CHAPTER I.
Jurand, finding himself in the castleyard, did not know at first where togo, because the servant, who had led him through the gate, had left himand gone toward the stables. It is true, the soldiers stood near thepalisades, either singly or in groups, but their faces were so insolent,and their looks so derisive, that the knight could easily guess that theywould not show him the way, and even if they were to make a reply to hisquestion, it would be a brutal or an indignant one.
Some laughed, pointing at him with their fingers, others commenced tothrow snow at him, like yesterday. But he, noticing a door larger thanthe others, over which was cut out in stone Christ on a cross, turned toit, thinking that if the count and the elders were in another part of thecastle or in other rooms, somebody must set him right.
And so it happened. The instant Jurand approached that particular door,both halves of it opened suddenly, and there stood before it a youth witha head shaven like the clericals, but dressed in a worldly dress, whoinquired:
"Are you Sir Jurand of Spychow?"
"I am."
"The pious count ordered me to guide you. Follow me."
And he commenced to lead him through a great vaulted vestibule toward astaircase. At the stairs though he halted, and casting a glance atJurand, again inquired:
"But have you no weapon with you? I was ordered to search you."
Jurand threw up his arms, so that his guide might be able to view hiswhole figure, and replied:
"Yesterday I gave up everything."
Then the guide lowered his voice and said almost in a whisper:
"Be careful then not to break out into anger, because you are under mightand superior force."
"But also under God's will," returned Jurand.
Then he looked more carefully at his guide, and observing in his facesomething in the nature of mercy and sympathy, said:
"Honesty looks through your eyes, young man! Will you answer sincerely towhat I question?"
"Make haste, sir," said the guide.
"Will they return the child to me?"
And the youth raised his brows wonderingly.
"Is your child here?"
"My daughter."
"That lady in the tower near the gate?"
"Yes. They promised to send her away if I surrendered to them."
The guide waved his hand to signify that he knew nothing, but his faceexpressed trouble and doubt.
Then Jurand further asked:
"Is it true, that Shomberg and Markward are watching her?"
"Those brethren are not in the castle. Take her away though, sir, ere thenobleman Danveld regains his health."
Hearing that, Jurand shivered, but there was no time to ask any morequestions, because they had arrived at the hall on the upper floor inwhich Jurand was to face the chief Shchycienski. The youth, after havingopened the door, retreated toward the stairs.
The knight of Spychow entered and found himself in a roomy apartment,very dark, because the lead-framed, oval-shaped panes transmitted verylittle light; furthermore the day was wintry and cloudy. There was, it istrue, a fire burning in a large chimney at the other end of theapartment, but the green logs produced little flame. Only after a time,when Jurand's eyes became used to the darkness, he distinguished a tablebehind which were knights sitting, and behind them a whole group of armedwarriors and servants also armed, among whom the castle fool held a tamebear by a chain.
Jurand had frequently met Danveld some time before, and afterward hadseen him twice at the court of the prince of Mazowsze, as delegate, butseveral years had passed since that time; yet, notwithstanding thedarkness, he recognized him instantly, because of his obesity, his face,and finally because he sat in the centre behind the table in an armchair,his hand being circled by wooden splints and resting upon the arm of thechair. To his right sat the old Zygfried von Loeve of Insburk, aninexorable foe of the Polish race in general, and particularly of Jurandof Spychow; to his left were the younger brethren, Godfried and Rotgier.Danveld had invited them purposely, to witness his triumph over athreatening foe, and at the same time to enjoy the fruits of the treasonwhich they had plotted together, and in the accomplishment of which theyhad assisted. They sat now comfortably dressed in soft dark cloth, withlight swords at their sides. They were joyous and self-confident, andlooking upon Jurand with that pride and extreme contempt which theyalways bore in their hearts toward the weaker and vanquished.
The silence lasted a long while, because they wished to satiatethemselves with the sight of the man whom they had previously dreaded,and who stood before them now with his head bowed upon his breast, anddressed like a penitent in sackcloth, and with a rope around his neck,upon which was suspended the scabbard of his sword.
They also apparently wanted as great a number of people as possible towitness his humiliation, for through a side door, leading into otherrooms, whoever pleased entered, and the hall was nearly half filled witharmed men. They all looked with extreme eagerness at Jurand, conversingloudly and making remarks about him.
But he gained confidence, at the sight of them, because he thought tohimself:
"If Danveld did not wish to keep his promise, he would not have orderedso many witnesses."
Meanwhile Danveld raised his hand, and stopped the conversation; he thenmade a sign to one of the warriors, who approached Jurand, and catchingthe rope which encircled his neck, dragged him a few steps nearer thetable.
And Danveld looked triumphantly at those present and said:
"Look, how the power of religion defeats anger and pride."
"May God always grant it so!" answered those present.
Then again followed a moment of silence, after which Danveld turned tothe prisoner:
"You were biting the faith like a mad dog, therefore God has caused youto stand before us, with a rope around your neck, looking for charity andmercy."
"Do not compare me with a dog, count," replied Jurand, "because you thuslower the honor of those who met me and fell under my hand."
At these words the armed Germans commenced to murmur: it was not knownwhether the daring answer aroused their anger or whether they were struckby its justice.
But the count, dissatisfied at such a turn of the conversation, said:
"Look, even now he spits into our eyes with arrogance and pride!"
Jurand then raised his hands, like a man who calls heaven to witness, andshaking his head, answered:
"God sees that my arrogance remained outside your gate; God sees and willjudge, whether in dishonoring my knighthood, you did not dishonoryourself. There is the honor of a nobleman, which every one who has abelt around him, should respect."
Danveld wrinkled his brows, but at that moment the castle fool started torattle the chain to which he had fastened the bear, and called out:
"Sermon! sermon! the preacher from Mazowsze has arrived! Listen! to thesermon!"
Then turning to Danveld, he said:
"Sir! Duke Rosenheim ordered his sexton to eat the bell-rope from knot toknot whenever the latter awakened him too early for the sermon. Thispreacher has also a rope around his neck--make him also eat it up beforehe finishes his sermon."
And, having said this, he gazed at the count in some alarm, beinguncertain whether the count would laugh or whether his inappropriateremark would result in an order for a flogging for him. But the religiousbrethren, gentle, well-behaved, and even humble, whenever they felt theywere not in power, did not know any limits before the defeated;therefore, Danveld not only nodded his head at the bear-leader as a signthat he permitted the mockery, but he himself burst out with suchunheard-of roughness that the faces of the younger warriors expressedastonishment.
"Don't complain that you were put to shame," he said, "because even if Ihad made you a dogcatcher, a religious dogcatcher is better than you,knight!"
And the encouraged fool commenced to shout: "Bring the currycomb, combthe bear, and he in turn will comb your shags with his paws."
At that, la
ughter was heard here and there, and a voice exclaimed frombehind the religious brethren:
"You will cut reeds on the lake in the summer!"
"And catch crabs with your carcass!" exclaimed another.
A third added: "And now begin to drive away the crows from the hangingthief! There will always be plenty of work for you."
Thus they made fun of the once terrible Jurand. The assembly graduallybecame joyous. Some, leaving the table, began to approach the prisonerand look at him closely, saying:
"This is the wild boar of Spychow, whose tusks our count has knocked out;his snout is surely foaming; he would gladly tear somebody, but hecannot!"
Danveld and others of the religious brethren, who at first had wished togive the hearing the solemn appearance of a court, seeing that the affairhad turned out differently, also arose from their benches and mingledwith those who approached Jurand.
The old Zygfried of Insburk was dissatisfied at that, but the counthimself said:
"Be cheerful, there will be a greater joy yet!"
And they also commenced to look at Jurand, for this was a rareopportunity, because when any of the knights or servants had seen himbefore from so near, they had usually closed their eyes forever. Some ofthem also remarked:
"He is broad shouldered, although he has a fur beneath his sack; he couldbe wrapped up with pease straw, and exhibited in country fairs."
Others again commenced to ask for beer in order to make the day a stillpleasanter one.
And so in a few moments flowing pitchers began to clink and the dark hallbecame covered with the foam escaping from under the covers. Thegood-humored count said:
"That is just right, let him not think that his disgrace is of greatimportance!"
So they again approached him, and touching his chin with their pewters,said:
"You would like to drink, Mazovian snout!" and others, pouring the beerinto their palms, cast it into his eyes, while he stood among themstunned and abused, until at last he moved toward the old Zygfried, andapparently feeling that he could not stand it any longer, he began to cryso loudly as to deafen the noise in the hall:
"By the torture of the Saviour and the salvation of the soul, restore tome my child, as you promised!"
And he attempted to seize the right hand of the old count who quicklywithdrew and said:
"Avaunt, prisoner! what dost thou want?"
"I released Bergow from prison, and came myself, because in return youpromised to restore my child who is here."
"Who promised you that?" inquired Danveld.
"By the soul and faith, you, count!"
"You will not find any witnesses, but they amount to nothing, if honorand word are in question."
"Upon your honor, upon that of the Order," exclaimed Jurand.
"Then your daughter will be returned to you!" replied Danveld, and,turning to the others, remarked: "All that has happened to him here is aninnocent trifle in comparison with his violence and crimes. But since wepromised to return his daughter if he should appear and submit himself tous, then know, that the word of a Knight of the Cross is, like God'sword, irreproachable, and that that girl, whom we saved from the hands ofrobbers, shall now be given her liberty, and after an exemplary penancefor his sins against the Order, he also shall be allowed to go back tohis home."
Such a speech astounded some, because, knowing Danveld and his old hatredfor Jurand, they did not expect such honesty from him. Therefore oldZygfried, together with Rotgier and Brother Godfried, looked at him,raising and wrinkling their brows with astonishment, but he pretended notto observe their inquiring looks and said:
"I'll send your daughter back under guard, but you must remain here untilour guard returns safely and until you have paid your ransom."
Jurand himself was somewhat astonished, because he had ceased to hopethat his sacrifice would be of any use to Danusia; he therefore looked atDanveld, almost with thankfulness and replied:
"May God reward you, count!"
"Recognize the Knights of the Cross," said Danveld.
"All mercy from Him!" replied Jurand; "but, since it is long since I sawmy child, permit me to see and bless my girl."
"Bah, and not otherwise than before all of us, so that there may bewitnesses of our good faith and mercy."
Then he ordered the warriors standing near to bring Danusia, while hehimself approached von Loeve, Rotgier and Godfried, who surrounded him andcommenced a quick and animated conversation.
"I do not oppose you, although this was not your object," said oldZygfried.
And the hot Rotgier, famous for his courage and cruelties, said: "How isthis? not only the girl but also that devilish dog is going to beliberated, that he may bite again?"
"He will bite not that way only!" exclaimed Godfried.
"Bah! he will pay ransom!" lazily replied Danveld.
"Even if he should return everything, in a year he will have robbed twiceas much."
"I shall not object as to the girl," repeated Zygfried; "but this wolfwill yet make the sheep of the Order weep more than once."
"And our word?" queried Danveld, laughingly.
"You spoke differently...."
Danveld shrugged his shoulders. "Did you not have enough pleasure?" heinquired. "Do you wish more?"
Others surrounded Jurand again and commenced to brag before him, praisingthe upright conduct of Danveld, and the impression it made upon themembers of the Order.
"And what bone breaker!" said the captain of the castle-archers. "Yourheathen brethren would not have treated our Christian knights so!"
"You drank our blood?"
"And we give you bread for stones."
But Jurand paid no attention either to the pride or to the contempt whichtheir words contained: his heart swelled and his eyelashes were moist. Hethought that he would see Danusia in a moment, and that he would see heractually by their favor; he therefore gazed at the speakers almost withhumility, and finally said:
"True! true! I used to be hard on you but ... not treacherous."
That instant a voice at the other end of the hall suddenly cried: "Theyare bringing the girl;" and immediately silence reigned throughout thehall. The soldiers scattered to both sides, because none of them had everseen Jurand's daughter, and the majority of them did not even know of herpresence in the castle on account of the secrecy with which Danveldsurrounded his actions; but those who knew, whispered to one anotherabout her admirable grace. All eyes turned with extreme curiosity towardthe door through which she was to appear.
Meanwhile a warrior appeared in front followed by the well-known servantof the Order, the same woman that rode to the court in the forest. Afterher entered a girl dressed in white, with loose hair tied with a ribbonon the forehead.
And suddenly one great outburst of laughter, like the roaring of thunder,rang through the entire hall. Jurand, who at the first moment had sprungtoward his daughter, suddenly recoiled and stood as pale as linen,looking with surprise at the ill-shaped head, the bluish lips, and theexpressionless eyes of the wench who was restored to him as Danusia.
"This is not my daughter!" he said, in a terrifying voice.
"Not your daughter?" exclaimed Danveld. "By the holy Liboryusz ofPaderborn! Then either we did not rescue your daughter from the murderersor some wizard has changed her, because there is no other in Szczytno."
Old Zygfried, Rotgier and Godfried exchanged quick glances with eachother, full of admiration at the shrewdness of Danveld, but none of themhad time enough to speak, because Jurand began to shout with a terriblevoice:
"She is, she is in Szczytno! I heard her sing, I heard the voice of dearDanusia!"
Upon that Danveld turned to those assembled and said quietly butpointedly:
"I take you all present as witnesses and especially you, Zygfried ofInsburk, and you pious brothers, Rotgier and Godfried, that, according tomy word and given promise, I restore that girl, who was said by therobbers whom we defeated, to be the daughter of Jurand of Spychow. If sh
eis not--it is not our fault, but rather the will of our Lord, who in thatmanner wished to deliver Jurand into our hands."
Zygfried and the two younger brethren bowed to signify that they heardand would testify in case of necessity. Then again they glanced quicklyat each other, because it was more than they ever could have expected tocapture Jurand, not to restore his daughter, and still ostensibly to keepa promise; who else could do that?
But Jurand threw himself upon his knees and commenced to conjure Danveldby all the relics in Malborg, then by the ashes and heads of his parents,to restore to him his true child and not proceed like a swindler andtraitor, breaking oaths and promises. His voice contained so much despairand truth, that some began to suspect treason; others again thought thatsome wizard had actually changed the appearance of the girl.
"God looks upon your treason!" exclaimed Jurand. "By the Saviour'swounds, by the hour of your death, return my child!"
And arising, he went bent double toward Danveld, as if he wished toembrace his knees; and his eyes glittered with madness, and his voicebroke alternately with pain, fear, and dread. Danveld, hearing theaccusations of treason and deceit in presence of all, commenced to snort,and at length his features worked with rage; so that like a flame in hisdesire utterly to crush the unfortunate, he advanced and bending down tohis ear, whispered through his set teeth: "If I ever give her up, it willbe with my bastard...."
But at that very moment Jurand roared like a bull, and with both hands hecaught Danveld and raised him high in the air.
The hall still resounded with the terrible cry: "Save me!" when the bodyof the count struck the stone floor with such terrible force that thebrains from the shattered skull bespattered Zygfried and Rotgier whostood by. Jurand sprang to the wall, near which stood the arms, andsnatching a large two-handed weapon, ran like a storm at the Germans, whowere petrified with terror. The people were used to battles, butchery andblood, and yet their hearts sank to such an extent that even after thepanic had passed, they commenced to retreat and escape like a flock ofsheep before a wolf who kills with one stroke of his claws. The hallresounded with the cry of terror, with the sound of human footsteps, theclang of the overturned vessels, the howling of the servants, thegrowling of the bear, who, tearing himself out of the hands of thetrainer, started to climb on a high window, and a terror-stricken cry forarms and targets, weapons and crossbows. Finally weapons gleamed, and anumber of sharp points were directed toward Jurand, but he, not caringfor anything, half crazed, sprang toward them, and there commenced anunheard-of wild fight, resembling a butchery more than a contest of arms.The young and fiery Brother Godfried was the first to intercept Jurand'sway, but he severed his head, hand and shoulder-blade with a lightningswing of his weapon; after him fell by Jurand's hand the captain of thearchers, and the castle administrator, von Bracht and the EnglishmanHugues, who, although he did not very well understand the cause, pitiedJurand and his sufferings, and only drew his weapon when Danveld waskilled. Others, seeing the terrible force and the fury of the man,gathered closely together, so as to offer combined resistance, but thisplan brought about a still greater defeat, because he, with his hairstanding upright on his head, with maddened eyes, covered all over withblood, panting, raging and furious, broke, tore and cut with terriblestrokes of his sword that battered group, casting men to the floor,splashed all over with clotted blood, as a storm overturns bushes andtrees. Then followed a moment of terrific fright, in which it seemed thatthis terrible Mazovian, all by himself, would hew and slay all thesepeople. Like a pack of barking hounds that cannot overpower a fierce boarwithout the assistance of the hunters, so were those armed Germans; theycould not match his might and fierceness in that fight which resultedonly in their death and discomfiture.
"Scatter! surround him! strike from behind!" shrieked old Zygfried vonLoeve.
They consequently dispersed through the hall like a flock of starlings inthe field upon which a hawk with crooked beak swoops from a height, butthey could not surround him, because, in the heat of the fight, insteadof looking for a place of defence, he commenced to chase them around thewalls and whoever was overtaken died as if thunderstruck. Humiliation,despair, disappointed hope, changed into one thirst for blood, seemed tomultiply tenfold his terrific natural strength. A weapon, for which themost powerful of the Knights of the Cross needed both hands, he managedto wield with one as if it were a feather. He did not care for his life,nor look for escape; he did not even crave for victory; he soughtrevenge, and like a fire, or like a river, which breaking a dam, blindlydestroys everything obstructing its flow, so he, a terrible, blindfoldeddestroyer, tore, broke, trampled, killed and extinguished human beings.They could not hurt him in his back, because, in the beginning they wereunable to overtake him; moreover the common soldiers feared to come nearhim even from behind; they knew that if he happened to turn no humanpower could save them from death. Others were simply terror-stricken atthe thought, that an ordinary man could cause so much havoc, and thatthey were dealing with a man who was aided by some superhuman power.
But old Zygfried, and with him Brother Rotgier, rushed to the gallerywhich extended above the large windows of the hall, and commenced to callothers to take shelter after them; these did so in haste, so that, on thenarrow stairs, they pushed each other in their desire to get up asquickly as possible and thence to strike the strong knight, with whom anyhand to hand struggle appeared to them impossible.
Finally, the last one banged the door leading to the gallery and Jurandremained alone below. From the gallery the sounds of joy and triumphreached him, and soon heavy oak benches and iron collars of torches beganto fall upon the nobleman. One of the missiles struck him on the foreheadand bathed his face with blood. At the same time the large entrance dooropened, and through the upper windows the summoned servants rushed intothe hall in a body, armed with pikes, halberds, axes, crossbows,palisades, poles, ropes and all varieties of weapons, which they couldhurriedly get hold of. And with his left hand the mad Jurand wiped theblood from his face, so as not to obstruct his sight, gathered himselftogether, and threw himself at the entire throng. In the hall againresounded groans, the clash of iron, the gnashing of teeth and thepiercing voices of the slain men.
In the same hall, behind the table that evening, sat old Zygfried vonLoeve, who, after the bailiff Danveld, temporarily took command ofSzczytno, and near him were Brother Rotgier, and the knight von Bergow, aformer prisoner of Jurand's and two noble youths, novices, who were soonto put on white mantles. The wintry storm was howling outside thewindows, shaking the leaden window-frames; the torchlights, which wereburning in iron frames, wavered, and now and then the wind drove cloudsof smoke from the chimney into the hall. Silence reigned among thebrethren, although they were assembled for a consultation, because theywere waiting for the word from Zygfried, who, again resting his elbows onthe table and running his hands over his grey and bowed head, sat gloomywith his face in the shadow and with sullen thoughts in his soul.
"About what are we to deliberate?" finally asked Brother Rotgier.
Zygfried raised his head, looked at the speaker, and, awakening fromthought, said:
"About the defeat, about what the master and the assembly will say, andabout this, that our actions may not cause any loss to the Order." He wassilent again, but after a while he looked around and moved his nostrils:"There is still a smell of blood here."
"No, count," replied Rotgier; "I ordered the floor to be scrubbed and theplace to be fumigated with sulphur. It is the odor of sulphur."
And Zygfried looked at those present with a strange glance, and said:"God have mercy upon the soul of our brothers Danveld and Godfried!"
They again understood that he implored God's mercy upon their souls,because, at the mention of sulphur, he thought of hell; therefore a chillran through their bones and all at once replied: "Amen! amen! amen!"After a moment the howling of the wind and the rattling of thewindow-frames were heard again.
"Where are the bodies of the count and Brothe
r Godfried?" inquired theold man.
"In the chapel: the priests are chanting the litany over them."
"Are they already in coffins?"
"In coffins, only the count's head is covered, because his skull and faceare crushed."
"Where are the other corpses, and where are the wounded?"
"The corpses are in the snow so as to stiffen whilst the coffins arebeing made, and the wounded are being attended to in the hospital."
Zygfried again ran his hands over his head.
"And one man did that!... God, have the Order under Thy care, when itcomes to a great war with this wolfish race!"
Upon that Rotgier turned up his eyes, as if recollecting something, andsaid: "I heard in Wilno, how the bailiff of Samboz spoke to his brotherthe master: 'If you do not make a great war and get rid of them, so thateven their name shall not remain, then woe to us and our nation.'"
"May God give such a war and a meeting with them!" said one of the noblenovices.
Zygfried looked at him for some time, as if he wanted to say: "You couldhave met one of them to-day," but seeing the small and youthful figure ofthe novice, and perhaps remembering that he himself, although famous forhis courage, did not care to expose himself to a sure destruction,refrained and inquired:
"Who saw Jurand?"
"I," replied von Bergow.
"Is he alive?"
"Yes, he lies in the same net in which we entrapped him. When he awokethe servants wanted to kill him, but the chaplain would not allow it."
"He cannot be executed. He is too great a man among his people, and therewould be a terrible clamor," replied Zygfried. "It will be alsoimpossible to hide what has happened, because there were too manywitnesses."
"What then are we to say and do?" inquired Rotgier.
Zygfried meditated, and finally said:
"You, noble Count von Bergow go to Malborg to the master. You weregroaning in Jurand's slavery, and are now a guest of the Order; thereforeas such, and because you need not necessarily speak in favor of themonks, they will rather believe you. Tell, then, what you saw, thatDanveld, having recovered from a band of rogues a certain girl andthinking her to be Jurand's daughter, informed the latter, who also cameto Szczytno, and what happened further you know yourself."
"Pardon me, pious count," said von Bergow. "I suffered great hardships asa slave in Spychow, and as your guest, I would gladly testify for you;but tell me, for the sake of quieting my soul, whether there was not areal daughter of Jurand's in Szczytno, and whether it was not Danveld'streason that drove her father to madness?"
Zygfried von Loeve hesitated for a moment with his answer; in his naturelay deep hatred toward the Polish nation, and barbarity in which heexceeded even Danveld, and rapacity, and, when the Order was in question,pride and avarice, but there was no falsehood. It was the greatestbitterness and grief of his life, that lately, through insubordinationand riot, the affairs of the Order had turned in such a manner thatfalsehood had become one of the most general and unavoidable factors ofthe life of the Order. Therefore von Bergow's inquiry touched the mostpainful string of his soul, and, after a long silence, he said:
"Danveld stands before God, and God will judge him, while you, duke,should they ask you for conjectures, answer what you please; should theyagain ask you about what you saw, then say that before we coiled a wildman in a net you saw nine corpses, besides the wounded, on this floor,and among them the bodies of Danveld, Brother Godfried, von Bracht andHugues, and two noble youths.... God, give them eternal peace. Amen!"
"Amen! Amen!" again repeated the novices.
"And say also," added Zygfried, "that although Danveld wished to subduethe foe of the Order, yet nobody here raised the first weapon againstJurand."
"I shall say only what my eyes saw," replied von Bergow.
"Be in the chapel before midnight; we shall also go there to pray for thesouls of the dead," answered Zygfried.
He then extended his hand to him as a sign of gratitude and farewell; hewished to remain for a further consultation alone with Brother Rotgier,whom he loved and had great confidence in. After the withdrawal of vonBergow, he also dismissed the two novices, under the pretence that theymight watch the work of the coffins for the common servants killed byJurand, and after the doors had closed behind them he turned withanimation to Rotgier, and said:
"Listen to what I am going to say: there is only one remedy: that noliving soul should ever find out that the real daughter of Jurand waswith us."
"It will not be difficult," replied Rotgier, "because nobody knew thatshe was here except Danveld, Godfried, we two, and those servants of theOrder who watched her. Danveld ordered the people who brought her here tobe made intoxicated and hanged. There were some among the garrison whosuspected something, but that affair confused them, and they do not knownow themselves whether an error happened on our part, or whether somewizard really exchanged Jurand's daughter."
"This is good," said Zygfried.
"I have been thinking again, noble count, whether, since Danveld lives nolonger, we should not cast all the guilt upon him...."
"And so admit before the whole world that we, in a time of peace andconcord with the prince of Mazowsze, ravished from his court the pupil ofthe princess and her beloved courtlady? No, for God's sake! this cannotbe!... We were seen at the court together with Danveld; and the grandmaster, his relative, knows that we always undertook everythingtogether.... If we accuse Danveld, he may desire to avenge hismemory...."
"Let us consult on that," said Rotgier. "Let us consult and find goodadvice, because otherwise woe to us! If we return Jurand's daughter, thenshe will say herself that we did not capture her from robbers, but thatthe people who caught her carried her directly to Szczytno."
"That is so."
"And God is witness that I do not care for the responsibility alone. Theprince will complain to the Polish king, and their delegates will notfail to clamor at all courts against our outrages, our treason, and ourcrime. God alone knows how much loss the Order may suffer from it. Themaster himself, if he knew the truth, ought to order that girl to behidden."
"And even if so, when that girl is lost, will they not accuse us?"inquired Rotgier.
"No! Brother Danveld was a shrewd man. Do you remember, that he imposedthe condition on Jurand, that he should not only appear in Szczytnopersonally, but also previously proclaim and write to the prince, that heis going to ransom his daughter from the robbers, and that he knows thatshe is not with us."
"True! but in that case how shall we justify what happened in Szczytno?"
"We shall say that knowing that Jurand was looking for his child, andhaving captured some girl from the robbers and not being able to tell whoshe was, we informed Jurand, thinking that this might possibly be hisdaughter; on his arrival he fell into a fit at the sight of her, and,being possessed with the devil, shed so much innocent blood that morethan one battle does not cost so much."
"That is true," replied Rotgier, "wisdom and the experience of age speakthrough you. The bad deeds of Danveld, even if we should throw the guilton him, would always go to the account of the Order, therefore, to theaccount of all of us, the assembly and the master himself; so again ourinnocence will become apparent, and all will fall upon Jurand, theiniquity of the Poles and their connection with infernal powers...."
"And then whoever wishes may judge us; the Pope, or the Roman Emperor!"
"Yes!" Then followed a moment of silence, after which Brother Rotgierquestioned:
"What shall we do then with Jurand's daughter?"
"Let us consult."
"Give her to me."
And Zygfried looked at him and replied:
"No I Listen, young brother! When the Order is in question, do not trusta man, woman nor even your own self. Danveld was reached by God's hand,because he not only wished to revenge the wrongs of the Order, but alsoto satisfy his own desires."
"You misjudge me!" said Rotgier.
"Do not trust yourself," interrupted
Zygfried, "because your body andsoul will become effeminate, and the knee of that hard race will some daybear heavily upon your breast, so that you will not be able to arise anymore." And he the third time rested his gloomy head on his hand, but heapparently conversed with his own conscience only, and thought of himselfonly, because he said after a while:
"Much human blood, much pain, many tears weigh heavily on me also ...moreover I did not hesitate to seek other means, when the Order was inquestion, and when I saw I should not succeed by mere force; but when Istand before the Almighty, I shall tell Him: 'I did that for the Order,and for myself--what I chose.'"
And having said this, he put his hands to his breast and opened a darkcloth garment, beneath which appealed a sackcloth. He then pressed histemples with his hands, raised his head and eyes, and exclaimed:
"Give up pleasures and profligacy, harden your bodies and hearts, becauseeven now I see the whiteness of the eagle's feathers in the air and itsclaws reddened with Teutonic blood!..."
Further speech was interrupted by such a terrible knock of the gate thatone window above the gallery opened with a crash, and the entire hall wasfilled with a howling and whistling of the storm and with snowflakes.
"In the name of God, His Son and the Holy Ghost! this is a bad night,"remarked the old Teuton.
"A night of unclean powers," answered Rotgier.
"Are there priests with Danveld's body?"
"Yes.... He departed without absolution.... God have mercy upon him!"
And both ceased speaking. Rotgier presently called some boys, and orderedthem to shut the window and light the torches, and after they had goneaway, he again inquired:
"What will you do with Jurand's daughter? Will you take her away fromhere to Insburk?"
"I shall take her to Insburk and do with her what the good of the Orderdemands."
"What am I to do then?"
"Have you courage in your heart?"
"What have I done to make you doubt it?"
"I doubt not because I know you and love you as my own son for yourcourage. Go then to the court of the prince of Mazowsze and narrateeverything that has happened here, according to our arrangement."
"Can I expose myself to certain destruction?"
"You ought, if your destruction will bring glory to the Cross and Order.But no! Destruction does not await you. They do no harm to a guest:unless somebody should challenge you, as that young knight did whochallenged us all ... he, or somebody else, but that is not terrible...."
"May God grant it! they can seize me though and cast me under ground."
"They will not do that. Remember that there is Jurand's letter to theprince, and besides that you will go to accuse Jurand. Narrate faithfullywhat he did in Szczytno, and they must believe you.... We were even thefirst to inform him that there was a certain girl; we were the first toinvite him to come to see her, and he came, went mad, killed the countand slew our people. Thus you will speak, and what can they say to you?Danveld's death will certainly resound throughout the whole Mazowsze. Onthat account they will fail to bring charges. They will actually look forJurand's daughter, but, since Jurand himself wrote that she is not here,no suspicion will fall upon us. It is necessary to face them boldly andclose their mouths, because they will also think that if we were guilty,none of us would dare to go there."
"True! I will set out on the journey immediately after Danveld'sfuneral."
"May God bless you, my dear son! If you do all properly, they not onlywill not detain you, but they will have to disavow Jurand, so that we maynot be able to say: 'Look how they treat us!'"
"And so we must sue at all courts."
"The grand master will attend to that for the benefit of the Order,besides being Danveld's relative."
"But if that devil of Spychow should survive and regain his liberty!..."
A dark look came into Zygfried's eyes and he replied slowly andemphatically:
"Even if he should regain his liberty, he will never utter a word ofaccusation against the Order."
He then commenced again to instruct Rotgier, what to say and demand atthe court in Mazowsze.
The Knights of the Cross, or, Krzyzacy: Historical Romance Page 35
