The company which Kabilovitsch and the children had joined was halted
at the edge of the great camp. Other peasants and non-combatants
crowded in from their desolated homes; but neither Milosch's face, nor
Helena's, nor yet little Michael's, were among those they anxiously
scanned. The command of King Vladislaus secured for the three favored
refugees every comfort which the rude soldiers could furnish. The boy
and girl were soon asleep by a fire, while the old man lay close
beside them, that no one could approach without arousing him. He,
however, could not sleep. On the one side was the noisy revelry of
the victors; on the other, the darkness of the plain. Here and there
were groups of soldiers, and beyond them an occasional gleam of the
spear-head of some sentinel, who, saluting his comrade, turned at the
end of his beat.
The dusky form of a huge man attracted Kabilovitsch's eye. As the
stranger drew near, his long bear-skin cape terminating above in a
rough and ungraceful hood, and his long pointed shoes with blocks of
wood for their soles, indicated that he was some peasant. He seemed to
be wandering about with no other aim than to keep himself warm. Yet
Kabilovitsch noted that he lingered as he passed by the various
groups, as if to scan the faces of his fellow-sufferers.
"Heaven grant that all his kids be safe to-night!" muttered the old
man.
As the walking figure passed across the line of a fagot fire, he
revealed a splendid form; too straight for one accustomed to bend at
his daily toil.
"A mountaineer? a hunter?" thought Kabilovitsch, "for the
field-tillers are all round of shoulder, and bow-backed. But no! His
tread is too firm and heavy for that sort of life. One's limbs are
springy, agile, who climbs the crags. A hunter will use the toes more
in stepping."
Kabilovitsch's curiosity could not keep his eyes from growing heavy
with the cold and the flicker of the fire light, when they were forced
wide open again by the approach of the stranger. The old man felt,
rather than saw, that he was being closely studied from behind the
folds of the hood which the wanderer drew close over his face, to
keep out the cutting wind which swept in gusts down from the
mountains. He passed very near, and was talking to himself, as is apt
to be the custom of men who lead lonely lives.
"It is bitter cold," he said, with chattering teeth, "bitter cold, by
the beard of Moses!"
The last words startled Kabilovitsch so that he gave a sudden motion.
The stranger noticed it and paused. Gazing intently upon the old man,
who had now assumed a sitting posture, he addressed him--
"By the beard of Moses! it's an awful night, neighbor."
"Ay, by the beard of Moses! it is; and one could wear the beard of
Aaron, too, with comfort--Aaron's beard was longer than Moses' beard;
is not that what the priest says?" said Kabilovitsch, veiling his
excitement under forced indifference of manner, at the same time
making room for the visitor, who, without ceremony stretched himself
by his side, bringing his face close to that of the old man, and
glaring into it. Kabilovitsch returned his gaze with equal sharpness.
"What know you of the beard of Moses?" said the stranger. "Was it gray
or black?"
"Black," said Kabilovitsch, studying the other's face with suspicion
and surprise. "Black as an Albanian thunder cloud, and his eye was as
undimmed by age as that of the eagle that flies over the lake of
Ochrida."[14]
"You speak well," replied the stranger, pushing back his hood.
His face was massive and strong. No peasant was he, but one born to
command and accustomed to it.
"You are----Drakul?" asked the man.
"No."
"Harion?"
"No."
"Kabilovitsch?"
"Ay, and you?"
"Castriot."
Kabilovitsch sprang to his feet.
"Lie down! Lie down! Let me share your blanket," said the visitor.
"This air is too crisp and resonant for us to speak aloud in it; and
waking ears at night-time are over quick to hear what does not concern
them. We can muffle our speech beneath the blanket."
Kabilovitsch felt the hesitation of reverence in assuming a proximity
of such intimacy with his guest; but also felt the authority of the
command and the wisdom of the precaution. He obeyed.
"I feared that I should find no one who recognized our password. I
must see General Hunyades to-night; yet must not approach his
quarters. Can you get to his tent?"
"Readily," said Kabilovitsch. "During the day my little lass yonder
won the attention of King Vladislaus, and he gave me the password of
the camp to-night for her safety. '_Christus natus est_'."
"You must go to him at once, and say that I would see him here. You
will trust me to keep guard over these two kids while you are away? I
will not wolf them."
"Heaven grant that you may shepherd all Albania,"--and the old man was
off.
"I knew that the prodigal Prince George would come back some day,"
said he to himself. "Many a year have I kept my watch in the Pass, and
among the mountains of Albania. And many a service have I rendered as
a simple goatherd which I could not have done had I worn my country's
colors anywhere except in my heart. And, 'by the beard of Moses!'
During some weeks now I have carried many a message, had some fighting
and hard scratching which I did not understand, except that it was 'by
the beard of Moses!' And now Moses has come; refused at last to be
called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, and will free his people. God
will it! And George Castriot has lain under my blanket! I will hang
that blanket in the church at Croia as an offering to the Holy
Virgin.--But no, it belongs to the trooper. Heaven keep me discreet,
or, for the joy of it, I cannot do my errand safely. I'll draw my hood
close, lest the moon yonder should guess my secret."
Kabilovitsch was challenged at every turn as he wound between the
hundreds of camp-fires and tents; but the magic words, "Christus natus
est," opened the way.
A circle of splendid tents told him he drew near to headquarters. In
the midst of them blazed an immense fire. Camp-tables, gleaming with
tankards and goblets of silver, were ranged beneath gorgeous canopies
of flaxen canvas, which were lined with blue and purple tapestries. A
multitude of gaily dressed servitors thronged into and out of them.
Here was the royal splendor of Hungary and Poland; there the pavilion
of the Despot of Servia; there the glittering cross of Rome; and, at
the extreme end of this extemporized array of palatial and courtly
pride, the more modest, but still rich, banner of the White Knight.
Kabilovitsch approached the latter.
"Your errand, man?" said the guard, holding his spear across the
flapping doorway of the tent.
"Christus natus est!" was the response.
"That will do elsewhere, but not here," rejoined the guard.
"My business is solely with General Hunyades," said Kabilovitsch.
"It cannot be," said the spearman. "He has no business with any one
but himself. If you are a shepherd of Bethlehem come to adore the
Infant Jesu--as you look to be--you must wait until the morning."
"My message is as important to him as that of the angels on that
blessed night," said the goatherd, making a deep obeisance and looking
up to heaven as if in prayer, as he spoke.
"Then proclaim your message, old crook-staff! we have had glad tidings
to-day, but can endure to hear more," said the guard, pushing him
away.
"No ear on earth shall hear mine but the general's," cried the old
man, raising his voice: "No! by the beard of Moses! it shall not."
"A strange swear that, old leather-skin! Did you keep your sheep in
Midian, where Moses did, that you know he had a beard. Your cloak is
ragged enough to have belonged to father Jethro; and I warrant it is
as full of vermin as were those of the Egyptians after the plague
that Moses sent on them. But the ten plagues take you! Get away!"
"No, by the beard of Moses!" shouted Kabilovitsch.
"Let him pass!" said a voice from deep within the tent.
"Let him pass!" said another nearer.
"Let him pass!" repeated one just inside the outer curtain.
The goatherd passed between a line of sentinels, closely watched by
each. The tent was a double one, composing a room or pavilion,
enclosed by the great tent; so that there was a large space around the
private apartment of the general, allowing the sentinels to patrol
entirely about it without passing into the outer air.
At the entrance of the inner tent Hunyades appeared. He was of light
build but compactly knit, with ample forehead and generous, but
scarred face; which, however, was more significantly seamed with the
lines that denote thought and courage. He was wrapped in a loose robe
of costly furs. He waved his hand for Kabilovitsch to enter, and bade
the guards retire. Throwing himself on a plain soldier's couch, he
drew close to it a camp seat, and motioned his visitor to sit.
"You have news from the Albanians, by the beard of Moses?" said
Hunyades inquiringly.
A moment or two sufficed for the delivery of Kabilovitsch's message.
"Ho, guard! when this old man goes, let no one enter until he comes
back; then admit him without the pass, instantly," said Hunyades,
springing from the couch. "Now, old man, give me your bear skin--now
your shoes--your cap. Here, wrap yourself in mine. You need not shrink
from occupying Hunyades' skin for a while, since you have had to-night
a more princely soldier under your blanket. Did you say to the north?
On the edge of the camp? A boy and a girl by the fire; and he?"
The disguised general passed out.
FOOTNOTE:
[14] A lake in Albania.