Part 25 (1/2)

But if they were checked to the west, there was nothing to prevent their chasing the King, who was lingering near the Drave. Here they were in no fear of the armies of Europe, and they crossed the Danube by means of bladders and boats.

Bela fled to Spalatro, but feeling unsafe even there, retired with his family to the island of Issa. Furious at finding that his prey had escaped him, the Mongol leader, Kajdan, revenged himself upon his prisoners, whom he set up in rows and cut down; then he hurried on to the 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 followers take s.h.i.+p for the island of Bua under his very eyes.

Pursuit, without a fleet, was hopeless, and Kajdan had to content himself with ravaging Dalmatia, Croatia, and Bosnia.

CHAPTER XV.

DORA'S RESOLVE.

For days, weeks, months, Talabor had been expecting Libor and his Mongols to return and renew their attack upon the castle, whose defences he had strengthened in every way possible to him.

But spring had given way to summer, and summer to autumn, and still they had not come. When a winter of unusual severity set in, he felt the position safer, for the steep paths were blocked with snow or slippery with ice.

Rumours of the fatal battle had not been long in reaching the castle, and fugitives had been seen by one or another of the villagers, whose accounts, though they differed in many respects, all agreed in this, that the country was in the hands of the Mongols, and that the King had fled for his life--whether he had saved it was doubtful. One reported the death of both the Szirmays, another declared that Master Peter had escaped with the King.

The general uncertainty began to tell upon the inhabitants of the castle.

Gradually, one by one, the men of the garrison disappeared. If a man were sent out hunting, or to gather what news he could in the neighbourhood, he not seldom vanished. Whether he had deserted, or whether he had been captured, who could say? In either case he might bring the Mongols down upon them.

At last, when the number of fighting men was so diminished that it would have been out of the question for them to offer any serious resistance, disquieting events began to occur among the house-servants. One day two of them were nowhere to be found! One was a turnkey of Master Peter's, the other a maid-servant, a simple, country girl, whom no one would have supposed capable of counting up to three!

These two had evidently not gone empty-handed, moreover, a few silver plates and other light articles having vanished at the same time!

Neither of them had been sent out to reconnoitre; neither, least of all the peasant girl, could have gone a-hunting. They had deserted, and they had stolen anything they could lay hands on!

After this discovery Dora became every day more uneasy, feeling that the danger from within might be as great as that from without.

Talabor kept his eye with redoubled vigilance upon those who were left, but confidence was destroyed in all but one or two.

Early one morning it was found that the whole of the plate had disappeared from the great dining hall. Every chest was empty, and no one of the servants knew where the contents were. Talabor had spent an entire night in carrying them away to a hiding place shown him by Master Peter, a sort of well-like cavity in a cellar, of which he kept the key always about him. He had been busy for days digging out the earth and rubbish, without letting anyone, even the faithful Moses, know what he was about; for, like many another sorrowful Magyar in those days, the old man had of late been trying to drown his grief in wine, and Talabor feared that his tongue might betray what his fidelity would have kept secret.

All being ready, he carried down the silver from the chests in which it had been locked, and finally removed from the shelves in the dining hall even what had been in daily use. This done, he filled the pit with earth again, and left no traces to indicate the hiding place of Master Peter's treasure.

Libor, of course, was well aware of its existence, and Talabor sometimes wondered whether he were intending to keep the knowledge of it to himself, to be made use of later on, when the winter was over, and the castle more easily reached. Be this as it might, neither he nor the Mongols appeared again; and only once had Talabor encountered any in his rides. So far as he could see and learn, the neighbourhood seemed to be free of them; and still anxiety rather increased than diminished, as day followed day without bringing any news to be relied on.

Early one morning Dora sent for Talabor, who went expecting merely some fresh suggestion or order; but he had no sooner entered the room than she met him, and without any sort of preliminary, exclaimed, in a somewhat agitated voice, ”Talabor! you are loyal to us, and to me, I know you are! aren't you? You would do anything for me? I am sure you would!”

Talabor fell upon one knee, and with glowing countenance raised his hand to heaven, by way of answer. His heart swelled within him, and just then he felt strong enough for anything.

”Good Talabor, I believe you,” said Dora; ”but get up and listen to what I want to say. I am only a woman, and perhaps I give myself credit for more courage than I really have; but one thing I know, I have a strong will, and I have made up my mind. I mean to go and find the King and my father!”

”What!” exclaimed Talabor, almost petrified by the mere idea of so daring a step. ”Master Peter--we don't even know whether----”

”He is alive!” interrupted Dora very decidedly.

”But the King! whether it is true or not, who can say? But so far as I can gather he seems to be in Dalmatia, and the Tartars are pursuing him.

The country may still be full of them, for anything I know; and you mean to run such a frightful risk as this would be? Dear mistress----”