The Knights of the Cross, or, Krzyzacy: Historical Romance
"All this seems to me very strange," suddenly interrupted Macko. "If that
old dog thirsts so much for the blood of all who belong to Jurand, he
would have killed Danuska."
"He wanted to do so," replied Sanderus, "but something happened to him
and he became very sick, and was at the point of death. His people
whisper much over that affair. Some say that upon a certain night when he
went to the tower intending to kill the young lady he met the Evil
Spirit--some say it was an angel whom he met--well--they found him lying
upon the snow in front of the tower wholly lifeless. Now, when he thinks
about it, his hair stands up upon his head like oak-trees; this is the
reason why he does not himself dare to lift up his hand against her, he
even fears to order others to do it. He has with him the dumb executioner
of Szczytno, but it is not known why, because the executioner as well as
others, are equally afraid to harm her."
These words made a great impression. Zbyszko, Macko and the Bohemian came
near Sanderus, who crossed himself and then continued:
"It was not well to be among them. More than once I heard and saw things
that made my flesh creep. I have told your lordship already that
something was wrong with the old _comthur's_ head. Bah! How could it be
otherwise, when spirits from the other world visit him. He would have
remained there, but some presence is always near him which sounds like
one who is breathless. And that is that very Danveld, whom the terrible
lord of Spychow killed. Then Zygfried says to him: 'What shall I do? I
cannot avenge you on anything; what profit will you get?' But the other
(the ghost) gnashes his teeth and then pants again. Very often Rotgier
appears, and the odor of sulphur is noticeable, and the _comthur_ has a
lengthy conversation with him. 'I cannot,' he says to him. 'I cannot.
When I come myself then I will do it, but now I cannot.' I also heard the
old man asking: 'Will that comfort you, dear son,' and other expressions
of the same character. When this happens, the old _comthur_ speaks to
nobody for two or three days in succession, and his face seems as if he
is suffering intense pain. He and the woman servant of the Order watch
the litter carefully, so that the young lady is always unable to see
anybody."
"Do they not torture her?" asked Zbyszko, in hollow tones.
"I will tell your lordship the candid truth, that I did not hear any
beating or crying; the only thing I heard proceeding from the litter was
sad melodies; sometimes it seemed to me like sweet, sad warblings of a
bird...."
"That is terrible," exclaimed Zbyszko, his voice hissing between his set
teeth.
But Macko interrupted further questioning.
"That is enough," he said. "Speak now of the battle. Did you see how they
departed and what became of them?"
"I saw and will give a faithful account. At first they fought terribly.
But when they saw that they were surrounded on all sides, then only they
thought of escape. Sir Arnold, who is quite a giant, was the first to
break the ring, and opened such a road, that he, the old _comthur_ and
some people with the horse-litter succeeded in passing through it."
"How is it that they were not pursued?"
"They were pursued, but nothing could be done, because when they came too
near them, then Sir Arnold faced the pursuers and fought them all. God
protect those who meet him, because he possesses such extraordinary
strength; he considers it a trifle to fight against a hundred. Thrice he
thus turned, thrice he kept the pursuers in check. All the people who
were with him perished. It seems to me that he too was wounded, and so
was his horse, but he escaped, and meanwhile the old _comthur_ succeeded
in making good his escape."
When Macko heard the story he thought that Sanderus was telling the
truth, for he recollected that when he entered the field where Skirwoilla
had given battle, the whole stretch of the road on the line of the
Germans' retreat, was covered with dead Zmudzians, so terribly hacked as
though it had been done by giant hands.
"Nevertheless, how could you observe all that?" he asked Sanderus.
"I saw it," replied the vagabond, "because I grasped the tail of one of
the horses which carried the litter, and held on until I received a kick
in my stomach. Then I fainted, and that was the reason that you captured
me."
"That might happen," said Hlawa, "but take care, if anything you say
turns out to be false; in such case you shall fare badly."
"There is another proof," replied Sanderus; "let one who wishes take a
note of it; yet it is better to believe a man's word than to condemn him
as one who does not tell the truth."
"Although you sometimes unwillingly tell the truth, you will howl for
simony."
And they began to tease each other as they formerly did, but Zbyszko
interrupted their chatter.
"You have passed through that region, then you must be acquainted with
the localities in the neighborhood of the castles; where do you suppose
Zygfried and Arnold hide themselves?"
"There are no strongholds whatever in that neighborhood; all is one
wilderness, through which a road was recently cut. There are neither
villages nor farms. The Germans burned those that were there, for the
reason that the inhabitants of those places who are also Zmudzians, had
also risen in arms against the Knights of the Cross with their brethren
here. I think, sir, that Zygfried and Arnold are now wandering about the
woods; either they are trying to return to the place whence they came, or
attempting furtively to reach that fortress whither we were going to
before that unfortunate battle."
"I am sure that it is so," said Zbyszko. He became absorbed in thought so
that he contracted his brows; he was obviously trying to find some plan,
but it did not last long. After a while he lifted up his head and said:
"Hlawa! See that the horses and men get ready; we must move at once."
The Bohemian, whose custom was never to ask for reasons when commanded,
without saying a single word, got up and ran toward the horses; then
Macko opened wide his eyes at his nephew and said with surprise:
"And ... Zbyszko? Hey! Where are you going? What?... How?..."
But he answered his questions with another:
"And what do you think? Is it not my duty?"
The old knight had nothing to say. His looks of astonishment disappeared
little by little from his face; he shook his head once or twice and
finally drew a deep breath and said as though replying to himself:
"Well! there you are.... There is no other remedy!"
And he also went to the horses, but Zbyszko returned to de Lorche, and by
means of a Mazovian interpreter spoke to him thus:
"I cannot ask you to go with me against the people with whom you served.
You are therefore free and you may go wherever you please."
"I cannot serve you now with my sword against my knightly honor," replied
de Lorche; "but as to your granting me my freedom, I cannot accept that
either. I remain your prisoner on parole and shall be at your command
whithersoever you send me. And in case you want to exchange prisoners,
remember that the Order will exchange for me any prisoner, because I am
not only a powerful knight, but I am a descendant of a line of Knights of
the Cross of great merit."
Then they embraced each other according to custom, placing their hands on
each other's arms and kissing each other on the cheeks, and de Lorche
said:
"I will go to Malborg or to the Mazovian court, so that you may know if I
am not in one place you can find me in the other. Thy messenger need only
tell me the two words, '_Lotaryngia-Geldria_'"
"Well," said Zbyszko, "still I will go to Skirwoilla to obtain a pass for
you which the Zmudzians will respect."
Then he called upon Skirwoilla; the old leader gave the pass for his
departure without any difficulty, for he knew all about the affair and
loved Zbyszko; he was grateful to him for his bravery in the last battle,
and for this very reason he made no objection whatever to the departure
of the knight who belonged to another country and came on his own
account. Then, thanking Zbyszko for the great services which he had
rendered, he looked at him in surprise at his courage in undertaking a
journey in the wild lands; he bid him good-bye, expressing his wishes to
meet him again in some greater and more conclusive affair against the
Knights of the Cross.
But Zbyszko was in a great hurry, for he was consumed as with a fever.
When he arrived at the post he found everybody ready, and his uncle,
Macko, on horseback, among them; he was armed and had on his coat of mail
and his helmet upon his head. Zbyszko approached him and said:
"Then you too go with me!"
"But what else could I do?" replied Macko, a little testily.
Zbyszko did not reply, but kissed the right hand of his uncle, then
mounted his horse and proceeded.
Sanderus went with them. They knew the road as far as the battlefield
very well, but beyond that he was to guide them. They also counted upon
the local inhabitants whom they might meet in the woods; who, out of
hatred of their masters, the Knights of the Cross, would aid them in
tracking the old _comthur_ and the knight, Arnold von Baden, to whom
Sanderus attributed such superhuman strength and bravery.
CHAPTER IX.
The road to the battlefield where Skirwoilla had routed the Germans was
easy, because they knew it, and so they soon reached it. Owing to the
insufferable stench arising from the unburied dead, they crossed it in a
hurry. As they did so, they drove away wolves, and large flights of
crows, ravens and jackdaws. Then they began to look for traces along the
road. Although a whole division had passed over it on the previous day,
nevertheless, the experienced Macko found upon the trampled road without
trouble, the imprint of gigantic hoofs leading in an opposite direction.
Then he explained to the younger and less experienced companions-in-arms:
"It is fortunate that there has been no rainfall since the battle. Only
look here. Arnold's horse carrying an unusually big man must also be
exceedingly large; this too is easily observed, that the imprint of the
horse's feet on this side of the road is much deeper, owing to the
galloping in his flight; whilst the tracks marking the previous march on
the other side of the road are not so deep, because the horse walked
slowly. Let those who have eyes look how the marks of the horseshoes are
visible. God grant that we may track those dog-brothers successfully,
provided they have not already found shelter somewhere behind walls!"
"Sanderus said," replied Zbyszko, "that there are no forts in this
neighborhood, and it is actually so; because the Knights of the Cross
have only recently taken possession of this region and have not had
enough time to build in it. Then where can they hide themselves? All the
peasants who dwelt in these lands joined Skirwoilla, because they belong
to the same stock as the Zmudzians.... The villages, Sanderus said, these
same Germans destroyed by fire and the women and children are hidden in
the thick forest. Provided we do not spare our horses we shall yet
overtake them."
"We must spare the horses, for even if we overtake them our safety
afterward depends upon our horses," said Macko.
"Sir Arnold," interrupted Sanderus, "received a blow between his
shoulder-blades in battle. He took no notice of it at first, but kept on
fighting and slaying, but they were obliged to dress it afterward; as is
always the case, at first one does not feel the blows but they pain later
on. For this reason he cannot exert himself too much to run fast and it
may be that he is even obliged to rest himself."
"You said that there are no other people with them?" inquired Macko.