, was considered quite lawful when the men +were under arms. + +The troops lived well at first. To annex a few sheep, calves, oxen, and +to shoot deer, wild boar, or buffalo was part of the daily routine, for +the forests abounded in game. They were at no loss for wine either, as +some of the nobles supplied them from their cellars. + +On the whole, therefore, the men were well entertained; and, little +suspecting the serious campaign in store, looked forward to a brush with +the Mongols as involving little more danger than their favourite hunting +expeditions. + +And then, one morning they noticed a peculiar sound in the distance. In +one way it was familiar enough, for it reminded them of a hunt, but a +hunt on such a scale as none of them had ever witnessed yet. For it was +as if all the game in the dense, almost impassable forests on the +frontier were being driven towards them by thousands of beaters, driven +slowly and gradually, but always nearer and nearer. + +They wondered among themselves who the huntsmen could be, and thought +that the great lords had perhaps called out the peasantry by way of +beguiling the time, and that, as the roads were closed against the +Mongols, they were coming through the woods. + +But there was no shouting, which was remarkable, and they could hear no +human voices, nothing but the hollow sound as of repeated blows and +banging, which came to them from time to time, when the wind was in a +particular quarter, like the mutter of distant storms. + +Two days later, this weird and ghastly noise could be heard till dark. +No one could imagine what was going on. + +But the detachments whose especial duty it was to watch the frontier +appeared to be under a spell, for they passed their time in the usual +light-hearted way, and went out shooting and hunting in large parties. +They had never known the forest so full of game of all sorts +before--wild buffalo, bears, wolves, deer, fawns--as it had been since +"the woods had begun to talk," as they expressed it. + +By the third day the distant sounds had altered their character, and +were no longer like the ordinary noise made by sportsmen and their +beaters, but more puzzling still. + +Then came orders to the various detachments from the Palatine, that a +few bodies of men were to be posted here and there, rather as spies than +guards, while the rest hastened with all speed to join the main army in +Hungary proper. + +Héderváry did not so much as hint that the "Tartars were coming"; but he +was well aware of the fact, for he had good spies, and that even among +the Russians who had coalesced with the Mongols. + +Early on the morning of their departure some of the men thought they saw +scattered clouds of smoke rising over the forests to the east, but they +were a "happy-go-lucky" set, as so many were in those days, and they +troubled their heads very little as to what it might mean. + +Someone suggested that, as the blacksmiths were all unusually hard at +work on horseshoes, of which an enormous number were wanted, no doubt +the charcoal burners were especially busy too; and there were many of +them in the woods and forests; in all probability, the smoke proceeded +from their fires. And with this supposed explanation all were content. + +But suddenly, to the now accustomed sound of beating and knocking, which +was still drawing nearer and nearer, there was added another of a +different character. + +Hitherto, the woods had "talked," and echo had answered them; now the +forest "roared." The wind had been light at early morning; now it was +piping and whistling, swaying the trees to and fro, making the tall +stems tremble, and knock their long bare arms one against the other. + +One of the Palatine's small detachments of about 150 men was stationed +in the mountainous district of Marmaros, with a lofty and precipitous +wall of rock bounding one side of the camp. The men were just preparing +for a start, when a huge buffalo made its sudden appearance on the edge +of the cliff far above their heads. It had come so far with a rush, but +the sight of the great depth below had stopped it short, and it stood +with its feet rooted to the ground for a moment--only for a moment, +however. It raised its head, and seemed to sniff the air, and then, with +one short, faltering bellow, it leapt and fell into their midst, +upsetting one horse, and wounding a couple of men. + +This was the first; but after the first came a second, after the second, +a third! + +Helter-skelter the troops retired from the dangerous spot, and from a +safe distance they counted five buffalo, one after the other, which +dashed to the edge of the cliff, as if in terror from their pursuers, +and took the fatal leap. Only one was able to rise again, and that one +just gave one look round, dug its forefeet into the ground, and then +rushed on straight ahead as if there were a pack of hounds at its heels. + +Shortly after, while the troops were riding down the narrow valley at +the foot of the mountains, they could hear the howl of wolves coming +nearer and nearer, and a pack so large that no one could even guess +their number, was seen to be scampering down the dale; some were +clattering down the cliffs, which were more sloping here, while the rest +tore wildly forward, passing close beside, and even in among the horses, +many of which were maddened with terror, and bolted with their riders. + +An hour or so later, when the little troop had succeeded in quieting the +horses, and had advanced some way on its journey amid many perils and +dangers, the cause of all this excitement among the wild animals was +suddenly revealed. The forest was on fire! It was crackling in the +flames, burning like a furnace beneath a canopy of black smoke. + +The Mongols had fired it on this side, while in another direction they +had opened a way forty fathoms wide, through woods over hill and dale, +through walls of rock, and across streams and ditches. They were making +ready their way before them, and were advancing along it upon the +unready country. + +Wherever they were reached by the fire, the trees crashed down one upon +another; ravens, crows, jackdaws, and all the winged creatures of the +woods, were flying to and fro above the trees, in dense, dark clouds, +and with loud cries and cawing; bears came along muttering, flying +before the fire and smoke, climbing trees from which they did not dare +descend again, and with which they perished together. + +As already mentioned, Batu Khan's army was preceded by pioneers with +axes and hatchets, who drove their road straight forward, through or +over obstacles of all kinds. Nothing stopped them, and often their own +dead bodies helped to fill up the ditches and trenches; for what was the +value of their lives to the Mongols? Absolutely nothing! since they were +taken for the most part from the people whom they had conquered. + +As soon as the awful news of their advance spread through the country, +the people fled without another thought of defending their homes or +resisting the enemy, or of anything else but saving their lives and what +little property they could carry with them in their wild stampede. + +In a few days Transylvania was ablaze from end to end. Towns, villages, +farms, castles, country seats, strongholds, even the ancient walls of +Alba Julia, all were surrounded by the flames, and were crashing and +cracking into ruins. + +The invaders, stupid in their destructiveness, spared nothing whatever; +and their leaders and commanders, themselves as stupid as the brute-like +herd over whom they were placed, occasioned loss to the Khan which was +past all reckoning, for his object was plunder, and they in their rage +for ruin, destroyed what the Khan might even have called treasure, as +well as what might have provided food for hundreds of thousands of the +army. What did the Khan Oktai, or Batu, or his thousands of leaders +care! The latter were Little Tartars, Russian Tartars, German Tartars, +and what not, to whom the conqueror had given the rank and title of +Knéz, whom he favoured, promoted, and enriched, until his humour +changed, or he had no further use for them, and then--why then he +squeezed them, made them disgorge their wealth, and strung them up to +the nearest tree. They were but miserable foreigners after all! + +Transylvania was in the clutches of the enemy, who had entered her in +two large divisions, north and south. But, thanks to the nature of the +country, and the many hiding-places it afforded, she did not suffer +quite so severely as her neighbour. + +Orsolya Szirmay, of whom the travellers had heard at Frata, had married +one Bankó, a man of large property and influence, who owned vast estates +both in Hungary and Transylvania; but Orsolya did not see much of her +own relatives after her marriage, for her husband was a man of awkward +temper, and they rarely paid her a visit; so that when, four or five +years before the Mongol invasion, Bankó died, she went to live on the +Transylvanian property, which was in a most neglected condition, and +required her presence. Bankó had lived to be ninety-three, and his widow +was now an old lady with snow-white hair, but with all her faculties and +energies about her, and eyes as bright, hair as lustrous, as those of a +young girl. + +She had made her home in a gloomy castle among the mountains, but at the +first rumour of the coming invasion, she left it for Frata, where she +had an old house, or rather barn, which had been divided up into rooms, +and was neither better nor worse than many another dwelling-house in +those days. + +During her short stay here, the old lady was constantly riding about the +country accompanied by her elderly man-servant, and a young girl, who +had but lately joined her, and was introduced as "a relation from +Hungary." + +One morning early all three disappeared without notice to anyone, and it +was only later that it was rumoured that "Aunt Orsolya," as she was +called throughout the country, had taken refuge in a large cavern among +the mountains to the north of Frata. + +It afforded plenty of space, it was difficult of approach, and it had +but one, and that a very narrow entrance; the streams which now flow +through it not having then forced a passage. + +How Aunt Orsolya had contrived to stock it with food and other +necessaries we are not told, but she had done it; neither did she lack +society in this lonely abode after the first week or two, for she was +joined in some mysterious way by between seventy and eighty persons +belonging to the most distinguished families in the land. + +She, of course, was the head, the queen of this strange establishment, +for those who fled hither to save their lives, and, as far as they +could, their most precious valuables, found the old lady already +installed. + +She received them, she was their hostess; and besides all this, she was +a born ruler, one to whom others submitted, unconsciously as it were, +and who compelled respect and deference. + +Orsolya, then, had taken the part of house-mistress from the beginning, +and no doubt enjoyed receiving more and more guests, and enjoyed also +the consciousness that they all looked up to her, and were all ready to +submit themselves to her wishes--we might say commands. + +The old lady herself appointed to each one his place, in one or other of +the many roomy caves which opened out of the great cavern, and she +managed to find something for everyone to do. + +In a short time the cavern was as clean as hands could make it. The +driest parts were reserved for sleeping places; and one cave was set +apart as a chapel, where service was regularly held by the clergy, of +whom there were several among the refugees. + +When the neighbourhood was quiet, the men went out hunting, +and--stealing! Stealing! there is no polite word for it. They stole +sheep, cattle, provisions anything they needed for housekeeping. Those +who came in empty-handed Orsolya scolded in plain language; and the men +who swept and cleaned at her bidding, and the women who boiled and +baked, gradually became as much accustomed to the old lady's resolute +way of keeping house and order as if they had served under her all their +lives. + +It was some time in March that Aunt Orsolya had retreated to the cavern, +and there she and her companions had remained all through the spring, +summer, and autumn, often alarmed, but never actually molested, hearing +rumours in plenty, but knowing little beyond the fact that the whole +country was in the hands of the Mongols, and that the King was a +fugitive. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +AUNT ORSOLYA'S CAVERN. + + +Three fires were burning in different parts of the cavern, and round +each was encamped quite a little army of women and children. + +Of the men, some were lying outstretched on wild-beast skins, others +were pacing up and down the great vaulted hall, and yet others were busy +skinning the game shot during the day. Quite respectable butchers they +were, these grandees, who had been used no long time ago to appear +before the world with the most splendid of panther-skins slung elegantly +over their shoulders. + +Some of the women were filling their wooden vessels at the springs which +trickled out from under the wall of rock; and as they watched the water +sparkling in the fire-light they chattered to one another in the most +animated way, or told fairy tales and repeated poetry for the general +entertainment. + +In her own quarters, in the centre of the cavern, close under the wall, +Orsolya was seated in a chair of rough pine branches, beneath a canopy +of mats, which protected her from the continual droppings of the rock. + +Her face was covered with a perfect network of lines and wrinkles, but +her dark eyes shone like live coals. Her beautiful silver hair was +nearly hidden beneath a kerchief which had seen better days, and her +dress, a plain, old-fashioned national costume, was neat and clean in +spite of its age. She had a large spinning-wheel before her, and on a +low stool by her side, sat a young girl, also employed with a spindle. + +It was evident that this latter, a pale, slim creature with black eyes, +was no Magyar. Her features were of a foreign cast, her hands were small +and delicate, and the charm and grace of her every movement were +suggestive rather of nature than of courts. + +But the beautiful face looked troubled, as if its owner were haunted by +the memory of some overwhelming calamity. + +Evidently this young relation of hers was the light of the old lady's +eyes, for her features lost their stern, rather masculine expression, +and her whole face softened whenever she looked at her. + +Some of the men interrupted their walk from time to time to loiter near +the fires, or talk to the sportsmen as they came in, or drew near to +Orsolya, as subjects approach a sovereign; and Orsolya talked composedly +with each one, too well accustomed to deference and homage even to +notice them. + +"Dear child," said the old lady, as soon as they were left to +themselves again, "how many spindles does this make? I'll tell you what, +if you spin enough we will put the yarn on a loom and weave it into +shirting." + +The girl raised her beautiful eyes to the old lady's face, saying in +good Magyar, though with a somewhat peculiar accent, "I think Mr. Bokor +might set up the loom now, dear mother; I have such a number ready." + +"I only hope we shall be able to make it do, my child," said Orsolya, +leaning towards the girl, and stroking the raven hair which floated over +her shoulders. "Good man!" she went on, smiling, "not but that he can be +as obstinate as anyone now and then! and he has made the shuttle the +size of a boat!" + +The girl laughed a little as she answered, "We will help him, good +mother," and she drew the old lady's hand to her lips, and kissed it as +if she could not let it go. + +"Yes," she went on slowly, "necessity is a great teacher; it teaches one +all things, except how to forget!" + +"Oh, my dear, and who would wish it to teach one that! There are some +things which we cannot, and ought not to forget, and it is best so, yes, +best, even when the past has been a sad one." + +She stroked and caressed the girl in silence for a few moments, and then +went on, "But you know, dear child, that life on this sad earth is not +everything. God is good, oh, so good! Why did He create all that we +see? Only because He is good. He, the Almighty, what need had He of any +created thing? It is true that life brings us much pain and anguish at +times, but then this is but the beginning of our real life. There is +another, beyond the blue sky, beyond the stars, which you can no more +realise now than a blind man can realise a view, or a deaf man beautiful +music. We shall find there all that we have loved and lost here. God +does not bring people together and make them love and care for one +another only that death may separate them at last." + +"No, don't forget anything, dearest child," Orsolya went on, with +infinite love in her tone, as the girl laid her head in her old friend's +lap. "Keep all whom you have loved, and honoured, and lost, warm in your +heart." + +"They are always there, dear mother, always before me! I see their dear, +dear faces every moment!--oh! why must I outlive them?" + +"That you may make others happy, dear child; perhaps, even that you may +be a comfort and joy to me in my old age." + +Mária threw her arms round the old lady and embraced her warmly. + +"Dear, dear mother! how good you are to me! Don't think me ungrateful +for what the good God has given me in place of those whom I have lost. +Yes, I wish to live, and I will live, if God wills, to thank you for +your love, and to love you for a long time. But if you see me sad +sometimes, don't forget, good mother, how much I have lost! and--I am +afraid, I am afraid! I have only one left to lose besides you, dear +mother, and if--if--I don't know how I could go on living then----" + +Just then two or three men appeared in the passage leading up from the +mouth of the cave, and Mária went back to her stool. + +Night had fallen, the men had been engaged in making all safe as usual +by barricading the entrance with large pieces of rock, but they had +suddenly left their work and were hurrying up to the cavern. + +"Someone is coming, Mária! or--but no, we won't think any evil, God is +here with us!" + +"Mistress Aunt!" said the first of the men, bowing low, "we have brought +you a visitor, a great man, Canon Roger, who has but lately escaped from +the Mongols, and there are three others, strangers, with him. Leonard +here found them all nearly exhausted and not knowing which way to turn." + +"Well done, nephew! I'm glad you found them," said Orsolya, "theeing and +thouing" him, as she did everyone belonging to her little community. +"Roger--Roger," she went on, "I seem to remember the name--why, of +course, Italian, isn't he? and lived with my nephew Stephen at one +time?" + +"Bring them in! bring them in!" she cried eagerly; and in a few moments +Father Roger and his companions appeared before the "lady of the +castle." + +"Glory be to Jesus!" said, or rather stammered, the Canon; and "For ever +and ever!" responded Orsolya, who had risen to receive him; and for a +moment her voice failed her, so shocked was she at the change in the +fine, vigorous-looking man whom she remembered. + +Attenuated to the last degree, bent almost double, he looked as if he +were in the last stage of exhaustion. His clothes were one mass of rags +and tatters, which hung about him in ribbons; his face, sunken and the +colour of parchment, had lost its expression of energy and manliness, +and wore for the moment a look of bewilderment, which was almost +vacancy. He was the wreck of what he had once been. + +His servant, the one whom he mentions in his "Lamentable Song," Orsolya +took to be quite an old man. Withered and worn like his master, he was, +if possible, even more dilapidated, thanks to his encounter with the +wolves. + +"You have come a long way and suffered much, Father," said Orsolya +gently, when she had welcomed Dora and Talabor, and regained her +composure. + +"Much lady, much--I--I----" + +"Ah, well, never mind! so long as you are here at last, Father Roger, +never mind! It is a long, long time since we met last! Do you remember? +My husband was alive then, and we were staying in Pressburg with my +nephew, Stephen Szirmay, and with the Hédervárys." + +"I remember well, dear lady; ah! how little we any of us dreamt of the +days that were coming!" + +He spoke falteringly, in a faint voice; and as he sat bowed together on +the low seat, Orsolya noticed that he trembled in every limb. + +The rumour of his arrival had quickly spread, and the inhabitants of the +cavern all came flocking round, eager to see and hear. In their +bright-coloured, though more or less worn garments, with the fire-light +playing upon them, and a whole troop of eager children among them, they +were a most picturesque company. But Orsolya allowed no time for +questions. + +"Come," said she, rising from her chair, "that will do for the present! +Father Roger is worn out! Will you ladies go and get St. Anna's house +ready, and make up good beds; and you, kinsmen," she went on, turning to +the men, "will you see about clothes and clean linen? I am afraid we +have nothing but old rags, but at least they are not quite so worn as +those our friends are wearing, and they are a trifle cleaner! I shall +put the good Canon especially in your charge, Márton; you will look +after him and see that he wants for nothing." + +"Thank you, lady," stammered Roger, almost overwhelmed by the warmth of +his reception. "Blessings be upon your honoured head, and upon all who +dwell beneath this roof." + +All present bowed their heads almost involuntarily, whereupon Roger +summoned all his remaining strength, and reaching forth his withered +hands, pronounced the benediction over them; after which the children +made a rush forward to seize and kiss his hands. + +"No, I won't hear anything now, Father Roger," said the old lady after a +pause, for her new guests belonged to the family now, she considered, +and were to be "thee'd and thou'd" and managed like the rest. "You must +not say another word; you must eat and drink and get thoroughly rested, +and then, to-morrow perhaps, or in a day or two, when you have said +prayers in the chapel (we have one!) and the day's work is done, we will +all sit round the fire, and you shall tell us all you know and all you +have seen." + +Aunt Orsolya's subjects were well drilled, and though they were burning +with eagerness and anxiety, those who had begun to besiege the other +wanderers with inquiries at once refrained. + +Preceded by a couple of torch-bearers, Father Roger was led carefully +away to one of the side caves, all of which had their names; Dora was +taken in charge by some of the ladies; Talabor and the Canon's servant +were equally well looked after, and that night they all once more ate +the "home-made bread," which they had so long been without. That it was +made with a considerable admixture of tree-bark mattered little, perhaps +they hardly noticed the fact. It was simply delicious! + +And the beds! As Dora sank down on hers, it seemed to her that she had +never known real comfort before. + +At last the excitement of the evening had subsided; the Queen's subjects +had all reassembled about the fires, speculating much as to what the +new-comers would have to tell them; and presently Aunt Orsolya began her +nightly rounds, visiting all in turn, and stopping to have a little +kindly chat with each group. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +FATHER ROGER'S STORY. + + +A day or two passed, and the good Father Roger began to recover a little +of his strength, if not much of his cheerfulness. He was naturally a +robust man, and he was, besides, inured to hardship and suffering; there +was nothing actually amiss with him but extreme fatigue and want of +food, so that after a few quiet nights and days he began to feel more +like himself, and able to give some account of all that had happened +since Aunt Orsolya and the rest had betaken themselves to the cavern. + +The men, of course, had some of them been going out more or less all the +time, hunting, or--as we have said, stealing, but the accounts they had +brought back had been not only imperfect, but often so contradictory +that it was hard for the refugees to form any clear idea of what had +really been going on, and, naturally enough, they were intensely eager +to hear. + +No one was more eager than Aunt Orsolya, and it cost her no small effort +to repress her curiosity, or rather anxiety; but she did it, and not +only forbore to question Roger herself, but strictly forbade everyone +else to do so also. + +But as soon as she saw that the Canon was able to walk about a little, +that his appetite was good, and that he was gradually regaining his +usual calm, she reminded him of his promise; and one evening they all +gathered round him in the firelight to hear the story which he +afterwards wrote in Latin verse, and to which he gave the title of +"Carmen miserabile," or "Lamentable Song." + + + +Roger began his narration by telling of the battle of Mohi and the +King's escape to Thurócz; and Orsolya heard with pride how Stephen, +Peter, and Akos Szirmay had shared his flight, how Stephen had fallen by +the way, and how Master Peter had survived all the perils and dangers by +which they were beset, and how Akos, too, had not only survived the Kun +massacre, but was safe and sound when last the Canon had heard of him, +and had distinguished himself by many an act of bravery and devotion; +and the old lady's eyes grew very bright as she listened, and she put +out her hand to stroke that of the pale, slim girl who sat beside her, +eagerly drinking in every word. Father Roger's information came from the +captives brought in at different times, and stopped short, so far as the +King and his followers were concerned, at the time when they had taken +refuge in the island of Bua, and Kajdán had found himself baffled in his +pursuit. To indemnify himself for the loss of his prey, he had plundered +Dalmatia, Croatia, and Bosnia, had vainly stormed Ragusa, and had set +fire to Cattaro. The last Father Roger knew of him was that he had +turned east and was expected to join Batu in Moldavia, by way of +Albania, Servia, and Bulgaria. + +The name of Kajdán was not unknown to the refugees, for it was he who +had led the Mongol horde which had poured into Transylvania from the +north-east; it was he, or rather probably only his vanguard, who had +been defeated by the men of Radna; it was he who had suddenly attacked +them in force on March 31st, when they were gaily celebrating their +victory; it was he who had consented to leave their town and mines +uninjured on the condition that Ariskald, their Count, should act as his +guide. It was he, as Father Roger knew too well, who had crossed into +Hungary and joined Batu in reducing it to a desert; for his own +cathedral city, Grosswardein (Nagyvárad) was one of the many places +which Kajdán had captured. + +"And about yourself, Father Roger?" asked Orsolya. "Tell us about +yourself, where you were taken, and how you escaped with your life." + +"I had fled from Nagyvárad before Kajdán reached it, and was a fugitive, +hiding in the woods, living on roots and herbs and wild fruits until the +autumn, and then--I was deceived as others were!" + +Father Roger went on to explain that Batu, by way of keeping those of +the inhabitants who had not yet fled, and of luring back some who had, +in order that the harvest might be secured, had issued a proclamation in +the King's name. + +"But how?" interrupted Orsolya. "You were deceived! Can he write our +tongue? Besides, the King's proclamations have the King's seal." + +"And so had this! They--they got hold of it." + +"And knew what it was?" persisted Aunt Orsolya incredulously. + +Reluctantly Father Roger had to admit that they had been enlightened by +a Hungarian. + +"A Magyar!" burst from his audience in various tones of horror and +indignation. + +"There were not many like him, I am sure there were not many--perhaps we +don't know everything. He saved my life; I don't like to think too ill +of him--it was a time of awful trial--ah! if you had seen how some were +tortured! It was enough to try the courage of the stoutest heart, and he +was not naturally a brave man. And yet I could not have believed it of +him! I can't believe it! There must have been some mistake, surely!" + +"You had known him before, the traitor!" cried Aunt Orsolya. + +"Yes," said Father Roger sadly, "I had known him. He had joined the +Mongols before the battle of Mohi, partly because he was poor, or rather +because he was afraid of being poor, and partly because he was +frightened. He had been useful to the Mongols on many occasions; and he +had grown rich and prosperous among them. No one of the chiefs outdid +him in splendour, in the number of his servants, or of his beautiful +horses. He, too, had been made a chief, a Knéz, as they called it. Well, +Nicholas the Chancellor was among the many who fell at Mohi, and a +Mongol, who was plundering the dead, found upon him the King's seal. +This chanced to come to--to this man's ears, and he thought it might be +useful; it was easy for him to get possession of it, for it was not +valuable, being only of steel. He gave the Mongol a stolen sheep in +exchange, and the man thought himself well paid. I don't suppose he had +any thought then of putting his prize to any ill use; but he was one of +those who never missed an opportunity, and generally managed to secure +for himself the lion's share of any booty. However it was, he had the +seal, and now----" + +Father Roger paused, perhaps from weariness; perhaps because it was +never his way to speak evil of any if it could be avoided. + +"Don't let us judge him," he went on. "The poor wretch had seen enough +to terrify a bolder man than he. He went to the Khan and advised him +what to do, and Batu gave him a valuable Tartar sword, and a splendid +horse in return." + +Father Roger explained that among the prisoners there were many monks +and others able to write, and that some of these were "compelled" by +Batu to draw up and make copies of a proclamation in the King's name. +Every copy was sealed with the King's seal, and they were distributed +broadcast over the country. He had seen more than one copy himself, and +more than once he had been called upon to read it to those who were +unable to read for themselves. + +This was how the proclamation ran: "Fear not the savage fury of the +dogs! and do not dare to fly from your homes. We were somewhat over +hasty indeed in abandoning the camp and our tents, but by the mercy of +God we hope to renew the war valiantly before long, and to regain all +that we have lost. Pray diligently therefore to the all-merciful God +that He may grant us the heads of our enemies." + +There was nothing of the Mongol about this, and any lingering doubts +were, dispelled by the sight of the King's seal. The result was what the +Mongols hoped for. In places which had not yet been harried and ravaged +the population remained, while many refugees returned to their farms. + +"But the traitor!" interrupted Orsolya, "what of him? Where is he? If +there is such a thing as justice----" + +"He was made one of the hundred chief magistrates," said Father Roger +quietly, "and one day when he was in Nagyvárad, after my return, he +recognised me and offered to take me into his service. He could protect +me better, he said." + +"But his name! Who is he? One ought to know who are traitors! Where had +you known him before?" persisted Orsolya. + +"At Master Stephen Szirmay's! He was one of his pages. His name was +Libor." + +Dora and Talabor both uttered an exclamation. + +"He lived with my nephew Stephen! and he could turn traitor!" cried Aunt +Orsolya in horror. + +"Yes, dear lady, he was not the only Magyar to do so! But there were not +many, no! indeed there were not many." + +"And why couldn't they have died, every one of them!" cried Orsolya, +impetuously. + +"Ah! who knows?" said Father Roger gently. "Who knows? But he did not +think matters would go as far as they did; no, I am sure he did not!" + +It was not in Father Roger's nature to think the worst of any, still +less of one to whom he owed his life, and he knew nothing of the attack +on Master Peter's house or of the despicable part which Libor had played +with regard to Dora, or he would have spoken less leniently. + +Libor had "climbed the cucumber-tree" to some purpose; and this last +service rendered to the Khan had won for him the praise of Batu and all +the chiefs, who called him one of themselves. He had reached the +pinnacle of greatness, his fortune was made. + +The Hungarian prisoners came to him for his advice and assistance, and +Libor always received them with the kindly condescension of a great +man, and was always ready with fair words and empty assurances to allay +their fears. + +Late in the autumn, and without any previous intimation to anyone, came +an order to Libor and all the other chief magistrates that they were to +assemble on a certain day at various appointed spots, each at the head +of the entire population for which he was responsible. They were to come +with their old and with their young, and they were to be provided with +presents for the Khan. + +It was a gloomy day, and the storm-clouds were chasing one another +across the sky, as if they, too, were going to hold a rendezvous +somewhere, to consult perhaps how many thunderbolts would be required to +reduce the country to a heap of ruins. + +Batu Khan's tent was pitched in the centre of a vast plain, and round it +were gathered a large number of Mongols, some mounted, some on foot. In +the background, making a terrific noise, were a swarm of filthy Mongol +children, who were lying about under a group of tall trees. + +The mud huts and numberless tents of the Mongol camp formed an extended +semicircle at some little distance, and within this were drawn up a +number of Mongol horsemen, quite unconcerned apparently at the blackness +of the sky and the distant muttering of the thunder. + +Batu Khan was seated on a camp-stool brilliantly attired as if for some +great ceremony. Around him stood more than thirty chiefs, armed from +head to foot, and among them was Libor, who had surpassed himself in the +magnificence of the apparel which he had assumed in honour of the day's +festivity. + +He stood on the Khan's right hand, and more than once had the honour of +being addressed by that personage; behind him, as behind the other +chiefs, stood a swarm of servants, their ears--if they were still lucky +enough to possess such appendages--ever attentive to catch the commands +of their masters. Father Roger had been present in Libor's retinue on +this occasion, a slave among slaves. + +Presently the wild Mongolian "band" struck up. Its members were a motley +crew, stationed before the Khan's tent, and their songs were of the most +ear-splitting variety, accompanied too by the dull roll of drums and the +screeching of pipes and horns, the whole performance being such as to +baffle description, and to be compared only with the choicest of cats' +concerts. + +The "music" seemed to be intended as a welcome to a white-flagged +procession which now appeared in the distance, advancing towards the +Khan, every member heavily laden. It consisted in fact of the whole +population of some two hundred villages and hamlets, from the district +of which Libor was chief magistrate. + +Meanwhile, Father Roger had brought round Libor's horse, magnificently +caparisoned, and at the first burst of music, the Knéz mounted and +galloped off, followed, in obedience to his haughty signal, by a couple +of armed Mongols, the Mongol chiefs meanwhile looking on with envious +eyes. They were not too well pleased with the Tartar-Magyar's rise to +favour. + +Libor galloped across the plain to meet the new-comers, who bowed down +before him as if he had been a god, and then rising again at his +command, followed him to the camp, where he drew them up in a long line; +after which he hurried back to the Khan, dismounted, and announced that +his people had brought him such gifts as they could, and only awaited +his orders. + +The Khan's wide mouth grew wider still as he smiled from ear to ear, and +showed two perfect rows of sharp-pointed teeth; but the smile was like +that of an ogre, and such as might have made some people rather uneasy, +though not, of course, anyone who was such a favourite and in such an +exalted position as Libor. + +"That's well," said the Khan; and then, turning from him, he muttered +something to the other chiefs which escaped Libor's ears or +comprehension, though he had done his best to acquire the miserable +language spoken by his master. + +The next moment a large detachment of Mongols had stepped forth from +behind the tents, and moving forward swiftly, but in perfect silence, +had advanced towards the rear of the Hungarians. Others at the same time +came from behind the Khan's tent, and in a few seconds the white flags +were hemmed in before and behind. + +Libor, who had looked upon the whole ceremony as merely one of the usual +devices for squeezing the unfortunate people, was plainly startled, nay +terrified, by this sudden movement, and his astonishment and +discomfiture did not escape the sharp eyes of Batu. + +"These proceedings are not quite to your taste, eh, Knéz?" said he, with +a tigerish grin. + +And the wretched Libor, bowing almost to the earth, made hurried answer, +"How could I possibly take amiss anything that his Highness the Khan, my +lord and master, may choose to do?" + +"I thought as much, my faithful Knéz! Make haste then, and see that all +that these folk have brought is taken from them, and then--have them all +cut down together!" + +Libor turned pale as death, but he knew his master; he knew that the +slightest remonstrance, the slightest demur even, would be at the risk +of his life. He bowed more deeply than before, and staggered away to +give the signal for the plunder and massacre of his own people. + +The wind had suddenly risen to a hurricane, and was filling the air with +dust; the thunder pealed; but above the howling of the one and the +roaring of the other, there rose one long, long cry, and then all was +still. + +Libor returned, trembling, shaking, to the Khan, the gracious Khan, +whose favourite he was, who had honoured him to such an extent as to +provoke the jealousy of the Mongol chiefs; who had enriched him, and had +distinguished him above all the rest. He had faithfully obeyed the +Khan's orders, though, with a bleeding heart; and now, holding as he did +the first place among those who formed Batu's retinue, he was secure as +to his own miserable life, for who would dare to lift hand against him? + +The Khan received him on his return with the same enigmatical smile, +which seemed just now to be stereotyped on his lips. + +When the dust-storm was past, a terrible spectacle presented itself. +Thousands of corpses lay upon the ground; and among the men, who were +quite worn out by their murderous work, were to be seen Mongol women and +children, seated upon the bodies of their victims, their hands stained +with blood. + +"A few thousand bread eaters the less!" exclaimed Batu, in high good +humour, "and if my orders are as well carried out in other parts of the +country as they have been by you, Libor, my faithful Knéz, there won't +be many left to share the rich harvest and vintage with us." + +Libor said nothing, for his lips were twitching and quivering +convulsively. + +"By the way, Libor," the Khan went on pleasantly, "it has just struck +me, what present have you yourself brought, my faithful servant?" + +"All that I possess belongs to your Highness, mighty Khan," said Libor, +trembling. + +"Excellent man!" replied Batu, and turning to one of the chiefs standing +by, he addressed him in particular, saying gently, "See now, and take +example by this excellent man, who has made me a present of all that he +has!" + +The chief to whom these words were spoken cast a furious glance at the +favourite. + +"All you possess is mine, eh, Libor?" Batu went on, "all, even your +life, isn't it?" + +Libor bowed. + +"Oh, how faithful he is!" exclaimed the Khan, addressing the same chief +as before, and speaking in the same good-natured tone. "I know the +loyalty of this trusty Knéz of ours is a thorn in your eyes! and I know +that there are some of you daring enough even to have doubts of his +splendid fidelity and obedience! Wretches, take example by Libor the +Knéz!" + +So saying, the Khan rose from his seat, and cried in a loud, shrill +voice, "Take this devoted servant and hang him on the tree yonder +opposite my tent!" + +If a thunder-bolt had fallen at his feet Libor could not have been more +terror-stricken. He threw himself on his face before the Khan, but his +voice was strangled in his throat, and he could not utter a word; all +that he was able to do was to wring his hands, and raise them +imploringly towards his awful master. + +And the Khan--burst into a loud fit of laughter! + +Another moment and Libor the favourite, the envied--whom the other +chiefs were ready enough to speed upon his way--Libor was hanging to a +lofty willow-tree and tossing to and fro in the stormy wind. + +Batu Khan presented one of Libor's horses--a lame one--to Bajdár; and +the rest of the ex-favourite's very considerable property he kept for +himself. + +(Bajdár, it may be remembered, though, of course, neither Father Roger +nor Talabor were aware of the fact, had been of the party which had +attacked Master Peter's house, and we may readily guess how he had +earned this handsome reward.) + +Orsolya gave a sigh of satisfaction as Father Roger finished his story. + +"There is one traitor less in the world," said she, "and he might think +himself lucky that he was only hanged! It was an easy death compared +with many!" + +And she said the same thing, yet more emphatically, when she heard from +Dora and Talabor of their experiences at the hands of the +Magyar-Tartar-Knéz. + +Gentle Father Roger sighed too, but without any satisfaction, as he +thought of the youth, with whom he had lived under the same roof, and to +whom, as he was fond of insisting, he and his servant owed their lives. + +But when he heard all that Talabor could tell him, he was as indignant +as even Orsolya could have wished; for he understood Master Peter, and +saw at once what had puzzled so many, the reason why he had left Dora at +home instead of sending her to the Queen, out of harm's way. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +LIKE THE PHOENIX. + + +It seemed too good to be true! But it was a fact that the Mongols were +really gone--gone as they had come, like one of the plagues of Egypt, +for there "remained not one" in all Hungary. + +As soon as King Béla knew that the unexpected had come to pass, and that +the land was clear of the enemy, he hastened home. But what a home he +found! It had been one of the fairest and richest in Europe; and now he +rode for whole days without seeing so much as a single human being, and +his followers had to do battle with the wild beasts, which had +multiplied to an alarming degree. Go which way he would, he found the +land uncultivated and overgrown with thorns and weeds; and when he did +come across an inhabited district, the men he encountered were not men, +but spectres. The many unburied corpses, together with the sometimes +altogether indescribable kinds of food upon which the people had had to +subsist, had produced pestilence of divers kinds, which carried off +many of those who had escaped the Mongols. + +It was only a year or so since the first irruption of the Mongols, but +the land was a chaos. + +How the King laboured with might and main to restore the "years which +the locust had eaten," and how he succeeded are matters which belong to +history. + +Very gradually and cautiously the people ventured forth from the dens in +which they had concealed themselves. At first they came only one or two +at a time, to reconnoitre; but when they were convinced that the enemy +had utterly withdrawn himself, the joyful news was quickly conveyed to +those who were still in hiding, and they flocked back to the ruined +towns and villages, which began at once to rise from their ashes. + +One by one the bells pealed forth again from the church-towers, and +many, many a cross was put up in the graveyards to the memory of those +who returned no more; not only of those known to be dead, but of those +who had simply disappeared, no one could say how, but whose bodies were +never found, and who might therefore have been carried away to a living +death as slaves. Few indeed of the captives were ever seen again. Many a +hamlet and small village of the plains had been wiped out as completely +as if it had never existed, and some of these were never rebuilt, though +their names live in the neighbourhood to the present day. + +Many a young man who had been but a "poor relation" before the flood, +now found himself the heir to large estates and great wealth. + +Once more the plough was to be seen at work among the furrows, drawn now +by an ox, now by a horse, and not infrequently by the farmer himself, +the old owner or the new. Where there had been ten inhabitants there was +now one; but that one seemed to have inherited all the energy, vigour, +and hopefulness of the other nine, so fiercely he worked. + +Buried treasures were dug up again, though often not by those who had +buried them; many remained undiscovered for centuries; many have not +been found to this day. + +The wolves still roamed the plains as if the world belonged to them; +they would even enter the scantily populated villages and carry off +infants from the cradle, and from the very arms of their mothers. Clouds +of ravens and crows still hovered over the countless bodies of those who +had fallen victims to the Mongols or to starvation, exposure, disease. +Both birds and beasts disputed the possession of the land with its +returning inhabitants. + +Of the forty members of the Szirmay family there now remained but four +male representatives: Master Peter, his nephew Akos, and two others +whose names have not come down to us; and all four of these were now +wealthy landed proprietors. + +Dora had been unable to communicate with her father; Gabriel had never +reached him; and when at length Master Peter was able to re-visit his +faraway castle, he did so not knowing whether his daughter were alive or +dead. He found the whole place in ruins; for Dora had been only too +right in her conjectures. The Mongols had paid it another visit not long +after her departure; and, finding the house deserted and empty, had +vented their rage upon it in such a way that nothing remained to receive +their owner but the bare walls. + +Among the ruins, however, he discovered old Moses, Jakó, and a servant +or two, all in a famishing condition. From them he learnt how Dora had +left the house only just in time to escape the second attack; but as to +what had befallen her since, they could, of course, tell him nothing. +She had intended to join him in Dalmatia, and she had never arrived +there. So much only was certain, and when he thought of the perils she +must have encountered, and the awful sights he had himself seen by the +way, his heart sank within him. And, worst of all, there was nothing to +be done, nothing! but to wait, wait, wait, in a state of constant +anxiety as to what he might any day hear. + +But supposing that she should have been preserved through all, and were +only waiting till she heard news of him, or perhaps until she were able +to travel! She would certainly hear in time, wherever she might be, of +the King's return--she would go to him for news of her father--she +would hear that he was alive, and she would come back to the old home to +find him; so there he must stay! + +Master Peter was sufficiently practical to reflect that if his daughter +appeared one day without warning, he would want a roof to shelter her, +and to work he set making preparations accordingly, though with a heavy +heart. + +Yet the work did him good. It cheered him to see the labourers repairing +the walls and roofing in what had been her own room, for sometimes it +beguiled him into thinking that Dora must certainly be coming, would be +there perhaps before the place was ready for her, and then he would urge +the workmen to greater speed. + +He was watching and superintending as usual one day, growing more and +more down-hearted as he reckoned the many weeks, the months which had +slipped past since he had left Dalmatia, when the clatter of horse-hoofs +roused him. Most people were finding enough to do at home just now, and +Master Peter was never more ready to welcome anyone--anyone who might +bring him the tidings he longed for, and yet dreaded, or at least tell +him news of some sort which would divert his thoughts for the time. + +He hurried forward to meet the visitor as he clattered into the +courtyard, and--did his eyes deceive him? or was it indeed his old page +who was bowing before him? + +Talabor the page! Talabor! Any old face was welcome, but--suddenly he +remembered! Talabor had left the castle with Dora, he had come back +without her! + +Master Peter could do nothing but look at the young man, for his lips +refused to utter a word; and he put up his hand with an imploring +gesture, as one who would ward off an expected blow. + +What was it Talabor was saying? That she was alive, safe, well! Dora was +alive and well! Then--where was she? and why was she not with him? + +It was a minute or two before he could take it in; for, his tongue once +loosed, he poured forth his questions so fast that Talabor had no chance +of replying to them. But, when at last he did understand that Dora was +with "Aunt Orsolya," that she had wanted to set out with Talabor as soon +as ever the roads were considered safe, that in fact she had begged and +prayed her hostess to let her go, but that the old lady would not hear +of her doing so, and had insisted on sending Talabor first--why then, +with a good-humoured "Just like Aunt Orsolya!" Master Peter hastily +decided that Talabor must set out with him again that very day, and take +him to her. + +Horse tired? what did that matter? Thank Heaven, he had a horse or two +still in the stable! and catching sight of Moses, he shouted the good +news and his orders together. + +Talabor had hidden the furniture, the plate? Very well, very well! so +much the better, but they could wait! Later on no doubt he would be +properly grateful, but what would he have cared for a gold mine just +now? He had no thought for anything but how to reach Dora at the +earliest possible moment, bring her home, and never let her out of his +sight again whatever might betide. + +Orsolya had remained in the cavern until all apprehension of the return +of the Mongols was over; and then she had betaken herself to the "barn" +in Frata, with quite a regiment of poor, homeless folk, whom she +supported as best she could. There Master Peter found her and Dora; and +there, too, he met his nephew Akos, and heard from him how he had +escaped with Mária from the Kun massacre, and heard from Dora how she +had become quite attached to his bride, and no longer wondered at her +cousin's choice. + +There is little more to say. But two or three months later, when Master +Peter and his daughter had not only been restored to one another, but +were once more at home, when the castle had been rebuilt, the hidden +treasures found uninjured and brought back to the light of day, when +Dora had recovered the effects of her terrible journey and was beginning +sometimes to feel as if its horrors were a dream--she received an offer +of marriage from the haughty Paul Héderváry, who had lost his wife in +Dalmatia, and was now willing enough to conform to ancient usage and +bestow himself upon her cousin, "his first love," as he was pleased to +call her, the only child of the now wealthy Master Peter, and the +heiress of his large estates. + +It was very magnanimous of him, he felt, and he expected Dora and her +father to see the matter in the same light, and to show their +appreciation of the honour he was doing them. Great therefore was his +astonishment, when he received, not the willing assent he expected, but +"a basket," or in other words a refusal, courteously worded, but +unmistakably decided. + +He was even more than astonished, he was annoyed, mortified, for +"secrets" of this kind were sure to leak out, even though the parties +concerned held their tongues. There would certainly be some kind friend +to spread abroad the news, that Paul Héderváry had been refused! + +Little as he cared for Paul, Master Peter was gratified by the proposal, +if only because it would set Dora right in the eyes of the world. +Possibly he would have been pleased to see her the great man's wife, in +spite of all that had come and gone, but if so, he cared for her too +much to press his views, and when Dora herself asked his consent to her +marriage with Talabor, he was not the man to say her nay! How could he, +when but for Talabor he would have had no daughter, whether to give or +to keep? And now he would give and keep too, for she could and must +always live with him, and this reflection consoled him for any regret he +might have felt at not having a more notable son-in-law, with a +family-castle and estates of his own. + +A few words as to Akos, or rather his wife, Aunt Orsolya's ward, Mária, +who had shared her retreat in the cave. Who she was, was never exactly +known to the world in general. In Hungary she was always said to be a +Transylvanian relation of the Szirmays, while in Transylvania she passed +for a Hungarian member of the same family. But how she came to be placed +in Aunt Orsolya's charge was a secret never divulged. One thing struck +people as strange, and it was this: Akos had been well known as a friend +of the Kunok, so that, if the Kun King had confided to him the place +where he had hidden his treasure, that was nothing remarkable; nor was +anyone astonished to hear that Akos had unearthed it and delivered it up +to the King, or that the latter had made it over to the Queen. But why +should the Queen have given everything to Mária, when her own stock of +jewellery must surely have needed replenishing? + +More surprised still would people have been, had they seen the Queen +kiss the girl's still pale cheek, and heard her say, as she wished her +all happiness, "Dear child, would that instead of giving you these, I +could restore to you those who are gone! But we have all lost so many, +we have all so many, many graves to weep over!" + +Yet another circumstance attracted attention, though the fact that Akos +had championed the cause of the Kunok was supposed to account for it. +Many of these had returned to Hungary by invitation of the King, who +was anxious to re-people the country, if only to keep down the wild +animals. + +On the first anniversary of Mária's marriage a deputation from these +Kunok came to her and Akos. To him they presented a hundred arrows and +one of their famous long-bows of dog-wood, beautifully ornamented with +gold; and to her they gave a coronet of no small value. + + + +After awhile some few of the Tartar-Magyars returned from the places +where they had hidden themselves, and were re-Magyarised; but never, to +the day of their death, were they reinstated in the good graces of their +neighbours. The King, however, was more merciful than the populace. +There were so few Magyars left that he was disposed to cherish lovingly +the scanty remnants, and not only showed lasting gratitude to those who +had shared with him the time of adversity, and rewarded all who had +distinguished themselves by acts of courage or self-devotion, but he +even became blind and deaf when any were denounced as turncoats. + +Among the many who received the King's thanks for their loyalty, Talabor +was not overlooked. How he had repulsed the Mongol attack upon Master +Peter's castle, how loyal and devoted he had been to the Szirmay family, +and especially how he had saved Father Roger from the wolves, was all +known to the King, who gave him a considerable property, the renewal of +his patent of nobility, and the surname of Védvár, _i.e._, +castle-defender. + +Father Roger became in time Archbishop of Spalatro, and in his +"Lamentable Song" he left to future generations a full account of the +time of terror and misery through which the nation had passed. + +Hungary had learnt something from her trouble, and the next time the +Mongols thought of invading her they were promptly driven back. + +As for the treacherous Duke of Austria, he lived to see his neighbour +more firmly established on the throne than any of his predecessors had +been, and just five years after all the mischief he had done during the +Mongol invasion, he lost his life in battle with the Hungarians, or +rather with the vanguard of the army, which, by a singular nemesis, +consisted mainly of Kunok; and the three counties which had been so +unjustly obtained by him were again united to the fatherland. + + +THE END. + +_Jarrold & Sons, Limited, the Empire Press, Norwich._ + + + + _Jarrold & Sons'_ + + _Six Shilling Novels._ + + CROWN 8VO, ART LINEN, GILT ELEGANT, 6S. EACH. + + + =Carpathia Knox.= + + By CURTIS YORKE, Author of "A Romance of Modern + London," "Because of the Child," etc. + + + =Jocelyn Erroll.= + + By CURTIS YORKE, Author of "Hush," "That Little Girl," + "The Wild Ruthvens," etc. + + + =The Golden Dog.= + + (Le Chien d'Or.) By WILLIAM KIRBY, F.R.S.C. A Romance + of the Days of Louis Quinze in Quebec. + + + =St. Peter's Umbrella.= + + By KALMÁN MIKSZÁTH. With Introduction by R. NISBET + BAIN. + + + =In Tight Places.= + + By MAJOR ARTHUR GRIFFITHS, Author of "Forbidden by + Law," etc. + + + =Wayfarers All.= + + By LESLIE KEITH, Author of "'Lisbeth," "My Bonnie + Lady," etc., etc. + + + =Day of Wrath.= + + By MAURUS JÓKAI. Translated from the Hungarian by R. + NISBET BAIN. With New Photogravure Portrait. + + + =Debts of Honor.= + + By MAURUS JÓKAI, Author of "The Green Book," "Black + Diamonds," etc. + + + =Eyes Like the Sea.= + + By MAURUS JÓKAI, Author of "The Poor Plutocrats," "The + Nameless Castle," etc. + + + =Captain Satan.= + + Adventures of CYRANO DE BERGERAC. Translated from the + French of LOUIS GALLET. + + + =Anima Vilis.= + + A Tale of the Great Siberian Steppe, By MARYA + RODZIEWICZ. Translated by S. C. DE SOISSONS. + + + =The Man Who Forgot.= + + By JOHN MACKIE, Author of "The Devil's Playground," + "Sinners Twain," etc. + + + =A Woman's Burden.= + + By FERGUS HUME, Author of "The Mystery of a Hansom + Cab," "The Lone Inn," etc. + + London: JARROLD AND SONS, 10 and 11, Warwick Lane, + E.C. + + + + + JARROLD & SONS' New & Forthcoming Books. + + + _Second Edition._ + + =Old Days in Diplomacy.= By the ELDEST DAUGHTER OF SIR + EDWARD CROMWELL DISBROWE, G.C.G. En. Ex. Min. Plen. + With Preface by M. MONTGOMERY-CAMPBELL, several + photogravure Portraits, and an Autograph Letter from + Queen Charlotte. Deals with personages and events + figuring in the history of the first half of the + Nineteenth Century. First edition was subscribed for + in advance of Publication. Second edition now ready. + 10/6 nett + + + =A House of Letters.= Edited by ERNEST B. BETHAM. Being + Excerpts from the Correspondence of Charlotte + Jerningham (The Hon. Lady Bedingfield), Lady + Jerningham, Coleridge, Lamb, Southey, and others, with + Matilda Betham. + + The volume will be fully illustrated, and will contain + reproductions from portraits by Sir Joshua Reynolds, + Opie, and Sir William Ross. 10/6 nett. + + + ='Neath the Hoof of the Tartar; or, the Scourge of God.= + By BARON NICOLAS JÓSIKA--the Sir Walter Scott of + Hungary. Translated by Selina Gaye. With Photogravure + Portrait of Author, and Preface by R. Nisbet Bain. + Gives a vivid and realistic picture of a series of + great national events. A powerful love story in which + scenes of warfare figure conspicuously. A novel on + heroic lines. 6/- + + + =A Scottish Bluebell.= By ETTA BUCHANAN BENNETT. A + wholesome, romantic Novel. The heroine, sweet Marjorie + Lindsay, resides at a little seaside town in Scotland. + She discovers a family secret, and in the end + ascertains that she is the heiress of the Earl of + Lowrie. The story contains many exciting episodes at + home and abroad, and has a powerful plot. First + edition subscribed for in advance of publication. 3/6 + + + + =Satan's Courier; or, The Company Promoter.= By FLORA + HAYTER (Mrs. Northesk Wilson), Author of "Belgrade: + the White City of Death," etc. 6/- + + =BEING THE SECRET HISTORY OF EVENTS WHICH LED UP TO THE + BOER WAR.= + + "A story of supreme interest, even apart from the + light it proposes to shed upon South African affairs. + Regarded simply as a novel the book is of thrilling + power. It enthrals, it consumes."--_The Echo._ + + "An able book."--_Daily News._ + + + =The Rising of the Red Man.= A Romance of the Louis Riel + Rebellion. By JOHN MACKIE, Author of "The Man Who + Forgot," "Tales of the Trenches," "The Cannibal + Island," etc. With Six full-page Illustrations by + E. F. Skinner. 3/6 + + "Compels attention to the last line. A vigorous piece + of writing, which shows Mr. Mackie at his + best."--_Yorkshire Post._ + + "At once grips attention."--_Dundee Advertiser._ + + + =Outcasts from Choice.= A Story of Klondike. By Mr. + GUSTIN AISH. The title, although it may be held to + refer to all miners in general, has a special + reference to a distinguished professor, his wife and + her sister, who live in the miners' camp for a year. + The story is of a distinctly original type. 3/6 + + + =The Chronicles of Baba.= A Canine Teetotum. By M. + MONTGOMERY-CAMPBELL, Author of "Worth the Struggle," + "Two Lovable Imps," "My Very, Very Own," etc. The + amusing and instructive life-story of a Yorkshire + terrier. Beautifully illustrated from photographs + taken from life. 3/6 + + "A sympathetic and charmingly told story of the life + of a pet dog, which exhibits his own character and + those of his four-footed friends with a rare insight + into canine psychology."--_The Scotsman._ + + "Nothing could be more entertaining and instructive + ... a glimpse of real dog life."--_Glasgow Herald._ + + + + +Transcriber's Note: The following typographical errors present in the +original edition have been corrected. + +In Chapter III, a quotation mark was added before "but--we might find or +invent someone". + +In Chapter IV, a period was added after "the King was always glad to +welcome useful immigrants". + +In Chapter VII, a period was added after "in exterminating the common +enemy", and "Versecz" was changed to "Verecz". (Thanks to the National +Széchényi Library in Hungary for their assistance in determining the +correct spelling.) + +In Chapter IX, "perhaps Marána's betrothral was known" was changed to +"perhaps Marána's betrothal was known", and "having helped to capture +Kuthven's castle" was changed to "having helped to capture Kuthen's +castle". + +In Chapter XI, "Borká's aid" was changed to "Borka's aid", and "Jankó +the dog-keeper" was changed to "Jakó the dog-keeper". + +In Chapter XII, a quotation mark was deleted after "Must not?" + +In Chapter XIII, "all danger was believed to be over the night" was +changed to "all danger was believed to be over for the night". + +In Chapter XVI, "in such numbers that great part of the country was +re-populated" was changed to "in such numbers that a great part of the +country was re-populated", and "and few but stragglers" was changed to +"and but few stragglers". + +In Chapter XIX, a quotation mark was deleted before "If a thunder-bolt". + +In Chapter XX, "whieh carried off many of those" was changed to "which +carried off many of those", "After awhile some few of the Tartar-Maygars +returned" was changed to "After awhile some few of the Tartar-Magyars +returned", and the footer "Jarrold & Sons, Limited, the Empire Press, +Norwich," at the bottom of the last page was changed to "Jarrold & Sons, +Limited, the Empire Press, Norwich." + +The advertisement for Jarrold & Sons' Six Shilling Novels was moved from +the front of the book to the back. + +In the list of New and Forthcoming Books, "Lady Jermingham" was changed +to "Lady Jerningham", and "Baron Nicolas Jňsika" was changed to "Baron +Nicolas Jósika". + +Any remaining inconsistencies in spelling and hyphenation were present +in the original text. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's 'Neath the Hoof of the Tartar, by Miklós Jósika + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 'NEATH THE HOOF OF THE TARTAR *** + +***** This file should be named 36203-8.txt or 36203-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/6/2/0/36203/ + +Produced by Steven desJardins and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: 'Neath the Hoof of the Tartar + The Scourge of God + +Author: Miklós Jósika + +Commentator: R. Nisbet Bain + +Translator: Selina Gaye + +Release Date: May 24, 2011 [EBook #36203] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 'NEATH THE HOOF OF THE TARTAR *** + + + + +Produced by Steven desJardins and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<p class="center bigtext"><em>'NEATH THE HOOF OF THE TARTAR</em></p> + + + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 360px;"> +<img src="images/frontispiece.jpg" width="360" height="500" alt="portrait of Miklós Jósika" title="Jósika Miklós" /> +</div> + +<hr class="wide" /> + +<h1>'Neath the Hoof of the Tartar<br /> +<span class="smallertext">OR</span><br /> +<span class="smalltext"><em>THE SCOURGE OF GOD</em></span></h1> + +<p class="center">BY<br /><span class="bigtext">BARON NICOLAS JÓSIKA</span></p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Abridged from the Hungarian by</span><br /> +<span class="bigtext">SELINA GAYE</span><br /> +<em>WITH PREFACE BY R. NISBET BAIN</em></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 200px;"> +<img src="images/logo.png" width="150" height="200" alt="publisher's logo" title="SANS PEUR ET SANS REPROCHE SECOND EDITION" /> +</div> + +<p class="center"><em>And Photogravure Portrait of the Author</em></p> + +<p class="center">LONDON<br /> +JARROLD & SONS, 10 & 11, WARWICK LANE, E.C.<br /> +[<em>All Rights Reserved</em>]<br /> +1904</p> + +<hr class="wide" /> + +<h2><a name="CONTENTS" id="CONTENTS"></a>CONTENTS.</h2> + +<table class="figcenter" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" summary="Table of Contents"> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum smalltext">CHAPTER</td> +<td class="chapname smalltext"> </td> +<td class="chappage smalltext">PAGE</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum"> </td> +<td class="chapname">INTRODUCTION</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#INTRODUCTION">7</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">I.</td> +<td class="chapname">RUMOURS</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">15</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">II.</td> +<td class="chapname">GOOD NEWS OR BAD?</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">35</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">III.</td> +<td class="chapname">MASTER STEPHEN'S PAGE</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">50</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">IV.</td> +<td class="chapname">MISTAKE THE FIRST</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">69</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">V.</td> +<td class="chapname">AS THE KING WILLS</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">89</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">VI.</td> +<td class="chapname">MISTAKE THE SECOND</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">104</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">VII.</td> +<td class="chapname">AT THE VERY DOORS</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">120</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">VIII.</td> +<td class="chapname">THE BETTER PART OF VALOUR</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">133</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">IX.</td> +<td class="chapname">"I WASH MY HANDS"</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">146</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">X.</td> +<td class="chapname">LIBOR CLIMBS THE CUCUMBER-TREE</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_X">167</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">XI.</td> +<td class="chapname">"NEXT TIME WE MEET"</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XI">181</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">XII.</td> +<td class="chapname">DEFENDING THE CASTLE</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XII">199</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">XIII.</td> +<td class="chapname">CAMP FIRES</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">216</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">XIV.</td> +<td class="chapname">A FATAL DAY</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">228</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">XV.</td> +<td class="chapname">DORA'S RESOLVE</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XV">240</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">XVI.</td> +<td class="chapname">THROUGH THE SNOW</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">253</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">XVII.</td> +<td class="chapname">A STAMPEDE</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">274</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">XVIII.</td> +<td class="chapname">AUNT ORSOLYA'S CAVERN</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII">288</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">XIX.</td> +<td class="chapname">FATHER ROGER'S STORY</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIX">297</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">XX.</td> +<td class="chapname">LIKE THE PHŒNIX</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XX">312</a></td> +</tr> +</table> + +<hr class="wide" /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="INTRODUCTION" id="INTRODUCTION"></a>INTRODUCTION.</h2> + + +<p>Baron Miklós Jósika, the Walter Scott of Hungary, was born at Torda, in +Transylvania, on April 28th, 1796. While quite a child, he lost both his +parents, and was brought up at the house and under the care of his +grandmother, Anna Bornemissza, a descendant of Jókai's heroine of the +same name in "'Midst the Wild Carpathians." Of the young nobleman's many +instructors, the most remarkable seems to have been an <em>emigré</em> French +Colonel, who gave him a liking for the literature of France, which was +not without influence on his future development. After studying law for +a time at Klausenberg to please his friends, he became a soldier to +please himself, and in his seventeenth year accompanied the Savoy +dragoon regiment to Italy. During the campaign of the Mincio in 1814, he +so distinguished himself by his valour that he was created a first +lieutenant on the field of battle, and was already a captain when he +entered Paris with the allies in the following year. In 1818, at the +very beginning of his career, he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> ruined his happiness by his +unfortunate marriage with Elizabeth Kalláy. According to Jósika's +biographer, Luiza Szaák,<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> young Jósika was inveigled into this union +by a designing mother-in-law, and any chance of happiness the young +couple might have had, if left to themselves, was speedily dashed by the +interference of the father of the bride, who defended all his daughter's +caprices against the much-suffering husband. Even the coming of children +could not cement this woeful wedding, which terminated in the practical +separation of spouses who were never meant to be consorts.</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> Baró Jósika Miklós élete és munkai.</p></div> + +<p>Jósika further offended his noble kinsmen by devoting himself to +literature. It may seem a paradox to say so, yet it is perfectly true, +that in the early part of the present century, with some very few +honourable exceptions, the upper classes in Hungary addressed only their +<em>servants</em> in Hungarian. Latin was the official language of the Diet, +while polite circles conversed in barbarous French. These were the days +when, as Jókai has reminded us, the greatest insult you could offer to +an Hungarian lady was to address her in her native tongue. It required +some courage, therefore, in the young Baron to break away from the +feudal traditions of his privileged caste and use the plebeian Magyar +dialect as a literary vehicle. His<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> first published book, "Abafi" +(1836), an historical romance written under the direct influence of Sir +Walter Scott, whom Jósika notoriously took for his model, made a great +stir in the literary world of Hungary. "Hats off, gentlemen," was how +Szontagh, the editor of the <em>Figyelmezö</em>, the leading Hungarian +newspaper of the day, began his review of this noble romance. Jósika was +over forty when he first seriously began to write, but the grace and +elegance of his style, the maturity of his judgment, the skilfulness of +his characterization—all pointed to a long apprenticeship in letters. +Absolute originality cannot indeed be claimed for him. Unlike Jókai, he +owed very much to his contemporaries. He began as an imitator of Scott, +as we have seen, and he was to end as an imitator of Dickens, as we +shall see presently. But he was no slavish copyist. He gave nearly as +much as he took. Moreover, he was the first to naturalize the historical +romance in Hungary, and if, as a novelist, he is inferior to Walter +Scott, he is inferior to him alone.</p> + +<p>In Hungary, at any rate, his rare merits were instantly recognised and +rewarded.</p> + +<p>Two years after the publication of "Abafi," he was elected a member of +the Hungarian Academy, four years later he became the President of the +Kisfaludy Társaság, the leading Magyar literary society. All classes, +without exception, were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span> attracted and delighted by the books of this +new novelist, which followed one another with bewildering rapidity. +"Zolyomi," written two years before "Abafi," was published a few months +later, together with "Könnyelmüek." Shortly afterwards came the two +great books which are generally regarded as his masterpieces, "Az utolsó +Bátory" and "Csehek Magyarországon," and a delightful volume of fairy +tales, "Élet és tündérhón," in three volumes. In 1843 was published +"Zrinyi a Költö," in which some critics saw a declension, but which +Jókai regards as by far the greatest of Jósika's historical romances. +Finally may be mentioned as also belonging to the pre-revolutionary +period, "Jósika István," an historical romance in five volumes, largely +based upon the family archives; "Egy kétemeletes ház," a social romance +in six volumes; and "Ifju Békesi Ferencz kalandjai," a very close and +most clever imitation of the "Pickwick Papers," both in style and +matter, written under the pseudonym of Moric Alt. It is a clever skit of +the peccadilloes and absurdities of the good folks of Budapest of all +classes, full of genuine humour, and was welcomed with enthusiasm.</p> + +<p>On the outbreak of the War of Independence in 1848, Baron Jósika +magnanimously took the popular side, though he was now an elderly man, +and had much to lose and little to gain from the Revolution. He was +elected a member of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> Honvéd Government; countenanced all its acts; +followed it from place to place till the final collapse, and then fled +to Poland. Ultimately he settled at Brussels, where for the next twelve +years he lived entirely by his pen, for his estates were confiscated, +and he himself was condemned to death by the triumphant and vindictive +Austrian Government, which had to be satisfied, however, with burning +him in effigy.</p> + +<p>Jósika was to die an exile from his beloved country, but the bitterness +of banishment was somewhat tempered by the touching devotion of his +second wife, the Baroness Julia Podmaniczky, who also became his +amanuensis and translator. The first novel of the exilic period was +"Eszter," written anonymously for fear his works might be prohibited in +Hungary, in which case the unhappy author would have run the risk of +actual want. For the same reason all the novels written between 1850 and +1860 (when he resumed his own name on his title-pages) are "by the +author of 'Eszter.'" In 1864, by the doctor's advice, Jósika moved to +Dresden, and there, on February 27th, 1865, he died, worn out by labour +and sorrow. He seems, at times, to have had a hard struggle for an +honourable subsistence, and critics, latterly, seem to have been +neglectful or unkind. Ultimately his ashes were brought home to his +native land and deposited reverently in the family vault at Klausenberg; +statues<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> were raised in his honour at the Hungarian capital, and the +greatest of Hungarian novelists, Maurus Jókai, delivered an impassioned +funeral oration over the remains of the man who did yeoman's service for +the Magyar literature, and created and popularized the historical novel +in Hungary.</p> + +<p>For it is as the Hungarian historical romancer <em>par excellence</em> that +Jósika will always be remembered, and inasmuch as the history of no +other European country is so stirring and so dramatic as that of +Hungary, and Jósika was always at infinite pains to go direct to +original documents for his facts and local colouring, he will always be +sure of an audience in an age, like our own, when the historical novel +generally (witness the immense success of Sienkiewicz) is once more the +favourite form of fiction. Among the numerous romances "by the author of +'Eszter,'" the work, entitled "Jö a Tatár" ("The Tartar is coming"), now +presented to the English public under the title of "'Neath the Hoof of +the Tartar," has long been recognised by Hungarian critics as "the most +pathetic" of Jósika's historical romances. The groundwork of the tale is +the terrible Tartar invasion of Hungary during the reign of Béla IV. +(1235-1270), when the Mongol hordes devastated Magyarland from end to +end. Two love episodes, however, relieve the gloom of this terrific +picture, "and the historical imagination" of the great Hungarian +romancer has painted the heroism and the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> horrors of those far distant +times every whit as vividly as Sienkiewicz has painted the secular +struggle between the Red Cross Knights and the semi-barbarous heroes of +old Lithuania.</p> + +<p class="rightalign smcap">R. Nisbet Bain.</p> + + + +<hr class="wide" /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="Neath_the_Hoof_of_the_Tartar" id="Neath_the_Hoof_of_the_Tartar"></a>'Neath the Hoof of the Tartar.</h2> + +<h2 style="margin-bottom: 1.5em;"><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I.<br /> +<span class="smalltext">RUMOURS.</span></h2> + + +<p>"Well, Talabor, my boy, what is it? Anything amiss?" asked Master Peter, +as the page entered the hall, where he and his daughter were at +breakfast.</p> + +<p>It was a bare, barn-like apartment, but the plates and dishes were of +silver.</p> + +<p>"Nothing amiss, sir," was the answer, "only a guest has just arrived, +who would like to pay his respects, but—he is on foot!"</p> + +<p>It was this last circumstance, evidently, which was perplexing Talabor.</p> + +<p>"A guest?—on foot?" repeated Master Peter, as if he too were puzzled.</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir; Abbot Roger, he calls himself, and says you know him!"</p> + +<p>"What! good Father Roger! Know him? Of course I do!" cried Peter, +springing from his chair.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> "Where is he? Why didn't you bring him in at +once? I am not his Grace of Esztergom to keep a good man like him +waiting in the entry!"</p> + +<p>"The servants are just brushing the dust off him, sir," replied the +page, "and he wants to wash his feet, but he will be ready to wait upon +you directly, sir, if you please!"</p> + +<p>"By all means! but he is no 'Abbot,' Talabor; he is private chaplain to +Master Stephen, my brother!"</p> + +<p>Talabor had not long been in Master Peter's service, and knew no more of +Master Stephen than he did of Father Roger, so he said nothing and left +the room with a bow.</p> + +<p>"Blessed be the name of the Lord Jesus, Father Roger!" cried Master +Peter, hurrying forward to meet his guest, as he entered the +dining-hall.</p> + +<p>"For ever and ever!" responded the Father, while Dora raised his hand to +her lips, delighted to see her old friend again.</p> + +<p>"But how is this, Father Roger?" Peter asked in high good humour, after +some inquiry as to his brother's welfare; "how is this? Talabor, <em>deák</em> +announced you as 'Abbot.' What is the meaning of it?"</p> + +<p>"Quite true, sir! Thanks to his Holiness and the King, I have been +'Abbot' the last month or two; but just now I am on my way to Pest by +command of his Majesty."</p> + +<p>"What! an abbot travel in this fashion, on foot!<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> Why, our abbots make +as much show as the magnates, some of them. Too modest, too modest, +Father! Besides, you'll never get there! Is the King's business urgent?"</p> + +<p>"Hardly that, I think; though—but, after all, why prophesy evil before +one must!"</p> + +<p>"Prophesy evil?" repeated Dora.</p> + +<p>"Prophecies are in the hands of the Lord!" interposed her father +quickly. "Good or bad, it rests with Him whether they shall be +fulfilled. So, Father Roger, let us have it, whatever it is."</p> + +<p>"The King's commands were that I should be at Pest by the end of the +month," answered Roger, "so I shall be in time, even if I do travel +somewhat slowly. As for the prophesying—without any gift of prophecy I +can tell you so much as this, that <em>something</em> is coming! True, it is +far off as yet, but to be forewarned is to be forearmed, and I fancy the +King is one who likes to look well ahead."</p> + +<p>"But what is it, Father Roger? do tell us!" cried Dora anxiously.</p> + +<p>"Nothing but rumours so far, dear child, but they are serious, and it +behoves us to be on our guard."</p> + +<p>"Oktai and his brethren, eh?" said Master Peter, with some scorn. "Oh, +those Tartars! The Tartars are coming! the Tartars are coming! Why, they +have been coming for years! When did we first hear that cry? I declare I +can't remember," and he laughed.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span>"I am afraid it is no laughing matter, though," said Father Roger. "I +daresay you have not forgotten Brother Julian, who returned home only +two or three years ago."</p> + +<p>But here Dora interposed. She remembered Father Roger telling her a +story of the Dominican brothers, who had gone to try and find the "old +home" of the Magyars and convert to Christianity those who had stayed +behind, and she wanted to hear it again, if her father did not mind.</p> + +<p>Father Roger accordingly told how, of the first four brothers, only one +had returned home, and he had died soon after, but not before he had +described how, while travelling as a merchant, he had fallen in with men +who spoke Hungarian and told him where their home, "Ugria," was to be +found.<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> Four more brothers had been despatched on the same quest by +King Béla, who was desirous of increasing the population of his country, +and particularly wished to secure "kinsmen" if he could. Two only of the +brothers persevered through the many perils and privations which beset +their way. One of these died, and Julian, the survivor, entering the +service of a wealthy Mohammedan, travelled with him to a land<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> of many +rich towns, densely populated.<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> Here he met a woman who had actually +come from the "old home," and still farther north he had found the +"brothers of the Magyars," who could understand him and whom he could +understand.</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> Ugria extended from the North Sea to the rivers Kama, +Irtisch, and Tobol, west and east of the Ural Mountains. The Ugrians had +come in more ancient times from the high lands of the Altai Mountains. +Hungarian was still spoken in Ugria, then called Juharia, as late as the +beginning of the sixteenth century.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> Great Bulgaria, lying on both sides of the Volga, at its +junction with the Kama.</p></div> + +<p>They were, of course, heathen, but not idolaters; they were nomads, +wandering from place to place, living on flesh and mare's milk, and +knowing nothing of agriculture. They were greatly interested in all that +Julian told them, for they knew from old traditions that some of their +race had migrated westwards.</p> + +<p>But at the time of his visit they were much perturbed by news brought to +them by their neighbours on the east. These were Tartar, or Turkish, +tribes, who, having several times attacked them and been repulsed, had +finally entered into an alliance with them. A messenger from the Tartar +Khan had just arrived to announce, not only that the Tartar tribes were +themselves on the move and but five days' journey away, but that they +were moving to escape from a "thick-headed" race, numerous as the sands +of the sea which was behind them, on their very heels, and threatening +to overwhelm all the kingdoms of the world, as it had already +overwhelmed great part of Asia.</p> + +<p>Brother Julian hastened home to report his discoveries and warn his +country, which he had reached<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> between two and three years before our +story begins; but nothing more had come of his pilgrimage, no more had +been heard of the "Magyar<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> brothers."</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> Europeans called them Ugrians-Hungarians, but they called +themselves "Magyars"—"children of the land," as some think to be the +meaning of the word.</p></div> + +<p>"But why, Father Roger?" asked Dora, with wide eyes.</p> + +<p>"Because the 'thick-headed people' have not only overrun nearly the +whole of Central Asia as far as Pekin, covering it with ruins and +reducing it to a desert, but have streamed westward like a flood, a +torrent, and have submerged nearly the whole of Eastern Europe."</p> + +<p>"Then they are not Tartars?"</p> + +<p>"No, Mongolians<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a>; but they have swallowed up many Tartar tribes and +have forced them to join their host. Tartars we have known before, but +Mongols are new to us, so most people keep to the name familiar to them, +which seems appropriate too—Tátars, Tartari, you know, denizens of +Tartarus, the Inferno, as we Italians call it; and their deeds are +'infernal' enough, Heaven knows!"</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> Temudschin was but thirteen when he became chief (in <span class="smcap">A. D.</span> +1175) of one horde, consisting of thirty to forty thousand families. +After some vicissitudes, he entered upon a career of conquest, and, +between 1204 and 1206, he summoned the chiefs of all the hordes and +tribes who owned his sway to an assembly, at which he caused it to be +proclaimed that "Heaven had decreed to him the title of 'Dschingiz' +(Highest), for he was to be ruler of the whole world." From this time he +was known as Dschingiz, or Zenghiz Khan.</p></div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span>"And are they coming, really?"</p> + +<p>"As to whether they will come here, God alone knows; but Oktai, son of +Dschingiz, who is now chief Khan, has sent a vast host westward, and, as +I said, they have overrun great part of Russia; it is reported that they +have burnt Moscow."</p> + +<p>"Come, come, Father," interrupted Peter, who had been growing more and +more restless, "you are not going to compare us Magyars with the +Russians, I hope, or with the Chinese and Indians either. If they show +their ugly dog's-heads here, they will find us more than a match for +such a rabble."</p> + +<p>"I hope so!" said Father Roger. But he spoke gravely, and added, "You +have heard, of course, of the Cumani, Kunok, you call them, I think."</p> + +<p>"To be sure! Peaceable enough when they are let alone, but brave, +splendid fellows when they are attacked, as Oktai has found, for I know +they have twice defeated him," said Master Peter triumphantly.</p> + +<p>"Yes, there was no want of valour on their part; but you know the +proverb: 'Geese may be the death of swine, if only there be enough of +them!' And so, according to the last accounts, the brave King has been +entirely overwhelmed by Oktai's myriads, and he, with 40,000 families of +Kunok, are now in the Moldavian mountains on the very borders of Erdély" +(Transylvania).</p> + +<p>"Ah, indeed," said Master Peter, a little more<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> gravely, "that I had not +heard! but if it is true, I must tell you that my chief object would be +to prevent the report from spreading and being exaggerated. If it does, +the whole country will be in a state of commotion, and all for nothing! +There is hardly any nation which needs peace more than ours does, and we +have quite enough to do with sweeping before our own door, without going +and mixing ourselves up in other people's quarrels."</p> + +<p>But Father Roger went on to say that the rumour had spread already, and +that was why the King was wishing to call his nobles, and, in fact, the +whole nation, together to take measures of defence in good time.</p> + +<p>"Defence!" cried Peter; "defence against whom? Why, we have no enemies +on any of our borders, unless you mean the Kunok, and they are far +enough off at present; besides, we don't look on them as foes. It is +always the way, Father Roger! always the way! We go conjuring up +spectres! and though I am his Majesty's loyal and devoted subject, I may +say here, just between ourselves, that I do think him too quick to take +alarm."</p> + +<p>"You think so, sir?" returned the Abbot; "well, of course, it is a mere +opinion, but to my mind the King is not far wrong."</p> + +<p>And then the good Father reminded his host that Oktai had already +overthrown the Russians, great numbers of whom had been forced to join +his army;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> and now that he had driven out the Kunok was it to be +supposed that he would stop short? Dschingiz Khan, his father, had been +a conqueror; conquest was his sole object in life, and he would have +conquered the whole world if he had lived. His sons, especially Oktai, +took after him; they, too, considered themselves destined to conquer the +world, and now that Kuthen had shown him the way into Transylvania he +would be forcing a passage across the frontier before they knew where +they were. His rapidity was something marvellous, unheard of!</p> + +<p>Again Master Peter only laughed. Where was the use of alarming the +country? and would not a call to arms look as if they were afraid, and +actually tempt the Mongols to come and attack them?</p> + +<p>Father Roger shook his head, as he replied in Latin:</p> + +<p>"If you wish for peace, prepare for war, as the old Romans used to say, +and it is wise not to despise your foe."</p> + +<p>The two went on arguing. Master Peter, like many another noble in those +days, would not see danger. Though valiant enough, he was always an +easy-going man, and, again like many another, he was quite confident +that Hungary would be able to beat any enemy who might come against her, +without worrying herself beforehand. Father Roger did not know the +Hungarians, though he had lived so long among them!</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span>"Well, well," he concluded, "you go to Pest, Mr. Abbot; but think it +well over by the way, and when you see the King, you tell him plainly +that Peter Szirmay advises his Majesty not to give the alarm before it +is necessary."</p> + +<p>Roger shook his head but said nothing. Italian though he was, he +understood the Hungarian nobility very well. He knew how they disliked +being turned out of their ordinary course; but he knew too that once +roused, they would not hesitate to confront any enemy who threatened +them, and that though they might be hot-headed, foolhardy, +over-confident, they were certainly not cowards!</p> + +<p>"Well," thought the Abbot, "you are no wiser, I am afraid, than others; +but when the King does succeed in routing you out of your old fastness +and getting you down into the plain, you will give as good an account of +yourself as the rest!"</p> + +<p>Master Peter was glad to drop the subject, and to feel that there was at +all events no immediate prospect of his being disturbed; yet he was so +far an exception to the majority of his fellow-nobles that he determined +to ascertain the truth about these rumours, and, if necessary, not to +delay placing himself and his daughter beyond the reach of danger.</p> + +<p>Father Roger's gravity had impressed Dora much, but she was young, and +she had such entire confidence in her father, that she could not feel +any actual anxiety.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span>"What do you think, Father Roger?" she said presently, "if Oktai Khan +really should want to fight us, about how long would it take him to get +here?"</p> + +<p>"That no one can say, dear child," answered the Italian. "He might reach +the frontier in three years, or it might be in two, or—it might be in +one!"</p> + +<p>"In one year!" Dora repeated in a startled tone.</p> + +<p>"It is impossible to say for certain, my dear. It all depends upon how +long our neighbours can keep back the flood. One thing is certain, that, +as they retreat in our direction, they will draw the enemy after them, +and what is more, unless we are wise and prudent we may make enemies of +the fugitives themselves; that is if we give them reason to suppose us +not strong enough, or not trustworthy enough, to be their friends. Well, +God is good, and we must hope that the danger will be averted."</p> + +<p>"Come, come, Father Roger," said Master Peter, "that is enough, that's +enough! Let us eat, drink, and sleep upon it, and time will show! There +is not the least reason for worrying at present at all events, and if +this disorderly crew does pour across our frontiers at last, well, we +shall be there to meet them! And it won't be the first time that we have +done such a thing."</p> + +<p>And then, by way of entertaining his guest, he proposed to take him all +over the house, stables, and courtyard.</p> + +<p>Master Peter was not wealthy as his brother<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span> Stephen was, but for all +that he was sufficiently well off. Stephen, the younger brother, had had +a large fortune with his wife; Peter, a much smaller one with his. The +family mansion, or castle,<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> belonged equally to both; and, being both +widowers, and much devoted to one another, they had agreed to share it, +and had done so most amicably for several years.</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> Any country house was a castle, or château, as the French +would say.</p></div> + +<p>Without being covetous, Stephen had a warm appreciation of this world's +goods; and of all the forty male members of the Szirmay family living at +this time, he was certainly the most wealthy. He was devoted to his +children, and gave them the best education possible at the time of which +we are speaking, the first half of the thirteenth century. His son, +Akos, now one of the King's pages, had learnt to read and write; he had, +too, a certain knowledge of Latin, and sometimes in conversation he +would use a Latin word or two, with Hungarian terminations. In fact, he +knew somewhat more than most of his class, and, needless to say, he was +a good horseman and a good marksman, and well-skilled in the use of arms +and in all manly exercises.</p> + +<p>Stephen's daughter and niece, Jolánta and Dora, were as good scholars as +his son; and all three owed their secular as well as religious knowledge +to Father Roger, in later years the famous author<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> of the "Carmen +Miserabile," and already known as one of the most cultivated men of the +day. He was making his home with the Szirmays, and acting as chaplain, +merely for the time being; and Stephen was glad to secure his services +for the children, who loved the gentle Father, as all did who came in +contact with him.</p> + +<p>Learning was held in such high honour in Hungary in these days, that +many a man coveted, and had accorded to him, the title of +"Magister"—Master—(borne by the King's Notary and Chancellor) if he +had but a little more scholarship than his neighbours, though that often +of the slenderest description, and sometimes but few degrees removed +from ignorance itself. A man such as Roger was not likely therefore to +be overlooked by a King such as Béla; and his advancement was certain to +come in time, notwithstanding the fact that he was an Italian.</p> + +<p>It was when Dora was about eighteen that her father had resolved to go +and live on his own property, in one of the northernmost counties of +Hungary.</p> + +<p>Now Peter had never been a good landlord; from his youth up his pursuits +and interests had not been such as to make him take pleasure in +agriculture. Accounts and calculations were not at all in his way +either, and accordingly, no one was more imposed upon and plundered by +his stewards than himself. He was generous in everything, open-handed, a +true gentleman, delighted to help or oblige anyone, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> much more +thoughtlessly profuse than many who were far richer than himself.</p> + +<p>The dwelling-house on that one of his estates to which he had decided to +go, was, it is hardly needful to say, very much out of repair, almost a +ruin in fact. It had never been handsome, being, in truth, but a great +shapeless barn, or store-house, which consisted merely of a ground floor +nearly as broad as it was long. The original building had been of stone, +built in the shape of a tent, and, of course, open to the roof; for +ceilings, except in churches, were long looked upon as luxuries.</p> + +<p>The first inhabitants had slept and cooked, lived and died, all in this +one great hall, or barn; and their successors, as they found more space +needed, had made many additions, each with its own separate roof of +split fir-poles, straw, or reeds. By degrees the original building had +been surrounded by a whole colony of such roofs, with broad wooden +troughs between them to carry off the rain water. Most of these +additions had open roofs, and were as much like barns as the first; but +some were covered in with great shapeless beams; and in a few there were +even fireplaces, built up of logs thickly coated with plaster.</p> + +<p>Various alterations and improvements had been made before Master Peter's +arrival, the most important of which was that the openings in the walls +which had hitherto done duty as windows, had been<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span> filled in with +bladder-skin, and provided with wooden lattices. The floors were not +boarded, but the earth had been carefully levelled, and was concealed by +coarse reed-mats, while the walls had been plastered and whitened.</p> + +<p>Altogether, the place was not uncomfortable, according to the ideas of +the time, and Dora was not at all disgusted with its appearance, even +coming from her uncle's house, where she was accustomed to a good deal +of splendour of a certain kind.</p> + +<p>Hungarians, even in those days, could make a splendid appearance upon +occasion, as they did at the King's wedding, when all the guests wore +scarlet, richly embroidered with gold. But their chief luxuries at home +took the form of such articles as could be easily converted into money +in case of need.</p> + +<p>They had, for instance, plates and dishes of gold and silver, precious +stones, court-dresses, not embroidered and braided in the present +fashion, but adorned with pearls and stones of great value, as well as +with plates of beaten gold and silver. Master Peter's great dining-hall +contained many valuables of this description. Huge, much-carved oak +chests were ranged along the bare walls, some open, some closed, these +latter being laden with silver plates and dishes, gold and silver cups, +tankards and numberless other articles required at table. Here and +there, the statue of a saint, a piece of Grecian or Roman armour, and +various antique curiosities were to be seen.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span>Seats had not been forgotten, and the high-backed chairs and broad +benches were supplied with comfortable cushions of bright colours. +Similar gay cushions were in use throughout that part of the house +inhabited by Peter and his daughter; and whatever deficiencies there +were, everything at least was now in good order and scrupulously clean.</p> + +<p>As for Dora's own room, her father had done all that he could think of +to make it pleasant and comfortable; and though many a village maiden in +these days would look on it with disdain, Dora was well satisfied. There +were even a few pictures on the bare white walls, though of course they +were not in oil; but the special luxury of her little apartment was that +the window was filled with horn, which was almost as transparent as +glass, and was, moreover, decorated with flowers and designs, painted in +bright colours.</p> + +<p>Window glass was not unknown at this date, but it was too precious to be +commonly used, and was reserved for churches and the palaces of kings +and magnates. Bladders and thin skins were in ordinary use, or, where +people were very wealthy, plates of horn; but there were plenty of +gentlemen's houses in which the inhabitants had no light at all in +winter but such as came from the great open hearths and fireplaces, for +the windows were entirely closed up with reeds or rush mats.</p> + +<p>One of the additions made to the original building<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> had been what was +called a "far-view" or "pigeon tower," much higher than the house +itself, and the top of which could not be reached without the help of a +ladder. This tower, which was more like a misshapen obelisk in shape, +was roofed in with rough boards. In the lower storey there was a +good-sized room, with a door opening from it into the large hall. It +contained a wooden, four-post bedstead, clean and warm, and a small +table; and all along the walls were clothes-pegs and shelves, such +necessaries as we call "furniture" being very uncommon in the days we +are speaking of. Dora's chests had been placed here, and served the +purpose of seats, and there were also a few chairs, a praying-desk, and +a few other little things. The walls were covered with thick stuff +hangings, and the lower part of them was also protected by coarse grey +frieze to keep out the cold and damp. This was Dora's own room.</p> + +<p>Like all gentlemen of the time, even if they were reduced in means, +Peter had a considerable train of servants, and these were lodged in the +very airy, barn-like buildings already mentioned.</p> + +<p>The courtyard was enclosed by a wall, high and massive, provided with +loopholes, parapet, bastions, and breastwork; and the great gate, which +had not yet been many weeks in its place, was so heavy that it was as +much as four men could do to open and close it.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span>Master Peter had been anxious to have his horses as well lodged as they +had been at his brother's; but, after all, the stables, which were just +opposite the house, were not such as horses in these days would consider +stables at all. They were, in fact, mere sheds with open sides, such as +are now put up to shelter the wild horses of the plains.</p> + +<p>When all this was done there still remained the digging of a broad, deep +ditch or moat, in which the master himself and all his servants took +part, assisted by some of the neighbouring peasants; and in about three +months' time all was finished, and the curious assemblage of irregular +buildings was more or less fortified, and capable of being defended if +attacked by any wandering band of brigands.</p> + +<p>It merely remains to add that Master Peter's castle stood in a +contracted highland valley, and was surrounded by pine-woods and +mountains. Behind it was the village, of which some few straggling +cottages, or rather huts, had wandered away beyond it into the woods. +The inhabitants were not Hungarians, except in so far as that they lived +in Hungary; they were not Magyars, that is, but Slovacks, remnants of +the great Moravian kingdom, who had retired, or been driven, into the +mountains, when the Magyars occupied the land. The Magyars loved the +green plains, the lakes—full of fish, and frequented by innumerable +wild fowl—to which they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span> had been accustomed in Asia; the Slovacks, +whether from choice or necessity, loved the mountains.</p> + +<p>These latter were an industrious, honest people, no trouble to anyone, +and able to make a living in spite of the hard climate. They had +suffered in more ways than one by the absence of the family; for the +gentry at the great house had as a rule been good to them; and when they +were away, or coming but seldom, and then only for sport with the bears, +boars, and wolves which abounded, the poor people were treated with +contempt and tyranny by those in charge of the property. They no doubt +were glad when Master Peter came to live among them, and as for their +landlord, time had passed pleasantly enough with him in spite of his +being so far out of the world.</p> + +<p>What with looking after the estate, in his own fashion, hunting, riding, +sometimes going on a visit or having friends to stay, he had found +enough to occupy him; but being a hospitable soul, he was always +delighted to welcome the rare guests whom chance brought into the +neighbourhood, and considered that he had a right to keep them three +days—if they could be induced to stay longer, so much the better for +him!</p> + +<p>As for companionship, besides Dora, who could ride and shoot too, as +well as any of her contemporaries, he had Talabor the page, who had come +to him a pale, delicate-looking youth, but had gained so much<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> in health +and strength since he had been in service that his master often pitied +him for not having parents better able to advance his prospects in life. +They were gentry, originally "noble," as every free-born Magyar was, but +they were poor gentry, and had been glad to place their son with Master +Peter to complete his education, as was the custom of the time. The +great nobles sent their sons to the King's court to be instructed in all +manly and courtly accomplishments; the lower nobility and poor +gentlefolk sent theirs to the great nobles, who often had in their +households several pages. These occupied a position as much above that +of the servants as beneath that of the "family," though they themselves +were addressed as "servant," until they were thought worthy the title of +"<em>deák</em>," which, though meaning literally "Latinist," answered pretty +much to "clerk" or "scholar," and implied the possession of some little +education.</p> + +<p>Master Peter was so well satisfied with Talabor that he now always +addressed him as "clerk" in the presence of strangers. He was growing +indeed quite fond of him, and was pleased to see how much he had gained +in strength and good looks, and how well able he was to take part in all +the various forms of exercise, the long hunting excursions, the feats of +arms, to which he was himself devoted.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II.<br /> +<span class="smalltext">GOOD NEWS OR BAD?</span></h2> + + +<p>Father Roger had been shown all over the house, had seen all the +additions and improvements, inside and out, and now felt as much at home +in Master Peter's castle as he had done in Master Stephen's.</p> + +<p>It had been finally settled that he should start for Pest the next +morning, and Master Peter insisted on supplying him with a horse and an +armed escort.</p> + +<p>"And then," said he, unconsciously betraying the curiosity which was +devouring him, in spite of his assumed indifference, "then, when you +send the horses back, you know, you can just write a few lines and tell +me what the King wants to see you about."</p> + +<p>Peter was quite anxious for him to be off that he might hear the sooner; +but it struck him that, as Father Roger would be in Pest long before the +end of the month if he made the journey on horse-back, and yet could not +present himself at Court until the time appointed, he might perhaps be +glad of a lodging of his own, though, of course, there were monasteries +which would have received him. He offered him,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span> therefore, the use of an +old house of his own (in much the same condition, he confessed, as his +present dwelling had been in), but in which he knew there were two +habitable rooms, for he had lived in them himself on the occasion of his +last visit to the capital.</p> + +<p>All was settled before supper-time, and Master Peter was just beginning +to wonder when that meal would make its appearance, when the sharp, +shrill sound of a horn gave him something else to think of.</p> + +<p>"Someone is coming! They are letting down the drawbridge," he exclaimed, +with much satisfaction at the prospect of another guest; and shortly +after, ushered in by Talabor, there entered the hall a young man, +somewhat dusty, but daintily apparelled. His black hair had been curled +and was shining from a recent application of oil, and in his whole +appearance and demeanour there was the indescribable something which +tells of the "rising man."</p> + +<p>"Ah, Clerk, it is you, is it?" said Peter, without rising from his seat. +"My brother is well, I hope?"</p> + +<p>"Master Stephen was quite well, sir, when I left him three days ago," +returned the youth, as he made an elaborate bow to the master, another +less low, but delivered with an amiable smile to Dora, and bestowed a +careless third upon Father Roger.</p> + +<p>"Well, and what is the news?"</p> + +<p>"Both good and bad, Mr. Szirmay," was the answer, with another bow.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span>"Out with the bad first then, boy," said Master Peter quickly, knitting +his brows as he spoke. "Let us have the good last, and keep the taste of +it longest! Now then!"</p> + +<p>"You have heard, no doubt, sir, what rumours the land is ringing with?" +began the clerk with an air of much importance.</p> + +<p>"We have!" said Peter, shrugging his shoulders; "let them ring till they +are tired! If that is all you have jogged here about, gossip, you might +as well have stayed quietly at home."</p> + +<p>"Matters are more serious than you are perhaps aware, sir," said the +clerk; and with that he drew from his breast a packet done up in cloth, +out of which he produced a piece of parchment about the size of his +first finger. This he handed proudly to Master Peter, who snatched it +from his hand and passed it on to Father Roger, saying:</p> + +<p>"Here, Father, do you take it and read it! I declare if it does not look +like a summons to the Diet! There, there! blowing the trumpet, beating +the drum in Pest already, I suppose!"</p> + +<p>"Quite true, sir, it is a summons to the Diet," said Libor. "His +Majesty, or his Excellency the Palatine, I am not certain which of the +two, was under the impression that you were still with us, and so sent +both summonses to Master Stephen."</p> + +<p>"With <em>you</em>!" laughed Master Peter. "All right, <em>kinsman</em>, we shall obey +his Majesty's commands, and I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> hope it may not all prove to be much ado +about nothing."</p> + +<p>With kindly consideration for his host's imperfect Latin, Father Roger +proceeded to translate the summons into Hungarian.</p> + +<p>The King never made many words about things, and his order was plain and +direct. The Diet was to be held on such a date, at such a place, and it +was Master Peter's bounden duty to be present; that was all!</p> + +<p>"Ah, didn't I tell you so, Father?" said he gravely; "we shall be +lighting our fires before the cold sets in, and pitching our tents +before there is any camp! People are mad! and they are hurrying on that +good King of ours too fast. Well, <em>kinsman</em>," he went on sarcastically, +"tell us all you know, and if there is any more bad news let us have it +at once."</p> + +<p>"Bad news? it depends upon how you take it, sir; many call it good, and +more call it bad," returned Libor, a trifle abashed by Master Peter's +mode of address.</p> + +<p>"And pray what is it that is neither good nor bad? I don't like riddles, +let me tell you, and if you can't speak plainly you had better not speak +at all!"</p> + +<p>"Sir," said Libor, "I am only telling you what other people say——" and +then, as Master Peter made a gesture of impatience, he went on, "Kuthen, +King of the Kunok, has sent an embassy to his Majesty asking for a +settlement for his people——"</p> + +<p>"Ah! that's something," interrupted Peter, "and I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> hope his Majesty sent +them to the right-about at once?"</p> + +<p>"His Majesty received the ambassadors with particular favour, and in +view of the danger which threatens us, declared himself ready to welcome +such an heroic people."</p> + +<p>"Danger! don't let me hear that word again, clerk!"</p> + +<p>"It is not my word," protested Libor, with an appealing glance at Dora, +intended to call attention to Master Peter's injustice.</p> + +<p>"It's a bad word, whosesoever it is," insisted Peter. "Well, what more? +are we to be saddled with this horde of pagans then?"</p> + +<p>"Pagans no longer! at least they won't be when they come to settle. They +are all going to be baptized, the King and his family and all his +people. The ambassadors promised and were baptized themselves before +they went back."</p> + +<p>"What!" cried Father Roger, his face lighting up, "forty thousand +families converted to the faith! Why, it is divine, and the King is +almost an Apostle!"</p> + +<p>The good Father quite forgot all further fear of danger from the Kunok, +and from this moment took their part. He could see nothing but good in +this large accession of numbers to the Church.</p> + +<p>"New Christians!" said Peter, shaking his head doubtfully, as he saw the +impression made upon Roger. "Are such people Christians just because +the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> holy water has been poured upon their faces? They are far enough +from Christianity to my mind. Who can trust such folk? And then, to +admit them without consulting the nation, by a word of command—I don't +like the whole thing, and so far as the country is concerned, I see no +manner of use in it."</p> + +<p>"You see, Mr. Szirmay," said Libor, with a little accession of boldness, +"I was quite right. There are two of you here, and while one thinks the +news bad, the other calls it 'divine.'"</p> + +<p>"Silence, gossip!" said Peter haughtily, "you are not in your own house, +remember. Be so good as to wait till your opinion is asked before you +give it." Then, turning to Roger, he went on: "Well, if it is so, it is, +and we can't alter it; but there will be a fine piece of work when the +Diet does meet. It must be as his Majesty wills, but I for one shall not +give my consent, not though the Danube and Tisza both were poured upon +them. One thing is clear, we are called to the Diet and we must go, and +as for the rest it is in God's hands."</p> + +<p>So saying, Master Peter began to pace up and down the room, and no one +ventured to interrupt him. But presently he came to a standstill in +front of the clerk, and said gloomily, "You have told us ill news enough +to last a good many years; so, unless there is more to come, you may go +on to the next part, and tell us any good news you have."</p> + +<p>"I can oblige you with that, too," said the clerk,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span> who evidently felt +injured by Peter's contemptuous way of speaking; "at least," he added, +"I hope I shall not have to pay for it as I have done for my other news, +though I am sure I am not responsible, for I neither invited the Kunok +nor summoned your Honour to the Diet."</p> + +<p>"Stop there!" said Peter, with some little irritation. "It seems to me, +young man, that you have opened your eyes considerably since you left my +brother; you talk a great deal and very mysteriously. Now then, let us +have any good news you can tell us!"</p> + +<p>"His Majesty has appointed Father Roger to be one of the Canons of +Nagyvárad (Grosswardein), and Master Peter's long suit has terminated in +a favourable judgment. The land in dispute is given back, with the +proceeds for the last nine years."</p> + +<p>"That is good news, if you will," cried Peter, both surprised and +pleased; and without heeding a remark from Libor that he was glad he had +been able to say something which was to his mind at last, he went on: +"Now, Dora, my dear, we shall be able to be a little more comfortable, +and we will spend part of the winter in Pest. Young ladies want a little +amusement, and you, my poor girl, have had to live buried in the woods, +where there is nothing going on."</p> + +<p>"The Hédervárys are in Pest too," the clerk chimed in, "and you will +have a delightful visit, my dear young mistress. His Majesty's Court was +never more brilliant<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> than it is now; the Queen likes to see noble young +dames about her."</p> + +<p>Dora and Peter both looked at the clerk in amazement. He had been four +years in Master Stephen's house, without ever once venturing to make +Dora such a long speech as this.</p> + +<p>"What has come to this man?" and "How very odd!" were the thoughts which +passed through the minds of Peter and his daughter.</p> + +<p>But, forward as she thought him, Dora would not quite ignore the young +man's remark, so she turned to Father Roger, saying, "I know it is a +very gay life in Pest, and no doubt there is plenty of amusement at the +Court, but I am not at all anxious to leave this place. It is not like a +convent after all, and we have several nice people not far off who are +glad to see us."</p> + +<p>But having made a beginning, Libor had a great desire to prolong the +conversation.</p> + +<p>Roger and Peter were now both walking up and down the room, while Dora +was standing at one of the windows, so the opportunity seemed to be a +favourable one, and he proceeded to say gallantly that Dora was wronging +the world as well as herself by shutting herself out from +amusement—that there was more than one person who was only waiting for +a little encouragement—that her many admirers were frightened away—and +so on, and so on, until Dora cut him short, saying that she was sorry he +should oblige her to remind him of what<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span> Master Peter had just said +about not giving his opinion until it was asked for; and with that she +left him and joined her father.</p> + +<p>"What a haughty little thing it is for a forest flower, to be sure," +said Libor to himself; but he felt just a little ashamed nevertheless, +as he was well aware that he had taken an unheard-of liberty. +Conversation of any sort between the pages and the daughters of the +house was not "the thing" in those old days; and, quite apart from the +turn which Libor had been so little respectful as to give to his +remarks, Dora had felt uncomfortable at being forced into what she +considered unbecoming behaviour.</p> + +<p>"Ah! well," Libor reflected, "if she never moves from here she will find +herself left on the shelf, and then—why then she won't be likely to get +a better castle offered her than <em>mine</em>!"</p> + +<p>And thereupon Libor (whose eyes had certainly been "opened," as Master +Peter said) walked up to the two gentlemen, as if he were quite one of +the company, and joined in their conversation at the first pause.</p> + +<p>"Thunder and lightning! something has certainly come to this fellow. Let +us find out what it is," was Master Peter's inward comment. He was +beginning to be as much amused as irritated by the young gentleman's +newly acquired audacity; but it annoyed him to have him walking beside +him, so he came to a standstill and said, "Well, Libor, you<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> have talked +a good deal about one thing and another, according to your lights; now +tell us something about your worthy self. Are you still in my brother's +service and intending to remain permanently? or have you other and more +brilliant prospects? A youth such as you, clerk, may do and be anything +if he sets about it in the right way. Let us hear something about +yourself."</p> + +<p>"Sir," replied Libor, "it is true that I have been so fortunate as to +share with many noble youths the privilege of living in Mr. Stephen's +household, and of winning his confidence; also I have enjoyed your own +favour in times past, Master Peter. 'Service' you call it, and rightly +too; but to-day I have discharged the last of Mr. Stephen's commissions. +He has treated me with a fatherly kindness and marked consideration +beyond my deserts, but I am now on my way to Pest to see Mr. Paul +Héderváry, who has offered me the post of governor of one of his +castles."</p> + +<p>"Governor! at four or five and twenty! That is remarkable, Mr. Libor," +said Peter, with evident surprise. "A governor in the service of the +Hédervárys is a very important person! I can only offer my best +congratulations—to yourself, I mean."</p> + +<p>Libor was no fool, and he perfectly understood; but he made answer, with +his nose well in the air, "I can only thank you, sir, but I hope the +time may come when Mr. Héderváry also will be able to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> congratulate +himself on the choice which does me so much honour."</p> + +<p>"Ah! I hope so, I hope so," laughed Master Peter cheerily. He was +pleased with himself for finding out how the clerk had been promoted, +and he reflected that true, indeed, was the old Latin proverb: <em>Honores +mutant mores.</em></p> + +<p>As for Libor, though he felt injured, as much by Master Peter's manner +as by his words, he lost nothing of his self-complacency. +Self-confidence, self-esteem, his new title, and his brilliant prospects +were enough to prevent his being put out of countenance for more than a +moment by the snubs he had received both from father and daughter. As +for Canon Roger, he, good man, was just as humble now as before his +advancement, and either did not, or would not, see the young man's +bumptiousness; he continued to treat him, therefore, in the same +friendly way as when they were house-mates.</p> + +<p>"And so you are on your way to Pest," said Peter; "Father Roger is also +on his way thither. It is always safer to travel in company when there +are so many ruffians about, so I hope you will attend him."</p> + +<p>"I shall be very willing if Father Roger has no objection; we can travel +together."</p> + +<p>"The Canon of Grosswardein, remember," said Peter a little sharply.</p> + +<p>"And Mr. Héderváry's governor," concluded Libor boldly and without +blinking.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span>"Well, Mr. Governor, in the meantime you may like to look round the +place a little before it is too dark; I may perhaps ask you to do a +commission or two for myself by-and-by, but for the present will you +leave us to ourselves?"</p> + +<p>This was such an unmistakable dismissal that Libor actually lost his +self-possession. Hesitatingly, and with a bad grace enough, he advanced +towards the door, but there he stopped, recovered himself, and +exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"Dear me! how forgetful I am! But perhaps the reception I have met with +may account for it."</p> + +<p>"Reception!" burst forth Peter, whose gathering wrath now boiled over at +this last piece of insolence. "I don't know, gossip, or rather Mr. +Governor, I don't know what sort of reception you expected other than +that which you have always found here! Hold your greyhounds in, clerk. +If Mr. Stephen and Mr. Héderváry are pleased to make much of you, that +is their affair. For my own part I value people according to their +worth, and the only worth I have as yet discovered in you, let me tell +you, is that at which you rate yourself."</p> + +<p>Master Peter was not the man to be trifled with, and for a moment Libor +felt something of the old awe and deference usual with him in the +presence of his superiors. But a deep sense of injury speedily overcame +his fear, and after a short pause he made answer:</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span>"As you will, sir. Since you assign Héderváry's governor a place among +the dogs, I have nothing further to do save to take my leave."</p> + +<p>With that he again turned to the door.</p> + +<p>"If there is any message which you have forgotten, boy, you don't stir +from here until you have given it. That done, you may go when you like, +and where you like, and no one will detain you."</p> + +<p>Master Peter spoke as one who intended to be obeyed, and Libor was +impressed, not to say cowed. He was very well aware that, as they would +say in these days, it was "not well to eat cherries from the same dish" +as the Szirmay nobles. (At the time of which we are writing a dish of +cherries was a sight rarely to be seen.) He held it, therefore, wiser to +yield, and mastering himself as well as he could, he said:</p> + +<p>"Mr. Stephen wished me to inform you that Bishop Wáncsa has been +inquiring whether you would be disposed to let your house in Pest to his +Majesty."</p> + +<p>"The King? Let it? Is Mr. Wáncsa out of his mind? Do their Majesties +want to hire a great heap of stone like that, where even I have never +been comfortable!"</p> + +<p>"That is my message, but I can explain it. His Majesty wants the house +prepared for the King of the Kunok and his family. You are at liberty to +agree or not, but in any case Mr. Stephen will expect your answer by +messenger, unless you are pleased to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> send it direct to the Bishop by +myself, or the Canon, as we shall find him in Pest and it will reach him +the sooner."</p> + +<p>"What! Matters have gone so far that they are getting quarters ready for +Kuthen, and the nation is still left in ignorance."</p> + +<p>Libor merely shrugged his shoulders and said nothing, as the question +was not particularly addressed to himself.</p> + +<p>"Hem!" said Peter thoughtfully. "I should have liked to spend part of +the winter in my own house in Pest, but it is in a bad state, very bad, +and if the King is willing to repair and put it in order, he shall have +it free for three years. It will be time enough to talk about rent after +that."</p> + +<p>"May I take the answer to Mr. Wáncsa?" inquired Libor, who was still +standing at the open door.</p> + +<p>"Yes, Governor, you may!" answered Peter, really at heart one of the +best-natured men, who was always and almost instantly sorry when he had +lost his temper and "pulled anyone's nose."</p> + +<p>"You may, Libor, and we will not let the sun go down upon our wrath, so +you will remain here, if you please, sup well and sleep well. Talabor +will see that you have all you want, and then you will travel on with +the good Father and some of my men-at-arms."</p> + +<p>Then turning, and giving his hand to Roger, he added:</p> + +<p>"I am sorry, Father, that as things are you see I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> can't give you +quarters in my house; but the King comes before all."</p> + +<p>As for Libor, he chose to consider that Peter had made him some sort of +amends by his last speech; it pleased him much to play the part of an +injured person who has accepted an apology, and he therefore at once +resumed his polite manners, and bowing and smiling he replied with all +due deference:</p> + +<p>"As far as I am concerned, sir, nothing can give me greater pleasure, +and since you permit me to do so, I will remain."</p> + +<p>With another bow he left the room, not the house, which indeed he had +never intended to leave, if he could help himself.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III.<br /> +<span class="smalltext">MASTER STEPHEN'S PAGE.</span></h2> + + +<p>Libor, as already remarked, had never had the least intention of leaving +Master Peter's house so soon after his arrival as he had threatened to +do, if he could by any possibility avoid doing so.</p> + +<p>The fact was he had a little business of his own on hand, as anyone +observant might have found out from his air of mystery, and the fact +that, if he was on his way to Pest, he had had to come so far out of it, +that Master Stephen would certainly have employed another messenger had +Libor not particularly desired to come.</p> + +<p>Master Peter was not very observant, but even he wondered in himself +once or twice what the fellow wanted, and came to the conclusion that +his new dignity had turned his head.</p> + +<p>Dora wondered a little also, and felt that the young man had been +impertinent, not only in his remarks, but in the way in which he had +followed her about with his eyes throughout the interview.</p> + +<p>He was not a person of much consequence, how<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span>ever, and both father and +daughter quickly dismissed him from their thoughts.</p> + +<p>And here, by way of explaining matters, we must mention that many years +ago, when Dora was quite a tiny child, it had been settled between her +father and Héderváry the Palatine, that she should marry the latter's +son Paul. Héderváry was Master Peter's oldest and closest friend, one to +whom he was much attached; and Dora, though no heiress, was a daughter +of one of the proudest and noblest houses in Hungary. The match was +considered perfectly suitable, therefore, and the Hédervárys were much +attached to their "little daughter," as they constantly called her. Paul +himself admired and liked the bride chosen for him quite as much as was +necessary, and it is needless to say that Dora's father thought him +extremely fortunate in having a girl so sweet, so clever, so +well-educated, so good-looking, so altogether charming, for his wife.</p> + +<p>Dora herself no one thought of consulting. As a good, dutiful daughter, +she would, of course, accept without question the husband approved by +her father; and there was no denying that Paul was calculated to win any +girl's admiration, for he was an imposing, gallant-looking personage, +and accomplished withal. They would certainly make a handsome, even a +striking pair.</p> + +<p>Every time Paul came to stay he found Dora more attractive; and though +he had never in any way<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> alluded to his hopes, of which she was quite +ignorant, he could not help feeling that she was the very bride he would +choose, or rather, would have chosen for himself, but for one +unfortunate defect—her small dowry! It was a very serious defect in his +eyes, though his parents thought little of it, for he was ambitious. His +great desire was to make a fine figure in the eyes of the world, to be +admired, courted, looked up to; and though the Hédervárys were wealthy, +more wealth never comes amiss to those who wish to shine in society.</p> + +<p>Was it any wonder therefore that Paul should presently begin to reflect +that Dora's cousin Jolánta would suit him better than herself? Not that +he liked her as well, for, though a pretty, gentle girl, she had not +much character, and she was not nearly so clever and amusing; but she +was an heiress, a considerable heiress, and Paul was convinced that he +liked her quite well enough to make her his wife.</p> + +<p>Dora was now nearly eighteen, and very soon he would be expected to ask +her father's consent to their marriage. To Dora herself he would of +course not say a word until he had her father's leave.</p> + +<p>He was in a most difficult position, poor fellow! He was fond of Dora; +and he was fond of his parents, who would be greatly vexed if he +disappointed them in this matter. It was a serious thing to vex one's +parents, especially when they had it in their power to disinherit one! +His father was a generous,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span> hot-tempered soldier; he would warmly resent +any insult put upon his old friend's daughter; Master Peter might resent +it too, though no word had yet passed between himself and his intended +son-in-law. Truly a difficult position! But for all that, he meant to +please himself, if he could safely do so.</p> + +<p>Paul was turning these things over in his mind, and was pitying himself +and racking his brains to discover some way by which his parents might +be induced to take a reasonable view of things, when it occurred to him +that two heads were better than one.</p> + +<p>He was staying just now with the Szirmays at their castle, where he was +always made much of, and Master Stephen was constantly arranging hunting +parties and other country amusements in his honour.</p> + +<p>Somehow, he never quite knew how it was, he found himself, during a +moment of leisure, near the room occupied by one of the pages; and just +for the sake of talking to somebody he went in, and was received with +obsequious delight by Libor, who murmured his thanks for the great +honour done him by the visit of so high and mighty a gentleman.</p> + +<p>The little room was of the plainest description, and not too light, but +the unglazed windows were at least filled in with bladder-skin, and the +bare walls were painted white; the furniture consisted of a small open +stove of earthenware, a roughly-made, unpainted<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> bedstead, a primitive +wooden table, and two or three stools. It was bare enough for a monk's +cell, and it was unceiled, open to the roof, which appeared to consist +of old boards and lattice-work of a rough description.</p> + +<p>Libor was attired in a pair of red trousers, rather the worse for wear, +and fastened round his waist by a leather strap, a waistcoat of the same +colour, and a coarse shirt with wide, hanging sleeves. He was wearing +neither coat nor jacket, and he had a slender reed pen stuck behind his +ear. There were writing materials and a book or two on the table, and +the page was busy with his pen, when, to his immense surprise, there +entered the haughty young noble, a tall handsome personage clad in a +"dolmány" of bright blue woollen stuff which reached down to his ankles, +and was not unlike a close-fitting dressing-gown.</p> + +<p>Libor started to his feet, and bowed almost to the ground as he +expressed his sense of the great man's condescension, while he wondered +in his own mind to what it was due, and what was wanted of +him—something, he felt pretty confident, and he was quite ready to +serve such an one as Paul, who would be sure to make it worth his while. +But what could it be?</p> + +<p>After a little beating about the bush, and a little judicious flattery, +which drew forth many humble thanks for his good opinion from Libor, +coupled with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> an expression of his hope that Mr. Héderváry would find +that opinion justified if ever he should need his services, Paul at once +proceeded to business.</p> + +<p>Some men would have been disgusted to see a fellow-man, bowing, bending, +and cringeing before them, as Libor was doing, but to Paul it was merely +natural, and it pleased him, as showing that the clerk had a proper +respect for his "betters."</p> + +<p>"I am going to tell you something, clerk, which I have not told to +another soul," began Paul, and Libor bowed again and felt as if he were +on hot coals.</p> + +<p>"You have guessed, I daresay, that I don't come here merely to pay an +ordinary visit?"</p> + +<p>Libor said nothing, judging it more prudent not to mention any surmises +if he had them.</p> + +<p>"Well, the fact is that I am here this time by desire of my parents to +ask the hand of Master Peter's daughter."</p> + +<p>Libor smiled.</p> + +<p>"Yes, Libor, <em>deák</em>, but—well, I have the deepest respect for my +parents, and I would not willingly cross their wishes, but for all that, +I am of age, I am four-and-twenty, and such matters as this I should +prefer to manage in my own way."</p> + +<p>"Most natural, sir, I am sure," said Libor, with another deep bow; +"marriage is an affair which—which——"</p> + +<p>"Which needs careful deliberation, you mean;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> just so! And the more I +consider and weigh matters, the more I feel that it is Master Stephen's +daughter Jolánta who is the one for me."</p> + +<p>"A most charming young lady! and I quite understand Mr. Héderváry's +choice; and, if I might hazard the remark, I would suggest, with all +possible deference, that the fair Mistress Dora is not nearly as well +provided for as Mr. Stephen's daughter; though her father has a quantity +of gold and silver plate, his property is not large, and he cannot give +her much."</p> + +<p>"Say 'nothing,' Libor, and you will be nearer the mark! I know it, and I +am glad to see you don't try to hide anything from me. Well, of course, +property never comes amiss even to the wealthiest, and 'if the master +provides dinner, it is well for the mistress to provide supper,' as they +say. But I had rather take Jolánta empty-handed than Dora with all the +wealth of the world. I like property, I don't deny it, who does not? But +I don't care a straw for Dora, and I do for Jolánta."</p> + +<p>"Ah, then of course that settles it! But suppose Master Peter should +have suspected your intentions?"</p> + +<p>"There is just the rub! He is an old friend of my father's, and I should +be sorry to hurt him; but I have made up my mind to ask for Jolánta."</p> + +<p>"H-m, h-m," murmured the page thoughtfully. "Rather an awkward state of +things, sir."</p> + +<p>"Of course it is! but look you here, Libor, if you<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> can help me out of +it, I will make it worth your while. I know how modest and unselfish you +are, but I shall be able to find you something, something which will set +you up for life."</p> + +<p>Libor's eyes sparkled. This was even more than he had looked for.</p> + +<p>But Paul was growing rather impatient; this long interview with a person +so far beneath him was distasteful to him, and he cut short the page's +servile protestations of devotion and gratitude. What was to be done? +that was the question.</p> + +<p>"First make sure of Mistress Jolánta herself, before anything was said +to her father," suggested Libor, "and then finish his visit and take his +leave without proposing for either. Visits were not always bound to end +with a proposal, and Master Peter could not possibly be hurt therefore. +As for Mr. Stephen, when the time should come to ask his consent, he +would certainly not refuse such a son-in-law as the son of the Palatine. +Mr. Héderváry's parents"—Libor hesitated a little—"they could not +blame him if—suppose—disappointed they might be, but they could not +blame him—if he were able to say that Dora had another suitor, and one +whom she preferred to himself, though Master Peter was not aware of the +fact."</p> + +<p>"H-m!" said Paul, "that would settle it, of course; but—there is none."</p> + +<p>"No, there is not," said the clerk thoughtfully, with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> one of his +deferential laughs, "but—we might find or invent someone."</p> + +<p>"Find someone! Who is there?"</p> + +<p>"Well, let us see—if—if we can invent no one else, there is myself!"</p> + +<p>"You!" cried Paul, with evident and intense disgust, "you! But how? in +what way?" and he broke into a laugh.</p> + +<p>"That is my affair, sir; and if you have confidence in me——"</p> + +<p>"Hush! I hear footsteps. Not another word now, I will contrive to see +you again privately before I go from here. Just one thing more. I wonder +whether you would undertake to do me a small service without telling the +Mr. Szirmays, and without leaving this house."</p> + +<p>"What am I to understand, sir?" asked the page, with marked attention.</p> + +<p>And Paul explained that if he succeeded in arranging matters with +Mistress Jolánta, he should want someone on whom he could depend, to +keep him informed of all that went on in the house, in case, for +instance, Master Stephen should be thinking of another match for his +daughter, and—in fact, there might be many things which he ought to +know; and then if he came again himself during the winter, he should +want someone to see that he had comfortable quarters prepared for him on +the road, and so on.</p> + +<p>Libor was only too delighted to serve such a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span> magnificent gentleman, a +gentleman who was so open-handed and so condescending moreover, and the +bargain was struck. Paul handed the page a well filled purse, telling +him to keep a fourth part of the contents for himself, and to use the +remainder to cover any expenses to which he might be put in sending +messengers, etc.</p> + +<p>"And look you here, Libor, from to-day you are in my service, +remember—one of my honourable pages; and if ever you should wish to try +your fortune elsewhere, there will be a place ready for you in my +establishment."</p> + +<p>Libor bowed himself to the ground as he answered, "With heart and soul, +sir."</p> + +<p>Meantime the footsteps had drawn nearer, and a tap at the door put a +stop to the conversation.</p> + +<p>"The gentlemen are waiting, sir," said the governor, or seneschal, of +the castle, a dignified-looking man clad in a black gown, and wearing at +his girdle a huge bunch of keys; for the governor of such a castle as +that of the Szirmays, was keeper, steward, seneschal, as well as captain +of the men-at-arms.</p> + +<p>"In a moment," replied Paul, and as soon as the old man's back was +turned, he whispered hurriedly, "If anyone should happen to ask what I +came to your room for, you can say that I wanted a letter written."</p> + +<p>Paul stayed yet a few days longer, and was so well entertained with +hunting, horse-races, foot-races, feats of arms, and banquets that he +could hardly tear<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> himself away from the cordial hospitality of his +hosts. He and Libor met but once again in private; but when he was gone +Libor held his head higher than he had ever done before. Up to this time +he had been the least well off of the pages, and had been deferential to +his companions, but now all this was changed. To the Szirmays, on the +other hand, and especially to Master Peter, he was more deferential, +more attentive, than ever before.</p> + +<p>Weeks, months passed, and if Master Peter was somewhat surprised that +his old friend's son had not yet declared himself, he was much too proud +to show it. And he was far too proud also to show how much hurt he was +when he presently learnt that Paul was a suitor for the hand of his +niece, and had been accepted by her father and herself.</p> + +<p>Master Peter was deeply hurt indeed, and he felt too that his brother +had not behaved well to him, knowing, as he did, the arrangement between +himself and his friend.</p> + +<p>Stephen also felt guilty; and the end of it was, that, though the +brothers were sincerely attached to one another, and though no word on +the subject passed between them, both felt a sort of constraint. The old +happy intercourse was impossible; and for this reason Master Peter came +reluctantly to the conclusion that he should be wiser to set up a home +of his own again, and leave his brother in possession of the +family-dwelling.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span>Paul had had considerable trouble with his parents, however. They would +not hear a word in depreciation of Dora, and at the first insinuation of +anything to her actual discredit, Héderváry had flown into a rage, +denounced it as idle, shameless gossip, and declared hotly that Paul +ought to be ashamed of himself for giving a moment's heed to such lying +rumours.</p> + +<p>When Paul went a step further and obstinately asserted his belief that +Dora was carrying on a secret flirtation with Libor the page, the old +warrior's fury was great, and he vowed that he would ride off instantly +and tell his friend everything.</p> + +<p>Yet, after all, he did nothing of the sort! (Paul and Libor perhaps +could have told why.) So far from taking any step of the kind, he held +his peace altogether, and finally acquiesced in his son's choice. He +gave his consent, very unwillingly, it is true, but he gave it!</p> + +<p>Master Peter came to him on a visit not long after, and was so far from +betraying any annoyance that he joked and congratulated his friend on +having a rich daughter-in-law instead of a poor one, and was full of +praise of Jolánta, whom he declared to be a dear girl whom no one could +help loving. If Dora's father did not care, why should Paul's?</p> + +<p>All difficulties in Paul's way seemed to have been removed; but it would +be necessary, as he reminded Libor, to keep up the fiction of Dora's +attachment for some little time to come, or he would be found out,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> and +his father's anger in that case would be something not easily appeased. +It hurt his pride to employ the clerk in such a matter, and to have it +supposed that a girl who might have married his honourable self could +possibly look with favour upon such a young man as Libor, but there +seemed to be no help for it. He was already in Libor's power.</p> + +<p>And Libor was more than willing to play the part assigned to him. He had +as keen an eye to the main chance as Paul, and Paul had not only been +liberal in money for the present, but had held out brilliant hopes for +the future.</p> + +<p>If he stayed on with Master Stephen, argued Libor with himself, he would +be called "clerk" all the days of his life, and end by marrying some +little village girl. If, on the other hand, he obliged young Héderváry, +made himself necessary to him, and, above all, entered into a +partnership with him of such a nature as Héderváry would not on any +account wish to have betrayed—why then he might kill two birds with one +stone! He had already had a few acres of land promised him; if, in +addition to this, he could obtain some gentlemanly situation such as +that of keeper, or governor, or perhaps even marry a distant connection +of the family, an active, sensible man such as himself might rise to +almost anything! Young Héderváry might be to him a mine of wealth.</p> + +<p>This settled the matter, and no sooner had Master Peter left his +brother's house than Libor found reasons<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> without end for going to see +him. There were various articles to be sent after him in the first +place; then there were settlements, arrangements to be made, letters or +messages from Jolánta to be carried; and Libor was always ready and +eager to be the messenger. The other pages had not a chance now, for he +was always beforehand with them; so much so indeed that both they, the +servants, and at last even Master Stephen, could not help noticing that, +whereas formerly Libor had been a stay-at-home, now he seemed never to +be so well pleased as when he was on the move.</p> + +<p>Master Stephen wondered what he could want with his brother Peter, and +the young pages, and sometimes the servants, joked him and tried to find +out what made him so ready to undertake these more or less adventurous +journeys. Libor said nothing, but looked volumes; and they noticed, too, +that the old red trousers and waistcoat had quite disappeared, and that +the page now thought much of his appearance and came out quite a dandy +whenever he was going on his travels.</p> + +<p>Master Stephen held it beneath his dignity to joke with his inferiors, +but Jolánta had been more condescending to Libor of late than she had +ever been before; and naturally so, as he was in Paul's confidence, and +every now and then had news of him, or even a message from him to give +her. It brought them nearer together, and, innocently enough, Jolánta<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span> +once asked him merrily what it was that made him like to go on such +long-expeditions, when it would have been just as easy to send someone +else. Whereupon Libor assumed such an expression of shamefaced modesty +that Jolánta, who had spoken in the merest jest, began to fancy that +perhaps the page really had a reason, and might be courting one of +Dora's maids. That it could possibly be Dora herself, never crossed her +mind for a moment.</p> + +<p>But others saw matters in a different light. The servants had their +gossip and their suspicions; the young pages jested, and looked on Libor +with eyes of envy; and Libor, though careful not to commit himself, +managed somehow to encourage the idea that he and Dora were deeply +attached to one another.</p> + +<p>Of course, neither servants nor pages held their tongues, and soon +people were whispering about Dora Szirmay in a way that would have +horrified herself and all her family had they known it. But those +chiefly concerned are the last to be reached by such rumours. Whether in +any shape they had reached Paul's parents it is impossible to say; but, +at all events, he had married Jolánta with their consent, and Libor had +continued his visits to Master Peter whenever he could find or devise a +pretext.</p> + +<p>On the occasion of his present visit, when he had been the bearer of the +summons to the Diet, "on his way to Pest," he availed himself of Master +Peter's suggestion that he should take a look round the place,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> to make +himself thoroughly acquainted with the ins and outs of the court-yard, +stables, and other out-buildings; for, as he reflected, such knowledge +never came amiss, and one could never tell when it might be useful. He +even noticed absently that one part of the outer wall had not been +repaired. More than this, while prowling about in the dusk, he had +accidentally fallen in, not for the first time, with Dora's maid, Borka, +whose favour he had won long ago by a few pretty speeches, not +unaccompanied by some more solid token of his goodwill.</p> + +<p>It was always well to have a friend at Court.</p> + +<p>But just as he turned away from Borka, he came face to face with +Talabor; and Talabor actually had the impudence to cross-question him as +to what he was about. He was not to be shaken off, moreover, and at +last, apparently making a virtue of necessity, Libor confessed that he +had given the maid a note for Mistress Dora; but he begged and implored +Talabor not to betray him, for it would be the utter ruin of him if he +did.</p> + +<p>Of course he knew that it was most presumptuous that a poor young man +like himself could ever aspire to the hand of a daughter of the +Szirmays; they both knew that their attachment was hopeless, but—well, +they had spent several years under the same roof, and had had +opportunities of meeting, and—could not Mr. Talabor understand?</p> + +<p>Mr. Talabor understood perfectly, inasmuch as his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> own admiration of +Miss Dora had been growing ever since the first day he saw her. He had +worshipped her as something far above him, as all that was good, +upright, and honourable, and it was a shock to have it even suggested +that she could condescend to underhand dealings with anyone. It was odd, +too, if she really cared for Libor, that she should have received and +behaved to him as she had done, and though Libor might protest that +Master Peter had always shown him marked favour, Talabor was of opinion +that he shared his own dislike to the young man, and had shown it pretty +plainly.</p> + +<p>"Master Peter ought to know what is going on," he said sturdily; but +Libor thereupon became frantic in his entreaties. He implored, he +positively writhed in his anguish, not for himself, oh no! what did it +matter about a poor, insignificant fellow like him? it might ruin all +his prospects with the Hédervárys, probably would, and he should not +even be able to return to Master Stephen; he should be a vagabond, and +beggar—but that was no matter of course compared with Mistress Dora! +She would be ruined in the eyes of the world if it came abroad that she +had stooped to care for such as he, and it was certain to get about if +Talabor betrayed them. Whereas now no one but themselves and Borka knew +anything about it; and she was faithful, she would not open her lips, +for he had made it worth her while to keep silence.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span>"An odd sort of fidelity," it seemed to Talabor; but he was not quite +clear as to whether it were his business to interfere; and, if it were, +to injure Mistress Dora——</p> + +<p>Libor saw his advantage and pressed it. He reminded Talabor that Master +Peter was hasty, and so incautious when his wrath was aroused that some +one would be sure to hear of it; he would certainly tell his brother, +Master Stephen would dismiss himself, and—well, the whole thing would +come out. Dora would be scorned by the world, and—besides, this was +probably his last visit; he was going to a distance, and what was more, +they had both realised that their attachment must be given up—it was +hopeless.</p> + +<p>"If it can't be, it can't!" said Libor, with a deep-drawn sigh.</p> + +<p>He threw himself upon Talabor's mercy, and Talabor promised.</p> + +<p>"But remember," said he, "it is only because speaking might do more harm +than good, as you are not coming again, but if ever you do, and I catch +you tampering with Borka, I go straight to Master Peter."</p> + +<p>"If I come, and if you catch me, so you may!" said Libor, with a sneer.</p> + +<p>"I understand all about it," he added to himself, as he turned away with +the announcement that he was going to see Moses <em>deák</em>, the governor. +"I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> understand! You would give your eyes to be in my shoes, Mr. Talabor, +or what you suppose to be mine! And why shouldn't they be? The ball has +been set rolling, and the farther it rolls the bigger it will grow. +Borka will do her part with the servants, and they won't keep their +mouths shut! So! my scornful little beauty, you are not likely to get +many suitors whom Master Peter will favour, and who knows? Next time we +meet—next time we meet—we may both sing a different song."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV.<br /> +<span class="smalltext">MISTAKE THE FIRST.</span></h2> + + +<p>Father Roger was gone, and Libor the clerk was gone, but Dora and her +father were not long left alone. More acquaintances than usual found it +convenient to take the mountain castle "on the way to Pest," or +elsewhere.</p> + +<p>But what was more remarkable than this sudden influx of guests was the +fact that so many of them made polite inquiry after Libor the clerk, +"keeper," or "governor," as they began to call him.</p> + +<p>"What on earth is the matter with the folk!" said Master Peter more than +once. "What makes them so interested all at once in that raw, +long-eared, ink-stained youth! They ask questions and seem to expect me +to know as much about him as if he and I were twin-brethren!"</p> + +<p>"I can't think!" returned Dora with a merry laugh, which might have +re-assured Talabor had he heard it. "It is very odd, but they ask me +too, and really I quite forgot the good man's existence from one time to +another."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span>"Well," said Master Peter, "I suppose one ought not to dislike a man +without cause, and I have nothing positively against the jackanapes, but +I don't trust him, for all his deferential ways, and I fancy that when +once he "gets hold of the cucumber-tree" we shall see a change in him. +Your uncle has been kind to him, but not because he liked him, I know! +I'll tell you what it must be! he has been boasting, and exaggerating +what we have done for him," Master Peter went on in his simplicity, +"making himself out a favourite, and counting up the number of visits he +has paid us here, until he has made people think we have adopted him, +and they will be taking him for my son and heir next, faugh! Ha! ha! A +pushing young man! I never could think why he wanted to be coming here, +but no doubt it gave him importance, and very likely Paul thought we had +special confidence in him, otherwise I don't see what made him give such +an appointment to a youth of his age. That must be it!"</p> + +<p>And yet, while he said the words, Peter had a vague feeling that there +was something behind which he could neither define nor fathom.</p> + +<p>Delighted as he was to welcome guests, he had not enjoyed their society +of late so much as was usual with him. Sometimes he told himself that it +was all fancy, and then at another he would be annoyed by a something +not quite to his taste in their manner to Dora, while the frequent +reference<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> to Libor was so irritating that he had more than once almost +lost his temper, and he had actually told some inquiries with haughty +dignity that if they wanted to know what the young man was doing they +had better ask the servants.</p> + +<p>This had had the desired effect; so far, at least, that Master Peter was +not troubled again; but people talked all the same, and even more than +before, for his evident annoyance and the proud way in which he had +repelled them made the busy-bodies put two and two together and conclude +that he really had some secret trouble which he wanted to hide from the +world. And so, by way of helping him, they naturally confided their +suspicions one to the other, and to their friends.</p> + +<p>Gossip about people of such importance as the Szirmays naturally had a +peculiar zest, and the fact that Dora was first cousin to Jolánta, one +of the Queen's favourite attendants and wife of Paul Héderváry, of +course gave it additional flavour.</p> + +<p>Maids who came with their mistresses questioned Borka, who answered them +as she had been instructed to do, with earnest injunctions as to +secrecy. Talabor, being sent out with a message to Master Stephen, heard +similar gossip from the pages of his household, gossip which distressed +him greatly, though he vowed that he did not believe a word of it.</p> + +<p>He could not get it out of his head during his lonely<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> ride home, but as +he thought over all that he had heard, it suddenly struck him that, +supposing it to be true, Borka was not as "faithful" as Libor fancied. +The story must have come abroad through her, unless—an idea suddenly +flashed across his mind—Libor might have trumped the whole thing up by +way of increasing his own importance. But then he had actually caught +him with Borka! Talabor resolved to have a word with Miss Borka at the +first opportunity.</p> + +<p>In due time Master Peter set out for Pest, and thither we must now +follow him.</p> + +<p>Oktai, the Great Khan, found himself on the death of Dschingis at the +head of a million and a half of fighting men, and at once determined to +carry out his father's plans of conquest by sending his nephew Batu +westward to attack the peaceful Kunok, the "Black Kunok," as the +chronicles call them, who dwelt between the Volga and Dnieper in Great +or Black Cumania.</p> + +<p>Twice the Mongols had been beaten back, but in the end numbers had +prevailed, and to save what remained of this people, their King had led +them into Moldavia, then occupied in part by the Little, or White Kunok.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, alarming rumours of what had occurred had reached Hungary, +but were credited by few, and as to being themselves in any real, still +less immediate danger, that the Hungarians would not bring them<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span>selves +to believe. Their King, Béla (Albert) took a very different view of the +situation. One of the most energetic kings Hungary had ever had, and +brave in meeting every difficulty, though he did not fear danger, he did +not despise it, and while the great nobles spent their time in amusing +themselves, he was following with the most careful attention all that +was going on among his neighbours. He was kept well informed, and +nothing of that which Oktai was doing escaped him. He knew how Russia +had been conquered, how the Kunok had been hunted, and how the countless +Mongol hordes were gaining ground day by day.</p> + +<p>He knew, but he could not make others see with his eyes. More than once +he appealed to the great nobles, urging them to make ready, while he +himself strove gradually to raise troops and take measures for the +defence of the kingdom. But it was all in vain; they heard, but they +heeded not. And then one day they were quite surprised, when, after many +perils and dangers, Kuthen's messengers appeared in Buda, having come, +as they said, from the forests of Moldavia.</p> + +<p>They were no brilliant train, but men who had fought and suffered, and +endured many hardships; and they had come, as Libor told Master Peter, +to ask for an asylum. Hungary was but thinly populated at this time, and +the King was always glad to welcome useful immigrants. Knowing which, +they asked him<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span> confidently, in their own king's name, to say where they +might settle, promising on his part that he and his people would be ever +faithful subjects, and more than this, that they would all become +Christians.</p> + +<p>Béla felt that he must make up his mind at once. He could not send the +messengers away without a decided answer; he thought the Kuns would be +valuable, especially just now, as they were men who knew what war was, +and could fight well.</p> + +<p>But in bidding them welcome to Hungary without consulting the Diet, Béla +made a mistake—a pardonable mistake, perhaps, for he knew as well as +anybody that Diets were sometimes stormy affairs, and not without +dangerous consequences; and he knew too that the majority of those who +would assemble either did not know of the peril which was so close at +hand, or were so obstinate in their apathy that they did not wish to +know of it; nevertheless it was a mistake.</p> + +<p>As for Kuthen, he had two alternatives before him. Either he might +submit to Oktai and join him in his career of conquest; or, he might +offer his services and faithful devotion to a king who was well known to +be both wise, chivalrous, and honourable.</p> + +<p>Kuthen made the better choice; but if his offer were refused, or if Béla +did not make speed to help him, why, then, it was plain that the country +would be inundated by 40,000 fighting men.</p> + +<p>The King could not wait, and Kuthen's messengers were at once sent back +to Moldavia, laden with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span> presents, and bearing the welcome news that +King Béla was willing to receive the Black Kunok on the terms offered. +The White Kunok of Moldavia already acknowledged the Hungarian king as +their sovereign.</p> + +<p>Kuthen lost no time in setting out with his people, and Béla, in the +warmth of his heart, determined to give him a magnificent reception. He +would receive him as a king should be received, whose power and +dominions had been till lately at least equal to his own; he would +receive him as if he were one of his most powerful neighbours; he would +receive him as a brother.</p> + +<p>Béla cared little for pomp and show on his own account, and the +splendour of his train on this occasion was all the more striking. Never +had such a sight been seen in Hungary before as when, one morning in +early summer, the King rode out to the wide plain where he was to +receive his guests.</p> + +<p>Before him went sixty men on horseback, clad in scarlet, all ablaze with +gold and silver, wearing caps of bearskin or wolfskin, and producing +wild and wonderful music from trumpets, pipes, and copper drums. After +them came the King in a purple mantle over a long white "dolmány," which +sparkled with precious stones and was covered in front by a silver +breast-plate. Right and left of him rode a bishop in full canonicals and +bearing each his crozier.</p> + +<p>These were followed by some two hundred of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> more prominent nobles, +among whom were Paul Héderváry, Master Peter, and his brother Stephen, +and the latter's son Akos, who, as already mentioned, was attached to +the King's household. The rear was brought up by soldiers armed with +bows, all mounted like the rest.</p> + +<p>Truly it was an imposing spectacle, as Master Peter admitted when he +afterwards described it to Dora; but it afforded him little +satisfaction.</p> + +<p>No sooner was the army of bowmen drawn up in order than the war-song of +the advancing Kunok was to be heard.</p> + +<p>On they came, Kuthen and all his family on horseback, his retinue, and +his army which followed him at a respectful distance, part mounted, part +on foot, and behind these again a long thick cloud of dust.</p> + +<p>The pilgrims did not present a grand appearance. They looked as those +look who have come through many toils and dangers; but the King was not +without a certain pathetic dignity of his own, in spite of his somewhat +Mongolian features, slanting eyes, low, retreating forehead, and long +beard, already slightly touched with grey. He looked like a man who had +suffered, was suffering rather, and who could not forget his old home, +with its boundless plains, its vast flocks and herds, and its free +open-air life; but he looked also like a man who knew what it was to be +strong and powerful.</p> + +<p>Kuthen's followers came to a halt, while he and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> his family rode +forward, preceded by a horseman, not far short of a hundred years old, +who carried a double cross in token of the submission of his people both +to Christianity and to the sovereignty of the Hungarian king.</p> + +<p>The King and Queen, their two sons, and two daughters, all wore loose +garments of white woollen, fastened round the waist by unpolished belts +of some sort of metal; and on their heads were pointed fur caps, such as +are still worn by the Persians. The King and his sons had heavy swords +of a peculiar shape, while the Queen and Princesses carried feather fans +decorated with countless rows of red beads and bits of metal.</p> + +<p>What trust Kuthen felt in King Béla was shown by the fact that his +bodyguard numbered no more than two or three hundred men armed for the +most part with spears.</p> + +<p>Master Peter had much to tell when he returned home of the beautiful +horses covered with the skins of wild beasts, on which Kuthen and his +family were mounted, and which naturally excited the admiration of such +horse-lovers as the Hungarians; also he told of the band of singers who +preceded the chiefs, and marked the pauses between their songs by wild +cries and the beating of long narrow drums; of the servants, women, and +children, who journeyed in the rear of the army, those of the latter too +small to walk being carried in fur skins slung on their mothers'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> backs; +and of the immense flocks and herds reaching far away into the distance, +whose herdmen, mounted on small, rough horses, drove their charges +forward with long whips and the wildest of shouts.</p> + +<p>He told her, too, how King Béla had galloped forward to welcome his +guest with outstretched hand, and had made the most gracious and +friendly of speeches.</p> + +<p>"Much too gracious!" grunted Peter with a shrug of his shoulders. "All +very fine, but the country will have to pay for it!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, and when all sorts of compliments had been exchanged (through +the interpreters of course, for they can't speak decent Hungarian) then +up came the baggage-horses, and the tents were pitched in a twinkling +side by side. They sprang up like mushrooms, and before long there was a +regular camp, such a camp as you never saw!"</p> + +<p>Béla's tent was of bright colours without, and sparkled with silver and +gold within; but Kuthen's, which was larger (for it accommodated his +whole family), was meant not for show, but for use, and to be a defence +against wind and rain, and was composed of wild-beast skins.</p> + +<p>There was a banquet in the royal tent in the evening, and the haughty +Hungarian nobles saw, to their astonishment and relief, that, though +their dress was simple, not very different in fact from that in which +they had travelled, the King and Queen and their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> family actually knew +how to behave with the dignity befitting their exalted rank.</p> + +<p>The Kunok performed one of their war dances in front of the tent while +dinner was going on; and at the close of the entertainment, Béla +presented Kuthen, his family, and the principal chiefs, with such gifts +as betokened the generous hospitality of the Hungarian and the lavish +munificence of the King.</p> + +<p>But Master Peter, though at other times he could be as lavish and +generous as anyone, was not over well pleased to see this +"extravagance," as he considered it; and his feelings were shared not +only by his brother and nephew, but by many another in the King's +retinue.</p> + +<p>"No good will come of it," muttered they to themselves.</p> + +<p>And the Kun chiefs, "barbarians" though they were in the eyes of the +Hungarian nobles, were, some of them at least, shrewd enough to notice +their want of cordiality, and sensitive enough to be hurt by their proud +bearing and the brilliant display they made.</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p>The whole camp was early afoot, and the two bishops in their vestments, +attended by many of the lower clergy in white robes, appeared before the +royal tents, in one of which stood Béla and his courtiers<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> all fully +accoutred, with helmets on their heads and richly ornamented swords at +their sides, while in the other were assembled Kuthen and his family, +bare-headed and unarmed.</p> + +<p>Béla's own body-guard, mounted and carrying their lances, battle-axes, +clubs, and swords, were stationed on each side of the royal tents, while +their officers rode up and down, or stopped now and again to exchange a +few words with one another in a low tone. A number of Kunok, bare-headed +and unarmed like their sovereign, stood round in a semicircle. Far away +in the distance might be heard every now and then the deep-mouthed bay +of the great sheep-dogs, and the shrill neigh of the horses, but +otherwise there seemed to be a hush over all.</p> + +<p>Presently, a camp-table was brought forward covered with a white cloth +and having a silver crucifix in the midst, with golden vessels on each +side, and then, all being ready, a solemn mass was said by one of the +bishops, interspersed with singing and chanting, by the choir, all of +which evidently impressed the Kunok, who had never seen the like, or +anything at all resembling it, before. By the expression of their wild +faces it was plain to see that while utterly surprised, and, in spite of +themselves, awed and subdued, some were doubtful, some more or less +rebellious, and many full of wonder as to what it all meant and whether +it portended good or evil.</p> + +<p>But there was yet more to follow. The service<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> over, two of the younger +white-robed clergy took up a large silver basin, another pair carried +silver ewers, while the remainder, with lighted torches, formed up in +two lines and all followed the bishops to Kuthen's tent, in front of +which he, his family and retinue, were now standing with King Béla +beside them.</p> + +<p>If the Kunok had looked doubtful and uneasy before, they looked yet more +disturbed now by the mysterious ceremony which followed. It was all +utterly unintelligible to them; they heard words in a strange tongue +uttered over their King and Queen, over the Princes and Princesses, and +they saw water poured upon the faces of each in turn, and no doubt +concluded that they were witnessing some magic rite, which might have +the effect of bringing their sovereign completely under the influence of +the Hungarians.</p> + +<p>And not only the royal family, but their attendants, the chiefs, and +last of all themselves had to submit to the same ceremony, without +having the least conception of what the faith was into which they had +been thus hastily baptized.</p> + +<p>The main body of the Kunok arrived a few weeks later, and they, too, +were baptized in batches, with an equal absence of all instruction and +preparation, and in equal ignorance of what was being done for them.</p> + +<p>That was the way in which the heathen were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> "converted" in too many +instances in bygone times. Is it wonderful that they remained pagans at +heart, or that traces of pagan superstition are to be found in Christian +lands even to the present day?</p> + +<p>Well, the Kunok were now "Christians," and within a few months +settlements were allotted to them in those thinly populated districts +which the King was desirous of seeing occupied by inhabitants of kin to +his own people.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, Kuthen and his train had reached Pest, and he had made his +entry with much pomp and state, Béla being determined that his guest +should be received with all respect. The two Kings therefore rode side +by side, wearing their crowns and long flowing mantles, and the narrow, +crooked streets were thronged with people, all curious to see, if not +animated by any very friendly feeling towards the new arrivals.</p> + +<p>Some of the more prominent chiefs Béla determined to keep about himself +that he might win their confidence and attachment by kindness.</p> + +<p>But Kuthen and his family were conducted at once to Master Peter's old +mansion near the Danube, Béla promising that he would have a proper +residence built for them as soon as he could find a site.</p> + +<p>Peter's house was of an original description, and consisted, in fact, of +six moderate-sized houses, connected one with the other by doors and +passages added by his father; but it had at least been made<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span> habitable +and provided with present necessaries, and afforded better shelter, as +well as more peace, than their tents, and the caves and woods of +Moldavia, where they had dwelt in perpetual fear of their enemies.</p> + +<p>All this Master Peter duly reported to Dora, with comments of his own, +and many a shake of the head, and still her curiosity was not satisfied.</p> + +<p>"What more did she want? He had emptied his wallet so far as he knew."</p> + +<p>"You have hardly said a word about the Queen and the Princesses," +returned Dora.</p> + +<p>Whereupon Master Peter gave a short laugh.</p> + +<p>"H-m! You had better ask your cousin Akos what he thinks of them the +next time you see him," said he.</p> + +<p>"Why, does he see much of them? I thought he was as much against their +coming as you were."</p> + +<p>"So he was! So he was! as strongly as any one! but—well, you know a +page must go where he is sent, and his Majesty seems to want a good many +messages taken. At all events, Akos is often with the Kun folk, and what +is more, one never hears a word against them from him now! Bright eyes, +Dora, bright eyes! and a deal of mischief they do."</p> + +<p>"But can Akos understand them?"</p> + +<p>"It seems so; he has picked the language up pretty quickly, hasn't he? +It is all jargon to me, but then I have not had his practice! Father +Roger says their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span> tongue is something like our Magyar, a sort of uncouth +relation, but I don't see the likeness myself."</p> + +<p>"And the Princesses are really pretty?" Dora asked again.</p> + +<p>"Prettier than their parents by a good deal! Yes, they are pretty girls +enough, I suppose," said Peter grudgingly, "some people admire them +much, particularly the younger one, Mária, as she is now. She used to be +Marána, but that's the name they gave her at her baptism, and the other +they called Erzsébet (Elizabeth). The King and Queen and their sons all +have Magyar names now. But they will bring no good to the country," +Master Peter added, after a pause, "no good, that I am sure of! Why, +there have been quarrels already where they have settled them. Everybody +hates the sight of them and their felt tents, and the King has had to +divide them. What have they been doing? Why, plundering their neighbours +to be sure, as anyone might have known they would. Mere barbarians, +that's what they are, and we shall have a pretty piece of work with them +before we have done."</p> + +<p>"And Jolánta, you saw her?" Dora interposed, by way of diverting her +father's attention from a topic which invariably excited him.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I saw Jolánta," was the answer, given with such a grave shake of +the head that Dora asked whether there were anything amiss with her.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span>"Amiss? h-m! Dora, my girl," said Master Peter, laying his hand +affectionately on her shoulder, "I am glad that <em>you</em> did not marry +him!"</p> + +<p>"I?" laughed Dora, "why should I?"</p> + +<p>"Ah, you have forgotten how they used to call you 'Paul's little wife,' +when you were only a baby, and you did not know, of course, that your +old father was fool enough to be disappointed when he chose your cousin +instead."</p> + +<p>"But isn't he kind to her? Isn't she happy?" inquired Dora.</p> + +<p>"That is a question I did not ask, child, so I can't say. But she is +just a shadow of what she was."</p> + +<p>"Selfish scoundrel!" burst forth Master Peter the next moment, unable to +keep down his indignation, which was not solely on Jolánta's account.</p> + +<p>He had heard a good deal in Pest. Honest friends had not been wanting to +tell him of the reports about his daughter, and his pride had been +deeply wounded by the half pitying tone in which some of his +acquaintances had inquired for her, as also by the fact that the Queen +had <em>not</em> asked for her, though she was on quite intimate terms with +Jolánta, and in the natural course of things would have wished to see +Dora also at Court.</p> + +<p>Peter had longed to "have it out" with somebody, and make all who had +repeated gossip about his Dora eat their own words.</p> + +<p>But for once he was prudent, and bethought him<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span>self in time that some +matters are not bettered by being talked about. If he blurted out his +wrath there would be those who would say that "there must be something +in it, or he would not fly into such a rage," as he knew he should do, +if once he let himself go. Besides, although he had convinced himself +that Paul was at the bottom of all the gossip, and was burning to go and +take him by the throat and make him own it on his knees, yet, after all, +where was the use of making a charge which he could not actually prove?</p> + +<p>Accordingly, Master Peter held his tongue, but he determined that +nothing should induce him to take Dora to Pest while there was any risk +of her being slighted and made uncomfortable. If he could have looked +forward only a few months perhaps he would have recognised that slights +were not the worst evils to be encountered in the world.</p> + +<p>"Selfish scoundrel!" he repeated vehemently, "from what I hear, he has +been driving the poor girl about from morning till night, and from night +till morning! Paul Héderváry's wife must be seen everywhere, at all the +Court functions, all the entertainments in Pest, and even in the country +there is no rest for her, but she must be dragged to hunting parties, +which you know she never cared for. She never had much spirit you know, +poor Jolánta! and now she is like a shadow, all the flesh worn off her +bones! Could you fancy Jolánta killing a bear?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span>"A bear! why, she was terrified whenever there were bears about!"</p> + +<p>"Ay, but of course Paul's wife must be something to be proud of, +something unlike the rest of the world, an Amazon! Well, he made her go +out bear-hunting, for I'll never believe she went of her own free will; +she killed a bear, they say, with her own hand, looked on more likely, +while he did it! But any way, there's the skin, and it's called +'Jolánta's bear,' and she had a swoon or a fit or something after, and +has never been herself since, so I was told. She sent you a number of +messages, poor girl, and wished you were coming back with me to Pest."</p> + +<p>"Poor Jolánta," murmured Dora, "I should like to see her, but not in +Pest."</p> + +<p>"Ah! and you remember that young jackanapes, Libor?" said Master Peter.</p> + +<p>"Paul Héderváry's governor? Oh, yes, isn't he gone to his castle yet?"</p> + +<p>"Not he! He is 'climbing the cucumber-tree' as fast as he can! I can't +think what made Paul take him up; can't do without him now it seems, +looks to him for everything, and has him constantly at his elbow; and +yet there is not a prouder man 'on the back of this earth' than Paul."</p> + +<p>"But the Mongols, father?" asked Dora, who cared little for Paul and +less for his governor, but who could not shake off the impression made +upon her by Father Roger.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span>"My dear child, they have been coming for years! And if they come at +last it will be thanks to the Kunok. But they will go back quicker than +they came, you may be sure, so don't you trouble your little head about +them!"</p> + +<p>Master Peter spoke with the confidence he felt; and when he returned to +Pest, where his presence was required by the King, he returned alone, a +circumstance which set the gossips' tongues wagging anew, for surely he +must have some strong reason for not bringing Dora with him. His stay +was likely to be a long one this time, and he had never been away from +her hitherto for more than a few days together.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V.<br /> +<span class="smalltext">AS THE KING WILLS.</span></h2> + + +<p>Kuthen had no idea that he should occupy Master Peter's town-house for +long, nor indeed had he any wish to do so; but still he had done his +best to make it home-like. It was he who, as father of the family, had +apportioned to each of the household his place and duties.</p> + +<p>To the serving men was assigned a large hall, with the greater part of +the roof taken off that they might not miss the airiness of their tents, +and with the wooden flooring replaced by stone slabs, that they might +keep a fire burning without danger. Here they lived, and cooked, and +slept, sharing their beds—rough skins spread upon the floor—with their +faithful companions, the large dogs brought with them from the steppes.</p> + +<p>The King's own apartments, with their reed mats, coarse, gaudy carpets, +bladder-skin windows, and rough furniture, were not altogether +comfortless or tasteless, for King Béla had presented the royal<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span> family +with sundry articles of a better description, and some of the bishops +had followed his example.</p> + +<p>As for the exterior of the house, Kuthen had introduced a few changes +there also. Leaving a good space all round, he had had the whole block +of buildings enclosed by strong, thick walls; and as he had employed a +large number of workmen and paid well, the fortifications were ready in +a few weeks. They were further strengthened by the digging of a broad +moat, whose drawbridge led to the gateway which formed the sole +entrance.</p> + +<p>Kuthen had many visitors, among whom Akos Szirmay was certainly the most +frequent; but King Béla also came from time to time, besides often +inviting the whole family to the palace. Some of the nobles also +came—because the King did.</p> + +<p>Akos was a sympathetic listener, and Kuthen, who had taken a great +liking to him, enjoyed telling him his adventures and experiences. But +it was quite evident to all that Akos was drawn to the house by someone +more attractive than Kuthen, and also that Marána, or, as she must now +be called Mária, was well aware of the impression she had made, and was +by no means displeased.</p> + +<p>The whole family were out riding one day, a few months after their +arrival. This was the recreation which they loved best, and Akos, as +usual, was in attendance upon Mária. The two were somewhat in advance of +the rest of the party, sufficiently so to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span> be out of hearing, when Akos +presently asked his companion whether she were beginning to be +accustomed to her new home, and whether she thought she could ever learn +to forget the steppes and magic woods of her native land.</p> + +<p>"Could anyone in the world forget his own home, do you think?" she +answered simply, and then added, "Oh, it is all so different! You live +in stone houses, which you can't move about. One might almost as well be +in prison. And the walls are so thick that one can't hear anything of +what is going on outside, or even in the next room; but when we lived in +our open tents, far away from here, I knew in a moment who was in +trouble, and who was laughing for joy. And then our family is one; what +pains one, grieves the rest, and all share one another's joys and +sorrows, fears and wishes."</p> + +<p>"And isn't it so here?" said Akos; "and if we have towns and castles, +don't we live much in the open air too? Have we no family-life, and are +we not all united in our love for our country?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know; maybe it is so, but I am a stranger here, and one thing +strikes me—there is no unity among you! Your proud, overbearing nobles +despise the people, and the people look on them with fear and envy. You +are of one race, one family—at least you Magyars are, and yet there are +hardly any true friends among you, or any who are ready to make great +sacrifices for their country."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span>"You don't know us," returned Akos quickly, though he knew how much +truth there was in what the girl said. "You judge from what you see +around you; here in the capital there is so much gaiety, and everyone +wants to be first; but it is not so in our mountains and valleys, and on +the great plains. There we know what it is to love and sympathise with +one another, and to be of one mind; and we are not bad neighbours. There +are several different races dwelling in our beautiful land, and they all +live at peace one with the other."</p> + +<p>"Well, I don't know, but—I am afraid! I don't understand books, but I +do understand faces, and there is no need for people to open their +lips—I might not understand them if they did—but they speak plainly +enough to me without uttering a word. <em>You don't love us!</em> Oh! that we +had stayed among the mountains, in the cool caves, or in our tents, not +knowing what the morning might bring us, but with our own people all +about us, ready at a word for anything! There was a sort of pleasure +even in living in a state of fear, always on our guard, listening to the +very rustling of the leaves. Ah! how can I make you understand?"</p> + +<p>Mária's thoughts went back to the old times, and she saw herself once +again living the old tent life in the forest shades. Perhaps her +companion's thought for a moment followed hers, and he tried to picture +himself as also living in those far-off regions,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> sharing a tent with +the sweet-looking girl at his side.</p> + +<p>Something he said to her in a low tone, to which she answered with a +smile,</p> + +<p>"Oh, you, Akos, that is different! If they were all like you, one might +perhaps forget all but the things which are never to be forgotten, and +the graves of our ancestors. But you, don't you know that it annoys your +friends and relations to see you liking to spend so much time with us?"</p> + +<p>"Why should my friends and relations mind? My rivals, perhaps yes!"</p> + +<p>"There are no rivals!"</p> + +<p>"None? not a single one?"</p> + +<p>"Not one, Akos, for you are good; you honour my poor father in his +misfortune, you honour my mother; and my brothers and Erzsébet are fond +of you. How should you have any rival?"</p> + +<p>"Marána!" said Akos gently; and when the girl turned to look at him, he +saw that, though she was smiling, her eyes had filled with tears at the +sound of her old name, coming from his lips.</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p>It was an evening in autumn, and King Kuthen and all his family were +gathered together in their largest apartment, where a fire was burning +on the hearth, and the table was spread for their evening meal.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span>All looked grave; and indeed, since the time of his first arrival in +Pest, in spite of all the festivities, and in spite of Béla's unfeigned +kindness, Kuthen had always looked like a man who had something on his +mind, something which oppressed him, and which refused to be shaken off.</p> + +<p>As chief of an untamed, lawless people, far surpassing his followers in +sense and understanding, he was the first to see that the polite +attentions shown him by others than the King and his family, were all +more or less forced. All was not gold that glittered, and his pride was +wounded by the sort of condescension he met with from the Magyar nobles, +when he remembered that not so long ago he had ruled a kingdom larger +than the whole of Hungary.</p> + +<p>Something, perhaps, was due to the change in his mode of life, something +to the fact that he did not feel at ease when he took part in the court +ceremonials and festivities, that he felt as if he were caged, and +sighed for the freedom of the mountains and steppes. However it was, +Kuthen had become quite grey during the comparatively short time he had +spent in Hungary, and was already showing signs of age.</p> + +<p>His family did not fully share his anxieties, for they were not as +far-sighted as he; but the Queen and her sons and daughters were shrewd +enough to see that their visitors were not all as sincere as they +seemed, or wished to seem; though they ascribed this chiefly to the fact +that they themselves were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span> foreigners; and, as both sons and daughters +were well-looking, and the latter something more, they had little reason +to complain of any want of attention or courtesy.</p> + +<p>Just now the King was seated at table, with the Queen and his daughters +on his right hand, and his sons on his left. They were all at supper; +but it was evident that Kuthen ate rather from habit than because he had +any appetite.</p> + +<p>As we have said, the dwelling was surrounded by a wide moat, and the +only entrance was by the drawbridge. Whenever anyone wanted to come in, +the Kunok sentinel posted at the bridge-head always blew a short blast +on his horn, and this evening, just as supper was coming to an end, the +horn was heard.</p> + +<p>Whereupon the King made a sign to one of the many servants to go and see +who was there, for he kept strict order in his household, and never +allowed the drawbridge to be lowered, or anyone to be admitted without +his permission.</p> + +<p>On this occasion, however, it seemed that his permission was not waited +for, as only a few moments passed before Akos Szirmay walked into the +room, and was received with evident pleasure by the King and all his +family.</p> + +<p>It was clear enough that Marána's parents quite understood the state of +affairs, and already looked on the young man as one of the family; for, +with the exception of King Béla, he was the only person ever<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span> admitted +without question, on his merely giving the password.</p> + +<p>Akos came in hurriedly, his face flushed, and with something in his +manner which showed plainly that he had not come on a mere ordinary +visit.</p> + +<p>Kuthen welcomed the young man with a smile, but quickly relapsed into +gravity, and Akos himself, when he had taken the seat placed for him, +next to Mária, glanced at the servants and held his peace.</p> + +<p>"What is it, Akos?" Kuthen asked after a short pause, during which his +visitor's manifest embarrassment had not escaped him.</p> + +<p>"I would rather speak when there are fewer to hear me, your Highness," +answered Akos.</p> + +<p>All eyes were at once turned upon him, for the rising feeling against +the Kunok was well known; and as the people of Pest had noticed, Kuthen +had lately doubled the guards round his house. Whatever the news Akos +had brought, they at once concluded that it must be something +unpleasant.</p> + +<p>"If there is any hurry," said Kuthen, who had regained his composure as +soon as he scented danger, "let us go into the next room."</p> + +<p>"No need for that, your Highness," returned Akos, also recovering +himself. "In fact, if you will allow me, I will share your supper. There +is no need for immediate action, but we must be prepared," he added in a +low tone.</p> + +<p>"Ah," sighed the Queen, "our soothsayers had good<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> reason to warn us +against coming here! We are in a state of constant unrest, and I am +weary of it. For my part, I can't think why we did not leave this gilded +prison long ago, and join our people in their new settlements, where we +should at least be among those who love and honour us."</p> + +<p>"You are right there, wife, and you all know it is what I have long +wished," said Kuthen. "Where is the good of being called 'King,' when +one has no kingdom? My people are being ruled by foreigners, and, though +I sit at the King's Council, nothing that I say has any weight. No, what +I want is to be the father of my large family again, as I used to be, +until I go and join my ancestors. No, I will stay here no longer! The +King has always been kind to us, and I will open his eyes to what is +going on unknown to him."</p> + +<p>But here a sign from Akos made the King hold his peace, and the subject +was dropped for the present.</p> + +<p>It was not Kuthen's way to betray anything like fear; and now when, to +his imagination at least, the storm was already beginning to blow about +his ears, he would not on any account that the servants should have so +much as an inkling of that which filled his own mind.</p> + +<p>He remained at table exactly as long as usual, and, when they all rose, +he repeated as usual the Lord's Prayer, the only one he had learnt. He +recited it in Latin, in an uncouth accent, and with sundry<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> mistakes, +but he said it calmly and collectedly as usual, and the rest followed +his example.</p> + +<p>Then, passing between a double row of servants, he led the way through +an adjoining room to the spacious hall in which he and his family +usually passed their evenings and received their guests.</p> + +<p>The Queen and her daughters took up some sort of needle-work, and Kuthen +signed to his sons to bring him one of the many dog-wood bows which hung +on the wall. This he proceeded with their help to fit with a string +stout enough to deserve the name of rope, for it was as big round as an +ordinary finger.</p> + +<p>The making of these unusually long and powerful bows, the chief weapon +of the Kunok, and the sharpening and feathering of the arrows, was the +King's favourite occupation, and one in which he displayed no little +skill. The string also was of home manufacture, and, as the work went +on, the young men moistened it from time to time with water.</p> + +<p>Many a time Akos had joined them in their evening work, but to-night, as +they sat round the blazing fire, his hands were idle.</p> + +<p>"Akos, my son, we are alone now," began Kuthen composedly, "speak out, +and keep back nothing. You need not be afraid, for this grey head of +mine has weathered many a storm before now."</p> + +<p>"Your Highness—father! if I may call you so"—said Akos, giving his +hand to Mária, "there is a storm coming without doubt, for the wind is +blowing from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span> two quarters at once, and we are caught between the two."</p> + +<p>"I don't understand," said Kuthen, twanging the bowstring, while one son +took a second bow down from the wall, and the other got a fresh string +ready.</p> + +<p>"You will directly, sir; the Mongols are coming nearer and nearer, +burning and destroying everything before them—that's the last news!"</p> + +<p>"Haven't I told the King a hundred times how it would be?"</p> + +<p>"You have, and he knows! But there are certain persons who seem to be +expecting miracles; and meantime, to excuse themselves for sitting +still, they have been whispering suspicions of other people. A few hours +ago they went to the King and told him plainly what was in their minds."</p> + +<p>"Suspicions! whom do they suspect?"</p> + +<p>"<em>You</em>, your Highness! you and your people."</p> + +<p>"Shame!" cried Kuthen, starting from his seat, and looking Akos straight +in the face. At that moment Kuthen was every inch a king, and it was +easy to understand how, though he had lost his kingdom, lost his crown, +nevertheless his word had been enough to induce 40,000 families to +follow him to a new home.</p> + +<p>"And why do they suspect me?" he asked with angry resentment.</p> + +<p>"Why?" repeated Akos, who had also risen to his feet, and now stood +erect facing the King, "because<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span> there is not a creature in this world +so strong as to be able to stand up against panic!"</p> + +<p>"Is that the way you speak of your nation? and you a Magyar!" said +Kuthen.</p> + +<p>"My nation!" shouted Akos, all aflame in a moment. "I should like to +hear anyone dare to speak ill of my nation! No! but father, you who own +such vast flocks and herds, you know that in every fold there are sure +to be a few sickly sheep; and if they are scared, no matter by what, and +make a rush, you know what happens, the rest of the flock follow them; +not that they are frightened themselves, but because they see the others +running. A dog, or the crack of a whip is enough."</p> + +<p>"And pray, what are these sick sheep bleating about to the King?"</p> + +<p>"Well, to be plain, they say that the Kunok are nothing but Oktai's +vanguard. That you have come in the guise of guests to spy out the land +for those who sent you—for the Tartars!"</p> + +<p>"What! I prepare the way for the robbers, who have driven us from the +graves of our ancestors! who have slain our people by the thousand and +made miserable slaves of others! We in league with the Tartars, our +hateful foes! It is a cowardly lie! The King is too noble-hearted ever +to believe such a thing! It is the talk of madmen!"</p> + +<p>"And the King does not believe it; quite the contrary, for he spoke +warmly in defence of you and——"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span>"Ah! that is like himself," interposed Kuthen.</p> + +<p>"Yes; but, my good King, you have many enemies, and they have taken it +into their stupid heads that, as I said before, the Kunok are the +forerunners of the Tartars. They are saying, shouting, that half the +danger would be done away if we had not enemies in our midst, who would +turn upon us at the first signal from the Mongols."</p> + +<p>"That is what is said by Magyars? That those whom they have received as +guests, with whom they have shared their bread and their wine, will +betray them! Have I spent my days among lions and tigers, that anyone +dares to say such a thing of Kuthen? Oh! the cowards! Let Batu Khan +come, and the King shall soon see what our arrows will do."</p> + +<p>"I believe you!" said Akos warmly, "and so does the King, but he cannot +do all that he would, and so it is for your own safety's sake, in your +own interest, as he said, and to prevent greater danger—he is going to +station a guard outside."</p> + +<p>"Put me and my family under guard! imprison me! in return for my trust, +and because I have brought hither through countless dangers, 40,000 +families to do and die for the king, and the nation who have received +me——"</p> + +<p>Kuthen broke off suddenly here to bid his sons go and see to the horses. +Late as it was, he and they would go at once to the King, unarmed, and +unprotected, to learn how much a sovereign's word was worth.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span>In a few moments they were all three on horseback, and in court dress, +for Kuthen had already adopted the Hungarian usage in this respect, as +he had also learnt the language, and done all else he could to +accommodate himself to the manners and customs of his new home, by way +of making himself more acceptable to his hosts.</p> + +<p>But no sooner was the drawbridge lowered than Kuthen saw himself face to +face with a party of Hungarian soldiers on horseback, under the command +of one of his most bitter enemies, Jonas Agha, who told the King, in +curt and not the most respectful terms, that he could not be allowed to +leave his dwelling.</p> + +<p>"Then I am a prisoner! and without so much as a hearing!" exclaimed +Kuthen. "Be it so then. I am the King's guest, and my friend will +explain things to me. Back now, my sons! Let us set an example of +submission!"</p> + +<p>As he uttered the words, he found Akos at his side, Akos, who, though he +had heard from one of the courtiers that such an order was in +contemplation, had never suspected that it was already an accomplished +fact. And indeed, knowing that both the King and Queen, as well as Duke +Kálmán, the King's brother, were doing all in their power to defeat the +intentions of the hostile party, he suspected that the present action +had been taken by some over-zealous official in a subordinate position, +and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span> he now hastened forward to set right any misunderstanding.</p> + +<p>"What is the meaning of this?" he asked, standing erect in his stirrups +and looking like a statue.</p> + +<p>"The King's orders," replied Agha haughtily.</p> + +<p>Akos was about to make some fiery reply, but Kuthen interrupted him, +saying quietly, "Let it be as the King wills!" and with that he turned +his horse's head from the gate.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI.<br /> +<span class="smalltext">MISTAKE THE SECOND.</span></h2> + + +<p>The day had closed gloomily, ominously, for the refugees; and to +understand how it was that a king so chivalrous as Béla could consent to +make a prisoner of his guest, we must go back and see what had taken +place a few hours earlier.</p> + +<p>Béla, as already said, was fully alive to the danger which threatened +his land and people, and at the first news of the advance of the +Mongols, he had sent Héderváry the Palatine to block all the roads and +passes between Transylvania and Wallachia, and make full arrangements +for their defence. But even this prudent step was not approved by every +one. The wiseacres, and the sort of people who always see farther than +their fellows, attributed the King's orders to fear, and said so too, +openly and unreservedly.</p> + +<p>There were others who simply refused to believe any alarming reports, +alleging that they were all got up by the bishops and chief clergy, that +they might have an excuse for staying at home at ease, instead of +attending the Pope's Council in Rome.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span>Others accused the King, the Kunok, and other foreign guests who had +lately arrived at the Court of Pest.</p> + +<p>Some of these, the most timorous, actually wanted to force the King to +send an embassy to the Great Khan, offering him an annual tribute and +other shameful conditions.</p> + +<p>Béla was a courageous man, and a true Magyar and king in the best sense +of the words. He was calm, brave, and energetic. He saw through the +cowards and despised their accusations; for it is the poltroon who is +ever the first to accuse others of cowardice, and there is, moreover, +one thing which he can never pardon—the being discovered trembling by +men braver than himself.</p> + +<p>King Béla paid no heed to the wagging of these many tongues, and himself +went all round the eastern frontiers of the kingdom, to see personally +to the defences. His plans were well considered and well adapted to the +object in view. They failed in one point only, but that a fatal +one—they were never carried out!</p> + +<p>On the King's return to Pest, he found the capital given up to +festivity. Nearly every noble in the place must be giving +entertainments. If there was a banquet at one house to-day, there was +one at another to-morrow. There was no trace of any preparations for war +or defence, though there was plenty of nervous alarm.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span>Shortly after his arrival, the King called a Council, and the heads of +Church and State met in a spacious hall often used for Court balls and +assemblies, now presenting a very different appearance, and with its +walls draped in sober green cloth.</p> + +<p>The King was seated in a canopied armchair raised above the rest, and he +wore a white silk mantle, with a clasp something like the ancient Roman +fibula, but set with precious stones. On his head was a crown, simple +but brilliant, in his hand he held a golden war-club, and from the plain +leather belt which confined his white dolmány at the waist, there hung a +long, straight sword, with a hilt in the form of a large cross.</p> + +<p>The Council consisted of about sixty members, some wearing their +ecclesiastical vestments, and others the long Hungarian dolmány. Of all +those present no one looked so entirely calm as the King, and those who +knew him best could read firm resolve in his face.</p> + +<p>Béla knew Hungary and the strength of its various races, and he was +never afraid of dangers from without. What he did fear was the spirit of +obstinacy and envy, and at last of blindness, which has so often shown +itself, just when clear sight and absolute unity were especially needed +to enable the country to confront the most serious difficulties.</p> + +<p>He knew that he must prove the existence of danger by facts, if he +wanted to silence the contentious tongues of those who did not wish to +believe; and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span> he had determined to lay convincing proofs before them on +this particular day.</p> + +<p>When all were assembled and in their places, the King made a sign to +Paul Héderváry, who at once left the hall, the door of which was shortly +after again thrown open for the entrance of two gloomy-looking men, with +swords and daggers at their belts, whom Paul ushered up to the King's +throne. Their robes, trimmed with costly furs, showed that they were +persons of importance; and what with the richness of their attire, and +their manly deportment, they did not fail to make an impression upon the +assembly, though one of the younger members muttered to his neighbour, +"Hem! Flat noses and glittering eyes! Who may these be?"</p> + +<p>The two bowed low before the king, and then one of them, Románovics by +name, said: "Your Majesty, we are both Russian dukes, and have been +driven from the broad lands of our ancestors, by Batu Khan, one of +Oktai's chiefs. We have now come to your footstool, to entreat your +hospitality, and to offer you our services."</p> + +<p>"More guests!" whispered the same young man who had spoken before. +"Kunok, Russians, and next, of course, the Tartars, not a doubt of it!" +The broad smile on his face showed that he was highly pleased with his +own wit.</p> + +<p>"Honourable guests will always find the door open in Hungary," said the +King, when the short speech<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span> had been interpreted to him; "and all who +are oppressed shall have whatever protection we are able to afford +them."</p> + +<p>"More too! Oh, what generous fellows we are!" muttered another still +younger man at the table.</p> + +<p>The King went on to say that he had heard of the Russian disasters, but +that as the news which had reached him might have lost or gained +something on the way, he should be glad if they would tell him and the +Council just what had really happened.</p> + +<p>Whereupon, the Duke who had spoken before gave a short account of all +that had taken place since the death of Dschingis, and the partition of +his vast dominions. And then the younger Duke, Wsewolodovics, took up +the tale.</p> + +<p>"Lord King!" he began, "these Mongols don't carry on warfare in an +honourable, chivalrous way. They fight only to destroy, they are +bloodthirsty, merciless; their only object is to plunder, slay, murder, +and burn, not even to make any use of what lands they conquer. They are +like a swarm of locusts. They stay till everything is eaten up, till all +are plundered, and what they can't carry off, that they kill, or reduce +to ashes. They are utterly faithless; their words and promises are not +in the least to be trusted, and those who do make friends with them are +the first upon whom they wreak their vengeance if anything goes wrong. +We are telling you no fairy tales! We know to our own cost what they +are, we tell you what we<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span> have seen with our own eyes. And let me tell +you this, my lord king, their lust of conquest and devastation knows <em>no +bounds</em>! If it is our turn to-day, it will be yours to-morrow! And, +therefore, while we seek a refuge in your land, we at the same time warn +you to be prepared! for the storm is coming, and may sweep across your +frontiers sooner than you think for."</p> + +<p>"We will meet it, if it comes," said the King coolly. "But I bid you +both heartily welcome as our guests for the present, and as our +companions in arms, if the enemy ventures to come hither."</p> + +<p>The Dukes found nothing to complain of in the King's reception of them. +He had been cordial and encouraging, and he had heard them out; though, +what with their own long speeches, and the interpreting of them, the +interview had lasted a considerable time.</p> + +<p>But if the King had listened attentively and courteously, so had not the +Council; and the contrast was marked. Some listened coldly and without +interest, some even wore a contemptuous smile, and there was a restless +shrugging of shoulders, a making of signs one to the other, and at times +an interchange of whispers among the members, which showed plainly +enough that they thought the greater part of what the Russians said +ridiculously exaggerated.</p> + +<p>Councils, even those held in the King's presence, were by no means +orderly in those days. Everyone present wanted to put in his word, and +that, too, just<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span> as and when he pleased, so the Duke had hardly finished +speaking, when up rose one of the elder and more important-looking +nobles, exclaiming impatiently, "Your Majesty! These foreign lords have +told us very fully to what we owe their present kind visit; and they +have told us, too, that our country is threatened by ruffianly, +contemptible brigands and incendiaries. There is but one thing they have +forgotten. I should like to know whether this horde of would-be +conquerors have any courage, discipline, or knowledge of war among them. +It seems to me important that they should tell us this in their own +interests, for it needs no great preparation to scatter a disorderly +rabble, but valiant warriors are, of course, another thing."</p> + +<p>"Very true, Master Tibörcs," said the King calmly, patiently.</p> + +<p>But when the matter was explained to the Russian Duke, he exclaimed, +with an expression of the utmost horror and contempt, "Valiant! +disciplined! military knowledge! Why, my lord king, who could expect +anything of the sort from such thieves and robbers! But, despicable as +they are as soldiers, they are dangerous for all that! They are cowards! +They are as wild as cattle, as senseless as stones, but—they have +numbers, countless numbers, on their side. They fall in thousands, and +they use the dead and wounded to bridge the rivers! And they are swift +as the very wind."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span>Several at the table here exclaimed that the Duke must be magnifying, or +at least that he had heard exaggerated reports; and one of the most +timorous added that to a man who was terrified danger always looked +greater than it did to anyone else in the world. That man, at all +events, knew what he was talking about!</p> + +<p>"We are not afraid, gentlemen," said Románovics, turning at once towards +those seated at the table. "We are exhausted with fighting ourselves, +and their blood, too, has flowed in torrents; ten of them have fallen to +every one of our men, but then their numbers are ten times ours."</p> + +<p>"Afraid of them?" continued the other, "No! who would be afraid of such +cowardly robbers? Why, ten will run before one man, if he meets them +face to face! We don't say they are invincible, quite the contrary. We +come here in the belief that the heroic nation from whom we seek +assistance is quite strong enough to be a match even for such a torrent +as this! Nevertheless, there is one thing which must not be forgotten. +Though there is no military knowledge among them, though they are not +trained soldiers, they are extremely clever with their war-machines. +Nothing can stand against them! And there is another thing. Those who +are conquered are forced into their army; what is more, they are put in +the forefront of the battle, in the place of greatest danger, and they +are driven forward, or<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> murdered if they attempt to escape! So, with +danger before and behind, the miserable wretches fight with all the +strength of despair; the victors share the spoil, and those who are +defeated have nothing to expect but death any way, and sometimes a death +of fearful torture too. This, together with their extraordinary rapidity +of movement, their cunning, and powers of endurance, is the secret of +their strength."</p> + +<p>So spoke the Russian Dukes, and their words made a certain impression, +though even now some of the Council were hardly convinced of the +importance of the danger. Many were scornful of the new-comers, and +various contrary opinions were being expressed, when all at once there +was a roar outside as if a battle were already going on in the streets, +and some of the palace guards rushed into the Council chamber.</p> + +<p>All leapt to their feet. Swords all flashed simultaneously from their +scabbards, and in a moment, Béla was surrounded, and over his head there +was a canopy of iron blades. To do them justice, their first thought was +for the safety of the King.</p> + +<p>"What has happened?" he asked of the guards, when the hubbub around him +had subsided.</p> + +<p>"The people have risen! They are asking for the head of Kuthen," was the +answer.</p> + +<p>There was a shout of "Treachery, treachery, treachery!" without, and the +next instant the mob burst into the hall.</p> + +<p>"Gentlemen! to your places! put up your swords,"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span> said the King, in such +a peremptory tone that his command was at once obeyed. Then rising from +his chair and turning to the intruders with perfect calm and dignity, he +bade them come forward.</p> + +<p>"The King is always ready to hear the complaints of his people! What is +it you want, children? But let one speak at a time, that will be the +wiser way, for if you all clamour together, my sons, I shall not be able +to understand any one of you. Ah! you are there, I see Barkó <em>deák</em>; +come here, you are a sensible man, I know; you tell me what is the +matter."</p> + +<p>Barkó was a notable man in his own set, and his sobriquet of <em>deák</em> +showed that he possessed some learning, at least to the extent of being +able to write, and having some knowledge of the Scriptures, as well as +of the laws, called "customs."</p> + +<p>He was a man whose judgment was respected, and when first suspicion fell +upon the Kunok, he was besieged by those who wanted his advice as to how +they ought to act in these dangerous circumstances.</p> + +<p>Now, on the days when Barkó got out of bed right foot foremost, he would +calm his inquirers by saying wisely enough that until Kuthen himself was +detected in some suspicious act, the time had not come for accusing him. +But, unfortunately, Barkó was not without his domestic troubles in the +shape of a wife, who would always have the last word, and so sometimes +it happened that he got up left foot foremost.</p> + +<p>It was on one of these unlucky days that the people <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span>of Pest and the +neighbourhood, having somehow heard, as people always do hear, that the +King was holding a Council for the purpose of taking measures of defence +against the Mongols, "Tartars," as they called them, came with one +consent to Barkó's house, and swarmed into it in such numbers that he +leapt out of the window to escape them. But no sooner had his feet +touched the ground than they were at once taken off it again, and he was +caught up and raised on high, amid loud shouts from the crowd that he +must be their leader and spokesman.</p> + +<p>"What am I to do? What do you want?" he cried.</p> + +<p>"Let's go to the King! Treachery! The Kunok are bringing the Tartars +upon us! We want the head of Kuthen!"</p> + +<p>Such were the cries which assailed him on all sides, and Barkó let them +shout till they were tired.</p> + +<p>"Very well, children," he said, as soon as there was a chance of making +himself heard. "Very well, we will go to his Majesty. He will listen to +his faithful people and find some way of putting an end to the +mischief."</p> + +<p>"We will go now!" they shouted.</p> + +<p>"No! let's wait!" roared a grey-beard, with a shake of his shaggy head, +using his broad shoulders and sharp elbows to force a way through the +crowd.</p> + +<p>"We won't go to the King! We'll go straight to the other King, the +vagabond and traitor Kuthen.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span> We will take his treacherous head to our +own good King!"</p> + +<p>"Good! good!" cried the mob.</p> + +<p>"It is not good!" shouted Barkó. "It is for the King to command, it is +for us to ask. If I am to be your leader, trust the matter to me."</p> + +<p>"Let us trust it to Mr. Barkó," cried some voices again.</p> + +<p>"So then, I am the leader, and if we want to go before the King's +Majesty, let us do it respectfully, not as if we were a rabble going to +a tavern. Here! make room for me! put me down!"</p> + +<p>And Barkó puffed and panted, and shook himself, as if he had swum across +the Danube.</p> + +<p>Then he called three or four of the crowd to him to help in forming up +some sort of procession.</p> + +<p>"There! I go in the middle, as the leader, and you, the army, will march +in two files after me."</p> + +<p>"But we are here, too, Mr. Barkó!" cried some shriller voices.</p> + +<p>"The petticoats will bring up the rear!" said Mr. Barkó authoritatively.</p> + +<p>And in this order the crowd proceeded on its way; but, notwithstanding +all Barkó's precautions, it was a very tumultuous crowd which burst into +the King's presence.</p> + +<p>Barkó had made the journey bare-headed; and now, being called upon to +speak, he bowed low before the King, saying: "Your Majesty! Grace be +upon<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> my head. Since the devil is bringing the Tartars upon us, the +people humbly beg the head of the traitor Kuthen! And we will bring it +to you, if you will only give us the command, your Majesty!"</p> + +<p>"It shall be here directly, and the heads of all his brood, too!" cried +Barkó's followers.</p> + +<p>Barkó, seeing that the King did not speak, turned to them, saying in a +tone of command, "Silence! I will speak, asking the King's grace upon my +head."</p> + +<p>And turning again to the King he added, "If we don't root them out, my +lord King, the Tartars will find the banquet all made ready for them +when they come. The vagabonds in the country-districts are already +laying hands on property not their own, and behaving just as if they +were at home."</p> + +<p>One or two voices from among the crowd echoed these complaints, and +added others as to the disrespect shown to the Magyar women.</p> + +<p>"Silence," interrupted Barkó. "Let us hear his Majesty, our lord the +King. What he commands that we will do, and we must not do anything +else," he added, by way of showing that he could read writing, and was +acquainted with the style in which the royal commands were expressed.</p> + +<p>The King heard all without appearing in the least disturbed, while those +at the table kept their hands all the time on their swords, and it was +by no means without emotion that the two Russian Dukes looked on at +this, to them, very novel kind of Council, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> at this unconventional +way of approaching the King's presence.</p> + +<p>At last there was silence. Barkó had said his say, and the cries and +exclamations of his followers having subsided, the King addressed them +and him.</p> + +<p>First he praised him for his discretion in coming to seek counsel of the +King, and then he reminded him that a good king was also a just judge. +But a just judge always heard both sides of a question before he gave +judgment. If, therefore, he were now to give his consent to what his +faithful children wished, and were to deliver King Kuthen, who was both +his guest and theirs, into their hands, and that without hearing him as +he had heard them, why, then he would be a bad judge, and therefore not +a good king. Moreover, if he were unjust in one case he might be so in +another.</p> + +<p>"If, for instance," said he, "Paul came to me with a complaint against +Peter, we might have Mr. Peter's head cut off; and if Peter accused +Paul, we might have Paul beheaded. For, my children, others have as much +right to justice as ourselves; therefore, hear our commands, and as my +faithful servant, the honourable Mr. Barkó has said, observe them and do +nothing else."</p> + +<p>All eyes were fixed upon the King, and they listened with wrapt +attention and in perfect silence as he proceeded:</p> + +<p>"Strict inquiry shall be made as to whether there<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span> be any real ground of +suspicion against King Kuthen; and if there is, he and his people shall +be punished! But we must let the law take its course, and my dear +citizens of Pest may wait quietly and confidently while it does. From +this day forth the Kun King will not leave his residence, a guard shall +be placed at his gate, and we will have the matter regularly +investigated without delay."</p> + +<p>There was a burst of "Eljens" (vivas) as the King concluded. The people +appeared to be thoroughly satisfied, and when Barkó, after a low +reverence, turned to leave the hall, his followers made a way for him +through their midst, and cleared out after him, quickly at all events, +if not with much dignity.</p> + +<p>History tells us that the King's Council was satisfied also, no less +than the people, who had, indeed, been purposely excited by some of the +nobles, and used more or less as a cat's paw. The order that Kuthen +should be guarded was, as we have seen, given and executed forthwith. +Béla had given it most unwillingly, only, in fact, to appease the +excitement, and in the hope of avoiding still worse evils; and though +some were still dissatisfied, this was the case with but few of the +cooler heads.</p> + +<p>And the Russian Dukes, when they were able to speak to the King in +private, admitted that numbers of Kunok had indeed been forced by Batu +Khan to serve in his army; but they added that these recruits were only +waiting the first favourable oppor<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span>tunity to desert and join with their +kinsmen, and with the Hungarians, in exterminating the common enemy. And +what they feared was that, if the Kunok heard that their King, whom they +worshipped, was being kept under restraint, they would actually do what +the majority and so many of the chief nobles now without reason +suspected them of.</p> + +<p>Béla understood human nature, and to him it seemed that to throw some +sort of sop to Cerberus was wiser than to risk the exciting of greater +discontent.</p> + +<p>But again the King made a mistake!</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII.<br /> +<span class="smalltext">AT THE VERY DOORS.</span></h2> + + +<p>The time of which we are writing was a critical one in Hungary's +history. "She was sick, very sick, and the remedy for her disease was +bitter in proportion to the gravity of her condition." (Jókai Mór.)</p> + +<p>The power and prestige of the sovereign had lost much under Béla's +predecessors, first his uncle and then his father; for the latter had +rebelled against his brother, and the civil war had increased the +importance of the magnates, while it diminished that of the sovereign. +Béla's father András had succeeded his brother, and had shown himself as +weak, as vain, and as untrustworthy, as king, as he had done as subject.</p> + +<p>Béla had inherited many difficulties, and in his eagerness to set +matters right, had been over-hasty, over-arbitrary, and had made enemies +of many of the great nobles by curtailing their extorted privileges.</p> + +<p>András, always in need of money, had given and pawned Crown property, +until there was little left. Béla, succeeding to an almost empty +treasury, had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span> recalled some of those donations which never ought to +have been made; and also, by way of instilling respect for the King's +majesty, had withdrawn from the great nobles certain privileges, which +they bitterly resented, for some of them had attained such a pitch of +might and wealth as rendered them independent of the King and the law. +There were two classes of nobles, the magnates and the lesser nobility, +the latter being more and more oppressed by the former. All who owned a +piece of land were "noble," but as their possessions differed greatly in +amount, so some were rich and others very much the reverse.</p> + +<p>The nobles of both classes, and the clergy attended the Diets; but the +mass of the people were as yet unrepresented.</p> + +<p>Standing army there was hardly any, and when the King wanted troops he +had to raise them, and pay them as he could. Those who held crown-fiefs +were bound to obey the King's call to arms, but at his cost, and not +their own, and all nobles of whatever degree were bound to join his +standard if the country was attacked, not otherwise. If the King wanted +them to cross the frontier, he must bear the expense; and if they did +not choose to go, he was helpless and could not punish them.</p> + +<p>But, to be first in the field is often half the battle. To wait until +the enemy is actually in the country may spell disaster and even ruin.</p> + +<p>Béla was well aware of the danger which threatened.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> He had heard much +from Kuthen, and he had other sources of information as well, men who +kept him well posted in all that was going on. Troops he must have if +the country was to be saved; and as the Kunok were always ready for war +he felt obliged to favour them; and, to raise money for the pay of +others, he was obliged to pledge the Crown revenues and to debase the +coinage.</p> + +<p>If Hungary had been of one mind in those days, if all had been ready to +rise in her defence as once they would have done, she would have had +little difficulty in driving back the Mongols; but some of the magnates +secretly hoped for a reverse, if so be the King might be thereby +humbled. They little knew!</p> + +<p>Rumours as to the advance of the Mongols were rife throughout the +winter; but the month of March, 1241, had arrived, and still there was +nothing to be called an army, in spite of the sending round of the +bloody sword, and in spite of the King's most urgent commands, +entreaties, and personal exertions.</p> + +<p>On the 11th of the month came the first note of actual alarm in a +despatch from Héderváry the Palatine, who was guarding the north-eastern +frontier. He announced that the Mongols had reached the pass of Versecz +(almost in a straight line with Kaschau), and that it was impossible for +him to hold them back unless large reinforcements were sent to him at +once.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span>The King, meanwhile, had despatched ambassadors to his old enemy +Friedrich, of Austria, urging him in his own interest to come to the +help of Hungary. To the Kunok in their new settlements he had also sent +orders to mount at once, and they required no second bidding, but set +out immediately for the camp.</p> + +<p>The Queen and Court had left Pest for Pressburg, whither all who took +the coming danger in the least seriously, and many even who professed to +think little of it, had sent their womankind. The few who dared run the +risk of leaving them in country houses, with moats and walls as their +sole defence, were nobles whose castles were believed to be +inaccessible, or so far from the frontier and so buried in the woods, +that they had every reason to hope that they would remain undiscovered. +The Hédervárys and the Szirmays were not of this number, always +excepting Master Peter; for, such was their reputation for wealth, that +it seemed only too likely that, to save their own skins and perhaps +share the spoil, some of their servants and dependants might turn +traitors and betray them to the Mongols. They, therefore, were among the +first to send their wives and children to Pressburg, lavishly provided +with all that they might need, and accompanied by brilliant trains of +men-at-arms.</p> + +<p>Pressburg was full to overflowing, and to every man there were at least +ten women. Jolánta, of course, was there, and was daily looking forward +to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span> the pleasure of seeing Dora; not doubting for a moment that her +uncle would send her with all speed as soon as he himself left home to +join the army.</p> + +<p>But the days had passed, and not only had Dora not come, but no one knew +where she was, or anything about her. There was no little wonderment at +this among those whose minds were sufficiently at leisure to wonder +about anything not immediately concerning themselves or their families. +It was odd that Master Peter should have stayed so long in Pest without +her, a thing he had never done before; it was odder still that he should +not have sent her to Pressburg, out of harm's way. Surely he must have +placed her somewhere to be taken care of! He could never think of +leaving her at home, and alone, when the time of his absence was likely +to be so uncertain. They knew, indeed, that his ancient hall was so +buried in dense woods, and so surrounded by ravine-like valleys, that no +one would be likely to find it unless they knew of its existence and +went there for the purpose; yet at the same time, as he and Stephen had +been busy collecting their troops, and seemed to consider preparations +of some sort necessary, he would surely never be satisfied to leave Dora +alone in a place which, though strong enough to resist any ordinary foe, +would certainly not be safe from the thieving, burning Tartars, if they +should discover it.</p> + +<p>And yet, in spite of all these conjectures, that was precisely what +Master Peter had done. We have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span> already mentioned his reasons for not +taking his daughter to Pest. The same reasons prevented his sending her +to Pressburg. He would not have her exposed to sneers, perhaps insults, +when he was not at hand to protect her.</p> + +<p>Dora herself was quite against going to swell the Queen's train; and her +father was more than a little hurt that, whereas her Majesty (so Paul's +mother told him with satisfaction) had especially summoned Jolánta to +join her with all speed, she had not said a word to show that she even +remembered Dora.</p> + +<p>What Dora wished was to follow her father and share all his dangers, +labours, and hardships—no such very uncommon thing in those days, when +women were often safer with their fathers, husbands, and brothers, than +they could be anywhere else. Her father was Dora's first thought, as she +was his; but at first he would not give her any decided answer. The +Mongols were not yet in the country; and he and his brother, though they +loyally obeyed the King's orders, were among those who thought him far +too anxious, and his preparations more than were necessary.</p> + +<p>At all events, he would not take her with him when he set out with his +troop for the camp at Pest, but he promised, if he could not find any +better way of ensuring her safety, that he would come later on, put her +in a coat of armour, and take her with him. The only question was where +she had better stay<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span> meantime, and he decided that on the whole home +would be best.</p> + +<p>The seneschal, or governor, was a gloomy and rather lazy man, but +thoroughly honourable. Peter knew what a bold, brave man he was when it +was a question of bears, wolves, and wild boars, and in his simplicity +he argued with himself that courage was courage and that a man +courageous in one way must needs be courageous in all!</p> + +<p>Peter would have liked much to take with him Talabor, of whom he had +lately grown quite fond, but it suddenly flashed across him that in any +case of unexpected danger, the younger man, full of life and energy, +would not be less courageous than the portly seneschal, while he would +certainly be more active and resourceful. Talabor, who was burning to +accompany his good master, was therefore told that for the present he +was to remain at home. Master Peter had a long conversation with him +before his own departure, and gave him full instructions, so far as that +was possible, as to what he was to do in case of accidents, which Peter +himself never in the least expected to occur.</p> + +<p>And then he rode away at the head of a very respectable troop, or +"banderium," consisting of the lesser nobility of the neighbourhood, and +of such recruits as he had been able to enlist; and on reaching Pest he +found that the Szirmay contingent, furnished by himself and his brother, +was first in the field. Soon after<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span> arrived the King with the troops +which he had been raising himself in the two home-counties.</p> + +<p>Pest was becoming daily more like a camp. The streets, the open spaces, +were turned into bivouacs, the officers slept in tents; and, as most of +the men were mounted, on all sides was to be heard the neighing of +horses, tethered by long ropes in the open air. Earthworks were being +hastily thrown up at a considerable distance beyond the walls of the +town, these walls themselves being low and hardly capable of defence, as +they were not everywhere provided even with moats.</p> + +<p>Impossible to describe the state of bustle and excitement in which +everyone in Pest was living just then, and at first sight no one would +have discovered anything like fear in the animated and hilarious crowd +which filled the thoroughfares. The Mongols were spoken of in terms of +the utmost contempt as a wild, undisciplined, unorganized rabble, who +would fly at the mere sight of "real troops," properly armed!</p> + +<p>Everywhere was to be heard the sound of music and boisterous mirth on +the part of the younger nobles, who made great display of gaudy apparel, +fashionable armour from Germany, huge plumes, and high-spirited horses.</p> + +<p>Like peacocks in their pride, they loved in those days to make a show of +magnificence. And if this was true more or less of all the higher and +wealthier nobility, particularly of the younger members, it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span> cannot be +said that the lower classes, or the less wealthy, were at all +behind-hand in following the example of their betters.</p> + +<p>The King himself hated display, though he did not despise a becoming +state and magnificence when occasion required; but those who were +attached to his Court, or to the retinue of the great lords, spiritual +and temporal, delighted to imitate the young magnates as far as they +could. Foremost among these was now Libor the clerk, Héderváry's +well-known governor, whom his young master found so prompt and ready, so +helpful in carrying out, and so quick to approve all his whims, that it +became more and more impossible to him to dispense with his services, +and he kept him constantly about him.</p> + +<p>Libor sported a gigantic plume in his cap, and his sword made such a +clanking as he walked, that people knew him by it afar off. Whenever he +had the chance, he might be heard declaiming in praise of the heroic +King, and affirming that everyone who did not support him was a +scoundrel. All who were in favour of active measures highly approved of +Libor; even the King knew him, at least by name, for there was not such +another fire-eating Magyar in the whole of Pest, and all were agreed +that the King had no more devoted subject than this exemplary young +clerk.</p> + +<p>Bishops, abbots, magnates, and the King's brother, Duke Kálmán, were +arriving now with their expected<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span> troops; but on March 14th arrived one +who was not expected, and at whom people looked in terror and amazement.</p> + +<p>He rode up slowly, wearily, at the head of a few hundred men, as worn +and weary as himself; and as he came nearer, people whispered under +their breath, "Héderváry the Palatine!" Héderváry, who was supposed to +be defending the passes of the Carpathians!</p> + +<p>His armour was battered, his helmet crushed, and a sabre cut across the +face had made him hardly recognisable. He rode straight up to the King's +tent, before which the Diet was assembled, no one, not even his old +friend Peter, daring to speak to him, though he gazed on him hardly able +to believe his eyes, and with a sudden chill of alarm as he thought of +Dora.</p> + +<p>For a few moments no one spoke, but after more than one attempt, the +Palatine got out the broken words, "God and the Holy Virgin protect your +Majesty!"</p> + +<p>Then, turning to the assembled Diet, he added, "Comrades! the enemy is +in our land! Our small force held the pass seven days; on the eighth the +flood burst through and flowed over dead bodies. You see before you all +who escaped! God and the Holy Virgin protect our country!"</p> + +<p>Héderváry bowed his head upon his horse's neck to hide his face.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span>The sensation was immense, the news flew quickly from mouth to mouth, +and before long all Pest knew of the disaster, and knew, too, that in +the Palatine's opinion the enemy might reach Pest itself within a day or +two—a day or two! with such awful speed did the torrent rush forward.</p> + +<p>If Peter had been incredulous before, he was anxious enough now, when he +heard of the lightning-like rapidity with which the Mongols were +advancing, of the 40,000 pioneers who went before them, cutting a +straight road through the thickest forests, of the catapults for +throwing stones and masses of rock, against which nothing, not even the +strongest walls, could stand. He could not leave his post, it was even +questionable whether he could reach Dora now if he made the attempt; +for, when the scouts came in they more than confirmed all that the +Palatine had said, with the additional information that five counties +had been already devastated, and that Batu's army was within half a +day's journey of Pest itself.</p> + +<p>That same night the red glare in the sky told of burning towns and +villages only a few miles off; and the day after Héderváry's return +small bodies of Mongols actually appeared on the very confines of Pest, +laying hands on all that they could find, and then vanishing again like +the lightning, as suddenly as they had come.</p> + +<p>The fortifications of the city were pushed on with redoubled energy, and +all were wildly eager to go<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span> out at once and challenge the enemy. But +the King's orders were strict; no one was to go out and attempt to give +battle until the whole army was assembled, when he himself would take +the command. Not a third part had come in yet, and the men chafed +impatiently at the delay. Even now, however, with danger facing them, +there was little unity in the camp, little order, little discipline; +everyone who had any pretension to be "somebody," wanted to give orders, +not obey them, and, in fact, do everything that he was not asked to do.</p> + +<p>But as the troops continued to come in, as the earthworks rose higher, +and the ditches and trenches grew broader; as, above all, the King +seemed to have no fears, confidence revived, and those who had been +timorous ran to the opposite extreme, and began to believe that the King +had but to give the signal for battle, and the enemy's hosts would at +once be scattered like chaff. They not only believed it, but loudly +proclaimed it. Libor was especially loud and emphatic in his expressions +of confidence, and went about from one commander to another, trying his +utmost to obtain a post of some sort in the army.</p> + +<p>He succeeded at last, for Héderváry the Palatine had lost his best +officers, and knowing how highly his son thought of Libor, he gave him a +command in his own diminished army. Whereupon Paul presented the young +governor with a complete suit of armour, and from that day forward Libor +did not know how<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span> to contain himself. He was a great man indeed now, and +he might rise still higher. In fact, so he told himself, the very +highest posts were open to him!</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII.<br /> +<span class="smalltext">THE BETTER PART OF VALOUR.</span></h2> + + +<p>On the 17th March, six days after Héderváry's imploring cry for help, +three after his return, one enormous division of Mongols was in the +neighbourhood of Pest, while another was in front of Vácz (Waitzen), a +town twenty miles to the north.</p> + +<p>That morning very early, Paul Héderváry and Ugrin, the Archbishop of +Kalócsa, had sallied forth unknown to anyone, to satisfy themselves as +to whether the scattered parties of Mongols who had been seen several +times beneath the very walls of Pest, were mere bands of brigands, or +whether they were part of Batu Khan's army. Paul was a daring, not to +say foolhardy man, and it was not the first time he had been out to +reconnoitre, taking only Libor and a few horsemen with him. Of course, +he wanted Libor this morning, but the governor, being with all his +valour a discreet person, was not forthcoming, was indeed not to be +found anywhere, much to Paul's vexation.</p> + +<p>Paul and the Archbishop therefore rode quietly out<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span> together, +accompanied by no more than half a dozen men-at-arms, and they had not +been riding a quarter of an hour before they caught sight of a party of +horsemen coming towards them through the grey dawn. There seemed to be +some three or four score of them, and they might be some of the expected +troops arriving; it was impossible to tell in the dim half-light, and +Paul and his companion drew behind some rising ground to make sure. They +had not long to wait before they saw that these were no friends, +however, but an advance body of Mongols cautiously and quietly moving +forward. To engage them was out of the question, and the two at once +agreed to turn back without attracting attention, if possible. But they +had no sooner left their shelter than a perfect hurricane of wild cries +showed that they had been observed.</p> + +<p>Fortunately for them, their horses were fresh and in good condition, +while those of the Mongols were sorry jades at the best, and worn out +besides. The Hungarians, therefore, reached the city in safety, though +hotly pursued, and they at once presented themselves before the King, +who had risen very early that morning, and was already at work in his +cabinet.</p> + +<p>"Why, Ugrin, how is this?" said Béla, rising to meet the Archbishop, +"armed from head to foot so early? and you, too, Héderváry? Where do you +come from? I see you are dusty!"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span>"Your Majesty," began Ugrin, one of the most daring of men, in spite of +his office, "Héderváry and I have been riding in the neighbourhood, and +we chanced upon the Tartars!"</p> + +<p>"Did you see many?"</p> + +<p>"The advance guard, with a whole division behind."</p> + +<p>"We have only our horses to thank for it that we are here now," added +Héderváry.</p> + +<p>"Have not I forbidden all provoking of encounters until we have all our +troops assembled?" said the King.</p> + +<p>"And there was no provocation—on our part," replied Ugrin, in anything +but an amiable tone; "but if we don't get information for ourselves as +to the enemy's movements——"</p> + +<p>The King cut him short. "I know all about them!" said he, "more than you +gentlemen do."</p> + +<p>Ugrin and Héderváry shrugged their shoulders, and both put the King's +coolness down to irresolution, or even fear.</p> + +<p>"I know," said the King, "that they have not only approached our towns, +but that at this moment they are before Vácz, if they have not stormed +it."</p> + +<p>"Before Vácz!" exclaimed Ugrin, "and your Majesty is still waiting! +waiting now! when one bold stroke might annihilate them before the Khan +himself comes up."</p> + +<p>"Batu is close at hand," said the King, "and if we<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span> don't wish to risk +all, we must be prudent, and act only on the defensive until the rest of +the troops arrive."</p> + +<p>"Ah!" cried Ugrin, forgetting for a moment the respect due to the King, +"I suppose your Majesty means to wait until Vácz is in flames! By +Heaven! I won't wait—not if I perish for it!"</p> + +<p>As he spoke, Ugrin turned on his heel and abruptly left the room. +Possibly the rattle of his armour and the clank of his sword prevented +the King's hearing clearly his last words; but he called to him in a +tone of command, and ordered him not to leave the city.</p> + +<p>"Make haste and stop him, Paul," said Béla, as the door closed behind +the Archbishop, and Héderváry hurried to obey; but his own horse had +been taken to the stables with a Mongol arrow in its back, while Ugrin's +was on the spot, being walked up and down in front of the palace. The +Archbishop had the start of him therefore, for he had rushed down the +steps, mounted, and dashed off like a whirlwind, before Héderváry could +catch him up.</p> + +<p>"Let him go!" said the King, "let him go!" he repeated, walking up and +down the room. He had left his private cabinet now for a larger room, in +which, notwithstanding the early hour, many of the nobles were already +assembled; for the news of Ugrin's and Héderváry's encounter had spread +like wildfire, and all were impatient to be doing something.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span>"We must double the guards and keep the troops ready; but no one is to +venture out of the city," said the King, and his words fell like +scalding water upon the ears of those who heard them.</p> + +<p>For it was always the Hungarian way to face danger at once, without +stopping to realise fully its gravity, or to give courage and energy +time to evaporate.</p> + +<p>"My orders do not please you, I know, gentlemen," the King said, with +dignity, "but when danger is near, blood should be cool. If we waste our +strength in small engagements, the enemy's numbers, the one advantage he +has over us, will make our efforts entirely useless. No! let him exhaust +his strength, while we are gathering ours, and as soon as we have a +respectable army, myself will lead it in person!"</p> + +<p>No one was satisfied; but Héderváry the Palatine was alone in venturing +to say a word, and he spoke firmly though respectfully.</p> + +<p>He had had more actual experience of the Mongols than anyone else, and +submitted that, though their strength lay chiefly in their numbers, yet +that this was not the whole of it, for they were exceedingly cunning, +and he believed their object just now was to cut off the reinforcements +before they could reach the place of rendezvous. If so, then an attack +quickly delivered would be of the greatest service.</p> + +<p>"Besides," he concluded, "I suspect that the Archbishop of Kalócsa has +led his 'banderium' out against them, and we can't leave him +unsupported."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span>"The brave bishop will soon settle the filthy wretches!" cried a young +Forgács who was standing near.</p> + +<p>With a reproving look at the young man, the King turned to the Palatine +and said gravely, "I expressly forbade the Archbishop to leave Pest, and +I cannot therefore believe that he has done so! If he has—well, he must +reap as he has sown! I am not going to risk all for the madness of one. +But you are right, Palatine, there is no more cunning people on the face +of this earth! Isn't it more likely that they want to deceive us and +entice us away from our defences, by sending forward these comparatively +small bodies of men?"</p> + +<p>The Palatine shook his head, urging that a great part of the country was +already laid waste, that fear was paralysing everyone, and that it was +no time to wait when danger was actually in their midst and threatening +the very capital.</p> + +<p>And so the discussion went on, a few holding with the King, but the more +part with the Palatine.</p> + +<p>But the King had heard the same arguments so often before that they had +ceased to make any impression upon him. His resolution was taken to +await the arrival of Duke Friedrich of Austria, whom he knew to be on +the way, and whom he confidently believed to be at the head of a +considerable body of troops, from whom Béla expected great things. They +would at least set his own army a good example<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span> in the matter of +discipline, and this was much needed; and that army, too, was growing +day by day, surely if slowly, though the greater part was ill-armed.</p> + +<p>The discussion ended with the King's reiterated orders that no one +should go outside the city, and the nobles went their several ways, +giving free vent to their disapproval and impatience, and helping thus +to spread mistrust of the King's judgment. For all that, most of them +were confident of victory as soon as the army should be put in motion, +and some went so far as to expect no less than the immediate +annihilation of the Mongol bands in the vicinity, at the hands of Ugrin.</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p>Crowds filled the streets, and reports of all sorts were flying about +the city.</p> + +<p>The Archbishop had met the enemy and defeated him!</p> + +<p>Some watchman on one of the towers had seen the Archbishop cut down a +Mongol leader, and great part of the Mongols were lying dead on the +ground!</p> + +<p>More important still, he had felled Batu Khan himself with one blow of +his battle-axe!</p> + +<p>So it went on all day till late in the evening, when suddenly the news +spread that the Archbishop was coming back, but—with only three or four +of his men with him! And while the people in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span> the streets were talking +together with bated breath, a man rushed into their midst, covered with +blood and dust.</p> + +<p>"What has happened? Where are you from?" they asked, not at first +recognising the furrier, a man belonging to Pest, and well known there.</p> + +<p>"Water!" whispered the new-comer, bowing his head on his breast. "Water! +I don't know how I got here! Water, quick!"</p> + +<p>Several of the crowd hurried off for water, and when he had quenched his +thirst, some of them began to wash the blood from his face and to bind +up his wounds.</p> + +<p>"Ah! they are no matter!" he gasped, "one may get such cuts as these any +day in a tavern brawl, but—I'm—done for!"</p> + +<p>By the help of a wooden flask of wine the man presently revived enough +to satisfy the curiosity of the bystanders, though he still looked +terrified.</p> + +<p>"I have come straight from Vácz—my horse fell down under me. I was +pursued by Tartars—a score of arrows hit the poor beast—three went +through my cap and tore the skin off my head!"</p> + +<p>"But what is going on in Vácz? they have beaten off the Tartars, eh?"</p> + +<p>"There <em>is</em> no Vácz!" said the man, with an involuntary shudder through +all his limbs.</p> + +<p>All were too dumfounded to utter even an exclamation. They had believed +that their troops had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span> but to show themselves, and the Mongols would be +scattered.</p> + +<p>"The walls of Vácz stand staring up to heaven, as black as soot," the +man went on. "The people defended themselves to the last, ay, to the +last, for hardly a hundred out of them all have escaped!"</p> + +<p>"But the church—there are moats to it, and new walls——" began one of +the bystanders.</p> + +<p>"There <em>were</em>!" said the furrier, "there were! there is nothing left +now! The clergy, and the old men, with the women and children, took +refuge there, and all the valuables were taken there; even the women +fought—but it was no good!"</p> + +<p>"Did the Tartars take it?" inquired several at once, beneath their +breath.</p> + +<p>"They stormed it, took it, plundered it, murdered every soul and then +set fire to it; it may be burning still! Their horrible yells! they are +ringing in my ears now!" and the furrier shuddered again.</p> + +<p>But at that moment the attention of the crowd was diverted from him by a +commotion going on at a little distance, and they pressed forward to see +what it meant, but soon came back, making all the haste they could to +get out of the way of some heavy cavalry, armed from head to foot, and +preceded by six trumpeters, who were advancing down the street.</p> + +<p>"The Austrians!" said some of the more knowing, as Duke Friedrich and +his brilliant train passed on straight to the King's palace, where his +arrival was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span> so unexpected that no one was in readiness to receive him.</p> + +<p>Events and rumours had followed one another so quickly that day, that +the whole population was in a state of excitement; but there was more to +come, and the Duke was hardly out of sight, when a Magyar horseman +galloped up, the foam dropping from his horse, which was covered with +blood. Its rider seemed to be so beside himself with terror as not to +know what he was doing, and as the crowd flocked round him, he shouted, +"Treachery! the King has left us in the lurch! Ugrin and his +troops—overwhelmed by the Tartars!"</p> + +<p>With that he galloped on till he reached the bank of the Danube, where +his horse fell under him, and when they hastened to the rider's +assistance, they found only a dead body.</p> + +<p>In spite of the King's commands, Ugrin had led his troops out, and had +daringly attacked the bands of Mongols who had approached Pest to +reconnoitre. Many of them he had cut down with his own hand, and the +rest he had put to flight and was pursuing, when, just as he came up +with them, the Mongols reached a morass. This did not stop them, +however, with their small, light horses. On they went at breakneck +speed, and he followed, without guessing that he was already on the edge +of the marshy ground until the treacherous green surface gave way +beneath the heavy Hungarian horses, which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span> floundered, lost their +footing, and sank helplessly up to their knees, up to their ears, unable +to extricate themselves.</p> + +<p>And then the Mongols turned upon them, as was their wont, and poured a +perfect storm of arrows upon the defenceless troopers. Ugrin and four +others managed to dismount and cast away their heavy armour; and, with +only their battle-axes in their hands, they succeeded at last by +superhuman efforts in wading through the marsh, and so reached Pest, +pursued by the Mongols, and leaving corpses to mark their track all the +way, almost to the gate.</p> + +<p>The people were aghast at the intelligence, and they set to work to +blame the King!</p> + +<p>He was blamed by Ugrin in the first place—Ugrin, who had nothing but +his own madness to thank for the disaster! He was blamed by the mob, who +were ready to see treachery everywhere; and above all, he was blamed by +Duke Friedrich, surnamed the "Streitbare," for his valour!</p> + +<p>The King bore all, and worked on. All night he was on horseback, seeing +to the fortifications, urging the workmen to redoubled vigour.</p> + +<p>And while he was thus engaged, what was going on in the army?</p> + +<p>It is hardly credible, but is nevertheless a fact, that blind +self-confidence, whether real or feigned, held possession of the camp. +The troops and their leaders spent the night for the most part in +revelry, while<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span> the sentries on the walls mocked at such of the Mongols +as came near enough and let fly their arrows at them.</p> + +<p>Early in the morning Duke Friedrich was on horseback, after a previous +argument with the King, in which he had made light of the invasion, and +called it mere child's play, easily dealt with, and then he led the +small body of men he had brought with him out of the city. A small body +it was, to Béla's bitter disappointment. He had expected something like +an army, and the Duke had brought about as many men in his train as he +would have done if he had come to a hunting party!</p> + +<p>Such as they were, he led them forth on this eventful morning to have a +brush with the Mongols, whose advance guard retired, according to +custom, as soon as they caught sight of the well-armed, well-mounted, +well-trained band. The Duke was cautious. He meant to do something, if +only to show Pest how easy it was; and when he presently returned with a +couple of horses and one prisoner, he had his reward in the acclamations +with which the populace received him. The success of the valorous Duke +was belauded on all sides, and some compared the daring warrior with the +prudent King, not to the advantage of the latter.</p> + +<p>The prisoner was taken before the King, and, as ill-luck would have it, +he proved to be a Kun; worse still, he said among other things, that +there were many Kunok in Batu's camp.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span>They had been forced to join him; but the news spread through the town, +exciting the people more than ever, and it was openly asserted by many +that the Kunok were in league with the Mongols, and that Kuthen was a +traitor, who had managed to ingratiate himself with King Béla only that +he might prepare the way for the enemy.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX.<br /> +<span class="smalltext">"I WASH MY HANDS!"</span></h2> + + +<p>The Diet, summoned a few weeks before, was still holding its meetings in +the open air, with no better shelter than that afforded by a large open +tent. Akos Szirmay would be going thither presently, but it was still +early, and he was now on his way to his uncle's old mansion near the +Danube.</p> + +<p>Though Kuthen was rather prisoner now than guest, he was still visited +by some of the Hungarian lords, and Bishop Wáncsa was often there with +messages from the King, saying how greatly he deplored the necessity for +still keeping him prisoner, and explaining that it was from no want of +confidence on his part, but rather for the ensurance of Kuthen's own +safety, adding that he was hoping and waiting for the time when he might +come in person and restore the King and his family to liberty.</p> + +<p>Kuthen had loved and honoured Béla from the first, and though in this +matter he thought him weak, no one would have been able to persuade him +that Béla would consent to anything which would imperil his guest.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span>Akos had been a daily visitor at the house all along, and he made no +secret, either there or at his father's, of his attachment to Kuthen's +younger daughter, whose sweet face and winning ways had attracted him +from the first.</p> + +<p>Stephen Szirmay did not like his son's choice, which was not to be +wondered at. Kuthen, it was true, possessed much treasure, and Marána +was his favourite child. But Jolánta's marriage had taught him that +wealth did not make happiness. Her marriage had had his eager, delighted +approval, as he was obliged to admit to himself; and as his judgment had +been at fault in the one case, he would not interfere in the other. It +would be wiser to remain neutral, lest ill-timed opposition should make +his son more determined.</p> + +<p>Kuthen was up very early this morning; for news had reached him that +many of the Kunok who had remained behind in Moldavia were hastening to +Hungary, and being aware also that those already in the country were now +on their way to Pest, he was hourly expecting a summons from the King +for himself and his sons, and then they would fight, they would fight! +and for ever silence the jealous suspicions of their enemies.</p> + +<p>Kuthen knew all that was going on about him, for he was well served by +his faithful followers, who were more devoted to him than ever since he +had been a sort of state prisoner; he knew that the Diet<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span> was sitting +that day, and that his best friends, the King and Duke Kálmán, would for +their own sakes do all they could to bring to an end the present +disgraceful state of affairs, which was only likely to increase the +slanders and suspicions of which he was the victim.</p> + +<p>Kuthen knew also of the Duke of Austria's arrival, of his encounter with +the Mongols, and of the prisoner, said to be a Kun, whom he had so +unfortunately captured. Kun or not, the populace believed, and were +encouraged by the Duke to believe, that he was one. During the last few +hours the Duke had done his utmost to foment the growing irritation +against the King and his people.</p> + +<p>Kuthen knew all, and though he hoped in King Béla, he neglected no +precautions to ensure the safety of his family, if the worst should come +to the worst. There were already more than a hundred Kunok in the +castle, chiefs and simple armed men, who had found means to join him, by +degrees, without attracting notice, all of whom were most resolute and +most trustworthy. Watch was kept day and night without intermission, and +of one thing Kuthen might be entirely confident, that if danger should +come, it would not take him by surprise, and that, if the mob should +rise against them—as he knew was not impossible—though they might +perish, they would at least not perish like cowards.</p> + +<p>When Akos arrived on this particular morning,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span> he was closeted alone +with the King for a time, and could not deny that things looked +threatening, or that the populace and most of the nobles were in a state +of irritation, thanks in great measure to the Duke of Austria and his +unlucky prisoner. All that he could do was to urge the need of prudence +and vigilance.</p> + +<p>But before the young noble took his leave, something seemed to strike +Kuthen. Whether a new idea flashed into his mind, whether he had a +premonition of any kind, or whether he was merely filled with vague +forebodings, not unnatural under the circumstances, it is impossible to +say, but as Akos was about to make his farewells, Kuthen laid a +detaining hand upon his shoulder, and drew him into the adjoining room. +There he took his daughter Marána by the hand, and leading her up to +Akos, he said solemnly, "Children, man's life and future are in the +hands of God! We are living in serious times. See, Akos, I give you my +beloved daughter! Happen what may, you will answer to me for this, one +of my children."</p> + +<p>"You have given me a treasure, you have made me rich indeed! God bless +you for it; and, father, have no fears on her account, for we will live +and die together," said Akos, with much emotion, his hand in that of his +bride.</p> + +<p>The Queen's eyes filled with tears as she looked at the handsome young +pair, and drawing close to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span> Akos, she whispered in his ear, "Mind, +whatever happens to the rest of us, my Marána must be saved."</p> + +<p>Just then in came the two young Princes, who were always pleased to see +Akos, and were delighted, though not surprised, to hear of their +sister's betrothal.</p> + +<p>"Oh, but brother Akos," they exclaimed together, as if they thought that +the new relationship must at once make a difference, "we should so like +to go with you to the Diet, but we are captives, and we have not wings +like the eagles."</p> + +<p>"And, my dear brothers, even if you had," returned Akos, "I should +advise you not to leave your dear father for a moment just now."</p> + +<p>"Oh, but why? why?" they both asked.</p> + +<p>"Because I think that this is a critical time," he answered. "Let us +only get through the next day or two quietly, and I quite believe that +you will all be able to go in and out as you please."</p> + +<p>"You are right, Akos," interposed the King. "Time may bring us good. Let +us wait and be watchful! And don't forget that I have given this dear +child into your care. Trust the rest of us to God, in whose hands is our +fate; we shall defend ourselves, if need be, but you think only of her. +Do you promise me?"</p> + +<p>"I swear I will," said Akos, with uplifted hand.</p> + +<p>Then he embraced his bride, who accompanied him to the covered entrance, +then followed him with her eyes all along the drawbridge, and after +that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span> watched him from a window until he was quite out of sight.</p> + +<p>Kuthen had already doubled the guards about his dwelling, and had taken +other precautions and measures of defence; but the walls were high, and +all had been done so quietly that it had not attracted the attention of +the sentries posted on the other side of the drawbridge. When Akos was +gone, he and his sons armed themselves as if for battle.</p> + +<p>Sheaves of arrows were brought out and placed in readiness, the guards +were armed, and the Kun chiefs, who took it in turn to be on duty near +the King, made all needful preparation for an obstinate defence.</p> + +<p>Akos had not been gone more than an hour or two, when little groups and +knots of people began to gather round Kuthen's house. There were three +or four here, and three or four there, and presently they might be +counted by the score. Later on a large crowd had collected. They were +talking quietly to one another, and seemed so far to be quite peaceable, +however.</p> + +<p>The Kun royal family took no alarm, for they knew the Pest populace and +its insatiable curiosity well by this time, and they fancied that there +was perhaps some idea abroad that Kuthen and his sons would be going to +the Diet; or perhaps Marána's betrothal was known.</p> + +<p>Another hour passed and the people began to shout and howl. Two persons +were declaiming to them;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span> but within the walls it was impossible to +distinguish what they were saying. The crowd pressed nearer and nearer +to the drawbridge, so near indeed, that the guards on duty there had the +greatest difficulty in keeping them back, and a sudden rush of those in +the rear sent two or three of the foremost splashing into the moat, to +the huge diversion of the rest.</p> + +<p>Presently, however, the mob appeared to be seized by a new idea, for +they all set off running in one direction; and in a few moments, only a +few small knots of people remained.</p> + +<p>But these few lay down on the patches of grass round about, as if they +meant to stay indefinitely, and the Kun chiefs, who had been keeping +close watch behind the loop-holed walls, noticed that they were all +armed, some with knotty sticks and wooden clubs bristling with nails, +and a few here and there with bows and quivers. It looked as if they +meant mischief, and the Kunok were all on the alert for what might +happen.</p> + +<p>Akos meantime had been for the last hour or two at the Diet. From where +he was he had a full view of the Danube, and after a time he noticed a +large crowd of people crossing the river by the ferry-boats and making +straight for the place where the Diet was being held. Both banks of the +Danube were thronged, and soon the crowd became a vast, compact mass; +but the first intimation of anything unusual that many of the members +had, was the finding<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span> the table at which they sat suddenly surrounded by +their own gaily caparisoned horses, which the crowd had found blocking +their way, and had driven before them into the tent.</p> + +<p>It was a terrible moment! No one could imagine what had happened, and +some of the more nervous thought that the Tartars, whom they had taken +so lightly before, had actually stormed the town. All started to their +feet, seized the horses by their bridles, and drew their swords.</p> + +<p>And now the howls of the furious mob were plainly to be heard.</p> + +<p>"Kuthen! the Kunok! the traitors! Death to the Kunok!"</p> + +<p>It was impossible to misunderstand what the mob were bent upon.</p> + +<p>This was no peaceable, if clamorous deputation like the former one! +these were no faithful subjects rallying round the King in a moment of +danger, and seeking his counsel and help!</p> + +<p>No! the flood had burst its bounds, carrying all before it, and had come +not to petition, but to claim, and to threaten.</p> + +<p>The King motioned for silence. He was the calmest and most collected of +all present, and such was the magic influence of his presence, such the +respect felt for him, that even now, in spite of all the excitement, for +a moment the clamour seemed to cease.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span>Just then one of the nobles, a young man in brilliant armour, with +flashing eyes, seized the bridle of the horse nearest him, flung himself +on its back, dashed away, and looking neither behind nor before him, +forced his way recklessly through the mob. All who noticed him supposed +that he had received some command from the King, but the confusion was +so great that his departure was unobserved, except by those whose legs +were endangered by his horse's hoofs.</p> + +<p>"The Kun King is a prisoner," said Béla in a trumpet-like voice, which +commanded attention at least for the moment. "No one in my dominions +will be condemned unheard. I forbid all violence, and I shall hold the +leaders of this insurgent multitude responsible."</p> + +<p>So far the King was allowed to speak without interruption, or at least +without having his voice drowned. But after this, if he spoke, he could +not make himself heard. For no sooner did the magnates and others +assembled understand what all the uproar was about, than the King's +words lost their effect.</p> + +<p>Members from the counties where the Kunok were settled, recalled the +many irregularities of which the latter had been guilty on their first +arrival, envied them their rich pastures, and joined the mob in crying +for vengeance upon them, and in shrieking "Treachery!"</p> + +<p>There were but few on the King's side, save the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span> two Archbishops, the +two Szirmays, one Foyács, and Héderváry the Palatine.</p> + +<p>The mob surged into the tent, howling and threatening.</p> + +<p>"If the King won't consent, let us settle it ourselves! The country +stands first! The King himself will thank us when his eyes are opened! +Let's go! what are we waiting for? There are enough of us!"</p> + +<p>Duke Friedrich, who, as being the most powerful and most distinguished +guest present, was sitting next the King, turned to him and said in a +half whisper: "Your Majesty, this is a case in which you must give in! +Nothing is more dangerous than for the people to think they can act +against the King's will and go unpunished. No one will defend Kuthen, +and who knows what has been going on yonder, or even whether Kuthen is +still alive?"</p> + +<p>The King maintained a determined silence, but his eyes flashed, and his +hand grasped the hilt of his sword.</p> + +<p>The tumult increased, and some even of those who believed in the Kunok's +innocence, were so alarmed by the rage of the insurgents that they +hurried up to the King and implored him to yield. The pressure around +him waxed greater and greater.</p> + +<p>Duke Kálmán, who was standing not far off, cried out, "Your Majesty +won't give in! The honour of the nation is at stake!"</p> + +<p>But the noise and confusion were so great that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span> the King could not hear +a word his brother said. The Duke shouted for his horse, but it was all +in vain, for he could not move.</p> + +<p>King Béla, pressed on all sides by those who were beseeching, imploring, +urging, forgot himself for a moment. He put his hands over his eyes, +then stretching them out, he said, "Lavabo manus meas! (I will wash my +hands). You will answer to God for this wickedness. I have done what I +could do!"</p> + +<p>"The King has consented!" roared those nearest him.</p> + +<p>The mob began to sway about, the horses neighed, the people all poured +forth, roaring, "Eljen a király! Long live the King! Death to the false +traitors! Forward! To Kuthen! to Kuthen!"</p> + +<p>No sooner was he free than Duke Kálmán mounted the first horse he could +seize, while the mob rushed off like a whirlwind in the direction of the +house by the Danube.</p> + +<p>When the King looked round none were left but some of the magnates.</p> + +<p>"A horse!" he shouted furiously; and he galloped away after the mob, +accompanied by the Austrian Duke and the rest.</p> + +<p>If Béla had mounted his horse before he addressed the mob, if he had +faced the insurgents as a king, and had at once punished the +ringleaders, the country might have been spared great part of the +disasters which were now on the very threshold. But once<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span> again the King +was weak at a critical moment. There is much to be said in his excuse +and defence; but weakness, however brilliantly defended, remains +weakness still.</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p>A few moments after the mob had burst into the King's tent, Akos was +again at the drawbridge which led to Kuthen's dwelling.</p> + +<p>"What do you want, sir?" asked the captain of the guard hotly, as he +sprang forward to meet him. "No one is admitted."</p> + +<p>"Since when?" asked Akos haughtily.</p> + +<p>"The King sent orders an hour ago."</p> + +<p>"Maybe! but I have come straight from the Diet by the King's command, +and I am to take Kuthen and all his family before him and the States at +once, while you can remain here to guard the place till our return."</p> + +<p>The captain turned back submissively, and blew the horn which hung at +his side. Possibly the drawbridge which formed the outer gate of the +castle would not even now have been lowered, but that Kuthen had +recognised Akos, and that they were so well armed as to be quite a match +for the guard, and for those of the mob who had remained behind.</p> + +<p>The drawbridge was lowered therefore, but raised again the moment Akos +had passed. He rode across<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span> the covered space between the drawbridge and +the inner gate, and there he had to wait again a few moments while the +bolts and bars were withdrawn. He leapt from his horse as soon as he was +within, and Kuthen and his sons hurried from the entrance-hall to meet +him, doubting whether he brought good news or bad.</p> + +<p>"Quick!" said Akos, "to horse! your Majesty, to horse! all of you," and +without waiting Kuthen's answer, he shouted, "Horses! bring the horses! +and mount, all who can!"</p> + +<p>The Princes flew at once to the stables, and bridled the horses—which +were always kept ready saddled—while Kuthen asked in some surprise, +"What has happened? Where are we to go?" for he had not been able to +read anything in young Szirmay's face, whether of good or of evil.</p> + +<p>"Where?" said Akos bitterly, "where we can be farthest from the mob—the +mob has risen and may be here any moment."</p> + +<p>In those times, sudden dangers, sudden alarms, sudden flights were +things of every-day occurrence, and Kuthen and his followers had long +been accustomed not to know in the morning where they should lay their +heads at night. No people were quicker or more resolute in case of +extremity than the Kunok, who were one family, one army, one colony, and +moved like a machine.</p> + +<p>The Queen and Princesses, as well as the chiefs,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span> had all come together +in the hall, but now the former and many of the servants rushed back +into the house, from which they again emerged in a few moments, all cool +and collected, all ready to start, and with their most valued +possessions packed in bundles.</p> + +<p>The riding horses were bridled, some of the pack-horses loaded, and all +had been done so quickly and quietly, that the guard without had heard +no more than the sort of hum made by a swarm of bees before they take +flight.</p> + +<p>Meantime Akos had rapidly explained matters to Kuthen, pointing out to +him that King Béla and his brother and others were standing up for him, +but that there was a rising of the populace, and that the mob might +arrive before the King, when, even if they were successfully beaten +back, there would certainly be bloodshed, which would only exasperate +the people more than ever, and make it impossible for the King, good as +he was, to ensure the safety of his guests. Whereas, if they could +succeed in avoiding the first paroxysms of fury, King Béla would be the +first to rejoice at their escape.</p> + +<p>Akos spoke confidently, and his words carried conviction.</p> + +<p>Kuthen, his family, and the chiefs were already mounted, while those of +the guard who were on foot formed themselves into a close, wedge-shaped +mass, and were all ready to set out.</p> + +<p>"Lower the drawbridge!" cried Kuthen. The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span> chains rattled, and the gate, +which had been closed behind Akos, was reopened. He and Kuthen headed +the procession which issued forth.</p> + +<p>At that moment a long, yellow cloud of dust made its appearance in the +distance, coming towards them. A horseman was galloping in front of it, +and he was closely followed by two more, shouting aloud what no one in +the castle understood, but something which made the captain of the guard +without give orders for the bolts of the drawbridge to be pulled back; +and the bridge, left without its supports, dropped with a great plash +into the moat.</p> + +<p>The Kunok were cut off!</p> + +<p>With the sangfroid and fearlessness learnt in the course of his +adventurous life, Kuthen at once ordered the drawbridge to be raised; +the inner gate was closed again and barred with all speed.</p> + +<p>Akos was as pale as death, for he saw in a moment that he had come too +late, and that all was lost; but he was resolved to share the fate of +the man, whom for Marána's sake he looked upon as his father.</p> + +<p>As for Kuthen, he was suddenly the wild chief again. His face was +aflame, his eyes flashed fire, he was eager for the fray, and his one +thought was to defend himself proudly. He ordered the guards to their +places, the horses having been already led back to their stables; and +then, turning to his family, he said coolly and calmly, "We will defend +ourselves<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span> until the King comes, and then his commands shall be obeyed, +whatever they are."</p> + +<p>The women at once retired to their own quarters, without uttering word +or groan. There were no tears, no sobs, no sign of terror on their +countenances. They looked angry and defiant.</p> + +<p>When the women had withdrawn, the Princes went to their posts, and +Kuthen, turning to Akos, said, "Remember your oath."</p> + +<p>Akos raised his hands to heaven without a word.</p> + +<p>His own position was a more dangerous one than it might seem at first +sight. His manifest intention of shielding Kuthen from their vengeance +would bring down upon him the hatred of his own countrymen; while on the +other hand the furious glances of the Kunok confined in the castle, and +their ill-concealed hostility, showed him clearly that his life was now +in danger from within as well as from without.</p> + +<p>The mob which had rushed away from the Diet had pressed on with the +speed of the whirlwind, its numbers growing as it went. A few minutes +only had passed since the cloud heralding its approach had been seen, +and already the crowd was swarming round the banks of the moat, making +an indescribable uproar and uttering the wildest, fiercest shouts.</p> + +<p>Within, all was silent as the grave. But the mob outside were not idle +for a moment. They were athirst for vengeance, and from the moment of +their arrival they had been busy trying to make a passage across<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span> the +moat by throwing in earth, straw, pieces of wood, even furniture, +brought on all sides from the neighbouring houses, and, in fact, all and +everything that came to hand.</p> + +<p>All at once there was a cry raised of "The King! The King is coming!"</p> + +<p>It was not the King, however, but Duke Kálmán, with his servants and +some of the nobles in his train.</p> + +<p>That part of the moat faced by the gate was by this time almost full, +and some of the more daring spirits were trying to clamber up to the +drawbridge, when suddenly the scene changed. The wild figures of the +Kunok appeared as if by magic upon the walls, the thrilling war-cry was +raised, and a cloud of well-aimed arrows hailed down upon the +assailants.</p> + +<p>Kuthen and his sons, who confidently expected King Béla, had done their +utmost to restrain their people, but in vain, for when they saw the moat +filled and their enemies preparing to rush the gate, they became +infuriated and uncontrollable.</p> + +<p>In the first moment of surprise all fell back, knocking over those +behind them; but some few began to retaliate and shoot up at the +garrison. Not to much purpose, however, for neither arrows nor spears +hit the intended marks, while the long arrows shot from the powerful +bows of the Kunok never failed.</p> + +<p>It was during this fierce overture of the contest that Duke Kálmán rode +up.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span>"Stand aside!" he shouted, "stop fighting! The King is coming, he will +see justice done——"</p> + +<p>The words were not out of his mouth when two arrows flew forth from +loopholes in the walls. One struck the Duke's horse, and the second +felled to the earth a young nobleman riding close beside him.</p> + +<p>"They have shot the Duke!" was shouted on all sides; for so dense was +the cloud of arrows that it was impossible to see at first which of the +two had fallen.</p> + +<p>The Duke himself, however, was standing coolly defiant amidst the +whistling storm.</p> + +<p>But the shouts were the signals for a general rush, and from that moment +no one, not even the King, could have restrained the people.</p> + +<p>The moat was filled, the drawbridge wrecked, the inner gate, in spite of +its bars, wrenched from its hinges and thrown down upon the dead bodies +of the Kun guards.</p> + +<p>The mob rushed in and stormed the castle, and an awful scene of +bloodshed followed. Kuthen, his sons, and the Kun chiefs fought +desperately; and side by side with them fought Akos, so completely +disguised as a Kun as to be quite unrecognisable. He was too downright +to have thought of a disguise for himself, but had acquiesced in it at +Kuthen's entreaty.</p> + +<p>The first of the mob who rushed into the courtyard fell victims to their +own rashness, and many<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span> more were despatched by the arrows poured from +the walls.</p> + +<p>But suddenly the younger of the two Princes fighting beside their +father, fell to the ground with a short cry.</p> + +<p>"My son!" exclaimed Kuthen, turning to Akos, "Go! now's the time! keep +your word! I—I'm dying!"</p> + +<p>With that, Kuthen, who had been mortally wounded by a couple of pikes, +rushed upon his foes, felled several of them by the mere strength of his +arm, and then himself sank down. Akos rushed from the entrance-hall into +the house.</p> + +<p>"You are our King now!" roared the Kunok, pressing round the remaining +Prince, and covering him with their shields, as he fought like a young +lion.</p> + +<p>All at once there were loud outcries and yells. The Kunok outside the +house, finding themselves unable to defend the castle against the swarms +which poured into the courtyard, had rushed in, closing the doors and +barring the windows.</p> + +<p>All in vain! The young Prince, just proclaimed King amid a shower of +arrows, retreated from one room to another, some of his defenders +falling around him at every moment. By the time the last door was burst +open, less than a dozen of his guard remained, all wounded, all fighting +a life-and-death battle with desperation.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span>A few moments more and every Kun in the place had ceased to breathe.</p> + +<p>Where were the women? What had become of Akos and his bride?</p> + +<p>Presently the mob outside received with howls of joy the heads of Kuthen +and his family, flung to them from the windows, and at once hoisted them +on pikes in token of victory. If the head of Akos was among them no one +noticed it, for he had stained his face.</p> + +<p>Maddened by their success, the rabble now made with one consent for +"King Béla's palace," foremost and most active among them being the +Austrian Duke's men-at-arms.</p> + +<p>They poured into it like a deluge, and the air was filled with shouts of +"Eljen a király! Long live the King! The traitors are dead!"</p> + +<p>When they had shouted long enough, they set fire to Master Peter's old +mansion, as if it had been the property of King Kuthen, and in less than +a quarter of an hour sparks and burning embers were flying from it into +the air, while the gaping multitudes ran round and round the dwelling, +in all the bloodthirsty delight of satisfied revenge.</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p>A day or two later, the Kun army, which had promptly obeyed +orders—more promptly indeed than most even of the more energetic +Hungarians—reached<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span> the gate of Pest, well mounted and well armed. +There first they learnt what had befallen their King and his family.</p> + +<p>They came to a halt.</p> + +<p>The chiefs took counsel together as to what was to be done, and they +were not slow in coming to a decision. For the news had spread into the +country that all the Kunok in Pest had been put to death for treachery, +and the country, following the example of the city, had also begun to +take matters into their own hands by making in some places regular +attacks upon the Kun women, children, and old men. The Kunok had not +understood the reason of this before.</p> + +<p>Now they knew! and with one consent they turned back, gathering all +their own people together as they went, and turning against the +Hungarians the arms which at Béla's appeal they had been so quick to +take up in their defence.</p> + +<p>Duke Friedrich stayed no longer, but, content with his little victory +over the Mongol chief, content with having helped to capture Kuthen's +castle and to murder its inhabitants, he made off home, giving a promise +which he did not keep, that he would send an army to Béla's assistance. +He had done mischief enough, and left an evil legacy behind him.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X.<br /> +<span class="smalltext">LIBOR CLIMBS THE CUCUMBER-TREE.</span></h2> + + +<p>Duke Friedrich had left him in the lurch; the Kunok were on their way to +Bulgaria, wasting and burning as they went; and now King Béla saw the +mistake he had made in not exerting his utmost power to defend Kuthen.</p> + +<p>The banderia (troops) expected from both sides of the Tisza (Theiss) did +not arrive, eagerly as they were expected. The Bishop of Csanád, and +nobles from Arád, and other places, had indeed been hastening to Pest +with their followers, but on the way they had encountered the outraged +and enraged Kunok. Knowing nothing of what had been taking place in the +capital, they were unprepared for hostilities, and when the Kunok fell +upon them, some were cut off from the rest of the force, and some were +cut down.</p> + +<p>All things seemed to be in a conspiracy against the King and the +country, and one blow followed another.</p> + +<p>It was not until the Kunok had crossed into<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span> Bulgaria, leaving a trail +of desolation behind them that the Bishop of Nagyvárad (Grosswardein) +could venture to lead his banderium towards Pest; and the banderium of +the county of Bihar was in the same case. Now, however, they were +hurrying forward, when the Mongols, who knew of their coming, put +themselves in their way. The Bishop attacked what appeared to be but a +small force of them; the Mongols retreated, fighting. The Hungarians, +who did not as yet understand their enemy's tactics, pursued. Suddenly +the Mongols turned and fell upon them, and but few escaped to tell the +story of the disaster.</p> + +<p>By this time some 60,000 or 70,000 men were assembled in Pest, against +the 300,000 or more under the command of Batu Khan; but of those who had +put in an appearance, few were likely to be very serviceable as +commanders.</p> + +<p>The nation had to a great extent lost the military qualities which had +distinguished it before, and which distinguished it again afterwards. +The masses were no longer called upon for service, and the nobles, not +being bound to serve beyond the frontier, had become unused to war. +There was plenty of blind self-confidence, little knowledge or +experience.</p> + +<p>The King was no general; and although Duke Kálmán and Bishop Ugrin were +distinguished for their personal valour and courage, neither they nor +any of the other leaders had an idea of what war on a large scale really +was.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span>However, such as it was, the army was there, and it was not likely to +receive any large accessions; it believed itself invincible, which might +count for something in its favour; and the general distress and misery +were so great that at last the King yielded his own wish to remain on +the defensive, and led his army out into the plain. Batu Khan at once +began to retreat, and to call in his scattered forces, which were busy +marauding in various directions. He drew off northwards, his numbers +swelling as he went, and the Hungarians followed, exulting in the +conviction that the Mongols were being driven before them, and meant to +avoid a battle! It did not for a moment strike them that they were +following Batu's lead, and that he was drawing them to the very place +which he had chosen to suit himself.</p> + +<p>When they were not many miles from Tokay the Mongols crossed the Sajó by +a bridge which they fortified, and they then took up a position which +extended from this point to the right bank of the Tisza (Theiss), having +in front of them the vast plain of Mohi, bounded on the east by the +hills of Tokay, on the west by woods, which at that time were dense +forests, while behind them to the north they had more plains and hills +and, beyond these again, a snow-capped peak which shone like a diamond +in a field of azure.</p> + +<p>Master Peter's old country-house lay about a hundred miles to the +north-west of Mohi, almost under<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span> the shadow of the loftiest part of the +Carpathians. A hundred miles was no distance for such swift riders as +the Mongols, but thus far the county of Saros had escaped them, they +having entered Hungary by passes which lay not only east and west, but +also south of it.</p> + +<p>Batu Khan's forces occupied the horse-shoe formed by the junction of the +three great rivers, Sajó, Hernád, and Tisza.</p> + +<p>The Hungarians encamped on the great plain opposite. But though they had +so vast a space at their disposal, their tents were pitched close +together, and their horses—a large number, as nearly all were mounted +men—stood tethered side by side in rows. Freedom of motion within the +camp was impossible; and to make matters even worse, the whole was +enclosed within an ill-constructed rampart of wooden waggons, which +quite prevented freedom of egress.</p> + +<p>A thousand mounted men were on guard at night outside the camp, but +scouting and outposts were apparently unthought of.</p> + +<p>A few days had passed in merry-making and self-congratulation on the +easy victory before them, when one morning King Béla appeared mounted on +a magnificent charger, to make his customary inspection of the camp. He +wore a complete suit of German armour, a white, gold-embroidered cloak +over his shoulders, and an aigrette in his helmet.</p> + +<p>Many of the Knights Templar had joined the army, and some of them, in +their white, red-crossed mantles,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span> were now standing about him. Close +behind him was his brother Kálmán, in armour of steel, inlaid with gold; +and near at hand was the fiery Archbishop Ugrin, the most +splendid-looking man in the army, so say the chroniclers, his gold chain +and cross being the only mark which distinguished him from the laymen.</p> + +<p>The Bishop was a devoted patriot, and though he had not forgiven the +King for "leaving him in the lurch," he was sincerely attached to him. +He was the leading spirit of the campaign.</p> + +<p>It was Ugrin who had urged the King to take the field without further +delay; Ugrin, who, with much valour and enthusiasm, but with little +military experience, had advised Duke Kálmán where to pitch the camp; +and again it was Ugrin, who, convinced that the Mongols were in retreat, +had pressed the King to give hurried chase, whereby the army had been +fatigued to no purpose, and had finally been brought precisely to the +spot where Batu wished to see it. The Bishop, however, happy in his +ignorance, was under the delusion that it was he who had forced the Khan +into his present position.</p> + +<p>Just now the King was giving patient hearing to the opinions, frequently +conflicting, of those about him. Black care was at his heart, but he +looked serene, even cheerful, as usual, as he asked his brother in an +undertone whether he had managed to reduce his men to anything like +order.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span>The Duke, for all reply, shrugged his shoulders and looked decidedly +grave.</p> + +<p>"Ah!" said the King, stifling something like a sigh, "just as I +expected!"</p> + +<p>Then he heard what the leader of the Knights Templar had to say, and +then he turned to Ugrin, well knowing that the Bishop's one idea was to +attack, and of course beat, the enemy, and that he had no room in his +head for any other.</p> + +<p>"You don't think Batu Khan will attack?"</p> + +<p>"Attack! not he!" said the Bishop, scornfully. "They are all paralysed +with fear, or they would never have pitched their tents between three +rivers. They have three fronts, and they have put those wretches the +Kunok and Russians foremost! Here have we been face to face for days and +nothing has come of it! And yet," continued the Archbishop eagerly, +"nothing would be easier than to annihilate the whole army. All we have +to do is to deliver one attack across the Sajó, while we send another +large force to the left through the woods at night, and across the +Hernád, and we shall have the Mongols caught in their own net!"</p> + +<p>The Archbishop may have been right, but whether he were so or not, the +King saw one insuperable objection to what he proposed. The movement +depended for its success upon its being executed in absolute silence; +and there was no power on earth capable of making any part of the +Hungarian<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span> squadrons move forward without shouts, cries, and tumult! +Unless Heaven should strike them dumb they would noise enough to betray +themselves for miles around, as soon as they caught the sound of the +word "battle."</p> + +<p>Still, the King was obliged to admit that there did not seem to be +anything to be gained by waiting.</p> + +<p>He was just about to start on his tour of inspection, when there was a +sudden sound of great commotion within the camp. Men were rushing to and +fro, tumbling over one another in their eagerness, and the air was rent +with their shouts. But sudden hubbubs, all about nothing, and tumults +which were merely the outcome of exuberant spirits, were so frequent +that Béla and the more staid officers expected the mountain to bring +forth no more than the customary mouse on the present occasion.</p> + +<p>"A prisoner, apparently," observed the Duke, as an officer emerged from +the crowd. Spies and fugitives were frequently crossing the river and +stealing into the camp, where there were already Russians, Kunok, +Tartars, and men of many tongues.</p> + +<p>This man had been caught just as, having crept between the waggons, he +was starting off at a run down the main thoroughfare, and making +straight for the King's tent.</p> + +<p>"Keep back!" cried the officer, "Keep back! and hold your tongues, while +I take him to the Duke and let him tell his story!"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span>But he might as well have addressed the winds and waves.</p> + +<p>There was a storm of "Eljens," mingled with cries in various tongues +unintelligible to the rest. They threatened, they swore, they yelled; +and in this disorderly fashion approached the group of which the King +was the centre.</p> + +<p>"Not to me! There is the King!" said the Duke, as the rather bewildered +officer pushed his prisoner up to the Commander-in-Chief.</p> + +<p>"Well, what news do you bring? Who are you? Where are you from?" the +King asked good-humouredly, but with an involuntary smile of contempt.</p> + +<p>"I am a Magyar, your Majesty," said the man in a doleful voice. "The +Tartars carried me off just outside Pest."</p> + +<p>"Why!" exclaimed Paul Héderváry suddenly, as he stood facing the +fugitive, "why, if it isn't Mr. Libor's groom, Matykó!"</p> + +<p>Libor, as we have said, was not to be found on the morning of Paul's +expedition with Bishop Ugrin; and not having seen or heard of him since, +Paul had been growing daily more anxious on his account. He missed him, +too, at every turn, for Libor had made himself indispensable to his +comfort.</p> + +<p>Stephen Szirmay and Master Peter, who were as usual in close attendance +upon the King, looked with curiosity at the unfortunate lad, who, as +they now saw, had lost both ears.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span>"What have you done with your master?" inquired Master Stephen, +forgetting the King for a moment in his eagerness.</p> + +<p>"The Tartars are going to attack the Hungarian camp this very night!" +blurted out the fugitive, with a loud snort; after which, and having +relieved his news-bag of this weighty portion of its contents, he seemed +to feel easier.</p> + +<p>"Do you know it for a fact?" asked the King gravely. "Take care what you +are saying, for your head will have to answer for it."</p> + +<p>"It is the pure truth, your Majesty. I heard the whole thing, and when I +knew everything I took my life in my hand and crept through the bushes, +swam across the Sajó, and then stole hither by the edge of the ditches! +Well, your Majesty will see for yourself by to-night whether I have been +telling lies or no."</p> + +<p>"What more do you know? Are the Mongols in great force? Have they many +prisoners?" the King asked, by way of getting at the lad's budget of +news and forming some idea of its value.</p> + +<p>"They are as thick together as a swarm of locusts, sir; and as for the +prisoners, they are like the chaff of a threshing floor. There are +gentlefolk there too. My old master is one of them—blast him with hot +thunderbolts!"</p> + +<p>"And who is your master?"</p> + +<p>"My faithful governor—Libor!" exclaimed Paul<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span> Héderváry, stepping +forward and answering for the groom in a tone of great displeasure.</p> + +<p>"And have they treated the rest as they have treated you?" asked the +Duke, pointing to the lad's bleeding ears.</p> + +<p>"The Tartar women cut off the ears and noses of every pretty woman and +girl, and the best looking of all they kill! They have killed most of +the gentlemen too, and thrown them into the Hernád."</p> + +<p>"And your master?" asked Paul quickly.</p> + +<p>"My master? No master of mine! he's better fit to be master to the +devil," said the prisoner, quite forgetting the King in his rage.</p> + +<p>"What—whom are you talking about?" asked Paul, indignantly.</p> + +<p>"I'm talking about Mr. Governor Libor, and I say that he has turned +Tartar!"</p> + +<p>"Turned Tartar!" exclaimed several in amazement.</p> + +<p>"It's fact," said the lad. "He has cast off his 'menti' and 'suba,' and +doffed his great plume, and now he is going about like a reverend friar, +with a cowl large enough to hold myself."</p> + +<p>"Turned priest then, has he?" asked Master Peter.</p> + +<p>"Priest to the devil, if he has any of that sort down below," said +Matykó. "Priest, not a bit of it! He has turned Knéz! that's what he has +done! The Tartars wear all sorts of church vestments, even the Khans do, +blight them!"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span>"Knéz! what sort of creature is that, Matykó?" asked Ugrin.</p> + +<p>"A sort of governor, something like an 'Ispán' (<em>i.e.</em>, Count, or +head-man of a county)—I don't know, but he has some sort of office, and +our poor gentlemen prisoners must doff their hats to the wretch!"</p> + +<p>"Well, nephew!" said Master Peter, with a laugh, for this was water to +his own mill, "so you have chosen a pretty sort of fellow indeed to +entrust your castle to!"</p> + +<p>The King meantime had turned away to speak to the Knight Commander of +the Templars, and Paul was able to go on questioning Matykó. He was +beside himself with astonishment.</p> + +<p>"How long has he been in such favour with the Tartars?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Ah, sir! who can say?" answered the lad, hotly. "He was Knéz before +they took me! I found him among them, and hardly knew him. It was he who +had my ears cut off, the brute! and only just saved my nose!"</p> + +<p>"Well, that is something anyhow," said Master Peter.</p> + +<p>"And then," continued Matykó, "I heard that Mr. Governor had been having +dealings with the Tartars, like those rascally Kunok, and what's more, +if it is true—and true it must be, for Tartars don't give anything for +nothing—they say he has shown them the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span> way to two or three castles, +where they have got a lot of plunder!"</p> + +<p>"Shown them! the scoundrel!" exclaimed Peter and Héderváry together.</p> + +<p>"It's so," said Matykó emphatically. "He did ought to have his own long +ears and snout cut off, he ought!"</p> + +<p>Young Héderváry did not perhaps believe all that had been said about his +favourite, but still his anger waxed hot within him.</p> + +<p>He had to leave Matykó now, however, and follow the King, who rode +through the whole camp, and finally gave orders to the Duke to +anticipate the Tartars by advancing at once to the Sajó with a +considerable force.</p> + +<p>"Ugrin!" cried the Duke, well pleased with the command, "you will come +with me! Quick! Mount your men, and we will be on the way to the Sajó in +half an hour and stop the Tartars from crossing."</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p>By the time the Duke and Ugrin reached the river, they found that a +number of Mongols had already got across. These, after some hard +fighting they successfully beat back, and that with considerable loss; +and as the survivors disappeared into the woods on the opposite side of +the river, the Duke and Ugrin led their victorious troops back to the +camp, where they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span> were received with acclamations and triumph. They had +lost hardly any of their men and were highly elated by their victory.</p> + +<p>The night following this success was one of the quietest in the camp. +The rapid and easy victory they had won had redoubled everyone's hopes +that, upon the advance of the entire army the Mongols would perish +utterly and completely, as if they had never been.</p> + +<p>Most of the men in camp lay down, with the exception of the King, the +sentries, and some of the generals.</p> + +<p>The King allowed himself but a very short rest; for, from his many +conversations with the unfortunate King Kuthen, he was well aware of the +overwhelming numbers and strength of the Mongols, and he was determined +that the enemy should never find him anything but prepared and on the +alert.</p> + +<p>Kálmán and Bishop Ugrin also approved these prudent measures; but the +army as a whole was so worn out by long watches and merry-making that +rest it must have.</p> + +<p>It was a dark night, and the wind blew the tents about; the camp fires +had been purposely extinguished, though it was spring-time and chilly.</p> + +<p>Twice in the course of the night the King left his tent, made the round +of the camp, and satisfied himself as to the strength of the wooden +bulwarks. The Duke, the Commander of the Templars, Héderváry<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span> the +Palatine, and his son Paul, as well as Ugrin, all lay in the King's +tent, on carpets, dozing, but not sleeping, while the King merely put +off his armour, and stretched himself on the camp bedstead for an hour +or two.</p> + +<p>All was still save for the wind, and in the intervals between the gusts +nothing was to be heard but some terrific snores, and the stamping of +the horses.</p> + +<p>Now and again those who were fully awake thought they heard shouts of +merriment, showing that there were still some not too tired to be +amusing themselves; then the wind roared again, and all other sounds +were lost.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI.<br /> +<span class="smalltext">"NEXT TIME WE MEET!"</span></h2> + + +<p>Since her father's departure, Dora had held the reins of government, and +held them, too, with a firmer hand than Master Peter had done.</p> + +<p>In a couple of weeks she had made the sleepy governor, if not active, at +least less dilatory; the men-at-arms had been well drilled by himself +and Talabor, and the serving men and women had been bewitched into some +degree of orderliness.</p> + +<p>News of her father she neither had nor expected. Probably she would hear +nothing until he came or sent for her. She knew nothing positively as to +what was taking place outside, though the servants from time to time +picked up fragments of news in the villages, so contradictory as to +convey little real information. But the air, even in this out-of-the-way +region, was full of rumour and presentiment, which affected different +characters in different ways, but had the general result of making all +more careful than usual.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span>Without being in the least alarmed, Talabor was one who showed himself +particularly circumspect at this time; and, as if he had some sort of +instinct that trouble might be at hand, he gradually got into the way of +helping the seneschal in all that he had to do. And his assistance, +though uncalled for, was most welcome to the poor man, who felt a good +deal burthened, now that he had to bestir himself to greater speed than +was his wont.</p> + +<p>Some of the servants liked Talabor for his unpresuming ways, resolution, +and courage, while the rest sought to curry favour with him because the +young clerk was evidently in the master's good graces, and they believed +him to be a power in consequence.</p> + +<p>By degrees, and without even noticing it, Talabor quite took the +governor's place. The servants, being accustomed to receive their orders +from him, and to go to him in all difficulties, finding moreover that +Talabor was always ready with an answer and never at a loss what to do, +while the old seneschal forgot more than he remembered, soon almost +overlooked the latter and put him on one side.</p> + +<p>Even Dora, who was perhaps more distant with Talabor now than she had +ever been before, came at last to giving her orders to him, instead of +to the governor. And the governor, finding himself thus in the shade, +would now and then suddenly awake and become jealous for the +preservation of his authority, and at such times would seize the reins +with ludicrous<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span> haste, while Talabor would as quickly take up again the +part of a subordinate.</p> + +<p>Such was the state of affairs when the governor and Talabor were sitting +together one evening in a tolerably large room occupied by the former.</p> + +<p>On the table before them were a good sized pewter pot and drinking cups +to match. The two had been talking for some time. The governor was +looking as if he had been annoyed about something, and Talabor could not +be said to look cheerful either, in fact, he had rarely been seen to +smile since Master Peter's departure. He missed him greatly, for +latterly, as long as he was at home, Peter had often had the young man +with him in the evenings, when the candles were lighted, or when a +blazing fire supplied the place of tallow and wax, these latter being +still considered luxuries.</p> + +<p>Master Peter possessed a few books which he greatly valued—a copy of +his favourite Ovid, and a Bible, for which he had given a village and a +half, besides one or two others. He made Talabor read to him from all in +turn; and often by way of variety, he had long conversations with him, +and told him stories of his hunting adventures.</p> + +<p>Talabor was a good listener, and he not only enjoyed but learnt a good +deal from the narratives of his younger days, in which Master Peter +delighted. Dora, too, was more often present than not, and sometimes +joined in the conversation, which made it more<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span> interesting still, and +then Talabor felt as if he were almost one of the family. Of course, +there could be nothing of this sort now. Dora gave her orders, sometimes +made suggestions, but he never saw her except in the presence of others +and on matters of business. He had quite satisfied himself, however, +that there had never been anything between her and Libor, and that was a +satisfaction. She had not deceived her father, she had never either sent +or received a single letter unknown to him, and in fact she was just as +upright and honourable as he had always thought her.</p> + +<p>As to why Libor had spread the reports which Talabor had traced to him, +and why he had enlisted Borka's aid, unless it were to magnify his own +importance, that, of course, he could not guess; but he had so +frightened the maid that he was satisfied not only that she had told him +the truth so far as she knew it, but that for the future she would keep +it to herself, on pain of being denounced as a traitor to her master, of +whom she stood in great awe.</p> + +<p>"This won't do!" cried the governor, as he brought his hand down on the +table with a mighty bang. "This won't do, I say! Here are the woods +swarming with wolves, and one good hunt would drive the whole pack off, +and yet you, Talabor, would have us look idly on while the brutes are +carrying off the master's sheep and lambs regularly day after day."</p> + +<p>"Not idly, sir, I did not say idly; but they have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span> the shepherd and his +boys to look after them, and they are good shots, especially the +shepherd, and then he has four dogs, each as big as a buffalo," Talabor +rejoined, rather absently.</p> + +<p>"Buffalo!"</p> + +<p>"Calf, I mean, of course; but it would certainly not be wise to take the +garrison out hunting just now."</p> + +<p>"And why not? You are afraid of the Tartars, I suppose, like the rest!"</p> + +<p>"No, sir! but if they do come, I should prefer their being afraid of us! +Besides, there is no good in denying it—the wind never blows without +cause, and there has been more than one report that the Tartars have +actually invaded us."</p> + +<p>"Always the Tartars! How in the world should they find their way through +such woods as these unless you or I led them here?"</p> + +<p>"If once the filthy creatures flood the country, it seems to me from all +that ever I have heard, that not a corner will be safe from them. +They'll go even where they have no intention of going, just because of +their numbers, because those behind will press them forward in any and +every direction."</p> + +<p>"Well, it's true, certainly, that the last time I was with the master in +Pest, I heard they had done I don't know what not in Russia and +Wallachia. People said that wherever they forced their way they were +like—excuse me—like bugs, and not to be so easily got<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span> rid of, even +with boiling water! And they are foul, disgusting folk, too! they poison +the very air; and they eat up everything, to the very hog-wash!"</p> + +<p>"So, Governor, you agree with me then! It's the man who keeps his eyes +open who controls the market! Who knows whether we mayn't have a +struggle with them ourselves to-day or to-morrow!"</p> + +<p>"Ha, ha, ha!" laughed the governor. "Our walls are strong, and, if only +there are not very many of them——"</p> + +<p>"Eh, sir, but numbers will make no difference! We are so enclosed here +that the closer they are packed the more of them our arrows will hit."</p> + +<p>"True! true!" said the governor, with more animation now that there was +a question of fighting, "but they shoot too, blast them!"</p> + +<p>"Let them!" said Talabor confidently, "we are behind our walls, and can +see every man of them without being seen ourselves."</p> + +<p>"Clerk!" cried the governor, quite annoyed, "I declare you talk as if +the Tartars were at the very gate!"</p> + +<p>"Heaven forbid! but——"</p> + +<p>At that instant the door flew open, and the gate-keeper, one of the most +vigilant fellows of the castle, rushed in.</p> + +<p>"Get on with you, you ass!" shouted the governor, "what's the news? What +do you mean by leaving the gate and bolting in here as if the wolves +were at your heels?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span>The governor might perhaps have gone on scolding, but the gate-keeper +interrupted him.</p> + +<p>"Talabor—Mr. Governor, I mean, there are some suspicious-looking men on +the edge of the wood, if my eyes don't deceive me."</p> + +<p>"On the edge of the wood? But it is rather dark to see so far," said +Talabor, standing up as he spoke.</p> + +<p>"If it were not so dark, I could tell better who the rascals are; but so +much I can say, there they are, and a good lot of them."</p> + +<p>"Very well," said Talabor, making a sign to the governor, "you are a +faithful fellow to have noticed them; but we mustn't make any fuss, or +our young mistress may be frightened."</p> + +<p>"I am not usually given to fearing danger, Mr. Talabor," said Dora, +entering the room at that moment, and speaking with cool dignity. "I +have just been to the top of the look out myself, and what this honest +fellow says is perfectly true. There are some men just inside the wood, +and they do look suspicious, because they keep creeping about among the +underwood, and only now and then putting their heads out."</p> + +<p>While his mistress spoke, the gate-keeper had stood there motionless.</p> + +<p>"Come, go back to the gate," said Dora, turning to him, "and make haste! +you heard what Mr. Talabor said; let him know at once if you notice any +movement among these people."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span>"And, Governor," she continued, "you had better place the guard and all +the men who can shoot at the loopholes, quietly, you know, not as if we +were expecting to be attacked; and then, the stones for the walls——"</p> + +<p>"Pardon me, mistress," interposed Talabor, "I had stones, and everything +else we might need, carried up a week ago."</p> + +<p>"I know it, Mr. Talabor, I was not doubting it," Dora said in an +unruffled tone, "but for all that, it will be as well to have more +stones, I think. I believe myself that they are just brigands, not +Tartars, but even so, if they attack us at night, and in large numbers, +all will depend upon the reception they get, so it seems to me."</p> + +<p>Talabor said no more, but in his own mind he was fully persuaded that +the suspicious-looking folk were the Mongols, and that they were +concocting some plan for getting into the castle without attacking it.</p> + +<p>"Your orders shall be obeyed, my young mistress," answered the governor.</p> + +<p>"Talabor," Dora went on, as if to make up for her previous coldness, "I +trust to you to do everything necessary for our defence."</p> + +<p>A few moments later Talabor was in the spacious courtyard, collecting +the men who formed the watch or guard, while the old governor hurried +with some difficulty up the stairs which led to the porter's room, over +the gate.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span>All preparations were complete within a quarter of an hour.</p> + +<p>Dora wrapped herself in a cloak and stationed herself in a wide balcony +facing the woods.</p> + +<p>She had been very desirous of following her father and sharing all his +perils and dangers; but it must be confessed that at this moment she was +filled with fear; so, too, she probably would have been if at her +father's side in battle, but she would have suppressed her fear then as +she was doing now, and would have shown herself as brave and resolute as +any.</p> + +<p>The doubtful-looking figures had vanished now from the wood, and, aided +by the moon which just then shone out through the clouds, Talabor's +sharp eyes detected three horsemen coming towards the gate. They were +riding confidently, though the path was steep and narrow, with a wall of +rock on one side and a sheer precipice on the other. They seemed to know +the way.</p> + +<p>"Talabor!" cried Dora, as she caught sight of him standing on the wall +just opposite her, between the low but massive battlements.</p> + +<p>"Directly!" answered Talabor, and with a whisper to Jakó the dog-keeper, +who was beside him, he hurried down and came and stood below the +balcony, while Dora bent over it, saying in a pleased tone, "Do you see, +there are guests arriving? I think they must be friends, or at least +acquaintances, by the way they ride."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span>"Yes, I do, mistress!" answered Talabor. "They have the appearance of +visitors certainly, but they have come from those other +questionable-looking folk, so we will be careful. Trust me, I have my +wits about me."</p> + +<p>"There are three," said Dora, after a short pause, and as if the answer +did not quite satisfy her. "How can we tell whether they have any evil +intentions or not?"</p> + +<p>"We shall see; but I must go back to my place."</p> + +<p>"Go to the gate tower."</p> + +<p>"I am going!" said Talabor, and without waiting for further orders, he +ran back, first to his former post on the wall, where he spoke to the +wild-looking dog-keeper and the two armed men who had joined him, and +then to the tower flanking the gate, from a slit-like opening in which +he could see the moat, and the space opposite formed by a clearing in +the wood.</p> + +<p>The gate-keeper had not noticed the approach of the "guests," as Dora +called them, for the window was too narrow to give any view of the +breakneck path, along which the riders were advancing, now hidden in the +hollows, now reappearing among the juniper bushes and wild roses. They +were within a short distance of the moat now, and were making straight +for the gate.</p> + +<p>"Quick!" said Talabor to the porter, "go and fetch the governor! I'll +take your place meantime; and tell him to be on his guard, but not to +raise any<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span> alarm. It would be as well if he could get our young mistress +to leave that open balcony, for some impudent arrow, if not a spear, +might find its way there."</p> + +<p>The gate-keeper stared for a moment, and then went off without a word.</p> + +<p>The governor, finding day after day pass in peace, had cast care to the +winds for his own part, and had fallen into the way of constantly +testing the contents of Master Peter's well-filled cellar, in the +privacy of his own room. He was rather a dainty than greedy drinker, and +the wine, being pure, never affected his head, though it did not make +him more inclined to exert himself. Just now, however, he was carrying +out Dora's orders, as he sat on a projection of the wall with his feet +dangling down into the court. He would have had his pipe in his mouth, +not a doubt of it, if tobacco had been known in those days.</p> + +<p>While the gate-keeper was gone the three horsemen arrived.</p> + +<p>"Hi! porter!" cried the foremost, whose figure, though not his features, +was plainly discernible. He was mounted on a dark, undersized horse, and +was enveloped in a sort of cloak of primitive shape, much like the +coarse garment worn by swine-herds. His head was covered by a small +round helmet, like a half melon.</p> + +<p>"Here I am, what do you want?" answered Talabor.</p> + +<p>"I come by order of Master Peter Szirmay," answered the man. "The +Tartars have broken into the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span> country, and his Honour has sent a +garrison, as he does not consider the present one sufficient."</p> + +<p>"You are Libor the clerk!" said Talabor, at once recognising the forward +governor by his peculiar voice, which reminded him irresistibly of a +cock's crow.</p> + +<p>"And who may you be?"</p> + +<p>"Talabor, if his Honour the governor still remembers my poor name."</p> + +<p>"Ah! all right, Clerk! just let them be quick with the drawbridge, for +it is going to rain, and I have no fancy for getting wet."</p> + +<p>"No fear, Mr. Libor. It is not blowing up for rain yet! But in these +perilous times, caution is the order of the day, and so, Mr. Libor, your +Honour will perhaps explain how it happens that Mr. Paul Héderváry's +gallant governor has been sent to our assistance by our master. That we +are in much need of help I don't deny."</p> + +<p>"Why such a heap of questions? Mr. Héderváry and some twenty or more +Szirmays are in the King's camp, and Master Peter has sent me with Mr. +Héderváry's consent, as being a man to be trusted."</p> + +<p>"A man to be trusted? And since when have you been a man to be trusted, +Governor? Since when have people come to trust a scamp? You take care +that I don't tell Master Peter something about you!"</p> + +<p>"Mr. Talabor!" cried Libor haughtily, "have the drawbridge lowered at +once! I have orders to garrison the castle. And pray where is the +governor? and since<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span> when have such pettifoggers as you been allowed to +meddle in Master Peter's affairs?"</p> + +<p>"Here is the governor," said old Moses at this moment. Curiosity, and +just a little spice of uneasiness had brought him quickly to the tower, +and he had heard Libor's last angry words.</p> + +<p>Talabor at once gave up his place to him, but neither he nor the porter +left the room.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Mr. Governor," said Libor in a tone of flattery, "I am glad indeed +to be able to speak to the real governor at last, instead of to that +wind-bag of a fellow. I know Mr. Moses <em>deák</em>, and how long he has been +in Master Peter's confidence as his right hand."</p> + +<p>Then, slightly raising his voice, he went on: "The promised garrison has +arrived. It is here close at hand by Master Peter's orders, and is only +waiting for the drawbridge to place itself under Mr. Moses' command."</p> + +<p>Before making any answer to this, the governor turned to Talabor with a +look of inquiry, which seemed to say, "It is all quite correct. Master +Peter himself has sent Governor Libor here, and there is no reason why +we should not admit the reinforcements."</p> + +<p>"Mr. Governor," whispered Talabor, with his hand on his sword, "say you +will let Mr. Libor himself in and that you will settle matters with him +over a cup of wine."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span>"Good," said the governor, who liked this suggestion very well. Then he +shouted down through the opening, "Mr. Libor, before I admit the +garrison, I should be pleased to see you in the castle by yourself! I am +sure you must be tired after your long journey, and it will do you good +to wet your whistle with a cup or two of wine; and then, as soon as we +have had a look at things all round, I will receive your good fellows +with open arms."</p> + +<p>"Who is in command of this guard?" inquired Talabor, coming to the +window again.</p> + +<p>"Myself! until I hand my men over to the governor. But I don't answer +you again, Clerk Talabor! What need is there of anyone else while good +Mr. Moses is alive? But I can't come and feast inside while my men are +left hungry and thirsty without. I will summon them at once! and even +then they can come only single file up this abominable road where one +risks one's life at every step."</p> + +<p>"Indeed so, Mr. Libor? Well, if you have all your wits about you, we +have not quite taken leave of ours. You would like to come in with your +troop, but we should like first to have the pleasure of being made +personally acquainted with your two wooden figures there! I understand +you, sir! but you should have come when times were better. These are +evil days! Who knows whether Master Peter is even alive, and whether Mr. +Héderváry's governor has not come to take possession and turn this time +of confusion to his own advantage?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span>So spoke Talabor, and Governor Moses was a little shaken out of his +confidence. Indeed, the whole affair seemed strange. Surely, thought he, +if Master Peter had wished to strengthen the garrison he would have +found someone to send besides the clerk, Libor; for he, of course, knew +nothing of the latter's recent military advancement; and then again, +Talabor was so prudent that during the past weeks the governor had come +to look on him as a sort of oracle.</p> + +<p>"Then you won't admit the guard?" said Libor wrathfully.</p> + +<p>"We have not said that," answered Moses; "but if you have come on an +honest errand, come in first by yourself; show me a line of writing, or +some other token, and we shall know at once what we are about."</p> + +<p>"Writing? token? Isn't the living word more than any writing? And isn't +it token enough that I, the Hédervárys' governor, am here myself?"</p> + +<p>"The garrison are not coming into the castle!" cried Talabor. "There are +enough of us here, and we don't want any more mouths to feed! But if you +yourself wish to come in, you may, and then we shall soon see how things +are."</p> + +<p>"Mr. Governor!" shouted Libor in a fury, "I hold you responsible for +anything that may happen! who knows whether some stray band of Tartars +may not find their way up here to-day or to-morrow, and who is going to +stand against them?"</p> + +<p>"We! I!" said Talabor. "Make your choice, if you<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span> please! Come in alone, +or—nobody will be let in, and we will take the responsibility."</p> + +<p>So saying Talabor went forward, and looking down through the loophole, +exclaimed, "Why, Mr. Libor, who are those behind you?"</p> + +<p>"Tótok (Slovacks), they don't understand Hungarian," answered Libor; and +in a louder voice he added, "Let the drawbridge down at once, I will +come in alone."</p> + +<p>"Talabor!" said Dora, coming hastily into the room, "I see a whole +number of men coming up the road. What does it mean?"</p> + +<p>"It means treachery, mistress! Mr. Héderváry's governor, Libor, <em>deák</em>, +is here asking for admittance, and I suspect mischief. I believe the +rascal means to take the castle," said Talabor.</p> + +<p>"No one must be admitted," answered Dora.</p> + +<p>As Dora spoke, Governor Moses turned round. The old man was not yet +clear in his own mind what they ought to do.</p> + +<p>If the reinforcements had really come from Master Peter, why then there +was no reason why they should not be admitted; and, left to himself, he +would certainly have let both Libor and all his followers in without +delay. But Talabor had "driven a nail into his head" which caused him to +hesitate, and Dora's commands were peremptory.</p> + +<p>"Excuse me, Mr. Governor," said Dora, "and allow me to come to the +window."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span>"Mr. Libor," she went on, in a voice which trembled a little, "please to +withdraw yourself and your men, and go back wherever you have come from. +If we are attacked we will defend ourselves, and you must all be wanted +elsewhere, if it is true, as I hear, that the Tartars have invaded the +country."</p> + +<p>"Dearest young lady! Your father will be greatly vexed by this +obstinacy."</p> + +<p>"That's enough, Libor!" said Talabor, with a sign to Dora, who drew +back. "We shall let no one into the castle, not even Master Peter's own +brother, unless he can show us Master Peter's ring, for those were his +private instructions to me."</p> + +<p>"Why didn't you say so before?" muttered Moses to himself; and then, as +if annoyed that his master should have thought it necessary to give +private instructions to any but himself, in the event of such an +unforeseen emergency as the present, he called down to Libor, "It is +quite true! I asked you for a token myself just now, for I have had my +instructions too."</p> + +<p>"I'll show it as soon as we are in the castle," returned Libor.</p> + +<p>"Treachery!" said Talabor, addressing Dora. "The castle is strong, and +it will be difficult to attack it. We will answer for that! Don't have +any anxiety about anything, dear young lady; but hasten back to your own +rooms and don't risk your precious life, for I expect the dance will +begin directly."</p> + +<p>Talabor's manly self-possession had reassured her,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span> and she looked at +him with animation equal to his own; then, not wishing to wound the +feelings of the governor, she shook him by the hand for the first time +in her life, saying, "Moses, <em>deák</em>! if they should really attack us, I +trust entirely to you and Mr. Talabor. And, now, everyone to his post! I +am not a Szirmay for nothing! and I know how to behave, if the home of +my ancestors is attacked!"</p> + +<p>And having hurriedly uttered these words, Dora withdrew.</p> + +<p>"Very well then, as you please!" shouted Libor furiously. "Hungarian +dogs! you shall get what you have earned!"</p> + +<p>With that he turned his horse's head, and not long after the whole body +of mounted men had reached the open space fronting the gate.</p> + +<p>"Hungarian dogs!" thundered the governor, "then the rascally whelp can +actually slander his own race!"</p> + +<p>A few moments more, and not only the horsemen who wore the Hungarian +costume, but also a hundred or so of filthy, monkey-faced Mongols on +foot, were all assembled before the castle, these latter having climbed +the rocks as if they had been so many wild cats. It was easy to see at +once that they were not Hungarians.</p> + +<p>"Yes! Hungarian dogs, that's what you are!" shouted Libor, "and I am a +Knéz of his Highness, the Grand Khan Oktai, and I shall spit every man +of you!"</p> + +<p>So saying, he hurried away, and was lost in the throng.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII.<br /> +<span class="smalltext">DEFENDING THE CASTLE.</span></h2> + + +<p>A few moments later the small garrison of brave men were all on the +walls, and so placed behind the breastwork as to be almost invisible +from below.</p> + +<p>All stood motionless; not an arrow was discharged, not a stone hurled. +The castle was to all appearance dead.</p> + +<p>All at once there was a terrific roar from the enemy, which awoke +countless echoes among the rocks. But it was no battle-cry of the +Tartars or Mongols, for they rush to the fray in silence, without +uttering a sound. This was like the wild yell of all sorts of people, a +mixture of howls and cries, almost more like those of wild animals than +of human beings.</p> + +<p>Dora, who at that moment had stepped out into the balcony, shuddered at +the sound. The howls and screams of fury were positive torture to her +ears, and thrilled her through and through.</p> + +<p>"O God!" she said within herself, "I am afraid! and I must not be +afraid!" and as she spoke, her maids all came rushing into the balcony, +wringing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span> their hands above their heads, uttering loud lamentations, +which were half strangled by sobs.</p> + +<p>"The Tartars! the Tartars!" they cried, hardly able to get the words +out. "It's all over with us! What shall we do! What shall we do!"</p> + +<p>"Go about your own business, every one of you!" said Dora sternly, +"fighting is the men's work, yours is to be at the washing-tub, and the +fireside. Don't let me hear another sound, and don't come here again +till I call you!"</p> + +<p>Her speech had the desired effect; the women were all silent, as if they +had been taken by the throat and had had their wails suddenly choked; +and away they went in haste, either to do as they were told, or to hide +themselves in the lowest depths of the cellar. At all events they +vanished.</p> + +<p>They had no sooner all tumbled out of the balcony than Talabor stepped +in, and just as he did so, an arrow, the first from outside, flew in and +struck his cap.</p> + +<p>"Come in! come inside! for Heaven's sake!" cried Talabor, seizing Dora +by the hand.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Talabor! What do you mean?" she began indignantly, both startled +and angered by his audacity. Then, catching sight of the arrow in his +cap, she went on in a frightened voice, "Are you wounded, Talabor?"</p> + +<p>The young man did not let go his hold until he had drawn Dora into the +adjoining hall, where she was quite reassured as to the arrow, which he +then drew from his cap, without a word, and fitted to the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span> long bow he +had in his hand. Then he stepped back into the balcony, and sent the +arrow flying with the remark, "There's one who won't swallow any more +Magyar bread at all events!"</p> + +<p>The next instant a cloud of arrows poured into the balcony, but already +Talabor was down in the court and rushing to the walls, whence Master +Peter's famous dog-keeper and some of the garrison had already +discharged their arrows with deadly effect.</p> + +<p>Dora had quite recovered herself.</p> + +<p>As for Libor, he had vanished as completely as if he had never been +there.</p> + +<p>"If I could only clap eyes on that scoundrel!" cried Talabor furiously. +"Ah! there! that's he! with his head buried in a cowl! cowardly dog!"</p> + +<p>He fitted an arrow and drew his bow, but hit only a Tartar.</p> + +<p>"Missed!" he muttered, with vexation, "and it's the last! Here, Jakó," +he said, turning to the dog-keeper, "just go and fetch me the great +Székely bow from the dining hall! you know, the one which takes three of +us to string it."</p> + +<p>While Jakó was gone, Talabor observed that one body of Tartars was +stealing along under the trees close beside the moat, towards the south +side of the castle, and that Libor had dismounted, and was creeping +along with them.</p> + +<p>"What can those rascals mean to do?" whispered the governor.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span>"I know!" said Talabor, "the traitor! I know well enough what he's +after! but he's out! The wretch! he thinks he shall find the wall on +that side in the same tumble-down state in which it was the last time he +was here!"</p> + +<p>"True!" returned the governor, "they are making straight for it."</p> + +<p>"You there at the bastion, quick! follow me," he went on, hurrying along +the parapet to where the Mongols seemed to intend a mighty assault.</p> + +<p>The dog-keeper, who had come back with the bow, climbed the wall by the +narrow steps, and he, too, followed Talabor.</p> + +<p>Libor was creeping along on foot among his men, wearing a coat of mail, +and so managing as to be out of range of the arrows of the defenders. +Libor thoroughly understood how to avail himself of shelter, and here, +close to the wood, had no difficulty in finding it.</p> + +<p>To his great chagrin, however, he found that he had miscalculated. The +wall had been so well repaired that if anything it was even stronger +here than elsewhere.</p> + +<p>Talabor and his party had no sooner made their appearance than they were +observed, in spite of the gathering twilight, and were the targets for a +cloud of arrows. They withdrew behind the breastwork, and after some +difficulty succeeded in stringing the great Székely bow. Whereupon, +Talabor chose the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span> longest arrow from Jakó's quiver, fitted it to the +string, straightened himself, and, as he did so, he caught sight of +Libor. Libor also recognised his worst enemy at the self-same moment, +and turning suddenly away made for the wood.</p> + +<p>But Talabor's arrow flew faster than he, and with so sure an aim that it +hit him in the back, below his iron corselet, and there stuck.</p> + +<p>"Ha! ha! ha!" roared Jakó, himself a passionate bowman, and one of the +few who could manage the Székely bow, "ha! ha! ha! that's right! if not +in front, then behind! all's one to us!"</p> + +<p>But Talabor was not satisfied with his shot, for Libor kept his feet, at +least as long as he was within sight.</p> + +<p>The Mongols were meantime showing how determined they could be when the +hope of valuable booty was dangled before their eyes. Their numbers had +been mysteriously increased tenfold, and from all sides they were +bringing stones, branches from the trees, whole trees, in a word, all +and everything upon which they could lay hands. The attack on the south +side of the castle was abandoned, though not before some score or so of +the enemy had been laid low by the arrows of Talabor and his men, and +the Mongols all now turned their attention to the moat, and to that part +of it immediately fronting the drawbridge. Arrows poured down upon them +incessantly, and there was seldom one which missed its mark. But in +spite of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span> this, the work proceeded at such a rate as threatened to be +successful in no long time, for as one fell another took his place, and +the wood seemed to be swarming.</p> + +<p>Talabor had had no experience of the Mongols, and was not aware that +their chief strength lay in their enormous numbers. He did not so much +as dream how many of them there might be. However, Master Peter had made +no bad choice in the garrison he had left behind him, and they did not +for a moment lose courage. They shot down arrow after arrow, not one of +which was left without its response by the bowmen stationed behind those +at work on the moat; but while many of the besiegers were stretched upon +the ground, not more than three or four of the besieged were wounded, +and of them not one so seriously as to be incapable of further fighting.</p> + +<p>Dora had been coming out into the courtyard from time to time, ever +since the siege had begun in earnest. Talabor and the governor were too +busy probably to notice her, and though not altogether safe, she found +herself comparatively out of danger, so long as she kept under the wall, +as the arrows described a curve in falling. She could handle a bow at +least as well as many of the women of her time; but though she had a +strong sense of her responsibilities as the "mistress of the castle" in +her father's absence, she was content to leave the fighting to the men, +and to do no more than speak an encouraging word to them<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span> from time to +time and keep everything in readiness for attending to their wounds.</p> + +<p>As she stood there, in the shelter of the wall, she suddenly heard the +governor's voice uttering maledictions and imprecations, and the next +moment he came blundering down the stone steps from the parapet.</p> + +<p>"Oh! Moses, <em>deák</em>! what is the matter?" cried Dora, rushing towards +him.</p> + +<p>The governor could be a very careful man when occasion required, and if +he descended now with something of a roll, he trod gingerly all the +same; and he had besides the advantage of such well-covered bones, that +they were in little danger.</p> + +<p>"The matter?" he cried, as he reached the grass in safety, "the matter, +young mistress, is that they have shot me—through the arm, hang them! +just as my spear had caught one of them behind the ear too!"</p> + +<p>"Here," cried Dora to the man nearest her, "Vid, fetch me some water and +rag, quick! we must stop the bleeding. Borka has them all ready!"</p> + +<p>Vid, who was on the wall, had seen the governor totter and almost lose +his balance as he stumbled down the steps, and was hurrying after him +when Dora called.</p> + +<p>But Mr. Moses no sooner found himself safely at the bottom, and sound in +all his limbs except just where he was hit, than he at once regained his +wonted composure.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span>"Off with you, Vid," said he, "but fetch a good handful of cobwebs; that +will stop the bleeding in a trice."</p> + +<p>Meantime Dora herself ran into the house and soon came back with Borka +her maid, bringing water, heaps of old rag, and all that could possibly +be wanted. The girl's knees were shaking under her with terror as she +slipped along, close after her mistress.</p> + +<p>Dora herself bound up the injured arm, Moses offering no opposition, as +they were in a fairly safe place, and when the operation was over, he +even kissed the hands of this "fairest of surgeons," as he called her. +Then he rose to his feet, gave himself a shake and roared, "Hand me my +spears! I shall hardly be able to draw another bow to-day!"</p> + +<p>No sooner was the governor standing up once more than Borka made a hasty +dash for the house.</p> + +<p>"Keep along by the wall, Borka!" Dora called after her. But the girl was +so consumed with fear that she neither heard nor saw. Just as she was +hurrying up the steps of the principal entrance, instead of going round +to the back, where the danger was nil, she fell down, head foremost, and +as she did so, a long Tartar arrow caught her in the back.</p> + +<p>Dora flew after her, and just as she had reached the steps Talabor was +beside her, with his shield held over her head. Two or three arrows +rattled down upon it, even in the few moments that they stood there.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span>"Get up at once!" said Talabor, sternly. But the girl did not move, and +Moses began to tremble.</p> + +<p>Borka was dead! killed, not by the arrow, as they found later on, but by +her own terror.</p> + +<p>"Oh, poor girl!" cried Dora, her eyes filling with tears.</p> + +<p>"She has got her deserts!" said Talabor, in a hard tone. "There is one +traitor less in the castle! and I believe she was the only one."</p> + +<p>And without giving time for question or answer, he hurried Dora indoors, +and rushed back to his post on the wall, followed at a more leisurely +pace by Moses with his four spears.</p> + +<p>While all this was going on, the Mongols had succeeded more or less in +filling up the moat, and though up to their knees in water, and impeded +by the logs, branches, stones, and other material with which they had +filled it, some had already crossed, and were beginning to climb the +wall, by means of long poles, when Talabor gave the signal, and a volley +of huge stones and pieces of rock came suddenly crashing down upon them. +These were swiftly followed by a flight of arrows, and the two together +worked such terrible havoc among the assailants that the survivors beat +a hasty retreat.</p> + +<p>They seemed to be entirely disheartened by this last repulse, and +convinced that nothing would be gained by continuing their present +tactics; for, to the great surprise of Moses and Talabor, they did not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span> +return. When next the moon shone out it was seen that a large number of +men were lying dead both in and about the moat. All, whether whole or +wounded, who could do so, had drawn off into the depths of the wood, the +more severely wounded borne on the shoulders of the rest.</p> + +<p>Libor was not again seen by anyone.</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p>The usual guard was doubled, and Talabor was going to pass the night on +the battlements, with the great dog-wood bow beside him and his quiver +full of fresh arrows.</p> + +<p>The wounded, only four of whom were seriously injured, had been +bandaged, and it now appeared that, of the entire garrison there were +but two or three who had not at least a scratch to show.</p> + +<p>Talabor had been hit he did not know how many times, but he had escaped +without any serious wound, though he had lost a good deal of blood. +Before going to his post on the wall, he paid a visit to the porter's +room to have his hurts seen to, and when at last the porter's wife let +him go, he was so bound up and bandaged as to be not unlike an Egyptian +mummy.</p> + +<p>By the time Moses came in to see Dora, she was utterly worn out.</p> + +<p>"Where is Talabor?" she asked.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span>"On the castle wall," said the governor.</p> + +<p>"Not wounded, is he?"</p> + +<p>"I don't think so," was the answer. "At least, he said nothing about +it."</p> + +<p>"We must all watch to-night, Mr. Moses; I am afraid they may come back +and bring more with them."</p> + +<p>"My dear young lady," said Moses, "whether they do or not, this castle +is no place for you now. It is only the mercy of God which has preserved +you this time."</p> + +<p>"But I must not stir from here until I hear from my father! Besides, +where can I go? If the Tartars have discovered such an out-of-the-way +place as this, the country must be swarming with them!"</p> + +<p>"It was easy enough for them to find their way here," growled Moses, +with sundry not too respectful expletives. "It was that good-for-nothing +clerk, Libor, who brought them down on us."</p> + +<p>"That's true indeed; but now that they have found us out, others may +come. So, Mr. Moses, we must have our eyes open, and as soon as we can, +we must have the moat cleared, and make the castle more secure if +possible."</p> + +<p>Moses said "good-night," though he well knew that Dora would not go to +rest, and then he, too, went to the porter's room.</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p>It was a most unusual thing for the Mongols to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span> abandon any attack, but +just as Talabor had begun to pelt the assailants with the heavy missiles +already mentioned, one of the chiefs sent with Libor (possibly to act as +spy upon him), hastily quitted the post of danger and hurried after the +governor-clerk, whom he found in the wood, trying as best he might to +bind up the wound from which he had now drawn the arrow. The wound, +though deep enough, was not serious.</p> + +<p>"Why, Knéz! sitting here under the trees, are you?" cried the Mongol +roughly, in his own uncouth tongue. "Sitting here, when those Magyar +dogs have done for more than a hundred of our men!"</p> + +<p>"Directly, Bajdár!" said Libor sharply, "you see I have been shot in the +head and can't move!"</p> + +<p>"Directly? and can't move? shot in the head? Perhaps you don't keep your +head where we Mongols keep ours! but what will the Khan say, if we take +back only five or six out of 300 men?"</p> + +<p>"Five or six?" repeated Libor in alarm; "are so many lost?"</p> + +<p>"Well, and if it's not so many! and if you, who ought to be first in the +fight have managed to save your own skin! quite enough have fallen for +all that, and we shall all perish if this mad business goes on any +longer. Take care, Knéz! Look after yourself! for Batu Khan is not used +to being played with by new men such as you!"</p> + +<p>Libor staggered to his feet, and though badly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span> frightened by his +ill-success, as well as by what Bajdár had said, his natural cunning did +not altogether desert him.</p> + +<p>"Be off, Bajdár! and don't blame me! Of course, I meant it for the best! +The castle is crammed with gold and silver, and there are some good +horses, as well as a pretty girl or two. Who could have supposed the +rascals would defend themselves in such a fashion! Be off, I tell you, +Bajdár, and stop this senseless fighting, and we'll draw off into the +woods."</p> + +<p>"What! with empty hands?"</p> + +<p>"Who is to help it? But we won't go quite empty-handed either."</p> + +<p>The Mongol glanced up from under his cap as Libor said this, and his +small eyes glittered like fire-flies in the darkness.</p> + +<p>"Master Peter has a large sheep-fold in a valley not far from here, and +the few men who guard it are nothing to reckon with; if we drive off the +sheep, there will be a good feast for a thousand or two of hungry +fellows in the camp."</p> + +<p>"What's that?" said the Tartar hotly. "Why, we shall eat those up +ourselves! All the cattle have been driven off out of our way, and we +are as hungry as wolves!"</p> + +<p>"Only go, Bajdár, and call the men off, and then I'll tell you something +which will make up for our ill-luck here."</p> + +<p>Bajdár shook his head. He was in no good humour,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span> but he had gained his +object, and he went off, cursing and threatening, to stop the assault.</p> + +<p>As for the amends which Libor promised, we can say only so much as this, +that they were ample. He believed the country to be wholly at the +Mongols' mercy, he was well acquainted with the neighbourhood, and he +led his men, who had now dwindled to thirty or so, to the most +defenceless places, where they found cattle enough to satisfy them.</p> + +<p>So great was the prevailing terror, that many had fled from their homes +leaving everything behind them, or had been so harassed by perpetual +alarms that they had at last concealed their property in such senseless +ways that it was found without difficulty.</p> + +<p>However it may have been in this case, it was a fact that when Knéz +Libor returned from his campaign, he received high praise from Batu +Khan, who cared nothing at all that the force had melted away till +little more than a fourth part was left to return to the Sajó. Batu had +further uses for Libor.</p> + +<p>When the Mongols had at last made off, and Moses and Talabor found that +the shepherds had been killed, and the sheep, either eaten on the spot, +carried off, or scattered in the woods, they first cautiously searched +the neighbourhood, and then proceeded with no little labour, to bury the +dead.</p> + +<p>This done, Talabor made it his business to ride out every day, and was +sometimes absent for hours, scouring the country while those at home +were busy<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span> with the governor, strengthening the defences of the castle.</p> + +<p>One morning, some days after the attack, Talabor asked to speak to Dora. +It had been a trying time for all in the castle, but Dora had gone back +to her usual habits, and was looking after her household affairs as +strictly and regularly as if nothing had happened. In one thing she was +somewhat changed: her confidence in and dependence upon Talabor had much +increased.</p> + +<p>"Well, Talabor, is there any good news?" she asked gently.</p> + +<p>"May I speak plainly, dear young mistress?" he asked, by way of answer.</p> + +<p>"I never wish you to speak otherwise, Clerk Talabor."</p> + +<p>"Then I will tell you at once, that you must not stay here any longer, +mistress. The place is too unsafe now that the Mongols know it."</p> + +<p>"Must not? and where could I go?"</p> + +<p>"We have to do with dangerous enemies, and they are enraged, and will be +certain to revenge themselves as soon as they can," he urged.</p> + +<p>Dora sighed. "I know, Talabor, but I am not going to move till I hear +from my father."</p> + +<p>"Dear lady," said Talabor again, after a pause. "Dear mistress—perhaps +you may have noticed that I have been out riding every day. I have +scoured the whole neighbourhood for miles round, and I have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span> learnt a +good deal more than the mere rumours which are all that reach us here."</p> + +<p>"And you have dared to keep it to yourself?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, dear mistress, I have dared! I did not wish to trouble you for +nothing, and one hears many things. If I have done wrong, God knows, I +could not do anything else until I was sure."</p> + +<p>"Talabor!" said Dora, quite disarmed, "and why do you speak now?"</p> + +<p>"Because the time has come when I must either tell you the worst, or let +you risk your precious life."</p> + +<p>Dora shuddered but did not speak, and Talabor went on to tell her, what +we already know, of the invasion, and of the successes already gained by +Batu Khan. There were naturally many gaps in his narrative, and much +that was already sorrowful fact, he knew only as rumour and surmise. But +still, with all deficiencies it was abundantly evident that her present +home was no longer safe, and that the very next week, day, even hour, +she might be exposed to fresh and graver peril.</p> + +<p>And still, what was she to do?</p> + +<p>"Is that all?" she asked presently, "you have not heard anything of my +father?"</p> + +<p>"I have heard that he is alive at least," responded Talabor cheerfully, +"though twice I heard the contrary——"</p> + +<p>"And you kept it from me?"</p> + +<p>"Why should I tell you what I did not believe<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span> myself, and what those +who told me were not at all sure of? It was only a report, and now I +know for certain that Master Peter is alive."</p> + +<p>"Certain? how?"</p> + +<p>"Truly," and he told how the news had reached him, adding, "so now we +know where to find him, when we have the opportunity."</p> + +<p>"Ah! that settles it then, Talabor. The proper place for a good daughter +is with her father. I'll go to him!"</p> + +<p>But while Dora was thus making up her mind to ride to the camp, events +had taken place which, when they came to her ears, made her hesitate +again as to what she ought to do.</p> + +<p>Meantime, until they could decide, Talabor went on strengthening the +walls in every way he could think of, and rendering the steep approach +more difficult.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII.<br /> +<span class="smalltext">CAMP FIRES.</span></h2> + + +<p>Dschingiz Khan had died in 1227, and by the year 1234 his son and +successor, Oktai, had completed the subjugation of Northern China. Two +years later he sent his nephew Batu westwards at the head of 500,000 +men, and in less than six years the latter had overrun nearly one +quarter of the circumference of the earth.</p> + +<p>The boundless steppes of Asia, and the lands lying between the River +Ural and the Dnieper, with all their various peoples, were speedily +brought under his sway. In the autumn of 1237 the Mongolian catapults +had reduced Riazan to a heap of ruins; Moscow perished in the flames; +and with the capture of Kieff, then the handsomest and best fortified +city of Northern Europe, all Russia sank under the yoke of the Mongols, +who ruled her for centuries. Kieff had fallen towards the end of 1240, +and Batu had then divided his forces, sending 50,000 men to Poland, +where they burnt Cracow and Breslau, and then proceeded to Silesia, +where, on April 9th,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span> they defeated an army of Germans, Poles, and +Bohemians near Liegnitz; they then devastated Moravia, and entering +Hungary on the north-west, presently rejoined Batu, who himself had made +a straight line from Kieff for Hungary, entering it, as already said, by +the pass of Verecz, on the north-east.</p> + +<p>The third division of Mongols had gone south, skirting the eastern +Carpathians and entering Transylvania at two different points.</p> + +<p>One portion of this division had rejoined Batu at the river Sajó, in +time for the pitched battle now imminent.</p> + +<p>When first the Hungarian camp was pitched Batu had surveyed it from an +eminence with a grim smile of satisfaction.</p> + +<p>"There are a good many of them!" he exclaimed, "but they can't get away! +They have penned themselves up as if they were so many sheep in a fold!"</p> + +<p>With the return of Duke Kálmán after his victory at the bridge, all +danger was believed to be over for the night, and save for a few +merry-makers, the exultant army slept profoundly. There were few +watchers but the King, the Duke, the Archbishop, and the few others +gathered in the royal tent.</p> + +<p>On the other side of the Sajó a different and wilder scene was being +enacted.</p> + +<p>The night was dark, but the Mongol camp was brilliantly illuminated by +the blaze of a bonfire so huge, that its light shone far and wide.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span>It was never the Khan's way to extinguish his camp fires; quite the +contrary. He wished his enemy to see them, and to suppose that his army +was stationary.</p> + +<p>Thanks to his innumerable spies, he was well aware of all that had taken +place early in the night, and had not been in the least surprised by the +recent sortie. It was, in fact, just what he had wished to provoke, by +way of diverting the attention of the Hungarians from that which was +taking place farther up the river.</p> + +<p>If a few hundred scape-goats had perished, what matter? there were +plenty more to take their place. And they were not even Mongols, but +slaves, Russians, Kuns, etc., who had been forced into his service.</p> + +<p>While these wretches, with the trembling Libor perforce among them, were +bearing the brunt of the Hungarian onset, and being thoroughly beaten, +Batu had sent a large force across the Sajó farther up and this, under +cover of the darkness, was now stealthily drawing nearer and nearer to +the Hungarian camp. It moved forward in absolute silence, and without +attracting any notice.</p> + +<p>Batu and several of his chief leaders were just now standing on a low +hill, all mounted, armed, and ready for battle. Below was the Mongol +host, mounted also and armed with bows, spears, and short, curved +swords. A wild, terrible-looking host they were, short of stature, broad +in the chest, flat in the face; with small, far-apart eyes, and flat +noses. They were clad in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span> ox-hide so thick as to be proof against most +weapons, and consisting of small pieces, like scales, sewn together. So +they are described by Thomas, Archdeacon of Spalatro, who had but too +good opportunity of seeing what they were like. He adds that their +helmets were either of leather or iron, and that their black and white +flags were surmounted by a bunch of wool; that their horses, ridden +bare-backed and unshod, were small but sturdy, well inured to fatigue +and fasting, and as nimble and sure-footed in climbing rocks as the +chamois. Scanty food and short rest sufficed these hardy animals even +after three days of fatigue.</p> + +<p>Their masters were not accustomed to much in the way of +creature-comforts for themselves. They carried nothing in the way of +stores or supplies, which gave them great advantage in the matter of +speed; they ate no bread, and lived on flesh, blood, and mare's milk. +Wherever they went, they dragged along with them a large number of armed +captives, especially Kuns, whom they forced into battle, and killed +whenever they did not fight as desperately as they desired. They did not +themselves care to rush into danger, but were quite content to let their +captives do the worst of the fighting while they reaped the victory. In +spite of their enormous numbers they made no noise whether they were in +camp, on the march, or on the field of battle.</p> + +<p>Thus far Archdeacon Thomas.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span>When to this description we add the fact that they had had continuous +practice in warfare for years past, that a career of well-nigh unbroken +victory had given them perfect self-confidence, while it spread such +terror among those whom they attacked as paralysed the courage even of +the stoutest hearts, it is not difficult to understand how it was that +everything fell before them, and they were able to found an empire +vaster than any which had before, or has since, existed.</p> + +<p>But to return to the Khan and his train of chiefs, among whom was to be +seen Libor the Knéz—not the Libor of old days, but a much less +comfortable-looking individual. Mongol fare did not seem to have agreed +with him too well, for he looked worn and wasted, and his every movement +betrayed his nervousness. Yet he was at the Khan's side, perfectly safe, +and surely a hundred-fold more fortunate than the miserable captives +whom the Mongols held so cheap that they cared not a jot whether they +lived or died.</p> + +<p>Libor was a Mongol now; he wore a round helmet of leather, carried a +scimitar, rode one of the tough little Mongol horses, and was in high +favour with his terrible master.</p> + +<p>Batu was an undersized man, and the reverse of stout. His eyes, set far +apart and slant-wise, were small, but they burnt like live coals, and +were as restless as those of a lynx. His low forehead, flat nose, +fearfully large mouth, and projecting ears, made him altogether +strikingly like the figures, in gold on a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span> black ground, to be seen on +antique Chinese furniture.</p> + +<p>He was marked out from those about him, however, by his dignified +bearing, and by the pure white of his leathern garments.</p> + +<p>It is true that his dignity was of the lion-like order, animal, that is +to say, rather than human; but it was very pronounced. And there was a +sort of rude splendour and glitter in his costume, too; for the white +leather, the fur of which was turned inwards, was covered all over with +strange designs, looking like so many dragons or other imaginary +monsters.</p> + +<p>He was mounted on a slim, dapple-brown horse, of purest breed, and all +his arms, even his bow, were profusely decorated with precious stones.</p> + +<p>Of all the ape-faced circle, there is no denying that he was the best +looking ape of them all, even if we include Libor, who was dainty enough +in appearance, though fear just now was making him not indeed like an +ape, but like a large hare, with quivering nostrils!</p> + +<p>The camp was far from deserted, in spite of the large force detached, +for there could not have been altogether fewer than 300,000 Mongols on +the Sajó, and in addition, there were nearly half as many more of the +miserable beings who had been first conquered and then forced to join +the great host. Round about the hill where stood the Khan were +multitudes of felt or leather tents, and thousands of temporary +mud-huts, for the trees afforded but little shelter as yet,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span> it being +now about the middle of April. Tents and huts were full of armed men, +also of women, who wore the scantiest of clothing, and of children, who +wore no clothing at all.</p> + +<p>Besides these, there were many women captives, who lay about in groups +under the trees, with ears and noses cut off, the picture of exhaustion +and misery, and so brutalised by slavery and suffering that they looked +more like a herd of mutilated animals than human beings.</p> + +<p>Any good-looking women captured by the Mongols were given up to their +own women, who fell upon them like furies, tortured without mercy, and +then murdered all but those wanted as slaves.</p> + +<p>The camp extended far into the depths of the wood, where the chiefs kept +order such as it was, with their whips.</p> + +<p>As Batu reached the top of the hill, his harsh voice was to be heard +giving some peremptory order, at which those about him bent their heads +low in respectful submission, and a dozen women, his wives, appeared +upon the scene, muffled up in white woollen garments, and mounted upon +beautiful horses, which were smothered in fringes, straps, etc., of +leather. They were followed by an armed guard, and preceded, oriental +fashion, by a band of singers chanting a melancholy dirge.</p> + +<p>They had come to take their leave of the Khan, who was sending them to +his home, and on reaching<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span> the foot of the hill they were helped to +dismount. Whereupon they threw back their snow-white veils, which were +of wool like their other wraps, and Batu Khan looked at them in dead +silence. There was no trace either of pain, or pleasure, or of any other +emotion, unless it were vanity and ambition, upon his wild features.</p> + +<p>The women burst into a furious fit of weeping; but it was evidently the +result of great effort, not of any irrepressible distress. Men are much +like overgrown children, and have always liked to deceive themselves and +be deceived; and this weeping and lamentation were the proper thing, the +conventional way of saying "farewell!"</p> + +<p>And yet, if they but looked on themselves, the sight was surely enough +to move anyone to tears; for these women were all strikingly beautiful, +and their beauty was enhanced by an expression—and this not forced—of +profound sorrow and dejection.</p> + +<p>Who they were, and whence they came—whether they were Russian girls +from the Volga and Don, Caucasians from the Caspian, fair Slavonians, or +white-faced Wallachians, who could say? But all were beautiful, all had +an air of distinction about them, and all looked overwhelmed with woe +unutterable.</p> + +<p>They gathered round the Khan, and his horse pricked its ears and +whinnied as if it would take part in the proceedings; for, though Batu's +horses were all his friends and tent-mates, far more beloved than<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span> his +people, this one was an especial favourite, its sire, so the story went, +having lived to the age of a hundred.</p> + +<p>When he had had enough of the ceremonial weeping, Batu raised his hand, +as who should say, "That will do! You have done your duty, now you can +go!"</p> + +<p>And instantly the sobs were checked, and smiles were forced to take +their place, while the poor goods and chattels raised their hands +towards their master, but whether as a mere token of farewell, whether +in blessing, or perchance in secret cursing, who could tell!</p> + +<p>Another signal and away they hurried down the hill; and a few moments +after the white figures had disappeared out of the glare and were lost +to sight in the recesses of the wood.</p> + +<p>The women gone, Batu put spurs to his horse and raced down the slope, +his chiefs following as best they might. With the light flashing +blood-red about him, with his spear quivering uplifted above his head, +himself and his horse absolutely one, he dashed on with the rush of a +whirlwind, and wherever he went he seemed to say, "Look and admire!" And +indeed, the Khan looked his best, when he was thus exhibiting his +horsemanship, and in spite of his ape-like features, might almost have +passed for some gallant, if wild cavalier.</p> + +<p>He and his train galloped away into the darkness, followed by a select +body of mounted men; and as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span> soon as they were out of sight, the +remaining squadrons were drawn up in regular order. Tents were taken +down, and they and their belongings were packed on horses or in waggons, +and in a short time, though the bonfire still blazed, it cast its light +upon a deserted camp.</p> + +<p>Followed by a herd of women, the entire force moved in dead silence +towards the Sajó, where Batu had his first line of battle.</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p>Day was beginning to break when the Hungarian camp was roused by +startling cries, and those who rushed from the King's tent to learn the +meaning of them were met by terror-stricken shouts of "The Tartars! The +Tartars are upon us!" "They are yonder, close at hand!" "The guard at +the bridge has been overpowered, massacred, put to flight," etc.</p> + +<p>Looking out between the wooden walls, Master Peter descried at the +distance of about a quarter of an hour's march, a dark mass of something +which appeared to be in the form of a crescent, but of a size too vast +to be measured by the eye. It was like a wall of stone, as solid, as +silent, and as motionless; and for a moment he was in doubt as to what +it might be, until the neighing of a horse, and the briefer, rarer sound +of a signal-horn brought the truth home to him.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span>The Mongols had come up in the night; the camp was surrounded on three +sides; and nothing but the most desperate determination could save them! +So much was evident even to his inexperienced eyes, and the silence of +these savage folk, who could howl like the very wolves at other times, +had something so weird and terrible about it that Master Peter was not +the only brave man to feel his heart quake and his blood run cold.</p> + +<p>The victory of the Duke and Ugrin but a few hours before had been +delusive indeed, for they had hardly returned in triumph to the camp +when Batu sent down to the bridge seven of the gigantic engines of war +which played so large a part in the Mongol invasion.</p> + +<p>Suddenly, without the least warning, the detachment left on guard found +itself assailed by a fierce and heavy storm of stones and pieces of +rock; and what added to their terror was the fact that they could not +see their enemy, and that there were no stones or rocks anywhere near +the river. Seized by superstitious panic, those who escaped being +crushed or wounded fled back to the camp, where instantly all was uproar +and confusion.</p> + +<p>Master Peter rushed back to the King as fast as he could for the +turmoil, the narrow ways, and the tent-ropes; and indignation filled his +soul at some of the sights he saw: luxurious young nobles, for instance, +making their leisurely toilets, combing and arranging their hair, having +their armour put on with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span> the greatest care, and finally drawing on new +gloves! What he heard during his hurried passage was not much more +reassuring. There was plenty of courage and confidence expressed; plenty +of contempt for the despicable foe; plenty of assurance that Mongol +spears and arrows would prove ineffectual against iron armour; but also +there was among some contempt, openly expressed, for their own leaders, +though they looked upon the victory as already won.</p> + +<p>"It will be a hard day's work!" muttered Peter Szirmay to himself, while +his thoughts flew to Dora in her lonely castle. He had little doubt that +the Hungarians must conquer in the end, in spite of the huge odds +against them, but still—! and even if they did, he himself might fall! +What would become of her?</p> + +<p>"God and the Holy Virgin protect her!"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV.<br /> +<span class="smalltext">A FATAL DAY.</span></h2> + + +<p>Peter Szirmay and Paul Héderváry were arming the King with all speed, +while his charger, magnificently caparisoned, was brought round, +neighing with excitement.</p> + +<p>Béla had never appeared more cool and collected than on that eventful +morning. As already remarked, he was without military experience, and +though his expectations were not extravagant, and he did not make the +mistake of underrating the enemy, he had much confidence in the valour +of his army.</p> + +<p>"We must get the troops outside, without an instant's delay!" shouted +Bishop Ugrin, galloping up his face aglow with pleasurable excitement, +for he was never happier than when astride his war-horse and amid the +blare of trumpets.</p> + +<p>"Sequere!" (follow) cried the King, who usually spoke Latin to the +ecclesiastical dignitaries.</p> + +<p>They rode through the camp, finding the ways everywhere crowded with +men, whom some of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span> officers were trying to reduce to order, while +others, still busy attiring themselves, were of opinion that they would +be in plenty of time if they made their appearance when the whole army +was mounted.</p> + +<p>The Templars were first on horseback.</p> + +<p>Their white mantles, with the large red cross upon them, were blowing +about in the keen wind, and displaying the steel breastplates beneath, +their martial appearance being enhanced by their heavy helmets, which +covered the whole head and face, with the exception of narrow slits +through which they breathed and saw. As the King rode up to them, the +wind blew out the folds of their white banner, and showed its +double-armed cross of blood-red.</p> + +<p>All this time the Mongols had been drawing nearer and nearer, like an +advancing wall, so close were their ranks. And now like a storm of hail +the arrows began to fall upon the half-asleep, half-tipsy, and wholly +bewildered men in camp. Most were mounted now, but the confusion was +indescribable. There were grooms with led horses looking for their +masters, masters looking for chargers and servants, and generals looking +for their banderia.</p> + +<p>There was shouting, running to and fro, and such confusion and +hurly-burly that the King had great difficulty in making his orders +understood.</p> + +<p>He galloped from one squadron to another, amid a cloud of falling arrows +and spears, doing all that in him lay to organise the troops. Men were +falling on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span> all sides around him, more than one arrow had struck his own +armour; the battle had begun, and blood was flowing in streams before +the army had been able so much as to get out of camp.</p> + +<p>At last a dash was made down the narrow ways between the tents and the +hastily uncoupled waggons; and then with the rage, not the courage, of +despair, every leader wanted to rush upon the enemy straight away +without waiting for orders, or heeding any but his own followers.</p> + +<p>"Stop!" cried Béla, hurrying up to them with the Palatine, and a few men +who were hardly able to force their way after him. "Stop! Wait for the +word of command!"</p> + +<p>But no one even saw, no one heard him.</p> + +<p>Leaders and men had most of them lost their heads, and the few +disorderly squadrons which succeeded in reaching the Mongols were +immediately surrounded and overwhelmed.</p> + +<p>The great black crescent was growing more and more dense and solid; +there was no way of eluding it, no hope of escape.</p> + +<p>Bishop Ugrin was well-nigh beside himself; and he poured forth now +blessings, now execrations, as the distracted troops rushed aimlessly +hither and thither, between the tents and their ropes, and down the +narrow passages.</p> + +<p>They were completely entangled as in a net; to form them up in order was +an impossibility; and a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span> deadly cloud of spears and arrows was +continuously poured upon them by the Mongols.</p> + +<p>To add to the general horror and terror, the waggons took fire, and soon +the tents nearest them were in flames. The tumult and confusion waxed +greater and greater.</p> + +<p>Batu's main object was to capture the King, and already Béla had had at +least one narrow escape, which he owed to the devotion of one of his +guard; but now both he and they were all wounded.</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p>Fighting had been going on since early morning; it was now noon, when +the Duke made a last bold effort to retrieve the day.</p> + +<p>"I'll break through the enemy's lines with the right wing," he shouted +in stentorian tones. "Will your Majesty give the left wing orders to do +the same, and then yourself lead the centre!"</p> + +<p>The heroic Duke spoke of left and right wing, and centre; but alas! +where was any one of them?</p> + +<p>Without waiting for the King's answer he galloped off again, succeeded +in infusing some of his own spirit into his men, and, joined by Ugrin +and his followers, and the remaining Templars, he made a dashing attack +upon the Mongols, who were drawn up in such close order that individuals +had no room to turn.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span>Numbers of them fell before the furious onslaught of the Hungarians, and +great was the devastation wrought in their ranks, when suddenly, like a +whirlwind, up came Batu Khan himself with a fresh cloud of savage +warriors, and arrows and spears flew thicker and faster than ever.</p> + +<p>The Archbishop was smitten on the head by a spear, just as he had cut +down a Mongol, and he fell, as a ship's mast falls struck by lightning.</p> + +<p>Next fell the leader of the Templars, fighting helmetless by his side. +The riderless horses dashed neighing into the ranks of the enemy, among +whom they quickly found new masters.</p> + +<p>Kálmán had seen the bravest fall around him, but he was still pressing +forward, still fighting, when he also received a severe wound. Just then +the sun went down.</p> + +<p>His sword-arm was useless, and his brave warriors, placing him in their +midst, made their way back to the camp. But the camp was deserted now by +all but the dead and the dying. The troops whom they had left there had +forced their way out at last, but it was to fly, not to fight.</p> + +<p>The Mongols had made no attempt to stop them; on the contrary, they had +opened their ranks to let them pass through, and the faster and thicker +they came, the more room they gave them.</p> + +<p>That the fugitives would not escape in the long run well they knew, and +their object just now was the King.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span>The flower of the Hungarian nobility, several bishops, and high +dignitaries, both of Church and State, had fallen in the battle, or fell +afterwards in the flight. Most of them took the way to Pest, which was +strewn for two days' journey with the dead and dying, with arms and +accoutrements.</p> + +<p>Many were slain by the Mongols who pursued and attacked them when they +were too weak to defend themselves; and many others perished in the +attempt to cross rivers and swamps.</p> + +<p>Seeing that all was lost, Béla himself thought it time to fly, and while +the Mongols were plundering the camp, he succeeded in reaching the open, +and made for the mountains, recognised by few in the on-coming darkness.</p> + +<p>Immediately surrounding him were Paul Héderváry, in spite of his five +wounds, Peter and Stephen Szirmay, Akos, Detrö, Adam the Pole, the two +Forgács, and several others—a devoted band, while behind came a long +train of the bravest warriors, the last to think of flying, who followed +in any order or none.</p> + +<p>Few, as we have said, had recognised the King, but there were some who +had, and these pressed hard after him.</p> + +<p>"My horse is done for!" cried the King, as his famous charger began to +tremble beneath him. "Let us stand and die fighting like men!"</p> + +<p>"No! for Heaven's sake, no!" cried Adam the Pole,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span> leaping from his +horse as he spoke. "Mine is sound! take him! I hear the howl of the +Mongols."</p> + +<p>One had indeed actually overtaken them, but, though on foot, Adam felled +him to the ground, leapt upon the Mongol's horse, and galloped on after +the King.</p> + +<p>The handful of brave, true men guarded Béla as the very apple of their +eye. Not one thought of himself; their one anxiety was for the King.</p> + +<p>For an hour they galloped on, always pursued by the Mongols. The foam +was dropping from the horses; the moon had risen and was shining +brightly down upon them, when the irregular force which had followed +them was overtaken, and engaged in a fierce battle with the relentless +and unwearied enemy.</p> + +<p>Just at that moment down sank the horse which Adam had given to the +King; but one of the two Forgács, András (Andrew), who was known in the +army as Ivánka (Little John, <em>i.e.</em>, John Baptist) gave up his. The King +was so worn out by this time that two of the nobles had to lift him upon +the horse; Ivánka himself followed on foot. A younger brother of his, +whose name has not come down to us, lost his life at the hands of the +Mongols, who were again approaching perilously near the fugitives.</p> + +<p>Ivánka was threatened by the like danger, when Paul Héderváry and a few +of the others who were on in front chanced to see his peril, and turning +back, routed the Mongols. Ivánka mounted his brother's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span> horse, which had +remained standing quietly by its master's body, and rode after the +little band.</p> + +<p>Daybreak was once more at hand, and they were far, far away from the +field of blood, when again the King's horse failed him, and the Mongols +were hardly so much as a hundred paces behind.</p> + +<p>They had recognised the King, and one of Batu Khan's sub-officers had +promised a large reward to anyone who could get Béla into his hands, +alive or dead.</p> + +<p>Then a young hero, Rugács by name, who had already distinguished himself +in battle, offered the King his charger, and it was thanks to this good +horse of Transylvanian breed that the King finally escaped his pursuers. +For, tough though they were, even the Mongolian horses were beginning to +fail, while nothing apparently could tire out the Transylvanian.</p> + +<p>As they helped him to mount, Béla noticed that there was blood on the +arm of the faithful Rugács, and asked kindly whether it gave him much +pain.</p> + +<p>"Ay, indeed, sir!" was the answer, "but there is worse pain than this!"</p> + +<p>"Ah! your name shall be Fáj from to-day," said the King. "Remind us of +it if we live to see better times."</p> + +<p>And accordingly, there is to this day a family which bears the +honourable name of Fáj or Fáy, the meaning of which is: "It pains."</p> + +<p>At last the fugitives reached the forest, the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span> Mongols were left behind, +and the King then happily gained a castle in the mountains, where for a +while he remained.</p> + +<p>But when he looked upon his devoted followers, how many were missing! +how many had laid down their lives to save his!</p> + +<p>Among the dozen or more who had fallen by the way was Jolánta's father, +Stephen Szirmay; his brother Peter, though he had not come off +scathless, had escaped without any mortal wound.</p> + +<p>Having no army, the King was for the present helpless, and as soon as he +could do so, he made his way to Pressburg, where he sent for the Queen +and his children to join him, they having taken refuge in Haimburg, on +the other side of the Austrian frontier.</p> + +<p>But instead of the Queen, appeared Duke Friedrich, who persuaded the +King that it would be much wiser for him too to come to Austria, and had +no sooner got him in his clutches than he made a prisoner of him, and +refused to let him go until he had refunded the large sum of money with +which Friedrich had purchased peace from him four or five years +previously.</p> + +<p>Béla gave up all the valuables which he and the Queen had with them, but +as the Duke was still not satisfied, he had to pawn three Hungarian +counties in order to regain his liberty.</p> + +<p>Once more free, he sent the Queen to Dalmatia for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span> safety, and +despatched ambassadors to Pope and Emperor, and the King of France, +praying for their help against the terrible foe who threatened all +Europe with destruction. But the Emperor was fighting Rome, and the Pope +was bent upon reducing him to obedience. Poland was fighting the Mongols +on her own account; Bohemia was in momentary danger of being herself +attacked; and the shameless Duke Friedrich availed himself of Hungary's +defenceless condition to invade and plunder the counties nearest him, +and even to rob such fugitives as had fled to Austria for refuge from +the Mongols.</p> + +<p>Béla meantime had borrowed a little money where he could, and had gone +south to await the answers to his appeal, and to raise what troops he +could for a campaign. But he waited in vain. No help came! and without +an army or the means of raising one, he was helpless.</p> + +<p>His brother Kálmán had reached Pest, and after urging the terrified +inhabitants to abandon the city, cross the Danube, and hide wherever +they could, he continued his journey to Slavonia (then Dalmatia and +Croatia), his dukedom, where he soon after died of his wounds.</p> + +<p>Before the people of Pest could remove their goods to a place of safety, +they were hemmed in by the Mongols. Thousands from the surrounding +country had taken refuge here with their families and treasures, and the +numbers had been further increased by the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span> arrival of fugitives from the +army. They resolved to defend themselves to the last man; but they +little knew the enemy with whom they had to deal. Three days' battering +with catapults was enough to make breaches in the walls; the Mongols +stormed and burnt the town, and murdered all who fell into their hands.</p> + +<p>The Mongols flooded all the land east of the Danube, but for the present +the broad river formed a barrier which they could not easily pass, and +they were further deterred from making the attempt by the idea, +unfortunately erroneous, that if they crossed it they would find all the +armies of Europe massed upon the other side waiting to receive and beat +them back.</p> + +<p>But if they were checked to the west, there was nothing to prevent their +chasing the King, who was lingering near the Drave. Here they were in no +fear of the armies of Europe, and they crossed the Danube by means of +bladders and boats.</p> + +<p>Béla fled to Spalatro, but feeling unsafe even there, retired with his +family to the island of Issa. Furious at finding that his prey had +escaped him, the Mongol leader, Kajdán, revenged himself upon his +prisoners, whom he set up in rows and cut down; then he hurried on to +the sea coast, and appeared before Spalatro early in May. Foiled again, +he hurried to Issa, which was connected with the mainland by a bridge; +and here he had the mortification of seeing the King and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span> his followers +take ship for the island of Bua under his very eyes.</p> + +<p>Pursuit, without a fleet, was hopeless, and Kajdán had to content +himself with ravaging Dalmatia, Croatia, and Bosnia.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a>CHAPTER XV.<br /> +<span class="smalltext">DORA'S RESOLVE.</span></h2> + + +<p>For days, weeks, months, Talabor had been expecting Libor and his +Mongols to return and renew their attack upon the castle, whose defences +he had strengthened in every way possible to him.</p> + +<p>But spring had given way to summer, and summer to autumn, and still they +had not come. When a winter of unusual severity set in, he felt the +position safer, for the steep paths were blocked with snow or slippery +with ice.</p> + +<p>Rumours of the fatal battle had not been long in reaching the castle, +and fugitives had been seen by one or another of the villagers, whose +accounts, though they differed in many respects, all agreed in this, +that the country was in the hands of the Mongols, and that the King had +fled for his life—whether he had saved it was doubtful. One reported +the death of both the Szirmays, another declared that Master Peter had +escaped with the King.</p> + +<p>The general uncertainty began to tell upon the inhabitants of the +castle.</p> + +<p>Gradually, one by one, the men of the garrison<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span> disappeared. If a man +were sent out hunting, or to gather what news he could in the +neighbourhood, he not seldom vanished. Whether he had deserted, or +whether he had been captured, who could say? In either case he might +bring the Mongols down upon them.</p> + +<p>At last, when the number of fighting men was so diminished that it would +have been out of the question for them to offer any serious resistance, +disquieting events began to occur among the house-servants. One day two +of them were nowhere to be found! One was a turnkey of Master Peter's, +the other a maid-servant, a simple, country girl, whom no one would have +supposed capable of counting up to three!</p> + +<p>These two had evidently not gone empty-handed, moreover, a few silver +plates and other light articles having vanished at the same time! +Neither of them had been sent out to reconnoitre; neither, least of all +the peasant girl, could have gone a-hunting. They had deserted, and they +had stolen anything they could lay hands on!</p> + +<p>After this discovery Dora became every day more uneasy, feeling that the +danger from within might be as great as that from without.</p> + +<p>Talabor kept his eye with redoubled vigilance upon those who were left, +but confidence was destroyed in all but one or two.</p> + +<p>Early one morning it was found that the whole of the plate had +disappeared from the great dining hall.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span> Every chest was empty, and no +one of the servants knew where the contents were. Talabor had spent an +entire night in carrying them away to a hiding place shown him by Master +Peter, a sort of well-like cavity in a cellar, of which he kept the key +always about him. He had been busy for days digging out the earth and +rubbish, without letting anyone, even the faithful Moses, know what he +was about; for, like many another sorrowful Magyar in those days, the +old man had of late been trying to drown his grief in wine, and Talabor +feared that his tongue might betray what his fidelity would have kept +secret.</p> + +<p>All being ready, he carried down the silver from the chests in which it +had been locked, and finally removed from the shelves in the dining hall +even what had been in daily use. This done, he filled the pit with earth +again, and left no traces to indicate the hiding place of Master Peter's +treasure.</p> + +<p>Libor, of course, was well aware of its existence, and Talabor sometimes +wondered whether he were intending to keep the knowledge of it to +himself, to be made use of later on, when the winter was over, and the +castle more easily reached. Be this as it might, neither he nor the +Mongols appeared again; and only once had Talabor encountered any in his +rides. So far as he could see and learn, the neighbourhood seemed to be +free of them; and still anxiety rather increased than diminished, as day +followed day without bringing any news to be relied on.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span>Early one morning Dora sent for Talabor, who went expecting merely some +fresh suggestion or order; but he had no sooner entered the room than +she met him, and without any sort of preliminary, exclaimed, in a +somewhat agitated voice, "Talabor! you are loyal to us, and to me, I +know you are! aren't you? You would do anything for me? I am sure you +would!"</p> + +<p>Talabor fell upon one knee, and with glowing countenance raised his hand +to heaven, by way of answer. His heart swelled within him, and just then +he felt strong enough for anything.</p> + +<p>"Good Talabor, I believe you," said Dora; "but get up and listen to what +I want to say. I am only a woman, and perhaps I give myself credit for +more courage than I really have; but one thing I know, I have a strong +will, and I have made up my mind. I mean to go and find the King and my +father!"</p> + +<p>"What!" exclaimed Talabor, almost petrified by the mere idea of so +daring a step. "Master Peter—we don't even know whether——"</p> + +<p>"He is alive!" interrupted Dora very decidedly.</p> + +<p>"But the King! whether it is true or not, who can say? But so far as I +can gather he seems to be in Dalmatia, and the Tartars are pursuing him. +The country may still be full of them, for anything I know; and you mean +to run such a frightful risk as this would be? Dear mistress——"</p> + +<p>"I do mean, Talabor!" said Dora, "I do mean; for it seems to me that I +may have worse to face if I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span> stay here; and what is more, I can't do any +good by staying. I can't in the least help those who would, I know, lay +down their lives for me. Did not you yourself say, months ago, that this +place was not safe?"</p> + +<p>"True, but then things were not as they are now, and I was thinking of +some safer refuge, not of a perilous winter journey. We will defend +ourselves to the last, and now that we are free of traitors, we shall be +stronger than before."</p> + +<p>"To the last, you say? Then the last person would be myself, and I +should be left to die by torture or to become the slave of some Mongol +scoundrel! No, Talabor! if I could protect those who have been faithful +and devoted to me, if I could even protect those who have deceived me, +robbed me and deserted me so disgracefully, I would stay, but my +presence here does no one any good."</p> + +<p>"And," Dora continued, after a moment's pause, "the fact is we are +living over a volcano, for who can answer for it that none of those who +have stayed behind are traitors, and what of those who are gone? Why +then, should you wish to stay?"</p> + +<p>Dora had taken to "theeing and thouing" Talabor, ever since the time of +danger and anxiety which they had passed through together. It showed him +that she had confidence in him; but he, of course, continued to address +her in the third person.</p> + +<p>"Because," replied the young man in a firm voice,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span> "I can put down any +mischief that may raise its head here; and because, dear lady, if there +is any danger of your being attacked here in the castle, the dangers +outside in the open are a thousand times more serious."</p> + +<p>"You are mistaken in one thing, Talabor. It may all be, perhaps it is, +as you say, but something tells me to go! I can't explain it, but it is +as if I were continually hearing a voice within saying, 'Go, go;' but if +I made a mistake in expecting you to follow me blindly——"</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear lady, how could you be mistaken in trusting the most devoted +of your servants! Let it be as you say! Command me, and I will neither +gainsay, nor delay to do what you wish."</p> + +<p>"You really mean it?"</p> + +<p>"I do! before Heaven I do."</p> + +<p>"Well now, Talabor, can you deny that there is a sort of nightmare +oppression about this place? The garrison has dwindled to three, and +there are but four servants. We can't reckon upon Mr. Moses, for he +grows harder to stir every day."</p> + +<p>It was all so perfectly true that Talabor could say nothing; but they +talked on for a time, and then Dora began to think and consult with him +as to the first steps to be taken. She wished to discharge all her +duties as mistress of the castle to the end, as far as was possible; and +the first question was, what was to become of Moses and the rest of the +household?<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span> This settled, they thought it time to take the old governor +into their confidence.</p> + +<p>Mr. Moses had long been of opinion that the castle was no safe place to +stay in, and he readily undertook to conduct the remaining members of +the garrison and household to a place of greater safety.</p> + +<p>In the depths of the neighbouring forest lived an old charcoal-burner, +who supplied the castle blacksmith with charcoal, and had managed to +steal up with it now and then all through these perilous times. The hut, +or rather cave, in which the poor man and his family lived, was far away +from any road, it was closed in by rocks, and was altogether so +difficult, if not impossible, for any stranger to discover, that Moses +and Talabor thought it the safest place of any to be found. But Dora +begged them both to keep their own counsel until the time for action +should come; and as to when that time should be, no one knew but +herself.</p> + +<p>Latterly, as troubles had multiplied, it had become a sort of fixed idea +with her that she must go and find her father at all costs, or at least +make sure whether he were still alive or dead, and in the latter event +she had resolved to take refuge in a convent.</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p>Two or three days after the consultation mentioned above, Dora sent for +her two devoted followers.</p> + +<p>It was quite early in the morning, but she was already dressed for going +out—for a journey it seemed,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span> though, in spite of the bitter cold, she +wore none of her rich furs. Except that she was cleaner and neater, +there was nothing to distinguish her from the poorest peasant-girl +tramping from one village to another, or perhaps going on a distant +pilgrimage.</p> + +<p>In the narrow belt, which she wore in the ancient Magyar fashion, round +her waist, she had hidden a few pieces of gold; on her feet she had +thick, heavy boots, and over her shoulders hung a rough cloak of +antiquated cut, which might be put over her head like a hood if +necessary.</p> + +<p>Somehow Talabor had never admired her so much before as he did now. +Moses stared at her wide-eyed, for of late he had seen her always in +black.</p> + +<p>The old huntsman looked as if he were wondering what new madness this +might mean, and one can hardly be surprised at him. But he was always +respectful to Dora, and next to the old castle, and the woods, and +Master Peter, he loved her better than anything else in the world! +Talabor came next to her in his affections, but a good way behind.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Moses," began Dora gravely, addressing him first as she always did, +because he was governor, in name at least, if not in fact, "I think the +time has come for us to follow your advice; we have not men enough to +defend the castle, and if it is true that the whole country is laid +waste, it is very likely that one of the horrible Tartars who came +before will take it into his head to come again. Besides, the thieves +who<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span> have deserted us know how few we are, and how much plate there is +in the chests; and what is to hinder their coming back? Well, at any +rate, I have made up my mind to leave the castle, but I mean to be the +last. I shall not go until I know that every one is as safe as he can +be."</p> + +<p>"I don't stir a step without you, mistress," exclaimed Moses.</p> + +<p>"I am Dora Szirmay, Master Peter's daughter, and my faithful governor +will obey my orders!" returned Dora, in tones so decided that it was +plain she had not forgotten how to command.</p> + +<p>Mr. Moses was silenced, and Dora went on, still in the same grave way, +"I know that you are faithful, that no one is truer to my father and me +than yourself, and so I can give you my orders with trust and +confidence. You, Mr. Moses, and everyone that is left in the castle, +except Talabor and Gábor, will go to-day as soon as it is dusk, to old +Gödri, the charcoal-burner. You can take Jakó's pony with you in case +anyone should be tired, and be sure you take all the arms you can carry. +The food, too, you must take all that, though I am afraid there is not +much left, for we have all been hungry for some time past, if we have +not been actually famished. When that is gone, there are the woods; and +no hunter ever died of starvation."</p> + +<p>"But yourself, my dear young mistress?" asked Moses.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span>"I stay here in the meantime with Talabor and Gábor. You know all I wish +done besides, good Mr. Moses," said Dora gently, with a smile, rather +sad than cheerful.</p> + +<p>"I need not tell you all to be prudent," she continued. "That we must +every one of us be. Take all the care you can of yourselves!"</p> + +<p>"And what about the horses?"</p> + +<p>"They must be turned out. They will find masters: we need not be +troubled about them; and if they don't, they can roam where they will, +and there will be grass under the snow, down in the valleys. Jakó might +take Fecske (Swallow), if he thinks he could feed her; it would be a +pity for her to fall into the hands of the Tartars."</p> + +<p>"Fecske" was Dora's own favourite horse.</p> + +<p>"You understand me, don't you, Mr. Moses?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, young mistress; but—" he added uneasily, "what of the castle and +everything?"</p> + +<p>"Well, Mr. Moses, you were the first to call attention to the unsafe +state of the castle, weren't you? So what more can we do? We can't +defend it, we can't live in it, we can't carry it with us! Now you will +start to-day, all of you, except Talabor, Gábor, and myself; and you +must trust everything else to us!"</p> + +<p>Moses would dearly have liked to raise a multitude of further +objections, but he could not, perhaps did not dare. Just as he was about +to leave the room, Dora<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span> stopped him, saying, "One thing more, Governor; +when all is ready, let them all come to this room."</p> + +<p>Mr. Moses departed, and turning to Talabor, Dora asked him what he +thought of her arrangements. She spoke more brightly now, and Talabor +answered calmly and respectfully, "I will obey you, mistress! But, I +should like to make one little remark—it is not anything concerning +myself——"</p> + +<p>"No preamble, Talabor!" said Dora, who looked more cheerful every +moment. "Make any remarks you wish, and I will hear you out, because I +know you don't speak from fear."</p> + +<p>"Well, lady, wouldn't it be better to keep Jakó with you, instead of +Gábor? Gábor is a good, trusty fellow and active, but he is not equal to +Jakó."</p> + +<p>"I am not going to keep more than one with me, and that is yourself, +Talabor! For safety's sake I must travel on foot, like a pilgrim, and +with as few followers as possible. Why I am keeping Gábor is that I want +to send him to seek my father by one route, while we take another. Jakó +is the only one of the others who is capable of thinking and acting for +them. If I take him they have no one. Don't you think, now, that I am +right?"</p> + +<p>Talabor assented, and no more was said, but when he realised that he was +to be Dora's sole guardian and travelling companion, he felt as if he +had the strength of a young lion.</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span>That same evening, Moses the governor, and all the rest, with the +above-mentioned exceptions, quitted the castle; and by dawn of the +following day, Master Peter's ancient dwelling-house was like a silent +sepulchre. All the doors and windows were open, but the drawbridge was +up, and the moat full of water.</p> + +<p>The most valuable articles of furniture of a size to be moved, Talabor +had helped Gábor to carry down to a vault opening out of the cellar, in +the course of the night, and together they had walled them up.</p> + +<p>As to what had become of Dora and the two men, no one knew but Moses. +Some thought that she was still there, and others that she had "left the +country," as they said in those days, though how she could have crossed +the moat, except by the drawbridge, and how, if she had done so, the +drawbridge could have been pulled up again, was a mystery which none +could fathom.</p> + +<p>Not even Talabor had ever known of the subterranean passage, which +Master Peter had shown to his daughter and to no one else; and even now +Dora did not disclose its whereabouts. Blindfold, her companions were +led through it, she herself guiding Talabor, and he Gábor; and when she +allowed them to take the bandages off their eyes, they were out of sight +of the castle, and could see not the slightest sign of any secret +entrance. They were in a diminutive valley, with rocks and cliffs all +about them; and here Dora gave Gábor, the horseman, a small purse, +which,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span> had she but known it, was likely to be of small assistance in a +wilderness where no one had anything to sell, but where there were +plenty of people ready to take any money they could get hold of.</p> + +<p>Dora told the man to travel only by night, to avoid all the high roads, +and to make for Dalmatia, where he had been once before in charge of a +horse which Master Peter was sending to a friend. He remembered the way +well enough, which was one reason why Dora had chosen him for this +dangerous and almost impossible mission.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI"></a>CHAPTER XVI.<br /> +<span class="smalltext">THROUGH THE SNOW.</span></h2> + + +<p>Hungary was a very garden for fertility; her crops of every kind were +abundant, her flocks and herds were enormous; and while the grain-pits +and barns were full, and while there were sheep and oxen to steal, the +Mongols lived well. But at last the country was stripped, provisions +began to grow scarce, and the year's crops were still in the fields. +Whether or no the Mongols themselves ever condescended to eat anything +but flesh, the mixed multitudes with them were no doubt glad of whatever +they could get, and Batu foresaw that if the harvest were not gathered, +and if something were not done to keep such of the population as yet +remained in their homes, and bring back the fugitives, there must needs +be a famine.</p> + +<p>Among his prisoners he had many monks and priests whom he had spared, +from a sort of superstitious awe, and these he now called together, and +tried to tempt with brilliant promises, to devise some plan for luring +the people back to the deserted farms and homesteads. Many and many a +brave man rejected his offers at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span> the risk, and with the loss, of his +life; but there were some who were ready to do what the Khan wanted, if +only they could hit upon any scheme. All their proclamations issued in +the Khan's name failed to inspire confidence, however. The people did +not return; those hitherto left in peace fled at the approach of the +Mongols, the general need increased day by day, and the captives were +put to death by hundreds to save food.</p> + +<p>The massacres were looked upon as a pleasant diversion and entertainment +in which the Mongol boys ought to have their share; to them, therefore, +were handed over the Hungarian children; and those who showed most skill +in shooting them down were praised and rewarded by their elders.</p> + +<p>Yet how to feed half a million men in a country which had been +thoroughly pillaged was still a problem.</p> + +<p>And then, all over the country there appeared copies of a proclamation +written in the King's name, and sealed with the King's seal.</p> + +<p>There was no Mongol ring about this, as there had been about similar +previous proclamations, and it was given in the King's name, it was +signed with the King's own seal! Of that there could be no question.</p> + +<p>The news spread rapidly, further flight was stopped, and in a few days +the people dutifully began to venture forth from their hiding places, +and that in such numbers that a great part of the country was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span> +re-populated. Moreover, the Mongols, though still in possession, +actually welcomed them as friends, which showed that the King knew what +he was about! They were allowed, moreover, to choose magistrates for +themselves from among the Mongol chiefs, to the number of a hundred, who +met once a week to administer strict and impartial justice.</p> + +<p>Magyar, Kun, Mongol, Tartar, Russian, and the rest all lived as amicably +together as if they were one family. Farming operations were resumed, +markets were held, and peace of a sort seemed to have returned to the +land.</p> + +<p>At last harvest and vintage were over. Corn and fruit of all +descriptions had been garnered, and there was wine in the cellars. And +then? Why, then, late in the autumn, the too confiding people were +massacred wholesale; and those of them who managed to escape fled back +to their hiding-places.</p> + +<p>Then followed winter, such a winter as had not often been matched in +severity. The Danube, frozen hard, offered an easy passage; there was no +European army to oppose them, for the heads of Christendom were fighting +among themselves, and the Mongols crossed over to do on the right bank +of the river what they had already done on the left.</p> + +<p>Always rather savage than courageous, the Mongols obliged their +prisoners to storm the towns, looked on laughing as they fell; cut them +down themselves from behind if they were not sufficiently energetic,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span> +and drove them forward with threats and blows. When the besieged were +thoroughly exhausted, and the trenches filled with corpses, then, and +not till then, the Mongols made the final assault, or enticed the +inhabitants to surrender, and then, with utter disregard of the fair +promises they had made, put them to death with inhuman tortures. The +Mongols were exceeding "slim," as people have learnt to say in these +days. One example of their savagery will suffice.</p> + +<p>The most important place on the right side of the Danube was the +cathedral city of Gran, which had been strongly fortified with trenches, +walls, and wooden towers by its wealthy inhabitants, many of whom were +foreigners, money changers, and merchants. As the city was thought to be +impregnable, a large number of persons of all ranks had flocked into it.</p> + +<p>Batu made his prisoners dig trenches all round, and behind these he set +up thirty war-machines, which speedily battered down the fortifications. +Next the town-trenches were filled up, while stones, spears, and arrows +fell continuously upon the inhabitants, who, seeing it impossible to +save the wooden suburbs, set fire to them, burnt their costly wares, +buried their gold, silver, and precious stones, and withdrew into the +inner town. Infuriated by the destruction of so much valuable property, +the Mongols stormed the city and cruelly tortured to death those who did +not fall in battle. Not above fifteen persons, it is said, escaped.</p> + +<p>Three hundred noble ladies entreated in their an<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span>guish that they might +be taken before Batu, for whose slaves they offered themselves, if he +would spare their lives. They were merely stripped of the valuables they +wore, and then all beheaded without mercy.</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p>For weeks Dora and Talabor had journeyed on, avoiding all the main +roads, travelling by the roughest, most secluded ways, and seldom +falling in with any human beings, or even seeing a living creature save +the wild animals, which had increased and become daring to an +extraordinary degree.</p> + +<p>Wolves scampered about in packs of a hundred or more, and over and over +again Talabor had been obliged to light a fire to keep them off. He had +done it with trembling, except when they were in the depths of the +woods, lest what scared the wolves should attract the Mongols.</p> + +<p>Bears, too, had come down from the mountains, and had taken up their +quarters in the deserted castles and homesteads, and many a wanderer +turning into them for a night's shelter found himself confronted by one +of these shaggy monsters.</p> + +<p>Traces of the Mongols were to be seen on all sides: dead bodies of human +beings and animals, smouldering towns, villages, and forests; here and +there, perched upon some rocky height, would be a defiant castle, whose +garrison, if they had not deserted it, were dead or dying of hunger; in +some parts, look which way they might, there was a dead body dangling +from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span> every tree; poisonous exhalations defiled the air; and over woods, +meadows, fields, ruined villages, lay a heavy pall of smoke.</p> + +<p>Such was the condition to which the Mongols had reduced the once smiling +land. Truly it might be said, in the words of the prophet: "A fire +devoureth before them, and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as +the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness."</p> + +<p>But, though they saw their works plainly enough, the wanderers saw +hardly anything of the Mongols themselves, which surprised them. Once or +twice they had narrow escapes, and had to take sudden refuge from small +parties, travelling two or three together; but they encountered nothing +like a body of men, and those whom Talabor did chance to see appeared to +be too intent on covering the ground to look much about them.</p> + +<p>From one or two wanderers like themselves he presently learnt that the +Mongols were everywhere on the move, and were all going in the same +direction, southwards. But what it meant no one could guess. They were +moving with their usual extraordinary rapidity, and but few stragglers +on foot were believed to be left behind.</p> + +<p>But it might be only some fresh treachery, some trap, and the people +dared not leave the caves, caverns, thick woods, where they had hidden +themselves, and lived, or existed, in a way hardly credible, on roots,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span> +herbs, grass, the bark of trees, some of them even eking out their +scanty provisions by a diet of small pebbles!</p> + +<p>Needless to say that many died of hunger, while the remainder were +reduced to skeletons, shadows, ghosts of their former selves.</p> + +<p>From some of these bands of refugees Talabor heard fragmentary accounts +of the horrors that had been enacted, and the events that had followed +after the battle of Mohi.</p> + +<p>Dora had felt more and more confidence in her travelling companion as +day had followed day during their terrible journey. He had spared no +pains in his efforts to lighten the privations and difficulties of the +way; he had thought for her, cared for her, in a hundred ways; and yet +with it all, he was just as deferential as if they had been in the +castle at home.</p> + +<p>Miserable were the best resting places he could find for her for the +night, either in the depths of the forest or in some cavern or deep +cleft of the rocks. Sometimes he was able to make her a little hut of +dry branches, roofed over with snow; and when he could do so without +risk of discovery, he would light a fire and cook any game that he had +been able to shoot in the course of the day.</p> + +<p>But whatever the shelter he found or contrived for her, he himself +always kept watch outside, and got what little sleep he could when the +night was past.</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span>They had almost lost count of time, and they hardly knew where they +were, when, late one night, Dora came to a standstill.</p> + +<p>The moon was shining, the cold intense, and the snow, which crackled +beneath their feet, lay thick and glittering all around them. It was the +sort of night that sends fear into the hearts of all who are compelled +to be abroad, and yet are anxious to escape the notice of their fellow +men, for it was as light almost as by day, and the travellers showed up +like a couple of black spots against the white background.</p> + +<p>Talabor, muffled in his cloak, was leading Dora by the hand; she had her +large hood drawn over her head, and the two looked as very a pair of +tramps as one could meet with anywhere.</p> + +<p>The cold cut through them like a knife, though the night was still—too +still, for there was not wind enough to cover up the track they had left +behind them. It would be easy to trace them, for the snow was powdery, +and in many places they had sunk in it up to their knees.</p> + +<p>"I must stop, I am tired out! and I am so deadly sleepy," said Dora, in +a broken voice, "I feel numb all over, as if I were paralysed."</p> + +<p>She looked ghastly pale, worn, thin, a mere shadow of what she had been; +and she had been travelling all day, dragging herself along with the +greatest difficulty.</p> + +<p>"Dear lady," said Talabor gently, supporting her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span> trembling figure as +well as he could, "do you see that dark patch under the trees yonder?"</p> + +<p>"I can't see so far, Talabor," she stammered.</p> + +<p>"I see it plainly," he went on, "and it is a building of some sort, a +dwelling-house, I think. If you could just manage to get so far, we +should be better sheltered than we are here."</p> + +<p>"Let us try," said Dora, summoning all her remaining strength.</p> + +<p>"Lean on me," Talabor urged in a tone of encouragement; "we shall be +there in a quarter of an hour; but if you can't walk, you must let me +carry you as I have done before, it is such a little way."</p> + +<p>"You are very good, Talabor," said the girl gratefully, and off they set +again.</p> + +<p>The building which Talabor had noticed stood on rising ground, on one +side of the valley, and, the snow not being quite so deep on the slope, +they were able to get on a little faster. Neither spoke, for what was +there to talk about? The cold was benumbing, and both were suffering.</p> + +<p>Presently Dora felt her knees give way under her, and everything seemed +to turn black before her eyes.</p> + +<p>"Talabor!" she whispered, holding his arm with both hands, "I—I am +dying—you go on yourself and leave me!"</p> + +<p>"Leave you!" exclaimed Talabor; and before Dora could say another word, +he had thrown back his cloak and picked her up in his arms. She was +almost fainting,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span> and overpowered by the deadly sleep induced by the +cold.</p> + +<p>Light as his burthen was, it was a struggle for Talabor to make his way +through the snow, for he, too, had lost much of his accustomed strength +during the past weeks of hardship and anxiety. Still, he managed to go +straight on without stumbling or faltering. All about them, for some +distance and in every direction, there were strange prints in the snow, +and these he scanned carefully until he had quite assured himself that +they were not made by human feet.</p> + +<p>"No Tartars have been here lately, at all events!" he said, by way of +cheering his companion, as they drew near the gloomy, deserted building, +which was not a ruin, but one of the many dwellings plundered by the +Mongols, and for some reason abandoned without being completely +destroyed.</p> + +<p>It was a small, dark place, and its only defences were its outer walls. +There was no moat; and it had probably belonged to some noble family of +little wealth or importance, who had either fled or been murdered. The +gate was lying on the ground, and the snow in the courtyard was almost +waist-deep. Talabor needed all his strength to wade through it and to +carry Dora up the stone steps, which he could only guess at, and had to +clear with his foot as he went on.</p> + +<p>In the tolerably large room which he first entered all the furniture was +half consumed by fire, and the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span> door burnt off its hinges; the +moonlight, which streamed through the open windows, showed bare, +blackened walls, and a scene of general desolation.</p> + +<p>Spreading his cloak on the bench, which owed its escape from destruction +to the fact that it was covered with plaster, he laid Dora down upon it, +gathered up some of the broken furniture already half reduced to +charcoal, and soon had a small fire burning. The smoke from it filled +the whole room, but still the warmth revived his companion, who had +known what it was to spend even worse nights than this one promised to +be; for, when Talabor presently took a piece of burning wood from the +fire, that he might explore the building, he found an old sack full of +straw. The room in which he discovered it opened out of the larger one, +and was not quite so desolate looking, for the fire did not seem to have +penetrated so far, and, moreover, it had a large fireplace still +containing the remains of charcoal and bones.</p> + +<p>Talabor lighted another fire here, drew the sack into one corner, and +hurried back to Dora, who was now dozing a little, with the light from +the crackling fire shining on her face. How deadly pale, how wasted it +was!</p> + +<p>Talabor stood looking at her for a moment, wondering whether after all +he should be able to save a life which every day was making more +precious to him.</p> + +<p>He piled more wood on the fire, and tried to rub a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span> little warmth into +his own numb hands. It was the most bitter night of all their +wanderings, and the cold pierced his very bones. Tired out as he was, +heavy with drowsiness, he kept going from one fire to the other, as he +wanted to take Dora into the smaller room when she awoke, for it was not +only a degree warmer, but also free from smoke, and had a door which +would shut.</p> + +<p>She opened her eyes about midnight, and seemed to be all the better for +her two hours' sleep. Talabor had kept her so carefully covered, and had +replenished the fire so diligently that her healthy young blood had +begun to flow again, and, not for the first time, he had saved her from +the more serious consequences of her exposure and fatigue.</p> + +<p>"Talabor!" she said, raising herself a little, "I have been asleep! +thank you so much! Now you must rest; you must, indeed, for if your +strength fails, it will be all over with us both."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I am accustomed to sleeping with one eye open, as the Tartars do +when they are on horseback. It does just as well for me; but you, dear +lady, must rest for at least a few hours longer, and after that I will +have a real sleep too."</p> + +<p>"A few hours!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, here in the next room, where I have found a royal bed of straw, +and there is a good fire and no smoke."</p> + +<p>By this time the smaller room really had some<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span> warmth in it, in spite of +the empty window frames; and the sack of straw was a most luxurious +couch in Dora's eyes.</p> + +<p>"What a splendid bed, Talabor!" said she, gratefully; "but before I lie +down, one question—it sounds a very earthly one, though you have been +an angel to me but—have we anything to eat? I am shamefully hungry!"</p> + +<p>"To be sure we have!" said Talabor, opening his knapsack, and producing +a piece of venison baked on the bare coals. "All we want is salt and +bread, and something to drink, but there is plenty of snow!"</p> + +<p>"Let us be thankful for what God gives us! Our good home-made bread! +what a long time it is since we tasted it!"</p> + +<p>"We shall again in time!" said Talabor confidently, as he handed Dora +the one knife and the cold meat.</p> + +<p>"Talabor," said Dora presently, "I am afraid we have come far out of our +way."</p> + +<p>"I am afraid so too," he answered, "but I don't think we could help it. +There has been little to guide us but burnt villages and ruined +church-towers. And then, when we have come upon recent traces of the +Tartars, we have had to take any way we could, and sometimes to turn +back and hide in the forest for safety. How far south we have come I can +hardly guess, but we are too much to the east, I fancy."</p> + +<p>"You have saved me at all events, over and over again: from wild beasts +by night, from horrible men<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span> by day, from fire, smoke, everything! I +shall tell my father what a good, faithful Talabor you have been! And +now I am really not very sleepy, and I should so like to see you +rest—you know you are my only protector now in all the wide world, and +you must take care of yourself for me!"</p> + +<p>"You must have just a little more rest yourself first, dear mistress, +and then I will have a sleep."</p> + +<p>"You promise faithfully? Then shake hands upon it, for you have deceived +me before now, you bad fellow!"</p> + +<p>But when next Dora opened her eyes, the moon had set; it was quite dark; +the fire had gone out, and the cold was more biting than ever.</p> + +<p>"Talabor!" she cried, alarmed and bewildered, for she could not see a +step before her.</p> + +<p>"I'm here!" he exclaimed, starting up from the bare floor, on which he +had been lying near the hearth, and rubbing his eyes as he did so.</p> + +<p>"I have been asleep," he said, greatly displeased with himself. "I was +overpowered somehow, and our fire is out! Never mind, we will soon have +another!" and he set to work again with flint and steel. But when the +fire was once more blazing, and both were a little thawed, Talabor would +not hear of any more sleep.</p> + +<p>"I <em>have</em> slept!" he said, still indignant with himself. "For the first +time in my life I have slept at my post, slept on duty—I deserve the +stocks!"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span>"And you are not sleepy still?"</p> + +<p>"No!" and then he suddenly jumped up from the floor, on which he had but +just thrown himself.</p> + +<p>"What is it?" asked Dora nervously, and she, too, started up.</p> + +<p>"Nothing! nothing—I think," he answered, taking up his bow and quiver +as he spoke.</p> + +<p>"I hear some noise, I'm sure I do," said Dora, listening intently. "What +can it be? Quick! we must put out the fire!"</p> + +<p>At that moment, just in front of the house, and, as it seemed to both, +close by, there was a long-drawn howl.</p> + +<p>"It's wolves, not Tartars," said Talabor, much relieved.</p> + +<p>"Oh! then make haste and fasten the door!"</p> + +<p>"They won't come in here," said Talabor, as he put the door to. It had +been left uninjured by the fire, but its locks and bolts were all too +rusty to be of the smallest use. There was a heavy little oak table +which had survived the rest of the furniture, however, and this Talabor +pushed up against it, saying, "The fire is our best protection against +such visitors as these; but dawn is not far off now, and perhaps it +would be better not to wait for it before we move on. I should not care +to have them taking up their quarters in the yard."</p> + +<p>"What are you going to do?" exclaimed Dora, in alarm, "surely you are +not going to provoke them?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span>"No! and if I should annoy one of them, he will not be able to do much +harm after it!"</p> + +<p>"I forbid you to do anything rash! You are not to risk your life, +Talabor. You are to sit still here, if you don't want to make me angry."</p> + +<p>Dora's vehemence was charming, but Talabor never did anything without +reflection; and he was not going to have her life imperilled by any +ill-timed submission on his own part.</p> + +<p>"You may be quite easy," he said, "I am not going to stir from here, and +they are not going to come in either!"</p> + +<p>The wolves meantime had been drawing nearer and nearer, to judge by +their howls. Perhaps they had scented the smoke, and expected to find +the dead bodies of men or cattle, as they commonly did in every burning +village in those days.</p> + +<p>Talabor was standing at the window, bow in hand, when he presently drew +back with a hasty movement.</p> + +<p>"Quick!" he said in an undertone. "We must put out the fire!"</p> + +<p>Dora rushed to it and began scattering and beating it out with a piece +of wood.</p> + +<p>"What is it?" she whispered; and Talabor whispered back, "I saw someone +that I don't like the look of!" Then, holding up his forefinger, he +added, "Perhaps there are only one or two; don't be afraid."</p> + +<p>These few words, intended to be re-assuring, did<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span> not do much to allay +Dora's fears, and she went up to Talabor, who was back at the window +again, now that the fire was put out. Trembling, she stood beside him, +while her cold hand fumbled in her pouch for the dagger which she +carried with her.</p> + +<p>It cannot be denied that at that moment, in spite of all her high +spirit, Dora was terrified.</p> + +<p>Thanks to the snow and the stars, Talabor could see clearly enough what +was going on outside; and this is what he saw: two muffled figures +hurrying towards the house, by the very same path which he himself had +trodden only a short time before; tracking him by his deep footprints in +all probability.</p> + +<p>But a few moments after he had told Dora to put out the fire, one of the +two figures, an unmistakable Tartar, was overtaken by the wolves, and +there began one of those desperate conflicts between man and beast, +which more often than not ended in the defeat of the former, firearms +not being as yet in existence.</p> + +<p>"Here! Help! Father!" shouted the one attacked. He had beaten down one +wolf, with a sort of club, and was trying his utmost to defend himself +against two others. At this appeal, made, by-the-bye, in the purest +Magyar, the man in front hurried back to the help of his son.</p> + +<p>"Surely he spoke Magyar!" whispered Dora.</p> + +<p>"There are only two of them, at all events," was Talabor's answer, that +fact being much the more reassuring of the two in his eyes, for he had +heard,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span> during their wanderings, that there were more "Tartar-Magyars" +in the world than Libor the clerk.</p> + +<p>He fitted an arrow to his bow, as he spoke, and added, in an undertone, +"They are coming, and the wolves after them! but there are only two, +nothing to be afraid of; trust me to manage them!"</p> + +<p>In fact the two men were already floundering in the courtyard, and close +at their heels rushed the whole pack, disappearing now and again in the +deep snow, then lifting up their shaggy heads out of it, while they kept +up an incessant chorus of howls.</p> + +<p>Tartar-Magyars might be enemies, but wolves certainly were, thought +Talabor, as he let fly his arrow and stretched the foremost wolf upon +the ground, just as it was in the act of seizing one of the Tartars.</p> + +<p>Apparently the fugitives had not heard the twang of the bow-string, for +as soon as they caught sight of the open door, they hurried towards it +with the one idea of escaping their pursuers, so it seemed.</p> + +<p>But when Talabor again took aim, and a second wolf tumbled over, one of +the men looked up, saw the arrow sticking in the wolf's back, and cried +out, as if thunderstruck, "Tartars! per amorem Dei patris!" (Tartars! +for the love of God!) And having so said, he stopped short, irresolute, +as not knowing which of the two dangers threatening him it were better +to grapple with.</p> + +<p>Talabor heard the exclamation, and, whether or no he understood more +than the first word, at least he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span> knew that it was uttered in Latin. The +fugitives must surely be ecclesiastics, who had adopted the Tartar dress +merely for safety's sake.</p> + +<p>"Hungari, non Tartari—We are Hungarians, not Tartars!" he replied in +the same language, leaning from the window as he shouted the words. +Whereupon that one of the "Tartars" who had spoken before called out +again, as if in answer, "Amici! Friends," and turned upon the wolves, +two of which had been so daring as to follow him and his companion even +up the steps. The nearer of the two he attacked with his short club; but +his comrade, who had been hurrying after him, slipped and fell down, and +the other wolf at once rushed upon him and began tearing away at his +cowl.</p> + +<p>Talabor meanwhile, being completely reassured by the word "Amici," +turned to Dora saying, "Glory to God, we are saved! They are good men, +monks, as much wanderers as ourselves!"</p> + +<p>He pulled the table away from the door, snatched a brand from the still +smouldering fire, waved it to and fro till it burst into flame, and then +rushed out with it through the hall into the entry, where the learnèd +one of the two supposed Tartars was hammering away at the head of the +huge wolf which had got hold of his friend, whose rough outer garment it +was worrying in a most determined manner. The rest of the pack, about +twenty, seemed not at all concerned at the loss of their four companions +lying outstretched in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span> snow, for they were drawing nearer and nearer +to the entry, and were lifting up their heads as if desirous of joining +in the fray going on within, while they howled up and down the scale +with all their might.</p> + +<p>But the moment Talabor appeared with his flaming torch they were cowed, +turned tail, and tumbled, rather than ran, down the steps in a panic. +Head over heels they rushed towards the gate, some of the hindmost +getting their tails singed as they fled.</p> + +<p>Meantime the two strangers seeing the enemy thus put to flight, took +courage, and thought apparently to complete the rout, for they rushed +off after the retreating wolves and were for pursuing them even beyond +the gate, when they were checked by a shout from Talabor, who called to +them to stop.</p> + +<p>They stood still, up to their waists in snow, and looked at him, +wondering and half doubting who and what he might be.</p> + +<p>"Who are you?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Magyars! infelices captivi—Unfortunate captives," answered the learnèd +one.</p> + +<p>"We are Magyars!" said the other in Hungarian.</p> + +<p>"If you are Magyars, follow me," said Talabor, and the strangers obeyed.</p> + +<p>It was dark no longer, but still it was difficult to judge of the men by +their looks, for they wore the rough Tartar hoods over their heads, and +the one who had been mauled by the wolf had his hanging about his face +in lappets and ribbons.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span>Talabor could see just so much as this, that neither was very young, +that both were wasted to the last degree, and that they were as begrimed +as if they had been hung up to dry in the smoke for some weeks.</p> + +<p>"Come along, come along!" he said, for he was anxious to get back to +Dora, and to make up the fire again. Should he take them into, the +warmer inner room, or keep them in the other until he knew more about +them? He was still undecided what to do when a sudden exclamation from +one of the wanderers, followed by the fervent words, "Glory be to +Jesus!" startled him.</p> + +<p>More startled still was he to hear from Dora the response, "For ever and +ever!" and to see her clinging to the begrimed "Tartar."</p> + +<p>"Father Roger! Father Roger!" she exclaimed tremulously, and for the +moment could say no more.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XVII" id="CHAPTER_XVII"></a>CHAPTER XVII.<br /> +<span class="smalltext">A STAMPEDE.</span></h2> + + +<p>As soon as he was sufficiently warmed to be able in some degree to +control his trembling lips, Father Roger explained that he had been +captured by the Mongols, from whom he had but recently escaped; that his +life had been spared, at first on account of his clerical costume, and +afterwards because he had been taken into the service of a +Tartar-Magyar, who had saved both himself and his servant.</p> + +<p>But when Dora would have questioned him further, and inquired who the +Tartar-Magyar was, he shook his head, saying gently, "Another time, dear +child, another time—perhaps. But it is a nightmare I would willingly +forget, except that I may give praise to God, who has preserved us +through so many grievous perils."</p> + +<p>It was evidently such a painful subject that she could not press him +further; and she began to speak of their own plans.</p> + +<p>"Dalmatia!" said the Canon, shaking his head, "Dalmatia! but we are in +Transylvania! and who knows for certain where his Majesty may be? I +have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span> heard rumours, but that is all, and they are ancient by this time. +It would be wiser to try and find some safe retreat here, where there +are more hiding-places than in the great plains."</p> + +<p>He spoke dreamily; but he had noticed Dora's hollow cheeks, and had +marked how greatly she was altered from the bright, beautiful girl whom +he had last seen less than a year ago. Her strength would never hold out +for so long a journey, even if it were otherwise desirable, which he did +not himself think it; for he was able to throw some light upon the +mysterious movement among the Mongols, and told his hearers that Oktai +the Great Khan had died suddenly in Asia; and that Batu Khan, the famous +conqueror, was far too important a person in his own eyes to be ignored +when it came to the choice of a successor. He must make his voice heard, +his influence felt; and the tidings had no sooner reached him than he +despatched orders to all his scattered forces, appointing a place of +rendezvous, and bidding them rejoin him at once.</p> + +<p>This done, off he hurried, in his usual headlong way; and, with his +captives, his many waggons laden with booty, and his yellow hosts, he +had rushed like a tornado through Transylvania into Moldavia, +plundering, burning, ravaging, according to custom, as he went.</p> + +<p>That was the last Father Roger knew of him; for, finding that the +farther they went the worse became the treatment of the captives, until +at last the only food<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span> thrown to them was offal and the bones the +Mongols had done with, he had felt convinced that a massacre of the old +and feeble was impending.</p> + +<p>"Then the Tartar-Magyar is not gone with them to Asia, and he could not +protect you any longer?" asked Dora.</p> + +<p>"He could not protect us any longer," echoed Father Roger. "We, my +faithful servant here and I, watched our opportunity and made our escape +one night into the forest."</p> + +<p>And here we may mention that they had fled none too soon, as the +massacre of those not worth keeping as slaves actually took place, as +Father Roger had foreseen, and that within a very short time after his +flight.</p> + +<p>The more Talabor thought of it, the more he felt that Father Roger was +probably right as to Dalmatia, and Dora finally acquiesced in giving up +her cherished plan. It was a comfort to be with Father Roger, broken +down though he was; and for the rest, if she could not join her father, +what did it matter where she went? She left it to him and Talabor to +decide, without troubling her head as to their reasons, or even so much +as asking what they had agreed; but the disappointment was grievous.</p> + +<p>The little party therefore journeyed on together, slowly and painfully, +often hungering, often nearly frozen, until at last they reached the +town now known as Carlsburg. But here again they found only ruins<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span> and +streets filled with dead bodies, and they toiled on again till they came +to the smaller town of Frata, where there were actually a good number of +people, recently emerged from their hiding-places, and all busily +engaged in strengthening and fortifying the walls to the best of their +power.</p> + +<p>They had but little news to give, for all were in doubt and uncertainty +both as to the King and the Mongols. The latter they did not in the +least trust; and though Frata had hitherto escaped, no one felt any +security that it might not be besieged any day, almost any hour.</p> + +<p>"Better the caves and woods than that," said Father Roger with a +shudder. But if there were no safety for them in Frata itself, Talabor +heard there of what seemed at least a likely refuge for Dora, and that +with a member of her own family, a certain Orsolya Szirmay, who was said +to have taken refuge among the mountains, and to have many of the +Transylvanian nobility with her, and would certainly receive them.</p> + +<p>"Only a little further!" said Talabor, as he had said before; but this +time it was "only a few miles," not a quarter of an hour's walk; and +when one can walk but slowly, when one's strength is ebbing fast, and +one's feet are swollen and painful from the many weary miles they have +trodden, when one is chilled to the bone, weak from long want of proper +food, and in constant terror of savage beasts and still more savage men, +the prospect of more rough travelling,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span> though only for "a few miles," +is enough to make the bravest heart sink.</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p>Before we see how it fared with the four travellers, we must glance at +what had been taking place in Transylvania, whose warlike inhabitants +had been far less apathetic and incredulous than those of Hungary, and +at the first note of alarm had raised troops for the Palatine. Héderváry +had been despatched, as already mentioned, to close all the passes on +the east, and this done, and his presence being required elsewhere, he +had departed, leaving merely a few squadrons behind as a guard. He and +they both considered it impossible for the Mongols to force a passage on +this side, so well had they blocked the roads.</p> + +<p>Like most of the fighting men of those days, the Hungarian army received +very little in the way of regular pay, and nothing in the way of +rations. It lived upon what it could get! and what would have been theft +and robbery at any other time, was considered quite lawful when the men +were under arms.</p> + +<p>The troops lived well at first. To annex a few sheep, calves, oxen, and +to shoot deer, wild boar, or buffalo was part of the daily routine, for +the forests abounded in game. They were at no loss for wine either, as +some of the nobles supplied them from their cellars.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span>On the whole, therefore, the men were well entertained; and, little +suspecting the serious campaign in store, looked forward to a brush with +the Mongols as involving little more danger than their favourite hunting +expeditions.</p> + +<p>And then, one morning they noticed a peculiar sound in the distance. In +one way it was familiar enough, for it reminded them of a hunt, but a +hunt on such a scale as none of them had ever witnessed yet. For it was +as if all the game in the dense, almost impassable forests on the +frontier were being driven towards them by thousands of beaters, driven +slowly and gradually, but always nearer and nearer.</p> + +<p>They wondered among themselves who the huntsmen could be, and thought +that the great lords had perhaps called out the peasantry by way of +beguiling the time, and that, as the roads were closed against the +Mongols, they were coming through the woods.</p> + +<p>But there was no shouting, which was remarkable, and they could hear no +human voices, nothing but the hollow sound as of repeated blows and +banging, which came to them from time to time, when the wind was in a +particular quarter, like the mutter of distant storms.</p> + +<p>Two days later, this weird and ghastly noise could be heard till dark. +No one could imagine what was going on.</p> + +<p>But the detachments whose especial duty it was to watch the frontier +appeared to be under a spell,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span> for they passed their time in the usual +light-hearted way, and went out shooting and hunting in large parties. +They had never known the forest so full of game of all sorts +before—wild buffalo, bears, wolves, deer, fawns—as it had been since +"the woods had begun to talk," as they expressed it.</p> + +<p>By the third day the distant sounds had altered their character, and +were no longer like the ordinary noise made by sportsmen and their +beaters, but more puzzling still.</p> + +<p>Then came orders to the various detachments from the Palatine, that a +few bodies of men were to be posted here and there, rather as spies than +guards, while the rest hastened with all speed to join the main army in +Hungary proper.</p> + +<p>Héderváry did not so much as hint that the "Tartars were coming"; but he +was well aware of the fact, for he had good spies, and that even among +the Russians who had coalesced with the Mongols.</p> + +<p>Early on the morning of their departure some of the men thought they saw +scattered clouds of smoke rising over the forests to the east, but they +were a "happy-go-lucky" set, as so many were in those days, and they +troubled their heads very little as to what it might mean.</p> + +<p>Someone suggested that, as the blacksmiths were all unusually hard at +work on horseshoes, of which an enormous number were wanted, no doubt +the charcoal burners were especially busy too; and there<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span> were many of +them in the woods and forests; in all probability, the smoke proceeded +from their fires. And with this supposed explanation all were content.</p> + +<p>But suddenly, to the now accustomed sound of beating and knocking, which +was still drawing nearer and nearer, there was added another of a +different character.</p> + +<p>Hitherto, the woods had "talked," and echo had answered them; now the +forest "roared." The wind had been light at early morning; now it was +piping and whistling, swaying the trees to and fro, making the tall +stems tremble, and knock their long bare arms one against the other.</p> + +<p>One of the Palatine's small detachments of about 150 men was stationed +in the mountainous district of Marmaros, with a lofty and precipitous +wall of rock bounding one side of the camp. The men were just preparing +for a start, when a huge buffalo made its sudden appearance on the edge +of the cliff far above their heads. It had come so far with a rush, but +the sight of the great depth below had stopped it short, and it stood +with its feet rooted to the ground for a moment—only for a moment, +however. It raised its head, and seemed to sniff the air, and then, with +one short, faltering bellow, it leapt and fell into their midst, +upsetting one horse, and wounding a couple of men.</p> + +<p>This was the first; but after the first came a second, after the second, +a third!</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span>Helter-skelter the troops retired from the dangerous spot, and from a +safe distance they counted five buffalo, one after the other, which +dashed to the edge of the cliff, as if in terror from their pursuers, +and took the fatal leap. Only one was able to rise again, and that one +just gave one look round, dug its forefeet into the ground, and then +rushed on straight ahead as if there were a pack of hounds at its heels.</p> + +<p>Shortly after, while the troops were riding down the narrow valley at +the foot of the mountains, they could hear the howl of wolves coming +nearer and nearer, and a pack so large that no one could even guess +their number, was seen to be scampering down the dale; some were +clattering down the cliffs, which were more sloping here, while the rest +tore wildly forward, passing close beside, and even in among the horses, +many of which were maddened with terror, and bolted with their riders.</p> + +<p>An hour or so later, when the little troop had succeeded in quieting the +horses, and had advanced some way on its journey amid many perils and +dangers, the cause of all this excitement among the wild animals was +suddenly revealed. The forest was on fire! It was crackling in the +flames, burning like a furnace beneath a canopy of black smoke.</p> + +<p>The Mongols had fired it on this side, while in another direction they +had opened a way forty fathoms wide, through woods over hill and dale, +through walls<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span> of rock, and across streams and ditches. They were making +ready their way before them, and were advancing along it upon the +unready country.</p> + +<p>Wherever they were reached by the fire, the trees crashed down one upon +another; ravens, crows, jackdaws, and all the winged creatures of the +woods, were flying to and fro above the trees, in dense, dark clouds, +and with loud cries and cawing; bears came along muttering, flying +before the fire and smoke, climbing trees from which they did not dare +descend again, and with which they perished together.</p> + +<p>As already mentioned, Batu Khan's army was preceded by pioneers with +axes and hatchets, who drove their road straight forward, through or +over obstacles of all kinds. Nothing stopped them, and often their own +dead bodies helped to fill up the ditches and trenches; for what was the +value of their lives to the Mongols? Absolutely nothing! since they were +taken for the most part from the people whom they had conquered.</p> + +<p>As soon as the awful news of their advance spread through the country, +the people fled without another thought of defending their homes or +resisting the enemy, or of anything else but saving their lives and what +little property they could carry with them in their wild stampede.</p> + +<p>In a few days Transylvania was ablaze from end to end. Towns, villages, +farms, castles, country seats, strongholds, even the ancient walls of +Alba Julia, all<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</a></span> were surrounded by the flames, and were crashing and +cracking into ruins.</p> + +<p>The invaders, stupid in their destructiveness, spared nothing whatever; +and their leaders and commanders, themselves as stupid as the brute-like +herd over whom they were placed, occasioned loss to the Khan which was +past all reckoning, for his object was plunder, and they in their rage +for ruin, destroyed what the Khan might even have called treasure, as +well as what might have provided food for hundreds of thousands of the +army. What did the Khan Oktai, or Batu, or his thousands of leaders +care! The latter were Little Tartars, Russian Tartars, German Tartars, +and what not, to whom the conqueror had given the rank and title of +Knéz, whom he favoured, promoted, and enriched, until his humour +changed, or he had no further use for them, and then—why then he +squeezed them, made them disgorge their wealth, and strung them up to +the nearest tree. They were but miserable foreigners after all!</p> + +<p>Transylvania was in the clutches of the enemy, who had entered her in +two large divisions, north and south. But, thanks to the nature of the +country, and the many hiding-places it afforded, she did not suffer +quite so severely as her neighbour.</p> + +<p>Orsolya Szirmay, of whom the travellers had heard at Frata, had married +one Bankó, a man of large property and influence, who owned vast estates +both in Hungary and Transylvania; but Orsolya did not see<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</a></span> much of her +own relatives after her marriage, for her husband was a man of awkward +temper, and they rarely paid her a visit; so that when, four or five +years before the Mongol invasion, Bankó died, she went to live on the +Transylvanian property, which was in a most neglected condition, and +required her presence. Bankó had lived to be ninety-three, and his widow +was now an old lady with snow-white hair, but with all her faculties and +energies about her, and eyes as bright, hair as lustrous, as those of a +young girl.</p> + +<p>She had made her home in a gloomy castle among the mountains, but at the +first rumour of the coming invasion, she left it for Frata, where she +had an old house, or rather barn, which had been divided up into rooms, +and was neither better nor worse than many another dwelling-house in +those days.</p> + +<p>During her short stay here, the old lady was constantly riding about the +country accompanied by her elderly man-servant, and a young girl, who +had but lately joined her, and was introduced as "a relation from +Hungary."</p> + +<p>One morning early all three disappeared without notice to anyone, and it +was only later that it was rumoured that "Aunt Orsolya," as she was +called throughout the country, had taken refuge in a large cavern among +the mountains to the north of Frata.</p> + +<p>It afforded plenty of space, it was difficult of approach, and it had +but one, and that a very narrow<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</a></span> entrance; the streams which now flow +through it not having then forced a passage.</p> + +<p>How Aunt Orsolya had contrived to stock it with food and other +necessaries we are not told, but she had done it; neither did she lack +society in this lonely abode after the first week or two, for she was +joined in some mysterious way by between seventy and eighty persons +belonging to the most distinguished families in the land.</p> + +<p>She, of course, was the head, the queen of this strange establishment, +for those who fled hither to save their lives, and, as far as they +could, their most precious valuables, found the old lady already +installed.</p> + +<p>She received them, she was their hostess; and besides all this, she was +a born ruler, one to whom others submitted, unconsciously as it were, +and who compelled respect and deference.</p> + +<p>Orsolya, then, had taken the part of house-mistress from the beginning, +and no doubt enjoyed receiving more and more guests, and enjoyed also +the consciousness that they all looked up to her, and were all ready to +submit themselves to her wishes—we might say commands.</p> + +<p>The old lady herself appointed to each one his place, in one or other of +the many roomy caves which opened out of the great cavern, and she +managed to find something for everyone to do.</p> + +<p>In a short time the cavern was as clean as hands could make it. The +driest parts were reserved for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</a></span> sleeping places; and one cave was set +apart as a chapel, where service was regularly held by the clergy, of +whom there were several among the refugees.</p> + +<p>When the neighbourhood was quiet, the men went out hunting, +and—stealing! Stealing! there is no polite word for it. They stole +sheep, cattle, provisions anything they needed for housekeeping. Those +who came in empty-handed Orsolya scolded in plain language; and the men +who swept and cleaned at her bidding, and the women who boiled and +baked, gradually became as much accustomed to the old lady's resolute +way of keeping house and order as if they had served under her all their +lives.</p> + +<p>It was some time in March that Aunt Orsolya had retreated to the cavern, +and there she and her companions had remained all through the spring, +summer, and autumn, often alarmed, but never actually molested, hearing +rumours in plenty, but knowing little beyond the fact that the whole +country was in the hands of the Mongols, and that the King was a +fugitive.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XVIII" id="CHAPTER_XVIII"></a>CHAPTER XVIII.<br /> +<span class="smalltext">AUNT ORSOLYA'S CAVERN.</span></h2> + + +<p>Three fires were burning in different parts of the cavern, and round +each was encamped quite a little army of women and children.</p> + +<p>Of the men, some were lying outstretched on wild-beast skins, others +were pacing up and down the great vaulted hall, and yet others were busy +skinning the game shot during the day. Quite respectable butchers they +were, these grandees, who had been used no long time ago to appear +before the world with the most splendid of panther-skins slung elegantly +over their shoulders.</p> + +<p>Some of the women were filling their wooden vessels at the springs which +trickled out from under the wall of rock; and as they watched the water +sparkling in the fire-light they chattered to one another in the most +animated way, or told fairy tales and repeated poetry for the general +entertainment.</p> + +<p>In her own quarters, in the centre of the cavern, close under the wall, +Orsolya was seated in a chair of rough pine branches, beneath a canopy +of mats,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</a></span> which protected her from the continual droppings of the rock.</p> + +<p>Her face was covered with a perfect network of lines and wrinkles, but +her dark eyes shone like live coals. Her beautiful silver hair was +nearly hidden beneath a kerchief which had seen better days, and her +dress, a plain, old-fashioned national costume, was neat and clean in +spite of its age. She had a large spinning-wheel before her, and on a +low stool by her side, sat a young girl, also employed with a spindle.</p> + +<p>It was evident that this latter, a pale, slim creature with black eyes, +was no Magyar. Her features were of a foreign cast, her hands were small +and delicate, and the charm and grace of her every movement were +suggestive rather of nature than of courts.</p> + +<p>But the beautiful face looked troubled, as if its owner were haunted by +the memory of some overwhelming calamity.</p> + +<p>Evidently this young relation of hers was the light of the old lady's +eyes, for her features lost their stern, rather masculine expression, +and her whole face softened whenever she looked at her.</p> + +<p>Some of the men interrupted their walk from time to time to loiter near +the fires, or talk to the sportsmen as they came in, or drew near to +Orsolya, as subjects approach a sovereign; and Orsolya talked composedly +with each one, too well accustomed to deference and homage even to +notice them.</p> + +<p>"Dear child," said the old lady, as soon as they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</a></span> were left to +themselves again, "how many spindles does this make? I'll tell you what, +if you spin enough we will put the yarn on a loom and weave it into +shirting."</p> + +<p>The girl raised her beautiful eyes to the old lady's face, saying in +good Magyar, though with a somewhat peculiar accent, "I think Mr. Bokor +might set up the loom now, dear mother; I have such a number ready."</p> + +<p>"I only hope we shall be able to make it do, my child," said Orsolya, +leaning towards the girl, and stroking the raven hair which floated over +her shoulders. "Good man!" she went on, smiling, "not but that he can be +as obstinate as anyone now and then! and he has made the shuttle the +size of a boat!"</p> + +<p>The girl laughed a little as she answered, "We will help him, good +mother," and she drew the old lady's hand to her lips, and kissed it as +if she could not let it go.</p> + +<p>"Yes," she went on slowly, "necessity is a great teacher; it teaches one +all things, except how to forget!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, my dear, and who would wish it to teach one that! There are some +things which we cannot, and ought not to forget, and it is best so, yes, +best, even when the past has been a sad one."</p> + +<p>She stroked and caressed the girl in silence for a few moments, and then +went on, "But you know, dear child, that life on this sad earth is not +everything. God is good, oh, so good! Why did He create all that we<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</a></span> +see? Only because He is good. He, the Almighty, what need had He of any +created thing? It is true that life brings us much pain and anguish at +times, but then this is but the beginning of our real life. There is +another, beyond the blue sky, beyond the stars, which you can no more +realise now than a blind man can realise a view, or a deaf man beautiful +music. We shall find there all that we have loved and lost here. God +does not bring people together and make them love and care for one +another only that death may separate them at last."</p> + +<p>"No, don't forget anything, dearest child," Orsolya went on, with +infinite love in her tone, as the girl laid her head in her old friend's +lap. "Keep all whom you have loved, and honoured, and lost, warm in your +heart."</p> + +<p>"They are always there, dear mother, always before me! I see their dear, +dear faces every moment!—oh! why must I outlive them?"</p> + +<p>"That you may make others happy, dear child; perhaps, even that you may +be a comfort and joy to me in my old age."</p> + +<p>Mária threw her arms round the old lady and embraced her warmly.</p> + +<p>"Dear, dear mother! how good you are to me! Don't think me ungrateful +for what the good God has given me in place of those whom I have lost. +Yes, I wish to live, and I will live, if God wills, to thank you for +your love, and to love you for a long time. But<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</a></span> if you see me sad +sometimes, don't forget, good mother, how much I have lost! and—I am +afraid, I am afraid! I have only one left to lose besides you, dear +mother, and if—if—I don't know how I could go on living then——"</p> + +<p>Just then two or three men appeared in the passage leading up from the +mouth of the cave, and Mária went back to her stool.</p> + +<p>Night had fallen, the men had been engaged in making all safe as usual +by barricading the entrance with large pieces of rock, but they had +suddenly left their work and were hurrying up to the cavern.</p> + +<p>"Someone is coming, Mária! or—but no, we won't think any evil, God is +here with us!"</p> + +<p>"Mistress Aunt!" said the first of the men, bowing low, "we have brought +you a visitor, a great man, Canon Roger, who has but lately escaped from +the Mongols, and there are three others, strangers, with him. Leonard +here found them all nearly exhausted and not knowing which way to turn."</p> + +<p>"Well done, nephew! I'm glad you found them," said Orsolya, "theeing and +thouing" him, as she did everyone belonging to her little community. +"Roger—Roger," she went on, "I seem to remember the name—why, of +course, Italian, isn't he? and lived with my nephew Stephen at one +time?"</p> + +<p>"Bring them in! bring them in!" she cried eagerly; and in a few moments +Father Roger and his companions appeared before the "lady of the +castle."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</a></span>"Glory be to Jesus!" said, or rather stammered, the Canon; and "For ever +and ever!" responded Orsolya, who had risen to receive him; and for a +moment her voice failed her, so shocked was she at the change in the +fine, vigorous-looking man whom she remembered.</p> + +<p>Attenuated to the last degree, bent almost double, he looked as if he +were in the last stage of exhaustion. His clothes were one mass of rags +and tatters, which hung about him in ribbons; his face, sunken and the +colour of parchment, had lost its expression of energy and manliness, +and wore for the moment a look of bewilderment, which was almost +vacancy. He was the wreck of what he had once been.</p> + +<p>His servant, the one whom he mentions in his "Lamentable Song," Orsolya +took to be quite an old man. Withered and worn like his master, he was, +if possible, even more dilapidated, thanks to his encounter with the +wolves.</p> + +<p>"You have come a long way and suffered much, Father," said Orsolya +gently, when she had welcomed Dora and Talabor, and regained her +composure.</p> + +<p>"Much lady, much—I—I——"</p> + +<p>"Ah, well, never mind! so long as you are here at last, Father Roger, +never mind! It is a long, long time since we met last! Do you remember? +My husband was alive then, and we were staying in Pressburg with my +nephew, Stephen Szirmay, and with the Hédervárys."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</a></span>"I remember well, dear lady; ah! how little we any of us dreamt of the +days that were coming!"</p> + +<p>He spoke falteringly, in a faint voice; and as he sat bowed together on +the low seat, Orsolya noticed that he trembled in every limb.</p> + +<p>The rumour of his arrival had quickly spread, and the inhabitants of the +cavern all came flocking round, eager to see and hear. In their +bright-coloured, though more or less worn garments, with the fire-light +playing upon them, and a whole troop of eager children among them, they +were a most picturesque company. But Orsolya allowed no time for +questions.</p> + +<p>"Come," said she, rising from her chair, "that will do for the present! +Father Roger is worn out! Will you ladies go and get St. Anna's house +ready, and make up good beds; and you, kinsmen," she went on, turning to +the men, "will you see about clothes and clean linen? I am afraid we +have nothing but old rags, but at least they are not quite so worn as +those our friends are wearing, and they are a trifle cleaner! I shall +put the good Canon especially in your charge, Márton; you will look +after him and see that he wants for nothing."</p> + +<p>"Thank you, lady," stammered Roger, almost overwhelmed by the warmth of +his reception. "Blessings be upon your honoured head, and upon all who +dwell beneath this roof."</p> + +<p>All present bowed their heads almost involuntarily, whereupon Roger +summoned all his remaining<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</a></span> strength, and reaching forth his withered +hands, pronounced the benediction over them; after which the children +made a rush forward to seize and kiss his hands.</p> + +<p>"No, I won't hear anything now, Father Roger," said the old lady after a +pause, for her new guests belonged to the family now, she considered, +and were to be "thee'd and thou'd" and managed like the rest. "You must +not say another word; you must eat and drink and get thoroughly rested, +and then, to-morrow perhaps, or in a day or two, when you have said +prayers in the chapel (we have one!) and the day's work is done, we will +all sit round the fire, and you shall tell us all you know and all you +have seen."</p> + +<p>Aunt Orsolya's subjects were well drilled, and though they were burning +with eagerness and anxiety, those who had begun to besiege the other +wanderers with inquiries at once refrained.</p> + +<p>Preceded by a couple of torch-bearers, Father Roger was led carefully +away to one of the side caves, all of which had their names; Dora was +taken in charge by some of the ladies; Talabor and the Canon's servant +were equally well looked after, and that night they all once more ate +the "home-made bread," which they had so long been without. That it was +made with a considerable admixture of tree-bark mattered little, perhaps +they hardly noticed the fact. It was simply delicious!</p> + +<p>And the beds! As Dora sank down on hers, it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[Pg 296]</a></span> seemed to her that she had +never known real comfort before.</p> + +<p>At last the excitement of the evening had subsided; the Queen's subjects +had all reassembled about the fires, speculating much as to what the +new-comers would have to tell them; and presently Aunt Orsolya began her +nightly rounds, visiting all in turn, and stopping to have a little +kindly chat with each group.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XIX" id="CHAPTER_XIX"></a>CHAPTER XIX.<br /> +<span class="smalltext">FATHER ROGER'S STORY.</span></h2> + + +<p>A day or two passed, and the good Father Roger began to recover a little +of his strength, if not much of his cheerfulness. He was naturally a +robust man, and he was, besides, inured to hardship and suffering; there +was nothing actually amiss with him but extreme fatigue and want of +food, so that after a few quiet nights and days he began to feel more +like himself, and able to give some account of all that had happened +since Aunt Orsolya and the rest had betaken themselves to the cavern.</p> + +<p>The men, of course, had some of them been going out more or less all the +time, hunting, or—as we have said, stealing, but the accounts they had +brought back had been not only imperfect, but often so contradictory +that it was hard for the refugees to form any clear idea of what had +really been going on, and, naturally enough, they were intensely eager +to hear.</p> + +<p>No one was more eager than Aunt Orsolya, and it cost her no small effort +to repress her curiosity, or rather anxiety; but she did it, and not +only forbore<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[Pg 298]</a></span> to question Roger herself, but strictly forbade everyone +else to do so also.</p> + +<p>But as soon as she saw that the Canon was able to walk about a little, +that his appetite was good, and that he was gradually regaining his +usual calm, she reminded him of his promise; and one evening they all +gathered round him in the firelight to hear the story which he +afterwards wrote in Latin verse, and to which he gave the title of +"Carmen miserabile," or "Lamentable Song."</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p>Roger began his narration by telling of the battle of Mohi and the +King's escape to Thurócz; and Orsolya heard with pride how Stephen, +Peter, and Akos Szirmay had shared his flight, how Stephen had fallen by +the way, and how Master Peter had survived all the perils and dangers by +which they were beset, and how Akos, too, had not only survived the Kun +massacre, but was safe and sound when last the Canon had heard of him, +and had distinguished himself by many an act of bravery and devotion; +and the old lady's eyes grew very bright as she listened, and she put +out her hand to stroke that of the pale, slim girl who sat beside her, +eagerly drinking in every word. Father Roger's information came from the +captives brought in at different times, and stopped short, so far as the +King and his followers were concerned,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[Pg 299]</a></span> at the time when they had taken +refuge in the island of Bua, and Kajdán had found himself baffled in his +pursuit. To indemnify himself for the loss of his prey, he had plundered +Dalmatia, Croatia, and Bosnia, had vainly stormed Ragusa, and had set +fire to Cattaro. The last Father Roger knew of him was that he had +turned east and was expected to join Batu in Moldavia, by way of +Albania, Servia, and Bulgaria.</p> + +<p>The name of Kajdán was not unknown to the refugees, for it was he who +had led the Mongol horde which had poured into Transylvania from the +north-east; it was he, or rather probably only his vanguard, who had +been defeated by the men of Radna; it was he who had suddenly attacked +them in force on March 31st, when they were gaily celebrating their +victory; it was he who had consented to leave their town and mines +uninjured on the condition that Ariskald, their Count, should act as his +guide. It was he, as Father Roger knew too well, who had crossed into +Hungary and joined Batu in reducing it to a desert; for his own +cathedral city, Grosswardein (Nagyvárad) was one of the many places +which Kajdán had captured.</p> + +<p>"And about yourself, Father Roger?" asked Orsolya. "Tell us about +yourself, where you were taken, and how you escaped with your life."</p> + +<p>"I had fled from Nagyvárad before Kajdán reached it, and was a fugitive, +hiding in the woods, living on roots and herbs and wild fruits until the +autumn, and then—I was deceived as others were!"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[Pg 300]</a></span>Father Roger went on to explain that Batu, by way of keeping those of +the inhabitants who had not yet fled, and of luring back some who had, +in order that the harvest might be secured, had issued a proclamation in +the King's name.</p> + +<p>"But how?" interrupted Orsolya. "You were deceived! Can he write our +tongue? Besides, the King's proclamations have the King's seal."</p> + +<p>"And so had this! They—they got hold of it."</p> + +<p>"And knew what it was?" persisted Aunt Orsolya incredulously.</p> + +<p>Reluctantly Father Roger had to admit that they had been enlightened by +a Hungarian.</p> + +<p>"A Magyar!" burst from his audience in various tones of horror and +indignation.</p> + +<p>"There were not many like him, I am sure there were not many—perhaps we +don't know everything. He saved my life; I don't like to think too ill +of him—it was a time of awful trial—ah! if you had seen how some were +tortured! It was enough to try the courage of the stoutest heart, and he +was not naturally a brave man. And yet I could not have believed it of +him! I can't believe it! There must have been some mistake, surely!"</p> + +<p>"You had known him before, the traitor!" cried Aunt Orsolya.</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Father Roger sadly, "I had known him. He had joined the +Mongols before the battle of Mohi, partly because he was poor, or rather +because<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[Pg 301]</a></span> he was afraid of being poor, and partly because he was +frightened. He had been useful to the Mongols on many occasions; and he +had grown rich and prosperous among them. No one of the chiefs outdid +him in splendour, in the number of his servants, or of his beautiful +horses. He, too, had been made a chief, a Knéz, as they called it. Well, +Nicholas the Chancellor was among the many who fell at Mohi, and a +Mongol, who was plundering the dead, found upon him the King's seal. +This chanced to come to—to this man's ears, and he thought it might be +useful; it was easy for him to get possession of it, for it was not +valuable, being only of steel. He gave the Mongol a stolen sheep in +exchange, and the man thought himself well paid. I don't suppose he had +any thought then of putting his prize to any ill use; but he was one of +those who never missed an opportunity, and generally managed to secure +for himself the lion's share of any booty. However it was, he had the +seal, and now——"</p> + +<p>Father Roger paused, perhaps from weariness; perhaps because it was +never his way to speak evil of any if it could be avoided.</p> + +<p>"Don't let us judge him," he went on. "The poor wretch had seen enough +to terrify a bolder man than he. He went to the Khan and advised him +what to do, and Batu gave him a valuable Tartar sword, and a splendid +horse in return."</p> + +<p>Father Roger explained that among the prisoners<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[Pg 302]</a></span> there were many monks +and others able to write, and that some of these were "compelled" by +Batu to draw up and make copies of a proclamation in the King's name. +Every copy was sealed with the King's seal, and they were distributed +broadcast over the country. He had seen more than one copy himself, and +more than once he had been called upon to read it to those who were +unable to read for themselves.</p> + +<p>This was how the proclamation ran: "Fear not the savage fury of the +dogs! and do not dare to fly from your homes. We were somewhat over +hasty indeed in abandoning the camp and our tents, but by the mercy of +God we hope to renew the war valiantly before long, and to regain all +that we have lost. Pray diligently therefore to the all-merciful God +that He may grant us the heads of our enemies."</p> + +<p>There was nothing of the Mongol about this, and any lingering doubts +were, dispelled by the sight of the King's seal. The result was what the +Mongols hoped for. In places which had not yet been harried and ravaged +the population remained, while many refugees returned to their farms.</p> + +<p>"But the traitor!" interrupted Orsolya, "what of him? Where is he? If +there is such a thing as justice——"</p> + +<p>"He was made one of the hundred chief magistrates," said Father Roger +quietly, "and one day when he was in Nagyvárad, after my return, he +recognised me and offered to take me into his service. He could protect +me better, he said."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[Pg 303]</a></span>"But his name! Who is he? One ought to know who are traitors! Where had +you known him before?" persisted Orsolya.</p> + +<p>"At Master Stephen Szirmay's! He was one of his pages. His name was +Libor."</p> + +<p>Dora and Talabor both uttered an exclamation.</p> + +<p>"He lived with my nephew Stephen! and he could turn traitor!" cried Aunt +Orsolya in horror.</p> + +<p>"Yes, dear lady, he was not the only Magyar to do so! But there were not +many, no! indeed there were not many."</p> + +<p>"And why couldn't they have died, every one of them!" cried Orsolya, +impetuously.</p> + +<p>"Ah! who knows?" said Father Roger gently. "Who knows? But he did not +think matters would go as far as they did; no, I am sure he did not!"</p> + +<p>It was not in Father Roger's nature to think the worst of any, still +less of one to whom he owed his life, and he knew nothing of the attack +on Master Peter's house or of the despicable part which Libor had played +with regard to Dora, or he would have spoken less leniently.</p> + +<p>Libor had "climbed the cucumber-tree" to some purpose; and this last +service rendered to the Khan had won for him the praise of Batu and all +the chiefs, who called him one of themselves. He had reached the +pinnacle of greatness, his fortune was made.</p> + +<p>The Hungarian prisoners came to him for his advice and assistance, and +Libor always received them with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[Pg 304]</a></span> the kindly condescension of a great +man, and was always ready with fair words and empty assurances to allay +their fears.</p> + +<p>Late in the autumn, and without any previous intimation to anyone, came +an order to Libor and all the other chief magistrates that they were to +assemble on a certain day at various appointed spots, each at the head +of the entire population for which he was responsible. They were to come +with their old and with their young, and they were to be provided with +presents for the Khan.</p> + +<p>It was a gloomy day, and the storm-clouds were chasing one another +across the sky, as if they, too, were going to hold a rendezvous +somewhere, to consult perhaps how many thunderbolts would be required to +reduce the country to a heap of ruins.</p> + +<p>Batu Khan's tent was pitched in the centre of a vast plain, and round it +were gathered a large number of Mongols, some mounted, some on foot. In +the background, making a terrific noise, were a swarm of filthy Mongol +children, who were lying about under a group of tall trees.</p> + +<p>The mud huts and numberless tents of the Mongol camp formed an extended +semicircle at some little distance, and within this were drawn up a +number of Mongol horsemen, quite unconcerned apparently at the blackness +of the sky and the distant muttering of the thunder.</p> + +<p>Batu Khan was seated on a camp-stool brilliantly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[Pg 305]</a></span> attired as if for some +great ceremony. Around him stood more than thirty chiefs, armed from +head to foot, and among them was Libor, who had surpassed himself in the +magnificence of the apparel which he had assumed in honour of the day's +festivity.</p> + +<p>He stood on the Khan's right hand, and more than once had the honour of +being addressed by that personage; behind him, as behind the other +chiefs, stood a swarm of servants, their ears—if they were still lucky +enough to possess such appendages—ever attentive to catch the commands +of their masters. Father Roger had been present in Libor's retinue on +this occasion, a slave among slaves.</p> + +<p>Presently the wild Mongolian "band" struck up. Its members were a motley +crew, stationed before the Khan's tent, and their songs were of the most +ear-splitting variety, accompanied too by the dull roll of drums and the +screeching of pipes and horns, the whole performance being such as to +baffle description, and to be compared only with the choicest of cats' +concerts.</p> + +<p>The "music" seemed to be intended as a welcome to a white-flagged +procession which now appeared in the distance, advancing towards the +Khan, every member heavily laden. It consisted in fact of the whole +population of some two hundred villages and hamlets, from the district +of which Libor was chief magistrate.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, Father Roger had brought round Libor's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[Pg 306]</a></span> horse, magnificently +caparisoned, and at the first burst of music, the Knéz mounted and +galloped off, followed, in obedience to his haughty signal, by a couple +of armed Mongols, the Mongol chiefs meanwhile looking on with envious +eyes. They were not too well pleased with the Tartar-Magyar's rise to +favour.</p> + +<p>Libor galloped across the plain to meet the new-comers, who bowed down +before him as if he had been a god, and then rising again at his +command, followed him to the camp, where he drew them up in a long line; +after which he hurried back to the Khan, dismounted, and announced that +his people had brought him such gifts as they could, and only awaited +his orders.</p> + +<p>The Khan's wide mouth grew wider still as he smiled from ear to ear, and +showed two perfect rows of sharp-pointed teeth; but the smile was like +that of an ogre, and such as might have made some people rather uneasy, +though not, of course, anyone who was such a favourite and in such an +exalted position as Libor.</p> + +<p>"That's well," said the Khan; and then, turning from him, he muttered +something to the other chiefs which escaped Libor's ears or +comprehension, though he had done his best to acquire the miserable +language spoken by his master.</p> + +<p>The next moment a large detachment of Mongols had stepped forth from +behind the tents, and moving<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[Pg 307]</a></span> forward swiftly, but in perfect silence, +had advanced towards the rear of the Hungarians. Others at the same time +came from behind the Khan's tent, and in a few seconds the white flags +were hemmed in before and behind.</p> + +<p>Libor, who had looked upon the whole ceremony as merely one of the usual +devices for squeezing the unfortunate people, was plainly startled, nay +terrified, by this sudden movement, and his astonishment and +discomfiture did not escape the sharp eyes of Batu.</p> + +<p>"These proceedings are not quite to your taste, eh, Knéz?" said he, with +a tigerish grin.</p> + +<p>And the wretched Libor, bowing almost to the earth, made hurried answer, +"How could I possibly take amiss anything that his Highness the Khan, my +lord and master, may choose to do?"</p> + +<p>"I thought as much, my faithful Knéz! Make haste then, and see that all +that these folk have brought is taken from them, and then—have them all +cut down together!"</p> + +<p>Libor turned pale as death, but he knew his master; he knew that the +slightest remonstrance, the slightest demur even, would be at the risk +of his life. He bowed more deeply than before, and staggered away to +give the signal for the plunder and massacre of his own people.</p> + +<p>The wind had suddenly risen to a hurricane, and was filling the air with +dust; the thunder pealed; but above the howling of the one and the +roaring of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[Pg 308]</a></span> the other, there rose one long, long cry, and then all was +still.</p> + +<p>Libor returned, trembling, shaking, to the Khan, the gracious Khan, +whose favourite he was, who had honoured him to such an extent as to +provoke the jealousy of the Mongol chiefs; who had enriched him, and had +distinguished him above all the rest. He had faithfully obeyed the +Khan's orders, though, with a bleeding heart; and now, holding as he did +the first place among those who formed Batu's retinue, he was secure as +to his own miserable life, for who would dare to lift hand against him?</p> + +<p>The Khan received him on his return with the same enigmatical smile, +which seemed just now to be stereotyped on his lips.</p> + +<p>When the dust-storm was past, a terrible spectacle presented itself. +Thousands of corpses lay upon the ground; and among the men, who were +quite worn out by their murderous work, were to be seen Mongol women and +children, seated upon the bodies of their victims, their hands stained +with blood.</p> + +<p>"A few thousand bread eaters the less!" exclaimed Batu, in high good +humour, "and if my orders are as well carried out in other parts of the +country as they have been by you, Libor, my faithful Knéz, there won't +be many left to share the rich harvest and vintage with us."</p> + +<p>Libor said nothing, for his lips were twitching and quivering +convulsively.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[Pg 309]</a></span>"By the way, Libor," the Khan went on pleasantly, "it has just struck +me, what present have you yourself brought, my faithful servant?"</p> + +<p>"All that I possess belongs to your Highness, mighty Khan," said Libor, +trembling.</p> + +<p>"Excellent man!" replied Batu, and turning to one of the chiefs standing +by, he addressed him in particular, saying gently, "See now, and take +example by this excellent man, who has made me a present of all that he +has!"</p> + +<p>The chief to whom these words were spoken cast a furious glance at the +favourite.</p> + +<p>"All you possess is mine, eh, Libor?" Batu went on, "all, even your +life, isn't it?"</p> + +<p>Libor bowed.</p> + +<p>"Oh, how faithful he is!" exclaimed the Khan, addressing the same chief +as before, and speaking in the same good-natured tone. "I know the +loyalty of this trusty Knéz of ours is a thorn in your eyes! and I know +that there are some of you daring enough even to have doubts of his +splendid fidelity and obedience! Wretches, take example by Libor the +Knéz!"</p> + +<p>So saying, the Khan rose from his seat, and cried in a loud, shrill +voice, "Take this devoted servant and hang him on the tree yonder +opposite my tent!"</p> + +<p>If a thunder-bolt had fallen at his feet Libor could not have been more +terror-stricken. He threw himself on his face before the Khan, but his +voice was strangled in his throat, and he could not utter a word; all +that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[Pg 310]</a></span> he was able to do was to wring his hands, and raise them +imploringly towards his awful master.</p> + +<p>And the Khan—burst into a loud fit of laughter!</p> + +<p>Another moment and Libor the favourite, the envied—whom the other +chiefs were ready enough to speed upon his way—Libor was hanging to a +lofty willow-tree and tossing to and fro in the stormy wind.</p> + +<p>Batu Khan presented one of Libor's horses—a lame one—to Bajdár; and +the rest of the ex-favourite's very considerable property he kept for +himself.</p> + +<p>(Bajdár, it may be remembered, though, of course, neither Father Roger +nor Talabor were aware of the fact, had been of the party which had +attacked Master Peter's house, and we may readily guess how he had +earned this handsome reward.)</p> + +<p>Orsolya gave a sigh of satisfaction as Father Roger finished his story.</p> + +<p>"There is one traitor less in the world," said she, "and he might think +himself lucky that he was only hanged! It was an easy death compared +with many!"</p> + +<p>And she said the same thing, yet more emphatically, when she heard from +Dora and Talabor of their experiences at the hands of the +Magyar-Tartar-Knéz.</p> + +<p>Gentle Father Roger sighed too, but without any satisfaction, as he +thought of the youth, with whom he had lived under the same roof, and to +whom, as he was fond of insisting, he and his servant owed their lives.</p> + +<p>But when he heard all that Talabor could tell him,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[Pg 311]</a></span> he was as indignant +as even Orsolya could have wished; for he understood Master Peter, and +saw at once what had puzzled so many, the reason why he had left Dora at +home instead of sending her to the Queen, out of harm's way.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[Pg 312]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XX" id="CHAPTER_XX"></a>CHAPTER XX.<br /> +<span class="smalltext">LIKE THE PHŒNIX.</span></h2> + + +<p>It seemed too good to be true! But it was a fact that the Mongols were +really gone—gone as they had come, like one of the plagues of Egypt, +for there "remained not one" in all Hungary.</p> + +<p>As soon as King Béla knew that the unexpected had come to pass, and that +the land was clear of the enemy, he hastened home. But what a home he +found! It had been one of the fairest and richest in Europe; and now he +rode for whole days without seeing so much as a single human being, and +his followers had to do battle with the wild beasts, which had +multiplied to an alarming degree. Go which way he would, he found the +land uncultivated and overgrown with thorns and weeds; and when he did +come across an inhabited district, the men he encountered were not men, +but spectres. The many unburied corpses, together with the sometimes +altogether indescribable kinds of food upon which the people had had to +subsist, had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[Pg 313]</a></span> produced pestilence of divers kinds, which carried off +many of those who had escaped the Mongols.</p> + +<p>It was only a year or so since the first irruption of the Mongols, but +the land was a chaos.</p> + +<p>How the King laboured with might and main to restore the "years which +the locust had eaten," and how he succeeded are matters which belong to +history.</p> + +<p>Very gradually and cautiously the people ventured forth from the dens in +which they had concealed themselves. At first they came only one or two +at a time, to reconnoitre; but when they were convinced that the enemy +had utterly withdrawn himself, the joyful news was quickly conveyed to +those who were still in hiding, and they flocked back to the ruined +towns and villages, which began at once to rise from their ashes.</p> + +<p>One by one the bells pealed forth again from the church-towers, and +many, many a cross was put up in the graveyards to the memory of those +who returned no more; not only of those known to be dead, but of those +who had simply disappeared, no one could say how, but whose bodies were +never found, and who might therefore have been carried away to a living +death as slaves. Few indeed of the captives were ever seen again. Many a +hamlet and small village of the plains had been wiped out as completely +as if it had never existed, and some of these were never rebuilt, though +their names live in the neighbourhood to the present day.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[Pg 314]</a></span>Many a young man who had been but a "poor relation" before the flood, +now found himself the heir to large estates and great wealth.</p> + +<p>Once more the plough was to be seen at work among the furrows, drawn now +by an ox, now by a horse, and not infrequently by the farmer himself, +the old owner or the new. Where there had been ten inhabitants there was +now one; but that one seemed to have inherited all the energy, vigour, +and hopefulness of the other nine, so fiercely he worked.</p> + +<p>Buried treasures were dug up again, though often not by those who had +buried them; many remained undiscovered for centuries; many have not +been found to this day.</p> + +<p>The wolves still roamed the plains as if the world belonged to them; +they would even enter the scantily populated villages and carry off +infants from the cradle, and from the very arms of their mothers. Clouds +of ravens and crows still hovered over the countless bodies of those who +had fallen victims to the Mongols or to starvation, exposure, disease. +Both birds and beasts disputed the possession of the land with its +returning inhabitants.</p> + +<p>Of the forty members of the Szirmay family there now remained but four +male representatives: Master Peter, his nephew Akos, and two others +whose names have not come down to us; and all four of these were now +wealthy landed proprietors.</p> + +<p>Dora had been unable to communicate with her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[Pg 315]</a></span> father; Gabriel had never +reached him; and when at length Master Peter was able to re-visit his +faraway castle, he did so not knowing whether his daughter were alive or +dead. He found the whole place in ruins; for Dora had been only too +right in her conjectures. The Mongols had paid it another visit not long +after her departure; and, finding the house deserted and empty, had +vented their rage upon it in such a way that nothing remained to receive +their owner but the bare walls.</p> + +<p>Among the ruins, however, he discovered old Moses, Jakó, and a servant +or two, all in a famishing condition. From them he learnt how Dora had +left the house only just in time to escape the second attack; but as to +what had befallen her since, they could, of course, tell him nothing. +She had intended to join him in Dalmatia, and she had never arrived +there. So much only was certain, and when he thought of the perils she +must have encountered, and the awful sights he had himself seen by the +way, his heart sank within him. And, worst of all, there was nothing to +be done, nothing! but to wait, wait, wait, in a state of constant +anxiety as to what he might any day hear.</p> + +<p>But supposing that she should have been preserved through all, and were +only waiting till she heard news of him, or perhaps until she were able +to travel! She would certainly hear in time, wherever she might be, of +the King's return—she would go to him for news<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[Pg 316]</a></span> of her father—she +would hear that he was alive, and she would come back to the old home to +find him; so there he must stay!</p> + +<p>Master Peter was sufficiently practical to reflect that if his daughter +appeared one day without warning, he would want a roof to shelter her, +and to work he set making preparations accordingly, though with a heavy +heart.</p> + +<p>Yet the work did him good. It cheered him to see the labourers repairing +the walls and roofing in what had been her own room, for sometimes it +beguiled him into thinking that Dora must certainly be coming, would be +there perhaps before the place was ready for her, and then he would urge +the workmen to greater speed.</p> + +<p>He was watching and superintending as usual one day, growing more and +more down-hearted as he reckoned the many weeks, the months which had +slipped past since he had left Dalmatia, when the clatter of horse-hoofs +roused him. Most people were finding enough to do at home just now, and +Master Peter was never more ready to welcome anyone—anyone who might +bring him the tidings he longed for, and yet dreaded, or at least tell +him news of some sort which would divert his thoughts for the time.</p> + +<p>He hurried forward to meet the visitor as he clattered into the +courtyard, and—did his eyes deceive him? or was it indeed his old page +who was bowing before him?</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[Pg 317]</a></span>Talabor the page! Talabor! Any old face was welcome, but—suddenly he +remembered! Talabor had left the castle with Dora, he had come back +without her!</p> + +<p>Master Peter could do nothing but look at the young man, for his lips +refused to utter a word; and he put up his hand with an imploring +gesture, as one who would ward off an expected blow.</p> + +<p>What was it Talabor was saying? That she was alive, safe, well! Dora was +alive and well! Then—where was she? and why was she not with him?</p> + +<p>It was a minute or two before he could take it in; for, his tongue once +loosed, he poured forth his questions so fast that Talabor had no chance +of replying to them. But, when at last he did understand that Dora was +with "Aunt Orsolya," that she had wanted to set out with Talabor as soon +as ever the roads were considered safe, that in fact she had begged and +prayed her hostess to let her go, but that the old lady would not hear +of her doing so, and had insisted on sending Talabor first—why then, +with a good-humoured "Just like Aunt Orsolya!" Master Peter hastily +decided that Talabor must set out with him again that very day, and take +him to her.</p> + +<p>Horse tired? what did that matter? Thank Heaven, he had a horse or two +still in the stable! and catching sight of Moses, he shouted the good +news and his orders together.</p> + +<p>Talabor had hidden the furniture, the plate? Very<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[Pg 318]</a></span> well, very well! so +much the better, but they could wait! Later on no doubt he would be +properly grateful, but what would he have cared for a gold mine just +now? He had no thought for anything but how to reach Dora at the +earliest possible moment, bring her home, and never let her out of his +sight again whatever might betide.</p> + +<p>Orsolya had remained in the cavern until all apprehension of the return +of the Mongols was over; and then she had betaken herself to the "barn" +in Frata, with quite a regiment of poor, homeless folk, whom she +supported as best she could. There Master Peter found her and Dora; and +there, too, he met his nephew Akos, and heard from him how he had +escaped with Mária from the Kun massacre, and heard from Dora how she +had become quite attached to his bride, and no longer wondered at her +cousin's choice.</p> + +<p>There is little more to say. But two or three months later, when Master +Peter and his daughter had not only been restored to one another, but +were once more at home, when the castle had been rebuilt, the hidden +treasures found uninjured and brought back to the light of day, when +Dora had recovered the effects of her terrible journey and was beginning +sometimes to feel as if its horrors were a dream—she received an offer +of marriage from the haughty Paul Héderváry, who had lost his wife in +Dalmatia, and was now willing enough to conform to ancient usage and +bestow himself upon her cousin, "his first love," as he was pleased<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[Pg 319]</a></span> to +call her, the only child of the now wealthy Master Peter, and the +heiress of his large estates.</p> + +<p>It was very magnanimous of him, he felt, and he expected Dora and her +father to see the matter in the same light, and to show their +appreciation of the honour he was doing them. Great therefore was his +astonishment, when he received, not the willing assent he expected, but +"a basket," or in other words a refusal, courteously worded, but +unmistakably decided.</p> + +<p>He was even more than astonished, he was annoyed, mortified, for +"secrets" of this kind were sure to leak out, even though the parties +concerned held their tongues. There would certainly be some kind friend +to spread abroad the news, that Paul Héderváry had been refused!</p> + +<p>Little as he cared for Paul, Master Peter was gratified by the proposal, +if only because it would set Dora right in the eyes of the world. +Possibly he would have been pleased to see her the great man's wife, in +spite of all that had come and gone, but if so, he cared for her too +much to press his views, and when Dora herself asked his consent to her +marriage with Talabor, he was not the man to say her nay! How could he, +when but for Talabor he would have had no daughter, whether to give or +to keep? And now he would give and keep too, for she could and must +always live with him, and this reflection consoled him for any regret he +might have felt at not having a more notable son-in-law, with a +family-castle and estates of his own.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[Pg 320]</a></span>A few words as to Akos, or rather his wife, Aunt Orsolya's ward, Mária, +who had shared her retreat in the cave. Who she was, was never exactly +known to the world in general. In Hungary she was always said to be a +Transylvanian relation of the Szirmays, while in Transylvania she passed +for a Hungarian member of the same family. But how she came to be placed +in Aunt Orsolya's charge was a secret never divulged. One thing struck +people as strange, and it was this: Akos had been well known as a friend +of the Kunok, so that, if the Kun King had confided to him the place +where he had hidden his treasure, that was nothing remarkable; nor was +anyone astonished to hear that Akos had unearthed it and delivered it up +to the King, or that the latter had made it over to the Queen. But why +should the Queen have given everything to Mária, when her own stock of +jewellery must surely have needed replenishing?</p> + +<p>More surprised still would people have been, had they seen the Queen +kiss the girl's still pale cheek, and heard her say, as she wished her +all happiness, "Dear child, would that instead of giving you these, I +could restore to you those who are gone! But we have all lost so many, +we have all so many, many graves to weep over!"</p> + +<p>Yet another circumstance attracted attention, though the fact that Akos +had championed the cause of the Kunok was supposed to account for it. +Many of these had returned to Hungary by invitation of the King,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[Pg 321]</a></span> who +was anxious to re-people the country, if only to keep down the wild +animals.</p> + +<p>On the first anniversary of Mária's marriage a deputation from these +Kunok came to her and Akos. To him they presented a hundred arrows and +one of their famous long-bows of dog-wood, beautifully ornamented with +gold; and to her they gave a coronet of no small value.</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p>After awhile some few of the Tartar-Magyars returned from the places +where they had hidden themselves, and were re-Magyarised; but never, to +the day of their death, were they reinstated in the good graces of their +neighbours. The King, however, was more merciful than the populace. +There were so few Magyars left that he was disposed to cherish lovingly +the scanty remnants, and not only showed lasting gratitude to those who +had shared with him the time of adversity, and rewarded all who had +distinguished themselves by acts of courage or self-devotion, but he +even became blind and deaf when any were denounced as turncoats.</p> + +<p>Among the many who received the King's thanks for their loyalty, Talabor +was not overlooked. How he had repulsed the Mongol attack upon Master +Peter's castle, how loyal and devoted he had been to the Szirmay family, +and especially how he had saved Father Roger from the wolves, was all +known to the King, who gave him a considerable property, the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">[Pg 322]</a></span> renewal of +his patent of nobility, and the surname of Védvár, <em>i.e.</em>, +castle-defender.</p> + +<p>Father Roger became in time Archbishop of Spalatro, and in his +"Lamentable Song" he left to future generations a full account of the +time of terror and misery through which the nation had passed.</p> + +<p>Hungary had learnt something from her trouble, and the next time the +Mongols thought of invading her they were promptly driven back.</p> + +<p>As for the treacherous Duke of Austria, he lived to see his neighbour +more firmly established on the throne than any of his predecessors had +been, and just five years after all the mischief he had done during the +Mongol invasion, he lost his life in battle with the Hungarians, or +rather with the vanguard of the army, which, by a singular nemesis, +consisted mainly of Kunok; and the three counties which had been so +unjustly obtained by him were again united to the fatherland.</p> + + +<p class="theend"><span class="smcap">The End.</span></p> + +<p class="theend"><em>Jarrold & Sons, Limited, the Empire Press, Norwich.</em></p> + + +<hr class="wide" /> + +<p class="center" style="text-indent: -4em;"><em class="boldu">Jarrold & Sons'<br /> +Six Shilling Novels.</em></p> + +<p class="center smcap">Crown 8vo, Art Linen, Gilt Elegant, 6s. each.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p class="advert"><b>Carpathia Knox.</b></p> + +<p class="advert2">By <span class="smcap">Curtis Yorke</span>, Author of "A Romance of Modern +London," "Because of the Child," etc.</p> + +<p class="advert"><b>Jocelyn Erroll.</b></p> + +<p class="advert2">By <span class="smcap">Curtis Yorke</span>, Author of "Hush," "That Little Girl," +"The Wild Ruthvens," etc.</p> + +<p class="advert"><b>The Golden Dog.</b><br /> +(Le Chien d'Or.)</p> + +<p class="advert2">By <span class="smcap">William Kirby</span>, F.R.S.C. A Romance +of the Days of Louis Quinze in Quebec.</p> + +<p class="advert"><b>St. Peter's Umbrella.</b></p> + +<p class="advert2">By <span class="smcap">Kalmán Mikszáth</span>. With Introduction by <span class="smcap">R. Nisbet +Bain</span>.</p> + +<p class="advert"><b>In Tight Places.</b></p> + +<p class="advert2">By <span class="smcap">Major Arthur Griffiths</span>, Author of "Forbidden by +Law," etc.</p> + +<p class="advert"><b>Wayfarers All.</b></p> + +<p class="advert2">By <span class="smcap">Leslie Keith</span>, Author of "'Lisbeth," "My Bonnie +Lady," etc., etc.</p> + +<p class="advert"><b>Day of Wrath.</b></p> + +<p class="advert2">By <span class="smcap">Maurus Jókai</span>. Translated from the Hungarian by <span class="smcap">R. +Nisbet Bain</span>. With New Photogravure Portrait.</p> + +<p class="advert"><b>Debts of Honor.</b></p> + +<p class="advert2">By <span class="smcap">Maurus Jókai</span>, Author of "The Green Book," "Black +Diamonds," etc.</p> + +<p class="advert"><b>Eyes Like the Sea.</b></p> + +<p class="advert2">By <span class="smcap">Maurus Jókai</span>, Author of "The Poor Plutocrats," "The +Nameless Castle," etc.</p> + +<p class="advert"><b>Captain Satan.</b></p> + +<p class="advert2">Adventures of <span class="smcap">Cyrano de Bergerac</span>. Translated from the +French of <span class="smcap">Louis Gallet</span>.</p> + +<p class="advert"><b>Anima Vilis.</b></p> + +<p class="advert2">A Tale of the Great Siberian Steppe, By <span class="smcap">Marya +Rodziewicz</span>. Translated by <span class="smcap">S. C. de Soissons</span>.</p> + +<p class="advert"><b>The Man Who Forgot.</b></p> + +<p class="advert2">By <span class="smcap">John Mackie</span>, Author of "The Devil's Playground," +"Sinners Twain," etc.</p> + +<p class="advert"><b>A Woman's Burden.</b></p> + +<p class="advert2">By <span class="smcap">Fergus Hume</span>, Author of "The Mystery of a Hansom +Cab," "The Lone Inn," etc.</p> +</div> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p class="center bold">London: JARROLD AND SONS, 10 and 11, Warwick Lane, +E.C.</p> + +<hr class="wide" /> + +<h2>JARROLD & SONS'<br />New & Forthcoming Books.</h2> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p class="rightalign"><em>Second Edition.</em></p> + +<p class="advert"><b>Old Days in Diplomacy.</b> By the <span class="smcap">Eldest Daughter of Sir +Edward Cromwell Disbrowe</span>, G.C.G. En. Ex. Min. Plen. +With Preface by <span class="smcap">M. Montgomery-Campbell</span>, several +photogravure Portraits, and an Autograph Letter from +Queen Charlotte. Deals with personages and events +figuring in the history of the first half of the +Nineteenth Century. First edition was subscribed for +in advance of Publication. Second edition now ready. +10/6 nett</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p class="advert"><b>A House of Letters.</b> Edited by <span class="smcap">Ernest B. Betham</span>. Being +Excerpts from the Correspondence of Charlotte +Jerningham (The Hon. Lady Bedingfield), Lady +Jerningham, Coleridge, Lamb, Southey, and others, with +Matilda Betham.</p> + +<p class="advert2">The volume will be fully illustrated, and will contain +reproductions from portraits by Sir Joshua Reynolds, +Opie, and Sir William Ross. 10/6 nett.</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p class="advert"><b>'Neath the Hoof of the Tartar; or, the Scourge of God.</b> +By <span class="smcap">Baron Nicolas Jósika</span>—the Sir Walter Scott of +Hungary. Translated by Selina Gaye. With Photogravure +Portrait of Author, and Preface by R. Nisbet Bain. +Gives a vivid and realistic picture of a series of +great national events. A powerful love story in which +scenes of warfare figure conspicuously. A novel on +heroic lines. 6/-</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p class="advert"><b>A Scottish Bluebell.</b> By <span class="smcap">Etta Buchanan Bennett</span>. A +wholesome, romantic Novel. The heroine, sweet Marjorie +Lindsay, resides at a little seaside town in Scotland. +She discovers a family secret, and in the end +ascertains that she is the heiress of the Earl of +Lowrie. The story contains many exciting episodes at +home and abroad, and has a powerful plot. First +edition subscribed for in advance of publication. 3/6</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p class="advert"><b>Satan's Courier; or, The Company Promoter.</b> By <span class="smcap">Flora +Hayter</span> (Mrs. Northesk Wilson), Author of "Belgrade: +the White City of Death," etc. 6/-</p> + +<p class="center smalltext"><b>BEING THE SECRET HISTORY OF EVENTS WHICH LED UP TO THE +BOER WAR.</b></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>"A story of supreme interest, even apart from the +light it proposes to shed upon South African affairs. +Regarded simply as a novel the book is of thrilling +power. It enthrals, it consumes."—<em>The Echo.</em></p> + +<p>"An able book."—<em>Daily News.</em></p> +</div> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p class="advert"><b>The Rising of the Red Man.</b> A Romance of the Louis Riel +Rebellion. By <span class="smcap">John Mackie</span>, Author of "The Man Who +Forgot," "Tales of the Trenches," "The Cannibal +Island," etc. With Six full-page Illustrations by +E. F. Skinner. 3/6</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>"Compels attention to the last line. A vigorous piece +of writing, which shows Mr. Mackie at his +best."—<em>Yorkshire Post.</em></p> + +<p>"At once grips attention."—<em>Dundee Advertiser.</em></p> +</div> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p class="advert"><b>Outcasts from Choice.</b> A Story of Klondike. By Mr. +<span class="smcap">Gustin Aish</span>. The title, although it may be held to +refer to all miners in general, has a special +reference to a distinguished professor, his wife and +her sister, who live in the miners' camp for a year. +The story is of a distinctly original type. 3/6</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p class="advert"><b>The Chronicles of Baba.</b> A Canine Teetotum. By <span class="smcap">M. +Montgomery-Campbell</span>, Author of "Worth the Struggle," +"Two Lovable Imps," "My Very, Very Own," etc. The +amusing and instructive life-story of a Yorkshire +terrier. Beautifully illustrated from photographs +taken from life. 3/6</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>"A sympathetic and charmingly told story of the life +of a pet dog, which exhibits his own character and +those of his four-footed friends with a rare insight +into canine psychology."—<em>The Scotsman.</em></p> + +<p>"Nothing could be more entertaining and instructive +... a glimpse of real dog life."—<em>Glasgow Herald.</em></p> +</div> + + +<hr class="wide" /> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>Transcriber's Note: The following typographical errors present in the +original edition have been corrected.</p> + +<p>In Chapter III, a quotation mark was added before "but—we might find or +invent someone".</p> + +<p>In Chapter IV, a period was added after "the King was always glad to +welcome useful immigrants".</p> + +<p>In Chapter VII, a period was added after "in exterminating the common +enemy", and "Versecz" was changed to "Verecz". (Thanks to the National +Széchényi Library in Hungary for their assistance in determining the +correct spelling.)</p> + +<p>In Chapter IX, "perhaps Marána's betrothral was known" was changed to +"perhaps Marána's betrothal was known", and "having helped to capture +Kuthven's castle" was changed to "having helped to capture Kuthen's +castle".</p> + +<p>In Chapter XI, "Borká's aid" was changed to "Borka's aid", and "Jankó +the dog-keeper" was changed to "Jakó the dog-keeper".</p> + +<p>In Chapter XII, a quotation mark was deleted after "Must not?"</p> + +<p>In Chapter XIII, "all danger was believed to be over the night" was +changed to "all danger was believed to be over for the night".</p> + +<p>In Chapter XVI, "in such numbers that great part of the country was +re-populated" was changed to "in such numbers that a great part of the +country was re-populated", and "and few but stragglers" was changed to +"and but few stragglers".</p> + +<p>In Chapter XIX, a quotation mark was deleted before "If a thunder-bolt".</p> + +<p>In Chapter XX, "whieh carried off many of those" was changed to "which +carried off many of those", "After awhile some few of the Tartar-Maygars +returned" was changed to "After awhile some few of the Tartar-Magyars +returned", and the footer "Jarrold & Sons, Limited, the Empire Press, +Norwich," at the bottom of the last page was changed to "Jarrold & Sons, +Limited, the Empire Press, Norwich."</p> + +<p>The advertisement for Jarrold & Sons' Six Shilling Novels was moved from +the front of the book to the back.</p> + +<p>In the list of New and Forthcoming Books, "Lady Jermingham" was changed +to "Lady Jerningham", and "Baron Nicolas Jòsika" was changed to "Baron +Nicolas Jósika".</p> + +<p>Any remaining inconsistencies in spelling and hyphenation were present +in the original text.</p></div> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's 'Neath the Hoof of the Tartar, by Miklós Jósika + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 'NEATH THE HOOF OF THE TARTAR *** + +***** This file should be named 36203-h.htm or 36203-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/6/2/0/36203/ + +Produced by Steven desJardins and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: 'Neath the Hoof of the Tartar + The Scourge of God + +Author: Miklos Josika + +Commentator: R. Nisbet Bain + +Translator: Selina Gaye + +Release Date: May 24, 2011 [EBook #36203] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 'NEATH THE HOOF OF THE TARTAR *** + + + + +Produced by Steven desJardins and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +'NEATH THE HOOF OF THE TARTAR + + +[Illustration: Portrait of JA cubedsika] + + + + +'Neath the Hoof of the Tartar + +OR + +_THE SCOURGE OF GOD_ + +BY BARON NICOLAS JA"SIKA + +ABRIDGED FROM THE HUNGARIAN BY SELINA GAYE + +_WITH PREFACE BY R. NISBET BAIN_ + +SANS PEUR ET SANS REPROCHE +[Illustration] +SECOND EDITION + +_And Photogravure Portrait of the Author_ + +LONDON +JARROLD & SONS, 10 & 11, WARWICK LANE, E.C. + +[_All Rights Reserved_] + +1904 + + + + + CONTENTS. + + CHAPTER PAGE + INTRODUCTION 7 + I. RUMOURS 15 + II. GOOD NEWS OR BAD? 35 + III. MASTER STEPHEN'S PAGE 50 + IV. MISTAKE THE FIRST 69 + V. AS THE KING WILLS 89 + VI. MISTAKE THE SECOND 104 + VII. AT THE VERY DOORS 120 + VIII. THE BETTER PART OF VALOUR 133 + IX. "I WASH MY HANDS" 146 + X. LIBOR CLIMBS THE CUCUMBER-TREE 167 + XI. "NEXT TIME WE MEET" 181 + XII. DEFENDING THE CASTLE 199 + XIII. CAMP FIRES 216 + XIV. A FATAL DAY 228 + XV. DORA'S RESOLVE 240 + XVI. THROUGH THE SNOW 253 + XVII. A STAMPEDE 274 + XVIII. AUNT ORSOLYA'S CAVERN 288 + XIX. FATHER ROGER'S STORY 297 + XX. LIKE THE PHA'NIX 312 + + + + +INTRODUCTION. + + +Baron MiklA cubeds JA cubedsika, the Walter Scott of Hungary, was born at Torda, in +Transylvania, on April 28th, 1796. While quite a child, he lost both his +parents, and was brought up at the house and under the care of his +grandmother, Anna Bornemissza, a descendant of JA cubedkai's heroine of the +same name in "'Midst the Wild Carpathians." Of the young nobleman's many +instructors, the most remarkable seems to have been an _emigrA(C)_ French +Colonel, who gave him a liking for the literature of France, which was +not without influence on his future development. After studying law for +a time at Klausenberg to please his friends, he became a soldier to +please himself, and in his seventeenth year accompanied the Savoy +dragoon regiment to Italy. During the campaign of the Mincio in 1814, he +so distinguished himself by his valour that he was created a first +lieutenant on the field of battle, and was already a captain when he +entered Paris with the allies in the following year. In 1818, at the +very beginning of his career, he ruined his happiness by his +unfortunate marriage with Elizabeth KallAiy. According to JA cubedsika's +biographer, Luiza SzaAik,[1] young JA cubedsika was inveigled into this union +by a designing mother-in-law, and any chance of happiness the young +couple might have had, if left to themselves, was speedily dashed by the +interference of the father of the bride, who defended all his daughter's +caprices against the much-suffering husband. Even the coming of children +could not cement this woeful wedding, which terminated in the practical +separation of spouses who were never meant to be consorts. + + [Footnote 1: BarA cubed JA cubedsika MiklA cubeds A(C)lete A(C)s munkai.] + +JA cubedsika further offended his noble kinsmen by devoting himself to +literature. It may seem a paradox to say so, yet it is perfectly true, +that in the early part of the present century, with some very few +honourable exceptions, the upper classes in Hungary addressed only their +_servants_ in Hungarian. Latin was the official language of the Diet, +while polite circles conversed in barbarous French. These were the days +when, as JA cubedkai has reminded us, the greatest insult you could offer to +an Hungarian lady was to address her in her native tongue. It required +some courage, therefore, in the young Baron to break away from the +feudal traditions of his privileged caste and use the plebeian Magyar +dialect as a literary vehicle. His first published book, "Abafi" +(1836), an historical romance written under the direct influence of Sir +Walter Scott, whom JA cubedsika notoriously took for his model, made a great +stir in the literary world of Hungary. "Hats off, gentlemen," was how +Szontagh, the editor of the _FigyelmezAś_, the leading Hungarian +newspaper of the day, began his review of this noble romance. JA cubedsika was +over forty when he first seriously began to write, but the grace and +elegance of his style, the maturity of his judgment, the skilfulness of +his characterization--all pointed to a long apprenticeship in letters. +Absolute originality cannot indeed be claimed for him. Unlike JA cubedkai, he +owed very much to his contemporaries. He began as an imitator of Scott, +as we have seen, and he was to end as an imitator of Dickens, as we +shall see presently. But he was no slavish copyist. He gave nearly as +much as he took. Moreover, he was the first to naturalize the historical +romance in Hungary, and if, as a novelist, he is inferior to Walter +Scott, he is inferior to him alone. + +In Hungary, at any rate, his rare merits were instantly recognised and +rewarded. + +Two years after the publication of "Abafi," he was elected a member of +the Hungarian Academy, four years later he became the President of the +Kisfaludy TAirsasAig, the leading Magyar literary society. All classes, +without exception, were attracted and delighted by the books of this +new novelist, which followed one another with bewildering rapidity. +"Zolyomi," written two years before "Abafi," was published a few months +later, together with "KAśnnyelmA1/4ek." Shortly afterwards came the two +great books which are generally regarded as his masterpieces, "Az utolsA cubed +BAitory" and "Csehek MagyarorszAigon," and a delightful volume of fairy +tales, "A%let A(C)s tA1/4ndA(C)rhA cubedn," in three volumes. In 1843 was published +"Zrinyi a KAśltAś," in which some critics saw a declension, but which +JA cubedkai regards as by far the greatest of JA cubedsika's historical romances. +Finally may be mentioned as also belonging to the pre-revolutionary +period, "JA cubedsika IstvAin," an historical romance in five volumes, largely +based upon the family archives; "Egy kA(C)temeletes hAiz," a social romance +in six volumes; and "Ifju BA(C)kesi Ferencz kalandjai," a very close and +most clever imitation of the "Pickwick Papers," both in style and +matter, written under the pseudonym of Moric Alt. It is a clever skit of +the peccadilloes and absurdities of the good folks of Budapest of all +classes, full of genuine humour, and was welcomed with enthusiasm. + +On the outbreak of the War of Independence in 1848, Baron JA cubedsika +magnanimously took the popular side, though he was now an elderly man, +and had much to lose and little to gain from the Revolution. He was +elected a member of the HonvA(C)d Government; countenanced all its acts; +followed it from place to place till the final collapse, and then fled +to Poland. Ultimately he settled at Brussels, where for the next twelve +years he lived entirely by his pen, for his estates were confiscated, +and he himself was condemned to death by the triumphant and vindictive +Austrian Government, which had to be satisfied, however, with burning +him in effigy. + +JA cubedsika was to die an exile from his beloved country, but the bitterness +of banishment was somewhat tempered by the touching devotion of his +second wife, the Baroness Julia Podmaniczky, who also became his +amanuensis and translator. The first novel of the exilic period was +"Eszter," written anonymously for fear his works might be prohibited in +Hungary, in which case the unhappy author would have run the risk of +actual want. For the same reason all the novels written between 1850 and +1860 (when he resumed his own name on his title-pages) are "by the +author of 'Eszter.'" In 1864, by the doctor's advice, JA cubedsika moved to +Dresden, and there, on February 27th, 1865, he died, worn out by labour +and sorrow. He seems, at times, to have had a hard struggle for an +honourable subsistence, and critics, latterly, seem to have been +neglectful or unkind. Ultimately his ashes were brought home to his +native land and deposited reverently in the family vault at Klausenberg; +statues were raised in his honour at the Hungarian capital, and the +greatest of Hungarian novelists, Maurus JA cubedkai, delivered an impassioned +funeral oration over the remains of the man who did yeoman's service for +the Magyar literature, and created and popularized the historical novel +in Hungary. + +For it is as the Hungarian historical romancer _par excellence_ that +JA cubedsika will always be remembered, and inasmuch as the history of no +other European country is so stirring and so dramatic as that of +Hungary, and JA cubedsika was always at infinite pains to go direct to +original documents for his facts and local colouring, he will always be +sure of an audience in an age, like our own, when the historical novel +generally (witness the immense success of Sienkiewicz) is once more the +favourite form of fiction. Among the numerous romances "by the author of +'Eszter,'" the work, entitled "JAś a TatAir" ("The Tartar is coming"), now +presented to the English public under the title of "'Neath the Hoof of +the Tartar," has long been recognised by Hungarian critics as "the most +pathetic" of JA cubedsika's historical romances. The groundwork of the tale is +the terrible Tartar invasion of Hungary during the reign of BA(C)la IV. +(1235-1270), when the Mongol hordes devastated Magyarland from end to +end. Two love episodes, however, relieve the gloom of this terrific +picture, "and the historical imagination" of the great Hungarian +romancer has painted the heroism and the horrors of those far distant +times every whit as vividly as Sienkiewicz has painted the secular +struggle between the Red Cross Knights and the semi-barbarous heroes of +old Lithuania. + +R. NISBET BAIN. + + + + +'Neath the Hoof of the Tartar. + +CHAPTER I. + +RUMOURS. + + +"Well, Talabor, my boy, what is it? Anything amiss?" asked Master Peter, +as the page entered the hall, where he and his daughter were at +breakfast. + +It was a bare, barn-like apartment, but the plates and dishes were of +silver. + +"Nothing amiss, sir," was the answer, "only a guest has just arrived, +who would like to pay his respects, but--he is on foot!" + +It was this last circumstance, evidently, which was perplexing Talabor. + +"A guest?--on foot?" repeated Master Peter, as if he too were puzzled. + +"Yes, sir; Abbot Roger, he calls himself, and says you know him!" + +"What! good Father Roger! Know him? Of course I do!" cried Peter, +springing from his chair. "Where is he? Why didn't you bring him in at +once? I am not his Grace of Esztergom to keep a good man like him +waiting in the entry!" + +"The servants are just brushing the dust off him, sir," replied the +page, "and he wants to wash his feet, but he will be ready to wait upon +you directly, sir, if you please!" + +"By all means! but he is no 'Abbot,' Talabor; he is private chaplain to +Master Stephen, my brother!" + +Talabor had not long been in Master Peter's service, and knew no more of +Master Stephen than he did of Father Roger, so he said nothing and left +the room with a bow. + +"Blessed be the name of the Lord Jesus, Father Roger!" cried Master +Peter, hurrying forward to meet his guest, as he entered the +dining-hall. + +"For ever and ever!" responded the Father, while Dora raised his hand to +her lips, delighted to see her old friend again. + +"But how is this, Father Roger?" Peter asked in high good humour, after +some inquiry as to his brother's welfare; "how is this? Talabor, _deAik_ +announced you as 'Abbot.' What is the meaning of it?" + +"Quite true, sir! Thanks to his Holiness and the King, I have been +'Abbot' the last month or two; but just now I am on my way to Pest by +command of his Majesty." + +"What! an abbot travel in this fashion, on foot! Why, our abbots make +as much show as the magnates, some of them. Too modest, too modest, +Father! Besides, you'll never get there! Is the King's business urgent?" + +"Hardly that, I think; though--but, after all, why prophesy evil before +one must!" + +"Prophesy evil?" repeated Dora. + +"Prophecies are in the hands of the Lord!" interposed her father +quickly. "Good or bad, it rests with Him whether they shall be +fulfilled. So, Father Roger, let us have it, whatever it is." + +"The King's commands were that I should be at Pest by the end of the +month," answered Roger, "so I shall be in time, even if I do travel +somewhat slowly. As for the prophesying--without any gift of prophecy I +can tell you so much as this, that _something_ is coming! True, it is +far off as yet, but to be forewarned is to be forearmed, and I fancy the +King is one who likes to look well ahead." + +"But what is it, Father Roger? do tell us!" cried Dora anxiously. + +"Nothing but rumours so far, dear child, but they are serious, and it +behoves us to be on our guard." + +"Oktai and his brethren, eh?" said Master Peter, with some scorn. "Oh, +those Tartars! The Tartars are coming! the Tartars are coming! Why, they +have been coming for years! When did we first hear that cry? I declare I +can't remember," and he laughed. + +"I am afraid it is no laughing matter, though," said Father Roger. "I +daresay you have not forgotten Brother Julian, who returned home only +two or three years ago." + +But here Dora interposed. She remembered Father Roger telling her a +story of the Dominican brothers, who had gone to try and find the "old +home" of the Magyars and convert to Christianity those who had stayed +behind, and she wanted to hear it again, if her father did not mind. + +Father Roger accordingly told how, of the first four brothers, only one +had returned home, and he had died soon after, but not before he had +described how, while travelling as a merchant, he had fallen in with men +who spoke Hungarian and told him where their home, "Ugria," was to be +found.[2] Four more brothers had been despatched on the same quest by +King BA(C)la, who was desirous of increasing the population of his country, +and particularly wished to secure "kinsmen" if he could. Two only of the +brothers persevered through the many perils and privations which beset +their way. One of these died, and Julian, the survivor, entering the +service of a wealthy Mohammedan, travelled with him to a land of many +rich towns, densely populated.[3] Here he met a woman who had actually +come from the "old home," and still farther north he had found the +"brothers of the Magyars," who could understand him and whom he could +understand. + + [Footnote 2: Ugria extended from the North Sea to the + rivers Kama, Irtisch, and Tobol, west and east of the + Ural Mountains. The Ugrians had come in more ancient + times from the high lands of the Altai Mountains. + Hungarian was still spoken in Ugria, then called + Juharia, as late as the beginning of the sixteenth + century.] + + [Footnote 3: Great Bulgaria, lying on both sides of the + Volga, at its junction with the Kama.] + +They were, of course, heathen, but not idolaters; they were nomads, +wandering from place to place, living on flesh and mare's milk, and +knowing nothing of agriculture. They were greatly interested in all that +Julian told them, for they knew from old traditions that some of their +race had migrated westwards. + +But at the time of his visit they were much perturbed by news brought to +them by their neighbours on the east. These were Tartar, or Turkish, +tribes, who, having several times attacked them and been repulsed, had +finally entered into an alliance with them. A messenger from the Tartar +Khan had just arrived to announce, not only that the Tartar tribes were +themselves on the move and but five days' journey away, but that they +were moving to escape from a "thick-headed" race, numerous as the sands +of the sea which was behind them, on their very heels, and threatening +to overwhelm all the kingdoms of the world, as it had already +overwhelmed great part of Asia. + +Brother Julian hastened home to report his discoveries and warn his +country, which he had reached between two and three years before our +story begins; but nothing more had come of his pilgrimage, no more had +been heard of the "Magyar[4] brothers." + + [Footnote 4: Europeans called them Ugrians-Hungarians, + but they called themselves "Magyars"--"children of the + land," as some think to be the meaning of the word.] + +"But why, Father Roger?" asked Dora, with wide eyes. + +"Because the 'thick-headed people' have not only overrun nearly the +whole of Central Asia as far as Pekin, covering it with ruins and +reducing it to a desert, but have streamed westward like a flood, a +torrent, and have submerged nearly the whole of Eastern Europe." + +"Then they are not Tartars?" + +"No, Mongolians[5]; but they have swallowed up many Tartar tribes and +have forced them to join their host. Tartars we have known before, but +Mongols are new to us, so most people keep to the name familiar to them, +which seems appropriate too--TAitars, Tartari, you know, denizens of +Tartarus, the Inferno, as we Italians call it; and their deeds are +'infernal' enough, Heaven knows!" + + [Footnote 5: Temudschin was but thirteen when he became + chief (in A.A D. 1175) of one horde, consisting of + thirty to forty thousand families. After some + vicissitudes, he entered upon a career of conquest, + and, between 1204 and 1206, he summoned the chiefs of + all the hordes and tribes who owned his sway to an + assembly, at which he caused it to be proclaimed that + "Heaven had decreed to him the title of 'Dschingiz' + (Highest), for he was to be ruler of the whole world." + From this time he was known as Dschingiz, or Zenghiz + Khan.] + +"And are they coming, really?" + +"As to whether they will come here, God alone knows; but Oktai, son of +Dschingiz, who is now chief Khan, has sent a vast host westward, and, as +I said, they have overrun great part of Russia; it is reported that they +have burnt Moscow." + +"Come, come, Father," interrupted Peter, who had been growing more and +more restless, "you are not going to compare us Magyars with the +Russians, I hope, or with the Chinese and Indians either. If they show +their ugly dog's-heads here, they will find us more than a match for +such a rabble." + +"I hope so!" said Father Roger. But he spoke gravely, and added, "You +have heard, of course, of the Cumani, Kunok, you call them, I think." + +"To be sure! Peaceable enough when they are let alone, but brave, +splendid fellows when they are attacked, as Oktai has found, for I know +they have twice defeated him," said Master Peter triumphantly. + +"Yes, there was no want of valour on their part; but you know the +proverb: 'Geese may be the death of swine, if only there be enough of +them!' And so, according to the last accounts, the brave King has been +entirely overwhelmed by Oktai's myriads, and he, with 40,000 families of +Kunok, are now in the Moldavian mountains on the very borders of ErdA(C)ly" +(Transylvania). + +"Ah, indeed," said Master Peter, a little more gravely, "that I had not +heard! but if it is true, I must tell you that my chief object would be +to prevent the report from spreading and being exaggerated. If it does, +the whole country will be in a state of commotion, and all for nothing! +There is hardly any nation which needs peace more than ours does, and we +have quite enough to do with sweeping before our own door, without going +and mixing ourselves up in other people's quarrels." + +But Father Roger went on to say that the rumour had spread already, and +that was why the King was wishing to call his nobles, and, in fact, the +whole nation, together to take measures of defence in good time. + +"Defence!" cried Peter; "defence against whom? Why, we have no enemies +on any of our borders, unless you mean the Kunok, and they are far +enough off at present; besides, we don't look on them as foes. It is +always the way, Father Roger! always the way! We go conjuring up +spectres! and though I am his Majesty's loyal and devoted subject, I may +say here, just between ourselves, that I do think him too quick to take +alarm." + +"You think so, sir?" returned the Abbot; "well, of course, it is a mere +opinion, but to my mind the King is not far wrong." + +And then the good Father reminded his host that Oktai had already +overthrown the Russians, great numbers of whom had been forced to join +his army; and now that he had driven out the Kunok was it to be +supposed that he would stop short? Dschingiz Khan, his father, had been +a conqueror; conquest was his sole object in life, and he would have +conquered the whole world if he had lived. His sons, especially Oktai, +took after him; they, too, considered themselves destined to conquer the +world, and now that Kuthen had shown him the way into Transylvania he +would be forcing a passage across the frontier before they knew where +they were. His rapidity was something marvellous, unheard of! + +Again Master Peter only laughed. Where was the use of alarming the +country? and would not a call to arms look as if they were afraid, and +actually tempt the Mongols to come and attack them? + +Father Roger shook his head, as he replied in Latin: + +"If you wish for peace, prepare for war, as the old Romans used to say, +and it is wise not to despise your foe." + +The two went on arguing. Master Peter, like many another noble in those +days, would not see danger. Though valiant enough, he was always an +easy-going man, and, again like many another, he was quite confident +that Hungary would be able to beat any enemy who might come against her, +without worrying herself beforehand. Father Roger did not know the +Hungarians, though he had lived so long among them! + +"Well, well," he concluded, "you go to Pest, Mr. Abbot; but think it +well over by the way, and when you see the King, you tell him plainly +that Peter Szirmay advises his Majesty not to give the alarm before it +is necessary." + +Roger shook his head but said nothing. Italian though he was, he +understood the Hungarian nobility very well. He knew how they disliked +being turned out of their ordinary course; but he knew too that once +roused, they would not hesitate to confront any enemy who threatened +them, and that though they might be hot-headed, foolhardy, +over-confident, they were certainly not cowards! + +"Well," thought the Abbot, "you are no wiser, I am afraid, than others; +but when the King does succeed in routing you out of your old fastness +and getting you down into the plain, you will give as good an account of +yourself as the rest!" + +Master Peter was glad to drop the subject, and to feel that there was at +all events no immediate prospect of his being disturbed; yet he was so +far an exception to the majority of his fellow-nobles that he determined +to ascertain the truth about these rumours, and, if necessary, not to +delay placing himself and his daughter beyond the reach of danger. + +Father Roger's gravity had impressed Dora much, but she was young, and +she had such entire confidence in her father, that she could not feel +any actual anxiety. + +"What do you think, Father Roger?" she said presently, "if Oktai Khan +really should want to fight us, about how long would it take him to get +here?" + +"That no one can say, dear child," answered the Italian. "He might reach +the frontier in three years, or it might be in two, or--it might be in +one!" + +"In one year!" Dora repeated in a startled tone. + +"It is impossible to say for certain, my dear. It all depends upon how +long our neighbours can keep back the flood. One thing is certain, that, +as they retreat in our direction, they will draw the enemy after them, +and what is more, unless we are wise and prudent we may make enemies of +the fugitives themselves; that is if we give them reason to suppose us +not strong enough, or not trustworthy enough, to be their friends. Well, +God is good, and we must hope that the danger will be averted." + +"Come, come, Father Roger," said Master Peter, "that is enough, that's +enough! Let us eat, drink, and sleep upon it, and time will show! There +is not the least reason for worrying at present at all events, and if +this disorderly crew does pour across our frontiers at last, well, we +shall be there to meet them! And it won't be the first time that we have +done such a thing." + +And then, by way of entertaining his guest, he proposed to take him all +over the house, stables, and courtyard. + +Master Peter was not wealthy as his brother Stephen was, but for all +that he was sufficiently well off. Stephen, the younger brother, had had +a large fortune with his wife; Peter, a much smaller one with his. The +family mansion, or castle,[6] belonged equally to both; and, being both +widowers, and much devoted to one another, they had agreed to share it, +and had done so most amicably for several years. + + [Footnote 6: Any country house was a castle, or + chActeau, as the French would say.] + +Without being covetous, Stephen had a warm appreciation of this world's +goods; and of all the forty male members of the Szirmay family living at +this time, he was certainly the most wealthy. He was devoted to his +children, and gave them the best education possible at the time of which +we are speaking, the first half of the thirteenth century. His son, +Akos, now one of the King's pages, had learnt to read and write; he had, +too, a certain knowledge of Latin, and sometimes in conversation he +would use a Latin word or two, with Hungarian terminations. In fact, he +knew somewhat more than most of his class, and, needless to say, he was +a good horseman and a good marksman, and well-skilled in the use of arms +and in all manly exercises. + +Stephen's daughter and niece, JolAinta and Dora, were as good scholars as +his son; and all three owed their secular as well as religious knowledge +to Father Roger, in later years the famous author of the "Carmen +Miserabile," and already known as one of the most cultivated men of the +day. He was making his home with the Szirmays, and acting as chaplain, +merely for the time being; and Stephen was glad to secure his services +for the children, who loved the gentle Father, as all did who came in +contact with him. + +Learning was held in such high honour in Hungary in these days, that +many a man coveted, and had accorded to him, the title of +"Magister"--Master--(borne by the King's Notary and Chancellor) if he +had but a little more scholarship than his neighbours, though that often +of the slenderest description, and sometimes but few degrees removed +from ignorance itself. A man such as Roger was not likely therefore to +be overlooked by a King such as BA(C)la; and his advancement was certain to +come in time, notwithstanding the fact that he was an Italian. + +It was when Dora was about eighteen that her father had resolved to go +and live on his own property, in one of the northernmost counties of +Hungary. + +Now Peter had never been a good landlord; from his youth up his pursuits +and interests had not been such as to make him take pleasure in +agriculture. Accounts and calculations were not at all in his way +either, and accordingly, no one was more imposed upon and plundered by +his stewards than himself. He was generous in everything, open-handed, a +true gentleman, delighted to help or oblige anyone, and much more +thoughtlessly profuse than many who were far richer than himself. + +The dwelling-house on that one of his estates to which he had decided to +go, was, it is hardly needful to say, very much out of repair, almost a +ruin in fact. It had never been handsome, being, in truth, but a great +shapeless barn, or store-house, which consisted merely of a ground floor +nearly as broad as it was long. The original building had been of stone, +built in the shape of a tent, and, of course, open to the roof; for +ceilings, except in churches, were long looked upon as luxuries. + +The first inhabitants had slept and cooked, lived and died, all in this +one great hall, or barn; and their successors, as they found more space +needed, had made many additions, each with its own separate roof of +split fir-poles, straw, or reeds. By degrees the original building had +been surrounded by a whole colony of such roofs, with broad wooden +troughs between them to carry off the rain water. Most of these +additions had open roofs, and were as much like barns as the first; but +some were covered in with great shapeless beams; and in a few there were +even fireplaces, built up of logs thickly coated with plaster. + +Various alterations and improvements had been made before Master Peter's +arrival, the most important of which was that the openings in the walls +which had hitherto done duty as windows, had been filled in with +bladder-skin, and provided with wooden lattices. The floors were not +boarded, but the earth had been carefully levelled, and was concealed by +coarse reed-mats, while the walls had been plastered and whitened. + +Altogether, the place was not uncomfortable, according to the ideas of +the time, and Dora was not at all disgusted with its appearance, even +coming from her uncle's house, where she was accustomed to a good deal +of splendour of a certain kind. + +Hungarians, even in those days, could make a splendid appearance upon +occasion, as they did at the King's wedding, when all the guests wore +scarlet, richly embroidered with gold. But their chief luxuries at home +took the form of such articles as could be easily converted into money +in case of need. + +They had, for instance, plates and dishes of gold and silver, precious +stones, court-dresses, not embroidered and braided in the present +fashion, but adorned with pearls and stones of great value, as well as +with plates of beaten gold and silver. Master Peter's great dining-hall +contained many valuables of this description. Huge, much-carved oak +chests were ranged along the bare walls, some open, some closed, these +latter being laden with silver plates and dishes, gold and silver cups, +tankards and numberless other articles required at table. Here and +there, the statue of a saint, a piece of Grecian or Roman armour, and +various antique curiosities were to be seen. + +Seats had not been forgotten, and the high-backed chairs and broad +benches were supplied with comfortable cushions of bright colours. +Similar gay cushions were in use throughout that part of the house +inhabited by Peter and his daughter; and whatever deficiencies there +were, everything at least was now in good order and scrupulously clean. + +As for Dora's own room, her father had done all that he could think of +to make it pleasant and comfortable; and though many a village maiden in +these days would look on it with disdain, Dora was well satisfied. There +were even a few pictures on the bare white walls, though of course they +were not in oil; but the special luxury of her little apartment was that +the window was filled with horn, which was almost as transparent as +glass, and was, moreover, decorated with flowers and designs, painted in +bright colours. + +Window glass was not unknown at this date, but it was too precious to be +commonly used, and was reserved for churches and the palaces of kings +and magnates. Bladders and thin skins were in ordinary use, or, where +people were very wealthy, plates of horn; but there were plenty of +gentlemen's houses in which the inhabitants had no light at all in +winter but such as came from the great open hearths and fireplaces, for +the windows were entirely closed up with reeds or rush mats. + +One of the additions made to the original building had been what was +called a "far-view" or "pigeon tower," much higher than the house +itself, and the top of which could not be reached without the help of a +ladder. This tower, which was more like a misshapen obelisk in shape, +was roofed in with rough boards. In the lower storey there was a +good-sized room, with a door opening from it into the large hall. It +contained a wooden, four-post bedstead, clean and warm, and a small +table; and all along the walls were clothes-pegs and shelves, such +necessaries as we call "furniture" being very uncommon in the days we +are speaking of. Dora's chests had been placed here, and served the +purpose of seats, and there were also a few chairs, a praying-desk, and +a few other little things. The walls were covered with thick stuff +hangings, and the lower part of them was also protected by coarse grey +frieze to keep out the cold and damp. This was Dora's own room. + +Like all gentlemen of the time, even if they were reduced in means, +Peter had a considerable train of servants, and these were lodged in the +very airy, barn-like buildings already mentioned. + +The courtyard was enclosed by a wall, high and massive, provided with +loopholes, parapet, bastions, and breastwork; and the great gate, which +had not yet been many weeks in its place, was so heavy that it was as +much as four men could do to open and close it. + +Master Peter had been anxious to have his horses as well lodged as they +had been at his brother's; but, after all, the stables, which were just +opposite the house, were not such as horses in these days would consider +stables at all. They were, in fact, mere sheds with open sides, such as +are now put up to shelter the wild horses of the plains. + +When all this was done there still remained the digging of a broad, deep +ditch or moat, in which the master himself and all his servants took +part, assisted by some of the neighbouring peasants; and in about three +months' time all was finished, and the curious assemblage of irregular +buildings was more or less fortified, and capable of being defended if +attacked by any wandering band of brigands. + +It merely remains to add that Master Peter's castle stood in a +contracted highland valley, and was surrounded by pine-woods and +mountains. Behind it was the village, of which some few straggling +cottages, or rather huts, had wandered away beyond it into the woods. +The inhabitants were not Hungarians, except in so far as that they lived +in Hungary; they were not Magyars, that is, but Slovacks, remnants of +the great Moravian kingdom, who had retired, or been driven, into the +mountains, when the Magyars occupied the land. The Magyars loved the +green plains, the lakes--full of fish, and frequented by innumerable +wild fowl--to which they had been accustomed in Asia; the Slovacks, +whether from choice or necessity, loved the mountains. + +These latter were an industrious, honest people, no trouble to anyone, +and able to make a living in spite of the hard climate. They had +suffered in more ways than one by the absence of the family; for the +gentry at the great house had as a rule been good to them; and when they +were away, or coming but seldom, and then only for sport with the bears, +boars, and wolves which abounded, the poor people were treated with +contempt and tyranny by those in charge of the property. They no doubt +were glad when Master Peter came to live among them, and as for their +landlord, time had passed pleasantly enough with him in spite of his +being so far out of the world. + +What with looking after the estate, in his own fashion, hunting, riding, +sometimes going on a visit or having friends to stay, he had found +enough to occupy him; but being a hospitable soul, he was always +delighted to welcome the rare guests whom chance brought into the +neighbourhood, and considered that he had a right to keep them three +days--if they could be induced to stay longer, so much the better for +him! + +As for companionship, besides Dora, who could ride and shoot too, as +well as any of her contemporaries, he had Talabor the page, who had come +to him a pale, delicate-looking youth, but had gained so much in health +and strength since he had been in service that his master often pitied +him for not having parents better able to advance his prospects in life. +They were gentry, originally "noble," as every free-born Magyar was, but +they were poor gentry, and had been glad to place their son with Master +Peter to complete his education, as was the custom of the time. The +great nobles sent their sons to the King's court to be instructed in all +manly and courtly accomplishments; the lower nobility and poor +gentlefolk sent theirs to the great nobles, who often had in their +households several pages. These occupied a position as much above that +of the servants as beneath that of the "family," though they themselves +were addressed as "servant," until they were thought worthy the title of +"_deAik_," which, though meaning literally "Latinist," answered pretty +much to "clerk" or "scholar," and implied the possession of some little +education. + +Master Peter was so well satisfied with Talabor that he now always +addressed him as "clerk" in the presence of strangers. He was growing +indeed quite fond of him, and was pleased to see how much he had gained +in strength and good looks, and how well able he was to take part in all +the various forms of exercise, the long hunting excursions, the feats of +arms, to which he was himself devoted. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +GOOD NEWS OR BAD? + + +Father Roger had been shown all over the house, had seen all the +additions and improvements, inside and out, and now felt as much at home +in Master Peter's castle as he had done in Master Stephen's. + +It had been finally settled that he should start for Pest the next +morning, and Master Peter insisted on supplying him with a horse and an +armed escort. + +"And then," said he, unconsciously betraying the curiosity which was +devouring him, in spite of his assumed indifference, "then, when you +send the horses back, you know, you can just write a few lines and tell +me what the King wants to see you about." + +Peter was quite anxious for him to be off that he might hear the sooner; +but it struck him that, as Father Roger would be in Pest long before the +end of the month if he made the journey on horse-back, and yet could not +present himself at Court until the time appointed, he might perhaps be +glad of a lodging of his own, though, of course, there were monasteries +which would have received him. He offered him, therefore, the use of an +old house of his own (in much the same condition, he confessed, as his +present dwelling had been in), but in which he knew there were two +habitable rooms, for he had lived in them himself on the occasion of his +last visit to the capital. + +All was settled before supper-time, and Master Peter was just beginning +to wonder when that meal would make its appearance, when the sharp, +shrill sound of a horn gave him something else to think of. + +"Someone is coming! They are letting down the drawbridge," he exclaimed, +with much satisfaction at the prospect of another guest; and shortly +after, ushered in by Talabor, there entered the hall a young man, +somewhat dusty, but daintily apparelled. His black hair had been curled +and was shining from a recent application of oil, and in his whole +appearance and demeanour there was the indescribable something which +tells of the "rising man." + +"Ah, Clerk, it is you, is it?" said Peter, without rising from his seat. +"My brother is well, I hope?" + +"Master Stephen was quite well, sir, when I left him three days ago," +returned the youth, as he made an elaborate bow to the master, another +less low, but delivered with an amiable smile to Dora, and bestowed a +careless third upon Father Roger. + +"Well, and what is the news?" + +"Both good and bad, Mr. Szirmay," was the answer, with another bow. + +"Out with the bad first then, boy," said Master Peter quickly, knitting +his brows as he spoke. "Let us have the good last, and keep the taste of +it longest! Now then!" + +"You have heard, no doubt, sir, what rumours the land is ringing with?" +began the clerk with an air of much importance. + +"We have!" said Peter, shrugging his shoulders; "let them ring till they +are tired! If that is all you have jogged here about, gossip, you might +as well have stayed quietly at home." + +"Matters are more serious than you are perhaps aware, sir," said the +clerk; and with that he drew from his breast a packet done up in cloth, +out of which he produced a piece of parchment about the size of his +first finger. This he handed proudly to Master Peter, who snatched it +from his hand and passed it on to Father Roger, saying: + +"Here, Father, do you take it and read it! I declare if it does not look +like a summons to the Diet! There, there! blowing the trumpet, beating +the drum in Pest already, I suppose!" + +"Quite true, sir, it is a summons to the Diet," said Libor. "His +Majesty, or his Excellency the Palatine, I am not certain which of the +two, was under the impression that you were still with us, and so sent +both summonses to Master Stephen." + +"With _you_!" laughed Master Peter. "All right, _kinsman_, we shall obey +his Majesty's commands, and I hope it may not all prove to be much ado +about nothing." + +With kindly consideration for his host's imperfect Latin, Father Roger +proceeded to translate the summons into Hungarian. + +The King never made many words about things, and his order was plain and +direct. The Diet was to be held on such a date, at such a place, and it +was Master Peter's bounden duty to be present; that was all! + +"Ah, didn't I tell you so, Father?" said he gravely; "we shall be +lighting our fires before the cold sets in, and pitching our tents +before there is any camp! People are mad! and they are hurrying on that +good King of ours too fast. Well, _kinsman_," he went on sarcastically, +"tell us all you know, and if there is any more bad news let us have it +at once." + +"Bad news? it depends upon how you take it, sir; many call it good, and +more call it bad," returned Libor, a trifle abashed by Master Peter's +mode of address. + +"And pray what is it that is neither good nor bad? I don't like riddles, +let me tell you, and if you can't speak plainly you had better not speak +at all!" + +"Sir," said Libor, "I am only telling you what other people say----" and +then, as Master Peter made a gesture of impatience, he went on, "Kuthen, +King of the Kunok, has sent an embassy to his Majesty asking for a +settlement for his people----" + +"Ah! that's something," interrupted Peter, "and I hope his Majesty sent +them to the right-about at once?" + +"His Majesty received the ambassadors with particular favour, and in +view of the danger which threatens us, declared himself ready to welcome +such an heroic people." + +"Danger! don't let me hear that word again, clerk!" + +"It is not my word," protested Libor, with an appealing glance at Dora, +intended to call attention to Master Peter's injustice. + +"It's a bad word, whosesoever it is," insisted Peter. "Well, what more? +are we to be saddled with this horde of pagans then?" + +"Pagans no longer! at least they won't be when they come to settle. They +are all going to be baptized, the King and his family and all his +people. The ambassadors promised and were baptized themselves before +they went back." + +"What!" cried Father Roger, his face lighting up, "forty thousand +families converted to the faith! Why, it is divine, and the King is +almost an Apostle!" + +The good Father quite forgot all further fear of danger from the Kunok, +and from this moment took their part. He could see nothing but good in +this large accession of numbers to the Church. + +"New Christians!" said Peter, shaking his head doubtfully, as he saw the +impression made upon Roger. "Are such people Christians just because +the holy water has been poured upon their faces? They are far enough +from Christianity to my mind. Who can trust such folk? And then, to +admit them without consulting the nation, by a word of command--I don't +like the whole thing, and so far as the country is concerned, I see no +manner of use in it." + +"You see, Mr. Szirmay," said Libor, with a little accession of boldness, +"I was quite right. There are two of you here, and while one thinks the +news bad, the other calls it 'divine.'" + +"Silence, gossip!" said Peter haughtily, "you are not in your own house, +remember. Be so good as to wait till your opinion is asked before you +give it." Then, turning to Roger, he went on: "Well, if it is so, it is, +and we can't alter it; but there will be a fine piece of work when the +Diet does meet. It must be as his Majesty wills, but I for one shall not +give my consent, not though the Danube and Tisza both were poured upon +them. One thing is clear, we are called to the Diet and we must go, and +as for the rest it is in God's hands." + +So saying, Master Peter began to pace up and down the room, and no one +ventured to interrupt him. But presently he came to a standstill in +front of the clerk, and said gloomily, "You have told us ill news enough +to last a good many years; so, unless there is more to come, you may go +on to the next part, and tell us any good news you have." + +"I can oblige you with that, too," said the clerk, who evidently felt +injured by Peter's contemptuous way of speaking; "at least," he added, +"I hope I shall not have to pay for it as I have done for my other news, +though I am sure I am not responsible, for I neither invited the Kunok +nor summoned your Honour to the Diet." + +"Stop there!" said Peter, with some little irritation. "It seems to me, +young man, that you have opened your eyes considerably since you left my +brother; you talk a great deal and very mysteriously. Now then, let us +have any good news you can tell us!" + +"His Majesty has appointed Father Roger to be one of the Canons of +NagyvAirad (Grosswardein), and Master Peter's long suit has terminated in +a favourable judgment. The land in dispute is given back, with the +proceeds for the last nine years." + +"That is good news, if you will," cried Peter, both surprised and +pleased; and without heeding a remark from Libor that he was glad he had +been able to say something which was to his mind at last, he went on: +"Now, Dora, my dear, we shall be able to be a little more comfortable, +and we will spend part of the winter in Pest. Young ladies want a little +amusement, and you, my poor girl, have had to live buried in the woods, +where there is nothing going on." + +"The HA(C)dervAirys are in Pest too," the clerk chimed in, "and you will +have a delightful visit, my dear young mistress. His Majesty's Court was +never more brilliant than it is now; the Queen likes to see noble young +dames about her." + +Dora and Peter both looked at the clerk in amazement. He had been four +years in Master Stephen's house, without ever once venturing to make +Dora such a long speech as this. + +"What has come to this man?" and "How very odd!" were the thoughts which +passed through the minds of Peter and his daughter. + +But, forward as she thought him, Dora would not quite ignore the young +man's remark, so she turned to Father Roger, saying, "I know it is a +very gay life in Pest, and no doubt there is plenty of amusement at the +Court, but I am not at all anxious to leave this place. It is not like a +convent after all, and we have several nice people not far off who are +glad to see us." + +But having made a beginning, Libor had a great desire to prolong the +conversation. + +Roger and Peter were now both walking up and down the room, while Dora +was standing at one of the windows, so the opportunity seemed to be a +favourable one, and he proceeded to say gallantly that Dora was wronging +the world as well as herself by shutting herself out from +amusement--that there was more than one person who was only waiting for +a little encouragement--that her many admirers were frightened away--and +so on, and so on, until Dora cut him short, saying that she was sorry he +should oblige her to remind him of what Master Peter had just said +about not giving his opinion until it was asked for; and with that she +left him and joined her father. + +"What a haughty little thing it is for a forest flower, to be sure," +said Libor to himself; but he felt just a little ashamed nevertheless, +as he was well aware that he had taken an unheard-of liberty. +Conversation of any sort between the pages and the daughters of the +house was not "the thing" in those old days; and, quite apart from the +turn which Libor had been so little respectful as to give to his +remarks, Dora had felt uncomfortable at being forced into what she +considered unbecoming behaviour. + +"Ah! well," Libor reflected, "if she never moves from here she will find +herself left on the shelf, and then--why then she won't be likely to get +a better castle offered her than _mine_!" + +And thereupon Libor (whose eyes had certainly been "opened," as Master +Peter said) walked up to the two gentlemen, as if he were quite one of +the company, and joined in their conversation at the first pause. + +"Thunder and lightning! something has certainly come to this fellow. Let +us find out what it is," was Master Peter's inward comment. He was +beginning to be as much amused as irritated by the young gentleman's +newly acquired audacity; but it annoyed him to have him walking beside +him, so he came to a standstill and said, "Well, Libor, you have talked +a good deal about one thing and another, according to your lights; now +tell us something about your worthy self. Are you still in my brother's +service and intending to remain permanently? or have you other and more +brilliant prospects? A youth such as you, clerk, may do and be anything +if he sets about it in the right way. Let us hear something about +yourself." + +"Sir," replied Libor, "it is true that I have been so fortunate as to +share with many noble youths the privilege of living in Mr. Stephen's +household, and of winning his confidence; also I have enjoyed your own +favour in times past, Master Peter. 'Service' you call it, and rightly +too; but to-day I have discharged the last of Mr. Stephen's commissions. +He has treated me with a fatherly kindness and marked consideration +beyond my deserts, but I am now on my way to Pest to see Mr. Paul +HA(C)dervAiry, who has offered me the post of governor of one of his +castles." + +"Governor! at four or five and twenty! That is remarkable, Mr. Libor," +said Peter, with evident surprise. "A governor in the service of the +HA(C)dervAirys is a very important person! I can only offer my best +congratulations--to yourself, I mean." + +Libor was no fool, and he perfectly understood; but he made answer, with +his nose well in the air, "I can only thank you, sir, but I hope the +time may come when Mr. HA(C)dervAiry also will be able to congratulate +himself on the choice which does me so much honour." + +"Ah! I hope so, I hope so," laughed Master Peter cheerily. He was +pleased with himself for finding out how the clerk had been promoted, +and he reflected that true, indeed, was the old Latin proverb: _Honores +mutant mores._ + +As for Libor, though he felt injured, as much by Master Peter's manner +as by his words, he lost nothing of his self-complacency. +Self-confidence, self-esteem, his new title, and his brilliant prospects +were enough to prevent his being put out of countenance for more than a +moment by the snubs he had received both from father and daughter. As +for Canon Roger, he, good man, was just as humble now as before his +advancement, and either did not, or would not, see the young man's +bumptiousness; he continued to treat him, therefore, in the same +friendly way as when they were house-mates. + +"And so you are on your way to Pest," said Peter; "Father Roger is also +on his way thither. It is always safer to travel in company when there +are so many ruffians about, so I hope you will attend him." + +"I shall be very willing if Father Roger has no objection; we can travel +together." + +"The Canon of Grosswardein, remember," said Peter a little sharply. + +"And Mr. HA(C)dervAiry's governor," concluded Libor boldly and without +blinking. + +"Well, Mr. Governor, in the meantime you may like to look round the +place a little before it is too dark; I may perhaps ask you to do a +commission or two for myself by-and-by, but for the present will you +leave us to ourselves?" + +This was such an unmistakable dismissal that Libor actually lost his +self-possession. Hesitatingly, and with a bad grace enough, he advanced +towards the door, but there he stopped, recovered himself, and +exclaimed: + +"Dear me! how forgetful I am! But perhaps the reception I have met with +may account for it." + +"Reception!" burst forth Peter, whose gathering wrath now boiled over at +this last piece of insolence. "I don't know, gossip, or rather Mr. +Governor, I don't know what sort of reception you expected other than +that which you have always found here! Hold your greyhounds in, clerk. +If Mr. Stephen and Mr. HA(C)dervAiry are pleased to make much of you, that +is their affair. For my own part I value people according to their +worth, and the only worth I have as yet discovered in you, let me tell +you, is that at which you rate yourself." + +Master Peter was not the man to be trifled with, and for a moment Libor +felt something of the old awe and deference usual with him in the +presence of his superiors. But a deep sense of injury speedily overcame +his fear, and after a short pause he made answer: + +"As you will, sir. Since you assign HA(C)dervAiry's governor a place among +the dogs, I have nothing further to do save to take my leave." + +With that he again turned to the door. + +"If there is any message which you have forgotten, boy, you don't stir +from here until you have given it. That done, you may go when you like, +and where you like, and no one will detain you." + +Master Peter spoke as one who intended to be obeyed, and Libor was +impressed, not to say cowed. He was very well aware that, as they would +say in these days, it was "not well to eat cherries from the same dish" +as the Szirmay nobles. (At the time of which we are writing a dish of +cherries was a sight rarely to be seen.) He held it, therefore, wiser to +yield, and mastering himself as well as he could, he said: + +"Mr. Stephen wished me to inform you that Bishop WAincsa has been +inquiring whether you would be disposed to let your house in Pest to his +Majesty." + +"The King? Let it? Is Mr. WAincsa out of his mind? Do their Majesties +want to hire a great heap of stone like that, where even I have never +been comfortable!" + +"That is my message, but I can explain it. His Majesty wants the house +prepared for the King of the Kunok and his family. You are at liberty to +agree or not, but in any case Mr. Stephen will expect your answer by +messenger, unless you are pleased to send it direct to the Bishop by +myself, or the Canon, as we shall find him in Pest and it will reach him +the sooner." + +"What! Matters have gone so far that they are getting quarters ready for +Kuthen, and the nation is still left in ignorance." + +Libor merely shrugged his shoulders and said nothing, as the question +was not particularly addressed to himself. + +"Hem!" said Peter thoughtfully. "I should have liked to spend part of +the winter in my own house in Pest, but it is in a bad state, very bad, +and if the King is willing to repair and put it in order, he shall have +it free for three years. It will be time enough to talk about rent after +that." + +"May I take the answer to Mr. WAincsa?" inquired Libor, who was still +standing at the open door. + +"Yes, Governor, you may!" answered Peter, really at heart one of the +best-natured men, who was always and almost instantly sorry when he had +lost his temper and "pulled anyone's nose." + +"You may, Libor, and we will not let the sun go down upon our wrath, so +you will remain here, if you please, sup well and sleep well. Talabor +will see that you have all you want, and then you will travel on with +the good Father and some of my men-at-arms." + +Then turning, and giving his hand to Roger, he added: + +"I am sorry, Father, that as things are you see I can't give you +quarters in my house; but the King comes before all." + +As for Libor, he chose to consider that Peter had made him some sort of +amends by his last speech; it pleased him much to play the part of an +injured person who has accepted an apology, and he therefore at once +resumed his polite manners, and bowing and smiling he replied with all +due deference: + +"As far as I am concerned, sir, nothing can give me greater pleasure, +and since you permit me to do so, I will remain." + +With another bow he left the room, not the house, which indeed he had +never intended to leave, if he could help himself. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +MASTER STEPHEN'S PAGE. + + +Libor, as already remarked, had never had the least intention of leaving +Master Peter's house so soon after his arrival as he had threatened to +do, if he could by any possibility avoid doing so. + +The fact was he had a little business of his own on hand, as anyone +observant might have found out from his air of mystery, and the fact +that, if he was on his way to Pest, he had had to come so far out of it, +that Master Stephen would certainly have employed another messenger had +Libor not particularly desired to come. + +Master Peter was not very observant, but even he wondered in himself +once or twice what the fellow wanted, and came to the conclusion that +his new dignity had turned his head. + +Dora wondered a little also, and felt that the young man had been +impertinent, not only in his remarks, but in the way in which he had +followed her about with his eyes throughout the interview. + +He was not a person of much consequence, however, and both father and +daughter quickly dismissed him from their thoughts. + +And here, by way of explaining matters, we must mention that many years +ago, when Dora was quite a tiny child, it had been settled between her +father and HA(C)dervAiry the Palatine, that she should marry the latter's +son Paul. HA(C)dervAiry was Master Peter's oldest and closest friend, one to +whom he was much attached; and Dora, though no heiress, was a daughter +of one of the proudest and noblest houses in Hungary. The match was +considered perfectly suitable, therefore, and the HA(C)dervAirys were much +attached to their "little daughter," as they constantly called her. Paul +himself admired and liked the bride chosen for him quite as much as was +necessary, and it is needless to say that Dora's father thought him +extremely fortunate in having a girl so sweet, so clever, so +well-educated, so good-looking, so altogether charming, for his wife. + +Dora herself no one thought of consulting. As a good, dutiful daughter, +she would, of course, accept without question the husband approved by +her father; and there was no denying that Paul was calculated to win any +girl's admiration, for he was an imposing, gallant-looking personage, +and accomplished withal. They would certainly make a handsome, even a +striking pair. + +Every time Paul came to stay he found Dora more attractive; and though +he had never in any way alluded to his hopes, of which she was quite +ignorant, he could not help feeling that she was the very bride he would +choose, or rather, would have chosen for himself, but for one +unfortunate defect--her small dowry! It was a very serious defect in his +eyes, though his parents thought little of it, for he was ambitious. His +great desire was to make a fine figure in the eyes of the world, to be +admired, courted, looked up to; and though the HA(C)dervAirys were wealthy, +more wealth never comes amiss to those who wish to shine in society. + +Was it any wonder therefore that Paul should presently begin to reflect +that Dora's cousin JolAinta would suit him better than herself? Not that +he liked her as well, for, though a pretty, gentle girl, she had not +much character, and she was not nearly so clever and amusing; but she +was an heiress, a considerable heiress, and Paul was convinced that he +liked her quite well enough to make her his wife. + +Dora was now nearly eighteen, and very soon he would be expected to ask +her father's consent to their marriage. To Dora herself he would of +course not say a word until he had her father's leave. + +He was in a most difficult position, poor fellow! He was fond of Dora; +and he was fond of his parents, who would be greatly vexed if he +disappointed them in this matter. It was a serious thing to vex one's +parents, especially when they had it in their power to disinherit one! +His father was a generous, hot-tempered soldier; he would warmly resent +any insult put upon his old friend's daughter; Master Peter might resent +it too, though no word had yet passed between himself and his intended +son-in-law. Truly a difficult position! But for all that, he meant to +please himself, if he could safely do so. + +Paul was turning these things over in his mind, and was pitying himself +and racking his brains to discover some way by which his parents might +be induced to take a reasonable view of things, when it occurred to him +that two heads were better than one. + +He was staying just now with the Szirmays at their castle, where he was +always made much of, and Master Stephen was constantly arranging hunting +parties and other country amusements in his honour. + +Somehow, he never quite knew how it was, he found himself, during a +moment of leisure, near the room occupied by one of the pages; and just +for the sake of talking to somebody he went in, and was received with +obsequious delight by Libor, who murmured his thanks for the great +honour done him by the visit of so high and mighty a gentleman. + +The little room was of the plainest description, and not too light, but +the unglazed windows were at least filled in with bladder-skin, and the +bare walls were painted white; the furniture consisted of a small open +stove of earthenware, a roughly-made, unpainted bedstead, a primitive +wooden table, and two or three stools. It was bare enough for a monk's +cell, and it was unceiled, open to the roof, which appeared to consist +of old boards and lattice-work of a rough description. + +Libor was attired in a pair of red trousers, rather the worse for wear, +and fastened round his waist by a leather strap, a waistcoat of the same +colour, and a coarse shirt with wide, hanging sleeves. He was wearing +neither coat nor jacket, and he had a slender reed pen stuck behind his +ear. There were writing materials and a book or two on the table, and +the page was busy with his pen, when, to his immense surprise, there +entered the haughty young noble, a tall handsome personage clad in a +"dolmAiny" of bright blue woollen stuff which reached down to his ankles, +and was not unlike a close-fitting dressing-gown. + +Libor started to his feet, and bowed almost to the ground as he +expressed his sense of the great man's condescension, while he wondered +in his own mind to what it was due, and what was wanted of +him--something, he felt pretty confident, and he was quite ready to +serve such an one as Paul, who would be sure to make it worth his while. +But what could it be? + +After a little beating about the bush, and a little judicious flattery, +which drew forth many humble thanks for his good opinion from Libor, +coupled with an expression of his hope that Mr. HA(C)dervAiry would find +that opinion justified if ever he should need his services, Paul at once +proceeded to business. + +Some men would have been disgusted to see a fellow-man, bowing, bending, +and cringeing before them, as Libor was doing, but to Paul it was merely +natural, and it pleased him, as showing that the clerk had a proper +respect for his "betters." + +"I am going to tell you something, clerk, which I have not told to +another soul," began Paul, and Libor bowed again and felt as if he were +on hot coals. + +"You have guessed, I daresay, that I don't come here merely to pay an +ordinary visit?" + +Libor said nothing, judging it more prudent not to mention any surmises +if he had them. + +"Well, the fact is that I am here this time by desire of my parents to +ask the hand of Master Peter's daughter." + +Libor smiled. + +"Yes, Libor, _deAik_, but--well, I have the deepest respect for my +parents, and I would not willingly cross their wishes, but for all that, +I am of age, I am four-and-twenty, and such matters as this I should +prefer to manage in my own way." + +"Most natural, sir, I am sure," said Libor, with another deep bow; +"marriage is an affair which--which----" + +"Which needs careful deliberation, you mean; just so! And the more I +consider and weigh matters, the more I feel that it is Master Stephen's +daughter JolAinta who is the one for me." + +"A most charming young lady! and I quite understand Mr. HA(C)dervAiry's +choice; and, if I might hazard the remark, I would suggest, with all +possible deference, that the fair Mistress Dora is not nearly as well +provided for as Mr. Stephen's daughter; though her father has a quantity +of gold and silver plate, his property is not large, and he cannot give +her much." + +"Say 'nothing,' Libor, and you will be nearer the mark! I know it, and I +am glad to see you don't try to hide anything from me. Well, of course, +property never comes amiss even to the wealthiest, and 'if the master +provides dinner, it is well for the mistress to provide supper,' as they +say. But I had rather take JolAinta empty-handed than Dora with all the +wealth of the world. I like property, I don't deny it, who does not? But +I don't care a straw for Dora, and I do for JolAinta." + +"Ah, then of course that settles it! But suppose Master Peter should +have suspected your intentions?" + +"There is just the rub! He is an old friend of my father's, and I should +be sorry to hurt him; but I have made up my mind to ask for JolAinta." + +"H-m, h-m," murmured the page thoughtfully. "Rather an awkward state of +things, sir." + +"Of course it is! but look you here, Libor, if you can help me out of +it, I will make it worth your while. I know how modest and unselfish you +are, but I shall be able to find you something, something which will set +you up for life." + +Libor's eyes sparkled. This was even more than he had looked for. + +But Paul was growing rather impatient; this long interview with a person +so far beneath him was distasteful to him, and he cut short the page's +servile protestations of devotion and gratitude. What was to be done? +that was the question. + +"First make sure of Mistress JolAinta herself, before anything was said +to her father," suggested Libor, "and then finish his visit and take his +leave without proposing for either. Visits were not always bound to end +with a proposal, and Master Peter could not possibly be hurt therefore. +As for Mr. Stephen, when the time should come to ask his consent, he +would certainly not refuse such a son-in-law as the son of the Palatine. +Mr. HA(C)dervAiry's parents"--Libor hesitated a little--"they could not +blame him if--suppose--disappointed they might be, but they could not +blame him--if he were able to say that Dora had another suitor, and one +whom she preferred to himself, though Master Peter was not aware of the +fact." + +"H-m!" said Paul, "that would settle it, of course; but--there is none." + +"No, there is not," said the clerk thoughtfully, with one of his +deferential laughs, "but--we might find or invent someone." + +"Find someone! Who is there?" + +"Well, let us see--if--if we can invent no one else, there is myself!" + +"You!" cried Paul, with evident and intense disgust, "you! But how? in +what way?" and he broke into a laugh. + +"That is my affair, sir; and if you have confidence in me----" + +"Hush! I hear footsteps. Not another word now, I will contrive to see +you again privately before I go from here. Just one thing more. I wonder +whether you would undertake to do me a small service without telling the +Mr. Szirmays, and without leaving this house." + +"What am I to understand, sir?" asked the page, with marked attention. + +And Paul explained that if he succeeded in arranging matters with +Mistress JolAinta, he should want someone on whom he could depend, to +keep him informed of all that went on in the house, in case, for +instance, Master Stephen should be thinking of another match for his +daughter, and--in fact, there might be many things which he ought to +know; and then if he came again himself during the winter, he should +want someone to see that he had comfortable quarters prepared for him on +the road, and so on. + +Libor was only too delighted to serve such a magnificent gentleman, a +gentleman who was so open-handed and so condescending moreover, and the +bargain was struck. Paul handed the page a well filled purse, telling +him to keep a fourth part of the contents for himself, and to use the +remainder to cover any expenses to which he might be put in sending +messengers, etc. + +"And look you here, Libor, from to-day you are in my service, +remember--one of my honourable pages; and if ever you should wish to try +your fortune elsewhere, there will be a place ready for you in my +establishment." + +Libor bowed himself to the ground as he answered, "With heart and soul, +sir." + +Meantime the footsteps had drawn nearer, and a tap at the door put a +stop to the conversation. + +"The gentlemen are waiting, sir," said the governor, or seneschal, of +the castle, a dignified-looking man clad in a black gown, and wearing at +his girdle a huge bunch of keys; for the governor of such a castle as +that of the Szirmays, was keeper, steward, seneschal, as well as captain +of the men-at-arms. + +"In a moment," replied Paul, and as soon as the old man's back was +turned, he whispered hurriedly, "If anyone should happen to ask what I +came to your room for, you can say that I wanted a letter written." + +Paul stayed yet a few days longer, and was so well entertained with +hunting, horse-races, foot-races, feats of arms, and banquets that he +could hardly tear himself away from the cordial hospitality of his +hosts. He and Libor met but once again in private; but when he was gone +Libor held his head higher than he had ever done before. Up to this time +he had been the least well off of the pages, and had been deferential to +his companions, but now all this was changed. To the Szirmays, on the +other hand, and especially to Master Peter, he was more deferential, +more attentive, than ever before. + +Weeks, months passed, and if Master Peter was somewhat surprised that +his old friend's son had not yet declared himself, he was much too proud +to show it. And he was far too proud also to show how much hurt he was +when he presently learnt that Paul was a suitor for the hand of his +niece, and had been accepted by her father and herself. + +Master Peter was deeply hurt indeed, and he felt too that his brother +had not behaved well to him, knowing, as he did, the arrangement between +himself and his friend. + +Stephen also felt guilty; and the end of it was, that, though the +brothers were sincerely attached to one another, and though no word on +the subject passed between them, both felt a sort of constraint. The old +happy intercourse was impossible; and for this reason Master Peter came +reluctantly to the conclusion that he should be wiser to set up a home +of his own again, and leave his brother in possession of the +family-dwelling. + +Paul had had considerable trouble with his parents, however. They would +not hear a word in depreciation of Dora, and at the first insinuation of +anything to her actual discredit, HA(C)dervAiry had flown into a rage, +denounced it as idle, shameless gossip, and declared hotly that Paul +ought to be ashamed of himself for giving a moment's heed to such lying +rumours. + +When Paul went a step further and obstinately asserted his belief that +Dora was carrying on a secret flirtation with Libor the page, the old +warrior's fury was great, and he vowed that he would ride off instantly +and tell his friend everything. + +Yet, after all, he did nothing of the sort! (Paul and Libor perhaps +could have told why.) So far from taking any step of the kind, he held +his peace altogether, and finally acquiesced in his son's choice. He +gave his consent, very unwillingly, it is true, but he gave it! + +Master Peter came to him on a visit not long after, and was so far from +betraying any annoyance that he joked and congratulated his friend on +having a rich daughter-in-law instead of a poor one, and was full of +praise of JolAinta, whom he declared to be a dear girl whom no one could +help loving. If Dora's father did not care, why should Paul's? + +All difficulties in Paul's way seemed to have been removed; but it would +be necessary, as he reminded Libor, to keep up the fiction of Dora's +attachment for some little time to come, or he would be found out, and +his father's anger in that case would be something not easily appeased. +It hurt his pride to employ the clerk in such a matter, and to have it +supposed that a girl who might have married his honourable self could +possibly look with favour upon such a young man as Libor, but there +seemed to be no help for it. He was already in Libor's power. + +And Libor was more than willing to play the part assigned to him. He had +as keen an eye to the main chance as Paul, and Paul had not only been +liberal in money for the present, but had held out brilliant hopes for +the future. + +If he stayed on with Master Stephen, argued Libor with himself, he would +be called "clerk" all the days of his life, and end by marrying some +little village girl. If, on the other hand, he obliged young HA(C)dervAiry, +made himself necessary to him, and, above all, entered into a +partnership with him of such a nature as HA(C)dervAiry would not on any +account wish to have betrayed--why then he might kill two birds with one +stone! He had already had a few acres of land promised him; if, in +addition to this, he could obtain some gentlemanly situation such as +that of keeper, or governor, or perhaps even marry a distant connection +of the family, an active, sensible man such as himself might rise to +almost anything! Young HA(C)dervAiry might be to him a mine of wealth. + +This settled the matter, and no sooner had Master Peter left his +brother's house than Libor found reasons without end for going to see +him. There were various articles to be sent after him in the first +place; then there were settlements, arrangements to be made, letters or +messages from JolAinta to be carried; and Libor was always ready and +eager to be the messenger. The other pages had not a chance now, for he +was always beforehand with them; so much so indeed that both they, the +servants, and at last even Master Stephen, could not help noticing that, +whereas formerly Libor had been a stay-at-home, now he seemed never to +be so well pleased as when he was on the move. + +Master Stephen wondered what he could want with his brother Peter, and +the young pages, and sometimes the servants, joked him and tried to find +out what made him so ready to undertake these more or less adventurous +journeys. Libor said nothing, but looked volumes; and they noticed, too, +that the old red trousers and waistcoat had quite disappeared, and that +the page now thought much of his appearance and came out quite a dandy +whenever he was going on his travels. + +Master Stephen held it beneath his dignity to joke with his inferiors, +but JolAinta had been more condescending to Libor of late than she had +ever been before; and naturally so, as he was in Paul's confidence, and +every now and then had news of him, or even a message from him to give +her. It brought them nearer together, and, innocently enough, JolAinta +once asked him merrily what it was that made him like to go on such +long-expeditions, when it would have been just as easy to send someone +else. Whereupon Libor assumed such an expression of shamefaced modesty +that JolAinta, who had spoken in the merest jest, began to fancy that +perhaps the page really had a reason, and might be courting one of +Dora's maids. That it could possibly be Dora herself, never crossed her +mind for a moment. + +But others saw matters in a different light. The servants had their +gossip and their suspicions; the young pages jested, and looked on Libor +with eyes of envy; and Libor, though careful not to commit himself, +managed somehow to encourage the idea that he and Dora were deeply +attached to one another. + +Of course, neither servants nor pages held their tongues, and soon +people were whispering about Dora Szirmay in a way that would have +horrified herself and all her family had they known it. But those +chiefly concerned are the last to be reached by such rumours. Whether in +any shape they had reached Paul's parents it is impossible to say; but, +at all events, he had married JolAinta with their consent, and Libor had +continued his visits to Master Peter whenever he could find or devise a +pretext. + +On the occasion of his present visit, when he had been the bearer of the +summons to the Diet, "on his way to Pest," he availed himself of Master +Peter's suggestion that he should take a look round the place, to make +himself thoroughly acquainted with the ins and outs of the court-yard, +stables, and other out-buildings; for, as he reflected, such knowledge +never came amiss, and one could never tell when it might be useful. He +even noticed absently that one part of the outer wall had not been +repaired. More than this, while prowling about in the dusk, he had +accidentally fallen in, not for the first time, with Dora's maid, Borka, +whose favour he had won long ago by a few pretty speeches, not +unaccompanied by some more solid token of his goodwill. + +It was always well to have a friend at Court. + +But just as he turned away from Borka, he came face to face with +Talabor; and Talabor actually had the impudence to cross-question him as +to what he was about. He was not to be shaken off, moreover, and at +last, apparently making a virtue of necessity, Libor confessed that he +had given the maid a note for Mistress Dora; but he begged and implored +Talabor not to betray him, for it would be the utter ruin of him if he +did. + +Of course he knew that it was most presumptuous that a poor young man +like himself could ever aspire to the hand of a daughter of the +Szirmays; they both knew that their attachment was hopeless, but--well, +they had spent several years under the same roof, and had had +opportunities of meeting, and--could not Mr. Talabor understand? + +Mr. Talabor understood perfectly, inasmuch as his own admiration of +Miss Dora had been growing ever since the first day he saw her. He had +worshipped her as something far above him, as all that was good, +upright, and honourable, and it was a shock to have it even suggested +that she could condescend to underhand dealings with anyone. It was odd, +too, if she really cared for Libor, that she should have received and +behaved to him as she had done, and though Libor might protest that +Master Peter had always shown him marked favour, Talabor was of opinion +that he shared his own dislike to the young man, and had shown it pretty +plainly. + +"Master Peter ought to know what is going on," he said sturdily; but +Libor thereupon became frantic in his entreaties. He implored, he +positively writhed in his anguish, not for himself, oh no! what did it +matter about a poor, insignificant fellow like him? it might ruin all +his prospects with the HA(C)dervAirys, probably would, and he should not +even be able to return to Master Stephen; he should be a vagabond, and +beggar--but that was no matter of course compared with Mistress Dora! +She would be ruined in the eyes of the world if it came abroad that she +had stooped to care for such as he, and it was certain to get about if +Talabor betrayed them. Whereas now no one but themselves and Borka knew +anything about it; and she was faithful, she would not open her lips, +for he had made it worth her while to keep silence. + +"An odd sort of fidelity," it seemed to Talabor; but he was not quite +clear as to whether it were his business to interfere; and, if it were, +to injure Mistress Dora---- + +Libor saw his advantage and pressed it. He reminded Talabor that Master +Peter was hasty, and so incautious when his wrath was aroused that some +one would be sure to hear of it; he would certainly tell his brother, +Master Stephen would dismiss himself, and--well, the whole thing would +come out. Dora would be scorned by the world, and--besides, this was +probably his last visit; he was going to a distance, and what was more, +they had both realised that their attachment must be given up--it was +hopeless. + +"If it can't be, it can't!" said Libor, with a deep-drawn sigh. + +He threw himself upon Talabor's mercy, and Talabor promised. + +"But remember," said he, "it is only because speaking might do more harm +than good, as you are not coming again, but if ever you do, and I catch +you tampering with Borka, I go straight to Master Peter." + +"If I come, and if you catch me, so you may!" said Libor, with a sneer. + +"I understand all about it," he added to himself, as he turned away with +the announcement that he was going to see Moses _deAik_, the governor. +"I understand! You would give your eyes to be in my shoes, Mr. Talabor, +or what you suppose to be mine! And why shouldn't they be? The ball has +been set rolling, and the farther it rolls the bigger it will grow. +Borka will do her part with the servants, and they won't keep their +mouths shut! So! my scornful little beauty, you are not likely to get +many suitors whom Master Peter will favour, and who knows? Next time we +meet--next time we meet--we may both sing a different song." + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +MISTAKE THE FIRST. + + +Father Roger was gone, and Libor the clerk was gone, but Dora and her +father were not long left alone. More acquaintances than usual found it +convenient to take the mountain castle "on the way to Pest," or +elsewhere. + +But what was more remarkable than this sudden influx of guests was the +fact that so many of them made polite inquiry after Libor the clerk, +"keeper," or "governor," as they began to call him. + +"What on earth is the matter with the folk!" said Master Peter more than +once. "What makes them so interested all at once in that raw, +long-eared, ink-stained youth! They ask questions and seem to expect me +to know as much about him as if he and I were twin-brethren!" + +"I can't think!" returned Dora with a merry laugh, which might have +re-assured Talabor had he heard it. "It is very odd, but they ask me +too, and really I quite forgot the good man's existence from one time to +another." + +"Well," said Master Peter, "I suppose one ought not to dislike a man +without cause, and I have nothing positively against the jackanapes, but +I don't trust him, for all his deferential ways, and I fancy that when +once he "gets hold of the cucumber-tree" we shall see a change in him. +Your uncle has been kind to him, but not because he liked him, I know! +I'll tell you what it must be! he has been boasting, and exaggerating +what we have done for him," Master Peter went on in his simplicity, +"making himself out a favourite, and counting up the number of visits he +has paid us here, until he has made people think we have adopted him, +and they will be taking him for my son and heir next, faugh! Ha! ha! A +pushing young man! I never could think why he wanted to be coming here, +but no doubt it gave him importance, and very likely Paul thought we had +special confidence in him, otherwise I don't see what made him give such +an appointment to a youth of his age. That must be it!" + +And yet, while he said the words, Peter had a vague feeling that there +was something behind which he could neither define nor fathom. + +Delighted as he was to welcome guests, he had not enjoyed their society +of late so much as was usual with him. Sometimes he told himself that it +was all fancy, and then at another he would be annoyed by a something +not quite to his taste in their manner to Dora, while the frequent +reference to Libor was so irritating that he had more than once almost +lost his temper, and he had actually told some inquiries with haughty +dignity that if they wanted to know what the young man was doing they +had better ask the servants. + +This had had the desired effect; so far, at least, that Master Peter was +not troubled again; but people talked all the same, and even more than +before, for his evident annoyance and the proud way in which he had +repelled them made the busy-bodies put two and two together and conclude +that he really had some secret trouble which he wanted to hide from the +world. And so, by way of helping him, they naturally confided their +suspicions one to the other, and to their friends. + +Gossip about people of such importance as the Szirmays naturally had a +peculiar zest, and the fact that Dora was first cousin to JolAinta, one +of the Queen's favourite attendants and wife of Paul HA(C)dervAiry, of +course gave it additional flavour. + +Maids who came with their mistresses questioned Borka, who answered them +as she had been instructed to do, with earnest injunctions as to +secrecy. Talabor, being sent out with a message to Master Stephen, heard +similar gossip from the pages of his household, gossip which distressed +him greatly, though he vowed that he did not believe a word of it. + +He could not get it out of his head during his lonely ride home, but as +he thought over all that he had heard, it suddenly struck him that, +supposing it to be true, Borka was not as "faithful" as Libor fancied. +The story must have come abroad through her, unless--an idea suddenly +flashed across his mind--Libor might have trumped the whole thing up by +way of increasing his own importance. But then he had actually caught +him with Borka! Talabor resolved to have a word with Miss Borka at the +first opportunity. + +In due time Master Peter set out for Pest, and thither we must now +follow him. + +Oktai, the Great Khan, found himself on the death of Dschingis at the +head of a million and a half of fighting men, and at once determined to +carry out his father's plans of conquest by sending his nephew Batu +westward to attack the peaceful Kunok, the "Black Kunok," as the +chronicles call them, who dwelt between the Volga and Dnieper in Great +or Black Cumania. + +Twice the Mongols had been beaten back, but in the end numbers had +prevailed, and to save what remained of this people, their King had led +them into Moldavia, then occupied in part by the Little, or White Kunok. + +Meanwhile, alarming rumours of what had occurred had reached Hungary, +but were credited by few, and as to being themselves in any real, still +less immediate danger, that the Hungarians would not bring themselves +to believe. Their King, BA(C)la (Albert) took a very different view of the +situation. One of the most energetic kings Hungary had ever had, and +brave in meeting every difficulty, though he did not fear danger, he did +not despise it, and while the great nobles spent their time in amusing +themselves, he was following with the most careful attention all that +was going on among his neighbours. He was kept well informed, and +nothing of that which Oktai was doing escaped him. He knew how Russia +had been conquered, how the Kunok had been hunted, and how the countless +Mongol hordes were gaining ground day by day. + +He knew, but he could not make others see with his eyes. More than once +he appealed to the great nobles, urging them to make ready, while he +himself strove gradually to raise troops and take measures for the +defence of the kingdom. But it was all in vain; they heard, but they +heeded not. And then one day they were quite surprised, when, after many +perils and dangers, Kuthen's messengers appeared in Buda, having come, +as they said, from the forests of Moldavia. + +They were no brilliant train, but men who had fought and suffered, and +endured many hardships; and they had come, as Libor told Master Peter, +to ask for an asylum. Hungary was but thinly populated at this time, and +the King was always glad to welcome useful immigrants. Knowing which, +they asked him confidently, in their own king's name, to say where they +might settle, promising on his part that he and his people would be ever +faithful subjects, and more than this, that they would all become +Christians. + +BA(C)la felt that he must make up his mind at once. He could not send the +messengers away without a decided answer; he thought the Kuns would be +valuable, especially just now, as they were men who knew what war was, +and could fight well. + +But in bidding them welcome to Hungary without consulting the Diet, BA(C)la +made a mistake--a pardonable mistake, perhaps, for he knew as well as +anybody that Diets were sometimes stormy affairs, and not without +dangerous consequences; and he knew too that the majority of those who +would assemble either did not know of the peril which was so close at +hand, or were so obstinate in their apathy that they did not wish to +know of it; nevertheless it was a mistake. + +As for Kuthen, he had two alternatives before him. Either he might +submit to Oktai and join him in his career of conquest; or, he might +offer his services and faithful devotion to a king who was well known to +be both wise, chivalrous, and honourable. + +Kuthen made the better choice; but if his offer were refused, or if BA(C)la +did not make speed to help him, why, then, it was plain that the country +would be inundated by 40,000 fighting men. + +The King could not wait, and Kuthen's messengers were at once sent back +to Moldavia, laden with presents, and bearing the welcome news that +King BA(C)la was willing to receive the Black Kunok on the terms offered. +The White Kunok of Moldavia already acknowledged the Hungarian king as +their sovereign. + +Kuthen lost no time in setting out with his people, and BA(C)la, in the +warmth of his heart, determined to give him a magnificent reception. He +would receive him as a king should be received, whose power and +dominions had been till lately at least equal to his own; he would +receive him as if he were one of his most powerful neighbours; he would +receive him as a brother. + +BA(C)la cared little for pomp and show on his own account, and the +splendour of his train on this occasion was all the more striking. Never +had such a sight been seen in Hungary before as when, one morning in +early summer, the King rode out to the wide plain where he was to +receive his guests. + +Before him went sixty men on horseback, clad in scarlet, all ablaze with +gold and silver, wearing caps of bearskin or wolfskin, and producing +wild and wonderful music from trumpets, pipes, and copper drums. After +them came the King in a purple mantle over a long white "dolmAiny," which +sparkled with precious stones and was covered in front by a silver +breast-plate. Right and left of him rode a bishop in full canonicals and +bearing each his crozier. + +These were followed by some two hundred of the more prominent nobles, +among whom were Paul HA(C)dervAiry, Master Peter, and his brother Stephen, +and the latter's son Akos, who, as already mentioned, was attached to +the King's household. The rear was brought up by soldiers armed with +bows, all mounted like the rest. + +Truly it was an imposing spectacle, as Master Peter admitted when he +afterwards described it to Dora; but it afforded him little +satisfaction. + +No sooner was the army of bowmen drawn up in order than the war-song of +the advancing Kunok was to be heard. + +On they came, Kuthen and all his family on horseback, his retinue, and +his army which followed him at a respectful distance, part mounted, part +on foot, and behind these again a long thick cloud of dust. + +The pilgrims did not present a grand appearance. They looked as those +look who have come through many toils and dangers; but the King was not +without a certain pathetic dignity of his own, in spite of his somewhat +Mongolian features, slanting eyes, low, retreating forehead, and long +beard, already slightly touched with grey. He looked like a man who had +suffered, was suffering rather, and who could not forget his old home, +with its boundless plains, its vast flocks and herds, and its free +open-air life; but he looked also like a man who knew what it was to be +strong and powerful. + +Kuthen's followers came to a halt, while he and his family rode +forward, preceded by a horseman, not far short of a hundred years old, +who carried a double cross in token of the submission of his people both +to Christianity and to the sovereignty of the Hungarian king. + +The King and Queen, their two sons, and two daughters, all wore loose +garments of white woollen, fastened round the waist by unpolished belts +of some sort of metal; and on their heads were pointed fur caps, such as +are still worn by the Persians. The King and his sons had heavy swords +of a peculiar shape, while the Queen and Princesses carried feather fans +decorated with countless rows of red beads and bits of metal. + +What trust Kuthen felt in King BA(C)la was shown by the fact that his +bodyguard numbered no more than two or three hundred men armed for the +most part with spears. + +Master Peter had much to tell when he returned home of the beautiful +horses covered with the skins of wild beasts, on which Kuthen and his +family were mounted, and which naturally excited the admiration of such +horse-lovers as the Hungarians; also he told of the band of singers who +preceded the chiefs, and marked the pauses between their songs by wild +cries and the beating of long narrow drums; of the servants, women, and +children, who journeyed in the rear of the army, those of the latter too +small to walk being carried in fur skins slung on their mothers' backs; +and of the immense flocks and herds reaching far away into the distance, +whose herdmen, mounted on small, rough horses, drove their charges +forward with long whips and the wildest of shouts. + +He told her, too, how King BA(C)la had galloped forward to welcome his +guest with outstretched hand, and had made the most gracious and +friendly of speeches. + +"Much too gracious!" grunted Peter with a shrug of his shoulders. "All +very fine, but the country will have to pay for it!" + +"Oh, yes, and when all sorts of compliments had been exchanged (through +the interpreters of course, for they can't speak decent Hungarian) then +up came the baggage-horses, and the tents were pitched in a twinkling +side by side. They sprang up like mushrooms, and before long there was a +regular camp, such a camp as you never saw!" + +BA(C)la's tent was of bright colours without, and sparkled with silver and +gold within; but Kuthen's, which was larger (for it accommodated his +whole family), was meant not for show, but for use, and to be a defence +against wind and rain, and was composed of wild-beast skins. + +There was a banquet in the royal tent in the evening, and the haughty +Hungarian nobles saw, to their astonishment and relief, that, though +their dress was simple, not very different in fact from that in which +they had travelled, the King and Queen and their family actually knew +how to behave with the dignity befitting their exalted rank. + +The Kunok performed one of their war dances in front of the tent while +dinner was going on; and at the close of the entertainment, BA(C)la +presented Kuthen, his family, and the principal chiefs, with such gifts +as betokened the generous hospitality of the Hungarian and the lavish +munificence of the King. + +But Master Peter, though at other times he could be as lavish and +generous as anyone, was not over well pleased to see this +"extravagance," as he considered it; and his feelings were shared not +only by his brother and nephew, but by many another in the King's +retinue. + +"No good will come of it," muttered they to themselves. + +And the Kun chiefs, "barbarians" though they were in the eyes of the +Hungarian nobles, were, some of them at least, shrewd enough to notice +their want of cordiality, and sensitive enough to be hurt by their proud +bearing and the brilliant display they made. + + * * * * * + +The whole camp was early afoot, and the two bishops in their vestments, +attended by many of the lower clergy in white robes, appeared before the +royal tents, in one of which stood BA(C)la and his courtiers all fully +accoutred, with helmets on their heads and richly ornamented swords at +their sides, while in the other were assembled Kuthen and his family, +bare-headed and unarmed. + +BA(C)la's own body-guard, mounted and carrying their lances, battle-axes, +clubs, and swords, were stationed on each side of the royal tents, while +their officers rode up and down, or stopped now and again to exchange a +few words with one another in a low tone. A number of Kunok, bare-headed +and unarmed like their sovereign, stood round in a semicircle. Far away +in the distance might be heard every now and then the deep-mouthed bay +of the great sheep-dogs, and the shrill neigh of the horses, but +otherwise there seemed to be a hush over all. + +Presently, a camp-table was brought forward covered with a white cloth +and having a silver crucifix in the midst, with golden vessels on each +side, and then, all being ready, a solemn mass was said by one of the +bishops, interspersed with singing and chanting, by the choir, all of +which evidently impressed the Kunok, who had never seen the like, or +anything at all resembling it, before. By the expression of their wild +faces it was plain to see that while utterly surprised, and, in spite of +themselves, awed and subdued, some were doubtful, some more or less +rebellious, and many full of wonder as to what it all meant and whether +it portended good or evil. + +But there was yet more to follow. The service over, two of the younger +white-robed clergy took up a large silver basin, another pair carried +silver ewers, while the remainder, with lighted torches, formed up in +two lines and all followed the bishops to Kuthen's tent, in front of +which he, his family and retinue, were now standing with King BA(C)la +beside them. + +If the Kunok had looked doubtful and uneasy before, they looked yet more +disturbed now by the mysterious ceremony which followed. It was all +utterly unintelligible to them; they heard words in a strange tongue +uttered over their King and Queen, over the Princes and Princesses, and +they saw water poured upon the faces of each in turn, and no doubt +concluded that they were witnessing some magic rite, which might have +the effect of bringing their sovereign completely under the influence of +the Hungarians. + +And not only the royal family, but their attendants, the chiefs, and +last of all themselves had to submit to the same ceremony, without +having the least conception of what the faith was into which they had +been thus hastily baptized. + +The main body of the Kunok arrived a few weeks later, and they, too, +were baptized in batches, with an equal absence of all instruction and +preparation, and in equal ignorance of what was being done for them. + +That was the way in which the heathen were "converted" in too many +instances in bygone times. Is it wonderful that they remained pagans at +heart, or that traces of pagan superstition are to be found in Christian +lands even to the present day? + +Well, the Kunok were now "Christians," and within a few months +settlements were allotted to them in those thinly populated districts +which the King was desirous of seeing occupied by inhabitants of kin to +his own people. + +Meanwhile, Kuthen and his train had reached Pest, and he had made his +entry with much pomp and state, BA(C)la being determined that his guest +should be received with all respect. The two Kings therefore rode side +by side, wearing their crowns and long flowing mantles, and the narrow, +crooked streets were thronged with people, all curious to see, if not +animated by any very friendly feeling towards the new arrivals. + +Some of the more prominent chiefs BA(C)la determined to keep about himself +that he might win their confidence and attachment by kindness. + +But Kuthen and his family were conducted at once to Master Peter's old +mansion near the Danube, BA(C)la promising that he would have a proper +residence built for them as soon as he could find a site. + +Peter's house was of an original description, and consisted, in fact, of +six moderate-sized houses, connected one with the other by doors and +passages added by his father; but it had at least been made habitable +and provided with present necessaries, and afforded better shelter, as +well as more peace, than their tents, and the caves and woods of +Moldavia, where they had dwelt in perpetual fear of their enemies. + +All this Master Peter duly reported to Dora, with comments of his own, +and many a shake of the head, and still her curiosity was not satisfied. + +"What more did she want? He had emptied his wallet so far as he knew." + +"You have hardly said a word about the Queen and the Princesses," +returned Dora. + +Whereupon Master Peter gave a short laugh. + +"H-m! You had better ask your cousin Akos what he thinks of them the +next time you see him," said he. + +"Why, does he see much of them? I thought he was as much against their +coming as you were." + +"So he was! So he was! as strongly as any one! but--well, you know a +page must go where he is sent, and his Majesty seems to want a good many +messages taken. At all events, Akos is often with the Kun folk, and what +is more, one never hears a word against them from him now! Bright eyes, +Dora, bright eyes! and a deal of mischief they do." + +"But can Akos understand them?" + +"It seems so; he has picked the language up pretty quickly, hasn't he? +It is all jargon to me, but then I have not had his practice! Father +Roger says their tongue is something like our Magyar, a sort of uncouth +relation, but I don't see the likeness myself." + +"And the Princesses are really pretty?" Dora asked again. + +"Prettier than their parents by a good deal! Yes, they are pretty girls +enough, I suppose," said Peter grudgingly, "some people admire them +much, particularly the younger one, MAiria, as she is now. She used to be +MarAina, but that's the name they gave her at her baptism, and the other +they called ErzsA(C)bet (Elizabeth). The King and Queen and their sons all +have Magyar names now. But they will bring no good to the country," +Master Peter added, after a pause, "no good, that I am sure of! Why, +there have been quarrels already where they have settled them. Everybody +hates the sight of them and their felt tents, and the King has had to +divide them. What have they been doing? Why, plundering their neighbours +to be sure, as anyone might have known they would. Mere barbarians, +that's what they are, and we shall have a pretty piece of work with them +before we have done." + +"And JolAinta, you saw her?" Dora interposed, by way of diverting her +father's attention from a topic which invariably excited him. + +"Yes, I saw JolAinta," was the answer, given with such a grave shake of +the head that Dora asked whether there were anything amiss with her. + +"Amiss? h-m! Dora, my girl," said Master Peter, laying his hand +affectionately on her shoulder, "I am glad that _you_ did not marry +him!" + +"I?" laughed Dora, "why should I?" + +"Ah, you have forgotten how they used to call you 'Paul's little wife,' +when you were only a baby, and you did not know, of course, that your +old father was fool enough to be disappointed when he chose your cousin +instead." + +"But isn't he kind to her? Isn't she happy?" inquired Dora. + +"That is a question I did not ask, child, so I can't say. But she is +just a shadow of what she was." + +"Selfish scoundrel!" burst forth Master Peter the next moment, unable to +keep down his indignation, which was not solely on JolAinta's account. + +He had heard a good deal in Pest. Honest friends had not been wanting to +tell him of the reports about his daughter, and his pride had been +deeply wounded by the half pitying tone in which some of his +acquaintances had inquired for her, as also by the fact that the Queen +had _not_ asked for her, though she was on quite intimate terms with +JolAinta, and in the natural course of things would have wished to see +Dora also at Court. + +Peter had longed to "have it out" with somebody, and make all who had +repeated gossip about his Dora eat their own words. + +But for once he was prudent, and bethought himself in time that some +matters are not bettered by being talked about. If he blurted out his +wrath there would be those who would say that "there must be something +in it, or he would not fly into such a rage," as he knew he should do, +if once he let himself go. Besides, although he had convinced himself +that Paul was at the bottom of all the gossip, and was burning to go and +take him by the throat and make him own it on his knees, yet, after all, +where was the use of making a charge which he could not actually prove? + +Accordingly, Master Peter held his tongue, but he determined that +nothing should induce him to take Dora to Pest while there was any risk +of her being slighted and made uncomfortable. If he could have looked +forward only a few months perhaps he would have recognised that slights +were not the worst evils to be encountered in the world. + +"Selfish scoundrel!" he repeated vehemently, "from what I hear, he has +been driving the poor girl about from morning till night, and from night +till morning! Paul HA(C)dervAiry's wife must be seen everywhere, at all the +Court functions, all the entertainments in Pest, and even in the country +there is no rest for her, but she must be dragged to hunting parties, +which you know she never cared for. She never had much spirit you know, +poor JolAinta! and now she is like a shadow, all the flesh worn off her +bones! Could you fancy JolAinta killing a bear?" + +"A bear! why, she was terrified whenever there were bears about!" + +"Ay, but of course Paul's wife must be something to be proud of, +something unlike the rest of the world, an Amazon! Well, he made her go +out bear-hunting, for I'll never believe she went of her own free will; +she killed a bear, they say, with her own hand, looked on more likely, +while he did it! But any way, there's the skin, and it's called +'JolAinta's bear,' and she had a swoon or a fit or something after, and +has never been herself since, so I was told. She sent you a number of +messages, poor girl, and wished you were coming back with me to Pest." + +"Poor JolAinta," murmured Dora, "I should like to see her, but not in +Pest." + +"Ah! and you remember that young jackanapes, Libor?" said Master Peter. + +"Paul HA(C)dervAiry's governor? Oh, yes, isn't he gone to his castle yet?" + +"Not he! He is 'climbing the cucumber-tree' as fast as he can! I can't +think what made Paul take him up; can't do without him now it seems, +looks to him for everything, and has him constantly at his elbow; and +yet there is not a prouder man 'on the back of this earth' than Paul." + +"But the Mongols, father?" asked Dora, who cared little for Paul and +less for his governor, but who could not shake off the impression made +upon her by Father Roger. + +"My dear child, they have been coming for years! And if they come at +last it will be thanks to the Kunok. But they will go back quicker than +they came, you may be sure, so don't you trouble your little head about +them!" + +Master Peter spoke with the confidence he felt; and when he returned to +Pest, where his presence was required by the King, he returned alone, a +circumstance which set the gossips' tongues wagging anew, for surely he +must have some strong reason for not bringing Dora with him. His stay +was likely to be a long one this time, and he had never been away from +her hitherto for more than a few days together. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +AS THE KING WILLS. + + +Kuthen had no idea that he should occupy Master Peter's town-house for +long, nor indeed had he any wish to do so; but still he had done his +best to make it home-like. It was he who, as father of the family, had +apportioned to each of the household his place and duties. + +To the serving men was assigned a large hall, with the greater part of +the roof taken off that they might not miss the airiness of their tents, +and with the wooden flooring replaced by stone slabs, that they might +keep a fire burning without danger. Here they lived, and cooked, and +slept, sharing their beds--rough skins spread upon the floor--with their +faithful companions, the large dogs brought with them from the steppes. + +The King's own apartments, with their reed mats, coarse, gaudy carpets, +bladder-skin windows, and rough furniture, were not altogether +comfortless or tasteless, for King BA(C)la had presented the royal family +with sundry articles of a better description, and some of the bishops +had followed his example. + +As for the exterior of the house, Kuthen had introduced a few changes +there also. Leaving a good space all round, he had had the whole block +of buildings enclosed by strong, thick walls; and as he had employed a +large number of workmen and paid well, the fortifications were ready in +a few weeks. They were further strengthened by the digging of a broad +moat, whose drawbridge led to the gateway which formed the sole +entrance. + +Kuthen had many visitors, among whom Akos Szirmay was certainly the most +frequent; but King BA(C)la also came from time to time, besides often +inviting the whole family to the palace. Some of the nobles also +came--because the King did. + +Akos was a sympathetic listener, and Kuthen, who had taken a great +liking to him, enjoyed telling him his adventures and experiences. But +it was quite evident to all that Akos was drawn to the house by someone +more attractive than Kuthen, and also that MarAina, or, as she must now +be called MAiria, was well aware of the impression she had made, and was +by no means displeased. + +The whole family were out riding one day, a few months after their +arrival. This was the recreation which they loved best, and Akos, as +usual, was in attendance upon MAiria. The two were somewhat in advance of +the rest of the party, sufficiently so to be out of hearing, when Akos +presently asked his companion whether she were beginning to be +accustomed to her new home, and whether she thought she could ever learn +to forget the steppes and magic woods of her native land. + +"Could anyone in the world forget his own home, do you think?" she +answered simply, and then added, "Oh, it is all so different! You live +in stone houses, which you can't move about. One might almost as well be +in prison. And the walls are so thick that one can't hear anything of +what is going on outside, or even in the next room; but when we lived in +our open tents, far away from here, I knew in a moment who was in +trouble, and who was laughing for joy. And then our family is one; what +pains one, grieves the rest, and all share one another's joys and +sorrows, fears and wishes." + +"And isn't it so here?" said Akos; "and if we have towns and castles, +don't we live much in the open air too? Have we no family-life, and are +we not all united in our love for our country?" + +"I don't know; maybe it is so, but I am a stranger here, and one thing +strikes me--there is no unity among you! Your proud, overbearing nobles +despise the people, and the people look on them with fear and envy. You +are of one race, one family--at least you Magyars are, and yet there are +hardly any true friends among you, or any who are ready to make great +sacrifices for their country." + +"You don't know us," returned Akos quickly, though he knew how much +truth there was in what the girl said. "You judge from what you see +around you; here in the capital there is so much gaiety, and everyone +wants to be first; but it is not so in our mountains and valleys, and on +the great plains. There we know what it is to love and sympathise with +one another, and to be of one mind; and we are not bad neighbours. There +are several different races dwelling in our beautiful land, and they all +live at peace one with the other." + +"Well, I don't know, but--I am afraid! I don't understand books, but I +do understand faces, and there is no need for people to open their +lips--I might not understand them if they did--but they speak plainly +enough to me without uttering a word. _You don't love us!_ Oh! that we +had stayed among the mountains, in the cool caves, or in our tents, not +knowing what the morning might bring us, but with our own people all +about us, ready at a word for anything! There was a sort of pleasure +even in living in a state of fear, always on our guard, listening to the +very rustling of the leaves. Ah! how can I make you understand?" + +MAiria's thoughts went back to the old times, and she saw herself once +again living the old tent life in the forest shades. Perhaps her +companion's thought for a moment followed hers, and he tried to picture +himself as also living in those far-off regions, sharing a tent with +the sweet-looking girl at his side. + +Something he said to her in a low tone, to which she answered with a +smile, + +"Oh, you, Akos, that is different! If they were all like you, one might +perhaps forget all but the things which are never to be forgotten, and +the graves of our ancestors. But you, don't you know that it annoys your +friends and relations to see you liking to spend so much time with us?" + +"Why should my friends and relations mind? My rivals, perhaps yes!" + +"There are no rivals!" + +"None? not a single one?" + +"Not one, Akos, for you are good; you honour my poor father in his +misfortune, you honour my mother; and my brothers and ErzsA(C)bet are fond +of you. How should you have any rival?" + +"MarAina!" said Akos gently; and when the girl turned to look at him, he +saw that, though she was smiling, her eyes had filled with tears at the +sound of her old name, coming from his lips. + + + +It was an evening in autumn, and King Kuthen and all his family were +gathered together in their largest apartment, where a fire was burning +on the hearth, and the table was spread for their evening meal. + +All looked grave; and indeed, since the time of his first arrival in +Pest, in spite of all the festivities, and in spite of BA(C)la's unfeigned +kindness, Kuthen had always looked like a man who had something on his +mind, something which oppressed him, and which refused to be shaken off. + +As chief of an untamed, lawless people, far surpassing his followers in +sense and understanding, he was the first to see that the polite +attentions shown him by others than the King and his family, were all +more or less forced. All was not gold that glittered, and his pride was +wounded by the sort of condescension he met with from the Magyar nobles, +when he remembered that not so long ago he had ruled a kingdom larger +than the whole of Hungary. + +Something, perhaps, was due to the change in his mode of life, something +to the fact that he did not feel at ease when he took part in the court +ceremonials and festivities, that he felt as if he were caged, and +sighed for the freedom of the mountains and steppes. However it was, +Kuthen had become quite grey during the comparatively short time he had +spent in Hungary, and was already showing signs of age. + +His family did not fully share his anxieties, for they were not as +far-sighted as he; but the Queen and her sons and daughters were shrewd +enough to see that their visitors were not all as sincere as they +seemed, or wished to seem; though they ascribed this chiefly to the fact +that they themselves were foreigners; and, as both sons and daughters +were well-looking, and the latter something more, they had little reason +to complain of any want of attention or courtesy. + +Just now the King was seated at table, with the Queen and his daughters +on his right hand, and his sons on his left. They were all at supper; +but it was evident that Kuthen ate rather from habit than because he had +any appetite. + +As we have said, the dwelling was surrounded by a wide moat, and the +only entrance was by the drawbridge. Whenever anyone wanted to come in, +the Kunok sentinel posted at the bridge-head always blew a short blast +on his horn, and this evening, just as supper was coming to an end, the +horn was heard. + +Whereupon the King made a sign to one of the many servants to go and see +who was there, for he kept strict order in his household, and never +allowed the drawbridge to be lowered, or anyone to be admitted without +his permission. + +On this occasion, however, it seemed that his permission was not waited +for, as only a few moments passed before Akos Szirmay walked into the +room, and was received with evident pleasure by the King and all his +family. + +It was clear enough that MarAina's parents quite understood the state of +affairs, and already looked on the young man as one of the family; for, +with the exception of King BA(C)la, he was the only person ever admitted +without question, on his merely giving the password. + +Akos came in hurriedly, his face flushed, and with something in his +manner which showed plainly that he had not come on a mere ordinary +visit. + +Kuthen welcomed the young man with a smile, but quickly relapsed into +gravity, and Akos himself, when he had taken the seat placed for him, +next to MAiria, glanced at the servants and held his peace. + +"What is it, Akos?" Kuthen asked after a short pause, during which his +visitor's manifest embarrassment had not escaped him. + +"I would rather speak when there are fewer to hear me, your Highness," +answered Akos. + +All eyes were at once turned upon him, for the rising feeling against +the Kunok was well known; and as the people of Pest had noticed, Kuthen +had lately doubled the guards round his house. Whatever the news Akos +had brought, they at once concluded that it must be something +unpleasant. + +"If there is any hurry," said Kuthen, who had regained his composure as +soon as he scented danger, "let us go into the next room." + +"No need for that, your Highness," returned Akos, also recovering +himself. "In fact, if you will allow me, I will share your supper. There +is no need for immediate action, but we must be prepared," he added in a +low tone. + +"Ah," sighed the Queen, "our soothsayers had good reason to warn us +against coming here! We are in a state of constant unrest, and I am +weary of it. For my part, I can't think why we did not leave this gilded +prison long ago, and join our people in their new settlements, where we +should at least be among those who love and honour us." + +"You are right there, wife, and you all know it is what I have long +wished," said Kuthen. "Where is the good of being called 'King,' when +one has no kingdom? My people are being ruled by foreigners, and, though +I sit at the King's Council, nothing that I say has any weight. No, what +I want is to be the father of my large family again, as I used to be, +until I go and join my ancestors. No, I will stay here no longer! The +King has always been kind to us, and I will open his eyes to what is +going on unknown to him." + +But here a sign from Akos made the King hold his peace, and the subject +was dropped for the present. + +It was not Kuthen's way to betray anything like fear; and now when, to +his imagination at least, the storm was already beginning to blow about +his ears, he would not on any account that the servants should have so +much as an inkling of that which filled his own mind. + +He remained at table exactly as long as usual, and, when they all rose, +he repeated as usual the Lord's Prayer, the only one he had learnt. He +recited it in Latin, in an uncouth accent, and with sundry mistakes, +but he said it calmly and collectedly as usual, and the rest followed +his example. + +Then, passing between a double row of servants, he led the way through +an adjoining room to the spacious hall in which he and his family +usually passed their evenings and received their guests. + +The Queen and her daughters took up some sort of needle-work, and Kuthen +signed to his sons to bring him one of the many dog-wood bows which hung +on the wall. This he proceeded with their help to fit with a string +stout enough to deserve the name of rope, for it was as big round as an +ordinary finger. + +The making of these unusually long and powerful bows, the chief weapon +of the Kunok, and the sharpening and feathering of the arrows, was the +King's favourite occupation, and one in which he displayed no little +skill. The string also was of home manufacture, and, as the work went +on, the young men moistened it from time to time with water. + +Many a time Akos had joined them in their evening work, but to-night, as +they sat round the blazing fire, his hands were idle. + +"Akos, my son, we are alone now," began Kuthen composedly, "speak out, +and keep back nothing. You need not be afraid, for this grey head of +mine has weathered many a storm before now." + +"Your Highness--father! if I may call you so"--said Akos, giving his +hand to MAiria, "there is a storm coming without doubt, for the wind is +blowing from two quarters at once, and we are caught between the two." + +"I don't understand," said Kuthen, twanging the bowstring, while one son +took a second bow down from the wall, and the other got a fresh string +ready. + +"You will directly, sir; the Mongols are coming nearer and nearer, +burning and destroying everything before them--that's the last news!" + +"Haven't I told the King a hundred times how it would be?" + +"You have, and he knows! But there are certain persons who seem to be +expecting miracles; and meantime, to excuse themselves for sitting +still, they have been whispering suspicions of other people. A few hours +ago they went to the King and told him plainly what was in their minds." + +"Suspicions! whom do they suspect?" + +"_You_, your Highness! you and your people." + +"Shame!" cried Kuthen, starting from his seat, and looking Akos straight +in the face. At that moment Kuthen was every inch a king, and it was +easy to understand how, though he had lost his kingdom, lost his crown, +nevertheless his word had been enough to induce 40,000 families to +follow him to a new home. + +"And why do they suspect me?" he asked with angry resentment. + +"Why?" repeated Akos, who had also risen to his feet, and now stood +erect facing the King, "because there is not a creature in this world +so strong as to be able to stand up against panic!" + +"Is that the way you speak of your nation? and you a Magyar!" said +Kuthen. + +"My nation!" shouted Akos, all aflame in a moment. "I should like to +hear anyone dare to speak ill of my nation! No! but father, you who own +such vast flocks and herds, you know that in every fold there are sure +to be a few sickly sheep; and if they are scared, no matter by what, and +make a rush, you know what happens, the rest of the flock follow them; +not that they are frightened themselves, but because they see the others +running. A dog, or the crack of a whip is enough." + +"And pray, what are these sick sheep bleating about to the King?" + +"Well, to be plain, they say that the Kunok are nothing but Oktai's +vanguard. That you have come in the guise of guests to spy out the land +for those who sent you--for the Tartars!" + +"What! I prepare the way for the robbers, who have driven us from the +graves of our ancestors! who have slain our people by the thousand and +made miserable slaves of others! We in league with the Tartars, our +hateful foes! It is a cowardly lie! The King is too noble-hearted ever +to believe such a thing! It is the talk of madmen!" + +"And the King does not believe it; quite the contrary, for he spoke +warmly in defence of you and----" + +"Ah! that is like himself," interposed Kuthen. + +"Yes; but, my good King, you have many enemies, and they have taken it +into their stupid heads that, as I said before, the Kunok are the +forerunners of the Tartars. They are saying, shouting, that half the +danger would be done away if we had not enemies in our midst, who would +turn upon us at the first signal from the Mongols." + +"That is what is said by Magyars? That those whom they have received as +guests, with whom they have shared their bread and their wine, will +betray them! Have I spent my days among lions and tigers, that anyone +dares to say such a thing of Kuthen? Oh! the cowards! Let Batu Khan +come, and the King shall soon see what our arrows will do." + +"I believe you!" said Akos warmly, "and so does the King, but he cannot +do all that he would, and so it is for your own safety's sake, in your +own interest, as he said, and to prevent greater danger--he is going to +station a guard outside." + +"Put me and my family under guard! imprison me! in return for my trust, +and because I have brought hither through countless dangers, 40,000 +families to do and die for the king, and the nation who have received +me----" + +Kuthen broke off suddenly here to bid his sons go and see to the horses. +Late as it was, he and they would go at once to the King, unarmed, and +unprotected, to learn how much a sovereign's word was worth. + +In a few moments they were all three on horseback, and in court dress, +for Kuthen had already adopted the Hungarian usage in this respect, as +he had also learnt the language, and done all else he could to +accommodate himself to the manners and customs of his new home, by way +of making himself more acceptable to his hosts. + +But no sooner was the drawbridge lowered than Kuthen saw himself face to +face with a party of Hungarian soldiers on horseback, under the command +of one of his most bitter enemies, Jonas Agha, who told the King, in +curt and not the most respectful terms, that he could not be allowed to +leave his dwelling. + +"Then I am a prisoner! and without so much as a hearing!" exclaimed +Kuthen. "Be it so then. I am the King's guest, and my friend will +explain things to me. Back now, my sons! Let us set an example of +submission!" + +As he uttered the words, he found Akos at his side, Akos, who, though he +had heard from one of the courtiers that such an order was in +contemplation, had never suspected that it was already an accomplished +fact. And indeed, knowing that both the King and Queen, as well as Duke +KAilmAin, the King's brother, were doing all in their power to defeat the +intentions of the hostile party, he suspected that the present action +had been taken by some over-zealous official in a subordinate position, +and he now hastened forward to set right any misunderstanding. + +"What is the meaning of this?" he asked, standing erect in his stirrups +and looking like a statue. + +"The King's orders," replied Agha haughtily. + +Akos was about to make some fiery reply, but Kuthen interrupted him, +saying quietly, "Let it be as the King wills!" and with that he turned +his horse's head from the gate. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +MISTAKE THE SECOND. + + +The day had closed gloomily, ominously, for the refugees; and to +understand how it was that a king so chivalrous as BA(C)la could consent to +make a prisoner of his guest, we must go back and see what had taken +place a few hours earlier. + +BA(C)la, as already said, was fully alive to the danger which threatened +his land and people, and at the first news of the advance of the +Mongols, he had sent HA(C)dervAiry the Palatine to block all the roads and +passes between Transylvania and Wallachia, and make full arrangements +for their defence. But even this prudent step was not approved by every +one. The wiseacres, and the sort of people who always see farther than +their fellows, attributed the King's orders to fear, and said so too, +openly and unreservedly. + +There were others who simply refused to believe any alarming reports, +alleging that they were all got up by the bishops and chief clergy, that +they might have an excuse for staying at home at ease, instead of +attending the Pope's Council in Rome. + +Others accused the King, the Kunok, and other foreign guests who had +lately arrived at the Court of Pest. + +Some of these, the most timorous, actually wanted to force the King to +send an embassy to the Great Khan, offering him an annual tribute and +other shameful conditions. + +BA(C)la was a courageous man, and a true Magyar and king in the best sense +of the words. He was calm, brave, and energetic. He saw through the +cowards and despised their accusations; for it is the poltroon who is +ever the first to accuse others of cowardice, and there is, moreover, +one thing which he can never pardon--the being discovered trembling by +men braver than himself. + +King BA(C)la paid no heed to the wagging of these many tongues, and himself +went all round the eastern frontiers of the kingdom, to see personally +to the defences. His plans were well considered and well adapted to the +object in view. They failed in one point only, but that a fatal +one--they were never carried out! + +On the King's return to Pest, he found the capital given up to +festivity. Nearly every noble in the place must be giving +entertainments. If there was a banquet at one house to-day, there was +one at another to-morrow. There was no trace of any preparations for war +or defence, though there was plenty of nervous alarm. + +Shortly after his arrival, the King called a Council, and the heads of +Church and State met in a spacious hall often used for Court balls and +assemblies, now presenting a very different appearance, and with its +walls draped in sober green cloth. + +The King was seated in a canopied armchair raised above the rest, and he +wore a white silk mantle, with a clasp something like the ancient Roman +fibula, but set with precious stones. On his head was a crown, simple +but brilliant, in his hand he held a golden war-club, and from the plain +leather belt which confined his white dolmAiny at the waist, there hung a +long, straight sword, with a hilt in the form of a large cross. + +The Council consisted of about sixty members, some wearing their +ecclesiastical vestments, and others the long Hungarian dolmAiny. Of all +those present no one looked so entirely calm as the King, and those who +knew him best could read firm resolve in his face. + +BA(C)la knew Hungary and the strength of its various races, and he was +never afraid of dangers from without. What he did fear was the spirit of +obstinacy and envy, and at last of blindness, which has so often shown +itself, just when clear sight and absolute unity were especially needed +to enable the country to confront the most serious difficulties. + +He knew that he must prove the existence of danger by facts, if he +wanted to silence the contentious tongues of those who did not wish to +believe; and he had determined to lay convincing proofs before them on +this particular day. + +When all were assembled and in their places, the King made a sign to +Paul HA(C)dervAiry, who at once left the hall, the door of which was shortly +after again thrown open for the entrance of two gloomy-looking men, with +swords and daggers at their belts, whom Paul ushered up to the King's +throne. Their robes, trimmed with costly furs, showed that they were +persons of importance; and what with the richness of their attire, and +their manly deportment, they did not fail to make an impression upon the +assembly, though one of the younger members muttered to his neighbour, +"Hem! Flat noses and glittering eyes! Who may these be?" + +The two bowed low before the king, and then one of them, RomAinovics by +name, said: "Your Majesty, we are both Russian dukes, and have been +driven from the broad lands of our ancestors, by Batu Khan, one of +Oktai's chiefs. We have now come to your footstool, to entreat your +hospitality, and to offer you our services." + +"More guests!" whispered the same young man who had spoken before. +"Kunok, Russians, and next, of course, the Tartars, not a doubt of it!" +The broad smile on his face showed that he was highly pleased with his +own wit. + +"Honourable guests will always find the door open in Hungary," said the +King, when the short speech had been interpreted to him; "and all who +are oppressed shall have whatever protection we are able to afford +them." + +"More too! Oh, what generous fellows we are!" muttered another still +younger man at the table. + +The King went on to say that he had heard of the Russian disasters, but +that as the news which had reached him might have lost or gained +something on the way, he should be glad if they would tell him and the +Council just what had really happened. + +Whereupon, the Duke who had spoken before gave a short account of all +that had taken place since the death of Dschingis, and the partition of +his vast dominions. And then the younger Duke, Wsewolodovics, took up +the tale. + +"Lord King!" he began, "these Mongols don't carry on warfare in an +honourable, chivalrous way. They fight only to destroy, they are +bloodthirsty, merciless; their only object is to plunder, slay, murder, +and burn, not even to make any use of what lands they conquer. They are +like a swarm of locusts. They stay till everything is eaten up, till all +are plundered, and what they can't carry off, that they kill, or reduce +to ashes. They are utterly faithless; their words and promises are not +in the least to be trusted, and those who do make friends with them are +the first upon whom they wreak their vengeance if anything goes wrong. +We are telling you no fairy tales! We know to our own cost what they +are, we tell you what we have seen with our own eyes. And let me tell +you this, my lord king, their lust of conquest and devastation knows _no +bounds_! If it is our turn to-day, it will be yours to-morrow! And, +therefore, while we seek a refuge in your land, we at the same time warn +you to be prepared! for the storm is coming, and may sweep across your +frontiers sooner than you think for." + +"We will meet it, if it comes," said the King coolly. "But I bid you +both heartily welcome as our guests for the present, and as our +companions in arms, if the enemy ventures to come hither." + +The Dukes found nothing to complain of in the King's reception of them. +He had been cordial and encouraging, and he had heard them out; though, +what with their own long speeches, and the interpreting of them, the +interview had lasted a considerable time. + +But if the King had listened attentively and courteously, so had not the +Council; and the contrast was marked. Some listened coldly and without +interest, some even wore a contemptuous smile, and there was a restless +shrugging of shoulders, a making of signs one to the other, and at times +an interchange of whispers among the members, which showed plainly +enough that they thought the greater part of what the Russians said +ridiculously exaggerated. + +Councils, even those held in the King's presence, were by no means +orderly in those days. Everyone present wanted to put in his word, and +that, too, just as and when he pleased, so the Duke had hardly finished +speaking, when up rose one of the elder and more important-looking +nobles, exclaiming impatiently, "Your Majesty! These foreign lords have +told us very fully to what we owe their present kind visit; and they +have told us, too, that our country is threatened by ruffianly, +contemptible brigands and incendiaries. There is but one thing they have +forgotten. I should like to know whether this horde of would-be +conquerors have any courage, discipline, or knowledge of war among them. +It seems to me important that they should tell us this in their own +interests, for it needs no great preparation to scatter a disorderly +rabble, but valiant warriors are, of course, another thing." + +"Very true, Master TibAśrcs," said the King calmly, patiently. + +But when the matter was explained to the Russian Duke, he exclaimed, +with an expression of the utmost horror and contempt, "Valiant! +disciplined! military knowledge! Why, my lord king, who could expect +anything of the sort from such thieves and robbers! But, despicable as +they are as soldiers, they are dangerous for all that! They are cowards! +They are as wild as cattle, as senseless as stones, but--they have +numbers, countless numbers, on their side. They fall in thousands, and +they use the dead and wounded to bridge the rivers! And they are swift +as the very wind." + +Several at the table here exclaimed that the Duke must be magnifying, or +at least that he had heard exaggerated reports; and one of the most +timorous added that to a man who was terrified danger always looked +greater than it did to anyone else in the world. That man, at all +events, knew what he was talking about! + +"We are not afraid, gentlemen," said RomAinovics, turning at once towards +those seated at the table. "We are exhausted with fighting ourselves, +and their blood, too, has flowed in torrents; ten of them have fallen to +every one of our men, but then their numbers are ten times ours." + +"Afraid of them?" continued the other, "No! who would be afraid of such +cowardly robbers? Why, ten will run before one man, if he meets them +face to face! We don't say they are invincible, quite the contrary. We +come here in the belief that the heroic nation from whom we seek +assistance is quite strong enough to be a match even for such a torrent +as this! Nevertheless, there is one thing which must not be forgotten. +Though there is no military knowledge among them, though they are not +trained soldiers, they are extremely clever with their war-machines. +Nothing can stand against them! And there is another thing. Those who +are conquered are forced into their army; what is more, they are put in +the forefront of the battle, in the place of greatest danger, and they +are driven forward, or murdered if they attempt to escape! So, with +danger before and behind, the miserable wretches fight with all the +strength of despair; the victors share the spoil, and those who are +defeated have nothing to expect but death any way, and sometimes a death +of fearful torture too. This, together with their extraordinary rapidity +of movement, their cunning, and powers of endurance, is the secret of +their strength." + +So spoke the Russian Dukes, and their words made a certain impression, +though even now some of the Council were hardly convinced of the +importance of the danger. Many were scornful of the new-comers, and +various contrary opinions were being expressed, when all at once there +was a roar outside as if a battle were already going on in the streets, +and some of the palace guards rushed into the Council chamber. + +All leapt to their feet. Swords all flashed simultaneously from their +scabbards, and in a moment, BA(C)la was surrounded, and over his head there +was a canopy of iron blades. To do them justice, their first thought was +for the safety of the King. + +"What has happened?" he asked of the guards, when the hubbub around him +had subsided. + +"The people have risen! They are asking for the head of Kuthen," was the +answer. + +There was a shout of "Treachery, treachery, treachery!" without, and the +next instant the mob burst into the hall. + +"Gentlemen! to your places! put up your swords," said the King, in such +a peremptory tone that his command was at once obeyed. Then rising from +his chair and turning to the intruders with perfect calm and dignity, he +bade them come forward. + +"The King is always ready to hear the complaints of his people! What is +it you want, children? But let one speak at a time, that will be the +wiser way, for if you all clamour together, my sons, I shall not be able +to understand any one of you. Ah! you are there, I see BarkA cubed _deAik_; +come here, you are a sensible man, I know; you tell me what is the +matter." + +BarkA cubed was a notable man in his own set, and his sobriquet of _deAik_ +showed that he possessed some learning, at least to the extent of being +able to write, and having some knowledge of the Scriptures, as well as +of the laws, called "customs." + +He was a man whose judgment was respected, and when first suspicion fell +upon the Kunok, he was besieged by those who wanted his advice as to how +they ought to act in these dangerous circumstances. + +Now, on the days when BarkA cubed got out of bed right foot foremost, he would +calm his inquirers by saying wisely enough that until Kuthen himself was +detected in some suspicious act, the time had not come for accusing him. +But, unfortunately, BarkA cubed was not without his domestic troubles in the +shape of a wife, who would always have the last word, and so sometimes +it happened that he got up left foot foremost. + +It was on one of these unlucky days that the people of Pest and the +neighbourhood, having somehow heard, as people always do hear, that the +King was holding a Council for the purpose of taking measures of defence +against the Mongols, "Tartars," as they called them, came with one +consent to BarkA cubed's house, and swarmed into it in such numbers that he +leapt out of the window to escape them. But no sooner had his feet +touched the ground than they were at once taken off it again, and he was +caught up and raised on high, amid loud shouts from the crowd that he +must be their leader and spokesman. + +"What am I to do? What do you want?" he cried. + +"Let's go to the King! Treachery! The Kunok are bringing the Tartars +upon us! We want the head of Kuthen!" + +Such were the cries which assailed him on all sides, and BarkA cubed let them +shout till they were tired. + +"Very well, children," he said, as soon as there was a chance of making +himself heard. "Very well, we will go to his Majesty. He will listen to +his faithful people and find some way of putting an end to the +mischief." + +"We will go now!" they shouted. + +"No! let's wait!" roared a grey-beard, with a shake of his shaggy head, +using his broad shoulders and sharp elbows to force a way through the +crowd. + +"We won't go to the King! We'll go straight to the other King, the +vagabond and traitor Kuthen. We will take his treacherous head to our +own good King!" + +"Good! good!" cried the mob. + +"It is not good!" shouted BarkA cubed. "It is for the King to command, it is +for us to ask. If I am to be your leader, trust the matter to me." + +"Let us trust it to Mr. BarkA cubed," cried some voices again. + +"So then, I am the leader, and if we want to go before the King's +Majesty, let us do it respectfully, not as if we were a rabble going to +a tavern. Here! make room for me! put me down!" + +And BarkA cubed puffed and panted, and shook himself, as if he had swum across +the Danube. + +Then he called three or four of the crowd to him to help in forming up +some sort of procession. + +"There! I go in the middle, as the leader, and you, the army, will march +in two files after me." + +"But we are here, too, Mr. BarkA cubed!" cried some shriller voices. + +"The petticoats will bring up the rear!" said Mr. BarkA cubed authoritatively. + +And in this order the crowd proceeded on its way; but, notwithstanding +all BarkA cubed's precautions, it was a very tumultuous crowd which burst into +the King's presence. + +BarkA cubed had made the journey bare-headed; and now, being called upon to +speak, he bowed low before the King, saying: "Your Majesty! Grace be +upon my head. Since the devil is bringing the Tartars upon us, the +people humbly beg the head of the traitor Kuthen! And we will bring it +to you, if you will only give us the command, your Majesty!" + +"It shall be here directly, and the heads of all his brood, too!" cried +BarkA cubed's followers. + +BarkA cubed, seeing that the King did not speak, turned to them, saying in a +tone of command, "Silence! I will speak, asking the King's grace upon my +head." + +And turning again to the King he added, "If we don't root them out, my +lord King, the Tartars will find the banquet all made ready for them +when they come. The vagabonds in the country-districts are already +laying hands on property not their own, and behaving just as if they +were at home." + +One or two voices from among the crowd echoed these complaints, and +added others as to the disrespect shown to the Magyar women. + +"Silence," interrupted BarkA cubed. "Let us hear his Majesty, our lord the +King. What he commands that we will do, and we must not do anything +else," he added, by way of showing that he could read writing, and was +acquainted with the style in which the royal commands were expressed. + +The King heard all without appearing in the least disturbed, while those +at the table kept their hands all the time on their swords, and it was +by no means without emotion that the two Russian Dukes looked on at +this, to them, very novel kind of Council, and at this unconventional +way of approaching the King's presence. + +At last there was silence. BarkA cubed had said his say, and the cries and +exclamations of his followers having subsided, the King addressed them +and him. + +First he praised him for his discretion in coming to seek counsel of the +King, and then he reminded him that a good king was also a just judge. +But a just judge always heard both sides of a question before he gave +judgment. If, therefore, he were now to give his consent to what his +faithful children wished, and were to deliver King Kuthen, who was both +his guest and theirs, into their hands, and that without hearing him as +he had heard them, why, then he would be a bad judge, and therefore not +a good king. Moreover, if he were unjust in one case he might be so in +another. + +"If, for instance," said he, "Paul came to me with a complaint against +Peter, we might have Mr. Peter's head cut off; and if Peter accused +Paul, we might have Paul beheaded. For, my children, others have as much +right to justice as ourselves; therefore, hear our commands, and as my +faithful servant, the honourable Mr. BarkA cubed has said, observe them and do +nothing else." + +All eyes were fixed upon the King, and they listened with wrapt +attention and in perfect silence as he proceeded: + +"Strict inquiry shall be made as to whether there be any real ground of +suspicion against King Kuthen; and if there is, he and his people shall +be punished! But we must let the law take its course, and my dear +citizens of Pest may wait quietly and confidently while it does. From +this day forth the Kun King will not leave his residence, a guard shall +be placed at his gate, and we will have the matter regularly +investigated without delay." + +There was a burst of "Eljens" (vivas) as the King concluded. The people +appeared to be thoroughly satisfied, and when BarkA cubed, after a low +reverence, turned to leave the hall, his followers made a way for him +through their midst, and cleared out after him, quickly at all events, +if not with much dignity. + +History tells us that the King's Council was satisfied also, no less +than the people, who had, indeed, been purposely excited by some of the +nobles, and used more or less as a cat's paw. The order that Kuthen +should be guarded was, as we have seen, given and executed forthwith. +BA(C)la had given it most unwillingly, only, in fact, to appease the +excitement, and in the hope of avoiding still worse evils; and though +some were still dissatisfied, this was the case with but few of the +cooler heads. + +And the Russian Dukes, when they were able to speak to the King in +private, admitted that numbers of Kunok had indeed been forced by Batu +Khan to serve in his army; but they added that these recruits were only +waiting the first favourable opportunity to desert and join with their +kinsmen, and with the Hungarians, in exterminating the common enemy. And +what they feared was that, if the Kunok heard that their King, whom they +worshipped, was being kept under restraint, they would actually do what +the majority and so many of the chief nobles now without reason +suspected them of. + +BA(C)la understood human nature, and to him it seemed that to throw some +sort of sop to Cerberus was wiser than to risk the exciting of greater +discontent. + +But again the King made a mistake! + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +AT THE VERY DOORS. + + +The time of which we are writing was a critical one in Hungary's +history. "She was sick, very sick, and the remedy for her disease was +bitter in proportion to the gravity of her condition." (JA cubedkai MA cubedr.) + +The power and prestige of the sovereign had lost much under BA(C)la's +predecessors, first his uncle and then his father; for the latter had +rebelled against his brother, and the civil war had increased the +importance of the magnates, while it diminished that of the sovereign. +BA(C)la's father AndrAis had succeeded his brother, and had shown himself as +weak, as vain, and as untrustworthy, as king, as he had done as subject. + +BA(C)la had inherited many difficulties, and in his eagerness to set +matters right, had been over-hasty, over-arbitrary, and had made enemies +of many of the great nobles by curtailing their extorted privileges. + +AndrAis, always in need of money, had given and pawned Crown property, +until there was little left. BA(C)la, succeeding to an almost empty +treasury, had recalled some of those donations which never ought to +have been made; and also, by way of instilling respect for the King's +majesty, had withdrawn from the great nobles certain privileges, which +they bitterly resented, for some of them had attained such a pitch of +might and wealth as rendered them independent of the King and the law. +There were two classes of nobles, the magnates and the lesser nobility, +the latter being more and more oppressed by the former. All who owned a +piece of land were "noble," but as their possessions differed greatly in +amount, so some were rich and others very much the reverse. + +The nobles of both classes, and the clergy attended the Diets; but the +mass of the people were as yet unrepresented. + +Standing army there was hardly any, and when the King wanted troops he +had to raise them, and pay them as he could. Those who held crown-fiefs +were bound to obey the King's call to arms, but at his cost, and not +their own, and all nobles of whatever degree were bound to join his +standard if the country was attacked, not otherwise. If the King wanted +them to cross the frontier, he must bear the expense; and if they did +not choose to go, he was helpless and could not punish them. + +But, to be first in the field is often half the battle. To wait until +the enemy is actually in the country may spell disaster and even ruin. + +BA(C)la was well aware of the danger which threatened. He had heard much +from Kuthen, and he had other sources of information as well, men who +kept him well posted in all that was going on. Troops he must have if +the country was to be saved; and as the Kunok were always ready for war +he felt obliged to favour them; and, to raise money for the pay of +others, he was obliged to pledge the Crown revenues and to debase the +coinage. + +If Hungary had been of one mind in those days, if all had been ready to +rise in her defence as once they would have done, she would have had +little difficulty in driving back the Mongols; but some of the magnates +secretly hoped for a reverse, if so be the King might be thereby +humbled. They little knew! + +Rumours as to the advance of the Mongols were rife throughout the +winter; but the month of March, 1241, had arrived, and still there was +nothing to be called an army, in spite of the sending round of the +bloody sword, and in spite of the King's most urgent commands, +entreaties, and personal exertions. + +On the 11th of the month came the first note of actual alarm in a +despatch from HA(C)dervAiry the Palatine, who was guarding the north-eastern +frontier. He announced that the Mongols had reached the pass of Verecz +(almost in a straight line with Kaschau), and that it was impossible for +him to hold them back unless large reinforcements were sent to him at +once. + +The King, meanwhile, had despatched ambassadors to his old enemy +Friedrich, of Austria, urging him in his own interest to come to the +help of Hungary. To the Kunok in their new settlements he had also sent +orders to mount at once, and they required no second bidding, but set +out immediately for the camp. + +The Queen and Court had left Pest for Pressburg, whither all who took +the coming danger in the least seriously, and many even who professed to +think little of it, had sent their womankind. The few who dared run the +risk of leaving them in country houses, with moats and walls as their +sole defence, were nobles whose castles were believed to be +inaccessible, or so far from the frontier and so buried in the woods, +that they had every reason to hope that they would remain undiscovered. +The HA(C)dervAirys and the Szirmays were not of this number, always +excepting Master Peter; for, such was their reputation for wealth, that +it seemed only too likely that, to save their own skins and perhaps +share the spoil, some of their servants and dependants might turn +traitors and betray them to the Mongols. They, therefore, were among the +first to send their wives and children to Pressburg, lavishly provided +with all that they might need, and accompanied by brilliant trains of +men-at-arms. + +Pressburg was full to overflowing, and to every man there were at least +ten women. JolAinta, of course, was there, and was daily looking forward +to the pleasure of seeing Dora; not doubting for a moment that her +uncle would send her with all speed as soon as he himself left home to +join the army. + +But the days had passed, and not only had Dora not come, but no one knew +where she was, or anything about her. There was no little wonderment at +this among those whose minds were sufficiently at leisure to wonder +about anything not immediately concerning themselves or their families. +It was odd that Master Peter should have stayed so long in Pest without +her, a thing he had never done before; it was odder still that he should +not have sent her to Pressburg, out of harm's way. Surely he must have +placed her somewhere to be taken care of! He could never think of +leaving her at home, and alone, when the time of his absence was likely +to be so uncertain. They knew, indeed, that his ancient hall was so +buried in dense woods, and so surrounded by ravine-like valleys, that no +one would be likely to find it unless they knew of its existence and +went there for the purpose; yet at the same time, as he and Stephen had +been busy collecting their troops, and seemed to consider preparations +of some sort necessary, he would surely never be satisfied to leave Dora +alone in a place which, though strong enough to resist any ordinary foe, +would certainly not be safe from the thieving, burning Tartars, if they +should discover it. + +And yet, in spite of all these conjectures, that was precisely what +Master Peter had done. We have already mentioned his reasons for not +taking his daughter to Pest. The same reasons prevented his sending her +to Pressburg. He would not have her exposed to sneers, perhaps insults, +when he was not at hand to protect her. + +Dora herself was quite against going to swell the Queen's train; and her +father was more than a little hurt that, whereas her Majesty (so Paul's +mother told him with satisfaction) had especially summoned JolAinta to +join her with all speed, she had not said a word to show that she even +remembered Dora. + +What Dora wished was to follow her father and share all his dangers, +labours, and hardships--no such very uncommon thing in those days, when +women were often safer with their fathers, husbands, and brothers, than +they could be anywhere else. Her father was Dora's first thought, as she +was his; but at first he would not give her any decided answer. The +Mongols were not yet in the country; and he and his brother, though they +loyally obeyed the King's orders, were among those who thought him far +too anxious, and his preparations more than were necessary. + +At all events, he would not take her with him when he set out with his +troop for the camp at Pest, but he promised, if he could not find any +better way of ensuring her safety, that he would come later on, put her +in a coat of armour, and take her with him. The only question was where +she had better stay meantime, and he decided that on the whole home +would be best. + +The seneschal, or governor, was a gloomy and rather lazy man, but +thoroughly honourable. Peter knew what a bold, brave man he was when it +was a question of bears, wolves, and wild boars, and in his simplicity +he argued with himself that courage was courage and that a man +courageous in one way must needs be courageous in all! + +Peter would have liked much to take with him Talabor, of whom he had +lately grown quite fond, but it suddenly flashed across him that in any +case of unexpected danger, the younger man, full of life and energy, +would not be less courageous than the portly seneschal, while he would +certainly be more active and resourceful. Talabor, who was burning to +accompany his good master, was therefore told that for the present he +was to remain at home. Master Peter had a long conversation with him +before his own departure, and gave him full instructions, so far as that +was possible, as to what he was to do in case of accidents, which Peter +himself never in the least expected to occur. + +And then he rode away at the head of a very respectable troop, or +"banderium," consisting of the lesser nobility of the neighbourhood, and +of such recruits as he had been able to enlist; and on reaching Pest he +found that the Szirmay contingent, furnished by himself and his brother, +was first in the field. Soon after arrived the King with the troops +which he had been raising himself in the two home-counties. + +Pest was becoming daily more like a camp. The streets, the open spaces, +were turned into bivouacs, the officers slept in tents; and, as most of +the men were mounted, on all sides was to be heard the neighing of +horses, tethered by long ropes in the open air. Earthworks were being +hastily thrown up at a considerable distance beyond the walls of the +town, these walls themselves being low and hardly capable of defence, as +they were not everywhere provided even with moats. + +Impossible to describe the state of bustle and excitement in which +everyone in Pest was living just then, and at first sight no one would +have discovered anything like fear in the animated and hilarious crowd +which filled the thoroughfares. The Mongols were spoken of in terms of +the utmost contempt as a wild, undisciplined, unorganized rabble, who +would fly at the mere sight of "real troops," properly armed! + +Everywhere was to be heard the sound of music and boisterous mirth on +the part of the younger nobles, who made great display of gaudy apparel, +fashionable armour from Germany, huge plumes, and high-spirited horses. + +Like peacocks in their pride, they loved in those days to make a show of +magnificence. And if this was true more or less of all the higher and +wealthier nobility, particularly of the younger members, it cannot be +said that the lower classes, or the less wealthy, were at all +behind-hand in following the example of their betters. + +The King himself hated display, though he did not despise a becoming +state and magnificence when occasion required; but those who were +attached to his Court, or to the retinue of the great lords, spiritual +and temporal, delighted to imitate the young magnates as far as they +could. Foremost among these was now Libor the clerk, HA(C)dervAiry's +well-known governor, whom his young master found so prompt and ready, so +helpful in carrying out, and so quick to approve all his whims, that it +became more and more impossible to him to dispense with his services, +and he kept him constantly about him. + +Libor sported a gigantic plume in his cap, and his sword made such a +clanking as he walked, that people knew him by it afar off. Whenever he +had the chance, he might be heard declaiming in praise of the heroic +King, and affirming that everyone who did not support him was a +scoundrel. All who were in favour of active measures highly approved of +Libor; even the King knew him, at least by name, for there was not such +another fire-eating Magyar in the whole of Pest, and all were agreed +that the King had no more devoted subject than this exemplary young +clerk. + +Bishops, abbots, magnates, and the King's brother, Duke KAilmAin, were +arriving now with their expected troops; but on March 14th arrived one +who was not expected, and at whom people looked in terror and amazement. + +He rode up slowly, wearily, at the head of a few hundred men, as worn +and weary as himself; and as he came nearer, people whispered under +their breath, "HA(C)dervAiry the Palatine!" HA(C)dervAiry, who was supposed to +be defending the passes of the Carpathians! + +His armour was battered, his helmet crushed, and a sabre cut across the +face had made him hardly recognisable. He rode straight up to the King's +tent, before which the Diet was assembled, no one, not even his old +friend Peter, daring to speak to him, though he gazed on him hardly able +to believe his eyes, and with a sudden chill of alarm as he thought of +Dora. + +For a few moments no one spoke, but after more than one attempt, the +Palatine got out the broken words, "God and the Holy Virgin protect your +Majesty!" + +Then, turning to the assembled Diet, he added, "Comrades! the enemy is +in our land! Our small force held the pass seven days; on the eighth the +flood burst through and flowed over dead bodies. You see before you all +who escaped! God and the Holy Virgin protect our country!" + +HA(C)dervAiry bowed his head upon his horse's neck to hide his face. + +The sensation was immense, the news flew quickly from mouth to mouth, +and before long all Pest knew of the disaster, and knew, too, that in +the Palatine's opinion the enemy might reach Pest itself within a day or +two--a day or two! with such awful speed did the torrent rush forward. + +If Peter had been incredulous before, he was anxious enough now, when he +heard of the lightning-like rapidity with which the Mongols were +advancing, of the 40,000 pioneers who went before them, cutting a +straight road through the thickest forests, of the catapults for +throwing stones and masses of rock, against which nothing, not even the +strongest walls, could stand. He could not leave his post, it was even +questionable whether he could reach Dora now if he made the attempt; +for, when the scouts came in they more than confirmed all that the +Palatine had said, with the additional information that five counties +had been already devastated, and that Batu's army was within half a +day's journey of Pest itself. + +That same night the red glare in the sky told of burning towns and +villages only a few miles off; and the day after HA(C)dervAiry's return +small bodies of Mongols actually appeared on the very confines of Pest, +laying hands on all that they could find, and then vanishing again like +the lightning, as suddenly as they had come. + +The fortifications of the city were pushed on with redoubled energy, and +all were wildly eager to go out at once and challenge the enemy. But +the King's orders were strict; no one was to go out and attempt to give +battle until the whole army was assembled, when he himself would take +the command. Not a third part had come in yet, and the men chafed +impatiently at the delay. Even now, however, with danger facing them, +there was little unity in the camp, little order, little discipline; +everyone who had any pretension to be "somebody," wanted to give orders, +not obey them, and, in fact, do everything that he was not asked to do. + +But as the troops continued to come in, as the earthworks rose higher, +and the ditches and trenches grew broader; as, above all, the King +seemed to have no fears, confidence revived, and those who had been +timorous ran to the opposite extreme, and began to believe that the King +had but to give the signal for battle, and the enemy's hosts would at +once be scattered like chaff. They not only believed it, but loudly +proclaimed it. Libor was especially loud and emphatic in his expressions +of confidence, and went about from one commander to another, trying his +utmost to obtain a post of some sort in the army. + +He succeeded at last, for HA(C)dervAiry the Palatine had lost his best +officers, and knowing how highly his son thought of Libor, he gave him a +command in his own diminished army. Whereupon Paul presented the young +governor with a complete suit of armour, and from that day forward Libor +did not know how to contain himself. He was a great man indeed now, and +he might rise still higher. In fact, so he told himself, the very +highest posts were open to him! + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +THE BETTER PART OF VALOUR. + + +On the 17th March, six days after HA(C)dervAiry's imploring cry for help, +three after his return, one enormous division of Mongols was in the +neighbourhood of Pest, while another was in front of VAicz (Waitzen), a +town twenty miles to the north. + +That morning very early, Paul HA(C)dervAiry and Ugrin, the Archbishop of +KalA cubedcsa, had sallied forth unknown to anyone, to satisfy themselves as +to whether the scattered parties of Mongols who had been seen several +times beneath the very walls of Pest, were mere bands of brigands, or +whether they were part of Batu Khan's army. Paul was a daring, not to +say foolhardy man, and it was not the first time he had been out to +reconnoitre, taking only Libor and a few horsemen with him. Of course, +he wanted Libor this morning, but the governor, being with all his +valour a discreet person, was not forthcoming, was indeed not to be +found anywhere, much to Paul's vexation. + +Paul and the Archbishop therefore rode quietly out together, +accompanied by no more than half a dozen men-at-arms, and they had not +been riding a quarter of an hour before they caught sight of a party of +horsemen coming towards them through the grey dawn. There seemed to be +some three or four score of them, and they might be some of the expected +troops arriving; it was impossible to tell in the dim half-light, and +Paul and his companion drew behind some rising ground to make sure. They +had not long to wait before they saw that these were no friends, +however, but an advance body of Mongols cautiously and quietly moving +forward. To engage them was out of the question, and the two at once +agreed to turn back without attracting attention, if possible. But they +had no sooner left their shelter than a perfect hurricane of wild cries +showed that they had been observed. + +Fortunately for them, their horses were fresh and in good condition, +while those of the Mongols were sorry jades at the best, and worn out +besides. The Hungarians, therefore, reached the city in safety, though +hotly pursued, and they at once presented themselves before the King, +who had risen very early that morning, and was already at work in his +cabinet. + +"Why, Ugrin, how is this?" said BA(C)la, rising to meet the Archbishop, +"armed from head to foot so early? and you, too, HA(C)dervAiry? Where do you +come from? I see you are dusty!" + +"Your Majesty," began Ugrin, one of the most daring of men, in spite of +his office, "HA(C)dervAiry and I have been riding in the neighbourhood, and +we chanced upon the Tartars!" + +"Did you see many?" + +"The advance guard, with a whole division behind." + +"We have only our horses to thank for it that we are here now," added +HA(C)dervAiry. + +"Have not I forbidden all provoking of encounters until we have all our +troops assembled?" said the King. + +"And there was no provocation--on our part," replied Ugrin, in anything +but an amiable tone; "but if we don't get information for ourselves as +to the enemy's movements----" + +The King cut him short. "I know all about them!" said he, "more than you +gentlemen do." + +Ugrin and HA(C)dervAiry shrugged their shoulders, and both put the King's +coolness down to irresolution, or even fear. + +"I know," said the King, "that they have not only approached our towns, +but that at this moment they are before VAicz, if they have not stormed +it." + +"Before VAicz!" exclaimed Ugrin, "and your Majesty is still waiting! +waiting now! when one bold stroke might annihilate them before the Khan +himself comes up." + +"Batu is close at hand," said the King, "and if we don't wish to risk +all, we must be prudent, and act only on the defensive until the rest of +the troops arrive." + +"Ah!" cried Ugrin, forgetting for a moment the respect due to the King, +"I suppose your Majesty means to wait until VAicz is in flames! By +Heaven! I won't wait--not if I perish for it!" + +As he spoke, Ugrin turned on his heel and abruptly left the room. +Possibly the rattle of his armour and the clank of his sword prevented +the King's hearing clearly his last words; but he called to him in a +tone of command, and ordered him not to leave the city. + +"Make haste and stop him, Paul," said BA(C)la, as the door closed behind +the Archbishop, and HA(C)dervAiry hurried to obey; but his own horse had +been taken to the stables with a Mongol arrow in its back, while Ugrin's +was on the spot, being walked up and down in front of the palace. The +Archbishop had the start of him therefore, for he had rushed down the +steps, mounted, and dashed off like a whirlwind, before HA(C)dervAiry could +catch him up. + +"Let him go!" said the King, "let him go!" he repeated, walking up and +down the room. He had left his private cabinet now for a larger room, in +which, notwithstanding the early hour, many of the nobles were already +assembled; for the news of Ugrin's and HA(C)dervAiry's encounter had spread +like wildfire, and all were impatient to be doing something. + +"We must double the guards and keep the troops ready; but no one is to +venture out of the city," said the King, and his words fell like +scalding water upon the ears of those who heard them. + +For it was always the Hungarian way to face danger at once, without +stopping to realise fully its gravity, or to give courage and energy +time to evaporate. + +"My orders do not please you, I know, gentlemen," the King said, with +dignity, "but when danger is near, blood should be cool. If we waste our +strength in small engagements, the enemy's numbers, the one advantage he +has over us, will make our efforts entirely useless. No! let him exhaust +his strength, while we are gathering ours, and as soon as we have a +respectable army, myself will lead it in person!" + +No one was satisfied; but HA(C)dervAiry the Palatine was alone in venturing +to say a word, and he spoke firmly though respectfully. + +He had had more actual experience of the Mongols than anyone else, and +submitted that, though their strength lay chiefly in their numbers, yet +that this was not the whole of it, for they were exceedingly cunning, +and he believed their object just now was to cut off the reinforcements +before they could reach the place of rendezvous. If so, then an attack +quickly delivered would be of the greatest service. + +"Besides," he concluded, "I suspect that the Archbishop of KalA cubedcsa has +led his 'banderium' out against them, and we can't leave him +unsupported." + +"The brave bishop will soon settle the filthy wretches!" cried a young +ForgAics who was standing near. + +With a reproving look at the young man, the King turned to the Palatine +and said gravely, "I expressly forbade the Archbishop to leave Pest, and +I cannot therefore believe that he has done so! If he has--well, he must +reap as he has sown! I am not going to risk all for the madness of one. +But you are right, Palatine, there is no more cunning people on the face +of this earth! Isn't it more likely that they want to deceive us and +entice us away from our defences, by sending forward these comparatively +small bodies of men?" + +The Palatine shook his head, urging that a great part of the country was +already laid waste, that fear was paralysing everyone, and that it was +no time to wait when danger was actually in their midst and threatening +the very capital. + +And so the discussion went on, a few holding with the King, but the more +part with the Palatine. + +But the King had heard the same arguments so often before that they had +ceased to make any impression upon him. His resolution was taken to +await the arrival of Duke Friedrich of Austria, whom he knew to be on +the way, and whom he confidently believed to be at the head of a +considerable body of troops, from whom BA(C)la expected great things. They +would at least set his own army a good example in the matter of +discipline, and this was much needed; and that army, too, was growing +day by day, surely if slowly, though the greater part was ill-armed. + +The discussion ended with the King's reiterated orders that no one +should go outside the city, and the nobles went their several ways, +giving free vent to their disapproval and impatience, and helping thus +to spread mistrust of the King's judgment. For all that, most of them +were confident of victory as soon as the army should be put in motion, +and some went so far as to expect no less than the immediate +annihilation of the Mongol bands in the vicinity, at the hands of Ugrin. + + + +Crowds filled the streets, and reports of all sorts were flying about +the city. + +The Archbishop had met the enemy and defeated him! + +Some watchman on one of the towers had seen the Archbishop cut down a +Mongol leader, and great part of the Mongols were lying dead on the +ground! + +More important still, he had felled Batu Khan himself with one blow of +his battle-axe! + +So it went on all day till late in the evening, when suddenly the news +spread that the Archbishop was coming back, but--with only three or four +of his men with him! And while the people in the streets were talking +together with bated breath, a man rushed into their midst, covered with +blood and dust. + +"What has happened? Where are you from?" they asked, not at first +recognising the furrier, a man belonging to Pest, and well known there. + +"Water!" whispered the new-comer, bowing his head on his breast. "Water! +I don't know how I got here! Water, quick!" + +Several of the crowd hurried off for water, and when he had quenched his +thirst, some of them began to wash the blood from his face and to bind +up his wounds. + +"Ah! they are no matter!" he gasped, "one may get such cuts as these any +day in a tavern brawl, but--I'm--done for!" + +By the help of a wooden flask of wine the man presently revived enough +to satisfy the curiosity of the bystanders, though he still looked +terrified. + +"I have come straight from VAicz--my horse fell down under me. I was +pursued by Tartars--a score of arrows hit the poor beast--three went +through my cap and tore the skin off my head!" + +"But what is going on in VAicz? they have beaten off the Tartars, eh?" + +"There _is_ no VAicz!" said the man, with an involuntary shudder through +all his limbs. + +All were too dumfounded to utter even an exclamation. They had believed +that their troops had but to show themselves, and the Mongols would be +scattered. + +"The walls of VAicz stand staring up to heaven, as black as soot," the +man went on. "The people defended themselves to the last, ay, to the +last, for hardly a hundred out of them all have escaped!" + +"But the church--there are moats to it, and new walls----" began one of +the bystanders. + +"There _were_!" said the furrier, "there were! there is nothing left +now! The clergy, and the old men, with the women and children, took +refuge there, and all the valuables were taken there; even the women +fought--but it was no good!" + +"Did the Tartars take it?" inquired several at once, beneath their +breath. + +"They stormed it, took it, plundered it, murdered every soul and then +set fire to it; it may be burning still! Their horrible yells! they are +ringing in my ears now!" and the furrier shuddered again. + +But at that moment the attention of the crowd was diverted from him by a +commotion going on at a little distance, and they pressed forward to see +what it meant, but soon came back, making all the haste they could to +get out of the way of some heavy cavalry, armed from head to foot, and +preceded by six trumpeters, who were advancing down the street. + +"The Austrians!" said some of the more knowing, as Duke Friedrich and +his brilliant train passed on straight to the King's palace, where his +arrival was so unexpected that no one was in readiness to receive him. + +Events and rumours had followed one another so quickly that day, that +the whole population was in a state of excitement; but there was more to +come, and the Duke was hardly out of sight, when a Magyar horseman +galloped up, the foam dropping from his horse, which was covered with +blood. Its rider seemed to be so beside himself with terror as not to +know what he was doing, and as the crowd flocked round him, he shouted, +"Treachery! the King has left us in the lurch! Ugrin and his +troops--overwhelmed by the Tartars!" + +With that he galloped on till he reached the bank of the Danube, where +his horse fell under him, and when they hastened to the rider's +assistance, they found only a dead body. + +In spite of the King's commands, Ugrin had led his troops out, and had +daringly attacked the bands of Mongols who had approached Pest to +reconnoitre. Many of them he had cut down with his own hand, and the +rest he had put to flight and was pursuing, when, just as he came up +with them, the Mongols reached a morass. This did not stop them, +however, with their small, light horses. On they went at breakneck +speed, and he followed, without guessing that he was already on the edge +of the marshy ground until the treacherous green surface gave way +beneath the heavy Hungarian horses, which floundered, lost their +footing, and sank helplessly up to their knees, up to their ears, unable +to extricate themselves. + +And then the Mongols turned upon them, as was their wont, and poured a +perfect storm of arrows upon the defenceless troopers. Ugrin and four +others managed to dismount and cast away their heavy armour; and, with +only their battle-axes in their hands, they succeeded at last by +superhuman efforts in wading through the marsh, and so reached Pest, +pursued by the Mongols, and leaving corpses to mark their track all the +way, almost to the gate. + +The people were aghast at the intelligence, and they set to work to +blame the King! + +He was blamed by Ugrin in the first place--Ugrin, who had nothing but +his own madness to thank for the disaster! He was blamed by the mob, who +were ready to see treachery everywhere; and above all, he was blamed by +Duke Friedrich, surnamed the "Streitbare," for his valour! + +The King bore all, and worked on. All night he was on horseback, seeing +to the fortifications, urging the workmen to redoubled vigour. + +And while he was thus engaged, what was going on in the army? + +It is hardly credible, but is nevertheless a fact, that blind +self-confidence, whether real or feigned, held possession of the camp. +The troops and their leaders spent the night for the most part in +revelry, while the sentries on the walls mocked at such of the Mongols +as came near enough and let fly their arrows at them. + +Early in the morning Duke Friedrich was on horseback, after a previous +argument with the King, in which he had made light of the invasion, and +called it mere child's play, easily dealt with, and then he led the +small body of men he had brought with him out of the city. A small body +it was, to BA(C)la's bitter disappointment. He had expected something like +an army, and the Duke had brought about as many men in his train as he +would have done if he had come to a hunting party! + +Such as they were, he led them forth on this eventful morning to have a +brush with the Mongols, whose advance guard retired, according to +custom, as soon as they caught sight of the well-armed, well-mounted, +well-trained band. The Duke was cautious. He meant to do something, if +only to show Pest how easy it was; and when he presently returned with a +couple of horses and one prisoner, he had his reward in the acclamations +with which the populace received him. The success of the valorous Duke +was belauded on all sides, and some compared the daring warrior with the +prudent King, not to the advantage of the latter. + +The prisoner was taken before the King, and, as ill-luck would have it, +he proved to be a Kun; worse still, he said among other things, that +there were many Kunok in Batu's camp. + +They had been forced to join him; but the news spread through the town, +exciting the people more than ever, and it was openly asserted by many +that the Kunok were in league with the Mongols, and that Kuthen was a +traitor, who had managed to ingratiate himself with King BA(C)la only that +he might prepare the way for the enemy. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +"I WASH MY HANDS!" + + +The Diet, summoned a few weeks before, was still holding its meetings in +the open air, with no better shelter than that afforded by a large open +tent. Akos Szirmay would be going thither presently, but it was still +early, and he was now on his way to his uncle's old mansion near the +Danube. + +Though Kuthen was rather prisoner now than guest, he was still visited +by some of the Hungarian lords, and Bishop WAincsa was often there with +messages from the King, saying how greatly he deplored the necessity for +still keeping him prisoner, and explaining that it was from no want of +confidence on his part, but rather for the ensurance of Kuthen's own +safety, adding that he was hoping and waiting for the time when he might +come in person and restore the King and his family to liberty. + +Kuthen had loved and honoured BA(C)la from the first, and though in this +matter he thought him weak, no one would have been able to persuade him +that BA(C)la would consent to anything which would imperil his guest. + +Akos had been a daily visitor at the house all along, and he made no +secret, either there or at his father's, of his attachment to Kuthen's +younger daughter, whose sweet face and winning ways had attracted him +from the first. + +Stephen Szirmay did not like his son's choice, which was not to be +wondered at. Kuthen, it was true, possessed much treasure, and MarAina +was his favourite child. But JolAinta's marriage had taught him that +wealth did not make happiness. Her marriage had had his eager, delighted +approval, as he was obliged to admit to himself; and as his judgment had +been at fault in the one case, he would not interfere in the other. It +would be wiser to remain neutral, lest ill-timed opposition should make +his son more determined. + +Kuthen was up very early this morning; for news had reached him that +many of the Kunok who had remained behind in Moldavia were hastening to +Hungary, and being aware also that those already in the country were now +on their way to Pest, he was hourly expecting a summons from the King +for himself and his sons, and then they would fight, they would fight! +and for ever silence the jealous suspicions of their enemies. + +Kuthen knew all that was going on about him, for he was well served by +his faithful followers, who were more devoted to him than ever since he +had been a sort of state prisoner; he knew that the Diet was sitting +that day, and that his best friends, the King and Duke KAilmAin, would for +their own sakes do all they could to bring to an end the present +disgraceful state of affairs, which was only likely to increase the +slanders and suspicions of which he was the victim. + +Kuthen knew also of the Duke of Austria's arrival, of his encounter with +the Mongols, and of the prisoner, said to be a Kun, whom he had so +unfortunately captured. Kun or not, the populace believed, and were +encouraged by the Duke to believe, that he was one. During the last few +hours the Duke had done his utmost to foment the growing irritation +against the King and his people. + +Kuthen knew all, and though he hoped in King BA(C)la, he neglected no +precautions to ensure the safety of his family, if the worst should come +to the worst. There were already more than a hundred Kunok in the +castle, chiefs and simple armed men, who had found means to join him, by +degrees, without attracting notice, all of whom were most resolute and +most trustworthy. Watch was kept day and night without intermission, and +of one thing Kuthen might be entirely confident, that if danger should +come, it would not take him by surprise, and that, if the mob should +rise against them--as he knew was not impossible--though they might +perish, they would at least not perish like cowards. + +When Akos arrived on this particular morning, he was closeted alone +with the King for a time, and could not deny that things looked +threatening, or that the populace and most of the nobles were in a state +of irritation, thanks in great measure to the Duke of Austria and his +unlucky prisoner. All that he could do was to urge the need of prudence +and vigilance. + +But before the young noble took his leave, something seemed to strike +Kuthen. Whether a new idea flashed into his mind, whether he had a +premonition of any kind, or whether he was merely filled with vague +forebodings, not unnatural under the circumstances, it is impossible to +say, but as Akos was about to make his farewells, Kuthen laid a +detaining hand upon his shoulder, and drew him into the adjoining room. +There he took his daughter MarAina by the hand, and leading her up to +Akos, he said solemnly, "Children, man's life and future are in the +hands of God! We are living in serious times. See, Akos, I give you my +beloved daughter! Happen what may, you will answer to me for this, one +of my children." + +"You have given me a treasure, you have made me rich indeed! God bless +you for it; and, father, have no fears on her account, for we will live +and die together," said Akos, with much emotion, his hand in that of his +bride. + +The Queen's eyes filled with tears as she looked at the handsome young +pair, and drawing close to Akos, she whispered in his ear, "Mind, +whatever happens to the rest of us, my MarAina must be saved." + +Just then in came the two young Princes, who were always pleased to see +Akos, and were delighted, though not surprised, to hear of their +sister's betrothal. + +"Oh, but brother Akos," they exclaimed together, as if they thought that +the new relationship must at once make a difference, "we should so like +to go with you to the Diet, but we are captives, and we have not wings +like the eagles." + +"And, my dear brothers, even if you had," returned Akos, "I should +advise you not to leave your dear father for a moment just now." + +"Oh, but why? why?" they both asked. + +"Because I think that this is a critical time," he answered. "Let us +only get through the next day or two quietly, and I quite believe that +you will all be able to go in and out as you please." + +"You are right, Akos," interposed the King. "Time may bring us good. Let +us wait and be watchful! And don't forget that I have given this dear +child into your care. Trust the rest of us to God, in whose hands is our +fate; we shall defend ourselves, if need be, but you think only of her. +Do you promise me?" + +"I swear I will," said Akos, with uplifted hand. + +Then he embraced his bride, who accompanied him to the covered entrance, +then followed him with her eyes all along the drawbridge, and after +that watched him from a window until he was quite out of sight. + +Kuthen had already doubled the guards about his dwelling, and had taken +other precautions and measures of defence; but the walls were high, and +all had been done so quietly that it had not attracted the attention of +the sentries posted on the other side of the drawbridge. When Akos was +gone, he and his sons armed themselves as if for battle. + +Sheaves of arrows were brought out and placed in readiness, the guards +were armed, and the Kun chiefs, who took it in turn to be on duty near +the King, made all needful preparation for an obstinate defence. + +Akos had not been gone more than an hour or two, when little groups and +knots of people began to gather round Kuthen's house. There were three +or four here, and three or four there, and presently they might be +counted by the score. Later on a large crowd had collected. They were +talking quietly to one another, and seemed so far to be quite peaceable, +however. + +The Kun royal family took no alarm, for they knew the Pest populace and +its insatiable curiosity well by this time, and they fancied that there +was perhaps some idea abroad that Kuthen and his sons would be going to +the Diet; or perhaps MarAina's betrothal was known. + +Another hour passed and the people began to shout and howl. Two persons +were declaiming to them; but within the walls it was impossible to +distinguish what they were saying. The crowd pressed nearer and nearer +to the drawbridge, so near indeed, that the guards on duty there had the +greatest difficulty in keeping them back, and a sudden rush of those in +the rear sent two or three of the foremost splashing into the moat, to +the huge diversion of the rest. + +Presently, however, the mob appeared to be seized by a new idea, for +they all set off running in one direction; and in a few moments, only a +few small knots of people remained. + +But these few lay down on the patches of grass round about, as if they +meant to stay indefinitely, and the Kun chiefs, who had been keeping +close watch behind the loop-holed walls, noticed that they were all +armed, some with knotty sticks and wooden clubs bristling with nails, +and a few here and there with bows and quivers. It looked as if they +meant mischief, and the Kunok were all on the alert for what might +happen. + +Akos meantime had been for the last hour or two at the Diet. From where +he was he had a full view of the Danube, and after a time he noticed a +large crowd of people crossing the river by the ferry-boats and making +straight for the place where the Diet was being held. Both banks of the +Danube were thronged, and soon the crowd became a vast, compact mass; +but the first intimation of anything unusual that many of the members +had, was the finding the table at which they sat suddenly surrounded by +their own gaily caparisoned horses, which the crowd had found blocking +their way, and had driven before them into the tent. + +It was a terrible moment! No one could imagine what had happened, and +some of the more nervous thought that the Tartars, whom they had taken +so lightly before, had actually stormed the town. All started to their +feet, seized the horses by their bridles, and drew their swords. + +And now the howls of the furious mob were plainly to be heard. + +"Kuthen! the Kunok! the traitors! Death to the Kunok!" + +It was impossible to misunderstand what the mob were bent upon. + +This was no peaceable, if clamorous deputation like the former one! +these were no faithful subjects rallying round the King in a moment of +danger, and seeking his counsel and help! + +No! the flood had burst its bounds, carrying all before it, and had come +not to petition, but to claim, and to threaten. + +The King motioned for silence. He was the calmest and most collected of +all present, and such was the magic influence of his presence, such the +respect felt for him, that even now, in spite of all the excitement, for +a moment the clamour seemed to cease. + +Just then one of the nobles, a young man in brilliant armour, with +flashing eyes, seized the bridle of the horse nearest him, flung himself +on its back, dashed away, and looking neither behind nor before him, +forced his way recklessly through the mob. All who noticed him supposed +that he had received some command from the King, but the confusion was +so great that his departure was unobserved, except by those whose legs +were endangered by his horse's hoofs. + +"The Kun King is a prisoner," said BA(C)la in a trumpet-like voice, which +commanded attention at least for the moment. "No one in my dominions +will be condemned unheard. I forbid all violence, and I shall hold the +leaders of this insurgent multitude responsible." + +So far the King was allowed to speak without interruption, or at least +without having his voice drowned. But after this, if he spoke, he could +not make himself heard. For no sooner did the magnates and others +assembled understand what all the uproar was about, than the King's +words lost their effect. + +Members from the counties where the Kunok were settled, recalled the +many irregularities of which the latter had been guilty on their first +arrival, envied them their rich pastures, and joined the mob in crying +for vengeance upon them, and in shrieking "Treachery!" + +There were but few on the King's side, save the two Archbishops, the +two Szirmays, one FoyAics, and HA(C)dervAiry the Palatine. + +The mob surged into the tent, howling and threatening. + +"If the King won't consent, let us settle it ourselves! The country +stands first! The King himself will thank us when his eyes are opened! +Let's go! what are we waiting for? There are enough of us!" + +Duke Friedrich, who, as being the most powerful and most distinguished +guest present, was sitting next the King, turned to him and said in a +half whisper: "Your Majesty, this is a case in which you must give in! +Nothing is more dangerous than for the people to think they can act +against the King's will and go unpunished. No one will defend Kuthen, +and who knows what has been going on yonder, or even whether Kuthen is +still alive?" + +The King maintained a determined silence, but his eyes flashed, and his +hand grasped the hilt of his sword. + +The tumult increased, and some even of those who believed in the Kunok's +innocence, were so alarmed by the rage of the insurgents that they +hurried up to the King and implored him to yield. The pressure around +him waxed greater and greater. + +Duke KAilmAin, who was standing not far off, cried out, "Your Majesty +won't give in! The honour of the nation is at stake!" + +But the noise and confusion were so great that the King could not hear +a word his brother said. The Duke shouted for his horse, but it was all +in vain, for he could not move. + +King BA(C)la, pressed on all sides by those who were beseeching, imploring, +urging, forgot himself for a moment. He put his hands over his eyes, +then stretching them out, he said, "Lavabo manus meas! (I will wash my +hands). You will answer to God for this wickedness. I have done what I +could do!" + +"The King has consented!" roared those nearest him. + +The mob began to sway about, the horses neighed, the people all poured +forth, roaring, "Eljen a kirAily! Long live the King! Death to the false +traitors! Forward! To Kuthen! to Kuthen!" + +No sooner was he free than Duke KAilmAin mounted the first horse he could +seize, while the mob rushed off like a whirlwind in the direction of the +house by the Danube. + +When the King looked round none were left but some of the magnates. + +"A horse!" he shouted furiously; and he galloped away after the mob, +accompanied by the Austrian Duke and the rest. + +If BA(C)la had mounted his horse before he addressed the mob, if he had +faced the insurgents as a king, and had at once punished the +ringleaders, the country might have been spared great part of the +disasters which were now on the very threshold. But once again the King +was weak at a critical moment. There is much to be said in his excuse +and defence; but weakness, however brilliantly defended, remains +weakness still. + + + +A few moments after the mob had burst into the King's tent, Akos was +again at the drawbridge which led to Kuthen's dwelling. + +"What do you want, sir?" asked the captain of the guard hotly, as he +sprang forward to meet him. "No one is admitted." + +"Since when?" asked Akos haughtily. + +"The King sent orders an hour ago." + +"Maybe! but I have come straight from the Diet by the King's command, +and I am to take Kuthen and all his family before him and the States at +once, while you can remain here to guard the place till our return." + +The captain turned back submissively, and blew the horn which hung at +his side. Possibly the drawbridge which formed the outer gate of the +castle would not even now have been lowered, but that Kuthen had +recognised Akos, and that they were so well armed as to be quite a match +for the guard, and for those of the mob who had remained behind. + +The drawbridge was lowered therefore, but raised again the moment Akos +had passed. He rode across the covered space between the drawbridge and +the inner gate, and there he had to wait again a few moments while the +bolts and bars were withdrawn. He leapt from his horse as soon as he was +within, and Kuthen and his sons hurried from the entrance-hall to meet +him, doubting whether he brought good news or bad. + +"Quick!" said Akos, "to horse! your Majesty, to horse! all of you," and +without waiting Kuthen's answer, he shouted, "Horses! bring the horses! +and mount, all who can!" + +The Princes flew at once to the stables, and bridled the horses--which +were always kept ready saddled--while Kuthen asked in some surprise, +"What has happened? Where are we to go?" for he had not been able to +read anything in young Szirmay's face, whether of good or of evil. + +"Where?" said Akos bitterly, "where we can be farthest from the mob--the +mob has risen and may be here any moment." + +In those times, sudden dangers, sudden alarms, sudden flights were +things of every-day occurrence, and Kuthen and his followers had long +been accustomed not to know in the morning where they should lay their +heads at night. No people were quicker or more resolute in case of +extremity than the Kunok, who were one family, one army, one colony, and +moved like a machine. + +The Queen and Princesses, as well as the chiefs, had all come together +in the hall, but now the former and many of the servants rushed back +into the house, from which they again emerged in a few moments, all cool +and collected, all ready to start, and with their most valued +possessions packed in bundles. + +The riding horses were bridled, some of the pack-horses loaded, and all +had been done so quickly and quietly, that the guard without had heard +no more than the sort of hum made by a swarm of bees before they take +flight. + +Meantime Akos had rapidly explained matters to Kuthen, pointing out to +him that King BA(C)la and his brother and others were standing up for him, +but that there was a rising of the populace, and that the mob might +arrive before the King, when, even if they were successfully beaten +back, there would certainly be bloodshed, which would only exasperate +the people more than ever, and make it impossible for the King, good as +he was, to ensure the safety of his guests. Whereas, if they could +succeed in avoiding the first paroxysms of fury, King BA(C)la would be the +first to rejoice at their escape. + +Akos spoke confidently, and his words carried conviction. + +Kuthen, his family, and the chiefs were already mounted, while those of +the guard who were on foot formed themselves into a close, wedge-shaped +mass, and were all ready to set out. + +"Lower the drawbridge!" cried Kuthen. The chains rattled, and the gate, +which had been closed behind Akos, was reopened. He and Kuthen headed +the procession which issued forth. + +At that moment a long, yellow cloud of dust made its appearance in the +distance, coming towards them. A horseman was galloping in front of it, +and he was closely followed by two more, shouting aloud what no one in +the castle understood, but something which made the captain of the guard +without give orders for the bolts of the drawbridge to be pulled back; +and the bridge, left without its supports, dropped with a great plash +into the moat. + +The Kunok were cut off! + +With the sangfroid and fearlessness learnt in the course of his +adventurous life, Kuthen at once ordered the drawbridge to be raised; +the inner gate was closed again and barred with all speed. + +Akos was as pale as death, for he saw in a moment that he had come too +late, and that all was lost; but he was resolved to share the fate of +the man, whom for MarAina's sake he looked upon as his father. + +As for Kuthen, he was suddenly the wild chief again. His face was +aflame, his eyes flashed fire, he was eager for the fray, and his one +thought was to defend himself proudly. He ordered the guards to their +places, the horses having been already led back to their stables; and +then, turning to his family, he said coolly and calmly, "We will defend +ourselves until the King comes, and then his commands shall be obeyed, +whatever they are." + +The women at once retired to their own quarters, without uttering word +or groan. There were no tears, no sobs, no sign of terror on their +countenances. They looked angry and defiant. + +When the women had withdrawn, the Princes went to their posts, and +Kuthen, turning to Akos, said, "Remember your oath." + +Akos raised his hands to heaven without a word. + +His own position was a more dangerous one than it might seem at first +sight. His manifest intention of shielding Kuthen from their vengeance +would bring down upon him the hatred of his own countrymen; while on the +other hand the furious glances of the Kunok confined in the castle, and +their ill-concealed hostility, showed him clearly that his life was now +in danger from within as well as from without. + +The mob which had rushed away from the Diet had pressed on with the +speed of the whirlwind, its numbers growing as it went. A few minutes +only had passed since the cloud heralding its approach had been seen, +and already the crowd was swarming round the banks of the moat, making +an indescribable uproar and uttering the wildest, fiercest shouts. + +Within, all was silent as the grave. But the mob outside were not idle +for a moment. They were athirst for vengeance, and from the moment of +their arrival they had been busy trying to make a passage across the +moat by throwing in earth, straw, pieces of wood, even furniture, +brought on all sides from the neighbouring houses, and, in fact, all and +everything that came to hand. + +All at once there was a cry raised of "The King! The King is coming!" + +It was not the King, however, but Duke KAilmAin, with his servants and +some of the nobles in his train. + +That part of the moat faced by the gate was by this time almost full, +and some of the more daring spirits were trying to clamber up to the +drawbridge, when suddenly the scene changed. The wild figures of the +Kunok appeared as if by magic upon the walls, the thrilling war-cry was +raised, and a cloud of well-aimed arrows hailed down upon the +assailants. + +Kuthen and his sons, who confidently expected King BA(C)la, had done their +utmost to restrain their people, but in vain, for when they saw the moat +filled and their enemies preparing to rush the gate, they became +infuriated and uncontrollable. + +In the first moment of surprise all fell back, knocking over those +behind them; but some few began to retaliate and shoot up at the +garrison. Not to much purpose, however, for neither arrows nor spears +hit the intended marks, while the long arrows shot from the powerful +bows of the Kunok never failed. + +It was during this fierce overture of the contest that Duke KAilmAin rode +up. + +"Stand aside!" he shouted, "stop fighting! The King is coming, he will +see justice done----" + +The words were not out of his mouth when two arrows flew forth from +loopholes in the walls. One struck the Duke's horse, and the second +felled to the earth a young nobleman riding close beside him. + +"They have shot the Duke!" was shouted on all sides; for so dense was +the cloud of arrows that it was impossible to see at first which of the +two had fallen. + +The Duke himself, however, was standing coolly defiant amidst the +whistling storm. + +But the shouts were the signals for a general rush, and from that moment +no one, not even the King, could have restrained the people. + +The moat was filled, the drawbridge wrecked, the inner gate, in spite of +its bars, wrenched from its hinges and thrown down upon the dead bodies +of the Kun guards. + +The mob rushed in and stormed the castle, and an awful scene of +bloodshed followed. Kuthen, his sons, and the Kun chiefs fought +desperately; and side by side with them fought Akos, so completely +disguised as a Kun as to be quite unrecognisable. He was too downright +to have thought of a disguise for himself, but had acquiesced in it at +Kuthen's entreaty. + +The first of the mob who rushed into the courtyard fell victims to their +own rashness, and many more were despatched by the arrows poured from +the walls. + +But suddenly the younger of the two Princes fighting beside their +father, fell to the ground with a short cry. + +"My son!" exclaimed Kuthen, turning to Akos, "Go! now's the time! keep +your word! I--I'm dying!" + +With that, Kuthen, who had been mortally wounded by a couple of pikes, +rushed upon his foes, felled several of them by the mere strength of his +arm, and then himself sank down. Akos rushed from the entrance-hall into +the house. + +"You are our King now!" roared the Kunok, pressing round the remaining +Prince, and covering him with their shields, as he fought like a young +lion. + +All at once there were loud outcries and yells. The Kunok outside the +house, finding themselves unable to defend the castle against the swarms +which poured into the courtyard, had rushed in, closing the doors and +barring the windows. + +All in vain! The young Prince, just proclaimed King amid a shower of +arrows, retreated from one room to another, some of his defenders +falling around him at every moment. By the time the last door was burst +open, less than a dozen of his guard remained, all wounded, all fighting +a life-and-death battle with desperation. + +A few moments more and every Kun in the place had ceased to breathe. + +Where were the women? What had become of Akos and his bride? + +Presently the mob outside received with howls of joy the heads of Kuthen +and his family, flung to them from the windows, and at once hoisted them +on pikes in token of victory. If the head of Akos was among them no one +noticed it, for he had stained his face. + +Maddened by their success, the rabble now made with one consent for +"King BA(C)la's palace," foremost and most active among them being the +Austrian Duke's men-at-arms. + +They poured into it like a deluge, and the air was filled with shouts of +"Eljen a kirAily! Long live the King! The traitors are dead!" + +When they had shouted long enough, they set fire to Master Peter's old +mansion, as if it had been the property of King Kuthen, and in less than +a quarter of an hour sparks and burning embers were flying from it into +the air, while the gaping multitudes ran round and round the dwelling, +in all the bloodthirsty delight of satisfied revenge. + + + +A day or two later, the Kun army, which had promptly obeyed +orders--more promptly indeed than most even of the more energetic +Hungarians--reached the gate of Pest, well mounted and well armed. +There first they learnt what had befallen their King and his family. + +They came to a halt. + +The chiefs took counsel together as to what was to be done, and they +were not slow in coming to a decision. For the news had spread into the +country that all the Kunok in Pest had been put to death for treachery, +and the country, following the example of the city, had also begun to +take matters into their own hands by making in some places regular +attacks upon the Kun women, children, and old men. The Kunok had not +understood the reason of this before. + +Now they knew! and with one consent they turned back, gathering all +their own people together as they went, and turning against the +Hungarians the arms which at BA(C)la's appeal they had been so quick to +take up in their defence. + +Duke Friedrich stayed no longer, but, content with his little victory +over the Mongol chief, content with having helped to capture Kuthen's +castle and to murder its inhabitants, he made off home, giving a promise +which he did not keep, that he would send an army to BA(C)la's assistance. +He had done mischief enough, and left an evil legacy behind him. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +LIBOR CLIMBS THE CUCUMBER-TREE. + + +Duke Friedrich had left him in the lurch; the Kunok were on their way to +Bulgaria, wasting and burning as they went; and now King BA(C)la saw the +mistake he had made in not exerting his utmost power to defend Kuthen. + +The banderia (troops) expected from both sides of the Tisza (Theiss) did +not arrive, eagerly as they were expected. The Bishop of CsanAid, and +nobles from ArAid, and other places, had indeed been hastening to Pest +with their followers, but on the way they had encountered the outraged +and enraged Kunok. Knowing nothing of what had been taking place in the +capital, they were unprepared for hostilities, and when the Kunok fell +upon them, some were cut off from the rest of the force, and some were +cut down. + +All things seemed to be in a conspiracy against the King and the +country, and one blow followed another. + +It was not until the Kunok had crossed into Bulgaria, leaving a trail +of desolation behind them that the Bishop of NagyvAirad (Grosswardein) +could venture to lead his banderium towards Pest; and the banderium of +the county of Bihar was in the same case. Now, however, they were +hurrying forward, when the Mongols, who knew of their coming, put +themselves in their way. The Bishop attacked what appeared to be but a +small force of them; the Mongols retreated, fighting. The Hungarians, +who did not as yet understand their enemy's tactics, pursued. Suddenly +the Mongols turned and fell upon them, and but few escaped to tell the +story of the disaster. + +By this time some 60,000 or 70,000 men were assembled in Pest, against +the 300,000 or more under the command of Batu Khan; but of those who had +put in an appearance, few were likely to be very serviceable as +commanders. + +The nation had to a great extent lost the military qualities which had +distinguished it before, and which distinguished it again afterwards. +The masses were no longer called upon for service, and the nobles, not +being bound to serve beyond the frontier, had become unused to war. +There was plenty of blind self-confidence, little knowledge or +experience. + +The King was no general; and although Duke KAilmAin and Bishop Ugrin were +distinguished for their personal valour and courage, neither they nor +any of the other leaders had an idea of what war on a large scale really +was. + +However, such as it was, the army was there, and it was not likely to +receive any large accessions; it believed itself invincible, which might +count for something in its favour; and the general distress and misery +were so great that at last the King yielded his own wish to remain on +the defensive, and led his army out into the plain. Batu Khan at once +began to retreat, and to call in his scattered forces, which were busy +marauding in various directions. He drew off northwards, his numbers +swelling as he went, and the Hungarians followed, exulting in the +conviction that the Mongols were being driven before them, and meant to +avoid a battle! It did not for a moment strike them that they were +following Batu's lead, and that he was drawing them to the very place +which he had chosen to suit himself. + +When they were not many miles from Tokay the Mongols crossed the SajA cubed by +a bridge which they fortified, and they then took up a position which +extended from this point to the right bank of the Tisza (Theiss), having +in front of them the vast plain of Mohi, bounded on the east by the +hills of Tokay, on the west by woods, which at that time were dense +forests, while behind them to the north they had more plains and hills +and, beyond these again, a snow-capped peak which shone like a diamond +in a field of azure. + +Master Peter's old country-house lay about a hundred miles to the +north-west of Mohi, almost under the shadow of the loftiest part of the +Carpathians. A hundred miles was no distance for such swift riders as +the Mongols, but thus far the county of Saros had escaped them, they +having entered Hungary by passes which lay not only east and west, but +also south of it. + +Batu Khan's forces occupied the horse-shoe formed by the junction of the +three great rivers, SajA cubed, HernAid, and Tisza. + +The Hungarians encamped on the great plain opposite. But though they had +so vast a space at their disposal, their tents were pitched close +together, and their horses--a large number, as nearly all were mounted +men--stood tethered side by side in rows. Freedom of motion within the +camp was impossible; and to make matters even worse, the whole was +enclosed within an ill-constructed rampart of wooden waggons, which +quite prevented freedom of egress. + +A thousand mounted men were on guard at night outside the camp, but +scouting and outposts were apparently unthought of. + +A few days had passed in merry-making and self-congratulation on the +easy victory before them, when one morning King BA(C)la appeared mounted on +a magnificent charger, to make his customary inspection of the camp. He +wore a complete suit of German armour, a white, gold-embroidered cloak +over his shoulders, and an aigrette in his helmet. + +Many of the Knights Templar had joined the army, and some of them, in +their white, red-crossed mantles, were now standing about him. Close +behind him was his brother KAilmAin, in armour of steel, inlaid with gold; +and near at hand was the fiery Archbishop Ugrin, the most +splendid-looking man in the army, so say the chroniclers, his gold chain +and cross being the only mark which distinguished him from the laymen. + +The Bishop was a devoted patriot, and though he had not forgiven the +King for "leaving him in the lurch," he was sincerely attached to him. +He was the leading spirit of the campaign. + +It was Ugrin who had urged the King to take the field without further +delay; Ugrin, who, with much valour and enthusiasm, but with little +military experience, had advised Duke KAilmAin where to pitch the camp; +and again it was Ugrin, who, convinced that the Mongols were in retreat, +had pressed the King to give hurried chase, whereby the army had been +fatigued to no purpose, and had finally been brought precisely to the +spot where Batu wished to see it. The Bishop, however, happy in his +ignorance, was under the delusion that it was he who had forced the Khan +into his present position. + +Just now the King was giving patient hearing to the opinions, frequently +conflicting, of those about him. Black care was at his heart, but he +looked serene, even cheerful, as usual, as he asked his brother in an +undertone whether he had managed to reduce his men to anything like +order. + +The Duke, for all reply, shrugged his shoulders and looked decidedly +grave. + +"Ah!" said the King, stifling something like a sigh, "just as I +expected!" + +Then he heard what the leader of the Knights Templar had to say, and +then he turned to Ugrin, well knowing that the Bishop's one idea was to +attack, and of course beat, the enemy, and that he had no room in his +head for any other. + +"You don't think Batu Khan will attack?" + +"Attack! not he!" said the Bishop, scornfully. "They are all paralysed +with fear, or they would never have pitched their tents between three +rivers. They have three fronts, and they have put those wretches the +Kunok and Russians foremost! Here have we been face to face for days and +nothing has come of it! And yet," continued the Archbishop eagerly, +"nothing would be easier than to annihilate the whole army. All we have +to do is to deliver one attack across the SajA cubed, while we send another +large force to the left through the woods at night, and across the +HernAid, and we shall have the Mongols caught in their own net!" + +The Archbishop may have been right, but whether he were so or not, the +King saw one insuperable objection to what he proposed. The movement +depended for its success upon its being executed in absolute silence; +and there was no power on earth capable of making any part of the +Hungarian squadrons move forward without shouts, cries, and tumult! +Unless Heaven should strike them dumb they would noise enough to betray +themselves for miles around, as soon as they caught the sound of the +word "battle." + +Still, the King was obliged to admit that there did not seem to be +anything to be gained by waiting. + +He was just about to start on his tour of inspection, when there was a +sudden sound of great commotion within the camp. Men were rushing to and +fro, tumbling over one another in their eagerness, and the air was rent +with their shouts. But sudden hubbubs, all about nothing, and tumults +which were merely the outcome of exuberant spirits, were so frequent +that BA(C)la and the more staid officers expected the mountain to bring +forth no more than the customary mouse on the present occasion. + +"A prisoner, apparently," observed the Duke, as an officer emerged from +the crowd. Spies and fugitives were frequently crossing the river and +stealing into the camp, where there were already Russians, Kunok, +Tartars, and men of many tongues. + +This man had been caught just as, having crept between the waggons, he +was starting off at a run down the main thoroughfare, and making +straight for the King's tent. + +"Keep back!" cried the officer, "Keep back! and hold your tongues, while +I take him to the Duke and let him tell his story!" + +But he might as well have addressed the winds and waves. + +There was a storm of "Eljens," mingled with cries in various tongues +unintelligible to the rest. They threatened, they swore, they yelled; +and in this disorderly fashion approached the group of which the King +was the centre. + +"Not to me! There is the King!" said the Duke, as the rather bewildered +officer pushed his prisoner up to the Commander-in-Chief. + +"Well, what news do you bring? Who are you? Where are you from?" the +King asked good-humouredly, but with an involuntary smile of contempt. + +"I am a Magyar, your Majesty," said the man in a doleful voice. "The +Tartars carried me off just outside Pest." + +"Why!" exclaimed Paul HA(C)dervAiry suddenly, as he stood facing the +fugitive, "why, if it isn't Mr. Libor's groom, MatykA cubed!" + +Libor, as we have said, was not to be found on the morning of Paul's +expedition with Bishop Ugrin; and not having seen or heard of him since, +Paul had been growing daily more anxious on his account. He missed him, +too, at every turn, for Libor had made himself indispensable to his +comfort. + +Stephen Szirmay and Master Peter, who were as usual in close attendance +upon the King, looked with curiosity at the unfortunate lad, who, as +they now saw, had lost both ears. + +"What have you done with your master?" inquired Master Stephen, +forgetting the King for a moment in his eagerness. + +"The Tartars are going to attack the Hungarian camp this very night!" +blurted out the fugitive, with a loud snort; after which, and having +relieved his news-bag of this weighty portion of its contents, he seemed +to feel easier. + +"Do you know it for a fact?" asked the King gravely. "Take care what you +are saying, for your head will have to answer for it." + +"It is the pure truth, your Majesty. I heard the whole thing, and when I +knew everything I took my life in my hand and crept through the bushes, +swam across the SajA cubed, and then stole hither by the edge of the ditches! +Well, your Majesty will see for yourself by to-night whether I have been +telling lies or no." + +"What more do you know? Are the Mongols in great force? Have they many +prisoners?" the King asked, by way of getting at the lad's budget of +news and forming some idea of its value. + +"They are as thick together as a swarm of locusts, sir; and as for the +prisoners, they are like the chaff of a threshing floor. There are +gentlefolk there too. My old master is one of them--blast him with hot +thunderbolts!" + +"And who is your master?" + +"My faithful governor--Libor!" exclaimed Paul HA(C)dervAiry, stepping +forward and answering for the groom in a tone of great displeasure. + +"And have they treated the rest as they have treated you?" asked the +Duke, pointing to the lad's bleeding ears. + +"The Tartar women cut off the ears and noses of every pretty woman and +girl, and the best looking of all they kill! They have killed most of +the gentlemen too, and thrown them into the HernAid." + +"And your master?" asked Paul quickly. + +"My master? No master of mine! he's better fit to be master to the +devil," said the prisoner, quite forgetting the King in his rage. + +"What--whom are you talking about?" asked Paul, indignantly. + +"I'm talking about Mr. Governor Libor, and I say that he has turned +Tartar!" + +"Turned Tartar!" exclaimed several in amazement. + +"It's fact," said the lad. "He has cast off his 'menti' and 'suba,' and +doffed his great plume, and now he is going about like a reverend friar, +with a cowl large enough to hold myself." + +"Turned priest then, has he?" asked Master Peter. + +"Priest to the devil, if he has any of that sort down below," said +MatykA cubed. "Priest, not a bit of it! He has turned KnA(C)z! that's what he has +done! The Tartars wear all sorts of church vestments, even the Khans do, +blight them!" + +"KnA(C)z! what sort of creature is that, MatykA cubed?" asked Ugrin. + +"A sort of governor, something like an 'IspAin' (_i.e._, Count, or +head-man of a county)--I don't know, but he has some sort of office, and +our poor gentlemen prisoners must doff their hats to the wretch!" + +"Well, nephew!" said Master Peter, with a laugh, for this was water to +his own mill, "so you have chosen a pretty sort of fellow indeed to +entrust your castle to!" + +The King meantime had turned away to speak to the Knight Commander of +the Templars, and Paul was able to go on questioning MatykA cubed. He was +beside himself with astonishment. + +"How long has he been in such favour with the Tartars?" he asked. + +"Ah, sir! who can say?" answered the lad, hotly. "He was KnA(C)z before +they took me! I found him among them, and hardly knew him. It was he who +had my ears cut off, the brute! and only just saved my nose!" + +"Well, that is something anyhow," said Master Peter. + +"And then," continued MatykA cubed, "I heard that Mr. Governor had been having +dealings with the Tartars, like those rascally Kunok, and what's more, +if it is true--and true it must be, for Tartars don't give anything for +nothing--they say he has shown them the way to two or three castles, +where they have got a lot of plunder!" + +"Shown them! the scoundrel!" exclaimed Peter and HA(C)dervAiry together. + +"It's so," said MatykA cubed emphatically. "He did ought to have his own long +ears and snout cut off, he ought!" + +Young HA(C)dervAiry did not perhaps believe all that had been said about his +favourite, but still his anger waxed hot within him. + +He had to leave MatykA cubed now, however, and follow the King, who rode +through the whole camp, and finally gave orders to the Duke to +anticipate the Tartars by advancing at once to the SajA cubed with a +considerable force. + +"Ugrin!" cried the Duke, well pleased with the command, "you will come +with me! Quick! Mount your men, and we will be on the way to the SajA cubed in +half an hour and stop the Tartars from crossing." + + + +By the time the Duke and Ugrin reached the river, they found that a +number of Mongols had already got across. These, after some hard +fighting they successfully beat back, and that with considerable loss; +and as the survivors disappeared into the woods on the opposite side of +the river, the Duke and Ugrin led their victorious troops back to the +camp, where they were received with acclamations and triumph. They had +lost hardly any of their men and were highly elated by their victory. + +The night following this success was one of the quietest in the camp. +The rapid and easy victory they had won had redoubled everyone's hopes +that, upon the advance of the entire army the Mongols would perish +utterly and completely, as if they had never been. + +Most of the men in camp lay down, with the exception of the King, the +sentries, and some of the generals. + +The King allowed himself but a very short rest; for, from his many +conversations with the unfortunate King Kuthen, he was well aware of the +overwhelming numbers and strength of the Mongols, and he was determined +that the enemy should never find him anything but prepared and on the +alert. + +KAilmAin and Bishop Ugrin also approved these prudent measures; but the +army as a whole was so worn out by long watches and merry-making that +rest it must have. + +It was a dark night, and the wind blew the tents about; the camp fires +had been purposely extinguished, though it was spring-time and chilly. + +Twice in the course of the night the King left his tent, made the round +of the camp, and satisfied himself as to the strength of the wooden +bulwarks. The Duke, the Commander of the Templars, HA(C)dervAiry the +Palatine, and his son Paul, as well as Ugrin, all lay in the King's +tent, on carpets, dozing, but not sleeping, while the King merely put +off his armour, and stretched himself on the camp bedstead for an hour +or two. + +All was still save for the wind, and in the intervals between the gusts +nothing was to be heard but some terrific snores, and the stamping of +the horses. + +Now and again those who were fully awake thought they heard shouts of +merriment, showing that there were still some not too tired to be +amusing themselves; then the wind roared again, and all other sounds +were lost. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +"NEXT TIME WE MEET!" + + +Since her father's departure, Dora had held the reins of government, and +held them, too, with a firmer hand than Master Peter had done. + +In a couple of weeks she had made the sleepy governor, if not active, at +least less dilatory; the men-at-arms had been well drilled by himself +and Talabor, and the serving men and women had been bewitched into some +degree of orderliness. + +News of her father she neither had nor expected. Probably she would hear +nothing until he came or sent for her. She knew nothing positively as to +what was taking place outside, though the servants from time to time +picked up fragments of news in the villages, so contradictory as to +convey little real information. But the air, even in this out-of-the-way +region, was full of rumour and presentiment, which affected different +characters in different ways, but had the general result of making all +more careful than usual. + +Without being in the least alarmed, Talabor was one who showed himself +particularly circumspect at this time; and, as if he had some sort of +instinct that trouble might be at hand, he gradually got into the way of +helping the seneschal in all that he had to do. And his assistance, +though uncalled for, was most welcome to the poor man, who felt a good +deal burthened, now that he had to bestir himself to greater speed than +was his wont. + +Some of the servants liked Talabor for his unpresuming ways, resolution, +and courage, while the rest sought to curry favour with him because the +young clerk was evidently in the master's good graces, and they believed +him to be a power in consequence. + +By degrees, and without even noticing it, Talabor quite took the +governor's place. The servants, being accustomed to receive their orders +from him, and to go to him in all difficulties, finding moreover that +Talabor was always ready with an answer and never at a loss what to do, +while the old seneschal forgot more than he remembered, soon almost +overlooked the latter and put him on one side. + +Even Dora, who was perhaps more distant with Talabor now than she had +ever been before, came at last to giving her orders to him, instead of +to the governor. And the governor, finding himself thus in the shade, +would now and then suddenly awake and become jealous for the +preservation of his authority, and at such times would seize the reins +with ludicrous haste, while Talabor would as quickly take up again the +part of a subordinate. + +Such was the state of affairs when the governor and Talabor were sitting +together one evening in a tolerably large room occupied by the former. + +On the table before them were a good sized pewter pot and drinking cups +to match. The two had been talking for some time. The governor was +looking as if he had been annoyed about something, and Talabor could not +be said to look cheerful either, in fact, he had rarely been seen to +smile since Master Peter's departure. He missed him greatly, for +latterly, as long as he was at home, Peter had often had the young man +with him in the evenings, when the candles were lighted, or when a +blazing fire supplied the place of tallow and wax, these latter being +still considered luxuries. + +Master Peter possessed a few books which he greatly valued--a copy of +his favourite Ovid, and a Bible, for which he had given a village and a +half, besides one or two others. He made Talabor read to him from all in +turn; and often by way of variety, he had long conversations with him, +and told him stories of his hunting adventures. + +Talabor was a good listener, and he not only enjoyed but learnt a good +deal from the narratives of his younger days, in which Master Peter +delighted. Dora, too, was more often present than not, and sometimes +joined in the conversation, which made it more interesting still, and +then Talabor felt as if he were almost one of the family. Of course, +there could be nothing of this sort now. Dora gave her orders, sometimes +made suggestions, but he never saw her except in the presence of others +and on matters of business. He had quite satisfied himself, however, +that there had never been anything between her and Libor, and that was a +satisfaction. She had not deceived her father, she had never either sent +or received a single letter unknown to him, and in fact she was just as +upright and honourable as he had always thought her. + +As to why Libor had spread the reports which Talabor had traced to him, +and why he had enlisted Borka's aid, unless it were to magnify his own +importance, that, of course, he could not guess; but he had so +frightened the maid that he was satisfied not only that she had told him +the truth so far as she knew it, but that for the future she would keep +it to herself, on pain of being denounced as a traitor to her master, of +whom she stood in great awe. + +"This won't do!" cried the governor, as he brought his hand down on the +table with a mighty bang. "This won't do, I say! Here are the woods +swarming with wolves, and one good hunt would drive the whole pack off, +and yet you, Talabor, would have us look idly on while the brutes are +carrying off the master's sheep and lambs regularly day after day." + +"Not idly, sir, I did not say idly; but they have the shepherd and his +boys to look after them, and they are good shots, especially the +shepherd, and then he has four dogs, each as big as a buffalo," Talabor +rejoined, rather absently. + +"Buffalo!" + +"Calf, I mean, of course; but it would certainly not be wise to take the +garrison out hunting just now." + +"And why not? You are afraid of the Tartars, I suppose, like the rest!" + +"No, sir! but if they do come, I should prefer their being afraid of us! +Besides, there is no good in denying it--the wind never blows without +cause, and there has been more than one report that the Tartars have +actually invaded us." + +"Always the Tartars! How in the world should they find their way through +such woods as these unless you or I led them here?" + +"If once the filthy creatures flood the country, it seems to me from all +that ever I have heard, that not a corner will be safe from them. +They'll go even where they have no intention of going, just because of +their numbers, because those behind will press them forward in any and +every direction." + +"Well, it's true, certainly, that the last time I was with the master in +Pest, I heard they had done I don't know what not in Russia and +Wallachia. People said that wherever they forced their way they were +like--excuse me--like bugs, and not to be so easily got rid of, even +with boiling water! And they are foul, disgusting folk, too! they poison +the very air; and they eat up everything, to the very hog-wash!" + +"So, Governor, you agree with me then! It's the man who keeps his eyes +open who controls the market! Who knows whether we mayn't have a +struggle with them ourselves to-day or to-morrow!" + +"Ha, ha, ha!" laughed the governor. "Our walls are strong, and, if only +there are not very many of them----" + +"Eh, sir, but numbers will make no difference! We are so enclosed here +that the closer they are packed the more of them our arrows will hit." + +"True! true!" said the governor, with more animation now that there was +a question of fighting, "but they shoot too, blast them!" + +"Let them!" said Talabor confidently, "we are behind our walls, and can +see every man of them without being seen ourselves." + +"Clerk!" cried the governor, quite annoyed, "I declare you talk as if +the Tartars were at the very gate!" + +"Heaven forbid! but----" + +At that instant the door flew open, and the gate-keeper, one of the most +vigilant fellows of the castle, rushed in. + +"Get on with you, you ass!" shouted the governor, "what's the news? What +do you mean by leaving the gate and bolting in here as if the wolves +were at your heels?" + +The governor might perhaps have gone on scolding, but the gate-keeper +interrupted him. + +"Talabor--Mr. Governor, I mean, there are some suspicious-looking men on +the edge of the wood, if my eyes don't deceive me." + +"On the edge of the wood? But it is rather dark to see so far," said +Talabor, standing up as he spoke. + +"If it were not so dark, I could tell better who the rascals are; but so +much I can say, there they are, and a good lot of them." + +"Very well," said Talabor, making a sign to the governor, "you are a +faithful fellow to have noticed them; but we mustn't make any fuss, or +our young mistress may be frightened." + +"I am not usually given to fearing danger, Mr. Talabor," said Dora, +entering the room at that moment, and speaking with cool dignity. "I +have just been to the top of the look out myself, and what this honest +fellow says is perfectly true. There are some men just inside the wood, +and they do look suspicious, because they keep creeping about among the +underwood, and only now and then putting their heads out." + +While his mistress spoke, the gate-keeper had stood there motionless. + +"Come, go back to the gate," said Dora, turning to him, "and make haste! +you heard what Mr. Talabor said; let him know at once if you notice any +movement among these people." + +"And, Governor," she continued, "you had better place the guard and all +the men who can shoot at the loopholes, quietly, you know, not as if we +were expecting to be attacked; and then, the stones for the walls----" + +"Pardon me, mistress," interposed Talabor, "I had stones, and everything +else we might need, carried up a week ago." + +"I know it, Mr. Talabor, I was not doubting it," Dora said in an +unruffled tone, "but for all that, it will be as well to have more +stones, I think. I believe myself that they are just brigands, not +Tartars, but even so, if they attack us at night, and in large numbers, +all will depend upon the reception they get, so it seems to me." + +Talabor said no more, but in his own mind he was fully persuaded that +the suspicious-looking folk were the Mongols, and that they were +concocting some plan for getting into the castle without attacking it. + +"Your orders shall be obeyed, my young mistress," answered the governor. + +"Talabor," Dora went on, as if to make up for her previous coldness, "I +trust to you to do everything necessary for our defence." + +A few moments later Talabor was in the spacious courtyard, collecting +the men who formed the watch or guard, while the old governor hurried +with some difficulty up the stairs which led to the porter's room, over +the gate. + +All preparations were complete within a quarter of an hour. + +Dora wrapped herself in a cloak and stationed herself in a wide balcony +facing the woods. + +She had been very desirous of following her father and sharing all his +perils and dangers; but it must be confessed that at this moment she was +filled with fear; so, too, she probably would have been if at her +father's side in battle, but she would have suppressed her fear then as +she was doing now, and would have shown herself as brave and resolute as +any. + +The doubtful-looking figures had vanished now from the wood, and, aided +by the moon which just then shone out through the clouds, Talabor's +sharp eyes detected three horsemen coming towards the gate. They were +riding confidently, though the path was steep and narrow, with a wall of +rock on one side and a sheer precipice on the other. They seemed to know +the way. + +"Talabor!" cried Dora, as she caught sight of him standing on the wall +just opposite her, between the low but massive battlements. + +"Directly!" answered Talabor, and with a whisper to JakA cubed the dog-keeper, +who was beside him, he hurried down and came and stood below the +balcony, while Dora bent over it, saying in a pleased tone, "Do you see, +there are guests arriving? I think they must be friends, or at least +acquaintances, by the way they ride." + +"Yes, I do, mistress!" answered Talabor. "They have the appearance of +visitors certainly, but they have come from those other +questionable-looking folk, so we will be careful. Trust me, I have my +wits about me." + +"There are three," said Dora, after a short pause, and as if the answer +did not quite satisfy her. "How can we tell whether they have any evil +intentions or not?" + +"We shall see; but I must go back to my place." + +"Go to the gate tower." + +"I am going!" said Talabor, and without waiting for further orders, he +ran back, first to his former post on the wall, where he spoke to the +wild-looking dog-keeper and the two armed men who had joined him, and +then to the tower flanking the gate, from a slit-like opening in which +he could see the moat, and the space opposite formed by a clearing in +the wood. + +The gate-keeper had not noticed the approach of the "guests," as Dora +called them, for the window was too narrow to give any view of the +breakneck path, along which the riders were advancing, now hidden in the +hollows, now reappearing among the juniper bushes and wild roses. They +were within a short distance of the moat now, and were making straight +for the gate. + +"Quick!" said Talabor to the porter, "go and fetch the governor! I'll +take your place meantime; and tell him to be on his guard, but not to +raise any alarm. It would be as well if he could get our young mistress +to leave that open balcony, for some impudent arrow, if not a spear, +might find its way there." + +The gate-keeper stared for a moment, and then went off without a word. + +The governor, finding day after day pass in peace, had cast care to the +winds for his own part, and had fallen into the way of constantly +testing the contents of Master Peter's well-filled cellar, in the +privacy of his own room. He was rather a dainty than greedy drinker, and +the wine, being pure, never affected his head, though it did not make +him more inclined to exert himself. Just now, however, he was carrying +out Dora's orders, as he sat on a projection of the wall with his feet +dangling down into the court. He would have had his pipe in his mouth, +not a doubt of it, if tobacco had been known in those days. + +While the gate-keeper was gone the three horsemen arrived. + +"Hi! porter!" cried the foremost, whose figure, though not his features, +was plainly discernible. He was mounted on a dark, undersized horse, and +was enveloped in a sort of cloak of primitive shape, much like the +coarse garment worn by swine-herds. His head was covered by a small +round helmet, like a half melon. + +"Here I am, what do you want?" answered Talabor. + +"I come by order of Master Peter Szirmay," answered the man. "The +Tartars have broken into the country, and his Honour has sent a +garrison, as he does not consider the present one sufficient." + +"You are Libor the clerk!" said Talabor, at once recognising the forward +governor by his peculiar voice, which reminded him irresistibly of a +cock's crow. + +"And who may you be?" + +"Talabor, if his Honour the governor still remembers my poor name." + +"Ah! all right, Clerk! just let them be quick with the drawbridge, for +it is going to rain, and I have no fancy for getting wet." + +"No fear, Mr. Libor. It is not blowing up for rain yet! But in these +perilous times, caution is the order of the day, and so, Mr. Libor, your +Honour will perhaps explain how it happens that Mr. Paul HA(C)dervAiry's +gallant governor has been sent to our assistance by our master. That we +are in much need of help I don't deny." + +"Why such a heap of questions? Mr. HA(C)dervAiry and some twenty or more +Szirmays are in the King's camp, and Master Peter has sent me with Mr. +HA(C)dervAiry's consent, as being a man to be trusted." + +"A man to be trusted? And since when have you been a man to be trusted, +Governor? Since when have people come to trust a scamp? You take care +that I don't tell Master Peter something about you!" + +"Mr. Talabor!" cried Libor haughtily, "have the drawbridge lowered at +once! I have orders to garrison the castle. And pray where is the +governor? and since when have such pettifoggers as you been allowed to +meddle in Master Peter's affairs?" + +"Here is the governor," said old Moses at this moment. Curiosity, and +just a little spice of uneasiness had brought him quickly to the tower, +and he had heard Libor's last angry words. + +Talabor at once gave up his place to him, but neither he nor the porter +left the room. + +"Oh, Mr. Governor," said Libor in a tone of flattery, "I am glad indeed +to be able to speak to the real governor at last, instead of to that +wind-bag of a fellow. I know Mr. Moses _deAik_, and how long he has been +in Master Peter's confidence as his right hand." + +Then, slightly raising his voice, he went on: "The promised garrison has +arrived. It is here close at hand by Master Peter's orders, and is only +waiting for the drawbridge to place itself under Mr. Moses' command." + +Before making any answer to this, the governor turned to Talabor with a +look of inquiry, which seemed to say, "It is all quite correct. Master +Peter himself has sent Governor Libor here, and there is no reason why +we should not admit the reinforcements." + +"Mr. Governor," whispered Talabor, with his hand on his sword, "say you +will let Mr. Libor himself in and that you will settle matters with him +over a cup of wine." + +"Good," said the governor, who liked this suggestion very well. Then he +shouted down through the opening, "Mr. Libor, before I admit the +garrison, I should be pleased to see you in the castle by yourself! I am +sure you must be tired after your long journey, and it will do you good +to wet your whistle with a cup or two of wine; and then, as soon as we +have had a look at things all round, I will receive your good fellows +with open arms." + +"Who is in command of this guard?" inquired Talabor, coming to the +window again. + +"Myself! until I hand my men over to the governor. But I don't answer +you again, Clerk Talabor! What need is there of anyone else while good +Mr. Moses is alive? But I can't come and feast inside while my men are +left hungry and thirsty without. I will summon them at once! and even +then they can come only single file up this abominable road where one +risks one's life at every step." + +"Indeed so, Mr. Libor? Well, if you have all your wits about you, we +have not quite taken leave of ours. You would like to come in with your +troop, but we should like first to have the pleasure of being made +personally acquainted with your two wooden figures there! I understand +you, sir! but you should have come when times were better. These are +evil days! Who knows whether Master Peter is even alive, and whether Mr. +HA(C)dervAiry's governor has not come to take possession and turn this time +of confusion to his own advantage?" + +So spoke Talabor, and Governor Moses was a little shaken out of his +confidence. Indeed, the whole affair seemed strange. Surely, thought he, +if Master Peter had wished to strengthen the garrison he would have +found someone to send besides the clerk, Libor; for he, of course, knew +nothing of the latter's recent military advancement; and then again, +Talabor was so prudent that during the past weeks the governor had come +to look on him as a sort of oracle. + +"Then you won't admit the guard?" said Libor wrathfully. + +"We have not said that," answered Moses; "but if you have come on an +honest errand, come in first by yourself; show me a line of writing, or +some other token, and we shall know at once what we are about." + +"Writing? token? Isn't the living word more than any writing? And isn't +it token enough that I, the HA(C)dervAirys' governor, am here myself?" + +"The garrison are not coming into the castle!" cried Talabor. "There are +enough of us here, and we don't want any more mouths to feed! But if you +yourself wish to come in, you may, and then we shall soon see how things +are." + +"Mr. Governor!" shouted Libor in a fury, "I hold you responsible for +anything that may happen! who knows whether some stray band of Tartars +may not find their way up here to-day or to-morrow, and who is going to +stand against them?" + +"We! I!" said Talabor. "Make your choice, if you please! Come in alone, +or--nobody will be let in, and we will take the responsibility." + +So saying Talabor went forward, and looking down through the loophole, +exclaimed, "Why, Mr. Libor, who are those behind you?" + +"TA cubedtok (Slovacks), they don't understand Hungarian," answered Libor; and +in a louder voice he added, "Let the drawbridge down at once, I will +come in alone." + +"Talabor!" said Dora, coming hastily into the room, "I see a whole +number of men coming up the road. What does it mean?" + +"It means treachery, mistress! Mr. HA(C)dervAiry's governor, Libor, _deAik_, +is here asking for admittance, and I suspect mischief. I believe the +rascal means to take the castle," said Talabor. + +"No one must be admitted," answered Dora. + +As Dora spoke, Governor Moses turned round. The old man was not yet +clear in his own mind what they ought to do. + +If the reinforcements had really come from Master Peter, why then there +was no reason why they should not be admitted; and, left to himself, he +would certainly have let both Libor and all his followers in without +delay. But Talabor had "driven a nail into his head" which caused him to +hesitate, and Dora's commands were peremptory. + +"Excuse me, Mr. Governor," said Dora, "and allow me to come to the +window." + +"Mr. Libor," she went on, in a voice which trembled a little, "please to +withdraw yourself and your men, and go back wherever you have come from. +If we are attacked we will defend ourselves, and you must all be wanted +elsewhere, if it is true, as I hear, that the Tartars have invaded the +country." + +"Dearest young lady! Your father will be greatly vexed by this +obstinacy." + +"That's enough, Libor!" said Talabor, with a sign to Dora, who drew +back. "We shall let no one into the castle, not even Master Peter's own +brother, unless he can show us Master Peter's ring, for those were his +private instructions to me." + +"Why didn't you say so before?" muttered Moses to himself; and then, as +if annoyed that his master should have thought it necessary to give +private instructions to any but himself, in the event of such an +unforeseen emergency as the present, he called down to Libor, "It is +quite true! I asked you for a token myself just now, for I have had my +instructions too." + +"I'll show it as soon as we are in the castle," returned Libor. + +"Treachery!" said Talabor, addressing Dora. "The castle is strong, and +it will be difficult to attack it. We will answer for that! Don't have +any anxiety about anything, dear young lady; but hasten back to your own +rooms and don't risk your precious life, for I expect the dance will +begin directly." + +Talabor's manly self-possession had reassured her, and she looked at +him with animation equal to his own; then, not wishing to wound the +feelings of the governor, she shook him by the hand for the first time +in her life, saying, "Moses, _deAik_! if they should really attack us, I +trust entirely to you and Mr. Talabor. And, now, everyone to his post! I +am not a Szirmay for nothing! and I know how to behave, if the home of +my ancestors is attacked!" + +And having hurriedly uttered these words, Dora withdrew. + +"Very well then, as you please!" shouted Libor furiously. "Hungarian +dogs! you shall get what you have earned!" + +With that he turned his horse's head, and not long after the whole body +of mounted men had reached the open space fronting the gate. + +"Hungarian dogs!" thundered the governor, "then the rascally whelp can +actually slander his own race!" + +A few moments more, and not only the horsemen who wore the Hungarian +costume, but also a hundred or so of filthy, monkey-faced Mongols on +foot, were all assembled before the castle, these latter having climbed +the rocks as if they had been so many wild cats. It was easy to see at +once that they were not Hungarians. + +"Yes! Hungarian dogs, that's what you are!" shouted Libor, "and I am a +KnA(C)z of his Highness, the Grand Khan Oktai, and I shall spit every man +of you!" + +So saying, he hurried away, and was lost in the throng. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +DEFENDING THE CASTLE. + + +A few moments later the small garrison of brave men were all on the +walls, and so placed behind the breastwork as to be almost invisible +from below. + +All stood motionless; not an arrow was discharged, not a stone hurled. +The castle was to all appearance dead. + +All at once there was a terrific roar from the enemy, which awoke +countless echoes among the rocks. But it was no battle-cry of the +Tartars or Mongols, for they rush to the fray in silence, without +uttering a sound. This was like the wild yell of all sorts of people, a +mixture of howls and cries, almost more like those of wild animals than +of human beings. + +Dora, who at that moment had stepped out into the balcony, shuddered at +the sound. The howls and screams of fury were positive torture to her +ears, and thrilled her through and through. + +"O God!" she said within herself, "I am afraid! and I must not be +afraid!" and as she spoke, her maids all came rushing into the balcony, +wringing their hands above their heads, uttering loud lamentations, +which were half strangled by sobs. + +"The Tartars! the Tartars!" they cried, hardly able to get the words +out. "It's all over with us! What shall we do! What shall we do!" + +"Go about your own business, every one of you!" said Dora sternly, +"fighting is the men's work, yours is to be at the washing-tub, and the +fireside. Don't let me hear another sound, and don't come here again +till I call you!" + +Her speech had the desired effect; the women were all silent, as if they +had been taken by the throat and had had their wails suddenly choked; +and away they went in haste, either to do as they were told, or to hide +themselves in the lowest depths of the cellar. At all events they +vanished. + +They had no sooner all tumbled out of the balcony than Talabor stepped +in, and just as he did so, an arrow, the first from outside, flew in and +struck his cap. + +"Come in! come inside! for Heaven's sake!" cried Talabor, seizing Dora +by the hand. + +"Mr. Talabor! What do you mean?" she began indignantly, both startled +and angered by his audacity. Then, catching sight of the arrow in his +cap, she went on in a frightened voice, "Are you wounded, Talabor?" + +The young man did not let go his hold until he had drawn Dora into the +adjoining hall, where she was quite reassured as to the arrow, which he +then drew from his cap, without a word, and fitted to the long bow he +had in his hand. Then he stepped back into the balcony, and sent the +arrow flying with the remark, "There's one who won't swallow any more +Magyar bread at all events!" + +The next instant a cloud of arrows poured into the balcony, but already +Talabor was down in the court and rushing to the walls, whence Master +Peter's famous dog-keeper and some of the garrison had already +discharged their arrows with deadly effect. + +Dora had quite recovered herself. + +As for Libor, he had vanished as completely as if he had never been +there. + +"If I could only clap eyes on that scoundrel!" cried Talabor furiously. +"Ah! there! that's he! with his head buried in a cowl! cowardly dog!" + +He fitted an arrow and drew his bow, but hit only a Tartar. + +"Missed!" he muttered, with vexation, "and it's the last! Here, JakA cubed," +he said, turning to the dog-keeper, "just go and fetch me the great +SzA(C)kely bow from the dining hall! you know, the one which takes three of +us to string it." + +While JakA cubed was gone, Talabor observed that one body of Tartars was +stealing along under the trees close beside the moat, towards the south +side of the castle, and that Libor had dismounted, and was creeping +along with them. + +"What can those rascals mean to do?" whispered the governor. + +"I know!" said Talabor, "the traitor! I know well enough what he's +after! but he's out! The wretch! he thinks he shall find the wall on +that side in the same tumble-down state in which it was the last time he +was here!" + +"True!" returned the governor, "they are making straight for it." + +"You there at the bastion, quick! follow me," he went on, hurrying along +the parapet to where the Mongols seemed to intend a mighty assault. + +The dog-keeper, who had come back with the bow, climbed the wall by the +narrow steps, and he, too, followed Talabor. + +Libor was creeping along on foot among his men, wearing a coat of mail, +and so managing as to be out of range of the arrows of the defenders. +Libor thoroughly understood how to avail himself of shelter, and here, +close to the wood, had no difficulty in finding it. + +To his great chagrin, however, he found that he had miscalculated. The +wall had been so well repaired that if anything it was even stronger +here than elsewhere. + +Talabor and his party had no sooner made their appearance than they were +observed, in spite of the gathering twilight, and were the targets for a +cloud of arrows. They withdrew behind the breastwork, and after some +difficulty succeeded in stringing the great SzA(C)kely bow. Whereupon, +Talabor chose the longest arrow from JakA cubed's quiver, fitted it to the +string, straightened himself, and, as he did so, he caught sight of +Libor. Libor also recognised his worst enemy at the self-same moment, +and turning suddenly away made for the wood. + +But Talabor's arrow flew faster than he, and with so sure an aim that it +hit him in the back, below his iron corselet, and there stuck. + +"Ha! ha! ha!" roared JakA cubed, himself a passionate bowman, and one of the +few who could manage the SzA(C)kely bow, "ha! ha! ha! that's right! if not +in front, then behind! all's one to us!" + +But Talabor was not satisfied with his shot, for Libor kept his feet, at +least as long as he was within sight. + +The Mongols were meantime showing how determined they could be when the +hope of valuable booty was dangled before their eyes. Their numbers had +been mysteriously increased tenfold, and from all sides they were +bringing stones, branches from the trees, whole trees, in a word, all +and everything upon which they could lay hands. The attack on the south +side of the castle was abandoned, though not before some score or so of +the enemy had been laid low by the arrows of Talabor and his men, and +the Mongols all now turned their attention to the moat, and to that part +of it immediately fronting the drawbridge. Arrows poured down upon them +incessantly, and there was seldom one which missed its mark. But in +spite of this, the work proceeded at such a rate as threatened to be +successful in no long time, for as one fell another took his place, and +the wood seemed to be swarming. + +Talabor had had no experience of the Mongols, and was not aware that +their chief strength lay in their enormous numbers. He did not so much +as dream how many of them there might be. However, Master Peter had made +no bad choice in the garrison he had left behind him, and they did not +for a moment lose courage. They shot down arrow after arrow, not one of +which was left without its response by the bowmen stationed behind those +at work on the moat; but while many of the besiegers were stretched upon +the ground, not more than three or four of the besieged were wounded, +and of them not one so seriously as to be incapable of further fighting. + +Dora had been coming out into the courtyard from time to time, ever +since the siege had begun in earnest. Talabor and the governor were too +busy probably to notice her, and though not altogether safe, she found +herself comparatively out of danger, so long as she kept under the wall, +as the arrows described a curve in falling. She could handle a bow at +least as well as many of the women of her time; but though she had a +strong sense of her responsibilities as the "mistress of the castle" in +her father's absence, she was content to leave the fighting to the men, +and to do no more than speak an encouraging word to them from time to +time and keep everything in readiness for attending to their wounds. + +As she stood there, in the shelter of the wall, she suddenly heard the +governor's voice uttering maledictions and imprecations, and the next +moment he came blundering down the stone steps from the parapet. + +"Oh! Moses, _deAik_! what is the matter?" cried Dora, rushing towards +him. + +The governor could be a very careful man when occasion required, and if +he descended now with something of a roll, he trod gingerly all the +same; and he had besides the advantage of such well-covered bones, that +they were in little danger. + +"The matter?" he cried, as he reached the grass in safety, "the matter, +young mistress, is that they have shot me--through the arm, hang them! +just as my spear had caught one of them behind the ear too!" + +"Here," cried Dora to the man nearest her, "Vid, fetch me some water and +rag, quick! we must stop the bleeding. Borka has them all ready!" + +Vid, who was on the wall, had seen the governor totter and almost lose +his balance as he stumbled down the steps, and was hurrying after him +when Dora called. + +But Mr. Moses no sooner found himself safely at the bottom, and sound in +all his limbs except just where he was hit, than he at once regained his +wonted composure. + +"Off with you, Vid," said he, "but fetch a good handful of cobwebs; that +will stop the bleeding in a trice." + +Meantime Dora herself ran into the house and soon came back with Borka +her maid, bringing water, heaps of old rag, and all that could possibly +be wanted. The girl's knees were shaking under her with terror as she +slipped along, close after her mistress. + +Dora herself bound up the injured arm, Moses offering no opposition, as +they were in a fairly safe place, and when the operation was over, he +even kissed the hands of this "fairest of surgeons," as he called her. +Then he rose to his feet, gave himself a shake and roared, "Hand me my +spears! I shall hardly be able to draw another bow to-day!" + +No sooner was the governor standing up once more than Borka made a hasty +dash for the house. + +"Keep along by the wall, Borka!" Dora called after her. But the girl was +so consumed with fear that she neither heard nor saw. Just as she was +hurrying up the steps of the principal entrance, instead of going round +to the back, where the danger was nil, she fell down, head foremost, and +as she did so, a long Tartar arrow caught her in the back. + +Dora flew after her, and just as she had reached the steps Talabor was +beside her, with his shield held over her head. Two or three arrows +rattled down upon it, even in the few moments that they stood there. + +"Get up at once!" said Talabor, sternly. But the girl did not move, and +Moses began to tremble. + +Borka was dead! killed, not by the arrow, as they found later on, but by +her own terror. + +"Oh, poor girl!" cried Dora, her eyes filling with tears. + +"She has got her deserts!" said Talabor, in a hard tone. "There is one +traitor less in the castle! and I believe she was the only one." + +And without giving time for question or answer, he hurried Dora indoors, +and rushed back to his post on the wall, followed at a more leisurely +pace by Moses with his four spears. + +While all this was going on, the Mongols had succeeded more or less in +filling up the moat, and though up to their knees in water, and impeded +by the logs, branches, stones, and other material with which they had +filled it, some had already crossed, and were beginning to climb the +wall, by means of long poles, when Talabor gave the signal, and a volley +of huge stones and pieces of rock came suddenly crashing down upon them. +These were swiftly followed by a flight of arrows, and the two together +worked such terrible havoc among the assailants that the survivors beat +a hasty retreat. + +They seemed to be entirely disheartened by this last repulse, and +convinced that nothing would be gained by continuing their present +tactics; for, to the great surprise of Moses and Talabor, they did not +return. When next the moon shone out it was seen that a large number of +men were lying dead both in and about the moat. All, whether whole or +wounded, who could do so, had drawn off into the depths of the wood, the +more severely wounded borne on the shoulders of the rest. + +Libor was not again seen by anyone. + + + +The usual guard was doubled, and Talabor was going to pass the night on +the battlements, with the great dog-wood bow beside him and his quiver +full of fresh arrows. + +The wounded, only four of whom were seriously injured, had been +bandaged, and it now appeared that, of the entire garrison there were +but two or three who had not at least a scratch to show. + +Talabor had been hit he did not know how many times, but he had escaped +without any serious wound, though he had lost a good deal of blood. +Before going to his post on the wall, he paid a visit to the porter's +room to have his hurts seen to, and when at last the porter's wife let +him go, he was so bound up and bandaged as to be not unlike an Egyptian +mummy. + +By the time Moses came in to see Dora, she was utterly worn out. + +"Where is Talabor?" she asked. + +"On the castle wall," said the governor. + +"Not wounded, is he?" + +"I don't think so," was the answer. "At least, he said nothing about +it." + +"We must all watch to-night, Mr. Moses; I am afraid they may come back +and bring more with them." + +"My dear young lady," said Moses, "whether they do or not, this castle +is no place for you now. It is only the mercy of God which has preserved +you this time." + +"But I must not stir from here until I hear from my father! Besides, +where can I go? If the Tartars have discovered such an out-of-the-way +place as this, the country must be swarming with them!" + +"It was easy enough for them to find their way here," growled Moses, +with sundry not too respectful expletives. "It was that good-for-nothing +clerk, Libor, who brought them down on us." + +"That's true indeed; but now that they have found us out, others may +come. So, Mr. Moses, we must have our eyes open, and as soon as we can, +we must have the moat cleared, and make the castle more secure if +possible." + +Moses said "good-night," though he well knew that Dora would not go to +rest, and then he, too, went to the porter's room. + + + +It was a most unusual thing for the Mongols to abandon any attack, but +just as Talabor had begun to pelt the assailants with the heavy missiles +already mentioned, one of the chiefs sent with Libor (possibly to act as +spy upon him), hastily quitted the post of danger and hurried after the +governor-clerk, whom he found in the wood, trying as best he might to +bind up the wound from which he had now drawn the arrow. The wound, +though deep enough, was not serious. + +"Why, KnA(C)z! sitting here under the trees, are you?" cried the Mongol +roughly, in his own uncouth tongue. "Sitting here, when those Magyar +dogs have done for more than a hundred of our men!" + +"Directly, BajdAir!" said Libor sharply, "you see I have been shot in the +head and can't move!" + +"Directly? and can't move? shot in the head? Perhaps you don't keep your +head where we Mongols keep ours! but what will the Khan say, if we take +back only five or six out of 300 men?" + +"Five or six?" repeated Libor in alarm; "are so many lost?" + +"Well, and if it's not so many! and if you, who ought to be first in the +fight have managed to save your own skin! quite enough have fallen for +all that, and we shall all perish if this mad business goes on any +longer. Take care, KnA(C)z! Look after yourself! for Batu Khan is not used +to being played with by new men such as you!" + +Libor staggered to his feet, and though badly frightened by his +ill-success, as well as by what BajdAir had said, his natural cunning did +not altogether desert him. + +"Be off, BajdAir! and don't blame me! Of course, I meant it for the best! +The castle is crammed with gold and silver, and there are some good +horses, as well as a pretty girl or two. Who could have supposed the +rascals would defend themselves in such a fashion! Be off, I tell you, +BajdAir, and stop this senseless fighting, and we'll draw off into the +woods." + +"What! with empty hands?" + +"Who is to help it? But we won't go quite empty-handed either." + +The Mongol glanced up from under his cap as Libor said this, and his +small eyes glittered like fire-flies in the darkness. + +"Master Peter has a large sheep-fold in a valley not far from here, and +the few men who guard it are nothing to reckon with; if we drive off the +sheep, there will be a good feast for a thousand or two of hungry +fellows in the camp." + +"What's that?" said the Tartar hotly. "Why, we shall eat those up +ourselves! All the cattle have been driven off out of our way, and we +are as hungry as wolves!" + +"Only go, BajdAir, and call the men off, and then I'll tell you something +which will make up for our ill-luck here." + +BajdAir shook his head. He was in no good humour, but he had gained his +object, and he went off, cursing and threatening, to stop the assault. + +As for the amends which Libor promised, we can say only so much as this, +that they were ample. He believed the country to be wholly at the +Mongols' mercy, he was well acquainted with the neighbourhood, and he +led his men, who had now dwindled to thirty or so, to the most +defenceless places, where they found cattle enough to satisfy them. + +So great was the prevailing terror, that many had fled from their homes +leaving everything behind them, or had been so harassed by perpetual +alarms that they had at last concealed their property in such senseless +ways that it was found without difficulty. + +However it may have been in this case, it was a fact that when KnA(C)z +Libor returned from his campaign, he received high praise from Batu +Khan, who cared nothing at all that the force had melted away till +little more than a fourth part was left to return to the SajA cubed. Batu had +further uses for Libor. + +When the Mongols had at last made off, and Moses and Talabor found that +the shepherds had been killed, and the sheep, either eaten on the spot, +carried off, or scattered in the woods, they first cautiously searched +the neighbourhood, and then proceeded with no little labour, to bury the +dead. + +This done, Talabor made it his business to ride out every day, and was +sometimes absent for hours, scouring the country while those at home +were busy with the governor, strengthening the defences of the castle. + +One morning, some days after the attack, Talabor asked to speak to Dora. +It had been a trying time for all in the castle, but Dora had gone back +to her usual habits, and was looking after her household affairs as +strictly and regularly as if nothing had happened. In one thing she was +somewhat changed: her confidence in and dependence upon Talabor had much +increased. + +"Well, Talabor, is there any good news?" she asked gently. + +"May I speak plainly, dear young mistress?" he asked, by way of answer. + +"I never wish you to speak otherwise, Clerk Talabor." + +"Then I will tell you at once, that you must not stay here any longer, +mistress. The place is too unsafe now that the Mongols know it." + +"Must not? and where could I go?" + +"We have to do with dangerous enemies, and they are enraged, and will be +certain to revenge themselves as soon as they can," he urged. + +Dora sighed. "I know, Talabor, but I am not going to move till I hear +from my father." + +"Dear lady," said Talabor again, after a pause. "Dear mistress--perhaps +you may have noticed that I have been out riding every day. I have +scoured the whole neighbourhood for miles round, and I have learnt a +good deal more than the mere rumours which are all that reach us here." + +"And you have dared to keep it to yourself?" + +"Yes, dear mistress, I have dared! I did not wish to trouble you for +nothing, and one hears many things. If I have done wrong, God knows, I +could not do anything else until I was sure." + +"Talabor!" said Dora, quite disarmed, "and why do you speak now?" + +"Because the time has come when I must either tell you the worst, or let +you risk your precious life." + +Dora shuddered but did not speak, and Talabor went on to tell her, what +we already know, of the invasion, and of the successes already gained by +Batu Khan. There were naturally many gaps in his narrative, and much +that was already sorrowful fact, he knew only as rumour and surmise. But +still, with all deficiencies it was abundantly evident that her present +home was no longer safe, and that the very next week, day, even hour, +she might be exposed to fresh and graver peril. + +And still, what was she to do? + +"Is that all?" she asked presently, "you have not heard anything of my +father?" + +"I have heard that he is alive at least," responded Talabor cheerfully, +"though twice I heard the contrary----" + +"And you kept it from me?" + +"Why should I tell you what I did not believe myself, and what those +who told me were not at all sure of? It was only a report, and now I +know for certain that Master Peter is alive." + +"Certain? how?" + +"Truly," and he told how the news had reached him, adding, "so now we +know where to find him, when we have the opportunity." + +"Ah! that settles it then, Talabor. The proper place for a good daughter +is with her father. I'll go to him!" + +But while Dora was thus making up her mind to ride to the camp, events +had taken place which, when they came to her ears, made her hesitate +again as to what she ought to do. + +Meantime, until they could decide, Talabor went on strengthening the +walls in every way he could think of, and rendering the steep approach +more difficult. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +CAMP FIRES. + + +Dschingiz Khan had died in 1227, and by the year 1234 his son and +successor, Oktai, had completed the subjugation of Northern China. Two +years later he sent his nephew Batu westwards at the head of 500,000 +men, and in less than six years the latter had overrun nearly one +quarter of the circumference of the earth. + +The boundless steppes of Asia, and the lands lying between the River +Ural and the Dnieper, with all their various peoples, were speedily +brought under his sway. In the autumn of 1237 the Mongolian catapults +had reduced Riazan to a heap of ruins; Moscow perished in the flames; +and with the capture of Kieff, then the handsomest and best fortified +city of Northern Europe, all Russia sank under the yoke of the Mongols, +who ruled her for centuries. Kieff had fallen towards the end of 1240, +and Batu had then divided his forces, sending 50,000 men to Poland, +where they burnt Cracow and Breslau, and then proceeded to Silesia, +where, on April 9th, they defeated an army of Germans, Poles, and +Bohemians near Liegnitz; they then devastated Moravia, and entering +Hungary on the north-west, presently rejoined Batu, who himself had made +a straight line from Kieff for Hungary, entering it, as already said, by +the pass of Verecz, on the north-east. + +The third division of Mongols had gone south, skirting the eastern +Carpathians and entering Transylvania at two different points. + +One portion of this division had rejoined Batu at the river SajA cubed, in +time for the pitched battle now imminent. + +When first the Hungarian camp was pitched Batu had surveyed it from an +eminence with a grim smile of satisfaction. + +"There are a good many of them!" he exclaimed, "but they can't get away! +They have penned themselves up as if they were so many sheep in a fold!" + +With the return of Duke KAilmAin after his victory at the bridge, all +danger was believed to be over for the night, and save for a few +merry-makers, the exultant army slept profoundly. There were few +watchers but the King, the Duke, the Archbishop, and the few others +gathered in the royal tent. + +On the other side of the SajA cubed a different and wilder scene was being +enacted. + +The night was dark, but the Mongol camp was brilliantly illuminated by +the blaze of a bonfire so huge, that its light shone far and wide. + +It was never the Khan's way to extinguish his camp fires; quite the +contrary. He wished his enemy to see them, and to suppose that his army +was stationary. + +Thanks to his innumerable spies, he was well aware of all that had taken +place early in the night, and had not been in the least surprised by the +recent sortie. It was, in fact, just what he had wished to provoke, by +way of diverting the attention of the Hungarians from that which was +taking place farther up the river. + +If a few hundred scape-goats had perished, what matter? there were +plenty more to take their place. And they were not even Mongols, but +slaves, Russians, Kuns, etc., who had been forced into his service. + +While these wretches, with the trembling Libor perforce among them, were +bearing the brunt of the Hungarian onset, and being thoroughly beaten, +Batu had sent a large force across the SajA cubed farther up and this, under +cover of the darkness, was now stealthily drawing nearer and nearer to +the Hungarian camp. It moved forward in absolute silence, and without +attracting any notice. + +Batu and several of his chief leaders were just now standing on a low +hill, all mounted, armed, and ready for battle. Below was the Mongol +host, mounted also and armed with bows, spears, and short, curved +swords. A wild, terrible-looking host they were, short of stature, broad +in the chest, flat in the face; with small, far-apart eyes, and flat +noses. They were clad in ox-hide so thick as to be proof against most +weapons, and consisting of small pieces, like scales, sewn together. So +they are described by Thomas, Archdeacon of Spalatro, who had but too +good opportunity of seeing what they were like. He adds that their +helmets were either of leather or iron, and that their black and white +flags were surmounted by a bunch of wool; that their horses, ridden +bare-backed and unshod, were small but sturdy, well inured to fatigue +and fasting, and as nimble and sure-footed in climbing rocks as the +chamois. Scanty food and short rest sufficed these hardy animals even +after three days of fatigue. + +Their masters were not accustomed to much in the way of +creature-comforts for themselves. They carried nothing in the way of +stores or supplies, which gave them great advantage in the matter of +speed; they ate no bread, and lived on flesh, blood, and mare's milk. +Wherever they went, they dragged along with them a large number of armed +captives, especially Kuns, whom they forced into battle, and killed +whenever they did not fight as desperately as they desired. They did not +themselves care to rush into danger, but were quite content to let their +captives do the worst of the fighting while they reaped the victory. In +spite of their enormous numbers they made no noise whether they were in +camp, on the march, or on the field of battle. + +Thus far Archdeacon Thomas. + +When to this description we add the fact that they had had continuous +practice in warfare for years past, that a career of well-nigh unbroken +victory had given them perfect self-confidence, while it spread such +terror among those whom they attacked as paralysed the courage even of +the stoutest hearts, it is not difficult to understand how it was that +everything fell before them, and they were able to found an empire +vaster than any which had before, or has since, existed. + +But to return to the Khan and his train of chiefs, among whom was to be +seen Libor the KnA(C)z--not the Libor of old days, but a much less +comfortable-looking individual. Mongol fare did not seem to have agreed +with him too well, for he looked worn and wasted, and his every movement +betrayed his nervousness. Yet he was at the Khan's side, perfectly safe, +and surely a hundred-fold more fortunate than the miserable captives +whom the Mongols held so cheap that they cared not a jot whether they +lived or died. + +Libor was a Mongol now; he wore a round helmet of leather, carried a +scimitar, rode one of the tough little Mongol horses, and was in high +favour with his terrible master. + +Batu was an undersized man, and the reverse of stout. His eyes, set far +apart and slant-wise, were small, but they burnt like live coals, and +were as restless as those of a lynx. His low forehead, flat nose, +fearfully large mouth, and projecting ears, made him altogether +strikingly like the figures, in gold on a black ground, to be seen on +antique Chinese furniture. + +He was marked out from those about him, however, by his dignified +bearing, and by the pure white of his leathern garments. + +It is true that his dignity was of the lion-like order, animal, that is +to say, rather than human; but it was very pronounced. And there was a +sort of rude splendour and glitter in his costume, too; for the white +leather, the fur of which was turned inwards, was covered all over with +strange designs, looking like so many dragons or other imaginary +monsters. + +He was mounted on a slim, dapple-brown horse, of purest breed, and all +his arms, even his bow, were profusely decorated with precious stones. + +Of all the ape-faced circle, there is no denying that he was the best +looking ape of them all, even if we include Libor, who was dainty enough +in appearance, though fear just now was making him not indeed like an +ape, but like a large hare, with quivering nostrils! + +The camp was far from deserted, in spite of the large force detached, +for there could not have been altogether fewer than 300,000 Mongols on +the SajA cubed, and in addition, there were nearly half as many more of the +miserable beings who had been first conquered and then forced to join +the great host. Round about the hill where stood the Khan were +multitudes of felt or leather tents, and thousands of temporary +mud-huts, for the trees afforded but little shelter as yet, it being +now about the middle of April. Tents and huts were full of armed men, +also of women, who wore the scantiest of clothing, and of children, who +wore no clothing at all. + +Besides these, there were many women captives, who lay about in groups +under the trees, with ears and noses cut off, the picture of exhaustion +and misery, and so brutalised by slavery and suffering that they looked +more like a herd of mutilated animals than human beings. + +Any good-looking women captured by the Mongols were given up to their +own women, who fell upon them like furies, tortured without mercy, and +then murdered all but those wanted as slaves. + +The camp extended far into the depths of the wood, where the chiefs kept +order such as it was, with their whips. + +As Batu reached the top of the hill, his harsh voice was to be heard +giving some peremptory order, at which those about him bent their heads +low in respectful submission, and a dozen women, his wives, appeared +upon the scene, muffled up in white woollen garments, and mounted upon +beautiful horses, which were smothered in fringes, straps, etc., of +leather. They were followed by an armed guard, and preceded, oriental +fashion, by a band of singers chanting a melancholy dirge. + +They had come to take their leave of the Khan, who was sending them to +his home, and on reaching the foot of the hill they were helped to +dismount. Whereupon they threw back their snow-white veils, which were +of wool like their other wraps, and Batu Khan looked at them in dead +silence. There was no trace either of pain, or pleasure, or of any other +emotion, unless it were vanity and ambition, upon his wild features. + +The women burst into a furious fit of weeping; but it was evidently the +result of great effort, not of any irrepressible distress. Men are much +like overgrown children, and have always liked to deceive themselves and +be deceived; and this weeping and lamentation were the proper thing, the +conventional way of saying "farewell!" + +And yet, if they but looked on themselves, the sight was surely enough +to move anyone to tears; for these women were all strikingly beautiful, +and their beauty was enhanced by an expression--and this not forced--of +profound sorrow and dejection. + +Who they were, and whence they came--whether they were Russian girls +from the Volga and Don, Caucasians from the Caspian, fair Slavonians, or +white-faced Wallachians, who could say? But all were beautiful, all had +an air of distinction about them, and all looked overwhelmed with woe +unutterable. + +They gathered round the Khan, and his horse pricked its ears and +whinnied as if it would take part in the proceedings; for, though Batu's +horses were all his friends and tent-mates, far more beloved than his +people, this one was an especial favourite, its sire, so the story went, +having lived to the age of a hundred. + +When he had had enough of the ceremonial weeping, Batu raised his hand, +as who should say, "That will do! You have done your duty, now you can +go!" + +And instantly the sobs were checked, and smiles were forced to take +their place, while the poor goods and chattels raised their hands +towards their master, but whether as a mere token of farewell, whether +in blessing, or perchance in secret cursing, who could tell! + +Another signal and away they hurried down the hill; and a few moments +after the white figures had disappeared out of the glare and were lost +to sight in the recesses of the wood. + +The women gone, Batu put spurs to his horse and raced down the slope, +his chiefs following as best they might. With the light flashing +blood-red about him, with his spear quivering uplifted above his head, +himself and his horse absolutely one, he dashed on with the rush of a +whirlwind, and wherever he went he seemed to say, "Look and admire!" And +indeed, the Khan looked his best, when he was thus exhibiting his +horsemanship, and in spite of his ape-like features, might almost have +passed for some gallant, if wild cavalier. + +He and his train galloped away into the darkness, followed by a select +body of mounted men; and as soon as they were out of sight, the +remaining squadrons were drawn up in regular order. Tents were taken +down, and they and their belongings were packed on horses or in waggons, +and in a short time, though the bonfire still blazed, it cast its light +upon a deserted camp. + +Followed by a herd of women, the entire force moved in dead silence +towards the SajA cubed, where Batu had his first line of battle. + + + +Day was beginning to break when the Hungarian camp was roused by +startling cries, and those who rushed from the King's tent to learn the +meaning of them were met by terror-stricken shouts of "The Tartars! The +Tartars are upon us!" "They are yonder, close at hand!" "The guard at +the bridge has been overpowered, massacred, put to flight," etc. + +Looking out between the wooden walls, Master Peter descried at the +distance of about a quarter of an hour's march, a dark mass of something +which appeared to be in the form of a crescent, but of a size too vast +to be measured by the eye. It was like a wall of stone, as solid, as +silent, and as motionless; and for a moment he was in doubt as to what +it might be, until the neighing of a horse, and the briefer, rarer sound +of a signal-horn brought the truth home to him. + +The Mongols had come up in the night; the camp was surrounded on three +sides; and nothing but the most desperate determination could save them! +So much was evident even to his inexperienced eyes, and the silence of +these savage folk, who could howl like the very wolves at other times, +had something so weird and terrible about it that Master Peter was not +the only brave man to feel his heart quake and his blood run cold. + +The victory of the Duke and Ugrin but a few hours before had been +delusive indeed, for they had hardly returned in triumph to the camp +when Batu sent down to the bridge seven of the gigantic engines of war +which played so large a part in the Mongol invasion. + +Suddenly, without the least warning, the detachment left on guard found +itself assailed by a fierce and heavy storm of stones and pieces of +rock; and what added to their terror was the fact that they could not +see their enemy, and that there were no stones or rocks anywhere near +the river. Seized by superstitious panic, those who escaped being +crushed or wounded fled back to the camp, where instantly all was uproar +and confusion. + +Master Peter rushed back to the King as fast as he could for the +turmoil, the narrow ways, and the tent-ropes; and indignation filled his +soul at some of the sights he saw: luxurious young nobles, for instance, +making their leisurely toilets, combing and arranging their hair, having +their armour put on with the greatest care, and finally drawing on new +gloves! What he heard during his hurried passage was not much more +reassuring. There was plenty of courage and confidence expressed; plenty +of contempt for the despicable foe; plenty of assurance that Mongol +spears and arrows would prove ineffectual against iron armour; but also +there was among some contempt, openly expressed, for their own leaders, +though they looked upon the victory as already won. + +"It will be a hard day's work!" muttered Peter Szirmay to himself, while +his thoughts flew to Dora in her lonely castle. He had little doubt that +the Hungarians must conquer in the end, in spite of the huge odds +against them, but still--! and even if they did, he himself might fall! +What would become of her? + +"God and the Holy Virgin protect her!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +A FATAL DAY. + + +Peter Szirmay and Paul HA(C)dervAiry were arming the King with all speed, +while his charger, magnificently caparisoned, was brought round, +neighing with excitement. + +BA(C)la had never appeared more cool and collected than on that eventful +morning. As already remarked, he was without military experience, and +though his expectations were not extravagant, and he did not make the +mistake of underrating the enemy, he had much confidence in the valour +of his army. + +"We must get the troops outside, without an instant's delay!" shouted +Bishop Ugrin, galloping up his face aglow with pleasurable excitement, +for he was never happier than when astride his war-horse and amid the +blare of trumpets. + +"Sequere!" (follow) cried the King, who usually spoke Latin to the +ecclesiastical dignitaries. + +They rode through the camp, finding the ways everywhere crowded with +men, whom some of the officers were trying to reduce to order, while +others, still busy attiring themselves, were of opinion that they would +be in plenty of time if they made their appearance when the whole army +was mounted. + +The Templars were first on horseback. + +Their white mantles, with the large red cross upon them, were blowing +about in the keen wind, and displaying the steel breastplates beneath, +their martial appearance being enhanced by their heavy helmets, which +covered the whole head and face, with the exception of narrow slits +through which they breathed and saw. As the King rode up to them, the +wind blew out the folds of their white banner, and showed its +double-armed cross of blood-red. + +All this time the Mongols had been drawing nearer and nearer, like an +advancing wall, so close were their ranks. And now like a storm of hail +the arrows began to fall upon the half-asleep, half-tipsy, and wholly +bewildered men in camp. Most were mounted now, but the confusion was +indescribable. There were grooms with led horses looking for their +masters, masters looking for chargers and servants, and generals looking +for their banderia. + +There was shouting, running to and fro, and such confusion and +hurly-burly that the King had great difficulty in making his orders +understood. + +He galloped from one squadron to another, amid a cloud of falling arrows +and spears, doing all that in him lay to organise the troops. Men were +falling on all sides around him, more than one arrow had struck his own +armour; the battle had begun, and blood was flowing in streams before +the army had been able so much as to get out of camp. + +At last a dash was made down the narrow ways between the tents and the +hastily uncoupled waggons; and then with the rage, not the courage, of +despair, every leader wanted to rush upon the enemy straight away +without waiting for orders, or heeding any but his own followers. + +"Stop!" cried BA(C)la, hurrying up to them with the Palatine, and a few men +who were hardly able to force their way after him. "Stop! Wait for the +word of command!" + +But no one even saw, no one heard him. + +Leaders and men had most of them lost their heads, and the few +disorderly squadrons which succeeded in reaching the Mongols were +immediately surrounded and overwhelmed. + +The great black crescent was growing more and more dense and solid; +there was no way of eluding it, no hope of escape. + +Bishop Ugrin was well-nigh beside himself; and he poured forth now +blessings, now execrations, as the distracted troops rushed aimlessly +hither and thither, between the tents and their ropes, and down the +narrow passages. + +They were completely entangled as in a net; to form them up in order was +an impossibility; and a deadly cloud of spears and arrows was +continuously poured upon them by the Mongols. + +To add to the general horror and terror, the waggons took fire, and soon +the tents nearest them were in flames. The tumult and confusion waxed +greater and greater. + +Batu's main object was to capture the King, and already BA(C)la had had at +least one narrow escape, which he owed to the devotion of one of his +guard; but now both he and they were all wounded. + + + +Fighting had been going on since early morning; it was now noon, when +the Duke made a last bold effort to retrieve the day. + +"I'll break through the enemy's lines with the right wing," he shouted +in stentorian tones. "Will your Majesty give the left wing orders to do +the same, and then yourself lead the centre!" + +The heroic Duke spoke of left and right wing, and centre; but alas! +where was any one of them? + +Without waiting for the King's answer he galloped off again, succeeded +in infusing some of his own spirit into his men, and, joined by Ugrin +and his followers, and the remaining Templars, he made a dashing attack +upon the Mongols, who were drawn up in such close order that individuals +had no room to turn. + +Numbers of them fell before the furious onslaught of the Hungarians, and +great was the devastation wrought in their ranks, when suddenly, like a +whirlwind, up came Batu Khan himself with a fresh cloud of savage +warriors, and arrows and spears flew thicker and faster than ever. + +The Archbishop was smitten on the head by a spear, just as he had cut +down a Mongol, and he fell, as a ship's mast falls struck by lightning. + +Next fell the leader of the Templars, fighting helmetless by his side. +The riderless horses dashed neighing into the ranks of the enemy, among +whom they quickly found new masters. + +KAilmAin had seen the bravest fall around him, but he was still pressing +forward, still fighting, when he also received a severe wound. Just then +the sun went down. + +His sword-arm was useless, and his brave warriors, placing him in their +midst, made their way back to the camp. But the camp was deserted now by +all but the dead and the dying. The troops whom they had left there had +forced their way out at last, but it was to fly, not to fight. + +The Mongols had made no attempt to stop them; on the contrary, they had +opened their ranks to let them pass through, and the faster and thicker +they came, the more room they gave them. + +That the fugitives would not escape in the long run well they knew, and +their object just now was the King. + +The flower of the Hungarian nobility, several bishops, and high +dignitaries, both of Church and State, had fallen in the battle, or fell +afterwards in the flight. Most of them took the way to Pest, which was +strewn for two days' journey with the dead and dying, with arms and +accoutrements. + +Many were slain by the Mongols who pursued and attacked them when they +were too weak to defend themselves; and many others perished in the +attempt to cross rivers and swamps. + +Seeing that all was lost, BA(C)la himself thought it time to fly, and while +the Mongols were plundering the camp, he succeeded in reaching the open, +and made for the mountains, recognised by few in the on-coming darkness. + +Immediately surrounding him were Paul HA(C)dervAiry, in spite of his five +wounds, Peter and Stephen Szirmay, Akos, DetrAś, Adam the Pole, the two +ForgAics, and several others--a devoted band, while behind came a long +train of the bravest warriors, the last to think of flying, who followed +in any order or none. + +Few, as we have said, had recognised the King, but there were some who +had, and these pressed hard after him. + +"My horse is done for!" cried the King, as his famous charger began to +tremble beneath him. "Let us stand and die fighting like men!" + +"No! for Heaven's sake, no!" cried Adam the Pole, leaping from his +horse as he spoke. "Mine is sound! take him! I hear the howl of the +Mongols." + +One had indeed actually overtaken them, but, though on foot, Adam felled +him to the ground, leapt upon the Mongol's horse, and galloped on after +the King. + +The handful of brave, true men guarded BA(C)la as the very apple of their +eye. Not one thought of himself; their one anxiety was for the King. + +For an hour they galloped on, always pursued by the Mongols. The foam +was dropping from the horses; the moon had risen and was shining +brightly down upon them, when the irregular force which had followed +them was overtaken, and engaged in a fierce battle with the relentless +and unwearied enemy. + +Just at that moment down sank the horse which Adam had given to the +King; but one of the two ForgAics, AndrAis (Andrew), who was known in the +army as IvAinka (Little John, _i.e._, John Baptist) gave up his. The King +was so worn out by this time that two of the nobles had to lift him upon +the horse; IvAinka himself followed on foot. A younger brother of his, +whose name has not come down to us, lost his life at the hands of the +Mongols, who were again approaching perilously near the fugitives. + +IvAinka was threatened by the like danger, when Paul HA(C)dervAiry and a few +of the others who were on in front chanced to see his peril, and turning +back, routed the Mongols. IvAinka mounted his brother's horse, which had +remained standing quietly by its master's body, and rode after the +little band. + +Daybreak was once more at hand, and they were far, far away from the +field of blood, when again the King's horse failed him, and the Mongols +were hardly so much as a hundred paces behind. + +They had recognised the King, and one of Batu Khan's sub-officers had +promised a large reward to anyone who could get BA(C)la into his hands, +alive or dead. + +Then a young hero, RugAics by name, who had already distinguished himself +in battle, offered the King his charger, and it was thanks to this good +horse of Transylvanian breed that the King finally escaped his pursuers. +For, tough though they were, even the Mongolian horses were beginning to +fail, while nothing apparently could tire out the Transylvanian. + +As they helped him to mount, BA(C)la noticed that there was blood on the +arm of the faithful RugAics, and asked kindly whether it gave him much +pain. + +"Ay, indeed, sir!" was the answer, "but there is worse pain than this!" + +"Ah! your name shall be FAij from to-day," said the King. "Remind us of +it if we live to see better times." + +And accordingly, there is to this day a family which bears the +honourable name of FAij or FAiy, the meaning of which is: "It pains." + +At last the fugitives reached the forest, the Mongols were left behind, +and the King then happily gained a castle in the mountains, where for a +while he remained. + +But when he looked upon his devoted followers, how many were missing! +how many had laid down their lives to save his! + +Among the dozen or more who had fallen by the way was JolAinta's father, +Stephen Szirmay; his brother Peter, though he had not come off +scathless, had escaped without any mortal wound. + +Having no army, the King was for the present helpless, and as soon as he +could do so, he made his way to Pressburg, where he sent for the Queen +and his children to join him, they having taken refuge in Haimburg, on +the other side of the Austrian frontier. + +But instead of the Queen, appeared Duke Friedrich, who persuaded the +King that it would be much wiser for him too to come to Austria, and had +no sooner got him in his clutches than he made a prisoner of him, and +refused to let him go until he had refunded the large sum of money with +which Friedrich had purchased peace from him four or five years +previously. + +BA(C)la gave up all the valuables which he and the Queen had with them, but +as the Duke was still not satisfied, he had to pawn three Hungarian +counties in order to regain his liberty. + +Once more free, he sent the Queen to Dalmatia for safety, and +despatched ambassadors to Pope and Emperor, and the King of France, +praying for their help against the terrible foe who threatened all +Europe with destruction. But the Emperor was fighting Rome, and the Pope +was bent upon reducing him to obedience. Poland was fighting the Mongols +on her own account; Bohemia was in momentary danger of being herself +attacked; and the shameless Duke Friedrich availed himself of Hungary's +defenceless condition to invade and plunder the counties nearest him, +and even to rob such fugitives as had fled to Austria for refuge from +the Mongols. + +BA(C)la meantime had borrowed a little money where he could, and had gone +south to await the answers to his appeal, and to raise what troops he +could for a campaign. But he waited in vain. No help came! and without +an army or the means of raising one, he was helpless. + +His brother KAilmAin had reached Pest, and after urging the terrified +inhabitants to abandon the city, cross the Danube, and hide wherever +they could, he continued his journey to Slavonia (then Dalmatia and +Croatia), his dukedom, where he soon after died of his wounds. + +Before the people of Pest could remove their goods to a place of safety, +they were hemmed in by the Mongols. Thousands from the surrounding +country had taken refuge here with their families and treasures, and the +numbers had been further increased by the arrival of fugitives from the +army. They resolved to defend themselves to the last man; but they +little knew the enemy with whom they had to deal. Three days' battering +with catapults was enough to make breaches in the walls; the Mongols +stormed and burnt the town, and murdered all who fell into their hands. + +The Mongols flooded all the land east of the Danube, but for the present +the broad river formed a barrier which they could not easily pass, and +they were further deterred from making the attempt by the idea, +unfortunately erroneous, that if they crossed it they would find all the +armies of Europe massed upon the other side waiting to receive and beat +them back. + +But if they were checked to the west, there was nothing to prevent their +chasing the King, who was lingering near the Drave. Here they were in no +fear of the armies of Europe, and they crossed the Danube by means of +bladders and boats. + +BA(C)la fled to Spalatro, but feeling unsafe even there, retired with his +family to the island of Issa. Furious at finding that his prey had +escaped him, the Mongol leader, KajdAin, revenged himself upon his +prisoners, whom he set up in rows and cut down; then he hurried on to +the sea coast, and appeared before Spalatro early in May. Foiled again, +he hurried to Issa, which was connected with the mainland by a bridge; +and here he had the mortification of seeing the King and his followers +take ship for the island of Bua under his very eyes. + +Pursuit, without a fleet, was hopeless, and KajdAin had to content +himself with ravaging Dalmatia, Croatia, and Bosnia. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +DORA'S RESOLVE. + + +For days, weeks, months, Talabor had been expecting Libor and his +Mongols to return and renew their attack upon the castle, whose defences +he had strengthened in every way possible to him. + +But spring had given way to summer, and summer to autumn, and still they +had not come. When a winter of unusual severity set in, he felt the +position safer, for the steep paths were blocked with snow or slippery +with ice. + +Rumours of the fatal battle had not been long in reaching the castle, +and fugitives had been seen by one or another of the villagers, whose +accounts, though they differed in many respects, all agreed in this, +that the country was in the hands of the Mongols, and that the King had +fled for his life--whether he had saved it was doubtful. One reported +the death of both the Szirmays, another declared that Master Peter had +escaped with the King. + +The general uncertainty began to tell upon the inhabitants of the +castle. + +Gradually, one by one, the men of the garrison disappeared. If a man +were sent out hunting, or to gather what news he could in the +neighbourhood, he not seldom vanished. Whether he had deserted, or +whether he had been captured, who could say? In either case he might +bring the Mongols down upon them. + +At last, when the number of fighting men was so diminished that it would +have been out of the question for them to offer any serious resistance, +disquieting events began to occur among the house-servants. One day two +of them were nowhere to be found! One was a turnkey of Master Peter's, +the other a maid-servant, a simple, country girl, whom no one would have +supposed capable of counting up to three! + +These two had evidently not gone empty-handed, moreover, a few silver +plates and other light articles having vanished at the same time! +Neither of them had been sent out to reconnoitre; neither, least of all +the peasant girl, could have gone a-hunting. They had deserted, and they +had stolen anything they could lay hands on! + +After this discovery Dora became every day more uneasy, feeling that the +danger from within might be as great as that from without. + +Talabor kept his eye with redoubled vigilance upon those who were left, +but confidence was destroyed in all but one or two. + +Early one morning it was found that the whole of the plate had +disappeared from the great dining hall. Every chest was empty, and no +one of the servants knew where the contents were. Talabor had spent an +entire night in carrying them away to a hiding place shown him by Master +Peter, a sort of well-like cavity in a cellar, of which he kept the key +always about him. He had been busy for days digging out the earth and +rubbish, without letting anyone, even the faithful Moses, know what he +was about; for, like many another sorrowful Magyar in those days, the +old man had of late been trying to drown his grief in wine, and Talabor +feared that his tongue might betray what his fidelity would have kept +secret. + +All being ready, he carried down the silver from the chests in which it +had been locked, and finally removed from the shelves in the dining hall +even what had been in daily use. This done, he filled the pit with earth +again, and left no traces to indicate the hiding place of Master Peter's +treasure. + +Libor, of course, was well aware of its existence, and Talabor sometimes +wondered whether he were intending to keep the knowledge of it to +himself, to be made use of later on, when the winter was over, and the +castle more easily reached. Be this as it might, neither he nor the +Mongols appeared again; and only once had Talabor encountered any in his +rides. So far as he could see and learn, the neighbourhood seemed to be +free of them; and still anxiety rather increased than diminished, as day +followed day without bringing any news to be relied on. + +Early one morning Dora sent for Talabor, who went expecting merely some +fresh suggestion or order; but he had no sooner entered the room than +she met him, and without any sort of preliminary, exclaimed, in a +somewhat agitated voice, "Talabor! you are loyal to us, and to me, I +know you are! aren't you? You would do anything for me? I am sure you +would!" + +Talabor fell upon one knee, and with glowing countenance raised his hand +to heaven, by way of answer. His heart swelled within him, and just then +he felt strong enough for anything. + +"Good Talabor, I believe you," said Dora; "but get up and listen to what +I want to say. I am only a woman, and perhaps I give myself credit for +more courage than I really have; but one thing I know, I have a strong +will, and I have made up my mind. I mean to go and find the King and my +father!" + +"What!" exclaimed Talabor, almost petrified by the mere idea of so +daring a step. "Master Peter--we don't even know whether----" + +"He is alive!" interrupted Dora very decidedly. + +"But the King! whether it is true or not, who can say? But so far as I +can gather he seems to be in Dalmatia, and the Tartars are pursuing him. +The country may still be full of them, for anything I know; and you mean +to run such a frightful risk as this would be? Dear mistress----" + +"I do mean, Talabor!" said Dora, "I do mean; for it seems to me that I +may have worse to face if I stay here; and what is more, I can't do any +good by staying. I can't in the least help those who would, I know, lay +down their lives for me. Did not you yourself say, months ago, that this +place was not safe?" + +"True, but then things were not as they are now, and I was thinking of +some safer refuge, not of a perilous winter journey. We will defend +ourselves to the last, and now that we are free of traitors, we shall be +stronger than before." + +"To the last, you say? Then the last person would be myself, and I +should be left to die by torture or to become the slave of some Mongol +scoundrel! No, Talabor! if I could protect those who have been faithful +and devoted to me, if I could even protect those who have deceived me, +robbed me and deserted me so disgracefully, I would stay, but my +presence here does no one any good." + +"And," Dora continued, after a moment's pause, "the fact is we are +living over a volcano, for who can answer for it that none of those who +have stayed behind are traitors, and what of those who are gone? Why +then, should you wish to stay?" + +Dora had taken to "theeing and thouing" Talabor, ever since the time of +danger and anxiety which they had passed through together. It showed him +that she had confidence in him; but he, of course, continued to address +her in the third person. + +"Because," replied the young man in a firm voice, "I can put down any +mischief that may raise its head here; and because, dear lady, if there +is any danger of your being attacked here in the castle, the dangers +outside in the open are a thousand times more serious." + +"You are mistaken in one thing, Talabor. It may all be, perhaps it is, +as you say, but something tells me to go! I can't explain it, but it is +as if I were continually hearing a voice within saying, 'Go, go;' but if +I made a mistake in expecting you to follow me blindly----" + +"Oh, dear lady, how could you be mistaken in trusting the most devoted +of your servants! Let it be as you say! Command me, and I will neither +gainsay, nor delay to do what you wish." + +"You really mean it?" + +"I do! before Heaven I do." + +"Well now, Talabor, can you deny that there is a sort of nightmare +oppression about this place? The garrison has dwindled to three, and +there are but four servants. We can't reckon upon Mr. Moses, for he +grows harder to stir every day." + +It was all so perfectly true that Talabor could say nothing; but they +talked on for a time, and then Dora began to think and consult with him +as to the first steps to be taken. She wished to discharge all her +duties as mistress of the castle to the end, as far as was possible; and +the first question was, what was to become of Moses and the rest of the +household? This settled, they thought it time to take the old governor +into their confidence. + +Mr. Moses had long been of opinion that the castle was no safe place to +stay in, and he readily undertook to conduct the remaining members of +the garrison and household to a place of greater safety. + +In the depths of the neighbouring forest lived an old charcoal-burner, +who supplied the castle blacksmith with charcoal, and had managed to +steal up with it now and then all through these perilous times. The hut, +or rather cave, in which the poor man and his family lived, was far away +from any road, it was closed in by rocks, and was altogether so +difficult, if not impossible, for any stranger to discover, that Moses +and Talabor thought it the safest place of any to be found. But Dora +begged them both to keep their own counsel until the time for action +should come; and as to when that time should be, no one knew but +herself. + +Latterly, as troubles had multiplied, it had become a sort of fixed idea +with her that she must go and find her father at all costs, or at least +make sure whether he were still alive or dead, and in the latter event +she had resolved to take refuge in a convent. + + + +Two or three days after the consultation mentioned above, Dora sent for +her two devoted followers. + +It was quite early in the morning, but she was already dressed for going +out--for a journey it seemed, though, in spite of the bitter cold, she +wore none of her rich furs. Except that she was cleaner and neater, +there was nothing to distinguish her from the poorest peasant-girl +tramping from one village to another, or perhaps going on a distant +pilgrimage. + +In the narrow belt, which she wore in the ancient Magyar fashion, round +her waist, she had hidden a few pieces of gold; on her feet she had +thick, heavy boots, and over her shoulders hung a rough cloak of +antiquated cut, which might be put over her head like a hood if +necessary. + +Somehow Talabor had never admired her so much before as he did now. +Moses stared at her wide-eyed, for of late he had seen her always in +black. + +The old huntsman looked as if he were wondering what new madness this +might mean, and one can hardly be surprised at him. But he was always +respectful to Dora, and next to the old castle, and the woods, and +Master Peter, he loved her better than anything else in the world! +Talabor came next to her in his affections, but a good way behind. + +"Mr. Moses," began Dora gravely, addressing him first as she always did, +because he was governor, in name at least, if not in fact, "I think the +time has come for us to follow your advice; we have not men enough to +defend the castle, and if it is true that the whole country is laid +waste, it is very likely that one of the horrible Tartars who came +before will take it into his head to come again. Besides, the thieves +who have deserted us know how few we are, and how much plate there is +in the chests; and what is to hinder their coming back? Well, at any +rate, I have made up my mind to leave the castle, but I mean to be the +last. I shall not go until I know that every one is as safe as he can +be." + +"I don't stir a step without you, mistress," exclaimed Moses. + +"I am Dora Szirmay, Master Peter's daughter, and my faithful governor +will obey my orders!" returned Dora, in tones so decided that it was +plain she had not forgotten how to command. + +Mr. Moses was silenced, and Dora went on, still in the same grave way, +"I know that you are faithful, that no one is truer to my father and me +than yourself, and so I can give you my orders with trust and +confidence. You, Mr. Moses, and everyone that is left in the castle, +except Talabor and GAibor, will go to-day as soon as it is dusk, to old +GAśdri, the charcoal-burner. You can take JakA cubed's pony with you in case +anyone should be tired, and be sure you take all the arms you can carry. +The food, too, you must take all that, though I am afraid there is not +much left, for we have all been hungry for some time past, if we have +not been actually famished. When that is gone, there are the woods; and +no hunter ever died of starvation." + +"But yourself, my dear young mistress?" asked Moses. + +"I stay here in the meantime with Talabor and GAibor. You know all I wish +done besides, good Mr. Moses," said Dora gently, with a smile, rather +sad than cheerful. + +"I need not tell you all to be prudent," she continued. "That we must +every one of us be. Take all the care you can of yourselves!" + +"And what about the horses?" + +"They must be turned out. They will find masters: we need not be +troubled about them; and if they don't, they can roam where they will, +and there will be grass under the snow, down in the valleys. JakA cubed might +take Fecske (Swallow), if he thinks he could feed her; it would be a +pity for her to fall into the hands of the Tartars." + +"Fecske" was Dora's own favourite horse. + +"You understand me, don't you, Mr. Moses?" + +"Yes, young mistress; but--" he added uneasily, "what of the castle and +everything?" + +"Well, Mr. Moses, you were the first to call attention to the unsafe +state of the castle, weren't you? So what more can we do? We can't +defend it, we can't live in it, we can't carry it with us! Now you will +start to-day, all of you, except Talabor, GAibor, and myself; and you +must trust everything else to us!" + +Moses would dearly have liked to raise a multitude of further +objections, but he could not, perhaps did not dare. Just as he was about +to leave the room, Dora stopped him, saying, "One thing more, Governor; +when all is ready, let them all come to this room." + +Mr. Moses departed, and turning to Talabor, Dora asked him what he +thought of her arrangements. She spoke more brightly now, and Talabor +answered calmly and respectfully, "I will obey you, mistress! But, I +should like to make one little remark--it is not anything concerning +myself----" + +"No preamble, Talabor!" said Dora, who looked more cheerful every +moment. "Make any remarks you wish, and I will hear you out, because I +know you don't speak from fear." + +"Well, lady, wouldn't it be better to keep JakA cubed with you, instead of +GAibor? GAibor is a good, trusty fellow and active, but he is not equal to +JakA cubed." + +"I am not going to keep more than one with me, and that is yourself, +Talabor! For safety's sake I must travel on foot, like a pilgrim, and +with as few followers as possible. Why I am keeping GAibor is that I want +to send him to seek my father by one route, while we take another. JakA cubed +is the only one of the others who is capable of thinking and acting for +them. If I take him they have no one. Don't you think, now, that I am +right?" + +Talabor assented, and no more was said, but when he realised that he was +to be Dora's sole guardian and travelling companion, he felt as if he +had the strength of a young lion. + + + +That same evening, Moses the governor, and all the rest, with the +above-mentioned exceptions, quitted the castle; and by dawn of the +following day, Master Peter's ancient dwelling-house was like a silent +sepulchre. All the doors and windows were open, but the drawbridge was +up, and the moat full of water. + +The most valuable articles of furniture of a size to be moved, Talabor +had helped GAibor to carry down to a vault opening out of the cellar, in +the course of the night, and together they had walled them up. + +As to what had become of Dora and the two men, no one knew but Moses. +Some thought that she was still there, and others that she had "left the +country," as they said in those days, though how she could have crossed +the moat, except by the drawbridge, and how, if she had done so, the +drawbridge could have been pulled up again, was a mystery which none +could fathom. + +Not even Talabor had ever known of the subterranean passage, which +Master Peter had shown to his daughter and to no one else; and even now +Dora did not disclose its whereabouts. Blindfold, her companions were +led through it, she herself guiding Talabor, and he GAibor; and when she +allowed them to take the bandages off their eyes, they were out of sight +of the castle, and could see not the slightest sign of any secret +entrance. They were in a diminutive valley, with rocks and cliffs all +about them; and here Dora gave GAibor, the horseman, a small purse, +which, had she but known it, was likely to be of small assistance in a +wilderness where no one had anything to sell, but where there were +plenty of people ready to take any money they could get hold of. + +Dora told the man to travel only by night, to avoid all the high roads, +and to make for Dalmatia, where he had been once before in charge of a +horse which Master Peter was sending to a friend. He remembered the way +well enough, which was one reason why Dora had chosen him for this +dangerous and almost impossible mission. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +THROUGH THE SNOW. + + +Hungary was a very garden for fertility; her crops of every kind were +abundant, her flocks and herds were enormous; and while the grain-pits +and barns were full, and while there were sheep and oxen to steal, the +Mongols lived well. But at last the country was stripped, provisions +began to grow scarce, and the year's crops were still in the fields. +Whether or no the Mongols themselves ever condescended to eat anything +but flesh, the mixed multitudes with them were no doubt glad of whatever +they could get, and Batu foresaw that if the harvest were not gathered, +and if something were not done to keep such of the population as yet +remained in their homes, and bring back the fugitives, there must needs +be a famine. + +Among his prisoners he had many monks and priests whom he had spared, +from a sort of superstitious awe, and these he now called together, and +tried to tempt with brilliant promises, to devise some plan for luring +the people back to the deserted farms and homesteads. Many and many a +brave man rejected his offers at the risk, and with the loss, of his +life; but there were some who were ready to do what the Khan wanted, if +only they could hit upon any scheme. All their proclamations issued in +the Khan's name failed to inspire confidence, however. The people did +not return; those hitherto left in peace fled at the approach of the +Mongols, the general need increased day by day, and the captives were +put to death by hundreds to save food. + +The massacres were looked upon as a pleasant diversion and entertainment +in which the Mongol boys ought to have their share; to them, therefore, +were handed over the Hungarian children; and those who showed most skill +in shooting them down were praised and rewarded by their elders. + +Yet how to feed half a million men in a country which had been +thoroughly pillaged was still a problem. + +And then, all over the country there appeared copies of a proclamation +written in the King's name, and sealed with the King's seal. + +There was no Mongol ring about this, as there had been about similar +previous proclamations, and it was given in the King's name, it was +signed with the King's own seal! Of that there could be no question. + +The news spread rapidly, further flight was stopped, and in a few days +the people dutifully began to venture forth from their hiding places, +and that in such numbers that a great part of the country was +re-populated. Moreover, the Mongols, though still in possession, +actually welcomed them as friends, which showed that the King knew what +he was about! They were allowed, moreover, to choose magistrates for +themselves from among the Mongol chiefs, to the number of a hundred, who +met once a week to administer strict and impartial justice. + +Magyar, Kun, Mongol, Tartar, Russian, and the rest all lived as amicably +together as if they were one family. Farming operations were resumed, +markets were held, and peace of a sort seemed to have returned to the +land. + +At last harvest and vintage were over. Corn and fruit of all +descriptions had been garnered, and there was wine in the cellars. And +then? Why, then, late in the autumn, the too confiding people were +massacred wholesale; and those of them who managed to escape fled back +to their hiding-places. + +Then followed winter, such a winter as had not often been matched in +severity. The Danube, frozen hard, offered an easy passage; there was no +European army to oppose them, for the heads of Christendom were fighting +among themselves, and the Mongols crossed over to do on the right bank +of the river what they had already done on the left. + +Always rather savage than courageous, the Mongols obliged their +prisoners to storm the towns, looked on laughing as they fell; cut them +down themselves from behind if they were not sufficiently energetic, +and drove them forward with threats and blows. When the besieged were +thoroughly exhausted, and the trenches filled with corpses, then, and +not till then, the Mongols made the final assault, or enticed the +inhabitants to surrender, and then, with utter disregard of the fair +promises they had made, put them to death with inhuman tortures. The +Mongols were exceeding "slim," as people have learnt to say in these +days. One example of their savagery will suffice. + +The most important place on the right side of the Danube was the +cathedral city of Gran, which had been strongly fortified with trenches, +walls, and wooden towers by its wealthy inhabitants, many of whom were +foreigners, money changers, and merchants. As the city was thought to be +impregnable, a large number of persons of all ranks had flocked into it. + +Batu made his prisoners dig trenches all round, and behind these he set +up thirty war-machines, which speedily battered down the fortifications. +Next the town-trenches were filled up, while stones, spears, and arrows +fell continuously upon the inhabitants, who, seeing it impossible to +save the wooden suburbs, set fire to them, burnt their costly wares, +buried their gold, silver, and precious stones, and withdrew into the +inner town. Infuriated by the destruction of so much valuable property, +the Mongols stormed the city and cruelly tortured to death those who did +not fall in battle. Not above fifteen persons, it is said, escaped. + +Three hundred noble ladies entreated in their anguish that they might +be taken before Batu, for whose slaves they offered themselves, if he +would spare their lives. They were merely stripped of the valuables they +wore, and then all beheaded without mercy. + + + +For weeks Dora and Talabor had journeyed on, avoiding all the main +roads, travelling by the roughest, most secluded ways, and seldom +falling in with any human beings, or even seeing a living creature save +the wild animals, which had increased and become daring to an +extraordinary degree. + +Wolves scampered about in packs of a hundred or more, and over and over +again Talabor had been obliged to light a fire to keep them off. He had +done it with trembling, except when they were in the depths of the +woods, lest what scared the wolves should attract the Mongols. + +Bears, too, had come down from the mountains, and had taken up their +quarters in the deserted castles and homesteads, and many a wanderer +turning into them for a night's shelter found himself confronted by one +of these shaggy monsters. + +Traces of the Mongols were to be seen on all sides: dead bodies of human +beings and animals, smouldering towns, villages, and forests; here and +there, perched upon some rocky height, would be a defiant castle, whose +garrison, if they had not deserted it, were dead or dying of hunger; in +some parts, look which way they might, there was a dead body dangling +from every tree; poisonous exhalations defiled the air; and over woods, +meadows, fields, ruined villages, lay a heavy pall of smoke. + +Such was the condition to which the Mongols had reduced the once smiling +land. Truly it might be said, in the words of the prophet: "A fire +devoureth before them, and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as +the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness." + +But, though they saw their works plainly enough, the wanderers saw +hardly anything of the Mongols themselves, which surprised them. Once or +twice they had narrow escapes, and had to take sudden refuge from small +parties, travelling two or three together; but they encountered nothing +like a body of men, and those whom Talabor did chance to see appeared to +be too intent on covering the ground to look much about them. + +From one or two wanderers like themselves he presently learnt that the +Mongols were everywhere on the move, and were all going in the same +direction, southwards. But what it meant no one could guess. They were +moving with their usual extraordinary rapidity, and but few stragglers +on foot were believed to be left behind. + +But it might be only some fresh treachery, some trap, and the people +dared not leave the caves, caverns, thick woods, where they had hidden +themselves, and lived, or existed, in a way hardly credible, on roots, +herbs, grass, the bark of trees, some of them even eking out their +scanty provisions by a diet of small pebbles! + +Needless to say that many died of hunger, while the remainder were +reduced to skeletons, shadows, ghosts of their former selves. + +From some of these bands of refugees Talabor heard fragmentary accounts +of the horrors that had been enacted, and the events that had followed +after the battle of Mohi. + +Dora had felt more and more confidence in her travelling companion as +day had followed day during their terrible journey. He had spared no +pains in his efforts to lighten the privations and difficulties of the +way; he had thought for her, cared for her, in a hundred ways; and yet +with it all, he was just as deferential as if they had been in the +castle at home. + +Miserable were the best resting places he could find for her for the +night, either in the depths of the forest or in some cavern or deep +cleft of the rocks. Sometimes he was able to make her a little hut of +dry branches, roofed over with snow; and when he could do so without +risk of discovery, he would light a fire and cook any game that he had +been able to shoot in the course of the day. + +But whatever the shelter he found or contrived for her, he himself +always kept watch outside, and got what little sleep he could when the +night was past. + + + +They had almost lost count of time, and they hardly knew where they +were, when, late one night, Dora came to a standstill. + +The moon was shining, the cold intense, and the snow, which crackled +beneath their feet, lay thick and glittering all around them. It was the +sort of night that sends fear into the hearts of all who are compelled +to be abroad, and yet are anxious to escape the notice of their fellow +men, for it was as light almost as by day, and the travellers showed up +like a couple of black spots against the white background. + +Talabor, muffled in his cloak, was leading Dora by the hand; she had her +large hood drawn over her head, and the two looked as very a pair of +tramps as one could meet with anywhere. + +The cold cut through them like a knife, though the night was still--too +still, for there was not wind enough to cover up the track they had left +behind them. It would be easy to trace them, for the snow was powdery, +and in many places they had sunk in it up to their knees. + +"I must stop, I am tired out! and I am so deadly sleepy," said Dora, in +a broken voice, "I feel numb all over, as if I were paralysed." + +She looked ghastly pale, worn, thin, a mere shadow of what she had been; +and she had been travelling all day, dragging herself along with the +greatest difficulty. + +"Dear lady," said Talabor gently, supporting her trembling figure as +well as he could, "do you see that dark patch under the trees yonder?" + +"I can't see so far, Talabor," she stammered. + +"I see it plainly," he went on, "and it is a building of some sort, a +dwelling-house, I think. If you could just manage to get so far, we +should be better sheltered than we are here." + +"Let us try," said Dora, summoning all her remaining strength. + +"Lean on me," Talabor urged in a tone of encouragement; "we shall be +there in a quarter of an hour; but if you can't walk, you must let me +carry you as I have done before, it is such a little way." + +"You are very good, Talabor," said the girl gratefully, and off they set +again. + +The building which Talabor had noticed stood on rising ground, on one +side of the valley, and, the snow not being quite so deep on the slope, +they were able to get on a little faster. Neither spoke, for what was +there to talk about? The cold was benumbing, and both were suffering. + +Presently Dora felt her knees give way under her, and everything seemed +to turn black before her eyes. + +"Talabor!" she whispered, holding his arm with both hands, "I--I am +dying--you go on yourself and leave me!" + +"Leave you!" exclaimed Talabor; and before Dora could say another word, +he had thrown back his cloak and picked her up in his arms. She was +almost fainting, and overpowered by the deadly sleep induced by the +cold. + +Light as his burthen was, it was a struggle for Talabor to make his way +through the snow, for he, too, had lost much of his accustomed strength +during the past weeks of hardship and anxiety. Still, he managed to go +straight on without stumbling or faltering. All about them, for some +distance and in every direction, there were strange prints in the snow, +and these he scanned carefully until he had quite assured himself that +they were not made by human feet. + +"No Tartars have been here lately, at all events!" he said, by way of +cheering his companion, as they drew near the gloomy, deserted building, +which was not a ruin, but one of the many dwellings plundered by the +Mongols, and for some reason abandoned without being completely +destroyed. + +It was a small, dark place, and its only defences were its outer walls. +There was no moat; and it had probably belonged to some noble family of +little wealth or importance, who had either fled or been murdered. The +gate was lying on the ground, and the snow in the courtyard was almost +waist-deep. Talabor needed all his strength to wade through it and to +carry Dora up the stone steps, which he could only guess at, and had to +clear with his foot as he went on. + +In the tolerably large room which he first entered all the furniture was +half consumed by fire, and the door burnt off its hinges; the +moonlight, which streamed through the open windows, showed bare, +blackened walls, and a scene of general desolation. + +Spreading his cloak on the bench, which owed its escape from destruction +to the fact that it was covered with plaster, he laid Dora down upon it, +gathered up some of the broken furniture already half reduced to +charcoal, and soon had a small fire burning. The smoke from it filled +the whole room, but still the warmth revived his companion, who had +known what it was to spend even worse nights than this one promised to +be; for, when Talabor presently took a piece of burning wood from the +fire, that he might explore the building, he found an old sack full of +straw. The room in which he discovered it opened out of the larger one, +and was not quite so desolate looking, for the fire did not seem to have +penetrated so far, and, moreover, it had a large fireplace still +containing the remains of charcoal and bones. + +Talabor lighted another fire here, drew the sack into one corner, and +hurried back to Dora, who was now dozing a little, with the light from +the crackling fire shining on her face. How deadly pale, how wasted it +was! + +Talabor stood looking at her for a moment, wondering whether after all +he should be able to save a life which every day was making more +precious to him. + +He piled more wood on the fire, and tried to rub a little warmth into +his own numb hands. It was the most bitter night of all their +wanderings, and the cold pierced his very bones. Tired out as he was, +heavy with drowsiness, he kept going from one fire to the other, as he +wanted to take Dora into the smaller room when she awoke, for it was not +only a degree warmer, but also free from smoke, and had a door which +would shut. + +She opened her eyes about midnight, and seemed to be all the better for +her two hours' sleep. Talabor had kept her so carefully covered, and had +replenished the fire so diligently that her healthy young blood had +begun to flow again, and, not for the first time, he had saved her from +the more serious consequences of her exposure and fatigue. + +"Talabor!" she said, raising herself a little, "I have been asleep! +thank you so much! Now you must rest; you must, indeed, for if your +strength fails, it will be all over with us both." + +"Oh, I am accustomed to sleeping with one eye open, as the Tartars do +when they are on horseback. It does just as well for me; but you, dear +lady, must rest for at least a few hours longer, and after that I will +have a real sleep too." + +"A few hours!" + +"Yes, here in the next room, where I have found a royal bed of straw, +and there is a good fire and no smoke." + +By this time the smaller room really had some warmth in it, in spite of +the empty window frames; and the sack of straw was a most luxurious +couch in Dora's eyes. + +"What a splendid bed, Talabor!" said she, gratefully; "but before I lie +down, one question--it sounds a very earthly one, though you have been +an angel to me but--have we anything to eat? I am shamefully hungry!" + +"To be sure we have!" said Talabor, opening his knapsack, and producing +a piece of venison baked on the bare coals. "All we want is salt and +bread, and something to drink, but there is plenty of snow!" + +"Let us be thankful for what God gives us! Our good home-made bread! +what a long time it is since we tasted it!" + +"We shall again in time!" said Talabor confidently, as he handed Dora +the one knife and the cold meat. + +"Talabor," said Dora presently, "I am afraid we have come far out of our +way." + +"I am afraid so too," he answered, "but I don't think we could help it. +There has been little to guide us but burnt villages and ruined +church-towers. And then, when we have come upon recent traces of the +Tartars, we have had to take any way we could, and sometimes to turn +back and hide in the forest for safety. How far south we have come I can +hardly guess, but we are too much to the east, I fancy." + +"You have saved me at all events, over and over again: from wild beasts +by night, from horrible men by day, from fire, smoke, everything! I +shall tell my father what a good, faithful Talabor you have been! And +now I am really not very sleepy, and I should so like to see you +rest--you know you are my only protector now in all the wide world, and +you must take care of yourself for me!" + +"You must have just a little more rest yourself first, dear mistress, +and then I will have a sleep." + +"You promise faithfully? Then shake hands upon it, for you have deceived +me before now, you bad fellow!" + +But when next Dora opened her eyes, the moon had set; it was quite dark; +the fire had gone out, and the cold was more biting than ever. + +"Talabor!" she cried, alarmed and bewildered, for she could not see a +step before her. + +"I'm here!" he exclaimed, starting up from the bare floor, on which he +had been lying near the hearth, and rubbing his eyes as he did so. + +"I have been asleep," he said, greatly displeased with himself. "I was +overpowered somehow, and our fire is out! Never mind, we will soon have +another!" and he set to work again with flint and steel. But when the +fire was once more blazing, and both were a little thawed, Talabor would +not hear of any more sleep. + +"I _have_ slept!" he said, still indignant with himself. "For the first +time in my life I have slept at my post, slept on duty--I deserve the +stocks!" + +"And you are not sleepy still?" + +"No!" and then he suddenly jumped up from the floor, on which he had but +just thrown himself. + +"What is it?" asked Dora nervously, and she, too, started up. + +"Nothing! nothing--I think," he answered, taking up his bow and quiver +as he spoke. + +"I hear some noise, I'm sure I do," said Dora, listening intently. "What +can it be? Quick! we must put out the fire!" + +At that moment, just in front of the house, and, as it seemed to both, +close by, there was a long-drawn howl. + +"It's wolves, not Tartars," said Talabor, much relieved. + +"Oh! then make haste and fasten the door!" + +"They won't come in here," said Talabor, as he put the door to. It had +been left uninjured by the fire, but its locks and bolts were all too +rusty to be of the smallest use. There was a heavy little oak table +which had survived the rest of the furniture, however, and this Talabor +pushed up against it, saying, "The fire is our best protection against +such visitors as these; but dawn is not far off now, and perhaps it +would be better not to wait for it before we move on. I should not care +to have them taking up their quarters in the yard." + +"What are you going to do?" exclaimed Dora, in alarm, "surely you are +not going to provoke them?" + +"No! and if I should annoy one of them, he will not be able to do much +harm after it!" + +"I forbid you to do anything rash! You are not to risk your life, +Talabor. You are to sit still here, if you don't want to make me angry." + +Dora's vehemence was charming, but Talabor never did anything without +reflection; and he was not going to have her life imperilled by any +ill-timed submission on his own part. + +"You may be quite easy," he said, "I am not going to stir from here, and +they are not going to come in either!" + +The wolves meantime had been drawing nearer and nearer, to judge by +their howls. Perhaps they had scented the smoke, and expected to find +the dead bodies of men or cattle, as they commonly did in every burning +village in those days. + +Talabor was standing at the window, bow in hand, when he presently drew +back with a hasty movement. + +"Quick!" he said in an undertone. "We must put out the fire!" + +Dora rushed to it and began scattering and beating it out with a piece +of wood. + +"What is it?" she whispered; and Talabor whispered back, "I saw someone +that I don't like the look of!" Then, holding up his forefinger, he +added, "Perhaps there are only one or two; don't be afraid." + +These few words, intended to be re-assuring, did not do much to allay +Dora's fears, and she went up to Talabor, who was back at the window +again, now that the fire was put out. Trembling, she stood beside him, +while her cold hand fumbled in her pouch for the dagger which she +carried with her. + +It cannot be denied that at that moment, in spite of all her high +spirit, Dora was terrified. + +Thanks to the snow and the stars, Talabor could see clearly enough what +was going on outside; and this is what he saw: two muffled figures +hurrying towards the house, by the very same path which he himself had +trodden only a short time before; tracking him by his deep footprints in +all probability. + +But a few moments after he had told Dora to put out the fire, one of the +two figures, an unmistakable Tartar, was overtaken by the wolves, and +there began one of those desperate conflicts between man and beast, +which more often than not ended in the defeat of the former, firearms +not being as yet in existence. + +"Here! Help! Father!" shouted the one attacked. He had beaten down one +wolf, with a sort of club, and was trying his utmost to defend himself +against two others. At this appeal, made, by-the-bye, in the purest +Magyar, the man in front hurried back to the help of his son. + +"Surely he spoke Magyar!" whispered Dora. + +"There are only two of them, at all events," was Talabor's answer, that +fact being much the more reassuring of the two in his eyes, for he had +heard, during their wanderings, that there were more "Tartar-Magyars" +in the world than Libor the clerk. + +He fitted an arrow to his bow, as he spoke, and added, in an undertone, +"They are coming, and the wolves after them! but there are only two, +nothing to be afraid of; trust me to manage them!" + +In fact the two men were already floundering in the courtyard, and close +at their heels rushed the whole pack, disappearing now and again in the +deep snow, then lifting up their shaggy heads out of it, while they kept +up an incessant chorus of howls. + +Tartar-Magyars might be enemies, but wolves certainly were, thought +Talabor, as he let fly his arrow and stretched the foremost wolf upon +the ground, just as it was in the act of seizing one of the Tartars. + +Apparently the fugitives had not heard the twang of the bow-string, for +as soon as they caught sight of the open door, they hurried towards it +with the one idea of escaping their pursuers, so it seemed. + +But when Talabor again took aim, and a second wolf tumbled over, one of +the men looked up, saw the arrow sticking in the wolf's back, and cried +out, as if thunderstruck, "Tartars! per amorem Dei patris!" (Tartars! +for the love of God!) And having so said, he stopped short, irresolute, +as not knowing which of the two dangers threatening him it were better +to grapple with. + +Talabor heard the exclamation, and, whether or no he understood more +than the first word, at least he knew that it was uttered in Latin. The +fugitives must surely be ecclesiastics, who had adopted the Tartar dress +merely for safety's sake. + +"Hungari, non Tartari--We are Hungarians, not Tartars!" he replied in +the same language, leaning from the window as he shouted the words. +Whereupon that one of the "Tartars" who had spoken before called out +again, as if in answer, "Amici! Friends," and turned upon the wolves, +two of which had been so daring as to follow him and his companion even +up the steps. The nearer of the two he attacked with his short club; but +his comrade, who had been hurrying after him, slipped and fell down, and +the other wolf at once rushed upon him and began tearing away at his +cowl. + +Talabor meanwhile, being completely reassured by the word "Amici," +turned to Dora saying, "Glory to God, we are saved! They are good men, +monks, as much wanderers as ourselves!" + +He pulled the table away from the door, snatched a brand from the still +smouldering fire, waved it to and fro till it burst into flame, and then +rushed out with it through the hall into the entry, where the learnA"d +one of the two supposed Tartars was hammering away at the head of the +huge wolf which had got hold of his friend, whose rough outer garment it +was worrying in a most determined manner. The rest of the pack, about +twenty, seemed not at all concerned at the loss of their four companions +lying outstretched in the snow, for they were drawing nearer and nearer +to the entry, and were lifting up their heads as if desirous of joining +in the fray going on within, while they howled up and down the scale +with all their might. + +But the moment Talabor appeared with his flaming torch they were cowed, +turned tail, and tumbled, rather than ran, down the steps in a panic. +Head over heels they rushed towards the gate, some of the hindmost +getting their tails singed as they fled. + +Meantime the two strangers seeing the enemy thus put to flight, took +courage, and thought apparently to complete the rout, for they rushed +off after the retreating wolves and were for pursuing them even beyond +the gate, when they were checked by a shout from Talabor, who called to +them to stop. + +They stood still, up to their waists in snow, and looked at him, +wondering and half doubting who and what he might be. + +"Who are you?" he asked. + +"Magyars! infelices captivi--Unfortunate captives," answered the learnA"d +one. + +"We are Magyars!" said the other in Hungarian. + +"If you are Magyars, follow me," said Talabor, and the strangers obeyed. + +It was dark no longer, but still it was difficult to judge of the men by +their looks, for they wore the rough Tartar hoods over their heads, and +the one who had been mauled by the wolf had his hanging about his face +in lappets and ribbons. + +Talabor could see just so much as this, that neither was very young, +that both were wasted to the last degree, and that they were as begrimed +as if they had been hung up to dry in the smoke for some weeks. + +"Come along, come along!" he said, for he was anxious to get back to +Dora, and to make up the fire again. Should he take them into, the +warmer inner room, or keep them in the other until he knew more about +them? He was still undecided what to do when a sudden exclamation from +one of the wanderers, followed by the fervent words, "Glory be to +Jesus!" startled him. + +More startled still was he to hear from Dora the response, "For ever and +ever!" and to see her clinging to the begrimed "Tartar." + +"Father Roger! Father Roger!" she exclaimed tremulously, and for the +moment could say no more. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +A STAMPEDE. + + +As soon as he was sufficiently warmed to be able in some degree to +control his trembling lips, Father Roger explained that he had been +captured by the Mongols, from whom he had but recently escaped; that his +life had been spared, at first on account of his clerical costume, and +afterwards because he had been taken into the service of a +Tartar-Magyar, who had saved both himself and his servant. + +But when Dora would have questioned him further, and inquired who the +Tartar-Magyar was, he shook his head, saying gently, "Another time, dear +child, another time--perhaps. But it is a nightmare I would willingly +forget, except that I may give praise to God, who has preserved us +through so many grievous perils." + +It was evidently such a painful subject that she could not press him +further; and she began to speak of their own plans. + +"Dalmatia!" said the Canon, shaking his head, "Dalmatia! but we are in +Transylvania! and who knows for certain where his Majesty may be? I +have heard rumours, but that is all, and they are ancient by this time. +It would be wiser to try and find some safe retreat here, where there +are more hiding-places than in the great plains." + +He spoke dreamily; but he had noticed Dora's hollow cheeks, and had +marked how greatly she was altered from the bright, beautiful girl whom +he had last seen less than a year ago. Her strength would never hold out +for so long a journey, even if it were otherwise desirable, which he did +not himself think it; for he was able to throw some light upon the +mysterious movement among the Mongols, and told his hearers that Oktai +the Great Khan had died suddenly in Asia; and that Batu Khan, the famous +conqueror, was far too important a person in his own eyes to be ignored +when it came to the choice of a successor. He must make his voice heard, +his influence felt; and the tidings had no sooner reached him than he +despatched orders to all his scattered forces, appointing a place of +rendezvous, and bidding them rejoin him at once. + +This done, off he hurried, in his usual headlong way; and, with his +captives, his many waggons laden with booty, and his yellow hosts, he +had rushed like a tornado through Transylvania into Moldavia, +plundering, burning, ravaging, according to custom, as he went. + +That was the last Father Roger knew of him; for, finding that the +farther they went the worse became the treatment of the captives, until +at last the only food thrown to them was offal and the bones the +Mongols had done with, he had felt convinced that a massacre of the old +and feeble was impending. + +"Then the Tartar-Magyar is not gone with them to Asia, and he could not +protect you any longer?" asked Dora. + +"He could not protect us any longer," echoed Father Roger. "We, my +faithful servant here and I, watched our opportunity and made our escape +one night into the forest." + +And here we may mention that they had fled none too soon, as the +massacre of those not worth keeping as slaves actually took place, as +Father Roger had foreseen, and that within a very short time after his +flight. + +The more Talabor thought of it, the more he felt that Father Roger was +probably right as to Dalmatia, and Dora finally acquiesced in giving up +her cherished plan. It was a comfort to be with Father Roger, broken +down though he was; and for the rest, if she could not join her father, +what did it matter where she went? She left it to him and Talabor to +decide, without troubling her head as to their reasons, or even so much +as asking what they had agreed; but the disappointment was grievous. + +The little party therefore journeyed on together, slowly and painfully, +often hungering, often nearly frozen, until at last they reached the +town now known as Carlsburg. But here again they found only ruins and +streets filled with dead bodies, and they toiled on again till they came +to the smaller town of Frata, where there were actually a good number of +people, recently emerged from their hiding-places, and all busily +engaged in strengthening and fortifying the walls to the best of their +power. + +They had but little news to give, for all were in doubt and uncertainty +both as to the King and the Mongols. The latter they did not in the +least trust; and though Frata had hitherto escaped, no one felt any +security that it might not be besieged any day, almost any hour. + +"Better the caves and woods than that," said Father Roger with a +shudder. But if there were no safety for them in Frata itself, Talabor +heard there of what seemed at least a likely refuge for Dora, and that +with a member of her own family, a certain Orsolya Szirmay, who was said +to have taken refuge among the mountains, and to have many of the +Transylvanian nobility with her, and would certainly receive them. + +"Only a little further!" said Talabor, as he had said before; but this +time it was "only a few miles," not a quarter of an hour's walk; and +when one can walk but slowly, when one's strength is ebbing fast, and +one's feet are swollen and painful from the many weary miles they have +trodden, when one is chilled to the bone, weak from long want of proper +food, and in constant terror of savage beasts and still more savage men, +the prospect of more rough travelling, though only for "a few miles," +is enough to make the bravest heart sink. + + + +Before we see how it fared with the four travellers, we must glance at +what had been taking place in Transylvania, whose warlike inhabitants +had been far less apathetic and incredulous than those of Hungary, and +at the first note of alarm had raised troops for the Palatine. HA(C)dervAiry +had been despatched, as already mentioned, to close all the passes on +the east, and this done, and his presence being required elsewhere, he +had departed, leaving merely a few squadrons behind as a guard. He and +they both considered it impossible for the Mongols to force a passage on +this side, so well had they blocked the roads. + +Like most of the fighting men of those days, the Hungarian army received +very little in the way of regular pay, and nothing in the way of +rations. It lived upon what it could get! and what would have been theft +and robbery at any other time, was considered quite lawful when the men +were under arms. + +The troops lived well at first. To annex a few sheep, calves, oxen, and +to shoot deer, wild boar, or buffalo was part of the daily routine, for +the forests abounded in game. They were at no loss for wine either, as +some of the nobles supplied them from their cellars. + +On the whole, therefore, the men were well entertained; and, little +suspecting the serious campaign in store, looked forward to a brush with +the Mongols as involving little more danger than their favourite hunting +expeditions. + +And then, one morning they noticed a peculiar sound in the distance. In +one way it was familiar enough, for it reminded them of a hunt, but a +hunt on such a scale as none of them had ever witnessed yet. For it was +as if all the game in the dense, almost impassable forests on the +frontier were being driven towards them by thousands of beaters, driven +slowly and gradually, but always nearer and nearer. + +They wondered among themselves who the huntsmen could be, and thought +that the great lords had perhaps called out the peasantry by way of +beguiling the time, and that, as the roads were closed against the +Mongols, they were coming through the woods. + +But there was no shouting, which was remarkable, and they could hear no +human voices, nothing but the hollow sound as of repeated blows and +banging, which came to them from time to time, when the wind was in a +particular quarter, like the mutter of distant storms. + +Two days later, this weird and ghastly noise could be heard till dark. +No one could imagine what was going on. + +But the detachments whose especial duty it was to watch the frontier +appeared to be under a spell, for they passed their time in the usual +light-hearted way, and went out shooting and hunting in large parties. +They had never known the forest so full of game of all sorts +before--wild buffalo, bears, wolves, deer, fawns--as it had been since +"the woods had begun to talk," as they expressed it. + +By the third day the distant sounds had altered their character, and +were no longer like the ordinary noise made by sportsmen and their +beaters, but more puzzling still. + +Then came orders to the various detachments from the Palatine, that a +few bodies of men were to be posted here and there, rather as spies than +guards, while the rest hastened with all speed to join the main army in +Hungary proper. + +HA(C)dervAiry did not so much as hint that the "Tartars were coming"; but he +was well aware of the fact, for he had good spies, and that even among +the Russians who had coalesced with the Mongols. + +Early on the morning of their departure some of the men thought they saw +scattered clouds of smoke rising over the forests to the east, but they +were a "happy-go-lucky" set, as so many were in those days, and they +troubled their heads very little as to what it might mean. + +Someone suggested that, as the blacksmiths were all unusually hard at +work on horseshoes, of which an enormous number were wanted, no doubt +the charcoal burners were especially busy too; and there were many of +them in the woods and forests; in all probability, the smoke proceeded +from their fires. And with this supposed explanation all were content. + +But suddenly, to the now accustomed sound of beating and knocking, which +was still drawing nearer and nearer, there was added another of a +different character. + +Hitherto, the woods had "talked," and echo had answered them; now the +forest "roared." The wind had been light at early morning; now it was +piping and whistling, swaying the trees to and fro, making the tall +stems tremble, and knock their long bare arms one against the other. + +One of the Palatine's small detachments of about 150 men was stationed +in the mountainous district of Marmaros, with a lofty and precipitous +wall of rock bounding one side of the camp. The men were just preparing +for a start, when a huge buffalo made its sudden appearance on the edge +of the cliff far above their heads. It had come so far with a rush, but +the sight of the great depth below had stopped it short, and it stood +with its feet rooted to the ground for a moment--only for a moment, +however. It raised its head, and seemed to sniff the air, and then, with +one short, faltering bellow, it leapt and fell into their midst, +upsetting one horse, and wounding a couple of men. + +This was the first; but after the first came a second, after the second, +a third! + +Helter-skelter the troops retired from the dangerous spot, and from a +safe distance they counted five buffalo, one after the other, which +dashed to the edge of the cliff, as if in terror from their pursuers, +and took the fatal leap. Only one was able to rise again, and that one +just gave one look round, dug its forefeet into the ground, and then +rushed on straight ahead as if there were a pack of hounds at its heels. + +Shortly after, while the troops were riding down the narrow valley at +the foot of the mountains, they could hear the howl of wolves coming +nearer and nearer, and a pack so large that no one could even guess +their number, was seen to be scampering down the dale; some were +clattering down the cliffs, which were more sloping here, while the rest +tore wildly forward, passing close beside, and even in among the horses, +many of which were maddened with terror, and bolted with their riders. + +An hour or so later, when the little troop had succeeded in quieting the +horses, and had advanced some way on its journey amid many perils and +dangers, the cause of all this excitement among the wild animals was +suddenly revealed. The forest was on fire! It was crackling in the +flames, burning like a furnace beneath a canopy of black smoke. + +The Mongols had fired it on this side, while in another direction they +had opened a way forty fathoms wide, through woods over hill and dale, +through walls of rock, and across streams and ditches. They were making +ready their way before them, and were advancing along it upon the +unready country. + +Wherever they were reached by the fire, the trees crashed down one upon +another; ravens, crows, jackdaws, and all the winged creatures of the +woods, were flying to and fro above the trees, in dense, dark clouds, +and with loud cries and cawing; bears came along muttering, flying +before the fire and smoke, climbing trees from which they did not dare +descend again, and with which they perished together. + +As already mentioned, Batu Khan's army was preceded by pioneers with +axes and hatchets, who drove their road straight forward, through or +over obstacles of all kinds. Nothing stopped them, and often their own +dead bodies helped to fill up the ditches and trenches; for what was the +value of their lives to the Mongols? Absolutely nothing! since they were +taken for the most part from the people whom they had conquered. + +As soon as the awful news of their advance spread through the country, +the people fled without another thought of defending their homes or +resisting the enemy, or of anything else but saving their lives and what +little property they could carry with them in their wild stampede. + +In a few days Transylvania was ablaze from end to end. Towns, villages, +farms, castles, country seats, strongholds, even the ancient walls of +Alba Julia, all were surrounded by the flames, and were crashing and +cracking into ruins. + +The invaders, stupid in their destructiveness, spared nothing whatever; +and their leaders and commanders, themselves as stupid as the brute-like +herd over whom they were placed, occasioned loss to the Khan which was +past all reckoning, for his object was plunder, and they in their rage +for ruin, destroyed what the Khan might even have called treasure, as +well as what might have provided food for hundreds of thousands of the +army. What did the Khan Oktai, or Batu, or his thousands of leaders +care! The latter were Little Tartars, Russian Tartars, German Tartars, +and what not, to whom the conqueror had given the rank and title of +KnA(C)z, whom he favoured, promoted, and enriched, until his humour +changed, or he had no further use for them, and then--why then he +squeezed them, made them disgorge their wealth, and strung them up to +the nearest tree. They were but miserable foreigners after all! + +Transylvania was in the clutches of the enemy, who had entered her in +two large divisions, north and south. But, thanks to the nature of the +country, and the many hiding-places it afforded, she did not suffer +quite so severely as her neighbour. + +Orsolya Szirmay, of whom the travellers had heard at Frata, had married +one BankA cubed, a man of large property and influence, who owned vast estates +both in Hungary and Transylvania; but Orsolya did not see much of her +own relatives after her marriage, for her husband was a man of awkward +temper, and they rarely paid her a visit; so that when, four or five +years before the Mongol invasion, BankA cubed died, she went to live on the +Transylvanian property, which was in a most neglected condition, and +required her presence. BankA cubed had lived to be ninety-three, and his widow +was now an old lady with snow-white hair, but with all her faculties and +energies about her, and eyes as bright, hair as lustrous, as those of a +young girl. + +She had made her home in a gloomy castle among the mountains, but at the +first rumour of the coming invasion, she left it for Frata, where she +had an old house, or rather barn, which had been divided up into rooms, +and was neither better nor worse than many another dwelling-house in +those days. + +During her short stay here, the old lady was constantly riding about the +country accompanied by her elderly man-servant, and a young girl, who +had but lately joined her, and was introduced as "a relation from +Hungary." + +One morning early all three disappeared without notice to anyone, and it +was only later that it was rumoured that "Aunt Orsolya," as she was +called throughout the country, had taken refuge in a large cavern among +the mountains to the north of Frata. + +It afforded plenty of space, it was difficult of approach, and it had +but one, and that a very narrow entrance; the streams which now flow +through it not having then forced a passage. + +How Aunt Orsolya had contrived to stock it with food and other +necessaries we are not told, but she had done it; neither did she lack +society in this lonely abode after the first week or two, for she was +joined in some mysterious way by between seventy and eighty persons +belonging to the most distinguished families in the land. + +She, of course, was the head, the queen of this strange establishment, +for those who fled hither to save their lives, and, as far as they +could, their most precious valuables, found the old lady already +installed. + +She received them, she was their hostess; and besides all this, she was +a born ruler, one to whom others submitted, unconsciously as it were, +and who compelled respect and deference. + +Orsolya, then, had taken the part of house-mistress from the beginning, +and no doubt enjoyed receiving more and more guests, and enjoyed also +the consciousness that they all looked up to her, and were all ready to +submit themselves to her wishes--we might say commands. + +The old lady herself appointed to each one his place, in one or other of +the many roomy caves which opened out of the great cavern, and she +managed to find something for everyone to do. + +In a short time the cavern was as clean as hands could make it. The +driest parts were reserved for sleeping places; and one cave was set +apart as a chapel, where service was regularly held by the clergy, of +whom there were several among the refugees. + +When the neighbourhood was quiet, the men went out hunting, +and--stealing! Stealing! there is no polite word for it. They stole +sheep, cattle, provisions anything they needed for housekeeping. Those +who came in empty-handed Orsolya scolded in plain language; and the men +who swept and cleaned at her bidding, and the women who boiled and +baked, gradually became as much accustomed to the old lady's resolute +way of keeping house and order as if they had served under her all their +lives. + +It was some time in March that Aunt Orsolya had retreated to the cavern, +and there she and her companions had remained all through the spring, +summer, and autumn, often alarmed, but never actually molested, hearing +rumours in plenty, but knowing little beyond the fact that the whole +country was in the hands of the Mongols, and that the King was a +fugitive. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +AUNT ORSOLYA'S CAVERN. + + +Three fires were burning in different parts of the cavern, and round +each was encamped quite a little army of women and children. + +Of the men, some were lying outstretched on wild-beast skins, others +were pacing up and down the great vaulted hall, and yet others were busy +skinning the game shot during the day. Quite respectable butchers they +were, these grandees, who had been used no long time ago to appear +before the world with the most splendid of panther-skins slung elegantly +over their shoulders. + +Some of the women were filling their wooden vessels at the springs which +trickled out from under the wall of rock; and as they watched the water +sparkling in the fire-light they chattered to one another in the most +animated way, or told fairy tales and repeated poetry for the general +entertainment. + +In her own quarters, in the centre of the cavern, close under the wall, +Orsolya was seated in a chair of rough pine branches, beneath a canopy +of mats, which protected her from the continual droppings of the rock. + +Her face was covered with a perfect network of lines and wrinkles, but +her dark eyes shone like live coals. Her beautiful silver hair was +nearly hidden beneath a kerchief which had seen better days, and her +dress, a plain, old-fashioned national costume, was neat and clean in +spite of its age. She had a large spinning-wheel before her, and on a +low stool by her side, sat a young girl, also employed with a spindle. + +It was evident that this latter, a pale, slim creature with black eyes, +was no Magyar. Her features were of a foreign cast, her hands were small +and delicate, and the charm and grace of her every movement were +suggestive rather of nature than of courts. + +But the beautiful face looked troubled, as if its owner were haunted by +the memory of some overwhelming calamity. + +Evidently this young relation of hers was the light of the old lady's +eyes, for her features lost their stern, rather masculine expression, +and her whole face softened whenever she looked at her. + +Some of the men interrupted their walk from time to time to loiter near +the fires, or talk to the sportsmen as they came in, or drew near to +Orsolya, as subjects approach a sovereign; and Orsolya talked composedly +with each one, too well accustomed to deference and homage even to +notice them. + +"Dear child," said the old lady, as soon as they were left to +themselves again, "how many spindles does this make? I'll tell you what, +if you spin enough we will put the yarn on a loom and weave it into +shirting." + +The girl raised her beautiful eyes to the old lady's face, saying in +good Magyar, though with a somewhat peculiar accent, "I think Mr. Bokor +might set up the loom now, dear mother; I have such a number ready." + +"I only hope we shall be able to make it do, my child," said Orsolya, +leaning towards the girl, and stroking the raven hair which floated over +her shoulders. "Good man!" she went on, smiling, "not but that he can be +as obstinate as anyone now and then! and he has made the shuttle the +size of a boat!" + +The girl laughed a little as she answered, "We will help him, good +mother," and she drew the old lady's hand to her lips, and kissed it as +if she could not let it go. + +"Yes," she went on slowly, "necessity is a great teacher; it teaches one +all things, except how to forget!" + +"Oh, my dear, and who would wish it to teach one that! There are some +things which we cannot, and ought not to forget, and it is best so, yes, +best, even when the past has been a sad one." + +She stroked and caressed the girl in silence for a few moments, and then +went on, "But you know, dear child, that life on this sad earth is not +everything. God is good, oh, so good! Why did He create all that we +see? Only because He is good. He, the Almighty, what need had He of any +created thing? It is true that life brings us much pain and anguish at +times, but then this is but the beginning of our real life. There is +another, beyond the blue sky, beyond the stars, which you can no more +realise now than a blind man can realise a view, or a deaf man beautiful +music. We shall find there all that we have loved and lost here. God +does not bring people together and make them love and care for one +another only that death may separate them at last." + +"No, don't forget anything, dearest child," Orsolya went on, with +infinite love in her tone, as the girl laid her head in her old friend's +lap. "Keep all whom you have loved, and honoured, and lost, warm in your +heart." + +"They are always there, dear mother, always before me! I see their dear, +dear faces every moment!--oh! why must I outlive them?" + +"That you may make others happy, dear child; perhaps, even that you may +be a comfort and joy to me in my old age." + +MAiria threw her arms round the old lady and embraced her warmly. + +"Dear, dear mother! how good you are to me! Don't think me ungrateful +for what the good God has given me in place of those whom I have lost. +Yes, I wish to live, and I will live, if God wills, to thank you for +your love, and to love you for a long time. But if you see me sad +sometimes, don't forget, good mother, how much I have lost! and--I am +afraid, I am afraid! I have only one left to lose besides you, dear +mother, and if--if--I don't know how I could go on living then----" + +Just then two or three men appeared in the passage leading up from the +mouth of the cave, and MAiria went back to her stool. + +Night had fallen, the men had been engaged in making all safe as usual +by barricading the entrance with large pieces of rock, but they had +suddenly left their work and were hurrying up to the cavern. + +"Someone is coming, MAiria! or--but no, we won't think any evil, God is +here with us!" + +"Mistress Aunt!" said the first of the men, bowing low, "we have brought +you a visitor, a great man, Canon Roger, who has but lately escaped from +the Mongols, and there are three others, strangers, with him. Leonard +here found them all nearly exhausted and not knowing which way to turn." + +"Well done, nephew! I'm glad you found them," said Orsolya, "theeing and +thouing" him, as she did everyone belonging to her little community. +"Roger--Roger," she went on, "I seem to remember the name--why, of +course, Italian, isn't he? and lived with my nephew Stephen at one +time?" + +"Bring them in! bring them in!" she cried eagerly; and in a few moments +Father Roger and his companions appeared before the "lady of the +castle." + +"Glory be to Jesus!" said, or rather stammered, the Canon; and "For ever +and ever!" responded Orsolya, who had risen to receive him; and for a +moment her voice failed her, so shocked was she at the change in the +fine, vigorous-looking man whom she remembered. + +Attenuated to the last degree, bent almost double, he looked as if he +were in the last stage of exhaustion. His clothes were one mass of rags +and tatters, which hung about him in ribbons; his face, sunken and the +colour of parchment, had lost its expression of energy and manliness, +and wore for the moment a look of bewilderment, which was almost +vacancy. He was the wreck of what he had once been. + +His servant, the one whom he mentions in his "Lamentable Song," Orsolya +took to be quite an old man. Withered and worn like his master, he was, +if possible, even more dilapidated, thanks to his encounter with the +wolves. + +"You have come a long way and suffered much, Father," said Orsolya +gently, when she had welcomed Dora and Talabor, and regained her +composure. + +"Much lady, much--I--I----" + +"Ah, well, never mind! so long as you are here at last, Father Roger, +never mind! It is a long, long time since we met last! Do you remember? +My husband was alive then, and we were staying in Pressburg with my +nephew, Stephen Szirmay, and with the HA(C)dervAirys." + +"I remember well, dear lady; ah! how little we any of us dreamt of the +days that were coming!" + +He spoke falteringly, in a faint voice; and as he sat bowed together on +the low seat, Orsolya noticed that he trembled in every limb. + +The rumour of his arrival had quickly spread, and the inhabitants of the +cavern all came flocking round, eager to see and hear. In their +bright-coloured, though more or less worn garments, with the fire-light +playing upon them, and a whole troop of eager children among them, they +were a most picturesque company. But Orsolya allowed no time for +questions. + +"Come," said she, rising from her chair, "that will do for the present! +Father Roger is worn out! Will you ladies go and get St. Anna's house +ready, and make up good beds; and you, kinsmen," she went on, turning to +the men, "will you see about clothes and clean linen? I am afraid we +have nothing but old rags, but at least they are not quite so worn as +those our friends are wearing, and they are a trifle cleaner! I shall +put the good Canon especially in your charge, MAirton; you will look +after him and see that he wants for nothing." + +"Thank you, lady," stammered Roger, almost overwhelmed by the warmth of +his reception. "Blessings be upon your honoured head, and upon all who +dwell beneath this roof." + +All present bowed their heads almost involuntarily, whereupon Roger +summoned all his remaining strength, and reaching forth his withered +hands, pronounced the benediction over them; after which the children +made a rush forward to seize and kiss his hands. + +"No, I won't hear anything now, Father Roger," said the old lady after a +pause, for her new guests belonged to the family now, she considered, +and were to be "thee'd and thou'd" and managed like the rest. "You must +not say another word; you must eat and drink and get thoroughly rested, +and then, to-morrow perhaps, or in a day or two, when you have said +prayers in the chapel (we have one!) and the day's work is done, we will +all sit round the fire, and you shall tell us all you know and all you +have seen." + +Aunt Orsolya's subjects were well drilled, and though they were burning +with eagerness and anxiety, those who had begun to besiege the other +wanderers with inquiries at once refrained. + +Preceded by a couple of torch-bearers, Father Roger was led carefully +away to one of the side caves, all of which had their names; Dora was +taken in charge by some of the ladies; Talabor and the Canon's servant +were equally well looked after, and that night they all once more ate +the "home-made bread," which they had so long been without. That it was +made with a considerable admixture of tree-bark mattered little, perhaps +they hardly noticed the fact. It was simply delicious! + +And the beds! As Dora sank down on hers, it seemed to her that she had +never known real comfort before. + +At last the excitement of the evening had subsided; the Queen's subjects +had all reassembled about the fires, speculating much as to what the +new-comers would have to tell them; and presently Aunt Orsolya began her +nightly rounds, visiting all in turn, and stopping to have a little +kindly chat with each group. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +FATHER ROGER'S STORY. + + +A day or two passed, and the good Father Roger began to recover a little +of his strength, if not much of his cheerfulness. He was naturally a +robust man, and he was, besides, inured to hardship and suffering; there +was nothing actually amiss with him but extreme fatigue and want of +food, so that after a few quiet nights and days he began to feel more +like himself, and able to give some account of all that had happened +since Aunt Orsolya and the rest had betaken themselves to the cavern. + +The men, of course, had some of them been going out more or less all the +time, hunting, or--as we have said, stealing, but the accounts they had +brought back had been not only imperfect, but often so contradictory +that it was hard for the refugees to form any clear idea of what had +really been going on, and, naturally enough, they were intensely eager +to hear. + +No one was more eager than Aunt Orsolya, and it cost her no small effort +to repress her curiosity, or rather anxiety; but she did it, and not +only forbore to question Roger herself, but strictly forbade everyone +else to do so also. + +But as soon as she saw that the Canon was able to walk about a little, +that his appetite was good, and that he was gradually regaining his +usual calm, she reminded him of his promise; and one evening they all +gathered round him in the firelight to hear the story which he +afterwards wrote in Latin verse, and to which he gave the title of +"Carmen miserabile," or "Lamentable Song." + + + +Roger began his narration by telling of the battle of Mohi and the +King's escape to ThurA cubedcz; and Orsolya heard with pride how Stephen, +Peter, and Akos Szirmay had shared his flight, how Stephen had fallen by +the way, and how Master Peter had survived all the perils and dangers by +which they were beset, and how Akos, too, had not only survived the Kun +massacre, but was safe and sound when last the Canon had heard of him, +and had distinguished himself by many an act of bravery and devotion; +and the old lady's eyes grew very bright as she listened, and she put +out her hand to stroke that of the pale, slim girl who sat beside her, +eagerly drinking in every word. Father Roger's information came from the +captives brought in at different times, and stopped short, so far as the +King and his followers were concerned, at the time when they had taken +refuge in the island of Bua, and KajdAin had found himself baffled in his +pursuit. To indemnify himself for the loss of his prey, he had plundered +Dalmatia, Croatia, and Bosnia, had vainly stormed Ragusa, and had set +fire to Cattaro. The last Father Roger knew of him was that he had +turned east and was expected to join Batu in Moldavia, by way of +Albania, Servia, and Bulgaria. + +The name of KajdAin was not unknown to the refugees, for it was he who +had led the Mongol horde which had poured into Transylvania from the +north-east; it was he, or rather probably only his vanguard, who had +been defeated by the men of Radna; it was he who had suddenly attacked +them in force on March 31st, when they were gaily celebrating their +victory; it was he who had consented to leave their town and mines +uninjured on the condition that Ariskald, their Count, should act as his +guide. It was he, as Father Roger knew too well, who had crossed into +Hungary and joined Batu in reducing it to a desert; for his own +cathedral city, Grosswardein (NagyvAirad) was one of the many places +which KajdAin had captured. + +"And about yourself, Father Roger?" asked Orsolya. "Tell us about +yourself, where you were taken, and how you escaped with your life." + +"I had fled from NagyvAirad before KajdAin reached it, and was a fugitive, +hiding in the woods, living on roots and herbs and wild fruits until the +autumn, and then--I was deceived as others were!" + +Father Roger went on to explain that Batu, by way of keeping those of +the inhabitants who had not yet fled, and of luring back some who had, +in order that the harvest might be secured, had issued a proclamation in +the King's name. + +"But how?" interrupted Orsolya. "You were deceived! Can he write our +tongue? Besides, the King's proclamations have the King's seal." + +"And so had this! They--they got hold of it." + +"And knew what it was?" persisted Aunt Orsolya incredulously. + +Reluctantly Father Roger had to admit that they had been enlightened by +a Hungarian. + +"A Magyar!" burst from his audience in various tones of horror and +indignation. + +"There were not many like him, I am sure there were not many--perhaps we +don't know everything. He saved my life; I don't like to think too ill +of him--it was a time of awful trial--ah! if you had seen how some were +tortured! It was enough to try the courage of the stoutest heart, and he +was not naturally a brave man. And yet I could not have believed it of +him! I can't believe it! There must have been some mistake, surely!" + +"You had known him before, the traitor!" cried Aunt Orsolya. + +"Yes," said Father Roger sadly, "I had known him. He had joined the +Mongols before the battle of Mohi, partly because he was poor, or rather +because he was afraid of being poor, and partly because he was +frightened. He had been useful to the Mongols on many occasions; and he +had grown rich and prosperous among them. No one of the chiefs outdid +him in splendour, in the number of his servants, or of his beautiful +horses. He, too, had been made a chief, a KnA(C)z, as they called it. Well, +Nicholas the Chancellor was among the many who fell at Mohi, and a +Mongol, who was plundering the dead, found upon him the King's seal. +This chanced to come to--to this man's ears, and he thought it might be +useful; it was easy for him to get possession of it, for it was not +valuable, being only of steel. He gave the Mongol a stolen sheep in +exchange, and the man thought himself well paid. I don't suppose he had +any thought then of putting his prize to any ill use; but he was one of +those who never missed an opportunity, and generally managed to secure +for himself the lion's share of any booty. However it was, he had the +seal, and now----" + +Father Roger paused, perhaps from weariness; perhaps because it was +never his way to speak evil of any if it could be avoided. + +"Don't let us judge him," he went on. "The poor wretch had seen enough +to terrify a bolder man than he. He went to the Khan and advised him +what to do, and Batu gave him a valuable Tartar sword, and a splendid +horse in return." + +Father Roger explained that among the prisoners there were many monks +and others able to write, and that some of these were "compelled" by +Batu to draw up and make copies of a proclamation in the King's name. +Every copy was sealed with the King's seal, and they were distributed +broadcast over the country. He had seen more than one copy himself, and +more than once he had been called upon to read it to those who were +unable to read for themselves. + +This was how the proclamation ran: "Fear not the savage fury of the +dogs! and do not dare to fly from your homes. We were somewhat over +hasty indeed in abandoning the camp and our tents, but by the mercy of +God we hope to renew the war valiantly before long, and to regain all +that we have lost. Pray diligently therefore to the all-merciful God +that He may grant us the heads of our enemies." + +There was nothing of the Mongol about this, and any lingering doubts +were, dispelled by the sight of the King's seal. The result was what the +Mongols hoped for. In places which had not yet been harried and ravaged +the population remained, while many refugees returned to their farms. + +"But the traitor!" interrupted Orsolya, "what of him? Where is he? If +there is such a thing as justice----" + +"He was made one of the hundred chief magistrates," said Father Roger +quietly, "and one day when he was in NagyvAirad, after my return, he +recognised me and offered to take me into his service. He could protect +me better, he said." + +"But his name! Who is he? One ought to know who are traitors! Where had +you known him before?" persisted Orsolya. + +"At Master Stephen Szirmay's! He was one of his pages. His name was +Libor." + +Dora and Talabor both uttered an exclamation. + +"He lived with my nephew Stephen! and he could turn traitor!" cried Aunt +Orsolya in horror. + +"Yes, dear lady, he was not the only Magyar to do so! But there were not +many, no! indeed there were not many." + +"And why couldn't they have died, every one of them!" cried Orsolya, +impetuously. + +"Ah! who knows?" said Father Roger gently. "Who knows? But he did not +think matters would go as far as they did; no, I am sure he did not!" + +It was not in Father Roger's nature to think the worst of any, still +less of one to whom he owed his life, and he knew nothing of the attack +on Master Peter's house or of the despicable part which Libor had played +with regard to Dora, or he would have spoken less leniently. + +Libor had "climbed the cucumber-tree" to some purpose; and this last +service rendered to the Khan had won for him the praise of Batu and all +the chiefs, who called him one of themselves. He had reached the +pinnacle of greatness, his fortune was made. + +The Hungarian prisoners came to him for his advice and assistance, and +Libor always received them with the kindly condescension of a great +man, and was always ready with fair words and empty assurances to allay +their fears. + +Late in the autumn, and without any previous intimation to anyone, came +an order to Libor and all the other chief magistrates that they were to +assemble on a certain day at various appointed spots, each at the head +of the entire population for which he was responsible. They were to come +with their old and with their young, and they were to be provided with +presents for the Khan. + +It was a gloomy day, and the storm-clouds were chasing one another +across the sky, as if they, too, were going to hold a rendezvous +somewhere, to consult perhaps how many thunderbolts would be required to +reduce the country to a heap of ruins. + +Batu Khan's tent was pitched in the centre of a vast plain, and round it +were gathered a large number of Mongols, some mounted, some on foot. In +the background, making a terrific noise, were a swarm of filthy Mongol +children, who were lying about under a group of tall trees. + +The mud huts and numberless tents of the Mongol camp formed an extended +semicircle at some little distance, and within this were drawn up a +number of Mongol horsemen, quite unconcerned apparently at the blackness +of the sky and the distant muttering of the thunder. + +Batu Khan was seated on a camp-stool brilliantly attired as if for some +great ceremony. Around him stood more than thirty chiefs, armed from +head to foot, and among them was Libor, who had surpassed himself in the +magnificence of the apparel which he had assumed in honour of the day's +festivity. + +He stood on the Khan's right hand, and more than once had the honour of +being addressed by that personage; behind him, as behind the other +chiefs, stood a swarm of servants, their ears--if they were still lucky +enough to possess such appendages--ever attentive to catch the commands +of their masters. Father Roger had been present in Libor's retinue on +this occasion, a slave among slaves. + +Presently the wild Mongolian "band" struck up. Its members were a motley +crew, stationed before the Khan's tent, and their songs were of the most +ear-splitting variety, accompanied too by the dull roll of drums and the +screeching of pipes and horns, the whole performance being such as to +baffle description, and to be compared only with the choicest of cats' +concerts. + +The "music" seemed to be intended as a welcome to a white-flagged +procession which now appeared in the distance, advancing towards the +Khan, every member heavily laden. It consisted in fact of the whole +population of some two hundred villages and hamlets, from the district +of which Libor was chief magistrate. + +Meanwhile, Father Roger had brought round Libor's horse, magnificently +caparisoned, and at the first burst of music, the KnA(C)z mounted and +galloped off, followed, in obedience to his haughty signal, by a couple +of armed Mongols, the Mongol chiefs meanwhile looking on with envious +eyes. They were not too well pleased with the Tartar-Magyar's rise to +favour. + +Libor galloped across the plain to meet the new-comers, who bowed down +before him as if he had been a god, and then rising again at his +command, followed him to the camp, where he drew them up in a long line; +after which he hurried back to the Khan, dismounted, and announced that +his people had brought him such gifts as they could, and only awaited +his orders. + +The Khan's wide mouth grew wider still as he smiled from ear to ear, and +showed two perfect rows of sharp-pointed teeth; but the smile was like +that of an ogre, and such as might have made some people rather uneasy, +though not, of course, anyone who was such a favourite and in such an +exalted position as Libor. + +"That's well," said the Khan; and then, turning from him, he muttered +something to the other chiefs which escaped Libor's ears or +comprehension, though he had done his best to acquire the miserable +language spoken by his master. + +The next moment a large detachment of Mongols had stepped forth from +behind the tents, and moving forward swiftly, but in perfect silence, +had advanced towards the rear of the Hungarians. Others at the same time +came from behind the Khan's tent, and in a few seconds the white flags +were hemmed in before and behind. + +Libor, who had looked upon the whole ceremony as merely one of the usual +devices for squeezing the unfortunate people, was plainly startled, nay +terrified, by this sudden movement, and his astonishment and +discomfiture did not escape the sharp eyes of Batu. + +"These proceedings are not quite to your taste, eh, KnA(C)z?" said he, with +a tigerish grin. + +And the wretched Libor, bowing almost to the earth, made hurried answer, +"How could I possibly take amiss anything that his Highness the Khan, my +lord and master, may choose to do?" + +"I thought as much, my faithful KnA(C)z! Make haste then, and see that all +that these folk have brought is taken from them, and then--have them all +cut down together!" + +Libor turned pale as death, but he knew his master; he knew that the +slightest remonstrance, the slightest demur even, would be at the risk +of his life. He bowed more deeply than before, and staggered away to +give the signal for the plunder and massacre of his own people. + +The wind had suddenly risen to a hurricane, and was filling the air with +dust; the thunder pealed; but above the howling of the one and the +roaring of the other, there rose one long, long cry, and then all was +still. + +Libor returned, trembling, shaking, to the Khan, the gracious Khan, +whose favourite he was, who had honoured him to such an extent as to +provoke the jealousy of the Mongol chiefs; who had enriched him, and had +distinguished him above all the rest. He had faithfully obeyed the +Khan's orders, though, with a bleeding heart; and now, holding as he did +the first place among those who formed Batu's retinue, he was secure as +to his own miserable life, for who would dare to lift hand against him? + +The Khan received him on his return with the same enigmatical smile, +which seemed just now to be stereotyped on his lips. + +When the dust-storm was past, a terrible spectacle presented itself. +Thousands of corpses lay upon the ground; and among the men, who were +quite worn out by their murderous work, were to be seen Mongol women and +children, seated upon the bodies of their victims, their hands stained +with blood. + +"A few thousand bread eaters the less!" exclaimed Batu, in high good +humour, "and if my orders are as well carried out in other parts of the +country as they have been by you, Libor, my faithful KnA(C)z, there won't +be many left to share the rich harvest and vintage with us." + +Libor said nothing, for his lips were twitching and quivering +convulsively. + +"By the way, Libor," the Khan went on pleasantly, "it has just struck +me, what present have you yourself brought, my faithful servant?" + +"All that I possess belongs to your Highness, mighty Khan," said Libor, +trembling. + +"Excellent man!" replied Batu, and turning to one of the chiefs standing +by, he addressed him in particular, saying gently, "See now, and take +example by this excellent man, who has made me a present of all that he +has!" + +The chief to whom these words were spoken cast a furious glance at the +favourite. + +"All you possess is mine, eh, Libor?" Batu went on, "all, even your +life, isn't it?" + +Libor bowed. + +"Oh, how faithful he is!" exclaimed the Khan, addressing the same chief +as before, and speaking in the same good-natured tone. "I know the +loyalty of this trusty KnA(C)z of ours is a thorn in your eyes! and I know +that there are some of you daring enough even to have doubts of his +splendid fidelity and obedience! Wretches, take example by Libor the +KnA(C)z!" + +So saying, the Khan rose from his seat, and cried in a loud, shrill +voice, "Take this devoted servant and hang him on the tree yonder +opposite my tent!" + +If a thunder-bolt had fallen at his feet Libor could not have been more +terror-stricken. He threw himself on his face before the Khan, but his +voice was strangled in his throat, and he could not utter a word; all +that he was able to do was to wring his hands, and raise them +imploringly towards his awful master. + +And the Khan--burst into a loud fit of laughter! + +Another moment and Libor the favourite, the envied--whom the other +chiefs were ready enough to speed upon his way--Libor was hanging to a +lofty willow-tree and tossing to and fro in the stormy wind. + +Batu Khan presented one of Libor's horses--a lame one--to BajdAir; and +the rest of the ex-favourite's very considerable property he kept for +himself. + +(BajdAir, it may be remembered, though, of course, neither Father Roger +nor Talabor were aware of the fact, had been of the party which had +attacked Master Peter's house, and we may readily guess how he had +earned this handsome reward.) + +Orsolya gave a sigh of satisfaction as Father Roger finished his story. + +"There is one traitor less in the world," said she, "and he might think +himself lucky that he was only hanged! It was an easy death compared +with many!" + +And she said the same thing, yet more emphatically, when she heard from +Dora and Talabor of their experiences at the hands of the +Magyar-Tartar-KnA(C)z. + +Gentle Father Roger sighed too, but without any satisfaction, as he +thought of the youth, with whom he had lived under the same roof, and to +whom, as he was fond of insisting, he and his servant owed their lives. + +But when he heard all that Talabor could tell him, he was as indignant +as even Orsolya could have wished; for he understood Master Peter, and +saw at once what had puzzled so many, the reason why he had left Dora at +home instead of sending her to the Queen, out of harm's way. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +LIKE THE PHA'NIX. + + +It seemed too good to be true! But it was a fact that the Mongols were +really gone--gone as they had come, like one of the plagues of Egypt, +for there "remained not one" in all Hungary. + +As soon as King BA(C)la knew that the unexpected had come to pass, and that +the land was clear of the enemy, he hastened home. But what a home he +found! It had been one of the fairest and richest in Europe; and now he +rode for whole days without seeing so much as a single human being, and +his followers had to do battle with the wild beasts, which had +multiplied to an alarming degree. Go which way he would, he found the +land uncultivated and overgrown with thorns and weeds; and when he did +come across an inhabited district, the men he encountered were not men, +but spectres. The many unburied corpses, together with the sometimes +altogether indescribable kinds of food upon which the people had had to +subsist, had produced pestilence of divers kinds, which carried off +many of those who had escaped the Mongols. + +It was only a year or so since the first irruption of the Mongols, but +the land was a chaos. + +How the King laboured with might and main to restore the "years which +the locust had eaten," and how he succeeded are matters which belong to +history. + +Very gradually and cautiously the people ventured forth from the dens in +which they had concealed themselves. At first they came only one or two +at a time, to reconnoitre; but when they were convinced that the enemy +had utterly withdrawn himself, the joyful news was quickly conveyed to +those who were still in hiding, and they flocked back to the ruined +towns and villages, which began at once to rise from their ashes. + +One by one the bells pealed forth again from the church-towers, and +many, many a cross was put up in the graveyards to the memory of those +who returned no more; not only of those known to be dead, but of those +who had simply disappeared, no one could say how, but whose bodies were +never found, and who might therefore have been carried away to a living +death as slaves. Few indeed of the captives were ever seen again. Many a +hamlet and small village of the plains had been wiped out as completely +as if it had never existed, and some of these were never rebuilt, though +their names live in the neighbourhood to the present day. + +Many a young man who had been but a "poor relation" before the flood, +now found himself the heir to large estates and great wealth. + +Once more the plough was to be seen at work among the furrows, drawn now +by an ox, now by a horse, and not infrequently by the farmer himself, +the old owner or the new. Where there had been ten inhabitants there was +now one; but that one seemed to have inherited all the energy, vigour, +and hopefulness of the other nine, so fiercely he worked. + +Buried treasures were dug up again, though often not by those who had +buried them; many remained undiscovered for centuries; many have not +been found to this day. + +The wolves still roamed the plains as if the world belonged to them; +they would even enter the scantily populated villages and carry off +infants from the cradle, and from the very arms of their mothers. Clouds +of ravens and crows still hovered over the countless bodies of those who +had fallen victims to the Mongols or to starvation, exposure, disease. +Both birds and beasts disputed the possession of the land with its +returning inhabitants. + +Of the forty members of the Szirmay family there now remained but four +male representatives: Master Peter, his nephew Akos, and two others +whose names have not come down to us; and all four of these were now +wealthy landed proprietors. + +Dora had been unable to communicate with her father; Gabriel had never +reached him; and when at length Master Peter was able to re-visit his +faraway castle, he did so not knowing whether his daughter were alive or +dead. He found the whole place in ruins; for Dora had been only too +right in her conjectures. The Mongols had paid it another visit not long +after her departure; and, finding the house deserted and empty, had +vented their rage upon it in such a way that nothing remained to receive +their owner but the bare walls. + +Among the ruins, however, he discovered old Moses, JakA cubed, and a servant +or two, all in a famishing condition. From them he learnt how Dora had +left the house only just in time to escape the second attack; but as to +what had befallen her since, they could, of course, tell him nothing. +She had intended to join him in Dalmatia, and she had never arrived +there. So much only was certain, and when he thought of the perils she +must have encountered, and the awful sights he had himself seen by the +way, his heart sank within him. And, worst of all, there was nothing to +be done, nothing! but to wait, wait, wait, in a state of constant +anxiety as to what he might any day hear. + +But supposing that she should have been preserved through all, and were +only waiting till she heard news of him, or perhaps until she were able +to travel! She would certainly hear in time, wherever she might be, of +the King's return--she would go to him for news of her father--she +would hear that he was alive, and she would come back to the old home to +find him; so there he must stay! + +Master Peter was sufficiently practical to reflect that if his daughter +appeared one day without warning, he would want a roof to shelter her, +and to work he set making preparations accordingly, though with a heavy +heart. + +Yet the work did him good. It cheered him to see the labourers repairing +the walls and roofing in what had been her own room, for sometimes it +beguiled him into thinking that Dora must certainly be coming, would be +there perhaps before the place was ready for her, and then he would urge +the workmen to greater speed. + +He was watching and superintending as usual one day, growing more and +more down-hearted as he reckoned the many weeks, the months which had +slipped past since he had left Dalmatia, when the clatter of horse-hoofs +roused him. Most people were finding enough to do at home just now, and +Master Peter was never more ready to welcome anyone--anyone who might +bring him the tidings he longed for, and yet dreaded, or at least tell +him news of some sort which would divert his thoughts for the time. + +He hurried forward to meet the visitor as he clattered into the +courtyard, and--did his eyes deceive him? or was it indeed his old page +who was bowing before him? + +Talabor the page! Talabor! Any old face was welcome, but--suddenly he +remembered! Talabor had left the castle with Dora, he had come back +without her! + +Master Peter could do nothing but look at the young man, for his lips +refused to utter a word; and he put up his hand with an imploring +gesture, as one who would ward off an expected blow. + +What was it Talabor was saying? That she was alive, safe, well! Dora was +alive and well! Then--where was she? and why was she not with him? + +It was a minute or two before he could take it in; for, his tongue once +loosed, he poured forth his questions so fast that Talabor had no chance +of replying to them. But, when at last he did understand that Dora was +with "Aunt Orsolya," that she had wanted to set out with Talabor as soon +as ever the roads were considered safe, that in fact she had begged and +prayed her hostess to let her go, but that the old lady would not hear +of her doing so, and had insisted on sending Talabor first--why then, +with a good-humoured "Just like Aunt Orsolya!" Master Peter hastily +decided that Talabor must set out with him again that very day, and take +him to her. + +Horse tired? what did that matter? Thank Heaven, he had a horse or two +still in the stable! and catching sight of Moses, he shouted the good +news and his orders together. + +Talabor had hidden the furniture, the plate? Very well, very well! so +much the better, but they could wait! Later on no doubt he would be +properly grateful, but what would he have cared for a gold mine just +now? He had no thought for anything but how to reach Dora at the +earliest possible moment, bring her home, and never let her out of his +sight again whatever might betide. + +Orsolya had remained in the cavern until all apprehension of the return +of the Mongols was over; and then she had betaken herself to the "barn" +in Frata, with quite a regiment of poor, homeless folk, whom she +supported as best she could. There Master Peter found her and Dora; and +there, too, he met his nephew Akos, and heard from him how he had +escaped with MAiria from the Kun massacre, and heard from Dora how she +had become quite attached to his bride, and no longer wondered at her +cousin's choice. + +There is little more to say. But two or three months later, when Master +Peter and his daughter had not only been restored to one another, but +were once more at home, when the castle had been rebuilt, the hidden +treasures found uninjured and brought back to the light of day, when +Dora had recovered the effects of her terrible journey and was beginning +sometimes to feel as if its horrors were a dream--she received an offer +of marriage from the haughty Paul HA(C)dervAiry, who had lost his wife in +Dalmatia, and was now willing enough to conform to ancient usage and +bestow himself upon her cousin, "his first love," as he was pleased to +call her, the only child of the now wealthy Master Peter, and the +heiress of his large estates. + +It was very magnanimous of him, he felt, and he expected Dora and her +father to see the matter in the same light, and to show their +appreciation of the honour he was doing them. Great therefore was his +astonishment, when he received, not the willing assent he expected, but +"a basket," or in other words a refusal, courteously worded, but +unmistakably decided. + +He was even more than astonished, he was annoyed, mortified, for +"secrets" of this kind were sure to leak out, even though the parties +concerned held their tongues. There would certainly be some kind friend +to spread abroad the news, that Paul HA(C)dervAiry had been refused! + +Little as he cared for Paul, Master Peter was gratified by the proposal, +if only because it would set Dora right in the eyes of the world. +Possibly he would have been pleased to see her the great man's wife, in +spite of all that had come and gone, but if so, he cared for her too +much to press his views, and when Dora herself asked his consent to her +marriage with Talabor, he was not the man to say her nay! How could he, +when but for Talabor he would have had no daughter, whether to give or +to keep? And now he would give and keep too, for she could and must +always live with him, and this reflection consoled him for any regret he +might have felt at not having a more notable son-in-law, with a +family-castle and estates of his own. + +A few words as to Akos, or rather his wife, Aunt Orsolya's ward, MAiria, +who had shared her retreat in the cave. Who she was, was never exactly +known to the world in general. In Hungary she was always said to be a +Transylvanian relation of the Szirmays, while in Transylvania she passed +for a Hungarian member of the same family. But how she came to be placed +in Aunt Orsolya's charge was a secret never divulged. One thing struck +people as strange, and it was this: Akos had been well known as a friend +of the Kunok, so that, if the Kun King had confided to him the place +where he had hidden his treasure, that was nothing remarkable; nor was +anyone astonished to hear that Akos had unearthed it and delivered it up +to the King, or that the latter had made it over to the Queen. But why +should the Queen have given everything to MAiria, when her own stock of +jewellery must surely have needed replenishing? + +More surprised still would people have been, had they seen the Queen +kiss the girl's still pale cheek, and heard her say, as she wished her +all happiness, "Dear child, would that instead of giving you these, I +could restore to you those who are gone! But we have all lost so many, +we have all so many, many graves to weep over!" + +Yet another circumstance attracted attention, though the fact that Akos +had championed the cause of the Kunok was supposed to account for it. +Many of these had returned to Hungary by invitation of the King, who +was anxious to re-people the country, if only to keep down the wild +animals. + +On the first anniversary of MAiria's marriage a deputation from these +Kunok came to her and Akos. To him they presented a hundred arrows and +one of their famous long-bows of dog-wood, beautifully ornamented with +gold; and to her they gave a coronet of no small value. + + + +After awhile some few of the Tartar-Magyars returned from the places +where they had hidden themselves, and were re-Magyarised; but never, to +the day of their death, were they reinstated in the good graces of their +neighbours. The King, however, was more merciful than the populace. +There were so few Magyars left that he was disposed to cherish lovingly +the scanty remnants, and not only showed lasting gratitude to those who +had shared with him the time of adversity, and rewarded all who had +distinguished themselves by acts of courage or self-devotion, but he +even became blind and deaf when any were denounced as turncoats. + +Among the many who received the King's thanks for their loyalty, Talabor +was not overlooked. How he had repulsed the Mongol attack upon Master +Peter's castle, how loyal and devoted he had been to the Szirmay family, +and especially how he had saved Father Roger from the wolves, was all +known to the King, who gave him a considerable property, the renewal of +his patent of nobility, and the surname of VA(C)dvAir, _i.e._, +castle-defender. + +Father Roger became in time Archbishop of Spalatro, and in his +"Lamentable Song" he left to future generations a full account of the +time of terror and misery through which the nation had passed. + +Hungary had learnt something from her trouble, and the next time the +Mongols thought of invading her they were promptly driven back. + +As for the treacherous Duke of Austria, he lived to see his neighbour +more firmly established on the throne than any of his predecessors had +been, and just five years after all the mischief he had done during the +Mongol invasion, he lost his life in battle with the Hungarians, or +rather with the vanguard of the army, which, by a singular nemesis, +consisted mainly of Kunok; and the three counties which had been so +unjustly obtained by him were again united to the fatherland. + + +THE END. + +_Jarrold & Sons, Limited, the Empire Press, Norwich._ + + + + _Jarrold & Sons'_ + + _Six Shilling Novels._ + + CROWN 8VO, ART LINEN, GILT ELEGANT, 6S. EACH. + + + =Carpathia Knox.= + + By CURTIS YORKE, Author of "A Romance of Modern + London," "Because of the Child," etc. + + + =Jocelyn Erroll.= + + By CURTIS YORKE, Author of "Hush," "That Little Girl," + "The Wild Ruthvens," etc. + + + =The Golden Dog.= + + (Le Chien d'Or.) By WILLIAM KIRBY, F.R.S.C. A Romance + of the Days of Louis Quinze in Quebec. + + + =St. Peter's Umbrella.= + + By KALMAN MIKSZATH. With Introduction by R. NISBET + BAIN. + + + =In Tight Places.= + + By MAJOR ARTHUR GRIFFITHS, Author of "Forbidden by + Law," etc. + + + =Wayfarers All.= + + By LESLIE KEITH, Author of "'Lisbeth," "My Bonnie + Lady," etc., etc. + + + =Day of Wrath.= + + By MAURUS JA"KAI. Translated from the Hungarian by R. + NISBET BAIN. With New Photogravure Portrait. + + + =Debts of Honor.= + + By MAURUS JA"KAI, Author of "The Green Book," "Black + Diamonds," etc. + + + =Eyes Like the Sea.= + + By MAURUS JA"KAI, Author of "The Poor Plutocrats," "The + Nameless Castle," etc. + + + =Captain Satan.= + + Adventures of CYRANO DE BERGERAC. Translated from the + French of LOUIS GALLET. + + + =Anima Vilis.= + + A Tale of the Great Siberian Steppe, By MARYA + RODZIEWICZ. Translated by S.A C. DE SOISSONS. + + + =The Man Who Forgot.= + + By JOHN MACKIE, Author of "The Devil's Playground," + "Sinners Twain," etc. + + + =A Woman's Burden.= + + By FERGUS HUME, Author of "The Mystery of a Hansom + Cab," "The Lone Inn," etc. + + London: JARROLD AND SONS, 10 and 11, Warwick Lane, + E.C. + + + + + JARROLD & SONS' New & Forthcoming Books. + + + _Second Edition._ + + =Old Days in Diplomacy.= By the ELDEST DAUGHTER OF SIR + EDWARD CROMWELL DISBROWE, G.C.G. En. Ex. Min. Plen. + With Preface by M. MONTGOMERY-CAMPBELL, several + photogravure Portraits, and an Autograph Letter from + Queen Charlotte. Deals with personages and events + figuring in the history of the first half of the + Nineteenth Century. First edition was subscribed for + in advance of Publication. Second edition now ready. + 10/6 nett + + + =A House of Letters.= Edited by ERNEST B. BETHAM. Being + Excerpts from the Correspondence of Charlotte + Jerningham (The Hon. Lady Bedingfield), Lady + Jerningham, Coleridge, Lamb, Southey, and others, with + Matilda Betham. + + The volume will be fully illustrated, and will contain + reproductions from portraits by Sir Joshua Reynolds, + Opie, and Sir William Ross. 10/6 nett. + + + ='Neath the Hoof of the Tartar; or, the Scourge of God.= + By BARON NICOLAS JA"SIKA--the Sir Walter Scott of + Hungary. Translated by Selina Gaye. With Photogravure + Portrait of Author, and Preface by R. Nisbet Bain. + Gives a vivid and realistic picture of a series of + great national events. A powerful love story in which + scenes of warfare figure conspicuously. A novel on + heroic lines. 6/- + + + =A Scottish Bluebell.= By ETTA BUCHANAN BENNETT. A + wholesome, romantic Novel. The heroine, sweet Marjorie + Lindsay, resides at a little seaside town in Scotland. + She discovers a family secret, and in the end + ascertains that she is the heiress of the Earl of + Lowrie. The story contains many exciting episodes at + home and abroad, and has a powerful plot. First + edition subscribed for in advance of publication. 3/6 + + + + =Satan's Courier; or, The Company Promoter.= By FLORA + HAYTER (Mrs. Northesk Wilson), Author of "Belgrade: + the White City of Death," etc. 6/- + + =BEING THE SECRET HISTORY OF EVENTS WHICH LED UP TO THE + BOER WAR.= + + "A story of supreme interest, even apart from the + light it proposes to shed upon South African affairs. + Regarded simply as a novel the book is of thrilling + power. It enthrals, it consumes."--_The Echo._ + + "An able book."--_Daily News._ + + + =The Rising of the Red Man.= A Romance of the Louis Riel + Rebellion. By JOHN MACKIE, Author of "The Man Who + Forgot," "Tales of the Trenches," "The Cannibal + Island," etc. With Six full-page Illustrations by + E.A F. Skinner. 3/6 + + "Compels attention to the last line. A vigorous piece + of writing, which shows Mr. Mackie at his + best."--_Yorkshire Post._ + + "At once grips attention."--_Dundee Advertiser._ + + + =Outcasts from Choice.= A Story of Klondike. By Mr. + GUSTIN AISH. The title, although it may be held to + refer to all miners in general, has a special + reference to a distinguished professor, his wife and + her sister, who live in the miners' camp for a year. + The story is of a distinctly original type. 3/6 + + + =The Chronicles of Baba.= A Canine Teetotum. By M. + MONTGOMERY-CAMPBELL, Author of "Worth the Struggle," + "Two Lovable Imps," "My Very, Very Own," etc. The + amusing and instructive life-story of a Yorkshire + terrier. Beautifully illustrated from photographs + taken from life. 3/6 + + "A sympathetic and charmingly told story of the life + of a pet dog, which exhibits his own character and + those of his four-footed friends with a rare insight + into canine psychology."--_The Scotsman._ + + "Nothing could be more entertaining and instructive + ... a glimpse of real dog life."--_Glasgow Herald._ + + + + +Transcriber's Note: The following typographical errors present in the +original edition have been corrected. + +In Chapter III, a quotation mark was added before "but--we might find or +invent someone". + +In Chapter IV, a period was added after "the King was always glad to +welcome useful immigrants". + +In Chapter VII, a period was added after "in exterminating the common +enemy", and "Versecz" was changed to "Verecz". (Thanks to the National +SzA(C)chA(C)nyi Library in Hungary for their assistance in determining the +correct spelling.) + +In Chapter IX, "perhaps MarAina's betrothral was known" was changed to +"perhaps MarAina's betrothal was known", and "having helped to capture +Kuthven's castle" was changed to "having helped to capture Kuthen's +castle". + +In Chapter XI, "BorkAi's aid" was changed to "Borka's aid", and "JankA cubed +the dog-keeper" was changed to "JakA cubed the dog-keeper". + +In Chapter XII, a quotation mark was deleted after "Must not?" + +In Chapter XIII, "all danger was believed to be over the night" was +changed to "all danger was believed to be over for the night". + +In Chapter XVI, "in such numbers that great part of the country was +re-populated" was changed to "in such numbers that a great part of the +country was re-populated", and "and few but stragglers" was changed to +"and but few stragglers". + +In Chapter XIX, a quotation mark was deleted before "If a thunder-bolt". + +In Chapter XX, "whieh carried off many of those" was changed to "which +carried off many of those", "After awhile some few of the Tartar-Maygars +returned" was changed to "After awhile some few of the Tartar-Magyars +returned", and the footer "Jarrold & Sons, Limited, the Empire Press, +Norwich," at the bottom of the last page was changed to "Jarrold & Sons, +Limited, the Empire Press, Norwich." + +The advertisement for Jarrold & Sons' Six Shilling Novels was moved from +the front of the book to the back. + +In the list of New and Forthcoming Books, "Lady Jermingham" was changed +to "Lady Jerningham", and "Baron Nicolas JA squaredsika" was changed to "Baron +Nicolas JA cubedsika". + +Any remaining inconsistencies in spelling and hyphenation were present +in the original text. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's 'Neath the Hoof of the Tartar, by Miklos Josika + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 'NEATH THE HOOF OF THE TARTAR *** + +***** This file should be named 36203.txt or 36203.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/6/2/0/36203/ + +Produced by Steven desJardins and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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