The Knights of the Cross, or, Krzyzacy: Historical Romance

  CHAPTER VIII.

  The soldiers unbound him at once, but his limbs were benumbed and hefell; when they lifted him up he was seized with successive faintingfits. In spite of Zbyszko's orders for him to be taken to the fire andgiven food and drink, and rubbed over with fat and then covered withwarmed skins, Sanderus did not recover consciousness, but lapsed into avery deep sleep, which continued until noon of the following day when theBohemian succeeded in awakening him.

  Zbyszko, who was burning with fiery impatience, immediately went to him,but at first he could get no information from him, because either fromhis terrible experiences or from the relaxation which usually overpowersweak natures when the threatening danger has passed, Sanderus burst intolong and uncontrollable weeping, so that for some time he could give noanswer to the questions put to him. He was choked with sobs, his lipstrembled, and tears flowed down his cheeks so copiously that it seemed asthough his very life was flowing out with them.

  Finally he succeeded to some extent in controlling himself, and hestrengthened himself a little with mares' milk, which mode of refreshingthemselves the Lithunians learned from the Tartars. He began to complainthat the "sons of Belial" had thrust him with their pikes against a wildapple-tree; that they had taken away his horse which was laden withrelics of priceless virtue; and finally when they had bound him to thetree, the ants had attacked his feet and body so that he expected to diefrom it, if not to-day, to-morrow.

  Zbyszko's anger overcame him and he could restrain himself no longer, andhe interrupted Sanderus and said:

  "You vagabond, answer the questions I am going to put to you and takecare that you tell the truth, or you will fare worse."

  "There are red ants yonder," said the Bohemian, "order them to be patupon him, and he will soon find a tongue in his mouth."

  Hlawa did not say this seriously; he even smiled as he spoke, for hisheart was well inclined toward Sanderus. The latter, however, wasterror-stricken, and shouted.

  "Mercy! Mercy! Give me some more of that pagan drink and I will tell youall that I have and that I have not seen."

  "If you tell lies, even one word that is not true, I will drive a wedgebetween your teeth," said the Bohemian.

  They brought him another skin full of mares' milk; he grasped it andfastened his lips to it with the avidity that a child does to itsmother's breast, and began to gulp it down, alternatively opening andclosing his eyes. When he had drank from it about half a gallon or more,he shook himself, placed the skin upon his knees, and as if submittinghimself to the inevitable, he said:

  "Vile stuff!..." Then he turned toward Zbyszko. "Now, deliverer! ask."

  "Was my wife in that division with you?"

  Sanderus' face assumed a certain air of surprise. In fact he had heardthat Danusia was Zbyszko's wife, but it had been a secret marriage, andimmediately afterward she had been abducted, and he had always thought ofher as Jurandowna, (Miss Jurand).

  He replied quickly:

  "Yes, _voyevode!_ She was! But Zygfried von Loeve and Arnold von Badenbroke through the enemy's ranks and escaped."

  "Did you see her?" asked Zbyszko, with beating heart.

  "I did not see her face, sir, but I saw a closed litter made ofbrushwood, suspended between two horses, in which there was somebody, ledby that very lizard, the same servant of the Order who came from Danveldto the Forest Court. I also heard sad singing proceeding from thelitter...."

  Zbyszko grew pale with emotion; he sat down on the stump and was unableto ask another question for a while. Macko and the Bohemian were alsomuch moved at this great and important news. The latter, probably,thought about his beloved lady who remained at Spychow, and upon whomthis news would fall like a doom.

  There was silence for a moment. Finally, the shrewd Macko who did notknow Sanderus, and who had scarcely heard of him previously, looked athim with suspicion, and asked:

  "Who are you and what were you doing among the Knights of the Cross?"

  "Who am I, powerful knight?" replied Sanderus. "Let this valiant princeanswer for me," (here he pointed toward Zbyszko), "and this manlyBohemian noble who has known me long."

  The effect of the kumys (mares' milk) upon Sanderus apparently began toshow itself, for he grew lively, and turning to Zbyszko he spoke in aloud voice and showed no trace of his previous feeble condition.

  "Sir, you have saved my life twice. If it were not for you, the wolveswould have devoured me, or the punishment of the bishops who weremisguided by my enemies. (Oh, what a wicked world this is!) They issuedan order to hunt me for selling relics which they thought were notgenuine, simply because they took me for one of your people. But you, Olord, protected me, and thanks to you I was not destroyed by the wolves,nor shall their persecution harm me. Food and drink was never lackingwhilst I was with you--better than the mares' milk here which makes mesick, but I drink it in order to show how a poor but pious pilgrim canstand all kinds of privations."

  "Speak, you bear-trainer; tell us quickly what you know, and do not playthe fool," exclaimed Macko.

  But he lifted the skin to his mouth again and entirely emptied it;apparently not hearing Macko's words, he turned again to Zbyszko: "Thisis another reason why I love you. The saints, as it is written in theScriptures, sinned nine times an hour, consequently, sometimes alsoSanderus transgresses, but Sanderus never was nor shall be ungrateful.Therefore, when misfortune came upon you, you remember, sir, what I toldyou; I said, 'I will go from castle to castle, and, instructing thepeople along the road, I will search for your lost one.' Whom did I notask? Where did I not go?--It would take me a long time to tell you.--But,suffice it to say, I found her; and from that moment on, burrs do notcling as tenaciously to the cloak as I attached myself to old Zygfried. Ibecame his servant, and from castle to castle, from one _comthur_ toanother, from town to town I went with him without intermission untilthis last battle."

  Zybszko meanwhile mastered his emotion and said:

  "I am very thankful to you and I shall surely reward you. But now, answermy questions. Will you swear, by the salvation of your soul, that she isalive?"

  "I swear by the salvation of my soul that she is alive," repliedSanderus, with a serious air.

  "Why did Zygfried leave Szczytno?"

  "I do not know, sir. But I surmise that as he was never the _starosta_ ofSzczytno, he left it; perhaps he feared the grand master's orders, whichwere, they say, to give up the little lamb to the Mazovian court. Perhapsthat very letter was the cause of his flight, because his soul burnedwithin him with pain and vengeance for Rotgier who, they say now, wasZygfried's own son. I cannot tell what happened there, but this I doknow, that something turned his head and he raved, and determined not tosurrender Jurand's daughter--I meant to say, the young lady--as long ashe lives."

  "All this seems to me very strange," suddenly interrupted Macko. "If thatold dog thirsts so much for the blood of all who belong to Jurand, hewould have killed Danuska."

  "He wanted to do so," replied Sanderus, "but something happened to himand he became very sick, and was at the point of death. His peoplewhisper much over that affair. Some say that upon a certain night when hewent to the tower intending to kill the young lady he met the EvilSpirit--some say it was an angel whom he met--well--they found him lyingupon the snow in front of the tower wholly lifeless. Now, when he thinksabout it, his hair stands up upon his head like oak-trees; this is thereason why he does not himself dare to lift up his hand against her, heeven fears to order others to do it. He has with him the dumb executionerof Szczytno, but it is not known why, because the executioner as well asothers, are equally afraid to harm her."

  These words made a great impression. Zbyszko, Macko and the Bohemian camenear Sanderus, who crossed himself and then continued:

  "It was not well to be among them. More than once I heard and saw thingsthat made my flesh creep. I have told your lordship already thatsomething was wrong with the old _comthur's_ head. Bah! How could it beotherwise, when spirits from the other world visit him. He wou
ld haveremained there, but some presence is always near him which sounds likeone who is breathless. And that is that very Danveld, whom the terriblelord of Spychow killed. Then Zygfried says to him: 'What shall I do? Icannot avenge you on anything; what profit will you get?' But the other(the ghost) gnashes his teeth and then pants again. Very often Rotgierappears, and the odor of sulphur is noticeable, and the _comthur_ has alengthy conversation with him. 'I cannot,' he says to him. 'I cannot.When I come myself then I will do it, but now I cannot.' I also heard theold man asking: 'Will that comfort you, dear son,' and other expressionsof the same character. When this happens, the old _comthur_ speaks tonobody for two or three days in succession, and his face seems as if heis suffering intense pain. He and the woman servant of the Order watchthe litter carefully, so that the young lady is always unable to seeanybody."

  "Do they not torture her?" asked Zbyszko, in hollow tones.

  "I will tell your lordship the candid truth, that I did not hear anybeating or crying; the only thing I heard proceeding from the litter wassad melodies; sometimes it seemed to me like sweet, sad warblings of abird...."

  "That is terrible," exclaimed Zbyszko, his voice hissing between his setteeth.

  But Macko interrupted further questioning.

  "That is enough," he said. "Speak now of the battle. Did you see how theydeparted and what became of them?"

  "I saw and will give a faithful account. At first they fought terribly.But when they saw that they were surrounded on all sides, then only theythought of escape. Sir Arnold, who is quite a giant, was the first tobreak the ring, and opened such a road, that he, the old _comthur_ andsome people with the horse-litter succeeded in passing through it."

  "How is it that they were not pursued?"

  "They were pursued, but nothing could be done, because when they came toonear them, then Sir Arnold faced the pursuers and fought them all. Godprotect those who meet him, because he possesses such extraordinarystrength; he considers it a trifle to fight against a hundred. Thrice hethus turned, thrice he kept the pursuers in check. All the people whowere with him perished. It seems to me that he too was wounded, and sowas his horse, but he escaped, and meanwhile the old _comthur_ succeededin making good his escape."

  When Macko heard the story he thought that Sanderus was telling thetruth, for he recollected that when he entered the field where Skirwoillahad given battle, the whole stretch of the road on the line of theGermans' retreat, was covered with dead Zmudzians, so terribly hacked asthough it had been done by giant hands.

  "Nevertheless, how could you observe all that?" he asked Sanderus.

  "I saw it," replied the vagabond, "because I grasped the tail of one ofthe horses which carried the litter, and held on until I received a kickin my stomach. Then I fainted, and that was the reason that you capturedme."

  "That might happen," said Hlawa, "but take care, if anything you sayturns out to be false; in such case you shall fare badly."

  "There is another proof," replied Sanderus; "let one who wishes take anote of it; yet it is better to believe a man's word than to condemn himas one who does not tell the truth."

  "Although you sometimes unwillingly tell the truth, you will howl forsimony."

  And they began to tease each other as they formerly did, but Zbyszkointerrupted their chatter.

  "You have passed through that region, then you must be acquainted withthe localities in the neighborhood of the castles; where do you supposeZygfried and Arnold hide themselves?"

  "There are no strongholds whatever in that neighborhood; all is onewilderness, through which a road was recently cut. There are neithervillages nor farms. The Germans burned those that were there, for thereason that the inhabitants of those places who are also Zmudzians, hadalso risen in arms against the Knights of the Cross with their brethrenhere. I think, sir, that Zygfried and Arnold are now wandering about thewoods; either they are trying to return to the place whence they came, orattempting furtively to reach that fortress whither we were going tobefore that unfortunate battle."

  "I am sure that it is so," said Zbyszko. He became absorbed in thought sothat he contracted his brows; he was obviously trying to find some plan,but it did not last long. After a while he lifted up his head and said:

  "Hlawa! See that the horses and men get ready; we must move at once."

  The Bohemian, whose custom was never to ask for reasons when commanded,without saying a single word, got up and ran toward the horses; thenMacko opened wide his eyes at his nephew and said with surprise:

  "And ... Zbyszko? Hey! Where are you going? What?... How?..."

  But he answered his questions with another:

  "And what do you think? Is it not my duty?"

  The old knight had nothing to say. His looks of astonishment disappearedlittle by little from his face; he shook his head once or twice andfinally drew a deep breath and said as though replying to himself:

  "Well! there you are.... There is no other remedy!"

  And he also went to the horses, but Zbyszko returned to de Lorche, and bymeans of a Mazovian interpreter spoke to him thus:

  "I cannot ask you to go with me against the people with whom you served.You are therefore free and you may go wherever you please."

  "I cannot serve you now with my sword against my knightly honor," repliedde Lorche; "but as to your granting me my freedom, I cannot accept thateither. I remain your prisoner on parole and shall be at your commandwhithersoever you send me. And in case you want to exchange prisoners,remember that the Order will exchange for me any prisoner, because I amnot only a powerful knight, but I am a descendant of a line of Knights ofthe Cross of great merit."

  Then they embraced each other according to custom, placing their hands oneach other's arms and kissing each other on the cheeks, and de Lorchesaid:

  "I will go to Malborg or to the Mazovian court, so that you may know if Iam not in one place you can find me in the other. Thy messenger need onlytell me the two words, '_Lotaryngia-Geldria_'"

  "Well," said Zbyszko, "still I will go to Skirwoilla to obtain a pass foryou which the Zmudzians will respect."

  Then he called upon Skirwoilla; the old leader gave the pass for hisdeparture without any difficulty, for he knew all about the affair andloved Zbyszko; he was grateful to him for his bravery in the last battle,and for this very reason he made no objection whatever to the departureof the knight who belonged to another country and came on his ownaccount. Then, thanking Zbyszko for the great services which he hadrendered, he looked at him in surprise at his courage in undertaking ajourney in the wild lands; he bid him good-bye, expressing his wishes tomeet him again in some greater and more conclusive affair against theKnights of the Cross.

  But Zbyszko was in a great hurry, for he was consumed as with a fever.When he arrived at the post he found everybody ready, and his uncle,Macko, on horseback, among them; he was armed and had on his coat of mailand his helmet upon his head. Zbyszko approached him and said:

  "Then you too go with me!"

  "But what else could I do?" replied Macko, a little testily.

  Zbyszko did not reply, but kissed the right hand of his uncle, thenmounted his horse and proceeded.

  Sanderus went with them. They knew the road as far as the battlefieldvery well, but beyond that he was to guide them. They also counted uponthe local inhabitants whom they might meet in the woods; who, out ofhatred of their masters, the Knights of the Cross, would aid them intracking the old _comthur_ and the knight, Arnold von Baden, to whomSanderus attributed such superhuman strength and bravery.