But further conversation was interrupted by a noise entering through the
windows from which the bladders had been taken out, because the night was
warm and clear. From afar thrumming, singing, laughing and the snorting
of horses were heard. They were surprised because it was quite late. The
host rushed to the yard of the inn, but before the guests were able to
drink their beer to the last drop, he returned shouting:

"Some court is coming!"

A moment afterward, in the door appeared a footman dressed in a blue
jacket and wearing a red folding cap. He stopped, glanced at the guests,
and then having perceived the host, he said:

"Wipe the tables and prepare lights; the princess, Anna Danuta, will stop
here to-night."

Having said this, he withdrew. In the inn a great commotion began; the
host called his servants, and the guests looked at one another with great
surprise.

"Princess Anna Danuta," said one of the townsmen, "she is
Kiejstutowna,[11] Janusz Mazowiecki's wife. She was in Krakow two weeks,
but she went to Zator to visit Prince Waclaw, and now she is coming
back."

"Uncle Gamroth," said the other townsman, "let us go to the barn and
sleep on the hay; the company is too high for us."

"I don't wonder they are traveling during the night," said Macko,