he consented.

And so, indeed, it fell out. As soon as the battle began, the Turks,
perceiving Simon Kemeny in the garb of Hunyady, directed all their force
against him. Kemeny, after a stout defence, fell, together with a great
number of his followers, and the Turks, seeing him fall, set up a general
cry of triumph and exultation. Just at this critical moment they were
hotly attacked in the flank by the genuine Hunyady. Thus attacked in the
very moment when they imagined that they had already gained the day,
the Turks were thrown into confusion and took wildly to flight. Twenty
thousand corpses were left on the battlefield; among them lay Mezid Bey
himself, together with his sons.

Fearful was the rage of the Turkish Sultan when he heard of the defeat
and death of Mezid Bey, and he at once despatched another army against
Hunyady, which like the first numbered eighty thousand men. This time,
however, Hunyady did not let them enter Transylvania, but waited for
them at the pass known as the Iron Gate, among the high mountains on the
southern boundary of Hungary.

The Hungarian army was not more than fifteen thousand men, so that the
Turks were at least five times as strong. But the military genius of
Hunyady made up for the small number of his followers. He posted them in
a strong position in the rough pass, and attacked the enemy in places
where it was impossible for him to make use of his strength. Thus more
than half the Turkish army perished miserably in the battle. Again their
commander-in-chief fell on the field, together with six subordinate
commanders, while two hundred horse-tail standards fell into Hunyady's
hands as trophies of his victory.

These two splendid victories filled all Europe with joy and admiration.
Christendom again breathed freely; for she felt that a champion sent by a
special providence had appeared, who had both the courage and the ability
to meet and to repel the haughty and formidable foe. But Hunyady was not
content with doing so much. He thought that by this time he might
carry the war into the enemy's country. The plan of operations was
exceptionally daring, yet Hunyady had not resolved on it without careful
consideration. In the mean time, through Hunyady's exertions, Wladislaw
III, the young King of Poland, had been elected king of Hungary. Hunyady
gained the new King over to his plans, and by this means secured the
cooeperation of the higher aristocracy and the armed bands which the