King Matthias and the Beggar Boy

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  KING MATTHIAS AND THE BEGGAR BOY]

  KING MATTHIAS AND THE BEGGAR BOY.

  "Come here, gossip Jew; there is nothing to fear." Page66.]

  KING MATTHIAS AND THE BEGGAR BOY. T. Nelson & Sons]

  KING MATTHIAS AND THE BEGGAR BOY

  ADAPTED FROM THE HUNGARIAN OF BARON NICHOLAS JOSIKA

  BY SELINA GAYE

  Author of "Ilka: The Captive Maiden," "Dickie Winton," &c. &c.

  T. NELSON AND SONSLondon, Edinburgh, and New York

  1902

  CONTENTS.

  I. MR. SAMSON'S CASTLE, 9 II. MISKA THE BEGGAR BOY, 21 III. "TOUCH ME AT YOUR PERIL!" 32 IV. IN THE ROBBER'S NEST, 42 V. CAUGHT, 53 VI. I AM THE KING'S PAGE! 68 VII. SENT TO PRISON, 80 VIII. THE BEGGAR BOY'S SONG, 94 IX. THE KING'S WHIM, 109

  KING MATTHIAS AND THE BEGGAR BOY.

  CHAPTER I.

  MR. SAMSON'S CASTLE.

  Towards the close of a gloomy day in autumn, a very dusty traveller wasriding quietly up to a castle which stood perched on a height in one ofthe northern counties of Hungary. A very extraordinary-looking castle itwas, if it was a castle at all, which one might be inclined to doubt;for it looked more like a square block hewn by giants out of the ribs ofthe mountain, and left to itself for centuries, until its walls hadbecome mouldy and moss-grown. One thing which gave it an odd appearancewas that, as far as could be seen, it had no roof; the fact being thatit was built round a quadrangle, and that the roof, or ratherhalf-roof, sloped downwards and inwards from the top of the outer walls.

  But what was even more remarkable still was that the building hadneither door nor window in any one of its four sides; so that how theinhabitants, if there were any, ever went in or out, was quite amystery.

  People had had a good deal to say about the owner of this extraordinarystronghold for many a year past, and all sorts of wild stories were toldof him. But no one but his own hired servants and men-at-arms had everset eyes upon him--so far as they knew, that is to say.

  Neither he nor his servants were ever to be seen coming or going, andhow they managed was quite unknown; but for all that they made theirpresence felt, and very unpleasantly felt too.

  The man on horseback had drawn nearer by this time, and was gazing up atthe huge pile, scanning it carefully, but quite unable to discover somuch as a chink or cranny in the grey, weather-beaten walls.

  At last he shook his head and said with a smile, "Why, the castle is insuch a strong position and so well fortified that it must be almostimpregnable! But of course it is inhabited, and the inhabitants arehuman beings, not demons; and wherever human beings can dwell, humanbeings must also be able to enter.

  "Well, I am here at last! and little enough Mr. Samson guesses whatmanner of visitor has come so close to his hiding-place. I am glad Icame, for it is always best to see with one's own eyes. And now that Iam here, the next thing is how to get in. Let us look and consider. Nouse," he continued, after a moment or two; "I can't think of any way. IfI could only see some one, a living creature of some sort, to makeinquiries of! Nonsense! I'll wager I know more about the nest than anyone hereabouts.

  "But still, I have been six hours on horseback, and as far as the eyecan see there is no wayside inn or public-house or even farm-house insight, and a man can't help being tired even if he be a vice-count--ormore! Well, let's be going on," he went on, putting his horse once morein motion.

  The young man before us was of middle height and strongly built, withfiery dark eyes, and curly chestnut hair; he was very plainly clad, andhis horse was no better caparisoned than if it had belonged to some sonof the _puszta_, or steppes.

  Quietly, and with eyes and ears both on the alert, he rode round theheight on which the fortress stood.

  "If I don't see anything," he said to himself with a laugh, "they don'tsee me; let's be off!

  "Eh, and yet I should be glad if I could come across a human being ofsome sort, if he were no bigger than the rowel of my spur.--Hi! hithere, _foeldi_ [countryman]," cried the horseman all at once, as hecaught sight of some one trudging along the road round the shoulder ofthe hill.

  The wayfarer thus addressed turned and came up to him, and as soon as hewas within speaking distance he said in humble tones, "_Uram_ [sir], Iam hungry; I have not eaten a morsel to-day. Have pity on me,_kegyelmed_[1] [your grace]."

  [Footnote 1: A common form of polite address in Hungarian.]

  Then he cast a glance, not altogether devoid of envy, at the daintyhorseman, who was so comfortably clad, and who looked, to judge by hiscountenance, as if his hunger had been well satisfied.

  "Here," said the rider, giving the beggar a small coin; for the boyattracted him, and he thought to himself that he could hardly everremember to have seen a face with such a peculiarly taking expression.Moreover, in spite of the mud and dirt with which his skin wasincrusted, it was impossible not to be struck by his fine features,which were of a purely Oriental type, and lighted up by a pair of largedark eyes as black as the raven's wing.

  The man on horseback had given the lad a trifle on the spur of themoment, because he looked so poverty-stricken; but a second glance madehim fancy, rightly or wrongly, that he was not a beggar of the commonsort, to whom people give careless alms because he stirs their pity forthe moment. This beggar excited something more and better than merepity--at least in the man before us. Some people, it is true, might nothave noticed the expression of the lad's face; but to those who had eyesit told of something more than poverty and distress. It was not the lookof the beggar who is content to be a beggar, who would rather beg thanwork, rather live upon others than labour for himself. One might almostfancy, indeed, that the lad was ashamed of his present plight, andrather indignant with things in general for not providing him with somebetter employment.

  The horseman was one well accustomed to reading character, and rarelymistaken in his judgment; and being touched as well as favourablyimpressed by the boy, it suddenly occurred to him that he might beturned to account.

  "Just answer me a few questions, my boy, will you?" said he. "Can youwrite?"

  "No, I can't; I have never had any teaching."

  And, indeed, writing was a by no means general accomplishment in thereign of the good King Matthias, when many of the first nobles in theland could not even sign their own names. But still there seem to havebeen elementary schools not only in the towns but in other places aswell, so that the question was not altogether unreasonable.

  "Then you can't read either?"

  "Of course not; as if it were likely!"

  "Have you ever been in service?"

  "Never, sir, thank Heaven; but I have worked as a day-labourer."

  "Why don't you turn soldier?"

  "Because my head is worth more than my arms," said the beggar: "besides,they wouldn't take such a ragged chap as I."

  "Are you to be trusted, I wonder?"

  The boy looked up at the speaker at this, and then answered with an airof wounded pride, "I have not had a good meal for a fortnight, yet Ihave not stolen so much as a plum from a tree. You may trust me with apurse full of money."

  "Well, _oecsem_[2] [little brother], it is possible you may be a regularrascal, for anything I know to the contrary at present; but you have agood face, and I should like to see such a head as yours on many a pairof shoulders which are covered with gold and marten-fur. Well, I don'tcare! I am going to trust a good pair of eyes and a clear forehead.Listen, boy. I like you. Stand here before me, and let me see what youhave got in you, gossip! f
or if you hold good measure, you have beenborn under a lucky star, I can tell you."

  [Footnote 2: A common way of addressing younger persons.]

  "You can amuse yourself in return for the money you have given me," saidthe boy, looking repeatedly at his gift; "you may take my measure asmuch as you like, and I will be looking at the horse meantime. Ah! youare a lucky man to have such a horse as that. How he snorts! and hiseyes flash as if he were Jatos[3] himself."

  [Footnote 3: A magic horse.]

  "Boy!" said the horseman, who looked as if he were at least avice-count--"boy, you are up to the mark so far; there is room for goodmeasure in you, and a few pints over! But, _koma_ [gossip], I haveoften seen a good-looking cask full of nothing but bad, sour wine. Letus see whether you hold one full measure."

  "One measure?" said the beggar, offended. "I shouldn't be my father'sson if my wretched skin did not cover a man of a hundred measures,especially when I have had a good dinner. It's a couple of weeks nowsince I have had a stomachful when I lay down at night."

  "My little brother," said the horseman, "a fellow who is ruled by hisstomach is not worth a farthing. You have lost three measures out ofyour cask by that foolish speech."

  "Ha," said the beggar boldly, "my stomach grumbles badly, and it is nojoke when it goes on for long. However, it's no wonder you can't guesswhat it feels like to be hungry, for I daresay you are a hall-porter, oreven maybe a poultry-dealer, and such people as those are always wellfed."

  The horseman laughed. "You have got the cow's udder between its hornsnow, koma; but whatever and whoever I may be, I am a great man while mypurse is full, and so listen to me. Do you see that castle there?"

  "To be sure."

  "Have you ever been inside?"

  "Well, to be sure, I am well off, I am! but may the Tatars catch me, ifI would take my teeth in there!"

  "Hm!--and why?"

  "Why?" asked the beggar, considering; "I really can't tell you. But whatshould take me there? Besides--well, they say it is inhabited by demons,and that they live on Jews' flesh. The Jews are constantly going there,just as if they had been invited to dinner; but they get eaten up."

  "Simple Stevie of Debreczin!"[4] cried the horseman. "Do you believesuch nonsense?"

  [Footnote 4: "Simple Stevie" is said to have been a student in thecollege of Debreczin, where he was notorious for his simplicity.]

  The beggar grinned. "What would you have?" said he. "People say a greatmany things of all sorts, and a fellow like me just believes andblunders along with the rest! If His Grace in there does live on Jews'flesh, I wish him good health; but for my own part I had rather have alittle bit of chicken than roast Jew."

  "Now, boy, listen. Just look there," began the horseman again: "if youcan get into that castle and bring me word again how the world wagsthere, you shall have a hundred gold ducats in your hand."

  "A hundred ducats!" cried the beggar. "Why, I could buy a whole countywith that, surely!"

  "Not so much as that, little brother," said the rider; "but still it isa great deal of money!"

  "And who will give it me?" asked the beggar, looking eagerly at thehorseman.

  "I myself," he answered. "But I am slow to believe people, and so I wantfirst to know whether I can trust you."

  The boy still had his eyes turned towards the castle. "Thunder!" said hepresently, "the devil himself doesn't get in there by the proper way.But just wait a moment, sir, and let me think a little. So they don'tlive on Jews' flesh in there, eh, sir?"

  "To be sure not! I fancy they live on something better than that."

  "But still the Jews do go in and out--at least so people say, and whatis in everybody's mouth is half true at all events."

  "Right; but what then?"

  "Why, I'll be a Jew, and go in, if they don't eat people up."

  "But how?"

  "I don't know yet. Give me a little time, or I shall not be able to hitupon it."

  "Of course. And now listen. Before I trust you blindly, I am going toprove you." He drew a sealed letter from his breast, wrote a few lineson the back with a pencil, and went on: "See this letter? Make hastewith it to Visegrad; ask for admission, and say merely that you havebrought the governor a letter from his son. Do you quite understand? ButI don't know your name; what is it?"

  "Tornay Mihaly [Michael Tornay]," answered the boy; and then went on, "Isee! what is there difficult about that? I quite understand: you are theson of the governor of Visegrad, and you are sending a letter to yourfather."

  "Right!" said the horseman. "You will come straight on to Buda with theanswer, and ask at the palace for Mr. Galeotti, and give it into hishands. You won't forget the name?"

  "Galeotti," repeated the boy. "But will they let me in, in such rags?"

  "You will get proper clothes and a horse in Visegrad."

  "A horse!" exclaimed the boy, his eyes sparkling. "I have never doneanything more than help a coachman to swim his horses now and then, andnow I shall have a horse myself!"

  "For service, gossip; and don't you go off with it!"

  The beggar's face was all aflame. "Am I a horse-stealer," he cried,"just because your elbows don't show through your dolmany, while myclothes are so full of holes that twenty cats together would not be ableto catch one mouse in them?"

  "Don't be angry," said the horseman, who was more and more pleased withthe boy every moment. "Here, as a sign that I put more trust in somepeople's faces than I do in other people's written word--here is a purseof money. And now hurry off; you have no time to lose. The sooner youbring back the answer, the more faith I shall have in you."

  The boy stared at the purse, and being very hungry, poor fellow, itseemed to him to be full of ham and sausage.

  "You must be an estate-manager," he gasped, "or--a bishop, to have somuch money."

  "What does that matter to you?" answered the horseman. "Make haste, andI shall see whether you are a man of your word."

  The lad raised his tattered cap, and the next moment he was out ofsight.