CHAPTER XII.

DEFENDING THE CASTLE.

A few moments later the small garrison of brave men were all on the walls, and so placed behind the breastwork as to be almost invisible from below.

All stood motionless; not an arrow was discharged, not a stone hurled. The castle was to all appearance dead.

All at once there was a terrific roar from the enemy, which awoke countless echoes among the rocks. But it was no battle-cry of the Tartars or Mongols, for they rush to the fray in silence, without uttering a sound. This was like the wild yell of all sorts of people, a mixture of howls and cries, almost more like those of wild animals than of human beings.

Dora, who at that moment had stepped out into the balcony, shuddered at the sound. The howls and screams of fury were positive torture to her ears, and thrilled her through and through.

"O God!" she said within herself, "I am afraid! and I must not be afraid!" and as she spoke, her maids all came rushing into the balcony, wringing their hands above their heads, uttering loud lamentations, which were half strangled by sobs.

"The Tartars! the Tartars!" they cried, hardly able to get the words out. "It's all over with us! What shall we do! What shall we do!"

"Go about your own business, every one of you!" said Dora sternly, "fighting is the men's work, yours is to be at the washing-tub, and the fireside. Don't let me hear another sound, and don't come here again till I call you!"

Her speech had the desired effect; the women were all silent, as if they had been taken by the throat and had had their wails suddenly choked; and away they went in haste, either to do as they were told, or to hide themselves in the lowest depths of the cellar. At all events they vanished.

They had no sooner all tumbled out of the balcony than Talabor stepped in, and just as he did so, an arrow, the first from outside, flew in and struck his cap.

"Come in! come inside! for Heaven's sake!" cried Talabor, seizing Dora by the hand.

"Mr. Talabor! What do you mean?" she began indignantly, both startled and angered by his audacity. Then, catching sight of the arrow in his cap, she went on in a frightened voice, "Are you wounded, Talabor?"

The young man did not let go his hold until he had drawn Dora into the adjoining hall, where she was quite reassured as to the arrow, which he then drew from his cap, without a word, and fitted to the long bow he had in his hand. Then he stepped back into the balcony, and sent the arrow flying with the remark, "There's one who won't swallow any more Magyar bread at all events!"

The next instant a cloud of arrows poured into the balcony, but already Talabor was down in the court and rushing to the walls, whence Master Peter's famous dog-keeper and some of the garrison had already discharged their arrows with deadly effect.

Dora had quite recovered herself.

As for Libor, he had vanished as completely as if he had never been there.

"If I could only clap eyes on that scoundrel!" cried Talabor furiously. "Ah! there! that's he! with his head buried in a cowl! cowardly dog!"

He fitted an arrow and drew his bow, but hit only a Tartar.

"Missed!" he muttered, with vexation, "and it's the last! Here, Jakó," he said, turning to the dog-keeper, "just go and fetch me the great Székely bow from the dining hall! you know, the one which takes three of us to string it."

While Jakó was gone, Talabor observed that one body of Tartars was stealing along under the trees close beside the moat, towards the south side of the castle, and that Libor had dismounted, and was creeping along with them.

"What can those rascals mean to do?" whispered the governor.

"I know!" said Talabor, "the traitor! I know well enough what he's after! but he's out! The wretch! he thinks he shall find the wall on that side in the same tumble-down state in which it was the last time he was here!"

"True!" returned the governor, "they are making straight for it."

"You there at the bastion, quick! follow me," he went on, hurrying along the parapet to where the Mongols seemed to intend a mighty assault.

The dog-keeper, who had come back with the bow, climbed the wall by the narrow steps, and he, too, followed Talabor.

Libor was creeping along on foot among his men, wearing a coat of mail, and so managing as to be out of range of the arrows of the defenders. Libor thoroughly understood how to avail himself of shelter, and here, close to the wood, had no difficulty in finding it.

To his great chagrin, however, he found that he had miscalculated. The wall had been so well repaired that if anything it was even stronger here than elsewhere.

Talabor and his party had no sooner made their appearance than they were observed, in spite of the gathering twilight, and were the targets for a cloud of arrows. They withdrew behind the breastwork, and after some difficulty succeeded in stringing the great Székely bow. Whereupon, Talabor chose the longest arrow from Jakó's quiver, fitted it to the string, straightened himself, and, as he did so, he caught sight of Libor. Libor also recognised his worst enemy at the self-same moment, and turning suddenly away made for the wood.

But Talabor's arrow flew faster than he, and with so sure an aim that it hit him in the back, below his iron corselet, and there stuck.

"Ha! ha! ha!" roared Jakó, himself a passionate bowman, and one of the few who could manage the Székely bow, "ha! ha! ha! that's right! if not in front, then behind! all's one to us!"

But Talabor was not satisfied with his shot, for Libor kept his feet, at least as long as he was within sight.

The Mongols were meantime showing how determined they could be when the hope of valuable booty was dangled before their eyes. Their numbers had been mysteriously increased tenfold, and from all sides they were bringing stones, branches from the trees, whole trees, in a word, all and everything upon which they could lay hands. The attack on the south side of the castle was abandoned, though not before some score or so of the enemy had been laid low by the arrows of Talabor and his men, and the Mongols all now turned their attention to the moat, and to that part of it immediately fronting the drawbridge. Arrows poured down upon them incessantly, and there was seldom one which missed its mark. But in spite of this, the work proceeded at such a rate as threatened to be successful in no long time, for as one fell another took his place, and the wood seemed to be swarming.

Talabor had had no experience of the Mongols, and was not aware that their chief strength lay in their enormous numbers. He did not so much as dream how many of them there might be. However, Master Peter had made no bad choice in the garrison he had left behind him, and they did not for a moment lose courage. They shot down arrow after arrow, not one of which was left without its response by the bowmen stationed behind those at work on the moat; but while many of the besiegers were stretched upon the ground, not more than three or four of the besieged were wounded, and of them not one so seriously as to be incapable of further fighting.

Dora had been coming out into the courtyard from time to time, ever since the siege had begun in earnest. Talabor and the governor were too busy probably to notice her, and though not altogether safe, she found herself comparatively out of danger, so long as she kept under the wall, as the arrows described a curve in falling. She could handle a bow at least as well as many of the women of her time; but though she had a strong sense of her responsibilities as the "mistress of the castle" in her father's absence, she was content to leave the fighting to the men, and to do no more than speak an encouraging word to them from time to time and keep everything in readiness for attending to their wounds.

As she stood there, in the shelter of the wall, she suddenly heard the governor's voice uttering maledictions and imprecations, and the next moment he came blundering down the stone steps from the parapet.

"Oh! Moses, _deák_! what is the matter?" cried Dora, rushing towards him.

The governor could be a very careful man when occasion required, and if he descended now with something of a roll, he trod gingerly all the same; and he had besides the advantage of such well-covered bones, that they were in little danger.

"The matter?" he cried, as he reached the grass in safety, "the matter, young mistress, is that they have shot me--through the arm, hang them! just as my spear had caught one of them behind the ear too!"

"Here," cried Dora to the man nearest her, "Vid, fetch me some water and rag, quick! we must stop the bleeding. Borka has them all ready!"

Vid, who was on the wall, had seen the governor totter and almost lose his balance as he stumbled down the steps, and was hurrying after him when Dora called.

But Mr. Moses no sooner found himself safely at the bottom, and sound in all his limbs except just where he was hit, than he at once regained his wonted composure.

"Off with you, Vid," said he, "but fetch a good handful of cobwebs; that will stop the bleeding in a trice."

Meantime Dora herself ran into the house and soon came back with Borka her maid, bringing water, heaps of old rag, and all that could possibly be wanted. The girl's knees were shaking under her with terror as she slipped along, close after her mistress.

Dora herself bound up the injured arm, Moses offering no opposition, as they were in a fairly safe place, and when the operation was over, he even kissed the hands of this "fairest of surgeons," as he called her. Then he rose to his feet, gave himself a shake and roared, "Hand me my spears! I shall hardly be able to draw another bow to-day!"

No sooner was the governor standing up once more than Borka made a hasty dash for the house.

"Keep along by the wall, Borka!" Dora called after her. But the girl was so consumed with fear that she neither heard nor saw. Just as she was hurrying up the steps of the principal entrance, instead of going round to the back, where the danger was nil, she fell down, head foremost, and as she did so, a long Tartar arrow caught her in the back.

Dora flew after her, and just as she had reached the steps Talabor was beside her, with his shield held over her head. Two or three arrows rattled down upon it, even in the few moments that they stood there.

"Get up at once!" said Talabor, sternly. But the girl did not move, and Moses began to tremble.

Borka was dead! killed, not by the arrow, as they found later on, but by her own terror.

"Oh, poor girl!" cried Dora, her eyes filling with tears.

"She has got her deserts!" said Talabor, in a hard tone. "There is one traitor less in the castle! and I believe she was the only one."

And without giving time for question or answer, he hurried Dora indoors, and rushed back to his post on the wall, followed at a more leisurely pace by Moses with his four spears.

While all this was going on, the Mongols had succeeded more or less in filling up the moat, and though up to their knees in water, and impeded by the logs, branches, stones, and other material with which they had filled it, some had already crossed, and were beginning to climb the wall, by means of long poles, when Talabor gave the signal, and a volley of huge stones and pieces of rock came suddenly crashing down upon them. These were swiftly followed by a flight of arrows, and the two together worked such terrible havoc among the assailants that the survivors beat a hasty retreat.

They seemed to be entirely disheartened by this last repulse, and convinced that nothing would be gained by continuing their present tactics; for, to the great surprise of Moses and Talabor, they did not return. When next the moon shone out it was seen that a large number of men were lying dead both in and about the moat. All, whether whole or wounded, who could do so, had drawn off into the depths of the wood, the more severely wounded borne on the shoulders of the rest.

Libor was not again seen by anyone.

The usual guard was doubled, and Talabor was going to pass the night on the battlements, with the great dog-wood bow beside him and his quiver full of fresh arrows.

The wounded, only four of whom were seriously injured, had been bandaged, and it now appeared that, of the entire garrison there were but two or three who had not at least a scratch to show.

Talabor had been hit he did not know how many times, but he had escaped without any serious wound, though he had lost a good deal of blood. Before going to his post on the wall, he paid a visit to the porter's room to have his hurts seen to, and when at last the porter's wife let him go, he was so bound up and bandaged as to be not unlike an Egyptian mummy.

By the time Moses came in to see Dora, she was utterly worn out.

"Where is Talabor?" she asked.

"On the castle wall," said the governor.

"Not wounded, is he?"

"I don't think so," was the answer. "At least, he said nothing about it."

"We must all watch to-night, Mr. Moses; I am afraid they may come back and bring more with them."

"My dear young lady," said Moses, "whether they do or not, this castle is no place for you now. It is only the mercy of God which has preserved you this time."

"But I must not stir from here until I hear from my father! Besides, where can I go? If the Tartars have discovered such an out-of-the-way place as this, the country must be swarming with them!"

"It was easy enough for them to find their way here," growled Moses, with sundry not too respectful expletives. "It was that good-for-nothing clerk, Libor, who brought them down on us."

"That's true indeed; but now that they have found us out, others may come. So, Mr. Moses, we must have our eyes open, and as soon as we can, we must have the moat cleared, and make the castle more secure if possible."

Moses said "good-night," though he well knew that Dora would not go to rest, and then he, too, went to the porter's room.

It was a most unusual thing for the Mongols to abandon any attack, but just as Talabor had begun to pelt the assailants with the heavy missiles already mentioned, one of the chiefs sent with Libor (possibly to act as spy upon him), hastily quitted the post of danger and hurried after the governor-clerk, whom he found in the wood, trying as best he might to bind up the wound from which he had now drawn the arrow. The wound, though deep enough, was not serious.

"Why, Knéz! sitting here under the trees, are you?" cried the Mongol roughly, in his own uncouth tongue. "Sitting here, when those Magyar dogs have done for more than a hundred of our men!"

"Directly, Bajdár!" said Libor sharply, "you see I have been shot in the head and can't move!"

"Directly? and can't move? shot in the head? Perhaps you don't keep your head where we Mongols keep ours! but what will the Khan say, if we take back only five or six out of 300 men?"

"Five or six?" repeated Libor in alarm; "are so many lost?"

"Well, and if it's not so many! and if you, who ought to be first in the fight have managed to save your own skin! quite enough have fallen for all that, and we shall all perish if this mad business goes on any longer. Take care, Knéz! Look after yourself! for Batu Khan is not used to being played with by new men such as you!"

Libor staggered to his feet, and though badly frightened by his ill-success, as well as by what Bajdár had said, his natural cunning did not altogether desert him.

"Be off, Bajdár! and don't blame me! Of course, I meant it for the best! The castle is crammed with gold and silver, and there are some good horses, as well as a pretty girl or two. Who could have supposed the rascals would defend themselves in such a fashion! Be off, I tell you, Bajdár, and stop this senseless fighting, and we'll draw off into the woods."

"What! with empty hands?"

"Who is to help it? But we won't go quite empty-handed either."

The Mongol glanced up from under his cap as Libor said this, and his small eyes glittered like fire-flies in the darkness.

"Master Peter has a large sheep-fold in a valley not far from here, and the few men who guard it are nothing to reckon with; if we drive off the sheep, there will be a good feast for a thousand or two of hungry fellows in the camp."

"What's that?" said the Tartar hotly. "Why, we shall eat those up ourselves! All the cattle have been driven off out of our way, and we are as hungry as wolves!"

"Only go, Bajdár, and call the men off, and then I'll tell you something which will make up for our ill-luck here."

Bajdár shook his head. He was in no good humour, but he had gained his object, and he went off, cursing and threatening, to stop the assault.

As for the amends which Libor promised, we can say only so much as this, that they were ample. He believed the country to be wholly at the Mongols' mercy, he was well acquainted with the neighbourhood, and he led his men, who had now dwindled to thirty or so, to the most defenceless places, where they found cattle enough to satisfy them.

So great was the prevailing terror, that many had fled from their homes leaving everything behind them, or had been so harassed by perpetual alarms that they had at last concealed their property in such senseless ways that it was found without difficulty.

However it may have been in this case, it was a fact that when Knéz Libor returned from his campaign, he received high praise from Batu Khan, who cared nothing at all that the force had melted away till little more than a fourth part was left to return to the Sajó. Batu had further uses for Libor.

When the Mongols had at last made off, and Moses and Talabor found that the shepherds had been killed, and the sheep, either eaten on the spot, carried off, or scattered in the woods, they first cautiously searched the neighbourhood, and then proceeded with no little labour, to bury the dead.

This done, Talabor made it his business to ride out every day, and was sometimes absent for hours, scouring the country while those at home were busy with the governor, strengthening the defences of the castle.

One morning, some days after the attack, Talabor asked to speak to Dora. It had been a trying time for all in the castle, but Dora had gone back to her usual habits, and was looking after her household affairs as strictly and regularly as if nothing had happened. In one thing she was somewhat changed: her confidence in and dependence upon Talabor had much increased.

"Well, Talabor, is there any good news?" she asked gently.

"May I speak plainly, dear young mistress?" he asked, by way of answer.

"I never wish you to speak otherwise, Clerk Talabor."

"Then I will tell you at once, that you must not stay here any longer, mistress. The place is too unsafe now that the Mongols know it."

"Must not? and where could I go?"

"We have to do with dangerous enemies, and they are enraged, and will be certain to revenge themselves as soon as they can," he urged.

Dora sighed. "I know, Talabor, but I am not going to move till I hear from my father."

"Dear lady," said Talabor again, after a pause. "Dear mistress--perhaps you may have noticed that I have been out riding every day. I have scoured the whole neighbourhood for miles round, and I have learnt a good deal more than the mere rumours which are all that reach us here."

"And you have dared to keep it to yourself?"

"Yes, dear mistress, I have dared! I did not wish to trouble you for nothing, and one hears many things. If I have done wrong, God knows, I could not do anything else until I was sure."

"Talabor!" said Dora, quite disarmed, "and why do you speak now?"

"Because the time has come when I must either tell you the worst, or let you risk your precious life."

Dora shuddered but did not speak, and Talabor went on to tell her, what we already know, of the invasion, and of the successes already gained by Batu Khan. There were naturally many gaps in his narrative, and much that was already sorrowful fact, he knew only as rumour and surmise. But still, with all deficiencies it was abundantly evident that her present home was no longer safe, and that the very next week, day, even hour, she might be exposed to fresh and graver peril.

And still, what was she to do?

"Is that all?" she asked presently, "you have not heard anything of my father?"

"I have heard that he is alive at least," responded Talabor cheerfully, "though twice I heard the contrary----"

"And you kept it from me?"

"Why should I tell you what I did not believe myself, and what those who told me were not at all sure of? It was only a report, and now I know for certain that Master Peter is alive."

"Certain? how?"

"Truly," and he told how the news had reached him, adding, "so now we know where to find him, when we have the opportunity."

"Ah! that settles it then, Talabor. The proper place for a good daughter is with her father. I'll go to him!"

But while Dora was thus making up her mind to ride to the camp, events had taken place which, when they came to her ears, made her hesitate again as to what she ought to do.

Meantime, until they could decide, Talabor went on strengthening the walls in every way he could think of, and rendering the steep approach more difficult.