The multitude howled with rage.
"I immediately forbade all further payments. This tax does not indeed fall upon our shoulders, for we are nobles; but it is just because we are the peasants' masters that we are bound to save them from being fleeced, and defend them at all hazards. The only answer I sent to his Turkish Excellency was a pig's tail, and if he comes to levy the tax in person, I swear by the living God, I'll give him a buffet he won't forget as long as he lives."
"We will cut him to pieces!" roared the mob, striking their scabbards, and waving their morning-stars in the air.
"And now, my faithful friends, return to your tents. My seneschals will provide for your entertainment. If we must fight, I'll tell you when."
The excited nobility then withdrew with rattling weapons and boisterous approbation; only a few petitioners remained behind.
The Klausenburg professors invited their patron to the public examinations. Banfi promised to come, and distribute rewards to the best scholars.
As they retired Banfi beckoned to the remaining suppliants to approach one by one. The first he turned to was Master Martin Kuncz, the Bishop of the Klausenburg Unitarians.
"How can I serve your Reverence?"
"I have a complaint to make, gracious sir," returned Kuncz, with a bow and a scrape. "The Klausenburg town-council has forcibly removed the market booths belonging to the Unitarian Church. I beg you to help us to regain possession."
"I am very sorry I cannot help your Reverence," returned Banfi, whistling through his teeth and buttoning up his coat. "That is a constitutional affair, and concerns the Prince. The land indeed is mine, but the cause belongs to his Highness's Courts."