The Knights of the Cross, or, Krzyzacy: Historical Romance
she will say herself that we did not capture her from robbers, but that
the 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. The
prince will complain to the Polish king, and their delegates will not
fail to clamor at all courts against our outrages, our treason, and our
crime. God alone knows how much loss the Order may suffer from it. The
master himself, if he knew the truth, ought to order that girl to be
hidden."
"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 imposed
the condition on Jurand, that he should not only appear in Szczytno
personally, but also previously proclaim and write to the prince, that he
is going to ransom his daughter from the robbers, and that he knows that
she 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, and
having captured some girl from the robbers and not being able to tell who
she was, we informed Jurand, thinking that this might possibly be his
daughter; 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 more
than one battle does not cost so much."
"That is true," replied Rotgier, "wisdom and the experience of age speak
through you. The bad deeds of Danveld, even if we should throw the guilt
on him, would always go to the account of the Order, therefore, to the
account of all of us, the assembly and the master himself; so again our
innocence will become apparent, and all will fall upon Jurand, the
iniquity 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 Rotgier
questioned:
"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 trust
a 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 also
to satisfy his own desires."
"You misjudge me!" said Rotgier.
"Do not trust yourself," interrupted Zygfried, "because your body and
soul will become effeminate, and the knee of that hard race will some day
bear heavily upon your breast, so that you will not be able to arise any
more." And he the third time rested his gloomy head on his hand, but he
apparently conversed with his own conscience only, and thought of himself
only, 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 in
question, and when I saw I should not succeed by mere force; but when I
stand 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 dark
cloth garment, beneath which appealed a sackcloth. He then pressed his
temples with his hands, raised his head and eyes, and exclaimed:
"Give up pleasures and profligacy, harden your bodies and hearts, because
even now I see the whiteness of the eagle's feathers in the air and its
claws reddened with Teutonic blood!..."
Further speech was interrupted by such a terrible knock of the gate that
one window above the gallery opened with a crash, and the entire hall was
filled 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 ordered
them to shut the window and light the torches, and after they had gone
away, he again inquired:
"What will you do with Jurand's daughter? Will you take her away from
here to Insburk?"
"I shall take her to Insburk and do with her what the good of the Order
demands."
"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 your
courage. Go then to the court of the prince of Mazowsze and narrate
everything 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 who
challenged 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 the
prince, and besides that you will go to accuse Jurand. Narrate faithfully
what he did in Szczytno, and they must believe you.... We were even the
first to inform him that there was a certain girl; we were the first to
invite him to come to see her, and he came, went mad, killed the count
and slew our people. Thus you will speak, and what can they say to you?
Danveld's death will certainly resound throughout the whole Mazowsze. On
that account they will fail to bring charges. They will actually look for
Jurand'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 and
close 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's
funeral."
"May God bless you, my dear son! If you do all properly, they not only
will not detain you, but they will have to disavow Jurand, so that we may
not 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 and
emphatically:
"Even if he should regain his liberty, he will never utter a word of
accusation against the Order."
He then commenced again to instruct Rotgier, what to say and demand at
the court in Mazowsze.
CHAPTER II.
The rumor of the occurrence in Szczytno arrived in Warsaw however before
Brother Rotgier, and there excited amazement and concern. Neither the
king himself, nor anybody else at the court, could understand what had
happened. Shortly before, just when Mikolaj of Dlugolas was starting for
Malborg with the prince's letter, in which he bitterly complained of the
capture of Danusia by turbulent border counts and almost threateningly
demanded her instant restoration, a letter had arrived from the owner of
Spychow stating that his daughter was not captured by the Teutons, but by
ordinary border bandits, and that she would be soon released for a
ransom. On that account the messenger did not leave; nobody ever dreamed
of the Teutons extorting such a letter from Jurand by the threat of his
daughter's death. It was difficult to understand what had happened,
because the border chiefs, who were subjects of the prince as well as of
the Order, attacked one another in the summer, but not in the winter when
the snows betrayed their trail. They also usually attacked merchants, or
perpetrated robberies in the villages, capturing people and seizing their
herds, but to dare to attack the prince himself and to capture his
protégée, who was at the same time the daughter of a powerful and
universally feared knight, this seemed entirely to exceed human belief.
This, as well as other doubts, was answered by Jurand's letter under his
own seal, brought this time by a man who was known to come from Spychow;
under such circumstances all suspicions became impossible; the prince
only became more enraged than he had ever been seen before, and he
ordered a pursuit of the ravishers throughout the border of his
principality, at the same time ordering the prince of Plock to do the
same and not fail to punish the insolent fellows.
Just then arrived the news of what had happened at Szczytno.
And as it passed from mouth to mouth, it was multiplied tenfold. It was
said that Jurand, having arrived all alone in the castle, ran in through
the open gate and there committed such slaughter that the garrison was so
terrified that it had to send for help to the neighboring castles, to
summon the superior knighthood and armed foot-soldiers, who only after a
two days' siege succeeded in reentering the castle and there slaying
Jurand as well as his associates. It was also said that those forces
would probably cross the border, and that a great war would undoubtedly
begin. The prince, who knew of how great consequence it was to the grand
master in case of war with the Polish king for the powers of both
principalities of Mazowsze to remain neutral, did not believe these
stories, because it was no secret to him, that should the Teutons declare
war on him or the principality of Plock, no human power could keep the
Poles back; the master therefore dreaded that war. He knew that it must
come, but he wished to postpone it, firstly, because he was of a peaceful
disposition, and secondly, because, in order to meet Jagiello's power, it
was necessary to gather a strength which the Order until now had never
yet possessed, and at the same time to secure the assistance of the
princes and knighthood, not only in Germany, but also in the entire West.
The prince, therefore, did not fear the war, but he wished to know what
had happened, what he really was to think of the occurrence in Szczytno,
of the disappearance of Danusia, and all those stories which arrived from
the border; he was also glad, although he hated the Teutons, when on a
certain evening the captain of the archers informed him that a knight of
the Order had arrived and begged for an audience.
He received him proudly, nevertheless, and although he recognized him
instantly as one of the brethren who were in the Forest Court, he
pretended not to recollect him and inquired who he was, whence he came,
and what caused his arrival in Warsaw.
"I am Brother Rotgier," replied the Teuton, "and a short time ago I had
the honor to bow before your Highness."
"Why then, being a brother, do you not wear the insignia of the Order?"
The knight commenced to explain that he did not wear a white cloak,
because by so doing he would be undoubtedly captured or killed by the
knighthood of Mazowsze: throughout the whole world, in all kingdoms and
principalities, the sign of the cross on the cloak is a protection and
gains human good-will and hospitality, and only in the principality of
Mazowsze does the cross expose the man who wears it to certain death.
But the prince interrupted him angrily:
"Not the cross," he said, "because we also kiss it, but your vices and if
they receive you better elsewhere it is, because they do not know you so
well."
Then, seeing that the knight was greatly troubled at these words, he
inquired: "Were you in Szczytno, do you know what happened there?"
"I was in Szczytno and know what happened there," replied Rotgier, "and I
came here not as any one's messenger, but only because the experienced
and pious count of Insburk told me: 'Our master loves the pious prince