appeared that it was so thin that Zbyszko with his great strength, would
have pierced it and killed the envoy, if Powala of Taczew had not
prevented him. Then they asked Zbyszko if he intended to kill the
Krzyzak, and he could not deny it. "I warned him from afar," said he, "to
point his lance, and had he shouted in reply that he was an envoy, I
would not have attacked him."

These words pleased the knights who, on account of their sympathy for the
lad, were present in great numbers, and immediately numerous voices were
heard to say: "True! Why did he not reply!" But the castellan's face
remained gloomy and severe. Having ordered those present to be silent, he
meditated for a while, then looked sharply at Zbyszko, and asked:

"Can you swear by the Passion of our Lord that you saw neither the mantle
nor the cross?"

"No!" answered Zbyszko. "Had I not seen the cross, I would have thought
he was one of our knights, and I would not have attacked one of ours."

"And how was it possible to find any Krzyzak near Krakow, except an
envoy, or some one from his retinue?"

To this Zbyszko did not reply, because there was nothing to be said. To
everybody it was clear, that if the _Pan_ of Taczanow had not interposed,
at the present moment there would lie before them not the armor of the
envoy, but the envoy himself, with pierced breast--an eternal disgrace to
the Polish nation;--therefore even those who sympathized with Zbyszko,
with their whole souls, understood that he could not expect a mild
sentence.