CHAPTER VI.
MISTAKE THE SECOND.
The day had closed gloomily, ominously, for the refugees; and tounderstand how it was that a king so chivalrous as BA(C)la could consent tomake a prisoner of his guest, we must go back and see what had takenplace a few hours earlier.
BA(C)la, as already said, was fully alive to the danger which threatenedhis land and people, and at the first news of the advance of theMongols, he had sent HA(C)dervAiry the Palatine to block all the roads andpasses between Transylvania and Wallachia, and make full arrangementsfor their defence. But even this prudent step was not approved by everyone. The wiseacres, and the sort of people who always see farther thantheir fellows, attributed the King's orders to fear, and said so too,openly and unreservedly.
There were others who simply refused to believe any alarming reports,alleging that they were all got up by the bishops and chief clergy, thatthey might have an excuse for staying at home at ease, instead ofattending the Pope's Council in Rome.
Others accused the King, the Kunok, and other foreign guests who hadlately arrived at the Court of Pest.
Some of these, the most timorous, actually wanted to force the King tosend an embassy to the Great Khan, offering him an annual tribute andother shameful conditions.
BA(C)la was a courageous man, and a true Magyar and king in the best senseof the words. He was calm, brave, and energetic. He saw through thecowards and despised their accusations; for it is the poltroon who isever the first to accuse others of cowardice, and there is, moreover,one thing which he can never pardon--the being discovered trembling bymen braver than himself.
King BA(C)la paid no heed to the wagging of these many tongues, and himselfwent all round the eastern frontiers of the kingdom, to see personallyto the defences. His plans were well considered and well adapted to theobject in view. They failed in one point only, but that a fatalone--they were never carried out!
On the King's return to Pest, he found the capital given up tofestivity. Nearly every noble in the place must be givingentertainments. If there was a banquet at one house to-day, there wasone at another to-morrow. There was no trace of any preparations for waror defence, though there was plenty of nervous alarm.
Shortly after his arrival, the King called a Council, and the heads ofChurch and State met in a spacious hall often used for Court balls andassemblies, now presenting a very different appearance, and with itswalls draped in sober green cloth.
The King was seated in a canopied armchair raised above the rest, and hewore a white silk mantle, with a clasp something like the ancient Romanfibula, but set with precious stones. On his head was a crown, simplebut brilliant, in his hand he held a golden war-club, and from the plainleather belt which confined his white dolmAiny at the waist, there hung along, straight sword, with a hilt in the form of a large cross.
The Council consisted of about sixty members, some wearing theirecclesiastical vestments, and others the long Hungarian dolmAiny. Of allthose present no one looked so entirely calm as the King, and those whoknew him best could read firm resolve in his face.
BA(C)la knew Hungary and the strength of its various races, and he wasnever afraid of dangers from without. What he did fear was the spirit ofobstinacy and envy, and at last of blindness, which has so often shownitself, just when clear sight and absolute unity were especially neededto enable the country to confront the most serious difficulties.
He knew that he must prove the existence of danger by facts, if hewanted to silence the contentious tongues of those who did not wish tobelieve; and he had determined to lay convincing proofs before them onthis particular day.
When all were assembled and in their places, the King made a sign toPaul HA(C)dervAiry, who at once left the hall, the door of which was shortlyafter again thrown open for the entrance of two gloomy-looking men, withswords and daggers at their belts, whom Paul ushered up to the King'sthrone. Their robes, trimmed with costly furs, showed that they werepersons of importance; and what with the richness of their attire, andtheir manly deportment, they did not fail to make an impression upon theassembly, though one of the younger members muttered to his neighbour,"Hem! Flat noses and glittering eyes! Who may these be?"
The two bowed low before the king, and then one of them, RomAinovics byname, said: "Your Majesty, we are both Russian dukes, and have beendriven from the broad lands of our ancestors, by Batu Khan, one ofOktai's chiefs. We have now come to your footstool, to entreat yourhospitality, and to offer you our services."
"More guests!" whispered the same young man who had spoken before."Kunok, Russians, and next, of course, the Tartars, not a doubt of it!"The broad smile on his face showed that he was highly pleased with hisown wit.
"Honourable guests will always find the door open in Hungary," said theKing, when the short speech had been interpreted to him; "and all whoare oppressed shall have whatever protection we are able to affordthem."
"More too! Oh, what generous fellows we are!" muttered another stillyounger man at the table.
The King went on to say that he had heard of the Russian disasters, butthat as the news which had reached him might have lost or gainedsomething on the way, he should be glad if they would tell him and theCouncil just what had really happened.
Whereupon, the Duke who had spoken before gave a short account of allthat had taken place since the death of Dschingis, and the partition ofhis vast dominions. And then the younger Duke, Wsewolodovics, took upthe tale.
"Lord King!" he began, "these Mongols don't carry on warfare in anhonourable, chivalrous way. They fight only to destroy, they arebloodthirsty, merciless; their only object is to plunder, slay, murder,and burn, not even to make any use of what lands they conquer. They arelike a swarm of locusts. They stay till everything is eaten up, till allare plundered, and what they can't carry off, that they kill, or reduceto ashes. They are utterly faithless; their words and promises are notin the least to be trusted, and those who do make friends with them arethe first upon whom they wreak their vengeance if anything goes wrong.We are telling you no fairy tales! We know to our own cost what theyare, we tell you what we have seen with our own eyes. And let me tellyou this, my lord king, their lust of conquest and devastation knows _nobounds_! If it is our turn to-day, it will be yours to-morrow! And,therefore, while we seek a refuge in your land, we at the same time warnyou to be prepared! for the storm is coming, and may sweep across yourfrontiers sooner than you think for."
"We will meet it, if it comes," said the King coolly. "But I bid youboth heartily welcome as our guests for the present, and as ourcompanions in arms, if the enemy ventures to come hither."
The Dukes found nothing to complain of in the King's reception of them.He had been cordial and encouraging, and he had heard them out; though,what with their own long speeches, and the interpreting of them, theinterview had lasted a considerable time.
But if the King had listened attentively and courteously, so had not theCouncil; and the contrast was marked. Some listened coldly and withoutinterest, some even wore a contemptuous smile, and there was a restlessshrugging of shoulders, a making of signs one to the other, and at timesan interchange of whispers among the members, which showed plainlyenough that they thought the greater part of what the Russians saidridiculously exaggerated.
Councils, even those held in the King's presence, were by no meansorderly in those days. Everyone present wanted to put in his word, andthat, too, just as and when he pleased, so the Duke had hardly finishedspeaking, when up rose one of the elder and more important-lookingnobles, exclaiming impatiently, "Your Majesty! These foreign lords havetold us very fully to what we owe their present kind visit; and theyhave told us, too, that our country is threatened by ruffianly,contemptible brigands and incendiaries. There is but one thing they haveforgotten. I should like to know whether this horde of would-beconquerors have any courage, discipline, or knowledge of war among them.It seems to me important that they should tell us this in their owninterests, for it needs no great preparation to scat
ter a disorderlyrabble, but valiant warriors are, of course, another thing."
"Very true, Master TibA?rcs," said the King calmly, patiently.
But when the matter was explained to the Russian Duke, he exclaimed,with an expression of the utmost horror and contempt, "Valiant!disciplined! military knowledge! Why, my lord king, who could expectanything of the sort from such thieves and robbers! But, despicable asthey are as soldiers, they are dangerous for all that! They are cowards!They are as wild as cattle, as senseless as stones, but--they havenumbers, countless numbers, on their side. They fall in thousands, andthey use the dead and wounded to bridge the rivers! And they are swiftas the very wind."
Several at the table here exclaimed that the Duke must be magnifying, orat least that he had heard exaggerated reports; and one of the mosttimorous added that to a man who was terrified danger always lookedgreater than it did to anyone else in the world. That man, at allevents, knew what he was talking about!
"We are not afraid, gentlemen," said RomAinovics, turning at once towardsthose seated at the table. "We are exhausted with fighting ourselves,and their blood, too, has flowed in torrents; ten of them have fallen toevery one of our men, but then their numbers are ten times ours."
"Afraid of them?" continued the other, "No! who would be afraid of suchcowardly robbers? Why, ten will run before one man, if he meets themface to face! We don't say they are invincible, quite the contrary. Wecome here in the belief that the heroic nation from whom we seekassistance is quite strong enough to be a match even for such a torrentas this! Nevertheless, there is one thing which must not be forgotten.Though there is no military knowledge among them, though they are nottrained soldiers, they are extremely clever with their war-machines.Nothing can stand against them! And there is another thing. Those whoare conquered are forced into their army; what is more, they are put inthe forefront of the battle, in the place of greatest danger, and theyare driven forward, or murdered if they attempt to escape! So, withdanger before and behind, the miserable wretches fight with all thestrength of despair; the victors share the spoil, and those who aredefeated have nothing to expect but death any way, and sometimes a deathof fearful torture too. This, together with their extraordinary rapidityof movement, their cunning, and powers of endurance, is the secret oftheir strength."
So spoke the Russian Dukes, and their words made a certain impression,though even now some of the Council were hardly convinced of theimportance of the danger. Many were scornful of the new-comers, andvarious contrary opinions were being expressed, when all at once therewas a roar outside as if a battle were already going on in the streets,and some of the palace guards rushed into the Council chamber.
All leapt to their feet. Swords all flashed simultaneously from theirscabbards, and in a moment, BA(C)la was surrounded, and over his head therewas a canopy of iron blades. To do them justice, their first thought wasfor the safety of the King.
"What has happened?" he asked of the guards, when the hubbub around himhad subsided.
"The people have risen! They are asking for the head of Kuthen," was theanswer.
There was a shout of "Treachery, treachery, treachery!" without, and thenext instant the mob burst into the hall.
"Gentlemen! to your places! put up your swords," said the King, in sucha peremptory tone that his command was at once obeyed. Then rising fromhis chair and turning to the intruders with perfect calm and dignity, hebade them come forward.
"The King is always ready to hear the complaints of his people! What isit you want, children? But let one speak at a time, that will be thewiser way, for if you all clamour together, my sons, I shall not be ableto understand any one of you. Ah! you are there, I see BarkA cubed _deAik_;come here, you are a sensible man, I know; you tell me what is thematter."
BarkA cubed was a notable man in his own set, and his sobriquet of _deAik_showed that he possessed some learning, at least to the extent of beingable to write, and having some knowledge of the Scriptures, as well asof the laws, called "customs."
He was a man whose judgment was respected, and when first suspicion fellupon the Kunok, he was besieged by those who wanted his advice as to howthey ought to act in these dangerous circumstances.
Now, on the days when BarkA cubed got out of bed right foot foremost, he wouldcalm his inquirers by saying wisely enough that until Kuthen himself wasdetected in some suspicious act, the time had not come for accusing him.But, unfortunately, BarkA cubed was not without his domestic troubles in theshape of a wife, who would always have the last word, and so sometimesit happened that he got up left foot foremost.
It was on one of these unlucky days that the people of Pest and theneighbourhood, having somehow heard, as people always do hear, that theKing was holding a Council for the purpose of taking measures of defenceagainst the Mongols, "Tartars," as they called them, came with oneconsent to BarkA cubed's house, and swarmed into it in such numbers that heleapt out of the window to escape them. But no sooner had his feettouched the ground than they were at once taken off it again, and he wascaught up and raised on high, amid loud shouts from the crowd that hemust be their leader and spokesman.
"What am I to do? What do you want?" he cried.
"Let's go to the King! Treachery! The Kunok are bringing the Tartarsupon us! We want the head of Kuthen!"
Such were the cries which assailed him on all sides, and BarkA cubed let themshout till they were tired.
"Very well, children," he said, as soon as there was a chance of makinghimself heard. "Very well, we will go to his Majesty. He will listen tohis faithful people and find some way of putting an end to themischief."
"We will go now!" they shouted.
"No! let's wait!" roared a grey-beard, with a shake of his shaggy head,using his broad shoulders and sharp elbows to force a way through thecrowd.
"We won't go to the King! We'll go straight to the other King, thevagabond and traitor Kuthen. We will take his treacherous head to ourown good King!"
"Good! good!" cried the mob.
"It is not good!" shouted BarkA cubed. "It is for the King to command, it isfor us to ask. If I am to be your leader, trust the matter to me."
"Let us trust it to Mr. BarkA cubed," cried some voices again.
"So then, I am the leader, and if we want to go before the King'sMajesty, let us do it respectfully, not as if we were a rabble going toa tavern. Here! make room for me! put me down!"
And BarkA cubed puffed and panted, and shook himself, as if he had swum acrossthe Danube.
Then he called three or four of the crowd to him to help in forming upsome sort of procession.
"There! I go in the middle, as the leader, and you, the army, will marchin two files after me."
"But we are here, too, Mr. BarkA cubed!" cried some shriller voices.
"The petticoats will bring up the rear!" said Mr. BarkA cubed authoritatively.
And in this order the crowd proceeded on its way; but, notwithstandingall BarkA cubed's precautions, it was a very tumultuous crowd which burst intothe King's presence.
BarkA cubed had made the journey bare-headed; and now, being called upon tospeak, he bowed low before the King, saying: "Your Majesty! Grace beupon my head. Since the devil is bringing the Tartars upon us, thepeople humbly beg the head of the traitor Kuthen! And we will bring itto you, if you will only give us the command, your Majesty!"
"It shall be here directly, and the heads of all his brood, too!" criedBarkA cubed's followers.
BarkA cubed, seeing that the King did not speak, turned to them, saying in atone of command, "Silence! I will speak, asking the King's grace upon myhead."
And turning again to the King he added, "If we don't root them out, mylord King, the Tartars will find the banquet all made ready for themwhen they come. The vagabonds in the country-districts are alreadylaying hands on property not their own, and behaving just as if theywere at home."
One or two voices from among the crowd echoed these complaints, andadded others as to the disrespect shown to the
Magyar women.
"Silence," interrupted BarkA cubed. "Let us hear his Majesty, our lord theKing. What he commands that we will do, and we must not do anythingelse," he added, by way of showing that he could read writing, and wasacquainted with the style in which the royal commands were expressed.
The King heard all without appearing in the least disturbed, while thoseat the table kept their hands all the time on their swords, and it wasby no means without emotion that the two Russian Dukes looked on atthis, to them, very novel kind of Council, and at this unconventionalway of approaching the King's presence.
At last there was silence. BarkA cubed had said his say, and the cries andexclamations of his followers having subsided, the King addressed themand him.
First he praised him for his discretion in coming to seek counsel of theKing, and then he reminded him that a good king was also a just judge.But a just judge always heard both sides of a question before he gavejudgment. If, therefore, he were now to give his consent to what hisfaithful children wished, and were to deliver King Kuthen, who was bothhis guest and theirs, into their hands, and that without hearing him ashe had heard them, why, then he would be a bad judge, and therefore nota good king. Moreover, if he were unjust in one case he might be so inanother.
"If, for instance," said he, "Paul came to me with a complaint againstPeter, we might have Mr. Peter's head cut off; and if Peter accusedPaul, we might have Paul beheaded. For, my children, others have as muchright to justice as ourselves; therefore, hear our commands, and as myfaithful servant, the honourable Mr. BarkA cubed has said, observe them and donothing else."
All eyes were fixed upon the King, and they listened with wraptattention and in perfect silence as he proceeded:
"Strict inquiry shall be made as to whether there be any real ground ofsuspicion against King Kuthen; and if there is, he and his people shallbe punished! But we must let the law take its course, and my dearcitizens of Pest may wait quietly and confidently while it does. Fromthis day forth the Kun King will not leave his residence, a guard shallbe placed at his gate, and we will have the matter regularlyinvestigated without delay."
There was a burst of "Eljens" (vivas) as the King concluded. The peopleappeared to be thoroughly satisfied, and when BarkA cubed, after a lowreverence, turned to leave the hall, his followers made a way for himthrough their midst, and cleared out after him, quickly at all events,if not with much dignity.
History tells us that the King's Council was satisfied also, no lessthan the people, who had, indeed, been purposely excited by some of thenobles, and used more or less as a cat's paw. The order that Kuthenshould be guarded was, as we have seen, given and executed forthwith.BA(C)la had given it most unwillingly, only, in fact, to appease theexcitement, and in the hope of avoiding still worse evils; and thoughsome were still dissatisfied, this was the case with but few of thecooler heads.
And the Russian Dukes, when they were able to speak to the King inprivate, admitted that numbers of Kunok had indeed been forced by BatuKhan to serve in his army; but they added that these recruits were onlywaiting the first favourable opportunity to desert and join with theirkinsmen, and with the Hungarians, in exterminating the common enemy. Andwhat they feared was that, if the Kunok heard that their King, whom theyworshipped, was being kept under restraint, they would actually do whatthe majority and so many of the chief nobles now without reasonsuspected them of.
BA(C)la understood human nature, and to him it seemed that to throw somesort of sop to Cerberus was wiser than to risk the exciting of greaterdiscontent.
But again the King made a mistake!