THE HAND OF FATE.
Through the main street of Abrudbanya rode two men, one of them wearing
an overcoat with silver buttons over his Wallachian dress, and a tuft of
heron's feathers in his cap, while at his side hung a curved sword,
pistols protruded from his holsters, and a rifle lay across his
saddle-bow. His face had nothing of the Wallachian peasant in its
features or expression. The other horseman, however, who rode at some
paces' distance in the rear, was manifestly of the peasant class.
The horses' hoofs awoke the echoes of the vacant street. Silence and
desolation reigned supreme. Half-burned houses and smoke-blackened walls
greeted the riders on every side. High up on the door-post of a church
appeared the bloody imprint of a child's hand. How had it come there?
Grass and weeds were growing in the marketplace, and a millstone covered
the village well. Here and there a lean and hungry dog crept forth at
the horsemen's approach, howled dismally, and then retreated among the
ruins.
After this scene of devastation was passed, the highway led the riders
along the bank of a stream, on both sides of which smelting works had
been erected, as this region is rich in gold-producing ore; but nothing
except charred ruins was now left of the buildings. At intervals a
deserted mill was passed, its wheel still turning idly under the impulse
of the tireless stream. Leaving this mining district behind, the two
riders came to a settlement of a different sort, which had not been
given over entirely to destruction. Only occasionally a house showed
windows or doors lacking, while many were wholly unharmed. Among the
latter was one building in whose front wall a well-preserved Roman
gravestone was set, its carving in high relief being still clearly
outlined. Here had once been entombed the ashes of Caius Longinis, a
centurion of the third legion. _Sit sibi terra levis!_ One of the
door-posts had in ancient times served as a milestone, and the broad
bench before the house was made from the lid of a sarcophagus, bearing
an inscription which informed the archæologist what saffron-haired Roman
beauty had, centuries before, been laid to rest beneath it.
The riders drew rein before this house, and straightway an old woman of
extraordinary ugliness stuck her head out of the little door. Among the
Wallachians one meets with the comeliest young women and the ugliest old
hags. Knock at any door, and it is sure to be opened by one of these
ancient dames.
"He isn't at home," called out the old woman, without waiting to be
addressed. "He has gone to the 'Priest's Tree.' You'll find him there."
"Well, then, if you know where this 'Priest's Tree' is, go ahead and
show us the way," commanded he of the silver buttons, unwilling even to
halt long enough to water his horse, so pressing was his errand.
The way led through a vast forest, and when the riders reached their
destination it was late evening, the darkness being further increased by
gathering thunder-clouds. The so-called "Priest's Tree" is a giant beech
standing in a broad open space and fenced around with a hedge planted by
pious hands. Under this tree have been sworn the most solemn of oaths,
and the ground shaded by it is hallowed. Near by stands a wooden church,
exactly like the churches to be seen in all Wallachian villages, its
steep roof and sides covered with shingles, and a pointed turret
surmounting the whole. The belfry has no bell, and the windows are
unglazed, so that the breezes blow at will through the deserted
building.
Our riders found a dozen or more horses tethered at the foot of the tree
and watched by a few Wallachian lads, who were muffled in fur coats
against the approach of the storm. The beech furnished a good shelter:
lightning could not strike it, as it was the "Priest's Tree."
Leaving his horse in charge of his attendant, he of the silver buttons
hastened on to the church door, where an armed sentry demanded his name.
"Diurbanu," was the reply, whereupon he was admitted.
The interior of the church was very dark. Two wax tapers, indeed, burned
on the altar, but they flickered and flared so in the wind as to furnish
a very insufficient light. The thunder-clouds without, however, were now
rent with frequent flashes of lightning, which served to illumine the
scene within. About a dozen men were assembled there, sitting on the
benches that had once been occupied by worshippers, some wearing the
costume of the country, while others were dressed in military uniform.
Before them, with his back to the altar, sat a man of commanding
appearance, attired in a clerical gown with long, flowing sleeves. In
his lap he held a little fair-haired boy, covering the child with one of
his wide sleeves, and giving it the golden crucifix that hung from his
neck to play with. At times his long black beard completely concealed
the child's face. The little one was playing and prattling, giving no
heed to the talk of the men about him and betraying no alarm at the
tumultuous approach of the storm.
The newcomer advanced and addressed the group:
"Gentleman and friends, glorious descendants of Decebalus and Trajan!"
"Never mind ceremony now, Diurbanu," interrupted the wearer of the gown,
in a deep, commanding voice. "What news? Let us hear your errand."
"I am the bearer of instructions."
"Out with them, then!"
"We must prosecute the war with might and main. There is no time to
lose. Bem regards the Transylvanian campaign as ended, and has set out
with his whole army for the Banat, leaving only a few regulars to guard
the passes and to prosecute the siege of Karlsburg. Our part is to check
him in his march on Croatia."
"Or, in other words," interrupted the man in the gown, "to prevent him
from dealing Jellachich a fatal blow, we are to throw ourselves in Bem's
way."
"The victors of Abrudbanya and Brad will not shrink from the
undertaking, I should hope," was Diurbanu's response.
"Let us understand each other," said the other, setting the little boy
on his knee and trotting him up and down as he spoke. "Is it reasonable
to suppose that we could, without cavalry, artillery, or experienced
commanders, attack a fully equipped force with any hope of success,
especially after that force has driven an Austrian army corps out of
the country and shown itself able to repulse the Russian auxiliaries?"
"No one expects that of us. Our operations are to be confined to raids
in the mountains."
"But no enemy is to be found now in the mountains. Don't you know that?
You have just come over the mountains. Did you see any sign of the
enemy?"
"We have foes enough there still. There is Toroczko." Diurbanu's face,
as he said this, was suddenly illumined by a blinding flash of
lightning.
"And Torda!" cried a voice from the benches.
"No, we have nothing against Torda," declared Diurbanu, almost angrily.
"But what have we against Toroczko?" asked another voice. "The men of
Toroczko have never done us any harm. So far we have received their iron
only in the form of ploughs and shovels, scythes and wheel-tires."
"Their sons are serving under Bem," was the rejoinder, "and it is from
them that we have received their iron in other shapes. Yet that is not
the main reason. Toroczko is a breeding-place of Magyar ideas and Magyar
civilisation, an asylum open to Protestant reformers, the pride of a
handful of people who hope to conquer the world by dint of their science
and industry. The fall of Toroczko would spread a wholesome fear far and
wide; it would be almost as if one should report the overthrow of Pest
itself. Bem's men would halt on the march, panic-stricken at the news,
and Bem himself would be forced to yield to their desires and return to
Transylvania. And the more terrible our work of devastation, the more
brilliant will be the military success that must follow as its result."
The thunder-claps came at such frequent intervals that the speaker could
with difficulty make himself heard. When he had ended, the deep voice of
him who wore the clerical gown began in reply:
"Listen to me, Diurbanu. You are deceived on one point. Those on whom
you count in this bloody work are sated with slaughter. So long as they
thirsted for revenge they were eager to shed human blood; but now they
have slaked their thirst and are beginning to rue their deeds. I saw a
family being cut down in the open street, and I rushed forward and
snatched this little flaxen-haired boy from the murderers' hands and hid
him under my cloak. At that a young man, the most furious one of the
party, aimed such a stroke at my head with his scythe that he would
certainly have split my skull had not my cap deadened the blow. But
three days later this same young man came to see the child whose rescue
had filled him with such fury that he had lifted his hand with murderous
intent against me, his anointed priest; and because the little boy cried
for his lost blackbird, the young man went into the woods and caught
another for him. More than that, he would now gladly restore the boy's
parents to him if he could. Ever since I saved the little one's life he
has clung to me and refused to be parted from me."
The priest spoke in a tongue strange to the little boy, who consequently
understood not a word of what was said, but went on with his innocent
prattle and laughter.
"Comrades," resumed Diurbanu, addressing the group before him, "all this
is wide of the mark. We are in the midst of war, and in war-times the
soldier must go whither he is sent."
"Very well, Diurbanu," was the reply, "our soldiers will go whither they
are sent. The wind can direct the storm-cloud whither it shall go, but
cannot compel it to flash lightning and hurl thunderbolts at command."
"But I know one storm-cloud," rejoined Diurbanu, "that has not withheld
its thunderbolts."
"You mean Ciprianu and his men?"
"Yes."
"But Ciprianu and both his sons are now fallen."
"So much the better. He left a daughter who thirsts for revenge."
"Do you know her?"
"She is my sweetheart."
"And have you picked out the village whose destruction is to be her
bridal gift? Which one is it?"
"I have told you already,--Toroczko."
"But I say it shall be Torda!" cried a determined voice.
"I protest."
"Let us draw lots to decide it."
"Very well," assented Diurbanu, and, going to the altar on which stood
the flickering candles, he wrote a name on each of two cards and threw
the bits of pasteboard into his cap. "Now who will draw?" he asked; but
no one volunteered. "It must be an innocent hand that decides the fate
of these two towns," continued Diurbanu. "This little chap shall draw
for us."
"What, this innocent child decide which town shall be given over to fire
and blood and pillage!" exclaimed the priest. "An infernal contrivance
of yours, Diurbanu!"
But meantime the child had reached out a tiny hand and clutched at one
of the cards, which it handed to the priest.
"Bring me one of the candles," bade the latter.
But no candle was necessary, for even as he spoke a flash of lightning
penetrated to the remotest corner of the little church. The group of men
whose heads were bent over the bit of cardboard started and cried out
in concert:
"Toroczko!"
In the peal of thunder that followed the very ground shook under their
feet and the building rocked over their heads.