King Matthias and the Beggar Boy

  CHAPTER V.

  CAUGHT.

  One is apt to fancy that strange, out-of-the-way characters must needsbe striking and uncommon in their persons, and it is really quitestartling to find them after all mere ordinary-looking, every-daypeople.

  Jason Samson, in spite of his remarkably eccentric conduct, was just oneof these commonplace individuals to look at. It was himself, in fact,who had taken Miska into the castle; a man of middle size, neither stoutnor thin, neither young nor old, but just middling in all respects. Hisfeatures were such as we see over and over again, without having eitherour sympathies or interest in the least aroused. One can't call suchpersons either ill-looking or handsome, and their every-day charactersinspire no feeling but that of utter indifference.

  Mr. Samson was said, naturally enough, to be a man-hater. The walls ofthe Cube castle were twelve feet thick, and its inmates could seenothing either of their fellow-creatures or of God's beautiful world;for there was neither door to go in by nor window to look out of, andnothing whatever to be seen but the courtyard.

  It was not a cheerful home certainly for the young girl whom Mr. Samsonhad some years previously brought to live there. He called her arelation of his, and she called him "uncle," but it did not at allfollow that she was his niece; for it is the custom in Hungary, andconsidered only common politeness, for young people to address theirelders as "uncles" and "aunts," whether related or not.

  If Mr. Samson was commonplace in appearance, little Esther was very muchthe reverse. Without being regularly beautiful, there was a great charmabout her, and she had a look of distinction which was entirely wantingin her guardian or jailer. Her clear, deep-blue eyes were full of lifeand animation, and the whole expression of her face told of a goodheart. Add to this that she had a remarkably sweet and beautiful voice,and that, though untaught, she had a good ear for music, and was veryfond of singing, and it will be understood that Esther was altogethernot uninteresting. If she was not striking at first sight, yet the moreone saw of her the more impressed and attracted one felt.

  She was very much in awe of her "uncle," though she could not have saidwhy, and though she had now lived with him some seven years, ever sincethe death of her parents indeed, when he had brought her away to thecastle, with her attendant Euphrosyne, she being then a child of eight.

  Esther was now fifteen, but she had as yet no idea that Mr. Samson wasplanning in his own mind to unite her more closely to himself by makingher his wife, or she would have shrunk from him even more than she didnow, though she knew nothing against him, and he could never be said tohave ill-treated her in any way except that he kept her a closeprisoner. Perhaps he thought that, considering her age, she had libertyenough; for she was free to go from one room to another, and she couldwalk up and down the gallery and in the courtyard.

  But though she had grown accustomed to the life now, there were times,especially when the sun shone down for a short hour or two into the dullcourtyard, in spring and summer, when the girl would look up withlonging eyes to the blue sky and wonder what the world looked likeoutside the four grey walls. Sometimes she would see a bird fly pastoverhead, or watch a lark soaring up into the air, singing as it went.Then the past would come back to her, and she would remember a time whenshe had run about the green fields, and had spent long days in thegarden; when she had gathered wild flowers and wood-strawberries, andhad heard the birds sing.

  It made her a little sad to think of it all, and for a time she felt asif she were in a cage, and wondered whether she was to spend all herlife in it; but she was blessed with a cheerful disposition, and on thewhole she was not unhappy. She made occupation for herself in one wayand another: she sewed, she embroidered, she netted; she read the two orthree books she had over and over again, and she even wrote a little.When one day Mr. Samson brought her a harp from his hoard of treasures,she was delighted indeed: and having soon managed to teach herself howto play on it, she spent many a happy evening singing such songs as shehad picked up or invented for herself.

  Mr. Samson liked to hear the full, clear young voice singing in thegallery, though he seldom took any apparent notice of the singer. In hisway perhaps he would have missed Esther a little if she had been takenfrom him; but he was not a kindly or affectionate personage, and thegirl had no one to care for but Euphrosyne, a rather tiresome, foolishold woman, who often tried her patience a good deal with her whims andfidgets. Esther, however, was very patient with her, and clung to hersimply because there was no one else to cling to.

  Mr. Samson had given them three rooms in a distant corner of the gloomybuilding, where they were quite out of the way of everybody; andEsther's rooms being the two inner ones, she could never leave themwithout the knowledge and permission of the old woman, through whoseroom she had to pass.

  There was no doubt that Mr. Samson carried on an extensive business of apeculiar kind. He was very secret about it, and what with his armedgarrison, and the odd way in which the castle was built, as if to standa siege, there seemed good reason to suspect that his valuable goods andrich merchandise were collected from the whole length and breadth ofHungary, and were, in fact, gathered from every country-house andpeddler's pack and bundle which he could find means to plunder. Not thatSamson ever resorted to violence if he could possibly help it--quite thecontrary; and though he was reckoned among the most powerfulrobber-knights of the time, he was really more thief than robber, anddid also a great deal in a quiet way by lending money at very highinterest.

  He would steal out of the castle on foot, disguised now as a beggar andnow as a Jew; and his followers were never to be seen anywhere togetherin any number. They lounged along singly, at a considerable distance onefrom the other, and they took care not to excite suspicion in any way.

  They had nothing in the way of weapons but a couple of short, sharpdaggers, which they kept carefully concealed, and never used except incases of extreme necessity, and in secret places, such as deep ravinesor woods; but when they did have recourse to them, they used them withbold determination and deadly certainty. No one ever escaped from theclutches of these accursed robbers, and no one therefore could everbetray them. They managed, too, to conceal all traces of their deeds ofblood, so that though there were rumours and suspicions, the guilt wasnot brought home to them. People who met them saw but one, or at mosttwo, at a time, looking as meek and mild "as if they could not count upto three," as the saying is.

  Mr. Samson himself rarely went out quite alone. There were always oneor two men in whom he placed especial confidence, and one or other ofthese always accompanied him.

  And now Miska shall take up his narrative again.

  "I was not badly off in the castle," said he. "I was bent on winning Mr.Samson's confidence above everything, and I succeeded, because I stroveto enter into all his thoughts. I was not too humble and deferential,but I put myself in his place, and showed great interest in all the workthat went on inside, which was chiefly keeping guard and cleaning arms.

  "Mr. Samson went away once every fortnight; and I fancy the Jews cametwice while I was there, for Mr. Samson twice shut all the doorscarefully, which he did not do at other times. I must say I should haveliked to join him in his secret adventures; but much as he seemed totrust me, I had no chance of doing so.

  "I had been in the castle about a fortnight, I suppose, when one nightthe bell rang in my little room. There was a bell to every hole in thecastle, and the bell-pulls all hung in a long row along two sides of oneof Mr. Samson's rooms.

  "I got up at once and went to him, and found him lying in an arm-chair,wearing a flowing indoor robe.

  "'Alpar Janos,' said he, 'I have to leave the castle to-morrow; you willstay here. Keep an eye on the people, and when I come back tell meminutely all that has happened during my absence. I believe you arefaithful to me; and if you continue to please me, I will double yourwages.'

  "I received his orders respectfully, as usual; but after a short pause Isaid, 'I would much rather you should take me with you, for I th
ink youwould find me more useful outside than here, where there is nothing Ican do.'

  "'I want a faithful man more here than outside,' said Mr. Samson. 'Yourturn will come presently; meantime obey all the governor's orders as ifI were here myself. And now you can go. Everybody will notice my absenceto-morrow, but for all that don't you say a word about it to anyone--that is one of my laws.'

  "'I will obey you, sir,' I said, and then I went back to my quarters.

  "The governor, a gloomy-looking, stout fellow, who could hardly be morethan four-and-twenty, and was called simply Kalman, had taken a greatliking to me, for I always showed him more respect, if possible, than Idid to Mr. Samson himself."

  "You were wise there," interposed the king. "The smaller the man, themore respect he claims."

  "And," continued Miska, "this stood me in good stead; for while Mr.Samson was away we lived better, and now and then the governor sent me adraught of good wine."

  "Ah, I see," said the king; "nothing much out of the ordinaryway--rumour has said more than was true. But did you become acquaintedwith little Esther?"

  "The young lady came out into the gallery more often while Mr. Samsonwas away. Sometimes she would walk up and down there till late in theevening, and she would bring out her harp and sing to it. She was sogentle and kind that I spoke to her one day and asked her to listen to asong of mine; I had made the verses and invented the tune myself."

  "Oh!" laughed the king; "then you are a poet too, are you, Miska?"

  "Only a sort of 'willow-tree verse-maker,'[6] Mr. King. But pretty MissEsther listened to it very kindly--and what is more, she wrote itdown--and after that she spoke to me every evening, and asked me manyquestions about Buda and Your Highness; and I told her long stories ofall that I had seen in the woods and fields. She wanted to hear aboutthe trees and flowers and birds, which she remembered; and one evening,when no one was within hearing, I told her how I had met Your Highness,and how you had sent me to Visegrad, and all I had seen there, and howyou promised me a horse. I had to tell her that story so often that Ithink she knows every step of the way. I did not tell her that YourHighness had sent me to get into the castle, for walls have ears. Butone evening she stopped singing suddenly and asked me what I had comethere for. So first I said, 'To be one of Mr. Samson's servants;' andthen I said in a whisper, 'To set you free.'

  [Footnote 6: Hedge-poet.]

  "'Ah, Jancsi, if you only could!' she said. 'How lovely it would be! Butyou can't; nobody can.'

  "So then I told her not to be afraid, for I would somehow; and if Icouldn't, some one else would, I knew--meaning Your Highness, ofcourse."

  "And pray what did the old lady say to your talking to her charge inthis way?"

  "O Mr. King, she was my very good mistress; I managed to get into hergood graces. And there's no denying it, Your Highness, when Mr. Samsonwent away for the third time, Miss Esther herself told me to be veryattentive to the old woman. And it answered perfectly, for she asked meall sorts of things and put all confidence in me; and the governor oftenchaffed me about it, and said that Mrs. Euphrosyne and I would be makinga match of it. Miss Esther often said how happy we might be if we couldescape from Mr. Samson and the gloomy castle, and I promised, YourHighness, when Mrs. Euphrosyne was not listening."

  "Well, Miska, and I promise too. Miss Esther shall be let out when I getin," said the king. "But now listen. Have you told me all that I want toknow about the interior of the castle?"

  "Ah," said Miska, "who could find out all its secrets? Mr. Samson saidmore than once: 'Woe to him who tries to take it, for it will cost thelives of thousands, and he will never get in after all.' And it was ashe said: when they assaulted the castle, Mr. Samson did not so much asleave his room, but sat there as quiet as you please. What went on upabove in the roof I don't know, for others were sent up and I was not. Ionly heard the firing, and saw them bringing the gunpowder out in smallcasks through a trap-door. More than once, too, I heard him say that hehad only to pull a string and the castle and everything in it would beblown up. And I saw the red string, too, which would have done it: itcould not be reached except by means of a ladder, and it was in Mr.Samson's own sleeping-room."

  "Then you saw them raise the black standard?"

  "To be sure; and they did it as easily as if they were lifting a stick."

  "But tell me, how did you get out?" asked the king, cutting him short.

  "I did that only five days ago," said Miska. "Mr. Samson called me atlast one evening and said,--

  "'Miska, I am satisfied with you; you will go with me to-night, atmidnight. There will be only the two of us; have you the courage?'

  "'I have,' I answered.

  "'See,' Mr. Samson went on, taking a couple of daggers out of atable-drawer, 'I will make you a present of these; they are the onlyarms you will have. Be ready, and when I ring at midnight make haste andcome to me.'

  "I haven't much more to tell you, Mr. King. He led me through severalvaults till we came to a door which led into an underground passage, andthis ended in a cave, which I took good note of, so that I could find itagain; and when we had passed through it and reached the open air, myspirits rose. We went on through a thick wood, Mr. Samson taking thelead. The night was dark and stormy. I kept him talking all the while,and tried to enliven him with all sorts of jokes; and he actually calledme a very sly dog, and laughed himself as if he enjoyed them.

  "We had been going on about a couple of hours, when Mr. Samson said wehad reached our destination, and that before long a rich Jew would bepassing by, and that he had a well-filled money-bag which we were totake away from him. He warned me to be careful, and not to use my daggerunless he called out.

  "I suppose Mr. Samson had heard of the rich Jew's coming from his Jewfriends, who frequently came to the castle without any one's knowinganything about it--so I heard from Kalman--and by secret ways which hehad told them of.

  "The moon shone out through the thick trees for a moment, and I saw thatMr. Samson was standing near a footpath, and facing a narrow opening inthe wood, about three steps away from me.

  "Presently I fancied that I heard footsteps, and Mr. Samson whispered,'Come here behind me, quietly, that they may not hear you.'

  "In a short time I saw a dark shadow moving towards us. Mr. Samsonstood like a lynx, stiff and motionless, with his eyes fixed on theapproaching Jew.

  "'Now,' thought I, 'now or never!' and I drew out a rope-noose which Ihad kept carefully hidden under my dolmany. The next moment I had thrownit over Mr. Samson's shoulders, and so successfully that his two armswere pinioned to his body, and he was helpless in a moment.

  "'Traitor!' roared Mr. Samson, and in a moment he gave a stab backwardswith his dagger in spite of his pinioned arm, and he did it so cleverlytoo that it went about three inches deep into me. Fortunately it struckmy thigh-bone, or there would have been an end of me.

  "The pain was sharp, but in spite of that I pulled the noose tighter,and then I suddenly tripped him up with my foot, and threw him down.

  "'Here! here!' I cried hurriedly, holding the robber fast. 'Come here,gossip Jew; there is nothing to fear.' For when Mr. Samson roared out,his victim, the Jew, had stopped still, with his feet glued to theground. But when I cried out that I was the king's man and had caught athief, he came forward--in a frightened, reluctant way though; and hewould not have come at all but that I called to him not to turn back,for if he did, probably before he had got away Mr. Samson's robberswould have come up, as they were lying in wait for him as well as we,and knew that he had a bag full of money."

  "But what do you mean?" cried the king. "You took Mr. Samson prisoner?"

  "To be sure I did," said Miska, "and I have given him up to Mr. GeneralRozgonyi;[7] and the Jew came along with me."

  [Footnote 7: The king had made Sebastian Rozgonyi Captain of UpperHungary.]