I THE GOLDEN AGE IN TRANSYLVANIA Publisher's Note. This delightful historical romance by Jokai (pronounced by critics his best), is published in England under the title of '* Midst the Wild Carpathians." This, the American edition, is printed in a more readable type, making a volume of one hundred additional pages. The scene of the story is laid in Transylva- nia ; the time is the close of the seventeenth century, and the incidents relate to the reign of Michel Apafi, whom the Turks raised to the throne, ending with the murder of Denis Banfi, the last of the powerful Transylvanian barons. The story which has more than simple basis of truth, is absorbingly interesting and displays all the virility of Jokai's powers, his genius of des- cription, his keenness of characterization, his subtlety of humor and his consummate art in the progression of the novel from one apparent climax to another. JJ A XJk^^ »■ ' hm AI»4GELHfl THE GOLDEN AGE IN TRANSYLVANIA BY MAURUS JOKAI Author of *' Black Diamonds," " Peter the Priest," Etc., Etc. TRANSLATED BY S. L. AND A. V. WAITE NEW YORK R. F. FENNO & COMPANY 9 and ii EAST i6th STREET 1898 Copyright 1898 BY R. F. FENNO & COMPANY The Golden Age in Translyvania THE GOLDEN AGE IN TRANSYLVANIA CHAPTER I A HUNTING PARTY IN THE YEAR 1666 Before we cross the Iviral3^1iag'o, let us cast a parting glance at Ilungary. I will unroll before your eyes a scene, partly the result of an adverse fate, partly of a dark mystery, representing joy and also deep sorrow. An incident of a moment becomes the turning-point of a whole century. My soul is saddened by the images thus con- jured up ; the figures out of the past blind my sight. Would that my hand were mighty enough to write down what my soul sees in that magic mirror. May your impressions, your recollec- tions, complete the scene wherever the writer fails through weariness. ****** We find ourselves in the valley of the Drave, in one of those boundless tracts where even the wild beasts lose themselves. Here are primeval forests, the roots of which rest in the water of a great swamp encircled not by water lilies and reed-grass, but by giant trees whose branches, 7 8 The Golden Age In Transylvania dropping below the surface, form new roots in the quickening water. Here the swan builds its nest ; this is the haunt of the heron and all those wild creatures one of which only now and then marches out into more frequented regions. On the higher ground, where in late summer the waters ebb, spring such flowers as might have been seen just after the deluge, so luxuriant and so strange is their mighty growth out of the slimy mud. The branches of ivy, stout as grape vines, reach from tree to tree winding about the trunks and decking the dark maj^les as if some wood-nymph had garlanded her own consecrated grove. When the sun has set, life grows active in this watery kingdom ; swarms of water-birds rise, and with their monotonous, gruesome cries sound the note of the bittern, the whistle of the turtle, and the four notes of the swan, now heard only in the land of fable, for there alone mankind is not ; that kingdom still belongs to God. Occasionally bold hunters venture to penetrate this pathless maze, making their way among the trees in small boats, often overturned by the long- roots under the water many fathoms deep, al- though the dark grass, the 3''ellow marsh flowers and the small dark-red lizard seem to be within reach of one's hand. Sometimes a thicket bars the way of the boat, trees never touched by human hand are rotting here heaped mountain- A Hunting Party in the Year 1666 9 high thousands of years before. Those trunks that have fallen into the water have been petri- fied, and the grasses and vines have grown over them in such a tangle that they form a strong crust which sways and bends but does not break beneath the tread. This crust appears to stretch far and wide, but in reality one step too far brings death, so that this strange and remote region is but rarely visited. On the south flows the Drave, whose rapid current frequently sweeps away the tallest trees, to the peril of the boatmen. To the nortli the forest stretches as far as Csakathurm, and where the swamp ends, oaks and beeches tower higher and mightier than any in all Hungary. Through- out this wilderness are wild beasts of every kind ; especially the wild boar that wallows in the swampy ground ; and here too the stag grows to his greatest strength and beauty. In the days til at we write of, the buffaloes roamed through this wilderness, making nightly raids on the neighboring millet fields, but at the first attempt to catch them they plunged into the heart of the swamp and were safe from pursuit. On the edge of the forest in those days stood a castle of so many styles of architecture that one must conclude it had been the favorite hunt- ing-resort of some Hungarian or Croatian noble. The greater ]xirt of the building seemed to be a century older than the rest, in fact the oldest 10 The Golden Age in Transylvania part was merely a hut of oak logs rudely put to- gether, its roof overgrown with moss and its walls with ivy and periwinkle ; over the door were the antlers of a patriarchal stag ; the later lords must have entertained a pious regard for its builder or they would have torn down this hut. On the side toward the woods was a long, barn-like building of one room, intended for the large hunting parties of later times ; here masters and servants, horses and hounds, staid in friendly companionship when the bad weather brought them together. Around an old oak with wide- spreading branches was a strange looking hermit- age, the oak forming its single column of sup- port ; the entire hut had been built of the skulls of boars taken in a single hunt. Finally, on a hill somewhat higher than the rest, where the trees had been cleared away stood the most modern build- ing ; it consisted of a small, tasteful hunting-castle, with columns in front, tiled roof, marble ter- races, oriel windows and other features of mediae- val architecture. The bastions near by, begun but left unfinished, the deep moats and the walls stretching beyond all proportions, seemed to indi- cate that the man who had begun the building had intended a stronghold, perhaps against the Turks. Behind the building were still to be seen two long culverins and a stout iron mortar with a Turkish inscription that threw some light on their origin ; but the times and the spirit of the A Hunting Party in the Year 1666 11 times had clianged, and hiter comers had built a Tuscuhm villa upon foundations intended for a fortress. On one of the brightest days of the year in which our story begins, a large hunting party was stirring at the castle. Hardly had the sun sent his first rays through the dense trees when the boys of the stable and kennel led out the horses and the hounds straining at the leash and bounding to the shoulders of their keepers in their excited anticipation. Long wagons, drawn by six to ten oxen, had already gone to the meet to bring back the game. The villagers sum- moned to the chase, variously armed with axes, forks, or occasional guns, were divided into groups by the hunters. Some peasants, in parties of twos and threes, carried on their shoulders boats hollowed from the trunks of trees, to drive back the game if it escaped to the swamp. Men and beasts alike shoAved signs of haste and impa- tience ; only a few of the older men took the time to sit over the fire and cook their bacon. At last the hunting-horn sounded from the castle yard, the company sprang with shouts of joy upon their snorting horses ; the restless, yelping ]iack dragged their keepers this way and that ; the hunters armed themselves, — in short, every- thing was ready and waited only for the lords and ladies. In a few moments a group of riders came down t>e hill attended by the squires ; in 12 The Golden Age In Transylvania front rode a tall, muscular man, the lord of the castle ; the rest seemed involuntarily to have fallen behind him. His broad shoulders and well-rounded chest were of Herculean strength ; his face was burned by the sun and showed no trace of age ; his close-trimmed beard and heavy moustache gave his countenance a martial aspect, and the Roman nose and coal black, bushy eye- brows added to his features an imperious look, though the melancholy curve of the lips and the delicate oval of the blue eyes lent a certain poetic expression to his knightly countenance. A round cap with an eagle's feather covered his short hair; he wore a plain, shaggy coat unfastened, beneath which shoAved a white dolman of deer- skin ornamented with silver ; at his side hung a broad sword in ivory sheath, and from his stud- ded girdle of red shone the pearl handle of a Turkish dagger. Next him rode a young knight and a youthful Amazon ; the knight could count scarcely twenty years and the lady looked still younger. Two people better suited to each other could not be found. The young man had pale, gentle features and rich chestnut hair curling on his shoulders ; a small moustache barely covered his upper lip, his blue eyes wore a constant smile of carelessness, if not frivolity, and had not the strong sinews of his arm shown under his close- fitting sleeves one would have taken him for only a fanciful boy ; on his head he wore a marten A Hunting Party in the Year 1666 13 cap with a heron's feather and his garments were of silk ; from his shoulder hung a magnificent tiger skin, its claws serving for buckles joined by a sapphire clasp. He rode a coal-black Turkish hoi*se with housings embroidered in gold, some woman's delicate handiwork. The Amazon, to whom the youth seemed to be whispering many a sweet word, formed a complete contrast to him ; she had an earnest, fearless, livel}!^ countenance; her eyes were brighter than garnets ; she loved to curl her lip and draw down her tine, thick eyebrows, giving to her face an expression of pride, then when she glanced up again and parted her lips w4th a spirited smile, you might see a heroine indeed. Iler dark braids hung over her shoulders half their length and then w^ere looped back under her cap of ermine with its waving plume. She wore a silk riding habit fitting closely to her slender iigure and falling in heavy folds over the flanks of her Arab horse. Figure and face called for homage rather than love; no smile played over these features, her great, dark, fath- omless eyes rested many a time upon the youth as he bent toward her, shedding a rare charm, a fulness of love, a nobler, higher longing which means more than love, more than ambition, which is perhaps the self-consciousness of great souls who have a hint of their eternal fame. Behind this beautiful pair rode two men whoso 14 The Golden Age in Transylvania dress indicated their high rank ; one about thirty years old, the other a pale, elderly man with dress simple to affectation. It is worth while to mark this man's face, for we shall often meet him ; cold dry features, thin blonde hair and beard mixed with grey, a pointed cleft chin, scornful pale lips, quick watery blue eyes with red rims, jutting eyebrows, a high bald shining forehead which with every change of feeling was wrinkled in all directions. This face we may not forget. The rest — the Herculean rider, the smiling youth, the stately girl, — will hurry past us like fleeting pictures which come only to go ; but this last will accompany us throughout the entire course of events, ever appearing only to cast down or to build up, to determine the fate of great men and lands. The bald head moved nearer to the knight at his side Avho was testing his lance as if for a throw, and said to him in an undertone, evidently continuing a conversation: " So, then, you Transylvanians will not have anything to do with this affair ? " " Let me have a rest from politics to-day," an- swered the other, starting impatiently. "You have got so that you cannot live a single day without intrigues, but I beg of you, spare me to- day. To-day I wish to hunt, and you know how passionately I love the chase." With these words he spurred his horse forward, and joined the stately knight. A Hunting Party in the Year 1666 ij; Thus rebuffed, the ohier man bit his lips in vexation, then turned with a smile to the youth- ful knight riding before him. "A glorious morning, gracious lord; Avould that our horizon were as bright in every direc- tion." ""\\''ould that it were," answered the youth, without really knowing what it was to which he was replying, while the beautiful Amazon leaned over and said to him : "I don't know why it is but I cannot place any confidence in that man. He is forever put- ting questions and never answers any himself." Just then the stately rider came up Avith the group of hunters, acknowledged their loud greet- ings and stopped in their midst. "David,"' he called to an old grey-bearded hunter who came forward, cap in hand, "put your cap on. Have the drivers of the game all taken their places ? " " Every man is in his place, gi^acious lord. I have already sent boats to the swamp in case the beasts are frightened back there." "You think of everything. Kow start with the men and hounds and follow the road that we usually take ; we alone are enougli for the road I have in mind, we Avill go straight through the forest." At once a murmur of astonishment and in- credulity arose among the hunters. l6 The Golden Age In Transylvania " Beg pardon, gracious lord," said the old man, with his cap again in his hand, " I know the way, and no God-fearing man should make trial of it ; the impenetrable undergrowth, the deep water and slimy ground threaten with a thousand perils; and besides, straight through the forest goes the wide devil's gorge that no human being with horse has yet crossed." " We shall get over, my good fellow. We have already been through more difficult places. No bad luck befalls the man who follows me ; you know yourself that fate favors me." The hunter obediently made ready to march forward with the rest. At this moment the bald head rode to the noble's side. " Gracious lord," he said, quietly, not to say sarcastically, " I consider it a great calamity for a human being to imperil his life for a mere brute, especially when he has urgent need of that life, but your grace has made the decision and I know it will be carried out. Still, have the goodness to look about you for a moment and remember that we are not all men here ; there is a delicate lady in our midst, and to expose her to death for the sake of our adventure is surely want of tenderness." During this speech the knight did not look at the older man but gazed fixedly at the young Amazon, and the glow of pride on his cheeks was brighter as he saw how calmly the stately A Hunting Party in the Year 1666 17 lady measured with her eye her unbidden pro- tector, and with what proud self-reliance she took her lances from her page, chose one, and sharpening the point on her pommel, assumed the position of a true matadore. " Look at her," cried the knight, " do you feel any anxiety for this girl, my niece ? " These words of the knight echoed loudly ; there was no voice like his, deep as thunder and carrying far. The young Amazon allowed the knight who had called her his niece to put his arm about her and kiss her blushing cheek, for in those days the Huncrarian wonuin still blushed even if the kiss came from a kinsman's lips. " Is it to no purpose that she sprang from my blood ? shall she not match the best man in fear- lessness ? Have no anxiety for her, she will face greater dangers than these and bring her husband to them too." AVith these words the hero put spurs to his horse; the startled creature reared and plunged but the hard knees of his rider brought him under control. "F(j11ow me," he cried, and the brilliant com- pany vanished in tlie thicket of the forest. ****** Let us arrive there before them. Let us hurry to the place where the stags take their noonday l8 The Golden Age in Transylvania rest in the shady grove, where the turtles sun themselves and the herons bathe. What dwell- ings are these in groups of fives and sixes between the water and the wilderness — these huts built up on piles with round roofs clay-covered and bound with twigs ? Who built this dam, and for what purpose, so that the water at the entrance of their dwellings should never fail ? Here dwell the dear, industrious beavers whom Nature has taught the art of building. This is their col- ony. These thick beams they have hewn with their teeth. They have shaped all this, — they have dug down into the earth to build a dam, and year after year they keep this dam in repair. See, at this very moment comes one gliding out from the lowest story of his dwelling below the water ; with what a gentle eye he looks around him ; as yet he has never seen a human being. But let us go back to the day of the hunt. In the shadow of an old hollowed tree was resting a family of deer — stag, doe and little fawns. The stag had stepped into the sunlight where he might see his own shadow ; his stately form seemed to please him ; he licked his bright coat, scratched his back with his branching antlers and walked proudly, stepping high mth a certain affectation ; the movements of his slender figure were marked by the play of his muscles. The doe lay lazily in the muddy sedge ; at times raising her beauti- ful head, her great dark eyes full of feeling, she A Hunting Party in the Year 1666 19 gazed at her companion or at the sporting fawns ; if she noticed that they were too far away she gave a certain restless moaning cry, at which the lively creatures would hasten to her, tumbling over each other, leaping and bounding about the mother, never an instant quiet, their limbs quiv- ering and every movement quick and graceful. Suddenly the stag stood fixed. Scenting danger he gave a cry and lifted his nose ; his nostrils di- lated as he snutf ed the air, pawed the ground and ran restlessly about, angrily shaking his antlers ; again he stood still and his wide-opened eyes showed instinctive fear ; he ran to his precious doe and with unspeakable tenderness they put their two heads together, — they too have a lan- guage in which they understand each other. The two fawns fled to their mother, their slen- der legs trembling. Then the stag with long, noiseless stride, made his way into tlie forest. The doe remained licking her trembling fawns, who returned the motherly caresses with their little red tongues. At every noise she raised her head and pricked up her ears ; suddenly she bounded into the air ; she had heard some- thing hardly perceptible to human ear; far, far away there was a sound in the forest ; hun- ters know this sound well — the chase had begun. The doe cast restless glances about her, then quietly lay down ; she knew that her mate would come back and that she must wait for him. 20 The Golden Age in Transylvania Nearer and nearer came the chase. Soon the stag came noisily back and turned with a pecul- iar sound to his mate, who at once sprang up and with her young fled straight across the line of chase. The stag stood still for a moment, digging u]3 the ground with his antlers, either with rage or to efface the traces of his mate's lying there. Then he stretched his neck and barked loudly in imitation of the hounds, to lead them on a false scent ; a trick often observed by hunters. He then bounded away, tossing his antlers, and followed the doe. Ever nearer came the chase ; with the barking of dogs was heard also the cracking of the underbrush and the shouts of the hunters. The forest became alive : the startled hares and foxes ran among the trees in every direction to escape the cries of the men. JS^ow and then a fox fled in haste to a hole, only to bound back again frightened by the fiery eyes of the badger. Among the timid hares a grey striped wolf stood forgetful of his thirst for blood ; switching his tail he looked about him for some possible escape and ran howl- ing on, driven by the nearing voices. Yet no one was hunting these poor creatures — a greater quarry was the game, — a stag with mighty antlers. The hunting net was drawn closer and closer, already the dogs were on the track and the horn gave a signal that they were near the stag. A Hunting Party in the Year 1666 21 "Hurrah, hurrah!" rang out from afar. The hunters coming from the opposite direction halted and blocked the way. The noise of the pursuers came rapidly nearer. Suddenly, a pe- culiar noise was heard ; the two deer with their young broke through the bushes and disap- peared ; between them and the hunters was a wide ravine ; the noble quarry leaped like light- ning over the tree trunks lying in the way, and at last reached the ravine. Before and behind were the hunters, but the pursuit from behind was more terrible; there were the knight, the fearless Amazon and the eager hunter. The stag bounded across the broad ravine without the slightest effort, raising both feet at once and throwing back his head ; the doe too made ready for the leap but her young shrank back from the edge ; then the doe gave out, her knees sank, her head drooped, and she stayed with her young. A lance hurled by the Transylvanian hunter pierced her side. The wounded creature gave a dis- tressed cry, like the wail of a human being only more terrible. Even her murderer in his pity did not venture to approach her until her strug- gles were over. The two fawns stood sorrow- stricken by their mother and allowed themselves to be taken alive. Meanwhile the stag, already across the ravine, dashed wildly toward the hunters before him, who blocked his way, and tossed his heavy antlers in fury. The hunters 22 The Golden Age in Transylvania knew the courage born of despair which cornea to these animals otherwise so timid, and throw- ing themselves to the ground, gave him free pass. Only a few hounds ran after him, but the maddened creature tossed them on his antlers and leaving them to roll on the ground in their blood, plunged on to the swamp. " After him," roared the knight with thunder- ing voice, and galloped at full speed to the ra- vine over which the stag had fled. " May the Lord help him," screamed those on the other side, in terror ; but the next moment their terror was turned to shouts of joy, for the horse with his bold rider was over. Of the en- tire company only two ventured to follow, the stately Amazon and the delicate youth. The two horses made the leap in the same moment ; the lady's habit swelled out like a pennant in the breeze and she glanced backward as if to ask if any man had so much courage. The rest of the company considered it advisable not to try the bold leap, except l^icholas, the Transylvanian, who made a dash although his horse had already hurt his hind foot in the woods and the hunts- man might have been very sure that he was not equal to the leap. Fortunately for the rider, just before the spring his saddle-girth gave way and he fell on the edge of the bank, while the horse just reached it with his forefeet, and tumbling, fell into the A Hunting Party in the Year 1666 23 depths of the ravine. The three riders were alone in their, pursuit of the fleeing stag which, once out of the circle, led his followers on to the bog. The knight went first. The Amazon and her comrade followed by a sweeping detour through the tree trunks ; just as they were on the edge of tlie bog, there suddenly appeared snorting before them two wild boars ; — they had come into the lair of these beasts which had been deaf to everything around them as they lay in the reeds and mud, only noticing the newcomers when the young man's horse trampled to death two young ones rubbing themselves against the old sow. The rest of the young scattered into the sedge while the old ones, with threatening growls, turned upon the intruders. The sow plunged blindly at the youth, while the boar stood still a moment, his bristles raised and ears pointed. He leveled his tusks and, with deep grunt and blood-shot eye, charged at the maiden. The young man hurled his lance from a safe dis- tance at the sow ; the whizzing weapon struck into the hard skull of the creature, the point piercing to the brain. The sow ran like a mon- strous unicorn, the lance still sticking in her skull, but her eyes had lost the power of sight and she passed the rider and fell without a sound at a little distance. The maiden waited calmly for the raging boar ; seizing her lance with her left hand she aimed its f)oint downward and held 24 The Golden Age in Transylvania her bridle firmly. The noble horse stood quiet against his raging opponent, pricking up his ears, and with a turn of his neck kept his eye on the boar so that just as the tusk would have entered the side, the trained animal bounded away, and at the same moment the Amazon bent over and hurled her lance deep between the shoulder-blades of the boar. The creature, wounded to the death, sank down with a groan, but made one more onset at the maiden, when the youth sprang like lightning from his horse and dealt him a final blow with his sword. Just then from afar was heard the sound of the horn ; the other riders who, by making a long circuit, had now overtaken the leaders, greeted the he- roes of the day, the knight, the Amazon and the youth, with loud huzzas. The strongly-built man was bespattered with mud and the others did not look much better. Only the riding habit of the lady was without spot and without rent. Even in such circumstances as these, ladies know how to take care of their clothes. When the knight saw the monster that his niece had laid low, looking larger than ever now that in was stretched out in death, he appeared like one just realizing the peril to which his darling had been exposed, and cried out in terror, " My dear Helen ! " Then he took her hand with a smile and glanced at the bystanders with tri- umph. A Hunting Party in the Year 1666 25 "Did I not tell you that she was of my blood ? " Every man hurried forward to compli- ment the brave heroine, who on this occasion seemed to experience that extraordinary pleasure peculiar to the lucky hunter. " Nicholas, my son, do the boars grow as large as that in Transylvania ? " The Transvlvanian, already somewhat out of sorts from his recent accident, could not let this pass without den3'ing that there was anything in Hungary better worth haviiag than Transylvania could produce, so he answered sulkily, " Yes, in- deed, and even larger." No reply possible could have so angered the knight as this ; — to say to an excited hunter that there is better game any- where than that he has just praised ; and still more, that had been laid low by his own darling. " Good, my son, good," growled the knight, " it remains to be seen." With undisguised signs of annoyance on his countenance he turned aside from the ill-natured Transylvanian and gave orders to have the game carried back to the hunting castle. On the way thither he spoke no word except to his dear one, whom he flattered and extolled to the very heavens. ****** It was ah'eady late in the afternoon when the hunters sat down to their meal. The simple but 26 The Golden Age in Transylvania appetizing food had been arranged on a large grassplot in the middle of the forest ; wine and joy thawed out their spirits and they talked of this and of that, of the war and of the chase, of beautiful women and of poesy, which at that time was in great favor among the upper circles. But in spite of the merry conversation the knight could not keep from asking, in a tone of reproach, " So, then, there really is better game in Transyl- vania ? " until the repeated question became irk- some to the young man, who had not intended his reply to be taken with such seriousness. The bald head saw the situation and attempted to give another turn to the conversation by tak- ing up his beaker and proposing this toast; — " May God put the Turks in good spirits." The knight in his vexation overturned his glass and replied angrily, " That He shall not ! I have not grown old fighting against them to turn round now and pray for them. He is a fool who changes only to find a new master." " The Turk is a gracious master for us," said the young man, with an ambiguous smile. " Didn't I say so ? With you, even the Turks are finer and greater than with us. So it is ; in Transylvania everything is better than it is in Hungary ; the boars are larger and the Turks are smaller than with us." While they were talking the old hunstman David approached his master and whispered in A Hunting Party in the Year 1666 27 his ear. The features of the knight lighted as by magic, and springing from his seat he cried, " Give me a gun." Seizing his silver-mounted rifle, with a happy expression he said to his guests : " Just stay here, there is a colossal boar near by. You shall see him, my son," he said, touch- ing Nicholas on the shoulder. " Twice already have I given him chase, but this time I will have him. lie is the genuine descendant of the Calydonian boar." With that the knight directed his steps in eager self-forgetfulness toward that part of the forest pointed out by the huntsman, whom he com- manded to turn back, for he would have no one with him. " I do not know why it is," whispered Helen to the youth at her side, " but I feel as if I had cause to fear some peril threatening my uncle." The youth rose without a word and took his rifle. "Do not follow him," called out the Transylvanian when he noticed this move, " you would only anger him. Never fear, he will do it alone. A man that has wiped out entire armies of Tartars will surely be able to manage an un- reasoning beast." And in this way the young man was held back at the very moment of de- parting. The men went on drinking and the maiden continued with her tliouglits, from time to time glancing anxiously toward the forest. 28 The Golden Age in Transylvania Suddenly there was a shot heard in the forest ; all set down their glasses, and looked expectantly in that direction. A few moments later came the cry of a boar in pain ; not the sound of a boar at the point of death, but the rattling sound of an interrupted struggle. " What's that ? " each asked of another, " Surely he Avould call if he were in peril." With that came a second shot. "What's that?" all shouted, and sprang to their feet. " Up ! Up ! " cried the maiden, trembling in every limb, and the entire company hurried in the direction of the shot. ****** The knight had gone only a few steps into the forest when he came upon the boar at the foot of a great oak. It was a monstrous boar with long black bristles on his back and forehead ; his skin like iron lay in thick folds on his neck and his feet were long and sinewy. He had dug him- self a litter in the brush, where he now lay. Where he had laid his monstrous head he had torn up by the roots shrubs as thick as one's arm. When the monster heard the steps of a man he raised his head, opened wide his jaws and looked sidewise at his opponent. In order to get a better aim the knight had dropped on one knee, and shot through the sedges at the beast just at the moment when he raised his head. Instead of A Hunting Party in the Year 1666 29 hitting the skull the ball entered the creature's neck, wounding but not killing him. The "wounded animal sprang up, and in his charge at the knight struck his crooked tusks together so that the sparks flew. Such a furious attack might easily have been avoided by a spring to one side, but the knight was not the man to avoid his antagonist. He threw down his gun, tore his sword from its scabbard, stood face to face with the boar and dealt a blow at his head which might have cleft it through and through ; but the dangerous stroke fell on the tusk, and upon this, hard as stone, the sword was broken in two at the hilt. Stunned by the blow the boar, though he plunged at the knight with his tusks, inflicted only a light wound in his thigh, at whicli the man seized the animal by the ears with both hands and a furious struggle began. Without weapon he fought the beast which turned its head with grunt and groan, but the steel- like grasp of the man held his broad ears' with irresistible might and when the creature raised himself on his hind legs to throw his opponent, the knight with giant strength gave hmi a push and threw him over backward. True, he fell too as he did so, but he was on top and raising him- self up, pressed down the wild beast struggling in vain against his superior strength, and seated him- self in triumph on liis belly. The boar seemed to be entirely conquered. His glazing eye grew dim, 30 The Golden Age in Transylvania blood streamed from jaws and nose, he had ceased to roar and made only a rattling sound ; liis legs contracted, his nose hung down ; in a few mo- ments he must certainly die. The knight should have called to his comrades, only a little way off, or kept quiet until the boar bled to death, but this took too much time. He remembered that he had in his girdle a Turkish knife and he thought to put a quick end to the struggle, so he pressed down the head of the boar with one knee, that he might be able to spring when he drew out his knife at his side, and with one hand seized his girdle. Just then, a shot was heard in the forest ; the overmastered boar, feeling the pres- sure of hand and knee lightened, with his re- maining strength threw the knight off and dealt one last blow with his tusk. This blow was fatal — it tore the man's throat. The guests and relations hurrying to him, found the hero dying beside the dead boar. With cries of sorrow they strove to bind his ter- rible wound. " It is nothing, my children, nothing," said the knight, even then dying, and he was gone. " Poor knight ! " said the bystanders. " My poor fatherland," cried Helen, raising to heaven her eyes heavy with tears. The day of rejoicing was changed to one of mourning ; the hunt to a funeral feast. In sor- row the guests attended the corpse of their best A Hunting Party in the Year 1666 31 friend back to Csakatliuriii. Only the bald head took another direction. "That is just what I said," he muttered to himself, " one needs his life for something more. Well, what matters it ? there are still people else- where ; I'll go to the next countr3\" ****** So died Nicholas Zrinyi, the younger, the greatest writer and the bravest fighter of liis fatherland. So died the man, who had been the favorite of fortune, the darling of his country, its protection and its glory. In vain would you look now for the hunting-lodge or the castle ; — all is gone — the name, the family of the hero, even his memory. The general and the states- man have fallen into oblivion ; one part only of the man is left, one part only lives forever, — the writer. CHAPTER II THE HOUSE IN EBESFALVA "We now move forward one country ; —one country forward, and four years backward. We are in Transylvania in the year 1662. Before us is a dwelling, plain but of the nobility, at the lower end of Ebesfalva, almost the last house in the place. The building was planned more for convenience than for fancy ; on both sides are stables for horses and for sheep, built partly of stone, partly of plaster and partly of wood; sheds for wagons, poultry-yards, open barns, high-gabled sheep pens covered with straw ; in the rear is a fruit garden where one catches sight of the arched top of a beehive, and finally, in the middle of the courtyard stands the white- washed dwelling of one wing, with shady nut- trees under which is a round table improvised out of a mill-stone. A stone Avail separates the court of the dwelling from the threshing floor, where are to be seen piles of hay and great heaps of grain, from the top of which a peacock utters his disagreeable cries. It is evening ; the men have returned from the fields; the oxen are loosed from their heavy wagons loaded with corn ; the sheep come with tinkling bells from the 32 The House in Ebesfalva 33 meadow ; the grunting swine huny through the open gate each to his own trough ; the cocks quarrel together on the nut-trees where they went to roost at sunset ; in the distance is heard the sound of the evening bell ; and from still farther away comes the sound of the village maidens go- ing to the fountain. The men look after the cattle, one brings a great bundle of fresh-mown grass, and another carries in a large pail of fresh milk, fragrant and foaming. From the kitchen comes the gleam of a blazing fire, over which a maiden with round red cheeks is holding a great pan that gives out the fragrance of food, soon to be placed on the heavy green earthenware. The farm hands sit round the mill-stone table, eating heartily, while the patient house-dogs watch them with thoughtful attention. Then the dishes are cleared away and the ears of corn are taken from the wagon and put under cover. The peasant maidens of the neighborhood gather for the husking ; the more timid are frightened for their lives by the mischievous lads who hol- low out ripe pumpkins, cut eyes and mouth and set a burning liglit inside to use as a lantern. The more clever of the lads, seated on upturned baskets, weave long garlands of the corn husks ; and over their quiet work ring out jolly songs, and fairy tales are told of golden-haired ])rin- cesses and waifs. Here and tiiere a game is played, not witliout kisses proclaimed to all the 34 The Golden Age in Transylvania world with loud shrieks. The children make merry if they chance to find a red ear in the corn. And so they sit and sing and tell stories and laugh over trifles until the heaps of corn are all gone. Then come the long farewells ; down the length of the street they sing on their way home, partly in joyousness of spirit and partly to keep up their courage. Each one goes to his house, locks the door and puts out the fire ; the shepherd-dogs throughout the village answer one another, the moon rises and the night watchman begins to call off the hours in measured rhythm, while the other villagers sleep unmindful of the golden proverbs of his song. Only in one window of the manor house is there still a light : there only they have not yet gone to rest. The watchers are an old maid- servant, grown grey in service, and a younger one. The old woman is reading laboriously some- thing from the Psalter that she already knows by heart from beginning to end. The young maid has sat doAvn to her spindle as if she had not done enough through the long day, and is drawing the long threads of the silken flax, which yesterday she combed and to-day carded. " Go to bed, Clara," said the old woman kindly, " if I sit up, that is enough. To-morrow you will have to get up early just the same." " Surely I could not go to sleep before the re- turn of our noble lady," replied the other, con- The House in Ebesfalva 35 tinuing- licr work. " Even though the men are all at home I am afraid while she is not here ; but when once the noble lad}'- comes I feel as safe as if castle walls surrounded us." " You are right, my child, she is worth more than many men, poor soul ! For many years all the cares that belong to a man have rested on her shoulders. She has to look out for every- thing ; and as if that were not enough she has leased beside the estate of her sisters, Madame Banfy and Madame Beleky. How many law- suits she has had to carry on with this and that neighbor or kinsman ! but they meet their match in her ! She goes herself to the judge and the courts and is so clever that an advocate might learn of her. Once, when my lord Banfy came to play the gallant with her, thinking our gra- cious lady one of those grass-widows, how quickly she showed him the door ; the good man hardly knew which foot to put first and yet he is one of the royal judges. To pay for that he quartered on us the head collector with a mixed crowd of troopers. You were here then, weren't you, when our noble lady had them driven out of the village ? How they took to their heels when they saw that our noble lady herself stood there with her gun." '' If they hadn't," boasted tlie excited maiden, " I would have struck them over the head with my oven-cloth." 36 The Golden Age in Transylvania " You see, Clara, when a Avoman is compelled to take care of a house alone for so long a time, to defend herself and her family with her own strength, she comes to feel just like a man. That is wh}^ our lady has that determined look, as if she had not been a maiden of high birth." " But tell me. Aunt Magdalene," said the girl, drawing her stool nearer, " are we really never to see our gracious master again ? " " God only knows," replied the old vroman, with a sigh, " when the poor man will be set free. I have a sure presentiment which I have told, but nobody listens to me. When the late Prince George became dissatisfied with his own country and set out to conquer Poland with the best Hungarian nobility, our Master Michael went with him. Plow hard I tried to keep him back, and so did his noble lady ; for they had been married then but a short time ; and the good master himself had no wish to go, he had much rather sit in the house and read books or build mills and take care of his trees, but honor bade him go. However, I insisted that he should at least take my son Andy with him ; surely God ordained it wisely that he should go with him, otherwise we never should have heard anything more of our gracious master. For when the prince saw the beastly crowd of Tartars drawn up against him in the field he hurried home, while all the nobility were taken prisoners by The House in Ebesfalva 37 the heathen Tartars and carried off to Tartary to bitter bondage. My son Andy begged so hard that they finally let him come home, especially as he had a wound that made him unfit for work. He brought back the news that our Master Michael was pining away there in imprisonment and that the Tartars, when they observed in what esteem he was held by the other prisoners, took him for a duke and demanded such a fright- fully high ransom for him that all his estate turned into money would not pay it. However, our noble lady was very happy when she learned that her husband was still living, and went round trying to raise the money. But neither relatives nor good friends would help her, not even for security, for in war-times people do not like to lend on real estate. So she sold all the valuables she had brought with her from home ; beautiful silver plates, bracelets set with precious stones, gold cups that were heirlooms, beautiful garments embroidered with silk and threads of gold, rings, buckles, clasps, real pearls, in short everything that can be turned to gold. Yet as all that was not half of what the Tartars de- manded she leased the estates of her sisters, and had the fallow ground ploughed and the woods cleared away to make room for grain fields. She turned night into day to find time for all the work. Nothing connected with farming that would bring money did she leave undone ; she 38 The Golden Age in Transylvania liad loani-]3its made and stone-quarries opened ; she raised cattle that the Armenian cattle drivers bought ; she herself went to market, took her wine even into Poland, her grain to Hermanstadt, her honey, wax and dried fruits to Kronstadt ; she even went as far as Debreczin to get a good price for her wool ; and how prudently she lived all that time ! she never took anything from her serving people that belonged to them, but she herself saved every bit. In harvest time, when she would be in the field all day long she would often go a week at a time without having any dinner cooked ; her entire meal then would be a small piece of bread, so small that a child would not have been satisfied with it, and a glass of cold water. But you can take my word for it, Clara, that no one ever saw her out of temper, and no bitter tear ever fell on the dry bread which was all she allowed herself in loyalty to her husband." " What do you mean by that ? " " Why, I mean that the money that she got together in this way, by hard work and saving, has been carried by Andy into Tartary at this season every year to make up the ransom. Dur- ing this time the poor lady stinted herself in every way." The old servant wiped the tears from her eyes. " And what is the ransom required ? " "I don't know exactly, my child. Andy has The House in Ebesfalva 39 always brought back a paper on which the Tar- tar has written the amount received and what still remains to be paid, and the noble lady keeps it very carefull3^ Of com-se I do not like to ask any questions." The maiden became silent and seemed thought- ful ; the spindle went twice as fast in her hands and her heart beat more rapidly. "My son Andy has gone on such a journey now, and I am expecting him back every hour ; from him we shall know something certain." At that very moment the outside gate creaked ; a small wagon was driven noisily into the court- yard and the joyous barking of the dogs showed that it was no stranger who had come. " They've come," cried the two serving women, and had just time to rise from their seats when Anna Bornemissa, wife of Michael Apafi, en- tered, — a well-built woman, almost as tall as a man ; through the plain grey linen gown showed the slender but rounded outlines of a strong fig- ure; she might have been thirty-six years old. Her face was one of those that give no trace of time until far on in years. She Avas sunburned, Jjut with the bloom of youth and her healthy color this only heightened her peculiar beauty. Iler glance was quick and masterful but its charm lay in the soul which it reflected. In her fea- tures there was nothing hard, rough or mascu- line ; her brow was arched, smooth, free from 4© The Golden Age in Transylvania wrinkles and full of nobility ; her eyebrows were delicately marked, her eyes exquisitely shaped, with long lashes that only half shaded them ; they were not the fierce black, but rather nut-brown eyes, showing fire and light, yet now so cold. The nose and the oval of her face were delicately formed, her lips when her mouth was closed were gentle and delicate. The rest of her features seemed to be making an effort not to share her smile, and the mouth when open was proud and authoritative. " "What, still awake ! " she said to her maids. Her voice had a pleasant ring although the lower tones were subdued by sorrow. "We wished to sit up for your ladyship so that you would not have to wait outside for us," answered the old woman, bustling about her mistress and taking the heavy cloak from her shoulders. "Is not Andy back yet?" asked Madame Apafi, in a voice almost stifled. " 'Not yet, but I am expecting him every mo- ment." The lady sighed deeply. How much suppressed sorrow, how many vanishing hopes, what depths of resignation lay in that sigh ! Before the strong soul of this woman passed the many sufferings of her joyless life, her struggles with fate, mankind and her own heart ; her love had been grafted upon pain that could bring forth wishes only — no pleasures. Another year The House in Ebesfalva 41 of her life hud passed, rich only in struggles. "With the industry of a bee, she had succeeded in getting together a few offerings for the single purpose of her life, and who knew how many more such years there must be before she could attain it : thus far, she had only work, patience and a joyless love. Madame Apah forced her countenance back into its wonted coldness, bade her servants good-night and was just going to her room, when Clara kissed the hand of her mistress, causing her to look at the maid with astonishment. She felt a hot tear on her hand, Avhich had come in spite of the maiden. "AVhat is the matter with you?" asked the ladv, taken aback. " Nothing is the matter with me," sobbed the maiden, " but you — most gracious lady — I am so sorry for you. I have for a long time been thinking of something, but have never dared tell it. AVe often talk of it — how our master has been taken prisoner, and how hard it is to get his ransom ; — I mean my friends in the village ; — all of us have necklaces with much useless gold and silver coin on them, and so we girls have agreed to put this money together that we have no use for and give it to you, gracious lady, to send off as ransom for our master." Madame Apafi pressed tlie liand of her maidservant and a tear came to her eye. " I tliank you, my girl," slie said, touched. " I 42 The Golden Age in Transylvania prize this offering of yours far more than I should if my sister Banfy had placed ten thousand gold necklaces at my disposal. But God will help us." Just then a horse's hoofs were heard in the court- yard and the dogs began a tremendous barking. "Who's that? Robbers, perhaps, — the red- coats," stammered the old woman, and neither of the serving women dared go to the door ; but Madame Apafi took the light from the table, and boldly going to the door opened it so that the light shone far out into the courtyard. "Who is that?" she called, in a strong firm voice. "Us — I mean me," answered somebody, con- fusedly ; and all three at once recognized Andy by the voice. " Oh, it's you, is it ? Come, be quick," called Madame Apafi, joyously, and pulled the evi- dently confused servant into the house. He stood twirling his cap, not knowing how to be- gin. " Did you see him — speak with him ? — is he well ? " asked Madame Apafi, quickly. " Yes, well," answered the boy, glad to find a starting point, " He sends you greetings and kisses, my noble lady." " Why do you look around that way ? — whom are the dogs barking at outside ? " " Perhaps at the black horse ; they are so glad to see him again." The House in Ebesfalva 43 " Did 3'ou give the money to Murza ? " Instead of answering Andy began rummaging in the pocket of his fur coat, and as the opening of the pocket was ver}'- high and the bottom seemed very deep, he turned all colors while he was searching for the paper, and trembled as he handed it over to his mistress. "Is there much left yet? What did Murza say?" asked Madame Apafi, in a tone almost trembling. " There is not much more, — you could almost say there was very little more," answered Andy, with downcast eyes, in his embarrassment fum- bling Avith his hat. "How much? how much more?" They all cried at once. Andy turned red. " There isn't any more ! " he blurted out, and burst into a loud laugh followed by tears; — at once the lady caught the meaning of his words. " Man," she cried passionately, seizing him by the shoulders, "you have brought my husband vrith you!" And}^ pointed behind him and nodded in silence. He wept and laughed all at once but not a word could he speak. With a cry such as one utters only in deepest joy, the lady ran to the half open door and there stood listening, Michael Apafi, long waited and oft lamented. " Michael, my own dear husband ! " cried his wife, trembling with feeling; and, beside herself, 44 The Golden Age in Transylvania she fell on her husband's neck, whispering to him words too low to be heard, expressions of tenderness, joy and love, Apafi pressed his wife to his heart ; no sound was to be heard save low sobbing. " You are mine, mine at last," stammered his wife, after a long pause, recovering from the vio- lence of her feelings. "I am yours. And I swear to you that no country, no world can tear me from you again." " Oh, my God, what happiness ! " cried Anna, raising to heaven her face covered with tears of joy. " What joy you have brought back to me," again leaning on her husband and burying her face on his breast. " If the whole world were mine I should not be rich enough to repay you for your loyalty to me. If I could call a kingdom my own I would give it to you, and that would be only a beggarly reward." The husband and wife, exultant in their joy and love, remained undisturbed in their happi- ness. Until late in the night the light burned in their room, — how much, how much they had to say ! CHAPTER III A PRINCE BY COMPULSION A YEAR had passed since Apafi's return. In the manor house at Ebesfalva all was excitement. Before one pair of horses could rest another started out on the road. The servants were sent in every direction. There seemed to be great confusion in the house, 3^et nobody appeared troubled. To those who asked confidentially it was whispered that the wife of Michael Apafi. might give birth to a child at any hour. The master did not for one instant leave the chamber of his suffering wife. Suddenly a wild noise rang out in the court- 3'ard ; about twenty-four horsemen had arrived, led by a Turkish Aga. To the terror of the serving people the Turkish troops carried lances and knives. "Is your master at home?" the Aga said, haughtily, to Andy, who in his terror had re- mained riveted to the spot. " If he is," he went on without waiting for an answer, " tell him to come out, I wish to speak to him." Still Andy could not speak, at Avhich the Turk with emphasis added, "If ho will not come out I will go after him." 45 46 The Golden Age in Transylvania With these words he sprang from his horse and crossed the space before the entrance. Andy ventured to stammer a brief — "But, gracious lord," — when the Turk cut him off with — " I should like it better, my boy, if you would stop your talk and go into the house." Just then Apafi, attracted by the rattling of the lances, came out of his wife's room. He was terror-stricken when he faced his unexpected guest. "Are you Michael Apafi?" asked the Turk, angrily. "At your service, gracious lord," replied Apafi, quietly. " Good. His majesty, the celebrated Ali Pasha, sends you word to enter this carriage without delay and come to my lord in camp at Klein- Selyk, and that without any attendants." " That's a pretty story," muttered Apafi to himself. " I beg your pardon, worthy Aga," he added aloud, " just at present it is quite impossible for me to carry out this wish, as my wife is in travail, and any moment may decide her life or death. I cannot leave her now." " Call a doctor if your wife is sick ; and re- member that you will not restore her to health by bringing down the anger of the Pasha on you." " Grant me only one day and then it does not matter if it costs me my life." "I tell you, it won't cost you your life if A Prince by Compulsion 47 you only ol)C3', but if you don't you may soon cause yourself trouble ; so be reasonable."" Anna from her room heard the conversation outside, and full of anxiety called her husband to her. " AVhat's the matter ? " asked the sufferer, anxiously. " Kothing, nothing, sweetheart, I have just had a summons but I am not ffoino-." But Madame Apafi had seen the spear-points of the Turks through the window curtains and said in despair, " Michael, they want to carry you off I " and she pressed her husband convulsively to her breast ; " they shall kill me rather than drag you off into slavery so that I lose you again." " Keep quiet, my dear child. I am sure I do not know what they want of me. I certainly have not done the good people any harm. At the most they will demand a tax, which I will get together at once." " I have a presentiment of something dreadful ; my heartstrings tighten, harm has come to you," stammered the sick woman, and she broke out into violent sobl)ing and threw herself on her husband. " Michael, I shall never see you again ! " The Aga was getting tired of waiting and began to knock at the door and call out, " Apnfl, here Apafi, come out; I cannot enter your wife's room — that would not be proper — but if you don't come out I will burn the house down over your head." 48 The Golden Age in Transylvania " I will go," said Apafi, striving to quiet his wife with kisses. " My refusal will only make matters worse ; but as soon as they let me go I will be here at once." "I shall never see you again," she gasped, trembling ; she was almost in a swoon. Apafi, taking advantage of this momentary unconscious- ness, left his wife and went out to the Aga, his eyes heavy with tears. " E^ow, my lord, we can go," he said. " Surely you are not going like a peasant, with- out a sword," said the Turk. "Gird on your sword, and tell your wife that she has nothing to fear." Apafi went back into the room, and as he took down his heavy silver-mounted sword from the wall above the bed, he said to his wife, con- solingly, " See, sweetheart, there cannot be any- thing disagreeable to expect, or I should not have been told to buckle on my sword. Trust in God." " I do, I do trust in Him," said his wife, still kissing her husband's hand passionately and pressing him to her heart ; then she began to weep bitterly, — "Apafi, if I die, do not forget me." " Oh ! " cried Apafi. He tore himself with bit- ter feelings from the embrace of his wife, and wished all the Turks born and unborn at the bottom of the sea. Then he jumped into the A Prince by Compulsion 49 waffon, lookino: neither to heaven nor earth, but struggling all the way with a single thought — that it had not been allowed him to leave his wife when she had happened to fall asleep. Hardly were they an hour away from Ebes- falva when the Turks caught sight of a rider at full speed, who was evidently trying to overtake them. They called Apati's attention to it. At first he would not listen to them, but when told that the rider came from the direction of Ebes- falva he ordered the wagon to stop and waited for the messenger. It was Andy who, waving his handkerchief, came galloping toward them. " What has happened, Andy ? " called out his master with beating heart, while his servant was still at a distance. "Good news, master," shouted Andy, "our most gracious lady has a son and she herself is out of all danger — God be praised ! " "Blessed be the name of the Lord," cried Apafi, with lightened heart, and sent the mes- senger back. As soon as this chief cause of his anxiety had vanished all his other troubles disap- peared. He thought of his son and in the glow of this thought began to believe that his Turkish attendants were as good, respectable, civilized people as he had ever seen. Late at night they reached the tent of Ali Pasha. Tlie sentinels were sleeping like badgers ; as far as they were concerned one might have carried oil the whole ^o The Golden Age in Transylvania camp, Apafi liad to wait before the tent of the Pasha until he had dressed himself, when draw- ing aside the curtains, the Pasha bade him enter. There sat Ali with crossed legs on a rug at the back of the tent, and behind him two finely-clad Moors. On the rug that formed a partition in the tent, was outlined the figure of some one standing behind. "Are you that Michael Apafi," asked the Pasha after the customary greetings, " who for several years was a prisoner of the Tartar Murza ? " " The very same, most gracious Pasha, the one to whom, in his mercy, he granted exemption from the full ransom." "That will be made right. Murza granted exemption from the full ransom because His Excellency the Sultan commanded him to do so, and His Majesty will do even more for you." "I hear these words with astonishment and gratitude, for I do not know how I can have de- served this grace." "His Excellency has learned that you con- ducted yourself wisely, honorably, and like a man, in that sad imprisonment, and that you knew so well how to win the hearts of the other prisoners that although there is no respect of rank among prisoners they all had the highest respect for you. In consideration of this, and furthermore taking into account that the present A Prince by Compulsion 51 prince, John Ivem6ny, as he has plainly shown, intends to set himself free from the Sublime Porte, His Excellency has determined without further delay to raise you to the throne of Transylvania and to support you there." " Me, — gracious lord ! It is your pleasure to jest," stammered Apafi. It seemed as if every- thing was beginning to go round before him. " Yes, you ! You have no cause to Avonder at this, for when my lord pleases pashas and princes are made, at a glance from him, slaves, beggars or corpses ; and at another glance, common sol- diers, nobles, or slaves step into their superiors' places. You were so fortunate as to come in for a share of his good-will. Make this to your advan- tage and do not misuse it." " But, gracious lord, what an idea that I can become a prince ! " " That is my atfair, I will make you one." "But Transylvania has another prince, John Kemeny." "That is also my affair. I will settle with him soon." Apafi shrugged his shoulders ; he felt that he had never been entangled in a worse affair. — " That was a true presentiment of my wife's, that to-day a great danger threatened me," he thought. The Pasha resumed the conversation. " Now then, witliout further delay, write an order for a 52 The Golden Age in Transylvania convention of the States so that the ceremony of inauguration may take place as quickly as possi- ble." " I — who will come at my call ? My lord, I am one of the least imjjortant of the nobles of my country : they will only laugh at me and say that I have gone crazy." " And then they will become aware that they themselves have gone crazy," " Then surely I could not send out such a sum- mons, for, with the exception of the country of the Szeklers, Kemeny has all in his power." " Then we will send to the Szeklers, they will certainly come." " And even among the Szeklers the more influ- ential are unknown to me, for I am not one of them. There I know such people as John Daczo, Stephen E-un and Stephen ISTalaczy." " Well, then, call these men, Eun, Daczo, and I^alaczy, if you think they are honest folk," Apafi began to scratch his head. "But sup- pose they came, where should we hold the con- vention ? we have no suitable place. In Klau- senburg my brother-in-law, Dionysius Banfy, is my sworn foe, and he is captain of the train bands. In Hermanstadt John Kemeny himself lives," " Certainly we have Klein-Selyk, Ave can as- semble here." In spite of his distress, Apafi had to laugh. " There is not a house here where A Prince by Compulsion 53 tliirty men could lind room at the same time," he answered, quickly. " Yes there is, there is the church," replied the Pasha, "there you can hold your meeting. If that building is good enough to pay one's respects to God in, surely it is good enough to pay one's respects to men in." Apafi did not know what further objection to urge. " Can you write ? " asked the Pasha. " To be sure I can," answered Apaii, sighing deeply. "Because I can't. Well then, sit down and send your summons to the states." A slave brought a table, parclmient, and red ink. Apafi sat down like a lamb for the sacri- fice, and by way of beginning made a letter on the parchment so large that the Turk sprang up in fright and asked him what that meant. " That is an S," answered Apafi. " Leave some space for the rest of the letters." "That is the initial letter, the rest will be smaller of course." " Read aloud to me what you are writing." Apafi wrote with trembling hand, and read, " Whereas " — Tlie Pasha tore the parchment away from him in anger and roared out, "'Whereas, — since' — wliat is the use of such roundabout expressions ? Write as is the custom, 'We, Michael Apafi, T*rince of Transylvania, command you, miserable slave, that as soon as 54 The Golden Age in Transylvania you receive this writing, without fail you appear before us at once in Klein-Selyk.' Then stop." It required some effort on the part of Apafi to make the Pasha understand that it was not the custom to use such terms with the Hungarian nobility. At last he gained permission to write as seemed best to him, only the contents were to be decisive and authoritative. The circular letter was finished at last. The Pasha ordered a man to mount his horse at once, and gave him instructions to deliver this at full speed, Apafi shook his pen and sighed to himself ; — " I would like to see the man who can tell me what will be the result of all this." "ISTow, until the convention assembles, stay with me here in camp." " May I not go back to my wife and child at home ? " asked Apafi, with throbbing heart. " The devil ! That you may run away from us ? That is the way all these Hungarians treat the rank of prince. The men we do not wish lie down on us and beg for the honor, and those we do wish take to flight." And with that the Pasha showed Apafi to his tent and left him, at the same time giving the order to the sentinel stationed at the entrance as a mark of honor, to be sure not to let him escape. "He got into a pretty scrape that time!" sighed Apafi, in deep resignation. The only A Prince by Compulsion ^^ hope that remained for him no\v was that the men summoned would not appear for the con- vention. ****** A few days later, in the early morning while Apafi was still in bed, there entered his tent suddenly Stephen Run, John Daczo and Stephen Kalaczy, with all the rest of the noble Szeklers to whom the letter had been sent. " For God's sake ! " cried out Apafi, " what are you here for ? " " Why, your majesty summoned us here," re- plied Nalaczy. "■That's true, but you might have had the sense not to come. AVhat can we do now ? " "Enthrone your majesty with all due cere- mony and if necessary, defend you in true Szek- ler fashion," said Stephen Eun. " You are too few for that, my friends." " Have the goodness just to look out in front of the tent," began Nalaczy, and drawing aside the curtain, he showed him a crowd of Szeklers with swords and lances, who had remained witli- out. " We are here cum gentihus to prove to your grace that if we acknowledge you as our Prince, this is not done in mere jest." Apafi shrugged his shoulders and began to draw on his boots. But he was so thoughtful and melancholy with it all, that an hour 56 The Golden Age in Transylvania passed before he was dressed, for he took up each article of dress the wrong way, and put on his coat before he thought of his waistcoat. Several hundred of the nobility had assembled in Selyk at his call, more than he expected or even wished. When Ali Pasha came out of his tent, in the presence of all assembled he took Apafi by the hand and threw about him a new green velvet cloak, set on his head a cap bordered with ermine, and gave the States assembled to understand that they were to receive this man from this time as their true Prince. The Szeklers roared out a huzza, raised Apafi on their shoulders and set him on a platform covered with velvet that Ali Pasha had ordered built for him. " ]^ow let the lords betake themselves to the church — and do you give your oath to your Prince according to your custom and swear fealty to each other. The bells have already been rung at my order. Have mass said in due form." " Pardon me, but I am of the Kef ormed Church," protested Apafi. " That suits me all the better. The affair can be conducted with less formality. There is his Reverence Franz, the Magyar, he shall preach the sermon." Apafi let them do as they would, only nerv- ously stroking his moustache and shrugging his A Prince by Compulsion 57 shoulders when he was questioned. Xalaczy and the rest of the Szeklers considered it proper to meet him in the churcli with all the reverence due to princes. Tlie Keverend Franz extempo- rized a powerful sermon, in which he assured them in thundering language that the God of Israel who had called David from his sheep to the kingly throne and exalted him above all his enemies, would now too maintain his chosen one in his good pleasure, though his foes were as numerous as the blades of grass in the field, or the sands of the seashore. This little church could never have dreamed that it would one day be the scene of a conven- tion and a princely election. And Apafi could certainly never have dreamed that all this would have been fullilled for him. He had neither ear nor eye for the consecration nor for the sermon, for his mind was constantly busied with the thought of what might become of his wife and child and where would they find refuge if he should fall into the hands of Kemeny and they should be driven from house and home. Then it occurred to him that soinewhere in the land of the Szeklers he had a brother, Stephen Apafi, with whom he had always had the friendliest re- lations, and who Avould certainly take care of them if he saw them in misery. These thoughts made him forget everything about himself so completely that when at the conclusion of the 58 The Golden Age in Transylvania assembly all present rose and began the Te Deum, he too arose, quite ignoring the fact that these services were in his honor. But some one behind laid his hands on his shoulders and pressed him down into his place, telling him in a low, familiar voice that he was to remain seated. Apafi looked around and fell back on his seat in aston- ishment, for the man behind him was no other than his brother Stephen. " You here, too ! " said Apafi to him, deeply af- fected. " I was a little belated," said Stephen, " but I arrived in time and will stay as long as j'^ou com- mand." " Will you also run into danger ? " " My brother, our fate lies in God's hand, but we too have something in hand which will have a little to say," and with that he laid his hand on his sword hilt. " Kemeny has forfeited the love of his country, — I need not tell you why. You have good cause to triumph and the ways and means will not fail you." " But if it should prove otherwise ? what is then to become of my wife — have you not seen her?" " I have just come from there. That is why I was late." "You have talked with her? What did she say about my affairs ? Is she very much wor- ried?" A Prince by Compulsion 59 "Not in the least. On the contrary, she is very much pleased, and thinks Transylvania could not have found a better prince ; that you de- serve this honor much more than any of the great lords, who have no thought except for tyranny or carousal, and she regrets very much that her child is still so vouno: she cannot come to strengthen and encourage you." " I should have been much better pleased had she been chosen prince," said Apafi, half in vex- ation and half in jest. " Look out," said Stephen, " the young woman is so accustomed to managing affairs at home that if you do not keep the crown firmly on your own head we shall yet live to see her wearing it on hers. This, of course, I speak only in jest." There is many a truth spoken in jest. CHAPTEE lY THE HUNGAEIAN PRINCES IN BANQUET His Excellency, Prince John Kemeny, was meantime tarrying mid sport and pleasure in Hermanstadt. This good lord had a perfect pas- sion for eating, and would not have given uj) his dinner if the last sf)oke in the last wheel of the state carriage had been broken. Among his counsellors his cook stood first. The entire town- hall was at his disposal and had been taken pos- session of by his attendants. In the courtyard spur-clanking cuirassiers amused themselves v*^ith Transylvanian-Saxon serving-women. A few German musketeers stationed on guard, had leaned their weapons against the gate-post and entered into friendly relations with the boys wdio were carrying the food away from the table, at the same time singing with merriment Hungarian songs quickly picked up, and dancing as they sang. On the other hand, the Hungarian guards w^ere sitting in their yelloAV cloaks with green fasten- ings, leaning silently against the wall. They gave no heed to the tankards of wine set in their hands, excej)t to pour them down at a single draught and return the mighty cup to the friendly butler. The latter could hardly hold 60 The Hungarian Princes in Banquet 61 hiiuself u}) — smiled at all, the happy and the un- happy, and marched oti backward to the cook, who, carrying everything on high, now brought in on a silver dish a great tart decked with flow- ers and sugar, representing the Tower of Babel ; and again a huge porcelain bowl, from which came the spicy fragrance of a hot punch; and again a great wooden platter, on which rested a whole roast peacock in all his plumage. "With difficulty could he make his way across the court- yard with his amazing burdens, for the crowds had gathered there for the adjustment of their affairs, and were waiting until the prince should leave the table. Meantime they got wine, roasts and pastry ; everything except what they came for — justice. In the banquet-hall were the lords and ladies, all somewhat mellow with drink. The meal had lasted some time and was still far from finished. French cookery seemed to have reserved its most wonderful products for this princely feast. The three natural kingdoms had been taxed to tickle the palates of men. Everything considered ap- petizing and extraordinary, from the days of Lucullus down to the time of the French gour- mand, had been brought together there. All kinds of native and foreign wines were taken from great silver coolers and poured into richly cut and colored Venetian glasses. The rarest game, cooked in all sorts of ways, was set out on 62 The Golden Age in Transylvania silver dishes; then followed transparent, rosy, quivering jellies, preserved fruits from the In- dies, ragouts of cocks' combs, delicacies made of snails, lobsters and rare sea fish, dishes that the guests could only by the wildest fancy imagine appetizing, after they were already sated with what was good ; artichokes, oysters, turtles, the enjoyment of which I should, for my part, count a punishment, great pasties and rose-stained swans' eggs in large baskets, which the guests, by way of diversion could cook for themselves over a small spirit lamp placed before each one. Finally came countless other wonderful dishes, the names of which would be hardly recognizable by ordinary mortals and in abundance sufficient for six times as many guests. There were all kinds of spicy drinks to suit the taste of each one. Behind each guest was stationed a page, who as soon as the guest turned his head, im- mediately removed his full plate and gave him a clean one. Behind the Prince stood the son of Ladislaus Csaki, who was proud that his son might fill the glass of the Prince, and the Prince needed to have it filled frequently. The Transylvanian feasters were wont to close their banquets by drinldng each other down for a wager. John Kemeny now called on the brave spirits for the wonted contest. Most of the guests declined the challenge. The sober ones expressed their thanks The Hungarian Princes in Banquet 63 for the honor and excused themselves ; only three took up the challenge. The first was Wenzinger, leader of the German troops, the second was Paul Beldi, general of the Szeklers and supreme judge of the court at Haromszek, a fine-looking man ; his noble brow indicated rest, his gentle eyes were brightened a little by the wine, his silent lips opened in a smile ; otherwise no effect of the drinking was to be seen. Opposite him was the third contestant, Dionysius Banfy, cap- tain of the train bands at Klausenburg and general of the troops, a medium sized, broad shouldered, haughty man, with a touch of un- becoming affectation in his aristocratic counte- nance. John Kcmeny was seated at the upper end of the table and at either side sat the wives of Banfy and Beldi. One of them, Banfy 's wife, was a young woman barel}^ twenty years old, who since her sixteenth year had been under the dominion of her husband. She hardly dared to raise her eyes, or if she did it was only to turn them to her husband. On the other side sat Beldi's Avife, be- tween her husband and the Prince ; hers was still a dazzling beauty like that of a white rose, and now lighted up by the cheer of the feast, the healthy color seemed fairly to burn. There was an eloquent charm in her eyebrows, and when she let fall her lashes over her burning eyes her look was fascinating. Bethlen's wife at the opposite 64 The Golden Age in Transylvania end of the table talked openly of the coquettish woman who had a marriageable daughter and yet dared appear with open bodice ; but this gave all the more pleasure to the Prince, not less to the impetuous Banfy, and even to the gentle hus- band, who worshipped his wife. The wager had electrified all the men, so that the music which sounded from the gallery throughout the feast now began to chime in with songs, when Gabriel Haller entered and hurry- ing to the Prince, whispered a few words to him with a serious look, Kemeny stared at him, then emptied the glass in his hand and laughed loudly. " Tell the news to the company that they too may know," he called out to Haller. He hesitated. " Out with it ; you could hardly say anything more entertaining. Set your music to it, up there. It is a great joke." The men all urged Haller to share his joke with them. "It is quite unimportant," said the man, with a shrug, "Ali Pasha has raised Michael Apafl to be Prince." " Ha, ha, ha ! " — The laughter went round the table. The Prince turned with absurd affecta- tion first to one and then to another of the com- pany. " Does any one of you know this man ? Has anybody ever heard of him before ? " Banfy's Avife clung with blanched face to her The Hungarum Princes in Banquet 65 husband's arm, while he, leaning his elbows on the table said, not without annoyance ; " I am a distant connection of the poor wretch. In fact, he married a relative of my wife. He was a long time in slavery to the Tartars, and the Turks, who are now angry with us, have undoubtedly set him free on condition that he should allow himself to be made prince. He must have lost his wits entirely." Again the men laughed loudly. " We will crown him at once," said Kemeny, sarcastically, throwing back his head. " That has been done already," said Haller. " Where ? By whom ? " questioned the good- natured Prince, with contracted brow. " In Klein-Selyk, by the State Convention." Kemeny indicated by a motion of the hand and uplifted eyebrow that he did not fully understand this reply. " Who was present ? Surely all the men of importance in the country are here with us." "There were present Stephen Apafi, Xalaczy, Daczo and others, a couple of hundred Szekler nobility." " Well, we will count them up as soon as we are through with other affairs," said the Prince, contemptuously. " Give Gabriel Ilallcr a chair." " They are not waiting for us, but are already coming against us ; they are in Schassburg now." "I suppose they will drive us out, — Michael 66 The Golden Age in Transylvania Apafl with his two hundred Szeklers," said Kemeny, laughing. Wenzinger now arose and said in soldierly fashion ; " Does your Highness wish me to have the army called together ? we have eight thou- sand armed men. If it pleases your Highness, we will scatter these people so completely that there will be no two men left standing to- gether." " Keep quiet," replied Kemeny, who looked down with contempt upon the whole business. "Sit down and drink. Let them come nearer, why should we take the trouble to go to them ? we can certainly take them, bag and baggage. — I am sorry, Dionysius Banfy, that this man is a connection of yours, but out of consideration for you I will see to it that he is not broken on the wheel ; I'll have him — stuffed." This hit of Kemeny's was received with roars of laughter. " Bring a glass for Gabriel Haller, we will go on with our wager. Play the rest of that inter- rupted music." Again the music rang out. The gypsy band played a Czardas. The men clinked their glasses and sang to the music. The servants outside joined in. The emptied glasses flew against the wall ; there was not one among them who could not have dashed his glass in a thousand pieces except Gabriel Haller, who had come last and The Hungarian Princes in Banquet 67 was still sober, ashamed to smash the costly Yenetian glass. " Break it against the table so the pieces will fly," thundered the Prince at him, and Ilaller, in obedience to his Prince, struck the glass lightly against the table and snapped the stem, and then bowed with respectful humility before his mas- ter. Madame Banfy sighed as she thought of her kinsfolk. Her husband, to prevent any one's thinking that he was in the least concerned in the affair, jumped from his seat and amid the sounds of the Czardas invited the beautiful Madame Beldi to dance. The little lady was ready. Banfy grasped the beauty about her waist, held her firmly and whirled her around. The excited woman flew with the lightness of a fairy on the arm of her partner. "With that, the rest of the men jumped from their places, seized other women for a dance, and soon the entire company was swept away in fantastic revelr}^, every one clapping, dancing and shouting. Banfy Avas hot- blooded and light-headed ; he loved beautiful women, and now in addition there was tho glow of the wine. When his beautiful partner once more hung on his arm, her glow'ng cheeks came so near him that he suddenly r// tar forgot him- self as to press the bewitchifi;T^ woman passion- ately to his heart and iniprint a hot kiss on her cheek. Madame Beldi cried out and pushed thQ 68 The Golden Age in Transylvania bold man from ter. Banfy, also startled at what he had done, cast a glance about him but every- body was so taken up with his own pleasure that, to all appearances, neither kiss nor cry had been noticed. However, Madame Beldi angrily left her partner, and when Banfy stammered out an • apology, indicated to him that he should stay at a distance. This kiss was to cost Banfy dear one of these days. Nobody had noticed it except the man whom it most Qoncerned,^^the husband. Beldi's eye had seen it. Let not anybody think that a husband who loves is not jealous. Even if he acts as if he had not seen, had not heard, he sees and hears and notices everything. He had in- deed seen Banfy kiss his wife, although he acted as if he did not notice the confusion of his wife who, all excited, sought her husband. He took her hand and led her from the hall. Once out- side he bade her make ready for a journey. " Where are we going ? " asked his wife, quiver- ing with excitement. "Home to Bodola." Of all the guests Dionysius Banf}^ alone no- ticed that two had vanished from the hall. CHAPTER Y CASTLE BODOLA In a part of the country of upper Weissen- burg, as soon as you have left the Pass of Eoza or made a detour of the ravine in the footpath around the mountain heights, you catch sight of Jthe valley of the Tatrang. On all sides are low mountains covered with light fog, and in the background the sky-piercing heights of the foot- hills of Capri, bright in the early autumnal snow. In the fog-wrapped valley are four or five ham- lets with wllite^\'ashed houses, from which the smoke arises amid the green fruit trees. The little stream of Tatrang winds clear as crystal between the quiet villages, forming here and there waterfalls with snowy mist. The clouds hang so low over the valley as to sliut out with their golden veil first one object and then an- other from the oljserver on the mountain-height. There is Ilosszufalu with its long street ; and the church of Trajzonfalu reflects the sunbeams from its painted metal roof. Tatrang is right on the bank of the stream, at this point crossed by a long wooden bridge ; far in the distance appear dark and misty the walls of Kronstadt and the outline of the citadel, at that time still unharmed. 69 70 The Golden Age in Transylvania Farther down in the valley are the scattered dwellings of the little village of Bodola, its church high on a hill ; opposite the village stands a small castle with broad towers and black bas- tions with battlements ; the western bastion is built on a steep rock. But it is only from afar that the castle looks gloomy ; as you draw nearer you see that what appeared a dark green growth on the bastion is a garden of flowers. The great Gothic windows are decorated with sculpture and painted glass. Up the steep cliff is a well-kept, winding path, with mossy stone benches at every turn ; at its summit is a parapet and the pointed turrets of the castle are painted red and topped with fantastic weather-vanes. The road to Kronstadt through the Boza Pass leads to this little castle in a few hours, and at the very time when John Kemeny had aban- doned himself utterly to pleasure in Herman- stadt, a long line of horsemen was moving out of the castle ; there might have been two thou- sand Turkish riders, recognizable from afar by their red turbans and their snow-white caftans ; with them were a few hundred "Wallachian howitzers in charge of men in brown woolen cloaks and black turbans. The way was so narrow here that the horsemen could ride only two by two, and those in the rear had hardly emerged from the mountain pass when the first riders were al- ready in Tatrang. Their leader was a medium Castle Bodola 71 sized, sunburned man, with eyes like an eagle's ; there was a long scar across his forehead ; the sharp upward turn of his moustache indicated an unusually hot temper, an impression confirmed by the short, crisp speech, the proud turn of the head, and the abrupt movements. Beyond the village he called a halt to await the rear ; at the veiy end rumbled two baggage-wagons and a melon-shaped caleche, the entire baggage of the Turk. A child followed, whose serious expres- sion and gleaming short sword seemed liardly appropriate to the full round face; he might have been twelve years old. Within the car- riage, the curtains of which had been thrown wide open to give free play to the evening breeze, sat a young woman of possibly two and thirty, whose dress was partly Turkish, partly Christian ; for she wore the loose silk trousers and short blue caftan of Turkish Avomen, but had taken off her turban. Iler face, contrary to Turkish custom, was unveiled, and she looked calmly out of the window at the country and the passing peasants. Beyond the village the Turkish leader mar- shaled his troops, evidently accustomed to some di.scii)line. At the head of the left wing was the young boy ; the riglit was led by a strong man. " My brave men," said the Pasha to his troops, "you will encamp here. Let every man keep his place beside his horse and not lay down his 72 The Golden Age in Transylvania arms. Ferhad Aga with twelve men will go to the village and say to the justiciary most respect- fully that he is to send four hundred-weight of bread, as much meat, and twice as much hay and oats, for which he will receive four asper the pound, — no more and no less." The Pasha then turned to the Wallachians. " You dogs, do not think that we have come here to plunder. Do not stir from your places. If I find that a single goose has been stolen from the village, I will have your captains hung and you decimated." Then he chose four horsemen from the com- pany. " You will follow me. The others are to rest. We will continue our march to-night. In my absence, Feriz Bey is in command." The small boy saluted. " As soon as Feriz Bey receives word from me to leave you, you will be in command of Ferhad Aga until my return." With that the Pasha struck spurs to his horse and galloped off to Bodola with his escort of four men. Then the boy called Feriz Bey by the Pasha, rode forward with soldierly bearing and in the clearest, firmest tones gave order to dis- mount. His Arab steed, with foaming bit reared and plunged, but the little commandant went on with his orders as if he did not notice the mad leaps of his horse. Meantime, the Pasha con- tinued his ride toward the castle of Bodola. The lord of the castle, Paul Beldi, had just returned Castle Bodola 73 the day before with his wife from the court of Keineny, which he had left without parting words, and Avas standing before the dwelling when the Turkish riders came into the court- yard. In those days the relations of Transyl- vania and Turkey were such that a visit of this kind might take place without previous an- nouncement. As soon as the Pasha cauo:ht siffht of Beldi he jumped from his horse, hurried up the steps to him and presented himself briefly. " I am Kutschuk Pasha. Since my road lay through this country' I have come to speak with you, if you have time." " Your servant," replied Beldi, giving his guest precedence as he showed him to the castle salon. It was a square room, with the walls painted in Oriental landscapes ; in the spaces between the windows were great mirrors in metal frames; the marble floor was covered over with large, bright rugs; on the walls above the windoAvs were portraits and trophies of old weapons of strange shapes and settings ; in the centre of the room was a large table of green marble, with claw feet, and here and there eas}^ chairs u])hols- tered in leather, with heavy carvings. Opposite tlie entrance a door led to the terrace from which was a wide view of the snow-covered mountains. The evening light streaming through the painted glass cast a bright reflection over the faces of the men as they entered. 74 The Golden Age in Transylvania " In what way can I serve you ? " asked Beldi. "You are well aware," replied Kutschuk, *' that at present there is a great division in the country over the princely succession in Transyl- vania." " That does not concern me and I do not in- tend to take sides with either party," answered Beldi, guardedly, " I did not come here to ask you for help or advice in this affair. The question is to be set- tled by the sword. What has brought me to you is purely a family affair and concerns me and me only." Beldi, in amazement, bade his guest be seated and said to him, " Speak." "You may have heard that there was once here in Transylvania a Mademoiselle Kallay, who fell in love with a young Turk and became his wife ; naturally, without the knowledge or con- sent of her parents." " I do know about it. They used to say that the young Turk knew as well how to conquer a woman's heart as a foe on the battlefield." "Perhaps so. Conquests in war have mean- time effaced the traces of love from his cheeks. As you see, my face is crossed this way and that with scars. For the man who married that wo- man stands before you." Beldi looked at the Pasha with astonishment. " I have loved this woman without ceasing and Castle Bodola 75 "Vrith adoration," continued the Pasha ; " this may- sound strange to you, coming from the lips of a Turk, but it is true. I have no other Avife. She has borne me a son of whom I am proud. Now my affairs are in so critical a condition that I must either work wonders with the help of God, or fall in battle. You know that the religion of ^Mohammed sets a high value on death in battle, so that this causes me little anxiety ; but I am thinking of my wife, who if she should lose me and my son would be placed in a most doubtful position. In Turkey, she would be exposed to persecution because she had remained a Chris- tian ; in Transylvania, because she had married a [Nfohammedan ; there through my relatives and here through her own. For that reason I turn to you with a request. I have heard you spoken of as a man of honor and of your wife as a worthy woman. Receive my wife into your family. I have sufficient property for her so that she will be no burden to you in that respect ; she needs only your protection. If you promise to grant me this request you can count on my friendship and gratitude forever, the command of my sword and my property and, in case I survive, of my life." Beldi grasped the Pasha by the hand. "Bring your wife," he said, in cordial tones, " my wife and I will receive her as a sister." " Not as a sister, I beg of you," said Kutschuk, 76 The Golden Age in Transylvania laughingly, " with us that is equivalent to enmity. So then, I may bring her ? " " We shall be happy to have her with us," re- plied Beldi, and gave order to his servants to re- turn to Tatrang with the Pasha's followers and bring his carriage from there by torch light. Kutschuk sent word that Feriz Bev was to come too. Meantime, Beldi presented Kutschuk Pasha to his wife, and it gave him no little pleasure to find that she remembered the Pasha's wife as a friend in her youth, whom she would meet again with natural interest and joy. In the course of a few hours the carriage ar- rived and rolled heavily over the stone-paved courtyard. Madame Beldi hurried down the steps to meet the Pasha's wife, and as the latter stepped from the carriage received her with a cry of joy. " Katharine, do you know me still ? " She too recognized her playmate of old and the two friends rushed into each other's arms, kissed each other and said sweetly, "How handsome you have grown ! " " What a stately woman you have become ! " " See, this is my son," said Katharine, pointing to Periz Bey who, dismounted from his horse, was now hurrying forward to help his mother from the carriage. " What a fine boy ! " exclaimed Madame Beldi, charmed ; she threw her arms around the hand- some, rosy-cheeked child and kissed him again Castle Bodola 77 and again; — if she had only known that this child was no longer a child, but a general ! " I too have children," said Madame Beldi, with the sweet rivalry of maternal feeling. " You shall see them. Does your son speak II un- garian ? " " Huntrarian ! " asked Katharine, almost hurt. " Does the child of a Hungarian mother speak Hungarian! How can you ask such a ques- tion?" "So much the better," said Madame Beldi, " the children will become acquainted the more easily and they will belong to one family hence- forth. Our husbands have arranged that with each other and it certainly will please us." The affectionate mother threw her arms around her friend again, took Feriz Bey by the hand, and brought them both into the midst of the family circle, where they chatted uninterruptedly and asked and answered thousands of questions. In the little boudoir was a cheerful open fire ; large, beflowered silk curtains shaded the win- dows ; on an ivory table ticked a handsome clock set with jewels. In the back part of the room an easy sofa covered with cornflower blue velvet invited one to rest. On a centre-table covered with a handsome Persian rug was a massive silver candelabrum in the form of a siren who held up a wax candle in each hand. In front of the fire- place stood Madame Beldi's children ; the older, yS The Golden Age in Transylvania Sophie, a maiden of thirteen years, tall, delicately built, with shy glance, appeared to be arranging the fire. She still wore her hair in childish fash- ion in two long, heavy braids reaching almost to her heels. This girl afterward became the wife of Paul "Wesselenyi. The second child, a little girl of four, knelt be- fore her older sister and scattered light sticks on the fire. Her name was Aranka, the Hungarian for gold-child ; her hair was in golden curls fall- ing over her little shoulders ; her features were animated and her eyes as well as her hands in constant motion, interfering with her sister in one way or another ; she laughed innocently when the older girl at last became angry. The two children rose when they heard steps and voices at the door. As soon as the older girl caught sight of the strangers she tried to smooth out her dress, while Aranka rushed noisily to her mother, and catching her by the dress looked up at her with a smile on her little round face. Katharine embraced the older girl who timidly offered her forehead to be kissed. " And your cousin, little Feriz, you must kiss him, too," said Madame Beldi, and brought the two reluctant children together, who hardly dared touch each other's lips. Sophie turned red to her very ears, ran out of the room and could not be persuaded to come back that evening. "Oh, you bashful Mimosa," said Madame Castle Bodola 79 Beldi, ■with a laugh. "Aranka is braver than you are, I am sure. You are not afraid to kiss Cousin Feriz, are you, darling ? " The child looked up at Feriz and drew back, clinging to her mother's gown, with her large, dark blue ej'es fixed on Feriz. Feriz Bey on his side knelt down, embraced the child and m\- printed a hearty kiss on her round, red cheeks. Xow that this first step had been taken the ac- quaintance was nuide for Aranka. She bade her Tm-kish cousin sit down beside the fireplace, and leaning against him she began to question him about everything she saw on him, from the sword hilt to the feathers on his turban ; nothing es- caped her. "Let us leave the children to play," said Madame Beldi, and led her friend out on the bal- cony from which was a view of the valley of Tatrang flooded with moonlight. While the men talked seriously and the children gave themselves up to play, the two ladies began one of those confidential conversations so dear to young women, especially when they have so much to tell each other, to ask and to inquire, as these two had. Madame Beldi sat down beside Katharine, took her affectionately by the hand and asked half in jest ; — " So your husband has no other wife ? " Katharine laughed, but there was a little vex- ation with it, as she said ; — " I suppose you think 8o The Golden Age in Transylvania a Hungarian marries a Turk only to be his slave. My husband loves me dearly," " I don't doubt it, Katharine, but that certainly is the custom with you." " With us ! I am no Turk." "What then?" " A Protestant like yourself. It was a Prot- estant who married me — the Reverend Martin Biro, who lives in Constantinople in banishment, and to whom my husband in his gratitude gave a house where the Transylvanians and Hungar- ians living in Constantinople can meet for wor- ship." " What, does not your husband persecute the Christians ? " "I^o, indeed. The Turks believe that every religion is good and leads to heaven, only they think their own religion is the best ; for in their opinion theirs leads the way to the heaven of heavens. Besides, my husband has a kind heart and is much more enlightened than most Turks." " Then why couldn't you bring him over to the Christian faith ? " " Why not ? perhaps because whenever the story-tellers relate the romance of a Turk who fell in love with a Christian girl, they end the tale with her bringing him to baptism and ex- changing the caftan for a coat. In this case they have a romance in which the wife follows her husband and sacrifices everything for him." Castle Bodola 8l " You are quite right, Katharine, but you see it takes me some little time to become accustomed to the thought that a Christian, a Hungarian woman, can have a Turk for a husband." " But consider, my good friend, God miglit not have counted it such a good service on my part if I had brought my husband over to our religion, as lie does that I left him in the religion in which he was born. A Chi'istian renegade, the most that he could have done would have been to take his place in the Church. But now, as one of the most influential Pashas, he can transform the fate of any Christian in Turkey to one so favorable that the Christian subjects of other lands crowd thither as to the Holy Land. How often, when he has received his portion of the war-plunder, has he handed me a long list on which were marked the names of my imprisoned countrymen whom he had set free for a large sum. He has expended immense treasure for this purpose, and, my darling, the reading of such a list gives me more pleasure than would the most beautiful Eastern pearls he could have bought for the same treasure ; and such a deed raises him higher in my eyes than if he could say all the psalms by heart. Beside, he is not at all the man whom you would expect to change his opinions in the least for God or man ; then, too, if he were ready to give up his religion I could no longer trust his love, for he would cease to be 82 The Golden Age in Transylvania the same man I knew and loved — a man who, when he had once said a thing, stood firmly by it and never yielded to any fear or persuasion." Madame Beldi embraced her friend and kissed her glowing cheeks. " You are right, my good Katharine. Our prejudices prevent us from en- tertaining more than the general opinion. It is true, love too has its religion. But what of your country ? Have you never thought of your country ? " " Know my love for my country from the fact that I am now sacrificing to that the life of my husband and of my child, Avhom I see now prob- ably for the last time." The expression of Madame Beldi's face showed that she did not fully comprehend the meaning of her friend's words and Katharine had begun to explain this to her when the servant announced that the gentlemen had already been for some time in the dining-hall and were waiting only for the ladies, Madame Beldi led the way. The children were so far on in their friendship that Aranka let herself be carried into the din- ning-room by Feriz Bey, while she played with his jeweled feathers. When Katharine saw a large decanter of Avine before her husband she seized it quickly and changed it for a glass carafe of pure spring-water. Madame Beldi noticed it and glanced inquiringly at her embarrassed friend. Castle Bodola 83 "lie never drinks wine," said Katharine, by way of excuse. " It hurts him for he is some- what passionate by nature." Kutschuk raised Katharine's hand to his lips with a smile. " Why do you spare the truth, — that I never drink wine because the Koran forbids it, — because I am a Turk." Beldi shook his head at his wife and to give the conversation another turn pointed to the children sitting side by side. " Your son, Kutschuk Pasha, seems to feel quite at home already. You will see what a Ilungarian we shall make of him before your return." At that Kutschuk looked up quickly and proudly at Feriz and both looked at Beldi. In an instant the child's countenance changed com- pletely, and he was wonderfully like his father ; the same firm glance, the same proud toss of the head, the same haughty brow. " Your speech leads me to infer, Beldi," said Kutschuk, " that you think I have brought my son only to leave him here with you." " You surely will not take such a child into battle ! " " Such a child ! He commands four hundred spahi horse, has already taken part in three en- gagements, had two horses shot down under him, and in the coming war is to lead the left wing of my corps." The Beldis now looked in astonishment at the 84 The Golden Age In Transylvania child who, conscious that all eyes were directed toward him, strove to assume a proud look. " But you will at least stand beside your son in the contest ? " said Madame Beldi, anxiously. " By no means. I shall lead the centre and he will look after his division. At his age I was al- ready wearing the Order of ISTischan and I hope he will not return without having won it, too." "But suppose he should come to a hand-to- hand fight and be in danger ? " asked Madame Beldi, with growing anxiety. " Then he will be fighting as befits him," re- plied Kutschuk, stroking his moustache, that seemed to rise of its own accord. " But he is far too young to enter a contest with men," said Madame Beldi, with an expres- sion of pity. " Feriz," Kutschuk called to his son, " take a sword from the wall there and show our friends that you know how to swing it like a man." The boy sprang up and chose from the weapons hanging on the wall, not a sword but a heavy club, seized it at the verv end of the handle and swung it with outstretched arm so easily in every direction that it would have been a credit to any man. His proof of strength was rewarded by a general cry of astonishment. " Kutschuk, give me the boy ! " said Beldi. " With all my heart. Will you give me your daughter ? " Castle Bodola 85 " Which one ? You may have your choice." " The one next him. "When she is grown up she Avill be just a match for him and we shall both have a son and a daughter." Beldi laughed good-naturcdl}^ the two women smiled at each other and Kutschuk Pasha looked with satisfaction at his son, while the latter drew the heron's feather out of his turban, tore off the jeweled clasp which had been most pleasing to the little Aranka, and gave it to the child with generous gallantry. The little maid reached for the costly present timidly, without the slightest suspicion of either its material or moral Avorth ; but when once the trinket was in her hand she would not have let it go for anything in the world. The parents suddenly became silent. True, their expression was a smiling one, but their eyes were serious. CHAPTER VI THE BATTLE OF NAGY-SZOLLOS Meanwhile Michael Apafl assured by Ali Pasha that help would come to him in a short time, advanced on Schassburg and there awaited the change of fortune. John Kemeny came against him with a great army of German and Hungarian troops in imposing numbers, and he himself was a bold general in time of action. Michael Apafi could make but slight opposition. He had a few hundred stiff-necked Szeklers in- capable of discipline, together with the blue jan- issaries who had stayed behind as bodyguard for him ; in all not the tenth of Kemeny's force in point of strength. By the advice of Stephen Aapfi. the Prince determined to stay in Schassburg on the defensive until he could be joined by the auxiliaries from his Turkish patron. This decision was pleasing to the Saxon burghers, for behind the walls of their own town they knew how to defend themselves, but in open field they were never quite comfortable. With the Szeklers it was just the opposite. It was ISTalaczy's mission to keep them in a warlike frame of mind. One evening he brought them to such a state of ex- citement at the inn that with the dawn they 86 The Battle of Nagy-Szollos 87 went noisily to the windows of the Prince and swore roundly that the gate must be opened to them for they were determined to attack Kemeny and fight it out to the death. The Prince and his advisers came down in terror and strove in every way to make them understand that Kemeny's troops were more numerous than they ; that the half of his army was made up of muske- teers Avhile on their side none but the Saxons knew how to use firearms ; that if they should make a sally by one gate the enemy would rush in by the other and all would be confusion. But the man who thinks he can clear a Szekler's mind of an idea once gained is much mistaken. "We are either going to be led against the enemy or we are going home," they shouted. " "We positively will not consent to stay here ten years like the Trojans, for we are needed at home. Portion out to every man the number of the enemy that falls to his share, these he shall strike down and then take his discharge. "We do not wish to stay here and be besieged and starved out, and then throAvn to the dogs and rats." " If you do not wish to stay, m}" friends, you may go," was the final decision of Apafi, "but it would be madness for me to be drawn into an engagement." The Szeklers said never a word but took up their knapsacks, shouldered tbeir spears and 88 The Golden Age in Transylvania moved out of Schassburg as if they never had been there. From, this time on the Szeklers were Apafl's enemies and remained so until his death. The next day Kemeny's forces were beneath the city walls, where Apafi had barely armed men enough to guard the gates. Wenzinger was the man who best understood the art of war. This general, true to the principles of the military art in which he had been trained, first inspected the ground, then carefully occupied any point which could be of any importance, taking care to cover the besieging forces in every direction ; in short, in accordance with a systematic method he prolonged his preparations so that when at last he was ready to begin, at that very moment came the news that the Turkish auxiliaries were approaching on the double-quick. Thereupon, still in accordance with his system, he assembled the scattered troops and made ready to meet the approaching Turks. But John Kemeny was in the way. He feared that if the Turkish force proved large his forces would have to take flight, and in that case with Schassburg in the rear they would come between two fires. He preferred to wait the attack of his enemy and withdrew from the town altogether, taking up his position in ISTagy-Szollos in a spot that will for some time still to come be known as an important battle- field ; from that point he watched calmly the The Battle of Nagy-Szollos 89 w- advance of Ivutscbiik Pasha's horsemen into Schassburg. Apafi, in his anxiety over a state of affairs into which he had fallen through no fault of his own, had not eaten anything for three days, when Avord Avas brought him that the auxiliaries had come. It was already late in the evening when Kutschuk Pasha, after a forced march over rough mountain paths, entered the city, Apali rode forward to greet the Turk, whom he looked upon as his guar- dian angel. Great was his astonishment when, after carefully surveying the line, he learned that they were barely equal to the fifth part of the opposing force. " What does your Grace intend with this small force ? " he asked the Pasha. "God knows, who from above orders the fates of men," answered the Turk with characteristic fatalism ; and did not take the Prince into his plans any further. That night the Turks encamped in the public square in front of the Prince's dwelling. At last Apafi could sleep again after so many rest- less nights. It was such a satisfaction to him to hear the snorting of the horses under his window and the clanking of the sentinels' swords, that he fell asleep with a light heart amid these quieting sounds ; then too there was the thought that Avith these troops he could hold out for some time, when — something might happen. Long before 90 The Golden Age in Transylvania dawn lie was wakened by the rattling on a board which called the Turkish horsemen to breakfast. " They breakfast early," thought the Prince, turned over and fell asleep again. As he dozed it seemed to him that he heard dervishes singing ; their song is of a kind to make a man sleep even if he felt wide awake ; but soon his Excellency was roused again by the sound of trumpets. " What are they doing in the middle of the night ? " he cried out with annoyance ; he got up, iooked from the window, and saw that the Turk- ish riders had already mounted, though it was still dark ; and with another sound of the trumpet the entire company rode out. The noise of the hoofs on the pavement and the words of com- mand sounded out in the night. " What a restless fellow this Pasha is ! " thought Apafi, " he does not give his army any rest even at night, and that too after so many hardships," and with these thoughts he went to bed again, fell into still sweeter sleep, and woke late in the morning. The sun was high in the heavens when Apafi rang for John Cserei, at that time his fac- totum. His first question was, " What is the Pasha doing ? " " He withdrew from the town during the night and sent back a messenger who has been waiting since dawn." "Let him enter," said Apafi, and began to dress in haste. The Battle of Nagy-Szollos 91 "With Kutschiik's messenger entered Stephen Apafi, Isahiczj and Daczo. They too had been ■\vaitincr two hours for the Prince to awaken, and besides this they were eager for the Pasha's mes- sage. "What news? Speak quickly," called Apafi to the messenger. The latter stood with arms crossed, bowed to the ground, and began, " Excellent Prince, my lord, Kutschuk Pasha, sends you the following message through me, 'Stay quietly in Schassburg and keep good hope ; with the troops under your command guard the walls and gates.' Meantime my lord Kutschuk Pasha will advance against John Kemeny and enter into an engagement with him wherever he finds him. It will be a struggle unto death, even if he should perish with his entire host." This announcement so confounded the Prince that he could lind no Avord of reply. Kutschuk Pasha in point of numbers was equal to the fifth of Kemeny's force ; besides, his troops were worn out with forced marches. The man who could hope for victory at such a time must believe in miracles. " Let us prepare for the worst," said Stephen Apafi, " and put our trust in God," That was the most sensible speech to be made under the circumstances. Michael Apafi let af- fairs take their course, any man who chose might gi The Golden Age in Transylvania guard the walls. The guards left their soldiers to look out for themselves and the soldiers did not trouble themselves much about the walls. The fate of the land lay in God's hand, literally speaking, for the hand of man was withdrawn. The Prince did no more than to order old Cserei to keep watch in the church tower and let them know when he saw the troops moving. * * ^ -^ * * Meanwhile John Kemeny had halted in N^agy- Szollos, which was a few hours distant from Schassburg. He made his headquarters in the little parsonage, and the little room is still shown where he rested for the last time, and the round hill in the garden on which stood a summerhouse where the Prince had begun his last meal but had not finished it. The Hungarian forces consulted for a long time with Wenzinger and the Prince about the course of action^ Some advised taking the town by storm and others maintained that they should be- siege it and starve the people to submission. Wenzinger shook his head. " Permit me, my lord," said the experienced German, " to express my opinion. I am an old soldier, have been through all kinds of campaigns, know the value of superior forces in war and also of good positions, and know how to balance the two. I have learned by experience that often a The Battle of Nagy-Szollos 93 hundred men under favorable circumstances are more difficult to displace than a thousand. I also know what a ditf erence the spirit of an army makes. I know too the importance of taking into account the different kinds of weapons, and the importance of nationality. We have ten thousand men and there are barely three thou- sand drawn up against us. But we must take into consideration that the greater part of our Hungarian force consists of horsemen, and that it is impossible to storm a city with horsemen — still less possible to compel a Hungarian on a horse to dismount and fight on foot ; furthermore I would remark that the Hungarian is a brave fighter when drawn up against foreigners, but whenever I have seen him against his own people, — and I have frequently had the opportunity, he has been so lazy and indifferent that it seemed as if he could hardly wait to turn his back on the battlefield. We have a force of men that are very good on the defensive, and if we had them behind the walls of that town we could hold out against a force of ten times that number ; but except behind fortifications they are of no use. They are strong enough to defend a bastion but too weak to storm one. Then we have no cannon for stormint; so we must send to Temesvar for cannon, and before they can arrive over those roads — and it is a great question too whether the commander will send us any — Ali l^asha may 94 The Golden Age in Transylvania return with fresh forces, while we shall have spent the time here to no purpose. So I main- tain that we had better wait here no longer. "We are in no condition to take the enemy within the walls by force or siege. We cannot suppose him so mad as to be drawn into an open engage- ment. The wisest thing for us under these circumstances is to go without delay to Hungary, there get troops and cannon, and then make it our object to force the enemy into a field engage- ment." Kemeny, who was not accustomed to listen for any length of time to words of reason, could hardly wait for Wenzinger to come to a pause ; as if the plan of action was of the most trifling importance to him, he interrupted with frivolous imj)atience, "Let's put it off until afternoon. General, after dinner everything looks different." " 'No, indeed, not after dinner, " said the German ; " there is no time to be lost. We are in the midst of war where every hour is precious and not in the Diet where an affair can be dragged out for years." At this hit the Hungarians laughed loudly, seized Wenzinger by the arm, and dragged him with jests to the table, saying, "You know we have plenty of time after dinner." "Many such soldiers whom no one can com- The Battle of Nagy-Szollos 95 mand would quite meet my views, " said Wen- zinger, half in jest and half in vexation, and then he spoke no more during the meal, but drank the harder. During the dinner John Uzdi, captain of the scouts, entered the extemporized banquet-hall with terror in his face. In his extreme haste speech almost failed him. " Majesty — I saw great clouds of dust in the direction of Schassburg, and coming this way." The Prince turned his head with humorous nonchalance toward the messenger ; " If it is any pleasure to you to inspect those clouds of dust, why keep on looking at them." Wenzinger sprang up from his place. " I too must see them," he said, and ordered his horse brought forward at once. " Evidently the enemy has come out to draw us nearer." The rest did not allow themselves to be dis- turbed but went on with their pleasures. After a few minutes Wenzinger came hurrying back ; on his features could be read that secret joy which a soldier alwa^^s feels when his plan nears success. " Victory," he cried, as he entered, " the enemy is moving off, bag and baggage ; provided only he is not doing it for appearances, and is not avoiding a battle, all's Avon." At this news some of the men rose and began to buckle on their swords, but the Prince did not leave his place. 96 The Golden Age in Transylvania " Are they still far away ? " he asked the gen- eral, calmly. "Half an hour distant," answered the other with glowing countenance. "Then let them come nearer, and meantime sit down beside me." " The Devil I will ! " said the general, angrily, " I have hardly time to assign the army their positions." " What is the use of assigning them positions ? Let them march in a solid column so that the enemy will be frightened to death at the mere sight of them." " Quite right. However, I do not wish to frighten them away but to surround them. One half of the army I will draw up against them, and the other I will arrange as follows : one division shall steal through the grain fields and cut off the enemy's retreat in the direction of this city ; another shall fall on his flank just above the millstream ; and the third shall be stationed as rear guard. Your Majesty with his court shall join the rear guard." " What," said Kemeny, roused at last, " I in the rear guard ! Hungarian Princes are in the habit of going first in battle." " That was well enough in former times, but in a combined assault, so precious a life that must always be looked out for is only in the general's way, and has a disturbing effect on the move- The Battle of Nagy-Szollos 97 ments of the troops. But if it is your Majesty's express wish, then I give over the command to you and take my place in the rank and file. Let your Majesty take the command. Here only one can be general." " Stay at your post and arrange matters as you "will, only let me choose my position as I wish, and it shall not interfere with yours." And KemOny staid at table with a few of the men. "Wenziuo^er had hardlv time to make the necessary arrangements when word was brought the Prince that the armv was in line of battle. Kemeny rose calmly from his place, girded on his sword, but forbade them to put on his coat of mail. " What for," he cried, " is the heart beneath any bolder ? " Then he had his finest horse led forward, which tossed his head so fiercely that two men could hardly hold his bridle. The spirited black beast reared and plunged ; his nostrils steamed, the white foam flecked his breast and his long waving tail reached almost to the ground. Kemeny swung himself into his saddle, drew his sword and galloped to the head of the army. Everybody was astonished at the fine rider, lie adapted his movements to the horse as if they were one creature. When the high-spirited horse reached the front he began to slacken his pace, struck his hoofs on the ground and seemed to salute the army with his head. 98 The Golden Age in Transylvania The men broke out into a loud huzza. At this moment the Prince's horse stumbled and fell for- ward, breaking the silver bit in his mouth ; only the greatest skill and presence of mind saved the Prince from plunging over his horse's head. His attendants crowded about him. " That's a bad sign, your Majesty," stammered Alexis Bethlen. " Let your Majesty mount an- other horse." " ISTo, it is not a bad sign," replied Kemeny, "for I staid in my saddle." " However it would be well if your Majesty would not ride this horse. He will keep stumb- ling now that he has been frightened." " I intend to stay on this horse just to show that I do not give in to omens and am not afraid of them," replied Kemeny, defiantly, and ordered the bridle with broken bit to be taken away and another brought. Just then Kutschuk's trump- eter sounded for the attack. ****** The Turkish horsemen were drawn up in the form of a crescent with the ends turned back- ward, and in the centre rode Kutschuk Pasha. The Turkish general on this occasion wore a cos- tume of unusual splendor. His caftan was of heavy silk embroidered in flowers of gold ; under this a dolman woven in threads of gold, and around his waist a costly Oriental shawl; his The Battle of Nagy-Szollos 99 sword was studded with precious stones ; in his turban was the entire ^ving of a gerfalcon, with a diamond clasp. He rode a fiery Arab steed with slender neck, long braided mane and flow- ing black tail. The proud creature tossed his head and shook the fringed housings ; there was a kind of gold net over his body with leather knots at the ends from which hunff larire colden O DO crescents hitting against each other. As soon as Kutschuk Pasha came in sight of the princely troops of Kemeny, he prostrated himself on the ground and kissed the earth three times, raised himself as many times to his knees, lifted his hands and devout face to heaven and cried "Allah, Allah!" Then he mounted his horse again, ordered his son called to him, tore a falcon feather from his turban, and said as he stuck it in the boy's cap, " Now go to the left wing of the enemy and try to fight bravely, for it is bet- ter that you should fall by the enemy's hand and I should see you dead than that you should flee and be obliged to fall a sacrifice to my sword." With these Avords he put his hand on the weapon at his side. Feriz Bey bowed with an e.xpression of the deepest homage, kissed his father's robe and galloped proudly to his ap- pointed post. He seemed to know that all eyes were now directed to those falcon feathers that his father had placed in his turban. The Pasha lOO The Golden Age in Transylvania then rode along the front of his host and spoke to his men : " Brave comrades, now you see the enemy with your own eyes. I will not say whether their numbers are great or small, for you can see for yourselves. They are many more than we, but trust in Allah and fight bravely ; it is more honorable to fall here sword in hand, than to dis- grace numbers by flight. We are in the middle of Transylvania; whoever runs away will be hunted down by pursuers before he can get to the borders, but even if any one should escape the Sultan will have him killed. We have no choice but victory or death." Then he turned to the Wallachians and ad- dressed them in hard, angry tones : " Well do I know, you dogs, that you are ready to ride off at the first shot, but I have given orders to the troops stationed on the outside to shoot down any one of you who so much as looks backward." Then the Pasha took his place at the head of the host and with unsheathed sword gave the sign to the trumpeter. As he once more sur- veyed the troops he noticed that the Moors in their metal caps stationed behind him had reached for their guns and made ready to aim. " What do you mean ! " growled the Pasha. " Down with your muskets ! The enemy has more of them. JSTothing but swords now ! Let The Battle of Nagy-S'/oUos loi every man ride boldly against the enemy and ■when I give the sign, bend low on his horse and gallop forward without trembling." The army obeyed the command. The Moors slung their Aveapons on their shoulders, drew their broad swords and marched forward follow- ing the Pasha. Keuieny's troops stood before them like a Avail of steel. In the first line the musketeers and behind them the infantry. In the centre was AVenzinger and on the right wing John Kemeny. The troops on the Hanks marched stealthily behind the mill and the grain fields to attack the rear. AVlien the Turks Avere al- most within shot of Kemeny's army Kutschuk Pasha turned round and cast commanding glances at his soldiers right and left, at which they in- stantly dropped their heads on their horses' necks, swung their swords forward, struck spurs into their horses' flanks and rode madlv into the lines of the enemy. "Allah! Allah! Allah!" rang out three times from the lips of the assailing Turks. At the third shout there came a tremendous report. Kemeny's musketeers had at thut moment fired in line at the assailing horsemen and their ranks were for the instant enveloped in smoke. Gen- erally speaking such firing does little harm in war, causing more noise than destruction. In this case only two Turks fell with their horses, the rest galloped forward under the hot firing. 102 The Golden Age in Transylvania Wenzinger saw that his artillery had no time to load again and gave command for the in- fantry to advance. If these troops could have stood their ground against the attack of the horsemen until the artillery could load again, or until the flank troops could have fallen on the Turks in the rear, Kemeny would have won the battle, but the ranks of the infantry were broken through at the first onset, and after a desperate engagement largely mown down. Thereupon the defenseless musketeers fled in great numbers and by their cries threw the rest of the army into the utmost confusion. Wenzinger tried to restore order at once by giving command for a retreat along the whole line, and had this been carried out the engagement might have taken another turn. But the horseguards who were under the command of the Prince, by Kemeny's orders stood where they were ; the rest of the troops changed their position and continued to fight with those opposite them. The Pasha sud- denly turned from the pursuit of the musketeers in their mad flight and fell upon Kemeny with his entire force. The latter, attacked in front and on the side at the same time, lost his wits, and as there was neither time nor sf)ace for an orderly retreat, plunged frantically along the first way that opened. ISTaturally he did not no- tice in such a flight that he was riding down his own infantry, then in retreat, since the horse- The Battle of Nagy-SzoUos 103 guards ^vho had charged in disorderly assault at the rank still in line, and trampled down their own troops, had prevented the use of the re- serves ; so the whole army was brought into con- fusion and disorder. The infantry threw do^vn their weapons and fled, pm'sued by the horsemen of both armies ; any still remaining in line were trampled to death by the horsemen. Neither the genius of the leader nor the self-sacrifice of a few brave men availed to restore order. The wild flight in one part threw the rest into confusion. The bat- tle was completely lost. In the general panic that reigned the Prince too fled. As he had been in the front ranks of the battle he was now at the rear, and could Avith difficulty escape his pursuers in such a tumult. The Turks pursued closely and knocked down all Avithin reach. Close on the track of the Prince followed a vouns: Turk, and as his horse carried a much lighter weight he soon overtook the Prince. By the falcon's feather waving in his turban could be recognized Feriz Bey, son of Kutschuk Pasha. His features were ablaze Avith a youthful glow, those of the Prince were dark with rage and shame. During the flight he often looked back and gnashed his teeth. " To flee from a child is a disgrace,-' he cried out in his anger. Several times he tried to stop but his maddened horse swept him along. Meantime the youth had 104 The Golden Age in Transylvania come so near that he began to show his sword. At first the Prince did not consider the strokes of the boy worthy his attention, but as the latter coming nearer grew bolder and bolder, the Prince drew his sword and returned the blows. " Don't come any nearer, you bastard," shouted Kemeny, furiously, " or I'll deal you a blow that will knock your very breath out." By this time Feriz with a bound of his horse reached the side of the Prince and aimed a Da- mascus blade at his neck, while Kemeny leaning back, drew his sword for a fearful blow. The two swords were whizzing through the air, when Kemeny's horse stumbled again and fell with a broken leg. This gave his blow another direc- tion, and instead of hitting Feriz as he had in- tended, he struck the head of his own horse and cleft it in twain just as the young Turk's sword gleamed against Kemeny's forehead. The Prince, falling from his horse looked darkly at his foe : the blood was streaming from his forehead. Once more he struck his spurs into his horse and the poor creature struggled to his hind feet, only to fall backward with his rider still clinging to him, and rider and horse were trampled under the feet of the pursuing enemy. During the wild conflict nobody paid any attention to the spot where the Prince had fallen. Several days later in the Schassburg market- place his torn coat and broken weapon, found and The Battle of Nagy-Szollos 105 offered for sale by some Turkish freebooters, were bought by Michael Apati and laid away for safe-keeping in the treasury at Fogaras. Apafi ordered a careful search for the body of the fallen. Prince, that he might bury it with due honors, but nobody could distinguish the Prince's corpse among the stripped and mutilated, ****** "When the battle was won Kutschuk Pasha ordered the trumpet sounded to call back his men from the pursuit of the conquered foe. At the sound of the retreat the Turkish horsemen came bounding back man for man, in marked contrast to the usual custom of Turkish armies, who are as disorderly after victory as their vanquished foes. Kutschuk had accustomed them to stern discipline. The men returned blackened with smoke and covered with blood, but none more so than Feriz Bey ; in his coat were the holes made by many balls and he rode his third horse since the beginning of the conflict ; two had been shot under him. Kutschuk embraced his son without a word, kissed his brow, fastened his own Order of Xischan on his breast and exchanged swords with him, a mark of the highest honor among the Turks of those times. Forhad Aga, the leader of the right wing, was brouglit in dead. He had received all kinds of wounds and was com[)lctely covered with shots, io6 The Golden Age in Transylvania spear-tlirusts, and sabre-cuts. Kutschuk sprang from his horse, fell weeping upon the corpse, cov- ered it with kisses and swore by Allah that he would not have given this man's life for all Transylvania, He did not go into town until Ferhad had been buried. The dervishes sur- rounded the body at once, washed it, wrapped it in fragrant linen, and the Pasha himself selected a sunny spot under the trees. There the dead man was laid with his face toward the East, a spear with waving pennant was planted above the grave, and a guard of men set for three days to keep off the witchlike Djinns from the body of the fallen one. CHAPTEE yil THE PRINCESS After the battle of Nagy-Szollos John Kemeny's faithful followers fled to Hungary and transferred their allegiance from the fallen one to his son Simon Kemeny. But his sinking for- tunes had few friends, and wliile the faction of the younger Kemeny grew daily less, Apafi's gained from day to day. By his triumph he won over the best and most distinguished of the town, the judges, nobility, commanders of the for- tresses, in short ever^^body hurried to do him homage. The State in a body recognized him as Prince. Only a few places where Kemeny had left German garrisons, still resisted, among these Klausenburg. Kutschuk Pasha brought Apafi with a strong force under the walls of this town. He had a tent pitched for him in sight of the old town in Hidele. At that time it was a place of thatched huts, and there the new Prince received deputations. By early dawn Apaii was fairly besieged by the hosts of visitors and place-seekers. At first the newh'-chosen Prince, carried away by the novelty of his agreeable position, was able to fulfil the wishes of everybody and refused hardly a request. As soon as Nalaczy and Daczo 107 lo8 The Golden Age In Transylvania learned that he had his boots on, they Avere with him and announced great crowds of people out- side the tent eager for entrance. Apafi made haste to dress that no one need wait. He could hardly expect to satisfy everybody. Among the throng was Ladislaus Csaki; he came to offer the Prince as page the same son who had filled Kemeny's glass a few weeks before. Apafi could hardly express his pleasure at this offer. Then came Gabriel Haller who bowed countless times and in the name of his two companions made an elaborate speech to Apafi. Apafi could scarcely conceal his childish pleasure in being called Ex- cellency, a title used in Transylvania only for great princes. He invited Gabriel Haller at once to dine with him. At the back of the tent a raised seat had been placed, which the modest Prince positively would not accept until his brother Stephen had forcibly set him there. He received everybody standing and accompanied each one to the door when he Avent. Then they came singly to present themselves, make requests of the Prince, or swear allegiance. At the Prince's side stood Nalaczy, Daroczy, Stephen Apafi and John Cserei, who repeatedly urged the Prince to sit down. The oaths of al- legiance were received, the commanders of the citadels laid their keys in the Prince's hand and then followed visits. First came Martin Pok, the jailer at Fogara, The Princess 109 with the humble request that he should be made captain of this stronghold instead of the foreign incumbent "who had fled with Simon Kemeny. Apafl promised to remember him. John Szasz came next, supreme judge in Jlermanstadt, to make complaint that his fellow citizens had per- secuted him and beg the Prince for help. Apati took him under his protection. Then followed JMoses Zagony who begged that the Prince would most graciously set him free from certain taxes imposed by Kemeny and still in arrears. He too went away comforted by Apafi. Last of all came before the Prince, a Szekler of the mountains, in short peasant coat and jacket of fur, who, he said, came sent from Olahfalu to bring Apafi the oath of allegiance in the name of his people, and to make his strange requests : first, that Olahfalve should be permitted to be only two miles distant from Klausenburg (the actual distance between the two places was more than twenty) ; secondly, that there should be a law enacted that if a man had not a horse he should go on foot. The Prince received these strange requests with laughter. They seemed to put him in ex- tremely good spirits and the young student, Clem- ent, sought to take advantage of this, lie was a crooked-nosed, high-cheeked youth, Avrappcd to the chin in a foxskin, who knelt before Apafi and handed him a roll of parchment that with 1 1 o The Golden Age in Transylvania tlie aid of his friends Apafi took and unrolled. "Within, he found a green leaved tree showing the complete genealogy of his family. In this docu- ment he was connected with the Bethlens and Bathorys, taken back to King Aba and on the way connected with Huba, one of the seven leaders of the Magyars. But the good man did not rest even here ; the lineage extended even to Csaba, youngest son of Attila. On the mother's side it went still further to the daughter of the Emperor Porphyrogeneta, and on the father's side to Nimrod the first king on earth. This flattery seemed to annoy Apafi somewhat, but he had not sufiicient decision to order the fiat- terer out of the tent. He rolled up the geneal- ogy, put it behind him and undertook to satisfy the impertinent poet with a few ducats. But that did not disturb the Prince's good-humor in the very least. It seemed as if he must express especial thanks to each man for approaching him, and show him the obligation that he felt ; and after he had received and listened to the various suppliants, as if this were all too little, he turned to Nalaczy and Daczo with the question, "Is there nothing that I can do for you ? What re- ward shall I make you for the fidelity with which you have stood by me from the first ? " N'alaczy and Daczo had for some time been puzzling their minds as to what request they might make that should not be too small. The Princess 1 1 1 " I leave the reward of my trifling services to the generosity of your Excellency," said Nalacz}'-, thin'king that without doubt the Szeklers would now receive a new captain instead of Beldi. "• The little that I have done for your Excel- lency does not now deserve mention," said Daczo, but it occurred to him that the position of Cap- tain of the train bands at Klausenburg, left va- cant by Banfy's flight, would be an appropriate one. Apafi was well-disposed toward them and per- haps might have made these excellent but useless people his privy counsellors, but to their great misfortune, at that very moment there was a tu- mult at the entrance to the tent. When the guard drew back the curtain Kutschuk Pasha entered. The Prince sprang from his seat and would have hurried to him, Init his brother Stephen pulled his coat and whispered in his ear : — " Maintain your dignity in the presence of the Turk ; he is only a subordinate Pasha while you are Prince of Transylvania." In spite of the warning Apafi was not satisfied until Kutschuk made him a sign to be seated, and although the Turk remained standing before tlie Prince, the impression on the bystanders was that Apafi appeared amiable and grateful and Kutschuk liauglity and dignified. " How can I thank you for your exertions ia 112 The Golden Age in Transylvania my behalf ? " Apafi asked the Pasha, with true feeling. " Not to me, but to the Sultan have you cause to be grateful," the other replied, drily. " I was only following out his wishes when I placed you on the throne of Transylvania. Your enemies, with God's help, I have laid low, except for a few strongholds still in their possession ; as soon as these are won my task is at an end. The rest is my affair. To-morrow I march to the siege of Klausenburg and shall not rest until the city is taken at any cost ; when that stronghold has fallen the rest will go of their own accord." " Then in your judgment it is not necessary that I should order the country troops to horse ? " said Apafi. "I do not need them," replied Kutschuk. "Let them stay at home and look after their own affairs. My troops will do it all." Apafi was going to thank the Pasha for his generosity, when he suddenly became aware that the eyes of all were turned toward a side en- trance of the tent, where somebody had entered without announcement. The Prince looked in that direction, and what he saw caused him to forget for the moment Transylvania, Kutschuk Pasha and Klausenburg. There before him stood his wife, the beautiful and stately Anna Bornemissa. Her look was indeed princely. How well this The Princess 113 imperious countenance knew how to maintain a friendly and yet proud gaze ! Ko adornment was noticeable in her costume, but was there any need of precious stones where such speaking eyes gleamed ? Did this royal figure need velvet and ermine to be recognized ? Apafi saw her to-day for the first time since his departure. She was as beautiful as ever. Accustomed now to good fortune and comfort, her features had gained a transparent gleam ; her eyes, long unfilled with sorrow, were brighter than ever ; the smile of her lips that had known such joy only a short time, was all the sweeter, and her figure formerly slight had now gained in roundness. The gra- cious dignity of her figure and movements suited her well. When Apafi caught sight of his wife he forgot all propriety and dignity, hurried toward her, seized her hand, drew his trembling wife to him, as was his wont when a plain nobleman, and kissed her mouth and cheeks in a way plainly audible to the assembled states. Anna nestled into the embrace of her husband, offered her beau- tiful lips to his kisses, and at the same time her great serious eyes, over her husband's shoulder, seemed to be searching the faces of those assem- bled in the tent, resting a longer or shorter time on each individual. The embrace seemed on Apafi's part to have no end, until Anna with a smile freed herself and said : 114 The Golden Age in Transylvania " You are lavishing all your effusions on me alone ; there is some one else here who claims his share." She motioned to her maid, Sarah, who with smiling countenance had followed her mistress into the tent, and now disclosed to Apafi's eyes a beautiful sleeping child that, covered with a silken wrap, the maid had lulled in her arms. Beside himself with joy, Apafi took the child in his arms and kissed the round angel-face again and again. The child woke up, endured the kisses and embraces without a cry, and tugged at his father's beard, to the uns]3eakable joy of his parents. The men standing about thought it fitting to congratulate the Prince on his paternal joy. Apafi turned to them and said : — " Do you see how serious he is ? he does not cry, because he is a man." Anna beckoned Stephen Apalfi to her and whispered to him : — " I trust the gentlemen will not be annoyed if family joys and cares with- draw the Prince from public affairs for a few minutes." " Your ladyship has taken the words out of my mouth," replied Stephen. " I was just on the point of speaking to them." With that he turned to those present and begged them to leave the Prince to himself for the few moments claimed by family ties, and to The Princess I15 withdraw to the adjoining tent. The gentlemen considered the request natural and left the tent, Kutschuk Pasha leading. Anna took the child from her husband's hands, gave it over to Sarah and sent them away. AVhen they were alone Apafi approached his wife with new expressions of tenderness. She took her husband by the hand, looked him ear- nestly in the eye, and said : " It is to the Prince that I have come." This earnest look cooled Apafi a little, which did not escape Anna's notice, and she drew toward him again affectionately. " It seemed to me probable that the Prince might need me more than the husband," and then she added with her irresistible smile, " I hope you will not misunderstand my intentions in this." Apafi put his arm around his wife and drew her to him. The throne was quite wide enough for both. " You are right. It is well you have come. Tliere is always something lacking when I can- not see you. You certainly deserve to come nearest my heart ; I am not in the least afraid to lay your mind in the balance with any man in the circle." " Who arc all these men ? " asked Anna. " You shall know them by their names. The li6 The Golden Age in Transylvania tall, slender man is Ladislaus Csaki who has just offered me his son for a page." " Ko time lost there. It is only a short time since the boy was serving Kemeny." Apafi's face darkened a little. "The man with the heavy moustache is Gabriel Haller." Anna clapped her hands with surprise. " Is that he ? " " What fault have you to find with him ? " " That he has always served your enemies as a spy. He brought Kemeny the first neAvs of your coronation, and he was the one who announced the approach of Kutschuk Pasha." Apafi's face grew darker still. "And I have invited the man to dine," he muttered between his teeth. " What do l^alaczy and Daczo wish, that they are here on so friendly a footing ? " " They are my faithful partisans who have been on my side from the beginning." " Do not for that reason give them the first positions in the land. In a large sphere of ac- tivity, simple, ignorant men do more harm than sensible antagonists. Reward them, but only in proportion to their work." " That I will," said the distressed Prince, and strove in every way possible to make the role of husband prominent throughout the rest of the scene, but Anna did not stop. The Princess 1 1 7 " "Wliat is John Szasz tiying to get from you ? I saw him too." " The poor fellow is being persecuted," replied Apafi, curtly, for he began to weary of this fault- findinof. "There are bad reports in circulation about this man. It is said, and plainly, too, that he carried off a young gh^l from Saxony, and when he had wearied of her had her poisoned. The parents have begun a prosecution and he sees no safety except in Avinning your favor by flattery." Apafi started up furious. " If that is true I will show Szasz the door ; he shall not find pro- tection with me." "And for what purpose is the noble ragged Szekler here, I should like to know ? His face seemed to me to indicate subtlety, for the Szekler is never so sly and dangerous as when he looks simple." At this question the Prince was overcome with merriment. Fairly choking Avith laughter, he said, "He was the deputy of the people of Olahfalu." At the mention of this name Anna too could hardly repress a smile. " Poor people, all sorts of untrue stories are told of them ; their minds work strangely." " You understand everybody perfectly. Now explain the meaning of the demand which the Szekler has made of me. lie begged for two Ii8 The Golden Age in Transylvania things. In the first place that the distance between Olahfalve and Klausenburg from this time on should be considered only two miles." " Oh, the sly simpleton," said Anna. " They already have the privilege of offering their lumber for sale at a distance of two miles and now their purpose is to open a market for them- selves in Klausenburg as well." "You are quite right," replied Apafi, con- vinced. " I^ow their second request seems some- what suspicious to me, although it had nothing to do with their public affairs. They wished it to be established by law that anybody who had not a horse should go on foot." " I understand," said Apafi's wife, after short reflection, " Olahfalu has recently been made a post-town, and on this ground the couriers, as they pass through, often demand horses. The good people are weary of the burden and for that reason wished a new law which should en- force going on foot for the couriers." Apafi stamped angrily with his foot. "The villain, to allow himself such a jest. You will see how I shall pay him for that. But it is time to admit the gentlemen again." " One Avord more, Apafi," said Anna, with a winning glance, throwing her arms around her husband's neck. "I noticed Kutschuk Pasha among those waiting. I suppose he came to take leave." The Princess 119 Apafi drew "back startled. " On no account to take leave. Surely you un- derstand that we are here to take Klausenburg by storm ? This depends on Kutschuk Pasha." " Michael," said his wife, entreatingly, and laid her hands on his shoulders ; — " will you allow Klausenburg to be taken by the Turks ? do you foriret that the Ottomans have never of their OAvn accord given back a Hungarian stronghold once taken by them ? do you not remember that Klausenburg is the capital of your country and that those within its walls are your own people, of your country and of your faith ? will you expose them to the rage of assailants ? they who might otherwise be your friends are pagans and foreign- ers, whom you cannot allow to prevail against your own people. Did not your heart sink when you saw the walls of Klausenburg ? could you look at these dwellings, these towers, without remember- ing that they are the homes of your people, the churches of your God into which the besiegers would throw their firebrands ? Could you look at these walls without seeing on them mothers hud- dled together with their young children in their arms, crying out to you that within dwelt your own people, an innocent, true-hearted folk ? and could you make your entry into the capital city of your own country over the fallen bodies of these women and chiklren ? " Apali stood up, his forehead bathed in per- 120 The Golden Age in Transylvania spiration. In liis confused expression were traces of involuntary repentance. " !N"o indeed, Anna, no indeed ! do not think me so heartless. I who could never withstand a woman's tears, could I be insensible to the sor- row of an entire people ? but what can I do ? I had intended to call out the troops of the coun- try, to invest the city and to comj^el the garrison to yield ; but what could I do with Kutschuk Pasha? he is determined to take the city by storm at once, and I can find no valid reason to bring against it." " Be calm. All those in command of Turkish troops now in Transylvania have received fir- mans ordering them to join the army of the General-in-chief at ]N"euhausel as soon as possible, Kutschuk has doubtless received a firman of this character." " I did not know that. Is that the reason he has been in such a hurry to storm the town ? " " You too will receive such an order from the Turkish Council of State. Under the pretext that this order has already come it will be an easy matter to prevail on the Pasha to abandon the siege of Klausenburg." " I will try it, Anna. I will do it," replied Apaffi, pacing back and forth in the tent. " I owe it to my people. Better abandon those walls than force my way through with fire and sword." " You must not do that either," answered his The Princess 121 clever wife. "There are ways and means of getting possession of the stronghold beside tak- ing it b}'- storm." Apafi stood still and looked at his wife in- qniringly. She drew him to her and whispered as follows : " Before you reached the Avails of Klausenburo", I commissioned Raldi and several other of our faithful followers to try to win the garrison over to our side ; this morning our spies brought me word that the infantry are so won over to us by promises and the force of circum- stances that at the first sound of the drum from here they are ready to open the gates and give themselves up to you, bag and baggage. The cavalry alone cannot then offer further resist- ance." Apafi in amazement said, " You certainly were created for a prince." Anna took her husband gently by the arm, led him to the throne and made him take his seat. " The sceptre is no toy, Apafi," she said, ear- nestly. " Never forget that posterity and eternity sit in judgment on princes. Every deed and every word of a ruler may mean safety or de- struction to millions. Therefore consider every- thing that you say or do. Now I am going. Be firm." Anna kissed her husband on the brow and as she did so her glance fell on the roll of parch- ment of the traveling student. 122 The Golden Age in Transylvania " What kind of campaign plan is this ? " she asked, taking up the parchment. Annoyed, Apafi tried to take it from her hand, but he was too late. Anna had unrolled it and as she looked at the tuft-hunting pedigree, cast a reproachful glance at the prince who stood before her with downcast eyes. " Did you have that drawn up ? " she asked him, quietly. " ISTo indeed ! " answered Apafi, quickly. " An impertinent poet brought it to me." " Throw it into the fire," said his wife, calmly. " That is what I meant to do. I got rid of the author by means of a few ducats." "He deserved a thrashing, and not gold," said Anna, angrily ; then her features grew gentle again. She looked her husband straight in the eye and said in kindly tone ; — " Be strong ; be a Prince. Grant protection to the faithful, pardon to those who return in penitence, and scorn to the flatterer." With these words she bowed low, kissed her husband's hand and was gone before he could re- piy- Apafi then sent for those in waiting to return. It was very evident from the expression of their faces as they entered that they thought they might now ask and expect everything good from the Prince, for the haj^piness of the previous family scene would naturally leave him in a The Princess 123 state of mind in which he could not refuse any- body. Stephen Apafi was the only one cool-headed enough to observe the change in his brother's features during this interval. Genuine princely firmness, dignity and energy seemed now en- throned upon this countenance. " Faithful comrades," began Apafi in a strong voice without waiting for any one to speak ; — " in respect to the requests with which you have approached us, it is our wish to send you away with a just and worthy answer. Your oaths of allegiance we have received with due appreciation and hope you will not cease to remain constant in your loyalty. You, Ladislaus Csaki, we hereby permit to return home to share the peace of the family circle ; as for your son we will have him maintained in foreign lands at our expense until he seems fitted for our service." Ladislaus Csaki thanked him gloomily for the favor granted of returning to the peace of his own family circle, when he would so gladly have remained with his family at court. Gabriel Ilaller the Prince passed over as if he did not see him, and turned to Kalaczy and Daczo, who made every effort to appear humble. " My faithful friend, Stephen Nalaczy, in con- sideration of your active zeal for us we appoint you first chaml)erhiin at our com-t ; and you, John Daczo, we appoint Lieutenant of Csikszerda." 124 '^^^ Golden Age in Transylvania Both men looked as would any one who had ex- pected a great reward and received a very small portion. They could hardly express their thanks to their Prince for his favor, so great was their chagrin. Meantime Martin Pok had pressed forward that he might not be left out, and completely hid the worthy Cserei, who was standing modestly behind the others. " Why do you stand so in the background ? " said Apafi, beckoning to him. Thinking that the signal was for him, Martin Pok advanced still farther. " We meant you, Cserei," continued the Prince. " Do you think we do not know how to search out our tried and faithful followers? Your fidelity and wisdom are known to us and for that reason we deem it advisable to appoint you Cap- tain of the castle at Fogara." Martin Pok was so amazed that he looked up at the ceiling to see if it was falling. " Martin Pok on the other hand," continued the Prince, " we confirm in his former position. He will remain jailer of the same castle." Martin Pok gasped, Cserei wished to remon- strate, but the Prince motioned to him to keep quiet. The next in turn was John Szasz. " The charge of a great crime has been brought against you, which we have neither desire nor The Princess 125 po'U'er to free you from. You will be taken un- der guard to Hernianstadt and we advise you to try to defend yourself there as well as you can." John Szasz looked in astonishment to right and left. He was utterly unable to comprehend Avhat had happened. " You, Moses Zagoni, Avill give in your accounts to the next treasury officers." Zagoni considered it advisable to address words of consolation to Szasz by way of concealing his own discomfiture. Now the Prince came to the messenger from Olahfalve, and it was high time ; for while the Prince had been portioning out these different favors the smile had gradually vanished from his countenance and the comical old countryman was now at his own expense to restore cheerfulness to the company. "What I promised you," — said the Prince turning toward him, and in doing so he could scarcelv conceal his amusement ; — " remains pledged to you. Olahfalve shall be just two miles from Klausenburg, if that is of any advan- tage to you ; and also everybody who has not a horse shall go on foot if you wish it ; but I make this condition ; that you shall not bring any tim- ber to Klausenburg to sell, and that you furnish the post couriers the necessary teams." The Szekler shook his head, scratched it and 126 The Golden Age in Transylvania raised his eyes to the Prince as if to ask with a look how Apafi had found out his dodges. The Prince could not keep from laughing at the embarrassed expression of the Szekler and at that the others laughed unrestrainedly. But the Szekler who had thus far smiled confusedly, now grew serious at the general outburst, tossed his head back defiantly, looked furiously at the lords, drew up his coat and hurled these words at those standing around : " Listen to me, you lords ! I will stand it from the Prince that he makes fun of me, but I will ask you not to laugh at my expense." The Prince motioned them to be silent, and to turn their attention called up the traveling stu- dent, Clement, who slouched in on his long, thin legs, looking as if he would fall on his knees at any moment. " We have given orders to our treasurer," said the Prince, "to pay you from our own private purse for the work which you have done, three groschen." " Your Excellency says " — stammered out the poet. " You heard perfectly well. Three groschen, I said ; that is the price of the writing material you have sjjent on the work. Hereafter employ your time more profitably." Then the Prince signified that the audience was over. They left the tent with low bows. The Princess 127 Kutschuk Pasha alone remained. During the entire scene the Pasha had shaken his head in surprise, as if he would not have expected this from Apafi, and when he was left alone with him he noticed that it was no longer necessary to urge Apafi to maintain his princely bearing toward others. Apati wore a friendly look, but in his friendliness one saw princely condescen- sion. "With regret we have learned," he began, turning to the Pasha, " that we must shortly lose you, whose bravery we so admired and Avhose friendship we so honored." The Pasha hurriedly drew near in surprise. " What does your Excellency mean ? " " In consequence of those firmans which order the Transylvania guards to assemble in the camp of the Grand Vizier, it will be our misfortune not to see you in our circle longer." Kutschuk bit his lips angrily. " Whence could he get his information so soon ? " thought he. " We would gladly retain you, for your person is more precious to us than any other. We know that the commands of the Sublime Porte de- mand immediate obedience, and therefore that you may not for us draw down the disi)leasuro of the Sublime Porte, we have so conducted the taking of Klausonburg that we sliall march in without any assault ; in that way you will be re- lieved of the burdensome task of maintaining 128 The Golden Age in Transylvania your troops here any longer. As for your serv- ices in establishing our position as Prince, we will settle this in person with the Vizier, as we too have been summoned to ISTeuhaiisel." During this speech Kutschuk Pasha with folded arms stared in wonder at the Prince's firm glance, and when the Prince had concluded still kept the same position without answering a word. Apafi went on calmly : "However, to express even in a slight de- gree the gratitude which we owe you individu- ally, accept from us this slight remembrance, more as a token of our high esteem than as re- ward." And the Prince took from his neck a gold chain set with beautiful jewels, and hung it about the neck of the Pasha. Kutschuk stood still riv- eted to the spot. He watched the Prince closely, and wrinkled his forehead gloomily. Then sud- denly he began to laugh and said : " "Well done, Apafi, very well done ! I observe you are in the habit of giving your intelligence over to your wife for safe-keeping. Salem Ale- ikum." And the Pasha went off shaking his head. Apafi with lightened feelings hurried to his wife. Gabriel Haller waited for some time at the door, until an attendant informed him that the The Princess 129 Prince was dining with his family and then he stole away. A few days later Apafi made his entr}'^ into Klausenbui'g with fife and drmii. CHAPTEK YIII AZRAELE Again we are in Hungary, among the moun- tains of Homolka, in that part of the country where no one has yet cared to dwell. In a cir- cuit of ten miles there is not a single village to be seen. Over the entire mountain chain not a single roadway; even the footpaths break off suddenly in the rocks, either leading to a water- fall covered over with leaves, or to an abandoned charcoal hut where no grass could grow in the sooty vicinity. While the sunbeams lie aslant over this region, drawing over it a gilded veil of mist, Ave can hardly distinguish a single object of the pan- orama. Gradually a broad ravine draws our attention. The mountain peaks which seemed to close in all sides are blue grey, and in the centre of this ravine rises a huge, solitary rock, looking just as if it had fallen from heaven. A hasty glance passes it by lightly, but a more careful observer discovers a small wooden bridge, supported on piles, which appears to connect this circle of mountain summits with one of the steep walls adjoining. Gradually we become aware that this trestle is not the work of nature ; those 130 Azraele 131 stones forming walls which appear to continue the mountain heights are really the work of man's hand. It is a massive rock-bastion built as high as its support. And as the walls 'are built out in all directions as high as the steep edges of the cliff, it looks as if it had grown out of the rock, and as if the vines clinging to the Avails were there simply to form a natural tangle. In the year IGG-t the eye that glanced over these walls might see within magic buildings. Corsar Bey, the terror of the country, inhabited this stronghold, and at his bidding hedges of roses sprang up on the bastions, and the castle stood in a grove of orange and pomegranate trees. On all sides could be seen those splendid buildings which Oriental pomp erects for the moment's pleasure : spacious domed buildings overlaid witli sky-blue enamel where the sun mirrored itself ; gay painted towers on the bastions with balconies decorated with Moorish carvings, and on these vases of flowers ; slender white minarets covered over with vines ; lattice- work kiosks with slender gilded columns, the whole as light as a card house ; nothing but gilded wood, painted glass, enameled tiles, and gay-colored rugs. From the pointed roof-tops waved gay flags and high above all shone a golden crescent. Every kiosk, every dome, every min- aret was adorned with crescents and flags. It seemed a magic castle ready to vanish ; but the 132 The Golden Age in Transylvania walls surrounding this delicate structure were impregnable. On all sides were impassably steep rocks behind which the pursued, if he once reached them, could defend himself against a hundred times as many. The guards stood day and night with lighted fuse by the cannon, which Corsar Bey had had cast on the spot, as there was no way of conveying such defence there. Two of these fiery- throated monsters were turned toward the bridge, to blow it to atoms in case of attack. From this vantage ground Corsar Bey roved the land, plundering and killing defenseless peo- ple ; if he fell upon an army he ordered his Spahis and Bedouins to turn about and while he, taking advantage of the mountain paths, fled to his castle with the booty loaded on beasts of burden, the Timariots, stationed in reserve, made a barricade of trees and stoned to death those who dared follow into the valleys. Sometimes he allowed his pursuers to follow him close to the castle, and while they shot at the walls of cliff with their small cannon dragged up with the utmost difficulty, and thought to starve him out, he would play the trick on them of bursting out from some subterranean passage to rob and burn in their rear. Every attempt to surprise him, to surround him, was in vain. The inhabitants of the surrounding villages began to withdraw to more remote places to escape this frightful neighborhood. Azraele 133 After the battle of St. Gottliard, (166-4-) in which the Turkish general lost twelve thousand men in an engagement with Hungarian and Austrian troops, a twenty years' peace was con- cluded between the Porte, the Transylvania principality and the Emperor, Avhich left the Turk in possession of all the fortresses conquered or built in Hungary. The men of these fortresses now carried on the war on their own account ; robbing and burning where they could. The Sultan could not hold each one accountable ; all he could do was to empower the complainants to seize the disturbers of peace and do with them as they would. In these times five or six counties, a few nobles, or the people of single villages would combine to carry on war against the foe within their borders. The country did not concern it- self and furthermore could not have done so had it wished. The Roman Emperor was engrossed in the Spanish Succession, the Sultan in a war against Venice, the lesser antagonists struggled as they could. ****** Kow, away from our sight, cold outer world — narrow panorama of mountain and horizon with- out charm. Arise before us, magic halls ! We see a magnificent apartment, the splendor of which bears us to a more beautiful world, while 1 34 The Golden Age in Transylvania thought flitting from object to object, grows weary of the beautiful and luxurious, sought out by fancy and employed to form a poetic, charming whole. On a purple couch in the most splendid room of the castle lay Azraele, Corsar Bey's favorite. Beside her rested a live panther, stretched out like a gay footstool, and played with her hair like a young kitten. * -Sf * * * * The clatter of horses' hoofs was heard ringing out from the winding way that led through the valley and Corsarburg. The noise was heard through the woods long before the riders could be distinctly seen. Soon they reached the height where the road, climbing to the mountain ridge runs along its length. It was Corsar Bey with his robber band. First came the beasts of burden laden with spoils. From the full leathern sacks gleamed church treasures ; then came the Bey himself with his gay horsemen recruited from all classes ; spahis clothed in silk and carrying long spears. Bashkirs with bow and arrow. Bedouins in white cloaks with brass-hilted swords. The Bey was in his prime, his thin beard and mous- tache barely showed on his brown face, his high cheekbones and broad chin gave him a bold, cruel look. His dress was covered with jewels in bar- baric profusion. His troop followed him in si- lence. Blood was clinging to all their garments : Azraele 135 some had not taken the trouble to wipe it ofif their faces. The beasts trotted quietly toward the castle urged on by fellahs, while the troop followed them along the mountain ridge, ****** The shadows of night had fallen. " I am afraid," said Azraele. " Why are you afraid ? " said Corsar. "I have had bad dreams," replied Azraele, trembling. " I dreamed that the Giaours stormed your castle by night and murdered you. I tried to throw myself down from the battle- ments but could not, and I was caught. A Chris- tian had me. Oh, it was frightful." " Don't be afraid," said Corsar. " The Koran says only the birds can fly and no one can get into this castle who has not learned to fly. But even if it were possible you need not be afraid of falling into the hands of the infidels, for there under the entrance is a fuse reaching to the pow- der houses ; if all is lost you have only to touch that fuse with the night lamp, and the entire place will be blown to atoms, with us and our foes." " What a comforting thought," said Azraele. Suddenly she sprang up again with a scream. " Do not you hear the noise of the Djinns ? " and she trembled in every limb. The Bey looked around him in terror. A storm raged withcmt ; the weather vanes creaked. From 136 The Golden Age In Transylvania the tops of the minarets the wind threw the tiles on the kiosks below. The lightning flashed and the thunder made the crags tremble. " Do you hear these invisible creatures howl- ing and rattling the closed windows with their mighty hands ? " " By the shades of Allah, I do," said the man, his eyes fixed with fear. " Have mercy, have mercy ! Away from this house, you bad spirits," cried Azraele. "May the sunbeams strike you and the darkness bury you. Go torment the Christians. May your wings break on the top of our crescents as you float over them. Ha, how their eyes shine ! Spirit of Allah, cover us, that they may not see us with their eyes of fire." The great, strong man trembled like a child. His superstitious fear had taken all strength out of his heart. " Do you hear how they murmur ? Say a prayer quickly aloud and stop your ears, so you shall not hear what they say." At this moment the frightful storm broke in a window pane and the wind rushing in shook the curtains and made the lights flicker. " Ah, do you see him ? " cried Azraele. " Be still, don't look, don't open your eyes. Cover your face. Asafiel, the angel of Death is here. Don't you feel his cold breath ? Hush, cover yourself up, perhaps he does not notice you." Azraele 137 Corsar climg to Azraele and covered his face with his hands. '"■ AVhat do you -want ? " called Azraele, as if she Avere speaking with a visible spirit. " AVliom have you come for, black shade, your eyes glow- ing with blue fire ? There is nobod}^ here but me. Corsar has not come. Come later, come an hour later. Away with you, black creature ! May Allah crush you ! " Corsar did not dare open his eyes. " Away with you, I say." At this moment the lightning struck one of the bastions and shook the mountains to their foundations. "When the sound of thunder ceased, a light fall of rain began on the roof ; the roar of the storm grew more and more distant ; was heard dully near by and howled mournfully in the distant woods. " He has gone," whispered Azraele, in a barely audible tone. "He promised to be back in an hour. Corsar, you can live just one hour." " One hour ! " repeated Corsar, with dulled senses. " Oh, Azraele, where can you hide me ? " " That is quite impossible. Asafiel is relentless. One hour more and then he will carry you olT." "Bargain with him. If he must have dead men, I will have a hundred slaves beheaded. Promise him l)Iood, treasure, prayers, Ijurning vilhiges, cver3'thing. Only beg him to spare my Ufe." 138 The Golden Age in Transylvania "It is of no use. In my dreams I saw your sword broken in two. Your days are numbered. There is only one way of escape for you — one way of baffling this bloodthirsty angel. Some one of the dead must exchange names with you and Asafiel when he comes for you must drag him off in your stead." " That is right. That is right," stammered the strong man in fear. " Find me such a dead man who will exchange names with me. You know the incantations. Go call up somebody from his grave ; promise him everything, fellah or rajah, I will give him my name and take his. Go, hurry." "You must go yourself. Throw your cloak around you. Leave your weapons here ; spirits are afraid of sharp iron. We will go down into the churchyard under the castle walls, set fire to amber and borax over a tripod, plunge the magic staff into the most recent grave and so compel its inmate to appear before you. When the spirit has appeared you must take three steps toward him and call out three times bravely, 'Die for me ! ' Then the spirit will vanish and Asafiel will not call for you." "But you will be near me," said the timid Corsar. "I will be at your side. E'ow hurry. An hour is a short time." Corsar threw on his cloak and repeated the be- Azraele ^39 ginning of a prayer the end of -which he coukl not recall. "Be careful not to wake the guards," said Azraele, cautiously, " if a human being should by chance hear us the power of the enchantment would be broken, for they might utter a prayer that would contradict ours. We will saddle our own horses and go down by the secret path. We must not say a word on the way and you must not look behind." The Bey was ready. He put on his furlined cloak he was so cold. Azraele called to the pan- ther lying on the rug, " Oglan, you shall go too and keep watch. If we meet a wild beast you shall defend us." As if he had understood the words of his mis- tress the panther rose on his hind feet and laid his paws on her arm, and the trembling man clung to her on the other side. A strange group ! A pale woman wrapped in white, and b}"" her side two princely creatures, a haughty man steeled for conflict, and a panther; both mastered by a glance from her, driven to joy or to despair. ***** The Moslem churchyard below the castle is planted with cypresses. Amid these dark trees of mourning are the graves rising ghostlike with their layers of white stones. At the sound of the approaching steps a grey wolf ran out from the graves, otherwise the place was absolutely 140 The Golden Age in Transylvania desolate. The clouds were broken after the storm ; and here and there might be seen the dark blue sky with stars like diamonds. The raindrops were falling from the trees. The rumbling of the thunder was still heard occasion- ally in the distance and the lightning played over the mountain tops brightening all with its white light. The figures reached the churchyard by the underground passage and dismounted from their horses beside the graves. Azraele laid the reins of both horses in Oglan's mouth. The clever beast stood still on his hind feet and held the two snorting horses more firmly than any post could. The man and woman reached a high grave with its stone just showing among the branches of a Aveeping willow. "It is hardly probable that a slave rests under this stone," whispered Azraele to the trembling knight ; she placed her magic pan on the stone and lighted the amber and borax which blazed up and cast a white vapor over the grave. In the distance was heard a slight rustling and Corsar's horse whinnied restlessly. " What's that ? " asked knight. " The Djinns," answered Azraele. " Don't look behind you," Then she raised the magic wand and uttered an incantation over the grave interspersing it with unintelligible words. Azmele 141 "Eestless spirit, appear at my command. TVhether you are beneath the dark tree of Hell, or in the garden of the houris. Whether you sleep bound by chains of tire, or on beds of roses, hear my call. Flee through the air, cleave the darkness and appear before me in living form as you were. Appear ! " At the words she struck with her wand against the side of the stone, and there rose up from be- hind a figure wrapped in white. "JSiOw take three steps toward him," said Azraele to the dazed knight, " and speak to him." Corsar Bey approached the figure before him with tottering steps, and said in a hoarse, quaver- ing voice : " My name is Corsar Bey ; and you, accursed shade, who are you ? " " I am Balassa," said the spirit Avith a clear voice. The white shroud fell off and revealed a mighty man with unsheathed sword in his hands. " Corsar Bey, you are my prisoner," he said to the Turk, who stood petrified at the sudden turn. The next moment the Bey put his hand to his side and not finding any sword there, ran with a cry of rage to his horse, threw himself into the saddle and used his spurs, but Oglan held the horse firmly with the bridle in his teeth, and when the horse tried to move, the panther dug his claws into him and held him back. 142 The Golden Age in Transylvania " To Hell with you, you cursed beast," yelled Corsar, foaming with rage, and gave the panther a kick. But the panther only pulled the bridle this way and that, stood in the horse's way and frightened him with its leaps, compelling him to circle about. " Speak to your beast, Azraele," screamed the Bey, turning around, and looking for his beloved saw her in the arms of the young Hungarian. At this instant the churchyard became alive. The Hungarian soldiers who had been lying con- cealed tore the Bey from his horse. Even when thrown to the ground he tried to defend himself with stones. " A curse upon you," said the vanquished out- law. The troops moved past him along the secret passage to his castle, and an hour later by the light of his burning castle he saw his favorite ride away mounted behind Balassa. CHAPTER IX THE PRIiS^CE AND HIS MINISTER A FEW years had passed since Apati rose to his princely rank. AVe are in the period when, in consequence of the sudden death of NichoUis Zrinyi the party of Hungarian malcontents had lost their standing and most of them had gone to Transylvania, which country was rejoicing in Home rule, owing to the rivalry of the German and Turkish monarchs. True, the country paid the Sublime Porte a tribute, but in its diets it could make what plans it would ; and if the Tar- tars did burn the villages of the country to the ground, in that very act they gave proof that they did not consider the country their own. All the fortresses were in the hands of the Prince, who could maintain as many soldiers as he had means to pay, and carry on war when- ever he found himself in a position to do so. Furthermore, if it gave him any satisfaction, he could ev6n dupe the Turks. The Turk did not find anything to object to in the constitution of the country ; in its privileges, its patriarchal aristocracy, its Latin language and Hungarian costume, nor in its many religions; all that did not concern him. Ho pitied from 143 144 The Golden Age in Transylvania his soul the poor people who gave so bright an outlook to the affairs of the country. He did not exert himself in the least to procure them a more exact acquaintance with his own simple system ; in this respect he was like the Turk in the story, who when he saw a Hungarian eating with his open knife in hand, sat down behind in confident expectation that the Hungarian would put out his eyes in carrying his knife to his mouth, and when he saw that this did not happen, went away in the pleasant belief that it certainly would happen a little later. ****** Great changes had taken place in Ebesfalva in this time ; the princely residence was no longer the simple manor house. At some distance from that, on a height, the Prince had a castle built with a high square tower, and from each corner rose small pointed turrets ; the entrance was guarded by two stone lions, and on the facade was this inscription in high relief : " Fata viam invenient." Beyond the carved columns along the front was a corridor connecting one wing of the castle with the other ; the windows were all made with pointed arches and with antique decorations, and the inner court was reached through an arched passage under the building. In this courtyard instead of plows and wagons we now see rampart guns and long culverins. Instead of farm boys, The Prince and His Minister 145" ■we see outside the gates guards in yellow cloaks and red hose. To reach the Prince's office you must pass through long passage-ways and echo- ing apartments where pages announce your ar- rival from door to door, and when at last the re- ception-room is reached you stand not in the presence of the Prince but of IMichael Teleki, his tirst counsellor. He is the same bald-headed man whom we met on that memorable day that saw the death of Nicholas Zrinyi. In early days the good man had been only a captain fallen into disfavor with George Kakoczi. Since then his affairs had prospered and he Avas now chief captain of Kovar and all powerful in the name of the Prince. His mother was the sister of the Princess. Through the protection of his aunt he came into the protection of the Prince. Once there Teleki needed no further support; his comprehensive mind, his extended acquaintance, his statesmanlike training made him indispensable to the Prince, who preferred to bury himself in his books and antiquities and considered himself hindered by anything that took him from his family or his studies. His reception-room to-day was crowded with men who wished to speak to his Excellency. They were the Hungarian fugitives whom the Prince seemed to hold in special horror. These restless, gloomy people, always in quest of war, did not suit the placid, meditative nature of the 146 The Golden Age in Transylvania Prince. iN'ow lie shut them all out, and admitted only, of all his courtiers, a learned pastor, John Passai who had a professorship in Nagy-Emged, and was dear to the Prince on account of his learn- ing. Apafi's office looked more like that of a student than a ruler. The walls were covered with bookcases, in the corners were maps, and on the narrow spaces remaining were clocks, which the Prince wound up himself. The chairs and sofas were covered with books needed at once, so that often when the Prince received the visit of a friend he did not know where to seat him. Sometimes even the floor was cov- ered with maps, dusty documents and open books ; if Teleki entered at such a moment he would have to pick his way with as much care as a man looking for a dry path through the mud. At this moment Apafl and the pastor stood before a table on which lay some old coins. Apafi looked carefully at a gold piece, turned it in his fingers and held it to the light. Passai stood in front of the Prince like a post, hat in hand, with knitted brows. Apafi twirled the coin and studied it on both sides. " Those are not Koman letters," he growled, " neither are they Greek nor Arabic ; and they certainly are not Hunnic. I have never seen such characters. Where were they found ? " he asked, turning to Passai. The Prince and His Minister 147 "In Yarhelv, when the AVallachians were clearing a"\vay the okl temple." "• Why did they clear it away ? " " It was an old ruin that they called a Konian temple," " But it cannot hav« been a Roman temple, for it is not a Roman coin." " I agree with you, but the Wallachians are in the habit of calling every ruin in Transylvania Roman." " But why did they clear it away ? " " The villagers thought they might burn the statues for lime." '" O godless people ! " cried Apafi, " to make lime out of rare works of art. Did you not try to save at least part from destruction ? " " I bought a cover of a sarcophagus adorned with sculpture, and a well preserved sphinx ; but it was not convenient for the Wallachian who was moving them to lift them whole, so he broke the statues in five or six pieces that he jnight carry them in his cart more easily." " He deserves to be impaled ! I will have a law passed that nobody hereafter shall dare lay hands on any antique." " I am afraid your Excellency will be too late, for when the people learned that I Avas paying for their stones, the story went abroad that I Avas hunting for diamonds and carbuncles in the stones, and they broke them all up in such small 148 The Golden Age in Transylvania pieces that now they might be used for writing sand." "Have you spoken with the Lord of Deva about the mosaic ? " " He will not let it go at any price. He said that none of his ancestors had ever sold any of their possessions. If he would only allow it to be moved from the spot where it was found, — but he will not even consent to that. As it is the corn-stall stands over it and the oxen lie on the figures of Venus and Cupid." " I have a great mind to confiscate the prop- erty and so get possession of the priceless treas- ures," said Apafi, with the zeal of a student, and again turned to examine the puzzling coin. At this moment Teleki entered the Prince's apartment with an important air, took some writing from a silk envelope, opened it and placed it in Apafi's hand. The Prince appeared to read it with care and knit his brow as he did so. Suddenly he called out, " They certainly are Dacian letters ! " " What ! " said Teleki, astounded, with wide open eyes. He could not comprehend how the Prince had found Dacian writing in the letter handed him. " Yes, I am positive. I remember reading, perhaps in Dio Cassius, that the Romans had medals struck with a Dacian inscription and on the obverse the picture of a headless man. Here it is." The Prince and His Minister 149 " But your Highness," said Teleki, with annoy- ance, " the writing that I handed you " — Kow for the tirst time Apafi noticed that there was a parchment in his hand waiting to be read, and sullenly gave it back to Teleki. "■ I have told you already that I did not wish to see anybody to-day. In a month's time the Diet will be convened and then the Hungarians may talk about their affairs as much as they will." " But, I beseech your Highness," replied Teleki, satirically, " this writing has nothing to do with the Hungarians, but with his grace the Tartar Khan." " "What does he want ? " said Apafi, and glanced at the parchment, but when he saw its length he laid it aside. " I will make short work of him. Who brought tlie letter ? " " An Emir." Apafi girded on his sword and went into the reception-room, " Good-day, good-day," he said, hastily, to those assemljled. In this way he made an end of their long greetings, and gave a searching glance through the throng. " Where is the Emir ? " At this the Tartar deputy came forward. He stood boldly before the Prince \vith an air of consequence. "Salem Alecli." 150 The Golden Age in Transylvania " What is it ? " said Apafi, curtly. The Emir measured the Prince keenly with his piercing eyes, threw his head back and said : "My lord, the gracious Kuba Khan sends word to you, Prince of the Giaours, that you are a false, faithless, godless man. You gave your word of honor that we should live as neighbors and how do you conduct yourself now ? A year ago it happened that in passing through Saxony we visited cities the names of which a true-be- liever may not utter, and there took our usual plunder in due form. They were always profit- able, but as some of them were not quite quick enough in the payment of the tribute, at the command of his Grace, Kuba Khan, they were burned to ashes as punishment, that they might improve. Then did they improve ? Not at all. For when we visited there again this year we found only the bare walls that we had left before. The unbelieving dogs fled before us and left us only a search. So then, my lord the mighty Kuba Khan sends word to you to know what kind of a Prince you are that you allow these unbelieving dogs to leave their towns and make fools of us. Formerly when we came the hay had been put in barns, the grain threshed and the cattle fatted ; now we find nothing but weeds, with hares and other unclean creatures that you unbelievers are accustomed to eat. And that we may not take our revenge, the towns are The Prince and His Minister 151 not built up again. Kow if jou do not wish to bring down upon your head the wrath of the mighty Khan, see to it that you order those fugitives back to their towns, and send word to the rest of the Saxon towns that have surrounded themselves with inaccessible walls, to open their gates to us. Otherwise we will visit you in Klausenburg with lire and sword and leave not one stone above another." During this speech Apafi had several times grasped his sword. Then he reconsidered and saiil calmly : " Cto back, give greetings to your lord, and tell him that we will give him satisfaction at once." Then he turned his back on the messenger and would have left the room at once, but Teleki placed himself in his way. "That is not enough, your Highness. Once for all there must be an end made of this dog- headed Tartar's coming into the presence of the Prince of Transylvania with such a speech." " Then speak to him yourself." Teleki advanced toward the Emir with an earnest, dignified expression, looked him fixedly in the eye, and said firmly : " Your lord is indeed the ruler of Tartary, and my lord the Prince of Transylvania, and his Majesty, the Sultan is one lord of us all. Know then that his ^Majesty the Sultan did not make your lord Khan (jf Tartary to dwell at Vienna, 152 The Golden Age in Transylvania nor did he set Michael Apafi on the throne of Transylvania to support your lord. Go back to your land and do not come here any more to wonder that a town burned down by you one year is not built up the next. We will take care that the houses are rebuilt and also that the bastions are made high enough to keep you off. If you have any desire to pay us a visit in Klausenburg we will take care that you do not have your trouble for nothing, and shall know how to greet you from afar with our good can- non." The Emir fumed with rage ; his eyes were bloodshot, his hand felt for his dagger and he stammered out : " If a slave should make such a speech in the presence of my lord he would have his head cut off at once." Apafi now touched Teleki on the shoulder and said : " Good, Teleki ! you spoke like a man." I The Emir turned on his heel and hurried out of the room, shaking his fist. This scene put Apafi into a good humor, especially toward Teleki. The minister read this in the Prince's face and took advantage of it at once. Taking one of the bystanders by the hand he brought him up to Apafi and introduced him in these words : " My future son-in law, your Excellency." The Prince and His Minister 153 An introduction under any other title would probably have been evaded by Apafi, but in this form it was impossible not to accept it. He found himself compelled to look at the young man. He Avas a line-looking, slender youtli and had no trace of a beard. With his feminine features the only sign of the man was his in- dependent bearing. Apati was pleased with him. " What is the name of your son-in-law ? " he asked Teleki. The latter answered with a peculiar smile : "Emerich Tokoli, son of Stephen Tokoli." At mention of this name Apafi grew serious and said : "Your father was a good friend of mine." IJut he did not offer him his hand. " I know that," replied the young man, " and for that reason I sought your Highness." " H only he had not been such a disturber of tlie peace. It is well that you have not followed his counsel. I remember Avell the contest be- tween the defeated and half-crazed David Zoly- omi. Both had married daughters of Bethlen, who had received as dowry in common the castle of Bajda-Hunyad ; one had one-half, and one the other ; after the two men had taken counsel together they gatliercd their servants in their respective castle-yards, began l)attle and shot at each other from the opposite windows ; both had 154 'T^^ Golden Age In Transylvania a great love for v?-ar. Your father was in battle just before his death. In the very hour of death he needed the thunder of cannon and the tumult of the siege. It is well that you are not like him. You look gentle." " That is praise undeserved," said Tokoli, proudly. " I too was in the stormed castle and defended it until my father fell." Apafi heard this with displeasure. HoAvever he wished to show interest in the youth and so after a pause he asked : " And how did you happen to save yourself ? " At that Emerich turned red and did not answer at once. Teleki told the truth as if excusing the youth- ful fire of the young man. " He is so young that in woman's clothes he easily escaped the notice of the besiegers." This amusing explanation put Apafi in good humor again. He stroked the bright red cheeks of the boy and motioned to Teleki to introduce the rest of the men. They were all of them Hungarian fugitives. The Prince exerted him- self to meet them kindly. Just then an official entered and announced, " His Excellency, the ambassador of France wishes to be admitted." Evident confusion came over Apafi. He drew Teleki to him and whispered in his ear, "I will not, I cannot receive him. Go out The Prince and His Minister 155 and speak with him and explain the matter to him." Apati slipped quickly out of the reception- room, rejoiced that this time he had rolled off the burden on Teleki. However he stood and lis- tened at the door thinlcing that there might be some sudden outbreak after his back was turned. And something did happen, though not of a character to make one's hair stand on end. The ambassador uttered a jovial laugh, and with that all in the room burst out laughing as if at a word of command. "Something strange must have happened," thought Ai)afi, "to force these men to such of- fensive laughter," and he opened the door part way. But he could not fully open the door, for the learned Passai, renowned for his gravity, had fallen into such a fit of laughter that he leaned against the door of the private office. " Let me in, Passai," said the curious Prince ; and when the door was opened the cause of the general laughter became clear. The Avorthy minister stood in the middle of the room clad in Hungarian costume. You cannot imagine anything more comical! the good man, aside from the fact that he was quite stout, was smooth-shaven and wore always a friendly smile; but this unusual costume gave him an appearance so ridicuhjus that only a Hungarian can appreci- ate it. Everybody knows that the Magyar cos- 156 The Golden Age in Transylvania tume for men shows the figure very plainly. Then too the vrorthy Frenchman moved about so helplessly in his tight hose and spurred boots that it seemed as if he might lose his footing any moment. He had forgotten to put on his scarf, which added to the comical effect of his costume, his long curled wig, making him look for all the world like a lion, and his round hat with a long . heron's feather completed his droll appearance. Apafl saw no reason why he should not join in the laughter. With the French ease in mingling jest and earnest the ambassador tripped up to him and said, " Your Highness, you have so many times re- fused me admittance that the idea occurred to me that perhaps I did not come in appropriate cos- tume, and as your Highness sees, results have proved the wisdom of the idea for now that I have approached you in Hungarian costume I have been so fortunate as to see you." " Par bleu ! " replied Apafi, with difficulty, sup- pressing his desire to laugh. " I am always glad to see you. The only condition I impose is that politics shall not enter into our conversations. But you have no sash, and without the sash the Hungarian costume is as incomj^lete as the French costume without culottes." Saying this the Prince took a jeweled sash and himself fastened it about the figure of the am- bassador. The Prince and His Minister 157 "xVnd -u'hat does this mean? who told you to stick your handkerchief in your trousers ? onl}^ a haiduk does that, a nobleman puts his in his calpac. But what a fine handkerchief that is of yours ! " " Is it not a beauty ? " " It is, indeed, with its silk wreaths and gold and silver embroidery around the hem. Paris alone can furnish the like." "But the truth is it was made in Transyl- vania." "Incredible!" " And what is more in Ebesfalva." Apafi looked at the Keverend gentleman in astonishment. " And I am not to know the skilful hands that busy themselves in this way ! " " Your Highness does know them. The name of the maker is in one corner of the handkerchief embroidered in beautiful Gothic letters." Apafi looked at each corner of the handker- chief in turn; no two were embroidered alike; in one was a Avreath of oak leaves, in one a trophy, in the third a Turkish, a Hungarian and a French sword fastened together with a ribbon, in the fourth under a Prince's crown was em- broidered the name Apafi. The Prince read the name aloud. The by- standers looked at him timidly expecting an out- burst of anger. To the astonishment of all a 158 The Golden Age in Transylvania smile played over the Prince's lips ; lie put the handkerchief in the Reverend gentleman's hat, put this on the ambassador's head, and said with very good humor : " So you have succeeded in winning over my wife?" The minister laughed at the ambiguous joke. "But you will not win me," added Apafi, laughing. The minister bowed low ; then held his head erect and said significantly : " Those mightier than I will accomplish it." At this moment the door opened and a servant announced : "Her Highness Anna Bornemissa, wife of Apafi, wishes to be admitted to the presence of the Prince." Apafi looked at Teleki. " This is your work." Teleki answered calmly : "At your service, Highness." " Did you bring the ambassador to the Prin- cess ? " "Even so. Highness." " Then it was you who advised him to appear in this masquerade that he might the more read- ily draw me out." " That too was my work, your Highness." "A very foolish plan on your part, Michael Teleki." The Prince and His Minister 159 " That remains to be proved, your Highness," thought his minister, in proud consciousness of his clever superiority. Madame Apafi entered the room. Her bear- ing was princely as was her dress. The gentle- men present vied with each other in greeting her. Apafi stepped quickly toward her, drew her arm Avithin his and endeavored with marked consideration to take her to his private room. " Let us stay here," said the Princess. " It is time enough to look at your Dutch clocks later ; at presenD there are more serious affairs before us; the gentlemen from Hungary are waiting for a hearing." "I know already what they wish, and have said that I will not hear anything more on the subject." " Then you will listen to me. Yes, to me. I too am a Hungarian and make supplication to the Prince of Transylvania for help in the name of my Fatherland. That it may not be said that I influenced the Prince's will in secret, I have come here pul)licly before his throne and beseech him for protection for Hungary, whose sons are called strangers here in Transylvania where her daughter is the princess." It was evident to all that Apafi would have much preferred to listen to men rather than to his wife, but he was caught this time. She stood before him as a suppliant, and tlicrc was no way i6o The Golden Age In Transylvania of escape. Teleki ordered the pages outside not to give admittance to any one else. Apafi sat in an armchair in feverish excitement, and listened to the words of his wife. But before Anna could begin her speech the rattling of a coach was heard in the courtyard, and shortly after came the sound of decided footsteps through the corridor, and an imperious voice familiar to all inquired if the Prince was within. When the page attempted to stand in his way a still more authoritative voice called, " Out of the way, boy." At the same time Dionysius Banfy pushed his way into the room. He was just as he had alighted from his carriage. His cheeks were redder than usual and his eyes blazed ; he went directly to the Prince and said without preliminaries : " Do not listen to these men, your Highness, do not listen to a word they say." The Prince greeted Banfy with a smile and the words, " Welcome, kinsman." "Pardon, your Highness, that in my haste I forgot to greet you ; but when I heard that these Hungarians had gained audience here I was be- side myself. What do you want ? " he went on, turning to the Hungarian nobleman, " It is not enough for them that they have brought their own country to ruin by their restlessness ; they would like to drag ours down too." " You speak of us," said Teleki, with cold The Prince and His Minister 161 scorn, "as if Ave belonged to some Tartar race and bad been driven here from God knows wbat strange, savage country." " On the contrary, I have spoken of you, my lords, as people who from the very first have by your restlessness involved Transylvania in a course leading to destruction. The Hungarians are, to a man, stupid." "I beg you not to forget that I too" — said Madame Apafi. " It is with no pleasure that I see the w^ill of your Highness is authority here." ]\Iadame A])afi turned to her brother-in-law in injured pride : " I shall not for that reason cease to remain your well-wishing relative," and with these words she left the room. " You might have spoken to the Prince more becomingly," said Teleki, sharply, to the great lord. " What have I said to the Prince, as yet ? " asked Banfy, shrugging his shoulders. " I can- not get anywhere near him with you in the way. So far, I have only spoken against those, and shall continue to speak against those who have ab- solutely no right to stand at the foot of the throne. I mean you too, Michael Teleki. I know very well why you have tliis Hungarian campaign so much at heart. It is not enough for you to stand first after tlic I'rince in Transylvania, you Avould l62 The Golden Age in Transylvania like to be Palatine of Hungary as well. "What a delusion you are cherishing ! The French prom- ise help to Hungary. Hungary promises Teleki the Palatinate. Teleki promises Apafi a crown ; and all are lying, and all are going to deceive one another." " My lord," replied Teleki, bitterly, " is it al- lowed to speak so to guests, to kinsmen who are unfortunate and in exile ? " " Nobody need instruct me in magnanimity," replied Banfy, proudly. " Guest and fugitive have always found refuge with me ; and if these fugitives wish us to share our home, our father- land with them, here is my hand ; I receive them to a share. But in the same way in which I should have the sense to forbid my guests to set fire to the house over my head, so do I protest against setting fire to the country. And if they do not stop trying to disturb the peace once more prospering in our country I will use every means to have them driven out." " These words need not surprise us," said Teleki in bitter satire, turning to the noblemen, " My gracious lord has been of late years par- doned by the Prince. Before that time he was in arms against us." Apafi sat uneasily. " Have done with this quarreling. You are dismissed. As you see my counsellors are in opposition and without them I can do nothing." The Prince and His Minister 163 " We will bring it before the Diet," said Teleki, solemnly. The Prince withdrew, greatly annoyed, to his private room, and the lords went out the other door. Banfy looked at him proudly as he went away and then straightened his fur cap. "My good standing is at an end," he said mockingly as he went away. Teleki looked after him coldly. When all had gone Teleki whispered a few words to a page, who went away and soon came back with a curly-haired blonde j^outh. It seems as if we had already seen this young man at some time, but for so short a time that we cannot at once recall him. Over his warm dress hung a beggar's pouch, and in his hand was a knotted stick. " So at last you allow me to come into the pres- ence of the Prince," he said in a somewhat im- perious tone to Teleki. " Take your place here at the door," replied the minister. " The Prince will soon pass on his way to dinner; you may then speak with him." The young man with the beggar's pouch sat for a long time at the Prince's door, until A])afi finally appeared and the beggar placed himself at once in his way. "Who are you?" asked the Prince astonished, " I am the ransomed knight Emerich Palassa, 164 The Golden Age in Transylvania who was once named among Hungary's most in- fluential men, and who now stands before your Highness with a beggar's staff." " You were concerned in that conspiracy, I be- lieve," said Apafi, who appeared unpleasantly alfected by the scene. " I was not, your Highness. If you will deign to listen to my story " — " Tell it." "As you well know there was once in Hun- gary a notorious Turkish robber-knight, by name Corsar Bey, who for a long time laid waste the upper country and whom the united powers of the counties could not succeed in bringing under con- trol, in his rocky fortress. This man I caught by stratagem and in such a manner as to win over to my side his favorite. Under pretext of an ap- parition she enticed him alone outside the castle. I was duly informed, fell upon him with my men who had been concealed in the forest, and took him captive with his favorite, one of the most beautiful and unprincipled of women." " I have already heard the story, Balassa. That was a worthy deed." " Then hear the rest, your Highness. N"o sooner was the news of the capture spread abroad than the Palatine demanded of me most emphatically to give over my prisoners to him. The Turks had already offered me sixteen thousand ducats for the two, but I would not let them go at any The Prince and His Minister 165" price, and sent word to the Palatine that if he Avished to call a Bey his own, he must crawl out from behind his wife's shadow and catch one for himself. I had caught mine for my own use." Apafi laughed loudly. "You gave him the right answer." " At that the Palatine became angry and by the Emperor's command sent troops against me who were to take my prisoners by force. Ilis Excellency your brother-in-law, Dionysius Banf}'-, had at that time found refuge in my house and I introduced to him this woman who had com- pletely befooled me. He was to flee with her to my castle, Ecsed. But when I saw that the Pal- atine interfered with every attempt of mine to deliver Corsar Bey over to the Turks for the of- fered ransom, and yet all he wanted of him was to cut his head off like any other freebooter's, I gave the Turk poison, which he took gratefully for the sake of escaping justice. Then when the Palatine's troops came they found only the dead body which the Turks took off my hands for a thousand ducats." " Naturally the Palatine was angry with you for that," said Apafi. " I had good cause to be angry witli him, for I had lost fifteen thousand ducats by him ; yet he succeeded in getting a writ of arrest against me from the minister. I scented it in time and got together my valuables, intending to flee to i66 The Golden Age in Transylvania Transylvania until the affair had been forgotten. Then I hurried to my castle Ecsed where, as I have said, Banfy had been sent before me with the Turkish woman. On the way I learned that Banfy had been pardoned by your Highness and restored to his former position. I rejoiced not a little that in him I should find a powerful pro- tector here. Imagine my astonishment when I reached Ecsed to find the woman gone without a trace, and I learned from my castle warden that Banfy had taken her with him and left a letter for me. In the letter was written : ' My friend : Learn from this that a man should never trust another with his horse, his watch, nor his love.' " " What ! " cried Apafi. " Is that the truth ? " " Your Excellency can see his writing," replied Balassa, and drew from his pouch the letter re- ferred to. " The woman must be hid somewhere in his forest of Banfy-Hunyad, I suppose." " That is monstrous ! " said Apafi, glowing with anger. " Can a man with such a beautiful, noble wife, my own wife's sister, so far forget his duty as husband ! I'll not forgive him that." " Pardon me, your Highness, I have nothing more to do with Banfy. My complaint is now urgently directed against Kapi." " What have you against him ? It is unheard- of to have so beautiful a wife and yet keep a Turkish slave woman ! " " This Kapi was the man who had the use of my The Prince and His Minister 167 Transylvania estates. I determined to know nothing more of iJanfy and immediately took up my quarters with Kapi in his castle of Aranyos. Of the splendor displayed by this man I had never had the least idea before, although all my life I had been to the courts of Palatines and Princes in no small number. His wife did not put her foot to the ground, but was carried to the very gate in a gilded chair, and she never wore the same gown twice." " What have I to do with Madame Kapi's finery ? " " I am coming to the point. It is just because of this finer}^ that her husband is compelled to resort to all kinds of trickery to satisfy the wishes of his lady. Furthermore your Highness is con- cerned, for such immoderate luxury only makes the contrast the more striking between the sim- plicity of your Excellency's court life and the in- solent splendor of these small kings. And it carries its impression with the strangers who so frequently visit us ; the effect of it is already felt ; for when the Bavarian ambassador came recently to Aranyos from Ebesfalva I heard him say in flattering tones to Madame Kapi that she was the real Princess of Trans3'lvania." "Did he sa}" that?" said the Prince, beginning to take great interest in the affair. " Go on with your story. Did he say that Kapi's wife was the real Princess?" l68 The Golden Age in Transylvania " In point of beauty and bearing slie is not worthy to tie the shoe of her Highness, the Princess Apafi, if you were to strip her of the costly jewels that she wears in such numbers she can hardly move." " Go on, go on." "]^ow Kapi informed me one fine day that your Excellency had received command from the Palatine to have me arrested and delivered over." " I — received command — I never heard a word of it ! " "Unfortunately I believed the story, and thinking that I stood between two fires saw no way of escape except to give over to Kapi my Transylvania estates to prevent their falling into the public treasury. In return for this he gave me a written promise that I should have the property back again as soon as I was in a posi- tion to receive it. I then determined to flee to Poland during the period of danger. Kapi gave me two guides who were to lead me over the mountains to the frontier, and at the time he sent word secretly to the guard on the frontier that I was a spy sent by the Koman Emperor, who had been finding out the affairs of Transylvania and would now like to get back unseen. These ras- cals stopped me on the way, robbed me of all my money and papers, and dragged me off to Karls- burg. There, it is true my innocence was proved, but my money and my papers were lost. And The Prince and His Minister 169 novr Kapi asserts that I had actually sold him all my property and had nothing left but this leather pouch." " Be comforted," replied the angered Prince. " I will give you full satisfaction." " Your Highness owes it to his own authority," replied Balassa, by way of urging on the Prince. " These nobles act as arbitrarily as if there were nobody in authority over them." " Do not be disturbed. I will soon prove to them that there is a Prince in Transylvania." Apafi left the audience room very much excited. Over the heads of two powerful men who stood in Teleki's way, the storm was already threaten- ing. CHAPTER X THE LIEUTENANT OF THE EOUNDS Clement put his pen behind his ear and read over the beautiful verses he had just written. There were two hundred stanzas all ending in " was," except one that ended in " were." As Apafi always repented if he had hurt any- body's feelings, so in the case of the traveling student Clement, he did not rest until he had made up to him for the disgrace inflicted. And this he did by making the inoffensive poet Lieu- tenant of the Rounds. In those days there were many duties connected with this office, all of which Clement calmly let slip while he wrote chronicles and epics in abun- dance. ]^ow his glance rested upon an epic in which he had related the victory of Apafi at ISTeuhalisel. This poetic musing had so engrossed Clement's power of thought that an entire week had passed since his serving-man had run away carrying off his master's spurred boots, and he had not yet pursued the faithless servant in spite of his office as Lieutenant of the Rounds. He kept persistently going around in the same circle ; when he looked for his boots, he remembered that his servant had stolen them, and when he started 170 The Lieutenant of the Rounds 171 to go after his servant he became aware that he had no boots. Under these circumstances where coukl he make a beginning ! So he set himself down and wrote verses without end, Ilis room had not been swept for a week, so there was no hick of dust and cobwebs, beside the ink spots on the floor all around the table. This table had only two legs, the other two being re- placed by piles of tiles. The poet wrote, scratched out, and chewed the end of his pen. On the window-sill lay a piece of bread and some cheese and it occurred to the poet that this food was intended for his consump- tion. But first he must use the ink in his pen ; before tliis was finished, a second, third, and fourth thought had crowded on the first ; mean- time three mice had come out of a chinlc, sported about the tempting morsel and then gnawed away until there was nothing left. After which they had glided back to their holes. The ])oet had worked the Pegasus harnessed to liis plow until his senses were gone. When he finally roused himself and looked for his bread and cheese he discovered that only cruml)s were left, concluded that he had already eaten and im- agined that he was satisfied ; so he set himself down again and went on with his poetry. While he was subduing the flesh in this way, there was a scratching at the door ; somebody rattled the hinge evidently mistaking it for the latch, and 172 The Golden Age in Transylvania naturally could not open the door. This noise rudely frightened Clement from his poetic thought. When he had called out several times to no purpose that the door was not locked he found himself obliged to rise and open it to pre- vent the visitor from breaking the latch or taking off the hinge. There stood a Wallachian with a sealed letter in his hand. He seemed to be much frightened when the door opened, although that was the ful- filment of his wishes. " What is it ? " said Clement, becoming angry when the peasant did not speak. The Wallachian raised his round eyebrows, looked at the poet with wide-opened eyes and asked : " Are you the man who lies for money ? " In this choice language the Wallachian de- scribed the office of our Clement. His veins swelled with anger. " Whose ox are you ? " he thundered at the Wallachian. " The gracious lord's who sent this letter," an- swered the peasant, slily. " What is his name ? " asked Clement, furiously, and tore the letter from the Wallachian's hand. " Gracious lord is what he is called." Clement opened the letter and read : " Come at once to me where the bearer will lead you." Clement was already raging, but now the thought that he had been summoned somewhere and had no boots made him beside himself. The Lieutenant of the Rounds 173 " Go;' ho shouted to the Wallachian. " Tell your lord whoever he is, that it is no farther from him to me, than from me to him. If he wishes to speak with me let him take the trouble to come here." " I understand, Dumnye Macska." In his ter- ror the peasant had called Clement by the name used by the peasants for the Lieutenant of the Rounds, and at once he hurried out of the room. Clement drew hunself up with a great effort in his high-backed chair, and placed two large books on the floor before him that his visitor should not notice that he was barefooted. Ueavy footsteps were soon heard on the street before the house, and when he looked from the window he saw to his great dismay that his vis- itor was no other than Count Ladislaus Csaki, at- tended by two Hungarian foot-soldiers with gold lacings. "Now, Clement," said the poet to himself, " maintain your dignity. It is true he is a Count and a distinguished man, but one who has fallen into disfavor with the Prince while 3''ou are in his favor, and besides that are in an official posi- tion." So he hid his feet under the books, placed his pen between his lips and bade Csaki come in. He did not even rise at his entrance. Csaki aj)- peared displeased at this reception. " You know how to maintain your official dignity," he said to Clement. 174 The Golden Age in Transylvania " What I am, I am, thanks to the favor of the Prince," he replied, with affectation, and folded his arms proudly. " I have come to you only at the bidding of the Prince. His Highness has intrusted me with a very delicate affair in which I need your help. The affair must be managed with the utmost secrecy and for that reason I could have wished that you should come to me." At this explanation Clement suddenly lost his Insolent manner. " I beg your pardon," he stammered confusedly and with head humbly bowed. "I did not know — I pray you be seated." But as the chair in which he sat was the only specimen of the kind in the room, he jumped up to make room for the Count, and in so doing displayed his feet without their customary cover- ing, at which Csaki burst into a hearty laugh. " What the devil does this mean, Lieutenant," he exclaimed. "Are you like the Turks who take off their boots in excess of reverence ? " " I beg your pardon. I have not taken them off but they were stolen from me by my servant while I slept. This was my only reason for making your Grace such a rude reply. But I dare hope that 3^our Grace has already pardoned me." Csaki's good-hmnor was only increased by this explanation. The Lieutenant of the Rounds 175 " Certainly, if that is all, we will relieve your distress at once," he said. And he ordered the soldier waiting without to bring his own dress boots in the carriage box for the Lieutenant. Clement was just opening his lips to make some objections — the favor shown him was too great — when he caught sight of the boots ; they pleased him greatly, for they were made of royal green morocco, stitched with gold threads, trimmed on each side with broad gold fringe and finished with enameled spurs. "Put them on quickly," said Csaki to the Lieutenant. " You must be on your way at once without delay." Clement took one of the boots by the two straps and began to draw it on, first looking in with a satisfied smile, but it was no small task for Csaki wore a very narrow cavalier's boot. Clement, on the other hand, moved on moderately large feet, so that he had to begin from the very beginning as many as three times and give it up from the very beginning as many timt^s, thor- oughly tired before he succeeded in getting his foot into the leg of the boot ; in these exertions he worked his eyes and mouth so that Ladislaus Csaki had to put his head out of the window, he was so overcome with laughter. Then he came to the heel and tliere he stuck ; he seized the foot gear firmly by botli straps and began to stamp himself into it, thumping about the room in this 176 The Golden Age in Transylvania bent position and groaning loudly at every push, till his eyes stood out and the perspiration ran down his face, before he had worked his way into the first boot. The same difficulties attended the second boot ; but after he had used six-horse power to get his foot into this insufficient space he looked at his shining tight boots with a glow of satisfaction, though they were not in perfect harmony with the rest of his dusty, greasy, ink- spotted clothing, " Now listen carefully to what I tell you," said Csaki, seating himself on the only chair with an air of authority, while the student still standing, lifted first one foot and then the other and his face turned green and blue with pain, for the boots began to make havoc with his corns. " When did you make your last circuit ? " " I don't remember exactly." "But you ought to know. Why did you not make a note of it ? The Prince wishes you to set out at once and make your round without delay, paying special attention to the districts lying between Torocho, Banfy-hunyad, and Bon- czida ; in addition to the usual questions you are to add this one. Has anybody seen any foreign animals in the surrounding woods ? " " ' Foreign animals,' " repeated mechanically the doleful official. " And if anywhere you receive the reply that such have been seen, you are to go through that The Lieutenant of the Rounds 177 locality and examine carefully until you get track of them." '*■ I beg your pardon, but what kind of animals Avill they be?" asked the student, timorously. "■ Oh, liave no fear, it is neither a seven-headed dragon nor a minotaur. At the worst a young panther." " Panther " — stammered Clement in terror. "You are not expected to catch him," said Csaki, consolingly. " You are to hunt out where he stays and then let us know." " Suppose that beast of prey, whose presence in Transylvania I doubt greatly, should happen to be in the territory of Dionysius Banfy, what shall I do then?" " Follow him up." " I beg your pardon, but his territory is baro- nial, where my authority does not extend." " Don't be such a simpleton, Clement," said Csaki. " I did not say, did I, that you were to go with an armed guard ? The entire expedition must be kept a secret. You and your guide alone are to get track of the beast. We have positive information that he is somewhere in this vicinity. Now a careful investigation is de- manded of your skill. Tiic rest will be given over to more fearless workers." The entire mission seemed to Clement a very strange one, but he did not dare make any objec- tion, and bowed with a deep sigh. 1 78 The Golden Age in Transylvania " Above everything else, skill, speed, secrecy. These are the three things that I recommend to your especial consideration." " I will set out at once, gracious lord, only I must borrow a horse somewhere first, so I shall not ruin these fine boots with walking." " That would delay matters. You must not exert yourself about a horse ; one of my servants shall give up his and you can mount that. Don't forget to think of his fodder, so that you will bring him back something besides skin and bones." So much kindness fairly bewildered Clement. In all haste he strapped on his traveling bag and his rusty sword ; and after he had put in the first a roll of parchment, a pen, and a bottle of ink, declared himself ready. " That is a light traveling bag of yours," said Csaki. "'Integer vitae, scelerisque purus, non eget Mauri jaculis, neque arcu,' " replied the phil- osopher, with a quotation from Horace, and, the reins being handed him, made ready to mount. But when the spirited steed noticed that the philosophical student had put one foot in the stirrup he began to kick and circle round, com- pelling the poet to jump round on one foot until the laughing servant seized the horse by the bridle and helped the inoffensive rider to mount. The Lieutenant of the Rounds 179 But as lie had lon^: le^'s and the sokliers had sliortened the stirrups, he had to stoop on his horse as if it were a cameL Once more Ladishius Csaki called after him not to forget his injunctions, at which the poet unintentionally struck spurs to his horse and gal- loped madly away over the stones. Coat, sword and traveling hag flew about the unhappy rider. lie held fast to the front and back of the saddle and rode on amid the laughter of the villagers of Torocko, who sat in groups in front of their houses. First the Lieutenant took the road to Gross- Schlatten. Formerly when he had a servant, the servant constituted his retinue. But now for lack of a servant he was compelled to go from town to town in solitude, following the direc- tions of the village magnate. As he was trot- ting through a defile he noticed in a thicket a group seated about a fire. At first he thought it was a party of gypsies, until approaching nearer he discovered to his great horror that they were Tartars who were roasting an ox and sat around it in a circle. To turn around was not advisable for the way led straight past the Tartars sunning themselves, so Clement decided it was best to act as if he had no fear, and trot- ted calmly past the staring group. lie ])re- tended to be counting with greatest interest the fruit beside the road, and when he was quite i8o The Golden Age in Transylvania near took off his hat as if he noticed them for the first time, murmured hurriedly, " Salem Alei- kum," and rode on without looking behind. So far, so good ; but at this moment up jumped two Tartars and shouted after the rider to stop. When Clement saw that the two were running toward him without any weapons, he thought perhaps they had no intention of murder and waited for them. But when the two dark-faced creatures came near, they seized the rider be- tween them, caught hold of his legs and gave evidence of no less intentions than to strip him of his fine boots. " A curse upon your soul ! " shouted the furi- ous Clement, laid hold of his rusty sword and tried to draw it and cut off one of their ears. But the good blade had not been drawn from its scabbard for ten years and was so rusted that, in spite of all his efforts, Clement could not draw it out. Meantime the two Tartars pulled the struggling rider this way and that by his legs and naturally did not succeed in getting off the tight boots. The Tartars berated Clement, and Clement berated the Tartars. The uproar brought the Aga, a man with a figure like an orang-outang, his brown features framed by a white beard, who inquired hoarsely what was the matter. Clement drew out his warrant of authority and showed it to the Aga in silence, for rage The Lieutenant of the Rounds 181 stifled his voice, while the two Tartars exphiined something in a foreign tongue, with angry ges- tures, and pointed to his green boots. " Who are you, crooked-nosed unbeliever," inquired the Aga, " that you dare wear light- green, the sacred color of the prophets, that the faithful use only for the dances of their temples and the turban of the Padisha, and that too on your boots that go through the mud ? May you be burned alive, you godless giaour ! " "I am the lieutenant reconnoitering in the service of his Excellency, Michael Apafi," de- claimed the former student, with pathetic dis- tress. " My person is sacred and inviolable. I am the man who provides the armies of the Sul- tan with food and drink. I impose the taxes. Let me go for I am a very important personage." This manner of defense pleased the Tartars. The Aga gave his subjects a tacit sign that meant this was the very man they wanted, and then began to speak to him in a more friendly tone. "You said that it was your business to an- nounce the taxes. My lord, Ali Pasha of Nagy Varad, has just sent me here to announce a new tax, so I have met you at the right moment although it is nothing for you to do; it will, however, be a sensible thing for you to give this out at the same time." " I will do so with pleasure," said Clement, eager to get aAva}'. i82 The Golden Age in Transylvania " Wait a moment," said the Aga, motioning to him. " You do not know yet how high the tax is to be. The whole amount is a mere trifle ; it is imposed only so that they may recognize our authority. The tax is only a penny a head. That is not much, is it ? " " No indeed," said Clement, agreeing that he might get away the more quickly. " Don't hurry off," said the Aga, checking his haste. " I should be sorry to see that you did not carry out this order of mine. But as you would not consider it any perjury not to keep a promise given to us I will send one of my good men with you, who shall accompany you from village to village and see that you make the proclamation about the tax." " By all means, your Grace," said Clement, hoping to get rid of the man in the next vill- age. " Mount, Zulfikar," said the Aga, to one of his men. The man spoken to was a lean fellow with an evil, squinting glance. Although he was as dirty as the rest, his features showed that he did not belong to the same race, and if we paid close at- tention to so unimportant individuals, we might remember that we had already seen him some- where. " One thing more," said the Aga to Clement, eager to get off at any price. " As soon as you The Lieutenant of the Rounds 183 get home lay aside those green boots, for if I should see them on your feet again you would get live hundred stripes on the soles of your feet, that you would keep until your wedding day." Clement agreed to everything in his joy to get away at last, and trotted ojff toward Gross- Schlat- ten. His Tartar comrade rode faithfully by his side. From time to time the Lieutenant gave a side glance at his companion and then looked away quickly, for as the Turk was cross-eyed Clement never felt sure which way he was look- ing. And all the time he was considering how easily he could dupe the Tartar, a thought that made huu smile to himself, blink and nod with satisfaction, " You wiD not play any tricks on me. Lieuten- ant," said the Tartar, unexpectedly, and in the best of Hungarian, evidently reading these thoughts on his face. Clement almost fell off his horse with fear, unable to comprehend what fiend he could be to read a man's thoughts on his face, and speak Hungarian in spite of being a Tartar. " You need not rack your brains any more about me," said the Turk, calmly. "I am a Hungarian deserter once in the service of Emer- ich Balassa. I helped seize and imprison Corsar Bey, and when the Hungarians ])egan to pursue me for it I turned Turk. Now with the Proph- et's aid I sliall yet ho Pasha, so don't exert your- 184 The Golden Age in Transylvania self to get the better of me, for be assured you are dealing with an old fox." Clement scratched his head in perplexity, and attended by the deserter, much against his will concluded his official questions with the an- nouncement of the penny tax which the people all received with so much favor that most of them paid it over to the Tartar at once. But nobody had seen anything of the jDanther ; and had it not been for their respect for the green boots with their trimmings they would probably have laughed in his face Avhen the Lieu- tenant put that question. There was still one small "Wallachian village, Marisel, far away in the mountains. Beyond that began the territorial jurisdiction of Banfy, and the Lieutenant's authority was at an end. There too the deserter followed him. CHAPTEE XI SANGA-MOAETA The Lieutenant and his comrade had already- been more than twelve hours in the wilderness of Batrina on their way to Marisel. Clement asked everybody he met if the village were not near, alwa3's receiving the same answer that it was still some distance farther. Now and then they met a Wallachian peasant with an ox- team ; the man shouting to his lazy beasts, try- ing to goad them into a quicker gait. Then there was a pool to wade through, where a half- naked, picturesque company of gypsies washing the gold out of the sand, stared at the question- ing strangers like wild beasts. Sometimes along the road there would be the picture of a saint in the mossy hollow of a tree, with only the dull gilding left of the weather-beaten paint. In the natural niche there would be the pomana, — a pitcher of spring water which some young Wal- lachian girl, as an act of piety, had placed there for tliirsty travelers. The way led them tlirough valleys and over heiglits, .'ind the greater part of tlieir way they had to lead their horses by the bridle instead of 185 i86 The Golden Age in Transylvania riding. On all sides was the forest, tall, slender beeches mingled with dark green firs. In one place they came to a fork of the roads ; one way led along the valley and the other to the top of a bald, steep mountain with out- jetting cliff. " "Which way now ? " said Clement. " I have never been so far." "Take the traveled road," replied Zulfikar. " Only a fool would climb this steep height. It probably leads to some foundry." Clement looked doubtfully around him. Sud- denly he caught sight of a man seated on the rock overhanging the road. He was a young Wallachian with white face and long curling hair ; his leather coat was open on his breast and his cap lay beside him on the ground. There he sat, bent over on the edge of the high cliff dang- ling his feet in the air, with his stony face in his hands gazing out into the distance. " Ho there ! " cried Clement, and in a mixture of Hungarian, Latin, and Wallachian asked, " Which way does this road go ? " The Wallachian did not seem to hear the cry. He remained in the same position, staring fix- edly. " He is either deaf or dead," said Zulfikar, when they had both shouted at him in vain. " We had better follow the regular road." And they set off on a trot. The Wallachian Sanga-moarta 187 did not even look after them. Evening was near and the way to Marisel had no end. It went from valley to vaUev, never once passing a human habitation. The rocks in the way and the streams crossing at different points made it al- most impassable. At last in one part of the forest a column of fire rose before them and the sound of singing fell on their ears. As they came nearer they saw the fire of a pyre built up of whole tree-trunks, in a spot shaded by trees the foliage of which was scorched by the flames. Near this was a crowd of Wallachians leaping wildly with violent gestures ; at the same time they beat the ground with long clubs and seemed to be treading letters into the ground, waving their arms frantically, while they howled out vei*ses that were formulated imprecations, as if they were driving out some kind of evil spirit. A circle of young women danced round the men. The lovely creatures, with tlieir black hair interwoven with ribbons and jewels, their flower- em Ijroidered dresses, pleated neckerchiefs, broad- striped aprons, gold earrings, necklaces of silver coins and high-heeled red boots, formed an agree- able contrast to the wild, defiant-looking men, witli their high cocked hats on the heavy shocks of hair, their sunburned necks, greasy waistcoats and broad girdles. The dance and tlie songs were also strange. The wonjen circled in and out among theii- husbands, raising a mournful l88 The Golden Age in Transylvania wail, while the men stamped on the ground and joined in with yells of triumph. The fire threw a red light and dark shadows over the wild group. On a tree stump beyond sat an old piper, and from a goatskin drew forth monotonous tones that mingled with the song in wild discord. "When the fire was burned down to ashes the dancers suddenly separated, dragged out the figure of a woman stuffed with straw and dressed in rags, laid it on two poles and carried it to the fire crying wildly in Hungarian, " Tuesday even- ing,^ Tuesday evening ! " and repeated three times, " Burn to ashes, you accursed witch of Tuesday evening ! " Then they threw it into the glowing coals and the women danced round with cries of joy until the efligy was entirely burned, while the men leaped about with wild shouts. " Who are you ? And what are you doing here ? " called out Clement, who had until then escaped their notice. " We live in Marisel and have burned up Tues- day evening," they answered with one voice and with earnest look as if they had accomplished something very sensible. " Get through with it quickly and come to your village, for I am here at the command of the Prince to ask some lawful questions." "And I," said Zulfikar, "at the command of *0q this day superstition assigns peculiar power to the witches. Sanga-moarta 189 the mighty Pasha of Nagy Yarad, to impose a new tax." The AVallachians looked after the Lieutenant in silence until he vanished from their sight, and then said with clenched fists : " May Tuesday evening carry him off ! " And then they moved off Avith the bagpiper at their head singing as they went to the village. * * ^fr * * -jf It was a small straggling "Wallachian village into which the Lieutenant rode with his comrade. One house was just like another ; mud huts Avitli high roofs, projecting rafters, and enclosed Avithin quick set hedges. The doors Avere so Ioav that one must stoop to enter. Ever}'^ house consisted of a single room in Avhich the entire family li\^ed, to- gether Avith hens and goats. At the entrance to the village Avas a large triumphal arch of stone, and over the main gate was the torso of a Minerva, In front Avere figures of a battle finely cut, and underneath an inscrip- tion in large letters in Latin : " This toAvn the invincible Trojan had built in memory of his triumph." Behind this Avere miserable mud huts. Before a house of mourning on the capital of a fallen Corinthian column sat Prefika, the oldest of the old Avomen of the village, Aveeping paid tears over the corpse of the young Avoman on the bier Avithin. 190 The Golden Age in Transylvania In front of a grass-grown hill was a grand stone building. In former times it might have been a temple erected to the memory of some Roman hero, but now the Wallachian villagers had made it their church, covering the temple with a pointed roof and spoiling the interior with dreadful paintings. For lack of any other pub- lic place the Lieutenant called the people to- gether in this church. The setting sun through the round panes, lighted up strangely the in- terior of this old building with its walls covered from top to bottom with hideous pictures of saints, whom the monstrous fancies of peasant artists had clad in red cloaks and spurred boots. Among the many pictures was the well-known allegory which represents Death dragging off a king, a beggar and a priest. And scattered among the pictures of the saints were those representing devils with tongues outstretched, holding sinners by the hair of the head. Behind the altar stood the village priest and the Lieu- tenant. When Clement had read aloud to the people his warrant of authority he called up the village magnate and asked him these questions : " Are there any wizards or sorcerers among you who can call on the devil for help ? " At this question there was a timid whispering throughout the company, and after a long pause the priest answered : Sanga-moarta 1 9 1 " In former years, great and good lord, there was a godless reprobate in our midst who had liver spots on his neck and body ; since these are sent by the devil, the}' did not pain him, even if they were burned with hot coals. We sent Imn before the Council at Weissenburg, and as he coidd not stand the test of water he was burned to death." " Are there any among you who are witches, vampires, people who can harm the children of others, go through the air, turn milk red, hatch out serpents' eggs or find grasses that open locks; or, in short, know hoAV to do anything supernatural?" To this question there were a hundred answers at once. Everybody strove to tell the ques- tioner his experiences. The young married women in particular crowded about the Lieu- tenant. " One at a time," said the Lieutenant, authori- tatively. " The judge shall tell what he knows." " Yes, there was an old witch in the village," said the judge, slily, " we called her Dainitza. For a long time she practiced her evil among us, for lier eyes were red. "When she chose she could bring on a storm, so that the wind would take the roofs off. C)nce when she went out to get a hail storm the lightning struck the village in three places. At that the women grew furious, caught her and threw her in the pool. But even. 192 The Golden Age in Transylvania there the witch still cried out, ' Take care, you will yet ask me for the water, that you are now giving me to drink.' Then the women fished the body out of the water, where it had caught on a stone, thrust an arrow through her heart, buried her in the valley and rolled a great stone over her grave. But the witch's curse against us still held, all summer long not a drop of rain fell in our boundaries. Everything dried up and pes- tilence carried off our cattle. Dainitza had drunk up all the rain and all the dew. So we went to her grave, saying, ' Drink, drinlc your fill, cursed vampire ; don't lap up all the water and dew away from us ; ' and at last the drought ended." The priest testified that this was true and Clement wrote it down carefully on his parch- ment. Now came the third question : "Is there anybody among you who dares smoke tobacco ; either cutting up the leaves and putting them in his pipe, or laying them on the fire and breathing the smoke that rises ? " " There is not anybody, my lord ; we do not know this food." " See to it, that no one tries to learn it ; for if anybody is caught doing it, by decision of the states the pipe will be thrust through his nose and the guilty man led through the entire market place." The fourth question was : Sanga-moarta 1 93 "Is there any one among the peasants here who wears cloth dress, marten cap, or morocco boots ? " " Wh}'- not," replied the judge, " if our poverty would permit ? not that we long for dyed cloth and morocco." " It is not allowed ; the states of the country have forbidden the peasants to wear clothes lit- ting their masters." Now came the iifth question : " Who were the people who acted contrary to the decision of the states that the peasants should exterminate the sparrows, and mocked those who were appointed to collect the sparrows' heads ? " The judge advanced humbly toward the Lieu- tenant : " Believe me, my great and good lord, on ac- count of the drought the sparrows have all left the country. Say to the Prince that we liave not been able to find one single one all smnmer long." " That is a lie," said Clement. " It is just as I say," persisted the judge, seiz- ing Clement by the hand and skilfully pressing into it two silver groschen. "It is not impossible," said the Lieutenant, appeased. " Finally, answer this question: Has any one of you seen wandering about in this region, foreign animals, beasts of prey from other countries ? " 194 The Golden Age in Transylvania " Yes, indeed, my lord, we have seen them in great nmnbers." " And what kind of animals were they ? " asked Clement, in joyful curiosity. " Why, dog-headed Tartars " — " You fool ! I am not asking for them. I wish to know whether in your wanderings through the forest you have not seen a foreign four-footed beast of prey with striped skin." The judge shook his head incredulously, looked at his people and answered with a shrug of his shoulders : " We have seen no such strange animal. It may be that Sanga-moarta has seen it, for he is forever wandering through the woods and ravines in his foolish way." " Who is this Sanga-moarta ? Summon him." " Ah, my lord, he is hard to find ; he rarely comes into the village. Ilis mother may be here." " Here she is ! Here she is," cried several peasants, and pushed forward an old woman with sunken features, whose head was wound round several times with a white cloth. " What kind of a foolish name ^ have you given your son ? " asked the Lieutenant of her. " Who- ever heard of giving a human being the name dead-man's-blood ? " " I did not give him this name, my lord," said 'That name is the Hungarian for dead man's blood. Sanga-moarta 195 tlie old womaii, with quavering voice. " The people of the village call him that because no one has ever seen him laugh. He never talks to any- body, and if you speak to him he does not an- swer. He did not weep when his father died and he never cared for any girl. He is always wandering about in the woods." " All right, old woman, that does not concern me." " I know, my lord, it does not concern you ; but you must hear that the handsomest girl in the village, the beautiful Floriza, fell in love with my son. There is not a more beautiful girl in all the country round ! Such black eyes, such long black braids, such rosy cheeks, such a slender figure ! There was not the like far and wide. Then too, she was so industrious and loved my son so. She had sixteen shifts in her outfit, that she herself had spun and woven, and she wore a necklace of two hundred silver pieces and twenty gold guldens — Sanga-moarta never looked at the girl. "When Floriza made him wreaths he would not put them around his hat. "When she gave him kerchiefs he would not fasten them to his buttonhole. No matter what beautiful songs the girl sang as he passed her door, Sanga- moarta never stopped. Yet she loved him. C)ften she would say to him when they met on the street ; — * You never come to see me. I sup- pose you would not look at me if I should die,' 196 The Golden Age in Transylvania and Sanga-moarta would say : — ' Yes, I should.' ' Then I will die soon,' the maiden would say, sorrowfully. T will come to see you then,' Sanga-moarta would answer, and pass on. Are you tired of the story, my good lord ? it is almost done. The beautiful Floriza is dead. Her heart was broken. There she lies on her bier. Before the house are the branches of mourning. When Sanga-moarta sees this and learns that Floriza is dead he will come out of the woods to look at his dead love as he promised, for he always keeps his word. Then you can talk with him." "Yery well," said Clement, who had grown serious and was almost annoyed that peasants who had certainly not read Horace's Ars Poetica should have their own poetry. " You must watch for your son's coming and let me know." " It will be better for you to go yourself," said the old woman ; " for I hardly think that he will answer anybody else." " Then take me there," said the Lieutenant. The entire company set out in the direction of the house of mourning, at the extreme edge of the village. This end of Marisel is so far from the church that it was night before they reached the house. The moon had come up behind the mountains : in front of the houses were fir trees and through their dark needles gleamed its rays. In the dis- Sanga-moarta 197 tance -was heard the meLancholy sound of a shep- herd's pipe. The paid mourner sobbed outside the door. The wreaths swaj^ed in the breeze. Within lay the beautiful girl, dead, waiting for her restless, wandering lover. The moonlight fell on her white face. * * * * ^ * The people surrounded the house. They crept stealthUy through the courtyard and looked through the window and whispered, " There he is, there he is ! " The Lieutenant, the priest, the judge and Sanga- moarta's mother entered the room. Stretched across the threshold lay the girl's father, dead drunk. In his great sorrow he had drunk so much the da}'' before that he would hardly sleep it off before another day. In the middle of the room stood the coffin made of pine, painted with bright roses by the brush of the village artist ; within lay the girl of barely sixteen years. Her beautiful brow was encircled with a wreath; in one hand had been placed a vt^ax candle and in the other a small coin : at the head of the cof- fin were two wax candles stuck in a jar covered with gingerbread ; at the foot of the coffin on a painted chair Avith high back, sat Sanga-moarta, bent over with his eyes fixed on the girl's face. The priest and the judge remained standing at the door in sujierstitious piety. Clement walked up to the youth and at a glance recognized hhn as 198 The Golden Age in Transylvania the one who had not been willing to direct him on his way. " Hello, young man, so you are the one who does not answer people's questions ? " The youth verified his words by making no reply. "ITow listen to me and answer what I ask you ; I am the Lieutenant of the district. Do you hear ? " Sanga-moarta gazed in silence at Floriza, lost in melancholy and as immovable as the dead. His mother, the worthy woman, took him fondly by the hand and spoke to him by his true name. " Jova, my son, answer this gentleman. Look at me, I am your dear mother." " In the name of my master, the Prince, I com- mand you to answer," shouted the Lieutenant, his voice growing more and more angry. The Wallachian was still silent. " I ask you whether in your wanderings through the forest you have noticed anywhere a foreign beast. I mean a beast of prey, called panther by the learned." Sanga-moarta seemed to start with terror as if he had been wakened from a sleep. Suddenly he turned his usually fixed eyes to the questioner. Over his face came a feverish color, and fairly trembling, he stammered out, " I have seen it — I have seen it — I have seen it." Sanjia-moarta 199 'to' And with that he covered his eyes so that he should not look at the dead, " Where have 3'ou seen it ? " asked the Lieu- tenant. "Far — far from here," whispered the Walla- chian. Then he became silent again and buried his face in his hands. " Name the place, — where ? " The Wallachian looked timidly about him, shivered as if a chill had gone over him and whispered to the Lieutenant, with timidly rolling eyes, " In the neighborhood of Gregyina-Drakuluj." ^ The priest and the judge crossed themselves three times, and the latter raised his eyes most devoutly to a picture of Peter, hanging on the wall, as if he would call on him for help. " Tou seem to me a courageous youth stnce you dare go near the Devil's garden," said the Lieutenant. " Will you shoAV me the way ? " The Wallachian expressed by the pleasure in his face that he would gladly show him the way. " In the name of Saint IS'icholas and all the archangels, do not go there, my lord ! " cried the priest. " Nobody who has ever wandered there has returned. The godly do not turn their steps that way. This youth has been led thither by his sins." " I do not go there of my own accord," said ' Devil's Garden, 200 The Golden Age in Transylvania Clement, scratching his head. " ISTot that I am afraid of the name of the country, but I do not like to climb around over mountains. However my office requires it and I must fulfil my duty." " Then at least fasten a consecrated boat on your cap," urged the anxious shepherd of souls. " Or else take a picture of Saint Michael with you so that the devils cannot come near you." " Thank you, my good people. But you would do better if you would get me a pair of sandals ; I cannot go through the mountains in these spurred boots. Your safeguards I can make no use of, for I am a Unitarian." At this reply the priest crossed himself and said with a sigh : " I thought you were a true believer, you in- quired so zealously about the witches." " This is only my official duty, not my belief. Send me the Turk." As he went out, the Pope murmured half aloud, " You go well together, — two pagans." "Comrade Zulfikar," called out Clement to the Turk as he entered, fastening on the sandals that had been brought, "you can look out for your own route now, for I must take a little side-dodge into the mountains." " If you dodge, I will dodge too," replied the distrustful deserter. " "Wherever you go. I will go." Sanga-moarta 2oi " "WTiere I am going, my clear friend, there is nothing to put in your pocket ; it must be you wish to bag the devil, for no human being has ever set foot there." " How do I know where the people live in this confounded country of yours ! My orders were to go witli you until I reached the starting-point again." " All the better, for there will be more of us. Help me draw my sword out of the scabbard, so I can defend myself if necessary." " So you carry a sword that it takes two men to draw. Let me get hold of it." The two men planted their feet, grasped the sword Avith both hands and tugged at it for some time. At last it came out of its scabbard, al- most throwing Clement over backward. Then Clement took a pitcher of honey, rubbed the rusty sword with the sticky stuff and put it back into its scabbard. " Now we must be on our way, young man," he said to the Wallachian. The latter at once took up his hat and his axe from the ground and went ahead without as much as one glance back at the dead. Uis mother seized him by the hand. "Will you not kiss 3'our dead love?" Sanga-moarta did not so much as look — pulled his hand away from his mother's, and went ^vith 202 The Golden Age in Transylvania the two strangers out into the deep darkness of the forest. ^ 7f w "JT TP "X* W All night long these adventurers wandered through a deep valley from which they could just catch sight of the giant summits rising on all sides ; directly overhead glimmered a strip of starry sky. Toward morning they reached the midst of the mountains. What a sight that was ! Along the shining crystal peaks stretched dark green forest — on one side rose a crag of basalt, with columns like organ pipes in rows, topped by trees. In front of this crag of basalt a white cloud moved, but the summit and base of the rock were to be seen ; from time to time the lightning flashed through the cloud but it was some time before the roll of the thunder rang through the organ pipes. At a little distance is a cleft in the rocks, and the two parts look as if their jagged edges would fit together. Through the ravine several fathoms wide, a branch of the cold Szomas forces its way and is lost again among the thick oaks along the shore. In an- other place the rocks are piled up in stairs not intended however for human foot, for each step is as high as a house. Again the rocks are tumbled together in such a way that the entire mountain mass would fall into other forms if the rock beneath were moved from its position. Sanga-moarta 203 Ever^iihing indicates that here the rule of man has found its limit. From the dizzying height not a single hut is seen ; on all sides are bold crags and yawning chasms tliroufi-h which the moun- tain streams roll tumultuously. Only the ibex wanders from crag to crag. " Which way are we going ? " Clement asked his guide, looking anxiously about, where there was every possibility of losing oneself irrecover- ably. " Trust yourself to me," replied Sanga-moarta, and he led them with confident knowledge of the place through this unfrequented region. In places where a path seemed hardly possible, he knew where to find the Avay over the cleft rocks. He had noticed every root that could help one in climl)ing ; every tree-trunk bridging a chasm ; every narrow ledge of rock where one could step by clinging to its projections ; in shoi't, he moved through this labyrinth with the utmost confidence. " We are near the end," he said, suddenly, after he had climbed a steep Avail of rock and looked over the country, antl he stretched his hand down and drew the others up after him. The scene was now changed. The declivity of the rock that they had mounted was under them ; a smooth surface in semi-circular shape formed a basin hundreds of fathoms deep, where the dark green water of a mountain lake gleamed. 204 The Golden Age in Transylvania There was no breeze but the lake was broken with foam. The opposite side of the basin was formed by a grouj) of mountains with fir trees at the base, and where the two mountain masses came together a small stream flowed into this lake, over which the ice that tumbled into the valley made a crystal arch. " Where will that bring us ? " Clement asked, with horror. " To the head of the stream," replied Sanga- moarta. " It has made its way through the ice and if we follow its track we shall reach the place we seek." " But how shall we get there ? This wall of rock is as smooth as glass, one slip and there is nothing between us and the bottom of the lake." "You must take care, that is all. You will have to lie down on your back and slip down sidewise. I^ow and then you will find a bush of Alpine roses that you can cling to ; but there is no danger of slipjiing if you are barefoot, — fol- low my example." A blood-curdling pleasure awaited them. The men took off their shoes and clung firmly with hands and feet to the smooth wall of stone. They had gone barely half way when there was a mysterious sound from the opposite mountains ; it seemed as if the rocks beneath them trembled. " Stay where you are," shouted Sanga-moarta to the others. " There is a snow-slide." Sanga-moarta 205 And the next moment could be seen the white ball set in motion in the remote mountains, roll- ing down the steep heights, tearing along with it rocks and uprooted trees, growing every instant more terrible ; and as it made great bounds to the valley it shook the mountain to its very foundations. " Oh my God ! " cried Clement, trying to reach the guide with one hand while he clung to the rock with the other. " It will come and kill us aU." " Stay where you are," Sanga-moarta called out to them, when he saw that they were trying to climb up and would so expose themselves to the danger of slipping back. " This slide is going toward that rock and there it will be either broken or held fast." It was true that the snow-slide, now grown to mammoth size, was rolling toward a jutting cliff that seemed dwarf-like in comparison. The roll of the avalanche had gro^vn so loud that every other sound was lost in its thundering roar. Now the snow plunged against the rock in its path, struck its peak with a fearful bound and gave the whole mountain such a shock that it quivered to its foundations. For a moment the entire vicin- ity was covered with a cloud of snow flying with the velocity of steam. After the last clap, the thunder ceased. Then followed a frightful crack- ing. The avalanche had torn the opposing rock 2o6 The Golden Age in Transylvania from its base and the two plunged down into the lake below them. This, lashed to foam, engulfed the mass and its waves, mounting fearfully, rose to the height of fifty fathoms, where the bold climbers were clinging to the face of the rock. Then the waves settled back, for a few moments took the form of a towering green column which finally subsided, and after some time quiet again ruled over the waters. Clement lay there more dead than alive, while Sanga-moarta's first look was to see if the bed of the stream had been overflowed by the war of the waters. But the mass of snow had plunged into the lake without raising it a foot ; all had disajDpeared in the bottomless dej)ths ; a mountain lake neither rises nor falls. "Let us go on our way," said Sanga-moarta. " It will be all the easier now that the rock is wet, to climb down." In the course of half an hour they had reached the mouth of the stream. A wonderful passage opened before them. The stream had its source in a warm spring, which following the course of the valley, was buried under mountains and ava- lanches. The warm water had hollowed out a covered passage, so melting the ice that only its outer surface remained frozen, and this was con- stantly added to by the influence of the atmos- phere, while within it was as constantly melted by the warmth of the spring ; the result was that Sanga-moarta 207 the stream flowed under a crystal archway Avith glittering icicles. Into this passage Sanga-moarta led his companions. Clement could only think of the magic palaces in fairy tales, where the en- chanted mortal got the sunlight through trans- parent water. As they were wading along the stream at one point the underground passage suddenly grew dark. Heavy masses took the place of the transparent vaulting. The crusting of ice was thicker ; it changed to dark blue, and to black ; the noise of the waters was the only guide. The men, up to their knees in the water, found it growing warmer and warmer until fi- nally they heard a hissing, and through a cleft in the rock caught sight of the sunlight once more. At the source of the spring, as they clung to some bushes to resist the force of the boiling waters, they found themselves in a deep, well-like valley. " We are in the Gregyina-Drakuluj." It is a round valley with mountains rising about it several hundred feet high. If you would look down from their summits you must craAvl on your stomach to the edge of the cliff, and then unless you have strong nerves you will fall from the dizzying height. In this valley-bed below the flowers are always in bloom ; in the sternest winter season here you can find those dark green plants with broad indented leaves; those small round-leaved trees that arc nowhere else in the 2o8 The Golden Age in Transylvania country. The yellow cups of the leather-leaved water-lilies open just at this time. The place is covered, summer and winter, with freshest green ; the wild laurel climbs high in the crevices of the rocks and throws its red berries down into the valley, while all around is cold and dead. The whole winter through the valley is covered with the rarest flowers. That is why the Walla- chian calls it the Devil's garden, and is afraid to go near it. Yet the miracle has a purely natural cause. In a hole in the depth of the valley is a hot mineral spring that never comes to light, but warms through the earth above ; and, as warm waters have their own peculiar flora, these strange plants flourish there beside their quickening ele- ment. The whole place is like a greenhouse in the open air amid storms and ice mountains. Sanga-moarta beckoned silently to his com- rades to follow him. A feverish unrest was noticeable throughout his whole being. After a few steps he pointed with trembling hand to a dark hollow where there was an iron door. " What is that ? " cried Clement, reaching for his sword. " Is this hollow inhabited ? " " Yes," replied Sange-moarta, with blood evi- dently on fire and his temples swollen to burst- ing. " There in that pool she bathes ; here I have listened day after day, but have not had the courage to go near." He stammered in scarcely audible words though they were passionate. Sanga-moarta 209 " Who ? " asked the Lieutenant, perplexed. "• The fairy," stammered the Walhichian, with quivering lips, and buried his burning lips in his hands. " What kind of a fairy ? " said Clement, turning to ZuUikar. " I am looking for a panther." " Hush, there is the sound of a key in the door," said Zulfikar, " step back." The tu'o men had to pull Sanga-moarta from the door. This opened noiselessly and a woman stepped forth leading a panther by a spiked col- lar of gold. Sanga-moarta had good cause to call her a fairy. A magnificent woman stood there in delicate Oriental garb. The long gold tassel of her red fez fell down over her white turban ; above her ermine-embroidered caftan gleamed her ivory white shoulders ; her move- ments were sinuous and bewitching. The three men held tlicir breath while the Avoman passed by without noticing them. " Ha, there she is ! " whispered Zulfikar, when she had passed. " Who is she ? So you know her," said Clem- ent. " Azraele, once the favorite of Corsar Bey." '' AVlicre are we then ? " " Be still, or she will hear us." Meantime the woman had reached the pool, seated herself on a stone bench and loosed her 210 The Golden Age in Transylvania turban. The dark curls fell down over her shoulders. Sanga-moarta's hot panting was heard in the darkness. The panther lay quietly at the feet of his mistress, his wise head resting on his fore- paws. Azraele now took her gay Persian shawl from her waist and made ready to lay aside her caftan. But first she made a few steps toward the cliif, which shut her off from the sight of the men. Sanga-moarta was ready to plunge after her. "You are crazy," said Zulfikar in his ear. " Are you going to betray us by your curiosity ? " " The boy is in love with the woman," whis- pered Clement. At this instant a splash was heard in the water as if some one had jumped in and was playing in the waves. Sanga-moarta tore himself madly from the grasp of his comrades and ran with a wild cry down to the pool. At this cry Azraele, in all her enchanting beauty, sprang out of the water, looked with flashing eyes at the bold man, and said to her panther, " Oglan, seize him ! " Until then the panther had lain motionless, but the instant his mistress called him to a strug- gle he jumped up with a snarl, caught hold of the Wallachian, and with one movement drew him to the ground. Sanga-moarta did not defend himself against Sanga-moarta 2 1 1 the beast, but stretched out his hands entreat- ingly to the charming "woman, appeared to be drawing in her beauty Avith his thirsty glance, while he dragged himself Avith a groan to her feet ; Azraele gazed at him wiitlly, ;ind, wrapped in her cloak, watched her pet panther tear the youth ; for the beast was never di-awn to any one except for his death, " m go to his help," said Clement, mad with terror, — and dreAV his sword. " Stop. Don't be foolish," said Zulfikar. " There is something more sensible for us to do. The iron door has been left open ; let us slip in while the lady is occupied and find out what there is of interest here for our masters. If not of interest to yours it certainly will be to mine." "With that the two men stole through the door- way, groped tlicir way along the narrow passage that seemed to be hewn into the rock and at its end discovered, by the light of a lamp hanging from the ceiling, that there were several small doors on both sides. They opened one door after another and came to a room with no other door- way. The light of the outer world came through the window. Through this they hurried on and coming to a second iron door, passed through and found themselves in a large court surrounded by high walls. By climbing the wall they saw from its summit the vale of Szamos stretclied below them ; and then they discovered a footj)ath lead- 212 The Golden Age in Transylvania ing from the wall into the forest below. Down they ran breathlessly. There first the two men dared look at each other. Clement thought he still heard the wild, clear voice of the demon- woman, the growl of the panther and death-cry of the Wallachian. " We have done well to take this path," said Zulfikar. " For we never could have found our way back without a guide over the way we came. From here we shall easily make our way." They now found two woodcutters who were fastening their rafts to the bank. " What is this castle ? " asked Clement. " Where ? What castle ? " Clement looked behind him to point out the castle, and lo, there was nothing that could be seen to resemble a castle even from afar. One rock was like another. The peasants laughed aloud. " It is better not to say anj^hing," said Zul- fikar ; " evidently they do not know what is in this vicinity. From the outside there is nothing to be seen but unhewn stone ; the bushes cover the very opening that we came through." Then they asked their way ; and turned back to Marisel, where they did not stay to be ques- tioned about Sanga-moarta's absence but mounted their horses and rode off. Zulfikar would have been glad if Clement Sanga-moarta 213 "u-oukl have gone with hnn to Banfy-hunyad, but when he learned that this place was under the direction of Dion3^sius Banfy he started off alone to collect the tax, although the Lieutenant gave him the comforting assurance that he could count on blows there more surely than on tribute. ***** -jt Clement gave Ladislaus Csaki exact informa- tion of what he had seen and received as a re- ward for his discovery a hundred gold pieces, with the green boots thrown in. Zulfikar had a more unusual experience. When he reached Nagy-Varad he gave Ali Pasha the tax collected and told him what he had learned of Azraele. Corsar Bey had stolen her from Ali Pasha when she was thirteen years old. Ali had offered two hundred gold pieces as reward to the man who should bring him infor- mation of the abode of his favorite, so Zulfikar came away with the purse of two hundred gold pieces when he left the Pasha. The Aga over Zulfikar learning of this, found a pretext to bind the deserter and sentenced liim to a hundred blows on the soles of his feet unless he bought off every blow with a ducat. "That I will not do," replied Zulfikar, "but I will put in your hands the ])resent that Uionysius Banfy sent Ali Paslia when I tried to impose a tax in his name. You give this little box to the 214 T^^ Golden Age in Transylvania Pasha and I wager that he will reward you with enough for your lifetime." The Aga caught at the offer greedily, received the carefully sealed box which Zulfikar should have given over to the Pasha, and presented it with the following words : " See, most gracious Pasha. Here I bring you j| that princely present which Dionysius Banfy sent you instead of the tax." j Ali Pasha took the box and when he had cut the string, broken the seal and raised the cover, there fell out on his caftan a dried-up grey pig's tail, the most fearful insult, the most horrible disgrace, a man can offer a Turk. Ali Pasha jumped almost to the ceiling in his anger, threw his turban on the ground, and gave orders to have the Aga, who stood petrified, im- paled that instant outside the gate. Zulfikar walked off, his two hundred gold pieces intact. CHAPTER XII A GREAT LORD IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY There was racing and running in the castle of Bonczida. Dionysius Banfy was exjDected back from Ebesfalva. The castle gate, which displayed a huge crest between the claws of a gilded lion, was overshadowed with green boughs and gay flags. On the street in a long line stood the school children, dressed in their Sunday clothes, with the teacher at their head. Farther back, with Sunday mien, stood the dependents, and in front of a hill were drawn up in orderly ranks the mounted nobility of the county of Klausenburg, about eight hundred men, noble, warlike figures, armed with Inroad swords and clubs. Tliey had come to greet their superior officer, the general of the nobility. On the walls were Banfy 's own warriors ; about six hundred, in full armor, with long Turkish guns and with Scythian helmets. On the bastion toward Szamos were eight mortars, and several feet away burned a fire in which the cannoneers heated the ends of their long iron rods to use as a slow match. At every gate, at every door, stood two pages in scarlet cloaks and blue stockings, their entire cos- tume adorned with silver lacings. At the win- 216 2i6 The Golden Age in Transylvania dow of the high tower was stationed a lookout to announce with the trumpet the arrival of the lord. The wind struggled above his head with a great purple banner, only swaying the heavy gold tassels that hung from it. From every window eager servants looked out. Lords and ladies ap- peared expectant. Only three windows were without gay groups. In their place were fra- grant jasmine and quivering mimosa in beautiful porcelain jars, behind which one could just dis- cern a pale, gentle woman, leaning on an em- broidered cushion, in sentimental melancholy. This was Banfy's wife. It might have been ten o'clock in the morning when the watcher on the tower inferred the ar- rival of the first carriages from the clouds of dust along the road and blew his trumpet might- ily. The priests and teachers hurried to their pupils ; the lieutenants brought their ranks into order and the trumpeters began to play their latest march. Soon came the carriages, attended by troops from the rest of the counties. Before and behind rode an armed throng in whose cos- tume and equipment the greatest splendor of color was shown. The horses were of all kinds and colors : Arabian stallions, Transylvanian thoroughbreds, small Wallachian ponies, slender English racers and lightfooted horses from Bar- bary. There were horses with flesh-colored manes, with jeweled bridles, and Avith housings A Great Lord 217 embroidered Avith butterflies, and in every color. There was, too, all the war equipment of da3's gone by : the slender Damascene, the spiked mace and those long, three-bladed daggers the points of which dragged on the ground. Each division carried the crest of its county on its gay stand- ards. In front of the band rode the captain of the nobility, George Veer, a stout, muscular man of forty years. The chief sat in a carriage drawn by five black horses ; on both carriage doors was Banfy's crest in gilding. Behind were two hussars. Dionysius Banfy in proud dignity sat in splendor on the velvet cushions of his coach. All the magnificence displayed about him harmonized with his appearance. The troops drawn up in line lowered their swords before him, the school children greeted him with songs, his vassals waved their hats, music sounded out along the walls, the priests made speeches and the guests in the windows waved their handkerchiefs and caps. Banfy received all these marks of honor with accustomed dignity and noble nonchalance, like a man who feels that it is all his due. His eyes wandered to the three windows of jasmine and mimosa and liis expression grew serious as he saw no one there. From anoth(!r window looked down an old man in a long soutane-like coat ; but his bearing 2i8 The Golden Age in Transylvania did not indicate that he took part in the general homage. At his side was a lady in mourning, on whose countenance were unmistakable signs of anger and contempt ; and at a window below them stood Stephen ISTalaczy with crossed arms, watching the whole procession with a scornful smile. " Was there ever a Prince with so much splen- dor as this single baron ? " said the lady in mourning to the old man. " I have been present at a coronation, an installation, an inauguration and a triumphal procession, but never before have I seen such a stir made over a single man. If it were a Prince it might pass, but what is this Banfy? — a nobleman like ourselves, with this difference only that he advances arrogantly and knows how to make pretensions ; yet this princely splendor is not appropriate for him. I know the proper thing, for I have carried on law- suits with greater lords than my Lord Banfy." " Just see how my colleagues crowd forward to kiss his hand," muttered Koncz, to himself. " My learned companion, Csefalusi, takes pleas- ure in being allowed to assist his Grace from the carriage ; well may he, for Dionysius Banfy is a great patron of the Calvinists ; for a poor Uni- tarian clergyman like me a place behind the door is quite good enough." " Just see — do see — how they carry him on their shoulders to the gate ! It is a good thing A Great Lord 219 they do not carry him in a chair the Tvay they do princes ; — as if he were their lord because he is serving them to-day ! " "Let the people do him homage," said Na- laczy ; " my men will provide salt for the enter- tainment. He will get his comb cut ! " Meanwhile Banfy had mounted the stairs, the people crowding in at the same time to deposit their load at the end of the hall. In the surging throng the clergy succeeded in maintaining their places only with great difficulty, being knocked about by the godless crowd without mercy, while George Veer forced his way to the over- lord with man}^ a thrust of liis elbow. As many of the nobility crowded into the hall as it could contain ; the rest filled tbe corridors. The de- pendents remained in the courtyard and, al- though they caught only the noise, took great satisfaction in that. " My noble friends," said Banfy, after it had become somewhat quiet and he had allowed his glance to run over the throng ; — " it is not Avith- out cause that I wish to see you before me in arms. The history of our poor fatherland is familiar to you, how much our nation has suf- fered because our princes, either dissatisfied with what they already possessed or else inca])al)le of maintaining it, have persistently called foreign troops into the country. Of these days of con- test the historians have described only what was 220 The Golden Age in Transylvania to the credit of the princes, the victories, the battles ; they have forgotten to mention that in the year 1617 as a result of the misery caused by the war throughout all Transylvania not a single child was born, but we know it, for we felt it with the people. ]^ow, thanks to Heaven, we are masters in our native land. By the peace of Saint Gotthard both the Koman Emperor and the Turkish have alike agreed not to send any more of their troops into Transylvania, and have put such a restraint upon each other that they have assured us some respite, so that we are not compelled either to take up arms against the one or for the other, but can give our energies to healing the wounds of our fatherland that have bled for a century. For a Golden Age is dawn- ing. The entire land struggles and bleeds ; we alone enjoy peace ; in our country only is the Hungarian master independent. It is true the country is not large, but it belongs to us, and even if we are a small people we recognize no greater ones over us. But now there are people who would shorten the Golden Age : there are people who do not concern themselves with the cost to the country of a war unwisely begun, if only their ambition, if only their greed, be fat- tened. And if by chance their opponent con- quers they will not be ruined with their father- land, but will simply turn their coat, join the conqueror and share with him the booty." A Great Lord 221 " That's a slander ! " was hissed from the rear, in a voice that Banfy recognized as Nalaczy's. The crowd turned threateningly toward the corner from which the voice had come. "Let him alone, my friends," said Banf3\ "Very likely it is some satellite of Michael Teleki's. He too shall have the advantage of freedom of speech. But I, who know the swift mode of thought of the states throughout the country, I can tell you quietly that this rash step will never be taken in lawful fashion. But should secret stratagems, or unforeseen violence attempt to accomplish what woukl not succeed in open attack, they will find me on the spot. If neces- sary I will defend the country even against the Prince. Hear now what the intriguers have planned in order to entangle us against our will in snares out of which we have escaped. In spite of the peace, Turks and Tartars at times fall upon our borders, plunder the people, set the towns on fire, — in short, in every possible way obtrude upon us their friendship. A week ago they laid waste Schassburg and before that they made raids in the vicinity of Csik. But that is not my affair. That concerns the Saxon magistrate and the general of the Szeklers. The mouth of his majesty, Ali Pasha, has for a long time been watering for my province but he is not yet quite sure of tlie way to catch me. Lately he had the circuit Lieutenant of the Prince caught ])y Tartars 222 The Golden Age in Transylvania and forced him to declare throughout the entire neighborhood that the people were to pay a new tax, a penny a head. The poor peasantry were delighted to get off so cheaply and made haste to pay the tax, without asking me first whether this could be justly levied. In this way the sly Turk accom23lished a twofold purpose; in the first place he had compelled the people to recognize the tax, and in the second place he had found out how many taxpayers there were ; then he at once imposed the frightful tax of two Hun- garian florins a head." The crowd expressed their indignation. " At once I forbade all further payments. It is true this tax was not a burden to us, for we are of the nobility, but for that very reason are we the lords of the peasantry that we may not allow them to be robbed of their last farthing. In- stead of any reply I sent his Turkish majesty a pig's tail in a box, and if he comes himself to collect the tax I swear by the God in heaven to receive him in such a way that he will remember it all his life." " We will cut him to pieces," threatened the crowd, clashing their swords and swinging their clubs in the air. " I*^ow, my faithful followers, go to your tents," said Banfy. " The master of the kitchen will look out for your entertainment. I will decide whether there shall be war." A Great Lord 223 The excited nobility withdrew amid lively ex- pressions of approval and the clinking of swords. Only a few with requests to make, remained be- hind. The Professors from Klausenburg invited theu' patron to the public examinations. Eanfy promised to come, and otFered prizes for the best pupils. "When they had withdrawn he indicated those whom he would see in turn. In the first place he motioned to him Martin Koncz, leader of the Unitarians in Klausenburg. " How can I serve you, Avorthy sir ? " " I have a complaint to bring before you, gra- cious lord," replied Koncz, bowing and scraping. " The city council of Klausenburg has taken by vio- lence the market booths belonging to the Unita- rian church. I beg you to assist in their recovery." "I regret, worthy sir, that I cannot help you in this case," replied Banfy, as he fastened up his coat. "That is a privilege by establishment and concerns the Prince. It is true the territory is mine but the affairs must come up before him for judgment." " This is the reply that the Prince made me, only reversed : ' It is true the decision in the matter is mine, but the territory is Panfy's, and you must go to him.' " Banfy smiled good-naturedly, but Koncz did not find the affair so entertaining. " Listen, there is no way for ine to turn, even though justice is most clearly on my side." 224 The Golden Age in Transylvania Banfy shirugged his shoulders. "You would like to have justice, worthy sir, but that can hardly be attained." " Then he is as badly off as I am," cried a voice, and as Banfy looked, he saw Madame Szent-Pali coming toward him. The great lord acted as if he had not noticed the widow and fingered indifferently the diamond clasp of his cloak ; but the widow placed herself directly in front of him and began to speak : " Your Grace has been pleased to look beyond me, but it is in vain. I am here, even though unbidden." Banfy looked at her without a word, half smiling and half amused. " Or has your Grace perhaps forgotten my name ? " asked the woman, sharply, and smiting her breast. " I am the noble, well-born " — "And knightly," said Banfy, comj)leting her words with a laugh. " I am the widow of George Szent-Pali," con- tinued the lady, without allowing herself to be disconcerted, — " whose family in all its branches is quite as noble as is the Prince himself, and that too since the beginning of the world. I have never forgotten my name when asked, and have already stood in the presence of princes and generals greater even than your Grace." "Well, well, gracious lady, I know that al- A Great Lord 225 ready, I have heard it so often. Tell me quickly now anything good that you may have to say." " Quickly ! I suppose your Grace thinks that a .few words will set forth what has been a law- suit between us now for four years, and between the town and my family for sixty -three." " To cut it short I will tell you the story," in- terrupted Baufy. " The gracious lady may then make her additions. The gracious lady owns a dilapidated little house in the centre of the Klau- senburg market place " — " The idea ! A manor house just as good as your Grace's castle ! " " These barracks have for a long time disfig- ured the market pJace. It was in vain the city council entered into negotiations with your family — went before the courts to buy the house and move it otf." " We did not yield. You are quite right. A true nobleman does not sell his property gained by heritage. It belongs to me and within my four walls neither country nor Prince has any authority over me — not even you. General ! " " I certainly did not demand this noble ruin of you for nothing. I offered you ten thousand florins for it. For that sum of money I could have bought the entire gyj^sy quarter, and yet there is not a single house in it so dilapidated as 3'^ours." " Let my lord keep his money. I do not give 226 The Golden Age in Transylvania up my house. Two hundred years ago an an- cestor of mine built it. Cease, I beg, your scornful words. I was born there; my father and my mother were buried from there. If it offends your Grace's sense of beauty to look down from your magnificent palace upon the roof of my poor house, yet it does me good to be able to live out my days in the room in which my poor husband breathed away his life, and I would not accept any palace in exchange." At the mention of her dear departed husband the lady began to sob ; this gave Banfy an op- portunity to speak, and he took advantage to re- ply vehemently : " As I have said, so shall it be. The masons are already on the way to tear down your house. You will receive your ten thousand florins at the public treasury." "I do not wish them. Throw them to your dogs ! " screamed the lady, in a passion. " I am no peasant woman to be hunted from my prop- ert}^ I advise nobody to enter my courtyard unless he wishes to be driven out with a broom like a dog. I have been to the Prince, I have been to the Diet, and here you have an official document in which the Diet forbids anybody to trespass on my land. I will nail it to the gate, it is good legible handwriting, then I will see who dares force his way into my possessions." "And I tell you that to-morrow your house A GrcLit Lord 227 shall be moved off, even if it is surrounded by armed troops. If the Diet pleases it may have the place rebuilt." With that Eanfy was going away full of anger, when Nalaczy met him. The two men greeted each other with forced friendliness, and while Madame Szent-Pali moved away uttering impre- cations, Kalaczy began in sweet tones, after a little preparation, ''His Highness, the Prince, wishes to inform your Grace of a very unpleasant incident." " I will hear." " During this year the Turk has already forced from us, under one pretext or another, presents on three different occasions." " He ought not to be allowed to force them." " If we refuse him he threatens to force on us as Prince the fugitive, Nicholas Zolyomi, living at Constantinople." " He has only to bring him here and we will drive him out at once, together Avith his pro- tector." " Quite true. But the Prince is so wearied of this bitter hatred that he has decided, partly out of friglit too, to pardon Zolyomi and permit liim to return." " Let him do so, in God's name." " Right, quite right. l>ut 3'our Grace cei-tainly knows that the estates of Zolyomi are at ])resont in the possession of your Grace. The Prince, 228 The Golden Age in Transylvania therefore, finds himself compelled to demand of your Grace that you should with all good feeling give over these estates to Zolyomi on his return." " What ! " cried Banfy, stepping back, " And you think that I will give up these estates ! The Diet gave them over to me with the burdensome condition that I should equip two regiments for the defence of the country. This burdensome condition I have complied with, and do you think that now I will give up these estates that you may have one more fool in the country ? " " But if it is the Prince's wish ? " " It matters not who wishes it, I will not give them back." " And shall I carry back this answer ? " " This unmistakable answer," replied Banfy, accenting every syllable. " I do not give them up." "Your most humble servant," said l^alaczy, bowed mockingl}^, and withdrew. " Slave ! " Banfy threw after him contemptu- ously. Then he looked out into the corridor and seeing some of his dependents waiting there hat in hand, he shouted : " Come in, what do you Avant ? " When the simple folk saw that their over-lord was in a bad humor they hesitated to enter until the castle steward pushed them in. " We ought to have brought the tithe," began the oldest peasant, with eyes downcast and in A Great Lord 229 tearful voice, "but we really could not. It was not possible." " Why could you not ? " said Banfy, harshly. " Because we have nothing, gracious lord, — the rain has failed, crops have gone to ruin, we have not harvested enough corn for the sowing ; the people in the village are living on roots and mushrooms, so long as they last. After that God knows what will become of them ! " " There it is," said Banfy. " A new blow of fortune and we are still longing for war. Here, steward, you must have the storehouses opened at once and furnish grain for sowing ; and the poor must be provided with sulRcient food for the winter." The poor peasant wanted to kiss Banfy's hand but he would not allow it. The tears stood in his eyes. "That is what I am your master for — to lighten your fate if I see jon in need. My agents will carry out my orders ; if my own granaries become empty they must order grain for you from Moldavia for cash," and with that he went away. * * * -x- * * Banfy's wife listened with throl)bing heart as the familiar footsteps came nearer. There she sat among the fragrant jasmine and quivering mimosa, as tremulous as the mimosa and as palo 230 The Golden Age in Transylvania as the jasmine. Everything about her shone with splendor. On the walls hung polished Vene- tian mirrors in gold frames, portraits of kings and princes, the most beautiful of which was John Kemeny's, painted when he was still at- tached to the Turk, with smooth shaven hair and a long beard, at that time quite fashionable with Hungarian gentlemen. On one side of the room was an artistic cabinet with countless drawers, inlaid with mother-of-pearl, lapis lazuli and tortoise-shell. In the middle of the room stood a beautifully painted table with wonder- fully wrought silver candelabra; in glass cases the family jewels were displayed to view, beak- ers covered with precious stones ; stags enameled in gold, their heads made to unscrew ; several large silver baskets of flowers, marvels of filagree work, hardly worth a dollar in weight ; the bou- quets in these baskets were of various-colored jewels ; a gold butterfly alighted on an emerald leaf, so cunningly made that everything gleamed through its wings as it swayed gracefully. From the high windows heavy red silk curtains hung down to the ground and the sills were covered with the most beautiful flowers of those times. Amid all these flowers only the quivering mi- mosa and the pale jasmine seemed suited to the lady, so melancholy a contrast did her face make to the splendor of her house. The delicate little figure was almost lost in the A Great Lord 231 high-vaulted room, in which she could with dif- ficulty move one of the heavy armchairs or lift one of the huge candelabra or push aside a hang- ing. Every noise, every footstep set her nerves quivering. "When the familiar step touched her threshold all the blood streamed into her face. She wanted to jump up to meet him but after the door opened she turned pale again and was un- able to rise from her seat. Banfy hurried toward his trembling wife \^'hose voice was too stifled for words, clasped both her hands, delicate as dewdi'ops, and looked kindly into the dreamy eyes. " How beautiful you are, and yet how sad ! " The lady tried to smile. " This smile even is melancholy," said Banfy, gently, and put his arm around his faiiy wife. Madame Banfy drcAV close to her husband, put her arms around his neck, drew his face down to hers and kissed it. " This ver}'- kiss is sorrowful ! " She turned away to hide her tears. " What is the matter with you ? " Banfy asked, and smoothed her brow. " What has happened to you ? why are you so pale ? what is the mat- ter?" " What is the matter with me ? " replied Ma-