A captain in armor came forward. “Deliver this Bogdan at sunrise to the guards of the Florian Gate. Tell them to see that he has safe-conduct through to the border, but that his chains are not to be struck off until he reaches the frontier. After that let happen what will, but if he so much as sets foot again upon Polish soil he shall be hanged to the nearest tree.”
When they had departed, he said to Pan Andrew:
“In this my right and duty of kingship in the Commonwealth of Poland I commend you most heartily as a man who has been of great service to his country. It is a most extraordinary and gracious thing that a family such as yours should be so faithful to its word through so many years and be willing to suffer so much for an oath once given. Therefore to you go my whole thanks.”
He took the gold chain from his throat. It was a thing of wondrous beauty, of heavy solid links cut out of the purest metal.
“Wear this,” he said placing it with his own hands over Pan Andrew’s shoulders. “This chain shall ever be to you the token of your faithfulness. I shall see to it that the state makes return to you for the property which you have lost, for in so losing it you have conferred a favor upon us all. Had the crystal been taken by these thieves and delivered to the Khan of the Tartars it is probably true that by now the Ukraine had begun to be overrun by Tartars and the armies of Ivan. In due time I shall see to it that a more formal and proper reward is given you.”
Here Jan Kanty made a sign that the interview was finished and the whole company fell upon their knees before the King.
He, too, stooped, but only to pick up the crystal which had lain upon the floor before him during the entire interview. It seemed to Joseph, glancing up at that moment, that the instant the King’s eyes were fixed upon the stone he became suddenly oblivious to everything else that was before him, and stood as one in a dream or trance gazing into the depths of the fearsomely beautiful thing.
CHAPTER XVI
THE LAST OF THE GREAT TARNOV CRYSTAL
Joseph and his father were still kneeling when there came unexpectedly a certain happening that changed the whole complexion of the day. It came from the alchemist.
He had been listening attentively through all the talk, he had followed back and forth the give-and-take of conversation, the balancing of argument, the gestures, the decisions, even though his eyes had seemed but half open. Just at this final moment he sprang up from his place behind the others like a dog leaping for a bone, and snatched the Tarnov Crystal out of the hands of the King.