Page:Sienkiewicz - The knights of the cross.djvu/36

12 "See, here is luck! Tell us of Vilno; tell of my brother and sister. Will Prince Vitold come to the delivery of the queen and to the christening?"

"He would like to come, but not knowing whether he will be able, he has sent a silver cradle in advance by priests and boyars, as a gift to the queen. I and my nephew have come to guard this cradle on the road."

"Then is the cradle here? I should like to see it. Is it all silver?"

"All silver, but it is not here. They have taken it to Cracow."

"But what are ye doing in Tynets?"

"We have turned back to visit the procurator of the cloister, our relative, and confide to the care of the worthy monks what war has given us, and what the Prince has bestowed."

"Then God has shown favor? Was the booty considerable? But tell us why my brother was uncertain of coming."

"Because he is preparing an expedition against the Tartars."

"I know that, but it troubles me, since the queen has prophesied an unhappy end to it, and what she prophesies always comes true."

Matsko smiled.

"Our lady is saintly, there is no denying that," said he,—but a host of our knighthood will go with Prince Vitold, splendid men; to meet them will not be easy for any force."

"And ye will not go?"

"No, for I was sent with others to take the cradle; besides I have not taken armor from my body for five years," said Matsko, pointing to the impressions of the armor on his elkskin coat. "Only let me rest, then I will go; and if I should not go I will give Zbyshko, this nephew of mine, to Pan Spytek of Melshtyn, under whose lead all our knights will enroll themselves."

Princess Anna looked at the stately figure of Zbyshko, but further conversation was interrupted by the arrival of a monk from the cloister, who, when he had greeted the princess, began humbly to reproach her for not having sent a courier with the announcement of her coming, and for not halting at the monastery instead of a common inn, which was unworthy of her dignity. There was no lack in the monastery of houses and edifices in which even an ordinary person could find entertainment, and what would be done in case of