The Knights of the Cross | Page 7

folding cap. He stopped, glanced at the guests,
and then having perceived the host, he said:
"Wipe the tables and prepare lights; the princess, Anna Danuta, will
stop here to-night."
Having said this, he withdrew. In the inn a great commotion began; the
host called his servants, and the guests looked at one another with great
surprise.
"Princess Anna Danuta," said one of the townsmen, "she is
Kiejstutowna,[11] Janusz Mazowiecki's wife. She was in Krakow two
weeks, but she went to Zator to visit Prince Waclaw, and now she is
coming back."
"Uncle Gamroth," said the other townsman, "let us go to the barn and
sleep on the hay; the company is too high for us."
"I don't wonder they are traveling during the night," said Macko,
"because the days are very warm; but why do they come to the inn
when the monastery is so near?"
Here he turned toward Zbyszko:
"The beautiful Ryngalla's own sister; do you understand?"
And Zbyszko answered:
"There must be many Mazovian ladies with her, hej!"


CHAPTER II
.
At that moment the princess entered. She was a middle-aged lady with
a smiling face, dressed in a red mantle and light green dress with a
golden girdle around her hips. The princess was followed by the ladies
of the court; some not yet grown up, some of them older; they had pink
and lilac wreaths on their heads, and the majority of them had lutes in

their hands. Some of them carried large bunches of fresh, flowers,
evidently plucked by the roadside. The room was soon filled, because
the ladies were followed by some courtiers and young pages. All were
lively, with mirth on their faces, talking loudly or humming as if they
were intoxicated with the beauty of the night. Among the courtiers,
there were two _rybalts_;[12] one had a lute and the other had a
_gensla_[13] at his girdle. One of the girls who was very young,
perhaps twelve years old, carried behind the princess a very small lute
ornamented with brass nails.
"May Jesus Christ be praised!" said the princess, standing in the centre
of the room.
"For ages and ages, amen!" answered those present, in the meanwhile
saluting very profoundly.
"Where is the host?"
The German having heard the call, advanced to the front and kneeled,
in the German fashion, on one knee.
"We are going to stop here and rest," said the lady. "Only be quick,
because we are hungry."
The townsmen had already gone; now the two noblemen, and with
them Macko of Bogdaniec and young Zbyszko, bowed again, intending
to leave the room, as they did not wish to interfere with the court.
But the princess detained them.
"You are noblemen; you do not intrude, you are acquainted with
courtiers. From where has God conducted you?"
Then they mentioned their names,[14] their coats of arms, their
nicknames and the estates from which they received their names. The
lady having heard from _wlodyka_[15] Macko that he had been to
Wilno, clapped her hands, and said:
"How well it has happened! Tell us about Wilno and about my brother
and sister. Is Prince Witold coming for the queen's confinement and for
the christening?"
"He would like to, but does not know whether he will be able to do so;
therefore he sent a silver cradle to the queen for a present. My nephew
and I brought that cradle."
"Then the cradle is here? I would like to see it! All silver?"
"All silver; but it is not here. The Basilians took it to Krakow."
"And what are you doing in Tyniec?"

"We returned here to see the procurator of the monastery who is our
relative, in order to deposit with the worthy monks, that with which the
war has blessed us and that which the prince gave us for a present."
"Then God gave you good luck and valuable booty? But tell me why
my brother is uncertain whether he will come?"
"Because he is preparing an expedition against the Tartars."
"I know it; but I am grieved that the queen did not prophesy a happy
result for that expedition, and everything she predicts is always
fulfilled."
Macko smiled.
"Ej, our lady is a prophetess, I cannot deny; but with Prince Witold, the
might of our knighthood will go, splendid men, against whom nobody
is able to contend."
"Are you not going?"
"No, I was sent with the cradle, and for five years I have not taken off
my armor," answered Macko, showing the furrows made by the cuirass
on his reindeer jacket; "but let me rest, then I will go, or if I do not go
myself then I will send this youth, my nephew, Zbyszko, to Pan[16]
Spytko of Melsztyn, under whose command all our knights will