CHAPTER XII.
DEFENDING THE CASTLE.
A few moments later the small garrison of brave men were all on thewalls, and so placed behind the breastwork as to be almost invisiblefrom 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 awokecountless echoes among the rocks. But it was no battle-cry of theTartars or Mongols, for they rush to the fray in silence, withoututtering a sound. This was like the wild yell of all sorts of people, amixture of howls and cries, almost more like those of wild animals thanof human beings.
Dora, who at that moment had stepped out into the balcony, shuddered atthe sound. The howls and screams of fury were positive torture to herears, and thrilled her through and through.
"O God!" she said within herself, "I am afraid! and I must not beafraid!" 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 wordsout. "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 thefireside. Don't let me hear another sound, and don't come here againtill I call you!"
Her speech had the desired effect; the women were all silent, as if theyhad 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 hidethemselves in the lowest depths of the cellar. At all events theyvanished.
They had no sooner all tumbled out of the balcony than Talabor steppedin, and just as he did so, an arrow, the first from outside, flew in andstruck his cap.
"Come in! come inside! for Heaven's sake!" cried Talabor, seizing Doraby the hand.
"Mr. Talabor! What do you mean?" she began indignantly, both startledand angered by his audacity. Then, catching sight of the arrow in hiscap, 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 theadjoining hall, where she was quite reassured as to the arrow, which hethen drew from his cap, without a word, and fitted to the long bow hehad in his hand. Then he stepped back into the balcony, and sent thearrow flying with the remark, "There's one who won't swallow any moreMagyar bread at all events!"
The next instant a cloud of arrows poured into the balcony, but alreadyTalabor was down in the court and rushing to the walls, whence MasterPeter's famous dog-keeper and some of the garrison had alreadydischarged their arrows with deadly effect.
Dora had quite recovered herself.
As for Libor, he had vanished as completely as if he had never beenthere.
"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 greatSzA(C)kely bow from the dining hall! you know, the one which takes three ofus to string it."
While JakA cubed was gone, Talabor observed that one body of Tartars wasstealing along under the trees close beside the moat, towards the southside of the castle, and that Libor had dismounted, and was creepingalong with them.
"What can those rascals mean to do?" whispered the governor.
"I know!" said Talabor, "the traitor! I know well enough what he'safter! but he's out! The wretch! he thinks he shall find the wall onthat side in the same tumble-down state in which it was the last time hewas here!"
"True!" returned the governor, "they are making straight for it."
"You there at the bastion, quick! follow me," he went on, hurrying alongthe 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 thenarrow 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. Thewall had been so well repaired that if anything it was even strongerhere than elsewhere.
Talabor and his party had no sooner made their appearance than they wereobserved, in spite of the gathering twilight, and were the targets for acloud of arrows. They withdrew behind the breastwork, and after somedifficulty succeeded in stringing the great SzA(C)kely bow. Whereupon,Talabor chose the longest arrow from JakA cubed's quiver, fitted it to thestring, straightened himself, and, as he did so, he caught sight ofLibor. 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 ithit him in the back, below his iron corselet, and there stuck.
"Ha! ha! ha!" roared JakA cubed, himself a passionate bowman, and one of thefew who could manage the SzA(C)kely bow, "ha! ha! ha! that's right! if notin front, then behind! all's one to us!"
But Talabor was not satisfied with his shot, for Libor kept his feet, atleast as long as he was within sight.
The Mongols were meantime showing how determined they could be when thehope of valuable booty was dangled before their eyes. Their numbers hadbeen mysteriously increased tenfold, and from all sides they werebringing stones, branches from the trees, whole trees, in a word, alland everything upon which they could lay hands. The attack on the southside of the castle was abandoned, though not before some score or so ofthe enemy had been laid low by the arrows of Talabor and his men, andthe Mongols all now turned their attention to the moat, and to that partof it immediately fronting the drawbridge. Arrows poured down upon themincessantly, and there was seldom one which missed its mark. But inspite of this, the work proceeded at such a rate as threatened to besuccessful in no long time, for as one fell another took his place, andthe wood seemed to be swarming.
Talabor had had no experience of the Mongols, and was not aware thattheir chief strength lay in their enormous numbers. He did not so muchas dream how many of them there might be. However, Master Peter had madeno bad choice in the garrison he had left behind him, and they did notfor a moment lose courage. They shot down arrow after arrow, not one ofwhich was left without its response by the bowmen stationed behind thoseat work on the moat; but while many of the besiegers were stretched uponthe 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, eversince the siege had begun in earnest. Talabor and the governor were toobusy probably to notice her, and though not altogether safe, she foundherself 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 atleast as well as many of the women of her time; but though she had astrong sense of her responsibilities as the "mistress of the castle" inher 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 totime and keep everything in readiness for attending to their wounds.
As she stood there, in the shelter of the wall, she suddenly heard thegovernor's voice uttering maledictions and imprecations, and the nextmoment he came blundering down the stone steps from the parapet.
"Oh! Moses, _deAik_! what is the matter?" cried Dora, rushing towardshim.
The governor could be a very careful man when occasion required, and ifhe descended now with something of a roll, he trod gingerly all thesame; and he had besides the advantage of such well-covered bones, thatthey were in little danger.
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bsp; "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 andrag, quick! we must stop the bleeding. Borka has them all ready!"
Vid, who was on the wall, had seen the governor totter and almost losehis balance as he stumbled down the steps, and was hurrying after himwhen Dora called.
But Mr. Moses no sooner found himself safely at the bottom, and sound inall his limbs except just where he was hit, than he at once regained hiswonted composure.
"Off with you, Vid," said he, "but fetch a good handful of cobwebs; thatwill stop the bleeding in a trice."
Meantime Dora herself ran into the house and soon came back with Borkaher maid, bringing water, heaps of old rag, and all that could possiblybe wanted. The girl's knees were shaking under her with terror as sheslipped along, close after her mistress.
Dora herself bound up the injured arm, Moses offering no opposition, asthey were in a fairly safe place, and when the operation was over, heeven 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 myspears! I shall hardly be able to draw another bow to-day!"
No sooner was the governor standing up once more than Borka made a hastydash for the house.
"Keep along by the wall, Borka!" Dora called after her. But the girl wasso consumed with fear that she neither heard nor saw. Just as she washurrying up the steps of the principal entrance, instead of going roundto the back, where the danger was nil, she fell down, head foremost, andas 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 wasbeside her, with his shield held over her head. Two or three arrowsrattled 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, andMoses began to tremble.
Borka was dead! killed, not by the arrow, as they found later on, but byher 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 onetraitor 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 leisurelypace by Moses with his four spears.
While all this was going on, the Mongols had succeeded more or less infilling up the moat, and though up to their knees in water, and impededby the logs, branches, stones, and other material with which they hadfilled it, some had already crossed, and were beginning to climb thewall, by means of long poles, when Talabor gave the signal, and a volleyof huge stones and pieces of rock came suddenly crashing down upon them.These were swiftly followed by a flight of arrows, and the two togetherworked such terrible havoc among the assailants that the survivors beata hasty retreat.
They seemed to be entirely disheartened by this last repulse, andconvinced that nothing would be gained by continuing their presenttactics; for, to the great surprise of Moses and Talabor, they did notreturn. When next the moon shone out it was seen that a large number ofmen were lying dead both in and about the moat. All, whether whole orwounded, who could do so, had drawn off into the depths of the wood, themore severely wounded borne on the shoulders of the rest.
Libor was not again seen by anyone.