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+Project Gutenberg's The Deluge, Vol. I. (of 2), by Henryk Sienkiewicz
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Deluge, Vol. I. (of 2)
+ An Historical Novel of Poland, Sweden, and Russia.
+
+Author: Henryk Sienkiewicz
+
+Translator: Jeremiah Curtin
+
+Release Date: August 24, 2011 [EBook #37198]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DELUGE, VOL. I. (OF 2) ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Charles Bowen, from page scans provided by the Web Archive
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Notes:
+
+ 1. Page scan source:
+ http://www.archive.org/details/delugeanhistori00siengoog
+
+ 2. The diphthong oe is represented by [oe]. [.Z] represents Z with
+ a dot above it.
+
+
+
+
+
+ THE DELUGE.
+
+ Vol. I.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ THE WORKS OF
+ HENRYK SIENKIEWICZ.
+
+ AUTHORIZED UNABRIDGED TRANSLATIONS BY
+ JEREMIAH CURTIN.
+
+ LIBRARY EDITION.
+
+ * * *
+
+ Historical Romances.
+
+ _Poland, Turkey, Russia, and Sweden_.
+
+ With Fire And Sword. 1 vol.
+ The Deluge. 2 vols.
+ Pan Michael. 1 vol.
+
+ _Rome in the time of Nero_.
+
+ "Quo Vadis." 1 vol.
+
+ Novels of Modern Poland.
+
+ Children of the Soil. 1 vol.
+ Without Dogma. 1 vol. (Translated by Iza Young.)
+
+ Short Stories.
+
+ Hania, and Other Stories. 1 vol.
+ Sielanka, a Forest Picture, and Other Stories. 1 vol.
+
+ * * *
+
+ On the Bright Shore. 1 vol.
+ Let Us Follow Him. 1 vol.
+
+ *** The above two are also included in the volume entitled
+ "Hania."
+
+ Yanko the Musician, and Other Stories, 1 vol.
+ Lillian Morris, and Other Stories, 1 vol.
+
+ *** The tales and sketches included in these two volumes are now
+reprinted with others by Sienkiewicz in the volume entitled "Sielanka,
+a Forest Picture, and Other Stories."
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ THE DELUGE.
+
+
+ An Historical Novel
+
+ OF
+
+ POLAND, SWEDEN, AND RUSSIA.
+
+ A SEQUEL TO
+
+ "WITH FIRE AND SWORD."
+
+
+
+ BY
+
+ HENRYK SIENKIEWICZ.
+
+
+ _AUTHORIZED AND UNABRIDGED TRANSLATION FROM
+ THE POLISH BY_
+
+ JEREMIAH CURTIN.
+
+
+
+
+ IN TWO VOLUMES.
+
+ Vol. I.
+
+
+
+
+ BOSTON:
+ LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY
+ 1915.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ _Copyright, 1891_, by Jeremiah Curtin.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+ Printers
+ S. J. Parkhill & Co., Boston, U.S.A.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ TO HON. CHARLES A. DANA,
+
+ Editor of "The Sun,"
+ New York.
+
+
+Sir,--I beg to dedicate to you this translation of a remarkable work,
+touching a period eventful in the history of the Poles, and the Slav
+race in general. You will appreciate the pictures of battle and trial
+contained in these volumes, for you know great events not from books
+merely but from personal contact. You receive pleasure from various
+literatures, and from considering those points of character by which
+nations and men are distinguished; hence, as I think, THE DELUGE will
+give you some mental enjoyment, and perhaps turn your attention to a
+new field of history.
+
+ JEREMIAH CURTIN.
+
+
+Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of Ethnology,
+ November 25, 1891.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ INTRODUCTION.
+
+
+The wars described in THE DELUGE are the most complicated and
+significant in the whole career of the Commonwealth, for the political
+motives which came into play during these wars had their origin in
+early and leading historical causes.
+
+The policy of the Teutonic Knights gave the first of its final results
+in the war of 1655, between Sweden and Poland, since it made the
+elector independent in Prussia, where soon after, his son was crowned
+king. The war with Great Russia in 1654, though its formal cause came,
+partly at least, from the struggle of 1612, in which the Poles had
+endeavored to subjugate Moscow, was really roused by the conflict of
+Southern Russian with Poland to win religious and material equality.
+
+The two fundamental events of Polish history are the settlement of the
+Teutonic Knights in Prussia, through the action of the Poles
+themselves; and the union of Poland with Lithuania and Russia by the
+marriage of Yadviga, the Polish princess, to Yagyello, Grand Prince of
+Lithuania.
+
+Before touching on the Teutonic Knights, a few words may be given to
+the land where they began that career which cut off Poland from the
+sea, took from the Poles their political birthplace, and gave its name
+and territory to the chief kingdom of the new German Empire, the
+kingdom which is in fact the creator and head of that Empire.
+
+Prussia in the thirteenth century extended from the Vistula eastward to
+the Niemen, and from the Baltic southward about as far as it does at
+present. In this territory lived the Prussians. East of the Niemen
+lived the Lithuanians, another division of the same stock of people.
+West of the Vistula lay Pomorye,[1] now Pomerania, occupied at that
+time exclusively by Slavs under Polish dominion.
+
+The Prussians, a people closely related to the Slavs, were still
+Pagans, as were also the Lithuanians; and having a more highly
+developed religion than either the pre-Christian Slavs or the Germans,
+their conversion was likely to be of a more difficult nature.
+
+At the end of the tenth and in the beginning of the thirteenth
+centuries attempts were made to convert the Prussians; but the only
+result was the death of the missionaries, who seem to have been too
+greatly filled with zeal to praise their own faith and throw contempt
+on that of the people among whom they were really only guests and
+sojourners.
+
+Finally, a man appeared more adroit and ambitious than others,--Christian,
+a monk of Olivka, near Dantzig. This monk, we are told, had a knowledge
+of the weak points of men, spoke Prussian as well as Polish, was not
+seeking the crown of martyrdom, and never made light of things held
+sacred by those to whom he was preaching. After a few years his success
+was such as to warrant a journey to Rome, where he explained to Innocent
+III. the results of his labor. The Pope encouraged the missionary, and
+in 1211 instructed the Archbishop of Gnezen to aid Christian with his
+co-workers and induce secular princes to help them.
+
+Christian returned from Rome with renewed zeal; but instead of being
+helped he was hindered, for tribute and labor were imposed on his
+converts by the secular power. Since the new religion was coupled with
+servitude, the Prussians were roused greatly against it.
+
+Christian strove to obtain relief for his converts, but in vain. Then,
+taking two native followers, he made a second journey to Rome, was
+created first Bishop of Prussia, and returned again to the field.
+
+The great body of Prussians now considered all converts as traitors.
+The priests of the native religion roused the people, and attacked
+those persons as renegades who had deserted the ancient faith and were
+bringing slavery to the country. They went farther and fell upon
+Mazovia, whence the propaganda had issued. Konrad, unable to defend
+himself, bought them off with rich presents. The newly made converts
+were killed, captured, or driven to deep forests.
+
+Christian turned to the Pope a third time, and implored him to direct
+against Prussia those Poles who were going to the Holy Land.
+
+The Archbishop of Gnezen was instructed from Rome to make this change,
+and the Poles were summoned against Prussia for the following year. The
+crusade was preached also in Germany.
+
+Warriors arrived from both countries in fairly large numbers, and
+during their presence ruined villages and churches were rebuilt in the
+district of Culm, where the conversions had taken place mainly. In a
+couple of seasons the majority of the warriors found their way home
+again. A second crusade was proclaimed, and men responded freely. All
+these forces were simply guarding the missionaries and the converts,--a
+position which could not endure.
+
+Christian, seeing this, formed the plan of founding an order of armed
+monks in Poland like the Knights of the Sword in Livonia. Konrad gave
+his approval at once.
+
+The Bishop of Modena, at that time papal legate in Poland, hastened the
+establishment of the order; for to him it seemed the best agent to bend
+the stiff necks of idolaters. Permission to found the order was
+obtained from the Pope, and a promise of means to maintain it from
+Konrad.
+
+Christian, who had interested Rome and the West in his work, now gave
+great praise before the world to the Prince of Mazovia, who thereupon
+rewarded him with a gift of twelve castles and one hundred villages,
+reserving merely sovereign rights without income. This gift was
+confirmed to the Bishop of Prussia by Honorius III.
+
+Christian labored so zealously that in 1225 he consecrated twenty-five
+superior knights in his new order, which received the same rules as the
+Livonian Knights of the Sword,--that is, the rules of the Templars.
+
+The new knights were called Brothers of Dobjin, from the castle of
+Dobjin, which Konrad gave them as a residence, adding the district of
+Leslin near Inovratslav as a means of support.
+
+As soon as the Brothers had settled in their castle, they attacked the
+Prussians, ruined villages, and brought in plunder. The enraged
+Prussians collected large forces, and attacked the land of Culm, with
+the intent to raze Dobjin. On hearing this, Konrad with his own troops
+and a general levy hastened to the relief of the order.
+
+A bloody and stubborn battle of two days' duration was fought with
+great loss on both sides. Konrad, despairing of victory, left the
+field, thus causing the complete overthrow of the Poles. The surviving
+Brothers of Dobjin took refuge in the castle, which the Prussians were
+unable to capture. The order, shattered at its very inception, hoped
+for reinforcements from abroad; but the Pope at that juncture was
+sending a crusade to Palestine, and would not permit a division in the
+forces of the West. The Prussians, elated with victory, plundered at
+pleasure the lands bordering on their own.
+
+In this disaster Christian conceived the idea of calling in the
+Teutonic Knights against Prussia. This idea, suicidal from a Polish
+point of view, was accepted by the Prince of Mazovia.
+
+The Teutonic Order was founded in Palestine near the end of the twelfth
+century to succeed some German hospitallers who had resided in
+Jerusalem till the capture of the city by Saracens in 1187.
+
+In a few years the new order became military, and under the patronage
+of Frederick, Duke of Suabia, afterward the Emperor Frederick II.,
+acquired much wealth, with great imperial and papal favor. Under Herman
+Von Salza, who was grand master from 1210 to 1239, the future of the
+order was determined, its main scene of action transferred to the West,
+and that career begun which made the Teutonic Order the most remarkable
+of the weapon-bearing monks of Europe. Herman Von Salza--a keen, crafty
+man, of great political astuteness and ambition--had determined to win
+separate territory for the order, and the dignity of Prince of the
+Empire for the grand master.
+
+Nothing therefore could be more timely for his plans than the
+invitation from the Prince of Mazovia, who in 1225 sent envoys to
+Herman; especially since the order had just been deprived in
+Transylvania of lands given to support it while warding off heathen
+Kumanians.
+
+The envoys offered the Teutonic master Culm and some adjoining lands
+for the order, in return for curbing the Prussians. Herman resolved to
+accept, should the Emperor prove friendly to the offer. He hastened to
+Frederick at Rimini, explained the whole question, received a grant in
+which Konrad's endowment was confirmed; besides the order was given all
+the land it could conquer and make subject to the Emperor alone. The
+grand master's next care was to obtain papal approval.
+
+Two envoys from Herman were sent to Poland, where they obtained, as the
+chronicles of the order relate, a written title to Culm and the
+neighboring land as well as to all Prussia which they could conquer.
+Near Torun (Thorn) a wooden fortress was built, called in German
+Fogelsang (Bird-song). This fortress was the first residence of the
+knights, who later on had so much power and such influence in the
+history of Poland.
+
+Only two years later did Herman send his knights to Culm. One of the
+first acts was to purchase for various considerations, from the Bishop
+of Plotsk and from Christian, the Bishop of Prussia, their rights over
+the lands granted them in Culm. The labor of conversion began, and soon
+the grand master prevailed on the Pope to proclaim throughout Europe a
+crusade against Prussia.
+
+From Poland alone came twenty thousand men, and many more from other
+parts of Europe. When the knights had made a firm beginning of work,
+their design of independence was revealed. They wished to be rid of
+even a show of submission to the Prince of Mazovia. They raised the
+question by trying to incorporate the remaining Brothers of Dobjin, and
+thus acquire the grant given them by Konrad. They had disputes also
+with Bishop Christian and the Bishop of Plotsk. In 1234 the Bishop of
+Modena was sent as papal legate to settle the disputes. The legate
+decided, to the satisfaction of the bishops, that of all lands won from
+the Pagans two thirds were to be retained by the knights and one third
+given to the bishops, the church administration being under the order
+in its own two thirds. For the Prince of Mazovia nothing was left,
+though he asserted sovereign rights in Culm and Prussia, and would not
+permit the order to acquire the grant given the Brothers of Dobjin by
+incorporating the remaining members of that body.
+
+The Teutonic Order would not recognize the sovereignty of the Polish
+prince, and insisted on incorporating the Brothers of Dobjin. The
+order, knowing that Konrad would yield only under constraint, placed
+its possessions at the feet of the Pope, made them the property of the
+Holy See. This action found success; the Pope declared Culm and all the
+acquisitions of the order the property of Saint Peter, which the church
+for a yearly tax then gave in feudal tenure to the Teutonic Knights,
+who therefore could not recognize in those regions the sovereignty of
+any secular prince. In August, 1234, the Pope informed Konrad in a
+special bull of the position of the order, and enjoined on him to aid
+it with all means in his power. The Polish prince could do nothing; he
+could not even prevent the incorporation of the majority of the
+remaining Brothers of Dobjin, and of the lands and property given for
+their use he was able to save nothing but the castle of Dobjin.
+
+Konrad now found himself in a very awkward position; he had introduced
+of his own will a foreign and hostile power which had all Western
+Europe and the Holy See to support it, which had unbounded means of
+discrediting the Poles and putting them in the wrong before the world;
+and these means the order never failed to use. In half a century after
+their coming the knights, by the aid of volunteers and contributions
+from all Europe, had converted Prussia, and considered Poland and the
+adjoining parts of Lithuania as sure conquests to be made at their own
+leisure and at the expense of all Western Christendom.
+
+The first Polish territory acquired was Pomerania. The career of the
+knights was easy and successful till the union of Poland and Lithuania
+in 1386. In 1410, at the battle called by the names both of Grünwald
+and Tannenberg, the power of the order was broken. Some years later
+Pomerania was returned to Poland, and the order was allowed to remain
+in East Prussia in the position of a vassal to the Commonwealth. In
+this reduced state the knights lived for a time, tried to gain allies,
+but could not; the most they did--and that was the best for the German
+cause--was to induce Albert, a member of the Franconian branch of the
+Hohenzollerns, to become grand master. He began to reorganize the
+order, and tried to shake off allegiance to Poland; but finding no aid
+in the Empire or elsewhere, he acted on Luther's advice to introduce
+Protestantism and convert Prussia into a secular and hereditary duchy.
+This he did in 1525. Poland, with a simplicity quite equal to that of
+Konrad, who called in the order at first, permitted the change. The
+military monks married, and were converted into hereditary nobles.
+Albert became Duke of Prussia, and took the oath of allegiance to
+Poland. Later the Hohenzollerns of Brandenburg inherited the duchy,
+became feudatories of Poland as well as electors at home. This was the
+position during the war between Sweden and Poland described in THE
+DELUGE. Frederick William, known as the Great Elector, was ruling at
+that time in Brandenburg and Prussia. He acted with great adroitness
+and success; paying no attention to his oath as vassal, he took the
+part of one side, and then of the other when he saw fit. He fought on
+the Swedish side in the three days' battle around Warsaw in which Yan
+Kazimir was defeated. This service was to be rewarded by the
+independence of Prussia.
+
+Hardly had the scale turned in favor of Poland when the Great Elector
+assisted Yan Kazimir against Sweden; and in the treaty of Wehlau (1657)
+Poland relinquished its rights over Prussia, which thus became
+sovereign and independent in Europe. This most important change was
+confirmed three years later at the peace of Oliva.
+
+Frederick, son of the Great Elector, was crowned "King in Prussia" at
+Königsberg in 1701. The Elector of Brandenburg became king in that
+territory in which he had no suzerain.
+
+At the first division of Poland, Royal Prussia of THE DELUGE, the
+territory lying between the Vistula and Brandenburg, went to the new
+kingdom; and Brandenburg, Pomerania, and Prussia became continuous
+territory.
+
+The early success of the Teutonic Knights was so great that in the
+third half century of their rule on the Baltic their power overshadowed
+Poland, which was thus seriously threatened. Toward the end of the
+fourteenth century, however (1386), the Poles escaped imminent danger
+by their union with Lithuania and Russia. Through this most important
+connection they rose at once from a position of peril to one of safety
+and power.
+
+This union, brought about through the marriage of the Polish princess
+Yadviga to Yagyello, Grand Prince of Lithuania, and by exceedingly
+adroit management on the part of the Polish nobles and clergy, opened
+to the Poles immense regions of country and the way to vast wealth.
+Before the union their whole land was composed of Great and Little
+Poland, with Mazovia (see map); after the union two thirds of the best
+lands of pre-Tartar Russia formed part of the Commonwealth.
+
+Since Poland managed to place and maintain itself at the head of
+affairs, though this roused at all times opposition of varying violence
+in the other two parts of the Commonwealth, the social ideals and
+political structure of Poland prevailed in Lithuania and Russia, so far
+as the upper classes were concerned. In Lithuania, by the terms of the
+union, all were obliged to become Catholic; in different parts of
+Russia, which was Orthodox, the people were undisturbed in their
+religion at first; but after a time the majority of the nobles became
+Catholic in religion, and Poles in language, name, manners, and ideas.
+To these was added a large immigration of Polish nobles seeking
+advancement and wealth. All Russia found itself after a time under
+control of an upper class which was out of all sympathy with the great
+mass and majority of the people.
+
+During the Yagyellon dynasty, which lasted from 1386 to 1572, the
+religious question was not so prominent for any save nobles; but
+ownership of their own land and their own labor was gradually slipping
+away from the people. During the reign of Sigismund III. (1587-1632),
+religion was pushed to the foreground, the United Church was brought
+into Russia; and land and religion, which raise the two greatest
+problems in a State, the material and the spiritual, were the main
+objects of thought throughout Russia.
+
+Under Vladislav in 1648 the storm burst forth in Southern Russia. There
+was a popular uprising, the most wide-spread and stubborn in history,
+during which the Poles lost many battles and gained one great victory,
+that of Berestechko; the Southern Russians turned to the North, and
+selected the Tsar Alexai Mihailovich as sovereign.
+
+Jan. 8, 1654, there was a great meeting in Pereyaslav,[2] at which
+Bogdan Hmelnitski, hetman of the Zaporojian army and head of all
+Southern Russia, after he had consulted with the Cossacks, took his
+place in the centre of the circle, and in presence of the army, the
+people, and Buturlin, the envoy of Alexai Mihailovich, said:--
+
+"Gentlemen, Colonels, Essauls, Commanders of hundreds, the whole
+Zaporojian army, and all Orthodox Christians,--You know how the Lord
+delivered us from the hands of our enemies who persecuted the Church of
+God and were envenomed against all Christians of our Eastern Orthodoxy.
+We have lived six years without a sovereign, in endless battles against
+our persecutors and enemies who desire to root out the church of God,
+so that the Russian name may not be heard in our land. This position
+has grown unendurable, and we cannot live longer without a sovereign.
+Therefore we have assembled a council before the whole people, so that
+you with us may choose from four sovereigns that one whom you wish. The
+first is the Sovereign of Turkey, who has invited us under his
+authority many times through his envoys; the second is the Khan of the
+Crimea; the third the King of Poland, who, if we wish, may receive us
+into former favor; the fourth is the Orthodox sovereign, the Tsar and
+Grand Prince Alexai Mihailovich, the sole ruler of all Russia, whom we
+have been imploring six years with unceasing petitions. Choose whom you
+like. The Sovereign of Turkey is a Mussulman; you all know how our
+brethren, the Greeks, Orthodox Christians, suffer, and what persecution
+they endure from godless men. A Mussulman also is the Khan of the
+Crimea, whom we took into friendship of necessity, by reason of the
+unendurable woes which we passed through. Of persecutions from Polish
+lords it is needless to speak; you know yourselves that they esteemed a
+Jew and a dog more than a Christian, our brother. But the great
+Orthodox sovereign of the East is of one faith with us, one confession
+of the Greek rite; we are one spiritual body with the Orthodoxy of
+Great Russia, having Jesus Christ for our head. This great sovereign,
+this Christian Tsar, taking pity on the suffering of our Orthodox
+church in Little Russia, giving ear to our six years' entreating, has
+inclined his heart to us graciously, and was pleased to send with his
+favor dignitaries from near his person. If we love him earnestly, we
+shall not find a better refuge than his lofty hand. If any man is not
+agreed with us, let him go whither he pleases; the road is free--"
+
+Here the whole people shouted: "We choose to be under the Orthodox
+sovereign; better to die in our Orthodox faith than to go to a hater of
+Christ, to a Pagan!"
+
+Then the Pereyaslav colonel, Teterya, passed around in the circle, and
+asked in every direction: "Are all thus agreed?"
+
+"All with one spirit," was the answer.
+
+The hetman now said: "May the Lord our God strengthen us under the
+strong hand of the Tsar."
+
+The people shouted back in one voice: "God confirm us! God give us
+strength to be one for the ages!"
+
+The hetman, the army, and the representatives of Southern Russia took
+the oath of allegiance to the Tsar. The result of this action was a war
+between the Commonwealth on one side, and Northern and Southern Russia
+on the other. The Commonwealth being thus occupied on the east, Sweden
+decided to attack on the west.
+
+The war between Russia and the Commonwealth lasted thirteen years, and
+ended with a truce of thirteen years more, made at Andrusovo. By this
+agreement the city and province of Smolensk went to Russia, and all the
+left bank of the Dnieper, while Kieff was to be occupied by Poland
+after two years. This truce became a treaty during the reign of
+Sobyeski. Kieff remained with the Russians, and peace was unbroken till
+the second half of the following century, when all Russia west of the
+Dnieper was restored to the East in nearly the same limits which it had
+before the Tartar invasion; excepting the territory included in
+Galicia, and known as Red Russia.
+
+ Jeremiah Curtin.
+
+
+Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of Ethnology,
+ November 25, 1891.
+
+
+
+
+ REMARKS ON PERSONAGES IN "THE DELUGE."
+
+
+Yan Kazimir was a son of Sigismund III., who was a son of King John of
+Sweden and Catherine, daughter of Sigismund I. of Poland.
+
+John of Sweden was succeeded by his son Sigismund, who under the name
+of Sigismund III. was elected King of Poland in 1587 to succeed his
+mother's brother, Sigismund Augustus, the last descendant of Yagyello
+in the male line.
+
+Sigismund III. was dethroned by the Swedes, and his issue excluded from
+the succession. Duke Charles, the ablest of Gustavus Vasa's sons, and
+uncle of Sigismund, was made king as Charles IX.
+
+This Charles IX. was father of Gustavus Adolphus. Gustavus Adolphus was
+succeeded by his only daughter, Christina, who would not marry, and who
+after reigning for a time resigned in favor of her cousin Karl Gustav
+of Zweibrücken,[3] son of the only sister of Gustavus Adolphus.
+Gustavus Vasa was therefore the great-grandfather of both Yan Kazimir
+and Karl Gustav, who were thus second cousins. The Polish Vasas laid
+claim to the Swedish crown, thereby causing the Commonwealth during
+sixty years much loss in money and men. Yan Kazimir relinquished this
+claim when he made peace with Sweden.
+
+Before his election Yan Kazimir, being a cardinal, was dispensed from
+his vows by the Pope. Chosen king, he married Louise Marie, daughter of
+the Duke of Nevers, a woman of strong will and much beauty.
+
+Discouraged and wearied by many wars and reverses, and more than all by
+the endless dissensions of magnates, Yan Kazimir resigned the kingly
+office in 1668, and retired to France. Being now a widower, he became
+Abbot of St. Germain and St. Martin, and lived on his stipend from
+these foundations, for the Poles refused to continue his pension. It
+seems, however, that he did not remain in seclusion till the end, for
+he is mentioned as marrying in secret a widow who had once been a
+laundress. He died in 1672, remembering the world much more than the
+world remembered him.
+
+Yan Zamoyski, one of the most celebrated nobles in Polish history, was
+the grandfather of Sobiepan Zamoyski. The time of Zamoyski's success
+was during the reign of Stephen Batory, who gave him more offices and
+power than any citizen of the Commonwealth had ever enjoyed. As
+castellan of Cracow, he was the first among lay senators; as starosta
+of the same territory, he had extensive jurisdiction over criminals in
+Little Poland; as hetman, he was commander of all the military forces
+of the kingdom; as chancellor, he held the seals, without which no
+official act of the king had validity.
+
+Perhaps the most notable action in Zamoyski's career as a civilian
+during Batory's reign was his treatment of the Zborovskis, one of whom
+he had beheaded, and another condemned to decapitation and infamy. The
+hatred of the Zborovskis for Zamoyski became so intense that later on
+they tried to seat their candidate, Maximilian of Austria, in
+opposition to Sigismund III., Zamoyski's choice and that of the
+majority. The Zborovski party brought their candidate to the gate of
+Cracow, intending to enthrone him with armed hand. Zamoyski repulsed
+and pursued them to Silesia, where he defeated and made Maximilian
+prisoner. The Austrian Archduke was held in captivity till he renounced
+all claim to the throne. This is the captivity to which Sobiepan refers
+on page 324, Vol. II.
+
+Zamoyski had Sigismund impeached in 1592, not to condemn him, but to
+give him a lesson. Zamoyski's course in this affair, and his last
+speech in the Diet of 1605 are his most prominent acts during a reign
+in which he was first in opposition, as he had been first on the king's
+side during Batory's time. Zamoyski died in 1605, alarmed, as Lelevel
+says, for the future of his country.
+
+Sobiepan Zamoyski, who conceived such a friendship for Zagloba, married
+the daughter of Henri de la Grange, a captain in the guard of Philip,
+Duke of Orleans. After Zamoyski's death, his widow, a woman of great
+beauty and ambition, married Sobyeski, subsequently elected king to
+succeed Michael Vishnyevetski, who is mentioned on page 253, Vol. II.
+
+Kmita, the hero of THE DELUGE, was probably of the Kmitas of Little
+Poland, and of those who inherited lands granted Poles in Lithuania and
+Russia after the union.
+
+Kmitsits, which means "son of Kmita," as "starostsits" means "son of a
+starosta," is the name used by Sienkiewicz; but as that word would
+baffle most English readers, I have taken Kmita, the original form of
+the family name. Kmita is mentioned in Solovyóff's Russian history as
+co-operating with Sapyeha and Charnyetski against Hovanski and
+Dolgoruki; in that connection he is called Kmitich.
+
+
+
+
+ NOTES.
+
+
+ POLISH ALPHABET.
+
+Since the Polish alphabet has many peculiar phonetic combinations which
+are difficult to one who does not know the language, it was decided to
+transliterate the names of persons and places in which such
+combinations occur in this book. The following are the letters and
+combinations which are met with most frequently;--
+
+ Polish Letters. English Sounds.
+
+ _c_ _ts_
+ _ch_ _h_
+ _cz_ _ch_
+ _rz_ _r_ followed by the French _j_
+ _sz_ _sh_
+ _szcz_ _shch_
+ _w_ _v_
+ _[.z]_ _j_
+
+In this transliteration _ch_ retains its ordinary English sound. _J_ is
+the French _j_; the vowels _e_, _i_, _u_, are, respectively, _ai_ in
+"bait," _ee_ in "beet," _oo_ in "pool," when long; when short, "bet,"
+"bit," "put" would represent their values. _I_, when unaccented and
+followed by a vowel, is sounded as _y_.
+
+The following names will illustrate the method of this
+transliteration:--
+
+ Polish Form of Name. Form in Transliteration.
+ Potocki Pototski
+ Chudzynski Hudzynski
+ Czarnkowski Charnkovski
+ Rzendzian Jendzian
+ Bleszynski Bleshynski
+ Szandarowski Shandarovski
+ Szczaniecki Shchanyetski
+ Wlostowski Vlostovski
+ [.Z]yromski Jyromski
+
+In Jendzian and Jechytsa,--only names, as I believe, beginning in
+Polish with _rz_ in this work,--the initial _r_ has been omitted in the
+transliteration on account of the extreme difficulty, for any one not a
+Pole, of pronouncing _r_ followed by the French _j_.
+
+
+ ACCENT.
+
+All Polish words, with few exceptions, are accented on the syllable
+next the last, the penult. The exceptions are foreign names, some
+compounds, some words with enclitics. Polish names of men and places
+are generally accented on the penult.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+ MAP OF THE POLISH COMMONWEALTH.
+
+This map, though diminutive, contains data through which the reader may
+see, at least in part, the historical course of the Commonwealth.
+
+The territory is indicated which was lost to the Teutonic Knights, and
+which became later the kingdom of Prussia. On the east are indicated
+the Russian lands which became connected with Poland, and which rose
+against Polish rule in 1618. These lands are included between the lines
+running north and south on the map, and which are designated,
+respectively, "Western limit of Russia before the Tartar invasion,"
+"Eastern limit of the Polish Commonwealth at the accession of Yan
+Kazimir."
+
+The names of more important places mentioned in FIRE AND SWORD and THE
+DELUGE appear also on the map. A few of these names are not so familiar
+in their Polish forms, which I have preserved; therefore the German is
+given, as follows:--
+
+ Polish. German.
+
+ Elblang Elbing
+ Glogov Glogau
+ Gnyezno Gnesen
+ Taurogi Tauroggen
+ Tyltsa Tilsit
+ Opol Oppeln
+ Poznan Posen
+
+ * * * * *
+
+ TITLES OF RANK AND ADDRESS.
+
+The highest military rank in Poland was grand hetman; next in order
+came field-hetman, which has appeared inadvertently in these volumes as
+full hetman. "Your worthiness," so frequently used, would be better
+translated "your dignity," "dignity" being used in the sense of
+"office." The terms Pan, Pani, and Panna are applied, respectively, to
+a gentleman, a married lady, and an unmarried lady; they are now
+equivalent to Mr., Mrs. or Madame, and Miss.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: Map of the Polish Commonwealth at the accession of Yan
+Kazimir.]
+
+
+
+
+
+ THE DELUGE
+
+
+
+
+ CHAPTER I.
+
+
+There was in Jmud a powerful family, the Billeviches, descended from
+Mendog, connected with many, and respected, beyond all, in the district
+of Rossyeni. The Billeviches had never risen to great offices, the
+highest they had filled were provincial; but in war they had rendered
+the country unsurpassed services, for which they were richly rewarded
+at various times. Their native nest, existing to this day, was called
+Billeviche; but they possessed many other estates, both in the
+neighborhood of Rossyeni and farther on toward Krakin, near Lauda,
+Shoi, Nyevyaja, and beyond Ponyevyej. In later times they branched out
+into a number of houses, the members of which lost sight of one
+another. They all assembled only when there was a census at Rossyeni of
+the general militia of Jmud on the plain of the invited Estates. They
+met also in part under the banners of the Lithuanian cavalry and at
+provincial diets; and because they were wealthy and influential, even
+the Radzivills, all powerful in Lithuania and Jmud, had to reckon with
+them.
+
+In the reign of Yan Kazimir, the patriarch of all the Billeviches, was
+Heraclius, colonel of light-horse and under-chamberlain of Upita. He
+did not dwell in the ancestral nest, which was rented at that time by
+Tomash, the sword-bearer of Rossyeni; Heraclius Billevich owned also
+Vodokty, Lyubich, and Mitruny, situated near Lauda, surrounded, as if
+with a sea, by agriculturists of the petty nobility.
+
+Besides the Billeviches there were only a few of the more considerable
+families in the neighborhood, such as the Sollohubs, the Montvills, the
+Schyllings, the Koryznis, the Sitsinskis,--though there was no lack of
+smaller nobility of these names; finally, the whole river region of
+Lauda was thickly studded with so-called "neighborhoods," or, in common
+parlance, _zastsianki_,[4] occupied by the nobility of Lauda, renowned
+and celebrated in the history of Jmud.
+
+In other neighborhoods of the region the families took their names from
+the places, or the places from the families, as was customary in
+Podlyasye; but along the river region of Lauda it was different. In
+Morezi dwelt the Stakyans, whom Batory in his time settled there for
+bravery at Pskoff; in Volmontovichi, on good land, swarmed the Butryms,
+the bulkiest fellows in all Lauda, noted for few words and heavy
+hands,--men who in time of provincial diets, raids on property, or wars
+were wont to go in close rank and in silence. The lands in Drojeykani
+and Mozgi were managed by the numerous Domasheviches, famed hunters;
+these men tramped through the wilderness of Zyelonka as far as Wilkomir
+on bear-trails. The Gashtovts occupied Patsuneli; their women were
+famous for beauty, so that finally all pretty girls around Krakin,
+Ponyevyej, and Upita were known as Patsuneli girls. The Sollohubs Mali
+were rich in horses and excellent cattle, bred in forest pastures. The
+Gostsyeviches in Goshchuni made tar in the woods, from which occupation
+they were called Gostsyevichi Charni (Black) or Dymni (Smoky),--the
+Black or Smoky Gostsyeviches.
+
+There were other villages and families also. The names of many of them
+are still extant; but these villages are not situated as before, and
+men call them by other names. Wars came too with misfortunes and fires,
+villages were not always rebuilt on the ruins; in a word, much has
+changed. But in that time old Lauda was still flourishing in its
+primeval estate; and the nobles had reached their highest repute a few
+years before, when, fighting at Loyovo against the uprisen Cossacks,
+they covered themselves with great glory under the lead of Yanush
+Radzivill.
+
+All the Lauda men served in the regiment of old Heraclius
+Billevich,--the richer with two horses, the poorer with one, and the
+poorest as attendants. In general, these nobles were warlike, and
+especially enamoured of a knightly career; but in questions which
+formed the ordinary subjects of discussion at a provincial diet they
+were less skilled. They knew that there was a king in Warsaw; that
+Radzivill and Pan Hlebovich were starostas in Jmud, and Pan Billevich
+at Vodokty in Lauda. That was sufficient for them; and they voted as
+Pan Billevich instructed them, convinced that he wanted the same as Pan
+Hlebovich, and that the latter went hand in hand with Radzivill.
+Radzivill was the king's arm in Lithuania and Jmud; the king was the
+consort of the Commonwealth, the father of the legion of nobles.
+
+Pan Billevich was, in fact, a friend rather than a client of the
+powerful oligarchs in Birji, and a greatly esteemed one at that; for at
+every call he had a thousand voices and a thousand Lauda sabres,--and
+sabres in the hands of the Stakyans, the Butryms, the Domasheviches, or
+the Gashtovts were despised at that period by no man on earth. It was
+only later that everything changed, just at the time when Pan Heraclius
+Billevich was no more.
+
+This father and benefactor of the nobles of Lauda died in 1654. In that
+year a terrible war[5] flamed forth along the whole eastern line of the
+Commonwealth; Pan Billevich did not go to it, for his age and his
+deafness did not permit; but the Lauda men went. When tidings came that
+Radzivill was defeated at Shklov, and the Lauda regiment in an attack
+on the hired infantry of France was cut almost to pieces, the old
+colonel, stricken by apoplexy, yielded his soul.
+
+These tidings were brought by a certain Pan Michael Volodyovski, a
+young but very famous warrior, who instead of Heraclius had led the
+Lauda regiment by appointment of Radzivill. The survivors came with him
+to their inherited fields, wearied, weighed down, and famished; in
+common with the whole army, they complained that the grand hetman,
+trusting in the terror of his name and the spell of victory, had rushed
+with small forces on a power ten times greater than his own, and thus
+had overwhelmed the army and the whole country.
+
+But amid the universal complaining not one voice was raised against
+Volodyovski. On the contrary, those who had escaped lauded him to the
+skies, relating wonders of his skill and his deeds. And the only solace
+left the survivors was the memory of the exploits performed under the
+young colonel's leadership,--how in the attack they had burst through
+the first line of reserves as through smoke; how later they fell on the
+French mercenaries and cut to pieces with their sabres the foremost
+regiment, on which occasion Pan Volodyovski with his own hand killed
+the colonel; how at last, surrounded and under fire from four sides,
+they saved themselves from the chaos by desperate fighting, falling in
+masses, but breaking the enemy.
+
+Those of the Lauda men who, not serving in the Lithuanian quota, were
+obliged to form a part of the general militia, listened in sorrow but
+with pride to these narratives. It was hoped on all sides that the
+general militia, the final defence of the country, would soon be
+called. It was agreed already that Volodyovski would be chosen captain
+of Lauda in that event; for though not of the local residents, there
+was no man among them more celebrated than he. The survivors said,
+besides, that he had rescued the hetman himself from death. Indeed, all
+Lauda almost bore him in its arms, and one neighborhood seized him from
+another. The Butryms, the Domasheviches, and the Gashtovts disputed as
+to whose guest he should be for the longest period. He pleased that
+valiant nobility so much that when the remnant of Radzivill's troops
+marched to Birji so as to be brought to some order after the defeat, he
+did not go with others, but passing from village to village took up his
+abode at last in Patsuneli with the Gashtovts, at the house of Pakosh
+Gashtovt, who had authority over all in that place.
+
+In fact, Pan Volodyovski could not have gone to Birji in any event, for
+he was so ill as to be confined to the bed. First an acute fever came
+on him; then from the contusion which he had received at Tsybihovo he
+lost the use of his right arm. The three daughters of his host, who
+were noted for beauty, took him into their tender care, and vowed to
+bring back to his original health such a celebrated cavalier. The
+nobility to the last man were occupied with the funeral of their former
+chief, Heraclius Billevich.
+
+After the funeral the will of the deceased was opened, from which it
+transpired that the old colonel had made his granddaughter, Aleksandra
+Billevich, daughter of the chief hunter of Upita, the heiress of all
+his property with the exception of the village of Lyubich. Guardianship
+over her till her marriage he confided to the entire nobility of
+Lauda--
+
+
+"who, as they were well wishing to me," continued he in the will, "and
+returned kindness for kindness, let them do the same too for the orphan
+in these times of corruption and wickedness, when no one is safe from
+the license of men or free of fear; let them guard the orphan from
+mischance, through memory of me.
+
+"They are also to see that she has safe use of her property with the
+exception of the village of Lyubich, which I give, present, and convey
+to the young banneret of Orsha, so that he may meet no obstacle in
+entering into possession of it. Should any man wonder at this my
+affection for Andrei Kmita, or see in it injustice to my own
+granddaughter Aleksandra, he must and should know that I held in
+friendship and true brotherly love from youthful years till the day of
+his death the father of Andrei Kmita. I was with him in war, he saved
+my life many times; and when the malice and envy of the Sitsinskis
+strove to wrest from me my fortune, he lent me his aid to defend it.
+Therefore I, Heraclius Billevich, under-chamberlain of Upita, and also
+an unworthy sinner standing now before the stern judgment of God, went
+four years ago, while alive and walking upon the earthly vale, to Pan
+Kmita, the father, the sword-bearer of Orsha, to vow gratitude and
+steady friendship. On that occasion we made mutual agreement, according
+to ancient noble and Christian custom, that our children--namely his
+son Andrei and my granddaughter Aleksandra--were to be married, so that
+from them posterity might rise to the praise of God and the good of the
+State, which I wish most earnestly; and by the will here written I bind
+my granddaughter to obedience unless the banneret of Orsha (which God
+forbid) stain his reputation with evil deeds and be despoiled of honor.
+Should he lose his inheritance near Orsha, which may easily happen, she
+is to take him as husband with blessing; and even should he lose
+Lyubich, to pay no heed to the loss.
+
+"However, if by the special favor of God, my granddaughter should wish
+in praise of Him to make an offering of her virginity and put on the
+habit of a nun, it is permitted her to do so, for I know that the
+praise of God is to precede that of man."
+
+
+In such fashion did Pan Heraclius Billevich dispose of his fortune and
+his granddaughter, at which no one wondered much. Panna Aleksandra had
+been long aware of what awaited her, and the nobles had heard from of
+old of the friendship between Billevich and the Kmitas; besides, in
+time of defeat the thoughts of men were occupied with other things, so
+that soon they ceased to talk of the will.
+
+But they talked of the Kmitas continually in the house at Vodokty, or
+rather of Pan Andrei, for the old sword-bearer also was dead. The
+younger Kmita had fought at Shklov with his own banner and with
+volunteers from Orsha. Then he vanished from the eye; but it was not
+admitted that he had perished, since the death of so noted a cavalier
+would surely not have escaped notice. The Kmitas were people of birth
+in Orsha, and lords of considerable fortune; but the flame of war had
+ruined those regions. Districts and entire lands were turned into
+deserts, fortunes were devoured, and people perished. After the
+crushing of Radzivill no one offered firm resistance. Gosyevski, full
+hetman, had no troops; the hetmans of the Crown with their armies in
+the Ukraine were struggling with what strength they had left and could
+not help him, exhausted as well as the Commonwealth by the Cossack
+wars. The deluge covered the land more and more, only breaking here and
+there against fortified walls; but the walls fell one after another, as
+had fallen Smolensk. The province of Smolensk, in which lay the fortune
+of the Kmitas, was looked on as lost. In the universal chaos, in the
+general terror, people were scattered like leaves in a tempest, and no
+man knew what had become of the banneret of Orsha.
+
+But war had not reached Jmud yet. The nobles of Lauda returned to their
+senses by degrees. "The neighborhoods" began to assemble, and discuss
+both public and private affairs. The Butryms, readiest for battle,
+muttered that it would be necessary to go to Rossyeni to the muster of
+the general militia, and then to Gosyevski, to avenge the defeat of
+Shklov; the Domasheviches, the hunters, had gone through the wilderness
+of Rogovo by the forests till they found parties of the enemy and
+brought back news; the Smoky Gostsyeviches smoked meat in their huts
+for a future expedition. In private affairs it was decided to send
+tried and experienced men to find Pan Andrei Kmita.
+
+The old men of Lauda held these deliberations under the presidency of
+Pakosh Gashtovt and Kassyan Butrym, two neighborhood patriarchs. All
+the nobility, greatly flattered by the confidence which the late Pan
+Billevich had placed in them, swore to stand faithfully by the letter
+of the will, and to surround Panna Aleksandra with well-nigh fatherly
+care. This was in time of war, when even in places to which war had not
+come disturbance and suffering were felt. On the banks of the Lauda all
+remained quiet, there were no disputes, there was no breaking through
+boundaries on the estates of the young heiress, landmarks were not
+shifted, no ditches were filled, no branded pine-trees were felled on
+forest borders, no pastures were invaded. On the contrary, the heiress
+was aided with provisions,--whatever the neighborhood had; for
+instance, the Stakjans on the river sent salt-fish, wheat came from the
+surly Butryms at Voimontovichi, hay from the Gashtovts, game from the
+Domasheviches (the hunters), tar and pitch from the Gostsyeviches. Of
+Panna Aleksandra no one in the villages spoke otherwise than as "our
+lady," and the pretty girls of Patsuneli waited for Pan Kmita perhaps
+as impatiently as she.
+
+Meanwhile came the summons calling the nobility. The Lauda men began to
+move. He who from being a youth had grown to be a man, he whom age had
+not bent, had to mount his horse. Yan Kazimir arrived at Grodno, and
+fixed that as the place of general muster. There, then, they mustered.
+The Butryms in silence went forth; after them others, and the Gashtovts
+last,--as they always did, for they hated to leave the Patsuneli girls.
+The nobles from other districts appeared in scant numbers only, and the
+country was left undefended; but God-fearing Lauda had appeared in full
+quota.
+
+Pan Volodyovski did not march, for he was not able yet to use his arm;
+he remained therefore as if district commander among the women. The
+neighborhoods were deserted, and only old men and women sat around the
+fires in the evening. It was quiet in Ponyevyej and Upita; they were
+waiting on all sides for news.
+
+Panna Aleksandra in like manner shut herself in at Vodokty, seeing no
+one but servants and her guardians of Lauda.
+
+
+
+
+ CHAPTER II.
+
+
+The new year 1655 came. January was frosty, but dry; a stern winter
+covered sacred Jmud with a white coat three feet thick, the forests
+were bending and breaking under a wealth of snow bunches, snow dazzled
+the eyes during days of sunshine, and in the night by the moon there
+glittered as it were sparks vanishing on a surface stiffened by frost;
+wild beasts approached the dwellings of men, and the poor gray birds
+hammered with their beaks the windows covered with hoar frost and
+snow-flowers.
+
+On a certain evening Panna Aleksandra was sitting in the servants' hall
+with her work-maidens. It was an old custom of the Billeviches, when
+there were no guests, to spend evenings with the servants singing hymns
+and edifying simple minds by their example. In this wise did Panna
+Aleksandra; and the more easily since among her house-maidens were some
+really noble, very poor orphans. These performed every kind of work,
+even the rudest, and were servants for ladies; in return they were
+trained in good manners, and received better treatment than simple
+girls. But among them were peasants too, differing mainly in speech,[6]
+for many did not know Polish.
+
+Panna Aleksandra, with her relative Panna Kulvyets, sat in the centre,
+and the girls around on benches; all were spinning. In a great chimney
+with sloping sides pine-logs were burning, now dying down and now
+flaming freshly with a great bright blaze or with sparks, as the youth
+standing near the chimney threw on small pieces of birch or pitch-pine.
+When the flame shot upward brightly, the dark wooden walls of the
+great hall were to be seen, with an unusually low ceiling resting on
+cross-beams. From the beams hung, on threads, many-colored stars, made
+of wafers, trembling in the warm air; behind, from both sides of the
+beams, were bunches of combed flax, hanging like captured Turkish
+horse-tail standards. Almost the whole ceiling was covered with them.
+On the dark walls glittered, like stars, tin plates, large and small,
+standing straight or leaning on long oaken shelves.
+
+In the distance, near the door, a shaggy-haired man of Jmud was making
+a great noise with a hand-mill, and muttering a song with nasal
+monotone. Panna Aleksandra slipped her beads through her fingers in
+silence; the spinners spun on, saying nothing the one to the other.
+
+The light of the flame fell on their youthful, ruddy faces. They, with
+both hands raised,--with the left feeding the soft flax, with the right
+turning the wheel,--spun eagerly, as if vying with one another, urged
+on by the stern glances of Panna Kulvyets. Sometimes, too, they looked
+at one another with quick eye, and sometimes at Panna Aleksandra, as if
+in expectation that she would tell the man to stop grinding, and would
+begin the hymn; but they did not cease working. They spun and spun on;
+the threads were winding, the wheel was buzzing, the distaff played in
+the hand of Panna Kulvyets, the shaggy-haired man of Jmud rattled on
+with his mill.
+
+But at times he stopped his work. Evidently something was wrong with
+the mill, for at those times was heard his angry voice: "It's down!"
+
+Panna Aleksandra raised her head, as if roused by the silence which
+followed the exclamations of the man; then the blaze lighted up her
+face and her serious blue eyes looking from beneath black brows. She
+was a comely lady, with flaxen hair, pale complexion, and delicate
+features. She had the beauty of a white flower. The mourning robes
+added to her dignity. Sitting before the chimney, she seemed buried in
+thought, as in a dream; doubtless she was meditating over her own lot,
+for her fates were in the balance. The will predestined her to be the
+wife of a man whom she had not seen for ten years; and as she was now
+almost twenty, there remained to her but unclear childhood
+reminiscences of a certain boisterous boy, who at the time when he with
+his father had come to Vodokty, was more occupied with racing through
+the swamps with a gun than in looking at her. "Where is he, and what
+manner of man is he now?" These were the questions which thrust
+themselves on the mind of the dignified lady. She knew him also, it is
+true, from the narratives of the late under-chamberlain, who four
+years before had undertaken the long journey to Orsha. According to
+those narratives, he was a cavalier "of great courage, though very
+quick-tempered." By the contract of marriage for their descendants
+concluded between old Billevich and Kmita the father, Kmita the son was
+to go at once to Vodokty and be accepted by the lady; but a great war
+broke out just then, and the cavalier, instead of going to the lady,
+went to the fields of Berestechko. Wounded at Berestechko, he recovered
+at home; then he nursed his sick father, who was near death; after that
+another war broke out, and thus four years passed. Since the death of
+the old colonel considerable time had elapsed, but no tidings of Kmita.
+
+Panna Aleksandra therefore had something to meditate upon, and perhaps
+she was pining for the unknown. In her pure heart, especially because
+it knew not love as yet, she bore a great readiness for that feeling. A
+spark only was needed to kindle on that hearth a flame quiet but
+bright, and as steady as the undying sacred fire of Lithuania.
+
+Disquiet then seized her,--at times pleasant, at times bitter; and her
+soul was ever putting questions to which there was no answer, or rather
+the answer must come from distant fields. The first question was
+whether he would marry her with good-will and respond with readiness to
+her readiness. In those days contracts by parents for the marriage of
+their children were usual; and if the parents died the children, held
+by the blessing, observed in most cases the contract. In the engagement
+itself the young lady saw nothing uncommon; but good pleasure does not
+always go hand in hand with duty; hence the anxiety that weighed down
+the blond head of the maiden. "Will he love me?" And then a flock of
+thoughts surrounded her, as a flock of birds surround a tree standing
+alone in spacious fields: "Who art thou? What manner of person? Art
+walking alive in the world, or perhaps thou hast fallen? Art thou
+distant or near?" The open heart of the lady, like a door open to a
+precious guest, called involuntarily to distant regions, to forests and
+snow-fields covered with night: "Come hither, young hero; for there is
+naught in the world more bitter than waiting."
+
+That moment, as if in answer to the call, from outside, from those
+snowy distances covered with night, came the sound of a bell.
+
+The lady trembled, but regaining her presence of mind, remembered that
+almost every evening some one came to Vodokty to get medicine for the
+young colonel.
+
+Panna Kulvyets confirmed that idea by saying, "Some one from the
+Gashtovts for herbs."
+
+The irregular sound of the bell shaken by the shaft rang more
+distinctly each moment; at last it stopped on a sudden. Evidently the
+sleigh had halted before the door.
+
+"See who has come," said Panna Kulvyets to the man of Jmud who was
+turning the mill.
+
+The man went out of the servants' hall, but soon returned, and taking
+again the handle of the mill, said phlegmatically, "Panas Kmitas."[7]
+
+"The word is made flesh!" cried Panna Kulvyets.
+
+The spinners sprang to their feet; the flax and the distaffs fell to
+the floor.
+
+Panna Aleksandra rose also. Her heart beat like a hammer; a flush came
+forth on her face, and then pallor; but she turned from the chimney,
+lest her emotion might be seen.
+
+Then in the door appeared a certain lofty figure in a fur mantle and
+fur-bound cap. A young man advanced to the middle of the room, and
+seeing that he was in the servants' hall, inquired in a resonant voice,
+without removing his cap, "Hei! but where is your mistress?"
+
+"I am the mistress," said Panna Billevich, in tones sufficiently clear.
+
+Hearing this, the newly arrived removed his cap, cast it on the floor,
+and inclining said, "I am Andrei Kmita."
+
+The eyes of Panna Aleksandra rested with lightning-like swiftness on
+the face of Kmita, and then dropped again to the floor; still during
+that time the lady was able to see the tuft shaven high, yellow as
+wheat, an embrowned complexion, blue eyes, looking quickly to the
+front, dark mustache, a face youthful, eagle-like, but joyous and
+gallant.
+
+He rested his left hand on his hip, raised his right to his mustache,
+and said: "I have not been in Lyubich yet, for I hastened here like a
+bird to bow down at the feet of the lady, the chief hunter's daughter.
+The wind--God grant it was a happy one!--brought me straight from the
+camp."
+
+"Did you know of the death of my grandfather?" asked the lady.
+
+"I did not; but I bewailed with hot tears my benefactor when I learned
+of his death from those rustics who came from this region to me. He was
+a sincere friend, almost a brother, of my late father. Of course it is
+well known to you that four years ago he came to us at Orsha. Then he
+promised me your ladyship, and showed a portrait about which I sighed
+in the night-time. I wished to come sooner, but war is not a mother:
+she makes matches for men with death only."
+
+This bold speech confused the lady somewhat. Wishing to change the
+subject, she said, "Then you have not seen Lyubich yet?"
+
+"There will be time for that. My first service is here; and here the
+dearest inheritance, which I wish to receive first. But you turned from
+the hearth, so that to this moment I have not been able to look you in
+the eye--that's the way! Turn, and I will stand next the hearth; that's
+the way!"
+
+Thus speaking, the daring soldier seized by the hand Olenka,[8] who did
+not expect such an act, and brought her face toward the fire, turning
+her like a top. She was still more confused, and covering her eyes with
+her long lashes, stood abashed by the light and her own beauty. Kmita
+released her at last, and struck himself on the doublet.
+
+"As God is dear to me, a beauty! I'll have a hundred Masses said for my
+benefactor because he left you to me. When the betrothal?"
+
+"Not yet awhile; I am not yours yet," said Olenka.
+
+"But you will be, even if I have to burn this house! As God lives, I
+thought the portrait flattered. I see that the painter aimed high, but
+missed. A thousand lashes to such an artist, and stoves to paint, not
+beauties, with which eyes are feasted! Oh, 'tis a delight to be the
+heir to such an inheritance, may the bullets strike me!"
+
+"My late grandfather told me that you were very hot-headed."
+
+"All are that way with us in Smolensk; not like your Jmud people. One,
+two! and it must be as we want; if not, then death."
+
+Olenka laughed, and said with a voice now more confident, raising her
+eyes to the cavalier, "Then it must be that Tartars dwell among you?"
+
+"All one! but you are mine by the will of parents and by your heart."
+
+"By my heart? That I know not yet."
+
+"Should you not be, I would thrust myself with a knife!"
+
+"You say that laughing. But we are still in the servants' hall; I beg
+you to the reception-room. After a long road doubtless supper will be
+acceptable. I beg you to follow me."
+
+Here Olenka turned to Panna Kulvyets. "Auntie, dear, come with us."
+
+The young banneret glanced quickly. "Aunt?" he inquired,--"whose aunt?"
+
+"Mine,--Panna Kulvyets."
+
+"Then she is mine!" answered he, going to kiss her hand. "I have in my
+company an officer named Kulvyets-Hippocentaurus. Is he not a
+relative?"
+
+"He is of the same family," replied the old maid, with a courtesy.
+
+"A good fellow, but a whirlwind like myself," added Kmita.
+
+Meanwhile a boy appeared with a light. They went to the antechamber,
+where Pan Andrei removed his shuba; then they passed to the
+reception-room.
+
+Immediately after their departure the spinners gathered in a close
+circle, and one interrupted another, talking and making remarks. The
+stately young man pleased them greatly; therefore they did not spare
+words on him, vying with one another in praises.
+
+"Light shines from him," said one; "when he came I thought he was a
+king's son."
+
+"And he has lynx eyes, so that he cuts with them," said another; "do
+not cross such a man."
+
+"That is worst of all," said a third.
+
+"He met the lady as a betrothed. It is easily seen that she pleased him
+greatly, for whom has she not pleased?"
+
+"But he is not worse than she, never fear! Could you get his equal, you
+would go even to Orsha, though likely that is at the end of the world."
+
+"Ah, lucky lady!"
+
+"It is always best for the rich in the world. Ei, ei, that's gold, not
+a knight."
+
+"The Patsuneli girls say that that cavalry captain who is stopping with
+old Pakosh is a handsome cavalier."
+
+"I have not seen him; but how compare him with Pan Kmita! Such another
+as Pan Kmita surely there is not in the world!"
+
+"It's down!" cried the man of Jmud on a sudden, when something broke
+again in the mill.
+
+"Go out, shaggy head, with thy freaks! Give us peace, for we cannot
+hear.--True, true; hard to find better than Pan Kmita in the whole
+world; surely in Kyedani there is none such."
+
+"Dream of one like him!"
+
+"May his like come in a dream!"
+
+In such fashion did the girls talk among themselves in the servants'
+hall. Meanwhile in the dining-room the table was laid in all haste,
+while in the drawing-room Panna Aleksandra conversed face to face with
+Kmita, for Aunt Kulvyets had gone to bustle about the supper.
+
+Pan Andrei did not remove his gaze from Olenka, and his eyes shot
+sparks more and more every moment; at last he said,--
+
+"There are men to whom land is dearer than all things else; there are
+others who chase after plunder in war, others love horses; but I would
+not give you for any treasure. As God lives, the more I look the more I
+wish to marry; so that even if it were to-morrow-- Oh, that brow,--just
+as if painted with burned cork!"
+
+"I hear that some use such strange things, but I am not of that kind."
+
+"And eyes as from heaven! From confusion, words fail me."
+
+"You are not greatly confused, if in my presence you can be so urgent
+that I am wonder-stricken."
+
+"That is our way in Smolensk,--to go boldly at women as we do into
+battle. You must, my queen, grow accustomed to this, for thus will it
+ever be."
+
+"You must put it aside, for thus it cannot be."
+
+"Perhaps I may yield, may I be slain! Believe, believe me not, but with
+gladness would I bend the skies for you. For you, my queen, I am ready
+to learn other manners; for I know myself that I am a simple soldier, I
+have lived more in camps than in chambers of castles."
+
+"Oh, that harms nothing, for my grandfather was a soldier; but I give
+thanks for the good-will," said Olenka; and her eyes looked with such
+sweetness on Pan Andrei that his heart melted like wax in a moment, and
+he answered,--
+
+"You will lead me on a thread."
+
+"Ah, you are not like those who are led on threads; to do that is most
+difficult with men who are unsteady."
+
+Kmita showed in a smile teeth as white as a wolf's teeth, "How is
+that?" asked he. "Are the rods few that the fathers broke on me in the
+monastery to bring me to steadiness and make me remember various fair
+maxims for guidance in life--"
+
+"And which one do you remember best?"
+
+"'When in love, fall at the feet,'--in this fashion."
+
+When he had spoken, Kmita was already on his knees. The lady screamed,
+putting her feet under the table.
+
+"For God's sake! they did not teach that in the monastery. Leave off,
+or I shall be angry--my aunt will come this minute--"
+
+Still on his knees, he raised his head and looked into her eyes. "Let a
+whole squadron of aunts come; I shall not forbid their pleasure."
+
+"But stand up!"
+
+"I am standing."
+
+"Sit down!"
+
+"I am sitting."
+
+"You are a traitor, a Judas!"
+
+"Not true, for when I kiss 'tis with sincerity,--will you be
+convinced?"
+
+"You are a serpent!"
+
+Panna Aleksandra laughed, however, and a halo of youth and gladness
+came from her. His nostrils quivered like the nostrils of a young steed
+of noble blood.
+
+"Ai! ai!" said he. "What eyes, what a face! Save me, all ye saints, for
+I cannot keep away!"
+
+"There is no reason to summon the saints. You were absent four years
+without once looking in here; sit still now!"
+
+"But I knew only the counterfeit. I will have that painter put in tar
+and then in feathers, and scourge him through the square of Upita. I
+will tell all in sincerity,--forgive, if it please you; if not, take my
+head. I thought to myself when looking at that portrait: 'A pretty
+little rogue, pretty; but there is no lack of pretty ones in the world.
+I have time.' My late father urged me hither, but I had always one
+answer: 'I have time! The little wife will not vanish; maidens go not
+to war and do not perish.' I was not opposed at all to the will of my
+father, God is my witness; but I wanted first to know war and feel it
+on my own body. This moment I see my folly. I might have married and
+gone to war afterward; and here every delight was waiting for me.
+Praise be to God that they did not hack me to death! Permit me to kiss
+your hand."
+
+"Better, I'll not permit."
+
+"Then I will not ask. In Orsha we say, 'Ask; but if they don't give,
+take it thyself.'"
+
+Here Pan Andrei clung to the hand of the lady and began to kiss it; and
+the lady did not resist too greatly, lest she might exhibit ill-will.
+
+Just then Panna Kulvyets came in. When she saw what was going on, she
+raised her eyes. That intimacy did not please her, but she dared not
+scold. She gave invitation to supper.
+
+Both went to the supper-room, holding each the other's hand as if they
+were related. In the room stood a table covered, and on it an abundance
+of all kinds of food, especially choice smoked meats and a mouldy thick
+bottle of strength-giving wine. It was pleasant for the young people
+with each other, gladsome, vivacious. The lady had supped already;
+therefore Kmita sat alone, and began to eat with animation equal to
+that with which he had just been conversing.
+
+Olenka looked at him with sidelong glance, glad that he was eating and
+drinking. When he had appeased his first hunger, she began again to
+inquire,--
+
+"Then you are not direct from Orsha?"
+
+"Scarcely do I know whence I come,--here to-day, tomorrow in another
+place. I prowled near the enemy as a wolf around sheep, and what was
+possible to seize I seized."
+
+"And how had you daring to meet such a power, before which the grand
+hetman himself had to yield?"
+
+"How had I daring? I am ready for all things, such is the nature within
+me."
+
+"That is what my grandfather said. Great luck that you were not
+killed!"
+
+"Ai, they covered me with cap and with hand as a bird is covered on the
+nest; but I, whom they covered, sprang out and bit them in another
+place. I made it so bitter for them that there is a price on my
+head-- A splendid half-goose!"
+
+"In the name of the Father and the Son!" cried Olenka, with unfeigned
+wonder, gazing with homage on that young man who in the same moment
+mentions the price on his head and the half-goose. "Had you many troops
+for defence?"
+
+"I had, of course, my poor dragoons,--very excellent men, but in a
+month they were all kicked to bits. Then I went with volunteers whom I
+gathered wherever I could without question. Good fellows for battle,
+but knave upon knave! Those who have not perished already will sooner
+or later be meat for the crows."
+
+Pan Andrei laughed, emptied his goblet of wine, and added: "Such
+plunderers you have not seen yet. May the hangman light them!
+Officers,--all nobles from our parts, men of family, worthy people, but
+against almost every one of them is a sentence of outlawry. They are
+now in Lyubich, for where else could I send them?"
+
+"So you have come to us with the whole squadron?"
+
+"I have. The enemy took refuge in towns, for the winter is bitter.
+My men too are as ragged as brooms after long sweeping. The prince
+voevoda assigned me winter quarters in Ponyevyej. God knows the
+breathing-spell is well earned!"
+
+"Eat, I beg you."
+
+"I would eat poison for your sake! I left a part of my ragged fellows
+in Ponyevyej, a part in Upita, and the most worthy officers I invited
+to Lyubich as guests. These men will come to beat to you with the
+forehead."
+
+"But where did the Lauda men find you?"
+
+"They found me on the way to winter quarters in Ponyevyej. Had I not
+met them I should have come here."
+
+"But drink."
+
+"I would drink even poison for you!"
+
+"Were the Lauda men the first to tell you of my grandfather's death and
+the will?"
+
+"They told of the death.--Lord, give light to the soul of my
+benefactor!--Did you send those men to me?"
+
+"Think not such a thing! I had nothing but mourning and prayer on my
+mind."
+
+"They too said the same. They are an arrogant set of homespuns. I
+wanted to give them a reward for their toil; instead of accepting it,
+they rose against me and said that the nobility of Orsha might take
+drink-money, but the Lauda men never. They spoke very foully to me;
+while listening, I thought to myself: 'If you don't want money, then
+I'll command to give you a hundred lashes.'"
+
+Panna Aleksandra seized her head. "Jesus Mary! and did you do that?"
+
+Kmita looked at her in astonishment. "Have no fears! I did not, though
+my soul revolts within me at such trashy nobility, who pretend to be
+the equal of us. But I thought to myself, 'They will cry me down
+without cause in those parts, call me tyrant, and calumniate me before
+you!'"
+
+"Great is your luck," said Olenka, drawing a deep breath of relief,
+"for I should not have been able to look you in the eyes."
+
+"But how so?"
+
+"That is a petty nobility, but ancient and renowned. My dear
+grandfather always loved them, and went with them to war. He served all
+his life with them. In time of peace he received them in his house.
+That is an old friendship of our family which you must respect. You
+have moreover a heart, and will not break that sacred harmony in which
+thus far we have lived."
+
+"I knew nothing of them at that moment,--may I be slain if I did!--but
+yet I confess that this barefooted nobledom somehow cannot find place
+in my head. With us a peasant is a peasant, and nobles are all men of
+good family, who do not sit two on one mare. God knows that such scurvy
+fellows have nothing to do with the Kmitas nor with the Billeviches,
+just as a mudfish has nothing to do with a pike, though this is a fish
+and that also."
+
+"My grandfather used to say that blood and honor, not wealth, make a
+man; and these are honorable people, or grandfather would not have made
+them my guardians."
+
+Pan Andrei was astonished and opened wide his eyes, "Did your
+grandfather make all the petty nobility of Lauda guardians over you?"
+
+"He did. Do not frown, for the will of the dead is sacred. It is a
+wonder to me that the messengers did not mention this."
+
+"I should have-- But that cannot be. There is a number of villages.
+Will they all discuss about you? Will they discuss me,--whether I am to
+their thinking or not? But jest not, for the blood is storming up in
+me."
+
+"Pan Andrei, I am not jesting; I speak the sacred and sincere truth.
+They will not debate about you; but if you will not repulse them nor
+show haughtiness, you will capture not only them, but my heart. I,
+together with them, will thank you all my life,--all my life, Pan
+Andrei."
+
+Her voice trembled as if in a beseeching request; but he did not let
+the frown go from his brow, and was gloomy. He did not burst into
+anger, it is true, though at moments there flew over his face as it
+were lightnings; but he answered with haughtiness and pride,--
+
+"I did not look for this! I respect the will of the dead, and I think
+the under-chamberlain might have made those petty nobles your guardians
+till the time of my coming; but when once I have put foot here, no
+other, save me, will be guardian. Not only those gray coats, but the
+Radzivills of Birji themselves have nothing in this place to do with
+guardianship."
+
+Panna Aleksandra grew serious, and answered after a short silence: "You
+do ill to be carried away by pride. The conditions laid down by my late
+grandfather must be either all accepted or all rejected. I see no other
+way. The men of Lauda will give neither trouble nor annoyance, for they
+are worthy people and peaceful. Do not suppose that they will be
+disagreeable. Should any trouble arise, they might say a word; but it
+is my opinion that all will pass in harmony and peace, and then the
+guardianship will be as if it had not been."
+
+Kmita held silence a moment, then waved his hand and said: "It is true
+that the marriage will end everything. There is nothing to quarrel
+about. Let them only sit quietly and not force themselves on me; for
+God knows I will not let my mustache be blown upon. But no more of
+them. Permit an early wedding; that will be best."
+
+"It is not becoming to mention that now, in time of mourning."
+
+"Ai, but shall I be forced to wait long?"
+
+"Grandfather himself stated that no longer than half a year."
+
+"I shall be as dried up as a chip before that time. But let us not be
+angry. You have begun to look on me as sternly as on an offender. God
+be good to you, my golden queen! In what am I to blame if the nature
+within me is such that when anger against a man takes me I would tear
+him to pieces, and when it passes I would sew him together again."
+
+"'Tis a terror to live with such a man," answered Olenka, more
+joyously.
+
+"Well, to your health! This is good wine; for me the sabre and wine are
+the basis. What kind of terror to live with me? You will hold me
+ensnared with your eyes, and make a slave of me,--a man who hitherto
+would endure no superior. At the present time I chose to go with my own
+little company in independence rather than bow to the hetman. My golden
+queen, if anything in me does not please you, overlook it; for I
+learned manners near cannon and not among ladies, in the tumult of
+soldiers and not at the lute. Our region is restless, the sabre is
+never let go from the hand. There, though some outlawry rests on a man,
+though he be pursued by sentences, 'tis nothing! People respect him if
+he has the daring of a warrior. For example, my companions who in some
+other place would have long been in prison are in their fashion worthy
+persons. Even women among us go in boots, and with sabres lead
+parties,--like Pani Kokosinski, the aunt of my lieutenant. She died a
+heroes death; and her nephew in my command has avenged her, though in
+life he did not love her. Where should we, even of the greatest
+families, learn politeness? But we know when there is war how to fight,
+when there is a diet how to talk; and if the tongue is not enough, then
+the sabre. That's the position; as a man of such action did the late
+chamberlain know me, and as such did he choose me for you."
+
+"I have always followed the will of my grandfather willingly," answered
+the lady, dropping her eyes.
+
+"Let me kiss your hand once again, my dear girl! God knows you have
+come close to my heart. Feeling has so taken hold of me that I know not
+how I can find that Lyubich which I have not yet seen."
+
+"I will give you a guide."
+
+"Oh, I shall find the way. I am used to much pounding around by night.
+I have an attendant from Ponyevyej who must know the road. And there
+Kokosinski and his comrades are waiting for me. With us the Kokosinskis
+are a great family, who use the seal of Pypka. This one was outlawed
+without reason because he burned the house of Pan Orpishevski, carried
+off a maiden, and cut down some servants. A good comrade!-- Give me
+your hand once more. I see it is time to go."
+
+Midnight began to beat slowly on the great Dantzig clock standing in
+the hall.
+
+"For God's sake! 'tis time, 'tis time!" cried Kmita. "I may not stay
+longer. Do you love me, even as much as would go around your finger?"
+
+"I will answer another time. You will visit me, of course?"
+
+"Every day, even if the ground should open under me! May I be slain!"
+
+Kmita rose, and both went to the antechamber. The sleigh was already
+waiting before the porch; so he enrobed himself in the shuba, and began
+to take farewell, begging her to return to the chamber, for the cold
+was flying in from the porch.
+
+"Good-night, my dear queen," said he, "sleep sweetly, for surely I
+shall not close an eye thinking of your beauty."
+
+"May you see nothing bad! But better, I'll give you a man with a light,
+for there is no lack of wolves near Volmontovichi."
+
+"And am I a lamb to fear wolves? A wolf is a friend to a soldier, for
+often has he profit from his hand. We have also firearms in the sleigh.
+Good-night, dearest, good-night."
+
+"With God."
+
+Olenka withdrew, and Pan Kmita went to the porch. But on the way,
+through the slightly open door of the servants' hall he saw a number of
+pairs of eyes of maidens who waiting to see him once more had not yet
+lain down to sleep. To them Pan Andrei sent, soldier-fashion, kisses
+from his mouth with his hand, and went out. After a while the bell
+began to jingle, at first loudly, then with a continually decreasing
+sound, ever fainter and fainter, till at last it was silent.
+
+It grew still in Vodokty, till the stillness amazed Panna Aleksandra.
+The words of Pan Andrei were sounding in her ears; she heard his
+laughter yet, heartfelt, joyous; in her eyes stood the rich form of the
+young man; and now after that storm of words, mirth, and joyousness,
+such marvellous silence succeeded. The lady bent her ear,--could she
+not hear even one sound more from the sleigh? But no! it was sounding
+somewhere off in the forest, near Volmontovichi. Therefore a mighty
+sadness seized the maiden, and never had she felt so much alone in the
+world.
+
+Taking the light, slowly she went to her chamber, and knelt down to say
+the Lord's Prayer. She began five times before she could finish with
+proper attention; and when she had finished, her thoughts, as if on
+wings, chased after that sleigh and that figure sitting within. On one
+side were pine-woods, pine-woods on the other, in the middle a broad
+road, and he driving on,--Pan Andrei! Here it seemed to Olenka that she
+saw as before her the blond foretop, the blue eyes, the laughing mouth
+in which are gleaming teeth as white as the teeth of a young dog. For
+this dignified lady could hardly deny before her own face that this
+wild cavalier had greatly pleased her. He alarmed her a little, he
+frightened her a little, but he attracted her also with that daring,
+that joyous freedom and sincerity, till she was ashamed that he pleased
+her, especially with his haughtiness when at mention of the guardians
+he reared his head like a Turkish war-horse and said, "Even the
+Radzivills of Birji themselves have nothing to do here with
+guardianship."
+
+"That is no dangler around women; that is a true man," said the lady to
+herself. "He is a soldier of the kind that my grandfather loved most of
+all,--and he deserved it!"
+
+So meditated the lady; and a happiness undimmed by anything embraced
+her. It was an unquiet; but that unquiet was something dear. Then she
+began to undress; the door creaked, and in came Panna Kulvyets, with a
+candle in her hand.
+
+"You sat terribly long," said she. "I did not wish to interfere with
+young people, so that you might talk your fill the first time. He seems
+a courteous cavalier. But how did he please you?"
+
+Panna Aleksandra gave no answer at first, but barefooted ran up to her
+aunt, threw herself on her neck, and placing her bright head on her
+bosom, said with a fondling voice, "Auntie, oh, Auntie!"
+
+"Oho!" muttered the old maid, raising her eyes and the candle toward
+heaven.
+
+
+
+
+ CHAPTER III.
+
+
+When Pan Andrei drove up to the mansion at Lyubich, the windows were
+gleaming, and bustle reached the front yard. The servants, hearing
+the bell, rushed out through the entrance to greet their lord, for
+they had learned from his comrades that he would come. They greeted
+him with submission, kissing his hands and seizing his feet. The old
+land-steward, Znikis, stood in the entrance holding bread and salt, and
+beating worship with the forehead; all gazed with uneasiness and
+curiosity,--how would their future lord look? Kmita threw a purse full
+of thalers on the tray, and asked for his comrades, astonished that no
+one of them had come forth to meet his proprietary mightiness.
+
+But they could not come forth, for they were then the third hour at the
+table, entertaining themselves at the cup, and perhaps in fact they had
+not taken note of the sounding of the bell outside. But when he entered
+the room, from all breasts a loud shout burst forth: "The heir, the
+heir has come!" and all his comrades, springing from their places,
+started toward him with their cups. But he placed his hands on his
+hips, and laughed at the manner in which they had helped themselves in
+his house, and had gone to drinking before his arrival. He laughed with
+increasing heartiness when he saw them advance with tipsy solemnity.
+
+Before the others went the gigantic Pan Yaromir Kokosinski, with the
+seal of Pypka, a famous soldier and swaggerer, with a terrible scar
+across his forehead, his eye, and his cheek, with one mustache short,
+the other long, the lieutenant and friend of Kmita, the "worthy
+comrade," condemned to loss of life and honor in Smolensk for stealing
+a maiden, for murder and arson. At that time war saved him, and the
+protection of Kmita, who was of the same age; and their lands were
+adjoining in Orsha till Pan Yaromir had squandered his away. He came up
+holding in both hands a great-eared bowl filled with dembniak.
+
+Next came Ranitski, whose family had arms,--Dry Chambers (Suche
+Komnaty). He was born in the province of Mstislavsk, from which he was
+an outlaw for killing two noblemen, landowners. One he slew in a duel,
+the other he shot without an encounter. He had no estate, though he
+inherited his step-mother's land on the death of his father. War saved
+him, too, from the executioner. He was an incomparable hand-to-hand
+sword-slasher.
+
+The third in order was Rekuts-Leliva, on whom blood did not weigh, save
+the blood of the enemy. But he had played away, drunk away his
+substance. For the past three years he had clung to Kmita.
+
+With him came the fourth, also from Smolensk, Pan Uhlik, under sentence
+of death and dishonor for breaking up a court. Kmita protected him
+because he played beautifully on the flageolet.
+
+Besides them was Pan Kulvyets-Hippocentaurus, in stature the equal of
+Kokosinski, in strength even his superior; and Zend, a horse-trainer,
+who knew how to imitate wild beasts and all kinds of birds,--a man of
+uncertain descent, though claiming to be a noble of Courland; being
+without fortune he trained Kmita's horses, for which he received an
+allowance.
+
+These then surrounded the laughing Pan Andrei. Kokosinski raised the
+eared bowl and intoned:--
+
+
+ "Drink with us, dear host of ours,
+ Dear host of ours!
+ With us thou mightst drink to the grave,
+ Drink to the grave!"
+
+
+Others repeated the chorus; then Kokosinski gave Kmita the eared bowl,
+and Zend gave Kokosinski a goblet.
+
+Kmita raised high the eared bowl and shouted, "Health to my maiden!"
+
+"Vivat! vivat!" cried all voices, till the window-panes began to rattle
+in their leaden fittings. "Vivat! the mourning will pass, the wedding
+will come!"
+
+They began to pour forth questions: "But how does she look? Hei!
+Yendrus,[9] is she very pretty, or such as you pictured her? Is there
+another like her in Orsha?"
+
+"In Orsha?" cried Kmita. "In comparison with her you might stop
+chimneys with our Orsha girls! A hundred thunders! there's not another
+such in the world."
+
+"That's the kind we wanted for you," answered Ranitski. "Well, when is
+the wedding to be?"
+
+"The minute the mourning is over."
+
+"Oh, fie on the mourning! Children are not born black, but white."
+
+"When the wedding comes, there will be no mourning. Hurry, Yendrus!"
+
+"Hurry, Yendrus!" all began to exclaim at once.
+
+"The little bannerets of Orsha are crying in heaven for the earth,"
+said Kokosinski.
+
+"Don't make the poor little things wait!"
+
+"Mighty lords," added Rekuts-Leliva, with a thin voice, "at the wedding
+we'll drink ourselves drunk as fools."
+
+"My dear lambs," said Kmita, "pardon me, or, speaking more correctly,
+go to a hundred devils, let me look around in my own house."
+
+"Nonsense!" answered Uhlik. "To-morrow the inspection, but now all to
+the table; there is a pair of demijohns there yet with big bellies."
+
+"We have already made inspection for you. This Lyubich is a golden
+apple," said Ranitski.
+
+"A good stable!" cried Zend; "there are two ponies, two splendid hussar
+horses, a pair of Jmud horses, and a pair of Kalmuks,--all in pairs,
+like eyes in the head. We will look at the mares and colts to-morrow."
+
+Here Zend neighed like a horse; they wondered at his perfect imitation,
+and laughed.
+
+"Is there such good order here?" asked Kmita, rejoiced.
+
+"And how the cellar looks!" piped Rekuts; "resinous kegs and mouldy
+jugs stand like squadrons in ranks."
+
+"Praise be to God for that! let us sit down at the table."
+
+"To the table! to the table!"
+
+They had barely taken their places and filled their cups when Ranitski
+sprang up again: "To the health of the Under-chamberlain Billevich!"
+
+"Stupid!" answered Kmita, "how is that? You are drinking the health of
+a dead man."
+
+"Stupid!" repeated the others. "The health of the master!"
+
+"Your health!"
+
+"May we get good in these chambers!"
+
+Kmita cast his eyes involuntarily along the dining-hall, and he saw on
+the larch wood walls, blackened by age, a row of stern eyes fixed on
+him. Those eyes were gazing out of the old portraits of the
+Billeviches, hanging low, within two ells of the floor, for the wall
+was low. Above the portraits in a long unbroken row were fixed skulls
+of the aurochs, of stags, of elks, crowned with their antlers: some,
+blackened, were evidently very old; others were shining with whiteness.
+All four walls were ornamented with them.
+
+"The hunting must be splendid, for I see abundance of wild beasts,"
+said Kmita.
+
+"We will go to-morrow or the day after. We must learn the
+neighborhood," answered Kokosinski. "Happy are you, Yendrus, to have a
+place to shelter your head!"
+
+"Not like us," groaned Ranitski.
+
+"Let us drink for our solace," said Rekuts.
+
+"No, not for our solace," answered Kulvyets-Hippocentaurus, "but once
+more to the health of Yendrus, our beloved captain. It is he, my mighty
+lords, who has given here in Lyubich an asylum to us poor exiles
+without a roof above our heads."
+
+"He speaks justly," cried a number of voices; "Kulvyets is not so
+stupid as he seems."
+
+"Hard is our lot," piped Rekuts. "Our whole hope is that you will not
+drive us poor orphans out through your gates."
+
+"Give us peace," said Kmita; "what is mine is yours."
+
+With that all rose from their places and began to take him by the
+shoulders. Tears of tenderness flowed over those stern drunken faces.
+
+"In you is all our hope, Yendrus," cried Kokosinski, "Let us sleep even
+on pea straw; drive us not forth."
+
+"Give us peace," repeated Kmita.
+
+"Drive us not forth; as it is, we have been driven,--we nobles and men
+of family," said Uhlik, plaintively.
+
+"To a hundred fiends with you, who is driving you out? Eat, drink! What
+the devil do you want?"
+
+"Do not deny us," said Ranitski, on whose face spots came out as on the
+skin of a leopard. "Do not deny us, Andrei, or we are lost altogether."
+
+Here he began to stammer, put his finger to his forehead as if
+straining his wit, and suddenly said, looking with sheepish eyes on
+those present, "Unless fortune changes."
+
+And all blurted out at once in chorus, "Of course it will change."
+
+"And we will yet pay for our wrongs."
+
+"And come to fortune."
+
+"And to office."
+
+"God bless the innocent! Our prosperity!"
+
+"Your health!" cried Pan Andrei.
+
+"Your words are holy, Yendrus," said Kokosinski, placing his chubby
+face before Kmita. "God grant us improvement of fortune!"
+
+Healths began to go around, and tufts to steam. All were talking, one
+interrupting the other; and each heard only himself, with the exception
+of Rekuts, who dropped his head on his breast and slumbered. Kokosinski
+began to sing, "She bound the flax in bundles," noting which Uhlik took
+a flageolet from his bosom and accompanied him.
+
+Ranitski, a great fencer, fenced with his naked hand against an unseen
+opponent, repeating in an undertone, "You thus, I thus; you cut, I
+strike,--one, two, three, check!"
+
+The gigantic Kulvyets-Hippocentaurus stared fixedly for some time at
+Ranitski; at last he waved his hand and said: "You're a fool! Strike
+your best, but still you can't hold your own before Kmita with a
+sabre."
+
+"For no one can stand before him; but try yourself."
+
+"You will not win against me with a pistol."
+
+"For a ducat a shot."
+
+"A ducat! But where and at what?"
+
+Ranitski cast his eyes around; at last he cried out, pointing at the
+skulls, "Between the antlers, for a ducat!"
+
+"For what?" asked Kmita.
+
+"Between the antlers, for two ducats, for three! Bring the pistols!"
+
+"Agreed!" cried Kmita. "Let it be three. Zend, get the pistols!"
+
+All began to shout louder and louder, and bargain among themselves;
+meanwhile Zend went to the antechamber, and soon returned with pistols,
+a pouch of bullets, and a horn with powder.
+
+Ranitski grasped for a pistol. "Is it loaded?" asked he.
+
+"Loaded."
+
+"For three, four, five ducats!" blustered Kmita, drunk.
+
+"Quiet! you will miss, you will miss."
+
+"I shall hit at that skull between the antlers--one! two!"
+
+All eyes were turned to the strong elk-skull fixed in front of
+Ranitski. He straightened his arm; the pistol turned in his palm.
+
+"Three!" cried Kmita.
+
+The shot sounded; the room was filled with powder smoke.
+
+"He has missed, he has missed! See where the hole is!" cried Kmita,
+pointing with his hand at the dark wall from which the bullet had torn
+out a brighter chip.
+
+"Two shots each time!"
+
+"No; give it to me," cried Kulvyets.
+
+At that moment the astonished servants ran in at the sound of the shot.
+
+"Away! away!" called Kmita. "One! two! three!"
+
+Again the roar of a shot; this time the pieces fell from the bone.
+
+"But give us pistols too!" shouted all at the same time.
+
+And springing up, they began to pound on the shoulders of their
+attendants, urging them to hurry. Before a quarter of an hour had
+passed, the whole room was thundering with shots. The smoke hid the
+light of the candles and the forms of the men shooting. The report of
+discharges was accompanied by the voice of Zend, who croaked like a
+raven, screamed like a falcon, howled like a wolf, bellowed like an
+aurochs. The whistle of bullets interrupted him; bits flew from the
+skulls, chips from the wall, and portraits from their frames; in the
+disorder the Billeviches were shot, and Ranitski, falling into fury,
+slashed them with his sabre.
+
+The servants, astonished and terrified, stood as if bereft of their
+senses, gazing with startled eyes on that sport which resembled a
+Tartar invasion. The dogs began to howl and bark. All in the house were
+on their feet; in the yard groups of people assembled. The girls of the
+house ran to the windows, and putting their faces to the panes,
+flattening their noses, gazed at what was passing within.
+
+Zend saw them at last; he whistled so piercingly that it rang in the
+ears of all, and then shouted, "Mighty lords! titmice are under the
+window,--titmice!"
+
+"Titmice! titmice!"
+
+"Now for a dance!" roared dissonant voices.
+
+The drunken crowd sprang through the anteroom to the porch. The frost
+did not sober their steaming heads. The girls, screaming in voices that
+rose to the sky, ran in every direction through the yard; but the men
+chased them, and brought each one they seized to the room. After a
+while they began dancing in the midst of smoke, bits of bone, and chips
+around the table on which spilled wine lay in pools.
+
+In such fashion did Pan Kmita and his wild company revel in Lyubich.
+
+
+
+
+ CHAPTER IV.
+
+
+For a number of subsequent days Pan Andrei was at Vodokty daily; and
+each time he returned more in love, and admired more and more his
+Olenka. He lauded her to the skies, too, before his companions, till on
+a certain day he said to them,--
+
+"My dear lambs, you will go to-day to beat with the forehead; then, as
+we have stipulated with the maiden, we will go to Mitruny to have a
+sleigh-ride through the forests and look at the third estate. She will
+entertain us there, and do you bear yourselves decently; for I would
+cut into hash the man who offended her in anything."
+
+The cavaliers hurried willingly to prepare, and soon four sleighs were
+bearing the eager young men to Vodokty. Kmita sat in the first sleigh,
+which was highly ornamented and had the form of a silvery bear. This
+sleigh was drawn by three captured Kalmuk horses in variegated harness,
+in ribbons and peacock feathers, according to the Smolensk fashion,
+borrowed from more distant neighbors. A young fellow sitting in the
+neck of the bear drove the horses. Pan Andrei was dressed in a green
+velvet coat buttoned on golden cords and trimmed with sable, and wore a
+sable cap with a heron's feather. He was gladsome, joyous, and spoke to
+Kokosinski sitting at his side,--
+
+"Listen, Kokoshko! I suppose we played tricks wild beyond measure on
+two evenings, and especially the first, when the skulls and the
+portraits suffered. But the case of the girls was still worse. The
+Devil always pushes forward that Zend, and then on whom does he pound
+out the punishment? On me. I am afraid that people will talk, for in
+this place my reputation is at stake."
+
+"Hang yourself on your reputation; it is good for nothing else, just
+like ours."
+
+"And who is to blame for that, if not you men? Remember, Kokoshko, they
+held me for a disturbing spirit in Orsha, and tongues were sharpened on
+me like knives on a whetstone."
+
+"But who dragged Pan Tumgrat out in the frost with a horse; who cut up
+that official, who asked whether men walked on two feet in Orsha or on
+four? Who hacked the Vyzinskis, father and son? Who broke up the last
+provincial Diet?"
+
+"I broke up the Diet in Orsha, not somewhere else; that was a home
+affair. Pan Tumgrat forgave me when he was dying; and as to the others,
+speak not, for a duel may happen to the most innocent."
+
+"I have not told all yet; I have not spoken of the trials in the army,
+of which two are still waiting for you."
+
+"Not for me, but for you men; for I am to blame only for letting you
+rob the people. But no more of this! Shut your mouth, Kokoshko, and say
+nothing to Olenka about the duels, and especially nothing of that
+shooting at the portraits and of the girls. If it is told, I shall lay
+the blame on you. I have informed the servants and the girls that if a
+word is said, I will order belts taken out of their skins."
+
+"Have yourself shod like a horse, Yendrus, if you are in such dread of
+your maiden. You were another man in Orsha. I see already that you will
+go in leading-strings, and there is no good in that. Some ancient
+philosopher says, 'If you will not manage Kahna, Kahna will manage
+you.' You have given yourself to be tied up in all things."
+
+"You are a fool, Kokoshko! But as to Olenka you will stand on one foot
+and then on the other when you put eyes on her, for another woman with
+such proper intent is not to be found. What is good she will praise in
+a moment, but the bad she will blame without waiting; for she judges
+according to virtue, and has in herself a ready measure. The late
+under-chamberlain reared her in that way. Should you wish to boast of
+warlike daring before her, and say that you trampled on justice, you
+will soon be ashamed; for at once she will say, 'An honorable citizen
+should not do that; it is against the country.' She will speak so to
+you that it will be as if some one had slapped you on the face, and
+you'll wonder that you did not know these things yourself. Tfu! shame!
+We have raised fearful disorder, and now must stand open-eyed before
+virtue and innocence. The worst was those girls--"
+
+"By no means the worst. I have heard that in the villages there are
+girls of the petty nobility like blood and milk, and probably not
+stubborn at all."
+
+"Who told you?" asked Kmita, quickly.
+
+"Who told me? Who, if not Zend? Yesterday while trying the roan steed
+he rode to Volmontovichi; he merely rode along the highway, but he saw
+many titmice, for they were coming from vespers. 'I thought,' said he,
+'that I should fly off the horse, they were so handsome and pretty.'
+And whenever he looked at any one of them she showed her teeth
+directly. And no wonder! for all the grown men of the nobles have gone
+to Rossyeni, and it is dreary for the titmice alone."
+
+Kmita punched his companion in the side with his fist. "Let us go,
+Kokoshko, some time in the evening,--pretend we are astray,--shall we?"
+
+"But your reputation?"
+
+"Oh, to the Devil! Shut your mouth! Go alone, if that is the way; but
+better drop the matter. It would not pass without talk, and I want to
+live in peace with the nobles here, for the late under-chamberlain made
+them Olenka's guardians."
+
+"You have spoken of that, but I would not believe it. How did he have
+such intimacy with homespuns?"
+
+"Because he went with them to war, and I heard of this in Orsha, when
+he said that there was honorable blood in those Lauda men. But to tell
+the truth, Kokoshko, it was an immediate wonder to me, for it is as if
+he had made them guards over me."
+
+"You will yield to them and bow to your boots before dish-cloths."
+
+"First may the pestilence choke them! Be quiet, for I am angry! They
+will bow to me and serve me. Their quota is ready at every call."
+
+"Some one else will command this quota. Zend says that there is a
+colonel here among them--I forget his name--Volodyovski or something?
+He led them at Shklov. They fought well, it appears, but were combed
+out there."
+
+"I have heard of a Volodyovski, a famous warrior--But here is Vodokty
+in sight."
+
+"Hei, it is well for people in Jmud; for there is stern order. The old
+man must have been a born manager. And the house,--I see how it looks.
+The enemy brought fire here seldom, and the people could build."
+
+"I think that she cannot have heard yet of that outburst in Lyubich,"
+said Kmita, as if to himself. Then he turned to his comrade: "My
+Kokoshko, I tell you, and do you repeat it to the others, that you must
+bear yourselves decently here; and if any man permits himself anything,
+as God is dear to me, I will cut him up like chopped straw."
+
+"Well, they have saddled you!"
+
+"Saddled, saddled not, I will cut you up!"
+
+"Don't look at my Kasia or I'll cut you to pieces," said Kokosinski,
+phlegmatically.
+
+"Fire out thy whip!" shouted Kmita to the driver.
+
+The youth standing in the neck of the silvery bear whirled his whip,
+and cracked it very adroitly; other drivers followed his example, and
+they drove with a rattling, quick motion, joyous as at a carnival.
+
+Stepping out of the sleighs, they came first to an antechamber as large
+as a granary, an unpainted room; thence Kmita conducted them to the
+dining-hall, ornamented as in Lyubich with skulls and antlers of slain
+beasts. Here they halted, looking carefully and with curiosity at the
+door of the adjoining room, by which Panna Aleksandra was to enter.
+Meanwhile, evidently keeping in mind Kmita's warning, they spoke with
+one another in subdued tones, as in a church.
+
+"You are a fellow of speech," whispered Uhlik to Kokosinski, "you will
+greet her for us all."
+
+"I was arranging something to say on the road," answered Kokosinski,
+"but I know not whether it will be smooth enough, for Yendrus
+interrupted my ideas."
+
+"Let it be as it comes, if with spirit. But here she is!"
+
+Panna Aleksandra entered, halting a little on the threshold, as if in
+wonder at such a large company. Kmita himself stood for a while as if
+fixed to the floor in admiration of her beauty; for hitherto he had
+seen her only in the evening, and in the day she seemed still more
+beautiful. Her eyes had the color of star-thistles; the dark brows
+above them were in contrast to the forehead as ebony with white, and
+her yellow hair shone like a crown on the head of a queen. Not dropping
+her eyes, she had the self-possessed mien of a lady receiving guests in
+her own house, with clear face seeming still clearer from the black
+dress trimmed with ermine. Such a dignified and exalted lady the
+warriors had not seen; they were accustomed to women of another type.
+So they stood in a rank as if for the enrolling of a company, and
+shuffling their feet they also bowed together in a row; but Kmita
+pushed forward, and kissing the hand of the lady a number of times,
+said,--
+
+"See, my jewel, I have brought you fellow soldiers with whom I fought
+in the last war."
+
+"It is for me no small honor," answered Panna Billevich, "to receive in
+my house such worthy cavaliers, of whose virtue and excellent qualities
+I have heard from their commander, Pan Kmita."
+
+When she had said this she took her skirt with the tips of her fingers,
+and raising it slightly, courtesied with unusual dignity. Kmita bit his
+lips, but at the same time he was flushed, since his maiden had spoken
+with such spirit.
+
+The worthy cavaliers continuing to shuffle their feet, all nudged at
+the same moment Pan Kokosinski: "Well, begin!"
+
+Kokosinski moved forward one step, cleared his throat, and began as
+follows: "Serene great mighty lady, under-chamberlain's daughter--"
+
+"Chief-hunter's daughter," corrected Kmita.
+
+"Serene great mighty lady, chief-hunter's daughter, but to us right
+merciful benefactress," repeated Kokosinski,--"pardon, your ladyship,
+if I have erred in the title--"
+
+"A harmless mistake," replied Panna Aleksandra, "and it lessens in no
+wise such an eloquent cavalier--"
+
+"Serene great mighty lady, chief-hunter's daughter, benefactress, and
+our right merciful lady, I know not what becomes me in the name of all
+Orsha to celebrate more,--the extraordinary beauty and virtue of your
+ladyship, our benefactress, or the unspeakable happiness of the captain
+and our fellow-soldier, Pan Kmita; for though I were to approach the
+clouds, though I were to reach the clouds themselves--I say, the
+clouds--"
+
+"But come down out of those clouds!" cried Kmita.
+
+With that the cavaliers burst into one enormous laugh; but all at once
+remembering the command of Kmita, they seized their mustaches with
+their hands.
+
+Kokosinski was confused in the highest degree. He grew purple, and
+said, "Do the greeting yourselves, pagans, since you confuse me."
+
+Panna Aleksandra took again, with the tips of her fingers, her skirt.
+"I could not follow you gentlemen in eloquence," said she, "but I know
+that I am unworthy of those homages which you give me in the name of
+all Orsha."
+
+And again she made a courtesy with exceeding dignity, and it was
+somehow out of place for the Orsha roisterers in the presence of that
+courtly maiden. They strove to exhibit themselves as men of politeness,
+but it did not become them. Therefore they began to pull their
+mustaches, to mutter and handle their sabres, till Kmita said,--
+
+"We have come here as if in a carnival, with the thought to take you
+with us and drive to Mitruny through the forest, as was the arrangement
+yesterday. The snow-road is firm, and God has given frosty weather."
+
+"I have already sent Aunt Kulvyets to Mitruny to prepare dinner. But
+now, gentlemen, wait just a little till I put on something warm."
+
+Then she turned and went out.
+
+Kmita sprang to his comrades. "Well, my dear lambs, isn't she a
+princess? Now, Kokosinski, you said that she had saddled me, and why
+were you as a little boy before her? Where have you seen her like?"
+
+"There was no call to interrupt me; though I do not deny that I did not
+expect to address such a person."
+
+"The late under-chamberlain," said Kmita, "lived with her most of the
+time in Kyedani, at the court of the prince voevoda, or lived with the
+Hleboviches; and there she acquired those high manners. But her
+beauty,--what of that? You cannot let your breath go yet."
+
+"We have appeared as fools," said Ranitski, in anger; "but the biggest
+fool was Kokosinski."
+
+"Traitor! why punch me with your elbow? You should have appeared
+yourself, with your spotted mouth."
+
+"Harmony, lambs, harmony!" said Kmita; "I will let you admire, but not
+wrangle."
+
+"I would spring into the fire for her," said Rekuts. "Hew me down,
+Yendrus, but I'll not deny that."
+
+Kmita did not think of cutting down; he was satisfied, twisted his
+mustache, and gazed on his comrades with triumph. Now Panna Aleksandra
+entered, wearing a marten-skin cap, under which her bright face
+appeared still brighter. They went out on the porch.
+
+"Then shall we ride in this sleigh?" asked the lady, pointing to the
+silvery bear. "I have not seen a more beautiful sleigh in my life."
+
+"I know not who has used it hitherto, for it was captured. It suits me
+very well, for on my shield is a lady on a bear. There are other Kmitas
+who have banners on their shield, but they are descended from Filon
+Kmita of Charnobil; he was not of the same house from which the great
+Kmitas are descended."
+
+"And when did you capture this bear sleigh?"
+
+"Lately, in this war. We poor exiles who have fallen away from fortune
+have only what war gives us in plunder. But as I serve that lady
+faithfully, she has rewarded me."
+
+"May God grant a better; for war rewards one, but presses tears from
+the whole dear fatherland."
+
+"God and the hetmans will change that."
+
+Meanwhile Kmita wrapped Panna Aleksandra in the beautiful sleigh robe
+of white cloth lined with white wolfskin; then taking his own seat, he
+cried to the driver, "Move on!" and the horses sprang forward at a run.
+
+The cold wind struck their faces with its rush; they were silent,
+therefore, and nothing was heard save the wheezing of frozen snow under
+the runners, the snorting of the horses, their tramp, and the cry of
+the driver.
+
+At last Pan Andrei bent toward Olenka. "Is it pleasant for you?"
+
+"Pleasant," answered she, raising her sleeve and holding it to her
+mouth to ward off the rush of air.
+
+The sleigh dashed on like a whirlwind. The day was bright, frosty; the
+snow sparkled as if some one were scattering sparks on it. From the
+white roofs of the cottages, which were like piles of snow, rosy smoke
+curled in high columns. Flocks of crows from among the leafless trees
+by the roadside flew before the sleighs with shrill cawing.
+
+About eighty rods from Vodokty they came out on a broad road into dark
+pine-woods which stood gloomy, hoary, and silent as if sleeping under
+the thick snow-bunches. The trees flitted before the eye, appeared to
+be fleeing to some place in the rear of the sleigh; but the sleigh flew
+on, every moment swiftly, more swiftly, as if the horses had wings.
+From such driving the head turns, and ecstasy seizes one; it seized
+Panna Aleksandra. She leaned back, closed her eyes, and yielded
+completely to the impetus. She felt a sweet powerlessness, and it
+seemed to her that that boyar of Orsha had taken her by violence: that
+he is rushing away like a whirlwind, and she growing weak has no
+strength to oppose or to cry,--and they are flying, flying each moment
+more swiftly. Olenka feels that arms are embracing her; then on her
+cheek as it were a hot burning stamp. Her eyes will not open, as if in
+a dream; and they fly, fly.
+
+An inquiring voice first roused the sleeping lady: "Do you love me?"
+
+She opened her eyes. "As my own soul."
+
+"And I for life and death."
+
+Again the sable cap of Kmita bent over the marten-skin cap of Olenka.
+She knew not herself which gave her more delight,--the kisses or the
+magic ride.
+
+And they flew farther, but always through pine-woods, through
+pine-woods. Trees fled to the rear in whole regiments. The snow was
+wheezing, the horses snorting; but the man and the maiden were happy.
+
+"I would ride to the end of the world in this way," cried Kmita.
+
+"What are we doing? This is a sin!" whispered Olenka.
+
+"What sin? Let us commit it again."
+
+"Impossible! Mitruny is not far."
+
+"Far or near, 'tis all one!"
+
+And Kmita rose in the sleigh, stretched his arms upward, and began to
+shout as if in a full breast he could not find place for his joy:
+"Hei-ha! hei-ha!"
+
+"Hei-hop! hoop-ha!" answered the comrades from the sleighs behind.
+
+"Why do you shout so?" asked the lady.
+
+"Oh, so, from delight! And shout you as well!"
+
+"Hei-ha!" was heard the resonant, thin alto voice.
+
+"O thou, my queen! I fall at thy feet."
+
+"The company will laugh."
+
+After the ecstasy a noisy joyousness seized them, as wild as the
+driving was wild. Kmita began to sing,--
+
+
+ "Look thou, my girl! look through the door,
+ To the rich fields!
+ Oh, knights from the pine-woods are coming, my mother,
+ Oh, that's my fate!
+ Look not, my daughter! cover thy eyes,
+ With thy white hands,
+ For thy heart will spring out of thy bosom
+ With them to the war."
+
+
+"Who taught you such lovely songs?" asked Panna Aleksandra.
+
+"War, Olenka. In the camp we sang them to one another to drive away
+sadness."
+
+Further conversation was interrupted by a loud calling from the rear
+sleighs: "Stop! stop! Hei there--stop!"
+
+Pan Andrei turned around in anger, wondering how it came to the heads
+of his comrades to call and stop him. He saw a few tens of steps from
+the sleigh a horseman approaching at full speed of the horse.
+
+"As God lives, that is my sergeant Soroka; what can have happened?"
+said Pan Andrei.
+
+That moment the sergeant coming up, reined his horse on his haunches,
+and began to speak with a panting voice: "Captain!--"
+
+"What is the matter, Soroka?"
+
+"Upita is on fire; they are fighting!"
+
+"Jesus Mary!" screamed Olenka.
+
+"Have no fear!--Who is fighting?"
+
+"The soldiers with the townspeople. There is a fire on the square! The
+townspeople are enraged, and they have sent to Ponyevyej for a
+garrison. But I galloped here to your grace. I can barely draw breath."
+
+During this conversation the sleighs behind caught up; Kokosinski,
+Ranitski, Kulvyets-Hippocentaurus, Uhlik, Rekuts, and Zend, springing
+out on the snow, surrounded the speakers with a circle.
+
+"What is the matter?" asked Kmita.
+
+"The townspeople would not give supplies for horses or men, because
+there was no order for it; the soldiers began to take by force. We
+besieged the mayor and those who barricaded themselves in the square.
+Firing was begun, and we burned two houses; at present there is
+terrible violence, and ringing of bells--"
+
+Kmita's eyes gleamed with wrath.
+
+"We must go to the rescue!" shouted Kokosinski.
+
+"The rabble are oppressing the army!" cried Ranitski, whose whole face
+was covered at once with red, white, and dark spots. "Check, check!
+mighty lords!"
+
+Zend laughed exactly as a screech-owl hoots, till the horses were
+frightened; and Rekuts raised his eyes and piped, "Strike, whoso
+believes in God! smoke out the ruffians!"
+
+"Be silent!" roared Kmita, till the woods echoed, and Zend, who stood
+nearest, staggered like a drunken man. "There is no need of you there,
+no need of slashing! Sit all of you in two sleighs, leave me the third.
+Drive back to Lyubich; wait there unless I send for succor."
+
+"How is that?" asked Ranitski, opposing.
+
+But Pan Andrei laid a hand on his throat, and his eyes gleamed more
+terribly. "Not a breath out of you!" said he, threateningly.
+
+They were silent; evidently they feared him, though usually on such
+familiar footing.
+
+"Go back, Olenka, to Vodokty," said Kmita, "or go for your Aunt
+Kulvyets to Mitruny. Well, our party was not a success. But it will be
+quieter there soon; only a few heads will fly off. Be in good health
+and at rest; I shall be quick to return."
+
+Having said this, he kissed her hand, and wrapped her in the wolf-skin;
+then he took his seat in the other sleigh, and cried to the driver, "To
+Upita!"
+
+
+
+
+ CHAPTER V.
+
+
+A number of days passed, and Kmita did not return; but three men of
+Lauda came to Vodokty with complaints to the lady. Pakosh Gashtovt from
+Patsuneli came,--the same who was entertaining at his house Pan
+Volodyovski. He was the patriarch of the village, famed for wealth and
+six daughters, of whom three had married Butryms, and received each one
+hundred coined dollars as dowry, besides clothing and cattle. The
+second who came was Kassyan Butrym, who remembered Batory well, and
+with him the son-in-law of Pakosh, Yuzva Butrym; the latter, though in
+the prime of life,--he was not more than fifty years old,--did not go
+to Rossyeni to the registry of the general militia, for in the Cossack
+wars a cannon-ball had torn off his foot. He was called on this account
+Ankle-foot, or Yuzva Footless. He was a terrible man, with the strength
+of a bear, and great sense, but harsh, surly, judging men severely. For
+this reason he was feared somewhat in the capitals, for he could not
+pardon either himself or others. He was dangerous also when in liquor;
+but that happened rarely.
+
+These men came, then, to the lady, who received them graciously, though
+she divined at once that they had come to make complaints, and wanted
+to hear something from her regarding Pan Kmita.
+
+"We wish to pay our respects to Pan Kmita, but perhaps he has not come
+back yet from Upita," said Pakosh; "so we have come to inquire, our
+dear darling, when it will be possible to see him."
+
+"I think the only hindrance is that he is not here," answered the lady.
+"He will be glad with his whole soul to see you, my guardians, for he
+has heard much good concerning you,--in old times from my grandfather,
+and lately from me."
+
+"If only he does not receive us as he received the Domasheviches when
+they went to him with tidings of the colonel's death," muttered Yuzva,
+sullenly.
+
+The lady listened to the end, and answered at once with animation: "Be
+not unjust about that. Perhaps he did not receive them politely enough,
+but he has confessed his fault in this house. It should be remembered
+too that he was returning from a war in which he endured much toil and
+suffering. We must not wonder at a soldier, even if he snaps at his
+own, for warriors have tempers like sharp swords."
+
+Pakosh Gashtovt, who wished always to be in accord with the whole
+world, waved his hand and said: "We did not wonder, either. A beast
+snaps at a beast when it sees one suddenly; why should not a man snap
+at a man? We will go to old Lyubich to greet Pan Kmita, so that
+he may live with us, go to war and to the wilderness, as the late
+under-chamberlain used to do."
+
+"Well, tell us, dear darling, did he please you or did he not please
+you?" asked Kassyan Butrym. "It is our duty to ask this."
+
+"God reward you for your care. Pan Kmita is an honorable cavalier, and
+even if I had found something against him it would not be proper to
+speak of it."
+
+"But have you not seen something, our dearest soul?"
+
+"Nothing! Besides, no one has the right to judge him here, and God save
+us from showing distrust. Let us rather thank God."
+
+"Why thank too early? When there will be something to thank for, then
+thank; if not, then not thank," answered the sullen Yuzva, who, like a
+genuine man of Jmud, was very cautious and foreseeing.
+
+"Have you spoken about the marriage?" inquired Kassyan.
+
+Olenka dropped her eyes: "Pan Kmita wishes it as early as possible."
+
+"That's it! and why shouldn't he wish it?" muttered Yuzva; "he is not a
+fool! What bear is it that does not want honey from a tree? But why
+hurry? Is it not better to see what kind of man he is? Father Kassyan,
+tell what you have on your tongue; do not doze like a hare at midday
+under a ridge."
+
+"I am not dozing, I am only turning in my head what to say," answered
+the old man. "The Lord Jesus has said, 'As Kuba [Jacob] is to God, so
+will God be to Kuba.' We wish no ill to Pan Kmita, if he wishes no ill
+to us,--which God grant, amen."
+
+"If he will be to our thinking," said Yuzva.
+
+Panna Billevich frowned with her falcon brows, and said with a certain
+haughtiness: "Remember that we are not receiving a servant. He will be
+master here; and his will must have force, not ours. He will succeed
+you in the guardianship."
+
+"Does that mean that we must not interfere?" asked Yuzva.
+
+"It means that you are to be friends with him, as he wishes to be a
+friend of yours. Moreover he is taking care of his own property here,
+which each man manages according to his wish. Is not this true, Father
+Pakosh?"
+
+"The sacred truth," answered the old man of Patsuneli.
+
+Yuzva turned again to old Butrym. "Do not doze, Father Kassyan!"
+
+"I am not dozing, I am only looking into my mind."
+
+"Then tell what you see there."
+
+"What do I see? This is what I see: Pan Kmita is a man of great family,
+of high blood, and we are small people. Moreover he is a soldier of
+fame; he alone opposed the enemy when all had dropped their hands,--God
+give as many as possible of such men! But he has a company that is
+worthless. Pan Pakosh, my neighbor, what have you heard about them from
+the Domasheviches? That they are all dishonored men, against whom
+outlawry has been declared, infamous and condemned, with declarations
+and trials hanging over them, children of the hangman. They were
+grievous to the enemy, but more grievous to their own people. They
+burned, they plundered, they rioted; that is what they did. They may
+have slain people in duels or carried out executions,--that happens to
+honest men; but they have lived in pure Tartar fashion, and long ago
+would have been rotting in prison but for the protection of Pan Kmita,
+who is a powerful lord. He favors and protects them, and they cling to
+him just as flies do in summer to a horse. Now they have come hither,
+and it is known to all what they are doing. The first day at Lyubich
+they fired out of pistols,--and at what?--at the portraits of the dead
+Billeviches, which Pan Kmita should not have permitted, for the
+Billeviches are his benefactors."
+
+Olenka covered her eyes with her hands. "It cannot be! it cannot be!"
+
+"It can, for it has been. He let them shoot at his benefactors, with
+whom he was to enter into relationship; and then they dragged the girls
+of the house into the room for debauchery. Tfu! an offence against God!
+That has never been among us! The first day they began shooting and
+dissoluteness,--the first day!"
+
+Here old Kassyan grew angry, and fell to striking the floor with his
+staff. On Olenka's face were dark blushes, and Yuzva said,--
+
+"And Pan Kmita's troops in Upita, are they better? Like officers, like
+men. Some people stole Pan Sollohub's cattle; it is said they were Pan
+Kmita's men. Some persons struck down on the road peasants of Meizagol
+who were drawing pitch. Who did this? They, the same soldiers. Pan
+Sollohub went to Pan Hlebovich for satisfaction, and now there is
+violence in Upita again. All this is in opposition to God. It used to
+be quiet here as in no other place, and now one must load a gun for the
+night and stand guard; but why? Because Pan Kmita and his company have
+come."
+
+"Father Yuzva, do not talk so," cried Olenka.
+
+"But how must I talk? If Pan Kmita is not to blame, why does he keep
+such men, why does he live with such men? Great mighty lady, tell him
+to dismiss them or give them up to the hangman, for otherwise there
+will be no peace. Is it a thing heard of to shoot at portraits and
+commit open debauchery? Why, the whole neighborhood is talking of
+nothing else."
+
+"What have I to do?" asked Olenka. "They may be evil men, but he fought
+the war with them. If he will dismiss them at my request?"
+
+"If he does not dismiss them," muttered Yuzva, in a low voice, "he is
+the same as they."
+
+With this the lady's blood began to boil against those men, murderers
+and profligates.
+
+"Let it be so. He must dismiss them. Let him choose me or them. If what
+you say is true,--and I shall know to-day if it is true,--I shall not
+forgive them either the shooting or the debauchery. I am alone and a
+weak orphan, they are an armed crowd; but I do not fear them."
+
+"We will help you," said Yuzva.
+
+"In God's name," continued Olenka, more and more excited, "let
+them do what they like, but not here in Lyubich. Let them be as they
+like,--that is their affair, their necks' answer; but let them not lead
+away Pan Kmita to debauchery. Shame and disgrace! I thought they were
+awkward soldiers, but now I see that they are vile traitors, who stain
+both themselves and him. That's the truth! Wickedness was looking out
+of their eyes; but I, foolish woman, did not recognize it. Well, I
+thank you, fathers, for opening my eyes on these Judases. I know what
+it beseems me to do."
+
+"That's it!" said old Kassyan. "Virtue speaks through you, and we will
+help you."
+
+"Do not blame Pan Kmita, for though he has offended against good
+conduct he is young; and they tempt him, they lead him away, they urge
+him to license with example, and bring disgrace to his name. This is
+the condition; as I live, it will not last long."
+
+Wrath roused Olenka's heart more and more, and indignation at the
+comrades of Pan Kmita increased as pain increases in a wound freshly
+given; for terribly wounded in her were the love special to woman and
+that trust with which she had given her whole unmixed feeling to Pan
+Andrei. She was ashamed, for his sake and for her own, and anger and
+internal shame sought above all guilty parties.
+
+The nobles were glad when they saw their colonel's granddaughter so
+terrible and ready for unyielding war against the disturbers from
+Orsha.
+
+She spoke on with sparkling eyes: "True, they are to blame; and they
+must leave not only Lyubich, but the whole country-side."
+
+"Our heart, we do not blame Pan Kmita," said old Kassyan. "We know that
+they tempt him. Not through bitterness nor venom against him have we
+come, but through regret that he keeps near his person revellers. It is
+evident, of course, that being young he is foolish. Even Pan Hlebovich
+the starosta was foolish when he was young, but now he keeps us all in
+order."
+
+"And a dog," said the mild old man from Patsuneli, with a voice of
+emotion,--"if you go with a young one to the field, won't the fool
+instead of running after the game fall about your feet, begin to play,
+and tug you by the skirts?"
+
+Olenka wanted to say something, but suddenly she burst into tears.
+
+"Do not cry," said Yuzva Butrym.
+
+"Do not cry, do not cry," repeated the two old men.
+
+They tried to comfort her, but could not. After they had gone, care,
+anxiety, and as it were an offended feeling against them and against
+Pan Andrei remained. It pained the proud lady more and more deeply that
+she had to defend, justify, and explain him. But the men of that
+company! The delicate hands of the lady clinched at thought of them.
+Before her eyes appeared as if present the faces of Pan Kokosinski,
+Uhlik, Zend, Kulvyets-Hippocentaurus, and the others; and she
+discovered what she had not seen at first, that they were shameless
+faces, on which folly, licentiousness, and crime had all fixed their
+stamps in common. A feeling of hatred foreign to Olenka began to seize
+her as a rattling fire seizes fuel; but together with this outburst
+offence against Pan Kmita increased every minute.
+
+"Shame, disgrace," whispered the maiden, with pallid lips, "that
+yesterday he went from me to house-wenches!" and she felt herself
+overborne. A crushing burden stopped the breath in her breast.
+
+It was growing raw out of doors. Panna Aleksandra walked in the room
+with hurried step, but anger was seething in her soul without ceasing.
+Hers was not the nature to endure the persecutions of fate without
+defending herself against them. There was knightly blood in the girl.
+She wanted straightway to begin a struggle with that band of evil
+spirits,--straightway. But what remained to her? Nothing, save tears
+and the prayer that Pan Andrei would send to the four winds those
+shame-bringing comrades. But if he will not do that--And she did not
+dare to think more of the question.
+
+The meditations of the lady were interrupted by a youth who brought an
+armful of juniper sticks to the chimney, and throwing them down at the
+side of the hearth, began to pull out the coals from under the
+smouldering ashes. Suddenly a decision came to Olenka's mind.
+
+"Kostek!" said she, "sit on horseback for me at once, and ride to
+Lyubich. If the master has returned, ask him to come here; but if he is
+not there, let the manager, old Znikis, mount with thee and come
+straight to me, and quickly."
+
+The youth threw some bits of pitch on the coals and covered them with
+clumps of dry juniper. Bright flames began to crackle and snap in the
+chimney. It grew somewhat lighter in Olenka's mind.
+
+"Perhaps the Lord God will change this yet," thought she to herself,
+"and maybe it is not so bad as the guardians have said."
+
+After a while she went to the servants' room to sit, according to the
+immemorial custom of the Billeviches, with the maidens to oversee the
+spinning and sing hymns.
+
+In two hours Kostek entered, chilled from cold. "Znikis is in the
+antechamber," said he. "The master is not in Lyubich."
+
+The lady rose quickly. The manager in the antechamber bowed to her
+feet. "But how is your health, serene heiress? God give you the best."
+
+They passed into the dining-hall; Znikis halted at the door.
+
+"What is to be heard among you people?" asked the lady.
+
+The peasant waved his hand. "Well, the master is not there."
+
+"I know that, because he is in Upita. But what is going on in the
+house?"
+
+"Well!--"
+
+"Listen, Znikis, speak boldly; not a hair will fall from thy head.
+People say that the master is good, but his companions wild?"
+
+"If they were only wild, serene lady!--"
+
+"Speak candidly."
+
+"But, lady, if it is not permitted me--I am afraid--they have forbidden
+me."
+
+"Who has forbidden?"
+
+"My master."
+
+"Has he?" asked the lady.
+
+A moment of silence ensued. She walked quickly in the room, with
+compressed lips and frowning brow. He followed her with his eyes.
+Suddenly she stopped before him.
+
+"To whom dost thou belong?"
+
+"To the Billeviches. I am from Vodokty, not from Lyubich."
+
+"Thou wilt return no more to Lyubich; stay here. Now I command thee to
+tell all thou knowest."
+
+The peasant cast himself on his knees at the threshold where he was
+standing. "Serene lady, I do not want to go back; the day of judgment
+is there. They are bandits and cut-throats; in that place a man is not
+sure of the day nor the hour."
+
+Panna Billevich staggered as if stricken by an arrow. She grew very
+pale, but inquired calmly, "Is it true that they fired in the room, at
+the portraits?"
+
+"Of course they fired! And they dragged girls into their rooms, and
+every day the same debauchery. In the village is weeping, at the house
+Sodom and Gomorrah. Oxen are killed for the table, sheep for the table.
+The people are oppressed. Yesterday they killed the stable man without
+cause."
+
+"Did they kill the stable-man?"
+
+"Of course. And worst of all, they abused the girls. Those at the house
+are not enough for them; they chase others through the village."
+
+A second interval of silence followed. Hot blushes came out on the
+lady's face, and did not leave it.
+
+"When do they look for the master's return?"
+
+"They do not know, my lady. But I heard, as they were talking to one
+another, that they would have to start to-morrow for Upita with their
+whole company. They gave command to have horses ready. They will come
+here and beg my lady for attendants and powder, because they need both
+there."
+
+"They are to come here? That is well. Go now, Znikis, to the kitchen.
+Thou wilt return to Lyubich no more."
+
+"May God give you health and happiness!"
+
+Panna Aleksandra had learned what she wanted, and she knew how it
+behooved her to act.
+
+The following day was Sunday. In the morning, before the ladies had
+gone to church, Kokosinski, Uhlik, Kulvyets-Hippocentaurus, Ranitski,
+Rekuts, and Zend arrived, followed by the servants at Lyubich, armed
+and on horseback, for the cavaliers had decided to march to Upita with
+succor for Kmita.
+
+The lady went out to meet them calmly and haughtily, altogether
+different from the woman who had greeted them for the first time a few
+days before. She barely motioned with her head in answer to their
+humble bows; but they thought that the absence of Pan Kmita made her
+cautious, and took no note of the real situation.
+
+Kokosinski stepped forward more confidently than the first time, and
+said,--
+
+"Serene great mighty lady, chief-hunter's daughter, benefactress; we
+have come in here on our way to Upita to fall at the feet of our lady
+benefactress and beg for assistance, such as powder, and that you would
+permit your servants to mount their horses and go with us. We will take
+Upita by storm, and let out a little blood for the basswood-barks."
+
+"It is a wonder to me," answered Panna Billevich, "that you are going
+to Upita, when I heard myself how Pan Kmita commanded you to remain
+quietly in Lyubich, and I think that it beseems him to command and you
+to obey, as subordinates."
+
+The cavaliers hearing these words looked at one another in
+astonishment. Zend pursed out his lips as if about to whistle in bird
+fashion. Kokosinski began to draw his broad palm over his head.
+
+"As true as life," said he, "a man would think that you were speaking
+to Pan Kmita's baggage-boys. It is true that we were to sit at home;
+but since the fourth day is passing and Yendrus has not come, we have
+reached the conviction that some serious tumult may have risen, in
+which our sabres, too, would be of service."
+
+"Pan Kmita did not go to a battle, but to punish turbulent soldiers,
+and punishment may meet you also if you go against orders. Besides, a
+tumult and slashing might come to pass more quickly if you were there."
+
+"It is hard to deliberate with your ladyship. We ask only for powder
+and men."
+
+"Men and powder I will not give. Do you hear me, sirs!"
+
+"Do I hear correctly?" asked Kokosinski. "How is this? You will not
+give? You will spare in the rescue of Kmita, of Yendrus? Do you prefer
+that some evil should meet him?"
+
+"The greatest evil that can meet him is your company."
+
+Here the maiden's eyes began to flash lightning, and raising her head
+she advanced some steps toward the cutthroats, and they pushed back
+before her in astonishment.
+
+"Traitors!" said she, "you, like evil spirits, tempt him to sin; you
+persuade him on. But I know you,--your profligacy, your lawless deeds.
+Justice is hunting you; people turn away from you, and on whom does the
+shame fall? On him, through you who are outlaws, and infamous."
+
+"Hei, by God's wounds, comrades, do you hear?" cried Kokosinski. "Hei,
+what is this? Are we not sleeping, comrades?"
+
+Panna Billevich advanced another step, and pointing with her hand to
+the door, said, "Be off out of here!"
+
+The ruffians grew as pale as corpses, and no one of them found a word
+in answer. But their teeth began to gnash, their hands to quiver toward
+their sword-hilts, and their eyes to shoot forth malign gleams. After a
+moment, however, their spirits fell through alarm. That house too was
+under the protection of the powerful Kmita; that insolent lady was his
+betrothed. In view of this they gnawed their rage in silence, and she
+stood unflinchingly with flashing eyes pointing to the door with her
+finger.
+
+At last Kokosinski spoke in a voice broken with rage: "Since we are
+received here so courteously, nothing remains to us but to bow to the
+polished lady and go--with thanks for the entertainment."
+
+Then he bowed, touching the floor with his cap in purposed humility;
+after him all the others bowed, and went out in order. When the door
+closed after the last man, Olenka fell exhausted into the armchair,
+panting heavily, for she had not so much strength as daring.
+
+They assembled in counsel in front of the entrance near their horses,
+but no man wanted to speak first. At last Kokosinski said, "Well, dear
+lambs, what's that?"
+
+"Do you feel well?"
+
+"Do you?"
+
+"Ei! but for Kmita," said Ranitski, rubbing his hands convulsively, "we
+would revel with this lady here in our own fashion."
+
+"Go meet Kmita," piped Rekuts.
+
+Ranitski's face was covered completely with spots, like the skin of a
+leopard. "I'll meet him and you too, you reveller, wherever it may
+please you!"
+
+"That's well!" cried Rekuts.
+
+Both rushed to their sabres, but the gigantic Kulvyets-Hippocentaurus
+thrust himself between. "See this fist!" said he, shaking as it were a
+loaf of bread; "see this fist!" repeated he. "I'll smash the head of
+the first man who draws his sabre." And he looked now at one and now at
+the other, as if asking in silence who wished to try first; but they,
+addressed in such fashion, were quiet at once.
+
+"Kulvyets is right," said Kokosinski. "My dear lambs, we need agreement
+now more than ever. I would advise to go with all speed to Kmita, so
+that she may not see him first, for she would describe us as devils. It
+is well that none of us snarled at her, though my own hands and tongue
+were itching. If she is going to rouse him against us, it is better for
+us to rouse him first. God keep him from leaving us! Straightway the
+people here would surround us, hunt us down like wolves."
+
+"Nonsense!" said Ranitski. "They will do nothing to us. There is war
+now; are there few men straggling through the world without a roof,
+without bread? Let us collect a party for ourselves, dear comrades, and
+let all the tribunals pursue us. Give your hand, Rekuts, I forgive
+you."
+
+"I should have cut off your ears," piped Rekuts; "but let us be
+friends, a common insult has met us."
+
+"To order out cavaliers like us!" said Kokosinski.
+
+"And me, in whom is senatorial blood!" added Ranitski.
+
+"Honorable people, men of good birth!"
+
+"Soldiers of merit!"
+
+"And exiles!"
+
+"Innocent orphans!"
+
+"I have boots lined with wool, but my feet are freezing," said
+Kulvyets. "Shall we stand like minstrels in front of this house? They
+will not bring us out heated beer. We are of no use here; let us mount
+and ride away. Better send the servants home, for what good are they
+without guns and weapons? We will go on alone."
+
+"To Upita!"
+
+"To Yendrus, our worthy friend! We will make complaint before him."
+
+"If only we do not miss him."
+
+"To horse, comrades, to horse!"
+
+They mounted, and moved on at a walk, chewing their anger and shame.
+Outside the gate Ranitski, whom rage still held as it were by the
+throat, turned and threatened the house with his fist. "Ei! I want
+blood! I want blood!"
+
+"If we can only raise a quarrel between her and Kmita," said
+Kokosinski, "we shall go through this place yet with fire."
+
+"That may happen."
+
+"God aid us!" added Uhlik.
+
+"Oh, pagan's daughter, mad heath-hen!"
+
+Railing thus, and enraged at the lady, snarling sometimes too at
+themselves, they reached the forest. They had barely passed the first
+trees when an enormous flock of crows whirled above their heads. Zend
+began at once to croak in a shrill voice; thousands of voices answered
+him from above. The flock came down so low that the horses began to be
+frightened at the sound of their wings.
+
+"Shut your mouth!" cried Ranitski to Zend. "You'll croak out misfortune
+on us yet. Those crows are circling over us as over carrion."
+
+The others laughed. Zend croaked continually. The crows came down more
+and more, and the party rode as if in the midst of a storm. Fools! they
+could not see the ill omen.
+
+Beyond the forest appeared Volmontovichi, toward which the cavaliers
+moved at a trot, for the frost was severe; they were very cold, and it
+was still a long way to Upita, but they had to lessen their speed in
+the village itself. In the broad road of the village the space was full
+of people, as is usual on Sundays. The Butryms, men and women, were
+returning on foot and in sleighs from Mitruny after receiving
+indulgence. The nobles looked on these unknown horsemen, half guessing
+who they were. The young women, who had heard of their license in
+Lyubich and of the notorious public sinners whom Pan Kmita had brought,
+looked at them with still greater curiosity. But they rode proudly in
+imposing military posture, with velvet coats which they had captured,
+in panther-skin caps, and on sturdy horses. It was to be seen that they
+were soldiers by profession,--their gestures frequent and haughty,
+their right hands resting on their hips, their heads erect. They gave
+the way to no man, advancing in a line and shouting from time to time,
+"Out of the road!" One or another of the Butryms looked at them with a
+frown, but yielded; the party chatted among themselves about the
+village.
+
+"See, gentlemen," said Kokosinski, "what sturdy fellows there are here;
+one after another like an aurochs, and each with the look of a wolf."
+
+"If it were not for their stature and swords, they might be taken for
+common trash."
+
+"Just look at those sabres,--regular tearers, as God is dear to me!"
+remarked Ranitski. "I would like to make a trial with some of those
+fellows." Here he began to fence with his hand: "He thus, I thus! He
+thus, I thus--and check!"
+
+"You can easily have that delight for yourself," said Rekuts. "Not much
+is needed with them for a quarrel."
+
+"I would rather engage with those girls over there," said Zend, all at
+once.
+
+"They are candles, not girls!" cried Rekuts, with enthusiasm.
+
+"What do you say,--candles? Pine-trees! And each one has a face as if
+painted with crocus."
+
+"It is hard to sit on a horse at such a sight."
+
+Talking in this style, they rode out of the village and moved on again
+at a trot. After half an hour's ride they came to a public house called
+Dola, which was half-way between Volmontovichi and Mitruny. The
+Butryms, men and women, generally stopped there going to and returning
+from church, in order to rest and warm themselves in frosty weather. So
+the cavaliers saw before the door a number of sleighs with pea-straw
+spread in them, and about the same number of saddle-horses.
+
+"Let us drink some gorailka, for it is cold," said Kokosinski.
+
+"It wouldn't hurt," answered the others, in a chorus.
+
+They dismounted, left their horses at the posts, and entered the
+drinking-hall, which was enormous and dark. They found there a crowd of
+people,--nobles sitting on benches or standing in groups before the
+water-pail, drinking warmed beer, and some of them a punch made of
+mead, butter, vudka, and spice. Those were the Butryms themselves,
+stalwart and gloomy; so sparing of speech that in the room scarcely any
+conversation was heard. All were dressed in gray overcoats of home-made
+or coarse cloth from Rossyeni, lined with sheepskin; they had leather
+belts, with sabres in black iron scabbards. By reason of that
+uniformity of dress they had the appearance of soldiers. But they were
+old men of sixty or youths under twenty. These had remained at home for
+the winter threshing; the others, men in the prime of life, had gone to
+Rossyeni.
+
+When they saw the cavaliers of Orsha, they drew back from the
+water-bucket and began to examine them. Their handsome soldierly
+appearance pleased that warlike nobility; after a while, too, some one
+dropped the word,--
+
+"Are they from Lyubich?"
+
+"Yes, that is Pan Kmita's company!"
+
+"Are these they?"
+
+"Of course."
+
+The cavaliers drank gorailka, but the punch had a stronger odor.
+Kokosinski caught it first, and ordered some. They sat around a table
+then; and when the steaming kettle was brought they began to drink,
+looking around the room at the men and blinking, for the place was
+rather dark. The snow had blocked the windows; and the broad, low
+opening of the chimney in which the fire was burning was hidden
+completely by certain figures with their backs to the crowd.
+
+When the punch had begun to circulate in the veins of the cavaliers,
+bearing through their bodies an agreeable warmth, their cheerfulness,
+depressed by the reception at Vodokty, sprang up again; and all at once
+Zend fell to cawing like a crow, so perfectly that all faces were
+turned toward him.
+
+The cavaliers laughed, and the nobles, enlivened, began to approach,
+especially the young men,--powerful fellows with broad shoulders and
+plump cheeks. The figures sitting at the chimney turned their faces to
+the room, and Rekuts was the first to see that they were women.
+
+Zend closed his eyes and cawed, cawed. Suddenly he stopped, and in a
+moment those present heard the cry of a hare choked by a dog; the hare
+cried in the last agony, weaker and lower, then screamed in despair,
+and was silent for the ages; in place of it was heard the deep bellow
+of a furious stag as loud as in spring-time.
+
+The Butryms were astonished. Though Zend had stopped, they expected to
+hear something again; but they heard only the piping voice of Rekuts,--
+
+"Those are titmice sitting near the chimney!"
+
+"That is true!" replied Kokosinski, shading his eyes with his hand.
+
+"As true as I live!" added Uhlik, "but it is so dark in the room that I
+could not see them."
+
+"I am curious. What are they doing?"
+
+"Maybe they have come to dance."
+
+"But wait; I will ask," said Kokosinski. And raising his voice, he
+asked, "My dear women, what are you doing there at the chimney?"
+
+"We are warming our feet," answered thin voices.
+
+Then the cavaliers rose and approached the hearth. There were sitting
+at it, on a long bench, about ten women, old and young, holding their
+bare feet on a log lying by the fire. On the other side of the log
+their shoes wet from the snow were drying.
+
+"So you are warming your feet?" asked Kokosinski.
+
+"Yes, for they are cold."
+
+"Very pretty feet," piped Rekuts, inclining toward the log.
+
+"But keep at a distance," said one of the women.
+
+"I prefer to come near. I have a sure method, better than fire, for
+cold feet; which is,--only dance with a will, and the cold flies away."
+
+"If to dance, then dance," said Uhlik. "We want neither fiddles nor
+bass-viols. I will play for you on the flageolet."
+
+Taking from its leather case which hung near his sabre the ever-present
+flageolet, he began to play; and the cavaliers, pushing forward with
+dancing movement to the maidens, sought to draw them from the benches.
+The maidens appeared to defend themselves, but more with their voices
+than their hands, for in truth they were not greatly opposed. Maybe
+the men, too, would have been willing in their turn; for against
+dancing on Sunday after Mass and during the carnival no one would
+protest greatly. But the reputation of the "company" was already
+too well known in Volmontovichi; therefore first the gigantic Yuzva
+Butrym, he who had but one foot, rose from the bench, and approaching
+Kulvyets-Hippocentaurus, caught him by the breast, held him, and said
+with sullen voice,--
+
+"If your grace wants dancing, then dance with me."
+
+Kulvyets-Hippocentaurus blinked, and began to move his mustaches
+convulsively. "I prefer a girl," said he; "I can attend to you
+afterward."
+
+Meanwhile Ranitski ran up with face already spotted, for he sniffed a
+quarrel. "Who are you, road-blocker?" asked he, grasping his sabre.
+
+Uhlik stopped playing, and Kokosinski shouted, "Hei, comrades!
+together, together!"
+
+But the Butryms were already behind Yuzva; sturdy old men and great
+youths began to assemble, growling like bears.
+
+"What do you want? Are you looking for bruises?" asked Kokosinski.
+
+"No talk! Be off out of here!" said Yuzva, stolidly.
+
+Then Ranitski, whose interest it was that an hour should not pass
+without a fight, struck Yuzva with the hilt of his sword in the breast,
+so that it was heard in the whole room, and cried, "Strike!"
+
+Rapiers glittered; the scream of women was heard, the clatter of
+sabres, uproar and disturbance. Then the gigantic Yuzva pushed out of
+the crowd, took a roughly hewn bench from beside a table, and raising
+it as though it were a light strip of wood, shouted, "Make way! make
+way!"
+
+Dust rose from the floor and hid the combatants; but in the confusion
+groans were soon heard.
+
+
+
+
+ CHAPTER VI.
+
+
+In the evening of that same day Pan Kmita came to Vodokty, at the head
+of a hundred and some tens of men whom he had brought from Upita so as
+to send them to Kyedani; for he saw himself that there were no quarters
+in such a small place for a large number of soldiers, and when the
+townspeople had been brought to hunger the soldiers would resort to
+violence, especially soldiers who could be held in discipline only by
+fear of a leader. A glance at Kmita's volunteers was enough to convince
+one that it would be difficult to find men of worse character in the
+whole Commonwealth. Kmita could not have others. After the defeat of
+the grand hetman, the enemy deluged the whole country. The remnants of
+the regular troops of the Lithuanian quota withdrew for a certain time
+to Birji and Kyedani, in order to rally there. The nobility of
+Smolensk, Vityebsk, Polotsk, Mstislavsk, and Minsk either followed
+the army or took refuge in the provinces still unoccupied. Men
+of superior courage among the nobility assembled at Grodno around
+the under-treasurer, Pan Gosyevski; for the royal proclamation
+summoning the general militia appointed that as the place of muster.
+Unfortunately few obeyed the proclamation, and those who followed the
+voice of duty assembled so negligently that for the time being no one
+offered real resistance save Kmita, who fought on his own account,
+animated more by knightly daring than patriotism. It is easy to
+understand that in the absence of regular troops and nobility he took
+such men as he could find, consequently men who were not drawn by duty
+to the hetmans and who had nothing to lose. Therefore there gathered
+around him vagrants without a roof and without a home, men of low rank,
+runaway servants from the army, foresters grown wild, serving-men from
+towns, or scoundrels pursued by the law. These expected to find
+protection under a flag and win profit from plunder. In the iron hands
+of Kmita they were turned into daring soldiers, daring even to madness;
+and if Kmita had been prudent he might have rendered high service to
+the Commonwealth. But Kmita was insubordinate himself, his spirit was
+always seething; besides, whence could he take provisions and arms and
+horses, since being a partisan he did not hold even a commission, and
+could not look for any aid from the treasury of the Commonwealth? He
+took therefore with violence,--often from the enemy, often from his
+own,--could suffer no opposition, and punished severely for the least
+cause.
+
+In continual raids, struggles, and attacks he had grown wild,
+accustomed to bloodshed in such a degree that no common thing could
+move the heart within him, which however was good by nature. He was in
+love with people of unbridled temper who were ready for anything. Soon
+his name had an ominous sound. Smaller divisions of the enemy did not
+dare to leave the towns and the camps in those regions where the
+terrible partisan was raging. But the townspeople ruined by war feared
+his men little less than they did the enemy, especially when the eye of
+Kmita in person was not resting on them. When command was taken by his
+officers, Kokosinski, Uhlik, Kulvyets, Zend, and particularly by
+Ranitski,--the wildest and most cruel of them all, though a man of high
+lineage,--it might always be asked, Are those defenders or ravagers?
+Kmita at times punished his own men without mercy when something
+happened not according to his humor; but more frequently he took their
+part, regardless of the rights, tears, and lives of people. His
+companions with the exception of Rekuts, on whom innocent blood was not
+weighing, persuaded the young leader to give the reins more and more to
+his turbulent nature. Such was Kmita's army. Just then he had taken his
+rabble from Upita to send it to Kyedani.
+
+When they stopped in front of the house at Vodokty, Panna Aleksandra
+was frightened as she saw them through the window, they were so much
+like robbers. Each one had a different outfit: some were in helmets
+taken from the enemy; others in Cossack caps, in hoods and Polish caps;
+some in faded overcoats, others in sheep-skin coats; their arms were
+guns, spears, bows, battle-axes; their horses, poor and worn, were
+covered with trappings, Polish, Russian, or Turkish.
+
+Olenka was set at rest only when Pan Andrei, gladsome and lively as
+ever, entered the room and rushed straight to her hands with incredible
+quickness.
+
+And she, though resolved in advance to receive him with dignity and
+coldness, was still unable to master the joy which his coming had
+caused her. Feminine cunning too may have played a certain part, for it
+was necessary to tell Pan Andrei about turning his comrades out of
+doors; therefore the clever girl wished to incline him first to her
+side. And in addition he greeted her so sincerely, so lovingly that the
+remnant of her offended feeling melted like snow before a blaze.
+
+"He loves me! there is no doubt about that," thought she.
+
+And he said: "I so longed for you that I was ready to burn all Upita if
+I could only fly to you the sooner. May the frost pinch them, the
+basswood barks!"
+
+"I too was uneasy lest it might come to a battle there. Praise be to
+God that you have returned!"
+
+"And such a battle! The soldiers had begun to pull around the basswood
+barks a little--"
+
+"But you quieted them?"
+
+"This minute I will tell you how it all happened, my jewel; only let me
+rest a little, for I am wearied. Ei! it is warm here. It is delightful
+in this Vodokty, just as in paradise. A man would be glad to sit here
+all his life, look in those beautiful eyes, and never go away--But it
+would do no harm, either, to drink something warm, for there is
+terrible frost outside."
+
+"Right away I will have wine heated, with eggs, and bring it myself."
+
+"And give my gallows' birds some little keg of gorailka, and give
+command to let them into the stable, so that they may warm themselves a
+little even from the breath of the cattle. They have coats lined with
+wind, and are terribly chilled."
+
+"I will spare nothing on them, for they are your soldiers."
+
+While speaking she smiled, so that it grew bright in Kmita's eyes, and
+she slipped out as quietly as a cat to have everything prepared in the
+servants' hall.
+
+Kmita walked up and down in the room, rubbing the top of his head, then
+twirling his young mustache, thinking how to tell her of what had been
+done in Upita.
+
+"The pure truth must be told," muttered he; "there is no help for it,
+though the company may laugh because I am here in leading-strings." And
+again he walked, and again he pushed the foretop on his forehead; at
+last he grew impatient that the maiden was so long in returning.
+
+Meanwhile a boy brought in a light, bowed to the girdle, and went out.
+Directly after the charming lady of the house entered, bringing with
+both hands a shining tin tray, and on it a small pot, from which rose
+the fragrant steam of heated Hungarian, and a goblet of cut glass with
+the escutcheon of the Kmitas. Old Billevich got this goblet in his time
+from Andrei's father, when at his house as a guest.
+
+Pan Andrei when he saw the lady sprang toward her. "Hei!" cried he,
+"both hands are full, you will not escape me."
+
+He bent over the tray, and she drew back her head, which was defended
+only by the steam which rose from the pot. "Traitor! desist, or I will
+drop the drink."
+
+But he feared not the threat; afterward he cried, "As God is in heaven,
+from such delight a man might lose his wits!"
+
+"Then you lost your wit long ago. Sit down."
+
+He sat down obediently; she poured the drink into the goblet.
+
+"Tell me how you sentenced the guilty in Upita."
+
+"In Upita? Like Solomon!"
+
+"Praise to God for that! It is on my heart that all in this region
+should esteem you as a steady and just man. How was it then?"
+
+Kmita took a good draught of the drink, drew breath, and began,--
+
+"I must tell from the beginning. It was thus: The townspeople with the
+mayor spoke of an order for provisions from the grand hetman or the
+under-treasurer. 'You gentlemen,' said they to the soldiers, 'are
+volunteers, and you cannot levy contributions. We will give you
+quarters for nothing, and provisions we will give when it is shown that
+we shall be paid.'"
+
+"Were they right, or were they not?"
+
+"They were right according to law; but the soldiers had sabres, and in
+old fashion whoever has a sabre has the best argument. They said then
+to the basswood barks, 'We will write orders on your skins
+immediately.' And straightway there rose a tumult. The mayor and the
+people barricaded themselves in the street, and my men attacked them;
+it did not pass without firing. The soldiers, poor fellows, burned a
+couple of barns to frighten the people, and quieted a few of them
+also."
+
+"How did they quiet them?"
+
+"Whoso gets a sabre on his skull is as quiet as a coward."
+
+"As God lives, that is murder!"
+
+"That is just why I went there. The soldiers ran to me at once with
+complaints and outcries against the oppression in which they were
+living, being persecuted without cause. 'Our stomachs are empty,' said
+they, 'what are we to do?' I commanded the mayor to appear. He
+hesitated long, but at last came with three other men. They began:
+'Even if the soldiers had not orders, why did they beat us, why burn
+the place? We should have given them to eat and to drink for a kind
+word; but they wanted ham, mead, dainties, and we are poor people, we
+have not these things for ourselves. We will seek defence at law, and
+you will answer before a court for your soldiers.'"
+
+"God will bless you," cried Olenka, "if you have rendered justice as
+was proper."
+
+"If I have." Here Pan Andrei wriggled like a student who has to confess
+his fault, and began to collect the forelock on his forehead with his
+hand. "My queen!" cried he at last, in an imploring voice, "my jewel,
+be not angry with me!"
+
+"What did you do then?" asked Olenka, uneasily.
+
+"I commanded to give one hundred blows apiece to the mayor and the
+councillors," said Kmita, at one breath.
+
+Olenka made no answer; she merely rested her hands on her knees,
+dropped her head on her bosom, and sank into silence.
+
+"Cut off my head!" cried Kmita, "but do not be angry! I have not told
+all yet!"
+
+"Is there more?" groaned the lady.
+
+"There is, for they sent then to Ponyevyej for aid. One hundred stupid
+fellows came with officers. These men I frightened away, but the
+officers--for God's sake be not angry!--I ordered to be chased and
+flogged with braided whips, naked over the snow, as I once did to Pan
+Tumgrat in Orsha."
+
+Panna Billevich raised her head; her stern eyes were flashing with
+indignation, and purple came out on her cheeks. "You have neither shame
+nor conscience!" said she.
+
+Kmita looked at her in astonishment, he was silent for a moment, then
+asked with changed voice, "Are you speaking seriously or pretending?"
+
+"I speak seriously; that deed is becoming a bandit and not a cavalier.
+I speak seriously, since your reputation is near my heart; for it is a
+shame to me that you have barely come here, when all the people look on
+you as a man of violence and point at you with their fingers."
+
+"What care I for the people? One dog watches ten of their cabins, and
+then has not much to do."
+
+"There is no infamy on those modest people, there is no disgrace on the
+name of one of them. Justice will pursue no man here except you."
+
+"Oh, let not your head ache for that. Every man is lord for himself in
+our Commonwealth, if he has only a sabre in his hand and can gather any
+kind of party. What can they do to me? Whom fear I here?"
+
+"If you fear not man, then know that I fear God's anger, and the tears
+of people; I fear wrongs also. And moreover I am not willing to share
+disgrace with any one; though I am a weak woman, still the honor of my
+name is dearer to me than it is to a certain one who calls himself a
+cavalier."
+
+"In God's name, do not threaten me with refusal, for you do not know me
+yet."
+
+"I think that my grandfather too did not know you."
+
+Kmita's eyes shot sparks; but the Billevich blood began to play in her.
+
+"Oh, gesticulate and grit your teeth," continued she, boldly; "but I
+fear not, though I am alone and you have a whole party of robbers,--my
+innocence defends me. You think that I know not how you fired at the
+portraits in Lyubich and dragged in the girls for debauchery. You do
+not know me if you suppose that I shall humbly be silent. I want
+honesty from you, and no will can prevent me from exacting it. Nay, it
+was the will of my grandfather that I should be the wife of only an
+honest man."
+
+Kmita was evidently ashamed of what had happened at Lyubich; for
+dropping his head, he asked in a voice now calmer, "Who told you of
+this shooting?"
+
+"All the nobles in the district speak of it."
+
+"I will pay those homespuns, the traitors, for their good will,"
+answered Kmita, sullenly. "But that happened in drink,--in
+company,--for soldiers are not able to restrain themselves. As for the
+girls I had nothing to do with them."
+
+"I know that those brazen ruffians, those murderers, persuade you to
+everything."
+
+"They are not murderers, they are my officers."
+
+"I commanded those officers of yours to leave my house."
+
+Olenka looked for an outburst; but she saw with greatest astonishment
+that the news of turning his comrades out of the house made no
+impression on Kmita; on the contrary, it seemed to improve his humor.
+
+"You ordered them to go out?" asked be.
+
+"I did."
+
+"And they went?"
+
+"They did."
+
+"As God lives, you have the courage of a cavalier. That pleases me
+greatly, for it is dangerous to quarrel with such people. More than one
+man has paid dearly for doing so. But they observe manners before
+Kmita! You saw they bore themselves obediently as lambs; you saw
+that,--but why? Because they are afraid of me."
+
+Here Kmita looked boastfully at Olenka, and began to twirl his
+mustache. This fickleness of humor and inopportune boastfulness enraged
+her to the last degree; therefore she said haughtily and with emphasis,
+"You must choose between me and them; there is no other way."
+
+Kmita seemed not to note the decision with which she spoke, and
+answered carelessly, almost gayly: "But why choose when I have you and
+I have them? You may do what you like in Vodokty; but if my comrades
+have committed no wrong, no license here, why should I drive them away?
+You do not understand what it is to serve under one flag and carry on
+war in company. No relationship binds like service in common. Know that
+they have saved my life a thousand times at least. I must protect them
+all the more because they are pursued by justice. They are almost all
+nobles and of good family, except Zend, who is of uncertain origin; but
+such a horse-trainer as he there is not in the whole Commonwealth. And
+if you could hear how he imitates wild beasts and every kind of bird,
+you would fall in love with him yourself."
+
+Here Kmita laughed as if no anger, no misunderstanding, had ever found
+place between them; and she was ready to wring her hands, seeing how
+that whirlwind of a nature was slipping away from her grasp. All that
+she had said of the opinions of men, of the need of sedateness, of
+disgrace, slipped along on him like a dart on steel armor. The unroused
+conscience of this soldier could give no response to her indignation at
+every injustice and every dishonorable deed of license. How was he to
+be touched, how addressed?
+
+"Let the will of God be done," said she at last; "since you will resign
+me, then go your way. God will remain with the orphan."
+
+"I resign you?" asked Kmita, with supreme astonishment.
+
+"That is it!--if not in words, then in deeds; if not you me, then I
+you. For I will not marry a man weighted by the tears and blood of
+people, whom men point at with their fingers, whom they call an outlaw,
+a robber, and whom they consider a traitor."
+
+"What, traitor! Do not bring me to madness, lest I do something for
+which I should be sorry hereafter. May the thunderbolts strike me this
+minute, may the devils flay me, if I am a traitor,--I, who stood by the
+country when all hands had dropped!"
+
+"You stand by the country and act like an enemy, for you trample on it.
+You are an executioner of the people, regarding the laws neither of God
+nor man. No! though my heart should be rent, I will not marry you;
+being such a man, I will not!"
+
+"Do not speak to me of refusal, for I shall grow furious. Save me, ye
+angels! If you will not have me in good-will, then I'll take you
+without it, though all the rabble from the villages were here, though
+the Radzivills themselves were here, the very king himself and all the
+devils with their horns stood in the way, even if I had to sell my soul
+to the Devil!"
+
+"Do not summon evil spirits, for they will hear you," cried Olenka,
+stretching forth her hands.
+
+"What do you wish of me?"
+
+"Be honest!"
+
+Both ceased speaking, and silence followed; only the panting of Pan
+Andrei was heard. The last words of Olenka had penetrated, however, the
+armor covering his conscience. He felt himself conquered; he knew not
+what to answer, how to defend himself. Then he began to go with swift
+steps through the room. She sat there motionless. Above them hung
+disagreement, dissension, and regret. They were oppressive to each
+other, and the long silence became every instant more unendurable.
+
+"Farewell!" said Kmita, suddenly.
+
+"Go, and may God give you a different inspiration!" answered Olenka.
+
+"I will go! Bitter was your drink, bitter your bread. I have been
+treated here to gall and vinegar."
+
+"And do you think you have treated me to sweetness?" answered she, in a
+voice in which tears were trembling.
+
+"Be well."
+
+"Be well."
+
+Kmita, advancing toward the door, turned suddenly, and springing to
+her, seized both her hands and said, "By the wounds of Christ! do you
+wish me to drop from the horse a corpse on the road?"
+
+That moment Olenka burst into tears; he embraced her and held her in
+his arms, all quivering, repeating through her set teeth, "Whoso
+believes in God, kill me! kill, do not spare!"
+
+At last he burst out: "Weep not, Olenka; for God's sake, do not
+weep! In what am I guilty before you? I will do all to please you.
+I'll send those men away, I'll come to terms in Upita, I will live
+differently,--for I love you. As God lives, my heart will burst! I will
+do everything; only do not cry, and love me still."
+
+And so he continued to pacify and pet her; and she, when she had cried
+to the end, said: "Go now. God will make peace between us. I am not
+offended, only sore at heart."
+
+The moon had risen high over the white fields when Pan Andrei pushed
+out on his way to Lyubich, and after him clattered his men, stretching
+along the broad road like a serpent. They went through Volmontovichi,
+but by the shortest road, for frost had bound up the swamps, which
+might therefore be crossed without danger.
+
+The sergeant Soroka approached Pan Andrei. "Captain," inquired he,
+"where are we to find lodgings in Lyubich?"
+
+"Go away!" answered Kmita.
+
+And he rode on ahead, speaking to no man. In his heart rose regret, at
+moments anger, but above all, vexation at himself. That was the first
+night in his life in which he made a reckoning with conscience, and
+that reckoning weighed him down more than the heaviest armor. Behold,
+he had come into this region with a damaged reputation, and what had he
+done to repair it? The first day he had permitted shooting and excess
+in Lyubich, and thought that he did not belong to it, but he did; then
+he permitted it every day. Further, his soldiers wronged the
+townspeople, and he increased those wrongs. Worse, he attacked the
+Ponyevyej garrison, killed men, sent naked officers on the snow. They
+will bring an action against him; he will lose it. They will punish him
+with loss of property, honor, perhaps life. But why can he not, after
+he has collected an armed party of the rabble, scoff at the law as
+before? Because he intends to marry, settle in Vodokty, serve not on
+his own account, but in the contingent; there the law will find him and
+take him. Besides, even though these deeds should pass unpunished,
+there is something vile in them, something unworthy of a knight. Maybe
+this violence can be atoned for; but the memory of it will remain in
+the hearts of men, in his own conscience, and in the heart of Olenka.
+
+When he remembered that she had not rejected him yet, that when he was
+going away he read in her eyes forgiveness, she seemed to him as kind
+as the angels of heaven. And behold the desire was seizing him to go,
+not to-morrow, but straightway, as fast as the horse could spring, fall
+at her feet, beg forgetfulness, and kiss those sweet eyes which today
+had moistened his face with tears. Then he wished to roar with weeping,
+and felt that he loved that girl as he had never in his life loved any
+one. "By the Most Holy Lady!" thought he, in his soul, "I will do what
+she wishes; I will provide for my comrades bountifully, and send them
+to the end of the world; for it is true that they urge me to evil."
+
+Then it entered his head that on coming to Lyubich he would find them
+most surely drunk or with girls; and such rage seized him that he
+wanted to slash somebody with a sabre, even those soldiers whom he was
+leading, and cut them up without mercy.
+
+"I'll give it to them!" muttered he, twirling his mustache. "They have
+not yet seen me as they will see me."
+
+Then from madness he began to prick the horse with his spurs, to pull
+and drag at the reins till the steed grew wild. Soroka, seeing this,
+muttered to the soldiers,--
+
+"The captain is mad. God save us from falling under his hand!"
+
+Pan Andrei had become mad in earnest. Round about there was great calm.
+The moon shone mildly, the heavens were glittering with thousands of
+stars, not the slightest breeze was moving the limbs on the trees; but
+in the heart of the knight a tempest was raging. The road to Lyubich
+seemed to him longer than ever before. A certain hitherto unknown alarm
+began to play upon him from the gloom of the forest depths, and from
+the fields flooded with a greenish light of the moon. Finally weariness
+seized Pan Andrei,--for, to tell the truth, the whole night before he
+had passed in drinking and frolicking in Upita; but he wished to
+overcome toil with toil, and rouse himself from unquiet by swift
+riding; he turned therefore to the soldiers and commanded,--
+
+"Forward!"
+
+He shot ahead like an arrow, and after him the whole party. And in
+those woods and along those empty fields they flew on like that hellish
+band of knights of the cross of whom people tell in Jmud,--how at times
+in the middle of bright moonlight nights they appear and rush through
+the air, announcing war and uncommon calamities. The clatter flew
+before them and followed behind, from the horses came steam, and only
+when at the turn of the road the roofs of Lyubich appeared did they
+slacken their speed.
+
+The swinging gate stood open. It astonished Kmita that when the yard
+was crowded with his men and horses no one came out to see or inquire
+who they were. He expected to find the windows gleaming with lights, to
+hear the sound of Uhlik's flageolet, of fiddles, or the joyful shouts
+of conversation. At that time in two windows of the dining-hall
+quivered an uncertain light; all the rest of the house was dark, quiet,
+silent. The sergeant Soroka sprang first from his horse to hold the
+stirrup for the captain.
+
+"Go to sleep," said Kmita; "whoever can find room in the servants'
+hall, let him sleep there, and others in the stable. Put the horses in
+the cattle-houses and in the barns, and bring them hay from the shed."
+
+"I hear," answered the sergeant.
+
+Kmita came down from the horse. The door of the entrance was wide open,
+and the entrance cold.
+
+"Hei! Is there any one here?" cried Kmita.
+
+No one answered.
+
+"Hei there!" repeated he, more loudly.
+
+Silence.
+
+"They are drunk!" muttered Pan Andrei.
+
+And such rage took possession of him that he began to grit his teeth.
+While riding he was agitated with anger at the thought that he should
+find drinking and debauchery; now this silence irritated him still
+more.
+
+He entered the dining-hall. On an enormous table was burning a tallow
+lamp-pot with a reddish smoking light. The force of the wind which came
+in from the antechamber deflected the flame so that for a time Pan
+Andrei could not see anything. Only when the quivering had ceased did
+he distinguish a row of forms lying just at the wall.
+
+"Have they made themselves dead drunk or what?" muttered he, unquietly.
+
+Then he drew near with impatience to the side of the first figure. He
+could not see the face, for it was hidden in the shadow; but by the
+white leather belt and the white sheath of the flageolet he recognized
+Pan Uhlik, and began to shake him unceremoniously with his foot.
+
+"Get up, such kind of sons! get up!"
+
+But Pan Uhlik lay motionless, with his hands fallen without control at
+the side of his body, and beyond him were lying others. No one yawned,
+no one quivered, no one woke, no one muttered. At the same moment Kmita
+noticed that all were lying on their backs in the same position, and a
+certain fearful presentiment seized him by the heart. Springing to the
+table, he took with trembling hand the light and thrust it toward the
+faces of the prostrate men.
+
+The hair stood on his head, such a dreadful sight met his eyes. Uhlik
+he was able to recognize only by his white belt, for his face and his
+head presented one formless, foul, bloody mass, without eyes, without
+nose or mouth,--only the enormous mustaches were sticking out of the
+dreadful pool. Kmita pushed the light farther. Next in order lay Zend,
+with grinning teeth and eyes protruding, in which in glassy fixedness
+was terror before death. The third in the row, Ranitski, had his eyes
+closed, and over his whole face were spots, white, bloody, and dark.
+Kmita took the light farther. Fourth lay Kokosinski,--the dearest to
+Kmita of all his officers, being his former near neighbor. He seemed
+to sleep quietly, but in the side of his neck was to be seen a large
+wound surely given with a thrust. Fifth in the row lay the gigantic
+Kulvyets-Hippocentaurus, with the vest torn on his bosom and his face
+slashed many times. Kmita brought the light near each face; and when at
+last he brought it to the sixth, Rekuts, it seemed that the lids of the
+unfortunate victim quivered a little from the gleam.
+
+Kmita put the light on the floor and began to shake the wounded man
+gently. After the eyelids the face began to move, the eyes and mouth
+opened and closed in turn.
+
+"Rekuts, Rekuts, it is I!" said Kmita.
+
+The eyes of Rekuts opened for a moment; he recognized the face of his
+friend, and groaned in a low voice, "Yendrus--a priest--"
+
+"Who killed you?" cried Kmita, seizing himself by the hair.
+
+"Bu-try-my-" (The Butryms), answered he, in a voice so low that it was
+barely audible. Then he stretched himself, grew stiff, his open eyes
+became fixed, and he died.
+
+Kmita went in silence to the table, put the tallow lamp upon it, sat
+down in an armchair, and began to pass his hands over his face like a
+man who waking from sleep does not know yet whether he is awake or
+still sees dream figures before his eyes. Then he looked again on the
+bodies lying in the darkness. Cold sweat came out on his forehead, the
+hair rose on his head, and suddenly he shouted so terribly that the
+panes rattled in the windows,--
+
+"Come hither, every living man! come hither!"
+
+The soldiers, who had disposed themselves in the servants' hall, heard
+that cry and fell into the room with a rush. Kmita showed them with his
+hand the corpses at the wall.
+
+"Murdered! murdered!" repeated he, with hoarse voice.
+
+They ran to look; some came with a taper, and held it before the eyes
+of the dead men. After the first moment of astonishment came noise and
+confusion. Those hurried in who had found places in the stables and
+barns. The whole house was bright with light, swarming with men; and in
+the midst of all that whirl, shouting, and questioning, the dead lay at
+the wall unmoved and quiet, indifferent to everything, and, in
+contradiction to their own nature, calm. The souls had gone out of
+them, and their bodies could not be raised by the trumpet to battle, or
+the sound of the goblets to feasting.
+
+Meanwhile in the din of the soldiers shouts of threatening and rage
+rose higher and higher each instant. Kmita, who till that moment had
+been as it were unconscious, sprang up suddenly and shouted, "To
+horse!"
+
+Everything living moved toward the door. Half an hour had not passed
+when more than one hundred horsemen were rushing with breakneck speed
+over the broad snowy road, and at the head of them flew Pan Andrei, as
+if possessed of a demon, bareheaded and with a naked sabre in his hand.
+In the still night was heard on every side the wild shouts: "Slay!
+kill!"
+
+The moon had reached just the highest point on its road through the
+sky, when suddenly its beams began to be mingled and mixed with a rosy
+light, rising as it were from under the ground; gradually the heavens
+grew red and still redder as if from the rising dawn, till at last a
+bloody glare filled the whole neighborhood. One sea of fire raged over
+the gigantic village of the Butryms; and the wild soldiers of Kmita, in
+the midst of smoke, burning, and sparks bursting in columns to the sky,
+cut down the population, terrified and blinded from fright.
+
+The inhabitants of the nearer villages sprang from their sleep. The
+greater and smaller companies of the Smoky Gostsyeviches and Stakyans,
+Gashtovts and Domasheviches, collected on the road before their houses,
+and looking in the direction of the fire, gave alarm from mouth to
+mouth: "It must be that an enemy has broken in and is burning the
+Butryms,--that is an unusual fire!"
+
+The report of muskets coming at intervals from the distance confirmed
+this supposition.
+
+"Let us go to assist them!" cried the bolder; "let us not leave our
+brothers to perish!"
+
+And when the older ones spoke thus, the younger, who on account of the
+winter threshing had not gone to Rossyeni, mounted their horses. In
+Krakin and in Upita they had begun to ring the church bells.
+
+In Vodokty a quiet knocking at the door roused Panna Aleksandra.
+
+"Olenka, get up!" cried Panna Kulvyets.
+
+"Come in, Aunt, what is the matter?"
+
+"They are burning Volmontovichi!"
+
+"In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost!"
+
+"Shots are heard, there is a battle! God have mercy on us!"
+
+Olenka screamed terribly; then she sprang out of bed and began to throw
+on her clothes hurriedly. Her body trembled as in a fever. She alone
+guessed in a moment what manner of enemy had attacked the ill-fated
+Butryms.
+
+After a while the awakened women of the whole house rushed into the
+room with crying and sobbing. Olenka threw herself on her knees before
+an image; they followed her example, and all began to repeat aloud the
+litany for the dying.
+
+They had scarcely gone through half of it when a violent pounding shook
+the door of the antechamber. The women sprang to their feet; a cry of
+alarm was rent from their breasts.
+
+"Do not open! do not open!"
+
+The pounding was heard with redoubled force; it seemed that the door
+would spring from its hinges. That moment the youth Kostek rushed into
+the midst of the assembled women.
+
+"Panna!" cried he, "some man is knocking; shall I open or not?"
+
+"Is he alone?"
+
+"Alone."
+
+"Go open."
+
+The youth hurried away. She, taking a light, passed into the
+dining-room; after her, Panna Kulvyets and all the spinning-women.
+
+She had barely put the light on the table when in the antechamber was
+heard the rattle of iron bolts, the creak of the opening door; and
+before the eyes of the women appeared Pan Kmita, terrible, black from
+smoke, bloody, panting, with madness in his eyes.
+
+"My horse has fallen at the forest," cried he; "they are pursuing me!"
+
+Panna Aleksandra fixed her eyes on him: "Did you burn Volmontovichi?"
+
+"I--I--"
+
+He wanted to say something more, when from the side of the road and the
+woods came the sound of voices and the tramp of horses approaching with
+uncommon rapidity.
+
+"The devils are after my soul; let them have it!" cried Kmita, as if in
+a fever.
+
+Panna Aleksandra that moment turned to the women. "If they ask, say
+there is no one here; and now go to the servants' hall and come here at
+daylight!" Then to Kmita: "Go in there," said she, pointing to an
+adjoining room; and almost by force she pushed him through the open
+door, which she shut immediately.
+
+Meanwhile armed men filled the front yard; and in the twinkle of an eye
+the Butryms, Gostsyeviches, Domasheviches, with others, burst into the
+house. Seeing the lady, they halted in the dining-room; but she,
+standing with a light in her hand, stopped with her person the passage
+to doors beyond.
+
+"Men, what has happened? What do you want?" asked she, without blinking
+an eye before the terrible looks and the ominous gleam of drawn sabres.
+
+"Kmita has burned Volmontovichi!" cried the nobles, in a chorus. "He
+has slaughtered men, women, children,--Kmita did this."
+
+"We have killed his men," said Yuzva Butrym; "now we are seeking his
+own head."
+
+"His head, his blood! Cut down the murderer!"
+
+"Pursue him!" cried the lady. "Why do you stand here? Pursue him!"
+
+"Is he not hidden here? We found his horse at the woods."
+
+"He is not here! The house was closed. Look for him in the stables and
+barns."
+
+"He has gone off to the woods!" cried some noble. "Come, brothers."
+
+"Be silent!" roared with powerful voice Yuzva Butrym. "My lady," said
+he, "do not conceal him! That is a cursed man!"
+
+Olenka raised both hands above her head: "I join you in cursing him!"
+
+"Amen!" shouted the nobles. "To the buildings, to the woods! We will
+find him! After the murderer!"
+
+"Come on! come on!"
+
+The clatter of sabres and tramp of feet was heard again. The nobles
+hurried out through the porch, and mounted with all speed. A part of
+them searched still for a time in the stables, the cow-houses, and
+hay-shed; then their voices began to retreat toward the woods.
+
+Panna Aleksandra listened till they had ceased altogether; then she
+tapped feverishly at the door of the room in which she had hidden
+Kmita. "There is no one here now, come out."
+
+Pan Andrei pushed himself forth from the room as if drunk. "Olenka!" he
+began.
+
+She shook her loosened tresses, which then covered her face like a
+veil. "I wish not to see you or know you. Take a horse and flee hence!"
+
+"Olenka!" groaned Kmita, stretching forth his hands.
+
+"There is blood on your hands, as on Cain's!" screamed she, springing
+back as if at the sight of a serpent. "Be gone, for the ages!"
+
+
+
+
+ CHAPTER VII.
+
+
+The day rose gray, and lighted a group of ruins in Volmontovichi,--the
+burned remnants of houses, out-buildings, bodies of people and horses
+burned or slain with swords. In the ashes amidst dying embers crowds of
+pale people were seeking for the bodies of the dead or the remains of
+their property. It was a day of mourning and misfortune for all Lauda.
+The numerous nobility had obtained, it is true, a victory over Kmita's
+men, but a grievous and bloody one. Besides the Butryms, who had fallen
+in greater numbers than the others, there was not a village in which
+widows were not bewailing husbands, parents sons, or children their
+fathers. It was the more difficult for the Lauda people to finish the
+invaders, since the strongest were not at home; only old men or youths
+of early years took part in the battle. But of Kmita's soldiers not one
+escaped. Some yielded their lives in Volmontovichi, defending
+themselves with such rage that they fought after they were wounded;
+others were caught next day in the woods and killed without mercy.
+Kmita himself was as if he had dropped into water. The people were lost
+in surmising what had become of him. Some insisted that he had reached
+the wilderness of Zyelonka and gone thence to Rogovsk, where the
+Domasheviches alone might find him. Many too asserted that he had gone
+over to Hovanski and was bringing the enemy; but these were the fewest,
+their fears were untimely.
+
+Meanwhile the surviving Butryms marched to Vodokty, and disposed
+themselves as in a camp. The house was full of women and children.
+Those who could not find a place there went to Mitruny, which Panna
+Aleksandra gave up to those whose homes had been burned. There were,
+besides, in Vodokty for defence about a hundred armed men in parties
+which relieved one another regularly, thinking that Kmita did not
+consider the affair ended, but might any day make an attempt on the
+lady with armed hand. The most important houses in the neighborhood,
+such as the Schyllings, the Sollohubs, and others, sent their attendant
+Cossacks and haiduks. Vodokty looked like a place awaiting a siege. And
+Panna Aleksandra went among the armed men, the nobles, the crowds of
+women, mournful, pale, suffering, hearing the weeping of people, and
+the curses of men against Pan Kmita,--which pierced her heart like
+swords, for she was the mediate cause of all the misfortune. For her it
+was that that frenzied man had come to the neighborhood, disturbed the
+peace, and left the memory of blood behind, trampled on laws, killed
+people, visited villages with fire and sword like an infidel, till it
+was a wonder that one man could commit so much evil in such a short
+time, and he a man neither entirely wicked nor entirely corrupt. If
+there was any one who knew this best, it was Panna Aleksandra, who had
+become acquainted with him most intimately. There was a precipice
+between Pan Kmita himself and his deeds. But it was for this reason
+precisely that so much pain was caused Panna Aleksandra by the thought
+that that man whom she had loved with the whole first impulse of a
+young heart might be different, that he possessed qualities to make him
+the model of a knight, of a cavalier, of a neighbor, worthy to receive
+the admiration and love of men instead of their contempt, and blessings
+instead of curses.
+
+At times, therefore, it seemed to the lady that some species of
+misfortune, some kind of power, great and unclean, impelled him to all
+those deeds of violence; and then a sorrow really measureless possessed
+her for that unfortunate man, and unextinguished love rose anew in her
+heart, nourished by the fresh remembrance of his knightly form, his
+words, his imploring, his loving.
+
+Meanwhile a hundred complaints were entered against him in the town, a
+hundred actions threatened, and the starosta, Pan Hlebovich, sent men
+to seize the criminal. The law was bound to condemn him.
+
+Still, from sentences to their execution the distance was great, for
+disorder increased every hour in the Commonwealth. A terrible war was
+hanging over the land, and approaching Jmud with bloody steps. The
+powerful Radzivill of Birji, who was able alone to support the law with
+arms, was too much occupied with public affairs and still more immersed
+in great projects touching his own house, which he wished to elevate
+above all others in the country, even at the cost of the common weal.
+Other magnates too were thinking more of themselves than of the State.
+All the bonds in the strong edifice of the Commonwealth had burst from
+the time of the Cossack war.
+
+A country populous, rich, filled with a valiant knighthood, had become
+the prey of neighbors; and straightway arbitrariness and license raised
+their heads more and more, and insulted the law, so great was the power
+which they felt behind them. The oppressed could find the best and
+almost the only defence against the oppressor in their own sabres;
+therefore all Lauda, while protesting in the courts against Kmita, did
+not dismount for a long time, ready to resist force with force.
+
+But a month passed, and no tidings of Kmita. People began to breathe
+with greater freedom. The more powerful nobility withdrew the armed
+servants whom they had sent to Vodokty as a guard. The lesser nobles
+were yearning for their labors and occupations at home, and they too
+dispersed by degrees. But when warlike excitement calmed down, as time
+passed, an increased desire came to that indigent nobility to overcome
+the absent man with law and to redress their wrongs before the
+tribunals. For although decisions could not reach Kmita himself,
+Lyubich remained a large and handsome estate, a ready reward and a
+payment for losses endured. Meanwhile Panna Aleksandra restrained with
+great zeal the desire for lawsuits in the Lauda people. Twice did the
+elders of Lauda meet at her house for counsel; and she not only took
+part in these deliberations but presided over them, astonishing all
+with her woman's wit and keen judgment, so that more than one lawyer
+might envy her. The elders of Lauda wanted to occupy Lyubich with armed
+hand and give it to the Butryms, but "the lady" advised against this
+firmly.
+
+"Do not return violence for violence," said she; "if you do, your case
+will be injured. Let all the innocence be on your side. He is a
+powerful man and has connections, he will find too in the courts
+adherents, and if you give the least pretext you may suffer new wrongs.
+Let your case be so clear that any court, even if made up of his
+brothers, could not decide otherwise than in your favor. Tell the
+Butryms to take neither tools nor cattle, and to leave Lyubich
+completely in peace. Whatever they need I will give them from Mitruny,
+where there is more than all the property that was at any time in
+Volmontovichi. And if Pan Kmita should appear here again, leave him in
+peace till there is a decision, let them make no attempt on his person.
+Remember that only while he is alive have you some one from whom to
+recover for your wrongs."
+
+Thus spoke the wise lady with prudent intent, and they applauded her
+wisdom, not seeing that delay might benefit also Pan Andrei, and
+especially in this that it secured his life. Perhaps too Olenka wished
+to guard that unfortunate life against sudden attack. But the nobility
+obeyed her, for they were accustomed from very remote times to esteem
+as gospel every word that came from the mouth of a Billevich. Lyubich
+remained intact, and had Pan Andrei appeared he might have settled
+there quietly for a time. He did not appear, but a month and a half
+later a messenger came to the lady with a letter. He was some strange
+man, known to no one. The letter was from Kmita, written in the
+following words:--
+
+
+"Beloved of my heart, most precious, unrelinquished Olenka! It is
+natural for all creatures and especially for men, even the lowest, to
+avenge wrongs done them, and when a man has suffered evil he will pay
+it back gladly in kind to the one who inflicted it. If I cut down those
+insolent nobles, God sees that I did so not through cruelty, but
+because they murdered my officers in defiance of laws human and divine,
+without regard to their youth and high birth, with a death so pitiless
+that the like could not be found among Cossacks or Tartars. I will not
+deny that wrath more than human possessed me; but who will wonder at
+wrath which had its origin in the blood of one's friends? The spirits
+of Kokosinski, Ranitski, Uhlik, Rekuts, Kulvyets, and Zend, of sacred
+memory; slain in the flower of their age and repute, slain without
+reason, put arms in my hands when I was just thinking.--and I call God
+to witness,--just thinking of peace and friendship with the nobles of
+Lauda, wishing to change my life altogether according to your pleasant
+counsels. While listening to complaints against me, do not forget my
+defence, and judge justly. I am sorry now for those people in the
+village. The innocent may have suffered; but a soldier avenging the
+blood of his brothers cannot distinguish the innocent from the guilty,
+and respects no one. God grant that nothing has happened to injure me
+in your eyes. Atonement for other men's sins and faults and my own just
+wrath is most bitter to me, for since I have lost you I sleep in
+despair and I wake in despair, without power to forget either you or my
+love. Let the tribunals pass sentence on me, unhappy man; let the diets
+confirm the sentences, let them trumpet me forth to infamy, let the
+ground open under my feet, I will endure everything, suffer everything,
+only, for God's sake, cast me not out of your heart! I will do all that
+they ask, give up Lyubich, give up my property in Orsha,--I have
+captured rubles buried in the woods, let them take those,--if you will
+promise to keep faith with me as your late grandfather commands from
+the other world. You have saved my life, save also my soul; let me
+repair wrongs, let me change my life for the better; for I see that if
+you will desert me God will desert me, and despair will impel me to
+still worse deeds."
+
+
+How many voices of pity rose in the soul of Olenka in defence of Pan
+Andrei, who can tell! Love flies swiftly, like the seed of a tree borne
+on by the wind; but when it grows up in the heart like a tree in the
+ground, you can pluck it out only with the heart. Panna Billevich was
+of those who love strongly with an honest heart, therefore she covered
+that letter of Kmita's with tears. But still she could not forget
+everything, forgive everything after the first word. Kmita's
+compunction was certainly sincere, but his soul remained wild and his
+nature untamed; surely it had not changed so much through those events
+that the future might be thought of without alarm. Not words, but deeds
+were needed for the future on the part of Pan Andrei. Finally, how
+could she say to a man who had made the whole neighborhood bloody,
+whose name no one on either bank of the Lauda mentioned without curses,
+"Come! in return for the corpses, the burning, the blood, and the
+tears, I will give you my love and my hand"? Therefore she answered him
+otherwise:--
+
+
+"Since I have told you that I do not wish to know you or see you, I
+remain in that resolve, even though my heart be rent. Wrongs such as
+you have inflicted on people here are not righted either with property
+or money, for it is impossible to raise the dead. You have not lost
+property only, but reputation. Let these nobles whose houses you have
+burned and whom you have killed forgive you, then I will forgive you;
+let them receive you, and I will receive you; let them rise up for you
+first, then I will listen to their intercession. But as this can never
+be, seek happiness elsewhere; and seek the forgiveness of God before
+that of man, for you need it more."
+
+
+Panna Aleksandra poured tears on every word of the letter; then she
+sealed it with the Billevich seal and took it herself to the messenger.
+
+"Whence art thou?" asked she, measuring with her glance that strange
+figure, half peasant, half servant.
+
+"From the woods, my lady."
+
+"And where is thy master?"
+
+"That is not permitted me to say. But he is far from here; I rode five
+days, and wore out my horse."
+
+"Here is a thaler!" said Olenka. "And thy master is well?"
+
+"He is as well, the young hero, as an aurochs."
+
+"And he is not in hunger or poverty?"
+
+"He is a rich lord."
+
+"Go with God."
+
+"I bow to my lady's feet."
+
+"Tell thy master--wait--tell thy master--may God aid him!"
+
+The peasant went away; and again began to pass days, weeks, without
+tidings of Kmita, but tidings of public affairs came worse and worse.
+The armies of Moscow under Hovanski spread more and more widely over
+the Commonwealth. Without counting the lands of the Ukraine, in the
+Grand Duchy of Lithuania alone, the provinces of Polotsk, Smolensk,
+Vitebsk, Mstislavsk, Minsk, and Novgorodek were occupied; only a part
+of Vilna, Brest-Litovsk, Trotsk, and the starostaship of Jmud breathed
+yet with free breast, but even these expected guests from day to day.
+
+The Commonwealth had descended to the last degree of helplessness,
+since it was unable to offer resistance to just those forces' which
+hitherto had been despised and which had always been beaten. It is true
+that those forces were assisted by the unextinguished and re-arisen
+rebellion of Hmelnitski, a genuine hundred-headed hydra; but in spite
+of the rebellion, in spite of the exhaustion of forces in preceding
+wars, both statesmen and warriors gave assurance that the Grand Duchy
+alone might be and was in a condition not only to hurl back attack, but
+to carry its banners victoriously beyond its own borders. Unfortunately
+internal dissension stood in the way of that strength, paralyzing the
+efforts even of those citizens who were willing to sacrifice their
+lives and fortunes.
+
+Meanwhile thousands of fugitives had taken refuge in the lands still
+unoccupied,--both nobles and common people. Towns, villages, and
+hamlets in Jmud were filled with men brought by the misfortunes of war
+to want and despair. The inhabitants of the towns were unable either to
+give lodgings to all or to give them sufficient food; therefore people
+died not infrequently of hunger,--namely, those of low degree. Not
+seldom they took by force what was refused them; hence tumults,
+battles, and robbery became more and more common.
+
+The winter was excessive in its severity. At last April came, and deep
+snow was lying not only in the forests but on the fields. When the
+supplies of the preceding year were exhausted and there were no new
+ones yet, Famine, the brother of War, began to rage, and extended its
+rule more and more widely. It was not difficult for the wayfarer to
+find corpses of men lying in the field, at the roadside, emaciated,
+gnawed by wolves, which having multiplied beyond example approached the
+villages and hamlets in whole packs. Their howling was mingled with the
+cries of people for charity; for in the woods, in the fields, and
+around the many villages as well, there gleamed in the night-time fires
+at which needy wretches warmed their chilled limbs; and when any man
+rode past they rushed after him, begging for a copper coin, for bread,
+for alms, groaning, cursing, threatening all at the same time.
+Superstitious dread seized the minds of men. Many said that those wars
+so disastrous, and those misfortunes till then unexampled, were coupled
+with the name of the king; they explained readily that the letters "J.
+C. K." stamped on the coins signified not only "Joannes Casimirus Rex,"
+but also "Initium Calamitatis Regni" (beginning of calamity for the
+kingdom). And if in the provinces, which were not yet occupied by war,
+such terror rose with disorder, it is easy to understand what happened
+in those which were trampled by the fiery foot of war. The whole
+Commonwealth was distracted, torn by parties, sick and in a fever, like
+a man before death. New wars were foretold, both foreign and domestic.
+In fact, motives were not wanting. Various powerful houses in the
+Commonwealth, seized by the storm of dissension, considered one another
+as hostile States, and with them entire lands and districts formed
+hostile camps. Precisely such was the case in Lithuania, where the
+fierce quarrel between Yanush Radzivill, the grand hetman, and
+Gosyevski, full hetman, and also under-treasurer of Lithuania, became
+almost open war. On the side of the under-treasurer stood the powerful
+Sapyeha, to whom the greatness of the house of Radzivill had long been
+as salt in the eye. These partisans loaded the grand hetman with heavy
+reproaches indeed,--that wishing glory for himself alone, he had
+destroyed the army at Shklov and delivered the country to plunder; that
+he desired more than the fortune of the Commonwealth, the right for his
+house of sitting in the diets of the German Empire; that he even
+imagined for himself an independent crown, and that he persecuted the
+Catholics.
+
+It came more than once to battles between the partisans of both sides,
+as if without the knowledge of their patrons; and the patrons made
+complaints against one another in Warsaw. Their quarrels were fought
+out in the diets; at home license was let loose and disobedience
+established. Such a man as Kmita might be sure of the protection of one
+of those magnates the moment he stood on his side against his opponent.
+
+Meanwhile the enemy were stopped only here and there by a castle;
+everywhere else the advance was free and without opposition. Under such
+circumstances all in the Lauda region had to be on the alert and under
+arms, especially since there were no hetmans near by, for both hetmans
+were struggling with the troops of the enemy without being able to
+effect much, it is true, but at least worrying them with attacks and
+hindering approach to the provinces still unoccupied. Especially did
+Pavel Sapyeha show resistance and win glory. Yanush Radzivill, a famous
+warrior, whose name up to the defeat at Shklov had been a terror to the
+enemy, gained however a number of important advantages. Gosyevski now
+fought, now endeavored to restrain the advance of the enemy by
+negotiations; both leaders assembled troops from winter quarters and
+whencesoever they could, knowing that with spring war would blaze up
+afresh. But troops were few, and the treasury empty; the general
+militia in the provinces already occupied could not assemble, for the
+enemy prevented them. "It was necessary to think of that before the
+affair at Shklov," said the partisans of Grosyevski; "now it is too
+late." And in truth it was too late. The troops of the kingdom could
+not give aid, for they were all in the Ukraine and had grievous work
+against Hmelnitski, Sheremetyeff, and Buturlin.
+
+Tidings from the Ukraine of heroic battles, of captured towns, of
+campaigns without parallel, strengthened failing hearts somewhat, and
+gave courage for defence. The names of the hetmans of the kingdom
+thundered with a loud glory, and with them the name of Stefan
+Charnetski was heard more and more frequently in the mouths of men; but
+glory could not take the place of troops nor serve as an auxiliary. The
+hetmans of Lithuania therefore retreated slowly, without ceasing to
+fight among themselves.
+
+At last Radzivill was in Jmud. With him came momentary peace in Lauda.
+But the Calvinists, emboldened by the vicinity of their chief, raised
+their heads in the towns, inflicting wrongs and attacking Catholic
+churches. As an offset, the leaders of various volunteer bands and
+parties--it is unknown whose--who under the colors of Radzivill,
+Grosyevski, and Sapyeha had been ruining the country, vanished in the
+forests, discharged their ruffians, and let people breathe more freely.
+
+Since it is easy to pass from despair to hope, a better feeling sprang
+up at once in Lauda. Panna Aleksandra lived quietly in Vodokty. Pan
+Volodyovski, who dwelt continually in Patsuneli, and just now had begun
+to return gradually to health, gave out the tidings that the king with
+newly levied troops would come in the spring, when the war would take
+another turn. The encouraged nobles began to go out to the fields with
+their ploughs. The snows too had melted, and on the birch-trees the
+first buds were opening. Lauda River overflowed widely. A milder sky
+shone over that region, and a better spirit entered the people.
+
+Meanwhile an event took place which disturbed anew the quiet of Lauda,
+tore away hands from the plough, and let not the sabres be stained with
+red rust.
+
+
+
+
+ CHAPTER VIII.
+
+
+Pan Volodyovski--a famous and seasoned soldier, though a young man--was
+living, as we have said, in Patsuneli with the patriarch of the place,
+Pakosh Gashtovt, who had the reputation of being the wealthiest noble
+among all the small brotherhood of Lauda. In fact, he had dowered
+richly with good silver his three daughters who had married Butryms,
+for he gave to each one a hundred thalers, besides cattle, and an
+outfit so handsome that not one noble woman or family had a better. The
+other three daughters were at home unmarried; and they nursed
+Volodyovski, whose arm was well at one time and sore at another, when
+wet weather appeared in the world. All the Lauda people were occupied
+greatly with that arm, for Lauda men had seen it working at Shklov and
+Sepyel, and in general they were of the opinion that it would be
+difficult to find a better in all Lithuania. The young colonel,
+therefore, was surrounded with exceeding honor in all the
+neighborhoods. The Gashtovts, the Domasheviches, the Gostsyeviches, the
+Stakyans, and with them others, sent faithfully to Patsuneli fish,
+mushrooms, and game for Volodyovski, and hay for his horses, so that
+the knight and his servants might want for nothing. Whenever he felt
+worse they vied with one another in going to Ponyevyej for a
+barber;[10] in a word, all strove to be first in serving him.
+
+Pan Volodyovski was so much at ease that though he might have had more
+comforts in Kyedani and a noted physician at his call, still he
+remained in Patsuneli. Old Gashtovt was glad to be his host, and almost
+blew away the dust from before him, for it increased his importance
+extremely in Lauda that he had a guest so famous that he might have
+added to the importance of Radzivill himself.
+
+After the defeat and expulsion of Kmita, the nobility, in love with
+Volodyovski, searched in their own heads for counsel, and formed the
+project of marrying him to Panna Aleksandra. "Why seek a husband for
+her through the world?" said the old men at a special meeting at which
+they discussed this question. "Since that traitor has so befouled
+himself with infamous deeds that if he is now alive he should be
+delivered to the hangman, the lady must cast him out of her heart, for
+thus was provision made in the will by a special clause. Let Pan
+Volodyovski marry her. As guardians we can permit that, and she will
+thus find an honorable cavalier, and we a neighbor and leader."
+
+When this proposition was adopted unanimously, the old men went first
+to Volodyovski, who, without thinking long, agreed to everything, and
+then to "the lady," who with still less hesitation opposed it
+decisively. "My grandfather alone had the right to dispose of Lyubich,"
+said she, "and the property cannot be taken from Pan Kmita until the
+courts punish him with loss of life; and as to my marrying, do not even
+mention it. I have too great sorrow on my mind to be able to think of
+such a thing. I have cast that man out of my heart; but this one, even
+though the most worthy, bring not hither, for I will not receive him."
+
+There was no answer to such a resolute refusal, and the nobles returned
+home greatly disturbed. Less disturbed was Pan Volodyovski, and least
+of all the young daughters of Gashtovt,--Terka, Maryska, and Zonia.
+They were well-grown, blooming maidens, with hair like flax, eyes like
+violets, and broad shoulders. In general the Patsuneli girls were famed
+for beauty; when they went in a flock to church, they were like flowers
+of the field. Besides, old Gashtovt spared no expense on the education
+of his daughters. The organist from Mitruny had taught them reading and
+church hymns, and the eldest, Terka, to play on the lute. Having kind
+hearts, they nursed Volodyovski sedulously, each striving to surpass
+the others in watchfulness and care. People said that Maryska was in
+love with the young knight; but the whole truth was not in that talk,
+for all three of them, not she alone, were desperately in love with Pan
+Michael. He loved them too beyond measure, especially Maryska and
+Zonia, for Terka had the habit of complaining too much of the
+faithlessness of men.
+
+It happened often in the long winter evenings that old Gashtovt, after
+drinking his punch, went to bed, and the maidens with Pan Michael sat
+by the chimney; the charming Terka spinning flax, mild Maryska amusing
+herself with picking down, and Zonia reeling thread from the spindle
+into skeins. But when Volodyovski began to tell of the wars or of
+wonders which he had seen in the great houses of magnates, work ceased,
+the girls gazed at him as at a rainbow, and one would cry out in
+astonishment, "Oh! I do not live in the world! Oh, my dears!" and
+another would say, "I shall not close an eye the whole night!"
+
+Volodyovski, as he returned to health and began at times to use his
+sword with perfect freedom, was more joyous and told stories more
+willingly. A certain evening they were sitting as usual, after supper,
+in front of the chimney, from beneath which the light fell sharply on
+the entire dark room. They began to chat; the girls wanted stories, and
+Volodyovski begged Terka to sing something with the lute.
+
+"Sing something yourself," answered she, pushing away the instrument
+which Volodyovski was handing her; "I have work. Having been in the
+world, you must have learned many songs."
+
+"True, I have learned some. Let it be so to-day; I will sing first, and
+you afterward. Your work will not run away. If a woman had asked, you
+would not have refused; you are always opposed to men."
+
+"For they deserve it."
+
+"And do you disdain me too?"
+
+"Oh, why should I? But sing something."
+
+Volodyovski touched the lute; he assumed a comic air, and began to sing
+in falsetto,--
+
+
+ "I have come to such places
+ Where no girl will have me!--"
+
+
+"Oh, that is untrue for you," interrupted Maryska, blushing as red as a
+raspberry.
+
+"That's a soldier's song," said Volodyovski, "which we used to sing in
+winter quarters, wishing some good soul to take pity on us."
+
+"I would be the first to take pity on you."
+
+"Thanks to you. If that is true, then I have no reason to sing longer,
+and I will give the lute into worthier hands."
+
+Terka did not reject the instrument this time, for she was moved by
+Volodyovski's song, in which there was more cunning indeed than truth.
+She struck the strings at once, and with a simpering mien began,--
+
+
+ "For berries of elder go not to the green wood.
+ Trust not a mad dug, believe not a young man.
+ Each man in his heart bears rank poison;
+ If he says that he loves thee, say No."
+
+
+Volodyovski grew so mirthful that he held his sides from laughter, and
+cried out: "All the men are traitors? But the military, my
+benefactress!"
+
+Panna Terka opened her mouth wider and sang with redoubled energy,--
+
+
+ "Far worse than mad dogs are they, far worse, oh, far worse!"
+
+
+"Do not mind Terka; she is always that way," said Marysia.[11]
+
+"Why not mind," asked Volodyovski, "when she speaks so ill of the whole
+military order that from shame I know not whither to turn my eyes?"
+
+"You want me to sing, and then make sport of me and laugh at me," said
+Terka, pouting.
+
+"I do not attack the singing, but the cruel meaning of it for the
+military," answered the knight. "As to the singing I must confess that
+in Warsaw I have not heard such remarkable trills. All that would be
+needed is to dress you in trousers. You might sing at St. Yan's, which
+is the cathedral church, and in which the king and queen have their
+box."
+
+"Why dress her in trousers?" asked Zonia, the youngest, made curious by
+mention of Warsaw, the king, and the queen.
+
+"For in Warsaw women do not sing in the choir, but men and young
+boys,--the men with voices so deep that no aurochs could bellow like
+them, and the boys with voices so thin that on a violin no sound could
+be thinner. I heard them many a time when we came, with our great and
+lamented voevoda of Rus, to the election of our present gracious lord.
+It is a real wonder, so that the soul goes out of a man. There is a
+host of musicians there: Forster, famous for his subtle trills, and
+Kapula, and Gian Battista, and Elert, a master at the lute, and Marek,
+and Myelchevski,--beautiful composers. When all these are performing
+together in the church, it is as if you were listening to choirs of
+seraphim in the flesh."
+
+"Oh, that is as true as if living!" said Marysia, placing her hands
+together.
+
+"And the king,--have you seen him often?" asked Zonia.
+
+"I have spoken with him as with you. After the battle of Berestechko he
+pressed my head. He is a valiant lord, and so kind that whoso has once
+seen him must love him."
+
+"We love him without having seen him. Has he the crown always on his
+head?"
+
+"If he were to go around every day in the crown, his head would need to
+be iron. The crown rests in the church, from which its importance
+increases; but his Grace the King wears a black cap studded with
+diamonds from which light flashes through the whole castle."
+
+"They say that the castle of the king is even grander than that at
+Kyedani?"
+
+"That at Kyedani! The Kyedani castle is a mere plaything in comparison.
+The king's castle is a tremendous building, all walled in so that you
+cannot see a stick of wood. Around are two rows of chambers, one more
+splendid than the other. In them you can see different wars and
+victories painted with brushes on the wall,--such as the battles of
+Sigismund III. and Vladislav; a man could not satisfy himself with
+looking at them, for everything is as if living. The wonder is that
+they do not move, and that those who are fighting do not shout. But not
+even the best artist can paint men to shout. Some chambers are all
+gold; chairs and benches covered with brocade or cloth of gold, tables
+of marble and alabaster, and the caskets, bottle-cases, clocks showing
+the hour of day and night, could not be described on an ox-hide. The
+king and queen walk through those chambers and delight themselves in
+plenty; in the evening they have a theatre for their still greater
+amusement--"
+
+"What is a theatre?"
+
+"How can I tell you? It is a place where they play comedies and exhibit
+Italian dances in a masterly manner. It is a room so large that no
+church is the equal of it, all with beautiful columns. On one side sit
+those who wish to see, and on the other the arts are exhibited.
+Curtains are raised and let down; some are turned with screws to
+different sides. Darkness and clouds are shown at one moment; at
+another pleasant light. Above is the sky with the sun or the stars;
+below you may see at times hell dreadful--"
+
+"Oh, God save us!" cried the girls.
+
+"--with devils. Sometimes the boundless sea; on it ships and sirens.
+Some persons come down from the skies; others rise out of the earth."
+
+"But I should not like to see hell," cried Zonia, "and it is a wonder
+to me that people do not run away from such a terrible sight."
+
+"Not only do they not run away, but they applaud from pleasure," said
+Volodyovski; "for it is all pretended, not real, and those who take
+farewell do not go away. There is no evil spirit in the affair, only
+the invention of men. Even bishops come with his Grace the King, and
+various dignitaries who go with the king afterward and sit down to a
+feast before sleeping."
+
+"And what do they do in the morning and during the day?"
+
+"That depends on their wishes. When they rise in the morning they take
+a bath. There is a room in which there is no floor, only a tin tank
+shining like silver, and in the tank water."
+
+"Water, in a room--have you heard?"
+
+"It is true; and it comes and goes as they wish. It can be warm or
+altogether cold; for there are pipes with spigots, running here and
+there. Turn a spigot and the water runs till it is possible to swim in
+the room as in a lake. No king has such a castle as our gracious lord,
+that is known, and foreign proverbs tell the same. Also no king reigns
+over such a worthy people; for though there are various polite nations
+on earth, still God in his mercy has adorned ours beyond others."
+
+"Our king is happy!" sighed Terka.
+
+"It is sure that he would be happy were it not for unfortunate wars
+which press down the Commonwealth in return for our discords and sins.
+All this rests on the shoulders of the king, and besides at the diets
+they reproach him for our faults. And why is he to blame because people
+will not obey him? Grievous times have come on the country,--such
+grievous times as have not been hitherto. Our most despicable enemy now
+despises us,--us who till recently carried on victorious wars against
+the Emperor of Turkey. This is the way that God punishes pride. Praise
+be to Him that my arm works well in its joints,--for it is high time to
+remember the country and move to the field. 'Tis a sin to be idle in
+time of such troubles."
+
+"Do not mention going away."
+
+"It is difficult to do otherwise. It is pleasant for me here among you;
+but the better it is, the worse it is. Let men in the Diet give wise
+reasons, but a soldier longs for the field. While there is life there
+is service. After death God, who looks into the heart, will reward best
+those who serve not for advancement, but through love of the country;
+and indeed the number of such is decreasing continually, and that is
+why the black hour has come."
+
+Marysia's eyes began to grow moist; at last they were filled with tears
+which flowed down her rosy cheeks. "You will go and forget us, and we
+shall pine away here. Who in this place will defend us from attack?"
+
+"I go, but I shall preserve my gratitude. It is rare to find such
+honest people as in Patsuneli. Are you always afraid of this Kmita?"
+
+"Of course. Mothers frighten their children with him as with a
+werewolf."
+
+"He will not come back, and even if he should he will not have with him
+those wild fellows, who, judging from what people say, were worse than
+he. It is a pity indeed that such a good soldier stained his reputation
+and lost his property."
+
+"And the lady."
+
+"And the lady. They say much good in her favor."
+
+"Poor thing! for whole days she just cries and cries."
+
+"H'm!" said Volodyovski; "but is she not crying for Kmita?"
+
+"Who knows?" replied Marysia.
+
+"So much the worse for her, for he will not come back. The hetman sent
+home a part of the Lauda men, and those forces are here now. We wanted
+to cut him down at once without the court. He must know that the Lauda
+men have returned, and he will not show even his nose."
+
+"Likely our men must march again," said Terka, "for they received only
+leave to come home for a short time."
+
+"Eh!" said Volodyovski, "the hetman let them come, for there is no
+money in the treasury. It is pure despair! When people are most needed
+they have to be sent away. But good-night! it is time to sleep, and let
+none of you dream of Pan Kmita with a fiery sword."
+
+Volodyovski rose from the bench and prepared to leave the room, but had
+barely made a step toward the closet when suddenly there was a noise in
+the entrance and a shrill voice began to cry outside the door--
+
+"Hei there! For God's mercy! open quickly, quickly!"
+
+The girls were terribly frightened. Volodyovski sprang for his sabre to
+the closet, but had not been able to get it when Terka opened the door.
+An unknown man burst into the room and threw himself at the feet of the
+knight.
+
+"Rescue, serene Colonel!--The lady is carried away!"
+
+"What lady?"
+
+"In Vodokty."
+
+"Kmita!" cried Volodyovski.
+
+"Kmita!" screamed the girls.
+
+"Kmita!" repeated the messenger.
+
+"Who art thou?" asked Volodyovski.
+
+"The manager in Vodokty."
+
+"We know him," said Terka; "he brought herbs for you."
+
+Meanwhile the drowsy old Gashtovt came forth from behind the stove, and
+in the door appeared two attendants of Pan Volodyovski whom the uproar
+had drawn to the room.
+
+"Saddle the horses!" cried Volodyovski. "Let one of you hurry to the
+Butryms, the other give a horse to me!"
+
+"I have been already at the Butryms," said the manager, "for they are
+nearer to us; they sent me to your grace."
+
+"When was the lady carried away?" asked Volodyovski.
+
+"Just now--the servants are fighting yet--I rushed for a horse."
+
+Old Gashtovt rubbed his eyes. "What's that? The lady carried off?"
+
+"Yes; Kmita carried her off," answered Volodyovski. "Let us go to the
+rescue!" Then he turned to the messenger: "Hurry to the Domasheviches;
+let them come with muskets."
+
+"Now, my kids," cried the old man suddenly to his daughters, "hurry to
+the village, wake up the nobles, let them take their sabres! Kmita has
+carried off the lady--is it possible--God forgive him, the murderer,
+the ruffian! Is it possible?"
+
+"Let us go to rouse them," said Volodyovski; "that will be quicker!
+Come; the horses are ready, I hear them."
+
+In a moment they mounted, as did also the two attendants, Ogarek and
+Syruts. All pushed on their way between the cottages of the village,
+striking the doors and windows, and crying with sky-piercing voices:
+"To your sabres, to your sabres! The lady of Vodokty is carried away!
+Kmita is in the neighborhood!"
+
+Hearing these cries, this or that man rushed forth from his cottage,
+looked to see what was happening, and when he had learned what the
+matter was, fell to shouting himself, "Kmita is in the neighborhood;
+the lady is carried away!" And shouting in this fashion, he rushed
+headlong to the out-buildings to saddle his horse, or to his cottage to
+feel in the dark for his sabre on the wall. Every moment more voices
+cried, "Kmita is in the neighborhood!" There was a stir in the village,
+lights began to shine, the cry of women was heard, the barking of dogs.
+At last the nobles came out on the road,--some mounted, some on foot.
+Above the multitude of heads glittered in the night sabres, pikes,
+darts, and even iron forks.
+
+Volodyovski surveyed the company, sent some of them immediately in
+different directions, and moved forward himself with the rest.
+
+The mounted men rode in front, those on foot followed, and they marched
+toward Volmontovichi to join the Butryms. The hour was ten in the
+evening, and the night clear, though the moon had not risen. Those of
+the nobles whom the grand hetman had sent recently from the war dropped
+into ranks at once; the others, namely the infantry, advanced with less
+regularity, making a clatter with their weapons, talking and yawning
+aloud, at times cursing that devil of a Kmita who had robbed them of
+pleasant rest. In this fashion they reached Volmontovichi, at the edge
+of which an armed band pushed out to meet them.
+
+"Halt! who goes?" called voices from that band.
+
+"The Gashtovts!"
+
+"We are the Butryms. The Domasheviches have come already."
+
+"Who is leading you?" asked Volodyovski.
+
+"Yuzva the Footless at the service of the colonel."
+
+"Have you news?"
+
+"He took her to Lyubich. They went through the swamp to avoid
+Volmontovichi."
+
+"To Lyubich?" asked Volodyovski, in wonder. "Can he think of defending
+himself there? Lyubich is not a fortress, is it?"
+
+"It seems he trusts in his strength. There are two hundred with him. No
+doubt he wants to take the property from Lyubich; they have wagons and
+a band of led horses. It must be that he did not know of our return
+from the army, for he acts very boldly."
+
+"That is good for us!" said Volodyovski. "He will not escape this time.
+How many guns have you?"
+
+"We, the Butryms, have thirty; the Domasheviches twice as many."
+
+"Very good. Let fifty men with muskets go with you to defend the
+passage in the swamps, quickly; the rest will come with me. Remember
+the axes."
+
+"According to command."
+
+There was a movement; the little division under Yuzva the Footless went
+forward at a trot to the swamp. A number of tens of Butryms who had
+been sent for other nobles now came up.
+
+"Are the Gostsyeviches to be seen?" asked Volodyovski.
+
+"Yes, Colonel. Praise be to God!" cried the newly arrived. "The
+Gostsyeviches are coming; they can be heard through the woods. You know
+that they carried her to Lyubich?"
+
+"I know. He will not go far with her."
+
+There was indeed one danger to his insolent venture on which Kmita had
+not reckoned; he knew not that a considerable force of the nobles had
+just returned home. He judged that the villages were as empty as at the
+time of his first stay in Lyubich; while on the present occasion
+counting the Gostsyeviches, without the Stakyans, who could not come up
+in season, Volodyovski was able to lead against him about three hundred
+sabres held by men accustomed to battle and trained.
+
+In fact, more and more nobles joined Volodyovski as he advanced. At
+last came the Gostsyeviches, who had been expected till that moment.
+Volodyovski drew up the division, and his heart expanded at sight of
+the order and ease with which the men stood in ranks. At the first
+glance it was clear that they were soldiers, not ordinary untrained
+nobles. Volodyovski rejoiced for another reason; he thought to himself
+that soon he would lead them to more distant places.
+
+They moved then on a swift march toward Lyubich by the pine-woods
+through which Kmita had rushed the winter before. It was well after
+midnight. The moon sailed out at last in the sky, and lighting the
+woods, the road, and the marching warriors, broke its pale rays on the
+points of the pikes, and was reflected on the gleaming sabres. The
+nobles talked in a low voice of the unusual event which had dragged
+them from their beds.
+
+"Various people have been going around here," said one of the
+Domasheviches; "we thought they were deserters, but they were surely
+his spies."
+
+"Of course. Every day strange minstrels used to visit Vodokty as if for
+alms," said others.
+
+"And what kind of soldiers has Kmita?"
+
+"The servants in Vodokty say they are Cossacks. It is certain that
+Kmita has made friends with Hovanski or Zolotarenko. Hitherto he was a
+murderer, now he is an evident traitor."
+
+"How could he bring Cossacks thus far?"
+
+"With such a great band it is not easy to pass. Our first good company
+would have stopped him on the road."
+
+"Well, they might go through the forests. Besides, are there few lords
+travelling with domestic Cossacks? Who can tell them from the enemy? If
+these men are asked they will say that they are domestic Cossacks."
+
+"He will defend himself," said one of the Gostsyeviches, "for he is a
+brave and resolute man; but our colonel will be a match for him."
+
+"The Butryms too have vowed that even if they have to fall one on the
+other, he will not leave there alive. They are the most bitter against
+him."
+
+"But if we kill him, from whom will they recover their losses? Better
+take him alive and give him to justice."
+
+"What is the use in thinking of courts now when all have lost their
+heads? Do you know that people say war may come from the Swedes?"
+
+"May God preserve us from that! The Moscow power and Hmelnitski at
+present; only the Swedes are wanting, and then the last day of the
+Commonwealth."
+
+At this moment Volodyovski riding in advance turned and said, "Quiet
+there, gentlemen!"
+
+The nobles grew silent, for Lyubich was in sight. In a quarter of an
+hour they had come within less than forty rods of the building. All the
+windows were illuminated; the light shone into the yard, which was full
+of armed men and horses. Nowhere sentries, no precautions,--it was
+evident that Kmita trusted too much in his strength. When he had drawn
+still nearer, Pan Volodyovski with one glance recognized the Cossacks
+against whom he had warred so much during the life of the great Yeremi,
+and later under Radzivill.
+
+"If those are strange Cossacks, then that ruffian has passed the
+limit."
+
+He looked farther; brought his whole party to a halt. There was a
+terrible bustle in the court. Some Cossacks were giving light with
+torches; others were running in every direction, coming out of the
+house and going in again, bringing out things, packing bags into the
+wagons; others were leading horses from the stable, driving cattle from
+the stalls. Cries, shouts, commands, crossed one another in every
+direction. The gleam of torches lighted as it were the moving of a
+tenant to a new estate on St. John's Eve.
+
+Kryshtof, the oldest among the Domasheviches, pushed up to Volodyovski
+and said, "They want to pack all Lyubich into wagons."
+
+"They will take away," answered Volodyovski, "neither Lyubich nor their
+own skins. I do not recognize Kmita, who is an experienced soldier.
+There is not a single sentry."
+
+"Because he has great force,--it seems to me more than three hundred
+strong. If we had not returned he might have passed with the wagons
+through all the villages."
+
+"Is this the only road to the house?" asked Volodyovski.
+
+"The only one, for in the rear are ponds and swamps."
+
+"That is well. Dismount!"
+
+Obedient to this command, the nobles sprang from their saddles. The
+rear ranks of infantry deployed in a long line, and began to surround
+the house and the buildings. Volodyovski with the main division
+advanced directly on the gate.
+
+"Wait the command!" said he, in a low voice. "Fire not before the
+order."
+
+A few tens of steps only separated the nobles from the gate when they
+were seen at last from the yard. Men sprang at once to the fence, bent
+forward, and peering carefully into the darkness, called threateningly,
+"Hei! Who are there?"
+
+"Halt!" cried Volodyovski; "fire!"
+
+Shots from all the guns which the nobles carried thundered together;
+but the echo had not come back from the building when the voice of
+Volodyovski was heard again: "On the run!"
+
+"Kill! slay!" cried the Lauda men, rushing forward like a torrent.
+
+The Cossacks answered with shots, but they had not time to reload. The
+throng of nobles rushed against the gate, which soon fell before the
+pressure of armed men. A struggle began to rage in the yard, among
+the wagons, horses, and bags. The powerful Butryms, the fiercest in
+hand-to-hand conflict and the most envenomed against Kmita, advanced in
+line. They went like a herd of stags bursting through a growth of young
+trees, breaking, trampling, destroying, and cutting wildly. Alter them
+rolled the Domasheviches and the Gostsyeviches.
+
+Kmita's Cossacks defended themselves manfully from behind the wagons
+and packs; they began to fire too from all the windows of the house and
+from the roof,--but rarely, for the trampled torches were quenched, and
+it was difficult to distinguish their own from the enemy. After a while
+the Cossacks were pushed from the yard and the house to the stables;
+cries for quarter were heard. The nobles had triumphed.
+
+But when they were alone in the yard, fire from the house increased at
+once. All the windows were bristling with muskets, and a storm of
+bullets began to fall on the yard. The greater part of the Cossacks had
+taken refuge in the house.
+
+"To the doors!" cried Volodyovski.
+
+In fact, the discharges from the windows and from the roof could not
+injure those at the very walls. The position, however, of the besiegers
+was difficult. They could not think of storming the windows, for fire
+would greet them straight in the face. Volodyovski therefore commanded
+to hew down the doors. But that was not easy, for they were bolts
+rather than doors, made of oak pieces fixed crosswise and fastened with
+many gigantic nails, on the strong heads of which axes were dented
+without breaking the doors. The most powerful men pushed then from time
+to time with their shoulders, but in vain. Behind the doors wore iron
+bars, and besides they were supported inside by props. But the Butryms
+hewed with rage. At the doors of the kitchen leading also to the
+storehouse the Domasheviches and Gashtovts were storming.
+
+After vain efforts of an hour the men at the axes were relieved. Some
+cross-pieces had fallen, but in place of them appeared gun-barrels.
+Shots sounded again. Two Butryms fell to the ground with pierced
+breasts. The others, instead of being put to disorder, hewed still more
+savagely.
+
+By command of Volodyovski the openings were stopped with bundles of
+coats. Now in the direction of the road new shouts were heard from the
+Stakyans, who had come to the aid of their brethren; and following them
+were armed peasants from Vodokty.
+
+The arrival of these reinforcements had evidently disturbed the
+besieged, for straightway a voice behind the door called loudly: "Stop
+there! do not hew! listen! Stop, a hundred devils take you! let us
+talk."
+
+Volodyovski gave orders to stop the work and asked; "Who is speaking?"
+
+"The banneret of Orsha, Kmita; and with whom am I speaking?"
+
+"Col. Michael Volodyovski."
+
+"With the forehead!" answered the voice from behind the door.
+
+"There is no time for greetings. What is your wish?"
+
+"It would be more proper for me to ask what you want. You do not know
+me, nor I you; why attack me?"
+
+"Traitor!" cried Volodyovski. "With me are the men of Lauda who have
+returned from the war, and they have accounts with you for robbery, for
+blood shed without cause and for the lady whom you have carried away.
+But do you know what _raptus puellæ_ means? You must yield your life."
+
+A moment of silence followed.
+
+"You would not call me traitor a second time," said Kmita, "were it not
+for the door between us."
+
+"Open it, then! I do not hinder."
+
+"More than one dog from Lauda will cover himself with his legs before
+it is open. You will not take me alive."
+
+"Then we will drag you out dead, by the hair. All one to us!"
+
+"Listen with care, note what I tell you! If you do not let us go, I
+have a barrel of powder here, and the match is burning already. I'll
+blow up the house and all who are in it with myself, so help me God!
+Come now and take me!"
+
+This time a still longer silence followed. Volodyovski sought an answer
+in vain. The nobles began to look at one another in fear. There was so
+much wild energy in the words of Kmita that all believed his threat.
+The whole victory might be turned into dust by one spark, and Panna
+Billevich lost forever.
+
+"For God's sake!" muttered one of the Butryms, "he is a madman. He is
+ready to do what he says."
+
+Suddenly a happy thought came to Volodyovski, as it seemed to him.
+"There is another way!" cried he. "Meet me, traitor, with a sabre. If
+you put me down, you will go away in freedom."
+
+For a time there was no answer. The hearts of the Lauda men beat
+unquietly.
+
+"With a sabre?" asked Kmita, at length. "Can that be?"
+
+"If you are not afraid, it will be."
+
+"The word of a cavalier that I shall go away in freedom?"
+
+"The word--"
+
+"Impossible!" cried a number of voices among the Butryms.
+
+"Quiet, a hundred devils!" roared Volodyovski; "if not, then let him
+blow you up with himself."
+
+The Butryms were silent; after a while one of them said, "Let it be as
+you wish."
+
+"Well, what is the matter there?" asked Kmita, derisively. "Do the gray
+coats agree?"
+
+"Yes, and they will take oath on their swords, if you wish."
+
+"Let them take oath."
+
+"Come together, gentlemen, come together!" cried Volodyovski to the
+nobles who were standing under the walls and surrounding the whole
+house.
+
+After a while all collected at the main door, and soon the news that
+Kmita wanted to blow himself up with powder spread on every side. They
+were as if petrified with terror. Meanwhile Volodyovski raised his
+voice and said amid silence like that of the grave,--
+
+"I take you all present here to witness that I have challenged Pan
+Kmita, the banneret of Orsha, to a duel, and I have promised that if he
+puts me down he shall go hence in freedom, without obstacle from you;
+to this you must swear on your sword-hilts, in the name of God and the
+holy cross--"
+
+"But wait!" cried Kmita,--"in freedom with all my men, and I take the
+lady with me."
+
+"The lady will remain here," answered Volodyovski, "and the men will go
+as prisoners to the nobles."
+
+"That cannot be."
+
+"Then blow yourself up with powder! We have already mourned for her; as
+to the men, ask them what they prefer."
+
+Silence followed.
+
+"Let it be so," said Kmita, after a time. "If I do not take her to-day,
+I will in a month. You will not hide her under the ground! Take the
+oath!"
+
+"Take the oath!" repeated Volodyovski.
+
+"We swear by the Most High God and the Holy Cross. Amen!"
+
+"Well, come out, come out!" cried Volodyovski.
+
+"You are in a hurry to the other world?"
+
+"No matter, no matter, only come out quickly."
+
+The iron bars holding the door on the inside began to groan.
+
+Volodyovski pushed back, and with him the nobles, to make room. Soon
+the door opened, and in it appeared Pan Andrei, tall, straight as a
+poplar. The dawn was already coming, and the first pale light of day
+fell on his daring, knightly, and youthful face. He stopped in the
+door, looked boldly on the crowd of nobles, and said,--
+
+"I have trusted in you. God knows whether I have done well, but let
+that go. Who here is Pan Volodyovski?"
+
+The little colonel stepped forward. "I am!" answered he.
+
+"Oh! you are not like a giant," said Kmita, with sarcastic reference to
+Volodyovski's stature, "I expected to find a more considerable figure,
+though I must confess you are evidently a soldier of experience."
+
+"I cannot say the same of you, for you have neglected sentries. If you
+are the same at the sabre as at command, I shall not have work."
+
+"Where shall we fight?" asked Kmita, quickly.
+
+"Here,--the yard is as level as a table."
+
+"Agreed! Prepare for death."
+
+"Are you so sure?"
+
+"It is clear that you have never been in Orsha, since you doubt. Not
+only am I sure, but I am sorry, for I have heard of you as a splendid
+soldier. Therefore I say for the last time, let me go! We do not know
+each other; why should we stand the one in the way of the other? Why
+attack me? The maiden is mine by the will, as well as this property;
+and God knows I am only seeking my own. It is true that I cut down the
+nobles in Volmontovichi, but let God decide who committed the first
+wrong. Whether my officers were men of violence or not, we need not
+discuss; it is enough that they did no harm to any one here, and they
+were slaughtered to the last man because they wanted to dance with
+girls in a public house. Well, let blood answer blood! After that my
+soldiers were cut to pieces. I swear by the wounds of God that I came
+to these parts without evil intent, and how was I received? But let
+wrong balance wrong, I will still add from my own and make losses good
+in neighbor fashion. I prefer that to another way."
+
+"And what kind of people have you here? Where did you get these
+assistants?" asked Volodyovski.
+
+"Where I got them I got them. I did not bring them against the country,
+but to obtain my own rights."
+
+"Is that the kind of man you are? So for private affairs you have
+joined the enemy. And with what have you paid him for this service, if
+not with treason? No, brother, I should not hinder you from coming to
+terms with the nobles, but to call in the enemy is another thing. You
+will not creep out. Stand up now, stand up, or I shall say that you are
+a coward, though you give yourself out as a master from Orsha."
+
+"You would have it," said Kmita, taking position.
+
+But Volodyovski did not hurry, and not taking his sabre out yet, he
+looked around on the sky. Day was already coming in the east. The first
+golden and azure stripes were extended in a belt of light, but in the
+yard it was still gloomy enough, and just in front of the house
+complete darkness reigned.
+
+"The day begins well," said Volodyovski, "but the sun will not rise
+soon. Perhaps you would wish to have light?"
+
+"It is all one to me."
+
+"Gentlemen!" cried Volodyovski, turning to the nobles, "go for some
+straw and for torches; it will be clearer for us in this Orsha dance."
+
+The nobles, to whom this humorous tone of the young colonel gave
+wonderful consolation, rushed quickly to the kitchen. Some of them fell
+to collecting the torches trampled at the time of the battle, and in a
+little while nearly fifty red flames were gleaming in the semi-darkness
+of the early morning.
+
+Volodyovski showed them with his sabre to Kmita. "Look, a regular
+funeral procession!"
+
+And Kmita answered at once: "They are burying a colonel, so there must
+be parade."
+
+"You are a dragon!"
+
+Meanwhile the nobles formed in silence a circle around the knights, and
+raised the burning torches aloft; behind them others took their places,
+curious and disquieted; in the centre the opponents measured each other
+with their eyes. A grim silence began; only burned coals fell with a
+crackle to the ground. Volodyovski was as lively as a goldfinch on a
+bright morning.
+
+"Begin!" said Kmita.
+
+The first clash raised an echo in the heart of every onlooker.
+Volodyovski struck as if unwillingly; Kmita warded and struck in his
+turn; Volodyovski warded. The dry clash grew more rapid. All held
+breath. Kmita attacked with fury. Volodyovski put his left hand behind
+his back and stood quietly, making very careless, slight, almost
+imperceptible movements; it seemed that he wished merely to defend
+himself, and at the same time spare his opponent. Sometimes he pushed a
+short step backward, again he advanced; apparently he was studying the
+skill of Kmita. Kmita was growing heated; Volodyovski was cool as a
+master testing his pupil, and all the time calmer and calmer. At last,
+to the great surprise of the nobles, he said,--
+
+"Now let us talk; it will not last long. Ah, ha! is that the Orsha
+method? 'Tis clear that you must have threshed peas there, for you
+strike like a man with a flail. Terrible blows! Are they really the
+best in Orsha? That thrust is in fashion only among tribunal police.
+This is from Courland, good to chase dogs with. Look to the end of your
+sabre! Don't bend your hand so, for see what will happen! Raise your
+sabre!"
+
+Volodyovski pronounced the last words with emphasis; at the same time
+he described a half-circle, drew the hand and sabre toward him, and
+before the spectators understood what "raise" meant, Kmita's sabre,
+like a needle pulled from a thread, flew above Volodyovski's head and
+fell behind his shoulders; then he said,--
+
+"That is called shelling a sabre."
+
+Kmita stood pale, wild-eyed, staggering, astonished no less than the
+nobles of Lauda; the little colonel pushed to one side, and repeated
+again,--
+
+"Take your sabre!"
+
+For a time it seemed as if Kmita would rush at him with naked hands. He
+was just ready for the spring, when Volodyovski put his hilt to his own
+breast, presenting the point. Kmita rushed to take his own sabre, and
+fell with it again on his terrible opponent.
+
+A loud murmur rose from the circle of spectators, and the ring grew
+closer and closer. Kmita's Cossacks thrust their heads between the
+shoulders of the nobles, as if they had lived all their lives in the
+best understanding with them. Involuntarily shouts were wrested from
+the mouths of the onlookers; at times an outburst of unrestrained,
+nervous laughter was heard; all acknowledged a master of masters.
+
+Volodyovski amused himself cruelly like a cat with a mouse, and seemed
+to work more and more carelessly with the sabre. He took his left hand
+from behind his back and thrust it into his trousers' pocket. Kmita was
+foaming at the mouth, panting heavily; at last hoarse words came from
+his throat through his set lips,--
+
+"Finish--spare the shame!"
+
+"Very well!" replied Volodyovski.
+
+A short terrible whistle was heard, then a smothered cry. At the same
+moment Kmita threw open his arms, his sabre dropped to the ground, and
+he fell on his face at the feet of the colonel.
+
+"He lives!" said Volodyovski; "he has not fallen on his back!" And
+doubling the skirt of Kmita's coat, he began to wipe his sabre.
+
+The nobles shouted with one voice, and in those shouts thundered with
+increasing clearness: "Finish the traitor! finish him! cut him to
+pieces!"
+
+A number of Butryms ran up with drawn sabres. Suddenly something
+wonderful happened,--and one would have said that little Volodyovski
+had grown tall before their eyes: the sabre of the nearest Butrym flew
+out of his hand after Kmita's, as if a whirlwind had caught it, and
+Volodyovski shouted with flashing eyes,--
+
+"Stand back, stand back! He is mine now, not yours! Be off!"
+
+All were silent, fearing the anger of that man; and he said: "I want no
+shambles here! As nobles you should understand knightly customs, and
+not slaughter the wounded. Enemies do not do that, and how could a man
+in a duel kill his prostrate opponent?"
+
+"He is a traitor!" muttered one of the Butryms. "It is right to kill
+such a man."
+
+"If he is a traitor he should be given to the hetman to suffer
+punishment and serve as an example to others. But as I have said, he is
+mine now, not yours. If he recovers you will be free to get your rights
+before a court, and it will be easier to obtain satisfaction from a
+living than a dead man. Who here knows how to dress wounds?"
+
+"Krysh Domashevich. He has attended to all in Lauda for years."
+
+"Let him dress the man at once, then take him to bed, and I will go to
+console the ill-fated lady."
+
+So saying, Volodyovski put his sabre into the scabbard. The nobles
+began to seize and bind Kmita's men, who henceforth were to plough land
+in the villages. They surrendered without resistance; only a few who
+had escaped through the rear windows of the house ran toward the ponds,
+but they fell into the hands of the Stakyans who were stationed there.
+At the same time the nobles fell to plundering the wagons, in which
+they found quite a plentiful booty; some of them gave advice to sack
+the house, but they feared Pan Volodyovski, and perhaps the presence of
+Panna Billevich restrained the most daring. Their own killed, among
+whom were three Butryms and two Domasheviches, the nobles put into
+wagons, so as to bury them according to Christian rites. They ordered
+the peasants to dig a ditch for Kmita's dead behind the garden.
+
+Volodyovski in seeking the lady burst through the whole house, and
+found her at last in the treasure-chamber situated in a corner to which
+a low and narrow door led from the sleeping-room. It was a small
+chamber, with narrow, strongly barred windows, built in a square and
+with such mighty walls, that Volodyovski saw at once that even if Kmita
+had blown up the house with powder that room would have surely remained
+unharmed. This gave him a better opinion of Kmita. The lady was sitting
+on a chest not far from the door, with her head drooping, and her face
+almost hidden by her hair. She did not raise it when she heard the
+knight coming. She thought beyond doubt that it was Kmita himself or
+some one of his people. Pan Volodyovski stood in the door, coughed
+once, a second time, and seeing no result from that, said,--
+
+"My lady, you are free!"
+
+"From under the drooping hair blue eyes looked at the knight, and then
+a comely face appeared, though pale and as it were not conscious.
+Volodyovski was hoping for thanks, an outburst of gladness; but the
+lady sat motionless, distraught, and merely looked at him. Therefore
+the knight spoke again,--
+
+"Come to yourself, my lady! God has regarded innocence,--you are free,
+and can return to Vodokty."
+
+This time there was more consciousness in the look of Panna Billevich.
+She rose from the chest, shook back her hair, and asked, "Who are you?"
+
+"Michael Volodyovski, colonel of dragoons with the voevoda of Vilna."
+
+"Did I hear a battle--shots? Tell me."
+
+"Yes. We came to save you."
+
+She regained her senses completely. "I thank you," said she hurriedly,
+with a low voice, through which a mortal disquiet was breaking. "But
+what happened to him?"
+
+"To Kmita? Fear not, my lady! He is lying lifeless in the yard; and
+without praising myself I did it."
+
+Volodyovski uttered this with a certain boastfulness; but if he
+expected admiration he deceived himself terribly. She said not a word,
+but tottered and began to seek support behind with her hands. At last
+she sat heavily on the same chest from which she had risen a moment
+before.
+
+The knight sprang to her quickly: "What is the matter, my lady?"
+
+"Nothing, nothing--wait, permit me. Then is Pan Kmita killed?"
+
+"What is Pan Kmita to me?" interrupted Volodyovski; "it is a question
+here of you."
+
+That moment her strength came back; for she rose again, and looking him
+straight in the eyes, screamed with anger, impatience, and despair: "By
+the living God, answer! Is he killed?"
+
+"Pan Kmita is wounded," answered the astonished Volodyovski.
+
+"Is he alive?"
+
+"He is alive."
+
+"It is well! I thank you."
+
+And with step still tottering she moved toward the door. Volodyovski
+stood for a while moving his mustaches violently and shaking his head;
+then he muttered to himself, "Does she thank me because Kmita is
+wounded, or because he is alive?"
+
+He followed Olenka, and found her in the adjoining bed room standing in
+the middle of it as if turned to stone. Four nobles were bearing in at
+that moment Pan Kmita; the first two advancing sidewise appeared in the
+door, and between them hung toward the floor the pale head of Pan
+Andrei, with closed eyes, and clots of black blood in his hair.
+
+"Slowly," said Krysh Domashevich, walking behind, "slowly across the
+threshold. Let some one hold his head. Slowly!"
+
+"With what can we hold it when our hands are full?" answered those in
+front.
+
+At that moment Panna Aleksandra approached them, pale as was Kmita
+himself, and placed both hands under his lifeless head.
+
+"This is the lady," said Krysh Domashevich.
+
+"It is I. Be careful!" answered she, in a low voice.
+
+Volodyovski looked on, and his mustaches quivered fearfully.
+
+Meanwhile they placed Kmita on the bed. Krysh Domashevich began to wash
+his head with water; then he fixed a plaster previously prepared to the
+wound, and said,--
+
+"Now let him lie quietly. Oh, that's an iron head not to burst from
+such a blow! He may recover, for he is young. But he got it hard."
+
+Then he turned to Olenka: "Let me wash your hands,--here is water. A
+kind heart is in you that you were not afraid to put blood on yourself
+for that man."
+
+Speaking thus, he wiped her palms with a cloth; but she grew pale and
+changed in the eyes.
+
+Volodyovski sprang to her again: "There is nothing here for you, my
+lady. You have shown Christian charity to an enemy; return home." And
+he offered her his arm.
+
+She however, did not look at him, but turning to Krysh Domashevich,
+said, "Pan Kryshtof, conduct me."
+
+Both went out, and Volodyovski followed them. In the yard the nobles
+began to shout at sight of her, and cry, "Vivat!" But she went forward,
+pale, staggering, with compressed lips, and with fire in her eyes.
+
+"Long life to our lady! Long life to our colonel!" cried powerful
+voices.
+
+An hour later Volodyovski returned at the head of the Lauda men toward
+the villages. The sun had risen already; the early morning in the world
+was gladsome, a real spring morning. The Lauda men clattered forward in
+a formless crowd along the highway, discussing the events of the night
+and praising Volodyovski to the skies; but he rode on thoughtful and
+silent. Those eyes looking from behind the dishevelled hair did not
+leave his mind, nor that slender form, imposing though bent by grief
+and pain.
+
+"It is a marvel what a wonder she is," said he to himself,--"a real
+princess! I have saved her honor and surely her life, for though the
+powder would not have blown up the treasure-room she would have died of
+pure fright. She ought to be grateful. But who can understand a fair
+head? She looked on me as on some serving-lad, I know not whether from
+haughtiness or perplexity."
+
+
+
+
+ CHAPTER IX.
+
+
+These thoughts did not let Volodyovski sleep on the night following.
+For a number of days he was thinking continually of Panna Aleksandra,
+and saw that she had dropped deeply into his heart. Besides, the Lauda
+nobles wished to bring about a marriage between them. It is true that
+she had refused him without hesitation, but at that time she neither
+knew him nor had seen him. Now it was something quite different. He had
+wrested her in knightly fashion from the hands of a man of violence,
+had exposed himself to bullets and sabres, had captured her like a
+fortress. Whose is she, if not his? Can she refuse him anything, even
+her hand? Well, shall he not try? Perhaps affection has begun in her
+from gratitude, since it happens often in the world that the rescued
+lady gives straightway her hand to her rescuer. If she has not
+conceived an affection for him as yet, it behooves him all the more to
+exert himself in the matter.
+
+"But if she remembers and loves the other man still?"
+
+"It cannot be," repeated Volodyovski to himself; "if she had not
+rejected him, he would not have taken her by force. She showed, it is
+true, uncommon kindness to him; but it is a woman's work to take pity
+on the wounded, even if they are enemies. She is young, without
+guardianship; it is time for her to marry. It is clear that she
+has no vocation for the cloister, or she would have entered one
+already. There has been time enough. Men will annoy such a comely lady
+continually,--some for her fortune, others for her beauty, and still
+others for her high blood. Oh, a defence the reality of which she can
+see with her own eyes will be dear to her. It is time too for thee to
+settle down, my dear Michael!" said Volodyovski to himself. "Thou art
+young yet, but the years hurry swiftly. Thou wilt win not fortune in
+service, but rather more wounds in thy skin, and to thy giddy life will
+come an end."
+
+Here through the memory of Pan Volodyovski passed a whole line of young
+ladies after whom he had sighed in his life. Among them were some very
+beautiful and of high blood, but one more charming and distinguished
+there was not. Besides, the people of these parts exalted that family
+and that lady, and from her eyes there looked such honesty that may God
+give no worse wife to the best man.
+
+Pan Volodyovski felt that a prize was meeting him which might not come
+a second time, and this the more since he had rendered the lady such
+uncommon service. "Why delay?" said he to himself. "What better can I
+wait for? I must try."
+
+Pshaw! but war is at hand. His arm was well. It was a shame for a
+knight to go courting when his country was stretching forth its hands
+imploring deliverance. Pan Michael had the heart of an honest soldier;
+and though he had served almost from boyhood, though he had taken part
+in nearly all the wars of his time, he knew what he owed his country,
+and he dreamed not of rest.
+
+Precisely because he had served his country not for gain, reward, or
+praise, but from his soul, had he in that regard a clean conscience, he
+felt his worth, and that gave him solace. "Others were frolicking, but
+I was fighting," thought he. "The Lord God will reward the little
+soldier, and will help him this time."
+
+But he saw that soon there would be no time for courting; there was
+need to act promptly, and put everything on the hazard at once,--to
+make a proposal on the spot, and either marry after short bans or eat a
+watermelon.[12] "I have eaten more than one; I'll eat another this
+time," muttered Volodyovski, moving his yellow mustaches. "What harm
+will it do?"
+
+But there was one side to this sudden decision which did not please
+him. He put the question to himself if going with a visit so soon after
+saving the lady he would not be like an importunate creditor who wishes
+a debt to be paid with usury and as quickly as possible. Perhaps it
+will not be in knightly fashion? Nonsense! for what can gratitude be
+asked, if not for service? And if this haste does not please the heart
+of the lady, if she looks askance at him, why, he can say to her,
+"Gracious lady, I would have come courting one year, and gazed at you
+as if I were near-sighted; but I am a soldier, and the trumpets are
+sounding for battle!"
+
+"So I'll go," said Pan Volodyovski.
+
+But after a while another thought entered his head: if she says, "Go to
+war, noble soldier, and after the war you will visit me during one year
+and look at me like a nearsighted man, for I will not give in a moment
+my soul and my body to one whom I know not!"
+
+Then all will be lost! That it would be lost Pan Volodyovski felt
+perfectly; for leaving aside the lady whom in the interval some other
+man might marry, Volodyovski was not sure of his own constancy.
+Conscience declared that in him love was kindled like straw, but
+quenched as quickly.
+
+Then all will be lost! And then wander on farther, thou soldier, a
+vagrant from one camp to another, from battle to battle, with no roof
+in the world, with no living soul of thy kindred! Search the four
+corners of earth when the war will be over, not knowing a place for thy
+heart save the barracks!
+
+At last Volodyovski knew not what to do. It had become in a certain
+fashion narrow and stifling for him in the Patsuneli house; he took his
+cap therefore to go out on the road and enjoy the May sun. On the
+threshold he came upon one of Kmita's men taken prisoner, who in the
+division of spoils had come to old Pakosh, The Cossack was warming
+himself in the sun and playing on a bandura.
+
+"What art thou doing here? asked Volodyovski.
+
+"I am playing," answered the Cossack, raising his thin face,
+
+"Whence art thou?" asked Volodyovski, glad to have some interruption to
+his thoughts.
+
+"From afar, from the Viahla."
+
+"Why not run away like the rest of thy comrades? Oh, such kind of sons!
+The nobles spared your lives in Lyubich so as to have laborers, and
+your comrades all ran away as soon as the ropes were removed."
+
+"I will not run away. I'll die here like a dog."
+
+"So it has pleased thee here?"
+
+"He runs away who feels better in the field; it is better for me here.
+I had my leg shot through, and the old man's daughter here dressed it,
+and she spoke a kind word. Such a beauty I have not seen before with my
+eyes. Why should I go away?"
+
+"Which one pleased thee so?"
+
+"Maryska."
+
+"And so thou wilt remain?"
+
+"If I die, they will carry me out; if not, I will remain."
+
+"Dost thou think to earn Pakosh's daughter?"
+
+"I know not."
+
+"He would give death to such a poor fellow before he would his
+daughter."
+
+"I have gold pieces buried in the woods," said the Cossack,--"two
+purses."
+
+"From robbery?"
+
+"From robbery."
+
+"Even if thou hadst a pot of gold, thou art a peasant and Pakosh is a
+noble."
+
+"I am an attendant boyar."
+
+"If thou art an attendant boyar, thou art worse than a peasant, for
+thou'rt a traitor. How couldst thou serve the enemy?"
+
+"I did not serve the enemy."
+
+"And where did Pan Kmita find thee and thy comrades?"
+
+"On the road. I served with the full hetman; but the squadron went to
+pieces, for we had nothing to eat. I had no reason to go home, for my
+house was burned. Others went to rob on the road, and I went with
+them."
+
+Volodyovski wondered greatly, for hitherto he had thought that Kmita
+had attacked Olenka with forces obtained from the enemy.
+
+"So Pan Kmita did not get thee from Trubetskoi?"
+
+"Most of the other men had served before with Trubetskoi and Hovanski,
+but they had run away too and taken to the road."
+
+"Why did you go with Pan Kmita?"
+
+"Because he is a splendid ataman. We were told that when he called on
+any one to go with him, thalers as it were flowed out of a bag, to that
+man. That's why we went. Well, God did not give us good luck!"
+
+Volodyovski began to rack his head, and to think that they had
+blackened Kmita too much; then he looked at the pale attendant boyar
+and again racked his head.
+
+"And so thou art in love with her?"
+
+"Oi, so much!"
+
+Volodyovski walked away, and while going he thought: "That is a
+resolute man. He did not break his head; he fell in love and remained.
+Such men are best. If he is really an attendant boyar, he is of the
+same rank as the village nobles. When he digs up his gold pieces,
+perhaps the old man will give him Maryska. And why? Because he did not
+go to drumming with his fingers, but made up his mind that he would get
+her. I'll make up my mind too."
+
+Thus meditating, Volodyovski walked along the road in the sunshine.
+Sometimes he would stop, fix his eyes on the ground or raise them to
+the sky, then again go farther, till all at once he saw a flock of wild
+ducks flying through the air. He began to soothsay whether he should go
+or not. It came out that he was to go.
+
+"I will go; it cannot be otherwise."
+
+When he had said this he turned toward the house; but on the way he
+went once more to the stable, before which his two servants were
+playing dice.
+
+"Syruts, is Basior's mane plaited?"
+
+"Plaited, Colonel!"
+
+Volodyovski went into the stable. Basior neighed at him from the
+manger; the knight approached the horse, patted him on the side, and
+then began to count the braids on his neck. "Go--not go--go." Again the
+soothsaying came out favorably.
+
+"Saddle the horse and dress decently," commanded Volodyovski.
+
+Then he went to the house quickly, and began to dress. He put on high
+cavalry boots, yellow, with gilded spurs, and a new red uniform,
+besides a rapier with steel scabbard, the hilt ornamented with gold; in
+addition a half breastplate of bright steel covering only the upper
+part of the breast near the neck. He had also a lynxskin cap with a
+beautiful heron feather; but since that was worn only with a Polish
+dress, he left it in the trunk, put on a Swedish helmet with a vizor,
+and went out before the porch.
+
+"Where is your grace going?" asked old Pakosh, who was sitting on the
+railing.
+
+"Where am I going? It is proper for me to go and inquire after the
+health of your lady; if not, she might think me rude."
+
+"From your grace there is a blaze like fire. Every bulfinch is a fool
+in comparison! Unless the lady is without eyes, she will fall in love
+in a minute."
+
+Just then the two youngest daughters of Pakosh hurried up on their way
+home from the forenoon milking, each with a pail of milk. When they saw
+Volodyovski they stood as if fixed to the earth from wonder.
+
+"Is it a king or not?" asked Zonia.
+
+"Your grace is like one going to a wedding," added Marysia.
+
+"Maybe there will be a wedding," laughed old Pakosh, "for he is going
+to see our lady."
+
+Before the old man had stopped speaking the full pail dropped from the
+hand of Marysia, and a stream of milk flowed along till it reached the
+feet of Volodyovski.
+
+"Pay attention to what you are holding!" said Pakosh, angrily. "Giddy
+thing!"
+
+Marysia said nothing; she raised the pail and walked off in silence.
+
+Volodyovski mounted his horse; his two servants followed him, riding
+abreast, and the three moved on toward Vodokty. The day was beautiful.
+The May sun played on the breastplate and helmet of the colonel, so
+that when at a distance he was gleaming among the willows it seemed
+that another sun was pushing along the road.
+
+"I am curious to know whether I shall come back with a ring or a
+melon?" said the knight to himself.
+
+"What is your grace saying?" asked Syruts.
+
+"Thou art a blockhead!"
+
+Syruts reined in his horse, and Volodyovski continued: "The whole luck
+of the matter is that it is not the first time!"
+
+This idea gave him uncommon comfort.
+
+When he arrived at Vodokty, Panna Aleksandra did not recognize him at
+the first moment, and he had to repeat his name. She greeted him
+heartily, but ceremoniously and with a certain constraint; but he
+presented himself befittingly,--for though a soldier, not a courtier,
+he had still lived long at great houses, had been among people. He
+bowed to her therefore with great respect, and placing his hand on his
+heart spoke as follows:--
+
+"I have come to inquire about the health of my lady benefactress,
+whether some pain has not come from the fright. I ought to have done
+this the day after, but I did not wish to give annoyance."
+
+"It is very kind of you to keep me in mind after having saved me from
+such straits. Sit down, for you are a welcome guest."
+
+"My lady," replied Volodyovski, "had I forgotten you I should not have
+deserved the favor which God sent when he permitted me to give aid to
+so worthy a person."
+
+"No, I ought to thank first God, and then you."
+
+"Then let us both thank; for I implore nothing else than this,--that he
+grant me to defend you as often as need comes."
+
+Pan Michael now moved his waxed mustaches, which curled up higher than
+his nose, for he was satisfied with himself for having gone straight in
+_medias res_ and placed his sentiments, so to speak, on the table. She
+sat embarrassed and silent, but beautiful as a spring day. A slight
+flush came on her cheeks, and she covered her eyes with the long lashes
+from which shadows fell on the pupils.
+
+"That confusion is a good sign," thought Volodyovski; and coughing he
+proceeded: "You know, I suppose, that I led the Lauda men after your
+grandfather?"
+
+"I know," answered Olenka. "My late grandfather was unable to make the
+last campaign, but he was wonderfully glad when he heard whom the
+voevoda of Vilna had appointed to the command, and said that he knew
+you by reputation as a splendid soldier."
+
+"Did he say that?"
+
+"I myself heard how he praised you to the skies, and how the Lauda men
+did the same after the campaign."
+
+"I am a simple soldier, not worthy of being exalted to the skies, nor
+above other men. Still I rejoice that I am not quite a stranger, for
+you do not think now that an unknown and uncertain guest has fallen
+with the last rain from the clouds. Many people are wandering about who
+call themselves persons of high family and say they are in office, and
+God knows who they are; perhaps often they are not even nobles."
+
+Pan Volodyovski gave the conversation this turn with the intent to
+speak of himself and of what manner of man he was. Olenka answered at
+once,--
+
+"No one would think that of you, for there are nobles of the same name
+in Lithuania."
+
+"But they have the seal Ossorya, while I am a Korchak Volodyovski and
+we take our origin from Hungary from a certain noble, Atylla, who while
+pursued by his enemies made a vow to the Most Holy Lady that he would
+turn from Paganism to the Catholic faith if he should escape with
+his life. He kept this vow after he had crossed three rivers in
+safety,--the same rivers that we bear on our shield."
+
+"Then your family is not from those parts?"
+
+"No, my lady, I am from the Ukraine of the Russian Volodyovskis, and to
+this time I own villages there which the enemy have occupied; but I
+serve in the army from youth, thinking less of land than of the harm
+inflicted on our country by strangers. I have served from the earliest
+years with the voevoda of Rus, our not sufficiently lamented Prince
+Yeremi, with whom I have been in all his wars. I was at Mahnovka and at
+Konstantinoff; I endured the hunger of Zbaraj, and after Berestechko
+our gracious lord the king pressed my head. God is my witness that I
+have not come here to praise myself, but desire that you might know, my
+lady, that I am no hanger-on, whose work is in shouting and who spares
+his own blood, but that my life has been passed in honorable service in
+which some little fame was won, and my conscience stained in nothing,
+so God be my aid! And to this worthy people can give testimony."
+
+"Would that all were like you!" sighed Olenka.
+
+"Surely you have now in mind that man of violence who dared to raise
+his godless hand against you."
+
+Panna Aleksandra fixed her eyes on the floor, and said not a word.
+
+"He has received pay for his deeds," continued Volodyovski, "though it
+is said that he will recover, still he will not escape punishment. All
+honorable people condemn him, and even too much; for they say that he
+had relations with the enemy so as to obtain reinforcements,--which is
+untrue, for those men with whom he attacked you did not come from the
+enemy, but were collected on the highway."
+
+"How do you know that?" asked the lady, raising her blue eyes to
+Volodyovski.
+
+"From the Cossacks themselves. He is a wonderful man, that Kmita; for
+when I accused him of treason before the duel he made no denial, though
+I accused him unjustly. It is clear that there is a devilish pride in
+him."
+
+"And have you said everywhere that he is not a traitor?"
+
+"I have not, for I did not know that he was not a traitor; but now I
+will say so. It is wrong to cast such a calumny even on our own
+greatest enemy."
+
+Panna Aleksandra's eyes rested a second time on the little knight with
+an expression of sympathy and gratitude. "You are so honorable a man
+that your equal is rare."
+
+Volodyovski fell to twitching his mustaches time after time with
+contentment. "To business, Michael dear!" said he, mentally. Then aloud
+to the lady: "I will say more: I blame Pan Kmita's method, but I do not
+wonder that he tried to obtain you, my lady, in whose service Venus
+herself might act as a maid. Despair urged him on to an evil deed, and
+will surely urge him a second time, should opportunity offer. How will
+you remain alone, with such beauty and without protection? There are
+more men like Kmita in the world; you will rouse more such ardors, and
+will expose your honor to fresh perils. God sent me favor that I was
+able to free you, but now the trumpets of Gradivus call me. Who will
+watch over you? My gracious lady, they accuse soldiers of fickleness,
+but unjustly. Neither is my heart of rock, and it cannot remain
+indifferent to so many excellent charms."
+
+Here Volodyovski fell on both knees before Olenka. "My gracious lady,"
+said he, while kneeling, "I inherited the command after your
+grandfather; let me inherit the granddaughter too. Give me guardianship
+over you; let me enjoy the bliss of mutual affection. Take me as a
+perpetual protection, and you will be at rest and free from care, for
+though I go to the war my name itself will defend you."
+
+The lady sprang from the chair and heard Pan Volodyovski with
+astonishment; but he still spoke on:--
+
+"I am a poor soldier, but a noble, and a man of honor. I swear to you
+that on my shield and on my conscience not the slightest stain can be
+found. I am at fault perhaps in this haste; but understand too that I
+am called by the country, which will not yield even for you. Will you
+not comfort me,--will you not give me solace, will you not say a kind
+word?"
+
+"You ask the impossible. As God lives, that cannot be!" answered
+Olenka, with fright.
+
+"It depends on your will."
+
+"For that reason I say no to you promptly." Here she frowned. "Worthy
+sir, I am indebted to you much, I do not deny it. Ask what you like, I
+am ready to give everything except my hand."
+
+Pan Volodyovski rose. "Then you do not wish me, my lady? Is that true?"
+
+"I cannot."
+
+"And that is your last word?"
+
+"The last and irrevocable word."
+
+"Perhaps the haste only has displeased you. Give me some hope."
+
+"I cannot, I cannot."
+
+"Then there is no success for me here, as elsewhere there was none. My
+worthy lady, offer not pay for services, I have not come for that; and
+if I ask your hand it is not as pay, but from your own good-will. Were
+you to say that you give it because you must, I would not take it.
+Where there is no freedom there is no happiness. You have disdained me.
+God grant that a worse do not meet you. I go from this house as I
+entered, save this that I shall not come here again. I am accounted
+here as nobody. Well, let it be so. Be happy even with that very Kmita,
+for perhaps you are angry because I placed a sabre between you. If he
+seems better to you, then in truth you are not for me."
+
+Olenka seized her temples with her hands, and repeated a number of
+times: "O God! O God! O God!"
+
+But that pain of hers made no impression on Volodyovski, who, when he
+had bowed, went out angry and wrathful; then he mounted at once and
+rode off.
+
+"A foot of mine shall never stand there again!" said he, aloud.
+
+His attendant Syruts riding behind pushed up at once. "What does your
+grace say?"
+
+"Blockhead!" answered Volodyovski.
+
+"You told me that when we were coming hither."
+
+Silence followed; then Volodyovski began to mutter again: "Ah, I was
+entertained there with ingratitude, paid for affection with contempt.
+It will come to me surely to serve in the cavalry till death; that is
+fated. Such a devil of a lot fell to me,--every move a refusal! There
+is no justice on earth. What did she find against me?"
+
+Here Pan Michael frowned, and began to work mightily with his brain;
+all at once he slapped his leg with his hand. "I know now," shouted he;
+"she loves that fellow yet,--it cannot be otherwise."
+
+But this idea did not clear his face. "So much the worse for me,"
+thought he, after a while; "for if she loves him yet, she will not stop
+loving him. He has already done his worst. He may go to war, win glory,
+repair his reputation. And it is not right to hinder him; he should
+rather be aided, for that is a service to the country. He is a good
+soldier, 'tis true. But how did he fascinate her so? Who can tell? Some
+have such fortune that if one of them looks on a woman she is ready to
+follow him into fire. If a man only knew how this is done or could get
+some captive spirit, perhaps he might effect something. Merit has no
+weight with a fair head. Pan Zagloba said wisely that a fox and a woman
+are the most treacherous creatures alive. But I grieve that all is
+lost. Oh, she is a terribly beautiful woman, and honorable and
+virtuous, as they say; ambitious as the devil,--that's evident. Who
+knows that she will marry him though she loves him, for he has offended
+and disappointed her sorely. He might have won her in peace, but he
+chose to be lawless. She is willing to resign everything,--marriage and
+children. It is grievous for me, but maybe it is worse for her, poor
+thing!"
+
+Here Volodyovski fell into a tit of tenderness over the fate of Olenka,
+and began to rack his brain and smack his lips. At last he said,--
+
+"May God aid her! I have no ill feeling against her! It is not the
+first refusal for me, but for her it is the first suffering. The poor
+woman can scarcely recover now from sorrows. I have put out her eyes
+with this Kmita, and besides have given her gall to drink. It was not
+right to do that, and I must repair the wrong. I wish bullets had
+struck me, for I have acted rudely. I will write a letter asking
+forgiveness, and then help her in what way I can."
+
+Further thoughts concerning Pan Kmita were interrupted by the attendant
+Syruts, who riding forward again said: "Pardon, but over there on the
+hill is Pan Kharlamp riding with some one else."
+
+"Where?"
+
+"Over there!"
+
+"It is true that two horsemen are visible, but Pan Kharlamp remained
+with the prince voevoda of Vilna. How dost thou know him so far away?"
+
+"By his cream-colored horse. The whole array knows that horse
+anywhere."
+
+"As true as I live, there is a cream-colored horse in view, but it may
+be some other man's horse."
+
+"When I recognize the gait, it is surely Pan Kharlamp."
+
+They spurred on; the other horsemen did the same, and soon Volodyovski
+saw that Pan Kharlamp was in fact approaching.
+
+Pan Kharlamp was the lieutenant of a light-horse squadron in the
+Lithuanian quota. Pan Volodyovski's acquaintance of long standing, an
+old soldier and a good one. Once he and the little knight had
+quarrelled fiercely, but afterward while serving together and
+campaigning they acquired a love for each other. Volodyovski sprang
+forward quickly, and opening his arms cried,--
+
+"How do you prosper, O Great-nose? Whence do you come?"
+
+The officer--who in truth deserved the nickname of Great-nose, for he
+had a mighty nose--fell into the embraces of the colonel, and greeted
+him joyously; then after he had recovered his breath, he said, "I have
+come to you with a commission and money."
+
+"But from whom?"
+
+"From the prince voevoda of Vilna, our hetman. He sends you a
+commission to begin a levy at once, and another commission to Pan
+Kmita, who must be in this neighborhood."
+
+"To Pan Kmita also? How shall we both make a levy in one neighborhood?"
+
+"He is to go to Troki, and you to remain in these parts."
+
+"How did you know where to look for me?"
+
+"The hetman himself inquired carefully till the people from this place
+who have remained near him told where to find you. I came with sure
+information. You are in great and continual favor there. I have heard
+the prince himself say that he had not hoped to inherit anything from
+Prince Yeremi, but still he did inherit the greatest of knights."
+
+"May God grant him to inherit the military success of Yeremi! It is a
+great honor for me to conduct a levy. I will set about it at once.
+There is no lack of warlike people here, if there was only something
+with which to give them an outfit. Have you brought much money?"
+
+"You will count it at Patsuneli."
+
+"So you have been there already? But be careful; for there are shapely
+girls in Patsuneli, like poppies in a garden."
+
+"Ah, that is why stopping there pleased you! But wait, I have a private
+letter from the hetman to you."
+
+"Then give it."
+
+Kharlamp drew forth a letter with the small seal of the Radzivills.
+Volodyovski opened it and began to read:--
+
+
+Worthy Colonel Pan Volodyovski,--Knowing your sincere wish to serve the
+country, I send you a commission to make a levy, and not as is usually
+done, but with great haste, for _periculum in mora_ (there is danger in
+delay). If you wish to give us joy, then let the squadron be mustered
+and ready for the campaign by the end of July, or the middle of August
+at the latest. We are anxious to know how you can find good horses,
+especially since we send money sparingly, for more we could not hammer
+from the under-treasurer, who after his old fashion is unfriendly to
+us. Give one half of this money to Pan Kmita, for whom Pan Kharlamp has
+also a commission. We hope that he will serve us zealously. But tidings
+have come to our ears of his violence in Upita, therefore it is
+better for you to take the letter directed to him from Kharlamp, and
+discover yourself whether to deliver it to him or not. Should you
+consider the accusations against him too great, and creating infamy,
+then do not give it, for we are afraid lest our enemies--such as the
+under-treasurer, and the voevoda of Vityebsk--might raise outcries
+against us because we commit such functions to unworthy persons. But if
+you give the letter after having found that there is nothing important,
+let Pan Kmita endeavor to wipe away his faults by the greatest exertion
+in service, and in no case to appear in the courts, for he belongs to
+our hetman's jurisdiction,--we and no one else will judge him. Pay
+attention to our charge at once, in view of the confidence which we
+have in your judgment and faithful service.
+
+ Yanush Radzivill,
+ _Prince in Birji and Dubinki, Voevoda of Vilna_.
+
+
+"The hetman is terribly anxious about horses for you," said Kharlamp,
+when the little knight had finished reading.
+
+"It will surely be difficult in the matter of horses," answered
+Volodyovski. "A great number of the small nobility here will rally at
+the first summons, but they have only wretched little Jmud ponies, not
+very capable of service. For a good campaign it would be needful to
+give them all fresh horses."
+
+"Those are good horses; I know them of old, wonderfully enduring and
+active."
+
+"Bah!" responded Volodyovski, "but small, and the men here are large.
+If they should form in line on such horses, you would think them a
+squadron mounted on dogs. There is where the rub is. I will work with
+zeal, for I am in haste myself. Leave Kmita's commission with me, as
+the hetman commands; I will give it to him. It has come just in
+season."
+
+"But why?"
+
+"For he has acted here in Tartar fashion and taken a lady captive.
+There are as many lawsuits and questions hanging over him as he has
+hairs on his head. It is not a week since I had a sabre-duel with him."
+
+"Ai!" cried Kharlamp. "If you had a sabre-duel with him, he is in bed
+at this moment."
+
+"But he is better already. In a week or two he will be well. What is to
+be heard _de publicis_?"
+
+"Evil in the old fashion. The under-treasurer, Pan Gosyevski, the full
+hetman, is ever quarrelling with the prince; and as the hetmans do not
+agree, affairs do not move in harmony. Still we have improved a little,
+and I think that if we had concord we might manage the enemy. God will
+permit us yet to ride on their necks to their own land. Gosyevski is to
+blame for all."
+
+"But others say it is specially the grand hetman, Prince Radzivill."
+
+"They are traitors. The voevoda of Vityebsk talks that way, for he and
+the under-treasurer are cronies this long time."
+
+"The voevoda of Vityebsk is a worthy citizen."
+
+"Are you on the side of Sapyeha against the Radzivills?"
+
+"I am on the side of the country, on whose side all should be. In this
+is the evil,--that even soldiers are divided into parties, instead of
+fighting. That Sapyeha is a worthy citizen, I would say in the presence
+of the prince himself, even though I serve under him."
+
+"Good people have striven to bring about harmony, but with no result,"
+said Kharlamp. "There is a terrible movement of messengers from the
+king to our prince. They say that something is hatching. We expected
+with the visit of the king a call of the general militia; it has not
+come! They say that it may be necessary in some places."
+
+"In the Ukraine, for instance."
+
+"I know. But once Lieutenant Brohvich told what he heard with his own
+ears. Tyzenhauz came from the king to our hetman, and when they had
+shut themselves in they talked a long time about something which
+Brohvich could not overhear; but when they came out, with his own ears
+he heard the hetman say, 'From this a new war may come.' We racked our
+heads greatly to find what this could mean."
+
+"Surely he was mistaken. With whom could there be a new war? The
+emperor is more friendly to us now than to our enemies, since it is
+proper for him to take the side of a civilized people. With the Swedes
+the truce is not yet at an end, and will not be for six years; the
+Tartars are helping us in the Ukraine, which they would not do without
+the will of Turkey."
+
+"Well, we could not get at anything."
+
+"For there was nothing. But, praise God, I have fresh work; I began to
+yearn for war."
+
+"Do you wish to carry the commission yourself to Kmita?"
+
+"I do, because, as I have told you, the hetman has so ordered. It is
+proper for me to visit Kmita now according to knightly custom, and
+having the commission I shall have a still better chance to talk with
+him. Whether I give the commission is another thing; I think that I
+shall, for it is left to my discretion."
+
+"That suits me; I am in such haste for the road. I have a third
+commission to Pan Stankyevich. Next I am commanded to go to Kyedani, to
+remove the cannon which are there; then to inspect Birji and see if
+everything is ready for defence."
+
+"And to Birji too?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"That is a wonder to me. The enemy have won no new victories, and it is
+far for them to go to Birji on the boundary of Courland. And since, as
+I see, new squadrons are being formed, there will be men to defend even
+those parts which have fallen under the power of the enemy. The
+Courlanders do not think of war with us. They are good soldiers, but
+few; and Radzivill might put the breath out of them with one hand."
+
+"I wonder too," answered Kharlamp, "all the more that haste is enjoined
+on me, and instructions given that if I find anything out of order I am
+to inform quickly Prince Boguslav Radzivill, who is to send Peterson
+the engineer."
+
+"What can this mean? I hope 'tis no question of domestic war. May God
+preserve us from that! But when Prince Boguslav touches an affair the
+devil will come of the amusement."
+
+"Say nothing against him; he is a valiant man."
+
+"I say nothing against his valor, but there is more of the German or
+Frenchman in him than the Pole. And of the Commonwealth he never
+thinks; his only thought is how to raise the house of Radzivill to the
+highest point and lower all others. He is the man who rouses pride in
+the voevoda of Vilna, our hetman, who of himself has no lack of it; and
+those quarrels with Sapyeha and Gosyevski are the tree and the fruit of
+Prince Boguslav's planting."
+
+"I see that you are a great statesman. You should marry, Michael dear,
+as soon as possible, so that such wisdom is not lost."
+
+Volodyovski looked very attentively at his comrade. "Marry,--why is
+that?"
+
+"Maybe you are going courting, for I see that you are dressed as on
+parade."
+
+"Give us peace!"
+
+"Oh, own up!"
+
+"Let each man eat his own melons, not inquire about those of other men.
+You too have eaten more than one. It is just the time now to think of
+marriage when we have a levy on our hands!"
+
+"Will you be ready in July?"
+
+"At the end of July, even if I have to dig horses out of the ground.
+Thank God that this task has come, or melancholy would have devoured
+me."
+
+So tidings from the hetman and the prospect of heavy work gave great
+consolation to Pan Michael; and before he reached Patsuneli, he had
+scarcely a thought of the rebuff which had met him an hour before. News
+of the commission flew quickly through the whole village. The nobles
+came straightway to inquire if the news was true; and when Volodyovski
+confirmed it, his words made a great impression. The readiness was
+universal, though some were troubled because they would have to march
+at the end of July before harvest. Volodyovski sent messengers to other
+neighborhoods,--to Upita, and to the most considerable noble houses. In
+the evening a number of Butryms, Stakyans, and Domasheviches came.
+
+They began to incite one another, show greater readiness, threaten the
+enemy, and promise victory to themselves. The Butryms alone were
+silent; but that was not taken ill, for it was known that they would
+rise as one man. Next day it was as noisy in all the villages as in
+bee-hives. People talked no more of Pan Kmita and Panna Aleksandra, but
+of the future campaign. Volodyovski also forgave Olenka sincerely the
+refusal, comforting himself meanwhile in his heart that that was not
+the last one, as the love was not the last. At the same time he
+pondered somewhat on what he had to do with the letter to Kmita.
+
+
+
+
+ CHAPTER X.
+
+
+A time of serious labor began now for Volodyovski,--of letter-writing
+and journeying. The week following he transferred his head-quarters to
+Upita, where he began the levy. The nobles flocked to him willingly,
+both great and small, for he had a wide reputation. But especially came
+the Lauda men, for whom horses had to be provided. Volodyovski hurried
+around as if in boiling water; but since he was active and spared no
+pains, everything went on successfully enough. Meanwhile he visited in
+Lyubich Pan Kmita, who had advanced considerably toward health; and
+though he had not risen yet from his bed, it was known that he would
+recover.
+
+Kmita recognized the knight at once, and turned a little pale at sight
+of him. Even his hand moved involuntarily toward the sabre above his
+head; but he checked himself when he saw a smile on the face of his
+guest, put forth his thin hand, and said,--
+
+"I thank you for the visit. This is courtesy worthy of such a
+cavalier."
+
+"I have come to inquire if you cherish ill feeling against me," said
+Pan Michael.
+
+"I have no ill feeling; for no common man overcame me, but a swordsman
+of the first degree. Hardly have I escaped."
+
+"And how is your health?"
+
+"It is surely a wonder to you that I have come out alive. I confess
+myself that it is no small exploit." Here Kmita laughed. "Well, the
+affair is not lost. You may finish me at your pleasure."
+
+"I have not come with such intent--"
+
+"You must be the devil," interrupted Kmita, "or must have a captive
+spirit. God knows I am far from self-praise at this moment, for I am
+returning from the other world; but before meeting you I thought, 'If I
+am not the best sabre in the Commonwealth, I am the second.' But I
+could not have warded off the first blow if you had not wished it. Tell
+me where did you learn so much?"
+
+"I had some little innate capacity, and my father taught me from
+boyhood. He said many a time, 'God has given you insignificant stature;
+if men do not fear you, they will laugh at you.' Later on, while
+serving with the voevoda of Rus, I finished my course. With him were a
+few men who could stand boldly before me."
+
+"But could there be such?"
+
+"There could, for there were. There was Pan Podbipienta, a Lithuanian
+of high birth, who fell at Zbaraj,--the Lord light his soul!--a man of
+such strength that there were no means to stop him, for he could cut
+through opponent and weapons. Then there was Skshetuski, my heartfelt
+friend and confidant, of whom you must have heard."
+
+"Of course! He came out of Zbaraj, and burst through the Cossacks. So
+you are of such a brace, and a man of Zbaraj! With the forehead! with
+the forehead! Wait a moment; I have heard of you at the castle of
+Radzivill, voevoda of Vilna. Your name is Michael?"
+
+"Exactly; I am Michael. My first name is Yerzi; but since Saint Michael
+leads the whole host of heaven, and has gamed so many victories over
+the banners of hell, I prefer him as a patron."
+
+"It is sure that Yerzi is not equal to Michael. Then you are that same
+Volodyovski of whom it is said that he cut up Bogun?"
+
+"I am he."
+
+"Well, to receive a slash on the head from such a man is not a
+misfortune. If God would grant us to be friends! You called me a
+traitor, 'tis true, but you were mistaken." When he said this, Kmita
+frowned as if his wound caused him pain again.
+
+"I confess my mistake," answered Volodyovski. "I do not learn that from
+you; your men told me. And know that if I had not learned it I should
+not have come here."
+
+"Tongues have cut me and cut me," said Kmita, with bitterness. "Let
+come what may, I confess more than one mark is against me; but in this
+neighborhood men have received me ungraciously."
+
+"You injured yourself most by burning Volmontovichi, and by the last
+seizure."
+
+"Now they are crushing me with lawsuits. I am summoned to courts. They
+will not give a sick man time to recover. I burned Volmontovichi, 'tis
+true, and cut down some people; but let God judge me if I did that from
+caprice. The same night, before the burning I made a vow to live with
+all men in peace, to attract to myself these homespuns around here, to
+satisfy the basswood barks in Upita, for there I really played the
+tyrant. I returned to my house, and what did I find? I found my
+comrades cut up like cattle, lying at the wall. When I learned that the
+Butryms had done this, the devil entered me, and I took stern
+vengeance. Would you believe why they were cut up, why they were
+slaughtered? I learned myself later from one of the Butryms, whom I
+found in the woods. Behold, it was for this,--that they wanted to dance
+with the women of the nobles in a public house! Who would not have
+taken vengeance?"
+
+"My worthy sir," answered Volodyovski, "it is true that they acted
+severely with your comrades; but was it the nobles who killed them? No;
+their previous reputation killed them,--that which they brought with
+them; for if orderly soldiers had wished to dance, surely they would
+not have slain them."
+
+"Poor fellows!" said Kmita, following his own thoughts, "while I was
+lying here now in a fever, they came in every evening through that door
+from the room outside. I saw them around this bed as if living, blue,
+hacked up, and groaning continually, 'Yendrus! give money to have a
+Mass for our souls; we are in torments!' Then I tell you the hair stood
+on my head, for the smell of sulphur from them was in the room. I gave
+money for a Mass. Oh, may it help them!"
+
+A moment of silence then followed.
+
+"As to the carrying off," continued Kmita, "no one could have told you
+about that; for in truth she saved my life when the nobles were hunting
+me, but afterward she ordered me to depart and not show myself before
+her eyes. What was there left for me after that?"
+
+"Still it was a Tartar method."
+
+"You know not what love is, and to what despair it may bring a man when
+he loses that which he prizes most dearly."
+
+"I know not what love is?" cried Volodyovski, with excitement. "From
+the time that I began to carry a sabre I was in love. It is true that
+the object changed, for I was never rewarded with a return. Were it not
+for that, there could have been no Troilus more faithful than I."
+
+"What kind of love can that be when the object is changing?" said
+Kmita.
+
+"I will tell you something else which I saw with my own eyes. In the
+first period of the Hmelnitski affair, Bogun, the same who next to
+Hmelnitski has now the highest respect of the Cossacks, carried off
+Princess Kurtsevich, a maiden loved by Skshetuski above all things.
+That was a love! The whole army was weeping in view of Skshetuski's
+despair; for his beard at some years beyond twenty grew gray, and can
+you guess what he did?"
+
+"I have no means of knowing."
+
+"Well, because the country was in need, in humiliation, because the
+terrible Hmelnitski was triumphing, he did not go to seek the girl. He
+offered his suffering to God, and fought under Prince Yeremi in all the
+battles, including Zbaraj, and covered himself with such glory that
+to-day all repeat his name with respect. Compare his action with your
+own and see the difference."
+
+Kmita was silent, gnawed his mustache. Volodyovski continued,--
+
+"Then God rewarded and gave him the maiden. They married immediately
+after Zbaraj, and now have three children, though he has not ceased to
+serve. But you by making disturbance have given aid to the enemy and
+almost lost your own life, not to mention that a few days ago you might
+have lost the lady forever."
+
+"How is that?" asked Kmita, sitting up in the bed; "what happened to
+her?"
+
+"Nothing; but there was found a man who asked for her hand and wanted
+to marry her."
+
+Kmita grew very pale; his hollow eyes began to shoot flames. He wanted
+to rise, even struggled for a moment; then cried, "Who was this devil's
+son? By the living God, tell me!"
+
+"I," said Pan Volodyovski.
+
+"You,--you?" asked Kmita, with astonishment, "Is it possible?"
+
+"It is."
+
+"Traitor! that will not go with you! But she--what--tell me everything.
+Did she accept?"
+
+"She refused me on the spot, without thinking."
+
+A moment of silence followed. Kmita breathed heavily, and fixed his
+eyes on Volodyovski, who said,--
+
+"Why call me traitor? Am I your brother or your best man? Have I broken
+faith with you? I conquered you in battle, and could have done what I
+liked."
+
+"In old fashion one of us would seal this with his blood,--if not with
+a sabre, with a gun. I would shoot you; then let the devils take me."
+
+"Then you would have shot me, for if she had not refused I should not
+have accepted a second duel. What had I to fight for? Do you know why
+she refused me?"
+
+"Why?" repeated Kmita, like an echo.
+
+"Because she loves you."
+
+That was more than the exhausted strength of the sick man could bear.
+His head fell on the pillows, a copious sweat came out on his forehead,
+and he lay there in silence.
+
+"I am terribly weak," said he, after a while. "How do you know that she
+loves me?"
+
+"Because I have eyes and see, because I have reason and observe; just
+after I had received the refusal my head became clear. To begin with,
+when after the duel I came to tell her that she was free, for I had
+slain you, she was dazed, and instead of showing gratitude she ignored
+me entirely; second, when the Domasheviches were bringing you in, she
+carried your head like a mother; and third, because when I visited her,
+she received me as if some one were giving me a slap in the face. If
+these explanations are not sufficient, it is because your reason is
+shaken and your mind impaired."
+
+"If that is true," said Kmita, with a feeble voice, "many plasters are
+put on my wounds; better balsam than your words there could not be."
+
+"But a traitor applies this balsam."
+
+"Oh, forgive me! Such happiness cannot find place in my mind, that she
+has a wish for me still."
+
+"I said that she loves you; I did not say that she has a wish for
+you,--that is altogether different."
+
+"If she has no wish for me, I will break my head against the wall; I
+cannot help it."
+
+"You might if you had a sincere desire of effacing your faults. There
+is war now; you may go, you may render important services to our dear
+country, you may win glory with bravery, and mend your reputation. Who
+is without fault? Who has no sin on his conscience? Every one has. But
+the road to penance and correction is open to all. You sinned through
+violence, then avoid it henceforth; you offended against the country by
+raising disturbance in time of war, save the country now; you committed
+wrongs against men, make reparation for them. This is a better and a
+surer way for you than breaking your head."
+
+Kmita looked attentively at Volodyovski; then said, "You speak like a
+sincere friend of mine."
+
+"I am not your friend, but in truth I am not your enemy; and I am sorry
+for that lady, though she refused me and I said a sharp word to her in
+parting. I shall not hang myself by reason of the refusal; it is not
+the first for me, and I am not accustomed to treasure up offences. If I
+persuade you to the right road, that will be to the country a service
+on my part, for you are a good and experienced soldier."
+
+"Is there time for me to return to this road? How many summonses are
+waiting for me? I shall have to go from the bed to the court--unless I
+flee hence, and I do not wish to do that. How many summonses, and every
+case a sure sentence of condemnation!"
+
+"Look, here is a remedy!" said Volodyovski, taking out the commission.
+
+"A commission!" cried Kmita; "for whom?"
+
+"For you! You need not appear at any court, for you are in the hetman's
+jurisdiction. Hear what the prince voevoda writes me."
+
+Volodyovski read to Kmita the private letter of Radzivill, drew breath,
+moved his mustaches, and said, "Here, as you see, it depends on me
+either to give you the commission or to retain it."
+
+Uncertainty, alarm, and hope were reflected on Kmita's face. "What will
+you do?" asked he, in a low voice.
+
+"T will give the commission," said Volodyovski.
+
+Kmita said nothing at first; he dropped his head on the pillow, and
+looked some time at the ceiling. Suddenly his eyes began to grow moist;
+and tears, unknown guests in those eyes, were hanging on the lashes.
+
+"May I be torn with horses," said he at last, "may I be pulled out of
+my skin, if I have seen a more honorable man! If through me you have
+received a refusal,--if Olenka, as you say, loves me,--another would
+have taken vengeance all the more, would have pushed me down deeper;
+but you give your hand and draw me forth as it were from the grave."
+
+"Because I will not sacrifice to personal interests the country, to
+which you may render notable service. But I say that if you had
+obtained those Cossacks from Trubetskoi or Hovanski, I should have kept
+the commission. It is your whole fortune that you did not do that."
+
+"It is for others to take an example from you," said Kmita. "Give me
+your hand. God permit me to repay you with some good, for you have
+bound me in life and in death."
+
+"Well, we will speak of that later. Now listen! There is no need of
+appearing before any court, but go to work. If you will render service
+to the Commonwealth, these nobles will forgive you, for they are very
+sensitive to the honor of the State. You may blot out your offences
+yet, win reputation, walk in glory as in sunlight, and I know of one
+lady who will give you a lifelong reward."
+
+"Hei!" cried Kmita, in ecstasy, "why should I rot here in bed when the
+enemy is trampling the country? Hei! is there any one there? Come, boy,
+give me my boots; come hither! May the thunderbolts strike me in this
+bed if I stay here longer in uselessness!"
+
+Volodyovski smiled with satisfaction and said, "Your spirit is stronger
+than your body, for the body is not able to serve you yet."
+
+When he had said this he began to take farewell; but Kmita would not
+let him go, thanked him, and wished to treat him with wine. In fact, it
+was well toward evening when the little knight left Lyubich and
+directed his course to Vodokty.
+
+"I will reward her in the best fashion for her sharp word," said he to
+himself, "when I tell her that Kmita will rise, not only from his bed,
+but from evil fame. He is not ruined yet, only very passionate. I shall
+comfort her wonderfully too, and I think she will meet me better this
+time than when I offered myself to her."
+
+Here our honest Van Michael sighed and muttered: "Could it be known
+that there is one in the world predestined to me?"
+
+In the midst of such meditations he came to Vodokty. The tow-headed man
+of Jmud ran out to the gate, but made no hurry to open; he only said,--
+
+"The heiress is not at home."
+
+"Has she gone away?"
+
+"She has gone away."
+
+"Whither?"
+
+"Who knows?"
+
+"When will she come back?"
+
+"Who knows?"
+
+"Speak in human fashion. Did she not say when she would return?"
+
+"Maybe she will not return at all, for she went away with wagons and
+bags. From that I think she has gone far for a long time."
+
+"Is that true?" muttered Pan Michael. "See what I have done!"
+
+
+
+
+ CHAPTER XI.
+
+
+Usually when the warm rays of the sun begin to break through the wintry
+veil of clouds, and when the first buds appear on the trees and the
+green fleece spreads over the damp fields, a better hope enters the
+hearts of men. But the spring of 1655 brought not the usual comfort to
+the afflicted inhabitants of the Commonwealth. The entire eastern
+boundary, from the north to the wilderness on the south, was bound as
+it were by a border of flame; and the spring torrents could not quench
+the conflagration, but that border grew wider continually and occupied
+broader regions. And besides there appeared in the sky signs of evil
+omen, announcing still greater defeats and misfortunes. Time after time
+from the clouds which swept over the heavens were formed as it were
+lofty towers like the flanks of fortresses, which afterward rolled down
+with a crash. Thunderbolts struck the earth while it was still covered
+with snow, pine-woods became yellow, and the limbs of trees crossed one
+another in strange sickly figures; wild beasts and birds fell down and
+died from unknown diseases. Finally, strange spots were seen on the
+sun, having the form of a hand holding an apple, of a heart pierced
+through, and a cross. The minds of men were disturbed more and more;
+monks were lost in calculating what these signs might mean. A wonderful
+kind of disquiet seized all hearts.
+
+New and sudden wars were foretold, God knows from what source. An
+ominous report began to circulate from mouth to mouth in villages and
+towns that a tempest was coming from the side of the Swedes. Apparently
+nothing seemed to confirm this report, for the truce concluded with
+Sweden had six years yet to run; and still people spoke of the danger
+of war, even at the Diet, which Yan Kazimir the king had called on May
+19 in Warsaw.
+
+Anxious eyes were turned more and more to Great Poland, on which the
+storm would come first. Leshchynski, the voevoda of Lenchytsk, and
+Narushevich, chief secretary of Lithuania, went on an embassy to
+Sweden; but their departure, instead of quieting the alarmed, increased
+still more the disquiet.
+
+"That embassy smells of war," wrote Yanush Radzivill.
+
+"If a storm were not threatening from that direction, why were they
+sent?" asked others.
+
+Kanazyl, the first ambassador, had barely returned from Stockholm; but
+it was to be seen clearly that he had done nothing, since immediately
+after him important senators were sent.
+
+However people of more judgment did not believe yet in the possibility
+of war. "The Commonwealth," said they, "has given no cause, and the
+truce endures in full validity. How could oaths be broken, the most
+sacred agreements violated, and a harmless neighbor attacked in robber
+fashion? Besides, Sweden remembers the wounds inflicted by the Polish
+sabre at Kirchholm and Putsk; and Gustavus Adolphus, who in western
+Europe found not his equal, yielded a number of times to Pan
+Konyetspolski. The Swedes will not expose such great military glory won
+in the world to uncertain hazard before an opponent against whom they
+have never been able to stand in the field. It is true that the
+Commonwealth is exhausted and weakened by war; but Prussia and Great
+Poland, which in the last wars did not suffer at all, will of
+themselves be able to drive that hungry people beyond the sea to their
+barren rocks. There will be no war."
+
+To this alarmists answered again that even before the Diet at Warsaw
+counsel was taken by advice of the king at the provincial diet in
+Grodno concerning the defence of the boundary of Great Poland, and
+taxes and soldiers assigned, which would not have been done unless
+danger was near.
+
+And so minds were wavering between fear and hope; a grievous
+uncertainty weighed down the spirits of people, when suddenly an end
+was put to it by the proclamation of Boguslav Leshchynski, commander in
+Great Poland, summoning the general militia of the provinces of Poznan
+and Kalisk for the defence of the boundaries against the impending
+Swedish storm.
+
+Every doubt vanished. The shout, "War!" was heard throughout Great
+Poland and all the lands of the Commonwealth.
+
+That was not only a war, but a new war. Hmelnitski, reinforced by
+Buturlin, was raging in the south and the east; Hovanski and Trubetskoi
+on the north and east; the Swede was approaching from the west! The
+fiery border had become a fiery wheel.
+
+The country was like a besieged camp; and in the camp evil was
+happening. One traitor, Radzeyovski, had fled from it, and was in the
+tent of the invaders. He was guiding them to ready spoil, he was
+pointing out the weak sides; it was his work to tempt the garrisons.
+And in addition there was no lack of ill will and envy,--no lack of
+magnates quarrelling among themselves or angry with the king by reason
+of offices refused, and ready at any moment to sacrifice the cause of
+the nation to their own private profit; there was no lack of dissidents
+wishing to celebrate their own triumph even on the grave of the
+fatherland; and a still greater number was there of the disorderly, the
+heedless, the slothful, and of those who were in love with themselves,
+their own ease and well being.
+
+Still Great Poland, a country wealthy and hitherto untouched by war,
+did not spare at least money for defence. Towns and villages of nobles
+furnished as many infantry as were assigned to them; and before the
+nobles moved in their own persons to the camp many-colored regiments of
+land infantry had moved thither under the leadership of captains
+appointed by the provincial diet from among men experienced in the art
+of war.
+
+Tan Stanislav Dembinski led the land troops of Poznan, Pan Vladyslav
+Vlostovski those of Kostsian, and Pan Golts, a famous soldier and
+engineer, those of Valets. The peasants of Kalisk were commanded by Pan
+Stanislav Skshetuski, from a stock of valiant warriors, a cousin of the
+famous Yan from Zbaraj. Pan Katsper Jyhlinski led the millers and
+bailiffs of Konin. From Pyzdri marched Pan Stanislav Yarachevski, who
+had spent his youth in foreign wars; from Ktsyna, Pan Pyotr
+Skorashevski, and from Naklo, Pan Kosletski. But in military experience
+no one was equal to Pan Vladyslav Skorashevski, whose voice was
+listened to even by the commander in Great Poland himself and the
+voevodas.
+
+In three places--at Pila, Uistsie, Vyelunie--had the captains fixed the
+lines on the Notets, waiting for the arrival of the nobles summoned to
+the general militia. The infantry dug trenches from morning till
+evening, looking continually toward the rear to see if the wished for
+cavalry were coming.
+
+The first dignitary who came was Pan Andrei Grudzinski, voevoda of
+Kalisk. He lodged in the house of the mayor, with a numerous retinue of
+servants arrayed in white and blue colors. He expected that the nobles
+of Kalisk would gather round him straightway; but when no one appeared
+he sent for Captain Stanislav Skshetuski, who was occupied in digging
+trenches at the river.
+
+"Where are my men?" asked he, after the first greetings of the captain,
+whom he had known from childhood.
+
+"What men?" asked Pan Stanislav.
+
+"The general militia of Kalisk."
+
+A smile of pain mingled with contempt appeared on the swarthy face of
+the soldier.
+
+"Serene great mighty voevoda," said he, "this is the time for shearing
+sheep, and in Dantzig they will not pay for badly washed wool. Every
+noble is now at a pond washing or weighing, thinking correctly that the
+Swedes will not run away."
+
+"How is that?" asked the troubled voevoda; "is there no one here yet?"
+
+"Not a living soul, except the land infantry. And, besides, the harvest
+is near. A good manager will not leave home at such a season."
+
+"What do you tell me?"
+
+"But the Swedes will not run away, they will only come nearer,"
+repeated the captain.
+
+The pock-pitted face of the voevoda grew suddenly purple. "What are the
+Swedes to me? But this will be a shame for me in the presence of the
+other lords if I am here alone like a finger."
+
+Pan Stanislav laughed again: "Your grace will permit me to remark,"
+said he, "that the Swedes are the main thing here, and shame afterward.
+Besides, there will be no shame; for not only the nobles of Kalisk, but
+all other nobles, are absent."
+
+"They have run mad!" exclaimed Grudzinski.
+
+"No; but they are sure of this,--if they will not go to the Swedes, the
+Swedes will not fail to come to them."
+
+"Wait!" said the voevoda. And clapping his hands for an attendant, he
+gave command to bring ink, pen, and paper; then he sat down and began
+to write. In half an our he had covered the paper; he struck it with
+his hand, and said,--
+
+"I will send another call for them to be here at the latest _pro die 27
+praesentis_ (on the 27th of the present month), and I think that surely
+they will wish at this last date _non deesse patriæ_ (not to fail the
+country). And now tell me have you any news of the enemy?"
+
+"We have. Wittemberg is mustering his troops on the fields at Dama."
+
+"Are there many?"
+
+"Some say seventeen thousand, others more."
+
+"H'm! then there will not be so many of ours. What is your opinion?
+Shall we be able to oppose them?"
+
+"If the nobles do not appear, there is nothing to talk about."
+
+"They will come; why should they not come? It is a known fact that the
+general militia always delay. But shall we be able to succeed with the
+aid of the nobles?"
+
+"No," replied Pan Stanislav, coolly. "Serene great mighty voevoda, we
+have no soldiers."
+
+"How no soldiers?"
+
+"Your grace knows as well as I that all the regular troops are in the
+Ukraine. Not even two squadrons were sent here, though at this moment
+God alone knows which storm is greater."
+
+"But the infantry, and the general militia?"
+
+"Of twenty peasants scarcely one has seen war; of ten, one knows how to
+hold a gun. After the first war they will be good soldiers, but they
+are not soldiers now. And as to the general militia let your grace ask
+any man who knows even a little about war whether the general militia
+can stand before regulars, and besides such soldiers as the Swedes,
+veterans of the whole Lutheran war, and accustomed to victory."
+
+"Do you exalt the Swedes, then, so highly above your own?"
+
+"I do not exalt them above my own; for if there were fifteen thousand
+such men here as were at Zbaraj, quarter soldiers and cavalry, I should
+have no fear. But with such as we have God knows whether we can do
+anything worth mention."
+
+The voevoda placed his hands on his knees, and looked quickly into the
+eyes of Pan Stanislav, as if wishing to read some hidden thought in
+them. "What have we come here for, then? Do you not think it better to
+yield?"
+
+Pan Stanislav spat in answer, and said: "If such a thought as that has
+risen in my head, let your grace give command to impale me on a stake.
+To the question do I believe in victory I answer, as a soldier, that I
+do not. But why we have come here,--that is another question, to which
+as a citizen I will answer. To offer the enemy the first resistance, so
+that by detaining them we shall enable the rest of the country to make
+ready and march, to restrain the invasion with our bodies until we fall
+one on the other."
+
+"Your intention is praiseworthy," answered the voevoda, coldly; "but it
+is easier for you soldiers to talk about death than for us, on whom
+will fall all the responsibility for so much noble blood shed in vain."
+
+"What is noble blood for unless to be shed?"
+
+"That is true, of course. We are ready to die, for that is the easiest
+thing of all. But duty commands us, the men whom providence has made
+leaders, not to seek our own glory merely, but also to look for
+results. War is as good as begun, it is true; but still Carolus
+Gustavus is a relative of our king, and must remember this fact.
+Therefore it is necessary to try negotiations, for sometimes more can
+be effected by speech than by arms."
+
+"That does not pertain to me," said Pan Stanislav, dryly.
+
+Evidently the same thought occurred to the voevoda at that moment, for
+he nodded and dismissed the captain.
+
+Pan Stanislav, however, was only half right in what he said concerning
+the delay of the nobles summoned to the general militia. It was true
+that before sheep-shearing was over few came to the camp between Pila
+and Uistsie; but toward the 27th of June,--that is, the date mentioned
+in the second summons--they began to assemble in numbers considerable
+enough.
+
+Every day clouds of dust, rising by reason of the dry and settled
+weather, announced the approach of fresh reinforcements one after
+another. And the nobles travelled noisily on horses, on wheels, and
+with crowds of servants, with provisions, with wagons, and abundance on
+them of every kind of thing, and so loaded with weapons that many a man
+carried arms of every description for three lances, muskets, pistols,
+sabres, double-handed swords and hussar hammers, out of use even in
+that time, for smashing armor. Old soldiers recognized at once by these
+weapons men unaccustomed to war and devoid of experience.
+
+Of all the nobles inhabiting the Commonwealth just those of Great
+Poland were the least warlike. Tartars, Turks, and Cossacks had never
+trampled those regions which from the time of the Knights of the Cross
+had almost forgotten how war looked in the country. Whenever a noble of
+Great Poland felt the desire for war he joined the armies of the
+kingdom, and fought there as well as the best; but those who preferred
+to stay at home became real householders, in love with wealth and with
+ease,--real agriculturists, filling with their wool and especially with
+their wheat the markets of Prussian towns. But now when the Swedish
+storm swept them away from their peaceful pursuits, they thought it
+impossible to pile up too many arms, provide too great supplies, or
+take too many servants to protect the persons and goods of the master.
+
+They were marvellous soldiers, whom the captains could not easily bring
+to obedience. For example, one would present himself with a lance
+nineteen feet long, with a breastplate on his breast, but with a straw
+hat on his head "for coolness;" another in time of drill would complain
+of the heat; a third would yawn, eat, or drink; a fourth would call his
+attendant; and all who were in the ranks thought it nothing out of the
+way to talk so loudly that no man could hear the command of an officer.
+And it was difficult to introduce discipline, for it offended the
+brotherhood terribly, as being opposed to the dignity of a citizen. It
+is true that "articles" were proclaimed, but no one would obey them.
+
+An iron ball on the feet of this army was the innumerable legion of
+wagons, of reserve and draft horses, of cattle intended for food, and
+especially of the multitude of servants guarding the tents, utensils,
+millet, grits, hash, and causing on the least occasion quarrels and
+disturbance.
+
+Against such an army as this was advancing from the side of Stettin and
+the plains on the Oder, Arwid Wittemberg, an old leader, whose youth
+had been passed in the thirty years' war; he came at the head of
+seventeen thousand veterans bound together by iron discipline.
+
+On one side stood the disordered Polish camp, resembling a crowd at a
+country fair, vociferous, full of disputes, discussions about the
+commands of leaders, and of dissatisfaction; composed of worthy
+villagers turned into prospective infantry, and nobles taken straight
+from sheep-shearing. From the other side marched terrible, silent
+quadrangles, which at one beck of their leaders turned, with the
+precision of machines, into lines and half-circles, unfolding into
+wedges and triangles as regularly as a sword moves in the hands of a
+fencer, bristling with musket-barrels and darts: genuine men of war,
+cool, calm; real masters who had attained perfection in their art. Who
+among men of experience could doubt the outcome of the meeting and on
+whose side the victory must fall?
+
+The nobles, however, were assembling in greater and greater numbers;
+and still earlier the dignitaries of Great Poland and other provinces
+began to meet, bringing bodies of attendant troops and servants. Soon
+after the arrival of Pan Grudzinski at Pila came Pan Kryshtof
+Opalinski, the powerful voevoda of Poznan. Three hundred haiduks in red
+and yellow uniforms and armed with muskets went before the carriage of
+the voevoda; a crowd of attendant nobles surrounded his worthy person;
+following them in order of battle came a division of horsemen with
+uniforms similar to those of the haiduks; the voevoda himself was in a
+carriage attended by a jester, Staha Ostrojka, whose duty it was to
+cheer his gloomy master on the road.
+
+The entrance of such a great dignitary gave courage and consolation to
+all; for those who looked on the almost kingly majesty of the voevoda,
+on that lordly face in which under the lofty vaulting of the forehead
+there gleamed eyes wise and severe, and on the senatorial dignity of
+his whole posture, could hardly believe that any evil fate could come
+to such power.
+
+To those accustomed to give honor to office and to person it seemed
+that even the Swedes themselves would not dare to raise a sacrilegious
+hand against such a magnate. Even those whose hearts were beating in
+their breasts with alarm felt safer at once under his wing. He was
+greeted therefore joyfully and warmly; shouts thundered along the
+street through which the retinue pushed slowly toward the house of the
+mayor, and all heads inclined before the voevoda, who was as visible as
+on the palm of the hand through the windows of the gilded carriage. To
+these bows Ostrojka answered, as well as the voevoda, with the same
+importance and gravity as if they had been given exclusively to him.
+
+Barely had the dust settled after the passage of Opalinski when
+couriers rushed in with the announcement that his cousin was coming,
+the voevoda of Podlyasye, Pyotr Opalinski, with his brother-in-law
+Yakob Rozdrajevski, the voevoda of Inovratslav. These brought each a
+hundred and fifty armed men, besides nobles and servants. Then not a
+day passed without the arrival of dignitaries such as Sendzivoi
+Charnkovski, the brother-in-law of Krishtof Opalinski, and himself
+castellan of Kalisk; Maksymilian Myaskovski, the castellan of Kryvinsk;
+and Pavel Gembitski, the lord of Myendzyrechka. The town was so filled
+with people that houses failed for the lodging even of nobles. The
+neighboring meadows were many-colored with the tents of the general
+militia. One might say that all the various colored birds had flown to
+Pila from the entire Commonwealth. Red, green, blue, azure, white were
+gleaming on the various coats and garments; for leaving aside the
+general militia, in which each noble wore a dress different from his
+neighbor, leaving aside the servants of the magnates, even the infantry
+of each district were dressed in their own colors.
+
+Shop-keepers came too, who, unable to find places in the market-square,
+built a row of booths by the side of the town, on these they sold
+military supplies, from clothing to arms and food. Field-kitchens were
+steaming day and night, bearing away in the steam the odor of hash,
+roast meat, millet; in some liquors were sold. Nobles swarmed in front
+of the booths, armed not only with swords but with spoons, eating,
+drinking, and discussing, now the enemy not yet to be seen, and now the
+incoming dignitaries, on whom nicknames were not spared.
+
+Among the groups of nobles walked Ostrojka, in a dress made of
+party-colored rags, carrying a sceptre ornamented with bells, and with
+the mien of a simple rogue. Wherever he showed himself men came around
+in a circle, and he poured oil on the fire, helped them to backbite the
+dignitaries, and gave riddles over which the nobles held their sides
+from laughter, the more firmly the more biting the riddles.
+
+On a certain midday the voevoda of Poznan himself came to the bazaar,
+speaking courteously with this one and that, or blaming the king
+somewhat because in the face of the approaching enemy he had not sent a
+single squadron of soldiers.
+
+"They are not thinking of us, worthy gentlemen," said he, "and leave us
+without assistance. They say in Warsaw that even now there are too few
+troops in the Ukraine, and that the hetmans are not able to make head
+against Hmelnitski. Ah, it is difficult! It is pleasanter to see the
+Ukraine than Great Poland. We are in disfavor, worthy gentlemen, in
+disfavor! They have delivered us here as it were to be slaughtered."
+
+"And who is to blame?" asked Pan Shlihtyng, the judge of Vskov.
+
+"Who is to blame for all the misfortunes of the Commonwealth," asked
+the voevoda,--"who, unless we brother nobles who shield it with our
+breasts?"
+
+The nobles, hearing this, were greatly flattered that the "Count in
+Bnino and Opalenitsa" put himself on an equality with them, and
+recognized himself in brotherhood; hence Pan Koshutski answered,--
+
+"Serene great mighty voevoda, if there were more such counsellors as
+your grace near his Majesty, of a certainty we should not be delivered
+to slaughter here; but probably those give counsel who bow lower."
+
+"I thank you, brothers, for the good word. The fault is his who listens
+to evil counsellors. Our liberties are as salt in the eye to those
+people. The more nobles fall, the easier will it be to introduce
+_absolutum dominium_ (absolute rule)."
+
+"Must we die, then, that our children may groan in slavery?"
+
+The voevoda said nothing, and the nobles began to look at one another
+and wonder.
+
+"Is that true then?" cried many. "Is that the reason why they sent us
+here under the knife? And we believe! This is not the first day that
+they are talking about _absolutum dominium_. But if it comes to that,
+we shall be able to think of our own heads."
+
+"And of our children."
+
+"And of our fortunes, which the enemy will destroy _igne et ferro_
+(with fire and sword)."
+
+The voevoda was silent. In a marvellous manner did this leader add to
+the courage of his soldiers.
+
+"The king is to blame for all!" was shouted more and more frequently.
+
+"But do you remember, gentlemen, the history of Yan Olbracht?" asked
+the voevoda.
+
+"The nobles perished for King Olbracht. Treason, brothers!"
+
+"The king is a traitor!" cried some bold voices.
+
+The voevoda was silent.
+
+Now Ostrojka, standing by the side of the voevoda, struck himself a
+number of times on the legs, and crowed like a cock with such
+shrillness that all eyes were turned to him. Then he shouted, "Gracious
+lords! brothers, dear hearts! listen to my riddle."
+
+With the genuine fickleness of March weather, the stormy militia
+changed in one moment to curiosity and desire to hear some new stroke
+of wit from the jester.
+
+"We hear! we hear!" cried a number of voices.
+
+The jester began to wink like a monkey and to recite in a squeaking
+voice,--
+
+
+ "After his brother he solace! himself with a crown and a wife,
+ But let pilory go down to the grave with his brother.
+ He drove out the vice-chancellor; hence now has the fame
+ Of being vice-chancellor to--the vice-chancellor's wife."
+
+
+"The king! the king! As alive! Yan Kazimir!" they began to cry from
+every side; and laughter, mighty as thunder, was heard in the crowd.
+
+"May the bullets strike him, what a masterly explanation!" cried the
+nobles.
+
+The voevoda laughed with the others, and when it had grown somewhat
+calm he said, with increased dignity: "And for this affair we must pay
+now with our blood and our heads. See what it has come to! Here,
+jester, is a ducat for thy good verse."
+
+"Kryshtofek! Krysh dearest!" said Ostrojka, "why attack others because
+they keep jesters, when thou not only keepest me, but payest separately
+for riddles? Give me another ducat and I'll tell thee another riddle."
+
+"Just as good?"
+
+"As good, only longer. Give me the ducat first."
+
+"Here it is!"
+
+The jester slapped his sides with his hands, as a cock
+with his wings, crowed again, and cried out, "Gracious gentlemen,
+listen! Who is this?"
+
+
+ "He complains of self-seeking, stands forth as a Cato;
+ Instead of a sabre he took a goose's tail-feather
+ He wanted the legacy of a traitor, and not getting that
+ He lashed the whole Commonwealth with a biting rhyme.
+
+ "God grant him love for the sabre! less woe would it bring.
+ Of his satire the Swedes have no fear.
+ But he has barely tasted the hardships of war
+ When following a traitor he is ready to betray his king."
+
+
+All present guessed that riddle as well as the first. Two or three
+laughs, smothered at the same instant, were heard in the assembly; then
+a deep silence fell.
+
+The voevoda grew purple, and he was the more confused in that all eyes
+were fixed on him at that moment. But the jester looked on one noble
+and then on another; at last he said, "None of you gentlemen can guess
+who that is?"
+
+When silence was the only answer, he turned with the most insolent mien
+to the voevoda: "And thou, dost thou too not know of what rascal the
+speech is? Dost thou not know? Then pay me a ducat."
+
+"Here!" said the voevoda.
+
+"God reward thee. But tell me, Krysh, hast thou not perchance tried to
+get the vice-chancellorship after Radzeyovski?"
+
+"No time for jests," replied Opalinski; and removing his cap to all
+present: "With the forehead, gentlemen! I must go to the council of
+war."
+
+"To the family council thou didst wish to say, Krysh," added Ostrojka;
+"for there all thy relatives will hold council how to be off." Then he
+turned to the nobles and imitating the voevoda in his bows, he added,
+"And to you, gentlemen, that's the play."
+
+Both withdrew; but they had barely gone a few steps when an immense
+outburst of laughter struck the ears of the voevoda, and thundered long
+before it was drowned in the general noise of the camp.
+
+The council of war was held in fact, and the voevoda of Poznan
+presided. That was a strange council! Those very dignitaries took part
+in it who knew nothing of war; for the magnates of Great Poland did not
+and could not follow the example of those "kinglets" of Lithuania or
+the Ukraine who lived in continual fire like salamanders.
+
+In Lithuania or the Ukraine whoever was a voevoda or a chancellor was a
+leader whose armor pressed out on his body red stripes which never left
+it, whose youth was spent in the steppes or the forests on the eastern
+border, in ambushes, battles, struggles, pursuits, in camp or in
+tabors. In Great Poland at this time dignitaries were in office who,
+though they had marched in times of necessity with the general militia,
+had never held positions of command in time of war. Profound peace had
+put to sleep the military courage of the descendants of those warriors,
+before whom in former days the iron legions of the Knights of the Cross
+were unable to stand, and turned them into civilians, scholars, and
+writers. Now the stern school of Sweden was teaching them what they had
+forgotten.
+
+The dignitaries assembled in council looked at one another with
+uncertain eyes, and each feared to speak first, waiting for what
+"Agamemnon," voevoda of Poznan, would say.
+
+But "Agamemnon" himself knew simply nothing, and began his speech again
+with complaints of the ingratitude and sloth of the king, of the
+frivolity with which all Great Poland and they were delivered to the
+sword. But how eloquent was he; what a majestic figure did he present,
+worthy in truth of a Roman senator! He held his head erect while
+speaking; his dark eyes shot lightnings, his mouth thunderbolts; his
+iron-gray beard trembled with excitement when he described the future
+misfortunes of the land.
+
+"For in what does the fatherland suffer," said he, "if not in its sons?
+and we here suffer, first of all. Through our private lands, through
+our private fortunes won by the services and blood of our ancestors,
+will advance the feet of those enemies who now like a storm are
+approaching from the sea. And why do we suffer? For what will they take
+our herds, trample our harvests, burn our villages built by our labor?
+Have we wronged Radzeyovski, who, condemned unjustly, hunted like a
+criminal, had to seek the protection of strangers? No! Do we insist
+that that empty title 'King of Sweden,' which has cost so much blood
+already, should remain with the signature of our Yan Kazimir? No! Two
+wars are blazing on two boundaries; was it needful to call forth a
+third? Who was to blame, may God, may the country judge him! We wash
+our hands, for we are innocent of the blood which will be shed."
+
+And thus the voevoda thundered on further; but when it came to the
+question in hand he was not able to give the desired advice.
+
+They sent then for the captains leading the land infantry, and
+specially for Vladyslav Skorashevski, who was not only a famous and
+incomparable knight, but an old, practised soldier, knowing war as he
+did the Lord's Prayer. In fact, genuine leaders listened frequently to
+his advice; all the more eagerly was it sought for now.
+
+Pan Skorashevski advised then to establish three camps,--at Pila,
+Vyelunie, and Uistsie,--so near one another that in time of attack they
+might give mutual aid, and besides this to cover with trenches the
+whole extent of the river-bank occupied by a half-circle of camps which
+were to command the passage.
+
+"When we know," said Skorashevski, "the place where the enemy will
+attempt the crossing, we shall unite from all three camps and give him
+proper resistance. But I with the permission of your great mighty
+lordships, will go with a small party to Chaplinko. That is a lost
+position, and in time I shall withdraw from it; but there I shall first
+get knowledge of the enemy, and then will inform your great mighty
+lordships."
+
+All accepted this counsel, and men began to move around somewhat more
+briskly in the camp. At last the nobles assembled to the number of
+fifteen thousand. The land infantry dug trenches over an extent of six
+miles. Uistsie, the chief position, was occupied by the voevoda of
+Poznan and his men. A part of the knights remained in Vyelunie, a part
+in Pila, and Vladyslav Skorashevski went to Chaplinko to observe the
+enemy.
+
+July began; all the days were clear and hot. The sun burned on the
+plains so violently that the nobles hid in the woods between the trees,
+under the shade of which some of them gave orders to set up their
+tents. There also they had noisy and boisterous feasts; and still more
+of an uproar was made by the servants, especially at the time of
+washing and watering the horses which, to the number of several
+thousand at once, were driven thrice each day to the Notets and Berda,
+quarrelling and fighting for the best approach to the bank. But in the
+beginning there was a good spirit in the camp; only the voevoda of
+Poznan himself acted rather to weaken it.
+
+If Wittemberg had come in the first days of July, it is likely that he
+would have met a mighty resistance, which in proportion as the men
+warmed to battle might have been turned into an invincible rage, of
+which there were often examples. For still there flowed knightly blood
+in the veins of these people, though they had grown unaccustomed to
+war.
+
+Who knows if another Yeremi Vishnyevetski might not have changed
+Uistsie into another Zbaraj, and described in those trenches a new
+illustrious career of knighthood? Unfortunately the voevoda of Poznan
+was a man who could only write; he knew nothing of war.
+
+Wittemberg, a leader knowing not merely war but men, did not hasten,
+perhaps on purpose. Experience of long years had taught him that a
+newly enrolled soldier is most dangerous in the first moments of
+enthusiasm, and that often not bravery is lacking to him, but soldierly
+endurance, which practice alone can develop. More than once have new
+soldiers struck like a storm on the oldest regiments, and passed over
+their corpses. They are iron which while it is hot quivers, lives,
+scatters sparks, burns, destroys, but which when it grows cold is a
+mere lifeless lump.
+
+In fact, when a week had passed, a second, and the third had come, long
+inactivity began to weigh upon the general militia. The heat became
+greater each day. The nobles would not go to drill, and gave as excuse
+that their horses tormented by flies would not stand in line, and as to
+marshy places they could not live from mosquitoes. Servants raised
+greater and greater quarrels about shady places, concerning which it
+came to sabres among their masters. This or that one coming home in the
+evening from the water rode off to one side from the camp not to
+return.
+
+Evil example from above was also not wanting. Pan Skorashevski had
+given notice from Chaplinko that the Swedes were not distant, when at
+the military council Zygmunt Grudzinski got leave to go home; on this
+leave his uncle Andrei Grudzinski, voevoda of Kalisk, had greatly
+insisted. "I have to lay down my head and my life here," said he; "let
+my nephew inherit after me my memory and glory, so that my services may
+not be lost." Then he grew tender over the youth and innocence of his
+nephew, praising the liberality with which he had furnished one hundred
+very choice soldiers; and the military council granted the prayer of
+the uncle.
+
+On the morning of July 16, Zygmunt with a few servants left the camp
+openly for home, on the eve almost of a siege and a battle. Crowds of
+nobles conducted him amid jeering cries to a distance beyond the camp.
+Ostrojka led the party, and shouted from afar after the departing,--
+
+"Worthy Pan Zygmunt, I give thee a shield, and as third name
+Deest!"[13]
+
+"Vivat Deest-Grudzinski!"
+
+"But weep not for thy uncle," continued Ostrojka. "He despises the
+Swedes as much as thou; and let them only show themselves, he will
+surely turn his back on them."
+
+The blood of the young magnate rushed to his face, but he pretended not
+to hear the insults. He put spurs to his horse, however, and pushed
+aside the crowds, so as to be away from the camp and his persecutors as
+soon as possible, who at last, without consideration for the birth and
+dignity of the departing, began to throw clods of earth at him and to
+cry,--
+
+"Here is a gruda, Grudzinski![14] You hare, you coward!"
+
+They made such an uproar that the voevoda of Poznan hastened up with a
+number of captains to quiet them, and explain that Grudzinski had taken
+leave only for a week on very urgent affairs.
+
+Still the evil example had its effect; and that same day there were
+several hundred nobles who did not wish to be worse than Grudzinski,
+though they slipped away with less aid and more quietly. Stanislav
+Skshetuski, a captain from Kalisk and cousin of the famous Yan of
+Zbaraj, tore the hair on his head; for his land infantry, following the
+example of "officers," began to desert from the camp. A new council of
+war was held in which crowds of nobles refused absolutely to take part.
+A stormy night followed, full of shouts and quarrels. They suspected
+one another of the intention to desert. Cries of "Either all or none!"
+flew from mouth to mouth.
+
+Every moment reports were given out that the voevodas were departing,
+and such an uproar prevailed that the voevodas had to show themselves
+several times to the excited multitude. A number of thousands of men
+were on their horses before daybreak. But the voevoda of Poznan rode
+between the ranks with uncovered head like a Roman senator, and
+repeated from moment to moment the great words,--
+
+"Worthy gentlemen, I am with you to live and die."
+
+He was received in some places with vivats; in others shouts of
+derision were thundering. The moment he had pacified the crowd he
+returned to the council, tired, hoarse, carried away by the grandeur of
+his own words, and convinced that he had rendered inestimable service
+to his country that night. But at the council he had fewer words in his
+mouth, twisted his beard, and pulled his foretop from despair,
+repeating,--
+
+"Give counsel if you can; I wash my hands of the future, for it is
+impossible to make a defence with such soldiers."
+
+"Serene great mighty voevoda," answered Stanislav Skshetuski, "the
+enemy will drive away that turbulence and uproar. Only let the cannon
+play, only let it come to defence, to a siege, these very nobles in
+defence of their own lives must serve on the ramparts and not be
+disorderly in camp. So it has happened more than once."
+
+"With what can we defend ourselves? We have no cannon, nothing but
+saluting pieces good to fire off in time of a feast."
+
+"At Zbaraj Hmelnitski had seventy cannon, and Prince Yeremi only a few
+eight-pounders and mortars."
+
+"But he had an army, not militia,--his own squadrons famed in the
+world, not country nobles fresh from sheep-shearing."
+
+"Send for Pan Skorashevski," said the castellan of Poznan. "Make him
+commander of the camp. He is at peace with the nobles, and will be able
+to keep them in order."
+
+"Send for Skorashevski. Why should he be in Drahim or Chaplinko?"
+repeated Yendrei Grudzinski, the voevoda of Kalisk.
+
+"Yes, that is the best counsel!" cried other voices.
+
+A courier was despatched for Skorashevski. No other decisions were
+taken at the council; but they talked much, and complained of the king,
+the queen, the lack of troops, and negligence.
+
+The following morning brought neither relief nor calm spirits. The
+disorder had become still greater. Some gave out reports that the
+dissidents, namely the Calvinists, were favorable to the Swedes, and
+ready on the first occasion to go over to the enemy. What was more,
+this news was not contradicted by Pan Shlihtyng nor by Edmund and
+Yatsck Kurnatovski, also Calvinists, but sincerely devoted to the
+country. Besides they gave final proof that the dissidents formed a
+separate circle and consulted with one another under the lead of a
+noted disturber and cruel man. Pan Rei, who serving in Germany during
+his youth as a volunteer on the Lutheran side, was a great friend of
+the Swedes. Scarcely had this suspicion gone out among the nobles when
+several thousand sabres were gleaming, and a real tempest rose in the
+camp.
+
+"Let us punish the traitors, punish the serpents, ready to bite the
+bosom of their mother!" cried the nobles.
+
+"Give them this way!"
+
+"Cut them to pieces! Treason is most infectious, worthy gentlemen. Tear
+out the cockle or we shall all perish!"
+
+The voevodas and captains had to pacify them again, but this time it
+was more difficult than the day before. Besides, they were themselves
+convinced that Rei was ready to betray his country in the most open
+manner; for he was a man completely foreignized, and except his
+language had nothing Polish in him. It was decided therefore to send
+him out of the camp, which at once pacified somewhat the angry
+multitude. Still shouts continued to burst forth for a long time,--
+
+"Give them here! Treason, treason!"
+
+Wonderful conditions of mind reigned finally in the camp. Some fell in
+courage and were sunk in grief; others walked in silence, with
+uncertain steps, along the ramparts, casting timid and gloomy glances
+along the plains over which the enemy had to approach, or communicated
+in whispers worse and worse news. Others were possessed of a sort of
+desperate, mad joy and readiness for death. In consequence of this
+readiness they arranged feasts and drinking-bouts so as to pass the
+last days of life in rejoicing. Some thought of saving their souls, and
+spent the nights in prayer. But in that whole throng of men no one
+thought of victory, as if it were altogether beyond reach. Still the
+enemy had not superior forces; they had more cannon, better trained
+troops, and a leader who understood war.
+
+And while in this wise on one side the Polish camp was seething,
+shouting, and feasting, rising up with a roar, dropping down to quiet,
+like a sea lashed by a whirlwind, while the general militia were
+holding diets as in time of electing a king, on the other side, along
+the broad green meadows of the Oder, pushed forward in calmness the
+legions of Sweden.
+
+In front marched a brigade of the royal guard, led by Benedykt Horn, a
+terrible soldier, whose name was repeated in Germany with fear. The
+soldiers were chosen men, large, wearing lofty helmets with rims
+covering their ears, in yellow leather doublets, armed with rapiers and
+muskets; cool and constant in battle, ready at every beck of the
+leader.
+
+Karl Schedding, a German, led the West Gothland brigade, formed of two
+regiments of infantry and one of heavy cavalry, dressed in armor
+without shoulder-pieces. Half of the infantry had muskets; the others
+spears. At the beginning of a battle the musketeers stood in front, but
+in case of attack by cavalry they stood behind the spearmen, who,
+placing each the butt of his spear in the ground, held the point
+against the onrushing horses. At a battle in the time of Sigismund III.
+one squadron of hussars cut to pieces with their sabres and with hoofs
+this same West Gothland brigade, in which at present Germans served
+mainly.
+
+The two Smaland brigades were led by Irwin, surnamed Handless, for he
+had lost his right hand on a time while defending his flag; but to make
+up for this loss he had in his left such strength that with one blow he
+could hew off the head of a horse. He was a gloomy warrior, loving
+battles and bloodshed alone, stern to himself and to soldiers. While
+other captains trained themselves in continual wars into followers of a
+craft, and loved war for its own sake, he remained the same fanatic,
+and while slaying men he sang psalms to the Lord.
+
+The brigade of Westrmanland marched under Drakenborg; and that of
+Helsingor, formed of sharpshooters famed through the world, under
+Gustav Oxenstiern, a relative of the renowned chancellor,--a young
+soldier who roused great hopes. Fersen commanded the East Gothland
+brigade; the Nerik and Werland brigades were directed by Wittemberg
+himself, who at the same time was supreme chief of the whole army.
+
+Seventy-two cannon pounded out furrows in the moist meadows; of
+soldiers there were seventeen thousand, the fierce plunderers of all
+Germany, and in battle they were so accurate, especially the infantry,
+that the French royal guard could hardly compare with them. After the
+regiments followed the wagons and tents. The regiments marched in line,
+ready each moment for battle. A forest of lances was bristling above
+the mass of heads, helmets, and hats; and in the midst of that forest
+flowed on toward the frontier of Poland the great blue banners with
+white crosses in the centre. With each day the distance decreased
+between the two armies.
+
+At last on July 27, in the forest at the village of Heinrichsdorf, the
+Swedish legions beheld for the first time the boundary pillar of
+Poland. At sight of this the whole army gave forth a mighty shout;
+trumpets and drums thundered, and all the flags were unfurled.
+Wittemberg rode to the front attended by a brilliant staff, and all the
+regiments passed before him, presenting arms,--the cavalry with drawn
+rapiers, the cannon with lighted matches. The time was midday; the
+weather glorious. The forest breeze brought the odor of resin.
+
+The gray road, covered with the rays of the sun,--the road over which
+the Swedish regiments had passed,--bending out of the Heinrichsdorf
+forest, was lost on the horizon. When the troops marching by it had
+finally passed the forest, their glances discovered a gladsome land,
+smiling, shining with yellow fields of every kind of grain, dotted in
+places with oak groves, in places green from meadows. Here and there
+out of groups of trees, behind oak groves and far away rose bits of
+smoke to the sky; on the grass herds were seen grazing. Where on the
+meadows the water gleamed widely spread, walked storks at their
+leisure.
+
+A certain calm and sweetness was spread everywhere over that land
+flowing with milk and honey, and it seemed to open its arms ever wider
+and wider before the army, as if it greeted not invaders but guests
+coming with God.
+
+At this sight a new shout was wrested from the bosoms of all the
+soldiers, especially the Swedes by blood, who were accustomed to the
+bare, poor, wild nature of their native land. The hearts of a
+plundering and needy people rose with desire to gather those treasures
+and riches which appeared before their eyes. Enthusiasm seized the
+ranks.
+
+But the soldiers, tempered in the fire of the Thirty Years' War,
+expected that this would not come to them easily; for that grainland
+was inhabited by a numerous and a knightly people, who knew how to
+defend it. The memory was still living in Sweden of the terrible defeat
+of Kirchholm, where three thousand cavalry under Hodkyevich ground into
+dust eighteen thousand of the best troops of Sweden. In the cottages of
+West Gothland, Smaland, or Delakarlia they told tales of those winged
+knights, as of giants from a saga. Fresher still was the memory of the
+struggles in the time of Gustavus Adolphus, for the warriors were not
+yet extinct who had taken part in them. But that eagle of Scandinavia,
+ere he had flown twice through all Germany, broke his talons on the
+legions of Konyetspolski.
+
+Therefore with the gladness there was joined in the hearts of the
+Swedes a certain fear, of which the supreme chief, Wittemberg himself,
+was not free. He looked on the passing regiments of infantry and
+cavalry with the eye with which a shepherd looks on his flock;
+then he turned to the rear man, who wore a hat with a feather, and a
+light-colored wig falling to his shoulders.
+
+"Your grace assures me," said he, "that with these forces it is
+possible to break the army occupying Uistsie?"
+
+The man with the light wig smiled and answered: "Your grace may rely
+completely on my words, for which I am ready to pledge my head. If at
+Uistsie there were regular troops and some one of the hetmans, I first
+would give counsel not to hasten, but to wait till his royal Grace
+should come with the whole army; but against the general militia and
+those gentlemen of Great Poland our forces will be more than
+sufficient."
+
+"But have not reinforcements come to them?"
+
+"Reinforcements have not come for two reasons,--first, because all the
+regular troops, of which there are not many, are occupied in Lithuania
+and the Ukraine; second, because in Warsaw neither the King Yan
+Kazimir, the chancellor, nor the senate will believe to this moment
+that his royal Grace Karl Gustav has really begun war in spite of the
+truce, and notwithstanding the last embassies and his readiness to
+compromise. They are confident that peace will be made at the last
+hour,--ha, ha!"
+
+Here the rear man removed his hat, wiped the sweat from his red face,
+and added: "Trubetskoi and Dolgoruki in Lithuania, Hmelnitski in the
+Ukraine, and we entering Great Poland,--behold what the government of
+Yan Kazimir has led to."
+
+Wittemberg gazed on him with a look of astonishment, and asked, "But,
+your grace, do you rejoice at the thought?"
+
+"I rejoice at the thought, for my wrong and my innocence will be
+avenged; and besides I see, as on the palm of my hand, that the sabre
+of your grace and my counsels will place that new and most beautiful
+crown in the world on the head of Karl Gustav."
+
+Wittemberg turned his glance to the distance, embraced with it the
+oak-groves, the meadows, the grain-fields, and after a while said:
+"True, it is a beautiful country and fertile. Your grace may be sure
+that after the war the king will give the chancellorship to no one else
+but you."
+
+The man in the rear removed his cap a second time. "And I, for my part,
+wish to have no other lord," added he, raising his eyes to heaven.
+
+The heavens were clear and fair; no thunderbolt fell and crashed to the
+dust the traitor who delivered his country, groaning under two wars
+already and exhausted, to the power of the enemy on that boundary.
+
+The man conversing with Wittemberg was Hieronim Kailzeyovski, late
+under-chancellor of the Crown, now sold to Sweden in hostility to his
+country.
+
+They stood a time in silence. Meanwhile the last two brigades, those of
+Nerik and Wermland, passed the boundary; after them others began to
+draw in the cannon; the trumpets still played unceasingly; the roar and
+rattle of drums outsounded the tramp of the soldiers, and filled the
+forest with ominous echoes. At last the staff moved also. Radzeyovski
+rode at the side of Wittemberg.
+
+"Oxenstiern is not to be seen," said Wittemberg. "I am afraid that
+something may have happened to him. I do not know whether it was wise
+to send him as a trumpeter with letters to Uistsie."
+
+"It was wise," answered Radzeyovski, "for he will look at the camp,
+will see the leaders, and learn what they think there; and this any
+kind of camp-follower could not do."
+
+"But if they recognize him?"
+
+"Rei alone knows him, and he is ours. Besides, even if they should
+recognize him, they will do him no harm, but will give him supplies for
+the road and reward him. I know the Poles, and I know they are ready
+for anything, merely to show themselves polite people before strangers.
+Our whole effort is to win the praise of strangers. Your grace may be
+at rest concerning Oxenstiern, for a hair will not fall from his head.
+He has not come because it is too soon for his return."
+
+"And does your grace think our letters will have any effect?"
+
+Radzeyovski laughed. "If your grace permits, I will foretell what will
+happen. The voevoda of Poznan is a polished and learned man, therefore
+he will answer us very courteously and very graciously; but because he
+loves to pass for a Roman, his answer will be terribly Roman. He will
+say, to begin with, that he would rather shed the last drop of his
+blood than surrender, that death is better than dishonor, and the love
+which he bears his country directs him to fall for her on the
+boundary."
+
+Radzeyovski laughed still louder. The stern face of Wittemberg
+brightened also.
+
+"Your grace does not think that he will be ready to act as he writes?"
+asked Wittemberg.
+
+"He?" answered Radzeyovski. "It is true that he nourishes a love for
+his country, but with ink; and that is not over-strong food. His love
+is in fact more scant than that of his jester who helps him to put
+rhymes together. I am certain that after that Roman answer will come
+good wishes for health, success, offers of service, and at last a
+request to spare his property and that of his relatives, for which
+again he with all his relatives will be thankful."
+
+"And what at last will be the result of our letters?"
+
+"The courage of the other side will weaken to the last degree, senators
+will begin to negotiate with us, and we shall occupy all Great Poland
+after perhaps a few shots in the air."
+
+"Would that your grace be a true prophet!"
+
+"I am certain that it will be as I say, for I know these people. I have
+friends and adherents in the whole country, and I know how to begin.
+And that I shall neglect nothing is made sure by the wrong which I
+endure from Van Kazimir, and my love for Karl Gustav. People with us
+are more tender at present about their own fortunes than the integrity
+of the Commonwealth. All those lands upon which we shall now march are
+the estates of the Opalinskis, the Charnkovskis, the Grudzinskis; and
+because they are at Uistsie in person they will be milder in
+negotiating. As to the nobles, if only their freedom of disputing at
+the diets is guaranteed, they will follow the voevodas."
+
+"By knowledge of the country and the people your grace renders the king
+unexampled service, which cannot remain without an equally noteworthy
+reward. Therefore from what you say I conclude that I may look on this
+land as ours."
+
+"You may, your grace, you may, you may," repeated Radzeyovski
+hurriedly, a number of times.
+
+"Therefore I occupy it in the name of his Royal Grace Karl Gustav,"
+answered Wittemberg, solemnly.
+
+While the Swedish troops were thus beginning beyond Heinrichsdorf to
+walk on the land of Great Poland, and even earlier, for it was on July
+18, a Swedish trumpeter arrived at the Polish camp with letters from
+Radzeyovski and Wittemberg to the voevodas.
+
+Vladyslav Skorashevski himself conducted the trumpeter to the voevoda
+of Poznan, and the nobles of the general militia gazed with curiosity
+on the "first Swede," wondering at his valiant bearing, his manly face,
+his blond mustaches, the ends combed upward in a broad brush, and his
+really lordlike mien. Crowds followed him to the voevoda; acquaintances
+called to one another, pointing him out with their fingers, laughed
+somewhat at his boots with enormous round legs, and at the long
+straight rapier, which they called a spit, hanging from a belt richly
+worked with silver. The Swede also cast curious glances from under his
+broad hat, as if wishing to examine the camp and estimate the forces,
+and then looked repeatedly at the crowd of nobles whose oriental
+costumes were apparently novel to him. At last he was brought to the
+voevoda, around whom were grouped all the dignitaries in the camp.
+
+The letters were read immediately, and a council held. The voevoda
+committed the trumpeter to his attendants to be entertained in soldier
+fashion; the nobles took him from the attendants, and wondering at the
+man as a curiosity, began to drink for life and death with him.
+
+Pan Skorashevski looked at the Swede with equal scrutiny; but because
+he suspected him to be some officer in disguise, he went in fact to
+convey that idea in the evening to the voevoda. The latter, however,
+said it was all one, and did not permit his arrest.
+
+"Though he were Wittemberg himself, he has come hither as an envoy and
+should go away unmolested. In addition I command you to give him ten
+ducats for the road."
+
+The trumpeter meanwhile was talking in broken German with those nobles
+who, through intercourse with Prussian towns, understood that language.
+He told them of victories won by Wittemberg in various lands, of the
+forces marching against Uistsie, and especially of the cannon of a
+range hitherto unknown and which could not be resisted. The nobles were
+troubled at this, and no small number of exaggerated accounts began to
+circulate through the camp.
+
+That night scarcely any one slept in Uistsie. About midnight those men
+came in who had stood hitherto in separate camps, at Pila and Vyelunie.
+The dignitaries deliberated over their answer to the letters till
+daylight, and the nobles passed the time in stories about the power of
+the Swedes.
+
+With a certain feverish curiosity they asked the trumpeter about the
+leaders of the army, the weapons, the method of fighting; and every
+answer of his was given from mouth to mouth. The nearness of the
+Swedish legions lent unusual interest to all the details, which were
+not of a character to give consolation.
+
+About daylight Stanislav Skshetuski came with tidings that the Swedes
+had arrived at Valch, one day's march from the Polish camp. There rose
+at once a terrible hubbub; most of the horses with the servants were at
+pasture on the meadows. They were sent for then with all haste.
+Districts mounted and formed squadrons. The moment before battle was
+for the untrained soldier the most terrible; therefore before the
+captains were able to introduce any kind of system there reigned for a
+long time desperate disorder.
+
+Neither commands nor trumpets could be heard; nothing but voices crying
+on every side: "Yan! Pyotr! Onufri! This way! I wish thou wert killed!
+Bring the horses! Where are my men? Yan! Pyotr!" If at that moment one
+cannon-shot had been heard, the disorder might easily have been turned
+to a panic.
+
+Gradually, however, the districts were ranged in order. The inborn
+capacity of the nobles for war made up for the want of experience, and
+about midday the camp presented an appearance imposing enough.
+The infantry stood on the ramparts looking like flowers in their
+many-colored coats, smoke was borne away from the lighted matches, and
+outside the ramparts under cover of the guns the meadows and plain were
+swarming with the district squadrons of cavalry standing in line on
+sturdy horses, whose neighing roused an echo in the neighboring forests
+and filled all hearts with military ardor.
+
+Meanwhile the voevoda of Poznan sent away the trumpeter with an answer
+to the letter reading more or less as Radzeyovski had foretold,
+therefore both courteous and Roman; then he determined to send a party
+to the northern bank of the Notets to seize an informant from the
+enemy.
+
+Pyotr Opalinski, voevoda of Podlyasye, a cousin of the voevoda Poznan,
+was to go in person with a party together with his own dragoons, a
+hundred and fifty of whom he had brought to Uistsie; and besides this
+it was given to Captains Skorashevski and Skshetuski to call out
+volunteers from the nobles of the general militia, so that they might
+also look in the eyes of the enemy.
+
+Both rode before the ranks, delighting the eye by manner and
+posture,--Pan Stanislav black as a beetle, like all the Skshetuskis,
+with a manly face, stern and adorned with a long sloping scar which
+remained from a sword-blow, with raven black beard blown aside by the
+wind; Pan Vladyslav portly, with long blond mustaches, open under
+lip, and eyes with red lids, mild and honest, reminding one less of
+Mars,--but none the less a genuine soldier spirit, as glad to be in
+fire as a salamander,--a knight knowing war as his ten fingers, and of
+incomparable daring. Both, riding before the ranks extended in a long
+line, repeated from moment to moment,--
+
+"Now, gracious gentlemen, who is the volunteer against the Swedes? Who
+wants to smell powder? Well, gracious gentlemen, volunteer!"
+
+And so they continued for a good while without result, for no man
+pushed forward from the ranks. One looked at another. There were those
+who desired to go and had no fear of the Swedes, but indecision
+restrained them. More than one nudged his neighbor and said, "Go you,
+and then I'll go." The captains were growing impatient, till all at
+once, when they had ridden up to the district of Gnyezno, a certain man
+dressed in many colors sprang forth on a hoop, not from the line but
+from behind the line, and cried,--
+
+"Gracious gentlemen of the militia, I'll be the volunteer and ye will
+be jesters!"
+
+"Ostrojka! Ostrojka!" cried the nobles.
+
+"I am just as good a noble as any of you!" answered the jester.
+
+"Tfu! to a hundred devils!" cried Pan Rosinski; under-judge, "a truce
+to jesting! I will go."
+
+"And I! and I!" cried numerous voices.
+
+"Once my mother bore me, once for me is death!"
+
+"As good as thou will be found!"
+
+"Freedom to each. Let no man here exalt himself above others."
+
+And as no one had come forth before, so now nobles began to rush out
+from every district, spurring forward their horses, disputing with one
+another and fighting to advance. In the twinkle of an eye there were
+five hundred horsemen, and still they were riding forth from the ranks.
+Pan Skorashevski began to laugh with his honest, open laugh.
+
+"Enough, worthy gentlemen, enough! We cannot all go."
+
+Then the two captains put the men in order and marched.
+
+The voevoda of Podlyasye joined the horsemen as they were riding out of
+camp. They were seen as on the palm of the hand crossing the Notets;
+after that they glittered some time on the windings of the road, then
+vanished from sight.
+
+At the expiration of half an hour the voevoda of Poznan ordered the
+troops to their tents, for he saw that it was impossible to keep them
+in the ranks when the enemy were still a day's march distant. Numerous
+pickets were thrown out, however; it was not permitted to drive horses
+to pasture, and the order was given that at the first low sound of the
+trumpet through the mouthpiece all were to mount and be ready.
+
+Expectation and uncertainty had come to an end, quarrels and disputes
+were finished at once, for the nearness of the enemy had raised their
+courage as Pan Skshetuski had predicted. The first successful battle
+might raise it indeed very high; and in the evening an event took place
+which seemed of happy omen.
+
+The sun was just setting,--lighting with enormous glitter, dazzling the
+eyes, the Notets, and the pine-woods beyond,--when on the other side of
+the river was seen first a cloud of dust, and then men moving in the
+cloud. All that was living went out on the ramparts to see what manner
+of guests these were. At that moment a dragoon of the guards rushed in
+from the squadron of Pan Grudzinski with intelligence that the horsemen
+were returning.
+
+"The horsemen are returning with success! The Swedes have not eaten
+them!" was repeated from mouth to mouth.
+
+Meanwhile they in bright rolls of dust approached nearer and nearer,
+coming slowly; then they crossed the Notets.
+
+The nobles with their hands over their eyes gazed at them; for the
+glitter became each moment greater, and the whole air was filled with
+gold and purple light.
+
+"Hei! the party is somewhat larger than when it went out," said
+Shlihtyng.
+
+"They must be bringing prisoners, as God is dear to me!" cried a noble,
+apparently without confidence and not believing his eyes.
+
+"They are bringing prisoners! They are bringing prisoners!"
+
+They had now come so near that their faces could be recognized. In
+front rode Skorashevski, nodding his head as usual and talking joyously
+with Skshetuski; after them the strong detachment of horse surrounded a
+few tens of infantry wearing round hats. They were really Swedish
+prisoners.
+
+At this sight the nobles could not contain themselves; and ran forward
+with shouts: "Vivat Skorashevski! Vivat Skshetuski!"
+
+A dense crowd surrounded the party at once. Some looked at the
+prisoners; some asked, "How was the affair?" others threatened the
+Swedes.
+
+"Ah-hu! Well now, good for you, ye dogs! Ye wanted to war with the
+Poles? Ye have the Poles now!"
+
+"Give them here! Sabre them, make mince-meat of them!"
+
+"Ha, broad-breeches! ye have tried the Polish sabres?"
+
+"Gracious gentlemen, don't shout like little boys, for the prisoners
+will think that this is your first war," said Skorashevski; "it is a
+common thing to take prisoners in time of war."
+
+The volunteers who belonged to the party looked with pride on the
+nobles who overwhelmed them with questions: "How was it? Did they
+surrender easily? Had you to sweat over them? Do they fight well?"
+
+"They are good fellows," said Rosinski, "they defended themselves well;
+but they are not iron,--a sabre cuts them."
+
+"So they couldn't resist you, could they?"
+
+"They could not resist the impetus."
+
+"Gracious gentlemen, do you hear what is said,--they could not resist
+the impetus. Well, what does that mean? Impetus is the main thing."
+
+"Remember if only there is impetus!--that is the best method against
+the Swedes."
+
+If at that moment those nobles had been commanded to rush at the enemy,
+surely impetus would not have been lacking; but it was well into the
+night when the sound of a trumpet was heard before the forepost. A
+trumpeter arrived with a letter from Wittemberg summoning the nobles to
+surrender. The crowds hearing of this wanted to cut the messenger to
+pieces; but the voevodas took the letter into consideration, though the
+substance of it was insolent.
+
+The Swedish general announced that Karl Gustav sent his troops to his
+relative Yan Kazimir, as reinforcements against the Cossacks, that
+therefore the people of Great Poland should yield without resistance.
+Pan Grudzinski on reading this letter could not restrain his
+indignation, and struck the table with his fist; but the voevoda of
+Poznan quieted him at once with the question,--
+
+"Do you believe in victory? How many days can we defend ourselves? Do
+you wish to take the responsibility for so much noble blood which may
+be shed to-morrow?"
+
+After a long deliberation it was decided not to answer, and to wait for
+what would happen. They did not wait long. On Saturday, July 24, the
+pickets announced that the whole Swedish army had appeared before Pila.
+There was as much bustle in camp as in a beehive on the eve of
+swarming.
+
+The nobles mounted their horses; the voevodas hurried along the ranks,
+giving contradictory commands till Vladyslav Skorashevski took
+everything in hand; and when he had established order he rode out at
+the head of a few hundred volunteers to try skirmishing beyond the
+river and accustom the men to look at the enemy.
+
+The cavalry went with him willingly enough, for skirmishing consisted
+generally of struggles carried on by small groups or singly, and such
+struggles the nobles trained to sword exercise did not fear at all.
+They went out therefore beyond the river, and stood before the enemy,
+who approached nearer and nearer, and blackened with a long line the
+horizon, as if a grove had grown freshly from the ground. Regiments of
+cavalry and infantry deployed, occupying more and more space.
+
+The nobles expected that skirmishers on horseback might rush against
+them at any moment. So far they were not to be seen; but on the low
+hills a few hundred yards distant small groups halted, in which were to
+be seen men and horses, and they began to turn around on the place.
+Seeing this, Skorashevski commanded without delay, "To the left! to the
+rear!"
+
+But the voice of command had not yet ceased to sound when on the hills
+long white curls of smoke bloomed forth, and as it were birds of some
+kind flew past with a whistle among the nobles; then a report shook the
+air, and at the same moment were heard cries and groans of a few
+wounded.
+
+"Halt!" cried Skorashevski.
+
+The birds flew past a second and a third time; again groans accompanied
+the whistle. The nobles did not listen to the command of the chief, but
+retreated at increased speed, shouting, and calling for the aid of
+heaven. Then the division scattered, in the twinkle of an eye, over the
+plain, and rushed on a gallop to the camp. Skorashevski was cursing,
+but that did no good.
+
+Wittemberg, having dispersed the skirmishers so easily pushed on
+farther, till at last he stood in front of Uistsie, straight before the
+trenches defended by the nobles of Kalish. The Polish guns began to
+play, but at first no answer was made from the Swedish side. The smoke
+fell away quietly in the clear air in long streaks stretching between
+the armies, and in the spaces between them the nobles saw the Swedish
+regiments, infantry and cavalry, deploying with terrible coolness as if
+certain of victory.
+
+On the hills the cannon were fixed, trenches raised; in a word, the
+enemy came into order without paying the least attention to the balls
+which, without reaching them, merely scattered sand and earth on the
+men working in the trenches.
+
+Pan Skshetuski led out once more two squadrons of the men of Kalish,
+wishing by a bold attack to confuse the Swedes. But they did not go
+willingly; the division fell at once into a disorderly crowd, for when
+the most daring urged their horses forward the most cowardly held
+theirs back on purpose. Two regiments of cavalry sent by Wittemberg
+drove the nobles from the field after a short struggle, and pursued
+them to the camp. Now dusk came, and put an end to the bloodless
+strife.
+
+There was firing from cannon till night, when firing ceased; but such a
+tumult rose in the Polish camp that it was heard on the other bank of
+the Notets. It rose first for the reason that a few hundred of the
+general militia tried to slip away in the darkness. Others, seeing
+this, began to threaten and detain them. Sabres were drawn. The words
+"Either all or none" flew again from mouth to mouth. At every moment it
+seemed most likely that all would go. Great dissatisfaction burst out
+against the leaders: "They sent us with naked breasts against cannon,"
+cried the militia.
+
+They were enraged in like degree against Wittemberg, because without
+regard to the customs of war he had not sent skirmishers against
+skirmishers, but had ordered to fire on them unexpectedly from cannon.
+"Every one will do for himself what is best," said they; "but it is the
+custom of a swinish people not to meet face to face." Others were in
+open despair. "They will smoke us out of this place like badgers out of
+a hole," said they. "The camp is badly planned, the trenches are badly
+made, the place is not fitted for defence." From time to time voices
+were heard: "Save yourselves, brothers!" Still others cried: "Treason!
+treason!"
+
+That was a terrible night: confusion and relaxation increased every
+moment; no one listened to commands. The voevodas lost their heads, and
+did not even try to restore order; and the imbecility of the general
+militia appeared as clearly as on the palm of the hand. Wittemberg
+might have taken the camp by assault on that night with the greatest
+ease.
+
+Dawn came. The day broke pale, cloudy, and lighted a chaotic gathering
+of people fallen in courage, lamenting, and the greater number drunk,
+more ready for shame than for battle. To complete the misfortune, the
+Swedes had crossed the Notets at Dzyembovo and surrounded the Polish
+camp.
+
+At that side there were scarcely any trenches, and there was nothing
+from behind which they could defend themselves. They should have raised
+breastworks without delay. Skorashevski and Skshetuski had implored to
+have this done, but no one would listen to anything.
+
+The leaders and the nobles had one word on their lips, "Negotiate!" Men
+were sent out to parley. In answer there came from the Swedish camp a
+brilliant party, at the head of which rode Radzeyovski and General
+Wirtz, both with green branches.
+
+They rode to the house in which the voevoda of Poznan was living; but
+on the way Radzeyovski stopped amid the crowd of nobles, bowed with the
+branch, with his hat, laughed, greeted his acquaintances, and said in a
+piercing voice,--
+
+"Gracious gentlemen, dearest brothers, be not alarmed! Not as enemies
+do we come. On you it depends whether a drop of blood more will be
+shed. If you wish instead of a tyrant who is encroaching on your
+liberties, who is planning for absolute power, who has brought the
+country to final destruction,--if you wish, I repeat, a good ruler, a
+noble one, a warrior of such boundless glory that at bare mention of
+his name all the enemies of the Commonwealth will flee,--give
+yourselves under the protection of the most serene Karl Gustav.
+Gracious gentlemen, dearest brothers, behold, I bring to you the
+guarantee of all your liberties, of your freedom, of your religion. On
+yourselves your salvation depends. Gracious gentlemen, the most serene
+Swedish king undertakes to quell the Cossack rebellion, to finish the
+war in Lithuania; and only he can do that. Take pity on the unfortunate
+country if you have no pity on yourselves."
+
+Here the voice of the traitor quivered as if stopped by tears. The
+nobles listened with astonishment; here and there scattered voices
+cried, "Vivat Radzeyovski, our vice-chancellor!" He rode farther, and
+again bowed to new throngs, and again was heard his trumpet-like voice:
+"Gracious gentlemen, dearest brothers!" And at last he and Wirtz with
+the whole retinue vanished in the house of the voevoda of Poznan.
+
+The nobles crowded so closely before the house that it would have been
+possible to ride on their heads, for they felt and understood that
+there in that house men were deciding the question not only of them but
+of the whole country. The servants of the voevodas, in scarlet colors,
+came out and began to invite the more important personages to the
+council. They entered quickly, and after them burst in a few of the
+smaller; but the rest remained at the door, they pressed to the
+windows, put their ears even to the walls.
+
+A deep silence reigned in the throng. Those standing nearest the
+windows heard from time to time the sound of shrill voices from within
+the chamber, as it were the echo of quarrels, disputes, and fights.
+Hour followed hour, and no end to the council.
+
+Suddenly the doors wore thrown open with a crash, and out burst
+Vladyslav Skorashevski. Those present pushed back in astonishment. That
+man, usually so calm and mild, of whom it was said that wounds might be
+healed under his hand, had that moment a terrible face. His eyes were
+red, his look wild, his clothing torn open on his breast; both hands
+were grasping his hair, and he rushed out like a thunderbolt among the
+nobles, and cried with a piercing voice,--
+
+"Treason! murder! shame! We are Sweden now, and Poland no longer!"
+
+He began to roar with an awful voice, with a spasmodic cry, and to tear
+his hair like a man who is losing his reason. A silence of the grave
+reigned all around. A certain fearful foreboding seized all hearts.
+
+Skorashevski sprang away quickly, began to run among the nobles and cry
+with a voice of the greatest despair: "To arms, to arms, whoso believes
+in God! To arms, to arms!"
+
+Then certain murmurs began to fly through the throngs,--certain
+momentary whispers, sudden and broken, like the first beatings of the
+wind before a storm. Hearts hesitated, minds hesitated, and in that
+universal distraction of feelings the tragic voice was calling
+continually, "To arms, to arms!"
+
+Soon two other voices joined his,--those of Pyotr Skorashevski and
+Stanislav Shshetuski. After them ran up Klodzinski, the gallant captain
+of the district of Pozpan. An increasing circle of nobles began to
+surround them. A threatening murmur was heard round about; flames ran
+over the faces and shot out of the eyes; sabres rattled. Vladyslav
+Skorashevski mastered the first transport, and began to speak, pointing
+to the house in which the council was being held,--
+
+"Do you hear, gracious gentlemen? They are selling the country there
+like Judases, and disgracing it. Do you know that we belong to Poland
+no longer? It was not enough for them to give into the hands of the
+enemy all of you,--camp, army, cannon. Would they were killed! They
+have affirmed with their own signatures and in your names that we
+abjure our ties with the country, that we abjure our king; that the
+whole land--towns, towers, and we all--shall belong forever to Sweden.
+That an army surrenders happens, but who has the right to renounce his
+country and his king? Who has the right to tear away a province, to
+join strangers, to go over to another people, to renounce his own
+blood? Gracious gentlemen, this is disgrace, treason, murder,
+parricide! Save the fatherland, brothers! In God's name, whoever is a
+noble, whoever has virtue, let him save our mother. Let us give our
+lives, let us shed our blood! We do not want to be Swedes; we do not,
+we do not! Would that he had never been born who will spare his blood
+now! Let us rescue our mother!"
+
+"Treason!" cried several hundred voices, "treason! Let us cut them to
+pieces."
+
+"Join us, whoever has virtue!" cried Skshetuski.
+
+"Against the Swedes till death!" added Klodzinski.
+
+And they went along farther in the camp, shouting: "Join us! Assemble!
+There is treason!" and after them moved now several hundred nobles with
+drawn sabres.
+
+But an immense majority remained in their places; and of those who
+followed some, seeing that they were not many, began to look around and
+stand still.
+
+Now the door of the council-house was thrown open, and in it appeared
+the voevoda of Poznan, Pan Opalinski, having on his right side General
+Wirtz, and on the left Radzeyovski. After them came Andrei Grudzinski,
+voevoda of Kalisk; Myaskovski, castellan of Kryvinsk; Gembitski,
+castellan of Myendzyrechka, and Andrei Slupski.
+
+Pan Opalinski had in his hand a parchment with seals appended; he held
+his head erect, but his face was pale and his look uncertain, though
+evidently he was trying to be joyful. He took in with his glance the
+crowds, and in the midst of a deathlike silence began to speak with a
+piercing though somewhat hoarse voice,--
+
+"Gracious gentlemen, this day we have put ourselves under the
+protection of the most serene King of Sweden. Vivat Carolus Gustavus
+Rex!"
+
+Silence gave answer to the voevoda; suddenly some loud voice thundered,
+"Veto!"
+
+The voevoda turned his eyes in the direction of the voice and said:
+"This is not a provincial diet, therefore a veto is not in place. And
+whoever wishes to veto let him go against the Swedish cannon turned
+upon us, which in one hour could make of this camp a pile of ruins."
+
+Then he was silent, and after a while inquired, "Who said Veto?"
+
+No one answered.
+
+The voevoda again raised his voice, and began still more emphatically:
+"All the liberties of the nobles and the clergy will be maintained;
+taxes will not be increased, and will be collected in the same manner
+as hitherto; no man will suffer wrongs or robbery. The armies of his
+royal Majesty have not the right to quarter on the property of nobles
+nor to other exactions, unless to such as the quota of the Polish
+squadrons enjoy."
+
+Here he was silent, and heard an anxious murmur of the nobles, as if
+they wished to understand his meaning; then he beckoned with his hand.
+
+"Besides this, we have the word and promise of General Wirtz, given in
+the name of his royal Majesty, that if the whole country will follow
+our saving example, the Swedish armies will move promptly into
+Lithuania and the Ukraine, and will not cease to war until all the
+lands and all the fortresses of the Commonwealth are won back. Vivat
+Carolus Gustavus Rex!"
+
+"Vivat Carolus Gustavus Rex!" cried hundreds of voices. "Vivat Carolus
+Gustavus Rex!" thundered still more loudly in the whole camp.
+
+Here, before the eyes of all, the voevoda of Poznan turned to
+Radzeyovski and embraced him heartily; then he embraced Wirtz; then all
+began to embrace one another. The nobles followed the example of the
+dignitaries, and joy became universal. They gave vivats so loud that
+the echoes thundered throughout the whole region. But the voevoda of
+Poznan begged yet the beloved brotherhood for a moment of quiet, and
+said in a tone of cordiality,--
+
+"Gracious gentlemen! General Wittemberg invites us today to a feast in
+his camp, so that at the goblets a brotherly alliance may be concluded
+with a manful people."
+
+"Vivat Wittemberg! vivat! vivat! vivat!"
+
+"And after that, gracious gentlemen," added the voevoda, "let us go to
+our homes, and with the assistance of God let us begin the harvest with
+the thought that on this day we have saved the fatherland."
+
+"Coming ages will render us justice," said Radzeyovski.
+
+"Amen!" finished the voevoda of Poznan.
+
+Meanwhile he saw that the eyes of many nobles were gazing at and
+scanning something above his head. He turned and saw his own jester,
+who, holding with one hand to the frame above the door, was writing
+with a coal on the wall of the council-house over the door: "Mene
+Tekel-Peres."[15]
+
+In the world the heavens were covered with clouds, and a tempest was
+coming.
+
+
+
+
+ CHAPTER XII.
+
+
+In the district of Lukovo, on the edge of Podlyasye, stood the village
+of Bujets, owned by the Skshetuskis. In a garden between the mansion
+and a pond an old man was sitting on a bench; and at his feet were two
+little boys,--one five, the other four years old,--dark and sunburned
+as gypsies, but rosy and healthy. The old man, still fresh, seemed as
+sturdy as an aurochs. Age had not bent his broad shoulders; from
+his eyes--or rather from his eye, for he had one covered with a
+cataract--beamed health and good-humor; he had a white beard, but a
+look of strength and a ruddy face, ornamented on the forehead with a
+broad scar, through which his skull-bone was visible.
+
+The little boys, holding the straps of his boot-leg, were pulling in
+opposite directions; but he was gazing at the pond, which gleamed with
+the rays of the sun,--at the pond, in which fish were springing up
+frequently, breaking the smooth surface of the water.
+
+"The fish are dancing," muttered he to himself. "Never fear, ye will
+dance still better when the floodgate is open, or when the cook is
+scratching you with a knife." Then he turned to the little boys: "Get
+away from my boot-leg, for when I catch one of your ears, I'll pull it
+off. Just like mad horse-flies! Go and roll balls there on the grass
+and let me alone! I do not wonder at Longinek, for he is young; but
+Yaremka ought to have sense by this time. Ah, torments! I'll take one
+of you and throw him into the pond."
+
+But it was clear that the old man was in terrible subjection to the
+boys, for neither had the least fear of his threats; on the contrary,
+Yaremka, the elder, began to pull the boot-leg still harder, bracing
+his feet and repeating,--
+
+"Oh, Grandfather, be Bogun and steal away Longinek."
+
+"Be off, thou beetle, I say, thou rogue, thou cheese-roll!"
+
+"Oh, Grandfather, be Bogun!"
+
+"I'll give thee Bogun; wait till I call thy mother!"
+
+Yaremka looked toward the door leading from the house to the garden,
+but finding it closed, and seeing no sign of his mother, he repeated
+the third time, pouting, "Grandfather, be Bogun!"
+
+"Ah, they will kill me, the rogues; it cannot be otherwise. Well, I'll
+be Bogun, but only once. Oh, it is a punishment of God! Mind ye do not
+plague me again!"
+
+When he had said this, the old man groaned a little, raised himself
+from the bench, then suddenly grabbed little Longinek, and giving out
+loud shouts, began to carry him off in the direction of the pond.
+
+Longinek, however, had a valiant defender in his brother, who on such
+occasions did not call himself Yaremka, but Pan Michael Volodyovski,
+captain of dragoons.
+
+Pan Michael, then, armed with a basswood club, which took the place of
+a sabre in this sudden emergency, ran swiftly after the bulky Bogun,
+soon caught up with him, and began to beat him on the legs without
+mercy.
+
+Longinek, playing the rôle of his mamma, made an uproar, Bogun made an
+uproar, Yaremka-Volodyovski made an uproar; but valor at last overcame
+even Bogun, who, dropping his victim, began to make his way back to the
+linden-tree. At last he reached the bench, fell upon it, panting
+terribly and repeating,--
+
+"Ah, ye little stumps! It will be a wonder if I do not suffocate."
+
+But the end of his torment had not come yet, for a moment later Yaremka
+stood before him with a ruddy face, floating hair, and distended
+nostrils, like a brisk young falcon, and began to repeat with greater
+energy,--
+
+"Grandfather, be Bogun!"
+
+After much teasing and a solemn promise given to the two boys that this
+would surely be the last time, the story was repeated in all its
+details; then they sat three in a row on the bench and Yaremka began,--
+
+"Oh, Grandfather, tell who was the bravest."
+
+"Thou, thou!" said the old man.
+
+"And shall I grow up to be a knight?"
+
+"Surely thou wilt, for there is good soldier blood in thee. God grant
+thee to be like thy father; for if brave thou wilt not tease so
+much--understand me?"
+
+"Tell how many men has Papa killed?"
+
+"It's little if I have told thee a hundred times! Easier for thee to
+count the leaves on this linden-tree than all the enemies which thy
+father and I have destroyed. If I had as many hairs on my head as I
+myself have put down, the barbers in Lukovsk would make fortunes just
+in shaving my temples. I am a rogue if I li--"
+
+Here Pan Zagloba--for it was he--saw that it did not become him to
+adjure or swear before little boys, though in the absence of other
+listeners he loved to tell even the children of his former triumphs; he
+grew silent this time especially because the fish had begun to spring
+up in the pond with redoubled activity.
+
+"We must tell the gardener," said he, "to set the net for the night; a
+great many fine fish are crowding right up to the bank."
+
+Now that door of the house which led into the garden opened, and
+in it appeared a woman beautiful as the midday sun, tall, firm,
+black-haired, with bloom on her brunette face, and eyes like velvet. A
+third boy, three years old, dark as an agate ball, hung to her skirt.
+She, shading her eyes with her hand, looked in the direction of the
+linden-tree. This was Pani Helena Skshetuski, of the princely house of
+Bulyga-Kurtsevich.
+
+Seeing Pan Zagloba with Yaremka and Longinek under the tree, she went
+forward a few steps toward the ditch, full of water, and called: "Come
+here, boys! Surely you are plaguing Grandfather?"
+
+"How plague me! They have acted nicely all the time," said the old man.
+
+The boys ran to their mother; but she asked Zagloba, "What will Father
+drink to-day,--dembniak or mead?"
+
+"We had pork for dinner; mead will be best."
+
+"I'll send it this minute; but Father must not fall asleep in the air,
+for fever is sure to come."
+
+"It is warm to-day, and there is no wind. But where is Yan, Daughter?"
+
+"He has gone to the barns."
+
+Pani Skshetuski called Zagloba father, and he called her daughter,
+though they were in no way related. Her family dwelt beyond the
+Dnieper, in the former domains of Vishnyevetski; and as to him God
+alone knew his origin, for he told various tales about it himself. But
+Zagloba had rendered famous services to Pani Skshetuski when she was
+still a maiden, and he had rescued her from terrible dangers; therefore
+she and her husband treated him as a father, and in the whole region
+about he was honored beyond measure by all, as well for his inventive
+mind as for the uncommon bravery of which he had given many proofs in
+various wars, especially in those against the Cossacks. His name was
+known in the whole Commonwealth. The king himself was enamored of his
+stories and wit; and in general he was more spoken of than even Pan
+Skshetuski, though the latter in his time had burst through besieged
+Zbaraj and all the Cossack armies.
+
+Soon after Pani Skshetuski had gone into the house a boy brought a
+decanter and glass to the linden-tree. Zagloba poured out some mead,
+then closed his eyes and began to try it diligently.
+
+"The Lord God knew why he created bees," said he, with a nasal mutter.
+And he fell to drinking slowly, drawing deep breaths at the same time,
+while gazing at the pond and beyond the pond, away to the dark and blue
+pine-woods stretching as far as the eye could reach on the other side.
+The time was past one in the afternoon, and the heavens were cloudless.
+The blossoms of the linden were falling noiselessly to the earth, and
+on the tree among the leaves were buzzing a whole choir of bees, which
+soon began to settle on the edge of the glass and gather the sweet
+fluid on their shaggy legs.
+
+Above the great pond, from the far-off reeds obscured by the haze of
+distance, rose from time to time flocks of ducks, teal, or wild geese,
+and moved away swiftly in the blue ether like black crosses; sometimes
+a row of cranes looked dark high in the air, and gave out a shrill cry.
+With these exceptions all around was quiet, calm, sunny, and gladsome,
+as is usual in the first days of August, when the grain has ripened,
+and the sun is scattering as it were gold upon the earth.
+
+The eyes of the old man were raised now to the sky, following the
+flocks of birds, and now they were lost in the distance, growing more
+and more drowsy, as the mead in the decanter decreased; his lids became
+heavier and heavier,--the bees buzzed their song in various tones as if
+on purpose for his after-dinner slumber.
+
+"True, true, the Lord God has given beautiful weather for the harvest,"
+muttered Zagloba. "The hay is well gathered in, the harvest will be
+finished in a breath. Yes, yes--"
+
+Here he closed his eyes, then opened them again for a moment, muttered
+once more, "The boys have tormented me," and fell asleep in earnest.
+
+He slept rather long, but after a certain time he was roused by a light
+breath of cooler air, together with the conversation and steps of two
+men drawing near the tree rapidly. One of them was Yan Skshetuski, the
+hero of Zbaraj, who about a month before had returned from the hetmans
+in the Ukraine to cure a stubborn fever; Pan Zagloba did not know the
+other, though in stature and form and even in features he resembled Yan
+greatly.
+
+"I present to you, dear father," said Yan, "my cousin Pan Stanislav
+Skshetuski, the captain of Kalish."
+
+"You are so much like Yan," answered Zagloba, blinking and shaking the
+remnants of sleep from his eyelids, "that had I met you anywhere I
+should have said at once, 'Skshetuski!' Hei, what a guest in the
+house!"
+
+"It is dear to me to make your acquaintance, my benefactor," answered
+Stanislav, "the more since the name is well known to me, for the
+knighthood of the whole Commonwealth repeat it with respect and mention
+it as an example."
+
+"Without praising myself, I did what I could, while I felt strength in
+my bones. And even now one would like to taste of war, for _consuetudo
+altera natura_ (habit is a second nature). But why, gentlemen, are you
+so anxious, so that Yan's face is pale?"
+
+"Stanislav has brought dreadful news," answered Yan. "The Swedes have
+entered Great Poland, and occupied it entirely."
+
+Zagloba sprang from the bench as if forty years had dropped from him,
+opened wide his eyes, and began involuntarily to feel at his side, as
+if he were looking for a sabre.
+
+"How is that?" asked he, "how is that? Have they occupied all of it?"
+
+"Yes, for the voevoda of Poznan and others at Uistsie have given it
+into the hands of the enemy," answered Stanislav.
+
+"For God's sake! What do I hear? Have they surrendered?"
+
+"Not only have they surrendered, but they have signed a compact
+renouncing the King and the Commonwealth. Henceforth Sweden, not
+Poland, is to be there."
+
+"By the mercy of God, by the wounds of the Crucified! Is the world
+coming to an end? What do I hear! Yesterday Yan and I were speaking of
+this danger from Sweden, for news had come that they were marching; but
+we were both confident that it would end in nothing, or at most in the
+renunciation of the title of King of Sweden by our lord, Yan Kazimir."
+
+"But it has begun with the loss of a province, and will end with God
+knows what."
+
+"Stop, for the blood will boil over in me! How was it? And you were at
+Uistsie and saw all this with your own eyes? That was simply treason
+the most villanous, unheard of in history."
+
+"I was there and looked on, and whether it was treason you will decide
+when you hear all. We were at Uistsie, the general militia and the land
+infantry, fifteen thousand men in all, and we formed our lines on the
+Notets _ab incursione hostili_ (against hostile invasion). True the
+army was small, and as an experienced soldier you know best whether the
+place of regular troops can be filled by general militia, especially
+that of Great Poland, where the nobles have grown notably unused to
+war. Still, if a leader had been found, they might have shown
+opposition to the enemy in old fashion, and at least detained them till
+the Commonwealth could find reinforcements. But hardly had Wittemberg
+shown himself when negotiations were begun before a drop of blood had
+been shed. Then Radzeyovski came up, and with his persuasions brought
+about what I have said,--that is, misfortune and disgrace, the like of
+which has not been hitherto."
+
+"How was that? Did no one resist, did no one protest? Did no one hurl
+treason in the eyes of those scoundrels? Did all agree to betray the
+country and the king?"
+
+"Virtue is perishing, and with it the Commonwealth, for nearly all
+agreed. I, the two Skorashevskis, Pan Tsisvitski, and Pan Klodzinski
+did what we could to rouse a spirit of resistance among the nobles. Pan
+Vladyslav Skorashevski went almost frantic. We flew through the camp
+from the men of one district to those of another, and God knows there
+was no beseeching that we did not use. But what good was it when the
+majority chose to go in bonds to the banquet which Wittemberg promised,
+rather than with sabres to battle? Seeing that the best went in every
+direction,--some to their homes, others to Warsaw,--the Skorashevskis
+went to Warsaw, and will bring the first news to the king; but I,
+having neither wife nor children, came here to my cousin, with the idea
+that we might go together against the enemy. It was fortunate that I
+found you at home."
+
+"Then you are directly from Uistsie?"
+
+"Directly. I rested on the road only as much as my horses needed, and
+as it was I drove one of them to death. The Swedes must be in Poznan at
+present, and thence they will quickly spread over the whole country."
+
+Here all grew silent. Yan sat with his palms on his knees, his eyes
+fixed on the ground, and he was thinking gloomily. Pan Stanislav
+sighed; and Zagloba, not having recovered, looked with a staring
+glance, now on one, now on the other.
+
+"Those are evil signs," said Yan at last, gloomily. "Formerly for ten
+victories there came one defeat, and we astonished the world with our
+valor. Now not only defeats come, but treason,--not merely of single
+persons, but of whole provinces. May God pity the country!"
+
+"For God's sake," said Zagloba, "I have seen much in the world. I can
+hear, I can reason, but still belief fails me."
+
+"What do you think of doing, Yan?" asked Stanislav.
+
+"It is certain that I shall not stay at home, though fever is shaking
+me yet. It will be necessary to place my wife and children somewhere in
+safety. Pan Stabrovski, my relative, is huntsman of the king in the
+wilderness of Byalovyej, and lives in Byalovyej. Even if the whole
+Commonwealth should fall into the power of the enemy, they would not
+touch that region. To-morrow I will take my wife and children straight
+there."
+
+"And that will not be a needless precaution," said Stanislav; "for
+though 'tis far from Great Poland to this place, who knows whether the
+flame may not soon seize these regions also?"
+
+"The nobles must be notified," said Yan, "to assemble and think of
+defence, for here no one has heard anything yet." Here he turned to
+Zagloba: "And, Father, will you go with us, or do you wish to accompany
+Helena to the wilderness?"
+
+"I?" answered Zagloba, "will I go? If my feet had taken root in the
+earth, I might not go; but even then I should ask some one to dig me
+out. I want to try Swedish flesh again, as a wolf does mutton. Ha! the
+rascals, trunk-breeches, long-stockings! The fleas make raids on their
+calves, their legs are itching, and they can't sit at home, but crawl
+into foreign lands. I know them, the sons of such a kind, for when I
+was under Konyetspolski I worked against them; and, gentlemen, if you
+want to know who took Gustavus Adolphus captive, ask the late
+Konyetspolski. I'll say no more! I know them, but they know me too. It
+must be that the rogues have heard that Zagloba has grown old. Isn't
+that true? Wait! you'll see him yet! O Lord! O Lord, all-Powerful! why
+hast thou unfenced this unfortunate Commonwealth, so that all the
+neighboring swine are running into it now, and they have rooted up
+three of the best provinces? What is the condition? Ba! but who is to
+blame, if not traitors? The plague did not know whom to take; it took
+honest men, but left the traitors. O Lord, send thy pest once more on
+the voevoda of Poznan and on him of Kalish, but especially on
+Radzeyovski and his whole family. But if 'tis thy will to favor hell
+with more inhabitants, send thither all those who signed the pact at
+Uistsie. Has Zagloba grown old? has he grown old? You will find out!
+Yan, let us consider quickly what to do, for I want to be on
+horseback."
+
+"Of course we must know whither to go. It is difficult to reach the
+hetmans in the Ukraine, for the enemy has cut them off from the
+Commonwealth and the road is open only to the Crimea. It is lucky that
+the Tartars are on our side this time. According to my head it will be
+necessary for us to go to Warsaw to the king, to defend our dear lord."
+
+"If there is time," remarked Stanislav. "The king must collect
+squadrons there in haste, and will march on the enemy before we can
+come, and perhaps the engagement is already taking place."
+
+"And that may be."
+
+"Let us go then to Warsaw, if we can go quickly," said Zagloba.
+"Listen, gentlemen! It is true that our names are terrible to the
+enemy, but still three of us cannot do much, therefore I should give
+this advice: Let us summon the nobles to volunteer; they will come in
+such numbers that we may lead even a small squadron to the king. We
+shall persuade them easily, for they must go anyhow when the call comes
+for the general militia,--it will be all one to them--and we shall tell
+them that whoever volunteers before the call will do an act dear to the
+king. With greater power we can do more, and they will receive us (in
+Warsaw) with open arms."
+
+"Wonder not at my words," said Pan Stanislav, "but from what I have
+seen I feel such a dislike to the general militia that I choose to go
+alone rather than with a crowd of men who know nothing of war."
+
+"You have no acquaintance with the nobles of this place. Here a man
+cannot be found who has not served in the army; all have experience and
+are good soldiers."
+
+"That may be."
+
+"How could it be otherwise? But wait! Yan knows that when once I begin
+to work with my head I have no lack of resources. For that reason I
+lived in great intimacy with the voevoda of Rus, Prince Yeremi. Let Yan
+tell how many times that greatest of warriors followed my advice, and
+thereby was each time victorious."
+
+"But tell us, Father, what you wish to say, for time is precious."
+
+"What I wish to say? This is it: not he defends the country and the
+king who holds to the king's skirts, but he who beats the enemy; and he
+beats the enemy best who serves under a great warrior. Why go on
+uncertainties to Warsaw, when the king himself may have gone to Cracow,
+to Lvoff or Lithuania? My advice is to put ourselves at once under the
+banners of the grand hetman of Lithuania, Prince Yanush Radzivill. He
+is an honest man and a soldier. Though they accuse him of pride, he of
+a certainty will not surrender to Swedes. He at least is a chief and a
+hetman of the right kind. It will be close there, 'tis true, for he is
+working against two enemies; but as a recompense we shall see Pan
+Michael Volodyovski, who is serving in the Lithuanian quota, and again
+we shall be together as in old times. If I do not counsel well, then
+let the first Swede take me captive by the sword-strap."
+
+"Who knows, who knows?" answered Yan, with animation. "Maybe that will
+be the best course."
+
+"And besides we shall take Halshka[16] with the children, for we must
+go right through the wilderness."
+
+"And we shall serve among soldiers, not among militia," added
+Stanislav.
+
+"And we shall fight, not debate, nor eat chickens and cheese in the
+villages."
+
+"I see that not only in war, but in council you can hold the first
+place," said Stanislav.
+
+"Well, are you satisfied?"
+
+"In truth, in truth," said Yan, "that is the best advice. We shall be
+with Michael as before; you will know, Stanislav, the greatest soldier
+in the Commonwealth, my true friend, my brother. We will go now to
+Halshka, and tell her so that she too may be ready for the road."
+
+"Does she know of the war already?" asked Zagloba.
+
+"She knows, she knows, for in her presence Stanislav told about it
+first. She is in tears, poor woman! But if I say to her that it is
+necessary to go, she will say straightway. Go!"
+
+"I would start in the morning," cried Zagloba.
+
+"We will start in the morning and before daybreak," said Yan. "You must
+be terribly tired after the road, Stanislav, but you will rest before
+morning as best you can. I will send horses this evening with trusty
+men to Byala, to Lostsi, to Drohichyn and Byelsk, so as to have relays
+everywhere. And just beyond Byelsk is the wilderness. Wagons will start
+to-day also with supplies. It is too bad to so into the world from the
+dear corner, but 'tis God's will! This is my comfort: I am safe as to
+my wife and children, for the wilderness is the best fortress in the
+world. Come to the house, gentlemen; it is time for me to prepare for
+the journey."
+
+They went in. Pan Stanislav, greatly road-weary, had barely taken food
+and drink when he went to sleep straightway; but Pan Yan and Zagloba
+were busied in preparations. And as there was great order in Pan Yan's
+household the wagons and men started that evening for an all-night
+journey, and next morning at daybreak the carriage followed in which
+sat Helena with the children and an old maid, a companion. Pan
+Stanislav and Pan Yan with five attendants rode on horseback near the
+carriage. The whole party pushed forward briskly, for fresh horses were
+awaiting them.
+
+Travelling in this manner and without resting even at night, they
+reached Byelsk on the fifth day, and on the sixth they sank in the
+wilderness from the side of Hainovshyna.
+
+They were surrounded at once by the gloom of the gigantic pine-forest,
+which at that period occupied a number of tens of square leagues,
+joining on one side with an unbroken line the wilderness of Zyelonka
+and Rogovsk, and on the other the forests of Prussia.
+
+No invader had ever trampled with a hoof those dark depths in which a
+man who knew them not might go astray and wander till he dropped from
+exhaustion or fell a prey to ravenous beasts. In the night were heard
+the bellowing of the aurochs, the growling of bears, with the howling
+of wolves and the hoarse screams of panthers. Uncertain roads led
+through thickets or clean-trunked trees, along fallen timber, swamps,
+and terrible stagnant lakes to the scattered villages of guards,
+pitch-burners, and hunters, who in many cases did not leave the
+wilderness all their lives. To Byalovyej itself a broader way led,
+continued by the Suha road, over which the kings went to hunt. By that
+road also the Skshetuskis came from the direction of Byelsk and
+Hainovshyna.
+
+Pan Stabrovski, chief-hunter of the king, was an old hermit and
+bachelor, who like an aurochs stayed always in the wilderness. He
+received the visitors with open arms, and almost smothered the children
+with kisses. He lived with beaters-in, never seeing the face of a noble
+unless when the king went to hunt. He had the management of all hunting
+matters and all the pitch-making of the wilderness. He was greatly
+disturbed by news of the war, of which he heard first from Pan Yan.
+
+Often did it happen in the Commonwealth that war broke out or the king
+died and no news came to the wilderness; the chief-hunter alone brought
+news when he returned from the treasurer of Lithuania, to whom he was
+obliged to render account of his management of the wilderness each
+year.
+
+"It will be dreary here, dreary," said Stabrovski to Helena, "but safe
+as nowhere else in the world. No enemy will break through these walls,
+and even if he should try the beaters-in would shoot down all his men.
+It would be easier to conquer the whole Commonwealth--which may God not
+permit!--than the wilderness. I have been living here twenty years, and
+even I do not know it all, for there are places where it is impossible
+to go, where only wild beasts live and perhaps evil spirits have their
+dwelling, from whom men are preserved by the sound of church-bells. But
+we live according to God's law, for in the village there is a chapel to
+which a priest from Byelsk comes once a year. You will be here as if in
+heaven, if tedium does not weary you. As a recompense there is no lack
+of firewood."
+
+Pan Yan was glad in his whole soul that he had found for his wife such
+a refuge; but Pan Stabrovski tried in vain to delay him awhile and
+entertain him.
+
+Halting only one night, the cavaliers resumed at daybreak their journey
+across the wilderness. They were led through the forest labyrinths by
+guides whom the hunter sent with them.
+
+
+
+
+ CHAPTER XIII.
+
+
+When Pan Skshetuski with his cousin Stanislav and Zagloba, after a
+toilsome journey from the wilderness, came at last to Upita, Pan
+Volodyovski went almost wild from delight, especially since he had long
+had no news of them; he thought that Yan was with a squadron of the
+king which he commanded under the hetmans in the Ukraine.
+
+Pan Michael took them in turn by the shoulders, and after he had
+pressed them once he pressed them again and rubbed his hands. When they
+told him of their wish to serve under Radzivill, he rejoiced still more
+at the thought that they would not separate soon.
+
+"Praise God that we shall be together, old comrades of Zbaraj!" said
+he. "A man has greater desire for war when he feels friends near him."
+
+"That was my idea," said Zagloba; "for they wanted to fly to the king.
+But I said, 'Why not remember old times with Pan Michael? If God will
+give us such fortune as he did with Cossacks and the Tartars, we shall
+soon have more than one Swede on our conscience.'"
+
+"God inspired you with that thought," said Pan Michael.
+
+"But it is a wonder to me," added Yan, "how you know already of the
+war. Stanislav came to me with the last breath of his horse, and we in
+that same fashion rode hither, thinking that we should be first to
+announce the misfortune."
+
+"The tidings must have come through the Jews," said Zagloba; "for they
+are first to know everything, and there is such communication between
+them that if one sneezes in Great Poland in the morning, others will
+call to him in the evening from Lithuania and the Ukraine, 'To thy
+health!'"
+
+"I know not how it was, but we heard of it two days ago," said Pan
+Michael, "and there is a fearful panic here. The first day we did not
+credit the news greatly, but on the second no one denied it. I will say
+more; before the war came, you would have said that the birds were
+singing about it in the air, for suddenly and without cause all began
+to speak of war. Our prince voevoda must also have looked for it and
+have known something before others, for he was rushing about like a fly
+in hot water, and during these last hours he has hastened to Kyedani.
+Levies were made at his order two months ago. I assembled men, as did
+also Stankyevich and a certain Kmita, the banneret of Orsha, who, as I
+hear, has already sent a squadron to Kyedani. Kmita was ready before
+the rest of us."
+
+"Michael, do you know Prince Radzivill well?" asked Yan.
+
+"Why should I not know him, when I have passed the whole present
+war[17] under his command?"
+
+"What do you know of his plans? Is he an honest man?"
+
+"He is a finished warrior; who knows if after the death of Prince
+Yeremi he is not the greatest in the Commonwealth? He was defeated in
+the last battle, it is true; but against eighteen thousand he had six
+thousand men. The treasurer and the voevoda of Vityebsk blame him
+terribly for this, saying that with small forces he rushed against such
+a disproportionate power to avoid sharing victory with them. God knows
+how it was! But he stood up manfully and did not spare his own life.
+And I who saw it all, say only this, that if we had had troops and
+money enough, not a foot of the enemy would have left the country. So I
+think that he will begin at the Swedes more sharply, and will not wait
+for them here, but march on Livonia."
+
+"Why do you think that?"
+
+"For two reasons,--first, because he will wish to improve his
+reputation, shattered a little after the battle of Tsybihova; and
+second, because he loves war."
+
+"That is true," said Zagloba. "I know him, for we were at school
+together and I worked out his tasks for him. He was always in love with
+war, and therefore liked to keep company with me rather than others,
+for I too preferred a horse and a lance to Latin."
+
+"It is certain that he is not like the voevoda of Poznan; he is surely
+a different kind of man altogether," said Pan Stanislav.
+
+Volodyovski inquired about everything that had taken place at Uistsie,
+and tore his hair as he listened to the story. At last, when Pan
+Stanislav had finished, he said,--
+
+"You are right! Our Radzivill is incapable of such deeds. He is as
+proud as the devil, and it seems to him that in the whole world there
+is not a greater family than the Radzivills. He will not endure
+opposition, that is true; and at the treasurer, Pan Gosyevski, an
+honest man, he is angry because the latter will not dance when
+Radzivill plays. He is displeased also with his Grace the king, because
+he did not give him the grand baton of Lithuania soon enough. All true,
+as well as this,--that he prefers to live in the dishonorable error of
+Calvinism rather than turn to the true faith, that he persecutes
+Catholics where he can, that he founds societies of heretics. But as
+recompense for this, I will swear that he would rather shed the last
+drop of his proud blood than sign a surrender like that at Uistsie. We
+shall have war to wade in; for not a scribe, but a warrior, will lead
+us."
+
+"That's my play," said Zagloba, "I want nothing more. Pan Opalinski is
+a scribe, and he showed soon what he was good for. They are the meanest
+of men! Let but one of them pull a quill out of a goose's tail and he
+thinks straightway that he has swallowed all wisdom. He will say to
+others, 'Son of a such kind,' and when it comes to the sabre you cannot
+find him. When I was young myself, I put rhymes together to captivate
+the hearts of fair heads, and I might have made a goat's horn of Pan
+Kohanovski with his silly verses, but later on the soldier nature got
+the upper hand."
+
+"I will add, too," continued Volodyovski, "that the nobles will soon
+move hither. A crowd of people will come, if only money is not lacking,
+for that is most important."
+
+"In God's name I want no general militia!" shouted Pan Stanislav. "Yan
+and Pan Zagloba know my sentiments already, and to you I say now that I
+would rather be a camp-servant in a regular squadron than hetman over
+the entire general militia."
+
+"The people here are brave," answered Volodyovski, "and very skilful. I
+have an example from my own levy. I could not receive all who came, and
+among those whom I accepted there is not a man who has not served
+before. I will show you this squadron, gentlemen, and if you had not
+learned from me you would not know that they are not old soldiers.
+Every one is tempered and hammered in fire, like an old horseshoe, and
+stands in order like a Roman legionary. It will not be so easy for the
+Swedes with them, as with the men of Great Poland at Uistsie."
+
+"I have hope that God will change everything," said Pan Yan. "They say
+that the Swedes are good soldiers, but still they have never been able
+to stand before our regular troops. We have beaten them always,--that
+is a matter of trial; we have beaten them even when they were led by
+the greatest warrior they have ever had."
+
+"In truth I am very curious to know what they can do," answered
+Volodyovski; "and were it not that two other wars are now weighing on
+the country, I should not be angry a whit about the Swedes. We have
+tried the Turks, the Tartars, the Cossacks, and God knows whom we have
+not tried; it is well now to try the Swedes. The only trouble in the
+kingdom is that all the troops are occupied with the hetmans in the
+Ukraine. But I see already what will happen here. Prince Radzivill will
+leave the existing war to the treasurer and full hetman Pan Gosyevski,
+and will go himself at the Swedes in earnest. It will be heavy work, it
+is true. But we have hope that God will assist us."
+
+"Let us go, then, without delay to Kyedani," said Pan Stanislav.
+
+"I received an order to have the squadron ready and to appear in
+Kyedani myself in three days," answered Pan Michael. "But I must show
+you, gentlemen this last order, for it is clear from it that the prince
+is thinking of the Swedes."
+
+When he had said this, Volodyovski unlocked a box standing on a bench
+under the window, took out a paper folded once, and opening it began to
+read:--
+
+
+Colonel Volodyovski:
+
+Gracious Sir,--We have read with great delight your report that the
+squadron is ready and can move to the campaign at any moment. Keep it
+ready and alert, for such difficult times are coming as have not been
+yet; therefore come yourself as quickly as possible to Kyedani, where
+we shall await you with impatience. If any reports come to you, believe
+them not till you have heard everything from our lips. We act as God
+himself and our conscience command, without reference to what malice
+and the ill will of man may invent against us. But at the same time we
+console ourselves with this,--that times are coming in which it will be
+shown definitely who is a true and real friend of the house of
+Radzivill and who even _in rebus adversis_ is willing to serve it.
+Kmita, Nyevyarovski, and Stankyevich have brought their squadrons here
+already; let yours remain in Upita, for it may be needed there, and it
+may have to march to Podlyasye under command of my cousin Prince
+Boguslav, who has considerable bodies of our troops under his command
+there. Of all this you will learn in detail from our lips; meanwhile we
+confide to your loyalty the careful execution of orders, and await you
+in Kyedani.
+
+ Yanush Radzivill,
+
+ _Prince in Birji and Dubinki, voevoda of Vilna,
+ grand hetman of Lithuania_.
+
+
+"Yes, a new war is evident from this letter," said Zagloba.
+
+"And the prince's statement that he will act as God commands him, means
+that he will fight the Swedes," added Stanislav.
+
+"Still it is a wonder to me," said Pan Yan, "that he writes about
+loyalty to the house of Radzivill, and not to the country, which means
+more than the Radzivills, and demands prompter rescue."
+
+"That is their lordly manner," answered Volodyovski; "though that did
+not please me either at first, for I too serve the country and not the
+Radzivills."
+
+"When did you receive this letter?" asked Pan Yan.
+
+"This morning, and I wanted to start this afternoon. You will rest
+to-night after the journey; to-morrow I shall surely return, and then
+we will move with the squadron wherever they command."
+
+"Perhaps to Podlyasye?" said Zagloba.
+
+"To Prince Boguslav," added Pan Stanislav.
+
+"Prince Boguslav is now in Kyedani," said Volodyovski. "He is a strange
+person, and do you look at him carefully. He is a great warrior and a
+still greater knight, but he is not a Pole to the value of a copper. He
+wears a foreign dress, and talks German or French altogether; you might
+think he was cracking nuts, might listen to him a whole hour, and not
+understand a thing."
+
+"Prince Boguslav at Berestechko bore himself well," said Zagloba, "and
+brought a good number of German infantry."
+
+"Those who know him more intimately do not praise him very highly,"
+continued Volodyovski, "for he loves only the Germans and French. It
+cannot be otherwise, since he was born of a German mother, the daughter
+of the elector of Brandenburg, with whom his late father not only
+received no dowry, but, since those small princes (the electors) as may
+be seen have poor housekeeping, he had to pay something. But with the
+Radzivills it is important to have a vote in the German Empire, of
+which they are princes, and therefore they make alliances with the
+Germans. Pan Sakovich, an old client of Prince Boguslav, who made him
+starosta of Oshmiani, told me about this. He and Pan Nyevyarovski, a
+colonel, were abroad with Prince Boguslav in various foreign lands, and
+acted always as seconds in his duels."
+
+"How many has he fought?" asked Zagloba.
+
+"As many as he has hairs on his head! He cut up various princes greatly
+and foreign counts, French and German, for they say that he is very
+fiery, brave, and daring, and calls a man out for the least word."
+
+Pan Stanislav was roused from his thoughtfulness and said: "I too have
+heard of this Prince Boguslav, for it is not far from us to the
+elector, with whom he lives continually. I have still in mind how my
+father said that when Prince Boguslav's father married the elector's
+daughter, people complained that such a great house as that of the
+Radzivills made an alliance with strangers. But perhaps it happened for
+the best; the elector as a relative of the Radzivills ought to be very
+friendly now to the Commonwealth, and on him much depends at present.
+What you say about their poor housekeeping is not true. It is certain,
+however, that if any one were to sell all the possessions of the
+Radzivills, he could buy with the price of them the elector and his
+whole principality; but the present kurfürst, Friedrich Wilhelm, has
+saved no small amount of money, and has twenty thousand very good
+troops with whom he might boldly meet the Swedes,--which as a vassal of
+the Commonwealth he ought to do if he has God in his heart, and
+remembers all the kindness which the Commonwealth has shown his house."
+
+"Will he do that?" asked Pan Yan.
+
+"It would be black ingratitude and faith-breaking on his part if he did
+otherwise," answered Pan Stanislav.
+
+"It is hard to count on the gratitude of strangers, and especially of
+heretics," said Zagloba. "I remember this kurfürst of yours when he was
+still a stripling. He was always sullen; one would have said that he
+was listening to what the devil was whispering in his ear. When I was
+in Prussia with the late Konyetspolski, I told the kurfürst that to his
+eyes,--for he is a Lutheran, the same as the King of Sweden. God grant
+that they make no alliance against the Commonwealth!"
+
+"Do you know, Michael," said Pan Yan, suddenly, "I will not rest here;
+I will go with you to Kyedani. It is better at this season to travel in
+the night, for it is hot in the daytime, and I am eager to escape from
+uncertainty. There is resting-time ahead, for surely the prince will
+not march to-morrow."
+
+"Especially as he has given orders to keep the squadron in Upita,"
+answered Pan Michael.
+
+"You speak well!" cried Zagloba; "I will go too."
+
+"Then we will all go together," said Pan Stanislav.
+
+"We shall be in Kyedani in the morning," said Pan Michael, "and on the
+road we can sleep sweetly in our saddles."
+
+Two hours later, after they had eaten and drunk somewhat, the knights
+started on their journey, and before sundown reached Krakin.
+
+On the road Pan Michael told them about the neighborhood, and the
+famous nobles of Lauda, of Kmita, and of all that had happened during a
+certain time. He confessed also his love for Panna Billevich,
+unrequited as usual.
+
+"It is well that war is near," said he, "otherwise I should have
+suffered greatly, when I think at times that such is my misfortune, and
+that probably I shall die in the single state."
+
+"No harm will come to you from that," said Zagloba, "for it is an
+honorable state and pleasing to God. I have resolved to remain in it to
+the end of my life. Sometimes I regret that there will be no one to
+leave my fame and name to; for though I love Yan's children as if they
+were my own, still the Skshetuskis are not the Zaglobas."
+
+"Ah, evil man! You have made this choice with a feeling like that of
+the wolf when he vowed not to kill sheep after all his teeth were
+gone."
+
+"But that is not true," said Zagloba. "It is not so long, Michael,
+since you and I were in Warsaw at the election. At whom were all the
+women looking if not at me? Do you not remember how you used to
+complain that not one of them was looking at you? But if you have such
+a desire for the married state, then be not troubled; your turn will
+come too. This seeking is of no use; you will find just when you are
+not seeking. This is a time of war, and many good cavaliers perish
+every year. Only let this Swedish war continue, the girls will be
+alone, and we shall find them in market by the dozen."
+
+"Perhaps I shall perish too," said Pan Michael "I have had enough of
+this battering through the world. Never shall I be able to tell you,
+gentlemen, what a worthy and beautiful lady Panna Billevich is. And if
+it were a man who had loved and petted her in the tenderest way--No!
+the devils had to bring this Kmita. It must be that he gave her
+something, it cannot be otherwise; for if he had not, surely she would
+not have let me go. There, look! Just beyond the hills Vodokty is
+visible; but there is no one in the house. She has gone God knows
+whither. The bear has his den, the pig his nest, but I have only this
+crowbait and this saddle on which I sit."
+
+"I see that she has pierced you like a thorn," said Zagloba.
+
+"True, so that when I think of myself or when riding by I see Vodokty,
+I grieve still. I wanted to strike out the wedge with a wedge,[18] and
+went to Pan Schilling, who has a very comely daughter. Once I saw her
+on the road at a distance, and she took my fancy greatly. I went to his
+house, and what shall I say, gentlemen? I did not find the father at
+home, but the daughter Panna Kahna thought that I was not Pan
+Volodyovski, but only Pan Volodyovski's attendant. I took the affront
+so to heart that I have never shown myself there again."
+
+Zagloba began to laugh. "God help you, Michael! The whole matter is
+this,--you must find a wife of such stature as you are yourself. But
+where did that little rogue go to who was in attendance on Princess
+Vishnyevetski, and whom the late Pan Podbipienta--God light his
+soul!--was to marry? She was just your size, a regular peach-stone,
+though her eyes did shine terribly."
+
+"That was Anusia Borzabogati," said Pan Yan. "We were all in love with
+her in our time,--Michael too. God knows whore she is now!"
+
+"I might seek her out and comfort her," said Pan Michael. "When you
+mention her it grows warm around my heart. She was a most respectable
+girl. Ah, those old days of Lubni were pleasant, but never will they
+return. They will not, for never will there be such a chief as our
+Prince Yeremi. A man knew that every battle would be followed by
+victory. Radzivill was a great warrior, but not such, and men do not
+serve him with such heart, for he has not that fatherly love for
+soldiers, and does not admit them to confidence, having something about
+him of the monarch, though the Vishnyevetskis were not inferior to the
+Radzivills."
+
+"No matter," said Pan Yan. "The salvation of the country is in his
+hands now, and because he is ready to give his life for it, God bless
+him!"
+
+Thus conversed the old friends, riding along in the night. They called
+up old questions at one time; at another they spoke of the grievous
+days of the present, in which three wars at once had rolled on the
+Commonwealth. Later they repeated "Our Father" and the litany; and when
+they had finished, sleep wearied them, and they began to doze and nod
+on the saddles.
+
+The night was clear and warm; the stars twinkled by thousands in the
+sky. Dragging on at a walk, they slept sweetly till, when day began to
+break. Pan Michael woke.
+
+"Gentlemen, open your eyes; Kyedani is in sight!" cried he.
+
+"What, where?" asked Zagloba. "Kyedani, where?"
+
+"Off there! The towers are visible."
+
+"A respectable sort of place," said Pan Stanislav.
+
+"Very considerable," answered Volodyovski; "and of this you will be
+able to convince yourselves better in the daytime."
+
+"But is this the inheritance of the prince?"
+
+"Yes. Formerly it belonged to the Kishkis, from whom the father of the
+present prince received it as dowry with Panna Anna Kishki, daughter of
+the voevoda of Vityebsk. In all Jmud there is not such a well-ordered
+place, for the Radzivills do not admit Jews, save by permission to each
+one. The meads here are celebrated."
+
+Zagloba opened his eyes.
+
+"But do people of some politeness live here? What is that immensely
+great building on the eminence?"
+
+"That is the castle just built during the rule of Yanush."
+
+"Is it fortified?"
+
+"No, but it is a lordly residence. It is not fortified, for no enemy
+has ever entered these regions since the time of the Knights of the
+Cross. That pointed steeple in the middle of the town belongs to the
+parish church built by the Knights of the Cross in pagan times; later
+it was given to the Calvinists, but the priest Kobylinski won it back
+for the Catholics through a lawsuit with Prince Krishtof."
+
+"Praise be to God for that!"
+
+Thus conversing they arrived near the first cottages of the suburbs.
+Meanwhile it grew brighter and brighter in the world, and the sun began
+to rise. The knights looked with curiosity at the new place, and Pan
+Volodyovski continued to speak,--
+
+"This is Jew street, in which dwell those of the Jews who have
+permission to be here. Following this street, one comes to the market.
+Oho! people are up already, and beginning to come out of the houses.
+See, a crowd of horses before the forges, and attendants not in the
+Radzivill colors! There must be some meeting in Kyedani. It is always
+full of nobles and high personages here, and sometimes they come from
+foreign countries, for this is the capital for heretics from all Jmud,
+who under the protection of the Radzivills carry on their sorcery and
+superstitious practices. That is the market-square. See what a clock is
+on the town-house! There is no better one to this day in Dantzig. And
+that which looks like a church with four towers is a Helvetic
+(Calvinistic) meeting-house, in which every Sunday they blaspheme God;
+and farther on the Lutheran church. You think that the townspeople are
+Poles or Lithuanians,--not at all. Real Germans and Scots, but more
+Scots. The Scots are splendid infantry, and cut terribly with
+battle-axes. The prince has also one Scottish regiment of volunteers of
+Kyedani. Ei, how many wagons with packs on the market-square! Surely
+there is some meeting. There are no inns in the town; acquaintances
+stop with acquaintances, and nobles go to the castle, in which there
+are rooms tens of ells long, intended for guests only. There they
+entertain, at the prince's expense, every one honorably, even if for a
+year; there are people who stay there all their lives."
+
+"It is a wonder to me that lightning has not burned that Calvinistic
+meeting-house," said Zagloba.
+
+"But do you not know that that has happened? In the centre between the
+four towers was a cap-shaped cupola; on a time such a lightning-flash
+struck this cupola that nothing remained of it. In the vault underneath
+lies the father of Prince Boguslav, Yanush,--he who joined the mutiny
+against Sigismund III. His own haiduk laid open his skull, so that he
+died in vain, as he had lived in sin."
+
+"But what is that broad building which looks like a walled tent?" asked
+Pan Yan.
+
+"That is the paper-mill founded by the prince; and at the side of it is
+a printing-office, in which heretical books are printed."
+
+"Tfu!" said Zagloba; "a pestilence on this place, where a man draws no
+air into his stomach but what is heretical! Lucifer might rule here as
+well as Radzivill."
+
+"Gracious sir," answered Volodyovski, "abuse not Radzivill, for perhaps
+the country will soon owe its salvation to him."
+
+They rode farther in silence, gazing at the town and wondering at its
+good order; for the streets were all paved with stone, which was at
+that period a novelty.
+
+After they had ridden through the market-square and the street of the
+castle, they saw on an eminence the lordly residence recently built by
+Prince Yanush,--not fortified, it is true, but surpassing in size not
+only palaces but castles. The great pile was on a height, and looked on
+the town lying, as it were, at its feet. From both sides of the main
+building extended at right angles two lower wings, which formed a
+gigantic courtyard, closed in front with an iron railing fastened with
+long links. In the middle of the railing towered a strong walled gate;
+on it the arms of the Radzivills and the arms of the town of Kyedani,
+representing an eagle's foot with a black wing on a golden field, and
+at the foot a horseshoe with three red crosses. In front of the gate
+were sentries and Scottish soldiers keeping guard for show, not for
+defence.
+
+The hour was early, but there was movement already in the yard; for
+before the main building a regiment of dragoons in blue jackets and
+Swedish helmets was exercising. Just then the long line of men was
+motionless, with drawn rapiers; an officer riding in front said
+something to the soldiers. Around the line and farther on near the
+walls, a number of attendants in various colors gazed at the dragoons,
+making remarks and giving opinions to one another.
+
+"As God is dear to me," said Pan Michael, "that is Kharlamp drilling
+the regiment!"
+
+"How!" cried Zagloba; "is he the same with whom you were going to fight
+a duel at Lipkovo?"
+
+"The very same; but since that time we have lived in close friendship."
+
+"'Tis he," said Zagloba; "I know him by his nose, which sticks out from
+under his helmet. It is well that visors have gone out of fashion, for
+that knight could not close any visor; he would need a special
+invention for his nose."
+
+That moment Pan Kharlamp, seeing Volodyovski, came to him at a trot.
+"How are you, Michael?" cried he. "It is well that you have come."
+
+"It is better that I meet you first. See, here is Pan Zagloba, whom you
+met in Lipkovo--no, before that in Syennitsy; and these are the
+Skshetuskis,--Yan, captain of the king's hussars, the hero of Zbaraj--"
+
+"I see, then, as God is true, the greatest knight in Poland!" cried
+Kharlamp. "With the forehead, with the forehead!"
+
+"And this is Stanislav Skshetuski, captain of Kalisk, who comes
+straight from Uistsie."
+
+"From Uistsie? So you saw a terrible disgrace. We know already what has
+happened."
+
+"It is just because such a thing happened that I have come, hoping that
+nothing like it will happen in this place."
+
+"You may be certain of that; Radzivill is not Opalinski."
+
+"We said the same at Upita yesterday."
+
+"I greet you, gentlemen, most joyfully in my own name and that of the
+prince. The prince will be glad to see such knights, for he needs them
+much. Come with me to the barracks, where my quarters are. You will
+need, of course, to change clothes and eat breakfast. I will go with
+you, for I have finished the drill."
+
+Pan Kharlamp hurried again to the line, and commanded in a quick, clear
+voice: "To the left! face--to the rear!"
+
+Hoofs sounded on the pavement. The line broke into two; the halves
+broke again till there were four parts, which began to recede with slow
+step in the direction of the barracks.
+
+"Good soldiers," said Skshetuski, looking with skilled eye at the
+regular movements of the dragoons.
+
+"Those are petty nobles and attendant boyars who serve in that arm,"
+answered Volodyovski.
+
+"Oh, you could tell in a moment that they are not militia," cried Pan
+Stanislav.
+
+"But does Kharlamp command them," asked Zagloba, "or am I mistaken? I
+remember that he served in the light-horse squadron and wore silver
+loops."
+
+"True," answered Volodyovski; "but it is a couple of years since he
+took the dragoon regiment. He is an old soldier, and trained."
+
+Meanwhile Kharlamp, having dismissed the dragoons, returned to the
+knights. "I beg you, gentlemen, to follow me. Over there are the
+barracks, beyond the castle."
+
+Half an hour later the five were sitting over a bowl of heated beer,
+well whitened with cream, and were talking about the impending war.
+
+"And what is to be heard here?" asked Pan Michael.
+
+"With us something new may be heard every day, for people are lost in
+surmises and give out new reports all the time," said Kharlamp. "But in
+truth the prince alone knows what is coming. He has something on his
+mind, for though he simulates gladness and is kind to people as never
+before, he is terribly thoughtful. In the night, they say, he does not
+sleep, but walks with heavy tread through all the chambers, talking
+audibly to himself, and in the daytime takes counsel for whole hours
+with Harasimovich."
+
+"Who is Harasimovich?" asked Volodyovski.
+
+"The manager from Zabludovo in Podlyasye,--a man of small stature, who
+looks as though he kept the devil under his arm; but he is a
+confidential agent of the prince, and probably knows all his secrets.
+According to my thinking, from these counsellings a terrible and
+vengeful war with Sweden will come, for which war we are all sighing.
+Meanwhile letters are flying hither from the Prince of Courland, from
+Hovanski, and from the Elector of Brandenburg. Some say that the prince
+is negotiating with Moscow to join the league against Sweden; others
+say the contrary; but it seems there will be a league with no one, but
+a war, as I have said, with these and those. Fresh troops are coming
+continually; letters are sent to nobles most faithful to the
+Radzivills, asking them to assemble. Every place is full of armed men.
+Ei, gentlemen, on whomsoever they put the grain, on him will it be
+ground; but we shall have our hands red to the elbows, for when
+Radzivill moves to the field, he will not negotiate."
+
+"That's it, that's it!" said Zagloba, rubbing his palms. "No small
+amount of Swedish blood has dried on my hands, and there will be more
+of it in future. Not many of those old soldiers are alive yet who
+remember me at Putsk and Tjtsianna; but those who are living will never
+forget me."
+
+"Is Prince Boguslav here?" asked Volodyovski.
+
+"Of course. Besides him we expect to-day some great guests, for the
+upper chambers are made ready, and there is to be a banquet in the
+evening. I have my doubts, Michael, whether you will reach the prince
+to-day."
+
+"He sent for me himself yesterday."
+
+"That's nothing; he is terribly occupied. Besides, I don't know whether
+I can speak of it to you--but in an hour everybody will know of it,
+therefore I will tell you--something or another very strange is going
+on."
+
+"What is it, what is it?" asked Zagloba.
+
+"It must be known to you, gentlemen, that two days ago Pan Yudytski
+came, a knight of Malta, of whom you must have heard."
+
+"Of course," said Yan; "he is a great knight."
+
+"Immediately after him came the full hetman and treasurer. We were
+greatly astonished, for it is known in what rivalry and enmity Pan
+Gosyevski is with our prince. Some persons were rejoiced therefore that
+harmony had come between the lords, and said that the Swedish invasion
+was the real cause of this. I thought so myself; then yesterday the
+three shut themselves up in counsel, fastened all the doors, no one
+could hear what they were talking about; but Pan Krepshtul, who guarded
+the door, told us that their talk was terribly loud, especially the
+talk of Pan Gosyevski. Later the prince himself conducted them to their
+sleeping-chambers, and in the night--imagine to yourselves" (here
+Kharlamp lowered his voice)--"guards were placed at the door of each
+chamber."
+
+Volodyovski sprang up from his seat. "In God's name! impossible!"
+
+"But it is true. At the doors of each Scots are standing with muskets,
+and they have the order to let no one in or out under pain of death."
+
+The knights looked at one another with astonishment; and Kharlamp was
+no less astonished at his own words, and looked at his companions with
+staring eyes, as if awaiting the explanation of the riddle from them.
+
+"Does this mean that Pan Gosyevski is arrested? Has the grand hetman
+arrested the full hetman?" asked Zagloba; "what does this mean?"
+
+"As if I know, and Yudytski such a knight!"
+
+"But the officers of the prince must speak with one another about it
+and guess at causes. Have you heard nothing?"
+
+"I asked Harasimovich last night."
+
+"What did he say?" asked Zagloba.
+
+"He would explain nothing, but he put his finger on his mouth and said,
+'They are traitors!'"
+
+"How traitors?" cried Volodyovski, seizing his head. "Neither the
+treasurer nor Pan Yudytski is a traitor. The whole Commonwealth knows
+them as honorable men and patriots."
+
+"At present 'tis impossible to have faith in any man," answered Pan
+Stanislav, gloomily. "Did not Pan Opalinski pass for a Cato? Did he not
+reproach others with defects, with offences, with selfishness? But when
+it came to do something, he was the first to betray, and brought not
+only himself, but a whole province to treason."
+
+"I will give my head for the treasurer and Pan Yudytski!" cried
+Volodyovski.
+
+"Do not give your head for any man, Michael dear," said Zagloba. "They
+were not arrested without reason. There must have been some conspiracy;
+it cannot be otherwise,--how could it be? The prince is preparing for a
+terrible war, and every aid is precious to him. Whom, then, at such a
+time can he put under arrest, if not those who stand in the way of war?
+If this is so, if these two men have really stood in the way, then
+praise be to God that Radzivill has anticipated them. They deserve to
+sit under ground. Ah, the scoundrels!--at such a time to practise
+tricks, communicate with the enemy, rise against the country, hinder a
+great warrior in his undertaking! By the Most Holy Mother, what has met
+them is too little, the rascals!"
+
+"These are wonders,--such wonders that I cannot put them in my head,"
+said Kharlamp; "for letting alone that they are such dignitaries, they
+are arrested without judgment, without a diet, without the will of the
+whole Commonwealth,--a thing which the king himself has not the right
+to do."
+
+"As true as I live," cried Pan Michael.
+
+"It is evident that the prince wants to introduce Roman customs among
+us," said Pan Stanislav, "and become dictator in time of war."
+
+"Let him be dictator if he will only beat the Swedes," said Zagloba; "I
+will be the first to vote for his dictatorship."
+
+Pan Yan fell to thinking, and after a while said, "Unless he should
+wish to become protector, like that English Cromwell who did not
+hesitate to raise his sacrilegious hand on his own king."
+
+"Nonsense! Cromwell? Cromwell was a heretic!" cried Zagloba.
+
+"But what is the prince voevoda?" asked Pan Yan, seriously.
+
+At this question all were silent, and considered the dark future for a
+time with fear; but Kharlamp looked angry and said,--
+
+"I have served under the prince from early years, though I am little
+younger than he; for in the beginning, when I was still a stripling, he
+was my captain, later on he was full hetman, and now he is grand
+hetman. I know him better than any one here; I both love and honor him;
+therefore I ask you not to compare him with Cromwell, so that I may not
+be forced to say something which would not become me as host in this
+room."
+
+Here Kharlamp began to twitch his mustaches terribly, and to frown a
+little at Pan Yan; seeing which, Volodyovski fixed on Kharlamp a cool
+and sharp look, as if he wished to say, "Only growl, only growl!"
+
+Great Mustache took note at once, for he held Volodyovski in unusual
+esteem, and besides it was dangerous to get angry with him; therefore
+he continued in a far milder tone,--
+
+"The prince is a Calvinist; but he did not reject the true faith for
+errors, for he was born in them. He will never become either a
+Cromwell, a Radzeyovski, or an Opalinski, though Kyedani had to sink
+through the earth. Not such is his blood, not such his stock."
+
+"If he is the devil and has horns on his head," said Zagloba, "so much
+the better, for he will have something to gore the Swedes with."
+
+"But that Pan Gosyevski and Pan Yudytski are arrested, well, well!"
+said Volodyovski, shaking his head. "The prince is not very amiable to
+guests who have confided in him."
+
+"What do you say, Michael?" answered Kharlamp. "He is amiable as he has
+never been in his life. He is now a real father to the knights. Think
+how some time ago he had always a frown on his forehead, and on his
+lips one word, 'Service.' A man was more afraid to go near his majesty
+than he was to stand before the king; and now he goes every day among
+the lieutenants and the officers, converses, asks each one about his
+family, his children, his property, calls each man by name, and
+inquires if injustice has been done to any one in service. He who among
+the highest lords will not own an equal, walked yesterday arm-in-arm
+with young Kmita. We could not believe our eyes; for though the family
+of Kmita is a great one, he is quite young, and likely many accusations
+are weighing on him. Of this you know best."
+
+"I know, I know," replied Volodyovski. "Has Kmita been here long?"
+
+"He is not here now, for he went yesterday to Cheykishki for a regiment
+of infantry stationed there. No one is now in such favor with the
+prince as Kmita. When he was going away the prince looked after him
+awhile and said, 'That man is equal to anything, and is ready to seize
+the devil himself by the tail if I tell him!' We heard this with our
+own ears. It is true that Kmita brought a squadron that has not an
+equal in the whole army,--men and horses like dragons!"
+
+"There is no use in talking, he is a valiant soldier, and in truth
+ready for everything," said Pan Michael. "He performed wonders in the
+last campaign, till a price was set on his head, for he led volunteers
+and carried on war himself."
+
+Further conversation was interrupted by the entrance of a new figure.
+This was a noble about forty years of age, small, dry, alert, wriggling
+like a mud-fish, with a small face, very thin lips, a scant mustache,
+and very crooked eyes. He was dressed in a ticking-coat, with such long
+sleeves that they covered his hands completely. When he had entered he
+bent double, then he straightened himself as suddenly as if moved by a
+spring, again he inclined with a low bow, turned his head as if he were
+taking it out of his own armpits, and began to speak hurriedly in a
+voice which recalled the squeaking of a rusty weather-cock,--
+
+"With the forehead, Pan Kharlamp, with the forehead. Ah! with the
+forehead, Pan Colonel, most abject servant!"
+
+"With the forehead, Pan Harasimovich," answered Kharlamp; "and what is
+your wish?"
+
+"God gave guests, distinguished guests. I came to offer my services and
+to inquire their rank."
+
+"Did they come to you, Pan Harasimovich?"
+
+"Certainly not to me, for I am not worthy of that; but because I take
+the place of the absent marshal. I have come to greet them profoundly."
+
+"It is far from you to the marshal," said Kharlamp; "for he is
+a personage with inherited land, while you with permission are
+under-starosta of Zabludovo."
+
+"A servant of the servants of Radzivill. That is true, Pan Kharlamp, I
+make no denial; God preserve me therefrom. But since the prince has
+heard of the guests, he has sent me to inquire who they are; therefore
+you will answer, Pan Kharlamp, if I were even a haiduk and not the
+under-starosta of Zabludovo."
+
+"Oh, I would answer even a monkey if he were to come with an order,"
+said Big Nose. "Listen now, and calk these names into yourself if your
+head is not able to hold them. This is Pan Skshetuski, that hero of
+Zbaraj; and this is his cousin Stanislav."
+
+"Great God! what do I hear?" cried Harasimovich.
+
+"This is Pan Zagloba."
+
+"Great God! what do I hear?"
+
+"If you are so confused at hearing my name," said Zagloba, "think of
+the confusion of the enemy in the field."
+
+"And this is Colonel Volodyovski," finished Kharlamp.
+
+"And he has a famous sabre, and besides is a Radzivill man." said
+Harasimovich, with a bow. "The prince's head is splitting from labor;
+but still he will find time for such knights, surely he will find it.
+Meanwhile with what can you be served? The whole castle is at the
+service of such welcome guests, and the cellars as well."
+
+"We have heard of the famous meads of Kyedani," said Zagloba,
+hurriedly.
+
+"Indeed!" answered Harasimovich, "there are glorious meads in Kyedani,
+glorious. I will send some hither for you to choose from right away. I
+hope that my benefactors will stay here long."
+
+"We have come hither," said Pan Stanislav, "not to leave the side of
+the prince."
+
+"Praiseworthy is your intention, the more so that trying times are at
+hand."
+
+When he had said this, Harasimovich wriggled and became as small as if
+an ell had been taken from his stature.
+
+"What is to be heard?" asked Kharlamp. "Is there any news?"
+
+"The prince has not closed an eye all night, for two envoys have come.
+Evil are the tidings, increasingly evil. Karl Gustav has already
+entered the Commonwealth after Wittemberg; Poznan is now occupied, all
+Great Poland is occupied, Mazovia will be occupied soon; the Swedes are
+in Lovich, right at Warsaw. Our king has fled from Warsaw, which he
+left undefended. To-day or to-morrow the Swedes will enter. They say
+that the king has lost a considerable battle, that he thinks of
+escaping to Cracow, and thence to foreign lands to ask aid. Evil,
+gracious gentlemen, my benefactors! Though there are some who say that
+it is well; for the Swedes commit no violence, observe agreements
+sacredly, collect no imposts, respect liberties, do not hinder the
+faith. Therefore all accept the protection of Karl Gustav willingly.
+For our king, Yan Kazimir, is at fault, greatly at fault. All is lost,
+lost for him! One would like to weep, but all is lost, lost!"
+
+"Why the devil do you wriggle like a mudfish going to the pot," howled
+Zagloba, "and speak of a misfortune as if you were glad of it?"
+
+Harasimovich pretended not to hear, and raising his eyes to heaven he
+repeated yet a number of times: "All is lost, lost for the ages! The
+Commonwealth cannot stand against three wars. Lost! The will of God,
+the will of God! Our prince alone can save Lithuania."
+
+The ill-omened words had not yet ceased to sound when Harasimovich
+vanished behind the door as quickly as if he had sunk through the
+earth, and the knights sat in gloom bent by the weight of terrible
+thoughts.
+
+"We shall go mad!" cried Volodyovski at last.
+
+"You are right," said Stanislav. "God give war, war at the
+earliest,--war in which a man does not ruin himself in thinking, nor
+yield his soul to despair, but fights."
+
+"We shall regret the first period of Hmelnitski's war," said Zagloba;
+"for though there were defeats then, there were no traitors."
+
+"Three such terrible wars, when in fact there is a lack of forces for
+one," said Stanislav.
+
+"Not a lack of forces, but of spirit. The country is perishing through
+viciousness. God grant us to live to something better!" said Pan Yan,
+gloomily.
+
+"We shall not rest till we are in the field," said Stanislav.
+
+"If we can only see this prince soon!" cried Zagloba.
+
+Their wishes were accomplished directly; for after an hour's time
+Harasimovich came again, with still lower bows, and with the
+announcement that the prince was waiting anxiously to see them.
+
+They sprang up at once, for they had already changed uniforms, and
+went. Harasimovich, in conducting them from the barracks, passed
+through the courtyard, which was full of soldiers and nobles. In some
+places they were conversing in crowds, evidently over the same news
+which the under-starosta of Zabludovo had brought the knights. On all
+faces were depicted lively alarm and a certain feverish expectation.
+Isolated groups of officers and nobles were listening to the speakers,
+who standing in the midst of them gesticulated violently. On the way
+were heard the words: "Vilna is burning, Vilna is burned!--No trace of
+it, nor the ashes! Warsaw is taken!--Untrue, not taken yet!--The Swedes
+are in Little Poland! The people of Syeradz will resist!--They will not
+resist, they will follow the example of Great Poland!--Treason!
+misfortune! O God, God! It is unknown where to put sabre or hand!"
+
+Such words as these, more and more terrible, struck the ears of the
+knights; but they went on pushing after Harasimovich through the
+soldiers and nobles with difficulty. In places acquaintances greeted
+Volodyovski: "How is your health, Michael? 'Tis evil with us; we are
+perishing! With the forehead, brave Colonel! And what guests are these
+whom you are taking to the prince?" Pan Michael answered not, wishing
+to escape delay; and in this fashion they went to the main body of the
+castle, in which the janissaries of the prince, in chain-mail and
+gigantic white caps, were on guard.
+
+In the antechamber and on the main staircase, set around with
+orange-trees, the throng was still greater than in the courtyard. They
+were discussing there the arrest of Gosyevski and Yudytski; for the
+affair had become known, and roused the minds of men to the utmost.
+They were astonished and lost in surmises, they were indignant or
+praised the foresight of the prince; but all hoped to hear the
+explanation of the riddle from Radzivill himself, therefore a river of
+heads was flowing along the broad staircase up to the hall of audience,
+in which at that time the prince was to receive colonels and the most
+intimate nobility. Soldiers disposed along the stone banisters to see
+that the throng was not too dense, repeated, from moment to moment,
+"Slowly, gracious gentlemen, slowly!" And the crowd pushed forward or
+halted for a moment, when a soldier stopped the way with a halbert so
+that those in front might have time to enter the hall.
+
+At last the blue vaultings of the hall gleamed before the open door,
+and our acquaintances entered. Their glances fell first on an
+elevation, placed in the depth of the hall, occupied by a brilliant
+retinue of knights and lords in rich, many-colored dresses. In front
+stood an empty arm-chair, pushed forward beyond the others. This chair
+had a lofty back, ending with the gilded coronet of the prince, from
+beneath which flowed downward orange-colored velvet trimmed with
+ermine.
+
+The prince was not in the hall yet; but Harasimovich, conducting the
+knights without interruption, pushed through the nobility till he
+reached a small door concealed in the wall at the side of the
+elevation. There he directed them to remain, and disappeared through
+the door.
+
+After a while he returned with the announcement that the prince asked
+them to enter.
+
+The two Skshetuskis, with Zagloba and Volodyovski, entered a small but
+very well-lighted room, having walls covered with leather stamped in
+flowers, which were gilded. The officers halted on seeing in the depth
+of the room, at a table covered with papers, two men conversing
+intently. One of them, still young, dressed in foreign fashion, wearing
+a wig with long locks falling to his shoulders, whispered something in
+the ear of his elder companion; the latter heard him with frowning
+brow, and nodded from time to time. So much was he occupied with the
+subject of the conversation that he did not turn attention at once to
+those who had entered.
+
+He was a man somewhat beyond forty years, of gigantic stature and great
+shoulders. He wore a scarlet Polish coat, fastened at the neck with
+costly brooches. He had an enormous face, with features expressing
+pride, importance, and power. It was at once the face of an angry lion,
+of a warrior, and a ruler. Long pendent mustaches lent it a stern
+expression, and altogether in its strength and size it was as if struck
+out of marble with great blows of a hammer. The brows were at that
+moment frowning from intense thought; but it could easily be seen that
+when they were frowning from anger, woe to those men and those armies
+on whom the thunders of that anger should fall.
+
+There was something so great in the form that it seemed to those
+knights that not only the room, but the whole castle was too narrow for
+it; in fact, their first impression had not deceived them, for sitting
+in their presence was Yanush Radzivill, prince at Birji and Dubinki,
+voevoda of Vilna and grand hetman of Lithuania,--a man so powerful and
+proud that in all his immense estates, in all his dignities, nay, in
+Jmud and in Lithuania itself, it was too narrow for him.
+
+The younger man in the long wig and foreign dress was Prince Boguslav,
+the cousin of Yanush. After a while he whispered something more in the
+ear of the hetman, and at last said audibly,--
+
+"I will leave, then, my signature on the document and go."
+
+"Since it cannot be otherwise, go," said Yanush, "though I would that
+you remained, for it is unknown what may happen."
+
+"You have planned everything properly; henceforth it is needful to look
+carefully to the cause, and now I commit you to God."
+
+"May the Lord have in care our whole house and bring it praise."
+
+"Adieu, mon frère."
+
+"Adieu."
+
+The two princes shook hands; then Boguslav went out hurriedly, and the
+grand hetman turned to the visitors.
+
+"Pardon me, gentlemen, that I let you wait," said he, with a low,
+deliberate voice; "but now time and attention are snatched from us on
+every side. I have heard your names, and rejoice in my soul that God
+sent me such knights in this crisis. Be seated, dear guests. Who of you
+is Pan Yan Skshetuski?"
+
+"I am, at the service of your highness."
+
+"Then you are a starosta--pardon me, I forgot."
+
+"I am not a starosta," answered Yan.
+
+"How is that?" asked the prince, frowning with his two mighty brows;
+"they have not made you a starosta for what you did at Zbaraj?"
+
+"I have never asked for the office."
+
+"But they should have made you starosta without the asking. How is
+this? What do you tell me? You rewarded with nothing, forgotten
+entirely? This is a wonder to me. But I am talking at random. It should
+astonish no man; for in these days only he is rewarded who has the back
+of a willow, light-bending. You are not a starosta, upon my word!
+Thanks be to God that you have come hither, for here we have not such
+short memories, and no service remains unrewarded. How is it with you,
+worthy Colonel Volodyovski?"
+
+"I have earned nothing yet."
+
+"Leave that to me, and now take this document, drawn up in Rossyeni, by
+which I give you Dydkyemie for life. It is not a bad piece of land, and
+a hundred ploughs go out to work there every spring. Take even that,
+for I cannot give more, and tell Pan Skshetuski that Radzivill does not
+forget his friends, nor those who give their service to the country
+under his leadership."
+
+"Your princely highness!" stammered Pan Michael, in confusion.
+
+"Say nothing, and pardon that it is so small; but tell these gentlemen
+that he who joins his fortune for good and ill with that of Radzivill
+will not perish. I am not king; but if I were, God is my witness that I
+would never forget such a Yan Skshetuski or such a Zagloba."
+
+"That is I!" said Zagloba, pushing himself forward sharply, for he had
+begun to be impatient that there was no mention of him.
+
+"I thought it was you, for I have been told that you were a man of
+advanced years."
+
+"I went to school in company with your highness's worthy father; and
+there was such knightly impulse in him from childhood that he took me
+to his confidence, for I loved the lance before Latin."
+
+To Pan Stanislav, who knew Zagloba less, it was strange to hear
+this, since only the day before, Zagloba said in Upita that he had
+gone to school, not with the late Prince Kryshtof, but with Yanush
+himself,--which was unlikely, for Prince Yanush was notably younger.
+
+"Indeed," said the prince; "so then you are from Lithuania by family?"
+
+"From Lithuania!" answered Zagloba, without hesitation.
+
+"Then I know that you need no reward, for we Lithuanians are used to be
+fed with ingratitude. As God is true, if I should give you your
+deserts, gentlemen, there would be nothing left for myself. But such is
+fate! We give our blood, lives, fortunes, and no one nods a head to us.
+Ah! 'tis hard; but as they sow will they reap. That is what God and
+justice command. It is you who slew the famous Burlai and cut off three
+heads at a blow in Zbaraj?"
+
+"I slew Burlai, your highness," answered Zagloba, "for it was said that
+no man could stand before him. I wished therefore to show younger
+warriors that manhood was not extinct in the Commonwealth. But as to
+cutting off the three heads, it may be that I did that in the thick of
+battle; but in Zbaraj some one else did it."
+
+The prince was silent awhile, then continued: "Does not that contempt
+pain you, gentlemen, with which they pay you?"
+
+"What is to be done, your highness, even if it is disagreeable to a
+man?" said Zagloba.
+
+"Well, comfort yourselves, for that must change. I am already your
+debtor, since you have come here; and though I am not king, still with
+me it will not end with promises."
+
+"Your princely highness," said Pan Yan, quickly and somewhat proudly,
+"we have come hither not for rewards and estates, but because the enemy
+has invaded the country, and we wish to go with our strength to assist
+it under the leadership of a famous warrior. My cousin Stanislav saw at
+Uistsie fear, disorder, shame, treason, and finally the enemy's
+triumph. Here under a great leader and a faithful defender of our
+country and king we will serve. Here not victories, not triumphs, but
+defeats and death await the enemy. This is why we have come to offer
+our service to your highness. We are soldiers; we want to fight, and
+are impatient for battle."
+
+"If such is your desire, you will be satisfied," answered the prince,
+with importance. "You will not wait long, though at first we shall
+march on another enemy, for the ashes of Vilna demand vengeance. To-day
+or to-morrow we shall march in that direction, and God grant will
+redeem the wrongs with interest. I will not detain you longer,
+gentlemen; you need rest, and work is burning me. But come in the
+evening to the hall; maybe some proper entertainment will take place
+before the march, for a great number of fair heads have assembled under
+our protection at Kyedani before the war. Worthy Colonel Volodyovski,
+entertain these welcome guests as if in your own house, and remember
+that what is mine is yours. Pan Harasimovich, tell my brother nobles
+assembled in the hall, that I will not go out, for I have not the time,
+and this evening they will learn everything that they wish to know. Be
+in good health, gentlemen, and be friends of Radzivill, for that is
+greatly important for him now."
+
+When he had said this, that mighty and proud lord gave his hand in turn
+to Zagloba, the two Skshetuskis, Volodyovski, and Kharlamp, as if to
+equals. His stern face grew radiant with a cordial and friendly smile,
+and that inaccessibleness usually surrounding him as with a dark cloud
+vanished completely.
+
+"That is a leader, that is a warrior!" said Stanislav, when on the
+return they had pushed themselves through the throng of nobles
+assembled in the audience-hall.
+
+"I would go into fire after him!" cried Zagloba. "Did you notice how he
+had all my exploits in his memory? It will be hot for the Swedes when
+that lion roars, and I second him. There is not another such man in the
+Commonwealth; and of the former men only Prince Yeremi first, and
+second Konyetspolski, the father, might be compared with him. That is
+not some mere castellan, the first of his family to sit in a senator's
+chair, on which he has not yet smoothed out the wrinkles of his
+trousers, and still turns up his nose and calls the nobles younger
+brothers, and gives orders right away to paint his portrait, so that
+while dining he may have his senatorship before him, since he has
+nothing to look at behind. Pan Michael, you have come to fortune. It is
+evident now that if a man rubs against Radzivill he will gild at once
+his threadbare coat. It is easier to get promotion here, I see, than a
+quart of rotten pears with us. Stick your hands into the water in this
+place, and with closed eyes you will catch a pike. For me he is the
+magnate of magnates! God give you luck, Pan Michael! You are as
+confused as a young woman just married; but that is nothing! What is
+the name of your life estate? Dudkovo, or something? Heathen names in
+this country! Throw nuts against the wall, and you will have in the
+rattling the proper name of a village or noble. But names are nothing
+if the income is only good."
+
+"I am terribly confused, I confess," said Pan Michael, "because what
+you say about easy promotion is not true. More than once have I heard
+old soldiers charge the prince with avarice, but now unexpected favors
+are showered one after the other."
+
+"Stick that document behind your belt,--do that for me,--and if any one
+in future complains of the thanklessness of the prince, draw it out and
+give it to him on the nose. You will not find a better argument."
+
+"One thing I see clearly: the prince is attracting people to his
+person, and is forming plans for which he needs help." said Pan Yan.
+
+"But have you not heard of those plans?" asked Zagloba. "Has he not
+said that we have to go to avenge the ashes of Vilna? They complained
+that he had robbed Vilna, but he wants to show that he not only does
+not need other people's property, but is ready to give of his own. That
+is a beautiful ambition, Yan, God give us more of such senators."
+
+Conversing thus, they found themselves in the courtyard, to which every
+moment rode in now divisions of mounted troops, now crowds of armed
+nobles, and now carriages rolled in, bringing persons from the country
+around, with their wives and children.
+
+Seeing this, Pan Michael drew all with him to the gate to look at those
+entering.
+
+"Who knows, Michael, this is your fortunate day? Maybe there is a wife
+for you among these nobles' daughters," said Zagloba. "Look! see, there
+an open carriage is approaching, and in it something white is sitting."
+
+"That is not a lady, but a man who may marry me to one," answered the
+swift-eyed Volodyovski; for from a distance he recognized the bishop
+Parchevski, coming with Father Byalozor, archdeacon of Vilna.
+
+"If they are priests, how are they visiting a Calvinist?"
+
+"What is to be done? When it's necessary for public affairs, they must
+be polite."
+
+"Oh, it is crowded here! Oh, it is noisy!" cried Zagloba, with delight.
+"A man grows rusty in the country, like an old key in a lock; here I
+think of better times. I'm a rascal if I don't make love to some pretty
+girl to-day."
+
+Zagloba's words were interrupted by the soldiers keeping guard at the
+gate, who rushing out from their booths stood in two ranks to salute
+the bishop; and he rode past, making the sign of the cross with his
+hand on each side, blessing the soldiers and the nobles assembled near
+by.
+
+"The prince is a polite man," said Zagloba, "since he honors the
+bishop, though he does not recognize the supremacy of the Church. God
+grant this to be the first step toward conversion!"
+
+"Oh, nothing will come of it! Not few were the efforts of his first
+wife, and she accomplished nothing, only died from vexation. But why do
+the Scots not leave the line? It is evident that another dignitary will
+pass."
+
+In fact, a whole retinue of armed soldiers appeared in the distance.
+
+"Those are Ganhoff's dragoons,--I know them," said Volodyovski; "but
+some carriages are in the middle!"
+
+At that moment the drums began to rattle.
+
+"Oh, it is evident that some one greater than the bishop of Jmud is
+there!" cried Zagloba.
+
+"Wait, they are here already."
+
+"There are two carriages in the middle."
+
+"True. In the first sits Pan Korf, the voevoda of Venden."
+
+"Of course!" cried Pan Yan; "that is an acquaintance from Zbaraj."
+
+The voevoda recognized them, and first Volodyovski, whom he had
+evidently seen oftener; in passing he leaned from the carriage and
+cried,--
+
+"I greet you, gentlemen, old comrades! See, I bring guests!"
+
+In the second carriage, with the arms of Prince Yanush, drawn by four
+white horses, sat two gentlemen of lordly mien, dressed in foreign
+fashion, in broad-brimmed hats, from under which the blond curls of
+wigs flowed to their shoulders over wide lace collars. One was very
+portly, wore a pointed light-blond beard, and mustaches bushy and
+turned up at the ends; the other was younger, dressed wholly in black.
+He had a less knightly form, but perhaps a higher office, for a gold
+chain glittered on his neck, with some order at the end. Apparently
+both were foreigners, for they looked with curiosity at the castle, the
+people, and the dresses.
+
+"What sort of devils?" asked Zagloba.
+
+"I do not know them, I have never seen them," answered Volodyovski.
+
+Meanwhile the carriages passed, and began to turn in the yard so as to
+reach the main entrance of the castle, but the dragoons remained
+outside the gate. "Volodyovski knew the officer leading them.
+
+"Tokarzevich!" called he, "come to us, please."
+
+"With the forehead, worthy Colonel."
+
+"And what kind of hedgehogs are you bringing?"
+
+"Those are Swedes."
+
+"Swedes!"
+
+"Yes, and men of distinction. The portly one is Count Löwenhaupt, and
+the slender man is Benedikt Schitte, Baron von Duderhoff."
+
+"Duderhoff?" asked Zagloba.
+
+"What do they want here?" inquired Volodyovski.
+
+"God knows!" answered the officer. "We escorted them from Birji.
+Undoubtedly they have come to negotiate with our prince, for we heard
+in Birji that he is assembling a great army and is going to move on
+Livonia."
+
+"Ah, rascals! you are growing timid," cried Zagloba. "Now you are
+invading Great Poland, now you are deposing the king, and now you are
+paying court to Radzivill, so that he should not tickle you in Livonia.
+Wait! you will run away to your Dunderhoff till your stockings are
+down. We'll soon dunder with you. Long life to Radzivill!"
+
+"Long life!" repeated the nobles, standing near the gate.
+
+"Defender of the country! Our shield! Against the Swedes, worthy
+gentlemen, against the Swedes!"
+
+A circle was formed. Every moment nobles collected from the yard;
+seeing which, Zagloba sprang on the low guard-post of the gate, and
+began to cry,--
+
+"Worthy gentlemen, listen! Whoso does not know me, to him I will say
+that I am that defender of Zbaraj who with this old hand slew Burlai,
+the greatest hetman after Hmelnitski; whoso has not heard of Zagloba
+was shelling peas, it is clear, in the first period of the Cossack war,
+or feeling hens (for eggs), or herding calves,--labors which I do not
+connect with such honorable cavaliers as you."
+
+"He is a great knight!" called numerous voices. "There is no greater in
+the Commonwealth! Hear!"
+
+"Listen, honorable gentlemen. My old bones craved repose; better for me
+to rest in the bakehouse, to eat cheese and cream, to walk in the
+gardens and gather apples, or putting my hands behind my back to stand
+over harvesters or pat a girl on the shoulder. And it is certain that
+for the enemy it would have been better to leave me at rest; for the
+Swedes and the Cossacks know that I have a very heavy hand, and God
+grant that my name is as well known to you, gentlemen, as to the
+enemy."
+
+"What kind of rooster is that crowing so loud?" asked some voice in the
+crowd, suddenly.
+
+"Don't interrupt! Would you were dead!" cried others.
+
+But Zagloba heard him. "Forgive that cockerel, gentlemen," said he;
+"for he knows not yet on which end of him is his tail, nor on which his
+head."
+
+The nobles burst into mighty laughter, and the confused disturber
+pushed quickly behind the crowd, to escape the sneers which came
+raining on his head.
+
+"I return to the subject," said Zagloba. "I repeat, rest would be
+proper for me; but because the country is in a paroxysm, because the
+enemy is trampling our land, I am here, worthy gentlemen, with you to
+resist the enemy in the name of that mother who nourished us all. Whoso
+will not stand by her to-day, whoso will not run to save her, is not a
+son, but a step-son; he is unworthy of her love. I, an old man, am
+going, let the will of God be done; and if it comes to me to die, with
+my last breath will I cry, 'Against the Swedes! brothers, against the
+Swedes!' Let us swear that we will not drop the sabre from our hands
+till we drive them out of the country."
+
+"We are ready to do that without oaths!" cried numbers of voices. "We
+will go where our hetman the prince leads us; we will go where 'tis
+needful."
+
+"Worthy brothers, you have seen how two stocking-wearers came here in a
+gilded carriage. They know that there is no trifling with Radzivill.
+They will follow him from chamber to chamber, and kiss him on the
+elbows to give them peace. But the prince, worthy gentlemen, with whom
+I have been advising and from whom I have just returned, has assured
+me, in the name of all Lithuania, that there will be no negotiations,
+no parchments, nothing but war and war!"
+
+"War! war!" repeated, as an echo, the voices of the hearers.
+
+"But because the leader," continued Zagloba, "will begin the more
+boldly, the surer he is of his soldiers, let us show him, worthy
+gentlemen, our sentiments. And now let us go under the windows of the
+prince and shout, 'Down with the Swedes!' After me, worthy gentlemen!"
+
+Then he sprang from the post and moved forward, and after him the
+crowd. They came under the very windows with an uproar increasing each
+moment, till at last it was mingled in one gigantic shout,--"Down with
+the Swedes! down with the Swedes!"
+
+Immediately Pan Korf, the voevoda of Venden, ran out of the antechamber
+greatly confused; after him Ganhoff; and both began to restrain the
+nobles, quieting them, begging them to disperse.
+
+"For God's sake!" said Korf, "in the upper hall the window-panes are
+rattling. You gentlemen do not think what an awkward time you have
+chosen for your shouting. How can you treat envoys with disrespect, and
+give an example of insubordination? Who roused you to this?"
+
+"I," said Zagloba. "Your grace, tell the prince, in the name of us all,
+that we beg him to be firm, that we are ready to remain with him to the
+last drop of our blood."
+
+"I thank you, gentlemen, in the name of the hetman, I thank you; but I
+beg you to disperse. Consider, worthy gentlemen. By the living God,
+consider that you are sinking the country! Whoso insults an envoy
+to-day, renders a bear's service to the Commonwealth."
+
+"What do we care for envoys! We want to fight, not to negotiate!"
+
+"Your courage comforts me. The time for fighting will come before long,
+God grant very soon. Rest now before the expedition. It is time for a
+drink of spirits and lunch. It is bad to fight on an empty stomach."
+
+"That is as true as I live!" cried Zagloba, first.
+
+"True, he struck the right spot. Since the prince knows our sentiments,
+we have nothing to do here!"
+
+And the crowd began to disperse. The greater part flowed on to rooms in
+which many tables were already spread. Zagloba sat at the head of one
+of them. Pan Korf and Colonel Ganhoff returned then to the prince, who
+was sitting at counsel with the Swedish envoys, Bishop Parchevski,
+Father Byalozor, Pan Adam Komorovski, and Pan Alexander Myerzeyevski, a
+courtier of Yan Kazimir, who was stopping for the time in Kyedani.
+
+"Who incited that tumult?" asked the prince, from whose lion-like face
+anger had not yet disappeared.
+
+"It was that noble who has just come here, that famous Zagloba,"
+answered Pan Korf.
+
+"That is a brave knight," said the prince, "but he is beginning to
+manage me too soon."
+
+Having said this, he beckoned to Colonel Ganhoff and whispered
+something in his ear.
+
+Zagloba meanwhile, delighted with himself, went to the lower halls with
+solemn tread, having with him Volodyovski, with Yan and Stanislav
+Skshetuski.
+
+"Well, friends, I have barely appeared and have roused love for the
+country in those nobles. It will be easier now for the prince to send
+off the envoys with nothing, for all he has to do is to call upon us.
+That will not be, I think, without reward, though it is more a question
+of honor with me. Why have you halted, Michael, as if turned to stone,
+with eyes fixed on that carriage at the gate?"
+
+"That is she!" said Volodyovski, with twitching mustaches. "By the
+living God, that is she herself!"
+
+"Who?"
+
+"Panna Billevich."
+
+"She who refused you?"
+
+"The same. Look, gentlemen, look! Might not a man wither away from
+regret?"
+
+"Wait a minute!" said Zagloba, "we must have a closer look."
+
+Meanwhile the carriage, describing a half-circle, approached the
+speakers. Sitting in it was a stately noble with gray mustaches, and at
+his side Panna Aleksandra; beautiful as ever, calm, and full of
+dignity.
+
+Pan Michael fixed on her a complaining look and bowed low, but she did
+not see him in the crowd.
+
+"That is some lordly child," said Zagloba, gazing at her fine, noble
+features, "too delicate for a soldier. I confess that she is a beauty,
+but I prefer one of such kind that for the moment you would ask, 'Is
+that a cannon or a woman?'"
+
+"Do you know who that is who has just passed?" asked Pan Michael of a
+noble standing near.
+
+"Of course," answered the noble; "that is Pan Tomash Billevich,
+sword-bearer of Rossyeni. All here know him, for he is an old servant
+and friend of the Radzivills."
+
+
+
+
+ CHAPTER XIV.
+
+
+The prince did not show himself to the nobles that day till evening,
+for he dined with the envoys and some dignitaries with whom he had held
+previous counsel. But orders had come to the colonels to have the
+regiments of Radzivill's guard ready, and especially the infantry under
+foreign officers. It smelt of powder in the air. The castle, though not
+fortified, was surrounded with troops as if a battle was to be fought
+at its walls. Men expected that the campaign would begin on the
+following morning at latest; of this there were visible signs, for the
+countless servants of the prince were busied with packing into wagons
+arms, valuable implements, and the treasury of the prince.
+
+Harasimovich told the nobles that the wagons would go to Tykotsin in
+Podlyasye, for it was dangerous to leave the treasury in the undefended
+castle of Kyedani. Military stores were also prepared to be sent after
+the army. Reports went out that Gosyevski was arrested because he would
+not join his squadrons stationed at Troki with those of Radzivill, thus
+exposing the whole expedition to evident destruction. Moreover
+preparations for the march, the movement of troops, the rattle of
+cannon drawn out of the castle arsenal, and all that turmoil which ever
+accompanies the first movements of military expeditions, turned
+attention in another direction, and caused the knights to forget the
+arrest of Pan Gosyevski and cavalier Yudytski.
+
+The nobles dining in the immense lower halls attached to the castle
+spoke only of the war, of the fire at Vilna, now burning ten days and
+burning with ever-growing fury, of news from Warsaw, of the advance of
+the Swedes, and of the Swedes themselves, against whom, as against
+faith-breakers attacking a neighbor in spite of treaties still valid
+for six years, hearts and minds were indignant and souls filled with
+rancor. News of swift advances, of the capitulation of Uistsie, of the
+occupation of Great Poland and the large towns, of the threatened
+invasion of Mazovia and the inevitable capture of Warsaw, not only did
+not cause alarm, but on the contrary roused daring and a desire for
+battle. This took place since the causes of Swedish success were
+evident to all. Hitherto the Swedes had not met a real army once, or a
+real leader. Radzivill was the first warrior by profession with whom
+they had to measure strength, and who at the same time roused in the
+nobility absolute confidence in his military gifts, especially as his
+colonels gave assurance that they would conquer the Swedes in the open
+field.
+
+"Their defeat is inevitable!" said Pan Stankyevich, an old and
+experienced soldier. "I remember former wars, and I know that they
+always defended themselves in castles, in fortified camps, and in
+trenches. They never dared to come to the open field, for they feared
+cavalry greatly, and when trusting in their numbers they did come out,
+they received a proper drilling. It was not victory that gave Great
+Poland into their hands, but treason and the imbecility of general
+militia."
+
+"True," said Zagloba. "The Swedish people are weak, for their land is
+terribly barren, and they have no bread; they grind pine cones, and of
+that sort of flour make ash-cakes which smell of resin. Others go to
+the seashore and devour whatever the waves throw up, besides fighting
+about it as a tidbit. Terrible destitution! so there are no people more
+greedy for their neighbors' goods. Even the Tartars have horse-flesh in
+plenty, but these Swedes do not see meat once a year, and are pinched
+with hunger unless when a good haul of fish comes."
+
+Here Zagloba turned to Stankyevich: "Have you ever made the
+acquaintance of the Swedes?"
+
+"Under Prince Krishtof, the father of the present hetman."
+
+"And I under Konyetspolski, the father. We gave Gustavus Adolphus many
+crushing defeats in Prussia, and took no small number of prisoners;
+there I became acquainted with them through and through, and learned
+all their methods. Our men wondered at them not a little, for you must
+know that the Swedes as a people always wading in water and having
+their greatest income from the sea, are divers _exquisitissimi_. What
+would you, gentlemen, say to what we made them do? We would throw one
+of the rascals into a hole in the ice, and he would swim out through
+another hole with a live herring in his mouth."
+
+"In God's name, what do you tell us?"
+
+"May I fall down a corpse on this spot if with my own eyes I have not
+seen this done at least a hundred times, as well as other wonderful
+customs of theirs! I remember also that as soon as they fed on Prussian
+bread, they did not want to go home. Pan Stankyevich says truly that
+they are not sturdy soldiers. They have infantry which is so-so; but
+the cavalry--God pity us! for there are no horses in their country, and
+they cannot train themselves to riding from childhood."
+
+"Probably we shall not attack them first, but march on Vilna," said Pan
+Shchyt.
+
+"True, I gave that advice to the prince myself, when he asked what I
+thought of this matter," answered Zagloba. "But when we have finished
+with the others,[19] we will go against the Swedes. The envoys upstairs
+must be sweating!"
+
+"They are received politely," said Pan Zalenski, "but they will not
+effect the least thing; the best proof of that is that orders are
+issued to the army."
+
+"Dear God, dear God!" said Pan Tvarkovski, judge of Rossyeni, "how
+alacrity comes with danger! We were well-nigh despairing when we had to
+do with one enemy, but now we have two."
+
+"Of course," answered Stankyevich. "It happens not infrequently, that
+we let ourselves be beaten till patience is lost, and then in a moment
+vigor and daring appear. Is it little that we have suffered, little
+endured? We relied on the king and the general militia of the kingdom,
+not counting on our own force, till we are in a dilemma; now we must
+either defeat both enemies or perish completely."
+
+"God will assist us! We have had enough of this delay."
+
+"They have put the dagger to our throats."
+
+"We too will put it to theirs; we'll show the kingdom fellows what sort
+of soldiers we are! There will be no Uistsie with us, as God is in
+heaven!"
+
+In the measure of the cups, heads became heated, and warlike ardor
+increased. At the brink of a precipice the last effort often brings
+safety; this was understood by those crowds of soldiers and that
+nobility whom so recently Yan Kazimir had called to Grodno with
+despairing universals to form the general militia. Now all hearts, all
+minds were turned to Radzivill; all lips repeated that terrible name,
+which till recently had ever been coupled with victory. In fact, he had
+but to collect and move the scattered and drowsy strength of the
+country, to stand at the head of a power sufficient to end both wars
+with victory.
+
+After dinner the colonels were summoned to the prince in the following
+order: Mirski, lieutenant of the armored squadron of the hetman; and
+after him Stankyevich, Ganhoff, Kharlamp, Volodyovski, and Sollohub.
+Old soldiers wondered a little that they were asked singly, and not
+collectively to counsel; but it was a pleasant surprise, for each came
+out with some reward, with some evident proof of the prince's favor; in
+return the prince asked only loyalty and confidence, which all offered
+from heart and soul. The hetman asked anxiously also if Kmita had
+returned, and ordered that Pan Andrei's arrival be reported to him.
+
+Kmita came, but late in the evening, when the hall was lighted and the
+guests had begun to assemble. He went first to the barracks to change
+his uniform; there he found Volodyovski, and made the acquaintance of
+the rest of the company.
+
+"I am uncommonly glad to see you and your famous friends," said he,
+shaking the hand of the little knight, "as glad as to see a brother!
+You may be sure of this, for I am unable to pretend. It is true that
+you went through my forehead in evil fashion, but you put me on my feet
+afterward, which I shall not forget till death. In presence of all, I
+say that had it not been for you I should be at this moment behind the
+grating. Would more such men were born! Who thinks differently is a
+fool, and may the devil carry me off if I will not clip his ears."
+
+"Say no more!"
+
+"I will follow you into fire, even should I perish. Let any man come
+forward who does not believe me!"
+
+Here Pan Andrei cast a challenging look on the officers. But no one
+contradicted him, for all loved and respected Pan Michael; but Zagloba
+said,--
+
+"This is a sulphurous sort of soldier; give him to the hangman! It
+seems to me that I shall have a great liking to you for the love you
+bear Pan Michael, for I am the man to ask first how worthy he is."
+
+"Worthier than any of us!" said Kmita, with his usual abruptness. Then
+he looked at the Skshetuskis, at Zagloba, and added: "Pardon me,
+gentlemen, I have no wish to offend any one, for I know that you are
+honorable men and great knights; be not angry, for I wish to deserve
+your friendship."
+
+"There is no harm done," said Pan Yan; "what's in the heart may come to
+the lip."
+
+"Let us embrace!" cried Zagloba.
+
+"No need to say such a thing twice to me!"
+
+They fell into each other's arms. Then Kmita said, "To-day we must
+drink, it cannot be avoided!"
+
+"No need to say such a thing twice to me!" said Zagloba, like an echo.
+
+"We'll slip away early to the barracks, and I'll make provision."
+
+Pan Michael began to twitch his mustaches greatly. "You will have no
+great wish to slip out," thought he, looking at Kmita, "when you see
+who is in the hall tonight." And he opened his mouth to tell Kmita that
+the sword-bearer of Rossyeni and Olenka had come; but he grew as it
+were faint at heart, and turned the conversation. "Where is your
+squadron?" asked he.
+
+"Here, ready for service. Harasimovich was with me, and brought an
+order from the prince to have the men on horseback at midnight. I asked
+him if we were all to march; he said not. I know not what it means. Of
+other officers some have the same order, others have not. But all the
+foreign infantry have received it."
+
+"Perhaps a part of the army will march to-night and a part in the
+morning," said Pan Yan.
+
+"In every case I will have a drink here with you, gentlemen. Let the
+squadron go on by itself; I can come up with it afterward in an hour."
+
+At that moment Harasimovich rushed in. "Serene great mighty banneret of
+Orsha!" cried he, bowing in the doorway.
+
+"What? Is there a fire? I am here!" said Kmita.
+
+"To the prince! to the prince!"
+
+"Straightway, only let me put on my uniform. Boy, my coat and belt, or
+I'll kill thee!"
+
+The boy brought the rest of the uniform in a twinkle; and a few minutes
+later Pan Kmita, arrayed as for a wedding, was hurrying to the prince.
+He was radiant, he seemed so splendid. He had a vest of silver brocade
+with star-shaped buttons, from which there was a gleam over his whole
+figure; the vest was fastened at the neck with a great sapphire. Over
+that a coat of blue velvet; a white belt of inestimable value, so thin
+that it might be drawn through a finger-ring. A silver-mounted sword
+set with sapphires hung from the belt by silk pendants; behind the belt
+was thrust the baton, which indicated his office. This dress became the
+young knight wonderfully, and it would have been difficult in that
+countless throng gathered at Kyedani to find a more shapely man.
+
+Pan Michael sighed while looking at him; and when Kmita had vanished
+beyond the door of the barracks he said to Zagloba, "With a fair head
+there is no opposing a man like that."
+
+"But take thirty years from me," answered Zagloba.
+
+When Kmita entered, the prince also was dressed, attended by two
+negroes; he was about to leave the room. The prince and Pan Andrei
+remained face to face.
+
+"God give you health for hurrying!" said the hetman.
+
+"At the service of your highness."
+
+"But the squadron?"
+
+"According to order."
+
+"The men are reliable?"
+
+"They will go into fire, to hell."
+
+"That is good! I need such men,--and such as you, equal to anything. I
+repeat continually that on no one more than you do I count."
+
+"Your highness, my services cannot equal those of old soldiers; but if
+we have to march against the enemy of the country, God sees that I
+shall not be in the rear."
+
+"I do not diminish the services of the old," said the prince, "though
+there may come such perils, such grievous junctures, that the most
+faithful will totter."
+
+"May he perish for nothing who deserts the person of your highness in
+danger!"
+
+The prince looked quickly into the face of Kmita. "And you will not
+draw back?"
+
+The young knight flushed. "What do you wish to say, your princely
+highness? I have confessed to you all my sins, and the sum of
+them is such that I thank only the fatherly heart of your highness
+for forgiveness. But in all these sins one is not to be
+found,--ingratitude."
+
+"Nor disloyalty. You confessed to me as to a father; I not only forgave
+you as a father, but I came to love you as that son--whom God has not
+given me, for which reason it is often oppressive for me in the world.
+Be then a friend to me."
+
+When he had said this, the prince stretched out his hand. The young
+knight seized it, and without hesitation pressed it to his lips.
+
+They were both silent for a long time; suddenly the prince fixed his
+eyes on the eyes of Kmita and said, "Panna Billevich is here!"
+
+Kmita grew pale, and began to mutter something unintelligible.
+
+"I sent for her on purpose so that the misunderstanding between you
+might be at an end. You will see her at once, as the mourning for her
+grandfather is over. To-day, too, though God sees that my head is
+bursting from labor, I have spoken with the sword-bearer of Rossyeni."
+
+Kmita seized his head. "With what can I repay your highness, with what
+can I repay?"
+
+"I told him emphatically that it is my will that you and she should be
+married, and he will not be hostile. I commanded him also to prepare
+the maiden for it gradually. We have time. All depends upon you, and I
+shall be happy if a reward from my hand goes to you; and God grant you
+to await many others, for you must rise high. You have offended because
+you are young; but you have won glory not the last in the field, and
+all young men are ready to follow you everywhere. As God lives, you
+must rise high! Small offices are not for such a family as yours. If
+you know, you are a relative of the Kishkis, and my mother was a
+Kishki. But you need sedateness; for that, marriage is the best thing.
+Take that maiden if she has pleased your heart, and remember who gives
+her to you."
+
+"Your highness, I shall go wild, I believe! My life, my blood belongs
+to your highness. What must I do to thank you,--what? Tell me, command
+me!"
+
+"Return good for good. Have faith in me, have confidence that what I do
+I do for the public good. Do not fall away from me when you see the
+treason and desertion of others, when malice increases, when--" Here
+the prince stopped suddenly.
+
+"I swear," said Kmita, with ardor, "and give my word of honor to remain
+by the person of your highness, my leader, father, and benefactor, to
+my last breath."
+
+Then Kmita looked with eyes full of fire at the prince, and was alarmed
+at the change which had suddenly come over him. His face was purple,
+the veins swollen, drops of sweat were hanging thickly on his lofty
+forehead, and his eyes cast an unusual gleam.
+
+"What is the matter, your highness?" asked the knight, unquietly.
+
+"Nothing! nothing!"
+
+Radzivill rose, moved with hurried step to a kneeling desk, and taking
+from it a crucifix, said with powerful, smothered voice, "Swear on this
+cross that you will not leave me till death."
+
+In spite of all his readiness and ardor, Kmita looked for a while at
+him with astonishment.
+
+"On this passion of Christ, swear!" insisted the hetman.
+
+"On this passion of Christ, I swear!" said Kmita, placing his finger on
+the crucifix.
+
+"Amen!" said the prince, with solemn voice.
+
+An echo in the lofty chamber repeated somewhere under the arch, "Amen,"
+and a long silence followed. There was to be heard only the breathing
+of the powerful breast of Radzivill. Kmita did not remove from the
+hetman his astonished eyes.
+
+"Now you are mine,' said the prince, at last.
+
+"I have always belonged to your highness," answered the young knight,
+hastily; "but be pleased to explain to me what is passing. Why does
+your highness doubt? Or does anything threaten your person? Has any
+treason, have any machinations been discovered?"
+
+"The time of trial is approaching," said the prince, gloomily, "and as
+to enemies do you not know that Pan Gosyevski, Pan Yudytski, and the
+voevoda of Vityebsk would be glad to bury me in the bottom of the pit?
+This is the case! The enemies of my house increase, treason spreads,
+and public defeats threaten. Therefore, I say, the hour of trial draws
+near."
+
+Kmita was silent; but the last words of the prince did not disperse the
+darkness which had settled around his mind, and he asked himself in
+vain what could threaten at that moment the powerful Radzivill. For he
+stood at the head of greater forces than ever. In Kyedani itself and in
+the neighborhood there were so many troops that if the prince had such
+power before he marched to Shklov the fortune of the whole war would
+have come out differently beyond doubt.
+
+Gosyevski and Yudytski were, it is true, ill-wishers, but he had both
+in his hands and under guard, and as to the voevoda of Vityebsk he was
+too virtuous a man, too good a citizen to give cause for fear of any
+opposition or machinations from his side on the eve of a new expedition
+against enemies.
+
+"God knows I understand nothing!" cried Kmita, being unable in general
+to restrain his thoughts.
+
+"You will understand all to-day," said Radzivill, calmly. "Now let us
+go to the hall."
+
+And taking the young colonel by the arm, he turned with him toward the
+door. They passed through a number of rooms. From a distance out of the
+immense hall came the sound of the orchestra, which was directed by a
+Frenchman brought on purpose by Prince Boguslav. They were playing a
+minuet which at that time was danced at the French court. The mild
+tones were blended with the sound of many voices. Prince Radzivill
+halted and listened.
+
+"God grant," said he, after a moment, "that all these guests whom I
+have received under my roof will not pass to my enemies to-morrow."
+
+"Your highness," said Kmita, "I hope that there are no Swedish
+adherents among them."
+
+Radzivill quivered and halted suddenly.
+
+"What do you wish to say?"
+
+"Nothing, worthy prince, but that honorable soldiers are rejoicing
+there."
+
+"Let us go on. Time will show, and God will decide who is honorable.
+Let us go!"
+
+At the door itself stood twenty pages,--splendid lads, dressed in
+feathers and satin. Seeing the hetman, they formed in two lines. When
+the prince came near, he asked, "Has her princely highness entered the
+hall?"
+
+"She has, your highness."
+
+"And the envoys?"
+
+"They are here also."
+
+"Open!"
+
+Both halves of the door opened in the twinkle of an eye; a flood of
+light poured in and illuminated the gigantic form of the hetman, who
+having behind him Kmita and the pages, went toward the elevation on
+which were placed chairs for the most distinguished guests.
+
+A movement began in the hall; at once all eyes were turned to the
+prince, and one shout was wrested from hundreds of breasts: "Long live
+Radzivill! long live! Long live the hetman! long live!"
+
+The prince bowed with head and hand, then began to greet the guests
+assembled on the elevation, who rose the moment he entered. Among the
+best known, besides the princess herself, were the two Swedish envoys,
+the envoy of Moscow, the voevoda of Venden, Bishop Parchevski, the
+priest Byalozor, Pan Komorovski, Pan Myerzeyevski, Pan Hlebovich,
+starosta of Jmud, brother-in-law of the hetman, a young Pats, Colonel
+Ganhoff, Colonel Mirski, Weisenhoff, the envoy of the Prince of
+Courland, and ladies in the suite of the princess.
+
+The hetman, as was proper for a welcoming host, began by greeting the
+envoys, with whom he exchanged a few friendly words; then he greeted
+others, and when he had finished he sat on the chair with a canopy of
+ermine, and gazed at the hall in which shouts' were still sounding:
+"May he live! May he be our hetman! May he live!"
+
+Kmita, hidden behind the canopy, looked also at the throng. His glance
+darted from face to face, seeking among them the beloved features of
+her who at that moment held all the soul and heart of the knight. His
+heart beat like a hammer.
+
+"She is here! After a while I shall see her, I shall speak to her,"
+said he in thought. And he sought and sought with more and more
+eagerness, with increasing disquiet. "There! beyond the feathers of a
+fan some dark brows are visible, a white forehead and blond hair. That
+is she!" Kmita held his breath, as if fearing to frighten away the
+picture; then the feathers moved and the face was disclosed. "No! that
+is not Olenka, that is not that dear one, the dearest." His glance
+flies farther, embraces charming forms, slips over feathers and satin,
+faces blooming like flowers, and is mistaken each moment. That is she,
+not she! Till at last, see! in the depth, near the drapery of the
+window, something white is moving, and it grew dark in the eyes of the
+knight; that was Olenka, the dear one, the dearest.
+
+The orchestra begins to play; again throngs pass. Ladies are moving
+around, shapely cavaliers are glittering; but he, like one blind and
+deaf, sees nothing, only looks at her as eagerly as if beholding her
+for the first time. She seems the same Olenka from Vodokty, but also
+another. In that great hall and in that throng she seems, as it were,
+smaller, and her face more delicate, one would say childlike. You might
+take her all in your arms and caress her! And then again she is the
+same, though different,--the very same features, the same sweet lips,
+the same lashes casting shade on her cheeks, the same forehead, clear,
+calm, beloved. Here memory, like lightning-flashes, began to bring
+before the eyes of Pan Andrei that servants' hall in Vodokty where he
+saw her the first time, and those quiet rooms in which they had sat
+together. What delight only just to remember! And the sleigh-ride to
+Mitruny, the time that he kissed her! After that, people began to
+estrange them, and to rouse her against him.
+
+"Thunderbolts crush it!" cried Kmita, in his mind. "What have I had and
+what have I lost? How near she has been and how far is she now!"
+
+She sits there far off, like a stranger; she does not even know that he
+is here. Wrath, but at the same time immeasurable sorrow seized Pan
+Andrei,--sorrow for which he had no expression save a scream from his
+soul, but a scream that passed not his lips: "O thou Olenka!"
+
+More than once Kmita was so enraged at himself for his previous deeds
+that he wished to tell his own men to stretch him out and give him a
+hundred blows, but never had he fallen into such a rage as that time
+when after long absence he saw her again, still more wonderful than
+ever, more wonderful indeed than he had imagined. At that moment he
+wished to torture himself; but because he was among people, in a worthy
+company, he only ground his teeth, and as if wishing to give himself
+still greater pain, he repeated in mind: "It is good for thee thus,
+thou fool! good for thee!"
+
+Then the sounds of the orchestra were silent again, and Pan Andrei
+heard the voice of the hetman: "Come with me."
+
+Kmita woke as from a dream.
+
+The prince descended from the elevation, and went among the guests. On
+his face was a mild and kindly smile, which seemed still more to
+enhance the majesty of his figure. That was the same lordly man who in
+his time, while receiving Queen Marya Ludwika in Nyeporente,
+astonished, amazed, and eclipsed the French courtiers, not only by his
+luxury, but by the polish of his manners,--the same of whom Jean La
+Boureur wrote with such homage in the account of his journey. This time
+he halted every moment before the most important matrons, the most
+respectable nobles and colonels, having for each of the guests some
+kindly word, astonishing those present by his memory and winning in a
+twinkle all hearts. The eyes of the guests followed him wherever he
+moved. Gradually he approached the sword-bearer of Rossyeni, Pan
+Billevich, and said,--
+
+"I thank you, old friend, for having come, though I had the right to be
+angry. Billeviche is not a hundred miles from Kyedani, but you are a
+_rara avis_ (rare bird) under my roof."
+
+"Your highness," answered Pan Billevich, bowing low, "he wrongs the
+country who occupies your time."
+
+"But I was thinking to take vengeance on you by going myself to
+Billeviche, and I think still you would have received with hospitality
+an old comrade of the camp."
+
+Hearing this, Pan Billevich flushed with delight, and the prince
+continued,--
+
+"Time, time is ever lacking! But when you give in marriage your
+relative, the granddaughter of the late Pan Heraclius, of course I
+shall come to the wedding, for I owe it to you and to her."
+
+"God grant that as early as possible," answered the sword-bearer.
+
+"Meanwhile I present to you Pan Kmita, the banneret of Orsha, of those
+Kmitas who are related to the Kishkis and through the Kishkis to the
+Radzivills. You must have heard his name from Heraclius, for he loved
+the Kmitas as brothers."
+
+"With the forehead, with the forehead!" repeated the sword-bearer, who
+was awed somewhat by the greatness of the young cavalier's family,
+heralded by Radzivill himself.
+
+"I greet the sword-bearer, my benefactor, and offer him my services,"
+said Pan Andrei, boldly and not without a certain loftiness. "Pan
+Heraclius was a father and a benefactor to me, and though his work was
+spoiled later on, still I have not ceased to love all the Billeviches
+as if my own blood were flowing in them."
+
+"Especially," said the prince, placing his hand confidentially on the
+young man's shoulder, "since he has not ceased to love a certain Panna
+Billevich, of which fact he has long since informed us."
+
+"And I will repeat it before every one's face," said Kmita, with
+vehemence.
+
+"Quietly, quietly!" said the prince. "This you see, worthy
+sword-bearer, is a cavalier of sulphur and fire, therefore he has made
+some trouble; but because he is young and under my special protection,
+I hope that when we petition together we shall obtain a reversal of the
+sentence from that charming tribunal."
+
+"Your highness will accomplish what you like," answered Pan Billevich.
+"The maiden must exclaim, as that pagan priestess did to Alexander the
+Great, 'Who can oppose thee?'"
+
+"And we, like that Macedonian, will stop with that prophecy," replied
+the prince, smiling. "But enough of this! Conduct us now to your
+relative, for I shall be glad to see her. Let that work of Pan
+Heraclius which was spoiled be mended."
+
+"I serve your highness-- There is the maiden; she is under the
+protection of Pani Voynillovich, our relative. But I beg pardon if she
+is confused, for I have not had time to forewarn her."
+
+The foresight of Pan Billevich was just. Luckily that was not the first
+moment in which Olenka saw Pan Andrei at the side of the hetman; she
+was able therefore to collect herself somewhat, but for an instant
+presence of mind almost left her, and she looked at the young knight as
+if she were looking at a spirit from the other world. And for a long
+time she could not believe her eyes. She had really imagined that that
+unfortunate was either wandering somewhere through forests, without a
+roof above his head, deserted by all, hunted by the law, as a wild
+beast is hunted by man, or enclosed in a tower, gazing with despair
+through the iron grating on the glad world of God. The Lord alone knew
+what terrible pity sometimes gnawed her heart and her eyes for that
+lost man; God alone could count the tears which in her solitude she had
+poured out over his fate, so terrible, so cruel, though so deserved;
+but now he is in Kyedani, free, at the side of the hetman, proud,
+splendid, in silver brocade and in velvet, with the baton of a colonel
+at his belt, with head erect, with commanding, haughty, heroic face,
+and the grand hetman Radzivill himself places his hand confidentially
+on his shoulder. Marvellous and contradictory feelings interwove
+themselves at once in the heart of the maiden; therefore a certain
+great relief, as if some one had taken a weight from her shoulders, and
+a certain sorrow as well that so much pity and grief had gone for
+naught; also the disappointment which every honest soul feels at sight
+of perfect impunity for grievous offences and sins; also joy, with a
+feeling of personal weakness, with admiration bordering on terror,
+before that young hero who was able to swim out of such a whirlpool.
+
+Meanwhile the prince, the sword-bearer, and Kmita had finished
+conversation and were drawing near. The maiden covered her eyes with
+her lids and raised her shoulders, as a bird does its wings when
+wishing to hide its head. She was certain that they were coming to her.
+Without looking she saw them, felt that they were nearer and nearer,
+that they were before her. She was so sure of this that without raising
+her lids, she rose suddenly and made a deep courtesy to the prince.
+
+He was really before her, and said: "By the passion of the Lord! Now I
+do not wonder at this young man, for a marvellous flower has bloomed
+here. I greet you, my lady, I greet you with my whole heart and soul,
+beloved granddaughter of my Billevich. Do you know me?"
+
+"I know your highness," answered the maiden.
+
+"I should not have known you; you were still a young, unblossomed thing
+when I saw you last, not in this ornament in which I see you now. But
+raise those lashes from your eyes. As God lives! fortunate is the diver
+who gets such a pearl, ill-fated he who had it and lost it. Here he
+stands before you, so despairing, in the person of this cavalier. Do
+you know him?"
+
+"I know," whispered Olenka, without raising her eyes.
+
+"He is a great sinner, and I have brought him to you for confession.
+Impose on him what penance you like, but refuse not absolution, for
+despair may bring him to still greater sins."
+
+Here the prince turned to the sword-bearer and Pani Voynillovich: "Let
+us leave the young people, for it is not proper to be present at a
+confession, and also my faith forbids me."
+
+After a moment Pan Andrei and Olenka were alone. The heart beat in
+Olenka's bosom as the heart of a dove over which a falcon is hovering,
+and he too was moved. His usual boldness, impulsiveness, and
+self-confidence had vanished. For a long time both were silent. At last
+he spoke in a low, stifled voice,--
+
+"You did not expect to see me, Olenka?"
+
+"I did not," whispered the maiden.
+
+"As God is true! you would be less alarmed if a Tartar were standing
+here near you. Fear not! See how many people are present. No harm will
+meet you from me. And though we were alone you would have nothing to
+fear, for I have given myself an oath to respect you. Have confidence
+in me."
+
+For a moment she raised her eyes and looked at him, "How can I have
+confidence?"
+
+"It is true that I sinned, but that is past and will not be repeated.
+When on the bed and near death, after that duel with Volodyovski, I
+said to myself: 'Thou wilt not take her by force, by the sabre, by
+fire, but by honorable deeds wilt thou deserve her and work out thy
+forgiveness. The heart in her is not of stone, and her anger will pass;
+she will see thy reformation and will forgive.' Therefore I swore to
+reform, and I will hold to my oath. God blessed me at once, for
+Volodyovski came and brought me a commission. He had the power not to
+give it; but he gave it,--he is an honorable man! Now I need not appear
+before the courts, for I am under the hetman's jurisdiction. I
+confessed all my offences to the prince, as to a father; he not only
+forgave me, but promised to settle everything and to defend me against
+the malice of men. May God bless him! I shall not be an outlaw, I shall
+come to harmony with people, win glory, serve the country, repair the
+wrongs I have committed. What will you answer? Will you not say a good
+word to me?" He gazed at Olenka and put his hands together as if
+praying to her.
+
+"Can I believe?"
+
+"You can, as God is dear to me; it is your duty to believe. The hetman
+believed, and Pan Volodyovski too. All my acts are known to them, and
+they believed me. You see they did. Why should you alone have no trust
+in me?"
+
+"Because I have seen the result of your deeds,--people's tears, and
+graves not yet grown over with grass."
+
+"They will be grown over, and I will moisten them with tears."
+
+"Do that first."
+
+"Give me only the hope that when I do that I shall win you. It is easy
+for you to say, 'Do that first.' Well, I do it; meanwhile you have
+married another. May God not permit such a thing, for I should go wild.
+In God's name I implore you, Olenka, to give me assurance that I shall
+not lose you before I come to terms with your nobles. Do you remember?
+You have written me of this yourself. I keep the letter, and when my
+soul is deeply downcast I read it. I ask you only to tell me again that
+you will wait, that you will not marry another."
+
+"You know that by the will I am not free to marry another. I can only
+take refuge in a cloister."
+
+"Oh, that would be a treat for me! By the living God, mention not the
+cloister, for the very thought of it makes me shudder. Mention it not,
+Olenka, or I will fall down here at your feet in the presence of all,
+and implore you not to do so. You refused Volodyovski, I know, for he
+told me himself. He urged me to win you by good deeds. But what use in
+them if you are to take the veil? If you tell me that virtue should be
+practised for its own sake, I will answer that I love you to
+distraction, and I will hear of nothing else. When you left Vodokty, I
+had barely risen from the bed but I began to search for you. When I was
+enlisting my squadron every moment was occupied; I had not time to eat
+food, to sleep at night, but I ceased not to seek you. I was so
+affected that without you there was neither life for me nor rest. I was
+so deeply in the toils that I lived only on sighs. At last I learned
+that you were in Billeviche with the sword-bearer. Then I tell you I
+wrestled with my thoughts as with a bear. 'To go or not to go?' I dared
+not go, lest I should be treated to gall. I said to myself at last: 'I
+have done nothing good yet, I will not go.' Finally the prince, my dear
+father, took pity on me, and sent to invite you and your uncle to
+Kyedani, so that I might fill even my eyes with my love. Since we are
+going to the war, I do not ask you to marry me to-morrow; but if with
+God's favor I hear a good word from you, I shall feel easier,--you, my
+only soul! I have no wish to die; but in battle death may strike any
+man, and I shall not hide behind others; therefore 'tis your duty to
+forgive me as a man before death."
+
+"May God preserve you and guide you," responded the maiden, in a mild
+voice, by which Pan Andrei knew at once that his words had produced
+their effect.
+
+"You, my true gold! I thank you even for that. But you will not go to
+the cloister?"
+
+"I will not go yet."
+
+"God bless you!"
+
+And as snow melts in spring-time, their mutual distrust was now
+melting, and they felt nearer to each other than a moment before. Their
+hearts were easier, and in their eyes it grew clear. But still she had
+promised nothing, and he had the wit to ask for nothing that time. But
+she felt herself that it was not right for her to close the road to the
+reform of which he had spoken so sincerely. Of his sincerity she had no
+doubt for a moment, for he was not a man who could pretend. But the
+great reason why she did not repulse him again, why she left him hope,
+was this,--that in the depth of her heart she loved yet that young
+hero. Love had brought her a mountain of bitterness, disillusion, and
+pain; but love survived ever ready to believe and forgive without end.
+
+"He is better than his acts," thought the maiden, "and those are living
+no longer who urged him to sin; he might from despair permit himself to
+do something a second time; he must never despair." And her honest
+heart was rejoiced at the forgiveness which it had given. On Olenka's
+cheeks a flush came forth as fresh as a rose under the morning dew; her
+eyes had a gleam sweet and lively, and it might be said that brightness
+issued from them to the hall. People passed and admired the wonderful
+pair; for in truth such a noble couple it would have been difficult to
+find in that hall, in which, however, were collected the flower of the
+nobility.
+
+Besides both, as if by agreement, were dressed in like colors, for she
+wore silver brocade fastened with sapphire and a sacque of blue
+Venetian velvet. "Like a brother and sister," said persons who did not
+know them; but others said straightway, "Impossible, for his eyes are
+too ardent toward her."
+
+Meanwhile in the hall the marshal announced that it was time to be
+seated at table, and at once there was unusual movement. Count
+Löwenhaupt, all in lace, went in advance, with the princess on his arm;
+her train was borne by two very beautiful pages. Next after them Baron
+Schitte escorted Pani Hlebovich; next followed Bishop Parchevski with
+Father Byalozor, both looking troubled and gloomy.
+
+Prince Yanush, who in the procession yielded to the guests, but at the
+table took the highest place next to the princess, escorted Pani Korf,
+wife of the voevoda of Venden, who had been visiting about a week at
+Kyedani. And so the whole line of couples moved forward, like a
+hundred-colored serpent, unwinding and changing. Kmita escorted Olenka,
+who rested her arm very lightly on his; but he glanced sidewise at the
+delicate face, was happy, gleaming like a torch,--the greatest magnate
+among those magnates, since he was near the greatest treasure.
+
+Thus moving to the sound of the orchestra, they entered the
+banqueting-hall, which looked like a whole edifice by itself. The table
+was set in the form of a horseshoe, for three hundred persons, and was
+bending under silver and gold. Prince Yanush, as having in himself a
+portion of kingly majesty and being the blood relative of so many
+kings, took the highest place, at the side of the princess; and all
+when passing him, bowed low and took their places according to rank.
+
+But evidently, as it seemed to those present, the hetman remembered
+that this was the last feast before an awful war in which the destiny
+of great states would be decided, for his face was not calm. He
+simulated a smile and joyousness, but he looked as if a fever were
+burning him. At times a visible cloud settled on his menacing forehead,
+and those sitting near him could see that that forehead was thickly
+covered with drops of sweat; at times his glance ran quickly over the
+assembled faces, and halted questioningly on the features of various
+colonels; then again those lion brows frowned on a sudden, as if pain
+had pierced them, or as if this or that face had roused in him wrath.
+And, a wonderful thing! the dignitaries sitting near the prince, such
+as the envoys, Bishop Parchevski, Father Byalozor, Pan Komorovski, Pan
+Myerzeyevski, Pan Hlebovich, the voevoda of Venden, and others, were
+equally distraught and disturbed. The two sides of the immense
+horseshoe sounded with a lively conversation, and the bustle usual at
+feasts; but the centre of it was gloomy and silent, whispered rare
+words, or exchanged wandering and as it were alarmed glances.
+
+But there was nothing wonderful in that, for lower down sat colonels
+and knights whom the approaching war threatened at most with death. It
+is easier to fall in a war than to bear the responsibility for it. The
+mind of the soldier is not troubled, for when he has redeemed his sins
+with his blood, he flies from the battlefield to heaven; he alone bends
+his head heavily who in his soul must satisfy God and his own
+conscience, and who on the eve of the decisive day knows not what
+chalice the country will give him to drink on the morrow.
+
+This was the explanation which men gave themselves at the lower parts
+of the table.
+
+"Always before each war he talks thus with his own soul," said the old
+Colonel Stankyevich to Zagloba; "but the gloomier he is the worse for
+the enemy, for on the day of battle he will be joyful to a certainty."
+
+"The lion too growls before battle," said Zagloba, "so as to rouse in
+himself fierce hatred for the enemy. As to great warriors, each has his
+custom. Hannibal used to play dice; Scipio Africanus declaimed verses;
+Pan Konyetspolski the father always conversed about fair heads; and I
+like to sleep an hour or so before battle, though I am not averse to a
+glass with good friends."
+
+"See, gentlemen, Bishop Parchevski is as pale as a sheet of paper!"
+said Stanislav Skshetuski.
+
+"For he is sitting at a Calvinist table, and may swallow easily
+something unclean in the food," explained Zagloba, in a low voice. "To
+drinks, the old people say, the devil has no approach, and those can be
+taken everywhere; but food, and especially soups, one should avoid. So
+it was in the Crimea, when I was there in captivity. The Tartar mullahs
+or priests knew how to cook mutton with garlic in such a way that
+whoever tasted it was willing that moment to desert his faith and
+accept their scoundrel of a prophet." Here Zagloba lowered his voice
+still more: "Not through contempt for the prince do I say this, but I
+advise you, gentlemen, to let the food pass, for God protects the
+guarded."
+
+"What do you say? Whoso commends himself to God before eating is safe;
+with us in Great Poland there is no end of Lutherans and Calvinists,
+but I have not heard that they bewitched food."
+
+"With you in Great Poland there is no end of Lutherans, and so they
+sniffed around at once with the Swedes," said Zagloba, "and are in
+friendship with them now. In the prince's place, I would hunt those
+envoys away with dogs, instead of filling their stomachs with dainties.
+Hut look at that Löwenhaupt; he is eating just as if he were to be
+driven to the fair with a rope around his leg before the month's end.
+Besides, he will stuff his pockets with dried fruit for his wife and
+children. I have forgotten how that other fellow from over the sea is
+called. Oh, may thou--"
+
+"Father, ask Michael," said Yan.
+
+Pan Michael was sitting not far away; but he heard nothing, he saw
+nothing, for he was between two ladies. On his left sat Panna
+Syelavski, a worthy maiden about forty years old, and on his right
+Olenka, beyond whom sat Kmita. Panna Syelavski shook her feather-decked
+head above the little knight, and narrated something with great
+rapidity. He looked at her from time to time with a vacant stare, and
+answered continually, "As true as life, gracious lady!" but understood
+not a word she said, for all his attention was turned to the other
+side. He was seizing with his ear the sound of Olenka's words, the
+flutter of her silver dress, and from sorrow moving his mustaches in
+such fashion as if he wished to frighten away Panna Syelavski with
+them.
+
+"Ah, that is a wonderful maiden! Ah, but she is beautiful!" said he, in
+his mind. "O God, look down on my misery, for there is no lonelier
+orphan than I. My soul is piping within me to have my own beloved, and
+on whomsoever I look another soldier stands quartered there. Where
+shall I go, ill-fated wanderer?"
+
+"And after the war, what do you think of doing?" inquired Panna
+Syelavski, all at once pursing up her mouth and fanning herself
+violently.
+
+"I shall go to a monastery!" said the little knight, testily.
+
+"Who mentions monastery here at the banquet?" cried Kmita, joyously,
+bending in front of Olenka. "Oh, that is Pan Volodyovski."
+
+"There is nothing like that in your head," retorted Pan Michael; "but I
+think I shall go."
+
+Then the sweet voice of Olenka sounded in his ear: "Oh, no need to
+think of that! God will give you a wife beloved of your heart, and
+honest as you are."
+
+The good Pan Michael melted at once: "If any one were to play on a
+flute to me, it would not be sweeter to my ear."
+
+The increasing bustle stopped further conversation, for it had come now
+to the glasses. Excitement increased. Colonels disputed about the
+coming war, frowning and casting fiery glances.
+
+Pan Zagloba was describing to the whole table the siege of Zbaraj; and
+the ardor and daring of the hearers rose till the blood went to their
+faces and hearts. It might seem that the spirit of the immortal
+"Yarema"[20] was flying above that hall, and had filled the souls of
+the soldiers with heroic inspiration.
+
+"That was a leader!" said the famous Mirski, who led all Radzivill's
+hussars. "I saw him only once, but to the moment of my death I shall
+remember it."
+
+"Jove with thunderbolts in his grasp!" cried old Stankyevich. "It would
+not have come to this were he alive now!"
+
+"Yes; think of it! Beyond Romni he had forests cut down to open a way
+for himself to the enemy."
+
+"The victory at Berestechko was due to him."
+
+"And in the most serious moment God took him."
+
+"God took him," repeated Pan Yan, in a loud voice; "but he left a
+testament behind him for all coming leaders and dignitaries and for the
+whole Commonwealth. This is it: to negotiate with no enemy, but to
+fight them all."
+
+"Not to negotiate; to fight!" repeated a number of powerful voices,
+"fight! fight!"
+
+The heat became great in the hall, and the blood was boiling in the
+warriors; therefore glances began to fall like lightning-flashes, and
+the heads shaven on the temples and lower forehead began to steam.
+
+"Our prince, our hetman, will be the executioner of that will!" said
+Mirski.
+
+Just at that moment an enormous clock in the upper part of the hall
+began to strike midnight, and at the same time, the walls trembled, the
+window-panes rattled plaintively, and the thunder of cannon was heard
+saluting in the courtyard.
+
+Conversation was stopped, silence followed. Suddenly at the head of the
+table they began to cry: "Bishop Parchevski has fainted! Water!"
+
+There was confusion. Some sprang from their seats to see more clearly
+what had happened. The bishop had not fainted, but had grown very weak,
+so that the marshal supported him in his chair by the shoulders, while
+the wife of the voevoda of Venden sprinkled his face with water.
+
+At that moment the second discharge of cannon shook the window-panes;
+after it came a third, and a fourth.
+
+"Live the Commonwealth! May its enemies perish!" shouted Zagloba.
+
+But the following discharges drowned his speech. The nobles began to
+count: "Ten, eleven, twelve!"
+
+Each time the window-panes answered with a mournful groan. The candles
+quivered from the shaking.
+
+"Thirteen, fourteen! The bishop is not used to the thunder. With his
+timidity he has spoiled the entertainment; the prince too is uneasy.
+See, gentlemen, how swollen he is! Fifteen, sixteen!--Hei, they are
+firing as if in battle! Nineteen, twenty!"
+
+"Quiet there! the prince wants to speak!" called the guests at once,
+from various parts of the table. "The prince wishes to speak!"
+
+There was perfect silence; and all eyes were turned to Radzivill, who
+stood, like a giant, with a cup in his hand. But what a sight struck
+the eyes of those feasting! The face of the prince was simply terrible
+at that moment, for it was not pale, but blue and twisted, as if in a
+convulsion, by a smile which he strove to call to his lips. His
+breathing, usually short, became still shorter; his broad breast welled
+up under the gold brocade, his eyes were half covered with their lids,
+and there was a species of terror and an iciness on that powerful face
+such as are usual on features stiffening in the moments before death.
+
+"What troubles the prince? what is taking place here?" was whispered
+unquietly around; and an ominous foreboding straitened all hearts,
+startled expectation was on every face.
+
+He began to speak, with a short voice broken by asthma: "Gracious
+gentlemen! this toast will astonish many among you,--or simply it will
+terrify them,--but whoso trusts and believes in me, whoso really wishes
+the good of the country, whoso is a faithful friend of my house, will
+drink it with a will, and repeat after me, 'Vivat Carolus Gustavus Rex,
+from this day forth ruling over us graciously!'"
+
+"Vivat!" repeated the two envoys, Löwenhaupt and Schitte; then some
+tens of officers of the foreign command.
+
+But in the hall there reigned deep silence. The colonels and the nobles
+gazed at one another with astonishment, as if asking whether the prince
+had not lost his senses. A number of voices were heard at last at
+various parts of the table: "Do we hear aright? What is it?" Then there
+was silence again.
+
+Unspeakable horror coupled with amazement was reflected on faces, and
+the eyes of all were turned again to Radzivill; but he continued to
+stand, and was breathing deeply, as if he had cast off some immense
+weight from his breast. The color came back by degrees to his face;
+then he turned to Pan Komorovski, and said,--
+
+"It is time to make public the compact which we have signed this day,
+so that those present may know what course to take. Read, your grace!"
+
+Komorovski rose, unwound the parchment lying before him, and began to
+read the terrible compact, beginning with these words:--
+
+"Not being able to act in a better and more proper way in this most
+stormy condition of affairs, after the loss of all hope of assistance
+from the Most Serene King, we the lords and estates of the Grand
+Principality of Lithuania, forced by extremity, yield ourselves to the
+protection of the Most Serene King of Sweden on these conditions:--
+
+"1. To make war together against mutual enemies, excepting the king and
+the kingdom of Poland.
+
+"2. The Grand Principality of Lithuania will not be incorporated with
+Sweden, but will be joined to it in such manner as hitherto with the
+kingdom of Poland; that is, people shall be equal to people, senate to
+senate, and knighthood to knighthood in all things.
+
+"3. Freedom of speech at the diets shall not be prohibited to any man.
+
+"4. Freedom of religion is to be inviolable--"
+
+And so Pan Komorovski read on further, amid silence and terror, till he
+came to the paragraph: "This act we confirm with our signature for
+ourselves and our descendants, we promise and stipulate--" when a
+murmur rose in the hall, like the first breath of a storm shaking the
+pine-woods. But before the storm burst, Pan Stankyevich, gray as a
+pigeon, raised his voice and began to implore,--
+
+"Your highness, we are unwilling to believe our own ears! By the wounds
+of Christ! must the labor of Vladislav and Sigismund Augustus come to
+nothing? Is it possible, is it honorable, to desert brothers, to desert
+the country, and unite with the enemy? Remember the name which you
+bear, the services which you have rendered the country, the fame of
+your house, hitherto unspotted; tear and trample on that document of
+shame. I know that I ask not in my own name alone, but in the names of
+all soldiers here present and nobles. It pertains to us also to
+consider our own fate. Gracious prince, do not do this; there is still
+time! Spare yourself, spare us, spare the Commonwealth!"
+
+"Do it not! Have pity, have pity!" called hundreds of voices.
+
+All the colonels sprang from their places and went toward him; and the
+gray Stankyevich knelt down in the middle of the hall between the two
+arms of the table, and then was heard more loudly: "Do that not! spare
+us!"
+
+Radzivill raised his powerful head, and lightnings of wrath began to
+fly over his forehead; suddenly he burst out,--
+
+"Does it become you, gentlemen, first of all to give an example of
+insubordination? Does it become soldiers to desert their leader, their
+hetman, and bring forward protests? Do you wish to be my conscience? Do
+you wish to teach me how to act for the good of the country? This is
+not a diet, and you are not called here to vote; but before God I take
+the responsibility!"
+
+And he struck his broad breast with his fist, and looking with flashing
+glance on the officers, after a while he shouted again: "Whoso is not
+with me is against me! I knew you, I knew what would happen! But know
+ye that the sword is hanging over your heads!"
+
+"Gracious prince! our hetman!" implored old Stankyevich, "spare
+yourself and spare us!"
+
+But his speech was interrupted by Stanislav Skshetuski, who seizing his
+own hair with both hands, began to cry with despairing voice: "Do not
+implore him; that is vain. He has long cherished this dragon in his
+heart! Woe to thee, O Commonwealth! woe to us all!"
+
+"Two dignitaries at the two ends of the Commonwealth have sold the
+country!" cried Yan Skshetuski. "A curse on this house, shame and God's
+anger!"
+
+Hearing this, Zagloba shook himself free from amazement and burst out:
+"Ask him how great was the bribe he took from the Swedes? How much have
+they paid him? How much have they promised him yet? Oh, gentlemen, here
+is a Judas Iscariot. May you die in despair, may your race perish, may
+the devil tear out your soul, O traitor, traitor, thrice traitor!"
+
+With this Stankyevich, in an ecstasy of despair, drew the colonel's
+baton from his belt, and threw it with a rattle at the feet of the
+prince. Mirski threw his next; the third was Yuzefovich; the fourth,
+Hoshchyts; the fifth, pale as a corpse, Volodyovski; the sixth,
+Oskyerko,--and the batons rolled on the floor. Meanwhile in that den of
+the lion these terrible words were repeated before the eyes of the lion
+from more and more mouths every moment: "Traitor! traitor!"
+
+All the blood rushed to the head of the haughty magnate. He grew blue;
+it seemed that he would tumble next moment a corpse under the table.
+
+"Ganhoff and Kmita, to me!" bellowed he, with a terrible voice.
+
+At that moment four double doors leading to the hall opened with a
+crash, and in marched divisions of Scottish infantry, terrible, silent,
+musket in hand. Ganhoff led them from the main door.
+
+"Halt!" cried the prince. Then he turned to the colonels: "Whoso is
+with me, let him go to the right side of the hall!"
+
+"I am a soldier, I serve the hetman; let God be my judge!" said
+Kharlamp, passing to the right side.
+
+"And I!" added Myeleshko. "Not mine will be the sin!"
+
+"I protested as a citizen; as a soldier I must obey," added a third,
+Nyevyarovski, who, though he had thrown down his baton before, was
+evidently afraid of Radzivill now.
+
+After them passed over a number of others, and quite a large group of
+nobles; but Mirski, the highest in office, and Stankyevich, the oldest
+in years, Hoshchyts, Volodyovski, and Oskyerko remained where they
+were, and with them the two Skshetuskis, Zagloba, and a great majority
+as well of the officers of various heavy and light squadrons as of
+nobles. The Scottish infantry surrounded them like a wall.
+
+Kmita, the moment the prince proposed the toast in honor of Karl
+Gustav, sprang up from his seat with all the guests, stared fixedly and
+stood as if turned to stone, repeating with pallid lips, "God! God!
+God! what have I done?"
+
+At the same time a low voice, but for his ear distinct, whispered near
+by, "Pan Andrei!"
+
+He seized suddenly his hair with his hands. "I am cursed for the ages!
+May the earth swallow me!"
+
+A flame flashed out on Olenka's face; her eyes bright as stars were
+fixed on Kmita. "Shame to those who remain with the hetman! Choose! O
+God, All Powerful!--What are you doing? Choose!"
+
+"Jesus! O Jesus!" cried Kmita.
+
+Meanwhile the hall was filled with cries. Others had thrown their
+batons at the feet of the prince, but Kmita did not join them; he did
+not move even when the prince shouted, "Ganhoff and Kmita, to me!" nor
+when the Scottish infantry entered the hall; and he stood torn with
+suffering and despair, with wild look, with blue lips.
+
+Suddenly he turned to Panna Billevich and stretched his hands to her.
+"Olenka! Olenka!" repeated he, with a sorrowful groan, like a child
+whom some wrong is confronting.
+
+But she drew back with aversion and fear in her face. "Away, traitor!"
+she answered with force.
+
+At that moment Ganhoff commanded, "Forward!" and the division of Scots
+surrounding the prisoners moved toward the door.
+
+Kmita began to follow them like one out of his mind, not knowing where
+he was going or why he was going.
+
+The banquet was ended.
+
+
+
+
+ CHAPTER XV.
+
+
+That same night the prince held a long consultation with the voevoda of
+Venden and with the Swedish envoys. The result of the treaty had
+disappointed his expectations, and disclosed to him a threatening
+future. It was the prince's plan to make the announcement in time of
+feasting, when minds are excited and inclined to agreement. He expected
+opposition in every event, but he counted on adherents also; meanwhile
+the energy of the protest had exceeded his reckoning. Save a few tens
+of Calvinist nobles and a handful of officers of foreign origin, who as
+strangers could have no voice in the question, all declared against the
+treaty concluded with Karl Gustav, or rather with his field-marshal and
+brother-in-law, Pontus de la Gardie.
+
+The prince had given orders, it is true, to arrest the stubborn
+officers of the army, but what of that? What will the squadrons say?
+Will they not think of their colonels? Will they not rise in mutiny to
+rescue their officers by force? If they do, what will remain to the
+proud prince beyond a few dragoon regiments and foreign infantry? Then
+the whole country, all the armed nobles, and Sapyeha, voevoda of
+Vityebsk,--a terrible opponent of the house of Radzivill, ready to
+fight with the whole world in the name of the unity of the
+Commonwealth? Other colonels whose heads he cannot cut off, and Polish
+squadrons will go to Sapyeha, who will stand at the head of all the
+forces of the country, and Prince Radzivill will see himself without an
+army, without adherents, without significance. What will happen then?
+
+These were terrible questions, for the position was terrible. The
+prince knew well that if he were deserted the treaty on which he had
+toiled so much in secret would by the force of events lose all meaning
+and the Swedes would despise him, or take revenge for the discovered
+deceit. But he had given them his Birji as a guaranty of his loyalty;
+by that he had weakened himself the more.
+
+Karl Gustav was ready to scatter rewards and honors with both hands for
+a powerful Radzivill, but Radzivill weak and deserted by all he would
+despise; and if the changing wheel of fortune should send victory to
+Yan Kazimir, final destruction would come to that lord who this day in
+the morning had no equal in the Commonwealth.
+
+When the envoys and the voevoda of Venden had gone, the prince seized
+with both hands his head weighed down with care, and began to walk with
+swift steps through the room. From without came the voices of the
+Scottish guards and the rattle of the departing carriages of the
+nobles. They drove away quickly and hurriedly, as if a pest had fallen
+on the lordly castle of Kyedani. A terrible disquiet rent the soul of
+Radzivill. At times it seemed to him that besides himself there was
+some other person who walked behind him and whispered in his ear,
+"Abandonment, poverty, and infamy as well!" But he, the voevoda of
+Vilna and grand hetman, was already trampled upon and humiliated! Who
+would have admitted yesterday that in all Kyedani, in Lithuania, nay,
+in the whole world, there could be found a man who would dare to shout
+before his eyes, "Traitor!" Nevertheless he had heard it, and he lives
+yet, and they who spoke that word are living too. Perhaps if he were to
+re-enter that hall of the banquet he would still hear as an echo among
+the cornices and under the vaults, "Traitor! traitor!"
+
+And wild, mad rage seized at moments the breast of the oligarch. His
+nostrils dilated, his eyes shot lightnings, veins came out on his
+forehead. Who here dares to oppose his will? His enraged mind brought
+before his eyes the picture of punishments and torments for rebels who
+had the daring not to follow his feet like a dog. And he saw their
+blood flowing from the axes of executioners, he heard the crunching of
+their bones broken by the wheel, and he took delight in and sated
+himself with visions of blood.
+
+But when more sober judgment reminded him that behind those rebels is
+an army, that he cannot take their heads with impunity, an unendurable
+and hellish unquiet came back and filled his soul, and some one
+whispered anew in his ear, "Abandonment, poverty, judgment, and
+infamy!"
+
+How is that? Is it not permitted to Radzivill to decide the fate of the
+country,--to retain it for Yan Kazimir or give it to Karl Gustav,--to
+give, to convey, to present, to whom it may please him?
+
+The magnate looked before himself with amazement.
+
+Who then are the Radzivills? Who were they yesterday? What was said
+everywhere in Lithuania? Was that all deception? Will not Prince
+Boguslav join the grand hetman with his regiments, after him his uncle
+the Elector of Brandenberg, and after all three Karl Gustav, the
+Swedish king, with all his victorious power, before which recently all
+Germany trembled through the length and the breadth of it? Did not the
+Polish Commonwealth itself extend its arms to the new master, and yield
+at the mere report of the approach of the lion of the North? Who will
+offer resistance to that unrestrained power?
+
+On one side the King of Sweden, the Elector of Brandenberg, the
+Radzivills, in case of necessity Hmelnitski too, with all his power,
+and the hospodar of Wallachia, and Rakotsy of Transylvania,--almost
+half Europe; on the other side the voevoda of Vityebsk with Mirski, Pan
+Stankyevich, and those three nobles who had just come from Lukovo, and
+also a few rebellious squadrons! What is that?--a jest, an amusement.
+
+Then suddenly the prince began to laugh loudly. "By Lucifer and all the
+Diet of hell, it must be that I have gone mad! Let them all go to the
+voevoda of Vityebsk!"
+
+But after a while his face had grown gloomy again: "The powerful admit
+only powerful to alliance. Radzivill casting Lithuania at the feet of
+the Swedes will be sought for; Radzivill asking aid against Lithuania
+will be despised. What is to be done?"
+
+The foreign officers will stay with him, but their power is not enough;
+and if the Polish squadrons go over to the voevoda of Vityebsk, he will
+have the fate of the country in his hands. Each foreign officer will
+carry out commands, it is true; but he will not devote his whole soul
+to the cause of Radzivill, he will not give himself to it with ardor,
+not merely as a soldier, but as an adherent. For devotion there is
+absolute need, not of foreigners, but of men of his own people to
+attract others by their names, by their bravery, by their reputation,
+by their daring example and readiness to do everything. He must have
+adherents in the country, even for show.
+
+Who of his own men responded to the prince? Kharlamp, an old, worn-out
+soldier, good for service and nothing more; Nyevyarovski, not loved in
+the army and without influence; besides these a few others of still
+less distinction; no man of another kind, no man whom an army would
+follow, no man to be the apostle of a cause.
+
+There remained Kmita, young, enterprising, bold, covered with great
+knightly glory, bearing a famous name, standing at the head of a
+powerful squadron, partly fitted out at his own expense,--a man as it
+were created to be the leader of all the bold and restless spirits in
+Lithuania, and withal full of ardor. If he should take up the cause of
+Radzivill, he would take it up with the faith which youth gives, he
+would follow his hetman blindly, and spread the faith in his name; and
+such an apostle means more than whole regiments, whole divisions of
+foreigners. He would be able to pour his faith into the heart of the
+young knighthood, to attract it and fill the camp of Radzivill with
+men.
+
+But he too had hesitated evidently. He did not cast his baton, it is
+true, at the feet of the hetman, but he did not stand at his side in
+the first moment.
+
+"It is impossible to reckon on any one, impossible to be sure of any
+man," thought the prince, gloomily. "They will all go to the voevoda of
+Vityebsk, and no man will wish to share with me."
+
+"Infamy!" whispered his conscience.
+
+"Lithuania!" answered, on the other hand, pride.
+
+It had grown dim in the room, for the wicks had burned long on the
+candles, but through the windows flowed in the silver light of the
+moon. Radzivill gazed at those rays and fell into deep thought.
+Gradually something began to grow dark in those rays; certain figures
+rose up each moment, increasing in number, till at last the prince saw
+as it were an army coming toward him from the upper trails of the sky
+on the broad road of the moonbeams. Regiments are marching, armored
+hussars and light horse; a forest of banners are waving; in front rides
+some man without a helmet, apparently a victor returning from war.
+Around is quiet, and the prince hears clearly the voice of the army and
+people, "Vivat defensor patriae! vivat defensor patriae! (Live the
+defender of the country!)" The army approaches, each moment increasing
+in number; now he can see the face of the leader. He holds the baton in
+his hand; and by the number of bunchuks ( horse-tails on his standard).
+Radzivill can see that he is the grand hetman.
+
+"In the name of the Father and the Son!" cries the prince, "that is
+Sapyeha, that is the voevoda of Vityebsk! And where am I, and what is
+predestined to me?"
+
+"Infamy!" whispers his conscience.
+
+"Lithuania!" answers his pride.
+
+The prince clapped his hands; Harasimovich, watching in the adjoining
+room, appeared at once in the door and bent double.
+
+"Lights!" said the prince.
+
+Harasimovich snuffed the candles, then went out and returned with a
+candlestick in his hand.
+
+"Your Highness," said he, "it is time to repose; the cocks have crowed
+a second time."
+
+"I have no wish to sleep," replied the prince. "I dozed, and the
+nightmare was suffocating me. What is there new?"
+
+"Some noblemen brought a letter from Nyesvyej from the Prince Michael,
+but I did not venture to enter unsummoned."
+
+"Give me the letter at once!"
+
+Harasimovich gave the sealed letter; the prince opened it, and began to
+read as follows:--
+
+
+May God guard and restrain your highness from such plans as might bring
+eternal infamy and destruction to our house! Set your mind on a
+hair-shirt rather than on dominion. The greatness of our house lies at
+my heart also, and the best proof of this is in the efforts which I
+made in Vienna that we should have a vote in the diets of the Empire.
+But I will not betray the country nor my king for any reward or earthly
+power, so as not to gather after such a sowing a harvest of infamy
+during life and damnation after death. Consider, your highness, the
+services of your ancestors and their unspotted fame; think of the mercy
+of God while the time is fitting. The enemy have surrounded me in
+Nyesvyej, and I know not whether this letter will reach your hands; but
+though destruction threatens me every moment, I do not ask God to
+rescue me, but to restrain your highness from those plans and bring you
+to the path of virtue. Even if something evil is done already, it is
+possible yet to draw hack, and it is necessary to blot out the offences
+with a swift hand. But do not expect aid from me, for I say in advance
+that without regard to bonds of blood, I will join my forces with those
+of Pan Gosyevski and the voevoda of Vityebsk; and a hundred times
+rather would I turn my arms against your highness than put my hands
+voluntarily to that infamous treason. I commend your highness to God.
+
+ Michael Kazimir,
+
+ _Prince in Nyesvyej and Olyta, Chamberlain of the
+ Grand Principality of Lithuania_.
+
+
+When the hetman had finished the letter he dropped it on his knee, and
+began to shake his head with a painful smile on his face.
+
+"And he leaves me, my own blood rejects me, because I wished to adorn
+our house with a glory hitherto unknown! Ah! it is difficult! Boguslav
+remains, and he will not leave me. With us is the Elector and Karl
+Gustav; and who will not sow will not reap."
+
+"Infamy!" whispered his conscience.
+
+"Is your highness pleased to give an answer?" asked Harasimovich.
+
+"There will be no answer."
+
+"May I go and send the attendants?"
+
+"Wait! Are the guards stationed carefully?"
+
+"They are."
+
+"Are orders sent to the squadrons?"
+
+"They are."
+
+"What is Kmita doing?"
+
+"He was knocking his head against the wall and crying about disgrace.
+He was wriggling like a mudfish. He wanted to run after the
+Billeviches, but the guards would not let him. He drew his sabre; they
+had to tie him. He is lying quietly now."
+
+"Has the sword-bearer of Rossyeni gone?"
+
+"There was no order to stop him."
+
+"I forgot!" said the prince. "Open the windows, for it is stifling and
+asthma is choking me. Tell Kharlamp to go to Upita for the squadron and
+bring it here at once. Give him money, let him pay the men for the
+first quarter and let them get merry. Tell him that he will receive
+Dydkyemie for life instead of Volodyovski. The asthma is choking me.
+Wait!"
+
+"According to order."
+
+"What is Kmita doing?"
+
+"As I said, your highness, he is lying quietly."
+
+"True, you told me. Give the order to send him here. I want to speak
+with him. Have his fetters taken off."
+
+"Your highness, he is a madman."
+
+"Have no fear, go!"
+
+Harasimovich went out. The prince took from a Venetian cabinet a case
+with pistols, opened it, and placed it near at hand on the table by
+which he sat.
+
+In a quarter of an hour Kmita entered, attended by four Scottish
+soldiers. The prince ordered the men to withdraw, and remained face to
+face with Kmita.
+
+There did not seem to be one drop of blood in the visage of the young
+man, so pale was it, but his eyes were gleaming feverishly; for the
+rest he was calm, resigned, though apparently sunk in endless despair.
+
+Both were silent for a while. The prince spoke first.
+
+"You took oath on the crucifix not to desert me."
+
+"I shall be damned if I keep that oath, damned if I break it. It is all
+one to me!"
+
+"Even if I had brought you to evil, you would not be responsible."
+
+"A month ago judgments and punishments threatened me for killing;
+to-day it seems to me that then I was as innocent as a child."
+
+"Before you leave this room, you will feel absolved from all your
+previous sins," said the prince.
+
+Suddenly, changing his tone, he inquired with a certain confidential
+kindness, "What do you think it was my duty to do in the face of two
+enemies, a hundred-fold stronger than I, enemies against whom I could
+not defend this country?"
+
+"To die!" answered Kmita, rudely.
+
+"You soldiers, who can throw off so easily the pressing burden are to
+be envied. To die! For him who has looked death in the eyes and is not
+afraid, there is nothing in the world simpler. Your head does not ache
+over this, and it will occur to the mind of none that if I had roused
+an envenomed war and had died without making a treaty, not a stone
+would be left on a stone in this country. May God not permit this, for
+even in heaven my soul could not rest. _O, terque, quaterque beati_ (O
+thrice and four times blessed) are ye who can die! Do you think that
+life does not oppress me, that I am not hungry for everlasting sleep
+and rest? But I must drain the chalice of gall and vinegar to the
+bottom. It is needful to save this unhappy land, and for its salvation
+to bend under a new burden. Let the envious condemn me for pride, let
+them say that I betrayed the country to exalt myself. God has seen me,
+God is the judge whether I desire this elevation, and whether I would
+not resign it could matters be otherwise. Find you who desert me means
+of salvation; point out the road, ye who call me a traitor, and this
+night I will tear that document and rouse all the squadrons from
+slumber to move on the enemy."
+
+Kmita was silent.
+
+"Well, why are you silent?" exclaimed Radzivill, in a loud voice. "I
+will make you grand hetman in my place and voevoda of Vilna. You must
+not die, for that is no achievement, but save the country. Defend the
+occupied provinces, avenge the ashes of Vilna, defend Jmud against
+Swedish invasion, nay, defend the whole Commonwealth, drive beyond the
+boundaries every enemy! Rush three on a thousand; die not,--for that is
+not permitted,--but save the country."
+
+"I am not hetman and voevoda of Vilna," answered Kmita, "and what does
+not belong to me is not on my head. But if it is a question of rushing
+the third against thousands I will go."
+
+"Listen, then, soldier! Since your head has not to save the country,
+leave it to mine."
+
+"I cannot!" said Kmita, with set teeth.
+
+Radzivill shook his head. "I did not count on the others, I looked for
+what happened; but in you I was deceived. Interrupt not, but listen. I
+placed you on your feet, I freed you from judgment and punishment, I
+gathered you to my heart as my own son. Know you why? Because I thought
+that in you was a daring soul, ready for grand undertakings. I needed
+such men, I hide it not. Around me was no man who would dare to look at
+the sun with unflinching eye. There were men of small soul and petty
+courage. To such never show a path other than that on which they and
+their fathers have travelled, for they will halt saying that you have
+sent them on a devious way. And still, where, if not to the precipice,
+have we all come by these old roads? What is happening to the
+Commonwealth which formerly could threaten the world?"
+
+Here the prince seized his head in his hands and repeated thrice: "O
+God! God! God!"
+
+After a while he continued: "The time of God's anger has come,--a time
+of such misfortunes and of such a fall that with the usual methods we
+cannot rise from this sickness; and if I wish to use new ones, which
+alone can bring us salvation, even those desert me on whose readiness I
+counted, whose duty it was to have confidence, who took oath on the
+cross to trust me. By the blood and wounds of Christ! Did you think
+that I submitted to the protection of Karl Gustav forever, that in
+truth I think to join this country to Sweden, that the treaty, for
+which I am called a traitor, will last beyond a year? Why do you look
+with astonished eyes? You will be still more astonished when you hear
+all. You will be more astonished, for something will happen which no
+one will think of, no one admit, which the mind of a common man has not
+power to grasp. But I say to you, Tremble not, for in this is the
+country's salvation; do not draw back, for if I find no one to help me,
+possibly I may perish, but with me will perish the Commonwealth and ye
+all for the ages. I alone can save, but I must bend and trample all
+obstacles. Woe to him who opposes me; for God himself will crush him
+through me, whether he be the voevoda of Vityebsk or Pan Gosyevski or
+the army, or a refractory nobility. I wish to save the Commonwealth;
+and to me all ways, all methods are good for that end. Rome in times of
+disaster named dictators,--such power, nay, greater and more lasting,
+is needful to me. Not pride draws me to it,--whoso feels equal to this
+power let him take it instead of me. But if no one does I will take the
+power, though these walls should fall first on my head!"
+
+Then the prince stretched both his hands upward, as if in fact he
+wished to support the arches falling upon his head, and there was in
+him something so gigantic that Kmita opened his eyes and gazed as if he
+had never seen him before; and at last he asked with changed voice:
+"Whither art thou striving, your highness? What do you wish?"
+
+"A crown!" cried Radzivill.
+
+"Jesus, Mary!"
+
+A moment of deep silence followed; but an owl on the tower of the
+castle began to hoot shrilly.
+
+"Listen," said the prince, "it is time to tell you all. The
+Commonwealth is perishing, and must perish. There is no salvation on
+earth for it. The question is to save first from the ruin this country
+(Lithuania), this our immediate fatherland, and then--then make the
+whole Commonwealth rise from its own ashes, as the ph[oe]nix rises. I
+will do this; and the crown, which I desire, I will place as a burden
+on my head, so as to bring out from this great tomb a new life. Do not
+tremble! The ground will not open, everything stands on its own place;
+but new times are coming. I give this country to the Swedes so as to
+stop with Swedish arms another enemy, to drive him beyond the
+boundaries, to win back what is lost, and force with the sword a treaty
+from that enemy in his own capital. Do you hear me? But in rocky,
+hungry Sweden there are not men enough, not forces enough, not sabres
+enough to take possession of this immense Commonwealth. They may defeat
+our army once and a second time; but to hold us in obedience they
+cannot. If one Swede were given as a guard to every ten men in this
+land, there would still be many tens of them without guards. Karl
+Gustav knows this well, and neither does he wish nor is he able to take
+the whole Commonwealth. He will occupy Royal Prussia, most of Great
+Poland, and will be content with that. But to hold in coming time these
+acquisitions securely, he must break the union of the kingdom with us;
+otherwise he could not remain in those provinces. What will happen then
+to this country? To whom will it be given? Well, if I refuse the crown
+which God and fortune places on my head, it will be given to him who at
+this moment is in possession. But Karl Gustav is not willing to consent
+to this act, which would increase a neighboring power too greatly, and
+create for himself a formidable enemy. But if I refuse the crown, he
+will be forced to consent. Have I the right, then, to refuse? Can I
+allow that to take place which would threaten us with final ruin? For
+the tenth and the hundredth time I ask, Where are there other means of
+salvation? Let the will of God, then, be done! I take this burden on my
+shoulders. The Swedes are on my aide; the elector, our relative,
+promises aid. I will free the country from war! With victories and
+extension of boundaries will begin the rule of my house. Peace and
+prosperity will flourish; fire will not burn towns and villages. Thus
+it will be, thus it must be. So help me God and the holy cross! I feel
+within me power and strength from heaven, I desire the happiness of
+this land, and that is not yet the end of my plans. And by those
+heavenly lights I swear, by those trembling stars, that if only
+strength and health remain to me, I will build anew all this edifice,
+now tumbling to ruins; I will make it stronger than ever."
+
+Fire was flashing from the pupils and eyes of the prince; his whole
+form shed an uncommon halo.
+
+"Your highness," cried Kmita, "I cannot grasp that thought; my head is
+bursting, my eyes fear to look ahead."
+
+"Besides," said Radzivill, as if pursuing the further course of his own
+thoughts, "the Swedes will not deprive Yan Kazimir of the kingdom nor
+of rule, but will leave him in Mazovia and Little Poland. God has not
+given him posterity. An election will come in time. Whom will they
+choose to the throne if they wish a further union with Lithuania? When
+did the kingdom grow strong and crush the Knights of the Cross? After
+Vladyslav Yagyello had mounted the throne. It will be the same this
+time. The Poles can call to the throne only him who will be reigning
+here. They cannot and will not call another, for they would perish,
+because the breath would not remain in their breasts between the
+Germans and the Turks, and as it is, the Cossack cancer is gnawing the
+kingdom. They can call no one else! Blind is he who does not see this;
+foolish who does not understand it. Both countries will unite again and
+become one power in my house. Then I shall see if those kinglets of
+Scandinavia will remain in their Prussia and Great Poland acquired
+to-day. Then I will say to them, _Quos ego!_ and with this foot will
+crush their lean ribs, and create a power such as the world has not
+seen, such as history has not described; perhaps I may carry the cross
+with fire and sword to Constantinople, and in peace at home terrify the
+enemy. Thou great God, who orderest the circuits of the stars, grant me
+to save this ill-fated land, for thy glory and that of all Christendom;
+give me men to understand my thought, men to put their hands to
+salvation. There is where I stand!" Here the prince opened his arms,
+and raised his eyes aloft: "Thou seest me, thou judgest me!"
+
+"Mighty prince, mighty prince!" cried Kmita.
+
+"Go, desert me, cast the baton at my feet, break your oath, call me
+traitor! Let no thorn be lacking in that prickly crown which they have
+put on my head. Destroy ye the country, thrust it over the precipice,
+drag away the hand that could save it, and go to the judgment of God!
+Let him decide between us."
+
+Kmita cast himself on his knees before Radzivill. "Mighty prince, I am
+with you to the death! Father of the country, savior!"
+
+Radzivill put both hands on his head, and again followed a moment of
+silence. Only the owl hooted unceasingly on the tower.
+
+"You will receive all that you have yearned for and wished," said the
+prince, with solemnity. "Nothing will miss you, and more will meet you
+than your father and mother desired. Rise, future grand hetman and
+voevoda of Vilna!"
+
+It had begun to dawn in the sky.
+
+
+
+
+ CHAPTER XVI.
+
+
+Pan Zagloba had his head mightily full when he hurled the word
+"traitor" thrice at the eyes of the terrible hetman. At an hour nearer
+morning, when the wine had evaporated from his bald head, and he found
+himself with the two Skshetuskis and Pan Michael in a dungeon of
+Kyedani Castle, he saw, when too late, the danger to which he had
+exposed his own neck and the necks of his comrades, and was greatly
+cast down.
+
+"But what will happen now?" asked he, gazing with dazed look on the
+little knight, in whom he had special trust in great peril.
+
+"May the devil take life! it is all one to me!" answered Volodyovski.
+
+"We shall live to such times and such infamy as the world and this
+kingdom have not seen hitherto!" said Pan Yan.
+
+"Would that we might live to them!" answered Zagloba; "we could restore
+virtue in others by our good example. But shall we live? That is the
+great question."
+
+"This is a terrible event, passing belief!" said Pan Stanislav. "Where
+has the like of it happened? Save me, gentlemen, for I feel that there
+is confusion in my head. Two wars,--a third, the Cossack,--and in
+addition treason, like a plague: Radzyovski, Opalinski, Grudzinski,
+Radzivill! The end of the world is coming, and the day of judgment; it
+cannot be otherwise! May the earth open under our feet! As God is dear
+to me, I am losing my mind!"
+
+And clasping his hands at the back of his head, he began to pace the
+length and width of the cellar, like a wild beast in a cage.
+
+"Shall we begin to pray, or what?" asked he at last. "Merciful God,
+save us!"
+
+"Be calm!" said Zagloba; "this is not the time to despair."
+
+Pan Stanislav ground his teeth on a sudden; rage carried him away. "I
+wish you were killed!" cried he to Zagloba. "It was your thought to
+come to this traitor. May vengeance reach you and him!"
+
+"Bethink yourself, Stanislav," said Pan Yan, sternly. "No one could
+foresee what has happened. Endure, for you are not the only man
+suffering; and know that our place is here, and not elsewhere. Merciful
+God! pity, not us, but the ill-fated country."
+
+Stanislav made no answer, but wrung his hands till the joints were
+cracking.
+
+They were silent. Pan Michael, however, began to whistle through his
+teeth, in despair, and feigned indifference to everything happening
+around him, though, in fact, he suffered doubly,--first, for the
+misfortune of the country, and secondly, because he had violated his
+obedience to the hetman. The latter was a terrible thing for him, a
+soldier to the marrow of his bones. He would have preferred to die a
+thousand times.
+
+"Do not whistle, Pan Michael," said Zagloba.
+
+"All one to me!"
+
+"How is it? Is no one of you thinking whether there are not means of
+escape? It is worth while to exercise one's wits on this. Are we to rot
+in this cellar, when every hand is needed for the country, when one man
+of honor must settle ten traitors?"
+
+"Father is right," said Pan Yan.
+
+"You alone have not become stupid from pain. What do you suppose? What
+does that traitor think of doing with us? Surely he will not punish us
+with death?"
+
+Pan Michael burst out in a sudden laugh of despair. "But why not? I am
+curious to learn! Has he not authority, has he not the sword? Do you
+not know Radzivill?"
+
+"Nonsense! What right do they give him?"
+
+"Over me, the right of a hetman; over you, force!"
+
+"For which he must answer."
+
+"To whom,--to the King of Sweden?"
+
+"You give me sweet consolation; there is no denying that!"
+
+"I have no thought of consoling you."
+
+They were silent, and for a time there was nothing to be heard but the
+measured tread of Scottish infantry at the door of the cellar.
+
+"There is no help here," said Zagloba, "but stratagem."
+
+No one gave answer; therefore he began to talk again after a while: "I
+will not believe that we are to be put to death. If for every word
+spoken in haste and in drink, a head were cut off, not one noble in
+this Commonwealth would walk around with his head on his shoulders. But
+_neminem captivabimus?_ Is that a trifle?"
+
+"You have an example in yourself and in us," answered Stanislav.
+
+"Well, that happened in haste; but I believe firmly that the prince
+will take a second thought. We are strangers; in no way do we come
+under his jurisdiction. He must respect opinion, and not begin with
+violence, so as not to offend the nobles. As true as life, our party is
+too large to have the heads cut from all of us. Over the officers he
+has authority, I cannot deny that; but, as I think, he will look to the
+army, which surely will not fail to remember its own. And where is your
+squadron, Michael?"
+
+"In Upita."
+
+"But tell me, are you sure that the men will be true to you?"
+
+"Whence should I know? They like me well enough, but they know that the
+hetman is above me."
+
+Zagloba meditated awhile. "Give me an order to them to obey me in
+everything, as they would you, if I appear among them."
+
+"You think that you are free!"
+
+"There is no harm in that. I have been in hotter places, and God saved
+me. Give an order for me and the two Skshetuskis. Whoso escapes first
+will go straight to the squadron, and bring it to rescue the others."
+
+"You are raving! It is a pity to lose time in empty talk! Who will
+escape from this place? Besides, on what can I give an order; have you
+paper, ink, pen? You are losing your head."
+
+"Desperation!" cried Zagloba; "give me even your ring."
+
+"Here it is, and let me have peace!"
+
+Zagloba took the ring, put it on his little finger, and began to walk
+and meditate.
+
+Meanwhile the smoking candle went out, and darkness embraced them
+completely; only through the grating of the high window a couple of
+stars were visible, twinkling in the clear sky. Zagloba's eye did not
+leave the grating. "If heaven-dwelling Podbipienta were living and with
+us," mattered the old man, "he would tear out that grating, and in an
+hour we should see ourselves beyond Kyedani."
+
+"But raise me to the window," said Pan Yan, suddenly.
+
+Zagloba and Pan Stanislav placed themselves at the wall; in a moment
+Yan was on their shoulders.
+
+"It cracks! As God is dear to me, it cracks!" cried Zagloba.
+
+"What are you talking about, father? I haven't begun to pull it yet."
+
+"Crawl up with your cousin; I'll hold you somehow. More than once I
+pitied Pan Michael because he was so slender; but now I regret that he
+is not still thinner, so as to slip through like a snake."
+
+But Yan sprang down from their shoulders. "The Scots are standing on
+this side!" said he.
+
+"May God turn them into pillars of salt, like Lot's wife!" said
+Zagloba. "It is so dark here that you might strike a man in the face,
+and he could not see you. It will soon be daybreak. I think they will
+bring us food of some kind, for even Lutherans do not put prisoners to
+a hunger death. Perhaps, too, God will send reflection to the hetman.
+Often in the night conscience starts up in a man, and the devils pinch
+sinners. Can it be there is only one entrance to this cellar? I will
+look in the daytime. My head is somehow heavy, and I cannot think out a
+stratagem. To-morrow God will strengthen my wit; but now we will say
+the Lord's Prayer, and commit ourselves to the Most Holy Lady, in this
+heretical dungeon."
+
+In fact they began a moment later to say the Lord's Prayer and the
+litany to the Mother of God; then Yan, Stanislav, and Volodyovski were
+silent, for their breasts were full of misfortune, but Zagloba growled
+in a low voice and muttered,--
+
+"It must be beyond doubt that to-morrow he will say to us, _aut_,
+_aut!_ (either, or). 'Join Radzivill and I will pardon everything.' But
+we shall see who outwits the other. Do you pack nobles into prison,
+have you no respect for age or services? Very good! To whom the loss,
+to him the weeping! The foolish will be under, and the wise on top. I
+will promise what you like, but what I observe would not make a patch
+for your boot. If you do not hold to the country, he is virtuous who
+holds not to you. This is certain, that final ruin is coming on the
+Commonwealth if its foremost dignitaries join the enemy. This has never
+been in the world hitherto, and surely a man may lose his senses from
+it. Are there in hell torments sufficient for such traitors? What was
+wanting to such a Radzivill? Is it little that the country has given
+him, that he should sell it like a Judas, and in the very time of its
+greatest misfortunes, in the time of three wars? Just is thy anger, O
+Lord! only give swiftest punishment. So be it! Amen! If I could only
+get out of here quickly, I would create partisans for thee, mighty
+hetman! Thou wilt know how the fruits of treason taste. Thou wilt look
+on me yet as a friend; but if thou findest no better, do not hunt a
+bear unless thy skin is not dear to thee."
+
+Thus did Zagloba converse with himself. Meanwhile one hour passed, and
+a second; at last day began to dawn. The gray light falling through the
+grating dissipated slowly the darkness in the cellar, and brought out
+the gloomy figures sitting at the walls. Volodyovski and the
+Skshetuskis were slumbering from weariness; but when things were more
+visible, and when from the courtyard came the sounds of soldiers'
+footsteps, the clatter of arms, the tramp of hoofs, and the sound of
+trumpets at the gate, the knights sprang to their feet.
+
+"The day begins not too favorably for us," said Yan.
+
+"God grant it to end more favorably," answered Zagloba. "Do you know
+what I have thought in the night? They will surely treat us with the
+gift of life if we will take service with Radzivill and help him in his
+treason; we ought to agree to that, so as to make use of our freedom
+and stand up for the country."
+
+"May God preserve me from putting my name to treason," answered Yan;
+"for though I should leave the traitor afterward, my name would remain
+among those of traitors as an infamy to my children. I will not do
+that, I prefer to die."
+
+"Neither will I!" said Stanislav.
+
+"But I tell you beforehand that I will. No one will think that I did it
+voluntarily or sincerely. May the devils take that dragon Radzivill! We
+shall see yet who gets the upper hand."
+
+Further conversation was stopped by sounds in the yard. Among them were
+the ominous accents of anger and indignation. At the same time single
+voices of command, the echo of footsteps of whole crowds, and heavy
+thunder as of cannon in motion.
+
+"What is going on?" asked Zagloba. "Maybe there is some help for us."
+
+"There is surely an uncommon uproar," said Volodyovski. "But raise me
+to the window, for I shall see right away what it is."
+
+Yan took Volodyovski and raised him as he would a boy. Pan Michael
+caught the grating, and looked carefully through the yard.
+
+"There is something going on,--there is!" said he, with sudden
+alertness. "I see the Hungarian castle regiment of infantry which
+Oskyerko led--they loved him greatly, and he too is arrested; they are
+demanding him surely. As God lives! they are in order of battle.
+Lieutenant Stahovich is with them; he is a friend of Oskyerko."
+
+At that moment the cries grew still louder.
+
+"Ganhoff has ridden up. He is saying something to Stahovich, and what a
+shout! I see that Stahovich with two officers is walking away from the
+troops. They are going of course as a deputation to the hetman. As God
+is dear to me, mutiny is spreading in the army! The cannon are pointed
+against the Hungarians, and the Scottish regiment is also in order of
+battle. Men from the Polish squadrons are gathering to the Hungarians.
+Without them they would not be so daring, for in the infantry there is
+stern discipline."
+
+"In God's name!" cried Zagloba. "In that is salvation for us. Pan
+Michael, are there many Polish squadrons? If they rise, it will be a
+rising!"
+
+"Stankyevich's hussars and Mirski's mailed squadrons are two days'
+march from Kyedani," answered Volodyovski. "If they had been here, the
+hetman would not have dared to arrest their commanders. Wait! There are
+Kharlamp's dragoons, one regiment, Myeleshko's another; they are for
+the prince. Nyevyarovski declared also for the prince, but his regiment
+is far away,--two Scottish regiments."
+
+"Then there are four with the prince?"
+
+"And the artillery under Korf, two regiments."
+
+"Oh, that's a strong force!"
+
+"And Kmita's squadron, well equipped,--six hundred men."
+
+"And on whose side is Kmita?"
+
+"I do not know."
+
+"Did you not see him? Did he throw down his baton?"
+
+"We know not."
+
+"Who are against the prince,--what squadrons?"
+
+"First, these Hungarians evidently, two hundred men; then a number of
+detached men from the commands of Mirski and Stankyevich; some nobles
+and Kmita,--but he is uncertain."
+
+"God grant him!--By God's mercy!--Too few, too few."
+
+"These Hungarians are as good as two regiments, old soldiers and tried.
+But wait! They are lighting the matches at the cannon; it looks like a
+battle!"
+
+Yan and Stanislav were silent; Zagloba was writhing as in a fever,--
+
+"Slay the traitors! Slay the dog-brothers! Ai, Kmita! Kmita! All
+depends on him. Is he daring?"
+
+"As the devil,--ready for anything."
+
+"It must be that he will take our side."
+
+"Mutiny in the army! See to what the hetman has brought things!" cried
+Volodyovski.
+
+"Who is the mutineer,--the army, or the hetman who rose against his own
+king?" asked Zagloba.
+
+"Godwin judge that. Wait! Again there is a movement! Some of Kharlamp's
+dragoons take the part of the Hungarians. The very best nobles serve in
+that regiment. Hear how they shout!"
+
+"The colonels! the colonels!" cried threatening voices in the yard.
+
+"Pan Michael! by the wounds of God, cry to them to send for your
+squadron and for the armored regiment and the hussars."
+
+"Be silent!"
+
+Zagloba began to shout himself: "But send for the rest of the Polish
+squadrons, and cut down the traitors!"
+
+"Be silent there!"
+
+Suddenly, not in the yard, but in the rear of the castle, rang forth a
+sharp salvo of muskets.
+
+"Jesus Mary!" cried Volodyovski.
+
+"Pan Michael, what is that?"
+
+"Beyond doubt they have shot Stahovich and the two officers who went as
+a deputation," said Volodyovski, feverishly. "It cannot be otherwise!"
+
+"By the passion of our Lord! Then there is no mercy. It is impossible
+to hope."
+
+The thunder of shots drowned further discourse. Pan Michael grasped the
+grating convulsively and pressed his forehead to it, but for a while he
+could see nothing except the legs of the Scottish infantry stationed at
+the window. Salvos of musketry grew more and more frequent; at last the
+cannon were heard. The dry knocking of bullets against the wall over
+the cellar was heard distinctly, like hail. The castle trembled to its
+foundation.
+
+"Jump down, Michael, or you will be killed!" cried Yan.
+
+"By no means. The balls go higher; and from the cannon they are firing
+in the other direction. I will not jump down for anything."
+
+And Volodyovski, seizing the grating more firmly, drew himself entirely
+to the window-sill, where he did not need the shoulder of Pan Yan to
+hold him. In the cellar it became really dark, for the window was small
+and Pan Michael though slender filled it completely; but as a
+recompense the men below had fresh news from the field of battle every
+minute.
+
+"I see now!" cried Pan Michael. "The Hungarians are resting against the
+wall and are firing. I was afraid that they would be forced to a
+corner, then the cannon would destroy them in a moment. Good soldiers,
+as God is dear to me! Without officers, they know what is needed. There
+is smoke again! I see nothing--"
+
+The firing began to slacken.
+
+"O merciful God, delay not thy punishment!" cried Zagloba.
+
+"And what, Michael?" asked Yan.
+
+"The Scots are advancing to the attack!"
+
+"Oh, brimstone thunderbolts, that we must sit here!" cried Stanislav.
+
+"They are there already, the halberd-men! The Hungarians meet them with
+the sabre! Oh, my God! that you cannot look on. What soldiers!"
+
+"Fighting with their own and not with an enemy."
+
+"The Hungarians have the upper hand. The Scots are falling back on the
+left. As I love God! Myeleshko's dragoons are going over to them! The
+Scots are between two fires. Korf cannot use his cannon, for he would
+strike the Scots. I see Ganhoff uniforms among the Hungarians. They are
+going to attack the gate. They wish to escape. They are advancing like
+a storm,--breaking everything!"
+
+"How is that? I wish they would capture this castle!" cried Zagloba.
+
+"Never mind! They will come back to-morrow with the squadrons of
+Mirski and Stankyevich--Oh, Kharlamp is killed! No! He rises; he is
+wounded--they are already at the gate. What is that? Just as if the
+Scottish guard at the gate were coming over to the Hungarians, for they
+are opening the gate,--dust is rising on the outside; I see Kmita!
+Kmita is rushing through the gate with cavalry!"
+
+"On whose side is he, on whose side?" cried Zagloba.
+
+For a moment Pan Michael gave no answer; but very soon the clatter of
+weapons, shrieks, and shouts were heard with redoubled force.
+
+"It is all over with them!" cried Pan Michael, with a shrill voice.
+
+"All over with whom, with whom?"
+
+"With the Hungarians. The cavalry has broken them, is trampling them,
+cutting them to pieces! Their flag is in Kmita's hand! The end, the
+end!"
+
+When he had said this, Volodyovski dropped from the window and fell
+into the arms of Pan Yan.
+
+"Kill me!" cried he, "kill me, for I had that man under my sabre and
+let him go with his life; I gave him his commission. Through me he
+assembled that squadron with which he will fight now against the
+country. I saw whom he got: dog-brothers, gallows-birds, robbers,
+ruffians, such as he is himself. God grant me to meet him once more
+with the sabre--God! lengthen my life to the death of that traitor, for
+I swear that he will not leave my hands again."
+
+Meanwhile cries, the trample of hoofs, and salvos of musketry were
+thundering yet with full force; after a time, however, they began to
+weaken, and an hour later silence reigned in the castle of Kyedani,
+broken only by the measured tread of the Scottish patrols and words of
+command.
+
+"Pan Michael, look out once more and see what has happened," begged
+Zagloba.
+
+"What for?" asked the little knight. "Whoso is a soldier will guess
+what has happened. Besides, I saw them beaten,--Kmita triumphs here!"
+
+"God give him to be torn with horses, the scoundrel, the hell-dweller!
+God give him to guard a harem for Tartars!"
+
+
+
+
+ CHAPTER XVII.
+
+
+Pan Michael was right. Kmita had triumphed. The Hungarians and a part
+of the dragoons of Myeleshko and Kharlamp who had joined them, lay dead
+close together in the court of Kyedani. Barely a few tens of them had
+slipped out and scattered around the castle and the town, where the
+cavalry pursued them. Many were caught; others never stopped of a
+certainty till they reached the camp of Sapyeha, voevoda of Vityebsk,
+to whom they were the first to bring the terrible tidings of the grand
+hetman's treason, of his desertion to the Swedes, of the imprisonment
+of the colonels and the resistance of the Polish squadrons.
+
+Meanwhile Kmita, covered with blood and dust, presented himself with
+the banner of the Hungarians before Radzivill, who received him with
+open arms. But Pan Andrei was not delighted with the victory. He was as
+gloomy and sullen as if he had acted against his heart.
+
+"Your highness," said he, "I do not like to hear praises, and would
+rather a hundred times fight the enemy than soldiers who might be of
+service to the country. It seems to a man as if he were spilling his
+own blood."
+
+"Who is to blame, if not those insurgents?" answered the prince. "I too
+would prefer to send them to Vilna, and I intended to do so. But they
+chose to rebel against authority. What has happened will not be undone.
+It was and it will be needful to give an example."
+
+"What does your highness think of doing with the prisoners?"
+
+"A ball in the forehead of every tenth man. Dispose the rest among
+other regiments. You will go to-day to the squadrons of Mirski and
+Stankyevich, announce my order, to them to be ready for the campaign. I
+make you commander over those two squadrons, and over the third, that
+of Volodyovski. The lieutenants are to be subordinate to you and obey
+you in everything. I wished to send Kharlamp to that squadron at first,
+but he is useless. I have changed my mind."
+
+"What shall I do in case of resistance? For with Volodyovski are Lauda
+men who hate me terribly."
+
+"Announce that Mirski, Stankyevich, and Volodyovski will be shot
+immediately."
+
+"Then they may come in arms to Kyedani to rescue these officers. All
+serving under Mirski are distinguished nobles."
+
+"Take a regiment of Scottish infantry and a German regiment. First
+surround them, then announce the order."
+
+"Such is the will of your highness."
+
+Radzivill rested his hands on his knees and fell to thinking.
+
+"I would gladly shoot Mirski and Stankyevich were they not respected in
+the whole country as well as in their own regiments. I fear tumult and
+open rebellion, an example of which we have just had before our eyes. I
+am glad, thanks to you, that they have received a good lesson, and each
+squadron will think twice before rising against us. But it is
+imperative to act swiftly, so that resisting men may not go to the
+voevoda of Vityebsk."
+
+"Your highness has spoken only of Mirski and Stankyevich, you have not
+mentioned Volodyovski and Oskyerko."
+
+"I must spare Oskyerko, too, for he is a man of note and widely
+related; but Volodyovski comes from Russia[21] and has no relatives
+here. He is a valiant soldier, it is true. I counted on him,--so much
+the worse that I was deceived. If the devil had not brought hither
+those wanderers his friends, he might have acted differently; but after
+what has happened, a bullet in the forehead waits him, as well as those
+two Skshetuskis and that third fellow, that bull who began first to
+bellow, 'Traitor, traitor!'"
+
+Pan Andrei sprang up as if burned with iron: "Your highness, the
+soldiers say that Volodyovski saved your life at Tsibyhova."
+
+"He did his duty; therefore I wanted to give him Dydkyemie for life.
+Now he has betrayed me; hence I give command to shoot him."
+
+Kmita's eyes flashed, and his nostrils began to quiver.
+
+"Your highness, that cannot be!"
+
+"How cannot be?" asked Radzivill, frowning.
+
+"I implore your highness," said Kmita, carried away, "that not a hair
+fall from Volodyovski. Forgive me, I implore. Volodyovski had the power
+not to deliver to me the commission, for it was sent to him and left at
+his disposal. But he gave it. He plucked me out of the whirlpool.
+Through that act of his I passed into the jurisdiction of your
+highness. He did not hesitate to save me, though he and I were trying
+to win the same woman. I owe him gratitude, and I have vowed to repay
+him. Your highness, grant for my sake that no punishment touch him or
+his friends. A hair should not fall from the head of either of them,
+and as God is true, it will not fall while I live. I implore your
+highness."
+
+Pan Andrei entreated and clasped his hands, but his words were ringing
+with anger, threats, and indignation. His unrestrained nature gained
+the upper hand, and he stood above Radzivill with flashing eyes and a
+visage like the head of an angry bird of prey. The hetman too had a
+storm in his face. Before his iron will and despotism everything
+hitherto in Lithuania and Russia had bent. No one had ever dared to
+oppose him, no one to beg mercy for those once condemned; but now
+Kmita's entreating was merely for show, in reality he presented
+demands; and the position was such that it was impossible to refuse
+him.
+
+At the very beginning of his career of treason, the despot felt that he
+would have to yield more than once to the despotism of men and
+circumstances, and would be dependent on adherents of far less
+importance than this one; that Kmita, whom he wished to turn into a
+faithful dog, would be rather a captive wolf, ready when angry to bite
+its master's hand.
+
+All this roused the proud blood of Radzivill. He resolved to resist,
+for his inborn terrible vengefulness urged him to that.
+
+"Volodyovski and the other three must lose their heads," said he, with
+a loud voice.
+
+But to speak thus was to throw powder on fire.
+
+"If I had not dispersed the Hungarians, these are not the men who had
+lost their heads," shouted Kmita.
+
+"How is this? Are you renouncing my service already?" asked the hetman,
+threateningly.
+
+"Your highness," answered Pan Andrei, with passion, "I am not
+renouncing; I am begging, imploring. But the harm will not happen.
+These men are famous in all Poland. It cannot be, it cannot be! I will
+not be a Judas to Volodyovski. I will follow your highness into fire,
+but refuse not this favor."
+
+"But if I refuse?"
+
+"Then give command to shoot me; I will not live! May thunderbolts split
+me! May devils take me living to hell!"
+
+"Remember, unfortunate, before whom you are speaking."
+
+"Bring me not to desperation, your highness."
+
+"To a prayer I may give ear, but a threat I will not consider."
+
+"I beg,--I implore." Here Pan Andrei threw himself on his knees.
+"Permit me, your highness, to serve you not from constraint, but with
+my heart, or I shall go mad."
+
+Radzivill said nothing. Kmita was kneeling; pallor and flushes chased
+each other like lightning gleams over his face. It was clear that a
+moment more and he would burst forth in terrible fashion.
+
+"Rise!" said Radzivill.
+
+Pan Andrei rose.
+
+"To defend a friend you are able. I have the test that you will also be
+able to defend me and will never desert. But God made you of nitre, not
+of flesh, and have a care that you run not to fluid. I cannot refuse
+you anything. Listen to me: Stankyevich, Mirski, and Oskyerko I will
+send to the Swedes at Birji; let the two Skshetuskis and Volodyovski go
+with them. The Swedes will not tear off their heads there, and it is
+better that they sit out the war in quiet."
+
+"I thank your highness, my father," cried Andrei.
+
+"Wait," said the prince. "I have respected your oath already too
+much; now respect mine. I have recorded death in my soul to that old
+noble,--I have forgotten his name,--that bellowing devil who came here
+with Skshetuski. He is the man who first called me traitor. He
+mentioned a bribe; he urged on the others, and perhaps there would not
+have been such opposition without his insolence." Here the prince
+struck the table with his fist. "I should have expected death sooner,
+and the end of the world sooner, than that any one would dare to shout
+at me, Radzivill, to my face, 'Traitor!' In presence of people! There
+is not a death, there are not torments befitting such a crime. Do not
+beg me for him; it is useless."
+
+But Pan Andrei was not easily discouraged when once he undertook a
+thing. He was not angry now, nor did he blaze forth. But seizing again
+the hand of the hetman, he began to cover it with kisses and to entreat
+with all the earnestness in his soul--
+
+"With no rope or chain could your highness bind my heart as with this
+favor. Only do it not half-way nor in part, but completely. That noble
+said yesterday what all thought. I myself thought the same till you
+opened my eyes,--may fire consume me, if I did not! A man is not to
+blame for being unwise. That noble was so drunk that what he had on his
+heart he shouted forth. He thought that he was defending the country,
+and it is hard to punish a man for love of country. He knew that he was
+exposing his life, and shouted what he had on his mind. He neither
+warms nor freezes me, but he is to Pan Volodyovski as a brother, or
+quite as a father. Volodyovski would mourn for him beyond measure, and
+I do not want that. Such is the nature within me, that if I wish good
+to a man I would give my soul for him. If any one has spared me, but
+killed my friend, may the devil take him for such a favor! Your
+highness, my father, benefactor, do a perfect kindness,--give me this
+noble, and I will give you all my blood, even tomorrow, this day, this
+moment!"
+
+Radzivill gnawed his mustaches. "I determined death to him yesterday in
+my soul."
+
+"What the hetman and voevoda of Vilna determined, that can the Grand
+Prince of Lithuania and, God grant in the future, the King of Poland,
+as a gracious monarch, efface."
+
+Pan Andrei spoke sincerely what he felt and thought; but had he been
+the most adroit of courtiers he could not have found a more powerful
+argument in defence of his friends. The proud face of the magnate grew
+bright at the sound of those titles which he did not possess yet, and
+he said,--
+
+"You have so understood me that I can refuse you nothing. They will all
+go to Birji. Let them expiate their faults with the Swedes; and when
+that has happened of which you have spoken, ask for them a new favor."
+
+"As true as life, I will ask, and may God grant as quickly as
+possible!" said Kmita.
+
+"Go now, and bear the good news to them."
+
+"The news is good for me, not for them; and surely they will not
+receive it with gratitude, especially since they did not suspect what
+threatened them. I will not go, your highness, for it would seem as if
+I were hurrying to boast of my intercession."
+
+"Do as you please about that, but lose no time in bringing the
+squadrons of Mirski and Stankyevich; immediately after there will be
+another expedition for you, from which surely you will not flee."
+
+"What is that?"
+
+"You will go to ask on my behalf Pan Billevich, the sword-bearer of
+Rossyeni, to come to me here at Kyedani, with his niece, and stay
+during the war. Do you understand?"
+
+Kmita was confused. "He will not be ready to do that. He went from
+Kyedani in a great rage."
+
+"I think that the rage has left him already. In every case take men,
+and if they will not come of their own will put them in a carriage,
+surround it with dragoons, and bring them. He was as soft as wax when I
+spoke with him; he blushed like a maiden and bowed to the floor, but he
+was as frightened at the name of the Swedes as the devil is at holy
+water, and went away. I want him here for myself and for you; I hope to
+form out of that wax a candle that I can light when I like and for whom
+I like. It will be all the better if it happens so; but if not, I will
+have a hostage. The Billeviches are very powerful in Jmud, for they are
+related to almost all the nobles. When I have one of them in my hands,
+and that one the eldest, the others will think twice before they
+undertake anything against me. Furthermore, behind them and your maiden
+are all that throng of Lauda men, who, if they were to go to the camp
+of the voevoda of Vityebsk, would be received by him with open arms.
+That is an important affair, so important that I think to begin with
+the Billeviches."
+
+"In Volodyovski's squadron are Lauda men only."
+
+"The guardians of your maiden. If that is true, begin by conveying her
+to Kyedani. Only listen: I will undertake to bring the sword-bearer to
+our side, but do you win the maiden as you can. When I bring over the
+sword-bearer, he will help you with the girl. If she is willing, I will
+have the wedding for you at once. If not, take her to the altar without
+ceremony. When the storm is over, all will be well. That is the best
+method with women. She will weep, she will despair, when they drag her
+to the altar; but next day she will think that the devil is not so
+terrible as they paint him, and the third day she will be glad. How did
+you part from her yesterday?"
+
+"As if she had given me a slap in the face."
+
+"What did she say?"
+
+"She called me a traitor. I was almost struck with paralysis."
+
+"Is she so furious? When you are her husband, tell her that a distaff
+is fitter for her than public affairs, and hold her tight."
+
+"Your highness does not know her. She must have a thing either virtue
+or vice; according to that she judges, and more than one man might envy
+her her mind. Before you can look around she has struck the point."
+
+"She has struck you to the heart. Try to strike her in like manner."
+
+"If God would grant that, your highness! Once I took her with armed
+hand, but afterward I vowed to do so no more. And something tells me
+that were I to take her by force to the altar it would not be to my
+heart, for I have promised her and myself not to use force again. If
+her uncle is convinced he will convince her, and then she will look on
+me differently. Now I will go to Billeviche and bring them both here,
+for I am afraid that she may take refuge in some cloister. But I tell
+your highness the pure truth, that though it is a great happiness for
+me to look on that maiden, I would rather attack the whole Swedish
+power than stand before her at present, for she does not know my honest
+intentions and holds me a traitor."
+
+"If you wish I will send another,--Kharlamp or Myeleshko."
+
+"No, I would rather go myself; besides, Kharlamp is wounded."
+
+"That is better. I wanted to send Kharlamp yesterday to Volodyovski's
+squadron to take command, and if need be force it to obedience; but he
+is an awkward fellow, and it turns out that he knows not how to hold
+his own men. I have no service for him. Go first for the sword-bearer
+and the maiden, and then to those squadrons. In an extreme case do not
+spare blood, for we must show the Swedes that we have power and are not
+afraid of rebellion. I will send the colonels away at once under
+escort; I hope that Pontus de la Gardie will consider this a proof of
+my sincerity. Myeleshko will take them. The beginning is difficult. I
+see that half Lithuania will rise against me."
+
+"That is nothing, your highness. Whoso has a clean conscience fears no
+man."
+
+"I thought that all the Radzivills at least would be on my side, but
+see what Prince Michael writes from Nyesvyej."
+
+Here the hetman gave Kmita the letter of Kazimir Michael. Pan Andrei
+cast his eyes over the letter.
+
+"If I knew not the intentions of your highness I should think him
+right, and the most virtuous man in the world. God give him everything
+good! He speaks what he thinks."
+
+"Set out now!" said the prince, with a certain impatience.
+
+
+
+
+ CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+
+Kmita, however, did not start that day, nor the following, for
+threatening news began to arrive at Kyedani from every side. Toward
+evening a courier rushed in with tidings that Mirski's squadron and
+Stankyevich's also were marching to the hetman's residence, prepared to
+demand with armed hand their colonels; that there was terrible
+agitation among them, and that the officers had sent deputations to all
+the squadrons posted near Kyedani, and farther on to Podlyasye and
+Zabludovo, with news of the hetman's treason, and with a summons to
+unite in defence of the country. From this it was easy to see that
+multitudes of nobles would fly to the insurgent squadrons and form an
+important force, which it would be difficult to resist in unfortified
+Kyedani, especially since not every regiment which Radzivill had at
+hand could be relied on with certainty.
+
+This changed all the calculations and plans of the hetman; but instead
+of weakening, it seemed to rouse his courage still more. He determined
+to move at the head of his faithful Scottish regiments, cavalry and
+artillery, against the insurgents, and stamp out the fire at its birth.
+He knew that the soldiers without colonels were simply an unorganized
+throng, that would scatter from terror at the mere name of the hetman.
+He determined also not to spare blood, and to terrify with examples the
+whole army, all the nobles, nay, all Lithuania, so that it should not
+dare even to tremble beneath his iron hand. Everything that he had
+planned must be accomplished, and accomplished with his own forces.
+
+That very day a number of foreign officers went to Prussia to make new
+enlistments, and Kyedani was swarming with armed men. The Scottish
+regiments, the foreign cavalry, the dragoons of Myeleshko and Kharlamp,
+with the "fire people" of Pan Korf, were preparing for the campaign.
+The prince's haiduks, his servants, and the citizens of Kyedani were
+obliged to increase the military forces; and it was determined to
+hasten the transfer of the prisoners to Birji, where it would be safer
+to keep them than in exposed Kyedani. The prince hoped with reason that
+to transport the colonels to a remote fortress, in which, according to
+treaty, there must be a Swedish garrison already, would destroy in the
+minds of the rebellious soldiers all hope of rescuing them, and deprive
+the rebellion itself of every basis. Pan Zagloba, the Skshetuskis, and
+Volodyovski were to share the lot of the others.
+
+It was already evening when an officer with lantern in hand entered the
+cellar in which they were, and said,--
+
+"Prepare, gentlemen, to follow me."
+
+"Whither?" asked Zagloba, with a voice of alarm.
+
+"That will be seen. Hurry, hurry!"
+
+"We come."
+
+They went out. In the corridor Scottish soldiers armed with muskets
+surrounded them. Zagloba grew more and more alarmed.
+
+"Still they would not lead us to death without a priest, without
+confession," whispered he in the ear of Volodyovski. Then he turned to
+the officer; "What is your rank, I pray?"
+
+"What is my rank to you?"
+
+"I have many relatives in Lithuania, and it is pleasant to know with
+whom one has to do."
+
+"No time for inquiries, but he is a fool who is ashamed of his name. I
+am Roh Kovalski, if you wish to know."
+
+"That is an honorable stock! The men are good soldiers, the women are
+virtuous. My grandmother was a Kovalski, but she made an orphan of me
+before I came to the world. Are you from the Vyerush, or the Korab
+Kovalskis?"
+
+"Do you want to examine me as a witness, in the night?"
+
+"Oh, I do this because you are surely a relative of mine, for we have
+the same build. You have large bones and shoulders, just like mine, and
+I got my form from my grandmother."
+
+"Well, we can talk about that on the road. We shall have time!"
+
+"On the road?" said Zagloba; and a great weight fell from his breast.
+He breathed like a bellows, and gained courage at once.
+
+"Pan Michael," whispered he, "did I not say that they would not cut our
+heads off?"
+
+Meanwhile they had reached the courtyard. Night had fallen completely.
+In places red torches were burning or lanterns gleaming, throwing an
+uncertain light on groups of soldiers, horse and foot, of various arms.
+The whole court was crowded with troops. Clearly they were ready to
+march, for a great movement was manifest on all sides. Here and
+there in the darkness gleamed lances and gun-barrels; horses' hoofs
+clattered on the pavement; single horsemen hurried between the
+squadrons,--undoubtedly officers giving commands.
+
+Kovalski stopped the convoy and the prisoners before an enormous wagon
+drawn by four horses, and having a box made as it were of ladders.
+
+"Take your places, gentlemen," said he.
+
+"Some one is sitting there already," said Zagloba, clambering up. "But
+our packs?"
+
+"They are under the straw," said Kovalski; "hurry, hurry!"
+
+"But who are sitting here?" asked Zagloba, looking at dark figures
+stretched on the straw.
+
+"Mirski, Stankyevich, Oskyerko," answered voices.
+
+"Volodyovski, Yan and Stanislav Skshetuski, and Zagloba," answered our
+knights.
+
+"With the forehead, with the forehead!"
+
+"With the forehead! We are travelling in honorable company. And whither
+are they taking us, do you know, gentlemen?"
+
+"You are going to Birji," said Kovalski.
+
+When he said this, he gave the command. A convoy of fifty dragoons
+surrounded the wagon and moved on. The prisoners began to converse in a
+low voice.
+
+"They will give us to the Swedes," said Mirski; "I expected that."
+
+"I would rather sit among enemies than traitors," answered Stankyevich.
+
+"And I would rather have a bullet in my forehead," said Volodyovski,
+"than sit with folded arms during such an unfortunate war."
+
+"Do not blaspheme, Michael," answered Zagloba, "for from the wagon,
+should a convenient moment come, you may give a plunge, and from Birji
+also; but it is hard to escape with a bullet in the forehead. I foresaw
+that that traitor would not dare to put bullets in our heads."
+
+"Is there a thing which Radzivill does not dare to do?" asked Mirski.
+"It is clear that you have come from afar and know him not. On
+whomsoever he has sworn vengeance, that man is as good as in the grave;
+and I remember no instance of his forgiving any one the slightest
+offence."
+
+"But still he did not dare to raise hands on me!" answered Zagloba.
+"Who knows if you have not to thank me for your lives?"
+
+"And how?"
+
+"Because the Khan loves me wonderfully, for I discovered a conspiracy
+against his life when I was a captive in the Crimea. And our gracious
+king, Yan Kazimir, loves me too. Radzivill, the son of a such a one,
+did not wish to break with two such potentates; for they might reach
+him, even in Lithuania."
+
+"Ah! what are you saying? He hates the king as the devil does holy
+water, and would be still more envenomed against you did he know you to
+be a confidant of the king," observed Stankyevich.
+
+"I think this," said Oskyerko. "To avoid odium the hetman would not
+stain himself with our blood, but I could swear that this officer is
+bearing an order to the Swedes in Birji to shoot us on the spot."
+
+"Oi!" exclaimed Zagloba.
+
+They were silent for a moment; meanwhile the wagon had rolled into the
+square of Kyedani. The town was sleeping, there were no lights in the
+windows, only the dogs before the houses snapped angrily at the passing
+party.
+
+"Well," said Zagloba, "we have gained time anyhow, and perhaps a chance
+will serve us, and some stratagem may come to my head." Here he turned
+to the old colonels: "Gentlemen, you know me little, but ask my
+comrades about the hot places in which I have been, and from which I
+have always escaped. Tell me, what kind of officer is this who commands
+the convoy? Could he be persuaded not to adhere to a traitor, but take
+the side of his country and join us?"
+
+"That is Roh Kovalski of the Korab Kovalskis," answered Oskyerko.
+
+"I know him. You might as well persuade his horse as him; for as God is
+bountiful I know not which is more stupid."
+
+"But why did they make him officer?"
+
+"He carried the banner with Myeleshko's dragoons; for this no wit is
+needed. But he was made officer because his fist pleased the prince;
+for he breaks horseshoes, wrestles with tame bears, and the man has not
+yet been discovered whom he cannot bring to the earth."
+
+"Has he such strength?"
+
+"That he has such strength is true; but were his superior to order him
+to batter down a wall with his head he would fall to battering it
+without a moment's delay. He is ordered to take us to Birji, and he
+will take us, even if the earth had to sink."
+
+"'Pon my word," said Zagloba, who listened to this conversation with
+great attention, "he is a resolute fellow."
+
+"Yes, but with him resolution consists in stupidity alone. When he has
+time, and is not eating, he is sleeping. It is an astonishing thing,
+which you will not believe; but once he slept forty-eight hours in the
+barracks, and yawned when they dragged him from the plank bed."
+
+"This officer pleases me greatly," said Zagloba, "for I always like to
+know with whom I have to do."
+
+When he had said this he turned to Kovalski. "But come this way,
+please!" cried he, in a patronizing tone.
+
+"What is it?" asked Kovalski, turning his horse.
+
+"Have you gorailka?"
+
+"I have."
+
+"Give it!"
+
+"How give it?"
+
+"You know, gracious Kovalski, if it were not permitted you would have
+had an order not to give it; but since you have not an order, give it."
+
+"Ah," said Kovalski, astonished, "as I live! but that is like forcing."
+
+"Forcing or not forcing, it is permitted you; and it is proper to
+assist a blood relative and an older man, who, if he had married your
+mother, might have been your father as easily as wink."
+
+"What relative are you of mine?"
+
+"I am, for there are two stocks of Kovalskis,--they who use the seal of
+Vyerush and have a goat painted on their shield, with upraised hind
+leg; and they who have on their shield the ship in which their ancestor
+Kovalski sailed from England across the sea to Poland; and these are my
+relatives, through my grandmother, and this is why I, too, have the
+ship on my shield."
+
+"As God lives! you are my relative."
+
+"Are you a Korab (ship)?"
+
+"A Korab."
+
+"My own blood, as God is dear to me!" cried Zagloba. "It is lucky that
+we have met, for in very truth I have come here to Lithuania to see the
+Kovalskis; and though I am in bonds while you are on horseback and in
+freedom I would gladly embrace you, for what is one's own is one's
+own."
+
+"How can I help you? They commanded me to take you to Birji; I will
+take you. Blood is blood, but service is service."
+
+"Call me Uncle," said Zagloba.
+
+"Here is gorailka for you, Uncle," said Kovalski; "I can do that much."
+
+Zagloba took the flask gladly, and drank to his liking. Soon a pleasant
+warmth spread through his members. It began to grow clear in his brain,
+and his mind became bright.
+
+"Come down from the horse," said he to Kovalski, "and sit here a short
+time in the wagon; let us talk, for I should like to have you say
+something about our family. I respect service, but this too is
+permitted."
+
+Kovalski did not answer for a while.
+
+"This was not forbidden," said he, at last.
+
+Soon after he was sitting at the side of Zagloba, and stretched himself
+gladly on the straw with which the wagon was filled.
+
+Zagloba embraced him heartily.
+
+"How is the health of thy old father?--God help me,--I've forgotten his
+name."
+
+"Roh, also."
+
+"That's right, that's right. Roh begat Roh,--that is according to
+command. You must call your son Roh as well, so that every hoopoo may
+have his topknot. But are you married?"
+
+"Of course! I am Kovalski, and here is Pani Kovalski; I don't want any
+other."
+
+So saying, the young officer raised to the eyes of Zagloba the hilt of
+a heavy dragoon sabre, and repeated, "I don't want any other."
+
+"Proper!" said Zagloba. "Roh, son of Roh, you are greatly pleasing to
+me. A soldier is best accommodated when he has no wife save such a one,
+and I will say more,--she will be a widow before you will be a widower.
+The only pity is that you cannot have young Rohs by her, for I see that
+you are a keen cavalier, and it would be a sin were such a stock to die
+out."
+
+"Oh, no fear of that!" said Kovalski; "there are six brothers of us."
+
+"And all Kohs?"
+
+"Does Uncle know that if not the first, then the second, has to be
+Roh?--for Roh is our special patron."
+
+"Let us drink again."
+
+"Very well."
+
+Zagloba raised the bottle; he did not drink all, however, but gave it
+to the officer and said, "To the bottom, to the bottom! It is a pity
+that I cannot see you," continued he. "The night is so dark that you
+might hit a man in the face, you would not know your own fingers by
+sight. But hear me, Roh, where was that army going from Kyedani when we
+drove out?"
+
+"Against the insurgents."
+
+"The Most High God knows who is insurgent,--you or they."
+
+"I an insurgent? How could that be? I do what my hetman commands."
+
+"But the hetman does not do what the king commands, for surely the king
+did not command him to join the Swedes. Would you not rather slay the
+Swedes than give me, your relative, into their hands?"
+
+"I might; but for every command there is obedience."
+
+"And Pani Kovalski would rather slay Swedes; I know her. Speaking
+between us, the hetman has rebelled against the king and the country.
+Don't say this to any one, but it is so; and those who serve him are
+rebels too."
+
+"It is not proper for me to hear this. The hetman has his superior, and
+I have mine; what is his own belongs to the hetman, and God would
+punish me if I were to oppose him. That is an unheard of thing."
+
+"You speak honestly; but think, Roh, if you were to happen into the
+hands of those insurgents, I should be free, and it would be no fault
+of yours, for _nec Hercules contra plures!_--I do not know where those
+squadrons are, but you must know, and you see we might turn toward them
+a little."
+
+"How is that?"
+
+"As if we went by chance to them? It would not be your fault if they
+rescued us. You would not have me on your conscience,--and to have a
+relative on a man's conscience, believe me, is a terrible burden."
+
+"Oh Uncle, what are you saying! As God lives, I will leave the wagon
+and sit on my horse. It is not I who will have uncle on my conscience,
+but the hetman. While I live, nothing will come of this talk."
+
+"Nothing is nothing!" said Zagloba; "I prefer that you speak sincerely,
+though I was your uncle before Radzivill was your hetman. And do you
+know, Roh, what an uncle is?"
+
+"An uncle is an uncle."
+
+"You have calculated very adroitly; but when a man has no father, the
+Scriptures say that he must obey his uncle. The power of an uncle is as
+that of a father, which it is a sin to resist. For consider even this,
+that whoever marries may easily become a father; but in your uncle
+flows the same blood as in your mother. I am not in truth the brother
+of your mother, but my grandmother must have been your grandmother's
+aunt. Know then that the authority of several generations rests in me;
+for like everything else in the world we are mortal, therefore
+authority passes from one of us to another, and neither the hetman nor
+the king can ignore it, nor force any one to oppose it. It is sacred!
+Has the full hetman or even the grand hetman the right to command not
+merely a noble or an officer, but any kind of camp-follower, to rise up
+against his father, his mother, his grandfather, or his blind old
+grandmother? Answer me that, Roh. Has he the right?"
+
+"What?" asked Kovalski, with a sleepy voice.
+
+"Against his blind old grandmother!" repeated Zagloba. "Who in that
+case would be willing to marry and beget children, or wait for
+grandchildren? Answer me that, Roh."
+
+"I am Kovalski, and this is Pani Kovalski," said the still sleepier
+officer.
+
+"If it is your wish, let it be so," answered Zagloba. "Better indeed
+that you have no children, there will be fewer fools to storm around in
+the world. Is it not true, Roh?"
+
+Zagloba held down his ear, but heard nothing,--no answer now.
+
+"Roh! Roh!" called he, in a low voice.
+
+Kovalski was sleeping like a dead man.
+
+"Are you sleeping?" muttered Zagloba. "Wait a bit--I will take this
+iron pot off your head, for it is of no use to you. This cloak is too
+tight at the throat; it might cause apoplexy. What sort of relative
+were I, did I not save you?"
+
+Here Zagloba's hands began to move lightly about the head and neck of
+Kovalski. In the wagon all were in a deep sleep; the soldiers too
+nodded in the saddles; some in front were singing in a low voice, while
+looking out the road carefully,--for the night, though not rainy, was
+exceedingly dark.
+
+After a time, however, the soldier leading Kovalski's horse behind the
+wagon saw in the darkness the cloak and bright helmet of his officer.
+Kovalski, without stopping the wagon, slipped out and nodded to give
+him the horse. In a moment he mounted.
+
+"Pan Commandant, where shall we stop to feed?" asked the sergeant,
+approaching him.
+
+Pan Roh gave no word in reply, but moving forward passed slowly those
+riding in front and vanished in the darkness. Soon there came to the
+ears of the dragoons the quick tramp of a horse.
+
+"The commandant has gone at a gallop!" said they to one another.
+"Surely he wants to look around to see if there is some public house
+near by. It is time to feed the horses,--time."
+
+A half-hour passed, an hour, two hours, and Pan Kovalski seemed to be
+ahead all the time, for somehow he was not visible. The horses grew
+very tired, especially those drawing the wagon, and began to drag on
+slowly. The stars were leaving the sky.
+
+"Gallop to the commandant," said the sergeant; "tell him the horses are
+barely able to drag along, and the wagon horses are tired."
+
+One of the soldiers moved ahead, but after an hour returned alone.
+
+"There is neither trace nor ashes of the commandant," said the soldier;
+"he must have ridden five miles ahead."
+
+The soldiers began to grumble.
+
+"It is well for him he slept through the day, and just now on the
+wagon; but do thou, soldier, pound through the night with the last
+breath of thy horse and thyself!"
+
+"There is an inn eighty rods distant," said the soldier who had ridden
+ahead. "I thought to find him there, but no! I listened, trying to hear
+the horse--Nothing to be heard. The devil knows where he is!"
+
+"We will stop at the inn anyhow," said the sergeant. "We must let the
+horses rest."
+
+In fact they halted before the inn. The soldiers dismounted. Some went
+to knock at the door; others untied bundles of hay, hanging at the
+saddles, to feed the horses even from their hands.
+
+The prisoners woke when the movement of the wagon ceased.
+
+"But where are we going?" asked old Stankyevich.
+
+"I cannot tell in the night," answered Volodyovski, "especially as we
+are not going to Upita."
+
+"But does not the load from Kyedani to Birji lie through Upita?" asked
+Pan Yan.
+
+"It does. But in Upita is my squadron, which clearly the prince fears
+may resist, therefore he ordered Kovalski to take another road. Just
+outside Kyedani we turned to Dalnovo and Kroki; from the second place
+we shall go surely through Beysagoli and Shavli. It is a little out of
+the way, but Upita and Ponyevyej will remain at the right. On this road
+there are no squadrons, for all that were there were brought to
+Kyedani, so as to have them at hand."
+
+"But Pan Zagloba," said Stankyevich, "instead of thinking of
+stratagems, as he promised, is sleeping sweetly, and snoring."
+
+"Let him sleep. It is clear that he was wearied from talk with that
+stupid commandant, relationship with whom he confessed. It is evident
+that he wanted to capture him, but with no result. Whoso would not
+leave Radzivill for his country, will surely not leave him for a
+distant relative."
+
+"Are they really relatives?" asked Oskyerko.
+
+"They? They are as much relatives as you and I," answered Volodyovski.
+"When Zagloba spoke of their common escutcheon, I knew it was not true,
+for I know well that his is called wczele (in the forehead)."
+
+"And where is Pan Kovalski?"
+
+"He must be with the soldiers or in the inn."
+
+"I should like to ask him to let me sit on some soldier's horse," said
+Mirski, "for my bones are benumbed."
+
+"He will not grant that," said Stankyevich; "for the night is dark, you
+could easily put spurs to the horse, and be off. Who could overtake?"
+
+"I will give him my word of honor not to attempt escape; besides, dawn
+will begin directly."
+
+"Soldier, where is the commandant?" asked Volodyovski of a dragoon
+standing near.
+
+"Who knows?"
+
+"How, who knows? When I ask thee to call him, call him."
+
+"We know not ourselves, Colonel, where he is," said the dragoon. "Since
+he crawled out of the wagon and rode ahead, he has not come back."
+
+"Tell him when he comes that we would speak with him."
+
+"As the Colonel wishes," answered the soldier.
+
+The prisoners were silent. From time to time only loud yawning was
+heard on the wagon; the horses were chewing hay at one side. The
+soldiers around the wagon, resting on the saddles, were dozing; others
+talked in a low voice, or refreshed themselves each with what he had,
+for it turned out that the inn was deserted and tenantless.
+
+The night had begun to grow pale. On its eastern side the dark
+background of the sky was becoming slightly gray; the stars, going out
+gradually, twinkled with an uncertain, failing light. Then the roof of
+the inn became hoary; the trees growing near it were edged with silver.
+The horses and men seemed to rise out of the shade. After a while it
+was possible to distinguish faces, and the yellow color of the cloaks.
+The helmets began to reflect the morning gleam.
+
+Volodyovski opened his arms and stretched himself, yawning from ear to
+ear; then he looked at the sleeping Zagloba. All at once he threw back
+his arms and shouted,--
+
+"May the bullets strike him! In God's name! Gracious gentlemen, look
+here!"
+
+"What has happened?" asked the colonels, opening their eyes.
+
+"Look here, look here!" said Volodyovski, pointing at the sleeping
+form.
+
+The prisoners turned their glances in the direction indicated, and
+amazement was reflected on every face. Under the burka, and in the cap
+of Zagloba, slept, with the sleep of the just, Pan Roh Kovalski; but
+Zagloba was not in the wagon.
+
+"He has escaped, as God is dear to me!" said the astonished Mirski,
+looking around on every side, as if he did not yet believe his own
+eyes.
+
+"Oh, he is a finished rogue! May the hangman--" cried Stankyevich.
+
+"He took the helmet and yellow cloak of that fool, and escaped on his
+horse."
+
+"Vanished as if he had dropped into water."
+
+"He said he would get away by stratagem."
+
+"They will never see him again!"
+
+"Gentlemen," said Volodyovski, with delight, "you know not that man;
+and I swear to you to-day that he will rescue us yet,--I know not how,
+when, with what means,--but I swear that he will."
+
+"God grant it! One cannot believe his eyesight," said Pan Stanislav.
+
+The soldiers now saw what had happened. An uproar rose among them. One
+crowded ahead of the other to the wagon, stared at their commandant,
+dressed in a camel's hair burka and lynx-skin cap, and sleeping
+soundly.
+
+The sergeant began to shake him without ceremony. "Commandant!
+commandant!"
+
+"I am Kovalski, and this is Pani Kovalski," muttered Roh.
+
+"Commandant, a prisoner has fled."
+
+Kovalski sat up in the wagon and opened his eyes. "What?"
+
+"A prisoner has fled,--that bulky noble who was talking with the
+commandant."
+
+The officer came to his senses. "Impossible!" cried he, with terrified
+voice. "How was it? What happened? How did he escape?"
+
+"In the helmet and cloak of the commandant; the soldiers did not know
+him, the night was dark."
+
+"Where is my horse?" cried Kovalski.
+
+"The horse is gone. The noble fled on him."
+
+"On my horse?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+Kovalski seized himself by the head. "Jesus of Nazareth! King of the
+Jews!"
+
+After a while he shouted, "Give here that dog-faith, that son of a such
+a one who gave him the horse!"
+
+"Pan Commandant, the soldier is not to blame. The night was dark, you
+might have struck a man in the face, and he took your helmet and cloak;
+rode near me, and I did not know him. If your grace had not sat in the
+wagon, he could not have done it."
+
+"Kill me, kill me!" cried the unfortunate officer.
+
+"What is to be done?"
+
+"Kill him, catch him!"
+
+"That cannot be done in any way. He is on your horse,--the best horse;
+ours are terribly road-weary. He fled at the first cock-crow; we cannot
+overtake him."
+
+"Hunt for a wind in the field!" said Stankyevich.
+
+Kovalski, in a rage, turned to the prisoners. "You helped him to
+escape! I will--"
+
+Here he balled his gigantic fist, and began to approach them. Then
+Mirski said threateningly, "Shout not, and remember that you are
+speaking to superiors."
+
+Kovalski quivered, and straightened himself involuntarily; for really
+his dignity in presence of such a Mirski was nothing, and all his
+prisoners were a head above him in rank and significance.
+
+Stankyevich added: "If you have been commanded to take us, take us; but
+raise no voice, for to-morrow you may be under the command of any one
+of us."
+
+Kovalski stared and was silent.
+
+"There is no doubt you have fooled away your head, Pan Roh," said
+Oskyerko. "To say, as you do, that we helped him is nonsense; for, to
+begin with, we were sleeping, just as you were, and secondly, each one
+would have helped himself rather than another. But you have fooled away
+your head. There is no one to blame here but you. I would be the first
+to order you shot, since being an officer you fell asleep like a
+badger, and allowed a prisoner to escape in your own helmet and cloak,
+nay, on your own horse,--an unheard of thing, such as has not happened
+since the beginning of the world."
+
+"An old fox has fooled the young man!" said Mirski.
+"Jesus, Mary! I have not even the sabre!" cried Kovalski.
+
+"Will not the sabre be of use to him?" asked Stankyevich, laughing.
+"Pan Oskyerko has said well,--you have fooled away your head. You must
+have had pistols in the holsters too?"
+
+"I had!" said Kovalski, as if out of his mind.
+
+Suddenly he seized his head with both hands: "And the letter of the
+prince to the commandant of Birji! What shall I, unfortunate man, do
+now? I am lost for the ages! God give me a bullet in the head!"
+
+"That will not miss you," said Mirski, seriously. "How will you take us
+to Birji now? What will happen if you say that you have brought us as
+prisoners, and we, superior in rank, say that you are to be thrown into
+the dungeon? Whom will they believe? Do you think that the Swedish
+commandant will detain us for the reason simply that Pan Kovalski will
+beg him to do so? He will rather believe us, and confine you under
+ground."
+
+"I am lost!" groaned Kovalski.
+
+"Nonsense!" said Volodyovski.
+
+"What is to be done, Pan Commandant?" asked the sergeant.
+
+"Go to all the devils!" roared Kovalski. "Do I know what to do, where
+to go? God give thunderbolts to slay thee!"
+
+"Go on, go on to Birji; you will see!" said Mirski.
+
+"Turn back to Kyedani," cried Kovalski.
+
+"If they will not plant you at the wall there and shoot you, may
+bristles cover me!" said Oskyerko. "How will you appear before
+the hetman's face? Tfu! Infamy awaits you, and a bullet in the
+head,--nothing more."
+
+"For I deserve nothing more!" cried the unfortunate man.
+
+"Nonsense, Pan Roh! We alone can save you," said Oskyerko. "You know
+that we were ready to go to the end of the world with the hetman, and
+perish. We have shed our blood more than once for the country, and
+always shed it willingly; but the hetman betrayed the country,--he gave
+this land to the enemy; he joined with them against our gracious lord,
+to whom we swore allegiance. Do you think that it came easy to soldiers
+like us to refuse obedience to a superior, to act against discipline,
+to resist our own hetman? But whoso to-day is with the hetman is
+against the king. Whoso to-day is with the hetman is a traitor to the
+king and the Commonwealth. Therefore we cast down our batons at the
+feet of the hetman; for virtue, duty, faith, and honor so commanded.
+And who did it? Was it I alone? No! Pan Mirski, Pan Stankyevich, the
+best soldiers, the worthiest men. Who remained with the hetman?
+Disturbers. But why do you not follow men better, wiser, and older than
+yourself? Do you wish to bring infamy on your name, and be trumpeted
+forth as a traitor? Enter into yourself; ask your conscience what you
+should do,--remain a traitor with Radzivill, the traitor, or go with
+us, who wish to give our last breath for the country, shed the last
+drop of our blood for it. Would the ground had swallowed us before we
+refused obedience to the hetman; but would that our souls never escaped
+hell, if we were to betray the king and the country for the profit of
+Radzivill!"
+
+This discourse seemed to make a great impression on Kovalski. He
+stared, opened his mouth, and after a while said, "What do you wish of
+me, gentlemen?"
+
+"To go with us to the voevoda of Vityebsk, who will fight for the
+country."
+
+"But when I have an order to take you to Birji?"
+
+"Talk with him," said Mirski.
+
+"We want you to disobey the command,--to leave the hetman, and go with
+us; do you understand?" said Oskyerko, impatiently.
+
+"Say what you like, but nothing will come of that. I am a soldier; what
+would I deserve if I left the hetman? It is not my mind, but his; not
+my will, but his. When he sins he will answer for himself and for me,
+and it is my dog-duty to obey him. I am a simple man; what I do not
+effect with my hand, I cannot with my head. But I know this,--it is my
+duty to obey, and that is the end of it."
+
+"Do what you like!" cried Mirski.
+
+"It is my fault," continued Roh, "that I commanded to return to
+Kyedani, for I was ordered to go to Birji; but I became a fool through
+that noble, who, though a relative, did to me what a stranger would not
+have done. I wish he were not a relative, but he is. He had not God in
+his heart to take my horse, deprive me of the favor of the prince, and
+bring punishment on my shoulders. That is the kind of relative he is!
+But, gentlemen, you will go to Birji, let come what may afterward."
+
+"A pity to lose time, Pan Oskyerko," said Volodyovski.
+
+"Turn again toward Birji!" cried Kovalski to the dragoons.
+
+They turned toward Birji a second time. Pan Roh ordered one of the
+dragoons to sit in the wagon; then he mounted that man's horse, and
+rode by the side of the prisoners, repeating for a time, "A relative,
+and to do such a thing!"
+
+The prisoners, hearing this, though not certain of their fate and
+seriously troubled, could not refrain from laughter; at last
+Volodyovski said, "Comfort yourself, Pan Kovalski, for that man has
+hung on a hook persons not such as you. He surpassed Hmelnitski himself
+in cunning, and in stratagems no one can equal him."
+
+Kovalski said nothing, but fell away a little from the wagon, fearing
+ridicule. He was shamefaced in presence of the prisoners and of his own
+soldiers, and was so troubled that he was pitiful to look at.
+
+Meanwhile the colonels were talking of Zagloba, and of his marvellous
+escape.
+
+"In truth, 'tis astonishing," said Volodyovski, "that there are not in
+the world straits, out of which that man could not save himself. When
+strength and bravery are of no avail, he escapes through stratagem.
+Other men lose courage when death is hanging over their heads, or they
+commit themselves to God, waiting for what will happen; but he begins
+straightway to work with his head, and always thinks out something. He
+is as brave in need as Achilles, but he prefers to follow Ulysses."
+
+"I would not be his guard, though he were bound with chains," said
+Stankyevich; "for it is nothing that he will escape, but besides, he
+will expose a man to ridicule."
+
+"Of course!" said Pan Michael. "Now he will laugh at Kovalski to the
+end of his life; and God guard a man from coming under his tongue, for
+there is not a sharper in the Commonwealth. And when he begins, as is
+his custom, to color his speech, then people are bursting from
+laughter."
+
+"But you say that in need he can use his sabre?" asked Stankyevich.
+
+"Of course! He slew Burlei at Zbaraj, in view of the whole army."
+
+"Well, God save us!" cried Stankyevich, "I have never seen such a man."
+
+"He has rendered us a great service by his escape," said Oskyerko, "for
+he took the letters of the hetman, and who knows what was written in
+them against us? I do not think that the Swedish commandant at Birji
+will give ear to us, and not to Kovalski. That will not be, for we come
+as prisoners, and he as commanding the convoy. But certainly they will
+not know what to do with us. In every case they will not cut off our
+heads, and that is the main thing."
+
+"I spoke as I did merely to confuse Kovalski completely," said Mirski;
+"but that they will not cut off our heads, as you say, is no great
+consolation, God knows. Everything so combines that it would be better
+not to live; now another war, a civil war, will break out, that will be
+final ruin. What reason have I, old man, to look on these things?"
+
+"Or I, who remember other times?" said Stankyevich.
+
+"You should not say that, gentlemen; for the mercy of God is greater
+than the rage of men, and his almighty hand may snatch us from the
+whirlpool precisely when we least expect."
+
+"Holy are these words," said Pan Yan. "And to us, men from under the
+standard of the late Prince Yeremi, it is grievous to live now, for we
+were accustomed to victory; and still one likes to serve the country,
+if the Lord God would give at last a leader who is not a traitor, but
+one whom a man might trust with his whole heart and soul."
+
+"Oi! true, true!" said Pan Michael. "A man would fight night and day."
+
+"But I tell you, gentlemen, that this is the greatest despair," said
+Mirski; "for every one wanders as in darkness, and asks himself what to
+do, and uncertainty stifles him, like a nightmare. I know not how it is
+with you, but mental disquiet is rending me. And when I think that I
+cast my baton at the feet of the hetman, that I was the cause of
+resistance and mutiny, the remnants of my gray hair stand on my head
+from terror. So it is! But what is to be done in presence of open
+treason? Happy are they who do not need to give themselves such
+questions, and seek for answers in their souls."
+
+"A leader, a leader; may the merciful Lord give a leader!" said
+Stankyevich, raising his eyes toward heaven.
+
+"Do not men say that the voevoda of Vityebsk is a wonderfully honest
+man?" asked Pan Stanislav.
+
+"They do," replied Mirski; "but he has not the baton of grand or full
+hetman, and before the king clothes him with the office of hetman, he
+can act only on his own account. He will not go to the Swedes, or
+anywhere else; that is certain."
+
+"Pan Gosyevski, full hetman, is a captive in Kyedani."
+
+"Yes, for he is an honest man," said Oskyerko. "When news of that came
+to me, I was distressed, and had an immediate foreboding of evil."
+
+Pan Michael fell to thinking, and said after a while: "I was in Warsaw
+once, and went to the king's palace. Our gracious lord, since he loves
+soldiers and had praised me for the Berestechko affair, knew me at once
+and commanded me to come to dinner. At this dinner I saw Pan
+Charnyetski, as the dinner was specially for him. The king grew a
+little merry from wine, pressed Charnyetski's head, and said at last:
+'Even should the time come in which all will desert me, you will be
+faithful.' With my own ears I heard that said, as it were with
+prophetic spirit. Pan Charnyetski, from emotion, was hardly able to
+speak. He only repeated: 'To the last breath! to the last breath!' And
+then the king shed tears--"
+
+"Who knows if those were not prophetic words, for the time of disaster
+had already come," said Mirski.
+
+"Charnyetski is a great soldier," replied Stankyevich. "There are no
+lips in the Commonwealth which do not repeat his name."
+
+"They say," said Pan Yan, "that the Tartars, who are aiding Revera
+Pototski against Hmelnitski, are so much in love with Charnyetski that
+they will not go where he is not with them."
+
+"That is real truth," answered Oskyerko. "I heard that told in Kyedani
+before the hetman. We were all praising at that time Charnyetski
+wonderfully, but it was not to the taste of Radzivill, for he
+frowned and said, 'He is quartermaster of the king, but he might be
+under-starosta with me at Tykotsin.'"
+
+"Envy, it is clear, was gnawing him."
+
+"It is a well-known fact that an apostate cannot endure the lustre of
+virtue."
+
+Thus did the captive colonels converse; then their speech was turned
+again to Zagloba. Volodyovski assured them that aid might be looked for
+from him, for he was not the man to leave his friends in misfortune.
+
+"I am certain," said he, "that he has fled to Upita, where he will find
+my men, if they are not yet defeated, or taken by force to Kyedani.
+With them he will come to rescue us, unless they refuse to come, which
+I do not expect; for in the squadron are Lauda men chiefly, and they
+are fond of me."
+
+"But they are old clients of Radzivill," remarked Mirski
+
+"True; but when they hear of the surrender of Lithuania to the Swedes,
+the imprisonment of the full hetman and Pan Yudytski, of you and me, it
+will turn their hearts away greatly from Radzivill. Those are honest
+nobles; Pan Zagloba will neglect nothing to paint the hetman with soot,
+and he can do that better than any of us."
+
+"True," said Pan Stanislav; "but meanwhile we shall be in Birji."
+
+"That cannot be, for we are making a circle to avoid Upita, and from
+Upita the road is direct as if cut with a sickle. Even were they to
+start a day later, or two days, they could still be in Birji before us,
+and block our way. We are only going to Shavli now, and from there we
+shall go to Birji directly; but you must know that it is nearer from
+Upita to Birji than to Shavli."
+
+"As I live, it is nearer, and the road is better," said Mirski, "for it
+is a high-road."
+
+"There it is! And we are not yet in Shavli."
+
+Only in the evening did they see the hill called Saltuves-Kalnas, at
+the foot of which Shavli stands. On the road they saw that disquiet was
+reigning in all the villages and towns through which they passed.
+Evidently news of the hetman's desertion to the Swedes had run through
+all Jmud. Here and there the people asked the soldiers if it were true
+that the country was to be occupied by Swedes; here and there crowds of
+peasants were leaving the villages with their wives, children, cattle,
+and effects, and going to the depths of the forest, with which the
+whole region was thickly covered. In places the aspect of the peasants
+was almost threatening, for evidently the dragoons were taken for
+Swedes. In villages inhabited by nobles they were asked directly who
+they were and where they were going; and when Kovalski, instead of
+answering, commanded them to leave the road, it came to shouts and
+threats to such a degree that muskets levelled for firing were barely
+sufficient to open a passage.
+
+The highway leading from Kovno through Shavli to Mitava was covered
+with wagons and carriages, in which were the wives and children of
+nobles wishing to take refuge from war in estates in Courland. In
+Shavli itself, which was an appanage of the king, there were no private
+squadrons of the hetman, or men of the quota; but here the captive
+colonels saw for the first time a Swedish detachment, composed of
+twenty-five knights, who had come on a reconnoissance from Birji.
+Crowds of Jews and citizens were staring at the strangers. The colonels
+too gazed at them with curiosity, especially Volodyovski, who had never
+before seen Swedes; hence he examined them eagerly with the desiring
+eyes with which a wolf looks at a flock of sheep.
+
+Pan Kovalski entered into communication with the officer, declared who
+he was, where he was going, whom he was conveying, and requested him to
+join his men to the dragoons, for greater safety on the road. But the
+officer answered that he had an order to push as far as possible into
+the depth of the country, so as to be convinced of its condition,
+therefore he could not return to Birji; but he gave assurance that the
+road was safe everywhere, for small detachments, sent out from Birji,
+were moving in all directions,--some were sent even as far as Kyedani.
+After he had rested till midnight, and fed the horses, which were very
+tired, Pan Roh moved on his way, turning from Shavli to the east
+through Yohavishkyele and Posvut toward Birji, so as to reach the
+direct highway from Upita and Ponyevyej.
+
+"If Zagloba comes to our rescue," said Volodyovski, about daylight, "it
+will be easiest to take this road, for he could start right at Upita."
+
+"Maybe he is lurking here somewhere," said Pan Stanislav.
+
+"I had hope till I saw the Swedes," said Stankyevich, "but now it
+strikes me that there is no help for us."
+
+"Zagloba has a head to avoid them or to fool them; and he will be able
+to do so."
+
+"But he does not know the country."
+
+"The Lauda people know it; for some of them take hemp, wainscots, and
+pitch to Riga, and there is no lack of such men in my squadron."
+
+"The Swedes must have occupied all the places about Birji."
+
+"Fine soldiers, those whom we saw in Shavli, I must confess," said the
+little knight, "man for man splendid! Did you notice what well-fed
+horses they had?"
+
+"Those are Livland horses, very powerful," said Mirski. "Our hussar and
+armored officers send to Livland for horses, since our beasts are
+small."
+
+"Tell me of the Swedish infantry!" put in Stankyevich. "Though the
+cavalry makes a splendid appearance, it is inferior. Whenever one of
+our squadrons, and especially of the important divisions, rushed on
+their cavalry, the Swedes did not hold out while you could say 'Our
+Father' twice."
+
+"You have tried them in old times," said the little knight, "but I have
+no chance of testing them. I tell you, gentlemen, when I saw them now
+in Shavli, with their beards yellow as flax, ants began to crawl over
+my fingers. Ei, the soul would to paradise; but sit thou here in the
+wagon, and sigh."
+
+The colonels were silent; but evidently not Pan Michael alone was
+burning with such friendly feeling toward the Swedes, for soon the
+following conversation of the dragoons surrounding the wagon came to
+the ears of the prisoners.
+
+"Did you see those pagan dog-faiths?" said one soldier; "we were to
+fight with them, but now we must clean their horses."
+
+"May the bright thunderbolts crush them!" muttered another dragoon.
+
+"He quiet, the Swede will teach thee manners with a broom over thy
+head!"
+
+"Or I him."
+
+"Thou art a fool! Not such as thou wish to rush at them; thou seest
+what has happened."
+
+"We are taking the greatest knights to them, as if into the dog's
+mouth. They, the sons of Jew mothers, will abuse these knights."
+
+"Without a Jew you cannot talk with such trash. The commandant in
+Shavli had to send for a Jew right away."
+
+"May the plague kill them!"
+
+Here the first soldier lowered his voice somewhat and said, "They say
+the best soldiers do not wish to fight against their own king."
+
+"Of course not! Did you not see the Hungarians, or how the hetman used
+troops against those resisting. It is unknown yet what will happen.
+Some of our dragoons too took part with the Hungarians; these men very
+likely are shot by this time."
+
+"That is a reward for faithful service!"
+
+"To the devil with such work! A Jew's service!"
+
+"Halt!" cried, on a sudden, Kovalski riding in front.
+
+"May a bullet halt in thy snout!" muttered a voice near the wagon.
+
+"Who is there?" asked the soldiers of one another.
+
+"Halt!" came a second command.
+
+The wagon stopped. The soldiers held in their horses. The day was
+pleasant, clear. The sun had risen, and by its rays was to be seen, on
+the highway ahead, clusters of dust rising as if herds or troops were
+coming.
+
+Soon the dust began to shine, as if some one were scattering sparks in
+the bunches of it; and lights glittered each moment more clearly, like
+burning candles surrounded with smoke.
+
+"Those are spears gleaming!" cried Pan Michael.
+
+"Troops are coming."
+
+"Surely some Swedish detachment!"
+
+"With them only infantry have spears; but there the dust is moving
+quickly. That is cavalry,--our men!"
+
+"Ours, ours!" repeated the dragoons.
+
+"Form!" thundered Pan Roh.
+
+The dragoons surrounded the wagon in a circle. Pan Volodyovski had
+flame in his eyes.
+
+"Those are my Lauda men with Zagloba! It cannot be otherwise!"
+
+Now only forty rods divided those approaching from the wagon, and the
+distance decreased every instant, for the coming detachment was moving
+at a trot. Finally, from out the dust pushed a strong body of troops
+moving in good order, as if to attack. In a moment they were nearer. In
+the first rank, a little from the right side, moved, under a bunchuk,
+some powerful man with a baton in his hand. Scarcely had Volodyovski
+put eye on him when he cried,--
+
+"Pan Zagloba! As I love God, Pan Zagloba!"
+
+A smile brightened the face of Pan Yan. "It is he, and no one else, and
+under a bunchuk! He has already created himself hetman. I should have
+known him by that whim anywhere. That man will die as he was born."
+
+"May the Lord God give him health!" said Oskyerko.
+
+Then he put his hands around his mouth and began to call, "Gracious
+Kovalski! your relative is coming to visit you!"
+
+But Pan Roh did not hear, for he was just forming his dragoons. And it
+is only justice to declare that though he had a handful of men, and on
+the other side a whole squadron was rolling against him, he was not
+confused, nor did he lose courage. He placed the dragoons in two ranks
+in front of the wagon; but the others stretched out and approached in a
+half-circle, Tartar fashion, from both sides of the field. But
+evidently they wished to parley, for they began to wave a flag and
+cry,--
+
+"Stop! stop!"
+
+"Forward!" cried Kovalski.
+
+"Yield!" was cried from the road.
+
+"Fire!" commanded in answer Kovalski.
+
+Dull silence followed,--not a single dragoon fired. Pan Roh was dumb
+for a moment; then he rushed as if wild on his own dragoons.
+
+"Fire, dog-faiths!" roared he, with a terrible voice; and with one blow
+of his fist he knocked from his horse the nearest soldier.
+
+Others began to draw back before the rage of the man, but no one obeyed
+the command. All at once they scattered, like a flock of frightened
+partridges, in the twinkle of an eye.
+
+"Still I would have those soldiers shot!" muttered Mirski.
+
+Meanwhile Kovalski, seeing that his own men had left him, turned his
+horse to the attacking ranks.
+
+"For me death is there!" cried he, with a terrible voice.
+
+And he sprang at them, like a thunderbolt. But before he had passed
+half the distance a shot rattled from Zagloba's ranks.
+
+Pan Roh's horse thrust his nose into the dust and fell, throwing his
+rider. At the same moment a soldier of Volodyovski's squadron pushed
+forward like lightning, and caught by the shoulder the officer rising
+from the ground.
+
+"That is Yuzva Butrym," cried Volodyovski, "Yuzva Footless!"
+
+Pan Roh in his turn seized Yuzva by the skirt, and the skirt remained
+in his hand; then they struggled like two enraged falcons, for both had
+gigantic strength. Butrym's stirrup broke; he fell to the ground and
+turned over, but he did not let Pan Roh go, and both formed as it were
+one ball, which rolled along the road.
+
+Others ran up. About twenty hands seized Kovalski, who tore and dragged
+like a bear in a net; he hurled men around, as a wild boar hurls dogs;
+he raised himself again and did not give up the battle. He wanted to
+die, but he heard tens of voices repeating the words, "Take him alive!
+take him alive!" At last his strength forsook him, and he fainted.
+
+Meanwhile Zagloba was at the wagon, or rather on the wagon, and had
+seized in his embraces Pan Yan, the little knight, Mirski, Stankyevich,
+and Oskyerko, calling with panting voice,--
+
+"Ha! Zagloba was good for something! Now we will give it to that
+Radzivill. We are free gentlemen, and we have men. We'll go straightway
+to ravage his property. Well! did the stratagem succeed? I should have
+got you out,--if not in one way, in another. I am so blown that I can
+barely draw breath. Now for Radzivill's property, gracious gentlemen,
+now for Radzivill's property! You do not know yet as much of Radzivill
+as I do!"
+
+Further outbursts were interrupted by the Lauda men, who ran one after
+another to greet their colonel. The Butryms, the Smoky Gostsyeviches,
+the Domasheviches, the Stakyans, the Gashtovts, crowded around the
+wagon, and powerful throats bellowed continually,--
+
+"Vivat! vivat!"
+
+"Gracious gentlemen," said the little knight when it grew somewhat
+quieter, "most beloved comrades, I thank you for your love. It is a
+terrible thing that we must refuse obedience to the hetman, and raise
+hands against him; but since his treason is clear, we cannot do
+otherwise. We will not desert our country and our gracious king--Vivat
+Johannes Casimirus Rex!"
+
+"Vivat Johannes Casimirus Rex!" repeated three hundred voices.
+
+"Attack the property of Radzivill!" shouted Zagloba, "empty his larders
+and cellars!"
+
+"Horses for us!" cried the little knight.
+
+They galloped for horses.
+
+Then Zagloba said, "Pan Michael, I was hetman over these people in
+place of you, and I acknowledge willingly that they acted with
+manfulness; but as you are now free, I yield the command into your
+hands."
+
+"Let your grace take command, as superior in rank," said Pan Michael,
+turning to Mirski.
+
+"I do not think of it, and why should I?" said the old colonel.
+
+"Then perhaps Pan Stankyevich?"
+
+"I have my own squadron, and I will not take his from a stranger.
+Remain in command; ceremony is chopped straw, satisfaction is oats! You
+know the men, they know you, and they will fight better under you."
+
+"Do so, Michael, do so, for otherwise it would not be well," said Pan
+Yan.
+
+"I will do so."
+
+So saying, Pan Michael took the baton from Zagloba's hands, drew up the
+squadron for marching, and moved with his comrades to the head of it.
+
+"And where shall we go?" asked Zagloba.
+
+"To tell the truth, I don't know myself, for I have not thought of
+that," answered Pan Michael.
+
+"It is worth while to deliberate on what we should do," said Mirski,
+"and we must begin at once. But may I be permitted first to give thanks
+to Pan Zagloba in the name of all, that he did not forget us in straits
+and rescued us so effectually?"
+
+"Well," said Zagloba, with pride, raising his head and twisting his
+mustache. "Without me you would be in Birji! Justice commands to
+acknowledge that what no man can think out, Zagloba thinks out. Pan
+Michael, we were in straits not like these. Remember how I saved you
+when we were fleeing before the Tartars with Helena?"
+
+Pan Michael might have answered that in that juncture not Zagloba saved
+him, but he Zagloba; still he was silent, and his mustache began to
+quiver. The old noble spoke on,--
+
+"Thanks are not necessary, since what I did for you today you certainly
+would not fail to do for me to-morrow in case of need. I am as glad to
+see you free as if I had gained the greatest battle. It seems that
+neither my hand nor my head has grown very old yet."
+
+"Then you went straightway to Upita?" asked Volodyovski.
+
+"But where should I go,--to Kyedani?--crawl into the wolf's throat? Of
+course to Upita; and it is certain that I did not spare the horse, and
+a good beast he was. Yesterday early I was in Upita, and at midday we
+started for Birji, in the direction in which I expected to meet you."
+
+"And how did my men believe you at once? For, with the exception of two
+or three who saw you at my quarters, they did not know you."
+
+"To tell the truth, I had not the least difficulty; for first of all, I
+had your ring, Pan Michael, and secondly, the men had just learned of
+your arrest and the treason of the hetman. I found a deputation to them
+from Pan Mirski's squadron and that of Pan Stankyevich, asking to join
+them against the hetman, the traitor. When I informed them that you
+were being taken to Birji, it was as if a man had thrust a stick into
+an ant-hill. Their horses were at pasture; boys were sent at once to
+bring them in, and at midday we started. I took the command openly, for
+it belonged to me."
+
+"But, father, where did you get the bunchuk?" asked Pan Yan. "We
+thought from a distance that you were the hetman."
+
+"Of course, I did not look worse than he? Where did I get the bunchuk?
+Well, at the same time with the deputations from the resisting
+squadrons, came also Pan Shchyt with a command to the Lauda men to
+march to Kyedani, and he brought a bunchuk to give greater weight to
+the command. I ordered his arrest on the spot, and had the bunchuk
+borne above me to deceive the Swedes if I met them."
+
+"As God lives, he thought all out wisely!" cried Oskyerko.
+
+"As Solomon!" added Stankyevich.
+
+Zagloba swelled up as if he were yeast.
+
+"Let us take counsel at once as to what should be done," said he at
+last. "If it is agreeable to the company to listen to me with patience,
+I will tell what I have thought over on the road. I do not advise you
+to commence war with Radzivill now, and this for two reasons: first,
+because he is a pike and we are perches. It is better for perches never
+to turn head to a pike, for he can swallow them easily, but tail, for
+then the sharp scales protect them. May the devil fix him on a spit in
+all haste, and baste him with pitch lest he burn overmuch."
+
+"Secondly?" asked Mirski.
+
+"Secondly," answered Zagloba, "if at any time, by any fortune, we
+should fall into his hands, he would give us such a flaying that all
+the magpies in Lithuania would have something to scream about. See what
+was in that letter which Kovalski was taking to the Swedish commandant
+at Birji, and know the voevoda of Vilna, in case he was unknown to you
+hitherto."
+
+So saying, he unbuttoned his vest, and taking from his bosom a letter,
+gave it to Mirski.
+
+"Pshaw! it is in German or Swedish," said the old colonel. "Who can
+read this letter?"
+
+It appeared that Pan Stanislav alone knew a little German, for he had
+gone frequently to Torun (Thorn), but he could not read writing.
+
+"I will tell you the substance of it," said Zagloba. "When in Upita the
+soldiers sent to the pasture for their horses, there was a little time.
+I gave command to bring to me by the locks a Jew whom every one said
+was dreadfully wise, and he, with a sabre at his throat, read quickly
+all that was in the letter and shelled it out to me. Behold the hetman
+enjoined on the commandant at Birji, and for the good of the King of
+Sweden directed him, after the convoy had been sent back, to shoot
+every one of us, without sparing a man, but so to do it that no report
+might go abroad."
+
+All the colonels began to clap their hands, except Mirski, who, shaking
+his head, said,--
+
+"It was for me who knew him marvellous, and not find a place in my
+head, that he would let us out of Kyedani. There must surely be reasons
+to us unknown, for which he could not put us to death himself."
+
+"Doubtless for him it was a question of public opinion."
+
+"Maybe."
+
+"It is wonderful how venomous he is," said the little knight; "for
+without mentioning services, I and Ganhof saved his life not so long
+ago."
+
+"And I," said Stankyevich, "served under his father and under him
+thirty-five years."
+
+"He is a terrible man!" added Pan Stanislav.
+
+"It is better not to crawl into the hands of such a one," said Zagloba.
+"Let the devils take him! We will avoid fighting with him, but we will
+pluck bare these estates of his that lie on our way."
+
+"Let us go to the voevoda of Vityebsk, so as to have some defence, some
+leader; and on the road we will take what can be had from the larders,
+stables, granaries, and cellars. My soul laughs at the thought, and it
+is sure that I will let no one surpass me in this work. What money we
+can take from land-bailiffs we will take. The more noisily and openly
+we go to the voevoda of Vityebsk, the more gladly will he receive us."
+
+"He will receive us gladly as we are," said Oskyerko. "But it is good
+advice to go to him, and better can no one think out at present."
+
+"Will all agree to that?" asked Stankyevich.
+
+"As true as life!" said Pan Mirski. "So then to the voevoda of
+Vityebsk! Let him be that leader for whom we prayed to God."
+
+"Amen!" said the others.
+
+They rode some time in silence, till at last Pan Michael began to be
+uneasy in the saddle. "But could we not pluck the Swedes somewhere on
+the road?" asked he at last, turning his eyes to his comrades.
+
+"My advice is: if a chance comes, why not?" answered Stankyevich.
+"Doubtless Radzivill assured the Swedes that he had all Lithuania in
+his hands, and that all were deserting Yan Kazimir willingly; let it be
+shown that this is not true."
+
+"And properly!" said Mirski. "If some detachment crawls into our way,
+we will ride over it. I will say also: Attack not the prince himself,
+for we could not stand before him, he is a great warrior! But, avoiding
+battles, it is worth while to move about Kyedani a couple of days."
+
+"To plunder Radzivill's property?" asked Zagloba.
+
+"No, but to assemble more men. My squadron and that of Pan Stankyevich
+will join us. If they are already defeated,--and they may be,--the men
+will come to us singly. It will not pass either without a rally of
+nobles to us. We will bring Pan Sapyeha fresh forces with which he can
+easily undertake something."
+
+In fact, that reckoning was good; and the dragoons of the convoy served
+as the first example, though Kovalski himself resisted--all his men
+went over without hesitation to Pan Michael. There might be found more
+such men in Radzivill's ranks. It might also be supposed that the first
+attack on the Swedes would call forth a general uprising in the
+country.
+
+Pan Michael determined therefore to move that night toward Ponyevyej,
+assemble whom he could of the Lauda nobles in the vicinity of Upita,
+and thence plunge into the wilderness of Rogovsk, in which, as he
+expected, the remnants of the defeated resisting squadrons would be in
+hiding. Meanwhile he halted for rest at the river Lavecha, to refresh
+horses and men.
+
+They halted there till night, looking from the density of the forest to
+the high-road, along which were passing continually new crowds of
+peasants, fleeing to the woods before the expected Swedish invasion.
+
+The soldiers sent out on the road brought in from time to time single
+peasants as informants concerning the Swedes; but it was impossible to
+learn much from them. The peasants were frightened, and each repeated
+separately that the Swedes were here and there, but no one could give
+accurate information.
+
+When it had become completely dark, Pan Volodyovski commanded the men
+to mount their horses; but before they started a rather distinct sound
+of bells came to their ears.
+
+"What is that?" asked Zagloba, "it is too late for the Angelus."
+
+Volodyovski listened carefully, for a while. "That is an alarm!" said
+he.
+
+Then he went along the line. "And does any one here know what village
+or town there is in that direction?"
+
+"Klavany, Colonel," answered one of the Gostsyeviches; "we go that way
+with potash."
+
+"Do you hear bells?"
+
+"We hear! That is something unusual."
+
+Volodyovski nodded to the trumpeter, and in a low note the trumpet
+sounded in the dark forest. The squadron pushed forward.
+
+The eyes of all were fixed in the direction from which the ringing came
+each moment more powerful; indeed they were not looking in vain, for
+soon a red light gleamed on the horizon and increased every moment.
+
+"A fire!" muttered the men in the ranks.
+
+Pan Michael bent toward Skshetuski. "The Swedes!" said he.
+
+"We will try them!" answered Pan Yan.
+
+"It is a wonder to me that they are setting fire."
+
+"The nobles must have resisted, or the peasants risen if they attacked
+the church."
+
+"Well, we shall see!" said Pan Michael. And he was panting with
+satisfaction.
+
+Then Zagloba clattered up to him. "Pan Michael?"
+
+"What?"
+
+"I see that the odor of Swedish flesh has come to you. There will
+surely be a battle, will there not?"
+
+"As God gives, as God gives!"
+
+"But who will guard the prisoner?"
+
+"What prisoner?"
+
+"Of course, not me, but Kovalski. Pan Michael, it is a terribly
+important thing that he should not escape. Remember that the hetman
+knows nothing of what has happened, and will learn from no one, if
+Kovalski does not report to him. It is requisite to order some trusty
+men to guard him; for in time of battle he might escape easily,
+especially if he takes up some stratagem."
+
+"He is as capable of stratagems as the wagon on which he is sitting.
+But you are right; it is necessary to station some one near. Will you
+have him under your eye during this time?"
+
+"H'm! I am sorry to be away from the battle! It is true that in the
+night near fire I am as good as blind. If it were in the daytime you
+would never have persuaded me; but since the public good requires it,
+let this be so."
+
+"Very well, I will leave you with five soldiers to assist; and if he
+tries to escape, fire at his head."
+
+"I'll squeeze him like wax in my fingers, never fear!--But the fire is
+increasing every moment. Where shall I stay with Kovalski?"
+
+"Wherever you like. I've no time now!" answered Pan Michael, and he
+rode on.
+
+The flames were spreading rapidly. The wind was blowing from the fire
+and toward the squadron, and with the sound of bells brought the report
+of firearms.
+
+"On a trot!" commanded Volodyovski.
+
+
+
+
+ CHAPTER XIX.
+
+
+When near the village, the Lauda men slackened their speed, and saw a
+broad street so lighted by flames that pins might be picked from the
+ground; for on both sides a number of cottages were burning, and others
+were catching fire from these gradually, for the wind was strong and
+carried sparks, nay, whole clusters of them, like fiery birds, to the
+adjoining roofs. On the street the flames illuminated greater and
+smaller crowds of people moving quickly in various directions. The
+cries of men were mingled with the sounds of the church-bells hidden
+among trees, with the bellowing of cattle, the barking of dogs, and
+with infrequent discharges of firearms.
+
+After they had ridden nearer, Volodyovski's soldiers saw troopers
+wearing round hats, not many men. Some were skirmishing with groups of
+peasants, armed with scythes and forks; firing at them from pistols,
+and pushing them beyond the cottages, into the gardens; others were
+driving oxen, cows, and sheep to the road with rapiers; others, whom it
+was barely possible to distinguish among whole clouds of feathers, had
+covered themselves with poultry, with wings fluttering in the agonies
+of death; some were holding horses, each man having two or three
+belonging to officers who were occupied evidently in plundering the
+cottages.
+
+The road to the village descended somewhat from a hill in the midst of
+a birch-grove; so that the Lauda men, without being seen themselves,
+saw, as it were, a picture representing the enemy's attack on the
+village, lighted up by flames, in the glare of which could be clearly
+distinguished foreign soldiers, villagers, women dragged by troopers,
+and men defending themselves in disordered groups. All were moving
+violently, like puppets on springs, shouting, cursing, lamenting.
+
+The conflagration shook a full mane of flame over the village, and
+roared each moment more terribly.
+
+Volodyovski led his men to the open gate, and ordered them to slacken
+their pace. He might strike, and with one blow wipe out the invaders,
+who were expecting nothing; but the little knight had determined "to
+taste the Swedes" in open battle,--he had so arranged that they might
+see him coming.
+
+Some horsemen, standing near the gate, saw the approaching squadron
+first. One of them sprang to an officer, who stood with drawn rapier in
+the midst of a considerable group of horsemen, in the middle of the
+road, and began to speak to him, pointing to where Volodyovski was
+descending with his men. The officer shaded his eyes with his hand and
+gazed for a time; then he gave a sign, and at once the sharp sound of a
+trumpet was heard, mingled with various cries of men and beasts.
+
+And here our knight could admire the regularity of the Swedish
+soldiers; for barely were the first tones of the trumpet heard, when
+some of the horsemen rushed out in hot haste from the cottages, others
+left the plundered articles, the oxen and sheep, and ran to their
+horses. In the twinkle of an eye they stood in regular line; at sight
+of which the little knight's heart rose with wonder, so select were the
+men. All were large, sturdy fellows, dressed in coats, with leather
+straps over the shoulders, and black hats with rim raised on the left
+side; all had matched bay horses, and stood in line with rapiers at
+their shoulders, looking sharply, but calmly, at the road.
+
+An officer stepped forth from the line with a trumpeter, wishing
+apparently to inquire what sort of men were approaching so slowly.
+Evidently they were thought to be one of Radzivill's squadrons, from
+which no encounter was expected. The officer began to wave his rapier
+and his hat; the trumpeter sounded continually, as a sign that they
+wished to parley.
+
+"Let some one fire at him," said the little knight, "so that he may
+know what to expect from us."
+
+The report sounded; but the shot did not reach, for the distance was
+too great. Evidently the officer thought that there was some
+misunderstanding, for he began to shout and to wave his hat.
+
+"Let him have it a second time!" cried Volodyovski.
+
+After the second discharge the officer turned and moved, though not too
+hurriedly, toward his own, who also approached him on a trot.
+
+The first rank of Lauda men were now entering the gate.
+
+The Swedish officer, riding up, shouted to his men; the rapiers,
+hitherto standing upright by the shoulders of the horsemen, dropped and
+hung at their belts; but all at the same instant drew pistols from the
+holsters, and rested them on the pommels of their saddles, holding the
+muzzle upward.
+
+"Finished soldiers!" muttered Volodyovski, seeing the rapidity of their
+movements, which were simultaneous and almost mechanical. Then he
+looked at his own men to see if the ranks were in order, straightened
+himself in the saddle, and cried,--
+
+"Forward!"
+
+The Lauda men bent down to the necks of their horses, and rushed on
+like a whirlwind.
+
+The Swedes let them come near, and then gave a simultaneous discharge
+from their pistols; but this did little harm to the Lauda men hidden
+behind the heads of their horses; only a few dropped the reins and fell
+backward, the rest rushed on and struck the horsemen, breast to breast.
+
+The Lithuanian light squadrons used lances yet, which in the army of
+the kingdom the hussars alone used; but Volodyovski expecting a battle
+at close quarters, had ordered his men to plant their lances at the
+roadside, therefore it came to sabres at once.
+
+The first impetus was not sufficient to break the Swedes, but it pushed
+them back, so that they began to retreat, cutting and thrusting with
+their rapiers; but the Lauda men pushed them furiously along the road.
+Bodies began to fall thickly. The throng grew denser each moment; the
+clatter of sabres frightened the peasants out of the broad road, in
+which the heat from the burning houses was unendurable, though the
+houses were separated from the road and the fences by gardens.
+
+The Swedes, pressed with increasing vigor, retreated gradually, but
+still in good order. It was difficult moreover to scatter them, since
+strong fences closed the road on both sides. At times they tried to
+stop, but were unable to do so.
+
+It was a wonderful battle, in which, by reason of the relatively narrow
+place of meeting, only the first ranks fought, those next in order
+could only push forward those standing in front of them; but just for
+this reason the struggle was turned into a furious encounter.
+
+Volodyovski, having previously requested the old colonels and Pan Yan
+to look after the men during the attack, enjoyed himself to the full in
+the first rank. And every moment some Swedish hat fell before him in
+the throng, as if it had dived into the ground; sometimes a rapier,
+torn from the hand of a horseman, flew whistling above the rank, and at
+the same instant was heard the piercing cry of a man, and again a hat
+fell; a second took its place, then a third the place of the second;
+but Volodyovski pushed ever forward. His eyes glittered like two
+ill-omened sparks, but he was not carried away and did not forget
+himself; at moments, when he had no one at sword's length in front of
+him, he turned his face and blade somewhat to the right or left, and
+destroyed in the twinkle of an eye a horseman, with a movement
+apparently trifling; and he was terrible through these slight and
+lightning movements which were almost not human.
+
+As a woman pulling hemp disappears in it and is hidden completely, but
+by the falling stalks her road is known easily, so he vanished from the
+eye for a time in the throng of large men; but where soldiers were
+falling like stalks under the sickle of the harvester who cuts near the
+ground, there was Pan Michael. Pan Stanislav and the gloomy Yuzva
+Butrym, called Footless, followed hard in his track.
+
+At length the Swedish rear ranks began to push out from between the
+fences to the broad grass-plot before the church and the bell-tower,
+and after them came the front ranks. Now was heard the command of the
+officer, who wished evidently to bring all his men into action at once;
+and the oblong rectangular body of horsemen stretched out, deployed in
+the twinkle of an eye, into a long line to present its whole front.
+
+But Pan Yan, who directed the battle and led the squadron, did not
+imitate the Swede; he rushed forward with a dense column which,
+striking the now weaker line, broke it, as if with a wedge, and turned
+swiftly to the right toward the church, taking with this movement the
+rear of one half of the Swedes, while on the other half Mirski and
+Stankyevich sprang with the reserve in which were a part of the Lauda
+men and all of Kovalski's dragoons.
+
+Two battles now began; but they did not last long. The left wing, on
+which Pan Yan had struck, was unable to form, and scattered first; the
+right, in which was the commanding officer, resisted longer, but being
+too much extended, it began to break, to fall into disorder, and at
+last followed the example of the left wing.
+
+The grass-plot was broad, but unfortunately was enclosed on all sides
+by a lofty fence; and the church-servants closed and propped the
+opposite gate when they saw what was taking place.
+
+The scattered Swedes then ran around, but the Lauda men rushed after
+them. In some places larger groups fought, a number at a time, with
+sabres and rapiers; in other places the conflict was turned into a
+series of duels, and man met man, the rapier crossed the sabre, and at
+times the report of a pistol burst forth. Here and there a Swedish
+horseman, escaping from one sabre, ran, as if to a trap, under another.
+Here and there a Swede or a Lithuanian rose from under a fallen horse
+and fell that moment under the blow of a weapon awaiting him.
+
+Through the grass-plot terrified horses rushed about riderless, with
+waving mane and nostrils distended from fear; some bit one another;
+others, blinded from fright, turned their tails to the groups of
+fighting men and kicked them.
+
+Pan Volodyovski, hurling down Swedes as he went, searched the whole
+place with his eyes for the officer in command; at last he saw him
+defending himself against two Butryms, and he sprang toward him.
+
+"Aside!" cried he to the Butryms, "aside!"
+
+The obedient soldiers sprang aside, the little knight rushed on and
+closed with the Swede, the horses of the two stood on their haunches.
+
+The officer wished evidently to unhorse his opponent with a thrust; but
+Volodyovski, interposing the hilt of his sabre, described a half-circle
+like lightning, and the rapier flew away. The officer bent to his
+holsters, but, cut through the cheek at that moment, he dropped the
+reins from his left hand.
+
+"Take him alive!" shouted Volodyovski to the Butryms.
+
+The Lauda men seized the wounded officer and held him tottering in the
+saddle; the little knight pushed on and rode farther against the
+Swedes, quenching them before him like candles.
+
+But the Swedes began to yield everywhere before the nobles, who were
+more adroit in fencing and single combat. Some of the Swedes, seizing
+their rapier blades, extended the hilts to their opponents; others
+threw their weapons at their feet; the word "Pardon!" was heard more
+and more frequently on the field. But no attention was paid to the
+word, for Pan Michael had commanded to spare but few. The Swedes,
+seeing this, rushed anew to the struggle, and died as became soldiers
+after a desperate defence, redeeming richly with blood their own death.
+
+An hour later the last of them were cut down. The peasants ran in
+crowds from the village to the grass-plot to catch the horses, kill the
+wounded, and plunder the dead.
+
+Such was the end of the first encounter of Lithuanians with Swedes.
+
+Meanwhile Zagloba, stationed at a distance in the birch-grove with the
+wagon in which lay Pan Roh, was forced to hear the bitter reproach
+that, though a relative, he had treated that young man shamefully.
+
+"Uncle, you have ruined me utterly, for not only is a bullet in the
+head waiting for me at Kyedani, but eternal infamy will fall on my
+name. Henceforth whoso wants to say, 'Fool,' may say, 'Roh Kovalski!'"
+
+"The truth is that not many will be found to contradict him," answered
+Zagloba; "and the best proof of your folly is that you wonder at being
+hung on a hook by me who moved the Khan of the Crimea as a puppet.
+Well, did you think to yourself, worthless fellow, that I would let you
+take me and other men of importance to Birji, and throw us, the
+ornaments of the Commonwealth, into the jaws of the Swedes?"
+
+"I was not taking you of my own will."
+
+"But you were the servant of an executioner, and that for a noble is
+infamy from which you must purify yourself, or I will renounce you and
+all the Kovalskis. To be a traitor is worse than to be a crabmonger,
+but to be the servant of some one worse than a crabmonger is the lowest
+thing."
+
+"I was serving the hetman."
+
+"And the hetman the devil. There you have it! You are a fool, Roh: get
+that into your head once and forever, dispute not, but hold to my
+skirts, and a man will come of you yet; for know this, that advancement
+has met more than one personage through me."
+
+The rattle of shots interrupted further conversation, for the battle
+was just beginning in the village. Then the discharges stopped, but the
+noise continued, and shouts reached that retreat in the birch-grove.
+
+"Ah, Pan Michael is working," said Zagloba. "He is not big, but he
+bites like a viper. They are shelling out those devils from over the
+sea like peas. I would rather be there than here, and through you I
+must listen here. Is this your gratitude? Is this the act of a
+respectable relative?"
+
+"What have I to be grateful for?" asked Roh.
+
+"For this, that a traitor is not ploughing with you, as with an
+ox,--though you are grandly fitted for ploughing, since you are stupid
+and strong. Understand me? Ai! it is getting hotter and hotter there.
+Do you hear? That must be the Swedes who are bawling like calves in a
+pasture."
+
+Here Zagloba became serious, for he was a little disturbed; on a sudden
+he asked, looking quickly into Pan Roh's eyes,--
+
+"To whom do you wish victory?"
+
+"To ours, of course."
+
+"See that! And why not to the Swedes?"
+
+"I would rather pound them. Who are ours, are ours!"
+
+"Conscience is waking up in you. But how could you take your own blood
+to the Swedes?"
+
+"For I had an order."
+
+"But now you have no order?"
+
+"True."
+
+"Your superior is now Pan Volodyovski, no one else."
+
+"Well, that seems to be true."
+
+"You must do what Pan Volodyovski commands."
+
+"I must."
+
+"He commands you now to renounce Radzivill future, and not to serve
+him, but the country."
+
+"How is that?" asked Pan Roh, scratching his head.
+
+"A command!" cried Zagloba.
+
+"I obey!" said Kovalski.
+
+"That is right! At the first chance you will thrash the Swedes."
+
+"If it is the order, it is the order!" answered Kovalski, and breathed
+deeply, as if a great burden had fallen from his breast.
+
+Zagloba was equally well satisfied, for he had his own views concerning
+Kovalski. They began then to listen in harmony to the sounds of the
+battle which came to them, and listened about an hour longer, until all
+was silent.
+
+Zagloba was more and more alarmed. "If they have not succeeded?" asked
+he.
+
+"Uncle, you an old warrior and can say such things! If they were beaten
+they would come back to us in small groups."
+
+"True! I see thy wit will be of service."
+
+"Do you hear the tramp, Uncle? They are riding slowly. They must have
+cut the Swedes to pieces."
+
+"Oi, if they are only ours! Shall I go forward, or not?"
+
+Saying this, Zagloba dropped his sabre at his side, took his pistol in
+his hand, and moved forward. Soon he saw before him a dark mass moving
+slowly along the road; at the same time noise of conversation reached
+him.
+
+In front rode a number of men talking with one another loudly; soon the
+well-known voice of Pan Michael struck the ear of Zagloba. "They are
+good men! I don't know what kind of infantry they have, but the cavalry
+is perfect."
+
+Zagloba touched his horse with the spurs. "Ah! how is it, how is it?
+Oh, impatience was tearing me, I wanted to fly into the fire! But is no
+one wounded?"
+
+"All are sound, praise to God; but we have lost more than twenty good
+soldiers."
+
+"And the Swedes?"
+
+"We laid them down like a pavement."
+
+"Pan Michael, you must have enjoyed yourself as a dog in a spring. But
+was it a decent thing to leave me, an old man, on guard? The soul came
+near going out of me, so much did I want Swedish meat. Oh, I should
+have gnawed them!"
+
+"You may have a roast now if you like, for a number of them are in the
+fire."
+
+"Let the dogs eat them. And were prisoners taken?"
+
+"A captain, and seven soldiers."
+
+"What do you think to do with them?"
+
+"I would have them hanged, for like robbers they fell on an innocent
+village and were killing the people. Yan says, however, that that will
+not do."
+
+"Listen to me, gentlemen, hear what has come to my head just now: there
+is no good in hanging them; on the contrary, let them go to Birji as
+soon as possible."
+
+"What for?"
+
+"You know me as a soldier, know me now as a statesman. We will let the
+Swedes go, but we will not tell them who we are. We will say that we
+are Radzivill's men, that we have cut off this detachment at command of
+the hetman, and in future will cut off whom we meet, for the hetman
+only pretended, through strategy, to join the Swedes. They will break
+their heads over this, and thus we will undermine the hetman's credit
+terribly. Just think, this hits the Swedes and hits Radzivill too.
+Kyedani is far from Birji, and Radzivill is still farther from Pontus
+de la Gardie. Before they explain to each other what has happened and
+how, they will be ready to fight. We will set the traitor against the
+invaders; and who will gain by this, if not the Commonwealth?"
+
+"This is excellent counsel, and quite worth the victory. May the
+bullets strike him!" said Stankyevich.
+
+"You have the mind of a chancellor," added Mirski, "for this will
+disturb their plans."
+
+"Surely we should act thus," said Pan Michael. "I will set them free
+to-morrow; but to-day I do not wish to know of anything, for I am
+dreadfully wearied. It was as hot in the village as in an oven! Uf! my
+arms are paralyzed completely. The officer could not go to-day in any
+case, for his face is cut."
+
+"But in what language shall we tell them all this? What is your
+counsel, father?" asked Pan Yan.
+
+"I have been thinking of that too," answered Zagloba. "Kovalski told me
+that there are two Prussians among his dragoons who know how to jabber
+German, and are sharp fellows. Let them tell in German,--which the
+Swedes know of course, after fighting so many years in Germany.
+Kovalski is ours, soul and body. He is a man in a hundred, and we will
+have no small profit from him."
+
+"Well done!" said Volodyovski. "Will some of you, gentlemen, be so kind
+as to see to this, for I have no voice in my throat from weariness? I
+have told the men that we shall stay in this grove till morning. The
+villagers will bring us food, and now to sleep! My lieutenant will see
+to the watch. 'Pon my word, I cannot see you, for my eyes are closing."
+
+"Gentlemen," said Zagloba, "there is a stack of hay just outside the
+birches; let us go to the stack, we shall sleep like susliks, and to
+the road on the morrow. We shall not come back to this country, unless
+with Pan Sapyeha against Radzivill."
+
+
+
+
+ CHAPTER XX.
+
+
+In Lithuania a civil war had begun, which, with two invasions of the
+Commonwealth and the ever more stubborn war of the Ukraine, filled the
+measure of misfortune.
+
+The army of the Lithuanian quota, though so small in number that alone
+it could not offer effectual resistance to any of the enemies, was
+divided into two camps. Some regiments, and specially the foreign ones,
+remained with Radzivill; others, forming the majority, proclaimed the
+hetman a traitor, protested in arms against joining Sweden, but without
+unity, without a leader, without a plan. Sapyeha might be its leader,
+but he was too much occupied at that time with the defence of Byhovo
+and with the desperate struggle in the interior of the country, to be
+able to take his place immediately at the head of the movement against
+Radzivill.
+
+Meanwhile the invaders, each considering a whole region as his own,
+began to send threatening messages to the other. From their
+misunderstandings might rise in time the salvation of the Commonwealth;
+but before it came to hostile steps between them there reigned the most
+terrible chaos in all Lithuania. Radzivill, deceived in the army,
+determined to bring it to obedience through force.
+
+Volodyovski had barely reached Ponyevyej with his squadron, after the
+battle of Klavany, when news came to him of the destruction, by
+Radzivill, of Mirski's squadron, and that of Stankyevich. Some of the
+men were placed by force among Radzivill's troops; others were cut down
+or scattered to the four winds; the remainder were wandering singly or
+in small groups through villages and forests, seeking a place to hide
+their heads from vengeance and pursuit.
+
+Fugitives came daily to Pan Michael's detachment, increasing his force
+and bringing news the most varied.
+
+The most important item was news of the mutiny of Lithuanian troops
+stationed in Podlyasye, near Byalystok and Tykotsin. After the armies
+of Moscow had occupied Vilno the squadrons from that place had to cover
+the approach to the territories of the kingdom. But hearing of the
+hetman's treason, they formed a confederation, at the head of which
+were two colonels, Horotkyevich and Yakub Kmita, a cousin of Andrei,
+the most trusty assistant of Radzivill.
+
+The name of the latter was repeated with horror by the soldiers. He
+mainly had caused the dispersion of Stankyevich's squadron and that of
+Mirski; he shot without mercy the captured officers. The hetman trusted
+him blindly, and just recently had sent him against Nyevyarovski's
+squadron, which, disregarding the example of its colonel, refused
+obedience.
+
+Volodyovski heard the last account with great attention; then he turned
+to the officers summoned in counsel, and asked,--
+
+"What would you say to this,--that we, instead of hurrying to the
+voevoda of Vityebsk, go to those squadrons which have formed a
+confederacy in Podlyasye?"
+
+"You have taken that out of my mouth!" said Zagloba "It is nearer home
+there, and it is always pleasanter among one's own people."
+
+"Fugitives mention too a report," added Pan Yan, "that the king has
+ordered some squadrons to return from the Ukraine, to oppose the Swedes
+on the Vistula. If this should prove true, we might be among old
+comrades instead of pounding from corner to corner."
+
+"But who is going to command those squadrons? Does any one know?"
+
+"They say that Charnyetski will," answered Volodyovski; "but people say
+this rather than know it, for positive intelligence could not come
+yet."
+
+"However it may be," said Zagloba, "my advice is to hurry to Podlyasye.
+We can bring to our side those squadrons that have risen against
+Radzivill, and take them to the king, and that certainly will not be
+without a reward."
+
+"Let it be so!" said Oskyerko and Stankyevich.
+
+"It is not easy," said the little knight, "to get to Podlyasye, for we
+shall have to slip through the fingers of the hetman. If fortune
+meanwhile should grant us to snap up Kmita somewhere on the road, I
+would speak a couple of words in his ear, from which his skin would
+grow green."
+
+"He deserves it," said Mirski. "That some old soldiers who have served
+their whole lives under the Radzivills hold to the hetman, is less to
+be wondered at; but that swaggerer serves only for his own profit, and
+the pleasure which he finds in betrayal."
+
+"So then to Podlyasye?" asked Oskyerko.
+
+"To Podlyasye! to Podlyasye!" cried all in one voice.
+
+But still the affair was difficult, as Volodyovski had said; for to go
+to Podlyasye it was necessary to pass near Kyedani, as near a den in
+which a lion was lurking.
+
+The roads and lines of forest, the towns and villages were in the hands
+of Radzivill; somewhat beyond Kyedani was Kmita, with cavalry,
+infantry, and cannon. The hetman had heard already of the escape of the
+colonels, the mutiny of Volodyovski's squadron, and the battle of
+Klavany; the last brought him to such rage that there was fear for his
+life, since a terrible attack of asthma had for a time almost stopped
+his breathing.
+
+In truth he had cause enough for anger, and even for despair, since
+that battle brought on his head a whole Swedish tempest. People began
+at once after this battle to cut up here and there small Swedish
+detachments. Peasants did this, and individual nobles independently;
+but the Swedes laid it to the account of Radzivill, especially as the
+officers and men sent by Volodyovski to Birji declared before the
+commandant that one of Radzivill's squadrons had fallen upon them at
+his command.
+
+In a week a letter came to the prince from the commandant at Birji, and
+ten days later from Pontus de la Gardie himself, the commander-in-chief
+of the Swedish forces.
+
+"Either your highness has no power and significance," wrote the
+latter,--"and in such case how could you conclude a treaty in the name
+of the whole country!--or it is your wish to bring about through
+artifice the ruin of the king's army. If that is the case, the favor of
+my master will turn from your highness, and punishment will come
+quickly, unless you show obedience and efface your faults by faithful
+service."
+
+Radzivill sent couriers at once with an explanation of what had
+happened and how; but the dart had fastened in his haughty soul, and
+the burning wound began to rankle more and more. He whose word not long
+before terrified the country more than all Sweden; he for the half of
+whose property all the Swedish lords might have been bought; he who
+stood against his own king, thinking himself the equal of monarchs; he
+who had acquired fame in the whole world by his victories, and who
+walked in his own pride as in sunshine--must now listen to the threats
+of one Swedish general, must hear lectures on obedience and
+faithfulness. It is true that that general was brother-in-law to the
+king; but the king himself,--who was he? A usurper of the throne
+belonging by right and inheritance to Yan Kazimir.
+
+Above all, the rage of the hetman was turned against those who were the
+cause of that humiliation, and he swore to himself to trample
+Volodyovski and those colonels who were with him and the whole squadron
+of Lauda. With this object he marched against them; and as hunters to
+clear out the wolf's nest surround a forest with shares, he surrounded
+them and began to pursue without rest.
+
+Meanwhile tidings came that Kmita had crushed Nyevyarovski's squadron,
+cut down or scattered the officers, and joined the men to his own.
+Radzivill, to strike the more surely, commanded Pan Andrei to send him
+some of these troops.
+
+"Those men," wrote the hetman, "for whose lives you interceded with us
+so persistently, and mainly Volodyovski with that other straggler,
+escaped on the road to Birji. We sent the stupidest officer with them
+on purpose, so that they might not win him over; but even he either
+became a traitor, or they fooled him. Now Volodyovski has the whole
+Lauda squadron, and fugitives are reinforcing him. They cut to pieces
+one hundred and twenty Swedes at Klavany, saying that they did it at
+our command, from which great distrust has arisen between us and
+Pontus. The whole cause may be ruined by those traitors, whose heads,
+had it not been for your interference, would have been cut off at our
+command, as God is in heaven. So we have to repent of our mildness,
+though we hope in God that vengeance will soon overtake them. Tidings
+have come to us, too, that in Billeviche nobles assemble at the house
+of the sword-bearer and conspire against us. This must be stopped! You
+will send all the cavalry to us, and the infantry to Kyedani to guard
+the castle and the town, for from those traitors anything may be
+expected. You will go yourself with some tens of horsemen to
+Billeviche, and bring the sword-bearer and his niece to Kyedani. At
+present it is important, not only for you, but for us; for whoso has
+them in hand has the whole Lauda region, in which the nobles, following
+the example of Volodyovski, are beginning to rise against us. We have
+sent Harasimovich to Zabludovo with instructions how to begin with
+those confederates. Of great importance among them is Yakub, your
+cousin, to whom you will write, if you think you can act on him through
+a letter. Signifying to you our continual favor, we commit you to the
+care of God."
+
+When Kmita had read this letter, he was content at heart that the
+colonels had succeeded in escaping the Swedes, and in secret he wished
+them to escape Radzivill. Still he carried out all commands of the
+prince, sent him the cavalry, garrisoned Kyedani with infantry, and
+began to make trenches along the castle and the town, promising himself
+to go immediately after this work was done to Billeviche for the
+sword-bearer and the young woman.
+
+"I will use no force, unless in the last resort," thought he, "and in
+no case will I urge Olenka. Finally, it is not my will, 'tis the
+command of the prince. She will not receive me pleasantly, I know; but
+God grant that in time she will know my intentions, and that I serve
+Radzivill not against the country, but for its salvation."
+
+Thinking thus, he labored zealously at fortifying Kyedani, which was to
+be the residence of his Olenka in the future.
+
+Meanwhile Volodyovski was slipping away before the hetman, but the
+hetman pursued him furiously. It was, however, too narrow for Pan
+Michael; for from Birji considerable detachments of Swedish troops
+pushed toward the south, the east of the country was occupied by the
+legions of the Tsar, and on the road to Kyedani the hetman was lying in
+wait.
+
+Zagloba was greatly depressed by such a condition of affairs, and he
+turned with increasing frequency to Pan Michael with questions: "Pan
+Michael, by the love of God, shall we break through or shall we not
+break through?"
+
+"There is not even talk of breaking through here," answered the little
+knight. "You know that I am not lined with cowardice, and that I attack
+whom I will, even the devil himself. But I cannot meet the hetman, for
+I am not equal to him. You have said yourself that he is a pike and we
+perches. I shall do what is in my power to slip out, but if it comes to
+a battle, I tell you plainly that he will defeat us."
+
+"Then he will command to chop us up and throw us to the dogs. As God
+lives! into any man's hands save Radzivill's! But in this case why not
+turn to Pan Sapyeha?"
+
+"It is too late now, for the hetman's troops and the Swedes have closed
+the roads."
+
+"The devil tempted me when I persuaded Pan Yan and his cousin to go to
+Radzivill!" said Zagloba, in despair.
+
+But Pan Michael did not lose hope yet, especially since the nobles, and
+even the peasants, brought him warning of the hetman's movements; for
+all hearts were turning from Radzivill. Pan Michael twisted out
+therefore as he knew how,--and he knew how famously, for almost from
+childhood he had inured himself to war with Tartars and Cossacks. He
+had been made renowned in the army of Yeremi by descents on Tartar
+chambuls, by scouting expeditions, unexpected attacks, lightning
+escapes, in which he surpassed other officers.
+
+At present hemmed in between Upita and Rogova on one side and Nyevyaja
+on the other, he doubled around on the space of a few miles, avoiding
+battle continually, worrying the Radzivill squadrons, and even plucking
+them a little as a wolf hunted by dogs slips by often near the hunters,
+and when the dogs press him too closely, turns and shows his white
+gleaming teeth.
+
+But when Kmita's cavalry came up, the hetman closed the narrowest gaps
+with them, and went himself to see that the two ends of the snare came
+together.
+
+That was at Nyevyaja.
+
+The regiments of Myeleshko and Ganhoff with two squadrons of cavalry,
+under the lead of the prince himself, formed as it were a bow, the
+string of which was the river. Volodyovski with his squadron was in the
+centre of the bow. He had in front of him, it is true, one ford which
+led through a swampy stream, but just on the other side of the ford
+were two Scottish regiments and two hundred of Radzivill's Cossacks,
+with six fieldpieces, turned in such manner that even one man could not
+have reached the other side under the fire of them.
+
+Now the bow began to contract. The middle of it was led by the hetman
+himself.
+
+Happily for Volodyovski, night and a storm with pouring rain stopped
+the advance; but for the enclosed men there remained not more than a
+square half-mile of meadow, grown over with willows, in the middle of
+the half-ring of Radzivill's army, and the river guarded on the other
+side by the Scots.
+
+Next morning when the early dawn was just whitening the tops of the
+willows, the regiments moved forward to the river and were struck dumb
+with amazement.
+
+Volodyovski had gone through the earth,--there was not a living soul in
+the willows.
+
+The hetman himself was astounded, and then real thunders fell on the
+heads of the officers commanding at the ford. And again an attack of
+asthma seized the prince with such force that those present trembled
+for his life. But rage overcame even the asthma. Two officers,
+intrusted with guarding the bank, were to be shot; but Ganhoff
+prevailed on the prince to have inquiries made first as to how the
+beast had escaped from the toils.
+
+It appeared in fact that Volodyovski, taking advantage of the darkness
+and rain, had led his whole squadron out of the willows into the river,
+and swimming or wading with the current had slipped along Radzivill's
+right wing, which touched the bank at that point. Some horses, sunk to
+their bellies in the mud, indicated the place where he had come out on
+the right bank. From farther tracks it was easy to see that he had
+moved with all horse-breath in the direction of Kyedani. The hetman
+guessed at once from this that he wished to make his way to
+Horotkyevich and Yakub Kmita in Podlyasye.
+
+"But in passing near Kyedani would he not burn the town or try to
+plunder the castle?"
+
+A terrible fear straitened the heart of the prince. The greater part of
+his ready money and treasures were in Kyedani. Kmita, it is true, was
+bound to supply it with infantry; but if he had not done so, the
+undefended castle would easily become plunder for the insolent colonel.
+Radzivill felt sure that courage would not be wanting Volodyovski to
+attack the residence of Kyedani itself. It might be that time would not
+be wanting, for escaping in the beginning of the night he had left
+pursuit at least six hours behind.
+
+In every case it was imperative to hasten with all breath to the
+rescue. The prince left the infantry, and pushed on with the cavalry.
+When he arrived at Kyedani he did not find Kmita, but he found
+everything quiet; and the opinion which he had of the young colonel's
+ability increased doubly at sight of the finished trenches and
+field-cannon standing on them. That same day he reviewed them in
+company with Ganhoff, to whom he remarked in the evening,--
+
+"He acted thus of his own mind, without my order, and finished those
+trenches so well that a protracted defence might be made here, even
+against artillery. If that man does not break his neck too early, he
+may rise high."
+
+There was another man, at thought of whom the hetman could not restrain
+a certain kind of admiration, but mingled with rage, for the man was
+Pan Michael. "I could finish the mutiny soon," said he to Ganhoff, "if
+I had two such servants. Kmita may be still more alert, but he has not
+the experience, and the other was brought up in the school of Yeremi,
+beyond the Dnieper."
+
+"Does your highness give command to pursue him?" asked Ganhoff.
+
+The prince looked at Ganhoff, and said with emphasis, "He would beat
+you and escape from me." But after a while he frowned, and added,
+"Everything is quiet here now; but we must move to Podlyasye at once,
+and finish those there."
+
+"Your highness," said Ganhoff, "as soon as we move a foot out of this
+place, all will seize arms against the Swedes."
+
+"Which all?"
+
+"The nobles and peasants. And not stopping with the Swedes, they will
+turn against the dissidents, for they put all the blame of this war on
+our co-religionists, saying that we sent to the enemy, and in fact
+brought the enemy in."
+
+"It is a question with me of my cousin Boguslav. I know not whether he
+is able to hold out against the confederates in Podlyasye."
+
+"It is a question of Lithuania to keep it in obedience to us and the
+King of Sweden."
+
+The prince began to walk through the room, saying, "If I could in any
+way get Horotkyevich and Yakub Kmita into my hands! They will devour my
+property, destroy, plunder it; they will not leave a stone upon a
+stone."
+
+"Unless we stipulate with General de la Gardie to send hither as many
+troops as possible, while we are in Podlyasye."
+
+"With Pontus,--never!" answered Radzivill, to whose head a wave of
+blood rushed. "If with any one, with the king himself. I do not need to
+treat with servants when I can treat with their master. If the king
+were to command Pontus to place two thousand cavalry at my disposal,
+that would be another thing. But I will not ask Pontus for them. It is
+needful to send some one to the king; it is time to negotiate with him
+directly."
+
+The lean face of Ganhoff flushed slightly, and his eyes were lighted
+with desire. "If your highness commanded--"
+
+"You would go; but for you to arrive there is another thing. You are a
+German, and it is dangerous for a foreigner to enter an uprisen
+country. Who knows where the king is at this moment, and where he will
+be in half a month or a month? It is necessary to ride through the
+whole country. Besides, it cannot be! You will not go, for it is
+necessary to send one of my own people, a man of high family, so as to
+convince the king that not all the nobles have left me."
+
+"An inexperienced man might do much harm," said Ganhoff, timidly.
+
+"An envoy will have no work there except to deliver my letter, and
+bring back an answer; and any man can explain that it was not I who
+gave orders to beat the Swedes at Klavany."
+
+Ganhoff was silent.
+
+The prince began again to walk with unquiet steps through the room; on
+his forehead was manifest a continual struggle of thought. In truth, he
+had not known a moment of peace from the time of his treaty with the
+Swedes. Pride devoured him, his conscience gnawed him, the unexpected
+resistance of the country and the army gnawed him; the uncertainty of
+the future, and the threat of ruin terrified him. He struggled, he
+fought, he passed sleepless nights, he was failing in health. His eyes
+were sinking, he was growing thin; his face, formerly red, became blue,
+and almost with every hour silver threads increased in his mustaches
+and his forelock. In a word, he lived in torment, and bent under the
+burden.
+
+Ganhoff followed him with his eyes as he walked through the room; he
+had still a little hope that the prince would bethink himself, and send
+him.
+
+But the prince halted suddenly, and struck his forehead with his palm.
+"Two squadrons of cavalry, to horse at once! I will lead them myself."
+
+Ganhoff looked on him with wonderment. "An expedition?" inquired he,
+involuntarily.
+
+"Move on!" said the prince. "God grant that it be not too late!"
+
+
+
+
+ CHAPTER XXI.
+
+
+When Kmita had finished the trenches and secured Kyedani from sudden
+attack, he was unable to delay further his expedition for the
+sword-bearer and Olenka, especially since the command of the prince to
+bring them to Kyedani was imperative. But still Pan Andrei loitered,
+and when at last he did move at the head of fifty dragoons, he was as
+unquiet as if going on a forlorn hope. He felt that he would not be
+thankfully received, and he trembled at the thought that the old man
+might try to resist, even with armed hand, and in such an event it
+would be necessary to use force. But he determined first to persuade
+and entreat. With the intent of stripping his visit of all semblance of
+armed attack, he left the dragoons at an inn a quarter of a mile from
+the village, and two from the house, and ordering the carriage to
+follow a little later, rode ahead himself, with only the sergeant and
+one attendant.
+
+It was in the afternoon, and the sun was already well inclined toward
+the west, but after a rainy and stormy night the day was beautiful and
+the sky pure, only here and there was it variegated on the western side
+by small rosy clouds which pushed slowly beyond the horizon, like a
+flock of sheep leaving a field. Kmita rode through the village with
+throbbing heart and as uneasy as the Tartar who entering a village
+first, in advance of a chambul, looks around on every side to see if he
+can discover armed men in ambush. But the three horsemen attracted no
+attention. Barefooted little peasant boys merely jumped out of the road
+before the horses; peasants seeing the handsome officer, bowed to him,
+sweeping the ground with their caps. He rode on, and passing the
+village saw ahead a large dwelling, the old Billevich nest; behind it
+broad gardens ending far beyond in the flat fields.
+
+Kmita slackened his pace still more, and began to talk with himself,
+evidently framing answers to questions; and meanwhile he gazed with
+anxious eye on the buildings rising before him. It was not at all a
+lordly mansion, but at the first glance it would have been guessed that
+a noble lived there of more than medium fortune. The house itself, with
+its back to the gardens and front to the highway, was enormous, but of
+wood. The pine of the walls had grown so dark with age that the panes
+in the windows seemed white in contrast. Above the walls rose a
+gigantic roof with four chimneys in the middle, and two dovecotes at
+the gables. A whole cloud of white doves were collected on the roof,
+now flying away with clapping of wings, now dropping, like snowy
+kerchiefs, on the black ridges, now flapping around the pillars
+supporting the entrance.
+
+That entrance, adorned with a shield on which the Billevich arms were
+painted, disturbed the proportions of the house, for it was not in the
+middle, but toward one side of it. Evidently the house had once been
+smaller, but new parts were added subsequently from one side, though
+the added parts had grown so black with the passage of years as not to
+differ in anything from the old. Two wings, of enormous length, rose on
+both sides of the house proper, and formed as it were two arms of a
+horseshoe. In these wings were guest-chambers used in time of great
+gatherings, kitchens, store-houses, carriage-houses, stables for
+carriage horses which the masters wished to keep near at hand, rooms
+for officials, servants, and house Cossacks.
+
+In the middle of the broad yard grew old linden-trees, on them were
+storks' nests. Among the trees was a bear chained to a pillar. Two
+well-sweeps at the sides of the yard, a cross with the Passion of the
+Lord between two spears at the entrance, completed this picture of the
+residence of a powerful, noble family. At the right of the house, in
+the middle of frequent linden-trees, rose the straw roofs of stables,
+cow-houses, sheep-houses, and granaries.
+
+Kmita entered the gate, which was open on both sides; like the arms of
+a noble awaiting the arrival of a guest. Then two dogs loitering
+through the yard announced the stranger, and from a wing two boys ran
+to take the horses.
+
+At the same moment in the door of the main building stood a female
+figure, in which Kmita recognized Olenka at once. His heart beat more
+quickly, and throwing the reins to the servant, he went toward the
+porch with uncovered head, holding in one hand his sabre, and in the
+other his cap.
+
+She stood before him like a charming vision, shading her eyes with her
+hand against the setting sun, and then vanished on a sudden, as if
+frightened by the sight of the approaching guest.
+
+"Bad!" thought Pan Andrei; "she hides from me."
+
+He was pained, and his pain was all the greater since just before the
+mild sunset, the view of that house, and the calm so spread around it
+filled his heart with hope, though perhaps Pan Andrei did not note
+that.
+
+He cherished as it were an illusion that he was going to his betrothed,
+who would receive him with eyes gleaming from joy and a blush on her
+cheeks.
+
+And the illusion was broken. Scarcely had she seen him when she rushed
+away, as if from an evil spirit; and straightway Pan Tomash came out to
+meet him with a face at once unquiet and cloudy.
+
+Kmita bowed and said, "I have long wished to express duly my devotion
+to you, my benefactor; but I was unable to do so sooner in these times
+of disturbance, though surely there was no lack in me of desire."
+
+"I am very grateful, and I beg you to enter," answered the
+sword-bearer, smoothing the forelock on his head,--an act usual with
+him when confused or uncertain of himself. And he stepped aside from
+the door to let the guest pass.
+
+Kmita for a while did not wish to enter first, and they bowed to each
+other on the threshold; at last Pan Andrei took the step before the
+sword-bearer, and in a moment they were in the room.
+
+They found there two nobles,--one, a man in the bloom of life, Pan
+Dovgird of Plemborg, a near neighbor of the Billeviches; the other, Pan
+Hudzynski, a tenant in Eyragoly. Kmita noticed that they had barely
+heard his name when their faces changed and they seemed to act like
+dogs at sight of a wolf; he looked at them first defiantly, and then
+feigned not to see them.
+
+A disagreeable silence succeeded.
+
+Pan Andrei grew impatient and gnawed his mustaches; the guests looked
+at him with a fixed frown, and the sword-bearer stroked his forelock.
+
+"Will you drink a glass of poor nobles' mead with us?" asked he at
+last, pointing to a decanter and a glass. "I request you--"
+
+"I will drink with a gentleman!" said Kmita, rather abruptly.
+
+Dovgird and Hudzynski began to puff, taking the answer as an expression
+of contempt for them; but they would not begin a quarrel at once in a
+friendly house, and that with a roisterer who had a terrible reputation
+throughout all Jmud. Still the insult nettled them.
+
+Meanwhile the sword-bearer clapped his hands for a servant, and ordered
+him to bring a fourth glass; then he filled it, raised his own to his
+lips, and said, "Into your hands-- I am glad to see you in my house."
+
+"I should be sincerely glad were that true."
+
+"A guest is a guest," said the sword-bearer, sententiously.
+
+After awhile, conscious evidently of his duty as a host to keep up the
+conversation, he asked, "What do you hear at Kyedani? How is the health
+of the hetman?"
+
+"Not strong," answered Kmita, "and in these unquiet times it cannot be
+otherwise. The prince has a world of troubles and annoyances."
+
+"I believe that!" said Pan Hudzynski.
+
+Kmita looked at him for a while, then turned to the host and
+continued,--
+
+"The prince, being promised assistance by the Swedish King, expected to
+move against the enemy at Vilna without delay, and take vengeance for
+the ashes of that place, which have not yet grown cold. And it must be
+known also to you that now it is necessary to search for Vilna in
+Vilna, for it was burning seventeen days. They say that nothing is
+visible among the ruins but the black holes of cellars from which smoke
+is still rising continually."
+
+"Misfortune!" said the sword-bearer.
+
+"Of course a misfortune, which if it could not have been prevented
+should be avenged and similar ruins made of the enemy's capital. In
+fact, it was coming to this when disturbers, suspecting the best
+intentions of an honorable man, proclaimed him a traitor, and resisted
+him in arms instead of aiding him against the enemy. It is not to be
+wondered, therefore, that the health of the prince totters, since he,
+whom God predestined to great things, sees that the malice of man is
+ever preparing new obstacles through which the entire undertaking may
+come to naught. The best friends of the prince have deceived him; those
+on whom he counted most have left him, or gone to the enemy."
+
+"So it is," said the sword-bearer, seriously.
+
+"That is very painful," continued Kmita, "and I myself have heard the
+prince say, 'I know that honorable men pass evil judgments on me; but
+why do they not come to Kyedani, why do they not tell me to my face
+what they have against me, and listen to my reasons?'"
+
+"Whom has the prince in mind?" asked the sword-bearer.
+
+"In the first rank you, my benefactor, for whom he has a genuine
+regard, and he suspects that you belong to the enemy."
+
+The sword-bearer began to smooth his forelock quickly. At last, seeing
+that the conversation was taking an undesirable turn, he clapped his
+hands.
+
+A servant appeared in the doorway.
+
+"Seest not that it is growing dark? Bring lights!" cried Pan Tomash.
+
+"God sees," continued Kmita, "that I had intended to lay before you
+proper assurances of my own devotion separately, but I have come here
+also at the order of the prince, who would have come in person to
+Billeviche if the time were more favoring."
+
+"Our thresholds are too lowly," said the sword-bearer.
+
+"Do not say that, since it is customary for neighbors to visit one
+another; but the prince has no time unoccupied, therefore he said to
+me, 'Explain in my name to Pan Billevich that I am not able to visit
+him, but let him come to me with his niece, and that of course without
+delay, for to-morrow or the day following I know not where I shall be.'
+So I have come with a request, and I trust that both of you are in good
+health; for when I drove in here I saw Panna Aleksandra in the door,
+but she vanished at once, like mist from the field."
+
+"That is true," said the sword-bearer; "I sent her myself to see who
+had come."
+
+"I am waiting for your reply, my benefactor," said Kmita.
+
+At that moment the attendant brought in a light and placed it on the
+table; by the shining of the light it was seen that Billevich was
+greatly confused.
+
+"This is no small honor for me," said he, "but--I cannot go at once. Be
+pleased to excuse me to the hetman--you see that I have guests."
+
+"Oh, surely that will not hinder, for these gentlemen will yield to the
+prince."
+
+"We have our own tongues in our mouths, and can answer for ourselves,"
+said Pan Hudzynski.
+
+"Without waiting for others to make decisions concerning us," added
+Dovgird.
+
+"You see," continued Kmita, pretending to take in good part the
+churlish words of the nobles, "I knew that these were polite cavaliers.
+But to avoid slighting any one, I invite them also in the name of the
+prince to come to Kyedani."
+
+"Too much favor," said both; "we have something else to do."
+
+Kmita looked on them with a peculiar expression, and then said coldly,
+as if speaking to some fourth person, "When the prince invites, it is
+not permitted to refuse."
+
+At that they rose from their chairs.
+
+"But is that constraint?" asked the sword-bearer.
+
+"Pan Billevich, my benefactor," answered Kmita, quickly, "those
+gentlemen will go whether they wish or not, for thus it has pleased me;
+but I desire not to use force with you, and I beg most sincerely that
+you will deign to gratify the prince. I am on service, and have an
+order to bring you; but as long as I do not lose hope of effecting
+something with entreaty, I shall not cease to entreat,--and I swear to
+you that not a hair will fall from your head while there. The prince
+wishes to talk with you, and wishes you to live in Kyedani during these
+troubled times, when even peasants collect in crowds and plunder. This
+is the whole affair! You will be treated with fitting respect in
+Kyedani, as a guest and a friend; I give my word of honor for that."
+
+"As a noble, I protest," said the sword-bearer, "and the law protects
+me."
+
+"And sabres!" cried Hudzynski and Dovgird.
+
+Kmita laughed, frowned, and said, "Put away your sabres, gentlemen, or
+I shall give the order to place you both against the barn and put a
+bullet into the head of each one of you."
+
+At this they grew timid, and began to look at each other and at Kmita;
+but the sword-bearer cried,--
+
+"The most outrageous violence against the freedom of nobles, against
+privileges!"
+
+"There will be no violence if you comply of your own will," said Kmita;
+"and the proof is in this that I left dragoons in the village, and came
+here alone to invite you as one neighbor another. Do not refuse, for
+the times are such that it is difficult to pay attention to refusals.
+The prince himself will excuse you therefore, and know that you will be
+received as a neighbor and a friend. Understand, too, that could you be
+received otherwise, I would a hundred times rather have a bullet in my
+head than come here for you. Not a hair will fall from any Billevich
+head while I am alive. Call to mind who I am, remember Heraclius
+Billevich, remember his will, and consider whether the prince would
+have selected me did he not intend to deal with you in sincerity."
+
+"Why then does he use force, why have I to go under constraint? How am
+I to trust him, when all Lithuania talks of the oppression under which
+honorable citizens are groaning in Kyedani?"
+
+Kmita drew breath; for, from his words and voice he knew that Billevich
+was beginning to weaken in his resistance.
+
+"Worthy benefactor," said he, almost joyously, "constraint among
+neighbors often rises from affection. And when you order servants to
+put the carriage-wheel of a welcome guest in the storehouse, or his
+provision-chest in the larder, is not that constraint? And when you
+force him to drink, even when wine is flowing out through his nostrils,
+is not that constraint? And be assured that even had I to bind you and
+take you bound to Kyedani among dragoons, that would be for your good.
+Just think, insurgent soldiers are wandering about and committing
+lawless deeds, peasants are mustering, Swedish troops are approaching,
+and do you think to save yourself from accident in the uproar, or that
+some of these will not come to-day or tomorrow, plunder and burn your
+property, and attack your person? Is Billeviche a fortress? Can you
+defend yourself here? What does the prince wish for you? Safety; for
+Kyedani is the only place where you are not in danger. A detachment of
+the prince's troops will guard your property here, as the eyes in their
+heads, from all disorder of soldiers; and if one fork is lost, then
+take my whole fortune."
+
+Billevich began to walk through the room. "Can I trust your word?"
+
+At that moment Panna Aleksandra entered the room. Kmita approached her
+quickly, but suddenly remembered the events of Kyedani, and her cold
+face fixed him to the floor; he bowed therefore from a distance, in
+silence.
+
+Pan Billevich stood before her. "We have to go to Kyedani," said he.
+
+"And for what reason?" asked she.
+
+"For the hetman invites."
+
+"Very kindly,--as a neighbor," added Kmita.
+
+"Yes, very kindly," said Billevich, with a certain bitterness; "but if
+we do not go of our own will, this cavalier has the order to surround
+us with dragoons and take us by force."
+
+"God preserve us from that!" said Kmita.
+
+"Have not I told you, Uncle," asked Panna Aleksandra, "that we ought to
+flee as far as possible, for they would not leave us here undisturbed?
+Now my words have come true."
+
+"What's to be done, what's to be done? There is no remedy against
+force," cried Billevich.
+
+"True," answered the lady: "but we ought not to go to that infamous
+house of our own will. Let murderers take us, bind us, and bear us. Not
+we alone shall suffer persecution, not us alone will the vengeance of
+traitors reach; but let them know that we prefer death to infamy."
+
+Here she turned with an expression of supreme contempt to Kmita: "Bind
+us, sir officer, or sir executioner, and take us with horses, for in
+another way we will not go."
+
+The blood rushed to Kmita's face; it seemed for a time that he would
+burst forth in terrible anger, but he restrained himself.
+
+"Ah, gracious lady," said he, with a voice stifled from excitement, "I
+have not favor in your eyes, since you wish to make me a murderer, a
+traitor, and a man of violence. May God judge who is right,--whether I
+serving the hetman, or you insulting me as a dog. God gave you beauty,
+but a heart venomous and implacable. You are glad to suffer yourself,
+that you may inflict still greater pain on another. You exceed the
+measure,--as I live, you exceed it,--and nothing will come of that."
+
+"The maiden speaks well," cried Billevich, to whom daring came
+suddenly; "we will not go of our own will. Take us with dragoons."
+
+But Kmita paid no attention whatever to him, so much was he excited,
+and so deeply touched.
+
+"You are in love with the sufferings of people," continued he to
+Olenka, "and you proclaim me a traitor without judgment, without
+considering a reason, without permitting me to say a word in my own
+defence. Let it be so. But you will go to Kyedani,--of your own will or
+against your will; it is all one. There my intentions will become
+evident; there you will know whether you have justly accused me of
+wrong, there conscience will tell you who of us was whose executioner.
+I want no other vengeance. God be with you, but I want that vengeance.
+And I want nothing more of you, for you have bent the bow to the
+breaking. There is a serpent under your beauty as under a flower."
+
+"We will not go!" repeated Billevich, still more resolutely.
+
+"As true as life we will not!" shouted Hudzynski and Dovgird.
+
+Kmita turned to them; but he was very pale now, for rage was throttling
+him, and his teeth chattered as in a fever.
+
+"Ei! Try now to resist! My horses are to be heard,--my dragoons are
+coming. Will some one say again that he will not go?"
+
+In fact the tramp of numerous horses was heard. All saw that there was
+no help, and Kmita said,--
+
+"Young lady, within the time that a man could repeat the Lord's Prayer
+twice you must be in the carriage, or your uncle will have a bullet in
+his head."
+
+And it was evident that the wild frenzy of anger was taking possession
+more and more of Pan Andrei, for suddenly he shouted till the panes
+rattled in the windows, "To the road!"
+
+That same instant the door of the front chamber opened quietly, and
+some strange voice inquired,--
+
+"To what place, Cavalier?"
+
+All became as stone from amazement, and every eye was turned to the
+door, in which stood some small man in armor, and with a naked sabre in
+his hand.
+
+Kmita retreated a step, as if he had seen an apparition. "Pan
+Volodyovski!" cried he.
+
+"At your service!" answered the little man. And he advanced into the
+middle of the chamber; after him entered in a crowd Mirski, Zagloba,
+Pan Yan, Pan Stanislav, Stankyevich, Oskyerko and Roh Kovalski.
+
+"Ha!" cried Zagloba; "the Cossack caught a Tartar, and the Tartar holds
+him by the head!"
+
+Billevich began to speak: "Whoever you are, gentlemen, save a citizen
+whom in spite of law, birth, and office they wish to arrest and
+confine. Save, brothers, the freedom of a noble, whoever you may be."
+
+"Fear not!" answered Volodyovski, "the dragoons of this cavalier are
+already in fetters, and now he needs rescue himself more than you do."
+
+"But a priest most of all!" added Zagloba.
+
+"Sir Knight," said Volodyovski, turning to Kmita, "you have no luck
+with me; a second time I stand in your way. You did not expect me?"
+
+"I did not! I thought you were in the hands of the prince."
+
+"I have just slipped out of those hands,--this is the road to
+Podlyasye. But enough! The first time that you bore away this lady I
+challenged you to sabres, is it not true?"
+
+"True," answered Kmita, reaching involuntarily to his head.
+
+"Now it is another affair. Then you were given to fighting,--a thing
+usual with nobles, and not bringing the last infamy. To-day you do not
+deserve that an honest man should challenge you."
+
+"Why is that?" asked Kmita; and raising his proud head, he looked
+Volodyovski straight in the eyes.
+
+"You are a traitor and a renegade," answered Volodyovski, "for you have
+cut down, like an executioner, honest soldiers who stood by their
+country,--for it is through your work that this unhappy land is
+groaning under a new yoke. Speaking briefly, prepare for death, for as
+God is in heaven your last hour has come."
+
+"By what right do you judge and execute me?" inquired Kmita.
+
+"Gracious sir," answered Zagloba, seriously, "say your prayers instead
+of asking us about a right. But if you have anything to say in your
+defence, say it quickly, for you will not find a living soul to take
+your part. Once, as I have heard, this lady here present begged you
+from the hands of Pan Volodyovski; but after what you have done now,
+she will surely not take your part."
+
+Here the eyes of all turned involuntarily to Panna Aleksandra, whose
+face at that moment was as if cut from stone; and she stood motionless,
+with downcast lids, icy-cold, but she did not advance a step or speak a
+word.
+
+The voice of Kmita broke the silence--"I do not ask that lady for
+intercession."
+
+Panna Aleksandra was silent.
+
+"This way!" called Volodyovski, turning toward the door.
+
+Heavy steps were heard, followed by the gloomy rattle of spurs; and six
+soldiers, with Yuzva Butrym in front, entered the room.
+
+"Take him!" commanded Volodyovski, "lead him outside the village and
+put a bullet in his head."
+
+The heavy hand of Butrym rested on the collar of Kmita, after that two
+other hands.
+
+"Do not let them drag me like a dog!" said Kmita to Volodyovski. "I
+will go myself."
+
+Volodyovski nodded to the soldiers, who released him at once, but
+surrounded him; and he walked out calmly, not speaking to any man, only
+whispering his prayers.
+
+Panna Aleksandra went out also, through the opposite door, to the
+adjoining rooms. She passed the first and the second, stretching out
+her hand in the darkness before her; suddenly her head whirled, the
+breath failed in her bosom, and she fell, as if dead, on the floor.
+
+Among those who were assembled in the first room a dull silence reigned
+for some time; at last Billevich broke it. "Is there no mercy for him?"
+asked he.
+
+"I am sorry for him," answered Zagloba, "for he went manfully to
+death."
+
+To which Mirski said, "He shot a number of officers out of my squadron,
+besides those whom he slew in attack."
+
+"And from mine too," added Stankyevich; "and he cut up almost all of
+Nyevyarovski's men."
+
+"He must have had orders from Radzivill," said Zagloba.
+
+"Gentlemen," said Billevich, "you bring the vengeance of Radzivill on
+my head."
+
+"You must flee. We are going to Podlyasye, for there the squadrons have
+risen against traitors; go with us. There is no other help. You can
+take refuge in Byalovyej, where a relative of Pan Skshetuski is the
+king's hunter. There no one will find you."
+
+"But my property will be lost."
+
+"The Commonwealth will restore it to you."
+
+"Pan Michael," said Zagloba, suddenly, "I will gallop off and see if
+there are not some orders of the hetman on that unfortunate man. You
+remember what I found on Roh Kovalski."
+
+"Mount a horse. There is time yet; later the papers will be bloody. I
+ordered them to take him beyond the village, so that the lady might not
+be alarmed at the rattle of muskets, for women are sensitive and given
+to fright."
+
+Zagloba went out, and after a while the tramp of the horse on which he
+rode away was heard. Volodyovski turned to the host.
+
+"What is the lady doing?"
+
+"Beyond doubt she is praying for that soul which must go before God."
+
+"May the Lord give him eternal rest!" said Pan Yan. "Were it not for
+his willing service with Radzivill, I should be the first to speak in
+his favor; but if he did not wish to stand by his country, he might at
+least not have sold his soul to Radzivill."
+
+"That is true!" added Volodyovski.
+
+"He is guilty and deserves what has come upon him," said Pan Stanislav;
+"but I would that Radzivill were in his place, or Opalinski--oh,
+Opalinski!"
+
+"Of how far he is guilty, you have best proof here," put in Oskyerko;
+"this lady, who was his betrothed, did not find a word in his favor. I
+saw clearly that she was in torment, but she was silent; for how could
+she take the part of a traitor."
+
+"She loved him once sincerely, I know that," said Billevich. "Permit
+me, gentlemen, to go and see what has befallen her, as this is a
+grievous trial for a woman."
+
+"Make ready for the road!" cried the little knight, "for we shall
+merely give rest to the horses. We move farther. Kyedani is too near
+this place, and Radzivill must have returned already."
+
+"Very well!" said the noble, and he left the room.
+
+After a while his piercing cry was heard. The knights sprang toward the
+sound, not knowing what had happened; the servants also ran in with the
+lights, and they saw Billevich raising Olenka, whom he had found lying
+senseless on the floor.
+
+Volodyovski sprang to help him, and together they placed her on the
+sofa. She gave no sign of life. They began to rub her. The old
+housekeeper ran in with cordials, and at last the young lady opened her
+eyes.
+
+"Nothing is the matter," said the old housekeeper; "go ye to that room,
+we will take care of her."
+
+Billevich conducted his guests. "Would that this had not happened!"
+said the anxious host. "Could you not take that unfortunate with you,
+and put him out of the way somewhere on the road, and not on my place?
+How can I travel now, how flee, when the young woman is barely alive,
+on the brink of serious illness?"
+
+"The illness is all over now," answered Volodyovski. "We will put the
+lady in a carriage; you must both flee, for the vengeance of Radzivill
+spares no man."
+
+"The lady may recover quickly," said Pan Yan.
+
+"A comfortable carriage is ready, with horses attached, for Kmita
+brought it with him," said Volodyovski. "Go and tell the lady how
+things are, and that it is impossible to delay flight. Let her collect
+her strength. We must go, for before to-morrow morning Radzivill's
+troops may be here."
+
+"True," answered Billevich; "I go!"
+
+He went, and after a while returned with his niece, who had not only
+collected her strength, but was already dressed for the road. She had a
+high color on her face, and her eyes were gleaming feverishly.
+
+"Let us go, let us go!" repeated she, entering the room.
+
+Volodyovski went out on the porch for a moment to send men for the
+carriage; then he returned, and all began to make ready for the road.
+
+Before a quarter of an hour had passed, the roll of wheels was heard
+outside the windows, and the stamping of horses' hoofs on the pavement
+with which the space before the entrance was covered.
+
+"Let us go!" said Olenka.
+
+"To the road!" cried the officers.
+
+That moment the door was thrown open, and Zagloba burst into the room
+like a bomb.
+
+"I have stopped the execution!" cried he.
+
+Olenka from being ruddy became in one moment as white as chalk; she
+seemed ready to faint again; but no one paid attention to her, for all
+eyes were turned on Zagloba, who was panting like a whale, trying to
+catch breath.
+
+"Have you stopped the execution?" inquired Volodyovski. "Why was that?"
+
+"Why?--Let me catch breath. This is why,--without Kmita, without that
+honorable cavalier, we should all of us be hanging on trees at Kyedani.
+Uf! we wanted to kill our benefactor, gentlemen! Uf!"
+
+"How can that be?" cried all, at once.
+
+"How can it be? Read this letter; in it is the answer."
+
+Here Zagloba gave a letter to Volodyovski. He began to read, stopping
+every moment and looking at his comrades; for it was in fact the letter
+in which Radzivill reproached Kmita bitterly because by his stubborn
+persistence he had freed the colonels and Zagloba from death at
+Kyedani.
+
+"Well, what do you think?" repeated Zagloba, at each interval.
+
+The letter ended, as we know, with the commission for Kmita to bring
+Billevich and his niece to Kyedani. Pan Andrei had the letter with him,
+apparently to show it to the sword-bearer in case of necessity, and it
+had not come to that.
+
+Above all there remained no shadow of doubt that but for Kmita the two
+Skshetuskis, Volodyovski, and Zagloba would have been killed without
+mercy in Kyedani, immediately after the famous treaty with Pontus de la
+Gardie.
+
+"Worthy gentlemen," said Zagloba, "if you wish now to shoot him, as God
+is dear to me, I will leave your company and know you no longer."
+
+"There is nothing more to be said here!" replied Volodyovski.
+
+"Ah!" said Skshetuski, seizing his head with both hands, "what a
+happiness that father read that letter at once, instead of bringing it
+to us!"
+
+"They must have fed you with starlings from childhood!" cried Mirski.
+
+"Ha! what do you say to that?" asked Zagloba. "Every one else would
+have put a bullet in his head. But the moment they brought me the paper
+which they found on him, something touched me, because I have by nature
+a universal curiosity. Two men were going ahead of me with lanterns,
+and they were already in the field. Said I to them, 'Give me light
+here; let me know what is in this!' I began to read. I tell you,
+gentlemen, there was darkness before me as if some man had thumped my
+bald head with his fist. 'In God's name!' said I, 'why did you not show
+this letter?' And he answered, 'Because it did not suit me!' Such a
+haughty fellow, even at the point of death! But didn't I seize him,
+embrace him? 'Benefactor,' cried I, 'without you the crows would have
+eaten us already!' I gave orders to bring him back and lead him here;
+and I almost drove the breath out of the horse to tell you what had
+happened as quickly as possible. Uf!"
+
+"That is a wonderful man, in whom it is clear as much good as evil
+resides," said Pan Stanislav. "If such would not--"
+
+But before he had finished, the door opened and the soldiers came in
+with Kmita.
+
+"You are free," said Volodyovski, at once; "and while we are alive none
+of us will attack you. What a desperate man you are, not to show us
+that letter immediately! We would not have disturbed you."
+
+Here he turned to the soldiers: "Withdraw, and every man to horse!"
+
+The soldiers withdrew, and Pan Andrei remained alone in the middle of
+the room. He had a calm face; but it was gloomy, and he looked at the
+officers standing before him, not without pride.
+
+"You are free!" repeated Volodyovski; "go whithersoever you please,
+even to Radzivill, though it is painful to see a man of honorable blood
+aiding a traitor to his country."
+
+"Reflect well," answered Kmita, "for I say beforehand that I shall go
+nowhere else but to Radzivill."
+
+"Join us; let the thunderbolt crush that tyrant of Kyedani!" cried
+Zagloba. "You will be to us a friend and dear comrade; the country,
+your mother, will forgive your offences against her."
+
+"It is no use," said Kmita, with energy. "God will decide who serves
+the country better,--you who begin civil war on your own
+responsibility, or I, serving a lord who alone can save this ill-fated
+Commonwealth. Go your own way, I will go mine. It is not time to
+convert you, and the attempt is vain; but I tell you from the depth of
+my soul that you are ruining the country,--you who stand in the way of
+its salvation. I do not call you traitors, for I know that your
+intentions are honorable; but this is the position,--the country is
+perishing, Radzivill stretches a hand to it, and you thrust swords into
+that hand, and in blindness make traitors of him and all those who
+stand by him."
+
+"As God is true!" said Zagloba, "if I had not seen how manfully you
+went to meet death, I should think that terror had disturbed your mind.
+To whom have you given oath,--to Radzivill or Yan Kazimir, to Sweden or
+the Commonwealth? You have lost your wits!"
+
+"I knew that it would be vain to attempt to convert you. Farewell!"
+
+"But wait," said Zagloba; "for here is a question of importance. Tell
+me, did Radzivill promise that he would spare us when you interceded
+for us in Kyedani?"
+
+"He did," said Kmita. "You were to remain during the war in Birji."
+
+"Know now your Radzivill, who betrays not only the country, not only
+the king, but his own servants." When he had said this, Zagloba gave
+the hetman's letter to Kmita. He took it, and began to run over it with
+his eyes; and as he read, the blood came to his face, and a blush of
+shame for his own leader covered his forehead more and more. All at
+once he crushed the letter in his hand, and threw it on the floor.
+
+"Farewell!" said he. "Better I had perished at your hands!" and he went
+out of the room.
+
+"Gentlemen," said Pan Yan, after a moment's silence, "an affair with
+that man is difficult, for he believes in his Radzivill as a Turk in
+Mohammed. I thought myself, as you do, that he was serving him for
+profit or ambition, but that is not the case. He is not a bad man, only
+an erring one."
+
+"If he has had faith in his Mohammed hitherto, I have undermined that
+faith infernally," said Zagloba. "Did you see how he threw down the
+letter as soon as he had read it? There will be no small work between
+them, for that cavalier is ready to spring at the eyes, not only of
+Radzivill, but the devil. As God is dear to me, if a man had given me a
+herd of Turkish horses I should not be so well pleased as I am at
+having saved him from death."
+
+"It is true he owes his life to you," said Billevich; "no one will deny
+that."
+
+"God be with him!" said Volodyovski; "let us take counsel what to do."
+
+"But what? Mount and take the road; the horses have rested a little,"
+answered Zagloba.
+
+"True, we should go as quickly as possible! Are you going with us?"
+asked Mirski of the sword-bearer.
+
+"I cannot remain here in peace, I must go. But if you wish to take the
+road at once, gentlemen, I say sincerely that it is not convenient to
+tear away now with you. Since that man has left here alive, they will
+not burn me up immediately, neither will they kill any one; and before
+such a journey it is necessary to provide one's self with this thing
+and that. God knows when I shall return. It is necessary to make one
+arrangement and another,--to secrete the most valuable articles, send
+my cattle to the neighbors, pack trunks. I have also a little ready
+money which I would take with me. I shall be ready to-morrow at
+daybreak; but to go now, in seize-grab fashion, I cannot."
+
+"On our part we cannot wait, for the sword is hanging over our heads,"
+said Volodyovski. "And where do you wish to take refuge?"
+
+"In the wilderness, as you advised. At least, I shall leave the maiden
+there; for I am not yet old, and my poor sabre may be of use to the
+country and the king."
+
+"Farewell! God grant us to meet in better times!"
+
+"God reward you, gentlemen, for coming to rescue me. Doubtless we shall
+see one another in the field."
+
+"Good health!"
+
+"Happy journey!"
+
+They began to take farewell of one another, and then each came to bow
+down before Panna Billevich.
+
+"You will see my wife and little boys in the wilderness: embrace them
+for me, and bloom in good health," said Pan Yan.
+
+"Remember at times the soldier, who, though he had no success in your
+eyes, is always glad to bend the skies for you."
+
+After them others approached, and last Zagloba.
+
+"Receive, charming flower, farewell from an old man too. Embrace Pani
+Skshetuski and my little stumps. They are boys in a hundred!"
+
+Instead of an answer, Olenka seized his hand, and pressed it in silence
+to her lips.
+
+
+
+
+ CHAPTER XXII.
+
+
+That night, at the latest two hours after the departure of
+Volodyovski's detachment, Radzivill himself came to Billeviche at the
+head of his cavalry. He came to the assistance of Kmita, fearing lest
+he might fall into the hands of Volodyovski. When he learned what had
+happened he took the sword-bearer and Olenka and returned to Kyedani,
+without even giving rest to the horses.
+
+The hetman was enraged beyond measure when he heard the story from the
+mouth of the sword-bearer, who told everything in detail, wishing to
+turn from himself the attention of the terrible magnate. He dared not
+protest, for the same reason, against the journey to Kyedani, and was
+glad in his soul that the storm ended thus. Radzivill, on his part,
+though suspecting Billevich of "practices" (conspiracy), had in fact
+too many cares to remember the matter at that moment.
+
+The escape of Volodyovski might change affairs in Podlyasye.
+Horotkyevich and Yakub Kmita, who were there at the head of squadrons
+confederated against the hetman, were good soldiers, but not important;
+hence the whole confederacy had no weight. But now with Volodyovski had
+fled such men as Mirski, Stankyevich, and Oskyerko, without counting
+the little knight himself,--all excellent officers, enjoying universal
+respect.
+
+But in Podlyasye was Prince Boguslav also, who with the castle
+squadrons was opposing the confederates, waiting meanwhile for aid from
+his uncle the elector; but the elector delayed, evidently waiting for
+events; and the confederated forces were gaining strength, and
+adherents came to them every day.
+
+For some time the hetman had been wishing to march to Podlyasye
+himself, and crush the insurgents with one blow, but he was restrained
+by the thought that let him set foot over the boundary of Jmud the
+whole country would rise, and the importance of the Radzivills be
+reduced in the eyes of the Swedes to zero. The prince was meditating
+whether it were not better to abandon Podlyasye altogether for the
+time, and bring Prince Boguslav to Jmud.
+
+That was necessary and urgent. On the other hand threatening news came
+touching the deeds of the voevoda of Vityebsk. The hetman had tried to
+negotiate and bring him over to his plans, but Sapyeha sent back the
+letters unanswered; and besides, as report said, the voevoda was
+selling his effects at auction, disposing of what he could, melting
+silver into coin, selling his cattle for ready money, pawning tapestry
+and valuables to the Jews, renting his lands and collecting troops.
+
+The hetman, greedy by nature and incapable of making sacrifices of
+money, refused to believe, at first, that any man would cast his whole
+fortune without hesitation on the altar of the country; but time
+convinced him that this was really the case, for Sapyeha's military
+power increased daily. Fugitives, settled nobles, patriots gathered
+around him,--enemies of the hetman, and still worse, his blood
+relatives, such as Prince Michael Radzivill, of whom news came that he
+had ordered all the income of his estates still unoccupied by the enemy
+to be given to the voevoda of Vityebsk.
+
+In this way then did the edifice, built by the pride of Yanush
+Radzivill, crack from its foundations and totter. The whole
+Commonwealth was to find a place in that edifice, but now it appeared
+in advance that it could not contain even Jmud.
+
+The condition was becoming more and more like a vicious circle; for
+Radzivill might summon against the voevoda of Vityebsk Swedish forces
+which were occupying the country by degrees, but that would be to
+acknowledge his own weakness. Besides, the relations of the hetman with
+the generalissimo of the Swedes were strained since the affair at
+Klavany, thanks to the plan of Zagloba; and in spite of all
+explanations, irritation and distrust reigned between them.
+
+The hetman, when setting out to aid Kmita, had hope that perhaps he
+might yet seize Volodyovski and destroy him; therefore, when his
+reckoning was at fault, he returned to Kyedani angry and frowning. It
+astonished him too that he did not meet Kmita on the road to
+Billeviche; this happened because Pan Andrei, whose dragoons
+Volodyovski did not fail to take with him, returned alone, and
+therefore chose the shortest road through the forest, avoiding Plemborg
+and Eyragoly.
+
+After a night spent entirely on horseback the hetman came back to
+Kyedani on the following day at noon with his troops, and his first
+question was about Kmita. He was informed that Pan Andrei had returned,
+but without soldiers. Of that last circumstance the prince knew
+already; but he was curious to hear from the lips of Kmita himself the
+story, therefore he gave command to call him at once.
+
+"There was no success for you, as there was none for me," said he, when
+Kmita stood before him. "The sword-bearer told me that you fell into
+the hands of that little devil."
+
+"That is true," answered Kmita.
+
+"And my letter saved you?"
+
+"Of what letter are you speaking, your highness? For when they had read
+themselves the one found on me, they read to me in return another
+letter, written to the commandant of Birji."
+
+The gloomy face of Radzivill was covered as it were with a bloody skin.
+"Then do you know?"
+
+"I know!" answered Kmita, emphatically. "Your highness, how could you
+act so with me? For a common noble it is a shame to break his word, but
+what is it for a prince and a leader?"
+
+"Silence!" cried Radzivill.
+
+"I will not be silent, for before the eyes of those men I had to take
+your place. They were urging me to join them; but I would not, and
+said, 'I serve Radzivill; for with him is justice, with him virtue.'
+Then they showed me that letter: 'See what a man your Radzivill is!' I
+had to shut my mouth and gulp shame."
+
+The hetman's lips began to quiver from fury. A wild desire seized him
+to wring that insolent head from its shoulders, and he was already
+raising his hands to clap for the servants. Rage closed his eyes,
+stopped the breath in his breast; and surely Kmita would have paid
+dearly for his outburst were it not for the sudden attack of asthma
+which at that moment seized the prince. His face grew black, he sprang
+up from the chair and began to beat the air with his hands, his eyes
+were coming out of his head, and from his throat rose a hoarse bellow,
+in which Kmita barely heard the word, "Choking!"
+
+At the alarm the servants and the castle physicians ran in. They tried
+to restore the prince, who had lost consciousness. They roused him in
+about an hour; and when he showed signs of life Kmita left the room.
+
+In the corridor he met Kharlamp, who had recovered from the wounds and
+bruises received in the battle with Oskyerko's insurgent Hungarians.
+
+"What news?" asked Great Mustache.
+
+"He has come to himself," answered Kmita.
+
+"H'm! But any day he may not come! Bad for us, Colonel; for when the
+prince dies they will grind out his deeds on us. My whole hope is in
+Volodyovski. I trust that he will shield his old comrades; therefore I
+tell you" (here Kharlamp lowered his voice) "that I am glad he
+escaped."
+
+"Was he cornered so closely, then?"
+
+"What, cornered! From that willow grove in which we surrounded him
+wolves could not have sprung out, and he sprang out. May the bullets
+strike him! Who knows, who knows that we shall not have to grasp hold
+of his skirts, for there is something bad about us here. The nobles are
+turning away terribly from our prince, and all say that they would
+rather have a real enemy, a Swede, even a Tartar, than a renegade. That
+is the position. And, besides, the prince gives more and more orders to
+seize and imprison citizens,--which, speaking between us, is against
+law and liberty. To-day they brought in the sword-bearer of Rossyeni."
+
+"Have they indeed?"
+
+"Yes, with his niece. The lady is a beauty. You are to be
+congratulated!"
+
+"Where are they lodged?"
+
+"In the right wing. Five rooms are assigned them; they cannot complain,
+unless of this,--that a guard walks before their doors. And when will
+the wedding be, Colonel?"
+
+"The music is not yet engaged for it. Farewell!" added Kmita.
+
+Pan Andrei went from Kharlamp to his own room. A sleepless night with
+its stormy events, and his last meeting with the prince had wearied him
+to such a degree that he was barely able to stand. And as every touch
+causes pain to a wearied, bruised body, so had he a soul full of
+anguish. Kharlamp's simple question 'When will the wedding be?' pierced
+him sorely; for before his eyes at once appeared, as if alive, the icy
+face of Olenka, and her fixed lips when their silence confirmed the
+death-sentence against him. Even a word from her would have saved him.
+Volodyovski would have respected it. All the sorrow and pain which
+Kmita felt at that moment consisted in this, that she did not say that
+word. Still she had not hesitated to save him twice before. Such now
+was the precipice between them, so utterly quenched in her heart was
+not merely love, but simple kind feeling, which it was possible to have
+even for a stranger,--simple pity, which it is incumbent to have for
+every one. The more Kmita thought over this, the more cruel did Olenka
+seem to him, the greater his complaint against her, and the deeper his
+wrong. "What have I done of such character," asked he of himself, "that
+I am scorned, like one cursed by the church? Even if it were evil to
+serve Radzivill, still I feel innocent, since I can answer on my
+conscience, that not for promotion, not for gain, nor for bread do I
+serve him, but because I see profit to the country from my service. Why
+am I condemned without trial? Well, well! Let it be so! I will not go
+to clear myself of uncommitted offences, nor to beg love," repeated he
+for the thousandth time.
+
+Still the pain did not cease; it increased. On returning to his
+quarters Pan Andrei cast himself on the bed and tried to sleep; but he
+could not, despite all his weariness. After a while he rose and began
+to walk through the room. From time to time he raised his hands to his
+forehead and said aloud to himself,--
+
+"Oh, the heart of that woman is hard!"
+
+And again,--
+
+"I did not expect that of you, young lady,--May God reward you!"
+
+In these meditations an hour passed, and a second. At last he tired
+himself out and began to doze, sitting on the bed; but before he fell
+asleep an attendant of Radzivill, Pan Skillandz, roused him and
+summoned him to the prince.
+
+Radzivill felt better already, and breathed more freely, but on his
+leaden face could be seen a great weakening. He sat in a deep armchair,
+covered with leather, having before him a physician whom he sent out
+immediately after Kmita entered.
+
+"I had one foot in the other world and through you," said he to Pan
+Andrei.
+
+"Your highness, it was not my fault; I said what I thought."
+
+"Let no further mention be made of this. But do not add to the weight
+of the burden which I bear; and know this, that what I have forgiven
+you I would not forgive another."
+
+Kmita was silent.
+
+"If I gave order," added the prince, after a while, "to execute in
+Birji these men whom at your request I pardoned in Kyedani, it was not
+because I wanted to deceive you, but to spare you pain. I yielded
+apparently, because I have a weakness for you. But their death was
+imperative. Am I an executioner, or do you think that I spill blood
+merely to feast my eyes on red? But when older you will know that if a
+man would achieve anything in this world, he is not free to sacrifice
+great causes to smaller. It was imperative that these men should die
+here in Kyedani, for see what has happened through your prayers:
+resistance is increased in the country, civil war begun, friendship
+with the Swedes is strained, an evil example given to others, from
+which mutiny is spreading like a plague. More than this, I had to go on
+a later expedition in my own person, and be filled with confusion in
+the presence of the whole army; you came near death at their hands, and
+now they will go to Podlyasye and become chiefs of an uprising. Behold
+and learn! If they had perished in Kyedani, nothing of all this would
+have happened; but when imploring for them you were thinking only of
+your own feelings. I sent them to die at Birji, for I am experienced, I
+see farther; for I know from practice that whoso in running stumbles,
+even against a small stone, will easily fall, and whoso falls may not
+rise again, and the faster he was running the less likely is he to
+rise. God save us, what harm these people have done!"
+
+"They are not so important as to undo the whole work of your highness."
+
+"Had they done no more than rouse distrust between me and Pontus, the
+harm would be incalculable. It has been explained that they, not my
+men, attacked the Swedes; but the letter with threats which Pontus
+wrote to me remains, and I do not forgive him that letter. Pontus is
+brother-in-law of the king, but it is doubtful whether he could become
+mine, and whether the Radzivill thresholds are not too high for him."
+
+"Let your highness treat with the king himself, and not with his
+servant."
+
+"So I intend to do; and if vexation does not kill me I will teach that
+little Swede modesty,--if troubles do not kill me; and would that that
+were all, for no one here spares me thorns or pain. It is grievous to
+me, grievous! Who would believe that I am the man who was at Loyovo,
+Jechytsa, Mozyr, Turoff, Kieff, Berestechko? The whole Commonwealth
+gazed at me and Vishnyevetski, as at two suns. Everything trembled
+before Hmelnitski, but he trembled before me. And the very men whom in
+time of universal disaster I led from victory to victory, forsake me
+to-day and raise their hands against me as against a parricide."
+
+"But all are not thus, for there are some who believe in your highness
+yet," said Kmita, abruptly.
+
+"They believe till they stop," added Radzivill, with bitterness. "Great
+is the love of the nobles! God grant that I be not poisoned by it! Stab
+after stab does each one of you give me, though it occurs not to any
+that--"
+
+"Consider intentions, not words, your highness."
+
+"I give thanks for the counsel. Henceforth I will consider carefully
+what face each common man shows me, and endeavor with care to please
+all."
+
+"Those are bitter words, your highness."
+
+"But is life sweet? God created me for great things, and look at me; I
+must wear out my powers in district struggles, which village might wage
+against village. I wanted to measure myself with mighty monarchs, and I
+have fallen so low that I must hunt some Volodyovski through my own
+estates. Instead of astonishing the world with my power, I astonish it
+with my weakness; instead of paying for the ashes of Vilna with the
+ashes of Moscow, I have to thank you for digging trenches around
+Kyedani. Oh, it is narrow for me, and I am choking,--not alone because
+the asthma is throttling me; helplessness is killing me, inactivity is
+killing me! It is narrow for me and heavy for me! Do you understand?"
+
+"I thought myself that affairs would go differently," answered Kmita,
+gloomily.
+
+Radzivill began to breathe with effort.
+
+"Before another crown can come to me they have crowned me with thorns.
+I commanded the minister, Aders, to look at the stars. He made a figure
+and said that the conjunctions were evil, but that they would pass.
+Meanwhile I am suffering torments. In the night there is something
+which will not let me sleep; something walks in the room, faces of some
+kind stare at me in the bed, and at times a sudden cold comes. This
+means that death is walking around me. I am suffering. I must be
+prepared for more treason and apostasy, for I know that there are men
+still who waver."
+
+"There are no longer such," answered Kmita, "for whoso was to go has
+gone."
+
+"Do not deceive yourself; you see that the remnant of the Polish people
+are beginning to take thought."
+
+Kmita remembered what he had heard from Kharlamp and was silent.
+
+"Never mind!" continued Radzivill, "it is oppressive and terrible, but
+it is necessary to endure. Tell no one of what you have heard from me.
+It is well that this attack came to-day, for it will not be repeated;
+and especially to-day I need strength, for I wish to have a feast, and
+show a glad face to strengthen the courage of people. And do you
+brighten your face and tell nothing to any man, for what I say to you
+is for this purpose only, that you at least refrain from tormenting me.
+Anger carried me away to-day. Be careful that this happen not again,
+for it is a question of your head. But I have forgiven you. Of those
+trenches with which you surrounded Kyedani, Peterson himself would not
+be ashamed. Go now and send me Myeleshko. They have brought in
+deserters from his squadron,--common soldiers. I shall order them
+hanged to a man. We need to give an example. Farewell! It must be
+joyful to-day in Kyedani."
+
+
+
+
+ CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+
+The sword-bearer of Rossyeni had a difficult struggle with Panna
+Aleksandra before she consented to go to that feast which the hetman
+had prepared for his people. He had to implore almost with tears the
+stubborn, bold girl, and swear that it was a question of his head; that
+all, not only the military, but citizens dwelling in the region of
+Kyedani, as far as Radzivill's hand reached, were obliged to appear
+under terror of the prince's wrath: how then could they oppose who were
+subject to the favor and disfavor of the terrible man? Olenka, not to
+endanger her uncle, gave way.
+
+The company was really not small, for he had forced many of the
+surrounding nobles to come with their wives and daughters. But the
+military were in the majority, and especially officers of the foreign
+regiments, who remained nearly all with the prince. Before he showed
+himself to the guests he prepared an affable countenance, as if no care
+had weighed on him previously; he wished with that banquet to rouse
+courage, not only in his adherents and the military, but to show that
+most of the citizens were on his side, and only turbulent people
+opposed the union with Sweden. He did not spare therefore trouble or
+outlay to make the banquet lordly, that the echo of it might spread as
+widely as possible through the land. Barely had darkness covered the
+country when hundreds of barrels were set on fire along the road
+leading to the castle and in the courtyard; from time to time cannons
+were thundering, and soldiers were ordered to give forth joyous shouts.
+
+Carriages and covered wagons followed one another on the road, bringing
+personages of the neighborhood and the "cheaper" (smaller) nobility.
+The courtyard was filled with equipages, horses, and servants, who had
+either come with guests or belonged to the town. Crowds dressed in
+velvet, brocade, and costly furs filled the so-called "Golden Hall;"
+and when the prince appeared at last, all glittering from precious
+stones, and with a welcoming smile on his face, usually gloomy, and
+besides wrinkled at that time by sickness, the first officers shouted
+in one voice,--
+
+"Long live the prince hetman! Long live the voevoda of Vilna!"
+
+Radzivill cast his eyes suddenly on the assembled citizens, wishing to
+convince himself whether they repeated the cries of the soldiers. In
+fact a few tens of voices from the most timid breasts repeated the cry;
+the prince on his part began at once to bow, and to thank them for the
+sincere and "unanimous" love.
+
+"With you, gracious gentlemen!" said he, "we will manage those who
+would destroy the country. God reward you! God reward you!"
+
+And he went around through the hall, stopped before acquaintances, not
+sparing titles in his speech,--"Lord brother," "dear neighbor;" and
+more than one gloomy face grew bright under the warm rays of the
+magnate's favor.
+
+"But it is not possible," said those who till recently looked on his
+deeds with dislike, "that such a lord, such a lofty senator should wish
+ill to his country; either he could not act differently from what he
+has acted, or there is some secret in this, which will come out for the
+good of the Commonwealth."
+
+"In fact, we have more rest already from one enemy who does not wish to
+light about us with the Swedes."
+
+"God grant that all turn out for the best."
+
+Some, however, shook their heads, or said with a look to one another,
+"We are here because they put the knife to our throats."
+
+But these were silent; meanwhile others, more easily brought over, said
+in loud voices, to be heard by the prince,--
+
+"It is better to change the king than ruin the Commonwealth."
+
+"Let the kingdom think of itself, but we will think of ourselves."
+
+"Besides, who has given us an example, if not Great Poland? _Extrema
+necessitas, extremis nititur rationibus! Tentanda omnia!_"
+
+"Let us put all confidence in our prince, and trust him in everything.
+Let him have Lithuania and the government in his hands."
+
+"He deserves both. If he will not save us, we perish,--in him is
+salvation."
+
+"He is nearer to us than Yan Kazimir, for he is our blood."
+
+Radzivill caught with an eager ear those voices, dictated by fear or
+flattery, and did not consider that they came from the mouths of weak
+persons, who in danger would be the first to desert him,--from the
+mouths of persons whom every breath of wind might bend as a wave. And
+he was charmed with those expressions, and tempted himself, or his own
+conscience, repeating from the maxims he had heard that which seemed to
+excuse him the most: "_Extrema necessitas, extremis nititur
+rationibus!_"
+
+But when passing a large group of nobles he heard from the lips of Pan
+Yujits, "He is nearer to us than Yan Kazimir," his face grew bright
+altogether. To compare him with the king, and then to prefer him,
+flattered his pride; he approached Pan Yujits at once and said,--
+
+"You are right, brothers, for in Yan Kazimir, in one pot of blood there
+is a quart of Lithuanian, but in me there is nothing but Lithuanian. If
+hitherto the quart has commanded the potful, it depends on you,
+brothers, to change that condition."
+
+"We are ready to drink a potful to your health," answered Pan Yujits.
+
+"You have struck my mind. Rejoice, brothers; I would gladly invite
+hither all Lithuania."
+
+"It would have to be trimmed still better," said Pan Shchanyetski of
+Dalnovo,--a bold man, and cutting with the tongue as with the sword.
+
+"What do you mean by that?" asked the prince, fixing his eyes on him.
+
+"That the heart of your highness is wider than Kyedani."
+
+Radzivill gave a forced laugh and went farther.
+
+At this moment the marshal of the castle approached him with the
+announcement that the banquet was ready. Crowds began to flow, like a
+river, after the prince to the same hall in which not long before the
+union with Sweden was declared. The marshal seated the guests according
+to dignity, calling each one by name and rank. But it was evident that
+the orders of the prince had been issued in advance on this point, for
+Kmita's place was between Billevich and Panna Aleksandra.
+
+The hearts jumped in both when they heard their names called in
+succession, and both hesitated at the first moment; but it occurred to
+them that to refuse would be to draw on themselves the eyes of all
+present, therefore they sat side by side. They were angry and ill at
+ease. Pan Andrei determined to be as indifferent as if a stranger were
+sitting next him; but soon he understood that he could not be so
+indifferent, and that his neighbor was not such a stranger that they
+could begin an ordinary conversation. But both saw that in that throng
+of persons of the most varied feelings, interests, and passions, he
+thinks only of her and she of him. For this very reason it was awkward
+for them. They would not and could not tell sincerely, clearly, and
+openly, what lay on their hearts. They had the past, but no future.
+Recent feelings, confidence, even acquaintance, were all broken. There
+was nothing between them save the feeling of disappointment and
+offence. If this link should burst, they would be freer; but time only
+could bring forgetfulness: it was too soon for that.
+
+For Kmita it was so disagreeable that he almost suffered torments;
+still he would not have yielded, for anything in the world, the place
+which the marshal had given him. He caught with his ear the rustle of
+her dress; he watched every movement of hers,--he watched while
+feigning not to watch; he felt the warmth beating from her, and all
+this caused him a certain painful delight.
+
+At the same moment he discovered that she too was equally on the alert,
+though she was as if not paying attention. An unconquerable desire of
+looking at her drew him on; therefore he glanced sidewise, until he saw
+her clear forehead, her eyes covered with dark lashes, and her fair
+face, not touched by paint, as were those of other ladies. For him
+there had always been something attractive in that face, so that the
+heart in the poor knight was shivering from sorrow and pain. "To think
+that such animosity could find a place with such beauty," thought he.
+But the offence was too deep; hence he added soon in his soul, "I have
+nothing to do with you; let some other man take you."
+
+And he felt suddenly that if that "other" were merely to try to make
+use of the permission, he would cut him into pieces as small as chopped
+straw. At the very thought terrible anger seized him; but he calmed
+himself when he remembered that he was still alone, that no "other" was
+sitting near her, and that no one, at least at that moment, was trying
+to win her.
+
+"I will look at her once more and turn to the other side," thought he.
+
+And again he cast a sidelong glance; but just at that moment she did
+the same, and both dropped their eyes with all quickness, terribly
+confused, as if they had been caught in a crime.
+
+Panna Aleksandra too was struggling with herself. From all that had
+happened, from the action of Kmita at Billeviche, from the words of
+Zagloba and Pan Yan, she learned that Kmita erred, but that he was not
+so guilty and did not deserve such contempt, such unreserved
+condemnation, as she had thought previously. Besides, he had saved
+those worthy men from death, and there was so much in him of a certain
+grand pride that when he had fallen into their hands, having a letter
+on his person sufficient to vindicate him, or at least to save him from
+execution, he did not show that letter, he said not a word, but went to
+death with head erect.
+
+Olenka, reared by an old soldier who placed contempt for death above
+all virtues, worshipped courage with her whole heart; therefore she
+could not resist an involuntary admiration for that stern knightly
+daring which could be driven from the body only with the soul.
+
+She understood also that if Kmita served Radzivill he did so in perfect
+good faith; what a wrong therefore to condemn him for intentional
+treason! And still she had put that wrong on him, she had spared him
+neither injustice nor contempt, she would not forgive him even in the
+face of death.
+
+"Right the wrong," said her heart; "all is finished between you, but it
+is thy duty to confess that thou hast judged him unjustly. In this is
+thy duty to thyself also."
+
+But there was in this lady no little pride, and perhaps something of
+stubbornness; therefore it came at once to her mind that that cavalier
+was not worth such satisfaction, and a flush came to her face.
+
+"If he is not worth it, let him go without it," said her mind.
+
+But conscience said further that whether the injured one is worth
+satisfaction or not, it is needful to give it; but on the other side
+her pride brought forth continually new arguments,--
+
+"If--which might be--he was unwilling to listen, she would have to
+swallow her shame for nothing. And secondly, guilty or not guilty,
+whether he acts purposely or through blindness, it is enough that he
+holds with traitors and enemies of the country, and helps them to ruin
+it. It is the same to the country whether he lacks reason or honesty.
+God may forgive him; men must and ought to condemn, and the name of
+traitor will remain with him. That is true! If he is not guilty, is she
+not right in despising a man who has not the wit to distinguish wrong
+from right, crime from virtue?"
+
+Here anger began to carry the lady away, and her cheeks flushed.
+
+"I will be silent!" said she to herself. "Let him suffer what he has
+deserved. Until I see penitence I have the right to condemn him."
+
+Then she turned her glance to Kmita, as if wishing to be convinced
+whether penitence was yet to be seen in his face. Just then it was
+that the meeting of their eyes took place, at which both were so
+shame-stricken.
+
+Olenka, it may be, did not see penitence in the face of the cavalier,
+but she saw pain and suffering; she saw that face pale as after
+sickness; therefore deep pity seized her, tears came perforce to her
+eyes, and she bent still more over the table to avoid betraying
+emotion.
+
+Meanwhile the banquet was becoming animated. At first all were
+evidently under a disagreeable impression, but with the cups came
+fancy. The bustle increased. At last the prince rose,--
+
+"Gracious gentlemen, I ask leave to speak."
+
+"The prince wishes to speak! The prince wishes to speak!" was called
+from every side.
+
+"I raise the first toast to the Most Serene King of Sweden, who gives
+us aid against our enemies, and ruling meanwhile this country, will not
+leave it till he brings peace. Arise, gentlemen, for that health is
+drunk standing."
+
+The guests rose, except ladies, and filled their glasses, but without
+shouts, without enthusiasm. Pan Shchanyetski of Dalnovo muttered
+something to his neighbors, and they bit their mustaches to avoid
+laughter. It was evident that he was jeering at the King of Sweden.
+
+It was only when the prince raised the other toast to his "beloved
+guests" kind to Kyedani, who had come even from distant places to
+testify their confidence in the intentions of the host, that they
+answered him with a loud shout,--
+
+"We thank you from our hearts!"
+
+"The health of the prince!"
+
+"Our Hector of Lithuania!"
+
+"May he live! Long life to the prince hetman, our voevoda."
+
+Now Pan Yujits, a little drunk already, cried with all the strength of
+his lungs, "Long life to Yanush I., Grand Prince of Lithuania!"
+
+Radzivill blushed like a young lady at her betrothal, but remarking
+that those assembled were stubbornly silent and looking at him with
+astonishment, he said,--
+
+"That is in your power; but your wishes are premature, Pan Yujits,
+premature."
+
+"Long live Yanush I., Grand Prince of Lithuania!" repeated Pan Yujits,
+with the stubbornness of a drunken man.
+
+Pan Shchanyetski rose in his turn and raised his glass. "True," said
+he, coolly, "Grand Prince of Lithuania, King of Poland, and Emperor of
+Germany!"
+
+Again an interval of silence. Suddenly the company burst out into
+laughter. All were staring, their mustaches were dancing on their
+reddened faces, and laughter shook their bodies, echoed from the arches
+of the hall, and lasted long; and as suddenly as it rose so suddenly
+did it die on the lips of all at sight of the hetman's face, which was
+changing like a rainbow.
+
+Radzivill restrained the terrible anger which had seized his breast and
+said, "Low jests, Pan Shchanyetski."
+
+The noble pouted, and not at all disconcerted answered: "That also is
+an elective throne, and we cannot wish your highness too much. If as a
+noble your highness may become King of Poland, as a prince of the
+Gorman Empire you might be raised to the dignity of Emperor. It is as
+far or near for you to the one as to the other; and who does not wish
+this to you, let him rise. I will meet him with the sabre." Here he
+turned to the company: "Rise, whoso does not wish the crown of the
+German Empire to the voevoda of Vilna!"
+
+Of course no one rose. They did not laugh either, for in the voice of
+Pan Shchanyetski there was so much insolent malice that an involuntary
+disquiet came upon all as to what would happen.
+
+Nothing happened, save that relish for the banquet was spoiled. In vain
+did the servants of the castle fill the glasses every moment. Wine
+could not scatter gloomy thoughts in the minds of the banqueters, nor
+the disquiet increasing every moment. Radzivill concealed his anger
+with difficulty, for he felt that, thanks to the toasts of Pan
+Shchanyetski, he was belittled in the eyes of the assembled nobles, and
+that, intentionally or not, that man had forced the conviction on those
+present that the voevoda of Vilna was no nearer the throne of grand
+prince than the crown of Germany. Everything was turned into jests,
+into ridicule, while the banquet was given mainly to accustom men's
+minds to the coming rule of the Radzivills. What is more, Radzivill was
+concerned lest this ridicule of his hopes should make a bad impression
+on the officers, admitted to the secret of his plans. In fact, deep
+dissatisfaction was depicted on their faces.
+
+Ganhoff filled glass after glass, and avoided the glance of the prince.
+Kmita, however, did not drink, but looked at the table before him with
+frowning brow, as if he were thinking of something, or lighting an
+internal battle. Radzivill trembled at the thought that a light might
+flash into that mind any moment, and bring forth truth from the
+shadows, and then that officer, who furnished the single link binding
+the remnants of the Polish squadrons with the cause of Radzivill, would
+break the link, even if he had at the same time to drag the heart out
+of his own breast.
+
+Kmita had annoyed Radzivill already over much; and without the
+marvellous significance given him by events, he would long since have
+fallen a victim to his own impetuosity and the wrath of the hetman. But
+the prince was mistaken in suspecting him of a hostile turn of thought,
+for Pan Andrei was occupied wholly with Olenka and that deep dissension
+which separated them.
+
+At times it seemed to him that he loved that woman sitting at his side
+beyond the whole world; then again he felt such hatred that he would
+give death to her if he could but give it to himself as well.
+
+Life had become so involved that for his simple nature it was too
+difficult, and he felt what a wild beast feels when entangled in a net
+from which it cannot escape.
+
+The unquiet and gloomy humor of the whole banquet irritated him in the
+highest degree. It was simply unendurable.
+
+The banquet became more gloomy every moment. It seemed to those present
+that they were feasting under a leaden roof resting on their heads.
+
+At that time a new guest entered the hall. The prince, seeing him,
+exclaimed,--
+
+"That is Pan Suhanyets, from Cousin Boguslav! Surely with letters!"
+
+The newly arrived bowed profoundly. "True, Most Serene Prince, I come
+straight from Podlyasye."
+
+"But give me the letters, and sit at the table yourself. The worthy
+guests will pardon me if I do not defer the reading, though we are
+sitting at a banquet, for there may be news which I shall need to
+impart to you. Sir Marshal, pray think of the welcome envoy there."
+
+Speaking thus, he took from the hands of Pan Suhanyets a package of
+letters, and broke the seal of the first in haste.
+
+All present fixed curious eyes on his face, and tried to divine the
+substance of the letter. The first letter did not seem to announce
+anything favorable, for the face of the prince was filled with blood,
+and his eyes gleamed with wild anger.
+
+"Brothers!" said the hetman, "Prince Boguslav reports to me that those
+men who have chosen to form a confederation rather than march against
+the enemy at Vilna, are ravaging at this moment my villages in
+Podlyasye. It is easier of course to wage war with peasant women in
+villages. Worthy knights, there is no denying that!--Never mind! Their
+reward will not miss them."
+
+Then he took the second letter, but had barely cast his eyes on it when
+his face brightened with a smile of triumph and delight,--
+
+"The province of Syeradz has yielded to the Swedes!" cried he, "and
+following Great Poland, has accepted the protection of Karl Gustav."
+
+And after a while another,--
+
+"This is the latest dispatch. Good for us, worthy gentlemen, Yan
+Kazimir is beaten at Vidava and Jarnov. The army is leaving him! He is
+retreating on Cracow; the Swedes are pursuing. My cousin writes that
+Cracow too must fall."
+
+"Let us rejoice, gracious gentlemen," said Shchanyetski, with a strange
+voice.
+
+"Yes, let us rejoice!" repeated the hetman, without noticing the tone
+in which Shchanyetski had spoken. And delight issued from the whole
+person of the prince, his face became in one moment as it were younger,
+his eyes gained lustre; with hands trembling from happiness, he broke
+the seal of the last letter, looked, became all radiant as the sun, and
+cried,--
+
+"Warsaw is taken! Long life to Karl Gustav!"
+
+Here he first noticed that the impression which these tidings produced
+on those present was entirely different from that which he felt
+himself. For all sat in silence, looking forward with uncertain glance.
+Some frowned; others covered their faces with their hands. Even
+courtiers of the hetman, even men of weak spirit, did not dare to
+imitate the joy of the prince at the tidings that Warsaw was taken,
+that Cracow must fall, and that the provinces, one after the other,
+would leave their legal king and yield to the enemy. Besides, there was
+something monstrous in the satisfaction with which the supreme leader
+of half the armies of the Commonwealth, and one of its most exalted
+senators, announced its defeats. The prince saw that it was necessary
+to soften the impression.
+
+"Gentlemen," said he, "I should be the first to weep with you, if harm
+were coming to the Commonwealth; but here the Commonwealth suffers no
+harm, it merely changes kings. Instead of the ill-fated Yan Kazimir we
+shall have a great and fortunate warrior. I see all wars now finished,
+and enemies vanquished."
+
+"Your highness is right," answered Shchanyetski. "Cup for cup, the same
+thing that Radzeyovski and Opalinski held forth at Uistsie. Let us
+rejoice, gracious gentlemen! Death to Yan Kazimir!"
+
+When he had said this, Shchanyetski pushed back his chair with a
+rattle, and walked out of the hall.
+
+"The best of wines that are in the cellar!" cried the prince.
+
+The marshal hastened to carry out the order. In the hall it was as
+noisy as in a hive. When the first impression had passed, the nobles
+began to talk of the news and discuss. They asked Pan Suhanyets for
+details from Podlyasye, and adjoining Mazovia, which the Swedes had
+already occupied.
+
+After a while pitchy kegs were rolled into the hall and opened. Spirits
+began to grow brighter and improve by degrees.
+
+More and more frequently voices were heard to repeat: "All is over!
+perhaps it is for the best!" "We must bend to fortune!" "The prince will
+not let us be wronged." "It is better for us than for others. Long life
+to Yanush Radzivill, our voevoda, hetman, and prince!"
+
+"Grand Prince of Lithuania!" cried again Pan Yujits.
+
+But at this time neither silence nor laughter answered him; but a
+number of tens of hoarse throats roared at once,--
+
+"That is our wish,--from heart and soul our wish! Long life to him! May
+he rule!"
+
+The magnate rose with a face as red as purple. "I thank you, brothers,"
+said he, seriously.
+
+In the hall it had become as suffocating and hot, from lights and the
+breath of people, as in a bath.
+
+Panna Aleksandra bent past Kmita to her uncle. "I am weak," said she;
+"let us leave here."
+
+In truth her face was pale, and on her forehead glittered drops of
+perspiration; but the sword-bearer of Rossyeni cast an unquiet glance
+at the hetman, fearing lest it be taken ill of him to leave the table.
+In the field he was a gallant soldier, but he feared Radzivill with his
+whole soul.
+
+At that moment, to complete the evil, the hetman said,--
+
+"He is my enemy who will not drink all my toasts to the bottom, for I
+am joyful to-day."
+
+"You have heard?" asked Billevich.
+
+"Uncle, I cannot stay longer, I am faint," said Olenka, with a
+beseeching voice.
+
+"Then go alone," answered Pan Tomash.
+
+The lady rose, wishing to slip away unobserved; but her strength
+failed, and she caught the side of the chair in her weakness.
+
+Suddenly a strong knightly arm embraced her, and supported the almost
+fainting maiden.
+
+"I will conduct you," said Pan Andrei.
+
+And without asking for permission he caught her form as if with an iron
+hoop. She leaned on him more and more; before they reached the door,
+she was hanging powerless on his arm.
+
+Then he raised her as lightly as he would a child, and bore her out of
+the hall.
+
+
+
+
+ CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+
+That evening after the banquet, Pan Andrei wished absolutely to see the
+prince, but he was told that the prince was occupied in a secret
+interview with Pan Suhanyets.
+
+He went therefore early next morning, and was admitted at once.
+
+"Your highness," said he "I have come with a prayer."
+
+"What do you wish me to do for you?"
+
+"I am not able to live here longer. Each day increases my torment.
+There is nothing for me here in Kyedani. Let your highness find some
+office for me, send me whithersoever it please you. I have heard that
+regiments are to move against Zolotarenko; I will go with them."
+
+"Zolotarenko would be glad to have an uproar with us, but he cannot get
+at us in any way, for Swedish protection is here already, and we cannot
+go against him without the Swedes. Count Magnus advances with terrible
+dilatoriness because he does not trust me. But is it so ill for you
+here in Kyedani at our side?"
+
+"Your highness is gracious to me, and still my suffering is so keen
+that I cannot describe it. To tell the truth, I thought everything
+would take another course,--I thought that we should fight, that we
+should live in fire and smoke, day and night in the saddle. God created
+me for that. But to sit here, listen to quarrels and disputes, rot in
+inactivity, or hunt down my own people instead of the enemy,--I cannot
+endure it, simply I am unable. I prefer death a hundred times. As God
+is dear to me, this is pure torture!"
+
+"I know whence that despair comes. From love,--nothing more. When
+older, you will learn to laugh at these torments. I saw yesterday that
+you and that maiden were more and more angry with each other."
+
+"I am nothing to her, nor she to me. What has been is ended."
+
+"But what, did she fall ill yesterday?"
+
+"She did."
+
+The prince was silent for a while, then said: "I have advised you
+already, and I advise once more, if you care for her take her. I will
+give command to have the marriage performed. There will be a little
+screaming and crying,--that's nothing! After the marriage take her to
+your quarters; and if next day she still cries, that will be the most."
+
+"I beg, your highness, for some office in the army, not for marriage,"
+said Kmita, roughly.
+
+"Then you do not want her?"
+
+"I do not. Neither I her, nor she me. Though it were to tear the soul
+within me, I will not ask her for anything. I only wish to be as far
+away as possible, to forget everything before my mind is lost. Here
+there is nothing to do; and inactivity is the worst of all, for trouble
+gnaws a man like sickness. Remember, your highness, how grievous it was
+for you yesterday till good news came. So it is with me to-day, and so
+it will be. What have I to do? Seize my head, lest bitter thoughts
+split it, and sit down? What can I wait for? God knows what kind of
+times these are, God knows what kind of war this is, which I cannot
+understand nor grasp with my mind,--which causes me still more grief.
+Now, as God is dear to me, if your highness will not use me in some
+way, I will flee, collect a party, and fight."
+
+"Whom?" asked the prince.
+
+"Whom? I will go to Vilna, and attack as I did Hovanski. Let your
+highness permit my squadron to go with me, and war will begin."
+
+"I need your squadron here against internal enemies."
+
+"That is the pain, that is the torment, to watch in Kyedani with folded
+arms, or chase after some Volodyovski whom I would rather have as a
+comrade by my side."
+
+"I have an office for you," said the prince. "I will not let you go to
+Vilna, nor will I give you a squadron; and if you go against my will,
+collect a squadron and fight, know that by this you cease to serve me."
+
+"But I shall serve the country."
+
+"He serves the country who serves me,--I have convinced you of that
+already. Remember also that you have taken an oath to me. Finally, if
+you go as a volunteer you will go also from under my jurisdiction, and
+the courts are waiting for you with sentences. In your own interest you
+should not do this."
+
+"What power have courts now?"
+
+"Beyond Kovno none; but here, where the country is still quiet, they
+have not ceased to act. It is true you may not appear, but decisions
+will be given and will weigh upon you until times of peace. Whom they
+have once declared they will remember even in ten years, and the nobles
+of Lauda will see that you are not forgotten."
+
+"To tell the truth to your highness, when it comes to atonement I will
+yield. Formerly I was ready to war with the whole Commonwealth, and to
+win for myself as many sentences as the late Pan Lashch, who had a
+cloak lined with them. But now a kind of galled spot has come out on my
+conscience. A man fears to wade farther than he wished, and mental
+disquiet touching everything gnaws him."
+
+"Are you so squeamish? But a truce to this! I will tell you, if 'tis
+your wish to go hence, I have an office for you and a very honorable
+one. Ganhoff is creeping into my eyes for this office, and talks of it
+every day. I have been thinking to give it to him. Still 'tis
+impossible to do so, for I must have a man of note, not with a trifling
+name, not a foreigner, but a Pole, who by his very person will bear
+witness that not all men have left me, that there are still weighty
+citizens on my side. You are just the man; you have so much good
+daring, are more willing to make others bend than to bow down
+yourself."
+
+"What is the task?"
+
+"To go on a long journey."
+
+"I am ready to-day!"
+
+"And at your own cost, since I am straitened for money. Some of my
+revenues the enemy have taken; others, our own people are ravaging, and
+no part comes in season; besides, all the army which I have here, has
+fallen to my expense. Of a certainty the treasurer, whom I have now
+behind a locked door, does not give me a copper,--first, because he has
+not the wish to do so; second; because he has not the coin. Whatever
+public money there is, I take without asking; but is there much? From
+the Swedes you will get anything sooner than money, for their hands
+tremble at sight of a farthing."
+
+"Your highness need not explain. If I go, it will be at my own
+expense."
+
+"But it will be necessary to appear with distinction, without sparing."
+
+"I will spare nothing."
+
+The hetman's face brightened; for in truth he had no ready money,
+though he had plundered Vilna not long before, and, besides, he was
+greedy by nature. It was also true that the revenues from his immense
+estates, extending from Livonia to Kieff and from Smolensk to Mazovia,
+had really ceased to flow in, and the cost of the army increased every
+day.
+
+"That suits me," said he; "Ganhoff would begin at once to knock on my
+coffers, but you are another kind of man. Hear, then, your
+instructions."
+
+"I am listening with care."
+
+"First, you will go to Podlyasye. The road is perilous; for the
+confederates, who left the camp, are there and acting against me. How
+you will escape them is your own affair. Yakub Kmita might spare you;
+but beware of Horotkyevich, Jyromski, and especially of Volodyovski
+with his Lauda men."
+
+"I have been in their hands already, and no evil has happened to me."
+
+"That is well. You will go to Zabludovo, where Pan Harasimovich lives;
+you will order him to collect what money he can from my revenues, the
+public taxes and whencesoever it is possible, and send it to me,--not
+to this place, however, but to Tyltsa, where there are effects of mine
+already. What goods or property he can pawn, let him pawn; what he can
+get from the Jews, let him take. Secondly, let him think how to ruin
+the confederates. But that is not your mission; I will send him
+instructions under my own hand. You will give him the letter and move
+straight to Tykotsin, to Prince Boguslav--"
+
+Here the hetman stopped and began to breathe heavily, for continuous
+speaking tortured him greatly. Kmita looked eagerly at Radzivill, for
+his own soul was chafing to go, and he felt that the journey, full of
+expected adventures, would be balsam to his grief.
+
+After a while the hetman continued: "I am astonished that Boguslav is
+loitering still in Podlyasye. As God is true, he may ruin both me and
+himself. Pay diligent attention to what he says; for though you will
+give him my letters, you should supplement them with living speech, and
+explain that which may not be written. Now understand that yesterday's
+intelligence was good, but not so good as I told the nobles,--not so
+good, in fact, as I myself thought at first. The Swedes have the upper
+hand, it is true; they have occupied Great Poland, Mazovia, Warsaw; the
+province of Syeradz has yielded to them, they are pursuing Yan Kazimir
+to Cracow, and as God is in heaven, they will besiege the place.
+Charnyetski is to defend it. He is a newly baked senator, but, I must
+confess, a good soldier. Who can foresee what will happen? The Swedes,
+of course, know how to take fortresses, and there was no time to
+fortify Cracow. Still, that spotted little castellan[22] (Charnyetski)
+may hold out there a month, two, three. Such wonders take place at
+times, as we all remember in the case of Zbaraj. If he will stand
+obstinately, the devil may turn everything around. Learn now political
+secrets. Know first that in Vienna they will not look with willing eye
+on the growing power of Sweden, and may give aid. The Tartars, too, I
+know this well, are inclined to assist Yan Kazimir, and to move against
+the Cossacks and Moscow with all force; and then the armies in the
+Crimea under Pototski would assist. Yan Kazimir is in despair, but
+tomorrow his fortune may be preponderant."
+
+Here the prince was forced to give rest again to his wearied breast,
+and Pan Andrei experienced a wonderful feeling which he could not
+himself account for at once. Behold, he, an adherent of Radzivill and
+Sweden, felt as it were a great joy at the thought that fortune might
+turn from the Swedes!
+
+"Suhanyets told me," said the prince, "how it was at Vidava and Jarnov.
+There in the first onset our advance guard--I mean the Polish--ground
+the Swedes into the dust. They were not general militia, and the Swedes
+lost courage greatly."
+
+"Still victory was with the Swedes, was it not?"
+
+"It was, for the squadrons mutinied against Yan Kazimir, and the nobles
+declared that they would stand in line, but would not fight. Still it
+was shown that the Swedes are no better in the field than the quarter
+soldiers. Only let there be one or two victories and their courage may
+change. Let money come to Yan Kazimir to pay wages, and the troops will
+not mutiny. Pototski has not many men, but they are sternly disciplined
+and as resolute as hornets. The Tartars will come with Pototski, but
+the elector will not move with his reinforcement."
+
+"How is that?"
+
+"Boguslav and I concluded that he would enter at once into a league
+with the Swedes and with us, for we know how to measure his love for
+the Commonwealth. He is too cautious, however, and thinks only of his
+own interest. He is waiting to see what will happen; meanwhile he is
+entering into a league, but with the Prussian towns, which remain
+faithful to Yan Kazimir. I think that in this there will be treason of
+some kind, unless the elector is not himself, or doubts Swedish success
+altogether. But until all this is explained, the league stands against
+Sweden; and let the Swedes stumble in Little Poland, Great Poland and
+Mazovia will rise, the Prussians will go with them, and it may come to
+pass--" Here the prince shuddered as if terrified at his supposition.
+
+"What may come to pass?" asked Kmita.
+
+"That not a Swedish foot will go out of the Commonwealth," answered the
+prince, gloomily.
+
+Kmita frowned and was silent.
+
+"Then," continued the hetman, in a low voice, "our fortune will have
+fallen as low as before it was high."
+
+Pan Andrei, springing from his seat, cried with sparkling eyes and
+flushed face: "What is this? Why did your highness say not long ago
+that the Commonwealth was lost,--that only in league with the Swedes,
+through the person and future reign of your highness, could it possibly
+be saved? What have I to believe,--what I heard then, or what I hear
+now? If what your highness says to-day is true, why do we hold with the
+Swedes, instead of beating them?--and the soul laughs at the thought of
+this."
+
+Radzivill looked sternly at Kmita. "You are over bold!" said he.
+
+But Kmita was careering on his own enthusiasm as on a horse. "Speak
+later of what kind of man I am; but now answer my question, your
+highness."
+
+"I will give this answer," said Radzivill, with emphasis: "if things
+take the turn that I mention, we will fall to beating the Swedes."
+
+Pan Andrei ceased distending his nostrils, slapped his forehead with
+his palm, and cried, "I am a fool! I am a fool!"
+
+"I do not deny that," answered the prince. "I will say more: you exceed
+the measure of insolence. Know then that I send you to note the turns
+of fortune. I desire the good of the country, nothing else. I have
+mentioned to you suppositions which may not, which certainly will not,
+come true. But there is need to be cautious. Whoso wishes that water
+should not bear him away must know how to swim, and whoso goes through
+a pathless forest must stop often to note the direction in which he
+should travel. Do you understand?"
+
+"As clearly as sunshine."
+
+"We are free to draw back, and we are bound to do so if it will be
+better for the country; but we shall not be able if Prince Boguslav
+stays longer in Podlyasye. Has he lost his head, or what? If he stays
+there, he must declare for one side or the other,--either for the
+Swedes or Yan Kazimir,--and that is just what would be worst of all."
+
+"I am dull, your highness, for again I do not understand."
+
+"Podlyasye is near Mazovia; and either the Swedes will occupy it or
+reinforcements will come from the Prussian towns against the Swedes.
+Then it will be necessary to choose."
+
+"But why does not Prince Boguslav choose?"
+
+"Until he chooses, the Swedes will seek us greatly and must win our
+favor; the same is true of the elector. If it comes to retreating and
+turning against the Swedes, he is to be the link between me and Yan
+Kazimir. He is to ease my return, which he could not do if previously
+he had taken the side of the Swedes. But since he will be forced to
+make a final choice if he remains in Podlyasye, let him go to Prussia,
+to Tyltsa, and wait there for events. The elector stays in Brandenburg.
+Boguslav will be of greater importance in Prussia; he may take the
+Prussians in hand altogether, increase his army, and stand at the head
+of a considerable force. And then both the Swedes and Yan Kazimir will
+give what we ask in order to win us both; and our house will not only
+not fall, but will rise higher, and that is the main thing."
+
+"Your highness said that the good of the country was the main thing."
+
+"But do not break in at every word, since I told you at first that the
+two are one; and listen farther. I know well that Prince Boguslav,
+though he signed the act of union with Sweden here in Kyedani, does not
+pass as an adherent of theirs. Though the report will be baseless, do
+you declare along the road that I forced him to sign it against his
+heart. People will believe this readily, for it happens frequently that
+even full brothers belong to different parties. In this way he will be
+able to gain the confidence of the confederates, invite the leaders to
+his camp as if for negotiations, and then seize and take them to
+Prussia. That will be a good method, and salutary for the country,
+which those men will ruin completely unless they are stopped."
+
+"Is this all that I have to do?" asked Kmita, with a certain
+disillusion.
+
+"This is merely a part, and not the most important. From Prince
+Boguslav you will go with my letters to Karl Gustav himself. I cannot
+come to harmony with Count Magnus from the time of that battle at
+Klavany. He looks at me askance, and does not cease from supposing that
+if the Swedes were to stumble, if the Tartars were to rush at the other
+enemy, I would turn against the Swedes."
+
+"By what your highness has said just now, his supposition is correct."
+
+"Correct or not, I do not wish it held, or wish him to see what trumps
+I have in my hand. Besides, he is ill-disposed toward me personally.
+Surely he has written more than once against me to the king, and beyond
+a doubt one of two things,--either that I am weak, or that I am not
+reliable. This must be remedied. You will give my letter to the king.
+If he asks about the Klavany affair, tell the truth, neither adding nor
+taking away. You may confess that I condemned those officers to death,
+and you obtained their pardon. That will cost you nothing, but the
+sincerity may please him. You will not complain against Count Magnus
+directly in presence of the king, for he is his brother-in-law. But if
+the king should ask, so, in passing, what people here think, say that
+they are sorry because Count Magnus does not repay the hetman
+sufficiently, in view of his sincere friendship for the Swedes; that
+the prince himself (that is I) grieves greatly over this. If he asks if
+it is true that all the quota troops have left me, say that 'tis not
+true; and as proof offer yourself. Tell him that you are colonel; for
+you are. Say that the partisans of Pan Gosyevski brought the troops to
+mutiny, but add that there is a mortal enmity between us. Say that if
+Count Magnus had sent me cannon and cavalry I should have crushed the
+confederates long ago,--that this is the general opinion. Finally, take
+note of everything, give ear to what they are saying near the person of
+the king, and report, not to me, but, if occasion offers, to Prince
+Boguslav in Prussia. You may do so even through the elector's men,
+should you meet them. Perhaps you know German?"
+
+"I had an officer, a noble of Courland, a certain Zend, whom the Lauda
+men slew; from him I learned German not badly. I have also been often
+in Livonia."
+
+"That is well."
+
+"But, your highness, where shall I find the King of Sweden?"
+
+"You will find him where he will be. In time of war he may be here
+to-day and there to-morrow. Should you find him at Cracow, it would be
+better, for you will take letters to other persons who live in those
+parts."
+
+"Then I am to go to others?"
+
+"Yes. You must make your way to the marshal of the kingdom. Pan
+Lyubomirski. It is of great moment to me that he come to our views. He
+is a powerful man, and in Little Poland much depends on him. Should he
+declare sincerely for the Swedes, Yan Kazimir would have no place in
+the Commonwealth. Conceal not from the King of Sweden that you are
+going from me to Lyubomirski to win him for the Swedes. Do not boast of
+this directly, but speak as it were inadvertently. That will influence
+him greatly in my favor. God grant that Lyubomirski declare for us. He
+will hesitate, that I know; still I hope that my letters will turn the
+scale, for there is a reason why he must care greatly for my good will.
+I will tell you the whole affair, that you may know how to act. You see
+Pan Lyubomirski has been coming around me for a long time, as men go
+around a bear in a thicket, and trying from afar to see if I would give
+my only daughter to his son Heraclius. They are children yet, but the
+contract might be made,--which is very important for the marshal, more
+than for me, since there is not another such heiress in the
+Commonwealth, and if the two fortunes were united, there would not be
+another such in the world. That is a well-buttered toast! But if the
+marshal were to conceive the hope that his son might receive the crown
+of the Grand Principality as the dower of my daughter! Rouse that hope
+in him and he will be tempted, as God is in heaven, for he thinks more
+of his house than he does of the Commonwealth."
+
+"What have I to tell him?"
+
+"That which I cannot write. But it must be placed before him with
+skill. God preserve you from disclosing that you have heard from me how
+I desire the crown,--it is too early for that yet,--but say, 'All the
+nobles in Lauda and Lithuania talk of crowning Radzivill, and rejoice
+over it; the Swedes themselves mention it, I have heard it near the
+person of the king.' You will observe who of his courtiers is the
+marshal's confidant, and suggest to that courtier the following
+thought: 'Let Lyubomirski join the Swedes and ask in return the
+marriage of Heraclius and Radzivill's daughter, then let him support
+Radzivill as Grand Prince. Heraclius will be Radzivill's heir.' That is
+not enough; suggest also that once Heraclius has the Lithuanian crown
+he will be elected in time to the throne of Poland, and so the two
+crowns may be united again in these two families. If they do not grasp
+at this idea with both hands, they will show themselves petty people.
+Whoso does not aim high and fears great plans, should be content with a
+little baton, with a small castellanship; let him serve, bend his neck,
+gain favor through chamber attendants, for he deserves nothing better!
+God has created me for something else, and therefore I dare to stretch
+my hands to everything which it is in the power of man to reach, and to
+go to those limits which God alone has placed to human effort."
+
+Here the prince stretched his hands, as if wishing to seize some unseen
+crown, and gleamed up altogether, like a torch; from emotion the breath
+failed in his throat again.
+
+After a while he calmed himself and said with a broken voice,--
+
+"Behold--where my soul flies--as if to the sun--Disease utters its
+warning--let it work its will--I would rather death found me on the
+throne--than in the antechamber of a king."
+
+"Shall the physician be called?" asked Kmita.
+
+Radzivill waved his hand.
+
+"No need of him--I feel better now--That is all I had to say--In
+addition keep your eyes open, your ears open--See also what the
+Pototskis will do. They hold together, are true to the Vazas (that is,
+to Yan Kazimir)--and they are powerful--It is not known either how the
+Konyetspolskis and Sobyeskis will turn--Observe and learn--Now the
+suffocation is gone. Have you understood everything clearly?"
+
+"Yes. If I err, it will be my own fault."
+
+"I have letters written already; only a few remain. When do you wish to
+start?"
+
+"To-day! As soon as possible."
+
+"Have you no request to make?"
+
+"Your highness," began Kmita, and stopped suddenly. The words came from
+his mouth with difficulty, and on his face constraint and confusion
+were depicted.
+
+"Speak boldly," said the hetman.
+
+"I pray," said Kmita, "that Billevich and she--suffer no harm while
+here."
+
+"Be certain of that. But I see that you love the girl yet."
+
+"Impossible," answered Kmita. "Do I know! An hour I love her,
+an hour I hate her. The devil alone knows! All is over, as I have
+said,--suffering only is left. I do not want her, but I do not want
+another to take her. Your highness, pardon me, I know not myself what I
+say. I must go,--go with all haste! Pay no heed to my words, God will
+give back my mind the moment I have gone through the gate."
+
+"I understand that, because till love has grown cold with time, though
+not wanting her yourself, the thought that another might take her burns
+you. But be at rest on that point, for I will let no man come here, and
+as to going away they will not go. Soon it will be full of foreign
+soldiers all around, and unsafe. Better, I will send her to Tanrogi,
+near Tyltsa, where my daughter is. Be at rest, Yendrek. Go, prepare for
+the road, and come to me to dine."
+
+Kmita bowed and withdrew, and Radzivill began to draw deep breaths. He
+was glad of the departure of Kmita. He left him his squadron and his
+name as an adherent; for his person the prince cared less.
+
+But Kmita in going might render him notable services; in Kyedani he had
+long since grown irksome to the hetman, who was surer of him at a
+distance than near at hand. The wild courage and temper of Kmita might
+at any instant bring an outburst in Kyedani and a rupture very
+dangerous for both. The departure put danger aside.
+
+"Go, incarnate devil, and serve!" muttered the prince, looking at the
+door through which the banneret of Orsha had passed. Then he called a
+page and summoned Ganhoff.
+
+"You will take Kmita's squadron," said the prince to him, "and command
+over all the cavalry. Kmita is going on a journey."
+
+Over the cold face of Ganhoff there passed as it were a ray of joy. The
+mission had missed him, but a higher military office had come. He bowed
+in silence, and said,--
+
+"I will pay for the favor of your highness with faithful service." Then
+he stood erect and waited.
+
+"And what will you say further?" asked the prince.
+
+"Your highness, a noble from Vilkomir came this morning with news that
+Pan Sapyeha is marching with troops against your highness."
+
+Radzivill quivered, but in the twinkle of an eye he mastered his
+expression.
+
+"You may go," said he to Ganhoff.
+
+Then he fell into deep thought.
+
+
+
+
+ CHAPTER XXV.
+
+
+Kmita was very busily occupied in preparations for the road, and in
+choosing the men of his escort; for he determined not to go without a
+certain-sized party, first for his own safety, and second for the
+dignity of his person as an envoy. He was in a hurry, since he wished
+to start during the evening of that day, or if the rain did not cease,
+early next morning. He found men at last,--six trusty fellows who had
+long served under him in those better days when before his journey to
+Lyubich he had stormed around Hovanski,--old fighters of Orsha, ready
+to follow him even to the end of the earth. They were themselves nobles
+and attendant boyars, the last remnant of that once powerful band cut
+down by the Butryms. At the head of them was the sergeant Soroka, a
+trusty servant of the Kmitas,--an old soldier and very reliable, though
+numerous sentences were hanging over him for still more numerous deeds
+of violence.
+
+After dinner the prince gave Pan Andrei the letters and a pass to the
+Swedish commanders whom the young envoy might meet in the more
+considerable places; he took farewell of him and sent him away with
+much feeling, really like a father, recommending wariness and
+deliberation.
+
+Meanwhile the sky began to grow clear; toward evening the weak sun of
+autumn shone over Kyedani and went down behind red clouds, stretched
+out in long lines on the west.
+
+There was nothing to hinder the journey. Kmita was just drinking a
+stirrup cup with Ganhoff, Kharlamp, and some other officers when about
+dusk Soroka came in and asked,--
+
+"Are you going, Commander?"
+
+"In an hour," answered Kmita.
+
+"The horses and men are ready now in the yard."
+
+The sergeant went out, and the officers began to strike glasses still
+more; but Kmita rather pretended to drink than to drink in reality. The
+wine had no taste for him, did not go to his head, did not cheer his
+spirit, while the others were already merry.
+
+"Worthy Colonel," said Ganhoff, "commend me to the favor of Prince
+Boguslav. That is a great cavalier; such another there is not in the
+Commonwealth. With him you will be as in France. A different speech,
+other customs, every politeness may be learned there more easily than
+even in the palace of the king."
+
+"I remember Prince Boguslav at Berestechko," said Kharlamp; "he had one
+regiment of dragoons drilled in French fashion completely,--they
+rendered both infantry and cavalry service. The officers were French,
+except a few Hollanders; of the soldiers the greater part were French,
+all dandies. There was an odor of various perfumes from them as from a
+drug-shop. In battle they thrust fiercely with rapiers, and it was said
+that when one of them thrust a man through he said, 'Pardonnez-moi!'
+(pardon me); so they mingled politeness with uproarious life. But
+Prince Boguslav rode among them with a handkerchief on his sword,
+always smiling, even in the greatest din of battle, for it is the
+French fashion to smile amid bloodshed. He had his face touched with
+paint, and his eyebrows blackened with coal, at which the old soldiers
+were angry and called him a bawd. Immediately after battle he had new
+ruffs brought him, so as to be always dressed as if for a banquet, and
+they curled his hair with irons, making marvellous ringlets out of it.
+But he is a manful fellow, and goes first into the thickest fire. He
+challenged Pan Kalinovski because he said something to him, and the
+king had to make peace."
+
+"There is no use in denying," said Ganhoff. "You will see curious
+things, and you will see the King of Sweden himself, who next to our
+prince is the best warrior in the world."
+
+"And Pan Charnyetski," said Kharlamp; "they are speaking more and more
+of him."
+
+"Pan Charnyetski is on the side of Yan Kazimir, and therefore is our
+enemy," remarked Ganhoff, severely.
+
+"Wonderful things are passing in this world," said Kharlamp, musingly.
+"If any man had said a year or two ago that the Swedes would come
+hither, we should all have thought, 'We shall be fighting with the
+Swedes;' but see now."
+
+"We are not alone; the whole Commonwealth has received them with open
+arms," said Ganhoff.
+
+"True as life," put in Kmita, also musingly.
+
+"Except Sapyeha, Gosyevski, Charnyetski, and the hetmans of the crown,"
+answered Kharlamp.
+
+"Better not speak of that," said Ganhoff. "But, worthy Colonel, come
+back to us in good health; promotion awaits you."
+
+"And Panna Billevich?" added Kharlamp.
+
+"Panna Billevich is nothing to you," answered Kmita, brusquely.
+
+"Of course nothing, I am too old. The last time-- Wait, gentlemen, when
+was that? Ah, the last time during the election of the present
+mercifully reigning Yan Kazimir."
+
+"Cease the use of that name from your tongue," interrupted Ganhoff.
+"To-day rules over us graciously Karl Gustav."
+
+"True! _Consuetudo altera natura_ (custom is a second nature). Well,
+the last time, during the election of Yan Kazimir, our ex-king and
+Grand Duke of Lithuania, I fell terribly in love with one lady, an
+attendant of the Princess Vishnyevetski. Oh, she was an attractive
+little beast! But when I wanted to look more nearly into her eyes, Pan
+Volodyovski thrust up his sabre. I was to fight with him; then Bogun
+came between us,--Bogun, whom Volodyovski cut up like a hare. If it had
+not been for that, you would not see me alive. But at that time I was
+ready to fight, even with the devil. Volodyovski stood up for her only
+through friendship, for she was betrothed to another, a still greater
+swordsman. Oh, I tell you, gentlemen, that I thought I should wither
+away--I could not think of eating or drinking. When our prince sent me
+from Warsaw to Smolensk, only then did I shake off my love on the road.
+There is nothing like a journey for such griefs. At the first mile I
+was easier, before I had reached Vilna my head was clear, and to this
+day I remain single. That is the whole story. There is nothing for
+unhappy love like a journey."
+
+"Is that your opinion?" asked Kmita.
+
+"As I live, it is! Let the black ones take all the pretty girls in
+Lithuania and the kingdom, I do not need them."
+
+"But did you go away without farewell?"
+
+"Without farewell; but I threw a red ribbon behind me, which one old
+woman, very deeply versed in love matters, advised me to do."
+
+"Good health!" interrupted Ganhoff, turning again to Pan Andrei.
+
+"Good health!" answered Kmita, "I give thanks from my heart."
+
+"To the bottom, to the bottom! It is time for you to mount, and service
+calls us. May God lead you forth and bring you home."
+
+"Farewell!"
+
+"Throw the red ribbon behind," said Kharlamp, "or at the first
+resting-place put out the fire yourself with a bucket of water; that
+is, if you wish to forget."
+
+"Be with God!"
+
+"We shall not soon see one another."
+
+"Perhaps somewhere on the battlefield," added Ganhoff. "God grant side
+by side, not opposed."
+
+"Of course not opposed," said Kmita.
+
+And the officers went out.
+
+The clock on the tower struck seven. In the yard the horses were pawing
+the stone pavement with their hoofs, and through the window were to be
+seen the men waiting. A wonderful disquiet seized Pan Andrei. He was
+repeating to himself, "I go, I go!" Imagination placed before his eyes
+unknown regions, and a throng of strange faces which he was to see, and
+at the same time wonder seized him at the thought of the journey, as if
+hitherto it had never been in his mind.
+
+He must mount and move on. "What happens, will happen. What will be,
+will be!" thought he to himself.
+
+When, however, the horses were snorting right there at the window, and
+the hour of starting had struck, he felt that the new life would be
+strange, and all with which he had lived, to which he had grown
+accustomed, to which he had become attached heart and soul, would stay
+in that region, in that neighborhood, in that place. The former Kmita
+would stay there as well. Another man as it were would go hence,--a
+stranger to all outside, as all outside were strangers to him. He would
+have to begin there an entirely new life. God alone knew whether there
+would be a desire for it.
+
+Pan Andrei was mortally wearied in soul, and therefore at that moment
+he felt powerless in view of those new scenes and new people. He
+thought that it was bad for him here, that it would be bad for him
+there, at least it would be burdensome.
+
+But it is time, time. He must put his cap on his head and ride off.
+
+But will he go without a last word? Is it possible to be so near and
+later to be so far, to say not one word and go forth? See to what it
+has come! But what can he say to her? Shall he go and say, "Everything
+is ruined; my lady, go thy way, I will go mine"? Why, why say even
+that, when without saying it is so? He is not her betrothed, as she is
+not and will not be his wife. What has been is lost, is rent, and will
+not return, will not be bound up afresh. Loss of time, loss of words,
+and new torture.
+
+"I will not go!" thought Pan Kmita.
+
+But, on the other hand, the will of a dead man binds them yet. It is
+needful to speak clearly and without anger of final separation, and to
+say to her, "My lady, you wish me not; I return you your word.
+Therefore we shall both act as though there had been no will, and let
+each seek happiness where each can find it?"
+
+But she may answer: "I have said that long since; why tell it to me
+now?"
+
+"I will not go, happen what may!" repeated Kmita to himself.
+
+And pressing the cap on his head, he went out of the room into the
+corridor. He wished to mount straightway and be outside the gate
+quickly.
+
+All at once, in the corridor, something caught him as it were by the
+hair. Such a desire to see her, to speak to her, possessed him, that he
+ceased to think whether to go or not to go, he ceased to reason, and
+rather pushed on with closed eyes, as if wishing to spring into water.
+
+Before the very door whence the guard had just been removed, he came
+upon a youth, a servant of the sword-bearer.
+
+"Is Pan Billevich in the room?" asked he.
+
+"The sword-bearer is among the officers in the barracks."
+
+"And the lady?"
+
+"The lady is at home."
+
+"Tell her that Pan Kmita is going on a long journey and wishes to see
+the lady."
+
+The youth obeyed the command; but before he returned with an answer
+Kmita raised the latch and went in without question.
+
+"I have come to take farewell," said he, "for I do not know whether we
+shall meet again in life."
+
+Suddenly he turned to the youth: "Why stand here yet?"
+
+"My gracious lady," continued Kmita, when the door had closed after the
+servant, "I intended to go without parting, but had not the power. God
+knows when I shall return, or whether I shall return, for misfortunes
+come lightly. Better that we part without anger and offence in our
+hearts, so that the punishment of God fall not on either of us. There
+is much to say, much to say, and now the tongue cannot say it all.
+Well, there was no happiness, clearly by the will of God there was not;
+and now, O man, even if thou batter thy head against the wall, there is
+no cure! Blame me not, and I will not blame you. We need not regard
+that testament now, for as I have said, the will of man is nothing
+against the will of God. God grant you happiness and peace. The main
+thing is that we forgive each other. I know not what will meet me
+outside, whither I am going. But I cannot sit longer in torture, in
+trouble, in sorrow. A man breaks himself on the four walls of a room
+without result, gracious lady, without result! One has no labor
+here,--only to take grief on the shoulders, only think for whole days
+of unhappy events till the head aches, and in the end think out
+nothing. This journey is as needful to me, as water to a fish, as air
+to a bird, for without it I should go wild."
+
+"God grant you happiness," said Panna Aleksandra.
+
+She stood before him as if stunned by the departure, the appearance,
+and the words of Pan Kmita. On her face were confusion and
+astonishment, and it was clear that she was struggling to recover
+herself; meanwhile she gazed on the young man with eyes widely open.
+
+"I do not cherish ill will against you," said she after a time.
+
+"Would that all this had not been!" said Kmita. "Some evil spirit came
+between us and separated us as if with a sea, and that water is neither
+to be swum across nor waded through. The man did not do what he wanted,
+he went not where he wished, but something as it were pushed him till
+we both entered pathless regions. But since we are to vanish the one
+from the eyes of the other, it is better to cry out even from
+remoteness, 'God guide!' It is needful also for you to know that
+offence and anger are one thing, and sorrow another. From anger I have
+freed myself, but sorrow sits in me--maybe not for you. Do I know
+myself for whom and for what? Thinking, I have thought out nothing; but
+still it seems to me that it will be easier both to you and to me if we
+talk. You hold me a traitor, and that pricks me most bitterly of all,
+for as I wish my soul's salvation, I have not been and shall not be a
+traitor."
+
+"I hold you that no longer," said Olenka.
+
+"Oi, how could you have held me that even one hour? You know of me,
+that once I was ready for violence, ready to slay, burn, shoot; that is
+one thing, but to betray for gain, for advancement, never! God guard
+me, God judge me! You are a woman, and cannot see in what lies the
+country's salvation; hence it beseems you not to condemn, to give
+sentence. And why did you utter the sentence? God be with you! Know
+this, that salvation is in Prince Radzivill and the Swedes; and who
+thinks otherwise, and especially acts, is just ruining the country. But
+it is no time to discuss, it is time to go. Know that I am not a
+traitor, not one who sells. May I perish if I ever be that! Know that
+unjustly you scorned me, unjustly consigned me to death--I tell you
+this under oath and at parting, and I say it that I may say with it, I
+forgive you from my heart; but do you forgive me as well."
+
+Panna Aleksandra had recovered completely. "You say that I have judged
+you unjustly; that is true. It is my fault; I confess it and beg your
+forgiveness."
+
+Here her voice trembled, her blue eyes filled with tears, and he cried
+with transport,--
+
+"I forgive! I forgive! I would forgive you even my death!"
+
+"May God guide you and bring you to the right road. May you leave that
+on which you are erring."
+
+"But give peace, give peace!" cried Kmita, excitedly; "let no
+misunderstanding rise between us again. Whether I err or err not, be
+silent on that point. Let each man follow the way of his conscience;
+God will judge every intention. Better that I have come hither, than to
+go without farewell. Give me your hand for the road. Only that much is
+mine; for to-morrow I shall not see you, nor after tomorrow, nor in a
+month, perhaps never--Oi, Olenka! and in my head it is dim--Olenka! And
+shall we never meet again?"
+
+Abundant tears like pearls were falling from Panna Aleksandra's lashes
+to her cheeks.
+
+"Pan Andrei, leave traitors, and all may be."
+
+"Quiet, oh, quiet!" said Kmita, with a broken voice. "It may not be--I
+cannot--better say nothing-- Would I were slain! less should I
+suffer-- For God's sake, why does this meet us? Farewell for the last
+time. And then let death close my eyes somewhere outside-- Why are you
+weeping? Weep not, or I shall go wild!"
+
+And in supreme excitement he seized her half by constraint, and though
+she resisted, he kissed her eyes and her mouth, then fell at her feet.
+At last he sprang up, and grasping his hair like a madman, rushed forth
+from the chamber.
+
+"The devil could do nothing here, much less a red ribbon."
+
+Olenka saw him through the window as he was mounting in haste; the
+seven horsemen then moved forward. The Scots on guard at the gate made
+a clatter with their weapons, presenting arms; then the gate closed
+after the horsemen, and they were not to be seen on the dark road among
+the trees.
+
+Night too had fallen completely.
+
+
+
+
+ CHAPTER XXVI.
+
+
+Kovno, and the whole region on the left bank of the Vilia, with all the
+roads, were occupied by the enemy (the Russians); therefore Kmita, not
+being able to go to Podlyasye by the high-road leading from Kovno to
+Grodno and thence to Byalystok, went by side-roads from Kyedani
+straight down the course of the Nyevyaja to the Nyemen, which he
+crossed near Vilkovo, and found himself in the province of Trotsk.
+
+All that part of the road, which was not over great, he passed in
+quiet, for that region lay as it were under the hand of Radzivill.
+
+Towns, and here and there even villages, were occupied by castle
+squadrons of the hetman, or by small detachments of Swedish cavalry
+which the hetman pushed forward thus far of purpose against the legions
+of Zolotarenko, which stood there beyond the Vilia, so that occasions
+for collisions and war might be more easily found.
+
+Zolotarenko would have been glad too to have an "uproar" with the
+Swedes, according to the words of the hetman; but those whose ally he
+was did not wish war with them, or in every case wished to put it off
+as long as possible. Zolotarenko therefore received the strictest
+orders not to cross the river, and in case that Radzivill himself,
+together with the Swedes, moved on him, to retreat with all haste.
+
+For these reasons the country on the right side of the Vilia was quiet;
+but since from one side Cossack pickets, from the other those of the
+Swedes and Radzivill were looking at one another, one musket-shot might
+at any, moment let loose a terrible war.
+
+In prevision of this, people took timely refuge in safe places.
+Therefore the whole country was quiet, but empty. Pan Andrei saw
+deserted towns, everywhere the windows of houses held up by sticks, and
+whole villages depopulated. The fields were also empty, for there was
+no crop that year. Common people secreted themselves in fathomless
+forests, to which they drove all their cattle; but the nobles fled to
+neighboring Electoral Prussia, at that time altogether safe from war.
+For this reason there was an uncommon movement over the roads and
+trails of the wilderness, and the number of fugitives was still more
+increased by those who from the left bank of the Vilia were able to
+escape the oppression of Zolotarenko.
+
+The number of these was enormous, and especially of peasants; for the
+nobles who had not been able hitherto to flee from the left bank went
+into captivity or yielded their lives on their thresholds.
+
+Pan Andrei, therefore, met every moment whole crowds of peasants with
+their wives and children, and driving before them flocks of sheep with
+horses and cattle. That part of the province of Trotsk touching upon
+Electoral Prussia was wealthy and productive; therefore the well-to-do
+people had something to save and guard. The approaching winter did not
+alarm fugitives, who preferred to await better days amid mosses of the
+forest, in snow covered huts, than to await death in their native
+villages at the hands of the enemy.
+
+Kmita often approached the fleeing crowds, or fires gleaming at night
+in dense forest places. Wherever he met people from the left bank of
+the Vilia, from near Kovno, or from still remoter neighborhoods, he
+heard terrible tales of the cruelties of Zolotarenko and his allies,
+who exterminated people without regard to age or sex; they burned
+villages, cut down even trees in the gardens, leaving only land and
+water. Never had Tartar raids left such desolation behind.
+
+Not death alone was inflicted on the inhabitants, but before death they
+were put to the most ingenious tortures. Many of those people fled with
+bewildered minds. These filled the forest depths at night with awful
+shrieks; others were ever in a species of continual fear and
+expectation of attack, though they had crossed the Nyemen and Vilia,
+though forests and morasses separated them from Zolotarenko's bands.
+Many of these stretched their hands to Kmita and his horsemen of Orsha,
+imploring rescue and pity, as if the enemy were standing there over
+them.
+
+Carriages belonging to nobles were moving toward Prussia; in them old
+men, women, and children; behind them, dragged on wagons with servants,
+effects, supplies of provisions, and other things. All these fleeing
+people were panic-stricken, terrified and grieved because they were
+going into exile.
+
+Pan Andrei comforted these unfortunates at times by telling them that
+the Swedes would soon pass over and drive that enemy far away. Then the
+fugitives stretched their hands to heaven and said,--
+
+"God give health, God give fortune to the prince voevoda! When the
+Swedes come we will return to our homes, to our burned dwellings."
+
+And they blessed the prince everywhere. From mouth to mouth news was
+given that at any moment he might cross the Vilia at the head of his
+own and Swedish troops. Besides, they praised the "modesty" of the
+Swedes, their discipline, and good treatment of the inhabitants.
+Radzivill was called the Gideon of Lithuania, a Samson, a savior. These
+people from districts steaming with fresh blood and fire were looking
+for him as for deliverance.
+
+And Kmita, hearing those blessings, those wishes, those almost prayers,
+was strengthened in his faith concerning Radzivill, and repeated in his
+soul,--
+
+"I serve such a lord! I will shut my eyes and follow blindly his
+fortune. At times he is terrible and beyond knowing; but he has a
+greater mind than others, he knows better what is needed, and in him
+alone is salvation."
+
+It became lighter and calmer in his breast at this thought; he advanced
+therefore with greater solace in his heart, dividing his soul between
+sorrow for Kyedani and thoughts on the unhappy condition of the
+country.
+
+His sorrow increased continually. He did not throw the red ribbon
+behind him, he did not put out the fire with water; for he felt, first,
+that it was useless, and then he did not wish to do so.
+
+"Oh that she were present, that she could hear the wailing and groans
+of people, she would not beg God to turn me away, she would not tell me
+that I err, like those heretics who have left the true faith. But never
+mind! Earlier or later she will be convinced, she will see that her own
+judgment was at fault. And then what God will give will be. Maybe we
+shall meet again in life."
+
+And yearning increased in the young cavalier; but the conviction that
+he was marching by the right, not by the wrong road, gave him a peace
+long since unknown. The conflict of thought, the gnawing, the doubts
+left him by degrees, and he rode forward; he sank in the shoreless
+forest almost with gladness. From the time that he had come to Lyubich,
+after his famous raids on Hovanski, he had not felt so vivacious.
+
+Kharlamp was right in this, that there is no cure like the road for
+cares and troubles. Pan Andrei had iron health; his daring and love of
+adventures were coming back every hour. He saw these adventures before
+him, smiled at them, and urged on his convoy unceasingly, barely
+stopping for short night-rests.
+
+Olenka stood ever before the eyes of his spirit, tearful, trembling in
+his arms like a bird, and he said to himself, "I shall return."
+
+At times the form of the hetman passed before him, gloomy, immense,
+terrible. But it may be just because he was moving away more and more,
+that that form became almost dear to him. Hitherto he had bent before
+Radzivill; now he began to love him. Hitherto Radzivill had borne him
+along as a mighty whirlpool of water seizes and attracts everything
+that comes within its circle; now Kmita felt that he wished with his
+whole soul to go with him.
+
+And in the distance that gigantic voevoda increased continually in the
+eyes of the young knight, and assumed almost superhuman proportions.
+More than once, at his night halt, when Pan Andrei had closed his eyes
+in sleep, he saw the hetman sitting on a throne loftier than the tops
+of the pine-trees. There was a crown on his head; his face was the
+same, gloomy, enormous; in his hand a sword and a sceptre, at his feet
+the whole Commonwealth. And in his soul Kmita did homage to greatness.
+
+On the third day of the journey they left the Nyemen far behind, and
+entered a country of still greater forests. They met whole crowds of
+fugitives on the roads; but nobles unable to bear arms were going
+almost without exception to Prussia before the bands of the enemy, who,
+not held in curb there, as on the banks of the Vilia, by the regiments
+of Sweden and Radzivill, pushed at times far into the heart of the
+country, even to the boundary of Electoral Prussia. Their main object
+was plunder.
+
+Frequently these were detachments as if from the army of Zolotarenko,
+but really recognizing no authority,--simply robber companies, so
+called "parties" commanded at times even by local bandits. Avoiding
+engagements in the field with troops and even with townspeople, they
+attacked small villages, single houses, and travellers.
+
+The nobles on their own account attacked these parties with their
+household servants, and ornamented with them the pine-trees along the
+roads; still it was easy in the forest to stumble upon their frequent
+bands, and therefore Pan Andrei was forced to exercise uncommon care.
+
+But somewhat beyond Pilvishki on the Sheshupa, Kmita found the
+population living quietly in their homes. The townspeople told him,
+however, that not longer than a couple of days before, a strong band of
+Zolotarenko's men, numbering as many as five hundred, had made an
+attack, and would, according to their custom, have cut down all the
+people, and let the place rise in smoke, were it not for unexpected aid
+which fell as it were from heaven.
+
+"We had already committed ourselves to God," said the master of the inn
+in which Pan Andrei had taken lodgings, "when the saints of the Lord
+sent some squadrons. We thought at first that a new enemy had come, but
+they were ours. They sprang at once on Zolotarenko's ruffians, and in
+an hour they laid them out like a pavement, all the more easily as we
+helped them."
+
+"What kind of a squadron was it?" asked Kmita.
+
+"God give them health! They did not say who they were, and we did not
+dare to ask. They fed their horses, took what hay and bread there was,
+and rode away."
+
+"But whence did they come, and whither did they go?"
+
+"They came from Kozlova Ruda, and they went to the south. We, who
+before that wished to flee to the woods, thought the matter over and
+stayed here, for the under-starosta said that after such a lesson the
+enemy would not look in on us again soon."
+
+The news of the battle interested Kmita greatly, therefore he asked
+further: "And do you not know who commanded that squadron?"
+
+"We do not know; but we saw the colonel, for he talked with us on the
+square, he is young, and sharp as a needle. He does not look like the
+warrior that he is."
+
+"Volodyovski!" cried Kmita.
+
+"Whether he is Volodyovski, or not, may his hands be holy, may God make
+him hetman!"
+
+Pan Andrei fell into deep thought. Evidently he was going by the same
+road over which a few days before Volodyovski had marched with the
+Lauda men. In fact, that was natural, for both were going to Podlyasye.
+But it occurred to Pan Andrei that if he hastened he might easily meet
+the little knight and be captured; in that case, all the letters of
+Radzivill would fall with him into possession of the confederates. Such
+an event might destroy his mission, and bring God knows what harm to
+the cause of Radzivill. For this reason Pan Andrei determined to stay a
+couple of days in Pilvishki, so that the squadron of Lauda might have
+time to advance as far as possible.
+
+The men, as well as the horses, travelling almost with one sweep from
+Kyedani (for only short halts had been given on the road hitherto),
+needed rest; therefore Kmita ordered the soldiers to remove the packs
+from the horses and settle themselves comfortably in the inn.
+
+Next day he was convinced that he had acted not only cleverly but
+wisely, for scarcely had he dressed in the morning, when his host stood
+before him.
+
+"I bring news to your grace," said he.
+
+"It is good?"
+
+"Neither good nor bad, but that we have guests. An enormous court
+arrived here to-day, and stopped at the starosta's house. There is a
+regiment of infantry, and what crowds of cavalry and carriages with
+servants!--The people thought that the king himself had come."
+
+"What king?"
+
+The innkeeper began to turn his cap in his hand. "It is true that we
+have two kings now, but neither one came,--only the prince marshal."
+
+Kmita sprang to his feet. "What prince marshal? Prince Boguslav?"
+
+"Yes, your grace; the cousin of the prince voevoda of Vilna."
+
+Pan Andrei clapped his hands from astonishment. "And so we have met."
+
+The innkeeper, understanding that his guest was an acquaintance of
+Prince Boguslav, made a lower bow than the day before, and went out of
+the room; but Kmita began to dress in haste, and an hour later was
+before the house of the starosta.
+
+The whole place was swarming with soldiers. The infantry were stacking
+their muskets on the square; the cavalry had dismounted and occupied
+the houses at the side. The soldiers and attendants in the most varied
+costumes had halted before the houses, or were walking along the
+streets. From the mouths of the officers were to be heard French and
+German. Nowhere a Polish soldier, nowhere a Polish uniform; the
+musketeers and dragoons were dressed in strange fashion, different,
+indeed, from the foreign squadrons which Pan Andrei had seen in
+Kyedani, for they were not in German but in French style. The soldiers,
+handsome men and so showy that each one in the ranks might be taken for
+an officer, delighted the eyes of Pan Andrei. The officers looked on
+him also with curiosity, for he had arrayed himself richly in velvet
+and brocade, and six men, dressed in new uniforms, followed him as a
+suite.
+
+Attendants, all dressed in French fashion, were hurrying about in
+front of the starosta's house; there were pages in caps and feathers,
+armor-bearers in velvet kaftans, and equerries in Swedish, high,
+wide-legged boots.
+
+Evidently the prince did not intend to tarry long in Pilvishki, and had
+stopped only for refreshment, for the carriages were not taken to the
+shed; and the equerries, in waiting, were feeding horses out of tin
+sieves which they held in their hands.
+
+Kmita announced to an officer on guard before the house who he was and
+what was his mission; the officer went to inform the prince. After a
+while he returned hastily, to say that the prince was anxious to see a
+man sent from the hetman; and showing Kmita the way, he entered the
+house with him.
+
+After they had passed the antechamber, they found in the dining-hall a
+number of attendants, with legs stretched out, slumbering sweetly in
+arm-chairs; it was evident that they must have started early in the
+morning from the last halting-place: The officer stopped before the
+door of the next room, and bowing to Pan Andrei, said,--
+
+"The prince is there."
+
+Pan Andrei entered and stopped at the threshold. The prince was sitting
+before a mirror fixed in the corner of the room, and was looking so
+intently at his own face, apparently just touched with rouge and white,
+that he did not turn attention to the incomer. Two chamber servants,
+kneeling before him, were fastening buckles at the ankles on his high
+travelling-boots, while he was arranging slowly with his fingers the
+luxuriant, evenly cut forelock of his bright gold-colored wig, or it
+might be of his own abundant hair.
+
+He was still a young man, of thirty-five years, but seemed not more
+than five and twenty. Kmita knew the prince, but looked on him always
+with curiosity: first, because of the great knightly fame which
+surrounded him, and which was won mainly through duels fought
+with various foreign magnates; second, by reason of his peculiar
+figure,--whoso saw his form once was forced to remember it ever after.
+The prince was tall and powerfully built, but on his broad shoulders
+stood a head as diminutive as if taken from another body. His face,
+also, was uncommonly small, almost childlike; but in it, too, there was
+no proportion, for he had a great Roman nose and enormous eyes of
+unspeakable beauty and brightness, with a real eagle boldness of
+glance. In presence of those eyes and the nose, the rest of his face,
+surrounded, moreover, with plentiful tresses of hair, disappeared
+almost completely; his mouth was almost that of a child; above it was a
+slight mustache barely covering his upper lip. The delicacy of his
+complexion, heightened by rouge and white paint, made him almost
+like a young lady; and at the same time the insolence, pride, and
+self-confidence depicted in that face permitted no one to forget that
+he was that _chercheur de noises_ (seeker of quarrels), as he was
+nicknamed at the French court,--a man out of whose mouth a sharp word
+came with ease, but whose sword came from its scabbard with still
+greater ease.
+
+In Germany, in Holland, in France, they related marvels of his military
+deeds, of his disputes, quarrels, adventures, and duels. He was the man
+who in Holland rushed into the thickest whirl of battle, among the
+incomparable regiments of Spanish infantry, and with his own princely
+hand captured a flag and a cannon; he, at the head of the regiments of
+the Prince of Orange, captured batteries declared by old leaders to be
+beyond capture; he, on the Rhine, at the head of French musketeers,
+shattered the heavy squadrons of Germany, trained in the Thirty Years'
+War; he wounded, in a duel in France, the most celebrated fencer among
+French knights. Prince de Fremouille; another famous fighter, Baron Von
+Goetz, begged of him life, on his knees; he wounded Baron Grot, for
+which he had to hear bitter reproaches from his cousin Yanush, because
+he was lowering his dignity as prince by fighting with men beneath him
+in rank; finally, in presence of the whole French court, at a ball in
+the Louvre, he slapped Marquis de Rieux on the face, because he had
+spoken to him "unbecomingly." The duels that he had fought incognito in
+smaller towns, in taverns and inns, did not enter into reckoning.
+
+He was a mixture of effeminacy and unbounded daring. During rare and
+short visits to his native land he amused himself by quarrels with the
+Sapyehas, and with hunting; but on those occasions the hunters had to
+find for him she-bears with their young, as being dangerous and
+enraged; against these he went armed only with a spear.
+
+But it was tedious for him in his own country, to which he came, as was
+said, unwillingly, most frequently in time of war; he distinguished
+himself by great victories at Berestechko, Mogilyoff, and Smolensk. War
+was his element, though he had a mind quick and subtle, equally fitted
+for intrigues and diplomatic exploits. In these he knew how to be
+patient and enduring, far more enduring than in the "loves," of which a
+whole series completed the history of his life. The prince, at the
+courts where he had resided, was the terror of husbands who had
+beautiful wives. For that reason, doubtless, he was not yet married,
+though his high birth and almost inexhaustible fortune made him one of
+the most desirable matches in Europe. The King and Queen of France,
+Marya Ludvika of Poland, the Prince of Orange, and his uncle, the
+Elector of Brandenburg, tried to make matches for him; but so far he
+preferred his freedom.
+
+"I do not want a dower," said he, cynically; "and of the other
+pleasures I have no lack as I am."
+
+In this fashion he reached the thirty-fifth year of his age.
+
+Kmita, standing on the threshold, examined with curiosity Boguslav's
+face, which the mirror reflected, while he was arranging with
+seriousness the hair of his forelock; at last, when Pan Andrei coughed
+once and a second time, he said, without turning his head,--
+
+"But who is present? Is it a messenger from the prince voevoda?"
+
+"Not a messenger, but from the prince voevoda," replied Pan Andrei.
+
+Then the prince turned his head, and seeing a brilliant young man,
+recognized that he had not to do with an ordinary servant.
+
+"Pardon, Cavalier," said he, affably, "for I see that I was mistaken in
+the office of the person. But your face is known to me, though I am not
+able to recall your name. You are an attendant of the prince hetman?"
+
+"My name is Kmita," answered Pan Andrei, "and I am not an attendant; I
+am a colonel from the time that I brought my own squadron to the prince
+hetman."
+
+"Kmita!" cried the prince, "that same Kmita, famous in the last war,
+who harried Hovanski, and later on managed not worse on his own
+account? I have heard much about you."
+
+Having said this, the prince began to look more carefully and with a
+certain pleasure at Pan Andrei, for from what he had heard he thought
+him a man of his own cut.
+
+"Sit down," said he, "I am glad to know you more intimately. And what
+is to be heard in Kyedani?"
+
+"Here is a letter from the prince hetman," answered Kmita.
+
+The servants, having finished buckling the prince's boots, went out.
+The prince broke the seal and began to read. After a while there was an
+expression of weariness and dissatisfaction on his face. He threw the
+letter under the mirror and said,--
+
+"Nothing new! The prince voevoda advises me to go to Prussia, to Tyltsa
+or to Taurogi, which, as you see, I am just doing. _Ma foi_, I do not
+understand my cousin. He reports to me that the elector is in
+Brandenburg, and that he cannot make his way to Prussia through the
+Swedes, and he writes at the same time that the hairs are standing on
+his head because I do not communicate with him, either for health or
+prescription; and how can I? If the elector cannot make his way through
+the Swedes, how can my messenger do so? I am in Podlyasye, for I have
+nothing else to do. I tell you, my cavalier, that I am as much bored as
+the devil doing penance. I have speared all the bears near Tykotsin;
+the fair heads of that region have the odor of sheepskin, which my
+nostrils cannot endure. But-- Do you understand French or German?"
+
+"I understand German," answered Kmita.
+
+"Praise be to God for that! I will speak German, for my lips fly off
+from your language."
+
+When he had said this the prince put out his lower lip and touched it
+with his fingers, as if wishing to be sure that it had not gone off:
+then he looked at the mirror and continued,--
+
+"Report has come to me that in the neighborhood of Lukovo one
+Skshetuski, a noble, has a wife of wonderful beauty. It is far from
+here; but I sent men to carry her off and bring her. Now, if you will
+believe it, Pan Kmita, they did not find her at home."
+
+"That was good luck," said Pan Andrei, "for she is the wife of an
+honorable cavalier, a celebrated man, who made his way out of Zbaraj
+through the whole power of Hmelnitski."
+
+"The husband was besieged in Zbaraj, and I would have besieged the wife
+in Tykotsin. Do you think she would have held out as stubbornly as her
+husband?"
+
+"Your highness, for such a siege a counsel of war is not needed, let it
+pass without my opinion," answered Pan Andrei, brusquely.
+
+"True, loss of time!" said the prince. "Let us return to business. Have
+you any letters yet?"
+
+"What I had to your highness I have delivered; besides those I have one
+to the King of Sweden. Is it known to your highness where I must seek
+him?"
+
+"I know nothing. What can I know? He is not in Tykotsin; I can assure
+you of that, for if he had once seen that place he would have resigned
+his dominion over the whole Commonwealth. Warsaw is now in Swedish
+hands, but you will not find the king there. He must be before Cracow,
+or in Cracow itself, if he has not gone to Royal Prussia by this time.
+To my thinking Karl Gustav must keep the Prussian towns in mind, for he
+cannot leave them in his rear. Who would have expected, when the whole
+Commonwealth abandons its king, when all the nobles join the Swedes,
+when the provinces yield one after the other, that just then towns,
+German and Protestant, would not hear of the Swedes but prepare for
+resistance? They wish to save the Commonwealth and adhere to Yan
+Kazimir. In beginning our work we thought that it would be otherwise:
+that before all they would help us and the Swedes to cut that loaf
+which you call your Commonwealth; but now they won't move! The luck is
+that the elector has his eye on them. He has offered them forces
+already against the Swedes; but the Dantzig people do not trust him,
+and say that they have forces enough of their own."
+
+"We knew that already in Kyedani," said Kmita.
+
+"If they have not forces enough, in every case they have a good sniff,"
+continued the prince, laughing; "for the elector cares as much, I
+think, about the Commonwealth as I do, or as the prince voevoda of
+Vilna does."
+
+"Your highness, permit me to deny that," said Kmita, abruptly. "The
+prince cares that much about the Commonwealth that he is ready at every
+moment to give his last breath and spill his last blood for it."
+
+Prince Boguslav began to laugh.
+
+"You are young, Cavalier, young! But enough! My uncle the elector wants
+to grab Royal Prussia, and for that reason only, he offers his aid. If
+he has the towns once in hand, if he has his garrisons in them, he will
+be ready to agree with the Swedes next day, nay, even with the Turks or
+with devils. Let the Swedes add a bit of Great Poland, he will be ready
+to help them with all his power to take the rest. The only trouble is
+in this, that the Swedes are sharpening their teeth against Prussia,
+and hence the distrust between them and the elector."
+
+"I hear with astonishment the words of your highness," said Kmita.
+
+"The devils were taking me in Podlyasye," answered the prince,--"I had
+to stay there so long in idleness. But what was I to do? An agreement
+was made between me and the prince voevoda, that until affairs were
+cleared up in Prussia, I was not to take the Swedish side publicly. And
+that was right, for thus a gate remains open. I sent even secret
+couriers to Yan Kazimir, announcing that I was ready to summon the
+general militia in Podlyasye if a manifesto were sent me. The king, as
+king, might have let himself be tricked; but the queen it is clear does
+not trust me, and must have advised against it. If it were not for that
+woman, I should be to-day at the head of all the nobles of Podlyasye;
+and what is more, those confederates who are now ravaging the property
+of Prince Yanush would have no choice but to come under my orders. I
+should have declared myself a partisan of Yan Kazimir, but, in fact,
+having power in my hand, would treat with the Swedes. But that woman
+knows how grass grows, and guesses the most secret thought. She is the
+real king, not queen! She has more wit in one finger than Yan Kazimir
+in his whole body."
+
+"The prince voevoda--" began Kmita.
+
+"The prince voevoda," interrupted Boguslav, with impatience, "is
+eternally late with his counsel; he writes to me in every letter, 'Do
+this and do that,' while I have in fact done it long before. Besides,
+the prince voevoda loses his head. For listen what he asks of me."
+
+Here the prince took up the letter and began to read aloud,--
+
+
+"Be cautious yourself on the road; and those rascals, the confederates,
+who have mutinied against me and are ravaging Podlyasye, for God's sake
+think how to disperse them, lest they go to the king. They are
+preparing to visit Zabludovo, and beer in that place is strong; when
+they get drunk, let them be cut off,--each host may finish his guest.
+Nothing better is needed; for when the heads are removed, the rest will
+scatter--"
+
+
+Boguslav threw the letter with vexation on the table.
+
+"Listen, Pan Kmita," said he, "you see I have to go to Prussia and at
+the same time arrange a slaughter in Zabludovo. I must feign myself a
+partisan of Yan Kazimir and a patriot, and at the same time cut off
+those people who are unwilling to betray the king and the country. Is
+that sense? Does one hang to the other? _Ma foi_, the prince is losing
+his head. I have met now, while coming to Pilvishki, a whole insurgent
+squadron travelling along through Podlyasye. I should have galloped
+over their stomachs with gladness, even to gain some amusement; but
+before I am an open partisan of the Swedes, while my uncle the elector
+holds formally with the Prussian towns, and with Yan Kazimir too, I
+cannot permit myself such pleasure, God knows I cannot. What could I do
+more than to be polite to those insurgents, as they are polite to me,
+suspecting me of an understanding with the hetman, but not having black
+on white?"
+
+Here the prince lay back comfortably in the armchair, stretched out his
+legs, and putting his hands behind his head carelessly, began to
+repeat,--
+
+"Ah, there is nonsense in this Commonwealth, nonsense! In the world
+there is nothing like it!"
+
+Then he was silent for a moment; evidently some idea came to his head,
+for he struck his wig and inquired,--
+
+"But will you not be in Podlyasye?"
+
+"Yes," said Kmita, "I must be there, for I have a letter with
+instructions to Harasimovich, the under-starosta in Zabludovo."
+
+"In God's name!" exclaimed the prince, "Harasimovich is here with me.
+He is going with the hetman's effects to Prussia, for we were afraid
+that they might fall into the hands of the confederates. Wait, I will
+have him summoned."
+
+Here the prince summoned a servant and ordered him to call the
+under-starosta.
+
+"This has happened well," said the prince, "You will save yourself a
+journey,--though it may be too bad that you will not visit Podlyasye,
+for among the heads of the confederacy there is a namesake of yours
+whom you might secure."
+
+"I have no time for that," said Kmita, "since I am in a hurry to go to
+the king and Pan Lyubomirski."
+
+"Ah, you have a letter to the marshal of the kingdom? Well, I can
+divine the reason of it. Once the marshal thought of marrying his son
+to Yanush's daughter. Did not the hetman wish this time to renew
+negotiations delicately?"
+
+"That is just the mission."
+
+"Both are quite children. H'm! that's a delicate mission, for it does
+not become the hetman to speak first. Besides--"
+
+Here the prince frowned.
+
+"Nothing will come of it. The daughter of the hetman is not for
+Heraclius, I tell you that! The prince hetman must understand that his
+fortune is to remain in possession of the Radzivills."
+
+Kmita looked with astonishment on the prince, who was walking with
+quicker and quicker pace through the room.
+
+All at once he stopped before Pan Andrei, and said, "Give me the word
+of a cavalier that you will answer truly my question."
+
+"Gracious prince," said Kmita, "only those lie who are afraid, and I
+fear no man."
+
+"Did the prince voevoda give orders to keep secret from me the
+negotiations with Lyubomirski?"
+
+"Had I such a command, I should not have mentioned Lyubomirski."
+
+"It might have slipped you. Give me your word."
+
+"I give it," said Kmita, frowning.
+
+"You have taken a weight from my heart, for I thought that the voevoda
+was playing a double game with me."
+
+"I do not understand, your highness."
+
+"I would not marry, in France, Rohan, not counting half threescore
+other princesses whom they were giving me. Do you know why?"
+
+"I do not."
+
+"There is an agreement between me and the prince voevoda that his
+daughter and his fortune are growing up for me. As a faithful servant
+of the Radzivills, you may know everything."
+
+"Thank you for the confidence. But your highness is mistaken. I am not
+a servant of the Radzivills."
+
+Boguslav opened his eyes widely. "What are you?"
+
+"I am a colonel of the hetman, not of the castle; and besides I am the
+hetman's relative."
+
+"A relative?"
+
+"I am related to the Kishkis, and the hetman is born of a Kishki."
+
+Prince Boguslav looked for a while at Kmita, on whose face a light
+flush appeared. All at once he stretched forth his hands and said,--
+
+"I beg your pardon, cousin, and I am glad of the relationship."
+
+The last words were uttered with a certain inattentive though showy
+politeness, in which there was something directly painful to Pan
+Andrei. His face flushed still more, and he was opening his mouth to
+say something hasty, when the door opened and Harasimovich appeared on
+the threshold.
+
+"There is a letter for you," said Boguslav.
+
+Harasimovich bowed to the prince, and then to Pan Andrei, who gave him
+the letter.
+
+"Read it!" said Prince Boguslav.
+
+Harasimovich began to read,--
+
+
+"Pan Harasimovich! Now is the time to show the good will of a faithful
+servant to his lord. As whatever money you are able to collect, you in
+Zabludovo and Pan Pjinski in Orel--"
+
+
+"The confederates have slain Pan Pjinski in Orel, for which reason Pan
+Harasimovich has taken to his heels," interrupted the prince.
+
+The under-starosta bowed and read further,--
+
+
+"--and Pan Pjinski in Orel, even the public revenue, even the excise,
+rent--"
+
+
+"The confederates have already taken them," interrupted Boguslav again.
+
+
+"--send me at once," continued Harasimovich. "If you can mortgage some
+villages to neighbors or townspeople, obtaining as much money on them
+as possible, do so, and whatever means there may be of obtaining money,
+do your best in the matter, and send the money to me. Send horses and
+whatever effects there are in Orel. There is a great candlestick too,
+and other things,--pictures, ornaments, and especially the cannons on
+the porch at my cousins; for robbers may be feared--"
+
+
+"Again counsel too late, for these cannons are going with me," said the
+prince.
+
+
+"If they are heavy with the stocks, then take them without the stocks
+and cover them, so it may not be known that you are bringing them. And
+take these things to Prussia with all speed, avoiding with utmost care
+those traitors who have caused mutiny in my army and are ravaging my
+estates--"
+
+
+"As to ravaging, they are ravaging! They are pounding them into dough,"
+interrupted the prince anew.
+
+
+"--ravaging my estates, and are preparing to move against Zabludovo on
+their way perhaps to the king. With them it is difficult to fight, for
+they are many; but if they are admitted, and given plenty to drink, and
+killed in the night while asleep (every host can do that), or poisoned
+in strong beer, or (which is not difficult in that place) a wild crowd
+let in to plunder them--"
+
+
+"Well, that is nothing new!" said Prince Boguslav. "You may journey
+with me, Pan Harasimovich."
+
+"There is still a supplement," said the under-starosta. And he read on,
+
+
+"The wines, if you cannot bring them away (for with us such can be had
+nowhere), sell them quickly--"
+
+
+Here Harasimovich stopped and seized himself by the head,--
+
+"For God's sake! those wines are coming half a day's road behind us,
+and surely have fallen into the hands of that insurgent squadron which
+was hovering around us. There will be a loss of some thousands of gold
+pieces. Let your highness give witness with me that you commanded me to
+wait till the barrels were packed in the wagons."
+
+Harasimovich's terror would have been still greater had he known Pan
+Zagloba, and had he known that he was in that very squadron. Meanwhile
+Prince Boguslav smiled and said,--
+
+"Oh, let the wines be to their health! Read on!"
+
+
+"--if a merchant cannot be found--"
+
+
+Prince Boguslav now held his sides from laughter. "He has been found,"
+said he, "but you must sell to him on credit."
+
+
+"--but if a merchant cannot be found," read Harasimovich, in a
+complaining voice, "bury it in the ground secretly, so that more than
+two should not know where it is; but leave a keg in Orel and one in
+Zabludovo, and those of the best and sweetest, so that the officers may
+take a liking to it; and put in plenty of poison, so that the officers
+at least may be killed, then the squadron will break up. For God's
+sake, serve me faithfully in this, and secretly, for the mercy of God.
+Burn what I write, and whoso finds out anything send him to me. Either
+the confederates will find and drink the wine, or it may be given as a
+present to make them friendly."
+
+
+The under-starosta finished reading, and looked at Prince Boguslav, as
+if waiting for instructions; and the prince said,--
+
+"I see that my cousin pays much attention to the confederates; it is
+only a pity that, as usual, he is too late. If he had come upon this
+plan two weeks ago, or even one week, it might have been tried. But now
+go with God, Pan Harasimovich; I do not need you."
+
+Harasimovich bowed and went out.
+
+Prince Boguslav stood before the mirror, and began to examine his own
+figure carefully; he moved his head slightly from right to left, then
+stepped back from the mirror, then approached it, then shook his curls,
+then looked askance, not paying any attention to Kmita, who sat in the
+shade with his back turned to the window.
+
+But if he had cast even one look at Pan Andrei's face he would have
+seen that in the young envoy something wonderful was taking place; for
+Kmita's face was pale, on his forehead stood thick drops of sweat, and
+his hands shook convulsively. After a while he rose from the chair, but
+sat down again immediately, like a man struggling with himself and
+suppressing an outburst of anger or despair. Finally his features
+settled and became fixed; evidently he had with his whole strong
+force of will and energy enjoined calm on himself and gained complete
+self-control.
+
+"Your highness," said he, "from the confidence which the prince hetman
+bestows on me you see that he does not wish to make a secret of
+anything. I belong soul and substance to his work; with him and your
+highness my fortune may increase; therefore, whither you both go,
+thither go I also. I am ready for everything. But though I serve in
+those affairs and am occupied in them, still I do not of course
+understand everything perfectly, nor can I penetrate all the secrets of
+them with my weak wit."
+
+"What do you wish then, Sir Cavalier, or rather, fair cousin?"
+
+"I ask instruction, your highness; it would be a shame indeed were I
+unable to learn at the side of such statesmen. I know not whether your
+highness will be pleased to answer me without reserve--"
+
+"That will depend on your question and on my humor," answered Boguslav,
+not ceasing to look at the mirror.
+
+Kmita's eyes glittered for a moment, but he continued calmly,--
+
+"This is my question: The prince voevoda of Vilna shields all his acts
+with the good and salvation of the Commonwealth, so that in fact the
+Commonwealth is never absent from his lips; be pleased to tell me
+sincerely, are these mere pretexts, or has the hetman in truth nothing
+but the good of the Commonwealth in view?"
+
+Boguslav cast a quick glance on Pan Andrei. "If I should say that they
+are pretexts, would you give further service?"
+
+Kmita shrugged his shoulders carelessly. "Of course! As I have said, my
+fortune will increase with the fortune of your highness and that of the
+hetman. If that increase comes, the rest is all one to me."
+
+"You will be a man! Remember that I foretell this. But why has my
+cousin not spoken openly with you?"
+
+"Maybe because he is squeamish, or just because it did not happen to be
+the topic."
+
+"You have quick wit, Cousin Cavalier, for it is the real truth that he
+is squeamish and shows his true skin unwillingly. As God is dear to me,
+true! Such is his nature. So, even in talking with me, the moment he
+forgets himself he begins to adorn his speech with love for the
+country. When I laugh at him to his eyes, he comes to his senses. True!
+true!"
+
+"Then it is merely a pretext?" asked Kmita.
+
+The prince turned the chair around and sat astride of it, as on a
+horse, and resting his arms on the back of it was silent awhile, as if
+in thought; then he said,--
+
+"Hear me, Pan Kmita. If we Radzivills lived in Spain, France, or
+Sweden, where the son inherits after the father, and where the right of
+the king comes from God himself, then, leaving aside civil war,
+extinction of the royal stock, or some uncommon event, we should serve
+the king and the country firmly, being content with the highest offices
+which belong to us by family and fortune. But here, in the land where
+the king has not divine right at his back, but the nobles create
+him, where everything is in free suffrage, we ask ourselves with
+reason,--Why should a Vaza rule, and not a Radzivill? There is no
+objection so far as the Vazas are concerned, for they take their origin
+from hereditary kings; but who will assure us, who will guarantee that
+after the Vazas the nobles will not have the whim of seating on the
+throne of the kingdom and on the throne of the Grand Principality even
+Pan Harasimovich, or some Pan Myeleshko, or some Pan Pyeglasyevich from
+Psivolki? Tfu! can I guess whom they may fancy? And must we,
+Radzivills, and princes of the German Empire, come to kiss the hand of
+King Pyeglasyevich? Tfu! to all the horned devils, Cavalier, it is time
+to finish with this! Look meanwhile at Germany,--how many provincial
+princes there, who in importance and fortune are fitted to be
+under-starostas for us. Still they have their principalities, they
+rule, wear crowns on their heads, and take precedence of us, though it
+would be fitter for them to bear the trains of our mantles. It is time
+to put an end to this, and accomplish that which was already planned by
+my father."
+
+Here the prince grew vivacious, rose from the chair, and began to walk
+through the room.
+
+"This will not take place without difficulty and obstacles," continued
+he, "for the Radzivills of Olyta and Nyesvyej are not willing to aid
+us. I know that Prince Michael wrote to my cousin that he would better
+think of a hair-shirt than of a royal mantle. Let him think of a
+hair-shirt himself, let him do penance, let him sit on ashes, let the
+Jesuits lash his skin with disciplines; if he is content with being a
+royal carver, let him carve capons virtuously all his virtuous life,
+till his virtuous death! We shall get on without him and not drop our
+hands, for just now is the time. The devils are taking the
+Commonwealth; for now it is so weak, has gone to such dogs, that it
+cannot drive them away. Every one is crawling in over its boundaries,
+as into an unfenced garden. What has happened here with the Swedes has
+happened nowhere on earth to this day. We, Sir Cavalier, may sing in
+truth 'Te Deum laudamus.' In its way the event is unheard of,
+unparalleled. Just think: an invader attacks a country, an invader
+famous for rapacity; and not only does he not find resistance,
+but every living man deserts his old king and hurries to a new
+one,--magnates, nobles, the army, castles, towns, all,--without honor,
+without fame, without feeling, without shame! History gives not another
+such example. Tfu! tfu! trash inhabit this country,--men without
+conscience or ambition. And is such a country not to perish? They are
+looking for our favor! Ye will have favor! In Great Poland already the
+Swedes are thumb-screwing nobles; and so will it be everywhere,--it
+cannot be otherwise."
+
+Kmita grew paler and paler, but with the remnant of his strength he
+held in curb an outburst of fury; the prince, absorbed in his own
+speech, delighted with his own words, with his own wisdom, paid no
+attention to his listener, and continued,--
+
+"There is a custom in this land that when a man is dying his relatives
+at the last moment pull the pillow from under his head, so that he may
+not suffer longer. I and the prince voevoda of Vilna have determined to
+render this special service to the Commonwealth. But because many
+plunderers are watching for the inheritance and we cannot get it all,
+we wish that a part, and that no small one, should come to us. As
+relatives, we have that right. If with this comparison I have not
+spoken on a level with your understanding, and have not been able to
+hit the point, I will tell you in other words: Suppose the Commonwealth
+a red cloth at which are pulling the Swedes, Hmelnitski, the
+Hyperboreans,[23] the Tartars, the elector, and whosoever lives around.
+But I and the prince voevoda of Vilna have agreed that enough of that
+cloth must remain in our hands to make a robe for us; therefore we do
+not prevent the dragging, but we drag ourselves. Let Hmelnitski
+stay in the Ukraine; let the Swedes and the elector settle about
+Prussia and Great Poland; let Rakotsy, or whoever is nearer, take
+Little Poland,--Lithuania must be for Prince Yanush, and, together with
+his daughter, for me."
+
+Kmita rose quickly. "I give thanks, your highness; that is all I wanted
+to know."
+
+"You are going out. Sir Cavalier?"
+
+"I am."
+
+The prince looked carefully at Kmita, and at that moment first noted
+his pallor and excitement.
+
+"What is the matter, Pan Kmita?" asked he. "You look like a ghost."
+
+"Weariness has knocked me off my feet, and my head is dizzy. Farewell,
+your highness; I will come before starting, to bow to you again."
+
+"Make haste, then, for I start after midday myself."
+
+"I shall return in an hour at furthest."
+
+When he had said this, Kmita bent his head and went out. In the other
+room the servants rose at sight of him, but he passed like a drunken
+man, seeing no one. At the threshold of the room he caught his head
+with both hands, and began to repeat, almost with a groan,--
+
+"Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews! Jesus, Mary, Joseph!"
+
+With tottering steps he passed through the guard, composed of six men
+with halberds. Outside the gate were his own men, the sergeant Soroka
+at the head of them.
+
+"After me!" called Kmita. And he moved through the town toward the inn.
+
+Soroka, an old soldier of Kmita's, knowing him perfectly, noticed at
+once that something uncommon had happened to the colonel.
+
+"Let your soul be on guard," said he quietly to the men; "woe to him on
+whom his anger falls now!"
+
+The soldiers hastened their steps in silence, but Kmita did not go at a
+walk; he almost ran, waving his hand and repeating words well-nigh
+incoherent.
+
+To the ears of Soroka came only broken phrases,--
+
+"Poisoners, faith-breakers, traitors! Crime and treason,--the two are
+the same--"
+
+Then he began to mention his old comrades. The names Kokosinski,
+Kulvyets, Ranitski, Rekuts, and others fell from his lips one after
+another; a number of times he mentioned Volodyovski. Soroka heard this
+with wonder, and grew more and more alarmed; but in his mind he
+thought,--
+
+"Some one's blood will flow; it cannot be otherwise."
+
+Meanwhile they had come to the inn. Kmita shut himself in his room at
+once, and for about an hour he gave no sign of life. The soldiers
+meanwhile had tied on the packs and saddled the horses without order.
+
+"That is no harm," said Soroka; "it is necessary to be ready for
+everything."
+
+"We too are ready!" answered the old fighters, moving their mustaches.
+
+In fact, it came out soon that Soroka knew his colonel well; for Kmita
+appeared suddenly in the front room, without a cap, in his trousers and
+shirt only.
+
+"Saddle the horses!" cried he.
+
+"They are saddled."
+
+"Fasten on the packs!"
+
+"They are fastened."
+
+"A ducat a man!" cried the young colonel, who in spite of all his fever
+and excitement saw that those soldiers had guessed his thought quickly.
+
+"We give thanks, Commander!" cried all in chorus.
+
+"Two men will take the pack-horses and go out of the place immediately
+toward Dembova. Go slowly through the town; outside the town put the
+horses on a gallop, and stop not till the forest is reached."
+
+"According to command!"
+
+"Four others load their pistols. For me saddle two horses, and let
+another be ready."
+
+"I knew there would be something!" muttered Soroka.
+
+"Now, Sergeant, after me!" cried Kmita.
+
+And undressed as he was, in trousers only, and open shirt, he went out
+of the front room. Soroka followed him, opening his eyes widely with
+wonder; they went in this fashion to the well in the yard of the inn.
+Here Kmita stopped, and pointing to the bucket hanging from the sweep,
+said,--
+
+"Pour water on my head!"
+
+Soroka knew from experience how dangerous it was to ask twice about an
+order; he seized the rope, let the bucket down into the water, drew up
+quickly, and taking the bucket in his hands, threw the water on Pan
+Andrei, who, puffing and blowing like a whale, rubbed his wet hair with
+his hands, and cried,--
+
+"More!"
+
+Soroka repeated the act, and threw water with all his force, just as if
+he were putting out a fire.
+
+"Enough!" said Kmita, at length. "Follow me, help me to dress."
+
+Both went to the inn. At the gate they met the two men going out with
+two pack-horses.
+
+"Slowly through the town; outside the town on a gallop!" commanded
+Kmita; and he wont in.
+
+Half an hour later he appeared dressed completely, as if for the road,
+with high boots and an elkskin coat, girded with a leather belt into
+which was thrust a pistol.
+
+The soldiers noticed, too, that from under his kaftan gleamed the edge
+of chain mail, as if he were going to battle. He had his sabre also
+girt high, so as to seize the hilt more easily. His face was calm
+enough, but stern and threatening. Casting a glance at the soldiers to
+see if they were ready and armed properly, he mounted his horse, and
+throwing a ducat at the innkeeper, rode out of the place.
+
+Soroka rode at his side; three others behind, leading a horse. Soon
+they found themselves on the square filled by Boguslav's troops. There
+was movement among them already; evidently the command had come to
+prepare for the road. The horsemen were tightening the girths of the
+saddle and bridling the horses; the infantry were taking their muskets,
+stacked before the houses; others were attaching horses to wagons.
+
+Kmita started as it were from meditation.
+
+"Hear me, old man," said he to Soroka; "from the starosta's house does
+the road go on,--it will not be necessary to come back through the
+square?"
+
+"But where are we going, Colonel?"
+
+"To Dembova."
+
+"Then we must go from the square past the house. The square will be
+behind us."
+
+"It is well," said Kmita.
+
+"Oh, if only those men were alive now! Few are fitted for work like
+this,--few!"
+
+Meanwhile they passed the square, and began to turn toward the
+starosta's house, which lay about one furlong and a half farther on,
+near the roadside.
+
+"Stop!" cried Kmita, suddenly.
+
+The soldiers halted, and he turned to them. "Are you ready for death?"
+asked he, abruptly.
+
+"Ready!" answered in chorus these dare-devils of Orsha.
+
+"We crawled up to Hovanski's throat, and he did not devour us,--do you
+remember?"
+
+"We remember!"
+
+"There is need to dare great things to-day. If success comes, our
+gracious king will make lords of you,--I guarantee that! If failure,
+you will go to the stake!"
+
+"Why not success?" asked Soroka, whose eyes began to gleam like those
+of an old wolf.
+
+"There will be success!" said three others,--Biloüs, Zavratynski, and
+Lubyenyets.
+
+"We must carry off the prince marshal!" said Kmita. Then he was silent,
+wishing to see the impression which the mad thought would make on the
+soldiers. But they were silent too, and looked on him as on a rainbow;
+only, their mustaches quivered, and their faces became terrible and
+murderous.
+
+"The stake is near, the reward far away," added Kmita.
+
+"There are few of us," muttered Zavratynski.
+
+"It is worse than against Hovanski," said Lubyenyets.
+
+"The troops are all in the market-square, and at the house are only the
+sentries and about twenty attendants," said Kmita, "who are off their
+guard, and have not even swords at their sides."
+
+"You risk your head; why should we not risk ours?" said Soroka.
+
+"Hear me," continued Kmita. "If we do not take him by cunning, we shall
+not take him at all. Listen! I will go into the room, and after a time
+come out with the prince. If the prince will sit on my horse, I will
+sit on the other, and we will ride on. When we have ridden about a
+hundred or a hundred and fifty yards, then seize him from both sides by
+the shoulders, and gallop the horses with all breath."
+
+"According to order!" answered Soroka.
+
+"If I do not come out," continued Kmita, "and you hear a shot in the
+room, then open on the guards with pistols, and give me the horse as I
+rush from the door."
+
+"That will be done," answered Soroka.
+
+"Forward!" commanded Kmita.
+
+They moved on, and a quarter of an hour later halted at the gate of the
+starosta's house. At the gate were six guards with halberds; at the
+door of the anteroom four men were standing. Around a carriage in the
+front yard were occupied equerries and outriders, whom an attendant of
+consequence was overseeing,--a foreigner, as might be known from his
+dress and wig.
+
+Farther on, near the carriage-house, horses were being attached to two
+other carriages, to which gigantic Turkish grooms were carrying packs.
+Over these watched a man dressed in black, with a face like that of a
+doctor or an astrologer.
+
+Kmita announced himself as he had previously, through the officer of
+the day, who returned soon and asked him to the prince.
+
+"How are you, Cavalier?" asked the prince, joyfully. "You left me so
+suddenly that I thought scruples had risen in you from my words, and I
+did not expect to see you again."
+
+"Of course I could not go without making my obeisance."
+
+"Well, I thought: the prince voevoda has known whom to send on a
+confidential mission. I make use of you also, for I give you letters to
+a number of important persons, and to the King of Sweden himself. But
+why armed as if for battle?"
+
+"I am going among confederates; I have heard right here in this place,
+and your highness has confirmed the report, that a confederate squadron
+passed. Even here in Pilvishki they brought a terrible panic on
+Zolotarenko's men, for a famed soldier is leading that squadron."
+
+"Who is he?"
+
+"Pan Volodyovski; and with him are Mirski, Oskyerko, and the two
+Skshetuskis,--one that man of Zbaraj, whose wife your highness wanted
+to besiege in Tykotsin. All rebelled against the prince voevoda; and it
+is a pity, for they were good soldiers. What is to be done? There are
+still fools in the Commonwealth who are unwilling to pull the red cloth
+with Cossacks and Swedes."
+
+"There is never a lack of fools in the world, and especially in this
+country," said the prince. "Here are the letters; and besides, when you
+see his Swedish grace, say as if in confidence that in heart I am as
+much his adherent as my cousin, but for the time I must dissemble."
+
+"Who is not forced to that?" answered Kmita. "Every man dissembles,
+especially if he thinks to do something great."
+
+"That is surely the case. Acquit yourself well, Sir Cavalier, I will be
+thankful to you, and will not let the hetman surpass me in rewarding."
+
+"If the favor of your highness is such, I ask reward in advance."
+
+"You have it! Surely my cousin has not furnished you over abundantly
+for the road. There is a serpent in his money-box."
+
+"May God guard me from asking money! I did not ask it of the hetman,
+and I will not take it from your highness. I am at my own expense, and
+I will remain so."
+
+Prince Boguslav looked at the young knight with wonder. "I see that in
+truth the Kmitas are not of those who look at men's hands. What is your
+wish then, Sir Cavalier?"
+
+"The matter is as follows: without thinking carefully in Kyedani, I
+took a horse of high blood, so as to show myself before the Swedes. I
+do not exaggerate when I say there is not a better in the stables of
+Kyedani. Now I am sorry for him, and I am afraid to injure him on the
+road, in the stables of inns, or for want of rest. And as accidents are
+not hard to meet, he may fall into enemies' hands, even those of that
+Volodyovski, who personally is terribly hostile to me. I have thought,
+therefore, to beg your highness to take him to keep and use until I ask
+for him at a more convenient time."
+
+"Better sell him to me."
+
+"Impossible,--it would be like selling a friend. At a small estimate
+that horse has taken me a hundred times out of the greatest danger; for
+he has this virtue too, that in battle he bites the enemy savagely."
+
+"Is he such a good horse?" asked Prince Boguslav, with lively interest.
+
+"Is he good? If I were sure your highness would not be offended, I
+would bet a hundred gold florins without looking, that your highness
+has not such a one in your stables."
+
+"Maybe I would bet, if it were not that to-day is not the time for a
+trial. I will keep him willingly, though; if possible, I would buy. But
+where is this wonder kept?"
+
+"My men are holding him just here in front of the gate. As to his being
+a wonder, he is a wonder; for it is no exaggeration to say that the
+Sultan might covet such a horse. He is not of this country, but from
+Anatolia; and in Anatolia, as I think, only one such was found."
+
+"Then let us look at him."
+
+"I serve your highness."
+
+Before the gate Kmita's men were holding two horses completely
+equipped: one was indeed of high breed, black as a raven, with a star
+on his forehead, and a white fetlock to a leg like a lance; he neighed
+slightly at sight of his master.
+
+"I guess that to be the one," said Boguslav. "I do not know whether he
+is such a wonder as you say, but in truth he is a fine horse."
+
+"Try him!" cried Kmita; "or no, I will mount him myself!"
+
+The soldiers gave Kmita the horse; he mounted, and began to ride around
+near the gate. Under the skilled rider the horse seemed doubly
+beautiful. His prominent eyes gained brightness as he moved at a trot;
+he seemed to blow forth inner fire through his nostrils, while the wind
+unfolded his mane. Pan Kmita described a circle, changed his gait; at
+last he rode straight on the prince, so that the nostrils of the horse
+were not a yard from his face, and cried,--
+
+"Halt!"
+
+The horse stopped with his four feet resisting, and stood as if fixed
+to the ground.
+
+"What do you say?" asked Kmita.
+
+"The eyes and legs of a deer, the gait of a wolf, the nostrils of an
+elk, and the breast of a woman!" said Boguslav. "Here is all that is
+needed. Does he understand German command?"
+
+"Yes; for my horse-trainer Zend, who was a Courlander, taught him."
+
+"And the beast is swift?"
+
+"The wind cannot come up with him; a Tartar cannot escape him."
+
+"Your trainer must have been a good one, for I see that the horse is
+highly taught."
+
+"Is he taught? Your highness will not believe. He goes so in the rank
+that when the line is moving at a trot, you may let the reins drop and
+he will not push one half of his nose beyond the line. If your highness
+will be pleased to try, and if in two furlongs he will push beyond the
+others half a head, then I will give him as a gift."
+
+"That would be the greatest wonder, not to advance with dropped reins."
+
+"It is wonderful and convenient, for both hands of the rider are free.
+More than once have I had a sabre in one hand and a pistol in the
+other, and the horse went alone."
+
+"But if the rank turns?"
+
+"Then he will turn too without breaking the line."
+
+"Impossible!" exclaimed the prince; "no horse will do that. I have seen
+in France horses of the king's musketeers, greatly trained, of purpose
+not to spoil the court ceremonies, but still it was necessary to guide
+them with reins."
+
+"The wit of man is in this horse. Let your highness try him yourself."
+
+"Give him here!" said the prince, after a moment's thought.
+
+Kmita held the horse till Boguslav mounted. He sprang lightly into the
+saddle, and began to pat the steed on his shining neck.
+
+"A wonderful thing," said he; "the best horses shed their hair in the
+autumn, but this one is as if he had come out of water. In what
+direction shall we go?"
+
+"Let us move in a line, and if your highness permits, toward the
+forest. The road is even and broad, but in the direction of the town
+some wagon might come in the way."
+
+"Let us ride toward the forest."
+
+"Just two furlongs. Let your highness drop the reins and start on a
+gallop. Two men on each side, and I will ride a little behind."
+
+"Take your places!" said the prince.
+
+The line was formed; they turned the horses' heads from the town. The
+prince was in the middle.
+
+"Forward!" said he. "On a gallop from the start,--march!"
+
+The line shot on, and after a certain time was moving like a whirlwind.
+A cloud of dust hid them from the eyes of the attendants and equerries,
+who, collecting in a crowd at the gate, looked with curiosity at the
+racing. The trained horses going at the highest speed, snorting from
+effort, had run already a furlong or more; and the prince's steed,
+though not held by the reins, did not push forward an inch. They ran
+another furlong. Kmita turned, and seeing behind only a cloud of dust,
+through which the starosta's house could barely be seen, and the people
+standing before it not at all, cried with a terrible voice,--
+
+"Take him!"
+
+At this moment Biloüs and the gigantic Zavratynski seized both arms of
+the prince, and squeezed them till the bones cracked in their joints,
+and holding him in their iron fists, put spurs to their own horses.
+
+The prince's horse in the middle held the line, neither pushing ahead
+nor holding back an inch. Astonishment, fright, the whirlwind beating
+in his face, deprived Prince Boguslav of speech for the first moment.
+He struggled once and a second time,--without result, however, for pain
+from his twisted arms pierced him through.
+
+"What is this, ruffians? Know ye not who I am?" cried he at last.
+
+Thereupon Kmita pushed him with the barrel of the pistol between the
+shoulders. "Resistance is useless; it will only bring a bullet in your
+body!" cried he.
+
+"Traitor!" said the prince.
+
+"But who are you?" asked Kmita.
+
+And they galloped on farther.
+
+
+
+
+ CHAPTER XXVII.
+
+
+They ran long through the pine-forest with such speed that the trees by
+the roadside seemed to flee backward in panic; inns, huts of forest
+guards, pitch-clearings, flashed by, and at times wagons singly or a
+few together, going to Pilvishki. From time to time Boguslav bent
+forward in the saddle as if to struggle; but his arms were only
+wrenched the more painfully in the iron hands of the soldiers, while
+Pan Andrei held the pistol-barrel between the princess shoulders again,
+and they rushed on till the white foam was falling in flakes from the
+horses.
+
+At last they were forced to slacken the speed, for breath failed both
+men and beasts, and Pilvishki was so far behind that all possibility of
+pursuit had ceased. They rode on then a certain time at a walk and in
+silence, surrounded by a cloud of steam, which was issuing from the
+horses.
+
+For a long time the prince said nothing; he was evidently trying to
+calm himself and cool his blood. When he had done this he asked,--
+
+"Whither are you taking me?"
+
+"Your highness will know that at the end of the road," answered Kmita.
+
+Boguslav was silent, but after a while said, "Cavalier, command these
+trash to let me go, for they are pulling out my arms. If you command
+them to do so, they will only hang; if not, they will go to the stake."
+
+"They are nobles, not trash," answered Kmita; "and as to the punishment
+which your highness threatens, it is not known whom death will strike
+first."
+
+"Know ye on whom ye have raised hands?" asked the prince, turning to
+the soldiers.
+
+"We know," answered they.
+
+"By a million horned devils!" cried Boguslav, with an outburst. "Will
+you command these people to let me go, or not?"
+
+"Your highness, I will order them to bind your arms behind your back;
+then you will be quieter."
+
+"Impossible! You will put my arms quite out of joint."
+
+"I would give orders to let another off on his word that he would not
+try to escape, but you know how to break your word," said Kmita.
+
+"I will give another word," answered the prince,--"that not only will I
+escape at the first opportunity, but I will have you torn apart with
+horses, when you fall into my hands."
+
+"What God wants to give, he gives!" said Kmita. "But I prefer a sincere
+threat to a lying promise. Let go his hands, only hold his horse by the
+bridle; but, your highness, look here! I have but to touch the trigger
+to put a bullet into your body, and I shall not miss, for I never miss.
+Sit quietly; do not try to escape."
+
+"I do not care, Cavalier, for you or your pistol."
+
+When he had said this, the prince stretched his aching arms, to
+straighten them and shake off the numbness. The soldiers caught the
+horse's bridle on both sides, and led him on.
+
+After a while Boguslav said, "Yon dare not look me in the eyes, Pan
+Kmita; you hide in the rear."
+
+"Indeed!" answered Kmita; and urging forward his horse, he pushed
+Zavratynski away, and seizing the reins of the prince's horse, he
+looked Boguslav straight in the face. "And how is my horse? Have I
+added even one virtue?"
+
+"A good horse!" answered the prince. "If you wish, I will buy him."
+
+"This horse deserves a better fate than to carry a traitor till his
+death."
+
+"You are a fool, Pan Kmita."
+
+"Yes, for I believed the Radzivills."
+
+Again came a moment of silence, which was broken by the prince.
+
+"Tell me, Pan Kmita, are you sure that you are in your right mind, that
+your reason has not left you? Have you asked yourself what you have
+done, madman? Has it not come to your head that as things are now it
+would have been better for you if your mother had not given you birth,
+and that no one, not only in Poland, but in all Europe, would have
+ventured on such a dare-devil deed?"
+
+"Then it is clear that there is no great courage in that Europe, for I
+have carried off your highness, hold you, and will not let you go."
+
+"It can only be an affair with a madman," said the prince, as if to
+himself.
+
+"My gracious prince," answered Pan Andrei, "you are in my hands; be
+reconciled to that, and waste not words in vain. Pursuit will not come
+up, for your men think to this moment that you have come off with me
+voluntarily. When my men took you by the arms no one saw it, for the
+dust covered us; and even if there were no dust, neither the equerries
+nor the guards could have seen, it was so far. They will wait for you
+two hours; the third hour they will be impatient, the fourth and fifth
+uneasy, and the sixth will send out men in search; but we meanwhile
+shall be beyond Maryapole."
+
+"What of that?"
+
+"This, that they will not pursue; and even if they should start
+immediately in pursuit, your horses are just from the road, while ours
+are fresh. Even if by some miracle they should come up, that would
+not save you, for, as truly as you see me here, I should open your
+head,--which I shall do if nothing else is possible. This is the
+position! Radzivill has a court, an army, cannon, dragoons; Kmita has
+six men, and Kmita holds Radzivill by the neck."
+
+"What further?" asked the prince.
+
+"Nothing further! We will go where it pleases me. Thank God, your
+highness, that you are alive; for were it not that I gave orders to
+throw many gallons of water on my head to-day, you would be in the
+other world already, that is, in hell, for two reasons,--as a traitor
+and as a Calvinist."
+
+"And would you have dared to do that?"
+
+"Without praising myself I say that your highness would not easily find
+an undertaking on which I would not venture; you have the best proof of
+that in yourself."
+
+The prince looked carefully at the young man and said, "Cavalier, the
+devil has written on your face that you are ready for anything, and
+that is the reason why I have a proof in myself. I tell you, indeed,
+that you have been able to astonish me with your boldness, and that is
+no easy thing."
+
+"That's all one to me. Give thanks to God, your highness, that you are
+alive yet, and quits."
+
+"No, Cavalier. First of all, do you thank God; for if one hair had
+fallen from my head, then know that the Radzivills would find you even
+under the earth. If you think that because there is disunion between us
+and those of Nyesvyej and Olyta, and that they will not pursue you, you
+are mistaken. Radzivill blood must be avenged, an awful example must be
+given, otherwise there would be no life for us in this Commonwealth.
+You cannot hide abroad, either: the Emperor of Germany will give you
+up, for I am a prince of the German Empire; the Elector of Brandenburg
+is my uncle; the Prince of Orange is his brother-in-law; the King and
+Queen of France and their ministers are my friends. Where will you
+hide? The Turks and Tartars will sell you, though we had to give them
+half our fortune. You will not find on earth a corner, nor such
+deserts, nor such people--"
+
+"It is a wonder to me," replied Kmita, "that your highness takes such
+thought in advance for my safety. A great person a Radzivill! Still I
+have only to touch a trigger."
+
+"I do not deny that. More than once it has happened in the world that a
+great man died at the hands of a common one. A camp-follower killed
+Pompey; French kings perished at the hands of low people. Without going
+farther, the same thing happened to my great father. But I ask you what
+will come next?"
+
+"What is that to me? I have never taken much thought of what will be
+to-morrow. If it comes to close quarters with all the Radzivills, God
+knows who will be warmed up best. The sword has been long hanging over
+my head, but the moment I close my eyes I sleep as sweetly as a suslik.
+And if one Radzivill is not enough for me, I will carry off a second,
+and a third."
+
+"As God is dear to me, Cavalier, you please me much; for I repeat that
+you alone in Europe could dare a deed like this. The beast does not
+care, nor mind what will come to-morrow. I love daring people, and
+there are fewer and fewer of them in the world. Just think! he has
+carried off a Radzivill and holds him as his own. Where were you reared
+in this fashion, Cavalier? Whence do you come?"
+
+"I am banneret of Orsha."
+
+"Pan Banneret of Orsha, I grieve that the Radzivills are losing a man
+like you, for with such men much might be done. If it were not a
+question of myself--h'm! I would spare nothing to win you."
+
+"Too late!" said Kmita.
+
+"That is to be understood," answered the prince. "Much too late! But I
+tell you beforehand that I will order you only to be shot, for you are
+worthy to die a soldier's death. What an incarnate devil to carry me
+off from the midst of my men!"
+
+Kmita made no answer; the prince meditated awhile, then cried,--
+
+"If you free me at once, I will not take vengeance. Only give me your
+word that you will tell no one of this, and command your men to be
+silent."
+
+"Impossible!" replied Kmita.
+
+"Do you want a ransom?"
+
+"I do not."
+
+"What the devil, then, did you carry me off for? I cannot understand
+it."
+
+"It would take a long time to tell. I will tell your highness later."
+
+"But what have we to do on the road unless to talk? Acknowledge,
+Cavalier, one thing: you carried me off in a moment of anger and
+desperation, and now you don't know well what to do with me."
+
+"That is my affair!" answered Kmita; "and if I do not know what to do,
+it will soon be seen."
+
+Impatience was depicted on Prince Boguslav's face.
+
+"You are not over-communicative, Pan Banneret of Orsha; but answer me
+one question at least sincerely: Did you come to me, to Podlyasye, with
+a plan already formed of attacking my person, or did it enter your head
+in the last moment?"
+
+"To that I can answer your highness sincerely, for my lips are burning
+to tell you why I left your cause; and while I am alive, while there is
+breath in my body, I shall not return to it. The prince voevoda of
+Vilna deceived me, and in advance brought me to swear on the crucifix
+that I would not leave him till death."
+
+"And you are keeping the oath well. There is nothing to be said on that
+point."
+
+"True!" cried Kmita, violently. "If I have lost my soul, if I must be
+damned, it is through the Radzivills. But I give myself to the mercy of
+God, and I would rather lose my soul, I would rather burn eternally,
+than to sin longer with knowledge and willingly,--than to serve longer,
+knowing that I serve sin and treason. May God have mercy on me! I
+prefer to burn, I prefer a hundred times to burn; I should burn surely,
+if I remained with you. I have nothing to lose; but at least I shall
+say at the judgment of God: 'I knew not what I was swearing, and had I
+discovered that I had sworn treason to the country, destruction to the
+Polish name, I should have broken the oath right there.' Now let the
+Lord God be my judge."
+
+"To the question, to the question!" said Boguslav, calmly.
+
+But Pan Andrei breathed heavily, and rode on some time in silence, with
+frowning brow and eyes fixed on the earth, like a man bowed down by
+misfortune.
+
+"To the question!" repeated the prince.
+
+Kmita roused himself as if from a dream, shook his head, and said,--
+
+"I believed the prince hetman as I would not have believed my own
+father. I remember that banquet at which he announced his union with
+the Swedes. What I suffered then, what I passed through, God will
+account to me. Others, honorable men, threw their batons at his feet
+and remained with their country; but I stood like a stump with the
+baton, with shame, with submission, with infamy, in torture, for I was
+called traitor to my eyes. And who called me traitor? Oi, better not
+say, lest I forget myself, go mad, and put a bullet right here in the
+head of your highness. You are the men, you the traitors, the Judases,
+who brought me to that."
+
+Here Kmita gazed with a terrible expression on the prince, and hatred
+came out on his face from the bottom of his soul, like a dragon which
+had crawled out of a cave to the light of day; but Boguslav looked at
+the young man with a calm, fearless eye. At last he said,--
+
+"But that interests me, Pan Kmita; speak on."
+
+Kmita dropped the bridle of the prince's horse, and removed his cap as
+if wishing to cool his burning head.
+
+"That same night," continued he, "I went to the hetman, for he gave
+command to call me. I thought to myself, 'I will renounce his service,
+break my oath, suffocate him, choke him with these hands, blow up
+Kyedani with powder, and then let happen what may.' He knew too that
+was ready for anything, knew what I was; I saw well that he was
+fingering a box in which there were pistols. 'That is nothing,' thought
+I to myself; 'either he will miss me or he will kill me.' But he began
+to reason, to speak, to show such a prospect to me, simpleton, and put
+himself forward as such a savior, that your highness knows what
+happened."
+
+"He convinced the young man," said Boguslav.
+
+"So that I fell at his feet," cried Kmita, "and saw in him the father,
+the one savior, of the country; so that I gave myself to him soul and
+body as to a devil. For him, for his honesty I was ready to hurl myself
+headlong from the tower of Kyedani."
+
+"I thought such would be the end," said Boguslav.
+
+"What I lost in his cause I will not say, but I rendered him important
+services. I held in obedience my squadron, which is in Kyedani
+now,--God grant to his ruin! Others, who mutinied, I cut up badly. I
+stained my hands in brothers' blood, believing that a stern necessity
+for the country. Often my soul was pained at giving command to shoot
+honest soldiers; often the nature of a noble rebelled against him, when
+one time and another he promised something and did not keep his word.
+But I thought: 'I am simple, he is wise!--it must be done so.' But
+to-day, when I learned for the first time from those letters of the
+poisons, the marrow stiffened in my bones. How? Is this the kind of
+war? You wish to poison soldiers? And that is to be in hetman fashion?
+That is to be the Radzivill method, and am I to carry such letters?"
+
+"You know nothing of politics, Cavalier," interrupted Boguslav.
+
+"May the thunders crush it! Let the criminal Italians practise it, not
+a noble whom God has adorned with more honorable blood than others, but
+at the same time obliged him to war with a sabre and not with a
+drug-shop."
+
+"These letters, then, so astonished you that you determined to leave
+the Radzivills?"
+
+"It was not the letters,--I might have thrown them to the hangman, or
+tossed them into the fire, for they refer not to my duties; it was not
+the letters. I might have refused the mission without leaving the
+cause. Do I know what I might have done? I might have joined the
+dragoons, or collected a party again, and harried Hovanski as before.
+But straightway a suspicion came to me: 'But do they not wish to poison
+the country as well as those soldiers?' God granted me not to break
+out, though my head was burning like a grenade, to remember myself, to
+have the power to think: 'Draw him by the tongue, and discover the
+whole truth; betray not what you have at heart, give yourself out as
+worse than the Radzivills themselves, and draw him by the tongue.'"
+
+"Whom,--me?"
+
+"Yes! God aided me, so that I, simple man, deceived a politician,--so
+that your highness, holding me the last of ruffians, hid nothing of
+your own ruffianism, confessed everything, told everything, as if it
+had been written on the hand. The hair stood on my head, but I listened
+and listened to the end. O traitors! arch hell-dwellers! O parricides!
+How is it, that a thunderbolt has not stricken you down before now? How
+is it that the earth has not swallowed you? So you are treating with
+Hmelnitski, with the Swedes, with the elector, with Rakotsy, and with
+the devil himself to the destruction of this Commonwealth? Now you want
+to cut a mantle out of it for yourself, to sell it to divide it, to
+tear your own mother like wolves? Such is your gratitude for all the
+benefits heaped on you,--for the offices, the honors, the dignities,
+the wealth, the authority, the estates which foreign kings envy you?
+And you were ready without regard to those tears, torments, oppression.
+Where is your conscience, where your faith, where your honesty? What
+monster brought you into the world?"
+
+"Cavalier," interrupted Boguslav, coldly, "you have me in your hand,
+you can kill me; but I beg one thing, do not bore me."
+
+Both were silent.
+
+However, it appeared plainly, from the words of Kmita, that the soldier
+had been able to draw out the naked truth from the diplomat, and that
+the prince was guilty of great incautiousness, of a great error in
+betraying his most secret plans and those of the hetman. This pricked
+his vanity; therefore, not caring to hide his ill-humor, he said,--
+
+"Do not ascribe it to your own wit merely, Pan Kmita, that you got the
+truth from me. I spoke openly, for I thought the prince voevoda knew
+people better, and had sent a man worthy of confidence."
+
+"The prince voevoda sent a man worthy of confidence," answered Kmita,
+"but you have lost him. Henceforth only scoundrels will serve you."
+
+"If the way in which you seized me was not scoundrelly, then may the
+sword grow to my hand in the first battle."
+
+"It was a stratagem! I learned it in a hard school. You wish, your
+highness, to know Kmita. Here he is! I shall not go with empty hands to
+our gracious lord."
+
+"And you think that a hair of my head will fall from the hand of Yan
+Kazimir?"
+
+"That is a question for the judges, not for me."
+
+Suddenly Kmita reined in his horse: "But the letter of the prince
+voevoda,--have you that letter on your person?"
+
+"If I had, I would not give it. The letter remained in Pilvishki."
+
+"Search him!" cried Kmita.
+
+The soldiers seized the prince again by the arms. Soroka began to
+search his pockets. After a while he found the letter.
+
+"Here is one document against you and your works," said Pan Andrei,
+taking the letter. "The King of Poland will know from it what you have
+in view; the Swedish King will know too, that although now you are
+serving him, the prince voevoda reserves to himself freedom to withdraw
+if the Swedish foot stumbles. All your treasons will come out, all your
+machinations. But I have, besides, other letters,--to the King of
+Sweden, to Wittemberg, to Radzeyovski. You are great and powerful;
+still I am not sure that it will not be too narrow for you in this
+Commonwealth, when both kings will prepare a recompense worthy of your
+treasons."
+
+Prince Boguslav's eyes gleamed with ill-omened light, but after a while
+he mastered his anger and said,--
+
+"Well, Cavalier! For life or death between us! We have met! You may
+cause us trouble and much evil, but I say this: No man has dared
+hitherto to do in this country what you have done. Woe be to you and to
+yours!"
+
+"I have a sabre to defend myself, and I have something to redeem my own
+with," answered Kmita.
+
+"You have me as a hostage," said the prince.
+
+And in spite of all his anger he breathed calmly; he understood one
+thing at this moment, that in no case was his life threatened,--that
+his person was too much needed by Kmita.
+
+Then they went again at a trot, and after an hour's ride they saw two
+horsemen, each of whom led a pair of packhorses. They were Kmita's men
+sent in advance from Pilvishki.
+
+"What is the matter?" asked Kmita.
+
+"The horses are terribly tired, for we have not rested yet."
+
+"We shall rest right away!"
+
+"There is a cabin at the turn, maybe 'tis a public house."
+
+"Let the sergeant push on to prepare oats. Public house or not, we must
+halt."
+
+"According to order, Commander."
+
+Soroka gave reins to the horses, and they followed him slowly. Kmita
+rode at one side of the prince, Lubyenyets at the other. Boguslav had
+become completely calm and quiet; he did not draw Pan Andrei into
+further conversation. He seemed to be exhausted by the journey, or by
+the position in which he found himself, and dropping his head somewhat
+on his breast, closed his eyes. Still from time to time he cast a side
+look now at Kmita, now at Lubyenyets, who held the reins of the horse,
+as if studying to discover who would be the easier to overturn so as to
+wrest himself free.
+
+They approached the building situated on the roadside at a bulge of the
+forest. It was not a public house, but a forge and a wheelwright-shop,
+in which those going by the road stopped to shoe their horses and mend
+their wagons. Between the forge and the road there was a small open
+area, sparsely covered with trampled grass; fragments of wagons and
+broken wheels lay thrown here and there on that place, but there were
+no travellers. Soroka's horses stood tied to a post. Soroka himself was
+talking before the forge to the blacksmith, a Tartar, and two of his
+assistants.
+
+"We shall not have an over-abundant repast," said the prince; "there is
+nothing to be had here."
+
+"We have food and spirits with us," answered Kmita.
+
+"That is well! We shall need strength."
+
+They halted. Kmita thrust his pistol behind his belt, sprang from the
+saddle, and giving his horse to Soroka, seized again the reins of the
+prince's horse, which however Lubyenyets had not let go from his hand
+on the other side.
+
+"Your highness will dismount!" said Kmita.
+
+"Why is that? I will eat and drink in the saddle," said the prince,
+bending down.
+
+"I beg you to come to the ground!" said Kmita, threateningly.
+
+"But into the ground with you!" cried the prince, with a terrible
+voice; and drawing with the quickness of lightning the pistol from
+Kmita's belt, he thundered into his very face.
+
+"Jesus, Mary!" cried Kmita.
+
+At this moment the horse under the prince struck with spurs reared so
+that he stood almost erect; the prince turned like a snake in the
+saddle toward Lubyenyets, and with all the strength of his powerful arm
+struck him with the pistol between the eyes.
+
+Lubyenyets roared terribly and fell from the horse.
+
+Before the others could understand what had happened, before they had
+drawn breath, before the cry of fright had died on their lips, Boguslav
+scattered them as a storm would have done, rushed from the square to
+the road, and shot on like a whirlwind toward Pilvishki.
+
+"Seize him! Hold him! Kill him!" cried wild voices.
+
+Three soldiers who were sitting yet on the horses rushed after him; but
+Soroka seized a musket standing at the wall, and aimed at the fleeing
+man, or rather at his horse.
+
+The horse stretched out like a deer, and moved forward like an arrow
+urged from the string. The shot thundered. Soroka rushed through the
+smoke for a better view of what he had done; he shaded his eyes with
+his hand, gazed awhile, and cried at last,--
+
+"Missed!"
+
+At this moment Boguslav disappeared beyond the bend, and after him
+vanished the pursuers.
+
+Then Soroka turned to the blacksmith and his assistants, who were
+looking up to that moment with dumb astonishment at what had happened,
+and cried,--
+
+"Water!"
+
+The blacksmith ran to draw water, and Soroka knelt near Pan Andrei, who
+was lying motionless. Kmita's face was covered with powder from the
+discharge, and with drops of blood; his eyes were closed, his left brow
+and left temple were blackened. The sergeant began first to feel
+lightly with his fingers the head of his colonel.
+
+"His head is sound."
+
+But Kmita gave no signs of life, and blood came abundantly from his
+face. The blacksmith's assistants brought a bucket of water and a
+cloth. Soroka, with equal deliberation and care, began to wipe Kmita's
+face.
+
+Finally the wound appeared from under the blood and blackness. The ball
+had opened Kmita's left cheek deeply, and had carried away the end of
+his ear. Soroka examined to see if his cheek-bone were broken.
+
+After a while he convinced himself that it was not, and drew a long
+breath. Kmita, under the influence of cold water and pain, began to
+give signs of life. His face quivered, his breast heaved with breath.
+
+"He is alive!--nothing! he will be unharmed," cried Soroka, joyfully;
+and a tear rolled down the murderous face of the sergeant.
+
+Meanwhile at the turn of the road appeared Biloüs, one of the three
+soldiers who had followed the prince.
+
+"Well, what?" called Soroka.
+
+The soldier shook his head. "Nothing!"
+
+"Will the others return soon?"
+
+"The others will not return."
+
+With trembling hands the sergeant laid Kmita's head on the threshold of
+the forge, and sprang to his feet. "How is that?"
+
+"Sergeant, that prince is a wizard! Zavratynski caught up first, for he
+had the best horse, and because the prince let him catch up. Before our
+eyes Boguslav snatched the sabre from his hand and thrust him through.
+We had barely to cry out. Vitkovski was next, and sprang to help; and
+him this Radzivill cut down before my eyes, as if a thunderbolt had
+struck him. He did not give a sound. I did not wait my turn. Sergeant,
+the prince is ready to come back here."
+
+"There is nothing in this place for us," said Soroka. "To horse!"
+
+That moment they began to make a stretcher between the horses for
+Kmita. Two of the soldiers, at the command of Soroka, stood with
+muskets on the road, fearing the return of the terrible man.
+
+But Prince Boguslav, convinced that Kmita was not alive, rode quietly
+to Pilvishki. About dark he was met by a whole detachment of horsemen
+sent out by Patterson, whom the absence of the prince had disturbed for
+some time. The officer, on seeing the prince, galloped to him,--
+
+"Your highness, we did not know--"
+
+"That is nothing!" interrupted Prince Boguslav. "I was riding this
+horse in the company of that cavalier, of whom I bought him."
+
+And after a while he added: "I paid him well."
+
+
+
+
+ CHAPTER XXVIII.
+
+
+The trusty Soroka carried his colonel through the deep forest, not
+knowing himself what to begin, whither to go or to turn.
+
+Kmita was not only wounded, but stunned by the shot. Soroka from time
+to time moistened the piece of cloth in a bucket hanging by the horse,
+and washed his face; at times he halted to take fresh water from the
+streams and forest ponds; but neither halts nor the movement of the
+horse could restore at once consciousness to Pan Andrei, and he lay as
+if dead, till the soldiers going with him, and less experienced in the
+matter of wounds than Soroka, began to be alarmed for the life of their
+colonel.
+
+"He is alive," answered Soroka; "in three days he will be on horseback
+like any of us."
+
+In fact, an hour later, Kmita opened his eyes; but from his mouth came
+forth one word only,--
+
+"Drink!"
+
+Soroka held a cup of pure water to his lips; but it seemed that to open
+his mouth caused Pan Andrei unendurable pain, and he was unable to
+drink. But he did not lose consciousness: he asked for nothing,
+apparently remembered nothing; his eyes were wide open, and he gazed,
+without attention, toward the depth of the forest, on the streaks of
+blue sky visible through the dense branches above their heads, and at
+his comrades, like a man roused from sleep, or like one recovered from
+drunkenness, and permitted Soroka to take care of him without saying a
+word,--nay, the cold water with which the sergeant washed the wound
+seemed to give him pleasure, for at times his eyes smiled. But Soroka
+comforted him,--
+
+"To-morrow the dizziness will pass, Colonel; God grant recovery."
+
+In fact, dizziness began to disappear toward evening; for just before
+the setting of the sun Kmita seemed more self-possessed and asked on a
+sudden, "What noise is that?"
+
+"What noise? There is none," answered Soroka.
+
+Apparently the noise was only in the head of Pan Andrei, for the
+evening was calm. The setting sun, piercing the gloom with its slanting
+rays, filled with golden glitter the forest darkness, and lighted the
+red trunks of the pine-trees. There was no wind, and only here and
+there, from hazel, birch, and hornbeam trees leaves dropped to the
+ground, or timid beasts made slight rustle in fleeing to the depths of
+the forest in front of the horsemen.
+
+The evening was cool; but evidently fever had begun to attack Pan
+Andrei, for he repeated,--
+
+"Your highness, it is life or death between us!"
+
+At last it became dark altogether, and Soroka was thinking of a night
+camp; but because they had entered a damp forest and the ground began
+to yield under the hoofs of their horses, they continued to ride in
+order to reach high and dry places.
+
+They rode one hour and a second without being able to pass the swamp.
+Meanwhile it was growing lighter, for the moon had risen. Suddenly
+Soroka, who was in advance, sprang from the saddle and began to look
+carefully at the ground.
+
+"Horses have passed this way," said he, at sight of tracks in the soft
+earth.
+
+"Who could have passed, when there is no road?" asked one of the
+soldiers supporting Pan Kmita.
+
+"But there are tracks, and a whole crowd of them! Look here between the
+pines,--as evident as on the palm of the hand!"
+
+"Perhaps cattle have passed."
+
+"Impossible. It is not the time of forest pastures; horse-hoofs are
+clearly to be seen, somebody must have passed. It would be well to find
+even a forester's cabin."
+
+"Let us follow the trail."
+
+"Let us ride forward!"
+
+Soroka mounted again and rode on. Horses' tracks in the turfy ground
+were more distinct; and some of them, as far as could be seen in the
+light of the moon, seemed quite fresh. Still the horses sank to their
+knees, and beyond. The soldiers were afraid that they could not wade
+through, or would come to some deeper quagmire; when, at the end of
+half an hour, the odor of smoke and rosin came to their nostrils.
+
+"There must be a pitch-clearing here," said Soroka.
+
+"Yes, sparks are to be seen," said a soldier.
+
+And really in the distance appeared a line of reddish smoke, filled
+with flame, around which were dancing the sparks of a fire burning
+under the ground.
+
+When they had approached, the soldiers saw a cabin, a well, and a
+strong shed built of pine logs. The horses, wearied from the road,
+began to neigh; frequent neighing answered them from under the shed,
+and at the same time there stood before the riders some kind of a
+figure, dressed in sheepskin, wool outward.
+
+"Are there many horses?" asked the man in the sheepskin.
+
+"Is this a pitch-factory?" inquired Soroka.
+
+"What kind of people are ye? Where do ye come from?" asked the
+pitch-maker, in a voice in which astonishment and alarm were evident.
+
+"Never fear!" answered Soroka; "we are not robbers."
+
+"Go your own way; there is nothing for you here."
+
+"Shut thy mouth, and guide us to the house since we ask. Seest not,
+scoundrel, that we are taking a wounded man?"
+
+"What kind of people are ye?"
+
+"Be quick, or we answer from guns. It will be better for thee to hurry.
+Take us to the house; if not, we will cook thee in thy own pitch."
+
+"I cannot defend myself alone, but there will be more of us. Ye will
+lay down your lives here."
+
+"There will be more of us too; lead on!"
+
+"Go on yourselves; it is not my affair."
+
+"What thou hast to eat, give us, and gorailka. We are carrying a man
+who will pay."
+
+"If he leaves here alive."
+
+Thus conversing, they entered the cabin; a fire was burning in the
+chimney, and from pots, hanging by the handles, came the odor of
+boiling meat. The cabin was quite large. Soroka saw at the walls six
+wooden beds, covered thickly with sheepskins.
+
+"This is the resort of some company," muttered he to his comrades.
+"Prime your guns and watch well. Take care of this scoundrel, let him
+not slip away. The owners sleep outside to-night, for we shall not
+leave the house."
+
+"The men will not come to-day," said the pitch-maker.
+
+"That is better, for we shall not quarrel about room, and to-morrow we
+will go on," replied Soroka; "but now dish the meat, for we are hungry,
+and spare no oats on the horses."
+
+"Where can oats be found here, great mighty soldiers?"
+
+"We heard horses under the shed, so there must be oats; thou dost not
+feed them with pitch."
+
+"They are not my horses."
+
+"Whether they are yours or not, they must eat as well as ours. Hurry,
+man, hurry! if thy skin is dear to thee!"
+
+The pitch-maker said nothing. The soldiers entered the house, placed
+the sleeping Kmita on a bed, and sat down to supper. They ate eagerly
+the boiled meat and cabbage, a large kettle of which was in the
+chimney. There was millet also, and in a room at the side of the cabin
+Soroka found a large decanter of spirits.
+
+He merely strengthened himself with it slightly, and gave none to the
+soldiers, for he had determined to hold it in reserve for the night.
+This empty house with six beds for men, and a shed in which a band of
+horses were neighing, seemed to him strange and suspicious. He judged
+simply that this was a robbers' retreat, especially since in the room
+from which he brought the decanter he found many weapons hanging on the
+wall, and a keg of powder, with various furniture, evidently plundered
+from noble houses. In case the absent occupants of the cabin returned,
+it was impossible to expect from them not merely hospitality, but even
+mercy. Soroka therefore resolved to hold the house with armed hand, and
+maintain himself in it by superior force or negotiations.
+
+This was imperative also in view of the health of Pan Kmita, for whom a
+journey might be fatal, and in view of the safety of all.
+
+Soroka was a trained and seasoned soldier, to whom one feeling was
+foreign,--the feeling of fear. Still in that moment, at thought of
+Prince Boguslav, fear seized him. Having been for long years in the
+service of Kmita, he had blind faith, not only in the valor, but the
+fortune of the man; he had seen more than once deeds of his which in
+daring surpassed every measure, and touched almost on madness, but
+which still succeeded and passed without harm. With Kmita he had gone
+through the "raids" on Hovanski; had taken part in all the surprises,
+attacks, fights, and onsets, and had come to the conviction that Pan
+Andrei could do all things, succeed in all things, come out of every
+chaos, and destroy whomsoever he wished. Kmita therefore was for him
+the highest impersonation of power and fortune,--but this time he had
+met his match seemingly, nay, he had met his superior. How was this?
+One man carried away, without weapons, and in Kmita's hands, had freed
+himself from those hands; not only that, he had overthrown Kmita,
+conquered his soldiers, and terrified them so that they ran away in
+fear of his return. That was a wonder of wonders, and Soroka lost his
+head pondering over it. To his thinking, anything might come to pass in
+the world rather than this, that a man might be found who could ride
+over Kmita.
+
+"Has our fortune then ended?" muttered he to himself, gazing around in
+wonder.
+
+It was not long since with eyes shut he followed Pan Kmita to
+Hovanski's quarters surrounded by eighty thousand men; now at the
+thought of that long-haired prince with lady's eyes and a painted face,
+superstitious terror seized him, and he knew not what to do. The
+thought alarmed him, that to-morrow or the next day he would have to
+travel on highways where the terrible prince himself or his pursuers
+might meet him. This was the reason why he had gone from the road to
+the dense forest, and at present wished to stay in that cabin until
+pursuers were deluded and wearied.
+
+But since even that hiding-place did not seem to him safe for other
+reasons, he wished to discover what course to take; therefore he
+ordered the soldiers to stand guard at the door and the windows, and
+said to the pitch-maker,--
+
+"Here, man, take a lantern and come with me."
+
+"I can light the great mighty lord only with a pitch-torch, for we have
+no lantern."
+
+"Then light the torch; if thou burn the shed and the horses, it is all
+one to me."
+
+After such words a lantern was found right away. Soroka commanded the
+fellow to go ahead, and followed himself with a pistol in his hand.
+
+"Who live in this cabin?" asked he on the road.
+
+"Men live here."
+
+"What are their names?"
+
+"That is not free for me to say."
+
+"It seems to me, fellow, that thou'lt get a bullet in thy head."
+
+"My master," answered the pitch-maker, "if I had told in a lie any kind
+of name, you would have to be satisfied."
+
+"True! But are there many of those men?"
+
+"There is an old one, two sons, and two servants."
+
+"Are they nobles?"
+
+"Surely nobles."
+
+"Do they live here?"
+
+"Sometimes here, and sometimes God knows where."
+
+"But the horses, whence are they?"
+
+"God knows whence they bring them."
+
+"Tell the truth; do thy masters not rob on the highway?"
+
+"Do I know? It seems to me they take horses, but whose,--that's not on
+my head."
+
+"What do they do with the horses?"
+
+"Sometimes they take ten or twelve of them, as many as there are, and
+drive them away, but whither I know not."
+
+Thus conversing, they reached the shed, from which was heard the
+snorting of horses.
+
+"Hold the light," said Soroka.
+
+The fellow raised the lantern, and threw light on the horses standing
+in a row at the wall. Soroka examined them one after another with the
+eye of a specialist, shook his head, smacked his lips, and said,--
+
+"The late Pan Zend would have rejoiced. There are Polish and Muscovite
+horses here,--there is a Wallachian, a German,--a mare. Fine horses!
+What dost thou give them to eat?"
+
+"Not to lie, my master, I sowed two fields with oats in springtime."
+
+"Then thy masters have been handling horses since spring?"
+
+"No, but they sent a servant to me with a command."
+
+"Then art thou theirs?"
+
+"I was till they went to the war."
+
+"What war?"
+
+"Do I know? They went far away last year, and came back in the summer."
+
+"Whose art thou now?"
+
+"These are the king's forests."
+
+"Who put thee here to make pitch?"
+
+"The royal forester, a relative of these men, who also brought horses
+with them; but since he went away once with them, he has not come
+back."
+
+"And do guests come to these men?"
+
+"Nobody comes here, for there are swamps around, and only one road. It
+is a wonder to me that ye could come, my master; for whoso does not
+strike the road, will be drawn in by the swamp."
+
+Soroka wanted to answer that he knew these woods and the road very
+well; but after a moment's thought he determined that silence was
+better, and inquired,--
+
+"Are these woods very great?"
+
+The fellow did not understand the question. "How is that?"
+
+"Do they go far?"
+
+"Oh! who has gone through them? Where one ends another begins, and God
+knows where they are not; I have never been in that place."
+
+"Very well!" said Soroka.
+
+Then he ordered the man to go back to the cabin, and followed himself.
+
+On the way he was pondering over what he should do, and hesitated.
+On one hand the wish came to him to take the horses while the
+cabin-dwellers were gone, and flee with this plunder. The booty was
+precious, and the horses pleased the old soldier's heart greatly; but
+after a while he overcame the temptation. To take them was easy, but
+what to do further. Swamps all around, one egress,--how hit upon that?
+Chance had served him once, but perhaps it would not a second time. To
+follow the trail of hoofs was useless, for the cabin-dwellers had
+surely wit enough to make by design false and treacherous trails
+leading straight into quagmires. Soroka knew clearly the methods of men
+who steal horses, and of those who take booty.
+
+He thought awhile, therefore, and meditated; all at once he struck his
+head with his fist,--
+
+"I am a fool!" muttered he. "I'll take the fellow on a rope, and make
+him lead me to the highway."
+
+Barely had he uttered the last word when he shuddered, "To the highway?
+But that prince will be there, and pursuit. To lose fifteen horses!"
+said the old fox to himself, with as much sorrow as if he had cared for
+the beasts from their colthood. "It must be that our fortune is ended.
+We must stay in the cabin till Pan Kmita recovers,--stay with consent
+of the owners or without their consent; and what will come later, that
+is work for the colonel's head."
+
+Thus meditating, he returned to the cabin. The watchful soldiers were
+standing at the door, and though they saw a lantern shining in
+the dark from a distance,--the same lantern with which Soroka and the
+pitch-maker had gone out,--still they forced them to tell who they were
+before they let them enter the cabin. Soroka ordered his soldiers to
+change the watch about midnight, and threw himself down on the plank
+bed beside Kmita.
+
+It had become quiet in the cabin; only the crickets raised their usual
+music in the adjoining closet, and the mice gnawed from moment to
+moment among the rubbish piled up there. The sick man woke at intervals
+and seemed to have dreams in his fever, for to Soroka's ears came the
+disconnected words,--
+
+"Gracious king, pardon--Those men are traitors--I will tell all their
+secrets--The Commonwealth is a red cloth--Well, I have you, worthy
+prince--Hold him!--Gracious king, this way, for there is treason!"
+
+Soroka rose on the bed and listened; but the sick man, when he had
+screamed once and a second time, fell asleep, and then woke and
+cried,--
+
+"Olenka, Olenka, be not angry!"
+
+About midnight he grew perfectly calm and slept soundly. Soroka also
+began to slumber; but soon a gentle knocking at the door of the cabin
+roused him.
+
+The watchful soldier opened his eyes at once, and springing to his feet
+went out.
+
+"But what is the matter?" asked he.
+
+"Sergeant, the pitch-maker has escaped."
+
+"A hundred devils! he'll bring robbers to us right away."
+
+"Who was watching him?"
+
+"Biloüs."
+
+"I went with him to water our horses," said Biloüs, explaining. "I
+ordered him to draw the water, and held the horses myself."
+
+"And what? Did he jump into the well?"
+
+"No, Sergeant, but between the logs, of which there are many near the
+well, and into the stump-holes. I let the horses go; for though they
+scattered there are others here, and sprang after him, but I fell into
+the first hole. It was night,--dark; the scoundrel knows the place, and
+ran away. May the pest strike him!"
+
+"He will bring those devils here to us,--he'll bring them. May the
+thunderbolts split him!"
+
+The sergeant stopped, but after a while said,--
+
+"We will not lie down; we must watch till morning. Any moment a crowd
+may come."
+
+And giving an example to the others, he took his place on the threshold
+of the cabin with a musket in his hand. The soldiers sat near him
+talking in an undertone, listening sometimes to learn if in the night
+sounds of the pine-woods the tramp and snort of coming horses could
+reach them.
+
+It was a moonlight night, and calm, but noisy. In the forest depths
+life was seething. It was the season of mating; therefore the
+wilderness thundered with terrible bellowing of stags. These sounds,
+short, hoarse, full of anger and rage, were heard round about in all
+parts of the forest, distant and near,--sometimes right there, as if a
+hundred yards from the cabin.
+
+"If men come, they will bellow too, to mislead us," said Biloüs.
+
+"Eh! they will not come to-night. Before the pitch-maker finds them
+'twill be day," said the other soldiers.
+
+"In the daytime, Sergeant, it would be well to examine the cabin and
+dig under the walls; for if robbers dwell here there must be
+treasures."
+
+"The best treasures are in that stable," said Soroka, pointing with his
+finger to the shed.
+
+"But we'll take them?"
+
+"Ye are fools! there is no way out,--nothing but swamps all around."
+
+"But we came in."
+
+"God guided us. A living soul cannot come here or leave here without
+knowing the road."
+
+"We will find it in the daytime."
+
+"We shall not find it, for tracks are made everywhere purposely, and
+the trails are misleading. It was not right to let the man go."
+
+"It is known that the highroad is a day's journey distant, and in that
+direction," said Biloüs.
+
+Here he pointed with his finger to the eastern part of the forest.
+
+"We will ride on till we pass through,--that's what we'll do! You think
+that you will be a lord when you touch the highway? Better the bullet
+of a robber here than a rope there."
+
+"How is that, father?" asked Biloüs.
+
+"They are surely looking for us there."
+
+"Who, father?"
+
+"The prince."
+
+Soroka was suddenly silent; and after him were silent the others, as if
+seized with fear.
+
+"Oi!" said Biloüs, at last. "It is bad here and bad there; though you
+twist, you can't turn."
+
+"They have driven us poor devils into a net; here robbers, and there
+the prince," said another soldier.
+
+"May the thunderbolts burn them there! I would rather have to do with a
+robber than with a wizard," added Biloüs; "for that prince is
+possessed, yes, possessed. Zavratynski could wrestle with a bear, and
+the prince took the sword from his hands as from a child. It can only
+be that he enchanted him, for I saw, too, that when he rushed at
+Vitkovski Boguslav grew up before the eyes to the size of a pine-tree.
+If he had not, I shouldn't have let him go alive."
+
+"But you were a fool not to jump at him."
+
+"What had I to do, Sergeant? I thought this way: he is sitting on the
+best horse; if he wishes, he will run away, but if he attacks me I
+shall not be able to defend myself, for with a wizard is a power not
+human! He becomes invisible to the eye or surrounds himself with
+dust--"
+
+"That is truth," answered Soroka; "for when I fired at him he was
+surrounded as it were by a fog, and I missed. Any man mounted may miss
+when the horse is moving, but on the ground that has not happened to me
+for ten years."
+
+"What's the use in talking?" said Biloüs, "better count: Lyubyenyets,
+Vitkovski, Zavratynski, our colonel; and one man brought them all down,
+and he without arms,--such men that each of them has many a time stood
+against four. Without the help of the devil he could not have done
+this."
+
+"Let us commend our souls to God; for if he is possessed, the devil
+will show him the road to this place."
+
+"But without that he has long arms for such a lord."
+
+"Quiet!" exclaimed Soroka, quickly; "something is making the leaves
+rustle."
+
+The soldiers were quiet and bent their ears. Near by, indeed, were
+heard some kind of heavy steps, under which the fallen leaves rustled
+very clearly.
+
+"I hear horses," whispered Soroka.
+
+But the steps began to retreat from the cabin, and soon after was heard
+the threatening and hoarse bellowing of a stag.
+
+"That is a stag! He is making himself known to a doe, or fighting off
+another horned fellow."
+
+"Throughout the whole forest are entertainments as at the wedding of
+Satan."
+
+They were silent again and began to doze. The sergeant raised his head
+at times and listened for a while, then dropped it toward his breast.
+Thus passed an hour, and a second; at last the nearest pine-trees from
+being black became gray, and the tops grew whiter each moment, as some
+one had burnished them with molten silver. The bellowing of stags
+ceased, and complete stillness reigned the forest depths. Dawn passed
+gradually into day; the white and pale light began to absorb rosy and
+gold gleams; at last perfect morning had come, and lighted the tired
+faces of the soldiers sleeping a firm sleep at the cabin.
+
+Then the door opened, Kmita appeared on the threshold and called,--
+
+"Soroka! come here!"
+
+The soldiers sprang up.
+
+"For God's sake, is your grace on foot?" asked Soroka.
+
+"But you have slept like oxen; it would have been possible to cut off
+your heads and throw them out before any one would have been roused."
+
+"We watched till morning, Colonel; we fell asleep or in the broad day."
+
+Kmita looked around. "Where are we?"
+
+"In the forest, Colonel."
+
+"I see that myself. But what sort of a cabin is this?"
+
+"We know not ourselves."
+
+"Follow me," said Kmita. And he turned to the inside of the cabin.
+Soroka followed.
+
+"Listen," said Kmita, sitting on the bed. "Did the prince fire at me?"
+
+"He did."
+
+"And what happened to him?"
+
+"He escaped."
+
+A moment of silence followed.
+
+"That is bad," said Kmita, "very bad! Better to lay him down than to
+let him go alive."
+
+"We wanted to do that, but--"
+
+"But what?"
+
+Soroka told briefly all that had happened. Kmita listened with
+wonderful calmness; but his eyes began to glitter, and at last he
+said,--
+
+"Then he is victor; but we'll meet again. Why did you leave the
+highroad?"
+
+"I was afraid of pursuit."
+
+"That was right, for surely there was pursuit. There are too few of us
+now to fight against Boguslav's power,--too few. Besides, he has gone
+to Prussia; we cannot reach him there, we must wait--"
+
+Soroka was relieved. Pan Kmita evidently did not fear Boguslav greatly,
+since he talked of overtaking him. This confidence was communicated at
+once to the old soldier accustomed to think with the head of his
+colonel and to feel with his heart.
+
+Meanwhile Pan Andrei, who had fallen into deep thought, came to himself
+on a sudden, and began to seek something about his person with both his
+hands.
+
+"Where are my letters?" asked he.
+
+"What letters?"
+
+"Letters that I had on my body. They were fastened to my belt; where is
+the belt?" asked Pan Andrei, in haste.
+
+"I unbuckled the belt myself, that your grace might breathe more
+easily; there it is."
+
+"Bring it."
+
+Soroka gave him a belt lined with white leather, to which a bag was
+attached by cords. Kmita untied it and took out papers hastily.
+
+"These are passes to the Swedish commandants; but where are the
+letters?" asked he, in a voice full of disquiet.
+
+"What letters?" asked Soroka.
+
+"Hundreds of thunders! the letters of the hetman to the Swedish King,
+to Pan Lyubomirski, and all those that I had."
+
+"If they are not on the belt, they are nowhere. They must have been
+lost in the time of the riding."
+
+"To horse and look for them!" cried Kmita, in a terrible voice.
+
+But before the astonished Soroka could leave the room Pan Andrei sank
+to the bed as if strength had failed him, and seizing his head with his
+hands, began to repeat in a groaning voice,--
+
+"Ai! my letters, my letters!"
+
+Meanwhile the soldiers rode off, except one, whom Soroka commanded to
+guard the cabin. Kmita remained alone in the room, and began to
+meditate over his position, which was not deserving of envy. Boguslav
+had escaped. Over Pan Andrei was hanging the terrible and inevitable
+vengeance of the powerful Radzivills. And not only over him, but over
+all whom he loved, and speaking briefly, over Olenka. Kmita knew that
+Prince Yanush would not hesitate to strike where he could wound him
+most painfully,--that is, to pour out his vengeance on the person of
+Panna Billevich. And Olenka was still in Kyedani at the mercy of the
+terrible magnate, whose heart knew no pity. The more Kmita meditated
+over his position, the more clearly was he convinced that it was simply
+dreadful. After the seizure of Boguslav, the Radzivills will hold him a
+traitor; the adherents of Yan Kazimir, the partisans of Sapyeha, and
+the confederates who had risen up in Podlyasye look on him as a traitor
+now, and a damned soul of the Radzivills. Among the many camps,
+parties, and foreign troops occupying at that moment the fields of the
+Commonwealth, there is not a camp, a party, a body of troops which
+would not count him as the greatest and most malignant enemy. Indeed,
+the reward offered for his head by Hovanski is still in force, and now
+Radzivill and the Swedes will offer rewards,--and who knows if the
+adherents of the unfortunate Yan Kazimir have not already proclaimed
+one?
+
+"I have brewed beer and must drink it," thought Kmita. When he bore
+away Prince Boguslav, he did so to throw him at the feet of the
+confederate's, to convince them beyond question that he had broken with
+the Radzivills, to purchase a place with them, to win the right of
+fighting for the king and the country. Besides, Boguslav in his hands
+was a hostage for the safety of Olenka. But since Boguslav has crushed
+Kmita and escaped, not only is Olenka's safety gone, but also the proof
+that Kmita has really left the service of the Radzivills. But the road
+to the confederates is open to him; and if he meets Volodyovski's
+division and his friends the colonels, they may grant him his life, but
+will they take him as a comrade, will they believe him, will they not
+think that he has appeared as a spy, or has come to tamper with their
+courage and bring over people to Radzivill? Here he remembered that the
+blood of confederates was weighing on him; that to begin with, he had
+struck down the Hungarians and dragoons in Kyedani, that he had
+scattered the mutinous squadrons or forced them to yield, that he had
+shot stubborn officers and exterminated soldiers, that he had
+surrounded Kyedani with trenches and fortified it, and thus assured the
+triumph of Radzivill in Jmud. "How could I go?" thought he; "the plague
+would in fact be a more welcome guest there than I! With Boguslav on a
+lariat at the saddle it would be possible; but with only my mouth and
+empty hands!"
+
+If he had those letters he might join the confederates, he would have
+had Prince Yanush in hand, for those letters might undermine the credit
+of the hetman, even with the Swedes,--even with the price of them he
+might save Olenka; but some evil spirit had so arranged that the
+letters were lost.
+
+When Kmita comprehended all this, he seized his own head a second time.
+
+"For the Radzivills a traitor, for Olenka a traitor, for the
+confederate's a traitor, for the king a traitor! I have ruined my fame,
+my honor, myself, and Olenka!"
+
+The wound in his face was burning, but in his soul hot pain, a
+hundred-fold greater, was burning him. In addition to all, his
+self-love as a knight was suffering. For he was shamefully beaten by
+Boguslav. Those slashes which Volodyovski had given him in Lyubich were
+nothing. There he was finished by an armed man whom he had called out
+in a duel, here by a defenceless prisoner whom he had in his hand.
+
+With every moment increased in Kmita the consciousness of how terrible
+and shameful was the plight into which he had fallen. The longer he
+examined it the more clearly he saw its horror; and every moment he saw
+new black corners from which were peering forth infamy and shame,
+destruction to himself, to Olenka, wrong against the country,--till at
+last terror and amazement seized him.
+
+"Have I done all this?" asked he of himself; and the hair stood on his
+head.
+
+"Impossible! It must be that fever is shaking me yet," cried he.
+"Mother of God, this is not possible!"
+
+"Blind, foolish quarreller," said his conscience, "this would not have
+come to thee in fighting for the king and the country, nor if thou
+hadst listened to Olenka."
+
+And sorrow tore him like a whirlwind. Hei! if only he could say to
+himself: "The Swedes against the country, I against them! Radzivill
+against the king, I against him!" Then it would be clear and
+transparent in his soul. Then he might collect a body of cut-throats
+from under a dark star and, frolic with them as a gypsy at a fair, fall
+upon the Swedes, and ride over their breasts with pure heart and
+conscience; then he might stand in glory as in sunlight before Olenka,
+and say,--
+
+"I am no longer infamous, but _defensor patriæ_ (a defender of the
+country); love me, as I love thee."
+
+But what was he now? That insolent spirit, accustomed to
+self-indulgence, would not confess to a fault altogether at first. It
+was the Radzivills who (according to him) had pushed him down in this
+fashion; it was the Radzivills who had brought him to ruin, covered him
+with evil repute, bound his hands, despoiled him of honor and love.
+
+Here Pan Kmita gnashed his teeth, stretched out his hands toward Jmud,
+on which Yanush, the hetman, was sitting like a wolf on a corpse, and
+began to call out in a voice choking with rage,--
+
+"Vengeance! Vengeance!"
+
+Suddenly he threw himself in despair on his knees in the middle of the
+room, and began to cry,--
+
+"I vow to thee, O Lord Christ, to bend those traitors and gallop over
+them with justice, with fire, and with sword, to cut them, while there
+is breath in my throat, steam in my mouth, and life for me in this
+world! So help me, O Nazarene King! Amen!"
+
+Some kind of internal voice told him in that moment, "Serve the
+country, vengeance afterward."
+
+Pan Andrei's eyes were flaming, his lips were baked, and he trembled as
+in a fever; he waved his hands, and talking with himself aloud, walked,
+or rather ran, through the room, kicked the bed with his feet; at last
+he threw himself once more on his knees.
+
+"Inspire me, O Christ, what to do, lest I fall into frenzy."
+
+At that moment came the report of a gun, which the forest echo threw
+from pine-tree to pine-tree till it brought it like thunder to the
+cabin.
+
+Kmita sprang up, and seizing his sabre ran out.
+
+"What is that?" asked he of the soldier standing at the threshold.
+
+"A shot, Colonel."
+
+"Where is Soroka?"
+
+"He went to look for the letters."
+
+"In what direction was the shot?"
+
+The soldier pointed to the eastern part of the forest, which was
+overgrown with dense underwood.
+
+"There!"
+
+At that moment was heard the tramp of horses not yet visible.
+
+"Be on your guard!" cried Kmita.
+
+But from out the thicket appeared Soroka, hurrying as fast as his horse
+could gallop, and after him the other soldier. They rushed up to the
+cabin, sprang from the horses, and from behind them, as from behind
+breastworks, took aim at the thicket.
+
+"What is there?" asked Kmita.
+
+"A party is coming," answered Soroka.
+
+
+
+
+ CHAPTER XXIX.
+
+
+Silence succeeded; but soon something began to rustle in the near
+thicket, as if wild beasts were passing. The movement, however, grew
+slower the nearer it came. Then there was silence a second time.
+
+"How many of them are there?" asked Kmita. "About six, and perhaps
+eight; for to tell the truth I could not count them surely," said
+Soroka.
+
+"That is our luck! They cannot stand against us."
+
+"They cannot. Colonel; but we must take one of them alive, and scorch
+him so that he will show the road."
+
+"There will be time for that. Be watchful!"
+
+Kmita had barely said, "Be watchful," when a streak of white smoke
+bloomed forth from the thicket, and you would have said that birds had
+fluttered in the near grass, about thirty yards from the cabin.
+
+"They shot from old guns, with hob-nails!" said Kmita; "if they have
+not muskets, they will do nothing to us, for old guns will not carry
+from the thicket."
+
+Soroka, holding with one hand the musket resting on the saddle of the
+horse standing in front of him, placed the other hand in the form of a
+trumpet before his mouth, and shouted,--
+
+"Let any man come out of the bushes, he will cover himself with his
+legs right away."
+
+A moment of silence followed; then a threatening voice was heard in the
+thicket,--
+
+"What kind of men are you?"
+
+"Better than those who rob on the highroad."
+
+"By what right have you found out our dwelling?"
+
+"A robber asks about right! The hangman will show you right! Come to
+the cabin."
+
+"We will smoke you out just as if you were badgers."
+
+"But come on; only see that the smoke does not stifle you too."
+
+The voice in the thicket was silent; the invaders, it seemed, had begun
+to take counsel. Meanwhile Soroka whispered to Kmita,--
+
+"We must decoy some one hither, and bind him; we shall then have a
+guide and a hostage."
+
+"Pshaw!" answered Kmita, "if any one comes it will be on parole."
+
+"With robbers parole may be broken."
+
+"It is better not to give it!" said Kmita.
+
+With that questions sounded again from the thicket.
+
+"What do you want?"
+
+Now Kmita began to speak. "We should have gone as we came if you had
+known politeness and not fired from a gun."
+
+"You will not stay there,--there will be a hundred horse of us in the
+evening."
+
+"Before evening two hundred dragoons will come, and your swamps will
+not save you, for they will pass as we passed."
+
+"Are you soldiers?"
+
+"We are not robbers, you may be sure."
+
+"From what squadron?"
+
+"But are you hetman? We will not report to you."
+
+"The wolves will devour you, in old fashion."
+
+"And the crows will pick you!"
+
+"Tell what you want, a hundred devils! Why did you come to our cabin?"
+
+"Come yourselves, and you will not split your throat crying from the
+thicket. Nearer, nearer!"
+
+"On your word."
+
+"A word is for knights, not for robbers. If it please you, believe; if
+not, believe not."
+
+"May two come?"
+
+"They may."
+
+After a while from out the thicket a hundred yards distant appeared two
+men, tall and broad-shouldered. One somewhat bent seemed to be a man of
+years; the other went upright, but stretched his neck with curiosity
+toward the cabin. Both wore short sheepskin coats covered with gray
+cloth of the kind used by petty nobles, high cowhide boots, and fur
+caps drawn down to their ears.
+
+"What the devil!" said Kmita, examining the two men with care.
+
+"Colonel!" cried Soroka, "a miracle indeed, but those are our people."
+
+Meanwhile they approached within a few steps, but could not see the men
+standing near the cabin, for the horses concealed them.
+
+All at once Kmita stepped forward. Those approaching did not recognize
+him, however, for his face was bound up; they halted, and began to
+measure him with curious and unquiet eyes.
+
+"And where is the other son, Pan Kyemlich?" asked Kmita; "he has not
+fallen, I hope."
+
+"Who is that--how is that--what--who is talking?" asked the old man, in
+a voice of amazement and as it were terrified.
+
+And he stood motionless, with mouth and eyes widely open; then the son,
+who since he was younger had quicker vision, took the cap from his
+head.
+
+"For God's sake, father! that's the colonel!" cried he.
+
+"O Jesus! sweet Jesus!" cried the old man, "that is Pan Kmita!"
+
+And both took the fixed posture of subordinates saluting their
+commanders, and on their faces were depicted both shame and wonder.
+
+"Ah! such sons," said Pan Andrei, laughing, "and greeted me from a
+gun?"
+
+Here the old man began to shout,--
+
+"Come this way, all of you! Come!"
+
+From the thicket appeared a number of men, among whom were the second
+son of the old man and the pitch-maker; all ran up at breakneck speed
+with weapons ready, for they knew not what had happened. But the old
+man shouted again,--
+
+"To your knees, rogues, to your knees! This is Pan Kmita! What fool was
+it who fired? Give him this way!"
+
+"It was you, father," said young Kyemlich.
+
+"You lie,--you lie like a dog! Pan Colonel, who could know that it was
+your grace who had come to our cabin? As God is true, I do not believe
+my own eyes yet."
+
+"I am here in person," answered Kmita, stretching his hand toward him.
+
+"O Jesus!" said the old man, "such a guest in the pine-woods. I cannot
+believe my own eyes. With what can we receive your grace here? If we
+expected, if we knew!"
+
+Here he turned to his sons: "Run, some blockhead, to the cellar, bring
+mead!"
+
+"Give the key to the padlock, father."
+
+The old man began to feel in his belt, and at the same time looked
+suspiciously at his son.
+
+"The key of the padlock? But I know thee, gypsy; thou wilt drink more
+thyself than thou'lt bring. What's to be done? I'll go myself; he wants
+the key of the padlock! But go roll off the logs, and I'll open and
+bring it myself."
+
+"I see that you have spoons hidden under the logs, Pan Kyemlich," said
+Kmita.
+
+"But can anything be kept from such robbers!" asked the old man,
+pointing to the sons. "They would eat up their father. Ye are still
+here? Go roll away the logs. Is this the way ye obey him who begat
+you?"
+
+The young men went quickly behind the cabin to the pile of logs.
+
+"You are in disagreement with your sons in old fashion, it seems?" said
+Kmita.
+
+"Who could be in agreement with them? They know how to fight, they know
+how to take booty; but when it comes to divide with their father, I
+must tear my part from them at risk of my life. Such is the pleasure I
+have; but they are like wild bulls. I beg your grace to the cabin, for
+the cold bites out here. For God's sake! such a guest, such a guest!
+And under the command of your grace we took more booty than during this
+whole year. We are in poverty now, wretchedness! Evil times, and always
+worse; and old age, too, is no joy. I beg you to the cabin, over our
+lowly threshold. For God's sake! who could have looked for your grace
+here!"
+
+Old Kyemlich spoke with a marvellously rapid and complaining utterance,
+and while speaking cast quick, restless glances on every side. He was a
+bony old man, enormous in stature, with a face ever twisted and sullen!
+He, as well as his two sons, had crooked eyes. His brows were bushy,
+and also his mustaches, from beneath which protruded beyond measure an
+underlip, which when he spoke came to his nose, as happens with men who
+are toothless. The agedness of his face was in wonderful contrast to
+the quickness of his movements, which displayed unusual strength and
+alertness. His movements were as rapid as if a spring stirred him; he
+turned his head continually, trying to take in with his eyes everything
+around,--men as well as things. Toward Kmita he became every minute
+more humble, in proportion as subservience to his former leader, fear,
+and perhaps admiration or attachment were roused in him.
+
+Kmita knew the Kyemliches well, for the father and two sons had served
+under him when single-handed he had carried on war in White Russia with
+Hovanski. They were valiant soldiers, and as cruel as valiant. One son,
+Kosma, was standard-bearer for a time in Kmita's legion; but he soon
+resigned that honorable office, since it prevented him from taking
+booty. Among the gamblers and unbridled souls who formed Kmita's
+legion, and who drank away and lost in the day what they won with blood
+in the night from the enemy, the Kyemliches were distinguished for
+mighty greed. They accumulated booty carefully, and hid it in the
+woods. They took with special eagerness horses, which they sold
+afterward at country houses and in towns. The father fought no worse
+than the twin sons, but after each battle he dragged away from them the
+most considerable part of the booty, scattering at the same time
+complaints and regrets that they were wronging him, threatening a
+father's curse, groaning and lamenting. The sons grumbled at him, but
+being sufficiently stupid by nature they let themselves be tyrannized
+over. In spite of their endless squabbles and scoldings, they stood up,
+one for the other, in battle venomously without sparing blood. They
+were not liked by their comrades, but were feared universally, for in
+quarrels they were terrible; even officers avoided provoking them.
+Kmita was the one man who had roused indescribable fear in them, and
+after Kmita, Pan Ranitski, before whom they trembled when from anger
+his face was covered with spots. They revered also in both lofty birth;
+for the Kmitas, from old times, had high rank in Orsha, and in Ranitski
+flowed senatorial blood.
+
+It was said in the legion that they had collected great treasures, but
+no one knew surely that there was truth in this statement. On a certain
+day Kmita sent them away with attendants and a herd of captured horses;
+from that time they vanished. Kmita thought that they had fallen; his
+soldiers said that they had escaped with the horses, the temptation in
+this case being too great for their hearts. Now, as Pan Andrei saw them
+in health, and as in a shed near the cabin horses were neighing, and
+the rejoicing and subservience of the old man were mingled with
+disquiet, he thought that his soldiers were right in their judgment.
+Therefore, when they had entered the cabin he sat on a plank bed, and
+putting his hands on his sides, looked straight into the old man's eyes
+and asked,--
+
+"Kyemlich, where are my horses?"
+
+"Jesus! sweet Jesus!" groaned the old man. "Zolotarenko's men took the
+horses; they beat us and wounded us, drove us ninety miles; we hardly
+escaped with our lives. Oh, Most Holy Mother! we could not find either
+your grace or your men. They drove us thus far into these pine-woods,
+into misery and hunger, to this cabin and these swamps. God is kind
+that your grace is living and in health, though, I see, wounded. Maybe
+we can nurse you, and put on herbs; and those sons of mine went to roll
+off the logs, and they have disappeared. What are the rogues doing?
+They are ready to take out the door and get at the mead. Hunger here
+and misery; nothing more! We live on mushrooms; but for your grace
+there will be something to drink and a bite to eat. Those men took the
+horses from us, robbed us,--there is no denying that! And they deprived
+us of service with your grace. We shall not have a bit of bread for old
+age, unless your grace takes us back into service."
+
+"That may happen too," answered Kmita.
+
+Now the two sons of the old man came in,--Kosma and Damian, twins, big
+fellows, awkward, with enormous heads completely overgrown with an
+immensely thick bush of hair, stiff as a brush, sticking out unevenly
+around the ears, forming hair-screws and fantastic tufts on their
+skulls. When they came in they stood near the door, for in presence of
+Kmita they dared not sit down; and Damian said,--
+
+"The cellar is cleared."
+
+"'Tis well," answered old Kyemlich, "I will go to bring mead."
+
+Here he looked significantly at his sons.
+
+"And Zolotarenko's men took the horses," said he, with emphasis; and
+went out of the cabin.
+
+Kmita glanced at the two who stood by the door, and who looked as if
+they had been hewn out of logs roughly with an axe.
+
+"What are you doing now?"
+
+"We take horses!" answered the twins at the same time.
+
+"From whom?"
+
+"From whomsoever comes along."
+
+"But mostly?"
+
+"From Zolotarenko's men."
+
+"That is well, you are free to take from the enemy; but if you take
+from your own you are robbers, not nobles. What do you do with those
+horses?"
+
+"Father sells them in Prussia."
+
+"Has it happened to you to take from the Swedes? Swedish companies are
+not far from here. Have you attacked the Swedes?"
+
+"We have."
+
+"Then you fall on single men or small companies; but when they defend
+themselves, what then?"
+
+"We pound them."
+
+"Ah, ha, you pound them! Then you have a reckoning with Zolotarenko's
+men and with the Swedes, and surely you could not have got away dry had
+you fallen into their hands."
+
+Kosma and Damian were silent.
+
+"You are carrying on a dangerous business, more becoming to robbers
+than nobles. It must be, also, that some sentences are hanging over you
+from old times?"
+
+"Of course there are!" answered Kosma and Damian.
+
+"So I thought. From what parts are you?"
+
+"We are from these parts."
+
+"Where did your father live before?"
+
+"In Borovichko."
+
+"Was that his village?"
+
+"Yes, together with Pan Kopystynski."
+
+"And what became of him?"
+
+"We killed him."
+
+"And you had to flee before the law. It will be short work with you
+Kyemliches, and you'll finish on trees. The hangman will light you, it
+cannot be otherwise!"
+
+Just then the door of the room creaked, and the old man came in
+bringing a decanter of mead and two glasses. He looked unquietly at his
+sons and at Kmita, and then said,--
+
+"Go and cover the cellar."
+
+The twins went out at once. The old man poured mead into one glass; the
+other he left empty, waiting to see if Kmita would let him drink with
+him.
+
+But Kmita was not able to drink himself, for he even spoke with
+difficulty, such pain did the wound cause him. Seeing this, the old man
+said,--
+
+"Mead is not good for the wound, unless poured in, to clear it out more
+quickly. Your grace, let me look at the wound and dress it, for I
+understand this matter as well as a barber."
+
+Kmita consented. Kyemlich removed the bandage, and began to examine the
+wound carefully.
+
+"The skin is taken off, that's nothing! The ball passed along the
+outside; but still it is swollen."
+
+"That is why it pains me."
+
+"But it is not two days old. Most Holy Mother! some one who must have
+been very near shot at your grace."
+
+"How do you know that?"
+
+"Because all the powder was not burned, and grains like cockle are
+under the skin. They will stay with your grace. Now we need only bread
+and spider-web. Terribly near was the man who fired. It is well that he
+did not kill your grace."
+
+"It was not fated me. Mix the bread and the spider-web and put them on
+as quickly as possible, for I must talk with you, and my jaws pain me."
+
+The old man looked suspiciously at the colonel, for in his heart there
+was fear that the talk might touch again on the horses said to have
+been taken by the Cossacks; but he busied himself at once, kneaded the
+moistened bread first, and since it was not hard to find spider-webs in
+the cabin he attended promptly to Kmita.
+
+"I am easy now," said Pan Andrei; "sit down, worthy Kyemlich."
+
+"According to command of the colonel," answered the old man, sitting on
+the edge of a bench and stretching out his iron-gray bristly head
+uneasily toward Kmita.
+
+But Kmita, instead of conversing, took his own head in his hands and
+fell into deep thought. Then he rose and began to walk in the room; at
+moments he halted before Kyemlich and gazed at him with distraught
+look; apparently he was weighing something, wrestling with thoughts.
+Meanwhile about half an hour passed; the old man squirmed more and more
+uneasily. All at once Kmita stopped before him.
+
+"Worthy Kyemlich," said he, "where are the nearest of those squadrons
+which rose up against the prince voevoda of Vilna?"
+
+The old man began to wink his eyes suspiciously. "Does your grace wish
+to go to them?"
+
+"I do not request you to ask, but to answer."
+
+"They say that one squadron is quartered in Shchuchyn,--that one which
+came here last from Jmud."
+
+"Who said so?"
+
+"The men of the squadron themselves."
+
+"Who led it?"
+
+"Pan Volodyovski."
+
+"That's well. Call Soroka!"
+
+The old man went out, and returned soon with the sergeant.
+
+"Have the letters been found?" asked Kmita.
+
+"They have not, Colonel," answered Soroka.
+
+Kmita shook his hands. "Oh, misery, misery! You may go, Soroka. For
+those letters which you have lost you deserve to hang. You may go.
+Worthy Kyemlich, have you anything on which to write?"
+
+"I hope to find something," answered the old man.
+
+"Even two leaves of paper and a pen."
+
+The old man vanished through the door of a closet which was evidently a
+storeroom for all kinds of things, but he searched long. Kmita was
+walking the while through the room, and talking to himself,--
+
+"Whether I have the letters or not," said he, "the hetman does not know
+that they are lost, and he will fear lest I publish them. I have him in
+hand. Cunning against cunning! I will threaten to send them to the
+voevoda of Vityebsk. That is what I will do. In God is my hope, that
+the hetman will fear this."
+
+Further thought was interrupted by old Kyemlich, who, coming out of the
+closet, said,--
+
+"Here are three leaves of paper, but no pens or ink."
+
+"No pens? But are there no birds in the woods here? They may be shot
+with a gun."
+
+"There is a falcon nailed over the shed."
+
+"Bring his wing hither quickly!"
+
+Kyemlich shot off with all speed, for in the voice of Kmita was
+impatience, and as it were a fever. He returned in a moment with the
+falcon's wing. Kmita seized it, plucked out a quill, and began to make
+a pen of it with his dagger.
+
+"It will do!" said he, looking at it before the light; "but it is
+easier to cut men's heads than quills. Now we need ink."
+
+So saying, he rolled up his sleeve, cut himself deeply in the arm, and
+moistened the quill in blood.
+
+"Worthy Kyemlich," said he, "leave me."
+
+The old man left the room, and Pan Andrei began to write at once:--
+
+
+I renounce the service of your highness, for I will not serve traitors
+and deceivers. And if I swore on the crucifix not to leave your
+highness, God will forgive me; and even if he were to damn me, I would
+rather burn for my error than for open and purposed treason to my
+country and king. Your highness deceived me, so that I was like a blind
+sword in your hand, ready to spill the blood of my brethren. Therefore
+I summon your highness to the judgment of God, so that it may be known
+on whose side was treason, and on whose honest intention. Should we
+ever meet, though you are powerful and able to strike unto death, not
+only a private man, but the whole Commonwealth, and I have only a sabre
+in my hand, still I will vindicate my own, and will strike your
+highness, for which my regret and compunction will give me power. And
+your highness knows that I am of those who without attendant squadrons,
+without castles and cannon, can injure. While in me there is breath,
+over you there is vengeance, so that you can be sure neither of the day
+nor the hour. And this is as certain to be as that this is my own blood
+with which I write. I have your letters, letters to ruin you, not only
+with the King of Poland, but the King of Sweden, for in them treason to
+the Commonwealth is made manifest, as well as this too, that you are
+ready to desert the Swedes if only a leg totters under them. Even had
+you twice your present power, your ruin is in my hands, for all men
+must believe signatures and seals. Therefore I say this to your
+highness: If a hair falls from the heads which I love and which are
+left in Kyedani, I will send those letters and documents to Pan
+Sapyeha, and I will have copies printed and scattered through the land.
+Your highness can go by land or water (you have your choice); but after
+the war, when peace comes to the Commonwealth, you will give me the
+Billeviches, and I will give you the letters, or if I hear evil tidings
+Pan Sapyeha will show them straightway to Pontus de la Gardie. Your
+highness wants a crown, but where will you put it when your head falls
+either from the Polish or the Swedish axe? It is better, I think, to
+have this understanding now; though I shall not forget revenge
+hereafter, I shall take it only in private, excepting this case. I
+would commend you to God were it not that you put the help of the devil
+above that of God. Kmita.
+
+P. S. Your highness will not poison the confederates, for there will be
+those who, going from the service of the devil to that of God, will
+forewarn them to drink beer neither in Orel nor Zabludovo.
+
+
+Here Kmita sprang up and began to walk across the room. His face was
+burning, for his own letter had heated him like fire. This letter was a
+declaration of war against the Radzivills; but still Kmita felt in
+himself some extraordinary power, and was ready, even at that moment,
+to stand eye to eye before that powerful family who shook the whole
+country. He, a simple noble, a simple knight, an outlaw pursued by
+justice, who expected assistance from no place, who had offended all so
+that everywhere he was accounted an enemy,--he, recently overthrown,
+felt in himself now such power that he saw, as if with the eyes of a
+prophet, the humiliation of Prince Yanush and Boguslav, and his own
+victory. How he would wage war, where he would find allies, in what way
+he would conquer, he knew not,--what is more, he had not thought of
+this. But he had profound faith that he would do what he ought to
+do,--that is, what is right and just, in return for which God would be
+with him. He was filled with confidence beyond measure and bounds. It
+had become sensibly easier in his soul. Certain new regions were opened
+as it were entirely before him. Let him but sit on his horse and ride
+thither to honor, to glory, to Olenka.
+
+"But a hair will not fall from her head," repeated he to himself, with
+a certain feverish joy; "the letters will defend her. The hetman will
+guard her as the eye in his head,--as I myself would. Oh, I have
+settled this! I am a poor worm, but they will be afraid of my sting."
+
+Then this thought came to him: "And shall I write to her too? The
+messenger who will take the letter to the hetman can give a slip of
+paper to her secretly. Why not inform her that I have broken with the
+Radzivills, and that I am going to seek other service?"
+
+This thought struck his heart greatly. Cutting his arm again, he
+moistened the pen and began to write,--
+
+
+Olenka,--I am no longer on the Radzivill side, for I have seen through
+them at last--
+
+
+But suddenly he stopped, thought awhile, and said to himself, "Let
+deeds, not words, bear witness for me henceforth; I will not write."
+And he tore the paper. But he wrote on a third sheet a short letter to
+Volodyovski in the following words,--
+
+
+Gracious Colonel,--The undersigned friend warns you and the other
+colonels to be on your guard. There were letters from the hetman to
+Prince Boguslav and Pan Harasimovich to poison you, or to have men
+under you in your own quarters. Harasimovich is absent, for he has gone
+with Prince Boguslav to Tyltsa in Prussia; but there may be similar
+commands to other managers. Be careful of those managers, receive
+nothing from them, and at night do not sleep without guards. I know
+also to a certainty that the hetman will march against you soon with an
+army; he is waiting only for cavalry which General de la Gardie is to
+send, fifteen hundred in number. See to it, therefore, that he does not
+fall upon you and destroy you singly. But better send reliable men to
+the voevoda of Vityebsk to come, with all haste and take chief command.
+A well-wisher counsels this,--believe him. Meanwhile keep together,
+choosing quarters for the squadrons one not far from the other, so that
+you may be able to give mutual assistance. The hetman has few cavalry,
+only a small number of dragoons, and Kmita's men, but they are not
+reliable. Kmita himself is absent. The hetman found some other office
+for him; it being likely that he does not trust him. Kmita too is not
+such a traitor as men say; he is merely led astray. I commit you to
+God.
+
+ Babinich.
+
+
+Pan Andrei did not wish to put his own name to the letter, for he
+judged that it would rouse in each one aversion and especially
+distrust. "In case they understand," thought he, "that it would be
+better for them to retreat before the hetman than to meet him in a
+body, they will suspect at once, if they see my name, that I wish to
+collect them, so that the hetman may finish them at a blow; they will
+think this a new trick, but from some Babinich they will receive
+warning more readily."
+
+Pan Andrei called himself Babinich from the village Babiniche, near
+Orsha, which from remote times belonged to the Kmitas.
+
+When he had written the letter, at the end of which he placed a few
+timid words in his own defence, he felt new solace in his heart at the
+thought that with that letter he had rendered the first service, not
+only to Volodyovski and his friends, but to all the colonels who would
+not desert their country for Radzivill. He felt also that that thread
+would go farther. The plight into which he had fallen was difficult,
+indeed, almost desperate; but still there was some help, some issue,
+some narrow path which would lead to the highroad.
+
+But now when Olenka in all probability was safe from the vengeance of
+Radzivill, and the confederates from an unexpected attack. Pan Andrei
+put the question, What was he to do himself?
+
+He had broken with traitors, he had burned the bridges in the rear, he
+wished now to serve his country, to devote to it his strength, his
+health, his life; but how was he to do this, how begin, to what could
+he put his hand?
+
+Again it came to his head to join the confederates; but if they will
+not receive him, if they will proclaim him a traitor and cut him down,
+or what is worse, expel him in disgrace?
+
+"I would rather they killed me!" cried Pan Andrei; and he flushed from
+shame and the feeling of his own disgrace. Perhaps it is easier to save
+Olenka or the confederates than his own fame.
+
+Now the position was really desperate, and again the young hero's soul
+began to seethe.
+
+"But can I not act as I did against Hovanski?" asked he of himself. "I
+will gather a party, will attack the Swedes, burn, pursue. That is
+nothing new for me! No one has resisted them; I will resist until the
+time comes when the whole Commonwealth will ask, as did Lithuania, who
+is that hero who all alone dares to creep into the mouth of the lion?
+Then I will remove my cap and say, 'See, it is I, it is Kmita!'"
+
+And such a burning desire drew him on to that bloody work that he
+wished to rush out of the room and order the Kyemliches, their
+attendants, and his own men to mount and move on. But before he reached
+the door he felt as if some one had suddenly punched him in the breast
+and pushed him back from the threshold. He stood in the middle of the
+room, and looked forward in amazement.
+
+"How is this? Shall I not efface my offences in this way?"
+
+And at once he began to reckon with his own conscience.
+
+"Where is atonement for guilt?" asked his conscience. "Here something
+else is required!"
+
+"What?" asked Kmita.
+
+"With what can thy guilt be effaced, if not with service of some kind,
+difficult and immense, honorable and pure as a tear? Is it service to
+collect a band of ruffians and rage like a whirlwind with them through
+the fields and the wilderness? Dost thou not desire this because
+fighting has for thee a sweet odor, as has roast meat for a dog? That
+is amusement, not service; a carnival, not war; robbery, not defence of
+the country! And didst thou not do the same against Hovanski, but what
+didst thou gain? Ruffians infesting the forests are ready also to
+attack the Swedish commands, and whence canst thou get other men? Thou
+wilt attack the Swedes, but also the inhabitants; thou wilt bring
+vengeance on these inhabitants, and what wilt thou effect? Thou art
+trying to escape, thou fool, from toil and atonement."
+
+So conscience spoke in Kmita; and Kmita saw that it was right, and
+vexation seized him, and a species of grief over his own conscience
+because it spoke such bitter truth.
+
+"What shall I begin?" asked he, at last; "who will help me, who will
+save me?"
+
+Here somehow his knees began to bend till at last he knelt down at the
+plank bed and began to pray aloud, and implore from his whole soul and
+heart,--
+
+"O Jesus Christ, dear Lord," said he, "as on the cross thou hadst pity
+for the thief, so now have pity for me. Behold I desire to cleanse
+myself from sins, to begin a new life, and to serve my country
+honestly; but I know not how, for I am foolish. I served those
+traitors, O Lord, also not so much from malice, but especially as it
+were through folly; enlighten me, inspire me, comfort me in my despair,
+and rescue me in thy mercy, or I perish."
+
+Here Pan Andrei's voice quivered; he beat his broad breast till it
+thundered in the room, and repeated, "Be merciful to me, a sinner! be
+merciful to me, a sinner! Be merciful to me, a sinner!" Then placing
+his hands together and stretching them upward, he said, "And thou, Most
+Holy Lady, insulted by heretics in this land, take my part with thy
+Son, intercede for my rescue, desert me not in my suffering and misery,
+so that I may be able to serve thee, to avenge the insults against
+thee, and at the hour of my death have thee as a patroness for my
+unhappy soul."
+
+When Pan Andrei was imploring thus, tears began to fall from his eyes;
+at last he dropped his head on the plank bed and sank into silence, as
+if waiting for the effect of his ardent prayer. Silence followed in the
+room, and only the deep sound of the neighboring pine-trees entered
+from outside. Then chips crackled under heavy steps beyond the window,
+and two men began to speak,--
+
+"What do you think, Sergeant? Where shall we go from here?"
+
+"Do I know?" answered Soroka. "We shall go somewhere, maybe far off, to
+the king who is groaning under the Swedish hand."
+
+"Is it true that all have left him?"
+
+"But the Lord God has not left him."
+
+Kmita rose suddenly from the bed, but his face was clear and calm; he
+went straight to the door, and opening it said to the soldier,--
+
+"Have the horses ready! it is time for the road!"
+
+
+
+
+ CHAPTER XXX.
+
+
+A movement rose quickly among the soldiers, who were glad to go out of
+the forest to the distant world, all the more since they feared pursuit
+on the part of Boguslav Radzivill; and old Kyemlich went to the cabin,
+understanding that Kmita would need him.
+
+"Does your grace wish to go?" asked he.
+
+"I do. Will you guide me out of the forest? Do you know all the roads?"
+
+"I know all the roads in these parts. But whither does your grace wish
+to go?"
+
+"To our gracious king."
+
+The old man started back in astonishment. "O Wise Lady!" cried he. "To
+what king."
+
+"Not to the Swedish, you may be sure."
+
+Kyemlich not only failed to recover, but began to make the sign of the
+cross.
+
+"Then surely your grace does not know that people say our lord the king
+has taken refuge in Silesia, for all have deserted him. Cracow is
+besieged."
+
+"We will go to Silesia."
+
+"Well, but how are we to pass through the Swedes?"
+
+"Whether we pass through as nobles or peasants, on horseback or on
+foot, is all one to me, if only we pass."
+
+"Then too a tremendous lot of time is needed."
+
+"We have time enough, but I should be glad to go as quickly as
+possible."
+
+Kyemlich ceased to wonder. The old man was too cunning not to surmise
+that there was some particular and secret cause for this undertaking of
+Pan Kmita's, and that moment a thousand suppositions began to crowd
+into his head. But as the soldiers, on whom Pan Andrei had enjoined
+silence, said nothing to the old man or his sons about the seizure of
+Prince Boguslav, the supposition seemed to him most likely that the
+prince voevoda of Vilna had sent the young colonel on some mission to
+the king. He was confirmed in this opinion specially because he counted
+Kmita a zealous adherent of Prince Yanush, and knew of his services to
+the hetman; for the confederate squadrons had spread tidings of him
+throughout the whole province of Podlyasye, creating the opinion that
+Kmita was a tyrant and a traitor.
+
+"The hetman is sending a confidant to the king," thought the old man;
+"that means that surely he wishes to agree with him and leave the
+Swedes. Their rule must be bitter to him already, else why send?"
+
+Old Kyemlich did not struggle long over this question, for his interest
+in the matter was altogether different; and namely, what profit could
+he draw from such circumstances? If he served Kmita he would serve at
+the same time the hetman and the king, which would not be without a
+notable reward. The favor of such lords would be of service, too,
+should he be summoned to account for old sins. Besides, there will
+surely be war, the country will flame up, and then plunder will crawl
+of itself into his hands. All this smiled at the old man, who besides
+was accustomed to obey Kmita, and had not ceased to fear him like fire,
+cherishing toward him also a certain kind of love, which Kmita knew how
+to rouse in all his subordinates.
+
+"Your grace," said he, "must go through the whole Commonwealth to reach
+the king. Swedish troops are nothing, for we may avoid the towns and go
+through the woods; but the worst is that the woods, as is usual in
+unquiet times, are full of parties of freebooters, who fall upon
+travellers; and your grace has few men."
+
+"You will go with me, Pan Kyemlich, and your sons and the men whom you
+have; there will be more of us."
+
+"If your grace commands I will go, but I am a poor man. Only misery
+with us; nothing more. How can I leave even this poverty and the roof
+over my head?"
+
+"Whatever you do will be paid for; and for you it is better to take
+your head out of this place while it is yet on your shoulders."
+
+"All the Saints of the Lord! What does your grace say? How is that?
+What threatens me, innocent man, in this place? Whom do we hinder?"
+
+"I know you robbers!" answered Pan Andrei. "You had partnership with
+Kopystynski, and killed him; then you ran away from the courts, you
+served with me, you took away my captured horses.
+
+"As true as life! O Mighty Lady!" cried the old man.
+
+"Wait and be silent! Then you returned to your old lair, and began to
+ravage in the neighborhood like robbers, taking horses and booty
+everywhere. Do not deny it, for I am not your judge, and you know best
+whether I tell the truth. If you take the horses of Zolotarenko, that
+is well; if the horses of the Swedes, that is well. If they catch you
+they will flay you; but that is their affair."
+
+"True, true; but we take only from the enemy," said the old man.
+
+"Untrue; for you attack your own people, as your sons have confessed to
+me, and that is simple robbery, and a stain on the name of a noble.
+Shame on you, robbers! you should be peasants, not nobles."
+
+"Your grace wrongs us," said old fox, growing red, "for we, remembering
+our station, do no peasant deed. We do not take horses at night from
+any man's stable. It is something different to drive a herd from the
+fields, or to capture horses. This is permitted, and there is no
+prejudice to a noble therefrom in time of war. But a horse in a stable
+is sacred; and only a gypsy, a Jew, or a peasant would steal from a
+stable,--not a noble. We, your grace, do not do that. But war is war!"
+
+"Though there were ten wars, only in battle can plunder be taken; if
+you seek it on the road, you are robbers."
+
+"God is witness to our innocence."
+
+"But you have brewed beer here. In few words, it is better for you to
+leave this place, for sooner or later the halter will take you. Come
+with me; you will wash away your sins with faithful service and win
+honor. I will receive you to my service, in which there will be more
+profit than in those horses."
+
+"We will go with your grace everywhere; we will guide you through the
+Swedes and through the robbers,--for true is the speech of your grace,
+that evil people persecute us here terribly, and for what? For our
+poverty,--for nothing but our poverty. Perhaps God will take pity on
+us, and save us from suffering."
+
+Here old Kyemlich rubbed his hands mechanically, and his eyes
+glittered. "From these works," thought he, "it will boil in the country
+as in a kettle, and foolish the man who takes no advantage."
+
+Kmita looked at him quickly. "Only don't try to betray me!" said he,
+threateningly, "for you will not be able, and the hand of God only
+could save you."
+
+"We have never betrayed," answered Kyemlich, gloomily, "and may God
+condemn me if such a thought entered my head."
+
+"I believe you," said Kmita, after a short silence, "for treason is
+something different from robbery; no robber will betray."
+
+"What does your grace command now?" asked Kyemlich.
+
+"First, here are two letters, requiring quick delivery. Have you sharp
+men?"
+
+"Where must they go?"
+
+"Let one go to the prince voevoda, but without seeing Radzivill
+himself. Let him deliver the letter in the first squadron of the
+prince, and come back without awaiting an answer."
+
+"The pitch-maker will go; he is a sharp man and experienced."
+
+"He will do. The second letter must be taken to Podlyasye; inquire for
+Pan Volodyovski's Lauda squadron, and give it into the hands of the
+colonel himself."
+
+The old man began to mutter cunningly, and thought, "I see work on
+every side; since he is sniffing with the confederates there will be
+boiling water,--there will be, there will be!"
+
+"Your grace," said he, aloud, "if there is not such a hurry with this
+letter, when we leave the forest it perhaps might be given to some man
+on the road. There are many nobles here friendly to the confederates;
+any one would take it willingly, and one man more would remain to us."
+
+"You have calculated shrewdly," answered Kmita, "for it is better that
+he who delivers the letter should not know from whom he takes it. Shall
+we go out of the forest soon?"
+
+"As your grace wishes. We can go out in two weeks, or to-morrow."
+
+"Of that later; but now listen to me carefully, Kyemlich."
+
+"I am attending with all my mind, your grace."
+
+"They have denounced me in the whole Commonwealth as a tyrant, as
+devoted to the hetman, or altogether to Sweden. If the king knew who I
+am, he might not trust me, and might despise my intention, which, if it
+is not sincere, God sees! Are you attending, Kyemlich?"
+
+"I am, your grace."
+
+"Therefore I do not call myself Kmita, but, Babinich, do you
+understand? No one must know my real name. Open not your lips; let not
+a breath out. If men ask whence I come, say that you joined me on the
+road and do not know, but say, 'Whoso is curious, let him ask the man
+himself.'"
+
+"I understand, your grace."
+
+"Warn your sons, and also your men. Even if straps were cut out of
+them, they must say my name is Babinich. You will answer for this with
+your life."
+
+"It will be so, your grace. I will go and tell my sons, for it is
+necessary to put everything into the heads of those rogues with a
+shovel. Such is the joy I have with them. God has punished me for the
+sins of my youth; that is the trouble. Let me say another word, your
+grace."
+
+"Speak boldly."
+
+"It seems to me better not to tell soldiers or men where we are going."
+
+"That is true."
+
+"It is enough for them to know that Babinich, not Pan Kmita, is
+travelling. And on such a journey it is better to conceal your grace's
+rank."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Because the Swedes give passes to the more considerable people; and
+whoso has not a pass, him they take to the commandant."
+
+"I have passes to the Swedish troops."
+
+Astonishment gleamed in the cunning eyes of Kyemlich; but after a while
+he asked, "Will your grace let me say once more what I think?"
+
+"If you give good counsel and delay not, speak; for I see that you are
+a clever man."
+
+"If you have passes, it is better, for in need they may be shown; but
+if your grace is travelling on an errand that should remain secret, it
+is safer not to show the passes. I know not whether they are given in
+the name of Babinich or Kmita; but if you show them, the trace will
+remain and pursuit will be easier."
+
+"You have struck the point!" cried Kmita. "I prefer to reserve the
+passes for another time, if it is possible to go through without them."
+
+"It is possible, your grace; and that disguised either as a peasant or
+a petty noble,--which will be easier, for I have some clean clothes, a
+cap and gray coat, for example, just such as petty nobles wear. We may
+travel with a band of horses, as if we were going to the fairs, and
+drive farther till we come to Lovich and Warsaw, as I have done more
+than once during peace, and I know the roads. About this time there is
+a fair in Sobota, to which people come from afar. In Sobota we shall
+learn of other places where there are fairs, and so on. The Swedes too
+take less note of small nobles, for crowds of them stroll about at all
+the fairs. If some commandant inquires we will explain ourselves, but
+if a small party asks we will gallop over their bellies, God and the
+Most Holy Lady permitting."
+
+"But if they take our horses? Requisitions in time of war are of daily
+occurrence."
+
+"Either they will buy or they will take them. If they buy we will go to
+Sobota, not to sell, but to buy horses; and if they take them, we will
+raise a lament and go with our complaint to Warsaw and to Cracow."
+
+"You have a cunning mind," said Kmita, "and I see that you will serve
+me. Even if the Swedes take these horses, some man will be found to pay
+for them."
+
+"I was going to Elko in Prussia with them; this turns out well, for
+just in that direction does our road lie. From Elko we will go along
+the boundary, then turn to Ostrolenko, thence through the wilderness to
+Pultusk and to Warsaw."
+
+"Where is that Sobota?"[24]
+
+"Not far from Pyantek."[25]
+
+"Are you jesting, Kyemlich?"
+
+"How should I dare," answered the old man, crossing his arms on his
+breast and bending his head; "but they have such wonderful names for
+towns in this region. It is a good bit of road beyond Lovich, your
+grace."
+
+"Are there large fairs in that Sobota?"
+
+"Not such as in Lovich; but there is one at this time of year, to which
+horses are driven from Prussia, and crowds of people assemble. Surely
+it will not be worse this year, for it is quiet about there. The Swedes
+are in power everywhere, and have garrisons in the towns. Even if a man
+wanted to rise against them, he could not."
+
+"Then I will take your plan. We will go with horses, and that you
+suffer no loss I will pay for them in advance."
+
+"I thank your grace for the rescue."
+
+"Only get sheepskin coats ready and common saddles and sabres, for we
+will start at once. Tell your sons and men who I am, what my name is,
+that I am travelling with horses, that you and they are hired
+assistants. Hurry!"
+
+When the old man turned to the door, Pan Andrei said further, "No one
+will call me grace nor commandant nor colonel, only _you_ and
+_Babinich_."
+
+Kyemlich went out, and an hour later all were sitting on their horses
+ready to start on the long journey. Kmita dressed in the gray coat of a
+poor noble, a cap of worn sheepskin, and with a bandaged face, as if
+after a duel in some inn, was difficult of recognition, and looked
+really like some poor devil of a noble, strolling from one fair to
+another. He was surrounded by people dressed in like fashion, armed
+with common poor sabres, with long whips to drive the horses, and
+lariats to catch those that might try to escape.
+
+The soldiers looked with astonishment at their colonel, making various
+remarks, in low tones, concerning him. It was a wonder to them that he
+was Babinich instead of Pan Kmita, that they were to say _you_ to him;
+and most of all shrugged his shoulders old Soroka, who, looking at the
+terrible colonel as at a rainbow, muttered to Biloüs,--
+
+"That _you_ will not pass my throat. Let him kill me, but I will give
+him, as of old, what belongs to him."
+
+The soldiers knew not that the soul in Pan Andrei had changed as well
+as his external form.
+
+"Move on!" cried Babinich, on a sudden.
+
+The whips cracked; the riders surrounded the horses, which were huddled
+together, and they moved on.
+
+
+
+
+ CHAPTER XXXI.
+
+
+Passing along the very boundary between the province of Trotsk and
+Prussia, they travelled through broad and pathless forests known only
+to Kyemlich, until they entered Prussia and reached Leng, or, as old
+Kyemlich, called it, Elko, where they got news of public affairs from
+nobles stopping there, who, taking their wives, children, and effects,
+had fled from the Swedes and sought refuge under the power of the
+elector.
+
+Leng had the look of a camp, or rather it might be thought that some
+petty diet was in session there. The nobles drank Prussian beer in the
+public houses, and talked, while every now and then some one brought
+news. Without making inquiries and merely by listening with care,
+Babinich learned that Royal Prussia and the chief towns in it had taken
+decisively the side of Yan Kazimir, and had made a treaty of mutual
+defence with the elector against every enemy. It was said, however,
+that in spite of the treaty the most considerable towns were unwilling
+to admit the elector's garrisons, fearing lest that adroit prince, when
+he had once entered with armed hand, might hold them for good, or might
+in the decisive moment join himself treacherously to the Swedes,--a
+deed which his inborn cunning made him capable of doing.
+
+The nobles murmured against this distrust entertained by townspeople;
+but Pan Andrei, knowing the Radzivill intrigues with the elector, had
+to gnaw his tongue to refrain from telling what was known to him. He
+was held back by the thought that it was dangerous in Electoral Prussia
+to speak openly against the elector; and secondly, because it did not
+beseem a small gray-coated noble who was going to a fair with horses,
+to enter into the intricate subject of politics, over which the ablest
+statesmen were racking their brains to no purpose.
+
+He sold a pair of horses, bought new ones, and journeyed farther, along
+the Prussian boundary, but by the road leading from Leng to Shchuchyn,
+situated in the very corner of the province of Mazovia, between Prussia
+on the one side and the province of Podlyasye on the other. To
+Shchuchyn Pan Andrei had no wish to go, for he learned that in that
+town were the quarters of the confederate squadron commanded by
+Volodyovski.
+
+Volodyovski must have passed over almost the same road on which Kmita
+was travelling, and stopped before the very boundary of Podlyasye,
+either for a short rest or for temporary quarters, in Shchuchyn, where
+it must have been easier to find food for men and horses than in
+greatly plundered Podlyasye.
+
+Kmita did not wish to meet the famous colonel, for he judged that
+having no proofs, except words, he would not be able to persuade
+Volodyovski of his conversion and sincerity. He gave command,
+therefore, to turn to the west toward Vansosh, ten miles from
+Shchuchyn. As to the letter he determined to send it to Pan Michael at
+the first opportunity.
+
+But before arriving at Vansosh, they stopped at a wayside inn called
+"The Mandrake," and disposed themselves for a night's rest, which
+promised to be comfortable, for there was no one at the inn save the
+host, a Prussian.
+
+But barely had Kmita with the three Kyemliches and Soroka sat down to
+supper when the rattling of wheels and the tramp of horses were heard.
+As the sun had not gone down yet, Kmita went out in front of the inn to
+see who was coming, for he was curious to know if it was some Swedish
+party; but instead of Swedes he saw a carriage, and following it two
+pack-wagons, surrounded by armed men.
+
+At the first glance it was easy to see that some personage was coming.
+The carriage was drawn by four good Prussian horses, with large bones
+and rather short backs; a jockey sat on one of the front horses,
+holding two beautiful dogs in a leash; on the seat was a driver, and at
+his side a haiduk dressed in Hungarian fashion; in the carriage was the
+lord himself, in a cloak lined with wolfskin and fastened with numerous
+gilded buttons.
+
+In the rear followed two wagons, well filled, and at each of them four
+servants armed with sabres and guns.
+
+The lord, though a personage, was still quite young, a little beyond
+twenty. He had a plump, red face, and in his whole person there was
+evidence that he did not stint himself in eating.
+
+When the carriage stopped, the haiduk sprang to give his hand to help
+down the lord; but the lord, seeing Kmita standing on the threshold,
+beckoned with his glove, and called,--
+
+"Come this way, my good friend!"
+
+Kmita instead of going to him withdrew to the interior, for anger
+seized him at once. He had not become accustomed yet to the gray coat,
+or to being beckoned at with a glove. He went back therefore, sat at
+the table, and began to eat. The unknown lord came in after him. When
+he had entered he half closed his eyes, for it was dark in the room,
+since there was merely a small fire burning in the chimney.
+
+"But why did no one come out as I was driving up?" asked the unknown
+lord.
+
+"The host has gone to another room," answered Kmita, "and we are
+travellers, like your grace."
+
+"Thank you for the confidence. And what manner of travellers?"
+
+"Oh, a noble travelling with horses."
+
+"And your company are nobles too?"
+
+"Poor men, but nobles."
+
+"With the forehead, then, with the forehead. Whither is God guiding
+you?"
+
+"From fair to fair, to sell horses."
+
+"If you stay here all night, I'll see, perhaps I'll pick out something.
+Meanwhile will you permit me to join you at the table?"
+
+The unknown lord asked, it is true, if they would let him sit with
+them, but in such a tone as if he were perfectly sure that they would;
+and he was not mistaken. The young horse-dealer said,--
+
+"We beg your grace very kindly, though we have nothing to offer but
+sausage and peas."
+
+"There are better dainties in my bags," answered the lordling, not
+without a certain pride; "but I have a soldier's palate, and sausage
+with peas, if well cooked, I prefer to everything." When he had
+said this,--and he spoke very slowly, though he looked quickly and
+sharply,--he took his seat on the bench on which Kmita pushed aside to
+give convenient room.
+
+"Oh, I beg, I beg, do not incommode yourself. On the road rank is not
+regarded; and though you were to punch me with your elbow, the crown
+would not fall from my head."
+
+Kmita, who was pushing a plate of peas to the unknown, and who, as has
+been said, was not used to such treatment, would certainly have broken
+the plate on the head of the puffed up young man if there had not been
+something in that pride of his which amused Pan Andrei; therefore not
+only did he restrain his internal impulse at once, but laughed and
+said,--
+
+"Such times are the present, your grace, that crowns fall from the
+loftiest heads; for example, our king Yan Kazimir, who by right should
+wear two crowns, has none, unless it be one of thorns."
+
+The unknown looked quickly at Kmita, then sighed and said, "Times are
+such now that it is better not to speak of this unless with
+confidants." Then after a moment he added: "But you have brought that
+out well. You must have served with polished people, for your speech
+shows more training than your rank."
+
+"Rubbing against people, I have heard this and that, but I have never
+been a servant."
+
+"Whence are you by birth, I beg to ask?"
+
+"From a village in the province of Trotsk."
+
+"Birth in a village is no drawback, if you are only noble; that's the
+main thing. What is to be heard in Lithuania?"
+
+"The old story,--no lack of traitors."
+
+"Traitors, do you say? What kind of traitors?"
+
+"Those who have deserted the king and the Commonwealth."
+
+"How is the prince voevoda of Vilna?"
+
+"Sick, it is said; his breath fails him."
+
+"God give him health, he is a worthy lord!"
+
+"For the Swedes he is, since he opened the gates to them."
+
+"I see that you are not a partisan of his."
+
+Kmita noticed that the stranger, while asking him questions as it were
+good-naturedly, was observing him.
+
+"What do I care!" said he; "let others think of him. My fear is that
+the Swedes may take my horses in requisition."
+
+"You should have sold them on the spot, then. In Podlyasye are
+stationed, very likely, the squadrons which rebelled against the
+hetman, and surely they have not too many horses."
+
+"I do not know that, for I have not been among them, though some man in
+passing gave me a letter to one of their colonels, to be delivered when
+possible."
+
+"How could that passing man give you a letter when you are not going to
+Podlyasye?"
+
+"Because in Shchuchyn one confederate squadron is stationed, therefore
+the man said to me, 'Either give it yourself or find an opportunity in
+passing Shchuchyn.'"
+
+"That comes out well, for I am going to Shchuchyn."
+
+"Your grace is fleeing also before the Swedes?"
+
+The unknown, instead of an answer, looked at Kmita and asked
+phlegmatically, "Why do you say _also_, since you not only are not
+fleeing from the Swedes, but are going among them and will sell them
+horses, if they do not take your beasts by force?"
+
+At this Kmita shrugged his shoulders. "I said _also_, because in Leng I
+saw many nobles who escaped before the Swedes; and as to me, if all
+were to serve them as much as I wish to serve them, I think they would
+not warm the places here long."
+
+"Are you not afraid to say this?"
+
+"I am not afraid, for I am not a coward, and in the second place your
+grace is going to Shchuchyn, and there every one says aloud what he
+thinks. God grant a quick passage from talking to action."
+
+"I see that you are a man of wit beyond your station," repeated the
+unknown. "But if you love not the Swedes, why leave these squadrons,
+which have mutinied against the hetman? Have they mutinied because
+their wages were kept back, or from caprice? No! but because they would
+not serve the hetman and the Swedes. It would have been better for
+those soldiers, poor fellows, to remain under the hetman, but they
+preferred to give themselves the name of rebels, to expose themselves
+to hunger, hardships, and many destructive things, rather than act
+against the king. That it will come to war between them and the Swedes
+is certain, and it would have come already were it not that the Swedes
+have not advanced to that corner as yet. Wait, they will come, they
+will meet here, and then you will see!"
+
+"I think, too, that war will begin here very soon," said Kmita.
+
+"Well, if you have such an opinion, and a sincere hatred for the
+Swedes,--which looks out of your eyes, for you speak truth, I am a
+judge of that,--then why not join these worthy soldiers? Is it not
+time, do they not need hands and sabres? Not a few honorable men are
+serving among them, who prefer their own king to a foreign one, and
+soon there will be more of these. You come from places in which men
+know not the Swedes as yet, but those who have made their acquaintance
+are shedding hot tears. In Great Poland, though it surrendered to them
+of its own will, they thumbscrew nobles, plunder, make requisitions,
+seize everything they can. At present in this province their manner is
+no better. General Stenbok gave forth a manifesto that each man remain
+quietly at home, and his property would be respected. But what good was
+in that! The General has his will, and the smallest commandants have
+theirs, so that no man is sure of to-morrow, nor of what property he
+holds. Every man wishes to get good of what he has, to use it in peace,
+wants it to bring him pleasure. But now the first best adventurer will
+come and say, 'Give.' If you do not give, he will find reason to strip
+you of your property, or without reason will have your head cut off.
+Many shed bitter tears, when they think of their former king. All are
+oppressed and look to those confederates unceasingly, to see if some
+rescue for the country and the people will not come from them."
+
+"Your grace, as I see, has no better wish for the Swedes than I have,"
+said Kmita.
+
+The unknown looked around as it were with a certain alarm, but soon
+calmed himself and spoke on,--
+
+"I would that pestilence crushed them, and I hide that not from you,
+for it seems to me that you are honest; and though you were not honest,
+you would not bind me and take me to the Swedes, for I should not
+yield, having armed men, and a sabre at my side."
+
+"Your grace may be sure that I will not harm you; your courage is to my
+heart. And it pleases me that your grace did not hesitate to leave
+property behind, in which the enemy will not fail to punish you. Such
+good-will to the country is highly deserving of praise."
+
+Kmita began unwittingly to speak in a patronizing tone, as a superior
+to a subordinate, without thinking that such words might seem strange
+in the mouth of a small horse-dealing noble; but apparently the young
+lord did not pay attention to that, for he merely winked cunningly and
+said,--
+
+"But am I a fool? With me the first rule is that my own shall not leave
+me, for what the Lord God has given must be respected. I stayed at home
+quietly with my produce and grain, and when I had sold in Prussia all
+my crops, cattle, and utensils, I thought to myself: 'It is time for
+the road. Let them take vengeance on me now, let them take whatever
+pleases their taste.'"
+
+"Your grace has left the hind and the buildings for good?"
+
+"Yes, for I hired the starostaship of Vansosh from the voevoda of
+Mazovia, and just now the term has expired. I have not paid the last
+rent, and I will not, for I hear the voevoda of Mazovia is an adherent
+of the Swedes. Let the rent be lost to him for that, and it will add to
+my ready money."
+
+"'Pon my word," said Kmita, smiling, "I see that your grace is not only
+a brave cavalier, but an adroit one."
+
+"Of course," replied the unknown. "Adroitness is the main thing! But I
+was not speaking of that. Why is it that, feeling the wrongs of our
+country and of our gracious king, you do not go to those honorable
+soldiers in Podlyasye and join their banner? You would serve both God
+and yourself; luck might come, for to more than one has it happened to
+come out of war a great man, from being a small noble. It is evident
+that you are bold and resolute, and since your birth is no hindrance,
+you might advance quickly to some fortune, if God favors you with
+booty. If you do not squander that which here and there will fall into
+your hands, the purse will grow heavy. I do not know whether you have
+land or not, but you may have it; with a purse it is not hard to rent
+an estate, and from renting an estate to owning one, with the help of
+the Lord, is not far. And so, beginning as an attendant, you may die an
+officer, or in some dignity in the country, in case you are not lazy in
+labor; for whoso rises early, to him God gives treasure."
+
+Kmita gnawed his mustache, for laughter seized him; then his face
+quivered, and he squirmed, for from time to time pain came from the
+healing wound. The unknown continued,--
+
+"As to receiving you there, they will receive you, for they need men;
+besides, you have pleased me, and I take you under my protection, with
+which you may be certain of promotion."
+
+Here the young man raised his plump face with pride, and began to
+smooth his mustaches; at last he said,--
+
+"Will you be my attendant, carry my sabre, and manage my men?"
+
+Kmita did not restrain himself, but burst out in sincere, joyous
+laughter, so that all his teeth gleamed.
+
+"Why laugh?" asked the unknown, frowning.
+
+"From delight at the service."
+
+But the youthful personage was offended in earnest, and said,--
+
+"He was a fool who taught you such manners, and be careful with whom
+you are speaking, lest you exceed measure in familiarity."
+
+"Forgive me, your grace," answered Kmita, joyously, "for really I do
+not know before whom I am standing."
+
+The young lord put his hands on his hips: "I am Pan Jendzian of
+Vansosh," said he, with importance.
+
+Kmita had opened his mouth to tell his assumed name, when Biloüs came
+hurriedly into the room.
+
+"Pan Com--"
+
+Here the soldier, stopped by the threatening look of Kmita, was
+confused, stammered, and finally coughed out with effort,--
+
+"I beg to tell you some people are coming."
+
+"Where from?"
+
+"From Shchuchyn."
+
+Kmita was embarrassed, but hiding his confusion quickly, he answered,
+"Be on your guard. Are there many?"
+
+"About ten men on horseback."
+
+"Have the pistols ready. Go!"
+
+When the soldier had gone out, Kmita turned to Pan Jendzian of Vansosh
+and asked,--
+
+"Are they not Swedes?"
+
+"Since you are going to them," answered Pan Jendzian, who for some time
+had looked with astonishment on the young noble, "you must meet them
+sooner or later."
+
+"I should prefer the Swedes to robbers, of whom there are many
+everywhere. Whoso goes with horses must go armed and keep on the watch,
+for horses are very tempting."
+
+"If it is true that Pan Volodyovski is in Shchuchyn," said Pan
+Jendzian, "this is surely a party of his. Before they take up their
+quarters there they wish to know if the country is safe, for with
+Swedes at the border it would be difficult to remain in quiet."
+
+When he heard this, Pan Andrei walked around in the room and sat down
+in its darkest corner, where the sides of the chimney cast a deep
+shadow on the corner of the table; but meanwhile the sound of the tramp
+and snorting of horses came in from outside, and after a time a number
+of men entered the room.
+
+Walking in advance, a gigantic fellow struck with wooden foot the loose
+planks in the floor of the room. Kmita looked at him, and the heart
+died within his bosom. It was Yuzva Butrym, called Footless.
+
+"But where is the host?" inquired he, halting in the middle of the
+room.
+
+"I am here!" answered the innkeeper, "at your service."
+
+"Oats for the horses!"
+
+"I have no oats, except what these men are using." Saying this, he
+pointed at Jendzian and the horse-dealer's men.
+
+"Whose men are you?" asked Jendzian.
+
+"And who are you yourself?"
+
+"The starosta of Vansosh."
+
+His own people usually called Jendzian starosta, as he was the tenant
+of a starostaship, and he thus named himself on the most important
+occasions.
+
+Yuzva Butrym was confused, seeing with what a high personage he had to
+do; therefore he removed his cap, and said,--
+
+"With the forehead, great mighty lord. It was not possible to recognize
+dignity in the dark."
+
+"Whose men are these?" repeated Jendzian, placing his hands on his
+hips.
+
+"The Lauda men from the former Billevich squadron, and now of Pan
+Volodyovski's."
+
+"For God's sake! Then Pan Volodyovski is in the town of Shchuchyn?"
+
+"In his own person, and with other colonels who have come from Jmud."
+
+"Praise be to God, praise be to God!" repeated the delighted starosta.
+"And what colonels are with Pan Volodyovski?"
+
+"Pan Mirski was," answered Butrym, "till apoplexy struck him on the
+road; but Pan Oskyerko is there, and Pan Kovalski, and the two
+Skshetuskis."
+
+"What Skshetuskis?" cried Jendzian. "Is not one of them Skshetuski from
+Bujets?"
+
+"I do not know where he lives," said Butrym, "but I know that he was at
+Zbaraj."
+
+"Save us! that is my lord!"
+
+Here Jendzian saw how strangely such a word would sound in the mouth of
+a starosta, and added,--
+
+"My lord godson's father, I wanted to say."
+
+The starosta said this without forethought, for in fact he had been the
+second godfather to Skshetuski's first son, Yaremka.
+
+Meanwhile thoughts one after another were crowding to the head of Pan
+Kmita, sitting in the dark corner of the room. First the soul within
+him was roused at sight of the terrible graycoat, and his hand grasped
+the sabre involuntarily. For he knew that Yuzva, mainly, had caused the
+death of his comrades, and was his most inveterate enemy. The old-time
+Pan Kmita would have commanded to take him and tear him with horses,
+but the Pan Babinich of that day controlled himself. Alarm, however,
+seized him at the thought that if the man were to recognize him various
+dangers might come to his farther journey and the whole undertaking. He
+determined, therefore, not to let himself be known, and he pushed ever
+deeper into the shade; at last he put his elbow on the table, and
+placing his head in his palms began to feign sleep; but at the same
+time he whispered to Soroka, who was sitting at the table,--
+
+"Go to the stable, let the horses be ready. We will go in the night."
+
+Soroka rose and went out; Kmita still feigned sleep. Various memories
+came to his head. These people reminded him of Lauda, Vodokty, and that
+brief past which had vanished as a dream. When a short time before
+Yuzva Butrym said that he belonged to the former Billevich squadron,
+the heart trembled in Pan Andrei at the mere name. And it came to his
+mind that it was also evening, that the fire was burning in the chimney
+in the same way, when he dropped unexpectedly into Vodokty, as if with
+the snow, and for the first time saw in the servants' hall Olenka among
+the spinners.
+
+He saw now with closed lids, as if with eyesight, that bright, calm
+lady; he remembered everything that had taken place,--how she wished to
+be his guardian angel, to strengthen him in good, to guard him from
+evil, to show him the straight road of worthiness. If he had listened
+to her, if he had listened to her! She knew also what ought to be done,
+on what side to stand; knew where was virtue, honesty, duty, and simply
+would have taken him by the hand and led him, if he had listened to
+her.
+
+Here love, roused by remembrance, rose so much in Pan Andrei's heart
+that he was ready to pour out all his blood, if he could fall at the
+feet of that lady; and at that moment he was ready to fall on the neck
+of that bear of Lauda, that slayer of his comrades, simply because he
+was from that region, had named the Billeviches, had seen Olenka.
+
+His own name repeated a number of times by Yuzva Butrym roused him
+first from his musing. The tenant of Vansosh inquired about
+acquaintances, and Yuzva told him what had happened in Kyedani from the
+time of the memorable treaty of the hetman with the Swedes; he spoke of
+the oppression of the army, the imprisonment of the colonels, of
+sending them to Birji, and their fortunate escape. The name of Kmita,
+covered with all the horror of treason and cruelty, was repeated
+prominently in those narratives. Yuzva did not know that Pan
+Volodyovski, the Skshetuskis, and Zagloba owed their lives to Kmita;
+but he told of what had happened in Billeviche,--
+
+"Our colonel seized that traitor in Billeviche, as a fox in his den,
+and straightway commanded to lead him to death; I took him with great
+delight, for the hand of God had reached him, and from moment to moment
+I held the lantern to his eyes, to see if he showed any sorrow. But no!
+He went boldly, not considering that he would stand before the judgment
+of God,--such is his reprobate nature. And when I advised him to make
+even the sign of the cross, he answered, 'Shut thy mouth, fellow; 'tis
+no affair of thine!' We posted him under a pear-tree outside the
+village, and I was already giving the word, when Pan Zagloba, who went
+with us, gave the order to search him, to see if he had papers on his
+person. A letter was found. Pan Zagloba said, 'Hold the light!' and he
+read. He had barely begun reading when he caught his head: 'Jesus,
+Mary! bring him back to the house!' Pan Zagloba mounted his horse and
+rode off, and we brought Kmita back, thinking they would burn him
+before death, to get information from him. But nothing of the kind!
+They let the traitor go free. It was not for my head to judge what they
+found in the letter, but I would not have let him go."
+
+"What was in that letter?" asked the tenant of Vansosh.
+
+"I know not; I only think that there must have been still other
+officers in the hands of the prince voevoda, who would have had them
+shot right away if we had shot Kmita. Besides, our colonel may have
+taken pity on the tears of Panna Billevich, for she fell in a faint so
+that hardly were they able to bring her to her senses. I do not make
+bold to complain; still evil has happened, for the harm which that man
+has done, Lucifer himself would not be ashamed of. All Lithuania weeps
+through him; and how many widows and orphans and how many poor people
+complain against him is known to God only. Whoso destroys him will have
+merit in heaven and before men."
+
+Here conversation turned again to Pan Volodyovski, the Skshetuskis, and
+the squadrons in Podlyasye.
+
+"It is hard to find provisions," said Butrym, "for the lands of the
+hetman are plundered completely,--nothing can be found in them for the
+tooth of a man or a horse; and the nobles are poor in the villages, as
+with us in Jmud. The colonels have determined therefore to divide the
+horses into hundreds, and post them five or ten miles apart. But when
+winter comes, I cannot tell what will happen."
+
+Kmita, who had listened patiently while the conversation touched him,
+moved now, and had opened his mouth to say from his dark corner, "The
+hetman will take you, when thus divided, one by one, like lobsters from
+a net." But at that moment the door opened, and in it stood Soroka,
+whom Kmita had sent to get the horses ready for the road. The light
+from the chimney fell straight on the stern face of the sergeant. Yuzva
+Butrym glanced at him, looked a long time, then turned to Jendzian and
+asked,--
+
+"Is that a servant of your great mightiness? I know him from some place
+or another."
+
+"No," replied Jendzian; "those are nobles going with horses to fairs."
+
+"But whither?" asked Yuzva.
+
+"To Sobota," said old Kyemlich.
+
+"Where is that?"
+
+"Not far from Pyantek."
+
+Yuzva accounted this answer an untimely jest, as Kmita had previously,
+and said with a frown, "Answer when people ask!"
+
+"By what right do you ask?"
+
+"I can make that clear to you, for I am sent out to see if there are
+not suspicious men in the neighborhood. Indeed it seems to me there are
+some, who do not wish to tell where they are going."
+
+Kmita, fearing that a fight might rise out of this conversation, said,
+without moving from the dark corner,--
+
+"Be not angry, worthy soldier, for Pyantek and Sobota are towns, like
+others, in which horse-fairs are held in the fall. If you do not
+believe, ask the lord starosta, who must know of them."
+
+"They are regular places," said Jendzian.
+
+"In that case it is all right. But why go to those places? You can sell
+horses in Shchuchyn, where there is a great lack of them, and those
+which we took in Pilvishki are good for nothing; they are galled."
+
+"Every man goes where it is better for him, and we know our own road,"
+answered Kmita.
+
+"I know not whether it is better for you; but it is not better for us
+that horses are driven to the Swedes and informants go to them."
+
+"It is a wonder to me," said the tenant of Vansosh. "These people talk
+against the Swedes, and somehow they are in a hurry to go to them."
+Here he turned to Kmita: "And you do not seem to me greatly like a
+horse-dealer, for I saw a fine ring on your finger, of which no lord
+would be ashamed."
+
+"If it has pleased your grace, buy it of me; I gave two quarters for it
+in Leng."
+
+"Two quarters? Then it is not genuine, but a splendid counterfeit. Show
+it."
+
+"Take it, your grace."
+
+"Can you not move yourself? Must I go?"
+
+"I am terribly tired."
+
+"Ah, brother, a man would say that you are trying to hide your face."
+
+Hearing this, Yuzva said not a word, but approached the chimney, took
+out a burning brand, and holding it high above his head, went straight
+toward Kmita and held the light before his eyes.
+
+Kmita rose in an instant to his whole height, and during one wink of an
+eyelid they looked at each other eye to eye. Suddenly the brand fell
+from the hand of Yuzva, scattering a thousand sparks on the way.
+
+"Jesus, Mary!" screamed Butrym, "this is Kmita!"
+
+"I am he!" said Pan Andrei, seeing that there were no further means of
+concealment.
+
+"This way, this way! Seize him!" shouted Yuzva to the soldiers who had
+remained outside. Then turning to Pan Andrei, he said,--
+
+"Thou art he, O hell-dweller, traitor! Thou art that Satan in person!
+Once thou didst slip from my hands, and now thou art hurrying in
+disguise to the Swedes. Thou art that Judas, that torturer of women and
+men! I have thee!"
+
+So saying, he seized Pan Andrei by the shoulder; but Pan Andrei seized
+him. First, however, the two young Kyemliches, Kosma and Damian, had
+risen from the bench, almost touching the ceiling with their bushy
+heads, and Kosma asked,--
+
+"Shall we pound, father?"
+
+"Pound!" answered old Kyemlich, unsheathing his sabre.
+
+The doors burst open, and Yuzva's soldiers rushed in; but behind them,
+almost on their necks, came Kyemlich's men.
+
+Yuzva caught Pan Andrei by the shoulder, and in his right hand held a
+naked rapier, making a whirlwind and lightning with it around himself.
+But Pan Andrei, though he had not the gigantic strength of his enemy,
+seized Butrym's throat as if in a vice. Yuzva's eyes were coming out;
+he tried to stun Kmita with the hilt of his rapier, but did not
+succeed, for Kmita thundered first on his forehead with the hilt of his
+sabre. Yuzva's fingers, holding the shoulder of his opponent, opened at
+once; he tottered and bent backward under the blow. To make room for a
+second blow, Kmita pushed him again, and slashed him with full sweep on
+the face with his sabre. Yuzva fell on his back like an oak-tree,
+striking the floor with his skull.
+
+"Strike!" cried Kmita, in whom was roused, in one moment, the old
+fighting spirit.
+
+But he had no need to urge, for it was boiling in the room, as in a
+pot. The two young Kyemliches slashed with their sabres, and at times
+butted with their heads, like a pair of bullocks, putting down a man
+with each blow; after them advanced their old father, bending every
+moment to the floor, half closing his eyes, and thrusting quickly the
+point of his weapon under the arms of his sons.
+
+But Soroka, accustomed to fighting in inns and close quarters, spread
+the greatest destruction. He pressed his opponents so sorely that they
+could not reach him with a blade; and when he had discharged his
+pistols in the crowd, he smashed heads with the butts of the pistols,
+crushing noses, knocking out teeth and eyes. Kyemlich's servants and
+Kmita's two soldiers aided their masters.
+
+The fight moved from the table to the upper end of the room. The Lauda
+men defended themselves with rage; but from the moment that Kmita,
+having finished Yuzva, sprang into the fight and stretched out another
+Butrym, the victory began to incline to his side.
+
+Jendzian's servants also sprang into the room with sabres and guns; but
+though their master cried, "Strike!" they were at a loss what to do,
+for they could not distinguish one side from the other, since the Lauda
+men wore no uniforms, and in the disturbance the starosta's young men
+were punished by both sides.
+
+Jendzian held himself carefully outside the battle, wishing to
+recognize Kmita, and point him out for a shot; but by the faint light
+of the fire Kmita vanished time after time from his eye,--at one
+instant springing to view as red as a devil, then again lost in
+darkness.
+
+Resistance on the part of the Lauda men grew weaker and weaker, for the
+fall of Yuzva and the terrible name of Kmita had lessened their
+courage; still they fought on with rage. Meanwhile the innkeeper went
+past the strugglers quietly with a bucket of water in his hand and
+dashed it on the fire. In the room followed black darkness; the
+strugglers gathered into such a dense crowd that they could strike with
+fists only; after a while cries ceased; only panting breaths could be
+heard, and the orderless stamp of boots. Through the door, then flung
+open, sprang first Jendzian's people, after them the Lauda men, then
+Kmita's attendants.
+
+Pursuit began in the first room, in the bins before the house, and in
+the shed. Some shots were heard; then uproar and the noise of horses. A
+battle began at Jendzian's wagons, under which his people hid
+themselves; the Lauda men too sought refuge there, and Jendzian's
+people, taking them for the other party, fired at them a number of
+times.
+
+"Surrender!" cried old Kyemlich, thrusting the point of his sabre
+between the spokes of the wagon and stabbing at random the men crouched
+beneath.
+
+"Stop! we surrender!" answered a number of voices.
+
+Then the people from Vansosh threw from under the wagon their sabres
+and guns; after that the young Kyemliches began to drag them out by the
+hair, till the old man cried,--
+
+"To the wagons! take what comes under your hands! Quick! quick! to the
+wagons!"
+
+The young men did not let the command be given thrice, but rushed to
+untie the coverings, from beneath which the swollen sides of Jendzian's
+sacks appeared. They had begun to throw out the sacks, when suddenly
+Kmita's voice thundered,--
+
+"Stop!"
+
+And Kmita, supporting his command by his hand, fell to slashing them
+with the flat of his bloody sabre.
+
+Kosma and Damian sprang quickly aside.
+
+"Cannot we take them, your grace?" asked the old man, submissively.
+
+"Stand back!" cried Kmita. "Find the starosta for me."
+
+Kosma and Damian rushed to the search in a moment, and behind them
+their father; in a quarter of an hour they came bringing Jendzian, who,
+when he saw Kmita, bowed low and said,--
+
+"With the permission of your grace, I will say that wrong is done me
+here, for I did not attack any man, and to visit acquaintances, as I am
+going to do, is free to all."
+
+Kmita, resting on his sabre, breathed heavily and was silent; Jendzian
+continued,--
+
+"I did no harm here either to the Swedes or the prince hetman. I was
+only going to Pan Volodyovski, my old acquaintance; we campaigned
+together in Russia. Why should I seek a quarrel? I have not been in
+Kyedani, and what took place there is nothing to me. I am trying to
+carry off a sound skin; and what God has given me should not be lost,
+for I did not steal it, but earned it in the sweat of my brow. I have
+nothing to do with this whole question! Let me go free, your great
+mightiness--"
+
+Kmita breathed heavily, looking absently at Jendzian all the time.
+
+"I beg humbly, your great mightiness," began the starosta again. "Your
+great mightiness saw that I did not know those people, and was not a
+friend of theirs. They fell upon your grace, and now they have their
+pay; but why should I be made to suffer? Why should my property be
+lost? How am I to blame? If it cannot be otherwise, I will pay a ransom
+to the soldiers of your great mightiness, though there is not much
+remaining to me, poor man. I will give them a thaler apiece, so that
+their labor be not lost,--I will give them two; and your great
+mightiness will receive from me also--"
+
+"Cover the wagons!" cried Kmita, suddenly. "But do you take the wounded
+men and go to the devil!"
+
+"I thank your grace humbly," said the lord tenant of Vansosh.
+
+Then old Kyemlich approached, pushing out his underlip with the
+remnants of his teeth, and groaning,--
+
+"Your grace, that is ours. Mirror of justice, that is ours."
+
+But Kmita gave him such a look that the old man cowered, and dared not
+utter another word.
+
+Jendzian's people rushed, with what breath they had, to put the horses
+to the wagons. Kmita turned again to the lord starosta,--
+
+"Take all the wounded and killed, carry them to Pan Volodyovski, and
+tell him from me that I am not his enemy, but may be a better friend
+than he thinks. I wish to avoid him, for it is not yet time for us to
+meet. Perhaps that time will come later; but to-day he would neither
+believe me, nor have I that wherewith to convince him,--perhaps
+later--Do you understand? Tell him that those people fell upon me and I
+had to defend myself."
+
+"In truth it was so," responded Jendzian.
+
+"Wait; tell Pan Volodyovski, besides, to keep the troops together, for
+Radzivill, the moment he receives cavalry from Pontus de la Gardie,
+will move on them. Perhaps now he is on the road. Yanush and Boguslav
+Radzivill are intriguing with the Elector of Brandenburg, and it is
+dangerous to be near the boundary. But above all, let them keep
+together, or they will perish for nothing. The voevoda of Vityebsk
+wishes to come to Podlyasye; let them go to meet him, so as to give aid
+in case of obstruction."
+
+"I will tell everything, as if I were paid for it."
+
+"Though Kmita says this, though Kmita gives warning, let them believe
+him, take counsel with other colonels, and consider that they will be
+stronger together. I repeat that the hetman is already on the road, and
+I am not an enemy of Pan Volodyovski."
+
+"If I had some sign from your grace, that would be still better," said
+Jendzian.
+
+"What good is a sign?"
+
+"Pan Volodyovski would straightway have greater belief in your grace's
+sincerity; would think, 'There must be something in what he says if he
+has sent a sign.'"
+
+"Then here is the ring; though there is no lack of signs of me on the
+heads of those men whom you are taking to Pan Volodyovski."
+
+Kmita drew the ring from his finger. Jendzian on his part took it
+hastily, and said,--
+
+"I thank your grace humbly."
+
+An hour later, Jendzian with his wagons and his people, a little shaken
+up however, rode forward quietly toward Shchuchyn, taking three killed
+and the rest wounded, among whom were Yuzva Butrym, with a cut face and
+a broken head. As he rode along Jendzian looked at the ring, in which
+the stone glittered wonderfully in the moonlight, and he thought of
+that strange and terrible man, who having caused so much harm to the
+confederates and so much good to the Swedes and Radzivill, still wished
+apparently to save the confederates from final ruin.
+
+"For he gives sincere advice," said Jendzian to himself. "It is always
+better to hold together. But why does he forewarn? Is it from love of
+Volodyovski, because the latter gave him his life in Billeviche? It
+must be from love! Yes, but that love may come out with evil result for
+the hetman. Kmita is a strange man; he serves Radzivill, wishes well to
+our people, and is going to the Swedes; I do not understand this."
+After a while he added: "He is a bountiful lord; but it is evil to come
+in his way."
+
+As earnestly and vainly as Jendzian, did old Kyemlich rack his brain in
+effort to find an answer to the query, "Whom does Pan Kmita serve?"
+
+"He is going to the king, and kills the confederates, who are fighting
+specially on the king's side. What is this? And he does not trust the
+Swedes, for he hides from them. What will happen to us?"
+
+Not being able to arrive at any conclusion, he turned in rage to his
+sons: "Rascals! You will perish without blessing! And you could not
+even pull away a little from the slain?"
+
+"We were afraid!" answered Kosma and Damian.
+
+Soroka alone was satisfied, and he clattered joyously after his
+colonel.
+
+"Evil fate has missed us," thought he, "for we killed those fellows.
+I'm curious to know whom we shall kill next time."
+
+And it was all one to him, as was also this,--whither he was faring.
+
+No one dared approach Kmita or ask him anything, for the young colonel
+was as gloomy as night. He grieved terribly that he had to kill those
+men, at the side of whom he would have been glad to stand as quickly as
+possible in the ranks. But if he had yielded and let himself be taken
+to Volodyovski, what would Volodyovski have thought on learning that he
+was seized making his way in disguise to the Swedes, and with passes to
+the Swedish commandants?
+
+"My old sins are pursuing and following me," said Kmita to himself. "I
+will flee to the farthest place; and guide me, O God!"
+
+He began to pray earnestly and to appease his conscience, which
+repeated, "Again corpses against thee, and not corpses of Swedes."
+
+"O God, be merciful!" answered Kmita. "I am going to my king; there my
+service will begin."
+
+
+
+
+ CHAPTER XXXII.
+
+
+Jendzian had no intention of passing a night at "The Mandrake," for
+from Vansosh to Shchuchyn was not far,--he wanted merely to give rest
+to his horses, especially to those drawing the loaded wagons.
+Therefore, when Kmita let him travel farther, Jendzian lost no time,
+and entered Shchuchyn late in the evening. Having announced himself to
+the sentries, he took his place on the square; for the houses were
+occupied by soldiers, who even then were not all able to find lodgings.
+Shchuchyn passed for a town, but was not one in reality; for it had not
+yet even walls, a town hall, courts of justice, or the college of
+monks, founded in the time of King Yan III. It had a few houses, but a
+greater number of cabins than houses, and was called a town, because it
+was built in a quadrangular form with a market-place in the centre,
+slightly less swampy than the pond at which the paltry little place was
+situated.
+
+Jendzian slept under his warm wolfskin till morning, and then went
+straight to Pan Volodyovski, who, as he had not seen him for an age,
+received him with gladness and took him at once to Pan Yan and Zagloba.
+Jendzian shed tears at sight of his former master, whom he had served
+faithfully so many years; and with whom he had passed through so many
+adventures and worked himself finally to fortune. Without shame of his
+former service, Jendzian began to kiss the hands of Pan Yan and repeat
+with emotion,--
+
+"My master, my master, in what times do we meet again!"
+
+Then all began in a chorus to complain of the times; at last Zagloba
+said,--
+
+"But you, Jendzian, are always in the bosom of fortune, and as I see
+have come out a lord. Did I not prophesy that if you were not hanged
+you would have fortune? What is going on with you now?"
+
+"My master, why hang me, when I have done nothing against God, nothing
+against the law? I have served faithfully; and if I have betrayed any
+man, he was an enemy,--which I consider a special service. And if I
+destroyed a scoundrel here and there by stratagem, as some one of the
+rebels, or that witch,--do you remember, my master?--that is not a sin;
+but even if it were a sin, it is my master's, not mine, for it was from
+you that I learned stratagems."
+
+"Oh, that cannot be! See what he wants!" said Zagloba. "If you wish me
+to howl for your sins after death, give me their fruit during life. You
+are using alone all that wealth which you gained with the Cossacks, and
+alone you will be turned to roast bacon in hell."
+
+"God is merciful, my master, though it is untrue that I use wealth for
+myself alone; for first I beggared our wicked neighbors with lawsuits,
+and took care of my parents, who are living now quietly in Jendziane,
+without any disputes,--for the Yavorskis have gone off with packs to
+beg, and I, at a distance, am earning my living as I can."
+
+"Then you are not living in Jendziane?" asked Pan Yan.
+
+"In Jendziane my parents live as of old, but I am living in Vansosh,
+and I cannot complain, for God has blessed me. But when I heard that
+all you gentlemen were in Shchuchyn, I could not sit still, for I
+thought to myself, 'Surely it is time to move again!' There is going to
+be war, let it come!"
+
+"Own up," said Zagloba, "the Swedes frightened you out of Vansosh?"
+
+"There are no Swedes yet in Vidzka, though small parties appear, and
+cautiously, for the peasants are terribly hostile."
+
+"That is good news for me," said Volodyovski, "for yesterday I sent a
+party purposely to get an informant concerning the Swedes, for I did
+not know whether it was possible to stay in Shchuchyn with safety;
+surely that party conducted you hither?"
+
+"That party? Me? I have conducted it, or rather I have brought it, for
+there is not even one man of that party who can sit on a horse alone."
+
+"What do you say? What has happened?" inquired Volodyovski.
+
+"They are terribly beaten!" explained Jendzian.
+
+"Who beat them?"
+
+"Pan Kmita."
+
+The Skshetuskis and Zagloba sprang up from the benches, one
+interrupting the other in questioning,--
+
+"Pan Kmita? But what was he doing here? Has the prince himself come
+already? Well! Tell right away what has happened."
+
+Pan Volodyovski rushed out of the room to see with his eyes, to verify
+the extent of the misfortune, and to look at the men; therefore
+Jendzian said,--
+
+"Why should I tell? Better wait till Pan Volodyovski comes back; for it
+is more his affair, and it is a pity to move the mouth twice to repeat
+the same story."
+
+"Did you see Kmita with your own eyes?" asked Zagloba.
+
+"As I see you, my master!"
+
+"And spoke with him?"
+
+"Why should I not speak with him, when we met at 'The Mandrake' not far
+from here? I was resting my horses, and he had stopped for the night.
+An hour would have been short for our talk. I complained of the Swedes,
+and he complained also of the Swedes--"
+
+"Of the Swedes? He complained also?" asked Pan Yan.
+
+"As of devils, though he was going among them."
+
+"Had he many troops?"
+
+"He had no troops, only a few attendants; true, they were armed, and
+had such snouts that even those men who slaughtered the Holy Innocents
+at Herod's command had not rougher or viler. He gave himself out as a
+small noble in pigskin boots, and said that he went with horses to the
+fairs. But though he had a number of horses, his story did not seem
+clear to me, for neither his person nor his bearing belonged to a
+horse-dealer, and I saw a fine ring on his finger,--this one." Here
+Jendzian held a glittering stone before the listeners.
+
+Zagloba struck himself on the side and cried: "Ah, you gypsied that out
+of him! By that alone might I know you, Jendzian, at the end of the
+world!"
+
+"With permission of my master, I did not gypsy it; for I am a noble,
+not a gypsy, and feel myself the equal of any man, though I live on
+rented lands till I settle on my own. This ring Pan Kmita gave as a
+token that what he said was true; and very soon I will repeat his words
+faithfully to your graces, for it seems to me that in this case our
+skins are in question."
+
+"How is that?" asked Zagloba.
+
+At this moment Volodyovski came in, roused to the utmost, and pale from
+anger; he threw his cap on the table and cried,--
+
+"It passes imagination! Three men killed; Yuzva Butrym cut up, barely
+breathing!"
+
+"Yuzva Butrym? He is a man with the strength of a bear!" said the
+astonished Zagloba.
+
+"Before my eyes Pan Kmita stretched him out," put in Jendzian.
+
+"I've had enough of that Kmita!" cried Volodyovski, beside himself;
+"wherever that man shows himself he leaves corpses behind, like the
+plague. Enough of this! Balance for balance, life for life; but now a
+new reckoning! He has killed my men, fallen upon good soldiers; that
+will be set to his account before our next meeting."
+
+"He did not attack them, but they him; for he hid himself in the
+darkest corner, so they should not recognize him," explained Jendzian.
+
+"And you, instead of giving aid to my men, testify in his favor!" said
+Volodyovski, in anger.
+
+"I speak according to justice. As to aid, my men tried to give aid; but
+it was hard for them, for in the tumult they did not know whom to beat
+and whom to spare, and therefore they suffered. That I came away with
+my life and my sacks is due to the sense of Pan Kmita alone, for hear
+how it happened."
+
+Jendzian began a detailed account of the battle in "The Mandrake,"
+omitting nothing; and when at length he told what Kmita had commanded
+him to tell, they were all wonder fully astonished.
+
+"Did he say that himself?" asked Zagloba.
+
+"He himself," replied Jendzian. "'I,' said he, 'am not an enemy to Pan
+Volodyovski or the confederates, though they think differently. Later
+this will appear; but meanwhile let them come together, in God's name,
+or the voevoda of Vilna will take them one by one like lobsters from a
+net.'"
+
+"And did he say that the voevoda was already on the march?" asked Tan
+Yan.
+
+"He said that the voevoda was only waiting for Swedish reinforcements,
+and that he would move at once on Podlyasye."
+
+"What do you think of all this, gentlemen?" asked Volodyovski, looking
+at his comrades.
+
+"Either that man is betraying Radzivill, or he is preparing some ambush
+for us. But of what kind? He advises us to keep in a body. What harm to
+us may rise out of that?"
+
+"To perish of hunger," answered Volodyovski. "I have just received news
+that Jyromski, Kotovski, and Lipnitski must dispose their cavalry in
+parties of some tens each over the whole province, for they cannot get
+forage together."
+
+"But if Radzivill really does come," asked Pan Stanislav, "who can
+oppose him?"
+
+No one could answer that question, for really it was as clear as the
+sun that if the grand hetman of Lithuania should come and find the
+confederates scattered, he could destroy them with the greatest ease.
+
+"An astonishing thing!" repeated Zagloba; and after a moment's silence
+he continued: "Still I should think that he had abandoned Radzivill.
+But in such a case he would not be slipping past in disguise, and to
+whom,--to the Swedes." Here he turned to Jendzian: "Did he tell you
+that he was going to Warsaw?"
+
+"He did."
+
+"But the Swedish forces are there already."
+
+"About this hour he must have met the Swedes, if he travelled all
+night," answered Jendzian.
+
+"Have you ever seen such a man?" asked Zagloba, looking at his
+comrades.
+
+"That there is in him evil with good, as tares with wheat, is certain,"
+said Pan Yan; "but that there is any treason in this counsel that he
+gives us at present, I simply deny. I do not know whither he is going,
+why he is slipping past in disguise; and it would be idle to break my
+head over this, for it is some mystery. But he gives good advice, warns
+us sincerely: I will swear to that, as well as to this,--that the only
+salvation for us is to listen to his advice. Who knows if we are not
+indebted to him again, for safety and life?"
+
+"For God's sake," cried Volodyovski, "how is Radzivill to come here
+when Zolotarenko's men and Hovanski's infantry are in his way? It is
+different in our case! One squadron may slip through, and even with one
+we had to open a way through Pilvishki with sabres. It is another thing
+with Kmita, who is slipping by with a few men; but when the prince
+hetman passes with a whole army? Either he will destroy those first--"
+
+Volodyovski had not finished speaking when the door opened and an
+attendant came in.
+
+"A messenger with a letter to the Colonel," said he.
+
+"Bring it."
+
+The attendant went out and returned in a moment with the letter. Pan
+Michael broke the seal quickly and read,--
+
+
+That which I did not finish telling the tenant of Vansosh yesterday, I
+add to-day in writing. The hetman of himself has troops enough against
+you, but he is waiting for Swedish reinforcements, so as to go with the
+authority of the King of Sweden; for then if the Northerners[26] attack
+him they will have to strike the Swedes too, and that would mean war
+with the King of Sweden. They will not venture to make war without
+orders, for they fear the Swedes, and will not take on themselves the
+responsibility of beginning a war. They have discovered that it is
+Radzivill's purpose to put the Swedes forward against them everywhere;
+let them shoot or cut down even one man, there would be war at once.
+The Northerners themselves know not what to do now, for Lithuania is
+given up to the Swedes; they stay therefore in one place, only waiting
+for what will be, and warring no further. For these reasons they do not
+restrain Radzivill, nor oppose him. He will go directly against you,
+and will destroy you one after the other, unless you collect in one
+body. For God's sake, do this, and beg the voevoda of Vityebsk to come
+quickly, since it is easier for him to reach you now through the
+Northerners while they stand as if stupefied. I wanted to warn you
+under another name, so that you might more easily believe, but because
+tidings are given you already from another, I write my own name. It is
+destruction if you do not believe. I am not now what I was, and God
+grant that you will hear something altogether different about me.
+
+ Kmita.
+
+
+"You wished to know how Radzivill would come to us; here is your
+answer!" said Pan Yan.
+
+"That is true, he gives good reasons," answered Volodyovski.
+
+"What good reasons! holy reasons!" cried Zagloba. "There can be no
+doubt here. I was the first to know that man; and though there are no
+curses that have not been showered on his head, I tell you we shall
+bless him yet. With me it is enough to look at a man to know his value.
+You remember how he dropped into my heart at Kyedani? He loves us, too,
+as knightly people. When he heard my name the first time, he came near
+suffocating me with admiration, and for my sake saved you all."
+
+"You have not changed," remarked Jendzian; "why should Pan Kmita admire
+you more than my master or Pan Volodyovski?"
+
+"You are a fool!" answered Zagloba. "He knew you at once; and if he
+called you the tenant, and not the fool of Vansosh, it was through
+politeness."
+
+"Then maybe he admired you through politeness!" retorted Jendzian.
+
+"See how the bread swells; get married, lord tenant, and surely you
+will swell better--I guarantee that."
+
+"That is all well," said Volodyovski; "but if he is so friendly, why
+did he not come to us himself instead of slipping around us like a wolf
+and biting our men?"
+
+"Not your head, Pan Michael. What we counsel do you carry out, and no
+evil will come of it. If your wit were as good as your sabre, you would
+be grand hetman already, in place of Revera Pototski. And why should
+Kmita come here? Is it not because you would not believe him, just as
+you do not now believe his letter, from which it might come to great
+trouble, for he is a stubborn cavalier. But suppose that you did
+believe him, what would the other colonels do, such as Kotovski,
+Jyromski, or Lipnitski? What would your Lauda men say? Would not they
+cut him down the moment you turned your head away?"
+
+"Father is right!" said Pan Yan; "he could not come here."
+
+"Then why was he going to the Swedes?" insisted the stubborn Pan
+Michael.
+
+"The devil knows, whether he is going to the Swedes; the devil knows
+what may flash into Kmita's wild noddle. That is nothing to us, but let
+us take advantage of the warning, if we wish to carry away our heads."
+
+"There is nothing to meditate on here," said Pan Stanislav.
+
+"It is needful to inform with all speed Kotovski, Jyromski, Lipnitski,
+and that other Kmita," said Pan Yan. "Send to them, Michael, news at
+once; but do not write who gave the warning, for surely they would not
+believe."
+
+"We alone shall know whose the service, and in due time we shall not
+fail to publish it!" cried Zagloba, "Onward, lively, Michael!"
+
+"And we will move to Byalystok ourselves, appointing a muster there for
+all. God give us the voevoda of Vityebsk at the earliest," said Yan.
+
+"From Byalystok we must send a deputation from the army to him. God
+grant that we shall stand before the eyes of the hetman of Lithuania,"
+said Zagloba, "with equal force or greater than his own. It is not for
+us to rush at him, but it is different with the voevoda. He is a worthy
+man, and honest; there is not another such in the Commonwealth."
+
+"Do you know Pan Sapyeha?" asked Stanislav.
+
+"Do I know him! I knew him as a little boy, not higher than my sabre.
+But he was then like an angel."
+
+"And now he has turned into money, not only his property, not only his
+silver and jewels, but most likely he has melted into coin the metal of
+his horse-trappings, so as to collect as many troops as possible
+against the enemy," said Volodyovski.
+
+"Thank God that there is even one such man," answered Pan Stanislav,
+"for remember how we trusted in Radzivill."
+
+"Oh that is blasphemous!" cried Zagloba. "Voevoda of Vityebsk, ba! ba!
+Long life to the voevoda of Vityebsk! And you, Michael, to the road
+with all speed, to the road! Let the mudfish remain in these swamps of
+Shchuchyn, but we will go to Byalystok, where perhaps we shall find
+other fish. The Jews there, on Sabbath, bake very excellent bread.
+Well, at least war will begin; I am yearning for it. And if we break
+through Radzivill we will begin at the Swedes. We have shown them
+already what we can do. To the road, Michael, for _periculum in mora_
+(there is danger in delay)!"
+
+"I will go to put the squadrons in line!" said Pan Yan.
+
+An hour later, messengers, between ten and twenty in number, were
+flying as a horse gallops toward Podlyasye, and soon after them moved
+the whole squadron of Lauda. The officers went in advance, arranging
+and discussing; and Roh Kovalski, the lieutenant, led the soldiers.
+They went through Osovyets and Gonyandz, shortening for themselves the
+road to Byalystok, where they hoped to find other confederate
+squadrons.
+
+
+
+
+ CHAPTER XXXIII.
+
+
+Pan Volodyovski's letters, announcing the expedition of Radzivill,
+found hearing with all the colonels, scattered throughout the whole
+province of Podlyasye. Some had divided their squadrons already into
+smaller detachments, so as to winter them more easily; others permitted
+officers to lodge in private houses, so that there remained at each
+flag merely a few officers and some tens of soldiers. The colonels
+permitted this partly in view of hunger, and partly through the
+difficulty of retaining in just discipline squadrons which after they
+had refused obedience to their own proper authority were inclined to
+oppose officers on the slightest pretext. If a chief of sufficient
+weight had been found, and had led them at once to battle against
+either of the two enemies, or even against Radzivill, discipline would
+have remained surely intact; but it had become weakened by idleness in
+Podlyasye, where the time passed in shooting at Radzivill's castles, in
+plundering the goods of the voevoda, and in parleying with Prince
+Boguslav. In these circumstances the soldier grew accustomed only to
+violence and oppression of peaceful people in the province. Some of the
+soldiers, especially attendants and camp-followers, deserted, and
+forming unruly bands, worked at robbery on the highway. And so that
+army, which had not joined any enemy and was the one hope of the king
+and the patriots, was dwindling day by day. The division of squadrons
+into small detachments had dissolved them completely. It is true that
+it was difficult to subsist in a body, but still it may be that the
+fear of want was exaggerated purposely. It was autumn, and the harvest
+had been good; no enemy had up to that time ravaged the province with
+fire and sword. Just then the robberies of the confederate soldiers
+were destroying this province precisely as inactivity was destroying
+the soldiers themselves; for things had combined so wonderfully that
+the enemy left those squadrons in peace.
+
+The Swedes, flooding the country from the west and extending to the
+south, had not yet come to that corner which between the province of
+Mazovia and Lithuania formed Podlyasye; from the other side the legions
+of Hovanski, Trubetskoi, and Serebryani, stood in inactivity in the
+district occupied by them, hesitating, or rather not knowing what to
+lay hold on. In the Russian provinces Buturlin and Hmelnitski sent
+parties out in old fashion, and just then they had defeated at Grodek a
+handful of troops led by Pototski, grand hetman of the kingdom. But
+Lithuania was under Swedish protection. To ravage and to occupy it
+further meant, as was stated justly by Kmita in his letter, to declare
+war against the Swedes, who were terrible and roused universal alarm in
+the world. "There was therefore a moment of relief from the
+Northerners;" and some experienced men declared that they would soon be
+allies of Yan Kazimir and the Commonwealth against the King of Sweden,
+whose power, were he to become lord of the whole Commonwealth, would
+not have an equal in Europe.
+
+Hovanski therefore attacked neither Podlyasye nor the confederate
+squadrons, while these squadrons, scattered and without a leader,
+attacked no one, and were unable to attack or to undertake anything
+more important than plundering the property of Radzivill; and withal
+they were dwindling away. But Volodyovski's letters, touching the
+impending attack by the hetman, roused the colonels from their
+inactivity and slumber. They assembled the squadrons, called in
+scattered soldiers, threatening with penalties those who would not
+come. Jyromski, the most important of the colonels, and whose squadron
+was in the best condition, moved first, and without delay, to
+Byalystok; after him came in one week Yakub Kmita,--true, with only one
+hundred and twenty men; then the soldiers of Kotovski and Lipnitski
+began to assemble, now singly, now in crowds; petty nobles from the
+surrounding villages also came in as volunteers, such as the
+Zyentsinkis, the Sviderskis, the Yavorskis, the Jendzians, the
+Mazovyetskis; volunteers came even from the province of Lyubelsk, such
+as the Karvovskis and the Turs; and from time to time appeared a more
+wealthy noble with a few servants, well armed. Deputies were sent from
+the squadrons to levy contributions, to collect money and provisions
+for receipts; in a word, activity reigned everywhere, and military
+preparations sprang up. When Volodyovski with his Lauda squadron
+arrived, there were already some thousands of people under arms, to
+whom only a leader was wanting.
+
+These men were unorganized and unruly, though not so unorganized nor so
+unruly as those nobles of Great Poland, who a few months before had the
+task of defending the passage of Uistsie against the Swedes; for these
+men from Podlyasye, Lublin, and Lithuania were accustomed to war, and
+there were none among them, unless youths, who had not smelled powder,
+and who "had not used the snuff-box of Gradivus." Each in his time had
+fought,--now against the Cossacks, now against the Turks, now against
+Tartars; there were some who still held in remembrance the Swedish
+wars. But above all towered in military experience and eloquence Pan
+Zagloba; and he was glad to be in that assemblage of soldiers, in which
+there were no deliberations with a dry throat.
+
+Zagloba extinguished the importance of colonels the most important. The
+Lauda men declared that had it not been for him, Volodyovski, the
+Skshetuskis, Mirski, and Oskyerko would have died at the hands of
+Radzivill, for they were being taken to Birji to execution. Zagloba did
+not hide his own services, but rendered complete justice to himself, so
+that all might know whom they had before them.
+
+"I do not like to praise myself," said he, "nor to speak of what has
+not been; for with me truth is the basis, as my sister's son also can
+testify."
+
+Here he turned to Roh Kovalski, who straightway stepped forth from
+behind Pan Zagloba, and said, with a ringing, stentorian voice,--
+
+"Uncle never lies!"
+
+And, puffing, Pan Roh rolled his eyes over the audience, as if seeking
+the insolent man who would dare to gainsay him.
+
+But no one ever gainsaid him. Then Zagloba began to tell of his
+old-time victories,--how during the life of Konyetspolski he had caused
+victory twice over Gustavus Adolphus, how in later times he staggered
+Hmelnitski, how he acted at Zbaraj, how Prince Yeremi relied on his
+counsels in everything, how he confided to him the leadership in
+sorties.
+
+"And after each sortie," said ho, "when we had spoiled five or ten
+thousand of the ruffians, Hmelnitski in despair used to butt his head
+against the wall, and repeat, 'No one has done this but that devil of a
+Zagloba!' and when it came to the treaty of Zborovo, the Khan himself
+looked at me as a wonder, and begged for my portrait, since he wished
+to send it as a gift to the Sultan."
+
+"Such men do we need now more than ever," said the hearers.
+
+And since many had heard besides of the marvellous deeds of Zagloba,
+accounts of which were travelling over the whole Commonwealth, and
+since recent events in Kyedani, such as the liberation of the colonels,
+and the battle with the Swedes at Klavany, confirmed the old opinion
+concerning the man,--his glory increased still more; and Zagloba walked
+in it, as in the sunlight, before the eyes of all men, bright and
+radiant beyond others.
+
+"If there were a thousand such men in the Commonwealth, it would not
+have come to what it has!" said the soldiers.
+
+"Let us thank God that we have even one among us."
+
+"He was the first to proclaim Radzivill a traitor."
+
+"And he snatched honorable men from his grasp, and on the road he so
+pommelled the Swedes at Klavany that a witness of their defeat could
+not escape."
+
+"He won the first victory!"
+
+"God grant, not the last!"
+
+Colonels like Jyromski, Kotovski, Yakub Kmita, and Lipnitski looked
+also on Zagloba with great respect. They urged him to their quarters,
+seizing him from one another by force; and his counsel was sought in
+everything, while they wondered at his prudence, which was quite equal
+to his bravery.
+
+And just then they were considering an important affair. They had sent,
+it is true, deputies to the voevoda of Vityebsk, asking him to come and
+take command; but since no one knew clearly where the voevoda was at
+that moment, the deputies went away, and as it were fell into water.
+There were reports that they had been taken by Zolotarenko's parties,
+which came as far as Volkovysk, plundering on their own account.
+
+The colonels at Byalystok therefore decided to choose a temporary
+leader who should have management of all till the arrival of Sapyeha.
+It is not needful to say that, with the exception of Volodyovski, each
+colonel was thinking of himself.
+
+Then began persuading and soliciting. The army gave notice that it
+wished to take part in the election, not through deputies, but in the
+general circle which was formed for that purpose.
+
+Volodyovski, after advising with his comrades, gave strong support to
+Jyromski, who was a virtuous man and important; besides, he impressed
+the troops by his looks, and a senatorial beard to his girdle. He was
+also a ready and experienced soldier. He, through gratitude,
+recommended Volodyovski; but Kotovski, Lipnitski, and Yakub Kmita
+opposed this, insisting that it was not possible to select the
+youngest, for the chief must represent before the country the greatest
+dignity.
+
+"But who is the oldest here?" asked many voices.
+
+"Uncle is the oldest," cried suddenly Roh Kovalski, with such a
+thundering voice that all turned toward him.
+
+"It is a pity that he has no squadron!" said Yahovich, Jyromski's
+lieutenant.
+
+But others began to cry: "Well, what of that? Are we bound to choose
+only a colonel? Is not the election in our power? Is this not free
+suffrage? Any noble may be elected king, not merely commander."
+
+Then Pan Lipnitski, as he did not favor Jyromski, and wished by all
+means to prevent his election, raised his voice,--
+
+"As true as life! You are free, gracious gentlemen, to vote as may
+please you. If you do not choose a colonel, it will be better; for
+there will be no offence to any man, nor will there be jealousy."
+
+Then came a terrible uproar. Many voices cried, "To the vote! to the
+vote!" but others, "Who here is more famous than Pan Zagloba? Who is a
+greater knight? Who is a more experienced soldier? We want Pan Zagloba!
+Long life to him! Long life to our commander!"
+
+"Long life to Pan Zagloba! long life to him!" roared more and more
+throats.
+
+"To the sabres with the stubborn!" cried the more quarrelsome.
+
+"There is no opposition! By acclamation!" answered crowds.
+
+"Long life to him! He conquered Gustavus Adolphus! He staggered
+Hmelnitski!"
+
+"He saved the colonels themselves!"
+
+"He conquered the Swedes at Klavany!"
+
+"Vivat! vivat! Zagloba dux! Vivat! vivat!"
+
+And throngs began to hurl their caps in the air, while running through
+the camp in search of Zagloba.
+
+He was astonished, and at the first moment confused, for he had not
+sought the office. He wanted it for Pan Yan, and did not expect such a
+turn of affairs. So when a throng of some thousands began to shout his
+name, his breath failed him, and he became as red as a beet. Then his
+comrades rushed around him; but in their enthusiasm they interpreted
+everything in a good sense, for seeing his confusion they fell to
+shouting,--
+
+"Look at him! he blushes like a maiden! His modesty is equal to his
+manhood! Long life to him, and may he lead us to victory!"
+
+Meanwhile the colonels also came up,--glad, not glad; they
+congratulated him on his office, and perhaps some were even glad that
+it had missed their rivals. Pan Volodyovski merely moved his mustaches
+somewhat, he was not less astonished than Zagloba; and Jendzian, with
+open eyes and mouth, stared with unbelief, but already with respect, at
+Zagloba, who came to himself by degrees, and after a while put his
+hands on his hips, and rearing his head, received with fitting dignity
+the congratulations.
+
+Jyromski congratulated first on behalf of the colonels, and then of the
+army. Pan Jymirski, an officer of Kotovski's squadron, spoke very
+eloquently, quoting the maxims of various sages.
+
+Zagloba listened, nodded; finally, when the speaker had finished, the
+commander gave utterance to the following words,--
+
+"Gracious gentlemen! Even if a man should endeavor to drown honest
+merit in the unfordable ocean, or cover it with the heaven-touching
+Carpathians, still, having like oil the property of floating to the
+surface, it would work itself out, so as to say to the eyes of men, 'I
+am that which trembles not before light, which has no fear of judgment,
+which waits for reward.' But as a precious stone is set in gold, so
+should that virtue be set in modesty; therefore, gracious gentlemen,
+standing here in your presence, I ask: Have I not hidden myself and my
+services? Have I praised myself in your presence? Have I asked for
+this office, with which you have adorned me? You yourselves have
+discovered my merits, for I am this moment ready to deny them, and to
+say to you: There are better than I, such as Pan Jyromski, Pan
+Kotovski, Pan Lipnitski, Pan Kmita, Pan Oskyerko, Pan Skshetuski, Pan
+Volodyovski,--such great cavaliers that antiquity itself might be proud
+of them. Why choose me leader, and not some one of them? It is still
+time. Take from my shoulders this office, and clothe in this mantle a
+worthier man!"
+
+"Impossible! impossible!" bellowed hundreds and thousands of voices.
+
+"Impossible!" repeated the colonels, delighted with the public praise,
+and wishing at the same time to show their modesty before the army.
+
+"I see myself that it is impossible now," said Zagloba; "then, gracious
+gentlemen, let your will be done. I thank you from my heart, lords
+brothers, and I have faith that God will grant that you be not deceived
+in the trust which you have placed in me. As you are to stand with me
+to death, so I promise to stand with you; and if an inscrutable fate
+brings us either victory or destruction, death itself will not part us,
+for even after death we shall share a common renown."
+
+Tremendous enthusiasm reigned in the assembly. Some grasped their
+sabres, others shed tears; sweat stood in drops on the bald head of
+Zagloba, but the ardor within him grew greater.
+
+"We will stand by our lawful king, by our elected, and by our country,"
+shouted he; "live for them, die for them! Gracious gentlemen, since
+this fatherland is a fatherland never have such misfortunes fallen on
+it. Traitors have opened the gates, and there is not a foot of land,
+save this province, where an enemy is not raging. In you is the hope of
+the country, and in me your hope; on you and on me the whole
+Commonwealth has its eyes fixed! Let us show that it holds not its
+hands forth in vain. As you ask from me manhood and faith, so I ask of
+you discipline and obedience; and if we be worthy, if we open, by our
+example, the eyes of those whom the enemy has deceived, then half the
+Commonwealth will fly to us! Whoso has God and faith in his heart will
+join us, the forces of heaven will support us, and who in that hour can
+oppose us?"
+
+"It will be so! As God lives, it will be so! Solomon is speaking!
+Strike! strike!" shouted thundering voices.
+
+But Zagloba stretched forth his hands to the north, and shouted,--
+
+"Come now, Radzivill! Come now, lord hetman, lord heretic, voevoda of
+Lucifer! We are waiting for you,--not scattered, but standing together;
+not in discord, but in harmony; not with papers and compacts, but with
+swords in our hands! An army of virtue is waiting for you, and I am its
+leader. Take the field! Meet Zagloba! Call the devils to your side; let
+us make the trial! Take the field!"
+
+Here he turned again to the army, and roared till his voice was heard
+throughout the whole camp,--
+
+"As God is true, gracious gentlemen, prophecies support me! Only
+harmony, and we shall conquer those scoundrels, those wide-breeches and
+stocking fellows, fish-eaters and lousy rogues, sheepskin tanners who
+sleigh-ride in summer! We'll give them pepper, till they wear off their
+heels racing home. Let every living man slay them, the dog brothers!
+Slay, whoso believes in God, to whom virtue and the country are dear!"
+
+Several thousand sabres were gleaming at once. Throngs surrounded
+Zagloba, crowding, trampling, pushing, and roaring,--
+
+"Lead us on! lead us on!"
+
+"I will lead you to-morrow! Make ready!" shouted Zagloba, with ardor.
+
+This election took place in the morning, and in the afternoon there was
+a review of the army. The squadrons were disposed on the plain of
+Horoshchan, one by the other in great order, with the colonels and
+banners in front; and before the regiments rode the commander, under a
+horse-tail standard, with a gilded baton in his hand, and a heron
+feather in his cap,--you would have said, a born hetman! And so he
+reviewed in turn the squadrons, as a shepherd examines his flock, and
+courage was added to the soldiers at sight of that lordly figure. Each
+colonel came out to him in turn, and he spoke with each,--praised
+something, blamed something; and in truth those of the new-comers who
+in the beginning were not pleased with the choice were forced to admit
+in their souls that the new commander was a soldier very well
+conversant with military affairs, and for whom leadership was nothing
+new.
+
+Volodyovski alone moved his mustaches somewhat strangely when the new
+commander clapped him on the shoulder at the review, in presence of the
+other colonels, and said,--
+
+"Pan Michael, I am satisfied with you, for your squadron is in such
+order as no other. Hold on in this fashion, and you may be sure that
+I'll not forget you."
+
+"'Pon my word!" whispered Volodyovski to Pan Yan on the way home from
+the review, "what else could a real hetman have told me?"
+
+That same day Zagloba sent detachments in directions in which it was
+needful to go, and in direction in which there was no need of going.
+When they returned in the morning, he listened with care to every
+report; then he betook himself to the quarters of Volodyovski, who
+lived with Pan Yan and Pan Stanislav.
+
+"Before the army I must uphold dignity," said he, kindly; "when we are
+alone we can have our old intimacy,--here I am a friend, not a chief.
+Besides, I do not despise your counsel, though I have my own reason;
+for I know you as men of experience such as few in the Commonwealth
+have."
+
+They greeted him therefore in old fashion, and "intimacy"
+soon reigned completely. Jendzian alone dared not be with him as
+formerly, and sat on the very edge of his bench.
+
+"What does father think to do?" asked Pan Yan.
+
+"First of all to uphold order and discipline, and keep the soldiers at
+work, that they may not grow mangy from laziness. I said well, Pan
+Michael, that you mumbled like a suckling when I sent those parties
+toward the four points of the world; but I had to do so to inure men to
+service, for they have been idle a long time. That first, second, what
+do we need? Not men, for enough of them come, and more will come yet.
+Those nobles who fled from Mazovia to Prussia before the Swedes, will
+come too. Men and sabres will not be wanting; but there are not
+provisions enough, and without supplies no army on earth can remain in
+the field. I had the idea to order parties to bring in whatever falls
+into their hands,--cattle, sheep, pigs, grain, hay; and in this
+province and the district of Vidzko in Mazovia, which also has not seen
+an enemy yet, there is abundance of everything."
+
+"But those nobles will raise heaven-climbing shouts," said Pan Yan, "if
+their crops and cattle are taken."
+
+"The army means more for me than the nobles. Let them cry! Supplies
+will not be taken for nothing. I shall command to give receipts, of
+which I have prepared so many during the night, that half the
+Commonwealth might be taken under requisition with them. I have no
+money; but when the war is over and the Swedes driven out, the
+Commonwealth will pay. What is the use in talking! It would be worse
+for the nobles if the army were to grow hungry, go around and rob. I
+have a plan too of scouring the forests, for I hear that very many
+peasants have taken refuge there with their cattle. Let the army people
+return thanks to the Holy Ghost, who inspired them to choose me, for no
+other man would have managed in such fashion."
+
+"On your great mightiness is a senator's head, that is certain!"
+exclaimed Jendzian.
+
+"Hei!" retorted Zagloba, rejoiced at the flattery, "and you are not to
+be imposed on, you rogue! Soon it will be seen how I'll make you
+lieutenant, only let there be a vacancy."
+
+"I thank your great mightiness humbly," replied Jendzian.
+
+"This is my plan," continued Zagloba: "first to collect such supplies
+that we could stand a siege, then to make a fortified camp, and let
+Radzivill come with Swedes or with devils. I'm a rascal if I do not
+make a second Zbaraj here!"
+
+"As God is dear to me, a noble idea!" cried Volodyovski; "but where can
+we get cannon?"
+
+"Pan Kotovski has two howitzers, and Yakub Kmita has one gun for firing
+salutes; in Byalystok are four eight-pounders which were to be sent to
+the castle of Tykotsin; for you do not know, gentlemen, that Byalystok
+was left by Pan Vyesyolovski for the support of Tykotsin Castle, and
+those cannon were bought the past year with the rent, as Pan
+Stempalski, the manager here, told me. He said also that there were a
+hundred charges of powder for each cannon. We'll help ourselves,
+gracious gentlemen; only support me from your souls, and do not forget
+the body either, which would be glad to drink something, for it is time
+now for that."
+
+Volodyovski gave orders to bring drink, and they talked on at the cups.
+
+"You thought that you would have the picture of a commander," continued
+Zagloba, sipping lightly the old mead. "Never, never! I did not ask for
+the favor; but since they adorn me with it, there must be obedience and
+order. I know what each office means, and see if I am not equal to
+every one. I'll make a second Zbaraj in this place, nothing but a
+second Zbaraj! Radzivill will choke himself well; and the Swedes will
+choke themselves before they swallow me. I hope that Hovanski will try
+us too; I would bury him in such style that he would not be found at
+the last judgment. They are not far away, let them try!--Mead, Pan
+Michael!"
+
+Volodyovski poured out mead. Zagloba drank it at a draught, wrinkled
+his forehead, and as if thinking of something said,--
+
+"Of what was I talking? What did I want?--Ah! mead, Pan Michael!"
+
+Volodyovski poured out mead again.
+
+"They say," continued Zagloba, "that Pan Sapyeha likes a drink in good
+company. No wonder! every honorable man does. Only traitors, who have
+false thoughts for their country, abstain, lest they tell their
+intrigues. Radzivill drinks birch sap, and after death will drink
+pitch. I think that Sapyeha and I shall be fond of each other; but I
+shall have everything here so arranged that when he comes all will be
+ready. There is many a thing on my head; but what is to be done? If
+there is no one in the country to think, then think thou, old Zagloba,
+while breath is in thy nostrils. The worst is that I have no
+chancellery."
+
+"And what does father want of a chancellery?" asked Pan Yan.
+
+"Why has the king a chancellery? And why must there be a military
+secretary with an army? It will be necessary to send to some town to
+have a seal made for me."
+
+"A seal?" repeated Jendzian, with delight, looking with growing respect
+at Zagloba.
+
+"And on what will your lordship put the seal?" asked Volodyovski.
+
+"In such a confidential company you may address me as in old times. The
+seal will not be used by me, but by my chancellor,--keep that in mind,
+to begin with!"
+
+Here Zagloba looked with pride and importance at those present, till
+Jendzian sprang up from the bench, and Pan Stanislav muttered,--
+
+"_Honores mutant mores_ (honors change manners)!"
+
+"What do I want of a chancellery? But listen to me!" said Zagloba.
+"Know this, to begin with, that those misfortunes which have fallen
+upon our country, according to my understanding, have come from no
+other causes than from license, unruliness, and excesses--Mead, Pan
+Michael!--and excesses, I say, which like a plague are destroying us;
+but first of all, from heretics blaspheming with ever-growing boldness
+the true faith, to the damage of our Most Holy Patroness, who may fall
+into just anger because of these insults."
+
+"He speaks truly," said the knights, in chorus; "the dissidents were
+the first to join the enemy, and who knows if they did not bring the
+enemy hither?"
+
+"For example, the grand hetman of Lithuania!"
+
+"But in this province, where I am commander, there is also no lack of
+heretics, as in Tykotsin and other towns; therefore to obtain the
+blessing of God on our undertaking at its inception, a manifesto will
+be issued, that whoso is living in error must turn from it in three
+days, and those who will not do that will have their property
+confiscated to the army."
+
+The knights looked at one another with astonishment. They knew that
+there was no lack of adroit reason and stratagem in Zagloba, but they
+did not suppose him to be such a statesman and judge of public
+questions.
+
+"And you ask," continued Zagloba, with triumph, "where we shall get
+money for the army? But the confiscations, and all the wealth of the
+Radzivills, which by confiscation will become army property?"
+
+"Will there be right on our side?" asked Volodyovski.
+
+"There are such times at present that whoever has a sword is right. And
+what right have the Swedes and all those enemies who are raging within
+the boundaries of the Commonwealth?"
+
+"It is true!" answered Pan Michael, with conviction.
+
+"That is not enough!" cried Zagloba, growing warmer, "another manifesto
+will be issued to the nobles of Podlyasye, and those lands in the
+neighboring provinces which are not yet in the hands of the enemy, to
+assemble a general militia. These nobles must arm their servants, so
+that we may not lack infantry. I know that many would be glad to
+appear, if only they could see some government. They will have a
+government and manifestoes."
+
+"You have, in truth, as much sense as the grand chancellor of the
+kingdom," cried Volodyovski.
+
+"Mead, Pan Michael!--A third letter will be sent to Hovanski, telling
+him to go to destruction; if not, we will smoke him out of every town
+and castle. They (the Northerners) are quiet now in Lithuania, it is
+true, and do not capture castles; but Zolotarenko's men rob, going
+along in parties of one or two thousand. Let him restrain them, or we
+will destroy them."
+
+"We might do that, indeed," said Pan Yan, "and the troops would not be
+lying idle."
+
+"I am thinking of this, and I will send new parties today, precisely to
+Volkovysk; but some things are to be done, and others are not to be
+omitted. I wish to send a fourth letter to our elected, our good king,
+to console him in his sorrow; saying that there are still men who have
+not deserted him, that there are sabres and hearts ready at his nod.
+Let our father have at least this comfort in a strange land; our
+beloved lord, our Yagellon blood, which must wander in exile,--think of
+it, think of it!"
+
+Here Zagloba fell to sobbing, for he had much mead in his head, and at
+last he roared from pity over the fate of the king, and Pan Michael at
+once seconded him in a thinner voice. Jendzian sobbed too, or pretended
+to sob; but Pan Yan and Pan Stanislav rested their heads on their
+hands, and sat in silence.
+
+The silence continued for a while; suddenly Zagloba fell into a rage.
+
+"What is the elector doing?" cried he. "If he has made a pact with the
+Prussian towns, let him take the field against the Swedes, let him not
+intrigue on both sides, let him do what a loyal vassal is bound to do,
+and take the field in defence of his lord and benefactor."
+
+"Who can tell that he will not declare for the Swedes?" asked Pan
+Stanislav.
+
+"Declare for the Swedes? Then I will declare to him! The Prussian
+boundary is not far, and I have some thousands of sabres within call!
+You will not deceive Zagloba! As true as you see me here, the commander
+of this noble army, I will visit him with fire and sword. We have not
+provisions; well, we shall find all we need in Prussian storehouses."
+
+"Mother of God!" cried Jendzian, in ecstasy. "Your great mightiness
+will conquer crowned heads!"
+
+"I will write to him at once: 'Worthy Pan Elector, there is enough of
+turning the cat away by the tail, enough of evasion and delay! Come out
+against the Swedes, or I will come on a visit to Prussia. It cannot be
+otherwise.'--Ink, pen, and paper!--Jendzian, will you go with the
+letter?"
+
+"I will go!" answered the tenant of Vansosh, delighted with his new
+dignity.
+
+But before pen, ink, and paper were brought to Zagloba, shouts were
+raised in front of the house, and throngs of soldiers darkened the
+windows. Some shouted "Vivat!" others cried, "Allah," in Tartar.
+Zagloba and his comrades went out to see what was taking place.
+
+It appeared that they were bringing those eight pounders which Zagloba
+had remembered, and the sight of which was now delighting the hearts of
+the soldiers.
+
+Pan Stempalski, the manager of Byalystok, approached Zagloba, and
+said,--
+
+"Serene, great mighty Commander! From the time that he of immortal
+memory, the lord marshal of the Grand Principality of Lithuania, left
+by will his property at Byalystok to support the castle of Tykotsin, I,
+being manager of that property, have applied faithfully and honestly
+all its income to the benefit of that castle, as I can show to the
+whole Commonwealth by registers. So that working more than twenty years
+I have provided that castle with powder and guns and brass; holding it
+as a sacred duty that every copper should go to that object to which
+the serene great mighty marshal of the Grand Principality of Lithuania
+commanded that it should go. But when by the changing wheel of fate the
+castle of Tykotsin became the greatest support in this province of the
+enemies of the country, I asked God and my own conscience whether I
+ought to strengthen it more, or whether I was not bound to give into
+the hands of your great mightiness this wealth and these military
+supplies obtained from the income of the present year."
+
+"You should give them to me!" interrupted Zagloba, with importance.
+
+"I ask but one thing,--that your great mightiness be pleased, in
+presence of the whole army and in writing, to give me a receipt, that I
+applied nothing from that property to my own use, and that I delivered
+everything into the hands of the Commonwealth, worthily represented
+here by you, the great mighty commander."
+
+Zagloba motioned with his head as a sign of assent, and began at once
+to look over the register.
+
+It appeared that besides the eight-pounders there were put away in the
+storehouses three hundred German muskets, very good ones; besides two
+hundred Moscow halberts, for infantry in the defence of walls and
+breastworks; and six thousand ducats in ready money.
+
+"The money will be divided among the army," said Zagloba; "and as to
+the muskets and halberts,"--here he looked around,--"Pan Oskyerko,
+you will take them and form a body of infantry; there are a few
+foot-soldiers here from the Radzivill fugitives, and as many as are
+lacking may be taken from the millers."
+
+Then he turned to all present: "Gracious gentlemen, there is money,
+there are cannons, there will be infantry and provisions,--these are my
+orders, to begin with."
+
+"Vivat!" shouted the army.
+
+"And now, gracious gentlemen, let all the young men go on a jump to the
+villages for spades, shovels, and pickaxes. We will make a fortified
+camp, a second Zbaraj! But whether a man belongs to cavalry or
+infantry, let none be ashamed of the shovel, and to work!"
+
+Then the commander withdrew to his quarters, attended by the shouts of
+the army.
+
+"As God is true, that man has a head on his shoulders," said
+Volodyovski to Pan Yan, "and things begin to go in better order."
+
+"If only Radzivill does not come soon," put in Pan Stanislav, "for he
+is such a leader that there is not another like him in the
+Commonwealth. Our Pan Zagloba is good for provisioning the camp; but it
+is not for him to measure strength with such a warrior as Radzivill."
+
+"That is true!" answered Pan Yan. "When it comes to action we will help
+him with counsel, for he does not understand war. Besides, his rule
+will come to an end the moment Sapyeha arrives."
+
+"He can do much good before that time," said Volodyovski.
+
+In truth, the army needed some leader, even Zagloba; for from the day
+of his election better order reigned in the camp. On the following day
+they began to make breastworks near the Byalystok ponds. Pan Oskyerko,
+who had served in foreign armies and understood fortification, directed
+the whole labor. In three days there had arisen a very strong
+entrenchment, really something like Zbaraj, for the sides and the rear
+of it were defended by swampy ponds. The sight of this work raised the
+hearts of the soldiers; the whole army felt that it had some ground
+under its feet. But courage was strengthened still more at sight of the
+supplies of food brought by strong parties. Every day they drove in
+oxen, sheep, pigs; every day came wagons bringing all kinds of grain
+and hay. Some things came from Lukovo, others from Vidzko. There came
+also, in continually greater numbers, nobles, small and great, for when
+the tidings went around that there was a government, an army, and a
+commander, there was more confidence among people. It was burdensome
+for the inhabitants to support a "whole division:" but to begin with,
+Zagloba did not inquire about that; in the second place, it was better
+to give half to the army and enjoy the rest in peace, than to be
+exposed every moment to losing all through the unruly bands, which had
+increased considerably and raged like Tartars, and which, at command of
+Zagloba, were pursued and destroyed.
+
+"If the commander turns out to be such a leader as he is a manager,"
+said the soldiers in camp, "the Commonwealth does not know yet how
+great a man it has."
+
+Zagloba himself was thinking, with definite alarm, of the coming of
+Yanush Radzivill. He called to mind all the victories of Radzivill;
+then the form of the hetman took on monstrous shapes in the imagination
+of the new commander, and in his soul he said,--
+
+"Oh, who can oppose that dragon? I said that he would choke himself
+with me, but he will swallow me as a sheat-fish a duck."
+
+And he promised himself, under oath, not to give a general battle to
+Radzivill.
+
+"There will be a siege," thought he, "and that always lasts long.
+Negotiations can be tried too, and by that time Sapyeha will come up."
+
+In case he should not come up, Zagloba determined to listen to Pan Yan
+in everything, for he remembered how highly Prince Yeremi prized this
+officer and his military endowments.
+
+"You, Pan Michael," said Zagloba to Volodyovski, "are just created for
+attack, and you may be sent scouting, even with a large party, for you
+know how to manage, and fall on the enemy, like a wolf on sheep; but if
+you were commanded to be hetman of a whole army,--I pass, I pass! You
+will not fill a vault with your mind, since you have no wit for sale;
+but Yan, he has the head of a commander, and if I were to die he is the
+only man who could fill my place."
+
+Meanwhile contradictory tidings came. First it was reported that
+Radzivill was marching through Electoral Prussia; second, that having
+defeated Hovanski's troops, he had taken Grodno and was marching thence
+with great force; further, there were men who insisted that not Prince
+Yanush, but Sapyeha, with the aid of Prince Michael Radzivill, had
+defeated Hovanski. Scouting-parties brought no reliable news, saving
+this, that a body of Zolotarenko's men, about two thousand in number,
+were at Volkovysk, and threatened the town. The neighborhood was in
+flames.
+
+One day later fugitives began to come in who confirmed the news,
+reporting besides that the townspeople had sent envoys to Hovanski and
+Zolotarenko with a prayer to spare the place, to which they received
+answer from Hovanski that that band was a separate one, having nothing
+to do with his army. Zolotarenko advised the people to ransom
+themselves; but they, as poor men after the recent fire and a number of
+plunderings, had no ransom to give. They implored the commander in
+God's name to hasten to their rescue, while they were conducting
+negotiations to ransom the town, for afterward there would not be time.
+Zagloba selected fifteen hundred good troops, among them the Lauda men,
+and calling Volodyovski, said,--
+
+"Now, Pan Michael, it is time to show what you can do. Go to Volkovysk
+and destroy those ruffians who are threatening an undefended town. Such
+an expedition is not a novelty for you; I think you will take it as a
+favor that I give such functions." Here he turned to the other
+colonels: "I must remain in camp myself, for all the responsibility is
+on me, that is, first; and second, it does not beseem my office to go
+on an expedition against ruffians. But let Radzivill come, then in a
+great battle it will be shown who is superior,--the hetman or the
+commander."
+
+Volodyovski set out with alacrity, for he was weary of camp life and
+yearned for battle. The squadrons selected marched out willingly and
+with singing; the commander appeared on the rampart on horseback, and
+blessed the departing, making over them the sign of the cross for the
+road. There were some who wondered that Zagloba sent off that party
+with such solemnity, but he remembered that Jolkyevski and other
+hetmans had the habit of making the sign of the cross over squadrons
+when going to battle; besides, he loved to do everything with ceremony,
+for that raised his dignity in the eyes of the soldiers.
+
+Barely had the squadrons vanished in the haze of the distance, when he
+began to be alarmed about them.
+
+"Yan!" said he, "another handful of men might be sent to Volodyovski."
+
+"Be at rest, father," answered Pan Yan. "For Volodyovski to go on such
+an expedition is the same as to eat a plate of fried eggs. Dear God, he
+has done nothing else all his life!"
+
+"That is true; but if an overwhelming force should attack him? _Nec
+Hercules contra plures_ (Neither Hercules against [too] many)."
+
+"What is the use in talking about such a soldier? He will test
+everything carefully before he strikes; and if the forces against him
+are too great, he will pluck off what he can and return, or will send
+for reinforcements. You may sleep quietly, father."
+
+"Ah, I also knew whom I was sending, but I tell you that Pan Michael
+must have given me some herb; I have such a weakness for him. I have
+never loved any one so, except Podbipienta and you. It cannot be but
+that little fellow has given me something."
+
+Three days passed. Provisions were brought continually, volunteers also
+marched in, but of Pan Michael not a sound. Zagloba's fears increased,
+and in spite of Pan Yan's remonstrance that in no way could Volodyovski
+return yet from Volkovysk, Zagloba sent one hundred of Yakub Kmita's
+light horse for intelligence.
+
+The scouts marched out, and two days more passed without news.
+
+On the seventh day, during a gray misty nightfall, the camp-attendants
+sent for food to Bobrovniki returned in great haste, with the report
+that they had seen some army coming out of the forest beyond
+Bobrovniki.
+
+"Pan Michael!" exclaimed Zagloba, joyfully.
+
+But the men contradicted that. They had not gone to meet it for the
+special reason that they saw strange flags, not belonging to
+Volodyovski's troops. And besides, this force was greater. The
+attendants, being attendants, could not fix the number exactly; some
+said there were three thousand; others five thousand, or still more.
+
+"I will take twenty horsemen and go to meet them," said Captain
+Lipnitski.
+
+He went.
+
+An hour passed, and a second; at last it was stated that not a party
+was approaching, but a whole army.
+
+It is unknown why, but on a sudden it was thundered through the camp,--
+
+"Radzivill is coming!"
+
+This report, like an electric shock, moved and shook the whole camp;
+the soldiers rushed to the bulwarks. On some faces terror was evident;
+the men did not stand in proper order; Oskyerko's infantry only
+occupied the places indicated. Among the volunteers there was a panic
+at the first moment. From mouth to mouth flew various reports:
+"Radzivill has cut to pieces Volodyovski and the second party formed of
+Yakub Kmita's men," repeated some. "Not a witness of the defeat has
+escaped!" said others. "And now Lipnitski has gone, as it were, under
+the earth." "Where is the commander? Where is the commander?"
+
+The colonels rushed to establish order; and since all in the camp, save
+a few volunteers, were old soldiers, they soon stood in order, waiting
+for what would appear.
+
+When the cry came, "Radzivill is coming!" Zagloba was greatly confused;
+but in the first moment he would not believe it.
+
+"What has happened to Volodyovski? Has he let himself be surrounded, so
+that not a man has come back with a warning? And the second party? And
+Pan Lipnitski? Impossible!" repeated Zagloba to himself, wiping his
+forehead, which was sweating profusely. "Has this dragon, this man-killer,
+this Lucifer, been able to come from Kyedani already? Is the last hour
+approaching?"
+
+Meanwhile from every side voices more and more numerous cried,
+"Radzivill! Radzivill!"
+
+Zagloba ceased to doubt. He sprang up and rushed to Pan Yan's quarters.
+"Oh, Yan, save! It is time now!"
+
+"What has happened?" asked Pan Yan.
+
+"Radzivill is coming! To your head I give everything, for Prince Yeremi
+said that you are a born leader. I will superintend myself, but do you
+give counsel and lead."
+
+"That cannot be Radzivill!" said Pan Yan. "From what direction are the
+troops marching?"
+
+"From Volkovysk. It is said that they have taken Volodyovski and the
+second party which I sent not long ago."
+
+"Volodyovski let himself be taken! Oh, father, you do not know him. He
+is coming back himself,--no one else!"
+
+"But it is said that there is an enormous army!"
+
+"Praise be to God! it is clear then that Sapyeha is coming."
+
+"For God's sake! what do you tell me? Why then was it said that
+Lipnitski went against them?"
+
+"That is just the proof that it is not Radzivill who is coming.
+Lipnitski discovered who it was, joined, and all are coming together.
+Let us go out, let us go out!"
+
+"I said that the first moment!" cried Zagloba. "All were frightened,
+but I thought, 'That cannot be!' I saw the position at once. Come!
+hurry, Yan, hurry! Those men out there are confused. Aha!"
+
+Zagloba and Pan Yan hastened to the ramparts, occupied already by the
+troops, and began to pass along. Zagloba's face was radiant; he stopped
+every little while, and cried so that all heard him,--
+
+"Gracious gentlemen, we have guests! I have no reason to lose heart! If
+that is Radzivill, I'll show him the road back to Kyedani!"
+
+"We'll show him!" cried the army.
+
+"Kindle fires on the ramparts! We will not hide ourselves; let them see
+us, we are ready! Kindle fires!"
+
+Straightway they brought wood, and a quarter of an hour later the whole
+camp was flaming, till the heavens grew red as if from daybreak. The
+soldiers, turning away from the light, looked into the darkness in the
+direction of Bobrovniki. Some of them cried that they heard a clatter
+and the stamp of horses.
+
+Just then in the darkness musket-shots were heard from afar. Zagloba
+pulled Pan Yan by the skirts.
+
+"They are beginning to fire!" said he, disquieted.
+
+"Salutes!" answered Pan Yan.
+
+After the shots shouts of joy were heard. There was no reason for
+further doubt; a moment later a number of riders rushed in on foaming
+horses, crying,--
+
+"Pan Sapyeha! the voevoda of Vityebsk!"
+
+Barely had the soldiers heard this, when they rushed forth from the
+walls, like an overflowed river, and ran forward, roaring so that any
+one hearing their voices from afar might think them cries from a town
+in which victors were putting all to the sword.
+
+Zagloba, wearing all the insignia of his office, with a baton in his
+hand and a heron's feather in his cap, rode out under his horse-tail
+standard, at the head of the colonels, to the front of the
+fortifications.
+
+After a while the voevoda of Vityebsk at the head of his officers, and
+with Volodyovski at his side, rode into the lighted circle. He was a
+man already in respectable years, of medium weight, with a face not
+beautiful, but wise and kindly. His mustaches, cut evenly over his
+upper lip, were iron-gray, as was also a small beard, which made him
+resemble a foreigner, though he dressed in Polish fashion. Though
+famous for many military exploits he looked more like a civilian than a
+soldier; those who knew him more intimately said that in the
+countenance of the voevoda Minerva was greater than Mars. But, besides
+Minerva and Mars, there was in that face a gem rarer in those times;
+that is honesty, which flowing forth from his soul was reflected in his
+eyes as the light of the sun is in water. At the first glance people
+recognized that he was a just and honorable man.
+
+"We waited as for a father!" cried the soldiers.
+
+"And so our leader has come!" repeated others, with emotion.
+
+"Vivat, vivat!"
+
+Pan Zagloba, at the head of his colonels, hurried toward Sapyeha, who
+reined in his horse and began to bow with his lynx-skin cap.
+
+"Serene great mighty voevoda!" began Zagloba, "though I possessed the
+eloquence of the ancient Romans, nay, of Cicero himself, or, going to
+remoter times, of that famous Athenian, Demosthenes, I should not be
+able to express the delight which has seized our hearts at sight of the
+worthy person of the serene great mighty lord. The whole Commonwealth
+is rejoicing in our hearts, greeting the wisest senator and the best
+son, with a delight all the greater because unexpected. Behold, we were
+drawn out here on these bulwarks under arms, not ready for greeting,
+but for battle,--not to hear shouts of delight, but the thunder of
+cannon,--not to shed tears, but our blood! When however hundred-tongued
+Fame bore around the news that the defender of the fatherland was
+coming, not the heretic,--the voevoda of Vityebsk, not the grand hetman
+of Lithuania,--Sapyeha, not Radzivill--"
+
+But Pan Sapyeha was in an evident hurry to enter; for he waved his hand
+quickly, with a kindly though lordly inattention, and said,--
+
+"Radzivill also is coming. In two days he will be here!"
+
+Zagloba was confused; first, because the thread of his speech was
+broken, and second, because the news of Radzivill made a great
+impression on him. He stood therefore a moment before Sapyeha, not
+knowing what further to say; but he came quickly to his mind, and
+drawing hurriedly the baton from his belt, said with solemnity, calling
+to mind what had taken place at Zbaraj,--
+
+"The army has chosen me for its leader, but I yield this into worthier
+hands, so as to give an example to the younger how we must resign the
+highest honors for the public good."
+
+The soldiers began to shout; but Pan Sapyeha only smiled and said,--
+
+"Lord brother, I would gladly receive it, but Radzivill might think
+that you gave it through fear of him."
+
+"Oh, he knows me already," answered Zagloba, "and will not ascribe fear
+to me. I was the first to stagger him in Kyedani; and I drew others
+after me by my example."
+
+"If that is the ease, then lead on to the camp," said Sapyeha.
+"Volodyovski told me on the road that you are an excellent manager and
+have something on which to subsist; and we are wearied and hungry."
+
+So saying, he spurred on his horse, and after him moved the others;
+and all entered the camp amid measureless rejoicing. Zagloba,
+remembering what was said of Sapyeha,--that he liked feasts and the
+goblet,--determined to give fitting honor to the day of his coming;
+hence he appeared with a feast of such splendor as had not been yet in
+the camp. All ate and drank. At the cups Volodyovski told what had
+happened at Volkovysk,--how forces, considerably greater than his own,
+had been sent out by Zolotarenko, how the traitor had surrounded him,
+how straitened he was when the sudden arrival of Sapyeha turned a
+desperate defence into a brilliant victory.
+
+"We gave them something to think of," said he, "so that they will not
+stick an ear out of their camp."
+
+Then the conversation turned to Radzivill. The voevoda of Vityebsk had
+very recent tidings, and knew through reliable people of everything
+that took place in Kyedani. He said therefore that the hetman had sent
+a certain Kmita with a letter to the King of Sweden, and with a request
+to strike Podlyasye from two sides at once.
+
+"This is a wonder of wonders to me!" exclaimed Zagloba; "for had it not
+been for that Kmita, we should not have concentrated our forces to this
+moment, and if Radzivill had come he might have eaten us up, one after
+the other, like puddings of Syedlets."
+
+"Volodyovski told me all that," said Sapyeha, "from which I infer that
+Kmita has a personal affection for you. It is too bad that he hasn't it
+for the country. But people who see nothing above themselves, serve no
+cause well and are ready to betray any one, as in this case Kmita
+Radzivill."
+
+"But among us there are no traitors, and we are ready to stand up with
+the serene great mighty voevoda to the death!" said Jyromski.
+
+"I believe that here are most honorable soldiers," answered Sapyeha,
+"and I had no expectation of finding such order and abundance, for
+which I must give thanks to his grace Pan Zagloba."
+
+Zagloba blushed with pleasure, for somehow it had seemed to him
+hitherto that though the voevoda of Vityebsk had treated him
+graciously, still he had not given him the recognition and respect
+which he, the ex-commander, desired. He began therefore to relate how
+he had made regulations, what he had done, what supplies he had
+collected, how he had brought cannon, and formed infantry, finally what
+an extensive correspondence he had carried on; and not without boasting
+did he make mention of the letters sent to the banished king, to
+Hovanski, and to the elector.
+
+"After my letter, his grace the elector must declare for us openly or
+against us," said he, with pride.
+
+The voevoda of Vityebsk was a humorous man, and perhaps also he was a
+little joyous from drink; therefore he smoothed his mustache, laughed
+maliciously, and said,--
+
+"Lord brother, but have you not written to the Emperor of Germany?"
+
+"No!" answered Zagloba, astonished.
+
+"That is a pity," said the voevoda; "for there an equal would have
+talked with an equal."
+
+The colonels burst into a thundering laugh; but Zagloba showed at once
+that if the voevoda wished to be a scythe, he had struck a stone.
+
+"Serene great mighty lord," said he, "I can write to the elector, for
+as a noble I am an elector myself, and I exercised my rights not so
+long ago when I gave my voice for Yan Kazimir."
+
+"You have brought that out well," answered Sapyeha.
+
+"But with such a potentate as the Emperor I do not correspond,"
+continued Zagloba, "lest he might apply to me a certain proverb which I
+heard in Lithuania."
+
+"What was the proverb?"
+
+"Such a fool's head as that must have come out of Vityebsk!" answered
+Zagloba, without confusion.
+
+Hearing this, the colonels were frightened; but the voevoda leaned back
+and held his sides from laughter.
+
+"Ah, but you have settled me this time! Let me embrace you! Whenever I
+want to shave my beard I'll borrow your tongue!"
+
+The feast continued till late in the night; it was broken up by the
+arrival of nobles from Tykotsin, who brought news that Radzivill's
+scouts had already reached that place.
+
+
+
+
+ CHAPTER XXXIV.
+
+
+Radzivill would have fallen on Podlyasye long before, had not various
+reasons held him back in Kyedani. First, he was waiting for the Swedish
+reinforcements, which Pontus de la Gardie delayed by design. Although
+bonds of relationship connected the Swedish general with the king
+himself, he could not compare in greatness of family, in importance, in
+extensive connections by blood, with that Lithuanian magnate; and as to
+fortune, though at that time there was no ready money in Radzivill's
+treasury, all the Swedish generals might have been portioned with one
+half of the prince's estates and consider themselves wealthy. Now, when
+by the turn of fortune Radzivill was dependent on Pontus, the general
+could not deny himself the pleasure of making that lord feel his
+dependence and the superiority of De la Gardie.
+
+Radzivill did not need reinforcements to defeat the confederates, since
+for that he had forces enough of his own; but the Swedes were necessary
+to him for the reasons mentioned by Kmita in his letter to Volodyovski.
+He was shut off from Podlyasye by the legions of Hovanski, who might
+block the road to him; but if Radzivill marched together with Swedish
+troops, and under the ægis of the King of Sweden, every hostile step on
+the part of Hovanski would be considered a challenge to Karl Gustav.
+Radzivill wished this in his soul, and therefore he waited impatiently
+for the arrival of even one Swedish squadron, and while urging Pontus
+he said more than once to his attendants,--
+
+"A couple of years ago he would have thought it a favor to receive a
+letter from me, and would have left the letter by will to his
+descendants; but to-day he takes on the airs of a superior."
+
+To which a certain noble, loud-mouthed and truth-telling, known in the
+whole neighborhood, allowed himself to answer at once,--
+
+"According to the proverb, mighty prince, 'As a man makes his bed, so
+must he sleep on it.'"
+
+Radzivill burst out in anger, and gave orders to cast the noble into
+the tower; but on the following day he let him out and presented him
+with a gold button; for of this noble it was said that he had ready
+money, and the prince wanted to borrow money of him on his note. The
+noble accepted the button, but gave not the money.
+
+Swedish reinforcements came at last, to the number of eight hundred
+horse, of the heavy cavalry. Pontus sent directly to the castle of
+Tykotsin three hundred infantry and one hundred light cavalry, wishing
+to have his own garrison there in every event.
+
+Hovanski's troops withdrew before them, making no opposition; they
+arrived therefore safely at Tykotsin, for this took place when the
+confederate squadrons were still scattered over all Podlyasye, and were
+occupied only in plundering the estates of Radzivill.
+
+It was hoped that the prince, after he had received the desired
+reinforcements, would take the field at once; but he loitered yet. The
+cause of this was news from Podlyasye of disagreement in that province;
+of lack of union among the confederates, and misunderstandings between
+Kotovski, Lipnitski, and Yakub Kmita.
+
+"It is necessary to give them time," said the prince, "to seize one
+another by the heads. They will gnaw one another to pieces; their power
+will disappear without war; and then we will strike on Hovanski."
+
+But on a sudden contradictory news began to come; the colonels not only
+did not fight with one another, but had assembled in one body at
+Byalystok. The prince searched his brain for the cause of this change.
+At last the name of Zagloba, as commander, came to his ears. He was
+informed also of the making of a fortified camp, the provisioning of
+the army, and the cannon dug out at Byalystok by Zagloba, of the
+increase of confederate strength, of volunteers coming from the
+interior. Prince Yanush fell into such wrath that Ganhoff, a fearless
+soldier, dared not approach him for some time.
+
+At last the command was issued to the squadrons to prepare for the
+road. In one day a whole division was ready,--one regiment of German
+infantry, two of Scottish, one of Lithuanian. Pan Korf led the
+artillery; Ganhoff took command of the cavalry. Besides, Kharlamp's
+dragoons, the Swedish cavalry, and the light regiment of Nyevyarovski,
+there was the princess own heavy squadron, in which Slizyen was
+lieutenant. It was a considerable force, and composed of veterans. With
+a force no greater the prince, during the first wars with Hmelnitski,
+had won those victories which had adorned his name with immortal glory;
+with a power no greater he had beaten Nebaba at Loyovo, crushed a
+number of tens of thousands led by the famous Krechovski, destroyed
+Mozyr and Turoff, had taken Kieff by storm, and so pushed Hmelnitski in
+the steppes that he was forced to seek safety in negotiations.
+
+But the star of that powerful warrior was evidently setting, and he had
+no good forebodings himself. He cast his eyes into the future, and saw
+nothing clearly. He would go to Podlyasye, tear apart with horses the
+insurgents, give orders to pull out of his skin the hated Zagloba,--and
+what would come of that? What further? What change of fate would come?
+Would he then strike Hovanski, would he avenge the defeat at Tsibyhova,
+and adorn his own head with new laurels? The prince said that he would,
+but he doubted, for just then reports began to circulate widely that
+the Northerners, fearing the growth of Swedish power, would cease to
+wage war, and might even form an alliance with Yan Kazimir. Sapyeha
+continued to pluck them still, and defeated them where he could; but at
+the same time he negotiated with them. Pan Gosyevski had the same
+plans.
+
+Then in case of Hovanski's retreat that field of action would be
+closed, and the last chance of showing his power would vanish from
+Radzivill; or if Yan Kazimir could make a treaty with those who till
+then had been his enemies, and urge them against the Swedes, fortune
+might incline to his side against Sweden, and thereby against
+Radzivill.
+
+From Poland there came, it is true, the most favorable news. The
+success of the Swedes surpassed all expectation. Provinces yielded one
+after another; in Great Poland Swedes ruled as in Sweden; in Warsaw,
+Radzeyovski governed; Little Poland offered no resistance; Cracow might
+fall at any moment; the king, deserted by the army and the nobles, with
+confidence in his people broken to the core, went to Silesia; and Karl
+Gustav himself was astonished at the ease with which he had crushed
+that power, always victorious hitherto in war with the Swedes.
+
+But just in that ease had Radzivill a foreboding of danger to himself;
+for the Swedes, blinded by triumph, would not count with him, would not
+consider him, especially because he had not shown himself so powerful
+and so commanding as all, not excepting himself, had thought him.
+
+Will the Swedish King give him then Lithuania, or even White Russia?
+Will he not prefer to pacify an eternally hungry neighbor with some
+eastern slice of the Commonwealth, so as to have his own hands free in
+the remnants of Poland?
+
+These were the questions which tormented continually the soul of Prince
+Yanush. Days and nights did he pass in disquiet. He conceived that
+Pontus de la Gardie would not have dared to treat him so haughtily,
+almost insultingly, had he not thought that the king would confirm such
+a manner of action, or what is worse, had not his instructions been
+previously prepared.
+
+"As long as I am at the head of some thousands of men," thought
+Radzivill, "they will consider me; but when money fails, when my hired
+regiments scatter, what then?"
+
+And the revenues from his enormous estates did not come in. An immense
+part of them, scattered throughout Lithuania and far away to Polesie or
+Kieff, lay in ruins; those in Podlyasye the confederates had plundered
+completely. At times it seemed to the prince that he would topple over
+the precipice; that from all his labor and plotting only the name
+traitor would remain to him,--nothing more.
+
+Another phantom terrified him--the phantom of death, which appeared
+almost every night before the curtain of his bed, and beckoned with its
+hand, as if wishing to say to him, "Come into darkness, cross the
+unknown river."
+
+Had he been able to stand on the summit of glory, had he been able to
+place on his head, even for one day, for one hour, that crown desired
+with such passion, he might meet that awful and silent phantom with
+unterrified eye. But to die and leave behind evil fame and the scorn of
+men, seemed to that lord, who was as proud as Satan himself, a hell
+during life.
+
+Alone than once then, when he was alone or with his astrologer, in whom
+he placed the greatest trust, did he seize his temples and repeat with
+stifled voice,--
+
+"I am burning, burning, burning!"
+
+Under these conditions he was preparing for the campaign against
+Podlyasye, when the day before the march it was announced that Prince
+Boguslav had left Taurogi.
+
+At the mere news of this, Prince Yanush, even before he saw his cousin,
+revived as it were; for that Boguslav brought with him his youth and a
+blind faith in the future. In him the line of Birji was to be renewed,
+for him alone was Prince Yanush toiling.
+
+When he heard that Boguslav was coming, the hetman wished to go out to
+meet him, but etiquette did not permit him to go forth to meet a
+younger cousin; he sent therefore a gilded carriage, and a whole
+squadron as escort, and from the breastworks raised by Kmita and from
+the castle itself mortars were fired at his command, just as at the
+coming of a king.
+
+When the cousins, after a ceremonial greeting, were left alone at last,
+Yanush seized Boguslav in his embrace and began to repeat, with a voice
+of emotion,--
+
+"My youth has returned! My health has returned in a moment!"
+
+But Boguslav looked at him carefully and asked,--
+
+"What troubles your highness?"
+
+"Let us not give ourselves titles if no one obeys us. What troubles me?
+Sickness irritates me so that I am falling like a rotten tree. But a
+truce to this! How is my wife and Maryska?"
+
+"They have gone from Taurogi to Tyltsa. They are both well, and Marie
+is like a rosebud; that will be a wonderful rose when it blooms. _Ma
+foi!_ more beautiful feet there are not in the world, and her tresses
+flow to the very ground."
+
+"Did she seem so beautiful to you? That is well. God inspired you to
+come; I feel better in spirit when I see you. But what do you bring
+touching public affairs? 'What is the elector doing?"
+
+"You know that he has made a league with the Prussian towns?"
+
+"I know."
+
+"But they do not trust him greatly. Dantzig will not receive his
+garrisons. The Germans have a good sniff."
+
+"I know that too. But have you not written to him? What are his plans
+touching us?"
+
+"Touching us?" repeated Boguslav, inattentively.
+
+He cast his eyes around the room, then rose. Prince Yanush thought that
+he was looking for something; but he hurried to a mirror in the corner,
+and withdrawing a proper distance, rubbed his whole face with a finger
+of his right hand; at last he said,--
+
+"My skin is chapped a little from the journey, but before morning it
+will be healed. What are the elector's plans touching us? Nothing; he
+wrote to me that he will not forget us."
+
+"What does that mean?"
+
+"I have the letter with me; I will show it to you. He writes that
+whatever may happen he will not forget us; and I believe him, for his
+interests enjoin that. The elector cares as much for the Commonwealth
+as I do for an old wig, and would be glad to give it to Sweden if he
+could seize Prussia; but the power of Sweden begins to alarm him,
+therefore he would be glad to have an ally ready for the future; and he
+will have one if you mount the throne of Lithuania."
+
+"Would that had happened! Not for myself do I wish that throne!"
+
+"All Lithuania cannot be had, perhaps, at first, but even if we get a
+good piece with White Russia and Jmud--"
+
+"But what of the Swedes?"
+
+"The Swedes will be glad also to use us as a guard against the East."
+
+"You pour balsam on me."
+
+"Balsam! Aha! A certain necromancer in Taurogi wanted to sell me
+balsam, saying that whoever would anoint himself with it would be safe
+from spears, swords, and sabres. I ordered a soldier to rub him with it
+at once and thrust a spear into him. Can you imagine, the spear went
+right through his body."
+
+Here Prince Boguslav laughed, showing teeth as white as ivory. But this
+conversation was not to the taste of Yanush; he began again therefore
+on public affairs.
+
+"I sent letters to the King of Sweden, and to many others of our
+dignitaries. You must have received a letter through Kmita."
+
+"But wait! I was coming to that matter. What is your idea of Kmita?"
+
+"He is hot-headed, wild, dangerous, and cannot endure restraint; but he
+is one of those rare men who serve us in good faith."
+
+"Surely," answered Boguslav; "and he came near earning the kingdom of
+heaven for me."
+
+"How is that?" asked Yanush, with alarm.
+
+"They say, lord brother, that if your bile is stirred suffocation
+results. Promise me to listen with patience and quietly, and I will
+tell something of your Kmita, from which you will know him better than
+you have up to this moment."
+
+"Well, I will be patient, only begin."
+
+"A miracle of God saved me from the hands of that incarnate devil,"
+said Boguslav; and he began to relate all that had happened in
+Pilvishki.
+
+It was no smaller miracle that Prince Yanush did not have an attack of
+asthma, but it might be thought that apoplexy would strike him. He
+trembled all over, he gnashed his teeth, he covered his eyes with his
+hand; at last he cried with a hoarse voice,--
+
+"Is that true? Very well! He has forgotten that his little wench is in
+my hands--"
+
+"Restrain yourself, for God's sake! Hear on. I acquitted myself with
+him as beseems a cavalier, and if I have not noted this adventure in my
+diary, and do not boast of it, I refrain because 'tis a shame that I
+let myself be tricked by that clown, as if I were a child,--I, of whom
+Mazarin said that in intrigue and adroitness there was not my equal in
+the whole court of France. But no more of this! I thought at first that
+I had killed your Kmita; now I have proof in my hands that he has
+slipped away."
+
+"That is nothing! We will find him! We will dig him out! We will get
+him, even from under the earth! Meanwhile I will give him a sorer blow
+than if I were to flay him alive."
+
+"You will give him no blow, but only injure your own health. Listen! in
+coming hither I noticed some low fellow on a pied horse, who held
+himself at no great distance from my carriage. I noticed him specially
+because his horse was pied, and I gave the order at last to summon him.
+'Where art thou going?' 'To Kyedani.' 'What art thou taking?' 'A letter
+to the prince voevoda.' I ordered him to give the letter, and as there
+are no secrets between us I read it. Here it is!"
+
+Then he gave Prince Yanush Kmita's letter, written from the forest at
+the time when he was setting out with the Kyemliches.
+
+The prince glanced over the letter, and crushing it with rage, cried,--
+
+"True! in God's name, true! He has my letters, and in them are things
+which may make the King of Sweden himself suspicious, nay more, give
+him mortal offence."
+
+Here choking seized him, and the expected attack came on. His mouth
+opened widely, and he gasped quickly after air; his hands tore the
+clothing near his throat. Prince Boguslav, seeing this, clapped his
+hands, and when the servants ran in, he said,--
+
+"Save the prince your lord, and when he recovers breath beg him to come
+to my chamber; meanwhile I will rest a little." And he went out.
+
+Two hours later, Yanush, with bloodshot eyes, hanging lids, and a blue
+face, knocked at Prince Boguslav's chamber. Boguslav received him lying
+in bed, his face rubbed with milk of almonds, which was to enhance the
+softness and freshness of his skin. Without a wig on his head, without
+the colors on his face, and with unblackened brows, he seemed much
+older than in full dress; but Prince Yanush paid no heed to that.
+
+"I have come to the conclusion," said he, "that Kmita will not publish
+those letters, for if he should he would by that act write the sentence
+of death for the maiden. He understands well that only by keeping them
+does he hold me; but I cannot pour out my vengeance, and that gnaws me,
+as if I were carrying about a mad dog in my breast."
+
+"Still, it will be necessary to get those letters," said Boguslav.
+
+"But _quo modo_ (in what way)?"
+
+"Some adroit man must be sent after him, to enter into friendship and
+at a given opportunity seize the letters and punch Kmita with a knife.
+It is necessary to offer a great reward."
+
+"Who here would undertake that deed?"
+
+"If it were only in Paris, or even in Germany, I could find a hundred
+volunteers in one day, but in this country such wares are not found."
+
+"And one of our own people is needed, for he would be on his guard
+against a stranger."
+
+"It seems to me that I can find some one in Prussia."
+
+"Oh, if he could be taken alive and brought to my hands, I would pay
+him once for all. I say that the insolence of that man passes every
+measure. I sent him away because he enraged me, for he would spring at
+my throat for any reason, just like a cat; he hurled at me his own
+wishes in everything. A hundred times lacking little had I the order
+just--just in my mouth to shoot him; but I could not, I could not."
+
+"Tell me, is he really a relative of ours?
+
+"He is a relative of the Kishkis, and through the Kishkis of us."
+
+"In his fashion he is a devil, and an opponent dangerous in the highest
+degree."
+
+"He? You might command him to go to Tsargrad[27] and pull the Sultan
+from his throne, or tear out the beard of the King of Sweden and bring
+it to Kyedani. But what did he not do here in time of war?"
+
+"He has that look, but he has promised us vengeance to the last breath.
+Luckily he has a lesson from me that 'tis not easy to encounter us.
+Acknowledge that I treated him in Radzivill fashion; if a French
+cavalier had done a deed like mine, he would boast of it whole days,
+excepting the hours of sleeping, eating, and kissing; for they, when
+they meet, emulate one another in lying, so that the sun is ashamed to
+shine."
+
+"It is true that you squeezed him, but I would that it had not
+happened."
+
+"And I would that you had chosen better confidants, with more respect
+for the Radzivill bones."
+
+"Those letters! those letters!"
+
+The cousins were silent for a while. Boguslav spoke first.
+
+"But what sort of a maiden is she?"
+
+"Panna Billevich?"
+
+"Billevich or Myeleshko, one is the equal of the other. I do not ask
+for her name, but if she is beautiful."
+
+"I do not look on those things; but this is certain,--the Queen of
+Poland need not ho ashamed of such beauty."
+
+"The Queen of Poland? Marya Ludvika? In the time of Cinq-Mars maybe the
+Queen of Poland was beautiful, but now the dogs howl when they see her.
+If your Panna Billevich is such as she, then I'll hide myself; but if
+she is really a wonder, let me take her to Tanrogi, and there she and I
+will think out a vengeance for Kmita."
+
+Yanush meditated a moment.
+
+"I will not give her to you," said he at last, "for you will constrain
+her with violence, and then Kmita will publish the letters."
+
+"I use force against one of your tufted larks! Without boasting I may
+say that I have had affairs with not such as she, and I have
+constrained no one. Once only, but that was in Flanders,--she was a
+fool,--the daughter of a jeweller. After me came the infantry of Spain,
+and the affair was accounted to them."
+
+"You do not know this girl; she is from an honorable house, walking
+virtue, you would say a nun."
+
+"Oh, we know the nuns too!"
+
+"And besides she hates us, for she is a patriot. She has tried to
+influence Kmita. There are not many such among our women. Her mind is
+purely that of a man; and she is the most ardent adherent of Yan
+Kazimir."
+
+"Then we will increase his adherents."
+
+"Impossible, for Kmita will publish the letters. I must guard her like
+the eyes in my head--for a time. Afterward I will give her to you or to
+your dragoons, all one to me!"
+
+"I give my word of a cavalier that I will not constrain her; and a word
+given in private I always keep. In politics it is another thing. It
+would be a shame for me indeed if I could gain nothing by her."
+
+"You will not."
+
+"In the worst case I'll get a slap in the face, and from a woman that
+is no shame. You are going to Podlyasye, what will you do with her? You
+will not take her with you, you cannot leave her here; for the Swedes
+will come to this place, and the girl should remain always in our hands
+as a hostage. Is it not better that I take her to Tanrogi and send
+Kmita, not an assassin, but a messenger with a letter in which I shall
+write, 'Give the letters and I'll give you the maiden.'"
+
+"True," answered Prince Yanush; "that's a good method."
+
+"But if," continued Boguslav, "not altogether as I took her, that will
+be the first step in vengeance."
+
+"But you have given your word not to use violence."
+
+"I have, and I say again that it would be a shame for me--"
+
+"Then you must take also her uncle, the sword-bearer of Rossyeni, who
+is staying here with her."
+
+"I do not wish to take him. The noble in the fashion of this region
+wears, of course, straw in his boots, and I cannot bear that."
+
+"She will not go alone."
+
+"That's to be seen. Ask them to supper this evening, so that I may see
+and know whether she is worth putting between the teeth, and
+immediately I'll think out methods against her. Only, for God's sake,
+mention not Kmita's act, for that would confirm her in devotion to him.
+But during supper, no matter what I say, contradict not. You will see
+my methods, and they will remind you of your own years of youth."
+
+Prince Yanush waved his hands and went out; and Boguslav put his hands
+under his head, and began to meditate over means.
+
+
+
+
+ CHAPTER XXXV.
+
+
+To the supper, besides the sword-bearer of Rossyeni and Olenka, were
+invited the most distinguished officers of Kyedani and some attendants
+of Prince Boguslav. He came himself in such array and so lordly that he
+attracted all eyes. His wig was dressed in beautiful waving curls; his
+face in delicacy of color called to mind milk and roses; his small
+mustache seemed to be of silken hair, and his eyes stars. He was
+dressed in black, in a kaftan made of stripes of silk and velvet, the
+sleeves of which were slashed and fastened together the length of the
+arm. Around his neck he had a broad collar, of the most marvellous
+Brabant lace, of inestimable value, and at the wrists ruffles of the
+same material. A gold chain fell on his breast, and over the right
+shoulder along the whole kaftan went to his left hip a sword-strap of
+Dutch leather, so set with diamonds that it looked like a strip of
+changing light. The hilt of his sword glittered in like manner, and
+in his shoe-buckles gleamed the two largest diamonds, as large as
+hazel-nuts. The whole figure seemed imposing, and as noble as it was
+beautiful.
+
+In one hand he held a lace handkerchief; in the other he carried,
+according to the fashion of the time, on his sword-hilt, a hat adorned
+with curling black ostrich feathers of uncommon length.
+
+All, not excepting Prince Yanush, looked at him with wonder and
+admiration. His youthful years came to the memory of the prince
+voevoda, when he in the same way surpassed all at the French court with
+his beauty and his wealth. Those years were now far away, but it seemed
+at that moment to the hetman that he was living again in that brilliant
+cavalier who bore the same name.
+
+Prince Yanush grew vivacious, and in passing he touched with his index
+finger the breast of his cousin.
+
+"Light strikes from you as from the moon," said he. "Is it not for
+Panna Billevich that you are so arrayed?"
+
+"The moon enters easily everywhere," answered Boguslav, boastingly.
+
+And then he began to talk with Ganhoff, near whom he halted, perhaps of
+purpose to exhibit himself the better, for Ganhoff was a man
+marvellously ugly; he had a face dark and pitted with small-pox, a nose
+like the beak of a hawk, and mustaches curled upward. He looked like
+the spirit of darkness, but Boguslav near him like the spirit of light.
+
+The ladies entered,--Pani Korf and Olenka. Boguslav cast a swift glance
+at Olenka, and bowed promptly to Pani Korf; he was just putting his
+fingers to his mouth, to send in cavalier fashion a kiss to Panna
+Billevich, when he saw her exquisite beauty, both proud and dignified.
+He changed his tactics in an instant, caught his hat in his right hand,
+and advancing toward the lady bowed so low that he almost bent in two;
+the curls of his wig fell on both sides of his shoulders, his sword
+took a position parallel with the floor, and he remained thus, moving
+purposely his cap and sweeping the floor in front of Olenka with the
+ostrich feather, in sign of respect. A more courtly homage he could not
+have given to the Queen of France. Panna Billevich, who had learned of
+his coming, divined at once who stood before her; therefore seizing her
+robe with the tips of her fingers, she gave him in return a courtesy
+equally profound.
+
+All wondered at the beauty and grace of manners of the two, which was
+evident from the greeting itself,--grace not over usual in Kyedani,
+for, as a Wallachian, Yanush's princess was more in love with eastern
+splendor than with courtliness, and Yanush's daughter was still a
+little girl.
+
+Boguslav now raised his head, shook the curls of his wig over his
+shoulders, and striking his heels together with force, moved quickly
+toward Olenka; at the same time he threw his hat to a page and gave her
+his hand.
+
+"I do not believe my eyes, and see as it were in a dream what I see,"
+said he, conducting her to the table; "but tell me, beautiful goddess,
+by what miracle you have descended from Olympus to Kyedani?"
+
+"Though simply a noble woman, not a goddess," answered Olenka, "I am
+not so simple-minded as to take the words of your highness as anything
+beyond courtesy."
+
+"Though I tried to be politest of all, your glass would tell more than
+I."
+
+"It would not tell more, but more truly," answered Olenka, pursing her
+mouth according to the fashion of the time.
+
+"Were there a mirror in the room, I would conduct you to it
+straightway; meanwhile look into my eyes, and you will see if their
+admiration is not sincere."
+
+Here Boguslav bent his head before Olenka; his eyes gleamed large,
+black as velvet, sweet, piercing, and at the same time burning. Under
+the influence of their fire the maiden's face was covered with a purple
+blush. She dropped her glance and pushed away somewhat, for she felt
+that with his arm Boguslav pressed lightly her arm to his side.
+
+So he came to the table. He sat near her, and it was evident that in
+truth her beauty had made an uncommon impression on him. He expected to
+find a woman of the nobles, shapely as a deer, laughing and playful as
+a nutcracker, ruddy as a poppy-flower; but he found a proud lady, in
+whose black brows unbending will was revealed, in whose eyes were
+reason and dignity, in whose whole face was the transparent repose of a
+child; and at the same time she was so noble in bearing, so charming
+and wonderful, that at any king's castle she might be the object of
+homage and courtship from the first cavaliers of the realm.
+
+Her beauty aroused admiration and desire; but at the same time there
+was in it a majesty which curbed these, so that despite himself
+Boguslav thought, "I pressed her arm too early; with such a one
+subtlety is needed, not haste!"
+
+Nevertheless he determined to possess her heart, and he felt a wild
+delight at the thought that the moment would come when the majesty of
+the maiden and that purest beauty would yield to his love or his
+hatred. The threatening face of Kmita stood athwart these imaginings;
+but to that insolent man this was but an incentive the more. Under the
+influence of these feelings he grew radiant; blood began to play in
+him, as in an Oriental steed; all his faculties flashed up uncommonly,
+and light gleamed from his whole form as from his diamonds.
+
+Conversation at the table became general, or rather it was turned into
+a universal chorus of praise and flattery of Boguslav, which the
+brilliant cavalier heard with a smile, but without overweening delight,
+since it was common and of daily occurrence. They spoke first of his
+military deeds and duels. The names of the conquered princes,
+margraves, barons, streamed as if out of a sleeve. He threw in
+carelessly from time to time one more. The listeners were astonished;
+Prince Yanush stroked his long mustaches with delight, and at last
+Ganhoff said,--
+
+"Even if fortune and birth did not stand in my way, I should not like
+to stand in the way of your highness, and the only wonder to me is that
+men of such daring have been found."
+
+"What is to be done, Ganhoff? There are men of iron visage and wild-cat
+glance, whose appearance alone causes terror; but God has denied me
+that power,--even a young lady would not be frightened at my face."
+
+"Just as darkness is not afraid of a torch," said Pani Korf, simpering
+and posing, "until the torch burns in it."
+
+Boguslav laughed, and Pani Korf talked on without ceasing to pose,--
+
+"Duels concern soldiers more, but we ladies would be glad to hear of
+your love affairs, tidings of which have come to us."
+
+"Untrue ones, my lady benefactress, untrue,--they have all merely grown
+on the road. Proposals were made for me, of course. Her Grace, the
+Queen of France was so kind--"
+
+"With the Princess de Rohan," added Yanush.
+
+"With another too,--De la Forse," added Boguslav; "but even a king
+cannot command his own heart to love, and we do not need, praise be to
+God, to seek wealth in France, hence there could be no bread out of
+that flour. Graceful ladies they were, 'tis true, and beautiful beyond
+imagination; but we have still more beautiful, and I need not go out of
+this hall to find such."
+
+Here he looked long at Olenka, who, feigning not to hear, began to say
+something to the sword-bearer; and Pani Korf raised her voice again,--
+
+"There is no lack here of beauties; still there are none who in fortune
+and birth could be the equal of your highness."
+
+"Permit me, my benefactress, to differ," responded Boguslav, with
+animation; "for first I do not think that a Polish noble lady is
+inferior in any way to a Rohan or De la Forse; second, it is not a
+novelty for the Radzivills to marry a noble woman, since history gives
+many examples of that. I assure you, my benefactress, that that noble
+lady who should become Radzivill would have the step and precedence of
+princesses in France."
+
+"An affable lord!" whispered the sword-bearer to Olenka.
+
+"That is how I have always understood," continued Boguslav, "though
+more than once have I been ashamed of Polish nobles, when I compare
+them with those abroad; for never would that have happened there which
+has happened in this Commonwealth,--that all should desert their king,
+nay, even men are ready to lay in wait for his life. A French noble may
+permit the worst action, but he will not betray his king--"
+
+Those present began to look at one another and at the prince with
+astonishment. Prince Yanush frowned and grew stern; but Olenka fixed
+her blue eyes on Boguslav's face with an expression of admiration and
+thankfulness.
+
+"Pardon, your highness," said Boguslav, turning to Yanush, who was not
+able yet to recover himself, "I know that you could not act otherwise,
+for all Lithuania would have perished if you had followed my advice;
+but respecting you as older, and loving you as a brother, I shall not
+cease to dispute with you touching Yan Kazimir. We are among ourselves,
+I speak therefore what I think. Our insufficiently lamented king, good,
+kind, pious, and doubly dear to me,--I was the first of Poles to attend
+him when he was freed from durance in France. I was almost a child at
+the time, but all the more I shall never forget him; and gladly would I
+give my blood to protect him, at least from those who plot against his
+sacred person."
+
+Though Yanush understood Boguslav's game now, still it seemed to him
+too bold and too hazardous for such a trifling object; therefore
+without hiding his displeasure he said,--
+
+"In God's name, of what designs against the safety of our ex-king are
+you speaking? Who cherishes them, where could such a monster be found
+among the Polish people? True as life, such a thing has not happened in
+the Commonwealth since the beginning of the world."
+
+Boguslav hung his head.
+
+"Not longer than a month ago," said he, with sadness in his voice, "on
+the road between Podlyasye and Electoral Prussia, when I was going to
+Tanrogi, there came to me a noble of respectable family. That noble,
+not being aware of my real love for our gracious king, and thinking
+that I, like others, was an enemy of his, promised for a considerable
+reward to go to Silesia, carry off Yan Kazimir and deliver him to the
+Swedes, either living or dead."
+
+All were dumb with amazement.
+
+"And when with anger and disgust I rejected such an offer," said
+Boguslav, in conclusion, "that man with brazen forehead said, 'I will
+go to Radzeyovski; he will buy and pay me gold by the pound.'"
+
+"I am not a friend of the ex-king," said Yanush; "but if the noble had
+made me a proposal like that, I should have placed him by a wall, and
+in front of him six musketeers."
+
+"At the first moment I wanted to do so, but did not," answered
+Boguslav, "as the conversation was with four eyes, and people might cry
+out against the violence and tyranny of the Radzivills. I frightened
+him, however, by saying that Radzeyovski and the King of Sweden, even
+Hmelnitski, would put him to death for such a proposal; in one word, I
+brought that criminal so far that he abandoned his plan."
+
+"That was not right; it was not proper to let him go living, he
+deserved at least the impaling-stake," cried Korf.
+
+Boguslav turned suddenly to Yanush.
+
+"I cherish also the hope that punishment will not miss him, and first I
+propose that he perish not by an ordinary death; but your highness
+alone is able to punish him, for he is your attendant and your
+colonel."
+
+"In God's name! my colonel? Who is he,--who? Speak!
+
+"His name is Kmita," said Boguslav.
+
+"Kmita!" repeated all, with astonishment.
+
+"That is not true!" cried Panna Billevich at once, rising from her
+chair, with flashing eyes and heaving breast.
+
+Deep silence followed. Some had not recovered yet from the fearful news
+given by Boguslav; others were astonished at the boldness of that lady
+who had dared to throw a lie in the eyes of Prince Boguslav; the
+sword-bearer began to stutter, "Olenka! Olenka!" But Boguslav veiled
+his face in sorrow, and said without anger,--
+
+"If he is your relative or betrothed, I am grieved that I mentioned
+this fact; but cast him out of your heart, for he is not worthy of you,
+O lady."
+
+She remained yet a moment in pain, flushed, and astonished; but by
+degrees her face became cool, until it was cold and pale. She sank down
+in the chair, and said,--
+
+"Forgive me, your highness, I made an unseemly contradiction. All is
+possible for that man."
+
+"May God punish me if I feel aught save pity!" answered Boguslav,
+mildly.
+
+"Ho was the betrothed of this lady," said Prince Yanush, "and I myself
+made the match. He was a young man, hot-headed; he caused a world of
+turmoil. I saved him from justice, for he was a good soldier. I saw
+that he was lawless, and would be; but that he, a noble, could think of
+such infamy, I did not expect."
+
+"He is an evil man; that I knew long since," said Ganhoff.
+
+"And why did you not forewarn me?" inquired Yanush, in a tone of
+reproach.
+
+"I was afraid that your highness might suspect me of envy, for he had
+everywhere the first step before me."
+
+"_Horribile dictu et auditu_ (horrible in the speaking and the
+hearing)," said Korf.
+
+"Gracious gentlemen," exclaimed Boguslav, "let us give peace to him. If
+it is grievous for you to hear of this, what must it be for Panna
+Billevich?"
+
+"Your highness, be pleased not to consider me," said Olenka; "I can
+listen to everything now."
+
+The evening was drawing toward its close. Water was given for the
+washing of fingers; then Prince Yanush rose first and gave his arm to
+Pani Korf, and Prince Boguslav to Olenka.
+
+"God has punished the traitor already," said he to her; "for whoso has
+lost you has lost heaven. It is less than two hours since I first saw
+you, charming lady, and I should be glad to see you forever, not in
+pain and in tears, but in joy and in happiness."
+
+"I thank your highness," answered Olenka.
+
+After the departure of the ladies the men returned to the table to seek
+consolation in cups, which went around frequently. Prince Boguslav
+drank deeply, for he was satisfied with himself. Prince Yanush
+conversed with the sword-bearer of Rossyeni.
+
+"I march to-morrow with the army for Podlyasye," said he. "A Swedish
+garrison will come to Kyedani. God knows when I shall return. You
+cannot stay here with the maiden; it would not be a fit place for her
+among soldiers. You will both go with Prince Boguslav to Taurogi, where
+she may stay with my wife among her ladies in waiting."
+
+"Your highness," answered the sword-bearer, "God has given us a corner
+of our own; why should we go to strange places? It is a great kindness
+of your highness to think of us: but not wishing to abuse favor, we
+prefer to return to our own roof."
+
+The prince was unable to explain to the sword-bearer all the reasons
+for which he would not let Olenka out of his hands at any price; but
+some of them he told with all the rough outspokenness of a magnate.
+
+"If you wish to accept it as a favor, all the better, but I will tell
+you that it is precaution as well. You will be a hostage there; you
+will be responsible to me for all the Billeviches, who I know well do
+not rank themselves among my friends, and are ready to raise Jmud in
+rebellion when I am gone. Advise them to sit in peace, and do nothing
+against the Swedes, for your head and that of your niece will answer
+for their acts."
+
+At this juncture patience was evidently lacking to the sword-bearer,
+for he answered quickly,--
+
+"It would be idle for me to appeal to my rights as a noble. Power is on
+the side of your highness, and it is all one to me where I must sit in
+prison; I prefer even that place to this."
+
+"Enough!" said the prince, threateningly.
+
+"What is enough, is enough!" answered the sword-bearer. "God grant to
+this violence an end, and to justice new power. Speaking briefly, do
+not threaten, your highness, for I fear not."
+
+Evidently Boguslav saw lightnings of anger gleaming on the face of
+Yanush, for he approached quickly.
+
+"What is the question?" asked he, standing between them.
+
+"I was telling the hetman," said the sword-bearer, with irritation,
+"that I choose imprisonment in Taurogi rather than in Kyedani."
+
+"In Taurogi there is for you not a prison, but my house, in which you
+will be as if at home. I know that the hetman chooses to see in you a
+hostage; I see only a dear guest."
+
+"I thank your highness," answered the sword-bearer.
+
+"And I thank you. Let us strike glasses and drink together, for they
+say that a libation must be made to friendship, or it will wither at
+its birth."
+
+So saying, Boguslav conducted the sword-bearer to the table, and they
+fell to touching glasses and drinking to each other often and
+frequently. An hour later the sword-bearer turned with somewhat
+uncertain step toward his room, repeating in an undertone,--
+
+"An amiable lord! A worthy lord! A more honest one could not be found
+with a lantern,--gold, pure gold! I would gladly shed my blood for
+him!"
+
+Meanwhile the cousins found themselves alone. They had something yet to
+talk over, and besides, certain letters came; a page was sent to bring
+these from Ganhoff.
+
+"Evidently," said Yanush, "there is not a word of truth in what you
+reported of Kmita?"
+
+"Evidently. You know best yourself. But, well? Acknowledge, was not
+Mazarin right? With one move to take terrible vengeance on an enemy,
+and to make a breach in that beautiful fortress,--well, who could do
+that? This is called intrigue worthy of the first court in the world!
+But that Panna Billevich is a pearl, and charming too, lordly and
+distinguished as if of princely blood. I thought I should spring from
+my skin."
+
+"Remember that you have given your word,--remember that he will ruin us
+if he publishes those letters."
+
+"What brows! What a queenly look, so that respect seizes one! Whence is
+there such a girl, such well-nigh royal majesty? I saw once in Antwerp,
+splendidly embroidered on Gobelin tapestry Diana hunting the curious
+Actæon with dogs. She was like this one as cup is like cup."
+
+"Look out that Kmita does not publish the letters, for then the dogs
+would gnaw us to death."
+
+"Not true! I will turn Kmita into an Actæon, and hunt him to death. I
+have struck him down on two fields, and it will come to battle between
+us yet."
+
+Further conversation was interrupted by the entrance of a page with a
+letter. The voevoda of Vilna took the letter in his hand and made the
+sign of the cross. He did that always to guard against evil tidings;
+then, instead of opening, he began to examine it carefully. All at once
+his countenance changed.
+
+"Sapyeha's arms are on the seal!" exclaimed he; "it is from the voevoda
+of Vityebsk."
+
+"Open quickly!" said Boguslav.
+
+The hetman opened and began to read, interrupting himself from time to
+time with exclamations.
+
+"He is marching on Podlyasye! He asks if I have no messages for
+Tykotsin! An insult to me! Still worse; for listen to what he writes
+further,--
+
+
+"'Do you wish civil war, your highness? do you wish to sink one more
+sword in the bosom of the mother? If you do, come to Podlyasye. I am
+waiting for you, and I trust that God will punish your pride with my
+hands. But if you have pity on the country, if conscience stirs within
+you, if you value your deeds of past times and you wish to make
+reparation, the field is open before you. Instead of beginning a civil
+war, summon the general militia, raise the peasants, and strike the
+Swedes while Pontus, feeling secure, suspects nothing and is exercising
+no vigilance. From Hovanski you will have no hindrance, for reports
+come to me from Moscow that they are thinking there of an expedition
+against Livonia, though they keep that a secret. Besides, if Hovanski
+wished to undertake anything I hold him in check, and if I could have
+sincere trust I would certainly help you with all my forces to save the
+country. All depends on you, for there is time yet to turn from the
+road and efface your faults. Then it will appear clearly that you did
+not accept Swedish protection for personal purposes, but to avert final
+defeat from Lithuania. May God thus inspire you; for this I implore him
+daily, though your highness is pleased to accuse me of envy.
+
+"'P. S. I have heard that the siege of Nyesvyej is raised, and that
+Prince Michael will join us as soon as he repairs his losses. See, your
+highness, how nobly your family act, and consider their example; in
+every case remember that you have now a boat and a carriage.'[28]
+
+
+"Have you heard?" asked Prince Yanush, when he had finished reading.
+
+"I have heard--and what?" answered Boguslav, looking quickly at his
+cousin.
+
+"It would be necessary to abjure all, leave all, tear down our work
+with our own hands."
+
+"Break with the powerful Karl Gustav, and seize the exiled Yan Kazimir
+by the feet, that he might deign to forgive and receive us back to his
+service, and also implore Sapyeha's intercession."
+
+Yanush's face was filled with blood.
+
+"Have you considered how he writes to me: 'Correct yourself, and I will
+forgive you,' as a lord to an underling."
+
+"He would write differently if six thousand sabres were hanging over
+his neck."
+
+"Still--" Here Prince Yanush fell to thinking gloomily.
+
+"Still, what?"
+
+"Perhaps for the country it would be salvation to do as Sapyeha
+advises."
+
+"But for you,--for me, for the Radzivills?"
+
+Yanush made no answer; he dropped his head on his fists and thought.
+
+"Let it be so!" said he, at last; "let it be accomplished!"
+
+"What have you decided?"
+
+"To-morrow I march on Podlyasye, and in a week I shall strike on
+Sapyeha."
+
+"You are a Radzivill!" cried Boguslav. And they grasped each other's
+hands.
+
+After a while Boguslav went to rest. Yanush remained alone. Once, and a
+second time he passed through the room with heavy steps. At last he
+clapped his hands. A page entered the room.
+
+"Let the astrologer come in an hour to me with a ready figure," said
+he.
+
+The page went out, and the prince began again to walk and repeat his
+Calvinistic prayers. After that he sang a psalm in an undertone,
+stopping frequently, for his breath failed him, and looking from time
+to time through the window at the stars twinkling in the sky.
+
+By degrees the lights were quenched in the castle; but besides the
+astrologer and the prince one other person was watching in a room, and
+that was Olenka Billevich.
+
+Kneeling before her bed, she clasped both hands over her head, and
+whispered with closed eyes,--
+
+"Have mercy on us! Have mercy on us!"
+
+The first time since Kmita's departure she would not, she could not
+pray for him.
+
+
+
+
+ CHAPTER XXXVI.
+
+
+Kmita had, it is true, Radzivill's passes to all the Swedish captains,
+commandants, and governors, to give him a free road everywhere, and
+make no opposition, but he did not dare to use those passes; for he
+expected that Prince Boguslav, immediately after Pilvishki, had hurried
+off messengers in every direction with information to the Swedes of
+what had happened, and with an order to seize him. For this reason Pan
+Andrei had assumed a strange name, and also changed his rank. Avoiding
+therefore Lomja and Ostrolenko, to which the first warning might have
+come, he directed his horses and his company to Pjasnysh, whence he
+wished to go through Pultusk to Warsaw.
+
+But before he reached Pjasnysh he made a bend on the Prussian boundary
+through Vansosh, Kolno, and Myshynyets, because the Kyemliches, knowing
+those wildernesses well, were acquainted with the forest trails, and
+besides had their "cronies" among the Bark-shoes,[29] from whom they
+might expect aid in case of emergency.
+
+The country at the boundary was occupied for the most part by the
+Swedes, who limited themselves, however, to occupying the most
+considerable towns, going not too boldly into the slumbering and
+fathomless forests inhabited by armed men,--hunters who never left the
+wilderness, and were still so wild that just a year before, the Queen,
+Marya Ludvika, had given a command to build a chapel in Myshynyets and
+settle there Jesuits, who were to teach religion and soften the manners
+of those men of the wilderness.
+
+"The longer we do not meet the Swedes," said old Kyemlich, "the better
+for us."
+
+"We must meet them at last," answered Pan Andrei.
+
+"If a man meets them in a large town they are often afraid to do him
+injustice; for in a town there is always some government and some
+higher commandant to whom it is possible to make complaint. I have
+always asked people about this, and I know that there are commands from
+the King of Sweden forbidding violence and extortion. But the smaller
+parties sent far away from the eyes of commandants have no regard for
+orders, and plunder peaceful people."
+
+They passed on then through the forests, meeting Swedes nowhere,
+spending the nights with pitch-makers in forest settlements. The
+greatest variety of tales concerning the invasion were current among
+the Bark-shoes, though almost none of them had known the Swedes
+hitherto. It was said that a people had come from over the sea who did
+not understand human speech, who did not believe in Christ the Lord,
+the Most Holy Lady, or the Saints, and that they were wonderfully
+greedy. Some told of the uncommon desire of those enemies for cattle,
+skins, nuts, mead, and dried mushrooms, which if refused, they burned
+the woods straightway. Others insisted that, on the contrary, they were
+a people of were-wolves, living on human flesh, and feeding specially
+on the flesh of young girls.
+
+Under the influence of those terrible tidings, which flew into the
+remotest depths of the wilderness, the Bark-shoes began to watch and to
+search through the forests. Those who were making potash and pitch;
+those who worked at gathering hops; wood-cutters and fishermen, who had
+their wicker nets fixed in the reedy banks, of the Rosoga; trappers and
+snarers, bee-keepers and beaver-hunters, assembled at the most
+considerable settlements, listening to tales, communicating news, and
+counselling how to drive out the enemy in case they appeared in the
+wilderness.
+
+Kmita, going with his party, met more than once greater or smaller
+bands of these men, dressed in hemp shirts, and skins of wolves, foxes,
+or bears. More than once he was stopped at narrow places, and by
+inquiries,--
+
+"Who art thou? A Swede?"
+
+"No!" answered Pan Andrei.
+
+"God guard thee!"
+
+Kmita looked with curiosity at those men who lived always in the gloom
+of forests, and whose faces the open sun had never burned; he wondered
+at their stature, their boldness of look, the sincerity of their
+speech, and their daring, not at all peasant-like.
+
+The Kyemliches, who knew them, assured Pan Andrei that there were no
+better shots than these men in the whole Commonwealth. When he
+discovered that they all had good German muskets bought in Prussia for
+skins, he asked them to show their skill in shooting, was astonished at
+sight of it, and thought, "Should I need to collect a party, I will
+come here."
+
+At Myshynyets itself he found a great assembly. More than a hundred
+marksmen held constant watch at the mission, for it was feared that the
+Swedes would show themselves there first, especially because the
+starosta of Ostrolenko had commanded them to cut out a road in the
+forest so that the priests settled at the mission might have "access to
+the world."
+
+The hop-raisers, who took their produce to Pjasnysh to the celebrated
+breweries there, and hence passed for men of experience, related that
+Lomja, Ostrolenko, and Pjasnysh were swarming with Swedes, who were
+managing and collecting taxes there as if at home.
+
+Kmita tried to persuade the Bark-shoes not to wait for the Swedes in
+the wilderness, but to strike on them at Ostrolenko, and begin war; he
+offered to command them himself. He found a great willingness among
+them; but two priests led them away from this mad enterprise, telling
+them to wait till the whole country moved, and not draw on themselves
+the terrible vengeance of the enemy by premature attack.
+
+Pan Andrei departed, but regretted his lost opportunity. The only
+consolation remaining was this,--he had convinced himself that if
+powder were to explode anywhere, neither the Commonwealth nor the king
+would lack defenders in those parts.
+
+"This being the case," thought he, "it is possible to begin in another
+place."
+
+His fiery nature was restive for quick action, but judgment said: "The
+Bark-shoes alone cannot conquer the Swedes. You will go through a part
+of the country; you will look around, examine, and then obey the king's
+order."
+
+He travelled on therefore. He went out of the deep wilderness to the
+forest borders, to a neighborhood more thickly settled; he saw an
+uncommon movement in all the villages. The roads were crowded with
+nobles going in wagons, carriages, and carts, of various kinds, or on
+horseback. All were hastening to the nearest towns and villages to give
+Swedish commanders an oath of loyalty to the new king. In return they
+received certificates which were to preserve their persons and
+property. In the capitals of provinces and districts "capitulations"
+were published securing freedom of confession and privileges pertaining
+to the order of nobles.
+
+The nobles went with the requisite oath, not only willingly, but in
+haste; for various punishments threatened the stubborn, and especially
+confiscation and robbery. It was said that here and there the Swedes
+had already begun, as in Great Poland, to thumb-screw suspected men. It
+was repeated also, with alarm, that they were casting suspicion on the
+wealthiest on purpose to rob them.
+
+In view of all this, it was unsafe to remain in the country; the
+wealthier therefore hurried to the towns to live under the immediate
+eye of Swedish commandants, so as to avoid suspicion of intrigue
+against the King of Sweden.
+
+Pan Andrei bent his ear carefully to what nobles were saying, and
+though they did not wish greatly to speak with him, since he was a poor
+fellow, he discovered this much, that near neighbors, acquaintances,
+even friends, did not speak among themselves with sincerity touching
+the Swedes or the new government. It is true they complained loudly of
+the "requisitions;" and in fact there was reason, for to each village,
+each hamlet, came letters from commandants with orders to furnish great
+quantities of grain, bread, salt, cattle, money; and frequently these
+orders exceeded the possible, especially because when supplies of one
+kind were exhausted, others were demanded; whoso did not pay, to him
+was sent an execution in thrice the amount.
+
+But the old days had gone! Each man extricated himself as best he was
+able, took out of his own mouth, gave, paid; complaining, groaning, and
+thinking in his soul that long ago it was different. But they comforted
+themselves for the time, saying that when the war was over the
+requisitions would cease. The Swedes promised the same, saying, "Only
+let the king gain the whole country, he will begin to govern at once
+like a father."
+
+For the nobles who had given up their own king and country; who before,
+and not long before, had called the kindly Yan Kazimir a tyrant,
+suspecting him of striving for absolute power; who opposed him in
+everything, protesting in provincial and national diets, and in their
+hunger for novelty and change went so far that they recognized, almost
+without opposition, an invader as lord, so as to have some change,--it
+would be a shame then even to complain. Karl Gustav had freed them from
+the tyrant, they had abandoned of their own will their lawful king; but
+they had the change so greatly desired.
+
+Therefore the most intimate did not speak sincerely among themselves
+touching what they thought of that change, inclining their ears
+willingly to those who asserted that the attacks, requisitions,
+robberies, and confiscations were, of course burdens, but only
+temporary ones, which would cease as soon as Karl Gustav was firm on
+the throne.
+
+"This is grievous, brother, grievous," said one noble to another at
+times, "but still we must be thankful for the new ruler. He is a great
+potentate and warrior; he will conquer the Tartars, restrain the Turks,
+drive the Northerners away from the boundaries; and we together with
+Sweden will flourish."
+
+"Even if we were not glad," answered another, "what is to be done
+against such power? We cannot fly to the sun on a spade."
+
+At times, too, they referred to the fresh oath. Kmita was enraged
+listening to such talks and discussions; and once when a certain noble
+said in his presence in an inn that a man must be faithful to him to
+whom he had taken oath. Pan Andrei shouted out to him,--
+
+"You must have two mouths,--one for true and the other for false oaths,
+for you have sworn to Yan Kazimir!"
+
+There were many other nobles present, for this happened not far from
+Pjasnysh. Hearing these words, all started. On some faces wonder was
+visible at the boldness of Kmita; others flushed. At last the most
+important man said,--
+
+"No one here has broken his oath to the former king. He broke it
+himself; for he left the country, not watching over its defence."
+
+"Would you were killed!" cried Kmita. "But King Lokyetek,--how many
+times was he forced to leave the country, and still he returned, for
+the fear of God was yet in men's hearts. It was not Yan Kazimir who
+deserted, but those who sold him and who now calumniate him, so as to
+palliate their own sins before God and the world!"
+
+"You speak too boldly, young man! Whence come you who wish to teach us
+people of this place the fear of God? See to it that the Swedes do not
+overhear you."
+
+"If you are curious, I will tell you whence I am. I am from Electoral
+Prussia, and belong to the elector. But being of Sarmatian blood, I
+feel a good will toward the country, and am ashamed of the indifference
+of this people."
+
+Here the nobles, forgetting their anger, surrounded him and began to
+inquire hurriedly and with curiosity,--
+
+"You are from Electoral Prussia? But tell what you know! What is the
+elector doing there? Does he think of rescuing us from oppression?"
+
+"From what oppression? You are glad of the new ruler, so do not talk of
+oppression. As you have made your bed, so you must sleep on it."
+
+"We are glad, for we cannot help it. They stand with swords over our
+necks. But speak out, as if we were not glad."
+
+"Give him something to drink, let his tongue be loosened! Speak boldly,
+there are no traitors here among us."
+
+"You are all traitors!" roared Pan Andrei, "and I don't wish to drink
+with you; you are servants of the Swedes."
+
+Then he went out of the room, slamming the door, and they remained in
+shame and amazement; no man seized his sabre, no man moved after Kmita
+to avenge the insult.
+
+But he went directly to Pryasnysh. A few furlongs before the place
+Swedish patrols took him and led him before the commandant. There were
+only six men in the patrol, and an under-officer was the seventh;
+therefore Soroka and the two Kyemliches began to look at them hungrily,
+like wolves at sheep, and asked Kmita with their eyes, if he would not
+give order to surround them.
+
+Pan Andrei also felt no small temptation, especially since the
+Vengyerka flowed near, between banks overgrown with reeds; but he
+restrained himself, and let the party be taken quietly to the
+commandant.
+
+There he told the commandant who he was,--that he had come from the
+elector's country, and that he went every year with horses to Sobota.
+The Kyemliches too had certificates with which they provided themselves
+in Leng, for the place was well known to them; therefore the
+commandant, who was himself a Prussian German, made no difficulty, only
+inquired carefully what kind of horses they were driving and wished to
+see them.
+
+When Kmita's attendants drove the beasts up, in accordance with the
+commandant's wish, he looked at them carefully and said,--
+
+"I will buy these. From another I would have taken them without pay;
+but since you are from Prussia, I will not harm you."
+
+Kmita seemed somewhat confused when it came to selling, for by this the
+reason for going farther was lost, and he would have to go back to
+Prussia. He asked therefore a price so high that it was almost twice
+the real value of the horses. Beyond expectation the officer was
+neither angry, nor did he haggle about the price.
+
+"Agreed!" said he. "Drive the horses into the shed, and I will bring
+you the pay at once."
+
+The Kyemliches were glad in their hearts, but Pan Andrei fell into
+anger and began to curse. Still there was no way but to drive in the
+horses. If they refused, they would be suspected at once of trading
+only in appearance.
+
+Meanwhile the officer came back, and gave Kmita a piece of paper with
+writing.
+
+"What is this?" asked Pan Andrei.
+
+"Money or the same as money,--an order."
+
+"And where will they pay me?"
+
+"At headquarters!"
+
+"Where are headquarters?"
+
+"In Warsaw," said the officer, laughing maliciously.
+
+"We sell only for ready money."
+
+"How's that, what's that, oh, gates of heaven?" began old Kyemlich,
+groaning.
+
+Kmita turned, and looking at him threateningly, said,--
+
+"For me the word of the commandant is the same as ready money. I will
+go willingly to Warsaw, for there I can buy honest goods from the
+Armenians, for which I shall be well paid in Prussia."
+
+Then, when the officer walked away, Pan Andrei said, to comfort
+Kyemlich,--
+
+"Quiet, you rogue! These orders are the best passes; we can go to
+Cracow with our complaints, for they will not pay us. It is easier to
+press cheese out of a stone than money out of the Swedes. But this is
+just playing into my hand. This breeches fellow thinks that he has
+tricked me, but he knows not what service he has rendered. I'll pay you
+out of my own pocket for the horses; you will be at no loss."
+
+The old man recovered himself, and it was only from habit that he did
+not cease yet for a while to complain,--
+
+"They have plundered us, brought us to poverty!"
+
+But Pan Andrei was glad to find the road open before him, for he
+foresaw that the Swedes would not pay for the horses in Warsaw, and in
+all likelihood they would pay nowhere,--hence he would be able to go on
+continually as it were seeking for justice, even to the Swedish king,
+who was at Cracow occupied with the siege of the ancient capital.
+
+Meanwhile Kmita resolved to pass the night in Pjasnysh to give his
+horses rest, and without changing his assumed name to throw aside his
+exterior of a poor noble. He saw that all despised a poor horse-dealer,
+that any one might attack him more readily and have less fear to answer
+for injustice to an insignificant man. It was more difficult in that
+dress to have approach to important nobles, and therefore more
+difficult to discover what each one was thinking.
+
+He procured therefore clothing answering to his station and his birth,
+and went to an inn so as to talk with his brother nobles. But he was
+not rejoiced at what he heard. In the taverns and public houses the
+nobles drank to the health of the King of Sweden, and to the success of
+the protector, struck glasses with the Swedish officers, laughed at the
+jokes which these officers permitted themselves to make at the expense
+of Yan Kazimir and Charnyetski.
+
+Fear for their own lives and property had debased people to such a
+degree that they were affable to the invaders, and hurried to keep up
+their good humor. Still even that debasement had its limits. The nobles
+allowed themselves, their king, the hetmans, and Pan Charnyetski to be
+ridiculed, but not their religion; and when a certain Swedish captain
+declared that the Lutheran faith was as good as the Catholic, Pan
+Grabkovski, sitting near him, not being able to endure that blasphemy,
+struck him on the temple with a hatchet, and taking advantage of the
+uproar, slipped out of the public house and vanished in the crowd.
+
+They fell to pursuing him, but news came which turned attention in
+another direction. Couriers arrived with news that Cracow had
+surrendered, that Pan Charnyetski was in captivity, and that the last
+barrier to Swedish dominion was swept away.
+
+The nobles were dumb at the first moment, but the Swedes began to
+rejoice and cry "Vivat." In the church of the Holy Ghost, in the church
+of the Bernardines, and in the cloister of Bernardine nuns, recently
+erected by Pani Muskovski, it was ordered to ring the bells. The
+infantry and cavalry came out on the square, from the breweries and
+cloth-shearing mills, in battle-array, and began to fire from cannons
+and muskets. Then they rolled out barrels of gorailka, mead, and beer
+for the army and the citizens; they burned pitch-barrels and feasted
+till late at night. The Swedes dragged out the inhabitants from the
+houses to dance with them, to rejoice and frolic; and together with
+throngs of soldiers straggled along nobles who drank with the cavalry,
+and were forced to feign joy at the fall of Cracow and the defeat of
+Charnyetski.
+
+Disgust carried away Kmita, and he took refuge early in his quarters
+outside the town, but he could not sleep. A fever tormented him, and
+doubts besieged his soul. Had he not turned from the road too late,
+when the whole country was in the hands of the Swedes? It came into his
+head that all was lost now, and the Commonwealth would never rise from
+its fall.
+
+"This is not a mere unlucky war," thought he, "which may end with the
+loss of some province; this is accomplished ruin! This means that the
+whole Commonwealth becomes a Swedish province. We have caused this
+ourselves, and I more than others."
+
+This thought burned him, and conscience gnawed. Sleep fled from him. He
+knew not what to do,--to travel farther, remain in the place, or
+return. Even if he collected a party and harried the Swedes, they would
+hunt him as a bandit, and not treat him as a soldier. Besides, he is in
+a strange region, where no one knows who he is. Who will join him?
+Fearless men rallied to him in Lithuania, where he, the most famous,
+called them together; but here, even if some had heard of Kmita, they
+held him a traitor and a friend of the Swedes, but surely no one had
+ever heard of Babinich.
+
+All is useless! It is useless to go to the king, for it is too late; it
+is useless to go to Podlyasye, for the Confederates think him a
+traitor; it is useless to go to Lithuania, for there the Radzivills own
+all; it is useless to stay where he is, for there he has nothing to do.
+The best would be to drive out the soul, and not look on this world,
+but flee from remorse.
+
+But will it be better in that world for those who having sinned their
+fill in this life, have not effaced their sins in any way, and will
+stand before judgment beneath the whole weight of these sins? Kmita
+struggled in his bed, as if lying on a bed of torture. Such unendurable
+torments he had not passed through, even in the forest cabin of the
+Kyemliches.
+
+He felt strong, healthy, enterprising,--the soul in him was rushing out
+to begin something, to do something,--and here every road was blocked;
+even knock the head against a wall,--there is no issue, no salvation,
+no hope.
+
+After he had tossed during the night on his bed, he sprang up before
+daybreak, roused his men, and rode on. They went toward Warsaw, but he
+knew not himself wherefore or why. He would have escaped to the Saitch
+in despair, if times had not changed, and if Hmelnitski, together with
+Buturlin, had not just overborne the grand hetman of the kingdom, at
+Grodek, carrying at the same time fire and sword through the
+southwestern regions of the Commonwealth, and sending predatory bands
+as far as Lublin.
+
+Along the roads to Pultusk, Pan Andrei met at all points Swedish
+parties, escorting wagons with provisions, grain, bread, beer, and
+herds of every kind of cattle. With the herds and wagons went crowds of
+peasants, small nobles, weeping and groaning, for they were dragged
+away numbers of miles with the wagons. Happy the man who was allowed to
+return home with his wagon; and this did not happen in every case, for
+after they had brought the supplies peasants and petty nobles were
+forced to labor at repairing castles, building sheds and magazines.
+
+Kmita saw also that in the neighborhood of Pultusk the Swedes acted
+more harshly with the people than in Pjasnysh; and not being able to
+understand the cause, he inquired about it of the nobles whom he met on
+the road.
+
+"The nearer you go to Warsaw," answered one of the travellers, "the
+harsher you will find the oppressors. Where they have just come and are
+not secure, they are more kindly, publish the commands of the king
+against oppression, and promulgate the capitulations; but where they
+feel safe, and have occupied castles in the neighborhood, they break
+all promises, have no consideration, commit injustice, plunder, rob,
+raise their hands against churches, the clergy, and sacred nuns. It is
+nothing here yet, but to describe what is going on in Great Poland
+words fail in the mouths of men."
+
+Here the noble began to describe what was taking place in Great
+Poland,--what extortions, violence, and murders the savage enemy
+committed; how men were thumbscrewed and tortured to discover money;
+how the Provincial, Father Branetski, was killed in Poznan itself; and
+peasants were tortured so fearfully that the hair stood on one's head
+at the mere thought of it.
+
+"It will come to this everywhere," said the noble; "it is the
+punishment of God. The last judgment is near. Worse and worse every
+day,--and salvation from no point."
+
+"It is a marvel to me," said Kmita, "for I am not of these parts and
+know not how people feel here, that you, gracious gentlemen, being
+nobles and knightly persons, endure these oppressions in patience."
+
+"With what can we rise up?" answered the noble. "In their hands are the
+castles, fortresses, cannon, powder, muskets; they have taken from us
+even fowling-pieces. There was still some hope in Charnyetski; but
+since he is in prison, and the king in Silesia, who will think of
+resistance? There are hands, but nothing in them, and there is no
+head."
+
+"And there is no hope," added Kmita, in a hollow voice.
+
+Here they dropped the conversation, for a Swedish division came up
+convoying wagons, small nobles, and a "requisition." It was a wonderful
+spectacle. Sitting on horses as fat as bullocks, mustached and bearded
+troopers rode on in a cloud of dust, with their right hands on their
+hips, with their hats on the sides of their heads, with tens of geese
+and hens hanging at their saddles. Looking at their warlike and
+insolent faces, it was easy to see that they felt like lords, gladsome
+and safe. But the brotherhood of petty nobles walked at the side of the
+wagons, not only barefooted, but with heads drooping on their bosoms,
+abused, troubled, frequently urged forward with whips.
+
+On seeing this, Kmita's lips quivered as in a fever, and he fell to
+repeating to the noble near whom he was riding,--
+
+"Oh, my hands are itching, my hands are itching, my hands are itching!"
+
+"Quiet, in the name of the Merciful God! you will ruin yourself, me,
+and my little children."
+
+More than once, however, Pan Andrei had before him sights still more
+marvellous. Behold at times, among parties of horsemen, he saw marching
+groups, larger or smaller, of Polish nobles, with armed attendants;
+these nobles were joyous, singing songs, drunk, and with Swedes and
+Germans on the footing of "lord brother."
+
+"How is this?" asked Kmita. "They are persecuting some nobles and
+crushing them, while with others they enter into friendship. It must be
+that those citizens whom I see among the soldiers are fanatical
+traitors?"
+
+"Not merely fanatical traitors, but worse, for they are heretics,"
+answered the noble. "They are more grievous to us Catholics than the
+Swedes; they are the men who plunder most, burn houses, carry off
+maidens, commit private offences. The whole country is in alarm from
+them, for everything drops from these men altogether without
+punishment, and it is easier to get justice from Swedish commanders
+against a Swede, than against one of our own heretics. Every
+commandant, if you utter a word, will answer at once, 'I have no right
+to touch him, for he is not my man; go to your own tribunals.' And what
+tribunals are there here now, and what execution of law when everything
+is in Swedish hands? Where the Swede cannot go the heretics will take
+him, and they are the men chiefly who incite the Swedes against
+churches and clergy. This is the way in which they punish the country,
+our mother, for having given them refuge here and freedom for their
+blasphemous faith when they were persecuted in other Christian lands
+justly, for their intrigues and abominations."
+
+The noble stopped and looked with alarm at Kmita,--
+
+"But you say that you are from Electoral Prussia, so you may be a
+Lutheran?"
+
+"God save me from that," answered Pan Andrei. "I am from Prussia, but
+of a family Catholic for ages, for we went from Lithuania to Prussia."
+
+"Then praise to the Most High, for I was frightened. My dear sir, as to
+Lithuania there is no lack of dissidents there; and they have a
+powerful chief in Radzivill, who has turned out so great a traitor that
+he can come into comparison with Radzeyovski alone."
+
+"May God grant the devils to pull the soul out through his throat
+before the New Year!" exclaimed Kmita, with venom.
+
+"Amen!" answered the noble, "and also the souls of his servants, his
+assistants, his executioners, of whom tidings have come even to us, and
+without whom he would not have dared to bring destruction on this
+country."
+
+Kmita grew pale and said not a word. He did not ask even--he did not
+dare to ask--of what assistants, servants, and executioners that noble
+was speaking.
+
+Travelling slowly, they came to Pultusk late in the evening; there they
+called Kmita to the bishop's palace or castle to give answer to the
+commandant.
+
+"I am furnishing horses to the army of his Swedish Grace," said Pan
+Andrei, "and I have orders with which I am going to Warsaw for money."
+
+Colonel Israel (such was the name of the commandant) smiled under his
+mustaches and said,--
+
+"Oh, make haste, make haste, and take a wagon for the return, so as to
+have something to carry that money in!"
+
+"I thank you for the counsel," answered Pan Andrei. "I understand that
+you are jeering at me; but I will go for my own, even if I have to go
+to his grace the king!"
+
+"Go! don't give away your own; a very nice sum belongs to you."
+
+"The hour will come when you'll pay me," retorted Kmita, going out.
+
+In the town itself he came on celebrations again, for rejoicing over
+the capture of Cracow was to last three days. He learned, however, that
+in Pjasnysh the Swedish triumph was exaggerated, perhaps by design.
+Charnyetski, the castellan of Kieff, had not fallen into captivity, but
+had obtained the right of marching from the city with his troops, with
+arms and lighted matches at the cannon. It was said that he was to
+retire to Silesia. This was not a great consolation, but still a
+consolation.
+
+In Pultusk there were considerable forces which were to go thence to
+the Prussian boundary, under command of Colonel Israel, to alarm the
+elector; therefore neither the town nor the castle, though very
+spacious, could furnish lodging for the soldiers. Here too, for the
+first time, Kmita saw soldiers encamped in a church,--in a splendid
+Gothic structure, founded almost two hundred years before by Bishop
+Gijytski, were quartered hireling German infantry. Inside the sanctuary
+it was flaming with light as on Easter, for on the stone floor were
+burning fires kindled in various places. Kettles were steaming over the
+fires. Around kegs of beer were groups of common soldiers,--hardened
+robbers, who had plundered all Catholic Germany, and of a certainty
+were not spending their first night in a church. In the church were
+heard talking and shouting. Hoarse voices were singing camp songs;
+there sounded also the outcry and merriment of women, who in those days
+straggled usually in the wake of an army.
+
+Kmita stood in the open door; through the smoke in the midst of ruddy
+flames he saw the red, mustached faces of soldiers who, inflamed with
+drink, were sitting on kegs and quaffing beer; some throwing dice or
+playing cards, some selling church vestments, others embracing low
+women dressed in bright garments. Uproar, laughter, the clatter of
+tankards, the sound of muskets, the echoes thundering in the vaults
+deafened him. His head whirled; he could not believe what his eyes saw;
+the breath died in his breast; hell would not have more greatly amazed
+him. At last he clutched his hair and ran out repeating as if in
+bewilderment,--
+
+"O God, aid us! O God, correct us! O God, deliver us!"
+
+
+
+
+ CHAPTER XXXVII.
+
+
+In Warsaw the Swedes had been managing for a long time. Wittemberg, the
+real governor of the city and the commander of the garrison, was at
+that moment in Cracow; Radzeyovski carried on the government in his
+place. Not less than two thousand soldiers were in the city proper
+surrounded by walls, and in the jurisdictions beyond the walls built up
+with splendid edifices belonging to the church and the world. The
+castle and the city were not destroyed; for Pan Vessel, starosta of
+Makovo, had yielded them up without battle, and he with the garrison
+disappeared hurriedly, fearing the personal vengeance of Radzeyovski,
+his enemy.
+
+But when Pan Kmita examined more closely and carefully, he saw on many
+houses the traces of plundering hands. These were the houses of those
+citizens who had fled from the city, not wishing to endure foreign
+rule, or who had offered resistance when the Swedes were breaking over
+the walls.
+
+Of the lordly structures in the jurisdictions those only retained their
+former splendor the owners of which stood soul and body with the
+Swedes. Therefore the Kazanovski Palace remained in all its
+magnificence, for Radzeyovski had saved that, his own, and the palace
+of Konyetspolski, the standard-bearer, as well as the edifice reared by
+Vladislav IV., and which was afterward known as the Kazimirovski
+Palace. But edifices of the clergy were injured considerably; the
+Denhof Palace was half wrecked; the chancellor's or the so-called
+Ossolinski Palace, on Reformatski Street, was plundered to its
+foundations. German hirelings looked out through its windows; and that
+costly furniture which the late chancellor had brought from Italy at
+such outlay,--those Florentine leathers, Dutch tapestry, beautiful
+cabinets inlaid with mother-of-pearl, pictures, bronze and marble
+statues, clocks from Venice and Dantzig, and magnificent glasses were
+either lying in disordered heaps in the yard, or, already packed, were
+waiting to be taken, when the time came, by the Vistula to Sweden.
+Guards watched over these precious things, but meanwhile they were
+being ruined under the wind and rain.
+
+In other cities the same thing might be seen; and though the capital
+had yielded without battle, still thirty gigantic flat-boats were ready
+on the Vistula to bear away the plunder.
+
+The city looked like a foreign place. On the streets foreign languages
+were heard more than Polish; everywhere were met Swedish soldiers,
+German, French, English, and Scottish mercenaries, in the greatest
+variety of uniforms,--in hats, in lofty helmets, in kaftans, in
+breastplates, half breastplates, in stockings, or Swedish boots, with
+legs as wide as water-buckets. Everywhere a foreign medley, foreign
+garments, foreign faces, foreign songs. Even the horses had forms
+different from those to which the eye was accustomed. There had also
+rushed in a multitude of Armenians with dark faces, and black hair
+covered with bright skull-caps; they had come to buy plundered
+articles.
+
+But most astonishing of all was the incalculable number of gypsies,
+who, it is unknown for what purpose, had gathered after the Swedes from
+all parts of the country. Their tents stood at the side of the
+Uyazdovski Palace, and along the monastery jurisdiction, forming as it
+were a special town of linen houses within a town of walled structures.
+
+In the midst of these various-tongued throngs the inhabitants of the
+city almost vanished; for their own safety they sat gladly enclosed in
+their houses, showing themselves rarely, and then passing swiftly along
+the streets. Only occasionally the carriage of some magnate, hurrying
+from the Cracow suburbs to the castle, and surrounded by haiduks,
+Turkish grooms, or troops in Polish dress, gave reminder that the city
+was Polish.
+
+Only on Sundays and holidays, when the bells announced services, did
+crowds come forth from the houses, and the capital put on its former
+appearance,--though even then lines of foreign soldiers stood hedgelike
+in front of the churches, to look at the women or pull at their dresses
+when, with downcast eyes, they walked past them. These soldiers
+laughed, and sometimes sang vile songs just when the priests were
+singing Mass in the churches.
+
+All this flashed past the astonished eyes of Pan Kmita like jugglery;
+but he did not warm his place long in Warsaw, for not knowing any man
+he had no one before whom to open his soul. Even with those Polish
+nobles who were stopping in the city and living in public houses built
+during the reign of King Sigismund III. on Dluga Street, Pan Andrei did
+not associate closely. He conversed, it is true, with this one and
+that, to learn the news; but all were fanatical adherents of the
+Swedes, and waiting for the return of Karl Gustav, clung to Radzeyovski
+and the Swedish officers with the hope of receiving starostaships,
+confiscated private estates, and profits from church and other
+recoupments. Each man of them would have been served rightly had some
+one spat in his eyes, and from this Kmita did not make great effort to
+restrain himself.
+
+From the townspeople Kmita only heard that they regretted past times,
+and the good king of the fallen country. The Swedes persecuted them
+savagely, seized their houses, exacted contributions, imprisoned them.
+They said also that the guilds had arms secreted, especially the
+linen-weavers, the butchers, the furriers, and the powerful guild of
+tailors; that they were looking continually for the return of Yan
+Kazimir, did not lose hope, and with assistance from outside were ready
+to attack the Swedes.
+
+Hearing this, Kmita did not believe his own ears. It could not find
+place in his head that men of mean station and rank should exhibit more
+love for the country and loyalty to their lawful king than nobles, who
+ought to bring those sentiments into the world with their birth.
+
+But it was just the nobles and magnates who stood by the Swedes, and
+the common people who for the greater part wished to resist; and more
+than once it happened that when the Swedes were driving common people
+to work at fortifying Warsaw, these common people chose to endure
+flogging, imprisonment, even death itself, rather than aid in
+confirming Swedish power.
+
+Beyond Warsaw the country was as noisy as in a beehive. All the roads,
+the towns, and the hamlets were occupied by soldiers, by attendants of
+great lords and nobles, and by lords and nobles serving the Swedes. All
+was captured, gathered in, subdued; everything was as Swedish as if the
+country had been always in their hands.
+
+Pan Andrei met no people save Swedes, adherents of the Swedes, or
+people in despair, indifferent, who were convinced to the depth of
+their souls that all was lost. No one thought of resistance; commands
+were carried out quietly and promptly one half or a tenth part of which
+would have been met in times not long past with opposition and protest.
+Fear had reached that degree that even those who were injured praised
+loudly the kind protector of the Commonwealth.
+
+Formerly it happened often enough that a noble received his own civil
+and military deputies of exaction with gun in hand, and at the head of
+armed servants; now such tributes were imposed as it pleased the Swedes
+to impose, and the nobles gave them as obediently as sheep give their
+wool to the shearer. It happened more than once that the same tribute
+was taken twice. It was vain to use a receipt as defence; it was well
+if the executing officer did not moisten it in wine and make the man
+who showed it swallow the paper. That was nothing! "Vivat protector!"
+cried the noble; and when the officer had departed he ordered his
+servant to crawl out on the roof and see if another were not coming.
+And well if only all were ended with Swedish contributions; but worse
+than the enemy were, in that as in every other land, the traitors. Old
+private grievances, old offences were brought up; ditches were filled,
+meadows and forests were seized, and for the friend of the Swedes
+everything went unpunished. Worst, however, were the dissidents; and
+they were not all. Armed bands were formed of unfortunates,
+desperadoes, ruffians, and gamblers. Assisted by Swedish marauders,
+Germans, and disturbers of all kinds, these bands fell upon peasants
+and nobles. The country was filled with fires; the armed hand of the
+soldier was heavy on the towns; in the forest the robber attacked. No
+one thought of curing the Commonwealth; no one dreamed of rescue, of
+casting off the yoke; no one had hope.
+
+It happened that Swedish and German plunderers near Sohachev besieged
+Pan Lushchevski, the starosta of that place, falling upon him at
+Strugi, his private estate. He, being of a military turn, defended
+himself vigorously, though an old man. Kmita came just then; and since
+his patience had on it a sore ready to break at any cause, it broke at
+Strugi. He permitted the Kyemliches, therefore, "to pound," and fell
+upon the invaders himself with such vigor that he scattered them,
+struck them down; no one escaped, even prisoners were drowned at his
+command. The starosta, to whom the aid was as if it had fallen from
+heaven, received his deliverer with thanks and honored him at once. Pan
+Andrei, seeing before him a personage, a statesman, and besides a man
+of old date, confessed his hatred of the Swedes, and inquired of the
+starosta what he thought of the future of the Commonwealth, in the hope
+that he would pour balsam on his soul.
+
+But the starosta viewed the past differently, and said: "My gracious
+sir, I know not what I should have answered had this question been put
+when I had ruddy mustaches and a mind clouded by physical humor; but
+to-day I have gray mustaches, and the experience of seventy years on my
+shoulders, and I see future things, for I am near the grave; therefore
+I say that not only we, even if we should correct our errors, but all
+Europe, cannot break the Swedish power."
+
+"How can that be? Where did it come from?" cried Kmita. "When was
+Sweden such a power? Are there not more of the Polish people on earth,
+can we not have a larger army? Has that army yielded at any time to
+Sweden in bravery?"
+
+"There are ten times as many of our people. God has increased our
+produce so that in my starostaship of Sohachev more wheat is grown than
+in all Sweden; and as to bravery, I was at Kirchholm when three
+thousand hussars of us scattered in the dust eighteen thousand of the
+best troops of Sweden."
+
+"If that is true," said Kmita, whose eyes flashed at remembrance of
+Kirchholm, "what earthly causes are there why we should not put an end
+to them now?"
+
+"First, this," answered the old man, with a deliberate voice, "that we
+have become small and they have grown great; that they have conquered
+us with our own hands, as before now they conquered the Germans with
+Germans. Such is the will of God; and there is no power, I repeat, that
+can oppose them to-day."
+
+"But if the nobles should come to their senses and rally around their
+ruler,--if all should seize arms, what would you advise to do then, and
+what would you do yourself?"
+
+"I should go with others and fall, and I should advise every man to
+fall; but after that would come times on which it is better not to
+look."
+
+"Worse times cannot come! As true as life, they cannot! It is
+impossible!" cried Kmita.
+
+"You see," continued the starosta, "before the end of the world and
+before the last judgment Antichrist will come, and it is said that evil
+men will get the upper hand of the good. Satans will go through the
+world, will preach a faith opposed to the true one, and will turn men
+to it. With the permission of God, evil will conquer everywhere until
+the moment in which trumpeting angels shall sound for the end of the
+world."
+
+Here the starosta leaned against the back of the chair on which he was
+sitting, closed his eyes, and spoke on in a low, mysterious voice,--
+
+"It was said, 'There will be signs.' There have been signs on the sun
+in the form of a hand and a sword. God be merciful to us, sinners! The
+evil gain victory over the just, for the Swedes and their adherents are
+conquering. The true faith is failing, for behold the Lutheran is
+rising. Men! do ye not see that _dies iræ, dies illa_ (the day of
+wrath, that day) is approaching? I am seventy years old; I stand on the
+brink of the Styx,--I am waiting for the ferryman and the boat,--I
+see--"
+
+Here the starosta became silent, and Kmita looked at him with terror;
+for the reasons seemed to him just, the conclusions fitting, therefore
+he was frightened at his decisions and reflected deeply. But the
+starosta did not look at him; he only looked in front of himself, and
+said at last,--
+
+"And of course the Swedes conquer here when that is the permission of
+God, the express will mentioned and spoken of in the Prophecies--Oi,
+people, to Chenstohova, to Chenstohova!" And again the starosta was
+silent.
+
+The sun was just setting, and looking only aslant into the room, its
+light broke into colors on the glass fitted in lead, and made seven
+colored stripes on the floor; the rest of the room was in darkness. It
+became more and more awe-inspiring for Kmita; at moments it seemed to
+him that if the light were to vanish, that instant the trumpeting angel
+would summon to judgment.
+
+"Of what prophecies is your grace speaking?" asked Kmita, at last; for
+the silence seemed to him still more solemn.
+
+The starosta instead of an answer turned to the door of an adjoining
+room, and called,--
+
+"Olenka! Olenka!"
+
+"In God's name!" cried Kmita, "whom are you calling?"
+
+At that moment he believed everything,--believed that his Olenka by a
+miracle was brought from Kyedani and would appear before his eyes. He
+forgot everything, fastened his gaze on the door, and waited without
+breath in his breast.
+
+"Olenka! Olenka!"
+
+The door opened, and there entered not Panna Billevich, but a young
+woman, shapely, slender, tall, a little like Olenka, with dignity and
+calm spread over her face. She was pale, perhaps ill, and maybe
+frightened at the recent attack; she walked with downcast eyes as
+lightly and quietly as if some breath were moving her forward.
+
+"This is my daughter," said the starosta. "I have no sons at home; they
+are with Pan Pototski, and with him near our unfortunate king."
+
+Then he turned to his daughter: "Thank first this manful cavalier for
+rescuing us, and then read to him the prophecy of Saint Bridget."
+
+The maiden bowed down before Pan Andrei, then went out, and after a
+while returned with a printed roll in her hand, and standing in that
+many-colored light, began to read in a resonant and sweet voice,--
+
+
+"The prophecy of Saint Bridget, I will declare to you first of the five
+kings and their rule: Gustav the son of Erick, the lazy ass, because
+neglecting the right worship he went over to the false. Rejecting the
+faith of the Apostles, he brought to the kingdom the Augsburg
+Confession, putting a stain on his reputation. Look at Ecclesiastes,
+where it is stated of Solomon that lie defiled his glory with
+idolatry--"
+
+
+"Are you listening?" asked the starosta, pointing toward Kmita with the
+index finger of his left hand and holding the others, ready for
+counting.
+
+"Yes," answered Kmita.
+
+
+"Erick, the son of Gustavus, a wolf of unsatiable greed," read the
+lady, "with which he drew on himself the hatred of all men and of his
+brother Yan. First, suspecting Yan of intrigues with Denmark and
+Poland, he tormented him with war, and taking him with his wife he held
+them four years in a dungeon. Yan, at last brought out of imprisonment
+and aided by change of fortune, conquered Erick, expelled him from the
+kingdom, and put him into prison forevermore. There is an unforeseen
+event!"
+
+
+"Consider," said the old man. "Here is another."
+
+The lady read further:--
+
+
+"Yan, the brother of Erick, a lofty eagle, thrice conqueror over Erick,
+the Danes, and the Northerners. His son Sigismund, in whom dwells
+nobility of blood, chosen to the Polish throne. Praise to his
+offshoots!"
+
+
+"Do you understand?" asked the starosta. "May God prosper the years of
+Yan Kazimir!" answered Kmita.
+
+
+"Karl, the prince of Sudermanii, the ram, who as rams lead the flock,
+so he led the Swedes to injustice; and he attacked justice."
+
+
+"That is the fourth!" interrupted the starosta.
+
+
+"The fifth, Gustavus Adolphus," read the lady, "is the lamb slain, but
+not spotless, whose blood was the cause of suffering and misfortune--"
+
+
+"Yes; that is Gustavus Adolphus!" said the starosta. "Of Christiana
+there is no mention, for only men are counted. Read now the end, which
+refers accurately to the present time."
+
+She read as follows:--
+
+
+"I will show to thee the sixth, who distracts land and sea and brings
+trouble on the simple; whose hour of punishment I will place in my own
+hand. Though he attained his end quickly, my judgment draws near him;
+he will leave the kingdom in suffering and it will be written: They
+sowed rebellion and reap suffering and pain. Not only will I visit that
+kingdom, but rich cities and powerful; for the hungry are called, who
+will devour their sufficiency. Internal evils will not be lacking, and
+misfortune will abound. The foolish will rule, and the wise and the old
+men will not raise their heads. Honor and truth will fall, till that
+man shall come who will implore away my anger and who will not spare
+his own soul in love of truth."
+
+
+"There you have it!" said the starosta.
+
+"All is verified, so that only a blind man could doubt!" answered
+Kmita.
+
+"Therefore the Swedes cannot be conquered," said the starosta.
+
+"Till that man shall come who will not spare his soul for the love of
+truth!" exclaimed Kmita. "The prophecy leaves hope! Not judgment, but
+salvation awaits us."
+
+"Sodom was to be spared if ten just men could be found in it," said the
+starosta; "but that many were not found. In the same manner will not be
+found the man who will not spare his soul for love of truth; and the
+hour of judgment will strike."
+
+"It cannot be but that he will be found," called out Kmita.
+
+Before the starosta answered the door opened, and into the room walked
+a man no longer young, in armor and with a musket in his hand.
+
+"Pan Shchebjytski?" said the starosta.
+
+"Yes," answered the newly arrived. "I heard that ruffians had besieged
+you, and I hastened with my servants to the rescue."
+
+"Without the will of God a hair will not fall from the head of a man,"
+answered the starosta. "This cavalier has already freed me from
+oppression. But whence do you come?"
+
+"From Sohachev."
+
+"Have you heard anything new?"
+
+"Every news is worse. New misfortune--"
+
+"What has happened?"
+
+"The provinces of Cracow, Sandomir, Rus, Lubelsk, Belzk, Volynia, and
+Kieff have surrendered to Karl Gustav. The act is already signed by
+envoys and by Karl."
+
+The starosta shook his head, and turned to Kmita,--
+
+"See," said he, "do you still think that the man will be found who will
+not spare his soul for the love of truth?"
+
+Kmita began to tear the hair from his forelock; "Despair! despair!"
+repeated he, in distraction.
+
+And Pan Shchebjytski continued: "They say also that the remnants of the
+army, which are with Pototski, the hetman, have already refused
+obedience and wish to go to the Swedes. The hetman probably is not sure
+of safety or life among them, and must do what they want."
+
+"They sow rebellion and reap suffering and pain," said the starosta.
+"Whoso wishes to do penance for his sins, now is his time!"
+
+Kmita could not hear further either prophecies or news; he wanted to
+sit with all speed on his horse and cool his head in the wind. He
+sprang up therefore, and began to take farewell of the starosta.
+
+"Rut whither so hastily?" asked the latter.
+
+"To Chenstohova, for I too am a sinner!"
+
+"Though glad to entertain, I will not delay you, since your work is
+more urgent, for the day of judgment is at hand."
+
+Kmita went out; and after him went the young lady, wishing instead of
+her father to do honor to the guest, for the old man was weak on his
+feet.
+
+"Be in good health, young lady," said Kmita; "you do not know how
+thankful I am to you."
+
+"If you are thankful to me," answered the young lady, "do me one
+service. You are going to Chenstohova; here is a ruddy ducat,--take it,
+I beg, and give it for a Mass in the chapel."
+
+"For whose intention?" asked Kmita.
+
+The prophetess dropped her eyes, trouble spread over her face; at the
+same time a slight flush came to her cheeks, and she said with a low
+voice, like the rustle of leaves,--
+
+"For the intention of Andrei, that God may turn him from sinful ways."
+
+Kmita pushed back two steps, stared, and from astonishment could not
+speak for a time.
+
+"By the wounds of Christ!" cried he, at last, "what manner of house is
+this? Where am I? The prophecy itself, the soothsaying, and the
+indications--Your name is Olenka, and you give me for a Mass for the
+intentions of a sinful Andrei. This cannot be chance; it is the finger
+of God,--it is, it is. I shall go wild!--As God lives, I shall!"
+
+"What is the matter?"
+
+He caught her hands violently and began to shake them. "Prophesy
+further, speak to the end! If that Andrei will return and efface his
+faults, will Olenka keep faith with him? Speak, answer, for I shall not
+go away without that!"
+
+"What is your trouble?"
+
+"Will Olenka keep faith with him?" repeated Kmita.
+
+Tears came suddenly into the eyes of the maiden: "To the last breath,
+to the hour of death!" said she, with sobbing.
+
+She had not finished speaking when Kmita fell his whole length at her
+feet. She wanted to flee; he would not let her, and kissing her feet,
+he said,--
+
+"I too am a sinful Andrei, who wants to return. I too have my loved
+one, Olenka. May yours return, and may mine keep faith. May your words
+be prophetic. You have poured balsam and hope into my suffering
+soul,--God reward you, God reward you!"
+
+Then he sprang up, sat on his horse, and rode away.
+
+
+
+
+ CHAPTER XXXVIII.
+
+
+The words of the young daughter of the starosta of Sohachev filled
+Kmita with great consolation, and for three days they did not leave his
+head. In the daytime on horseback, in the night on the bed, he was
+thinking of what had happened to him, and he came always to the
+conclusion that this could not be simple chance, but an indication from
+God, and a presage that if he would hold out, if he would not leave the
+good road, that same road which Olenka had shown him, she would keep
+faith and give him her former affection.
+
+"If the starosta's daughter," thought Kmita, "keeps faith with her
+Andrei, who has not begun to grow better, there is still hope for me,
+with my honest intention of serving virtue, the country, and the king."
+
+But, on the other hand, suffering was not absent from Pan Andrei. He
+had an honest intention, but had it not come too late? Was there yet
+any road, were there yet any means? The Commonwealth seemed to sink
+deeper each day, and it was difficult to close one's eyes to the
+terrible truth that for it there was no salvation. Kmita wished nothing
+more intently than to begin some kind of work, but he saw no willing
+people. Every moment new figures, every moment new faces, passed before
+him in the time of his journey; but the sight of them, their talk and
+discussions, merely took from him the remnant of his hopes.
+
+Some had gone body and soul to the Swedish camp, seeking in it their
+own profit; these people drank and caroused as at a wake, drowning, in
+cups and in riot, shame and the honor of nobles; others told, with
+blindness beyond understanding, of that power which the Commonwealth
+would form in union with Sweden, under the sceptre of the first warrior
+on earth; and these were the most dangerous, for they were sincerely
+convinced that the whole earth must bow before such an alliance. A
+third party, like the starosta of Sohachev, honorable people and
+wishing well to the country, sought signs on the earth and in the
+heavens, repeated prophecies, and seeing the will of God and unbending
+predestination in all things that happened, came to the conclusion that
+there was no hope, no salvation; that the end of the world was drawing
+nigh; therefore it would be madness to think of earthly instead of
+heavenly salvation. Others hid in the forest, or escaped with their
+lives beyond the boundaries of the Commonwealth. Kmita met only
+unrestrained, corrupted, mad, timid, or desperate people. He met no man
+who had hope.
+
+Meanwhile the fortune of the Swedes was increasing. News that the rest
+of the army had revolted, were conspiring, threatening the hetmans, and
+wishing to go over to the Swedes, gained certainty every day. The
+report that Konyetspolski with his division had joined Karl Gustav
+reverberated like thunder through every corner of the Commonwealth, and
+drove out the remnant of faith from men's hearts, for Konyetspolski was
+a knight of Zbaraj. He was followed by the starosta of Yavor and Prince
+Dymitr Vishnyevetski, who was not restrained by a name covered with
+immortal glory.
+
+Men had begun now to doubt Lyubomirski, the marshal. Those who knew him
+well asserted that ambition surpassed in him both reason and love of
+country; that for the time being he was on the king's side because he
+was flattered, because all eyes were turned to him, because one side
+and the other tried to win him, to persuade him, because he was told
+that he had the fate of the country in his hands. But in view of
+Swedish success he began to hesitate, to delay; and each moment he gave
+the unfortunate Yan Kazimir to understand more clearly that he could
+save him, or sink him completely.
+
+The refugee king was living in Glogov with a handful of trusted
+persons, who shared his fate. Each day some one deserted him, and went
+over to the Swedes. Thus do the weak bend in days of misfortune, even
+men to whom the first impulse of the heart points out the thorny path
+of honor. Karl Gustav received the deserters with open arms, rewarded
+them, covered them with promises, tempted and attracted the remnant of
+the faithful, extended more widely his rule; fortune itself pushed from
+before his feet every obstacle; he conquered Poland with Polish forces;
+he was a victor without a battle.
+
+Crowds of voevodas, castellans, officials of Poland and Lithuania,
+throngs of armed nobles, complete squadrons of incomparable Polish
+cavalry, stood in his camp, watching the eyes of their newly made lord
+and ready at his beck.
+
+The last of the armies of the kingdom was calling more and more
+emphatically to its hetman: "Go, incline thy gray head before the
+majesty of Karl,--go, for we wish to belong to the Swedes."
+
+"To the Swedes! to the Swedes!"
+
+And in support of these words thousands of sabres flashed forth.
+
+At the same time war was flaming continually on the east. The terrible
+Hmelnitski was besieging Lvoff again; and legions of his allies,
+rolling on past the unconquered walls of Zamost, spread over the whole
+province of Lubelsk, reaching even to Lublin.
+
+Lithuania was in the hands of the Swedes and Hovanski. Radzivill had
+begun war in Podlyasye, the elector was loitering, and any moment he
+might give the last blow to the expiring Commonwealth; meanwhile he was
+growing strong in Royal Prussia.
+
+Embassies from every side were hastening to the King of Sweden, wishing
+him a happy conquest.
+
+Winter was coming; leaves were falling from the trees; flocks of
+ravens, crows, and jackdaws had deserted the forests, and were flying
+over the villages and towns of the Commonwealth.
+
+Beyond Pyotrkoff Kmita came again upon Swedish parties, who occupied
+all the roads and highways. Some of them, after the capture of Cracow,
+were marching to Warsaw, for it was said that Karl Gustav, having
+received homage from the northern and eastern provinces and signed the
+"capitulations," was only waiting for the submission of those remnants
+of the army under Pototski and Lantskoronski; that given, he would go
+straightway to Prussia, and therefore he was sending the army ahead.
+The road was closed in no place to Pan Andrei, for in general nobles
+roused no suspicion. A multitude of armed attendants were going with
+the Swedes; others were going to Cracow,--one to bow down before the
+new king, another to obtain something from him. No one was asked for a
+pass or a letter, especially since in the neighborhood of Karl, who was
+counterfeiting kindness, no man dared trouble another.
+
+The last night before Chenstohova met Pan Andrei in Krushyn; but barely
+had he settled down when guests arrived. First a Swedish detachment of
+about one hundred horse, under the lead of a number of officers and
+some important captain. This captain was a man of middle age, of a form
+rather imposing, large, powerful, broad-shouldered, quick-eyed; and
+though he wore a foreign dress and looked altogether like a foreigner,
+still when he entered the room he spoke to Pan Andrei in purest Polish,
+asking who he was and whither he was going.
+
+Pan Andrei answered at once that he was a noble from Sohachev, for it
+might have seemed strange to the officer that a subject of the elector
+had come to that remote place. Learning that Pan Andrei was going to
+the King of Sweden with complaint that payment of money due him by the
+Swedes was refused, the officer said,--
+
+"Prayer at the high altar is best, and wisely you go to the king; for
+though he has a thousand affairs on his head, he refuses hearing to no
+one, and he is so kind to Polish nobles that you are envied by the
+Swedes."
+
+"If only there is money in the treasury?"
+
+"Karl Gustav is not the same as your recent Yan Kazimir, who was forced
+to borrow even of Jews, for whatever he had he gave straightway to him
+who first asked for it. But if a certain enterprise succeeds, there
+will be no lack of coin in the treasury."
+
+"Of what enterprise is your grace speaking?"
+
+"I know you too little to speak confidentially, but be assured that in
+a week or two the treasury of the King of Sweden will be as weighty as
+that of the Sultan."
+
+"Then some alchemist must make money for him, since there is no place
+from which to get it in this country."
+
+"In this country? It is enough to stretch forth daring hands. And of
+daring there is no lack among us, as is shown by the fact that we are
+now rulers here."
+
+"True, true," answered Kmita; "we are very glad of that rule,
+especially if you teach us how to get money like chips."
+
+"The means are in your power, but you would rather die of hunger than
+take one copper."
+
+Kmita looked quickly at the officer, and said,--
+
+"For there are places against which it is terrible, even for Tartars,
+to raise hands."
+
+"You are too mysterious. Sir Cavalier," answered the officer, "and
+remember that you are going, not to Tartars, but to Swedes for money."
+
+Further conversation was interrupted by the arrival of a new party of
+men, whom the officer was evidently expecting, for he hurried out of
+the inn. Kmita followed and stood in the door to see who were coming.
+
+In front was a closed carriage drawn by four horses, and surrounded by
+a party of Swedish horsemen; it stopped before the inn. The officer who
+had just been talking to Kmita went up to the carriage quickly, and
+opening the door made a low bow to the person sitting inside.
+
+"He must be some distinguished man," thought Kmita.
+
+That moment they brought from the inn a flaming torch. Out of the
+carriage stepped an important personage dressed in black, in foreign
+fashion, with a cloak to his knees, lined with fox-skin, and a hat with
+feathers. The officer seized the torch from the hands of a horseman,
+and bowing once more, said,--
+
+"This way, your excellency!"
+
+Kmita pushed back as quickly as possible, and they entered after him.
+In the room the officer bowed a third time and said,--
+
+"Your excellency, I am Count Veyhard Vjeshchovich, ordinarius
+proviantmagister, of his Royal Grace Karl Gustav, and am sent with an
+escort to meet your excellency."
+
+"It is pleasant for me to meet such an honorable cavalier," said the
+personage in black, giving bow for bow.
+
+"Does your excellency wish to stop here some time or to go on at once?
+His Royal Grace wishes to see your excellency soon."
+
+"I had intended to halt at Chenstohova for prayers," answered the newly
+arrived, "but in Vyelunie I received news that his Royal Grace commands
+me to hurry; therefore, after I have rested, we will go on. Meanwhile
+dismiss the escort, and thank the captain who led it."
+
+The officer went to give the requisite order. Pan Andrei stopped him on
+the way.
+
+"Who is that?" asked he.
+
+"Baron Lisola, the Imperial Envoy, now on his way from the court of
+Brandenburg to our lord," answered the officer. Then he went out, and
+after a while returned.
+
+"Your excellency's orders are carried out," said he to the baron.
+
+"I thank you," said Lisola; and with great though very lofty affability
+he indicated to Count Veyhard a place opposite himself. "Some kind of
+storm is beginning to whistle outside," said he, "and rain is falling.
+It may continue long; meanwhile let us talk before supper. What is to
+be heard here? I have been told that the voevodas of Little Poland have
+submitted to his Grace of Sweden."
+
+"True, your excellency; his Grace is only waiting for the submission of
+the rest of the troops, then he will go at once to Warsaw and to
+Prussia."
+
+"Is it certain that they will surrender?"
+
+"Deputies from the army are already in Cracow. They have no choice, for
+if they do not come to us Hmelnitski will destroy them utterly."
+
+Lisola inclined his reasoning head upon his breast. "Terrible, unheard
+of things!" said he.
+
+The conversation was carried on in the German language. Kmita did not
+lose a single word of it.
+
+"Your excellency." said Count Veyhard, "that has happened which had to
+happen."
+
+"Perhaps so; but it is difficult not to feel compassion for a power
+which has fallen before our eyes, and for which a man who is not a
+Swede must feel sorrow."
+
+"I am not a Swede; but if Poles themselves do not feel sorrow, neither
+do I," answered the count.
+
+Lisola looked at him seriously. "It is true that your name is not
+Swedish. From what people are you, I pray?"
+
+"I am a Cheh" (Bohemian).
+
+"Indeed? Then you are a subject of the German emperor? We are under the
+same rule."
+
+"I am in the service of the Most Serene King of Sweden," said Veyhard,
+with a bow.
+
+"I wish not to derogate from that service in the least," answered
+Lisola, "but such employments are temporary; being then a subject of
+our gracious sovereign, whoever you may be, whomsoever you may serve,
+you cannot consider any one else as your natural sovereign."
+
+"I do not deny that."
+
+"Then I will tell you sincerely, that our lord mourns over this
+illustrious Commonwealth, over the fate of its noble monarch, and he
+cannot look with a kindly or willing eye on those of his subjects who
+are aiding in the final ruin of a friendly power. What have the Poles
+done to you, that you show them such ill will?"
+
+"Your excellency, I might answer many things, but I fear to abuse your
+patience."
+
+"You seem to me not only a famous soldier, but a wise man. My office
+obliges me to observe, to listen, to seek causes; speak then, even in
+the most minute way, and fear not to annoy my patience. If you incline
+at any time to the service of the emperor, which I wish most strongly,
+you will find in me a friend who will explain and repeat your reasons,
+should any man wish to consider your present service as wrong."
+
+"Then I will tell you all that I have on my mind. Like many nobles,
+younger sons, I had to seek my fortune outside my native land. I came
+to this country where the people are related to my own, and take
+foreigners into service readily."
+
+"Were you badly received?"
+
+"Salt mines were given to my management I found means of livelihood, of
+approach to the people and the king himself; I serve the Swedes at
+present, but should any one wish to consider me unthankful, I could
+contradict him directly."
+
+"How?"
+
+"Can more be asked of me than of the Poles themselves? Where are the
+Poles to-day? Where are the senators of this kingdom, the princes, the
+magnates, the nobles, if not in the Swedish camp? And still they should
+be the first to know what they ought to do, where the salvation of
+their country is, and where its destruction. I follow their example;
+who of them then has the right to call me unthankful? Why should I, a
+foreigner, be more faithful to the King of Poland and the Commonwealth
+than they themselves are? Why should I despise that service for which
+they themselves are begging?"
+
+Lisola made no answer. He rested his head on his hand and fell into
+thought. It would seem that he was listening to the whistle of the wind
+and the sound of the autumn rain, which had begun to strike the windows
+of the inn.
+
+"Speak on," said he, at last; "in truth you tell me strange things."
+
+"I seek fortune where I can find it," continued Count Veyhard; "and
+because this people are perishing, I do not need to care for them more
+than they do for themselves, besides, even if I were to care, it would
+avail nothing, for they must perish."
+
+"But why is that?"
+
+"First, because they wish it themselves; second, because they deserve
+it. Your excellency, is there another country in the world where so
+many disorders and such violence may be seen? What manner of government
+is there here? The king does not rule, because they will not let him;
+the diets do not rule, because the members break them; there is no
+army, because the Poles will not pay taxes; there is no obedience, for
+obedience is opposed to freedom; there is no justice, for there is no
+one to execute decisions, and each strong man tramples on decisions;
+there is no loyalty in this people, for all have deserted their king;
+there is no love for the country, for they have given it to the Swede,
+for the promise that he will not prevent them from living in old
+fashion according to their ancient violence. Where could anything
+similar be found? What people in the world would aid an enemy in
+conquering their own country? Who would desert a king, not for his
+tyranny, not for his evil deeds, but because a stronger one came? Where
+is there a people who love private profits more, or trample more on
+public affairs? What have they, your excellency? Let any one mention to
+me even one virtue,--prudence, reason, cleverness, endurance,
+abstinence. What have they? Good cavalry? that and nothing more. But
+the Numidians were famous for cavalry, and the Gauls, as may be read in
+Roman history, had celebrated soldiers; but where are they? They have
+perished as they were bound to perish. Whoso wishes to save the Poles
+is merely losing time, for they will not save themselves. Only the mad,
+the violent, the malicious, and the venal inhabit this land."
+
+Count Veyhard pronounced the last words with a genuine outburst of
+hatred marvellous in a foreigner who had found bread among that people;
+but Lisola was not astonished. A veteran diplomat, he knew the world
+and men. He knew that whoso does not know how to pay his benefactor
+with his heart, seeks in him faults, so as to shield with them his own
+unthankfulness. Besides, it may be that he recognized that Count
+Veyhard was right. He did not protest, but asked quickly, "Are you a
+Catholic?"
+
+The count was confused. "Yes, your excellency," answered he.
+
+"I have heard in Vyelunie that there are persons who persuade the king,
+Karl Gustav, to occupy the monastery of Yasna Gora.[30] Is it true?"
+
+"Your excellency, the monastery lies near the Silesian boundary, and
+Yan Kazimir can easily receive messages therefrom. We must occupy it to
+prevent that. I was the first to direct attention to this matter, and
+therefore his Royal Grace has confided these functions to me."
+
+Here Count Veyhard stopped suddenly, remembered Kmita, sitting in the
+other corner of the room, and coming up to him, asked,--
+
+"Do you understand German?"
+
+"Not a word, even if a man were to pull my teeth," answered Pan Andrei.
+
+"That is too bad, for we wished to ask you to join our conversation."
+Then he turned to Lisola.
+
+"There is a strange noble here, but he does not understand German; we
+can speak freely."
+
+"I have no secret to tell," said Lisola; "but as I am a Catholic too, I
+should not like to see such injustice done to a sacred place. And
+because I am certain that the most serene emperor has the same feeling,
+I shall beg his Grace the King of Sweden to spare the monks. And do not
+hurry with the occupation until there is a new decision."
+
+"I have express, though secret, instructions; but I shall not withhold
+them from your excellency, for I wish to serve faithfully my lord the
+emperor. I can assure your excellency that no profanation will come to
+the sacred place. I am a Catholic."
+
+Lisola laughed, and wishing to extort the truth from a man less
+experienced than himself, asked jokingly,--
+
+"But you will shake up their treasury for the monks? It will not pass
+without that, will it?"
+
+"That may happen," answered Count Veyhard. "The Most Holy Lady will not
+ask for thalers from the priors' caskets. When all others pay, let the
+monks pay too."
+
+"But if the monks defend themselves?"
+
+The count laughed. "In this country no man will defend himself, and
+to-day no man is able. There was a time for defence,--now it is too
+late."
+
+"Too late," repeated Lisola.
+
+The conversation ended there. After supper they went away. Kmita
+remained alone. This was for him the bitterest night that he had spent
+since leaving Kyedani. While listening to the words of Count Veyhard,
+Kmita had to restrain himself with all his power to keep from shouting
+at him, "Thou liest, thou cur!" and from falling on him with his sabre.
+But if he did not do so, it was unhappily because he felt and
+recognized truth in the words of the foreigner,--awful truth burning
+like fire, but genuine.
+
+"What could I say to him?" thought he; "with what could I offer denial
+except with my fist? What reasons could I bring? He snarled out the
+truth. Would to God he were slain! And that statesman of the emperor
+acknowledged to him that in all things and for all defence it was too
+late."
+
+Kmita suffered in great part perhaps because that "too late" was the
+sentence not only of the country, but of his own personal happiness.
+And he had had his fill of suffering; there was no strength left in
+him, for during all those weeks he had heard nothing save, "All is
+lost, there is no time left, it is too late." No ray of hope anywhere
+fell into his soul.
+
+Ever riding farther, he had hastened greatly, night and day, to escape
+from those prophecies, to find at last some place of rest, some man who
+would pour into his spirit even one drop of consolation. But he found
+every moment greater fall, every moment greater despair. At last the
+words of Count Veyhard filled that cup of bitterness and gall; they
+showed to him clearly this, which hitherto was an undefined feeling,
+that not so much the Swedes, the Northerners, and the Cossacks had
+killed the country, as the whole people.
+
+"The mad, the violent, the malicious, the venal, inhabit this land,"
+repeated Kmita after Count Veyhard, "and there are no others! They obey
+not the king, they break the diets, they pay not the taxes, they help
+the enemy to the conquest of this land. They must perish.
+
+"In God's name, if I could only give him the lie! Is there nothing good
+in us save cavalry; no virtue, nothing but evil itself?"
+
+Kmita sought an answer in his soul. He was so wearied from the road,
+from sorrows, and from everything that had passed before him, that it
+grew cloudy in his head. He felt that he was ill and a deathly sickness
+seized possession of him. In his brain an ever-growing chaos was
+working. Faces known and unknown pushed past him,--those whom he had
+known long before and those whom he had met on this journey. Those
+figures spoke, as if at a diet, they quoted sentences, prophecies; and
+all was concerning Olenka. She was awaiting deliverance from Kmita; but
+Count Veyhard held him by the arms, and looking into his eyes repeated:
+"Too late! what is Swedish is Swedish!" and Boguslav Radzivill sneered
+and supported Count Veyhard. Then all of them began to scream: "Too
+late, too late, too late!" and seizing Olenka they vanished with her
+somewhere in darkness.
+
+It seemed to Pan Andrei that Olenka and the country were the same, that
+he had ruined both and had given them to the Swedes of his own will.
+Then such measureless sorrow grasped hold of him that he woke, looked
+around in amazement and listening to the wind which in the chimney, in
+the walls, in the roof, whistled in various voices and played through
+each cranny, as if on an organ.
+
+But the visions returned, Olenka and the country were blended again in
+his thoughts in one person whom Count Veyhard was conducting away
+saying: "Too late, too late!"
+
+So Pan Andrei spent the night in a fever. In moments of consciousness
+he thought that it would come to him to be seriously ill, and at last
+he wanted to call Soroka to bleed him. But just then dawn began; Kmita
+sprang up and went out in front of the inn.
+
+The first dawn had barely begun to dissipate the darkness; the day
+promised to be mild; the clouds were breaking into long stripes and
+streaks on the west, but the east was pure; on the heavens, which were
+growing pale gradually, stars, unobscured by mist, were twinkling.
+Kmita roused his men, arrayed himself in holiday dress, for Sunday had
+come and they moved to the road.
+
+After a bad sleepless night, Kmita was wearied in body and spirit.
+Neither could that autumn morning, pale but refreshing, frosty and
+clear, scatter the sorrow crushing the heart of the knight. Hope in him
+had burned to the last spark, and was dying like a lamp in which the
+oil is exhausted. What would that day bring? Nothing!--the same grief,
+the same suffering, rather it will add to the weight on his soul; of a
+surety it will not decrease it.
+
+He rode forward in silence, fixing his eyes on some point which was
+then greatly gleaming upon the horizon. The horses were snorting; the
+men fell to singing with drowsy voices their matins.
+
+Meanwhile it became clearer each moment, the heavens from pale became
+green and golden and that point on the horizon began so to shine that
+Kmita's eyes were dazzled by its glitter. The men ceased their singing
+and all gazed in that direction, at last Soroka said,--
+
+"A miracle or what?--That is the west, and it is as if the sun were
+rising."
+
+In fact, that light, increased in the eyes: from a point it became a
+ball, from a ball a globe; from afar you would have said that some one
+had hung above the earth a giant star, which was scattering rays
+immeasurable.
+
+Kmita and his men looked with amazement on that bright, trembling,
+radiant vision, not knowing what was before their sight. Then a peasant
+came along from Krushyn in a wagon with a rack. Kmita turning to him
+saw that the peasant, holding his cap in his hand and looking at the
+light, was praying.
+
+"Man," asked Pan Andrei, "what is that which shines so?"
+
+"The church on Yasna Gora."
+
+"Glory to the Most Holy Lady!" cried Kmita. He took his cap from his
+head, and his men removed theirs.
+
+After so many days of suffering, of doubts, and of struggles, Pan
+Andrei felt suddenly that something wonderful was happening in him,
+Barely had the words, "the church on Yasna Gora," sounded in his ears
+when the confusion fell from him as if some hand had removed it.
+
+A certain inexplicable awe seized hold of Pan Andrei, full of
+reverence, but at the same time a joy unknown to experience, great and
+blissful. From that church shining on the height in the first rays of
+the sun, hope, such as for a long time Pan Andrei had not known, was
+beating,--a strength invincible on which he wished to lean. A now life,
+as it were, entered him and began to course through his veins with the
+blood. He breathed as deeply as a sick man coming to himself out of
+fever and unconsciousness.
+
+But the church glittered more and more brightly, as if it were taking
+to itself all the light of the sun. The whole region lay at its feet,
+and the church gazed at it from the height; you would have said, "'Tis
+the sentry and guardian of the land."
+
+For a long time Kmita could not take his eyes from that light; he
+satisfied and comforted himself with the sight of it. The faces of his
+men had grown serious, and were penetrated with awe. Then the sound of
+a bell was heard in the silent morning air.
+
+"From your horses!" cried Pan Andrei.
+
+All sprang from their saddles, and kneeling on the road began the
+litany. Kmita repeated it, and the soldiers responded together.
+
+Other wagons came up. Peasants seeing the praying men on the road
+joined them, and the crowd grew greater continually. When at length the
+prayers were finished Pan Andrei rose, and after him his men; but they
+advanced on foot, leading their horses and singing: "Hail, ye bright
+gates!"
+
+Kmita went on with alertness as if he had wings on his shoulders. At
+the turns of the road the church vanished, then came out again. When a
+height or a mist concealed it, it seemed to Kmita that light had been
+captured by darkness; but when it gleamed forth again all faces were
+radiant.
+
+So they went on for a long time. The cloister and the walls surrounding
+it came out more distinctly, became more imposing, more immense. At
+last they saw the town in the distance, and under the mountain whole
+lines of houses and cottages, which, compared with the size of the
+church, seemed as small as birds' nests.
+
+It was Sunday; therefore when the sun had risen well the road was
+swarming with wagons, and people on foot going to church. From the
+lofty towers the bells great and small began to peal, filling the air
+with noble sounds. There was in that sight and in those metal voices a
+strength, a majesty immeasurable, and at the same time a calm. That bit
+of land at the foot of Yasna Gora resembled in no wise the rest of the
+country.
+
+Throngs of people stood black around the walls of the church. Under the
+hill were hundreds of wagons, carriages, and equipages; the talk of men
+was blended with the neighing of horses tied to posts. Farther on, at
+the right, along the chief road leading to the mountain, were to be
+seen whole rows of stands, at which were sold metal offerings, wax
+candles, pictures, and scapulars. A river of people flowed everywhere
+freely.
+
+The gates were wide open; whoso wished entered, whoso wished went
+forth; on the walls, at the guns, were no soldiers. Evidently the very
+sacredness of the place guarded the church and the cloister, and
+perhaps men trusted in the letters of Karl Gustav in which he
+guaranteed safety.
+
+
+
+
+ CHAPTER XXXIX.
+
+
+From the gates of the fortress peasants and nobles, villagers from
+various neighborhoods, people of every age, of both sexes, of all
+ranks, pressed forward to the church on their knees, singing prayerful
+hymns. That river flowed slowly, and its course was stopped whenever
+the bodies of people crowded against one another too densely. At times
+the songs ceased and the crowds began to repeat a litany, and then the
+thunder of words was heard from one end of the place to the other.
+Between hymn and litany, between litany and hymn, the people were
+silent, struck the ground with their foreheads, or cast themselves down
+in the form of a cross. At these moments were heard only the imploring
+and shrill voices of beggars, who sitting at both banks of the human
+river exposed their deformed limbs to public gaze. Their howling was
+mingled with the clinking of coppers thrown into tin and wooden dishes.
+Then again the river of heads flowed onward, and again the hymns
+thundered.
+
+As the river flowed nearer to the church door, excitement grew greater,
+and was turned into ecstasy. You could see hands stretched toward
+heaven, eyes turned upward, faces pale from emotion or glowing with
+prayer. Differences of rank disappeared: the coat of the peasant
+touched the robe of the noble, the jacket of the soldier the yellow
+coat of the artisan.
+
+In the church door the crush was still greater. The bodies of men had
+become not a river, but a bridge, so firm that you might travel on
+their heads and their shoulders without touching the ground with a
+foot. Breath failed their breasts, space failed their bodies; but the
+spirit which inspired gave them iron endurance. Each man was praying;
+no one thought of aught else. Each one bore on himself the pressure and
+weight of the whole of that mass, but no man fell; and pressed by those
+thousands he felt in himself power against thousands, and with that
+power he pushed forward, lost in prayer, in ecstasy, in exaltation.
+
+Kmita, creeping forward in the first ranks with his men, reached the
+church with the earliest; then the current carried him too to the
+chapel of miracles, where the multitude fell on their faces, weeping,
+embracing the floor with their hands, and kissing it with emotion. So
+also did Pan Andrei; and when at last he had the boldness to raise his
+head, delight, happiness, and at the same time mortal awe, almost took
+from him consciousness.
+
+In the chapel there was a ruddy gloom not entirely dispersed by the
+rays of candles burning on the altar. Colored rays fell also through
+the window-panes; and all those gleams, red, violet, golden, fiery,
+quivered on the walls, slipped along the carvings and windings, made
+their way into dark depths bringing forth to sight indistinct forms
+buried as it were in a dream. Mysterious glimmers ran along and united
+with darkness, so undistinguishable that all difference between light
+and darkness was lost. The candles on the altar had golden halos; the
+smoke from the censers formed purple mist; the white robes of the monks
+serving Mass played with the darkened colors of the rainbow. All things
+there were half visible, half veiled, unearthly; the gleams were
+unearthly, the darkness unearthly, mysterious, majestic, blessed,
+filled with prayer, adoration, and holiness.
+
+From the main nave of the church came the deep sound of human voices,
+like the mighty sound of the sea; but in the chapel deep silence
+reigned, broken only by the voice of the priest chanting Mass.
+
+The image was still covered; expectation therefore held the breath in
+all breasts. There were only to be seen, looking in one direction,
+faces as motionless as if they had parted with earthly life, hands palm
+to palm and placed before mouths, like the hands of angels in pictures.
+
+The organ accompanied the singing of the priest, and gave out tones
+mild and sweet, flowing as it were from flutes beyond the earth. At
+moments they seemed to distil like water from its source; then again
+they fell softly but quickly like dense rain showers in May.
+
+All at once the thunder of trumpets and drums roared, and a quiver
+passed through all hearts. The covering before the picture was pushed
+apart from the centre to the sides, and a flood of diamond light
+flashed from above on the faithful.
+
+Groans, weeping, and cries were heard throughout the chapel.
+
+"_Salve, Regina!_" (Hail, O Queen!) cried the nobles, "_Monstra te esse
+matrem!_" (Show thyself a mother); but the peasants cried, "O Most Holy
+Lady! Golden Lady! Queen of the Angels! save us, assist us, console us,
+pity us!"
+
+Long did those cries sound, together with sobs of women and complaints
+of the hapless, with prayers for a miracle on the sick or the maimed.
+
+The soul lacked little of leaving Kmita; he felt only that he had
+before him infinity, which he could not grasp, could not comprehend,
+and before which all things were effaced. What were doubts in presence
+of that faith which all existence could not exhaust? what was
+misfortune in presence of that solace? what was the power of the Swedes
+in presence of that defence? what was the malice of men before the eyes
+of such protection?
+
+Here his thoughts became settled, and turned into faculties; he forgot
+himself, ceased to distinguish who he was, where he was. It seemed to
+him that he had died, that his soul was now flying with the voices of
+organs, mingled in the smoke of the censers; his hands, used to the
+sword and to bloodshed, were stretched upward, and he was kneeling in
+ecstasy, in rapture.
+
+The Mass ended. Pan Andrei knew not himself how he reached again the
+main nave of the church. The priest gave instruction from the pulpit;
+but Kmita for a long time heard not, understood not, like a man roused
+from sleep, who does not at once note where his sleeping ended and his
+waking moments began.
+
+The first words which he heard were: "In this place hearts change and
+souls are corrected, for neither can the Swedes overcome this power,
+nor those wandering in darkness overcome the true light!"
+
+"Amen!" said Kmita in his soul, and he began to strike his breast; for
+it seemed to him then that he had sinned deeply through thinking that
+all was lost, and that from no source was there hope.
+
+After the sermon Kmita stopped the first monk he met, and told him that
+he wished to see the prior on business of the church and the cloister.
+
+He got hearing at once from the prior, who was a man in ripe age,
+inclining then toward its evening. He had a face of unequalled calm. A
+thick black beard added to the dignity of his face; he had mild azure
+eyes with a penetrating look. In his white habit he seemed simply a
+saint Kmita kissed his sleeve; he pressed Kmita's head, and inquired
+who he was and whence he had come.
+
+"I have come from Jmud," answered Kmita, "to serve the Most Holy Lady,
+the suffering country, and my deserted king, against all of whom I have
+hitherto sinned, and in sacred confession I beg to make a minute
+explanation. I ask that to-day or to-morrow my confession be heard,
+since sorrow for my sins draws me to this. I will tell you also,
+revered father, my real name,--under the seal of confession, not
+otherwise, for men ill inclined to me prevent and bar me from reform.
+Before men I wish to be called Babinich, from one of my estates, taken
+now by the enemy. Meanwhile I bring important information to which do
+you, revered father, give ear with patience, for it is a question of
+this sacred retreat and this cloister."
+
+"I praise your intentions and the change of life which you have
+undertaken," said the prior, Father Kordetski; "as to confession, I
+will yield to your urgent wish and hear it now."
+
+"I have travelled long," added Kmita, "I have seen much and I have
+suffered not a little. Everywhere the enemy has grown strong, every
+where heretics are raising their heads, nay, even Catholics themselves
+are going over to the camp of the enemy; who, emboldened by this, as
+well as by the capture of two capitals, intend to raise now
+sacrilegious hands against Yasna Gora."
+
+"From whom have you this news?" asked the prior.
+
+"I spent last night at Krushyn, where I saw Count Veyhard Vjeshchovich
+and Baron Lisola, envoy of the Emperor of Germany, who was returning
+from the Brandenburg court, and is going to the King of Sweden."
+
+"The King of Sweden is no longer in Cracow," said the prior, looking
+searchingly into the eyes of Pan Andrei.
+
+But Pan Andrei did not drop his lids and talked on,--
+
+"I do not know whether he is there or not. I know that Lisola is going
+to him, and Count Veyhard was sent to relieve the escort and conduct
+him farther. Both talked before me in German, taking no thought of my
+presence; for they did not suppose that I understood their speech. I
+knowing German, was able to learn that Count Veyhard has proposed the
+occupation of this cloister and the taking of its treasure, for which
+he has received permission from the king."
+
+"And you have heard this with your own ears?"
+
+"Just as I am standing here."
+
+"The will of God be done!" said the priest, calmly.
+
+Kmita was alarmed. He thought that the priest called the command of the
+King of Sweden the will of God and was not thinking of resistance;
+therefore he said,--
+
+"I saw in Pultusk a church in Swedish hands, the soldiers were playing
+cards in the sanctuary of God, kegs of beer were on the altars, and
+shameless women were there with the soldiers."
+
+The prior looked steadily, directly in the eyes of the soldier. "A
+wonderful thing!" said he; "sincerity and truth are looking out of your
+eyes."
+
+Kmita flushed. "May I fall a corpse here if what I say is not true."
+
+"In every case these tidings over which we must deliberate are
+important."
+
+"You will permit me to ask the older fathers and some of the more
+important nobles who are now dwelling with us. You will permit,--"
+
+"I will repeat gladly the same thing before them."
+
+Father Kordetski went out, and in quarter of an hour returned with four
+older fathers. Soon after Pan Rujyts-Zamoyski, the sword-bearer of
+Syeradz, entered,--a dignified man; Pan Okyelnitski, banneret of
+Vyelunie; Pan Pyotr Charnyetski, a young cavalier with a fierce
+war-like face, like an oak in stature and strength; and other nobles of
+various ages. The prior presented to them Pan Babinich from Jmud, and
+repeated in the presence of all the tidings which he had brought. They
+wondered greatly and began to measure Pan Andrei with their eyes
+inquiringly and incredulously, and when no one raised his voice the
+prior said,--
+
+"May God preserve me from attributing to this cavalier evil intention
+or calumny; but the tidings which he brings seem to me so unlikely that
+I thought it proper for us to ask about them in company. With the
+sincerest intention this cavalier may be mistaken; he may have heard
+incorrectly, understood incorrectly, or have been led into error
+through heretics. To fill our hearts with fear, to cause panic in a
+holy place, to harm piety, is for them an immense delight, which surely
+no one of them in his wickedness would like to deny himself."
+
+"That seems to me very much like truth," said Father Nyeshkovski, the
+oldest in the assembly.
+
+"It would be needful to know in advance if this cavalier is not a
+heretic himself?" said Pyotr Charnyetski.
+
+"I am a Catholic, as you are!" answered Kmita.
+
+"It behooves us to consider first the circumstances," put in Zamoyski.
+
+"The circumstances are such," said the prior, Kordetski, "that surely
+God and His Most Holy Mother have sent blindness of purpose on these
+enemies, so that they might exceed the measure in their iniquities;
+otherwise they never would have dared to raise the sword against this
+sacred retreat. Not with their own power have they conquered this
+Commonwealth, whose own sons have helped them. But though our people
+have fallen low, though they are wading in sin, still in sin itself
+there is a certain limit which they would not dare to pass. They have
+deserted their king, they have fallen away from the Commonwealth; but
+they have not ceased to revere their Mother, their Patroness and Queen.
+The enemy jeer at us and ask with contempt what has remained to us of
+our ancient virtues. I answer they have all perished; still something
+remains, for faith in the Most Holy Lady and reverence for Her have
+remained to them, and on this foundation the rest may be built. I see
+clearly that, let one Swedish ball make a dint in these sacred walls,
+the most callous men will turn from the conqueror,--from being friends
+will become enemies of the Swedes and draw swords against them. But the
+Swedes have their eyes open to their own danger, and understand this
+well. Therefore, if God, as I have said, has not sent upon them
+blindness intentionally, they will never dare to strike Yasna Gora; for
+that day would be the day of their change of fortune and of our
+revival."
+
+Kmita heard the words of the prior with astonishment, words which were
+at the same time an answer to what had come from the mouth of Count
+Veyhard against the Polish people. But recovering from astonishment, he
+said,--
+
+"Why should we not believe, revered father, that God has in fact
+visited the enemy with blindness? Let us look at their pride, their
+greed of earthly goods, let us consider their unendurable oppression
+and the tribute which they levy even on the clergy, and we may
+understand with ease that they will not hesitate at sacrilege of any
+kind."
+
+The prior did not answer Kmita directly, but turning to the whole
+assembly, continued,--
+
+"This cavalier says that he saw Lisola, the envoy, going to the King of
+Sweden. How can that be since I have undoubted news from the Paulists
+in Cracow that the king is not in Cracow, nor in Little Poland, since
+he went to Warsaw immediately after the surrender of Cracow."
+
+"He cannot have gone to Warsaw," answered Kmita, "and the best proof is
+that he is waiting for the surrender and homage of the quarter
+soldiers, who are with Pototski."
+
+"General Douglas is to receive homage in the name of the king, so they
+write me from Cracow."
+
+Kmita was silent; he knew not what to answer.
+
+"But I will suppose," continued the prior, "that the King of Sweden
+does not wish to see the envoy of the emperor and has chosen purposely
+to avoid him. Carolus likes to act thus,--to come on a sudden, to go on
+a sudden; besides the mediation of the emperor displeases him. I
+believe then readily that he went away pretending not to know of the
+coming of the envoy. I am less astonished that Count Veyhard, a person
+of such note, was sent out to meet Lisola with an escort, for it may be
+they wished to show politeness and sugar over the disappointment for
+the envoy; but how are we to believe that Count Veyhard would inform
+Baron Lisola at once of his plans."
+
+"Unlikely!" said Father Nyeshkovski, "since the baron is a Catholic and
+friendly both to us and the Commonwealth."
+
+"In my head too that does not find place," added Zamoyski.
+
+"Count Veyhard is a Catholic himself and a well-wisher of ours," said
+another father.
+
+"Does this cavalier say that he has heard this with his own ears?"
+asked Charnyetski, abruptly.
+
+"Think, gentlemen, over this too," added the prior, "I have a safeguard
+from Carolus Gustavus that the cloister and the church are to be free
+forever from occupation and quartering."
+
+"It must be confessed," said Zamoyski, with seriousness, "that in these
+tidings no one thing holds to another. It would be a loss for the
+Swedes, not a gain, to strike Yasna Gora; the king is not present,
+therefore Lisola could not go to him; Count Veyhard would not make a
+confidant of him; farther. Count Veyhard is not a heretic, but a
+Catholic,--not an enemy of the cloister, but its benefactor; finally,
+though Satan tempted him to make the attack, he would not dare to make
+it against the order and safeguard of the king." Here he turned to
+Kmita,--
+
+"What then will you say, Cavalier, and why, with what purpose, do you
+wish to alarm the reverend fathers and us in this place?"
+
+Kmita was as a criminal before a court. On one hand, despair seized
+him, because if they would not believe, the cloister would become the
+prey of the enemy; on the other, shame burned him, for he saw that all
+appearances argued against his information, and that he might easily be
+accounted a calumniator. At thought of this, anger tore him, his
+innate impulsiveness was roused, his offended ambition was active; the
+old-time half-wild Kmita was awakened. But he struggled until he
+conquered himself, summoned all his endurance, and repeated in his
+soul: "For my sins, for my sins!" and said, with a changing face,--
+
+"What I have heard, I repeat once more: Count Veyhard is going to
+attack this cloister. The time I know not, but I think it will be
+soon,--I give warning and on you will fall the responsibility if you do
+not listen."
+
+"Calmly, Cavalier, calmly," answered Pyotr Charnyetski, with emphasis.
+"Do not raise your voice." Then he spoke to the assembly,--"Permit me,
+worthy fathers, to put a few questions to the newly arrived."
+
+"You have no right to offend me," cried Kmita.
+
+"I have not even the wish to do so," answered Pan Pyotr, coldly; "but
+it is a question here of the cloister and the Holy Lady and Her
+capital. Therefore you must set aside offence; or if you do not set it
+aside, do so at least for the time, for be assured that I will meet you
+anywhere. You bring news which we want to verify--that is proper and
+should not cause wonder; but if you do not wish to answer, we shall
+think that you are afraid of self-contradiction."
+
+"Well, put your questions!" said Babinich, through his teeth.
+
+"You say that you are from Jmud?"
+
+"True."
+
+"And you have come here so as not to serve the Swedes and Radzivill the
+traitor?"
+
+"True."
+
+"But there are persons there who do not serve him, and oppose him on
+the side of the country; there are squadrons which have refused him
+obedience; Sapyeha is there. Why did you not join them?"
+
+"That is my affair."
+
+"Ah, ha! your affair," said Charnyetski. "You may give me that answer
+to other questions."
+
+Pan Andrei's hands quivered, he fixed his eyes on the heavy brass bell
+standing before him on the table, and from that bell they were turned
+to the head of the questioner. A wild desire seized him to grasp that
+bell and bring it down on the skull of Charnyetski. The old Kmita was
+gaining the upper hand over the pious and penitent Babinich; but he
+broke himself once more and said,--
+
+"Inquire."
+
+"If you are from Jmud, then you must know what is happening at the
+court of the traitor. Name to me those who have aided in the ruin of
+the country, name to me those colonels who remain with him."
+
+Kmita grew pale as a handkerchief, but still mentioned some names.
+Charnyetski listened and said, "I have a friend, an attendant of the
+king, Pan Tyzenhauz, who told me of one, the most noted. Do you know
+nothing of this arch criminal?"
+
+"I do not know."
+
+"How is this? Have you not heard of him who spilled his brother's
+blood, like Cain? Have you not heard, being from Jmud, of Kmita?"
+
+"Revered fathers!" screamed Pan Andrei, on a sudden, shaking as in a
+fever, "let a clerical person question me, I will tell all. But by the
+living God do not let this noble torment me longer!"
+
+"Give him peace," said the prior, turning to Pan Pyotr. "It is not a
+question here of this cavalier."
+
+"Only one more question," said Zamoyski; and turning to Babinich, he
+asked,--"You did not expect that we would doubt your truth?"
+
+"As God is in heaven I did not!"
+
+"What reward did you expect?"
+
+Pan Andrei, instead of giving an answer, plunged both hands into a
+small leather sack which hung at his waist from a belt, and taking out
+two handfuls of pearls, emeralds, turquoises, and other precious
+stones, scattered them on the table. "There!" said he, with a broken
+voice, "I have not come here for money! Not for your rewards! These are
+pearls and other small stones; all taken from the caps of boyars. You
+see what I am. Do I want a reward? I wish to offer these to the Most
+Holy Lady; but only after confession, with a clean heart. Here they
+are--That's the reward which I ask. I have more, God grant you--"
+
+All were silent in astonishment, and the sight of jewels thrown out as
+easily as grits from a sack made no small impression; for involuntarily
+every one asked himself what reason could that man have, if he had no
+thought of rewards?
+
+Pan Pyotr was confused; for such is the nature of man that the sight of
+another's power and wealth dazzles him. Finally his suspicions fell
+away, for how could it be supposed that that great lord, scattering
+jewels, wanted to frighten monks for profit.
+
+Those present looked at one another and Kmita stood over his jewels
+with head upraised like the head of a roused eagle, with fire in his
+eyes and a flush on his face. The fresh wound passing through his cheek
+and his temple was blue; and terrible was Pan Babinich threatening with
+his predatory glance Charnyetski, on whom his anger was specially
+turned.
+
+"Through your anger truth itself bursts forth," said Kordetski; "but
+put away those jewels, for the Most Holy Lady cannot receive that which
+is offered in anger, even though the anger be just; besides, as I have
+said, it is not a question here of you, but of the news which has
+filled us with terror and fear. God knows whether there is not some
+misunderstanding or mistake in it, for, as you see yourself, what you
+say does not fit with reality. How are we to drive out the faithful,
+diminish the honor of the Most Holy Lady, and keep the gates shut night
+and day?"
+
+"Keep the gates shut, for God's mercy, keep the gates shut!" cried Pan
+Andrei, wringing his hands till his fingers cracked in their joints.
+
+There was so much truth and unfeigned despair in his voice that those
+present trembled in spite of themselves, as if danger was really there
+at hand, and Zamoyski said,--
+
+"As it is, we give careful attention to the environs, and repairs are
+going on in the walls. In the day-time we can admit people for worship;
+but it is well to observe caution even for this reason, that the king
+has gone, and Wittemberg rules in Cracow with iron hand, and oppresses
+the clergy no less than the laity."
+
+"Though I do not believe in an attack, I have nothing to say against
+caution," answered Charnyetski.
+
+"And I," said the prior, "will send monks to Count Veyhard to enquire
+if the safeguard of the king has validity."
+
+Kmita breathed freely and cried,--
+
+"Praise be to God, praise be to God!"
+
+"Cavalier," said the prior, "God reward you for the good intention. If
+you have warned us with reason, you will have a memorable merit before
+the Holy Lady and the country; but wonder not if we have received your
+information with incredulity; more than once have we been alarmed. Some
+frightened us out of hatred to our faith, to destroy the honor shown
+the Most Holy Lady; others, out of greed, so as to gain something;
+still others, so as to bring news and gain consideration in the eyes of
+people; and maybe there were even those who were deceived. Satan hates
+this place most stubbornly, and uses every endeavor to hinder piety
+here and to permit the faithful to take as little part in it as
+possible, for nothing brings the court of hell to such despair as
+reverence for Her who crushed the head of the serpent. But now it is
+time for vespers. Let us implore Her love, let us confide ourselves to
+her guardianship, and let each man go to sleep quietly; for where
+should there be peace and safety, if not under Her wings?"
+
+All separated. When vespers were finished Father Kordetski himself
+heard the confession of Pan Andrei, and listened to him long in the
+empty church; after that, Pan Andrei lay in the form of a cross before
+the closed doors of the chapel till midnight. At midnight he returned
+to his room, roused Soroka, and commanded the old man to flog him
+before he went to sleep, so that his shoulders and back were covered
+with blood.
+
+
+
+
+ CHAPTER XL.
+
+
+Next morning, a wonderful and unusual movement reigned in the cloister.
+The gate was open, and entrance was not refused to the pious. Services
+were celebrated in the usual course; but after services all strangers
+were directed to leave the circuit of the cloister. Kordetski himself,
+in company with Zamoyski and Pan Pyotr, examined carefully the
+embrasures, and the escarpments supporting the walls from the inside
+and outside. Directions were given for repairing places here and there;
+blacksmiths in the town received orders to make hooks and spears,
+scythes fixed on long handles, clubs and heavy sticks of wood filled
+with strong spikes. And since it was known that they had already a
+considerable supply of such implements in the cloister, people in the
+town began at once to say that the cloister expected a sudden attack.
+New orders in quick succession seemed to confirm these reports. Toward
+night two hundred men were working at the side of the walls. Twelve
+heavy guns sent at the time of the siege of Cracow by Pan Varshytski,
+castellan of Cracow, were placed on new carriages and properly planted.
+
+From the cloister storehouses monks and attendants brought out balls,
+which were placed in piles near the guns; carts with powder were rolled
+out; bundles of muskets were untied, and distributed to the garrison.
+On the towers and bastions watchmen were posted to look carefully,
+night and day, on the region about; men were sent also to make
+investigation through the neighborhood,--to Pjystaini, Klobuchek,
+Kjepitsi, Krushyn, and Mstov.
+
+To the cloister storehouses, which were already well filled, came
+supplies from the town, from Chenstohovka and other villages belonging
+to the cloister.
+
+The report went like thunder through the whole neighborhood.
+Townspeople and peasants began to assemble and take counsel. Many were
+unwilling to believe that any enemy would dare to attack Yasna Gora.
+
+It was said that only Chenstohova itself was to be occupied; but even
+that excited the minds of men, especially when some of them remembered
+that the Swedes were heretics, whom nothing restrained, and who were
+ready to offer a purposed affront to the Most Holy Lady.
+
+Therefore men hesitated, doubted, and believed in turn. Some
+wrung their hands, waiting for terrible signs on earth and in
+heaven,--visible signs of God's anger; others were sunk in helpless and
+dumb despair; an anger more than human seized a third party, whose
+heads were filled as it were with flame. And when once the fancy of men
+had spread its wings for flight, straightway there was a whirl of news,
+ever changing, ever more feverish, ever more monstrous.
+
+And as when a man thrusts a stick or throws fire into an ant-hill,
+unquiet swarms rush forth at once, assemble, separate, reassemble; so
+was the town, so were the neighboring hamlets, in an uproar.
+
+In the afternoon crowds of townspeople and peasants, with women and
+children, surrounded the walls of the cloister, and held them as it
+were in siege, weeping and groaning. At sunset Kordetski went out to
+them, and pushing himself into the throng, asked,--
+
+"People, what do you want?"
+
+"We want to go as a garrison to the cloister to defend the Mother of
+God," cried men, shaking their flails, forks, and other rustic weapons.
+
+"We wish to look for the last time on the Most Holy Lady," groaned
+women.
+
+The prior went on a high rock and said,--
+
+"The gates of hell will not prevail against the might of heaven. Calm
+yourselves, and receive consolation into your hearts. The foot of a
+heretic will not enter these holy walls. Neither Lutherans nor
+Calvinists will celebrate their superstitious incantations in this
+retreat of worship and faith. I know not in truth whether the insolent
+enemy will come hither; but I know this, that if he does come, he will
+be forced to retreat in shame and disgrace, for a superior power will
+crush him, his malice will be broken, his power rubbed out, and his
+fortune will fail. Take consolation to your hearts. You are not looking
+for the last time on our Patroness: you will see her in still greater
+glory, and you will see new miracles. Take consolation, dry your tears,
+and strengthen yourselves in faith; for I tell you--and it is not I who
+speak, but the Spirit of God speaks through me--that the Swede will not
+enter these walls; grace will flow hence, and darkness will not put out
+the light, just as the night which is now coming will not hinder God's
+sun from rising to-morrow."
+
+It was just sunset. Dark shade had covered already the region about;
+but the church was gleaming red in the last rays of the sun. Seeing
+this, the people knelt around the walls, and consolation flowed into
+their hearts at once. Meanwhile the Angelus was sounded on the towers,
+and Kordetski began to sing, "The Angel of the Lord;" and after him
+whole crowds sang. The nobles and the soldiers standing on the walls
+joined their voices, the bells greater and smaller pealed in
+accompaniment, and it seemed that the whole mountain was singing and
+sounding like a gigantic organ to the four points of the earth.
+
+They sang till late; the prior blessed the departing on their way, and
+said,--
+
+"Those men who have served in war, who know how to wield weapons and
+who feel courage in their hearts, may come in the morning to the
+cloister."
+
+"I have served, I was in the infantry, I will come!" cried numerous
+voices.
+
+And the throngs separated slowly. The night fell calmly. All woke next
+morning with a joyous cry: "The Swede is not here!" Still, all day
+workmen were bringing supplies which had been called for. An order went
+out also to those who had shops at the eastern walls of the cloister to
+bring their goods to the cloister; and in the cloister itself work did
+not cease on the walls. Secured especially were the so-called
+"passages;" that is, small openings in the walls, which were not gates,
+but which might serve in making sallies. Pan Zamoyski gave orders to
+bring beams, bricks, and dung, so at a given moment they could be
+easily closed from within.
+
+All day, too, wagons were coming in with supplies and provisions; there
+came also some noble families who were alarmed by the news of the
+impending attack of the enemy. About midday the men who had been sent
+out the preceding day to gather tidings came back; but no one had seen
+the Swedes nor even heard of them, except those who were stationed near
+Kjepitsi.
+
+Still, preparations were not abandoned in the cloister. By order of the
+prior, those of the townspeople and peasantry came who had formerly
+served in the infantry and who were accustomed to service. They were
+assigned to the command of Pan Mosinski, who was defending the
+northeastern bastion. Pan Zamoyski was occupied during the day either
+in disposing the men in their places, instructing each one what to do,
+or holding counsel with the fathers in the refectory.
+
+Kmita with joy in his heart looked at the military preparations, at the
+soldiers as they were mustered, at the cannon, at the stacks of
+muskets, spears, and hooks. That was his special element. In the midst
+of those terrible implements, in the midst of the urgent preparations
+and military feverishness, it was light, pleasant, and joyous for him.
+It was the easier and more joyous because he had made a general
+confession of his whole life, and beyond his own expectations had
+received absolution, for the prior took into account his intention, his
+sincere desire to reform, and this too, that he had already entered on
+the road.
+
+So Pan Andrei had freed himself from the burdens under which he was
+almost falling. Heavy penances had been imposed on him, and every day
+his back was bleeding under Soroka's braided lash; he was enjoined to
+practice obedience, and that was a penance still more difficult, for he
+had not obedience in his heart; on the contrary, he had pride and
+boastfulness. Finally, he was commanded to strengthen his reformation
+by virtuous deeds; but that was the easiest, he desired and asked for
+nothing more; his whole soul was tearing forth toward exploits, for by
+exploits he understood war and killing the Swedes from morning till
+evening without rest and without mercy. And just then, what a noble
+road was opening to him! To kill Swedes, not only in defence of the
+country, not only in defence of the king to whom he had sworn loyalty,
+but in defence of the Queen of the Angels,--that was a happiness beyond
+his merit.
+
+Whither had those times gone when he was standing as it were on the
+parting of the roads, asking himself whither he should go? where are
+those times in which he knew not what to begin, in which he was always
+meeting doubt, and in which he had begun to lose hope? And those men,
+those white monks, and that handful of peasants and nobles were
+preparing for serious defence, for a life-and-death struggle. That was
+the one spot of such character in the Commonwealth, and Pan Andrei had
+come just to that spot, as if led by some fortunate star. And he
+believed sacredly in victory, though the whole power of Sweden were to
+encircle those walls; hence in his heart he had prayer, joy, and
+gratitude.
+
+In this frame of mind he walked along the walls, and with a bright face
+examined, inspected, and saw that good was taking place. With the eye
+of experience, he saw at once from the preparations that they were made
+by men of experience, who would be able to show themselves when it came
+to the test. He wondered at the calmness of the prior, for whom he had
+conceived a deep reverence; he was astonished at the prudence of
+Zamoyski, and even of Pan Charnyetski; though he was displeased at him,
+he did not show a wry face. But that knight looked on Pan Andrei
+harshly, and meeting him on the wall the day after the return of the
+messengers, he said,--
+
+"No Swedes are to be seen; and if they do not come, the dogs will eat
+your reputation."
+
+"If any harm should result from their coming to this holy place, then
+let the dogs eat my reputation."
+
+"You would rather not smell their powder. We know knights who have
+boots lined with hare's skin."
+
+Kmita dropped his eyes like a young girl. "You might rather let
+disputes rest," said he. "In what have I offended you? I have forgotten
+your offences against me, do you forget mine against you."
+
+"You called me a whipper-snapper," said Charnyetski, sharply. "I should
+like to know who you are. In what are the Babiniches better than the
+Charnyetskis? Are they a senatorial family too?"
+
+"My worthy sir," said Kmita, with a pleasant face, "if it were not for
+the obedience which was imposed on me in confession, if it were not for
+those blows which are given me every day on my back for my follies of
+past time, I would speak to you differently; but I am afraid of
+relapsing into previous offences. As to whether the Babiniches or the
+Charnyetskis are better, that will appear when the Swedes come."
+
+"And what kind of office do you think of getting? Do you suppose that
+they will make you one of the commanders?"
+
+Kmita grew serious. "You accused me of seeking profit; now you speak of
+office. Know that I have not come here for honor. I might have received
+higher honor elsewhere. I will remain a simple soldier, even under your
+command."
+
+"Why, for what reason?"
+
+"Because you do me injustice, and are ready to torment me."
+
+"H'm! There is no reason for that. It is very beautiful of you to be
+willing to remain a simple soldier when it is clear that you have
+wonderful daring, and obedience does not come easy. Would you like to
+fight?"
+
+"That will appear with the Swedes, as I have said."
+
+"But if the Swedes do not come?"
+
+"Then do you know what? we will go to look for them," said Kmita.
+
+"That pleases me!" cried Charnyetski. "We could assemble a nice party.
+Silesia is not far from this place, and at once soldiers could be
+collected. Officers, like my uncle, have promised, but nothing has been
+said about soldiers; a great number of them might be had at the first
+call."
+
+"And this would give a saving example to others!" cried Kmita, with
+warmth. "I have a handful of men too,--you ought to see them at work."
+
+"Good, good!" said Charnyetski, "as God is dear to me! let me have your
+face!"
+
+"And give yours," said Kmita.
+
+And without long thinking they rushed into each other's arms. Just then
+the prior was passing, and seeing what had happened he began to bless
+both. They told at once of what they had been talking. The prior merely
+smiled quietly, and went on saying to himself,--
+
+"Health is returning to the sick."
+
+Toward evening preparations were finished, and the fortress was
+entirely ready for defence. Nothing was wanting,--neither supplies, nor
+powder, nor guns; only walls sufficiently strong and a more numerous
+garrison.
+
+Chenstohova, or rather Yasna Gora, though strengthened by nature and
+art, was counted among the smallest and weakest fortresses of the
+Commonwealth. But as to the garrison, as many people might have been
+had for the summoning as any one wished; but the prior purposely did
+not overburden the walls with men, so that supplies might hold out for
+a long time. Still there were those, especially among the German
+gunners, who were convinced that Chenstohova could not defend itself.
+
+Fools! they thought that it had no defence but its walls and its
+weapons; they knew not what hearts filled with faith are. The prior
+then fearing lest they might spread doubt among the people, dismissed
+them, save one who was esteemed a master in his art.
+
+That same day old Kyemlich and his sons came to Kmita with a request to
+be freed from service. Anger carried away Pan Andrei. "Dogs!" cried he,
+"you are ready to resign such a service and will not defend the Most
+Holy Lady.--Well, let it be so! You have had pay for your horses, you
+will receive the rest for your services soon."
+
+Here he took a purse from a casket, and threw it on the floor to them.
+"Here are your wages! You choose to seek plunder on that side of the
+walls,--to be robbers instead of defenders of Mary! Out of my sight!
+you are not worthy to be here! you are not worthy of Christian society!
+you are not worthy to die such a death as awaits you in this place!
+Out, out!"
+
+"We are not worthy," answered the old man, spreading his hands and
+bending his head, "we are not worthy to have our dull eyes look on the
+splendors of Yasna Gora, Fortress of heaven! Morning Star! Refuge of
+sinners! We are not worthy, not worthy." Here he bent so low that he
+bent double, and at the same time with his thin greedy hands, grown
+lean, seized the purse lying on the floor. "But outside the walls,"
+said he, "we shall not cease to serve your grace. In sudden need, we
+will let you know everything; we will go where 'tis needful; we will do
+what is needful. Your grace will have ready servants outside the
+walls."
+
+"Be off!" repeated Pan Andrei.
+
+They went out bowing; for fear was choking them, and they were happy
+that the affair had ended thus. Toward evening they were no longer in
+the fortress.
+
+A dark and rainy night followed. It was November 8; an early winter was
+approaching, and together with waves of rain the first flakes of wet
+snow were flying to the ground. Silence was broken only by the
+prolonged voices of guards calling from bastion to bastion, "Hold
+watch!" and in the darkness slipped past here and there the white habit
+of the prior, Kordetski. Kmita slept not; he was on the walls with
+Charnyetski, with whom he spoke of his past campaigns. Kmita narrated
+the course of the war with Hovanski, evidently not mentioning the part
+which he had taken in it himself; and Charnyetski talked of the
+skirmishes with the Swedes at Pjedbor, at Jarnovtsi, and in the
+environs of Cracow, of which he boasted somewhat and said,--
+
+"What was possible was done. You see, for every Swede whom I stretched
+out I made a knot on my sword-sash. I have six knots, and God grant me
+more! For this reason I wear the sword higher toward my shoulder. Soon
+the sash will be useless; but I'll not take out the knots, in every
+knot I will have a turquoise set; after the war I will hang up the sash
+as a votive offering. And have you one Swede on your conscience?"
+
+"No!" answered Kmita, with shame. "Not far from Sohachev I scattered a
+band, but they were robbers."
+
+"But you might make a great score of Northerners?"
+
+"I might do that."
+
+"With the Swedes it is harder, for rarely is there one of them who is
+not a wizard. They learned from the Finns how to use the black ones,
+and each Swede has two or three devils in his service, and there are
+some who have seven. These guard them terribly in time of battle; but
+if they come hither, the devils will help them in no way, for the power
+of devils can do nothing in a circle where the tower on Yasna Gora is
+visible. Have you heard of this?"
+
+Kmita made no answer; he turned his head to listen attentively.
+
+"They are coming!" said he, suddenly.
+
+"Who, in God's name? What do you say?"
+
+"I hear cavalry."
+
+"That is only wind and the beating of rain."
+
+"By the wounds of Christ! that is not the wind, but horses! I have a
+wonderfully sharp ear. A multitude of cavalry are marching, and are
+near already; but the wind drowns the noise. The time has come! The
+time has come!"
+
+The voice of Kmita roused the stiffened guards, dozing near at hand;
+but it had not yet ceased when below in the darkness was heard the
+piercing blare of trumpets, and they began to sound, prolonged,
+complaining, terrible. All sprang up from slumber in amazement, in
+fright, and asked one another,--
+
+"Are not those the trumpets sounding to judgment in this gloomy night?"
+
+Then the monks, the soldiers, the nobles, began to come out on the
+square.
+
+The bell-ringers rushed to the bells; and soon they were all heard, the
+great, the smaller, and the small bells, as if for a fire, mingling
+their groans with the sounds of the trumpets, which had not ceased to
+play.
+
+Lighted matches were thrown into pitch-barrels, prepared of purpose and
+tied with chains; then they were drawn upward with cranks. Red light
+streamed over the base of the cliff, and then the people on Yasna Gora
+saw before them a party of mounted trumpeters,--those standing nearest
+with trumpets at their mouths, behind them long and deep ranks of
+mounted men with unfurled flags.
+
+The trumpeters played some time yet, as if they wished with those
+brazen sounds to express the whole power of the Swedes, and to terrify
+the monks altogether. At last they were silent; one of them separated
+from the rank, and waving a white kerchief, approached the gate.
+
+"In the name of his Royal Grace," cried the trumpeter, "the Most Serene
+King of the Swedes, Goths, and Vandals, Grand Prince of Finland,
+Esthonia, Karelia, Stettin, Pomerania, and the Kashubes, Prince of
+Rugen, Lord of Ingria, Wismark, and Bavaria, Count of the Rhenish
+Palatinate, open the gates."
+
+"Admit him," said Kordetski.
+
+They opened, but only a door in the gate.
+
+The horseman hesitated for a time; at last he came down from his horse,
+entered within the circle of the walls, and seeing a crowd of white
+habits, he asked,--
+
+"Who among you is the superior?"
+
+"I am," answered Kordetski.
+
+The horseman gave him a letter with seals, and said: "Count Veyhard
+will wait for an answer at Saint Barbara's."
+
+The prior summoned at once the monks and nobles to the council-chamber
+to deliberate.
+
+On the way, Pan Charnyetski said to Kmita: "Come you also."
+
+"I will go, but only through curiosity," answered Pan Andrei; "for I
+have no work there. Henceforward I will not serve the Most Holy Lady
+with my mouth."
+
+When they had entered the council-chamber, the prior broke the seal and
+read as follows:--
+
+
+"It is not a secret to you, worthy fathers, with what favorable mind
+and with what heart I have always looked on this holy place and your
+Congregation; also, how constantly I have surrounded you with my care
+and heaped benefits on you. Therefore I desire that you remain in the
+conviction that neither my inclination nor good wishes toward you have
+ceased in the present juncture. Not as an enemy, but as a friend, do I
+come this day. Put your cloister under my protection without fear, as
+the time and present circumstances demand. In this way you will find
+the calm which you desire, as well as safety. I promise you solemnly
+that the sacredness of the place will be inviolate; your property will
+not be destroyed. I will bear all expenses myself, and in fact add to
+your means. Consider also carefully how much you will profit if,
+satisfying me, you confide to me your cloister. Remember my advice,
+lest a greater misfortune reach you from the terrible General Miller,
+whose orders will be the more severe because he is a heretic and an
+enemy of the true faith. When he comes, you must yield to necessity and
+carry out his commands; and you will raise useless complaints with pain
+in your souls and your bodies, because you disregarded my mild
+counsel."
+
+
+The memory of recent benefactions of Count Veybard touched the monks
+greatly. There were some who had confidence in his good-will, and
+wished to see in his counsel the avoidance of future defeats and
+misfortunes. But no one raised a voice, waiting for what Kordetski
+would say. He was silent for a while, but his lips were moving in
+prayer; then he said,--
+
+"Would a true friend draw near in the night-time and terrify with such
+a dreadful voice of trumpets and crooked horns the sleeping servants of
+God? Would he come at the head of those armed thousands who are now
+standing under these walls? Why did he not come with four or nine
+others, if he hoped for the reception given a welcome benefactor? What
+do those stern legions mean, if not a threat in case we refuse to yield
+up this cloister? Listen; remember, too, dearest brothers, that this
+enemy has never kept word nor oath nor safeguard. We too have that of
+the King of Sweden sent us spontaneously, in which is an express
+promise that the cloister shall remain free of occupation. And why are
+they standing now under its walls, trumpeting their own lie with
+fearful brazen sound? My dear brothers, let each man raise his heart to
+heaven, so that the Holy Ghost may enlighten it, and then let us
+consider what conscience dictates to each one touching the good of this
+holy retreat."
+
+Silence followed. Then Kmita's voice rose: "I heard in Krushyn Lisola
+ask him, 'Will you shake up their treasury for the monks?' to which the
+count, who now stands under these walls, answered, 'The Mother of God
+will not ask for the thalers in the priors' chests.' To-day this same
+Count Veyhard writes to you, reverend fathers, that he will bear all
+expenses himself, and besides add to your means. Consider his
+sincerity!"
+
+To this Father Myelko, one of the oldest in the assembly, and besides a
+former soldier, answered: "We live in poverty, and burn these torches
+before the altar of the Most Holy Lady in Her praise. But though we
+were to take them from the altar so as to purchase immunity for this
+holy place, where is our guarantee that the Swedes will respect the
+immunity, that they with sacrilegious hands will not remove offerings,
+sacred vestments, church furniture? Is it possible to trust liars?"
+
+"Without the Provincial to whom we owe obedience, we can do nothing,"
+said Father Dobrosh.
+
+"War is not our affair," added Father Tomitski; "let us listen to what
+these knights will say who have taken refuge under the wings of the
+Mother of God in this cloister."
+
+All eyes were now turned to Pan Zamoyski, the oldest in years, the
+highest in dignity and office. He rose and spoke in the following
+words:--
+
+"It is a question here of your fate, reverend fathers. Compare then the
+strength of the enemy with the resistance which you can place against
+him according to your force and will. What counsel can we, guests here,
+impart to you? But, reverend fathers, since you ask us what is to be
+done, I will answer: Until the inevitable forces us, let the thought of
+surrender be far away; for it is a shameful and an unworthy act to
+purchase with vile submission an uncertain peace from a faithless
+enemy. We have taken refuge here of our own will, with our wives and
+children; surrendering ourselves to the guardianship of the Most Holy
+Lady, we have determined with unswerving faith to live with you, and,
+if God shall so desire, to die with you. It is indeed better for us
+thus than to accept a shameful captivity or behold an affront to a holy
+place; of a certainty, that Mother of the Most High God who has
+inspired our breasts with a desire of defending Her against godless and
+sacrilegious heretics will second the pious endeavors of Her servants
+and support the cause of Her own defence."
+
+At this point Pan Zamoyski ceased speaking; all paid attention to his
+words, strengthening themselves with the meaning of them; and Kmita,
+without forethought, as was his wont, sprang forward and pressed the
+hand of the old man to his lips. The spectators were edified by this
+sight, and each one saw a good presage in that youthful ardor, and a
+desire to defend the cloister increased and seized all hearts.
+
+Meanwhile a new presage was given: outside the window of the refectory
+was heard unexpectedly the trembling and aged voice of Constantsia, the
+old beggar woman of the church, singing a pious hymn:--
+
+
+ "In vain dost thou threaten me, O savage Hussite,
+ In vain dost thou summon devils' horns to thy aid,
+ In vain dost thou burn, sparing no blood,
+ For thou'lt not subdue me;
+ Though thousands of pagans were now rushing hither,
+ Though armies were flying against me on dragons,
+ Neither sword, flame, nor men will avail thee,
+ For I shall be victor!"
+
+
+"Here," said Kordetski, "is the presage which God sends through the
+lips of that old beggar woman. Let us defend ourselves, brothers; for
+in truth besieged people have never yet had such aids as will come to
+us."
+
+"We will give our lives willingly," said Charnyetski.
+
+"We will not trust faith-breakers! We will not trust heretics, nor
+those among Catholics who have accepted the service of the evil
+spirit!" shouted others, who did not wish to let those speak who
+opposed.
+
+It was decided to send two priests to Count Veyhard with information
+that the gates would remain closed and the besieged would defend
+themselves, to which action the safeguard of the king gave them a
+right.
+
+But in their own way the envoys were to beg the Count humbly to desist
+from his design, or at least to defer it for a time until the monks
+could ask permission of Father Teofil Bronyevski, Provincial of the
+order, who was then in Silesia.
+
+The envoys, Fathers Benedykt Yarachevski and Martseli Tomitski, passed
+out through the gate; the others awaited, in the refectory, their
+return with throbbing hearts, for terror had seized those monks, unused
+to war, when the hour had struck and the moment had come in which they
+were forced to choose between duty and the anger and vengeance of the
+enemy.
+
+But half an hour had barely elapsed when the two fathers appeared
+before the council. Their heads were hanging over their breasts, on
+their faces were pallor and grief. In silence they gave Kordetski a
+letter from Count Veyhard, which he took from their hands and read
+aloud. There were eight points of capitulation under which the count
+summoned the monks to surrender the cloister.
+
+When he had finished reading, the prior looked long in the faces of
+those assembled; at last he said with a solemn voice,--
+
+"In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost! in the name of the
+Most Pure and Most Holy Mother of God! to the walls, beloved brethren!"
+
+"To the walls, to the walls!" was the answer of all.
+
+A little later a bright flame lighted the base of the cloister. Count
+Veyhard had given orders to burn the buildings connected with the
+church of Saint Barbara. The fire seizing the old houses grew with each
+moment. Soon pillars of red smoke reared themselves toward the sky; in
+the midst of these, fiery sparkling tongues were gleaming. Finally one
+conflagration was spreading in clouds.
+
+By the gleam of the fire, divisions of mounted soldiers could be seen
+passing quickly from place to place. The usual license of soldiers had
+begun. The horsemen drove out from the stables cattle, which running
+with fright, filled the air with plaintive bellowing; sheep, gathered
+in groups, pushed at random toward the fire. Many of the defenders saw
+for the first time the bloody face of war, and their hearts grew
+benumbed with terror at sight of people driven by soldiers and slashed
+with sabres, at sight of women dragged by the hair through the
+market-place. And by the bloody gleams of the fire all this was as
+visible as on the palm of the hand. Shouts, and even words, reached the
+ears of the besieged perfectly.
+
+Since the cannon of the cloister had not answered yet, horsemen sprang
+from their horses and approached the foot of the mountain itself,
+shaking their swords and muskets. Every moment some sturdy fellow,
+dressed in a yellow cavalry jacket, putting his hands around his mouth,
+jeered and threatened the besieged, who listened patiently, standing at
+their guns with lighted matches.
+
+Kmita was at the side of Charnyetski, just in front of the church, and
+saw everything clearly. On his cheeks a deep flush came out, his eyes
+were like two torches, and in his hand he held an excellent bow, which
+he had received as an inheritance from his father, who had captured it
+from a celebrated Agá at Hotsin. He heard the threats and invectives,
+and finally when a gigantic horseman had come under the cliff and was
+making an uproar he turned to Charnyetski,--
+
+"As God is true, he is blaspheming against the Most Holy Lady. I
+understand German; he blasphemes dreadfully! I cannot endure it!" And
+he lowered the bow; but Charnyetski touched him with his hand,--
+
+"God will punish him for his blasphemy," said he; "but Kordetski has
+not permitted us to shoot first, let them begin."
+
+He had barely spoken when the horseman raised his musket to his face; a
+shot thundered, and the ball, without reaching the walls, was lost
+somewhere among the crannies of the place.
+
+"We are free now!" cried Kmita.
+
+"Yes," answered Charnyetski.
+
+Kmita, as a true man of war, became calm in a moment. The horseman,
+shading his eyes with his hands, looked after the ball; Kmita drew the
+bow, ran his finger along the string till it twittered like a swallow,
+then he bent carefully and cried,--
+
+"A corpse, a corpse!"
+
+At the same moment was hoard the whirring whistle of the terrible
+arrow; the horseman dropped his musket, raised both hands on high,
+threw up his head, and fell on his back. He struggled for a while like
+a fish snatched from water, and dug the earth with his feet; but soon
+he stretched himself and remained without motion.
+
+"That is one!" said Kmita.
+
+"Tie it in your sword-sash," answered Charnyetski.
+
+"A bell-rope would not be long enough, if God will permit!" cried Pan
+Andrei.
+
+A second horseman rushed to the dead man, wishing to see what had
+happened to him, or perhaps to take his purse, but the arrow whistled
+again, and the second fell on the breast of the first. Meanwhile the
+field-pieces which Count Veyhard had brought with him opened fire. He
+could not storm the fortress with them, neither could he think of
+capturing it, having only cavalry, but he gave command to open fire to
+terrify the priests. Still a beginning was made.
+
+Kordetski appeared at the side of Charnyetski, and with him came Father
+Dobrosh, who managed the cloister artillery in time of peace, and on
+holidays fired salutes; therefore he passed as an excellent gunner
+among the monks.
+
+The prior blessed the cannon and pointed them out to the priest, who
+rolled up his sleeves and began to aim at a point in a half circle
+between two buildings where a number of horsemen were raging, and among
+them an officer with a rapier in his hand. The priest aimed long, for
+his reputation was at stake. At last he took the match and touched the
+priming.
+
+Thunder shook the air and smoke covered the view; but after a while the
+wind bore it aside. In the space between the buildings there was not a
+single horseman left. A number were lying with their horses on the
+ground; the others had fled.
+
+The monks on the walls began to sing. The crash of buildings falling
+around Saint Barbara's church accompanied the songs. It grew darker,
+but vast swarms of sparks sent upward by the fall of timbers pierced
+the air.
+
+Trumpets were sounded again in the ranks of Count Veyhard's horsemen;
+but the sound from them receded. The fire was burning to the end.
+Darkness enveloped the foot of Yasna Gora. Here and there was heard the
+neighing of horses; but ever farther, ever weaker, the Count was
+withdrawing to Kjepitsi.
+
+Kordetski knelt on the walls.
+
+"Mary! Mother of the one God," said he, with a powerful voice, "bring
+it to pass that he whose attack comes after this man will retreat in
+like manner,--with shame and vain anger in his soul."
+
+While he prayed thus the clouds broke suddenly above his head, and the
+bright light of the moon whitened the towers, the walls, the kneeling
+prior and the burned ruins of buildings at Saint Barbara.
+
+
+
+
+ CHAPTER XLI.
+
+
+The following day peace reigned at the foot of Yasna Gora; taking
+advantage of which, the monks were occupied the more earnestly in
+preparations for defence. The last repairs were made in the walls and
+the curtains, and still more appliances were prepared to serve in
+resisting assault.
+
+From Zdebov, Krovodja, Lgota, and Grabuvka a number of tens of peasants
+volunteered, who had served before in the land-infantry. These were
+accepted and placed among the defenders. Kordetski doubled and trebled
+himself. He performed divine service, sat in council, neglected the
+sick neither day nor night, and in the interval visited the walls,
+talked with nobles and villagers. Meanwhile he had in his face and
+whole person a calm of such character that one might almost say it
+belonged to stone statues only. Looking at his face, grown pale from
+watching, it might be thought that that man slept an easy and sweet
+sleep; but the calm resignation and almost joy burning in his eyes, his
+lips moving in prayer, announced that he watched, thought, prayed, and
+made offerings for all. From his spirit, with all its powers intent
+upon God, faith flowed in a calm and deep stream; all drank of this
+faith with full lips, and whoso had a sick soul was made well. Wherever
+his white habit was seen, there calm appeared on the faces of men,
+their eyes smiled, and their lips repeated: "Our kind father, our
+comforter, our defender, our good hope." They kissed his hands and his
+habit; he smiled like the dawn, and went farther, while around him,
+above and before him, went confidence and serenity.
+
+Still he did not neglect earthly means of salvation; the fathers who
+entered his cell found him, if not on his knees, over letters which he
+sent in every direction. He wrote to Wittemberg, the commander-in-chief
+at Cracow, imploring him to spare a sacred place; and to Yan Kazimir,
+who in Opola had made the last effort to save a thankless people; to
+Stefan Charnyetski, held by his own word as on a chain at Syevyej; to
+Count Veyhard; and to Colonel Sadovski, a Lutheran Cheh, who served
+under Miller, but who, having a noble soul, had endeavored to dissuade
+the fierce general from this attack on the cloister.
+
+Two conflicting councils were held before Miller. Count Veyhard,
+irritated by the stubbornness which he had met on November 8, used all
+efforts to incline the general to a campaign; he promised him untold
+treasures and profit, he asserted that in the whole world there were
+scarcely churches which could be compared with Chenstohova or Yasna
+Gora. Sadovski opposed in the following manner:--
+
+"General," said he to Miller, "you who have taken so many famed
+fortresses that you have been justly named Poliorcetes by cities in
+Germany, know how much blood and time it may cost to take even the
+weakest fortress, if the assaulted are willing to resist unto death.
+
+"But the monks will not resist?" asked Miller.
+
+"I think just the contrary. The richer they are, the more stubborn a
+defence will they make; they are confident not only in the might of
+arms, but in the sacredness of the place, which the Catholic
+superstition of this whole country considers inviolable. It is enough
+to recall the German war; how often have monks given an example of
+daring and stubbornness, even in cases where soldiers themselves
+despaired of defence! It will take place this time too, all the more
+since the fortress is not so insignificant as Count Veyhard would like
+to consider it. It is situated on a rocky eminence difficult for the
+miner, the walls which, if they were not indeed in good condition, have
+been repaired before this time; and as to supplies of arms, powder, and
+provisions, a cloister so rich has inexhaustible supplies; fanaticism
+will animate their hearts and,--"
+
+"And do you think, gracious colonel, that they will force me to
+retreat?"
+
+"I do not think that, but I believe that we shall be forced to remain
+long under the walls, we shall have to send for larger guns than those
+we have here, and you must go to Prussia. It is necessary to calculate
+how much time we can devote to Chenstohova; for if his Grace the King
+of Sweden summons you from the siege for the more important affairs of
+Prussia, the monks will report without fail that you were forced to
+retreat. And then think, your grace, what a loss your fame as
+Poliorcetes will sustain, not to speak of the encouragement which the
+resisting will find in the whole country. Only [here Sadovski lowered
+his voice] let the mere intention of attacking this cloister be noised
+about, and it will make the worst impression. You do not know--for no
+foreigner, not a papist, can know--what Chenstohova is to this people.
+Very important for us are those nobles, who yielded so readily; those
+magnates; the quarter troops, who together with the hetmans, have come
+over to our side. Without them we could not have done what we have
+done. With their hands we have occupied half the country,--nay, more
+than half; but let one shot fall at Chenstohova,--who knows? perhaps
+not a Pole will remain with us. So great is the strength of
+superstition! A new most terrible war may flame up!"
+
+Miller recognized in his soul the justice of Sadovski's reasoning, all
+the more since he considered monks in general, and the Chenstohova
+monks in particular, wizards,--that Swedish general feared enchantments
+more than guns; still wishing to irritate, and maybe prolong the
+dispute, he said,--
+
+"You speak as though you were prior of Chenstohova, or as if they had
+begun to pay you a ransom."
+
+Sadovski was a daring soldier and impulsive, and because he knew his
+value he was easily offended.
+
+"I will not say another word," answered he, haughtily.
+
+Miller in his turn was angry at the tone in which the above words were
+spoken.
+
+"I will make no further request of you," said he; "Count Veyhard is
+enough for me, he knows this country better."
+
+"We shall see!" responded Sadovski, and went out of the room.
+
+Count Veyhard in fact took his place. He brought a letter, which he had
+received from Varshytski with a request to leave the cloister in peace;
+but from this letter the obstinate man drew counsel directly opposed.
+
+"They beg," said he to Miller; "therefore they know that there will be
+no defence."
+
+A day later the expedition against Chenstohova was decided upon at
+Vyelunie.
+
+It was not kept a secret; therefore Father Yatsek Rudnitski, provost of
+the monastery at Vyelunie, was able to go in time to Chenstohova with
+the news. The poor monk did not admit for one moment that the people of
+Yasna Gora would defend themselves. He only wanted to forewarn them so
+that they might know what course to take and seek favorable conditions.
+In fact, the news bowed down the minds of the monks. In some souls
+courage weakened at once. But Kordetski strengthened it; he warmed the
+cold with the heat of his own heart, he promised days of miracle, he
+made the very presence of death agreeable, and changed them so much
+through the inspiration of his own soul that unwittingly they began to
+prepare for the attack as they were accustomed to prepare for great
+church festivals,--hence with joy and solemnity.
+
+The chiefs of the lay garrison, Zamoyski and Charnyetski, also made
+their final preparations. They burned all the shops which were nestled
+around the walls of the fortress and which might lighten an assault for
+the enemy; the buildings near the mountain were not spared either, so
+that for a whole day a ring of flame surrounded the fortress; but when
+there remained of the shops merely the ashes of timbers and planks, the
+guns of the cloister had before them empty space, unhedged by any
+obstacles. Their black jaws gaped freely into the distance, as if
+searching for the enemy impatiently and wishing to greet them at the
+earliest moment with ominous thunder.
+
+Meanwhile winter was drawing near with swift step. A sharp north wind
+was blowing, swamps were turned into lumps of earth; and in the
+mornings, water in shallow places was congealed into frail icy shells.
+The prior, Kordetski, making the rounds of the walls, rubbed his hands
+blue from cold, and said,--
+
+"God will send frost to assist us. It will be hard to intrench
+batteries and dig mines; meanwhile you will take rest in warm rooms,
+and the north wind will soon disgust them with the siege."
+
+But for this very reason Miller was anxious to finish quickly. He had
+nine thousand troops, mostly infantry, and nineteen guns. He had also
+two squadrons of Polish cavalry, but he could not count on them; first,
+because he could not employ the cavalry in taking the lofty fortress;
+and second, because the men went unwillingly, and gave notice
+beforehand that they would take no part in the struggles. They went
+rather to protect the fortress, in case of capture, against the greed
+of the conquerors,--so at least the colonels declared to the soldiers;
+they went finally because the Swedes commanded, for the whole army of
+the country was in their camp and had to obey.
+
+From Vyelunie to Chenstohova the road is short. On November 18 the
+siege was to begin. But the Swedish general calculated that it would
+not last above a couple of days, and that he would take the precious
+fortress by negotiation.
+
+Meanwhile Kordetski, the prior, prepared the souls of men. They went to
+divine services as on a great and joyous festival; and had it not been
+for the unquiet and pallor of some faces, it might have been supposed
+that that was a joyous and solemn thanksgiving. The prior himself
+celebrated Mass; all the bells were ringing. The services did not end
+with Mass, for a grand procession went out on the walls.
+
+The prior, bearing the Most Holy Sacrament, was supported under the
+arms by Zamoyski and Pan Pyotr Charnyetski. In front walked young boys
+in robes, they carried censers with myrrh and incense; before and after
+the baldachin marched ranks of white-habited monks, with eyes and heads
+raised toward heaven,--men of various years, from decrepit old men to
+tender youths who had just begun their novitiate. The yellow flames of
+the candles quivered in the air; but the monks moved onward and sang,
+buried altogether in God, as if mindful of naught else in the world.
+Behind them appeared the shaven temples of nobles, the tearful faces of
+women, but calm beneath their tears, inspired with faith and trust;
+peasants marched also, long-haired, wearing coarse coats, resembling
+the primitive Christians; little children, maidens, and boys mingled
+with the throng, joining their thin voices with the general chorus. And
+God heard that pouring forth of hearts, that fleeing from earthly
+oppression to the single defence of His wings. The wind went down,
+the air grew calm, the heavens became azure, and the autumnal sun
+poured a mild pale golden, but still warm, light on the earth. The
+procession passed once around the walls, but did not return, did not
+disperse,--went farther. Rays from the monstrance fell on the face of
+the prior, and that face seemed golden and radiant from their light.
+Kordetski kept his eyes closed, and on his lips was a smile not of
+earth,--a smile of happiness, of sweetness, of exaltation; his soul was
+in heaven, in brightness, in endless delight, in unbroken calm. But as
+if taking orders from above, and forgetting not this earthly church,
+the men, the fortress, and that hour then impending, he halted at
+moments, opened his eyes, elevated the monstrance, and gave blessing.
+
+He blessed the people, the army, the squadrons, blooming like flowers
+and gleaming like a rainbow; he blessed the walls, and that eminence
+which looked down and around upon the land; he blessed the cannon, the
+guns, smaller and greater, the balls, iron and lead, the vessels with
+powder, the planking at the cannon, the piles of harsh implements used
+to repel the assaults of the enemy; he blessed the armies lying at a
+distance; he blessed the north, the south, the east, and the west, as
+if to cover that whole region, that whole land, with the power of God.
+
+It had struck two in the afternoon, the procession was still on the
+walls; but meanwhile on those edges, where the sky and the earth seemed
+to touch, a bluish haze was spread out, and just in that haze something
+began to shimmer, to move,--forms of some kind were creeping. At first
+dim, unfolding gradually, these forms became every moment more
+distinct. A cry was heard suddenly at the end of the procession,--
+
+"The Swedes are coming; the Swedes are coming!"
+
+Then silence fell, as if hearts and tongues had grown numb; bells only
+continued to sound. But in the stillness the voice of the prior
+thundered, far reaching though calm,--
+
+"Brothers, let us rejoice! the hour of victories and miracles is
+drawing near!"
+
+And a moment later he exclaimed: "Under Thy protection we take refuge.
+Our Mother, Our Lady, Our Queen!"
+
+Meanwhile the Swedish cloud had changed into an immeasurable serpent,
+which was crawling forward ever nearer. Its terrible curves were
+visible. It twisted, uncoiled; at one time it glittered under the light
+with its gleaming steel scales, fit another it grew dark, crawled,
+crawled on, emerged from the distance.
+
+Soon eyes looking from the walls could distinguish everything in
+detail. In advance came the cavalry, after it infantry in quadrangles;
+each regiment formed a long rectangular body, over which rose a smaller
+one formed of erect spears; farther on, behind, after the infantry,
+came cannon with jaws turned rearward and inclined to the earth.
+
+Their slowly moving barrels, black or yellowish, shone with evil omen
+in the sun; behind them clattered over the uneven road the powder-boxes
+and the endless row of wagons with tents and every manner of military
+appliance.
+
+Dreadful but beautiful was that advance of a regular army, which moved
+before the eyes of the people on Yasna Gora, as if to terrify them. A
+little later the cavalry separated from the rest of the army and
+approached at a trot, trembling like waves moved by wind. They broke
+soon into a number of greater and smaller parties. Some pushed toward
+the fortress; some in the twinkle of an eye scattered through the
+neighboring villages in pursuit of plunder; others began to ride around
+the fortress, to examine the walls, study the locality, occupy the
+buildings which were nearest. Single horsemen flew back continually as
+fast as a horse could gallop from the larger parties to the deep
+divisions of infantry to inform the officers where they might dispose
+themselves.
+
+The tramp and neighing of horses, the shouts, the exclamations, the
+murmur of thousands of voices, and the dull thump of cannon, came
+distinctly to the ears of the besieged, who till that moment were
+standing quietly on the wall, as if for a spectacle, looking with
+astonished eyes at that great movement and deploying of the enemy's
+troops.
+
+At last the infantry regiments arrived and began to wander around the
+fortress, seeking places best fitted for fortification. Now they
+struck, on Chenstohovka, an estate near the cloister, in which there
+were no troops, only peasants living in huts.
+
+A regiment of Finns, who had come first, fell savagely on the
+defenceless peasants. They pulled them out of the huts by the hair, and
+simply cut down those who resisted; the rest of the people driven from
+the manor-house were pursued by cavalry and scattered to the four
+winds.
+
+A messenger was sent with Miller's summons to surrender; he had already
+sounded his trumpet before the gates of the church; but the defenders,
+at sight of the slaughter and cruelty of the soldiers in Chenstohova,
+answered with cannon fire.
+
+Now, when the people of the town had been driven out of all the nearer
+buildings, and the Swedes had disposed themselves therein, it behooved
+to destroy them with all haste, so that the enemy might not injure the
+cloister under cover of those buildings. Therefore the walls of the
+cloister began to smoke all around like the sides of a ship surrounded
+by a storm and by robbers. The roar of cannon shook the air till the
+walls of the cloister were trembling, and glass in the windows of the
+church and other buildings was rattling. Fiery balls in the form of
+whitish cloudlets describing ill-omened arcs fell on the Swedish places
+of refuge, they broke rafters, roofs, walls; and columns of smoke were
+soon rising from the places into which balls had descended.
+
+Conflagration had enwrapped the buildings. Barely had the Swedish
+regiments taken possession when they fled from the new quarters with
+all breath, and, uncertain of their positions, hurried about in various
+directions. Disorder began to creep among them; they removed the cannon
+not yet mounted, so as to save them from being struck. Miller was
+amazed; he had not expected such a reception, nor such gunners on Yasna
+Gora.
+
+Meanwhile night came, and since he needed to bring the army into order,
+he sent a trumpeter with a request for a cessation. The fathers agreed
+to that readily.
+
+In the morning, however, they burned another enormous storehouse with
+great supplies of provisions, in which building the Westland regiment
+had taken its quarters. The fire caught the building so quickly, the
+shots fell, one after another, with such precision that the Westlanders
+were unable to carry off their muskets or ammunition, which exploded,
+hurling far around burning brands.
+
+The Swedes did not sleep that night; they made preparations,
+entrenchments for the guns, filled baskets with earth, formed a camp.
+The soldiers, though trained during so many years in so many battles,
+and by nature valiant and enduring, did not wait for the following day
+with joy. The first day had brought defeat.
+
+The cannon of the cloister caused such loss among the Swedes that the
+oldest warriors were confounded, attributing this to careless approach
+to the fortress, and to going too near the walls.
+
+But the next day, even should it bring victory, did not promise glory;
+for what was the capture of an inconsiderable fortress and a cloister
+to the conquerors of so many famed cities, a hundred times better
+fortified? The greed of rich plunder alone upheld their willingness,
+but that oppressive alarm with which the allied Polish squadrons had
+approached this greatly renowned Yasna Gora was imparted in a
+mysterious way to the Swedes. Some of them trembled at the thought of
+sacrilege, while others feared something indefinite, which they could
+not explain, and which was known under the general name of enchantment.
+Miller himself believed in it; why should not the soldiers believe?
+
+It was noticed that when Miller was approaching the church of Saint
+Barbara, the horse under him slipped suddenly, started back, distended
+his nostrils, pricked up his ears, snorted with fright, and refused to
+advance. The old general showed no personal alarm; still the next day
+he assigned that place to the Prince of Hesse, and marched himself with
+the heavier guns to the northern side of the cloister, toward the
+village of Chenstohova; there he made intrenchments during the night,
+so as to attack in the morning.
+
+Barely had light begun to gleam in the sky when heavy artillery firing
+began; but this time the Swedish guns opened first. The enemy did not
+think of making a breach in the walls at once, so as to rush through it
+to storm; he wanted only to terrify, to cover the church and the
+cloister with balls, to set fire, to dismount cannon, to kill people,
+to spread alarm.
+
+A procession went out again on the walls of the fortress, for nothing
+strengthened the combatants like a view of the Holy Sacrament, and the
+monks marching forward with it calmly. The guns of the cloister
+answered,--thunder for thunder, lightning for lightning, so far as the
+defenders were able, so far as breath held out in the breast. The very
+earth seemed to tremble in its foundations. A sea of smoke stretched
+over the cloister and the church.
+
+What moments, what sights for men who had never in their lives beheld
+the bloody face of war! and there were many such in the fortress. That
+unbroken roar, lightnings, smoke, the howling of balls tearing the air,
+the terrible hiss of bombs, the clatter of shot on the pavement, the
+dull blows against the wall, the sound of breaking windows, the
+explosions of bursting bombs, the whistling of fragments of them, the
+breaking and cracking of timbers; chaos, annihilation, hell!
+
+In those hours there was not a moment of rest nor cessation; breasts
+half-suffocated with smoke, every moment new flocks of cannon-balls;
+and amid the confusion shrill voices in various parts of the fortress,
+the church, and the cloister, were crying,--
+
+"It is on fire! water, water!"
+
+"To the roof with barefooted men! more cloth!"
+
+"Aim the cannon higher!--higher!--aim at the centre of the
+buildings--fire!"
+
+About noon the work of death increased still more. It might seem that,
+if the smoke were to roll away, the Swedes would see only a pile of
+balls and bombs in place of the cloister. A cloud of lime, struck from
+the walls by the cannon, rose up, and mingling with the smoke, hid the
+light. Priests went out with relics to exorcise these clouds, lest they
+might hinder defence. The thunders of cannon were interrupted, but were
+as frequent as the breath gulps of a panting dragon.
+
+Suddenly on a tower, newly built after a fire of the previous year,
+trumpets began to sound forth the glorious music of a church hymn. That
+music flowed down through the air and was heard round about, was heard
+everywhere, as far as the batteries of the Swedes. The sound of the
+trumpets was accompanied by the voices of people, and amidst the
+bellowing and whistling, amidst the shouts, the rattle and thunder of
+muskets, were heard the words,--
+
+
+ "Mother of God, Virgin,
+ Glorified by God Mary!"
+
+
+Here a number of bombs burst; the cracking of rafters and beams, and
+then the shout: "Water!" struck the ear, and again the song flowed on
+in calmness.
+
+
+ "From Thy Son the Lord
+ Send down to us, win for us,
+ A time of bread, a time of plenty."
+
+
+Kmita, who was standing on the wall at the cannon, opposite the village
+of Chenstohova, in which Miller's quarters were, and whence the
+greatest fire came, pushed away a less accurate cannoneer to begin work
+himself; and worked so well that soon, though it was in November and
+the day cold, he threw off his fox-skin coat, threw off his vest, and
+toiled in his trousers and shirt.
+
+The hearts grew in people unacquainted with war, at sight of this
+soldier blood and bone, to whom all that was passing--that bellowing of
+cannon, those flocks of balls, that destruction and death--seemed as
+ordinary an element as fire to a salamander.
+
+His brow was wrinkled, there was fire in his eyes, a flush on his
+cheeks, and a species of wild joy in his face. Every moment he bent to
+the cannon, altogether occupied with the aiming, altogether given to
+the battle, thinking of naught else; he aimed, lowered, raised, at last
+cried, "Fire!" and when Soroka touched the match, he ran to the opening
+and called out from time to time,--
+
+"One by the side of the other!"
+
+His eagle eyes penetrated through smoke and dust, and when among the
+buildings he saw somewhere a dense mass of caps or helmets, straightway
+he crushed it with an accurate shot, as if with a thunderbolt. At times
+he burst out into laughter when he had caused greater or less
+destruction. The balls flew over him and at his side,--he did not look
+at anything; suddenly, after a shot he sprang to the opening, fixed his
+eyes in the distance, and cried,--
+
+"The gun is dismounted! Only three pieces are playing there now!"
+
+He did not rest until midday. Sweat was pouring from him, his shirt was
+steaming; his face was blackened with soot, and his eyes glittering.
+Pyotr Charnyetski himself wondered at his aim, and said to him
+repeatedly,--
+
+"War is nothing new to you; that is clear at a glance. Where have you
+learned it so well?"
+
+At three o'clock in the afternoon a second Swedish gun was silent,
+dismounted by Kmita's accurate aim. They drew out the remaining guns
+from the intrenchments about an hour later. Evidently the Swedes saw
+that the position was untenable.
+
+Kmita drew a deep breath.
+
+"Rest!" said Charnyetski to him.
+
+"Well! I wish to eat something. Soroka, give me what you have at hand."
+
+The old sergeant bestirred himself quickly. He brought some gorailka in
+a tin cup and some dried fish. Kmita began to eat eagerly, raising his
+eyes from time to time and looking at the bombs flying over at no great
+distance, just as if he were looking at crows. But still they flew in
+considerable number, not from Chenstohova, but from the opposite side;
+namely, all those which passed over the cloister and the church.
+
+"They have poor gunners, they point too high," said Pan Andrei, without
+ceasing to eat; "see, they all go over us, and they are aimed at us."
+
+A young monk heard these words,--a boy of seventeen years, who had just
+entered his novitiate. He was the first always to bring balls for
+loading, and he did not leave his place though every vein in him was
+trembling from fear, for he saw war for the first time. Kmita made an
+indescribable impression on him by his calmness, and hearing his words
+he took refuge near him with an involuntary movement as if wishing to
+seek protection and safety under the wings of that strength.
+
+"Can they reach us from that side?" asked he.
+
+"Why not?" answered Kmita. "And why, my dear brother, are you afraid?"
+
+"I thought," answered the trembling youth, "that war was terrible; but
+I did not think it was so terrible."
+
+"Not every bullet kills, or there would not be men in the world, there
+would not be mothers enough to give birth to them."
+
+"I have the greatest fear of those fiery balls, those bombs. Why do
+they burst with such noise? Mother of God, save us! and they wound
+people so terribly."
+
+"I will explain to you, and you will discover by experience, young
+father. That ball is iron, and inside it is loaded with powder. In one
+place there is an opening rather small, in which is a fuse of paper or
+sometimes of wood."
+
+"Jesus of Nazareth! is there a fuse in it?"
+
+"There is; and in the fuse some tow steeped in sulphur, which catches
+fire when the gun is discharged. Then the ball should fall with the
+fuse toward the ground, so as to drive it into the middle; then the
+fire reaches the powder and the ball bursts. But many balls do not fall
+on the fuse; that does not matter, however, for when the fire burns to
+the end, the explosion comes."
+
+On a sudden Kmita stretched out his hand and cried, "See, see! you have
+an experiment."
+
+"Jesus! Mary! Joseph!" cried the young brother, at sight of the coming
+bomb.
+
+The bomb fell on the square that moment, and snarling and rushing along
+began to bound on the pavement, dragging behind a small blue smoke,
+turned once more, and rolling to the foot of the wall on which they
+were sitting, fell into a pile of wet sand, which it scattered high to
+the battlement, and losing its power altogether, remained without
+motion.
+
+Luckily it had fallen with the fuse up; but the sulphur was not
+quenched, for the smoke rose at once.
+
+"To the ground! on your faces!" frightened voices began to shout. "To
+the ground, to the ground!"
+
+But Kmita at the same moment sprang to the pile of sand, with a
+lightning movement of his hand caught the fuse, plucked it, pulled it
+out, and raising his hand with the burning sulphur cried,--
+
+"Rise up! It is just as if you had pulled the teeth out of a dog! It
+could not kill a fly now."
+
+When he had said this, he kicked the bomb, those present grew numb at
+sight of this deed, which surpassed human daring, and for a certain
+time no one made bold to speak; at last Charnyetski exclaimed,--
+
+"You are a madman! If that had burst, it would have turned you into
+powder!"
+
+Pan Andrei laughed so heartily that his teeth glittered.
+
+"But do we not need powder? You could have loaded a gun with me, and
+after my death I could have done harm to the Swedes."
+
+"May the bullets strike you! Where is your fear?"
+
+The young monk placed his hands together and looked with mute homage on
+Kmita. But the deed was also seen by Kordotski, who was approaching on
+that side. He came up, took Pan Andrei with his hands by the head, and
+then made the sign of the cross on him.
+
+"Such men as you will not surrender Yasna Gora; but I forbid exposing a
+needful life to danger. When the firing is over and the enemy leave the
+field, take that bomb, pour the powder out of it, and bear it to the
+Most Holy Lady. That gift will be dearer to Her than those pearls and
+bright stones which you offered Her."
+
+"Father," answered Kmita, deeply moved, "what is there great in that?
+For the Most Holy Lady I would--Oh! words do not rise in my mouth--I
+would go to torments, to death. I know not what I would not do to serve
+Her."
+
+Tears glistened in the eyes of Pan Andrei, and the prior said,--
+
+"Go to Her with those tears before they dry. Her favor will flow to
+thee, calm thee, comfort thee, adorn thee with glory and honor."
+
+When he had said this he took him by the arm and led him to the church.
+Pan Charnyetski looked after them for a time. At last he said,--
+
+"I have seen many daring men in my life, who counted no danger to
+themselves; but this Lithuanian is either the D----"
+
+Here Charnyetski closed his mouth with his hand, so not to speak a foul
+name in the holy place.
+
+
+
+ FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 1: Means "On the sea."]
+
+[Footnote 2: Pereyaslav will be remembered by the readers of FIRE AND
+SWORD as the place where the Polish commissioners with Adam Kisel
+brought the baton and banner from the king to Hmelnitski.]
+
+[Footnote 3: "Two-bridges." the Bipont of page 523, Vol. II.]
+
+[Footnote 4: This word means technically "villages inhabited by petty
+nobles:" etymologically it means "behind walls,"--hence, "beyond or
+outside the walls," as above.]
+
+[Footnote 5: This war was carried on by the Tsar Alexis, father of
+Peter the Great and son of Michael Romanoff. Set Introduction.]
+
+[Footnote 6: The speech of the main body of the people in Jmud is
+Lithuanian to this day.]
+
+[Footnote 7: Lithuanian forms, with nominative ending in _s_ and _as_.]
+
+[Footnote 8: The diminutive or more familiar form for Aleksandra. It is
+used frequently in this book.]
+
+[Footnote 9: The diminutive of Andrei.]
+
+[Footnote 10: A barber in those parts at that time did duty for a
+surgeon.]
+
+[Footnote 11: Marysia and Maryska are both diminutives of Marya = Maria
+or Mary, and are used without distinction by the author. There are in
+Polish eight or ten other variants of the same name.]
+
+[Footnote 12: It is the custom to put a watermelon in the carriage of
+an undesirable suitor,--a refusal without words.]
+
+[Footnote 13: Deest = lacking.]
+
+[Footnote 14: The name Grudzinski is derived from gruda = clod.]
+
+[Footnote 15: See Daniel v. 25-28.]
+
+[Footnote 16: Helena.]
+
+[Footnote 17: The war against Russia.]
+
+[Footnote 18: This Polish saying of striking out a wedge with a wedge
+means here, of course, to cure one love with another.]
+
+[Footnote 19: "Others" here = "Russians."]
+
+[Footnote 20: Prince Yeremi Vishnyevetski.]
+
+[Footnote 21: Volodyovski was from the Ukraine.]
+
+[Footnote 22: Charnyetski was pock-marked.]
+
+[Footnote 23: The Russians.]
+
+[Footnote 24: Saturday.]
+
+[Footnote 25: Friday.]
+
+[Footnote 26: Russians.]
+
+[Footnote 27: Tsargrad = Tsar's city, Constantinople.]
+
+[Footnote 28: "A boat and a carriage" means you can go by either,--that
+is, by land or water: you have your choice.]
+
+[Footnote 29: So called because they wore shoes made from the inner
+bark of basswood or linden trees.]
+
+[Footnote 30: Bright Mountain.]
+
+
+
+ END OF VOL. I.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's The Deluge, Vol. I. (of 2), by Henryk Sienkiewicz
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