Neath the Hoof of the Tartar Part 24

Leaders and men had most of them lost their heads, and the few disorderly squadrons which succeeded in reaching the Mongols were immediately surrounded and overwhelmed.

The great black crescent was growing more and more dense and solid; there was no way of eluding it, no hope of escape.

Bishop Ugrin was well-nigh beside himself; and he poured forth now blessings, now execrations, as the distracted troops rushed aimlessly hither and thither, between the tents and their ropes, and down the narrow pa.s.sages.

They were completely entangled as in a net; to form them up in order was an impossibility; and a deadly cloud of spears and arrows was continuously poured upon them by the Mongols.

To add to the general horror and terror, the waggons took fire, and soon the tents nearest them were in flames. The tumult and confusion waxed greater and greater.

Batu's main object was to capture the King, and already Bela had had at least one narrow escape, which he owed to the devotion of one of his guard; but now both he and they were all wounded.

Fighting had been going on since early morning; it was now noon, when the Duke made a last bold effort to retrieve the day.

"I'll break through the enemy's lines with the right wing," he shouted in stentorian tones. "Will your Majesty give the left wing orders to do the same, and then yourself lead the centre!"

The heroic Duke spoke of left and right wing, and centre; but alas!

where was any one of them?

Without waiting for the King's answer he galloped off again, succeeded in infusing some of his own spirit into his men, and, joined by Ugrin and his followers, and the remaining Templars, he made a das.h.i.+ng attack upon the Mongols, who were drawn up in such close order that individuals had no room to turn.

Numbers of them fell before the furious onslaught of the Hungarians, and great was the devastation wrought in their ranks, when suddenly, like a whirlwind, up came Batu Khan himself with a fresh cloud of savage warriors, and arrows and spears flew thicker and faster than ever.

The Archbishop was smitten on the head by a spear, just as he had cut down a Mongol, and he fell, as a s.h.i.+p's mast falls struck by lightning.

Next fell the leader of the Templars, fighting helmetless by his side.

The riderless horses dashed neighing into the ranks of the enemy, among whom they quickly found new masters.

Kalman had seen the bravest fall around him, but he was still pressing forward, still fighting, when he also received a severe wound. Just then the sun went down.

His sword-arm was useless, and his brave warriors, placing him in their midst, made their way back to the camp. But the camp was deserted now by all but the dead and the dying. The troops whom they had left there had forced their way out at last, but it was to fly, not to fight.

The Mongols had made no attempt to stop them; on the contrary, they had opened their ranks to let them pa.s.s through, and the faster and thicker they came, the more room they gave them.

That the fugitives would not escape in the long run well they knew, and their object just now was the King.

The flower of the Hungarian n.o.bility, several bishops, and high dignitaries, both of Church and State, had fallen in the battle, or fell afterwards in the flight. Most of them took the way to Pest, which was strewn for two days' journey with the dead and dying, with arms and accoutrements.

Many were slain by the Mongols who pursued and attacked them when they were too weak to defend themselves; and many others perished in the attempt to cross rivers and swamps.

Seeing that all was lost, Bela himself thought it time to fly, and while the Mongols were plundering the camp, he succeeded in reaching the open, and made for the mountains, recognised by few in the on-coming darkness.

Immediately surrounding him were Paul Hedervary, in spite of his five wounds, Peter and Stephen Szirmay, Akos, Detro, Adam the Pole, the two Forgacs, and several others--a devoted band, while behind came a long train of the bravest warriors, the last to think of flying, who followed in any order or none.

Few, as we have said, had recognised the King, but there were some who had, and these pressed hard after him.

"My horse is done for!" cried the King, as his famous charger began to tremble beneath him. "Let us stand and die fighting like men!"

"No! for Heaven's sake, no!" cried Adam the Pole, leaping from his horse as he spoke. "Mine is sound! take him! I hear the howl of the Mongols."

One had indeed actually overtaken them, but, though on foot, Adam felled him to the ground, leapt upon the Mongol's horse, and galloped on after the King.

The handful of brave, true men guarded Bela as the very apple of their eye. Not one thought of himself; their one anxiety was for the King.

For an hour they galloped on, always pursued by the Mongols. The foam was dropping from the horses; the moon had risen and was s.h.i.+ning brightly down upon them, when the irregular force which had followed them was overtaken, and engaged in a fierce battle with the relentless and unwearied enemy.

Just at that moment down sank the horse which Adam had given to the King; but one of the two Forgacs, Andras (Andrew), who was known in the army as Ivanka (Little John, _i.e._, John Baptist) gave up his. The King was so worn out by this time that two of the n.o.bles had to lift him upon the horse; Ivanka himself followed on foot. A younger brother of his, whose name has not come down to us, lost his life at the hands of the Mongols, who were again approaching perilously near the fugitives.

Ivanka was threatened by the like danger, when Paul Hedervary and a few of the others who were on in front chanced to see his peril, and turning back, routed the Mongols. Ivanka mounted his brother's horse, which had remained standing quietly by its master's body, and rode after the little band.

Daybreak was once more at hand, and they were far, far away from the field of blood, when again the King's horse failed him, and the Mongols were hardly so much as a hundred paces behind.

They had recognised the King, and one of Batu Khan's sub-officers had promised a large reward to anyone who could get Bela into his hands, alive or dead.

Then a young hero, Rugacs by name, who had already distinguished himself in battle, offered the King his charger, and it was thanks to this good horse of Transylvanian breed that the King finally escaped his pursuers.

For, tough though they were, even the Mongolian horses were beginning to fail, while nothing apparently could tire out the Transylvanian.

As they helped him to mount, Bela noticed that there was blood on the arm of the faithful Rugacs, and asked kindly whether it gave him much pain.

"Ay, indeed, sir!" was the answer, "but there is worse pain than this!"

"Ah! your name shall be Faj from to-day," said the King. "Remind us of it if we live to see better times."

And accordingly, there is to this day a family which bears the honourable name of Faj or Fay, the meaning of which is: "It pains."

At last the fugitives reached the forest, the Mongols were left behind, and the King then happily gained a castle in the mountains, where for a while he remained.

But when he looked upon his devoted followers, how many were missing!

how many had laid down their lives to save his!

Among the dozen or more who had fallen by the way was Jolanta's father, Stephen Szirmay; his brother Peter, though he had not come off scathless, had escaped without any mortal wound.

Having no army, the King was for the present helpless, and as soon as he could do so, he made his way to Pressburg, where he sent for the Queen and his children to join him, they having taken refuge in Haimburg, on the other side of the Austrian frontier.

But instead of the Queen, appeared Duke Friedrich, who persuaded the King that it would be much wiser for him too to come to Austria, and had no sooner got him in his clutches than he made a prisoner of him, and refused to let him go until he had refunded the large sum of money with which Friedrich had purchased peace from him four or five years previously.

Bela gave up all the valuables which he and the Queen had with them, but as the Duke was still not satisfied, he had to p.a.w.n three Hungarian counties in order to regain his liberty.

Once more free, he sent the Queen to Dalmatia for safety, and despatched amba.s.sadors to Pope and Emperor, and the King of France, praying for their help against the terrible foe who threatened all Europe with destruction. But the Emperor was fighting Rome, and the Pope was bent upon reducing him to obedience. Poland was fighting the Mongols on her own account; Bohemia was in momentary danger of being herself attacked; and the shameless Duke Friedrich availed himself of Hungary's defenceless condition to invade and plunder the counties nearest him, and even to rob such fugitives as had fled to Austria for refuge from the Mongols.

Bela meantime had borrowed a little money where he could, and had gone south to await the answers to his appeal, and to raise what troops he could for a campaign. But he waited in vain. No help came! and without an army or the means of raising one, he was helpless.

His brother Kalman had reached Pest, and after urging the terrified inhabitants to abandon the city, cross the Danube, and hide wherever they could, he continued his journey to Slavonia (then Dalmatia and Croatia), his dukedom, where he soon after died of his wounds.

Before the people of Pest could remove their goods to a place of safety, they were hemmed in by the Mongols. Thousands from the surrounding country had taken refuge here with their families and treasures, and the numbers had been further increased by the arrival of fugitives from the army. They resolved to defend themselves to the last man; but they little knew the enemy with whom they had to deal. Three days' battering with catapults was enough to make breaches in the walls; the Mongols stormed and burnt the town, and murdered all who fell into their hands.

The Mongols flooded all the land east of the Danube, but for the present the broad river formed a barrier which they could not easily pa.s.s, and they were further deterred from making the attempt by the idea, unfortunately erroneous, that if they crossed it they would find all the armies of Europe ma.s.sed upon the other side waiting to receive and beat them back.