young; each one of them in his childhood days had imagined himself on the battlefield, in peril, in bloody combat with the enemy and desired and prayed that his dream might come true and he be given opportunity some day to stand face to face with the dreaded enemy in the defense of his country; here their chance had come, why should they be frightened by it? Only for a moment the terrible news and the name “Mongols” had shocked them after which they became themselves again; each one now held his weapons in his hands and stood assembled with his fellows prepared for the struggle.
“It is most important for us, comrades, to keep within the yard close to the shadow of these walls. Until the enemy succeeds in driving us away from this house and surrounding us out in the open, we have nothing to fear. This house will serve as our fortress.”
He placed the archers by twos and threes at the windows and doors, the number depending upon the importance and accessibility of their posts. Some were to remain inside the house to supply the archers with arrows from the boyar’s store room. The main body was to stand guard at the entrances, so that whenever it became necessary to do so they could break up the attacking vanguard and drive the Mongols away from the house.
In the meantime the Mongols arrived at the shore of the Opir river, stopped, dismounted from their horses and dividing their regiment into three separate groups, took the three paths leading uphill. It was apparent that someone thoroughly familiar with the region led them, for all these maneuvers took place quickly without irresolution and without undue waste of time. This maneuver also plainly indicated that the Mongols aimed to surround the house from all sides at once.
But who was this, at the head of the central Mongol contingent, advancing so self-assuredly and impudently? The comrades watched hardly believing their own eyes. It was
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