Then came orders to the various detachments from the Palatine, that a few bodies of men were to be posted here and there, rather as spies than guards, while the rest hastened with all speed to join the main army in Hungary proper.
Héderváry did not so much as hint that the "Tartars were coming"; but he was well aware of the fact, for he had good spies, and that even among the Russians who had coalesced with the Mongols.
Early on the morning of their departure some of the men thought they saw scattered clouds of smoke rising over the forests to the east, but they were a "happy-go-lucky" set, as so many were in those days, and they troubled their heads very little as to what it might mean.
Someone suggested that, as the blacksmiths were all unusually hard at work on horseshoes, of which an enormous number were wanted, no doubt the charcoal burners were especially busy too; and there were many of them in the woods and forests; in all probability, the smoke proceeded from their fires. And with this supposed explanation all were content.
But suddenly, to the now accustomed sound of beating and knocking, which was still drawing nearer and nearer, there was added another of a different character.
Hitherto, the woods had "talked," and echo had answered them; now the forest "roared." The wind had been light at early morning; now it was piping and whistling, swaying the trees to and fro, making the tall stems tremble, and knock their long bare arms one against the other.
One of the Palatine's small detachments of about 150 men was stationed in the mountainous district of Marmaros, with a lofty and precipitous wall of rock bounding one side of the camp. The men were just preparing for a start, when a huge buffalo made its sudden appearance on the edge of the cliff far above their heads. It had come so far with a rush, but the sight of the great depth below had stopped it short, and it stood with its feet rooted to the ground for a moment—only for a moment, however. It raised its head, and seemed to sniff the air, and then, with one short, faltering bellow, it leapt and fell into their midst, upsetting one horse, and wounding a couple of men.
This was the first; but after the first came a second, after the second, a third!
Helter-skelter the troops retired from the dangerous spot, and from a safe distance they counted five buffalo, one after the other, which dashed to the edge of the cliff, as if in terror from their pursuers, and took the fatal leap. Only one was able to rise again, and that one just gave one look round, dug its forefeet into the ground, and then rushed on straight ahead as if there were a pack of hounds at its heels.
Shortly after, while the troops were riding down the narrow valley at the foot of the mountains, they could hear the howl of wolves coming nearer and nearer, and a pack so large that no one could even guess their number, was seen to be scampering down the dale; some were clattering down the cliffs, which were more sloping here, while the rest tore wildly forward, passing close beside, and even in among the horses, many of which were maddened with terror, and bolted with their riders.