Councils, even those held in the King's presence, were by no means orderly in those days. Everyone present wanted to put in his word, and that, too, just as and when he pleased, so the Duke had hardly finished speaking, when up rose one of the elder and more important-looking nobles, exclaiming impatiently, "Your Majesty! These foreign lords have told us very fully to what we owe their present kind visit; and they have told us, too, that our country is threatened by ruffianly, contemptible brigands and incendiaries. There is but one thing they have forgotten. I should like to know whether this horde of would-be conquerors have any courage, discipline, or knowledge of war among them. It seems to me important that they should tell us this in their own interests, for it needs no great preparation to scatter a disorderly rabble, but valiant warriors are, of course, another thing." "Very true, Master Tibörcs," said the King calmly, patiently. But when the matter was explained to the Russian Duke, he exclaimed, with an expression of the utmost horror and contempt, "Valiant! disciplined! military knowledge! Why, my lord king, who could expect anything of the sort from such thieves and robbers! But, despicable as they are as soldiers, they are dangerous for all that! They are cowards! They are as wild as cattle, as senseless as stones, but--they have numbers, countless numbers, on their side. They fall in thousands, and they use the dead and wounded to bridge the rivers! And they are swift as the very wind." Several at the table here exclaimed that the Duke must be magnifying, or at least that he had heard exaggerated reports; and one of the most timorous added that to a man who was terrified danger always looked greater than it did to anyone else in the world. That man, at all events, knew what he was talking about! "We are not afraid, gentlemen," said Románovics, turning at once towards those seated at the table. "We are exhausted with fighting ourselves, and their blood, too, has flowed in torrents; ten of them have fallen to every one of our men, but then their numbers are ten times ours."