Fighting had been going on since early morning; it was now noon, whenthe Duke made a last bold effort to retrieve the day.
"I'll break through the enemy's lines with the right wing," he shoutedin stentorian tones. "Will your Majesty give the left wing orders to dothe 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, succeededin infusing some of his own spirit into his men, and, joined by Ugrinand his followers, and the remaining Templars, he made a dashing attackupon the Mongols, who were drawn up in such close order that individualshad no room to turn.
Numbers of them fell before the furious onslaught of the Hungarians, andgreat was the devastation wrought in their ranks, when suddenly, like awhirlwind, up came Batu Khan himself with a fresh cloud of savagewarriors, and arrows and spears flew thicker and faster than ever.
The Archbishop was smitten on the head by a spear, just as he had cutdown 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, amongwhom they quickly found new masters.
KAilmAin had seen the bravest fall around him, but he was still pressingforward, still fighting, when he also received a severe wound. Just thenthe sun went down.
His sword-arm was useless, and his brave warriors, placing him in theirmidst, made their way back to the camp. But the camp was deserted now byall but the dead and the dying. The troops whom they had left there hadforced 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 hadopened their ranks to let them pass through, and the faster and thickerthey came, the more room they gave them.
That the fugitives would not escape in the long run well they knew, andtheir object just now was the King.
The flower of the Hungarian nobility, several bishops, and highdignitaries, both of Church and State, had fallen in the battle, or fellafterwards in the flight. Most of them took the way to Pest, which wasstrewn for two days' journey with the dead and dying, with arms andaccoutrements.
Many were slain by the Mongols who pursued and attacked them when theywere too weak to defend themselves; and many others perished in theattempt to cross rivers and swamps.
Seeing that all was lost, BA(C)la himself thought it time to fly, and whilethe 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 fivewounds, Peter and Stephen Szirmay, Akos, DetrA?, Adam the Pole, the twoForgAics, and several others--a devoted band, while behind came a longtrain of the bravest warriors, the last to think of flying, who followedin any order or none.
Few, as we have said, had recognised the King, but there were some whohad, and these pressed hard after him.
"My horse is done for!" cried the King, as his famous charger began totremble beneath him. "Let us stand and die fighting like men!"
"No! for Heaven's sake, no!" cried Adam the Pole, leaping from hishorse as he spoke. "Mine is sound! take him! I hear the howl of theMongols."
One had indeed actually overtaken them, but, though on foot, Adam felledhim to the ground, leapt upon the Mongol's horse, and galloped on afterthe King.
The handful of brave, true men guarded BA(C)la as the very apple of theireye. Not one thought of himself; their one anxiety was for the King.
For an hour they galloped on, always pursued by the Mongols. The foamwas dropping from the horses; the moon had risen and was shiningbrightly down upon them, when the irregular force which had followedthem was overtaken, and engaged in a fierce battle with the relentlessand unwearied enemy.
Just at that moment down sank the horse which Adam had given to theKing; but one of the two ForgAics, AndrAis (Andrew), who was known in thearmy as IvAinka (Little John, _i.e._, John Baptist) gave up his. The Kingwas so worn out by this time that two of the nobles had to lift him uponthe 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 theMongols, who were again approaching perilously near the fugitives.
IvAinka was threatened by the like danger, when Paul HA(C)dervAiry and a fewof the others who were on in front chanced to see his peril, and turningback, routed the Mongols. IvAinka mounted his brother's horse, which hadremained standing quietly by its master's body, and rode after thelittle band.
Daybreak was once more at hand, and they were far, far away from thefield of blood, when again the King's horse failed him, and the Mongolswere hardly so much as a hundred paces behind.
They had recognised the King, and one of Batu Khan's sub-officers hadpromised 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 himselfin battle, offered the King his charger, and it was thanks to this goodhorse of Transylvanian breed that the King finally escaped his pursuers.For, tough though they were, even the Mongolian horses were beginning tofail, while nothing apparently could tire out the Transylvanian.
As they helped him to mount, BA(C)la noticed that there was blood on thearm of the faithful RugAics, and asked kindly whether it gave him muchpain.
"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 ofit if we live to see better times."
And accordingly, there is to this day a family which bears thehonourable 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 awhile 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 offscathless, had escaped without any mortal wound.
Having no army, the King was for the present helpless, and as soon as hecould do so, he made his way to Pressburg, where he sent for the Queenand his children to join him, they having taken refuge in Haimburg, onthe other side of the Austrian frontier.
But instead of the Queen, appeared Duke Friedrich, who persuaded theKing that it would be much wiser for him too to come to Austria, and hadno sooner got him in his clutches than he made a prisoner of him, andrefused to let him go until he had refunded the large sum of money withwhich Friedrich had purchased peace from him four or five yearspreviously.
BA(C)la gave up all the valuables which he and the Queen had with them, butas the Duke was still not satisfied, he had to pawn three Hungariancounties in order to regain his liberty.
Once more free, he sent the Queen to Dalmatia for safety, anddespatched ambassadors to Pope and Emperor, and the King of France,praying for their help against the terrible foe who threatened allEurope with destruction. But the Emperor was fighting Rome, and the Popewas bent upon reducing him to obedience. Poland was fighting the Mongolson her own account; Bohemia was in momentary danger of being herselfattacked; and the shameless Duke Friedrich availed himself of Hungary'sdefenceless condition to invade and plunder the counties nearest him,and even to rob such fugitives as had fled to Austria for refuge fromthe Mongols.
BA(C)la meantime had borrowed a little money where he could, and had gonesouth to await the answers to his appeal, and to raise what troops hecould for a campaign. But he waited in vain. No help came! and withoutan army or the means of raising one, he was helpless.
His brother KAilmAin had reached Pest, and after urging the terrifiedinhabitants to abandon the city, cross the Danube, and hide whereverthey could, he continued his journey to S
lavonia (then Dalmatia andCroatia), 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 surroundingcountry had taken refuge here with their families and treasures, and thenumbers had been further increased by the arrival of fugitives from thearmy. They resolved to defend themselves to the last man; but theylittle knew the enemy with whom they had to deal. Three days' batteringwith catapults was enough to make breaches in the walls; the Mongolsstormed 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 presentthe broad river formed a barrier which they could not easily pass, andthey were further deterred from making the attempt by the idea,unfortunately erroneous, that if they crossed it they would find all thearmies of Europe massed upon the other side waiting to receive and beatthem back.
But if they were checked to the west, there was nothing to prevent theirchasing the King, who was lingering near the Drave. Here they were in nofear of the armies of Europe, and they crossed the Danube by means ofbladders and boats.
BA(C)la fled to Spalatro, but feeling unsafe even there, retired with hisfamily to the island of Issa. Furious at finding that his prey hadescaped him, the Mongol leader, KajdAin, revenged himself upon hisprisoners, whom he set up in rows and cut down; then he hurried on tothe 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 followerstake ship for the island of Bua under his very eyes.
Pursuit, without a fleet, was hopeless, and KajdAin had to contenthimself with ravaging Dalmatia, Croatia, and Bosnia.