In 1462, the Charnetski family flea from their home in the Ukraine, after being persecuted by the wicked Cossack, Peter of
the Button Face, who wishes to steal the Great Tarnov Crystal which they were entrusted with for keeping.
The Charnetskis arrive to Krakow, where Andrew, the father of the family, finds a job as the trumpeter at the Church of our Lady St. Mary, playing the unfinished Hejnal melody. According to the legend, in 1241, the church''s trumpeter was pierced by a Tartar arrow before he could finish the Hejnał. In honor of that occasion, the melody is always played as if it is interrupted.
Andrew and his family receive help from an alchemist named Nicholas Kreutz, who offers them a place to stay after Joseph, Andrew''s son, saves him and his niece Elzbietka from a wolfdog.
Nicholas is teaching a German student named Johann Tring, who is obsessed with finding the philosopher''s stone, supposedly capable to turn ordinary metals into gold. Tring convinces Nicholas to help him find the stone through trickery and hypnosis.
When Peter of the Button Face arrives to the Charnetskis apartment in search of the Tarnov Crystal, he is interrupted by Nicholas who believes the crystal to be the Philosopher''s Stone. He steals the crystal and reveals it to Tring. The student hypnotizes his teacher so that he would reveal the formula of turning metal into gold, but the unconscious Nicholas gives him a formula to prepare a bomb. When Tring mixes the ingredients, a fire starts and takes over the city.
After extinguishing the fire, Andrew and his son appear in front of King Kazimir and give him the Tarnov Crystal. Nicholas Kreutz, still deluded by the hypnosis, grabs the crystal from the king and throws it to the Vistula River. King Kazimir decides not to retrieve the crystal and banishes Peter of the Button Face from Poland, because of what he did to the Charnetskis.
The story ends when Andrew Charnetski''s house in Ukraine is rebuilt and he is rewarded by the king. Kreutz and his niece Elżbietka come to Ukraine as well, after he has regained his sanity, and six years later Joseph marries Elżbietka.
The Trumpeter of Krakow (first published in 1928) is categorized as a children''s book, but it is highly interesting for adults as well. The story combines fiction and actual
history, with real characters such as the priest Jan Kanty and King Kazimir and true historical events. Eric P. Kelly received the Newberry Medal for this wonderful book.