A few moments after the mob had burst into the King's tent, Akos wasagain at the drawbridge which led to Kuthen's dwelling.
"What do you want, sir?" asked the captain of the guard hotly, as hesprang 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 atonce, while you can remain here to guard the place till our return."
The captain turned back submissively, and blew the horn which hung athis side. Possibly the drawbridge which formed the outer gate of thecastle would not even now have been lowered, but that Kuthen hadrecognised Akos, and that they were so well armed as to be quite a matchfor the guard, and for those of the mob who had remained behind.
The drawbridge was lowered therefore, but raised again the moment Akoshad passed. He rode across the covered space between the drawbridge andthe inner gate, and there he had to wait again a few moments while thebolts and bars were withdrawn. He leapt from his horse as soon as he waswithin, and Kuthen and his sons hurried from the entrance-hall to meethim, doubting whether he brought good news or bad.
"Quick!" said Akos, "to horse! your Majesty, to horse! all of you," andwithout 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--whichwere always kept ready saddled--while Kuthen asked in some surprise,"What has happened? Where are we to go?" for he had not been able toread anything in young Szirmay's face, whether of good or of evil.
"Where?" said Akos bitterly, "where we can be farthest from the mob--themob has risen and may be here any moment."
In those times, sudden dangers, sudden alarms, sudden flights werethings of every-day occurrence, and Kuthen and his followers had longbeen accustomed not to know in the morning where they should lay theirheads at night. No people were quicker or more resolute in case ofextremity than the Kunok, who were one family, one army, one colony, andmoved like a machine.
The Queen and Princesses, as well as the chiefs, had all come togetherin the hall, but now the former and many of the servants rushed backinto the house, from which they again emerged in a few moments, all cooland collected, all ready to start, and with their most valuedpossessions packed in bundles.
The riding horses were bridled, some of the pack-horses loaded, and allhad been done so quickly and quietly, that the guard without had heardno more than the sort of hum made by a swarm of bees before they takeflight.
Meantime Akos had rapidly explained matters to Kuthen, pointing out tohim 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 mightarrive before the King, when, even if they were successfully beatenback, there would certainly be bloodshed, which would only exasperatethe people more than ever, and make it impossible for the King, good ashe was, to ensure the safety of his guests. Whereas, if they couldsucceed in avoiding the first paroxysms of fury, King BA(C)la would be thefirst to rejoice at their escape.
Akos spoke confidently, and his words carried conviction.
Kuthen, his family, and the chiefs were already mounted, while those ofthe guard who were on foot formed themselves into a close, wedge-shapedmass, 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 headedthe procession which issued forth.
At that moment a long, yellow cloud of dust made its appearance in thedistance, coming towards them. A horseman was galloping in front of it,and he was closely followed by two more, shouting aloud what no one inthe castle understood, but something which made the captain of the guardwithout give orders for the bolts of the drawbridge to be pulled back;and the bridge, left without its supports, dropped with a great plashinto the moat.
The Kunok were cut off!
With the sangfroid and fearlessness learnt in the course of hisadventurous 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 toolate, and that all was lost; but he was resolved to share the fate ofthe man, whom for MarAina's sake he looked upon as his father.
As for Kuthen, he was suddenly the wild chief again. His face wasaflame, his eyes flashed fire, he was eager for the fray, and his onethought was to defend himself proudly. He ordered the guards to theirplaces, the horses having been already led back to their stables; andthen, turning to his family, he said coolly and calmly, "We will defendourselves 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 wordor groan. There were no tears, no sobs, no sign of terror on theircountenances. They looked angry and defiant.
When the women had withdrawn, the Princes went to their posts, andKuthen, 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 firstsight. His manifest intention of shielding Kuthen from their vengeancewould bring down upon him the hatred of his own countrymen; while on theother hand the furious glances of the Kunok confined in the castle, andtheir ill-concealed hostility, showed him clearly that his life was nowin danger from within as well as from without.
The mob which had rushed away from the Diet had pressed on with thespeed of the whirlwind, its numbers growing as it went. A few minutesonly had passed since the cloud heralding its approach had been seen,and already the crowd was swarming round the banks of the moat, makingan indescribable uproar and uttering the wildest, fiercest shouts.
Within, all was silent as the grave. But the mob outside were not idlefor a moment. They were athirst for vengeance, and from the moment oftheir arrival they had been busy trying to make a passage across themoat by throwing in earth, straw, pieces of wood, even furniture,brought on all sides from the neighbouring houses, and, in fact, all andeverything 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 andsome 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 thedrawbridge, when suddenly the scene changed. The wild figures of theKunok appeared as if by magic upon the walls, the thrilling war-cry wasraised, and a cloud of well-aimed arrows hailed down upon theassailants.
Kuthen and his sons, who confidently expected King BA(C)la, had done theirutmost to restrain their people, but in vain, for when they saw the moatfilled and their enemies preparing to rush the gate, they becameinfuriated and uncontrollable.
In the first moment of surprise all fell back, knocking over thosebehind them; but some few began to retaliate and shoot up at thegarrison. Not to much purpose, however, for neither arrows nor spearshit the intended marks, while the long arrows shot from the powerfulbows of the Kunok never failed.
It was during this fierce overture of the contest that Duke KAilmAin rodeup.
"Stand aside!" he shouted, "stop fighting! The King is coming, he willsee justice done----"
The words were not out of his mouth when two arrows flew forth fromloopholes in the walls. One struck the Duke's horse, and the secondfelled to the earth a young nobleman riding close beside him.
"They have shot the Duke!" was shouted on all sides; for so dense wasthe cloud of arrows that it was impossible to see at first which of thetwo had fallen.
The Duke himself, however, was standing coolly defiant amidst thewhistling storm.
But the shouts were the signals for a general rush, and from that momentno one, not even the King, could have restrained the people.
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The moat was filled, the drawbridge wrecked, the inner gate, in spite ofits bars, wrenched from its hinges and thrown down upon the dead bodiesof the Kun guards.
The mob rushed in and stormed the castle, and an awful scene ofbloodshed followed. Kuthen, his sons, and the Kun chiefs foughtdesperately; and side by side with them fought Akos, so completelydisguised as a Kun as to be quite unrecognisable. He was too downrightto have thought of a disguise for himself, but had acquiesced in it atKuthen's entreaty.
The first of the mob who rushed into the courtyard fell victims to theirown rashness, and many more were despatched by the arrows poured fromthe walls.
But suddenly the younger of the two Princes fighting beside theirfather, fell to the ground with a short cry.
"My son!" exclaimed Kuthen, turning to Akos, "Go! now's the time! keepyour 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 hisarm, and then himself sank down. Akos rushed from the entrance-hall intothe house.
"You are our King now!" roared the Kunok, pressing round the remainingPrince, and covering him with their shields, as he fought like a younglion.
All at once there were loud outcries and yells. The Kunok outside thehouse, finding themselves unable to defend the castle against the swarmswhich poured into the courtyard, had rushed in, closing the doors andbarring the windows.
All in vain! The young Prince, just proclaimed King amid a shower ofarrows, retreated from one room to another, some of his defendersfalling around him at every moment. By the time the last door was burstopen, less than a dozen of his guard remained, all wounded, all fightinga 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 Kuthenand his family, flung to them from the windows, and at once hoisted themon pikes in token of victory. If the head of Akos was among them no onenoticed 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 theAustrian 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 oldmansion, as if it had been the property of King Kuthen, and in less thana quarter of an hour sparks and burning embers were flying from it intothe air, while the gaping multitudes ran round and round the dwelling,in all the bloodthirsty delight of satisfied revenge.